SWIMMING IS NO JOKE!!!!!

After doing my first sprint tri this summer, I realized that the swim portion of the race is NO JOKE...I was NEVER a water girl, I would be the one sunbathing and sweating my butt of, but would continue laying there instead of hoping into the water to cool off!!! I like to lay out by the water, because you seem to get a deeper tan :) Anyways, back to the race I was not into sticking my face in the dirty water...I over heard someone saying that the water was not too deep and that you could touch most of the way...I got excited thinking OH I will do the aqua swim, (My husband said that aqua swim is cheating) but I did not care as long as I made it out of that cold, disgusting water...... I get out there with my plan in my head and ready to go....they were so WRONG, I could not touch and believe me I kept checking!! ssssoooooo I did 1000m on my back, not even using my arms, but rather kicking like a freak...Here's my husband at shore thinking I am out here cheating with the aqua swim, but I was working it HARD..I keep thinking "I am going to burn my legs out before I even hit shore"...I remember thinking "is this swim ever going to end"...I would flip over just to see how much more I had to go...it seemed like never ending.....I get to shore and after shaking a couple of leg cramps off I really felt great...did a OK bike(not great, due to being in the wrong gear the whole way :( I only rode my new Cervelo bike 3 times before the race..was still in learning mode! I ended up with the 2ND fastest run split, so wahoo for that!!!
After the race I knew I had my work cut out with improving: (learn how to swim,with my face IN the water) and learning the gearing on the bike!

So here I am... in a Masters swim class every Sunday for 1 hour...I am learning so much from coach Andy..I am still in the beginners level class and probably will remain in the beginners level class... Even tho I am learning, I know the swim will not be my strong point, but just to be able to swim will be nice!! I am looking forward to racing in 2008 just to see my improvements!!!