It was a bit like summer camp. After biking around, sweating like pigs and snacking down we headed over to Haymarket, VA to practice our open water swimming skills at the Millbrook Quarry. The quarry is a privately owned venue that provides a combo of open swim practice and diving. Rehab to Racing runs the swim venue. See http://www.rehabtoracing.com/openwater.php.
As we pulled into the lot we knew we were in the right place when we saw folks pulling on wet suits and others were dragging air tanks. It actually made me laugh b/c it looked like an Xterra commerical. See http://www.xterrawetsuits.com/. Everyone seemed to be wearing one of their wetsuits. Oddly enough, Xterra is a sponsor of this open water swim. We learned that point when one of the Rehab to Racing folks wanted to take a photo of us in our Xterra suits. Man, there is no way to look good in these sausage-suits. That photo is going to be delightful.
The quarry was much bigger than I anticipated. After we checked in we walked into the water. Man, it felt great to get in the water. It felt so good. I seriously was waiting to see a rope swing.
We started out by swimming a lap around the course, which I think was 600 meters. The course was marked by three large buoys set up in the equivalent of an isosceles triangle, with the longer piece the return segment.
Like always, the first time around I'm a bit anxious and not sure what to expect. I feel like I'm more spent the first time around.
After everyone warmed up, we all practiced our start. We lined up in waist high water and simulated a wave start. I placed myself all the way to the left and furthest away from the buoy which was 130 meters away.
As you can imagine, there was mass kicking and bodies going in every direction. I stayed to the left and waited as the group thinned into their paces. As the group thinned, I moved to the right and slide into some open water. I hugged the buoy line, did a nice job sighting and cut the buoy tight. On the return I was in a good position and had a strong swim into shore.
Man, it felt good to be out there.
I swam another loop around the course and a couple more shorter loops around the first buoy.
All in all, it was a lot of fun. I learned, again, that I can and need to push myself, my sighting was much better this time around and that training with the Terrapins Masters Swim Team is a "must do" in the near future.
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