Ironman Brasil Part I: Swimming with 2000 bobbing green balls

It was May 2011 and I had already signed up for Ironman Cozumel in November.  I didn’t know what I would be doing in May let alone what country I might be living in.  At the risk of missing out, I entered my 16-digit credit card number into my Iphone and waited patiently for my confirmation mail. 

Inbox: mail from active.com.  "Congratulations, you have registered for Ironman Brasil, 2012"

I was actually not 100% committed to the race.  I had planned a trip to South-East Asia between December and March, and I didn’t know what kind of training I would be able to do.  It wasn’t until I raced Cozumel and cancelled my trip to South-East Asia that I knew I would race Brazil too. 

I flew out of Mexico City on Tuesday, arrived in Rio on Wednesday, then flew to Florianopolos Thursday. 

Rain. Rain. Rain.  It rained for the next 24 hours and my new “keep it simple” philosophy back-fired as I had neither an umbrella nor a jacket.  I didn’t want to risk catching a cold, so I stayed in all day with the exception of changing hotels, and picking up my race kit. 

#1777.  I love this race number.  I pay attention to all of my race numbers; it’s like your new name for the day; numerical, unique.  I would be Lucky Sevens.

The day before the Ironman you spend time getting your transition kits together.  You have a bag for the swim-bike transition, another for the bike-run transition and then you have two special needs bags; one for the bike (to use if you need it) and one for the run.  In the swim-bike bag you might put your: helmet, socks, bike shoes (if they are not clipped into your bike already), sunglasses, race number, glide, race number and possibly some food and “just in case items” such as baby-wipes, Tylenol, amodium, towel etc.

On Saturday night, I dropped my bike of at the race site, and hung my transition bags on the hook labelled #1777.  Making my way for the hotel, I decided, I wouldn’t do an Ironman alone again.  People were with their teams, their families, their friends, and I wished I had someone to share the experience with then and there.  I did talk to fellow-racer #1776 (another Canadian) briefly, but it was mostly translating the Portuguese for him as he prepped his gear as well.  I wouldn’t see him again. I made my way back to the hotel, and had dinner with Karina; it was an early night. 

The swim: Four buoys? Four effin buoys? You have got to be kidding me. Four? How?

Ironman swim is 3800m.  Each race has a different course.  Below, you can see the map for Ironman Brasil.  The orange and red triangles and circle mark the four buoys.  As you might already know, I have a huge fear of open water swimming.  This fear was born in 2006 when I panicked during a triathlon in Colombia.  I have only been able to identify a few triggers to the onset of panic; 1) If I feel like I am swimming alone, 2) If I feel like I a swimming and not moving, 3) If I feel too far from the shore.  The distance from the shore to the first buoy was 966m.  I don’t think I have ever swam 966m from an ocean shore.  This would be my first.  This would not be the only challenge for me however.  I have this new swimming strategy in triathlon; it’s to only focus on the buoy immediately in front, not on the destination or turn-around buoy.  Ironman Brasil (for reasons I don’t even care to know) decided to include a whopping total of four, yes, four buoys in total.  (See map) This means that I will have to aim for a buoy that was 966m away, and with no other physical references because I was swimming away from the shore.  Note: I am used to having a buoy every 1-200m.

Music was playing and the athletes were bopping to the rhythm in their wetsuits.  I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but later an Australian couple would share their thoughts on how funny it looked to have everyone dancing in their wetsuits, mostly men.

Focus on your “Fear Not” bracelet Diane.  You swam yesterday and it’s flat.  Am I in a good position?  Should I stay back a bit? I have to pee.  What if my shoulder pops out.  Breathe.  Dance. Enjoy this moment.  Breathe.  Should I do a sun-salutation?  Oh ya, alternate nostril breathing; that's supposed to calm me down.  Diane starts alternate nostril breathing. 

The clock struck 7:00 and the horn blasted.  There is something very exceptional about that minute before the horn.  It’s a moment that I can only characterize as a wave, a slow-building wave.  You can either let the wave engulf you and end up a slave to anxiety and fear, or, you can grab your surfboard and ride it like a wild-woman (hair down) until you hear the horn.  I am working on mastering the latter. 

The video below shows what went down.  It's a pretty cool video from start to finish.

The swim was relatively easy on a physical level.  I did get punched in the head and swam over a few times, but I have never been one to mind the physical contact.  It means that I am not swept up in irrational fear #1, alone at sea.

I would love to see what I actually swam.  GPS-wise.  Not having buoys on the return to shore made it very easy to get off course.  I aimed for the tents on land, but I still ended up far to the left; not to mention, there was a current pulling us that way. 

I exited the water at the same time as another woman, and we cheered.  I asked her what time it was (Forgotten item #1 – my watch) and she said 1h24m.  With that, I ran to the wetsuit strippers (the kind volunteers who strip you out of your wetsuit) and I ran (full blast) to transition one.

Swim time: 1:26:46

Transition 1 (T1): I don’t need to put sunscreen on

I ran full blast into transition area and got the black and blue bags on hook #1777.  In the blue bag I would find all my bike gear, and the black was empty awaiting a wetsuit (that I miraculously didn’t pee in).   As per Chrissie Wellington’s tip #19 I put my sun-glasses on first, then my helmet.  I couldn’t see.  I was in a shaded tent and my shades were fogging up.  I took the glasses off, and proceeded to put on my socks and shoes, bike gloves, and I then clipped my race belt.  I am going to skip the sunscreen.  I don’t really need it. I ran out of the tent into the light, and put my shades on, grabbed my bike and made my way to the mount line.  Straddle, clip, push, clip.  Off I went for Sunday ride of 180km.  

T1: 5:48 

Ironman Brasil Part II: The bike          Ironman Brasil Part III: The run