Swimming – Page 2 – BEYOND DEFEAT

Time	Distance	Place
01:19:54	2 Miles	127

I woke up Sunday not knowing whether the Park to Park 2 Mile Hudson
River Swim would take place as the night before there were
thunderstorms. Their website said it was on, so I mentally started
prepping myself.

I had Todd and Ila over for breakfast on my roof as the start of the
race was 11:45. I made us bacon and eggs with strawberries and bagels
on the side with… of course… Cafe Bustelo! Come to think of it
Cafe Bustelo should sponsor me.

This race was the final qualifier to make the Liberty Island Swim.
Todd was already in and our plan was that he would swim in front of me
and I was to draft him to increase my speed. Plan in order we set out
to the start at the new Harlem Piers Park on 125th and the water. We
checked in and surveyed the water. The current was definitely still
moving out to sea (the opposite direction we needed to be going) and
we were all little worried the Ebb wouldn’t cease in time. We geared
up and Ila set out to the finish with ours tuff. She is our number one
supporter and we totally love having her cheer us on.

While we were waiting to set off who shows up? Danny! He was on a run
and spotted us. What a small world NYC can be at times!

We were now lined up in race number order ready to enter the water. I
had made friends with all my surrounding swimmers and we were
exchanging stories. The sun was out and it was going to be a beautiful
swim. I jumped in the soup second! it was an honor. We all swam out a
bit and once all 200 of us were in it they sounded the gun. Todd and I
began our mission.

This was my second open water swim and the difference between this one
and the first was night and day. I was really having fun splashing
around out there. The other thing that was weird was that I had no
concern that we were attempting a 2 mile swim, the same (more or less)
distance used in the Ironman Triathlon which is my end goal in 2
years.

My goggles were acting up which was quite annoying. We took little 5
second breaks here and there for Todd to correct my form and tell me
to get moving, he was in full coach form. I was plugging away as hard
as I could and wasn’t really tired. It was a great feeling mixed with
disappointment as well. Even though I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t utilizing
my full potential (as Todd would discuss with me after the race). This
messes with my competitive nature because out on a bike or running I
can really excel, but I’m still a rookie out here in open water.

As we neared the finish Todd went ahead to finish in style with a
sprint. As I came in after my hands hit sand, yes a beach, in
Manhattan! As I got my feet I fell over a little. It’s a very funny
feeling ending a long swim… it’s like… you stand up and are
instantly drunk for like 60 seconds. Then, your muscles and
equilibrium come back to you, its all quite silly as you can see from
the pictures.

Ila took some shots of us and we made our way to the sun drenched
grass and change and regroup. I knew I hadn’t made the Liberty Island
Swim, but that was okay as we just accomplished a 2 Mile open water
battle. Todd tried to see if there was another way to get me in the
Liberty, but we found out you have to be elite because of the currents
and I wasn’t there yet.

The three of us set out in search of food. We remembered that Dinosaur
BBQ was back by the start and made our way in that direction. I have
never been to Dinosaur, but let me tell you BBQ lovers, go there! It
was fantastic and more reasonably priced then the other Manhattan BBQ
locations. We were so hungry; we ate everything on our plates! It was
then that the sleepiness started to set in and to quote Todd, “Thank
you ribs.”

We took a cab back downtown and parted ways.

I showered and then hopped on my bike to go to Central Park to meet up
with Ben and Tess. It was 5 PM by now and I was very late. I lasted
another few hours and then couldn’t fight off my sleepiness anymore.

Time	Distance	Place
41:01	1.3 Miles	156

Todd had agreed to coach me and train me in my swimming starting January. My goal of course, being Triathlons. During all this training Todd discovered NYC Swim, a group that organizes open water swims in the waters surrounding Manhattan. He decided we need to do a few of these swims, and he being my coach, I couldn’t refuse.

Our first race (and our first open water swim) was The Great Hudson River Swim, a 1.3 mile race from Christopher Street to the Battery Park Marina.

The night before Todd, Ila, and I went out for pasta and some wine, heading home early and getting to sleep by 11.

It was beautiful out the next day, highs reaching 70 degrees. The water temperature however, was a mere 60 degrees, very cold. We arrived on-time and checked in, getting our swim caps, tracking chips, and race numbers. We lounged in the grass until it was time to swim. We lined up according to our numbers and one by one jumped in the soup staying behind a set of start buoys. The minute I hit the water my hands and feet went numb (Todd and I had on wetsuits) and we treaded water for ten minutes until the first heat sounded.

As we set off I let the faster swimmers take off, as I was a rookie at this point and wasn’t sure of how I was going to do. Immediately I was having trouble. It was the cold, every time I put my face in the water to begin my form, it was like plunging into and ice bucket. I did some breast stroke to get moving and was really not happy with my performance. In fact, I was ready to quit. It was then I thought about my marathon run and everything leading up to that point. I couldn’t quit, so I plunged in and started doing 2 strokes per breath patterns.

Taking a left out past the first buoy I was now in the current and heart of the Hudson River (aka The North River up until about 1950). I was doing just fine at this point and was getting comfortable with my pace, mostly I think because my body warmed up. The crazy thing about the whole thing is that at no point was I even concerned with drowning. 6 months ago I would have been freaking out.

Halfway through the race I stopped right in the middle of the Hudson. ( I had no intentions of winning this race) I just wanted to really take in the surreal moment of being smack in the middle of the Hudson, looking at Jersey City, and then over to downtown Manhattan.

Pressing onward I really got going. I was back to my 3 strokes per breath routine and moving. At the marina entrance I nearly missed the left turn and could have been swept out into the sea! I had a few swimmers by me making the last 50 yards of the swim which fired me up to really go. We climbed the ladder and were on dry land! My legs were very wobbly. My friends and family were yelling my way and snapped a bunch of photos.

They hosed us off on the dock and I made my way to find Todd to high five him. We had done our first open water swim and it was a great accomplishment.

Category Archives: Swimming

RACE REPORT: 010 Park to Park 2 Mile Swim

RACE REPORT: 007 Great Hudson River Swim