I do, however, have the time to spare and so far have found the rewards well worth the effort.
Our winning streak continued at Marina Del Rey two weeks ago.
The sky was clear and the sun was shining, but the wind had come as well. Fortunately for the novice folk like myself, the crazy swells didn’t pick up until later. Just like last week, I was in the co-ed novice boat. The other two girls remained with me as well as our steersman, along with two new high caliber gents. We were all excited to get some butt again.
Feeling confident, we got our blood pumping with some warm-up strokes as we paddled out to the start line in the channel. It was crowded, and our steersman, who had learned his lesson last week, took extra precaution as we negotiated our way through the other boats. The heats for the start of the race had been changed up a bit. Normally, 3 horns are blown for the start of the kid’s race, the men and co-ed, then the women. In this race, however, they were concerned about overcrowding and decided to break it down into 12 starts, one for each category. Our co-ed boat was scheduled to be in the 4th heat, right after our men’s boat.
I’m not sure who was or wasn’t paying attention to what, but the bottom line is when our start horn sounded, we were still at least two boat lengths away from the line. Befuddled, we looked around wondering if we had indeed missed it, and fumbled with our paddles until I finally cried, “That was us! GOOOO!!”
Slightly panicked, we began paddling like hamsters on crack. Happily, the pack wasn’t far away, and we were able to catch them quickly. Negotiating our way forward, we found ourselves battling two other boats for the top spot. We nearly got pinched in, but we decided to take the outside route and once we had space to run, we were gone.
The first turn took us out into the open water, where the swells were waiting. The rolling waves were thankfully easy to predict, but it was hard work keeping the boat from rolling over and trying to maintain our solid lead. At the turn around, the second place boat was right on our tail.
As we took off back to the channel, we gained distance once again and were feeling solid as we went into the final long stretch. Then we started getting tired … you could feel the “ho hum” as we pulsed, growing content that no one could catch us. Then we heard it – a boat closing in on our tail. Slightly panicked, we picked up the pace to try and ward them off, but it was no use; they were going to pass us. To our great relief, it was a boat full of men, and no threat to our first place finish.
Whew! Another win for us! They didn't hand out standard medals for placing at this race, oooh no - instead, they give you beer mugs! Haha, I like this sport ...
Ventura
After a week off and a grueling couple practices, this past weekend we raced in Ventura. The fog was thick, cold, and heavy. I don’t think the sun woke up with us that day, but I was in for a surprise.
Not only was I not racing with my usual co-ed novice team, I was placed with the open women; the big guns! The rock stars! I didn't feel worthy ... and though I was delighted and flattered deep down, upon hearing the announcement my face drained of all color and my stomach fluttered.
The other open ladies were generous in their encouragement, which I greatly appreciated, and in the my initiation was gentle since the weather was cool, the waves were tame, and the distance was actually shortened from 12 miles to 8 due to the visibility. I did my best, and though we didn’t place, I was proud of myself. Check out the action shot!
We have another grueling couple weeks of practice ahead of us, and soon we’ll be heading back down to San Diego for the Ironman State Championship. Oodalali!
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