bonaire ecoswim 2007

you know, sometimes, i shouldn't be allowed to play with appliances.

that said, justin and i had some adventures (as well as some fun) in the caribbean and i thought it a good way to kick off my blog.

i had decided in july that i wanted another long swim, after the 5 mile swim for life race in june, to round out my 2007 race season. i finally stumbled upon the the 10K (as well as 5K, 3K, and 1K) bonaire ecoswim in november and thought a 6.2 mile ocean swim was a suitable challenge. so justin and i made our reservations and justin decided to swim the 5K while i was swimming the 10K (you know, for something to do).

we packed our bags and headed down to bonaire on wednesday november 7, after some quality time in the san juan airport. bonaire is part of the netherlands antilles outside of the hurricane belt in the caribbean just north of venezuela. the island is primarily limestone and coral, which allows for some of the best visibility in the caribbean and makes bonaire one of the best places in the world for diving. we were looking for an easy, relaxed weekend and did not plan on doing much besides eating, sleeping, snorkeling and tooling around the 25-mile long island on mountain bikes. well that and this race we kind of had to do.

and that is exactly what we did - of course, i had to point out every single lizard (i mean it...every single one) we saw on the island and i got extra bossy in the kayak (yes, i can get even bossier - its possible) when we went kayaking in the mangrove forests on the southern tip of the island.

the afternoon before the race, we were relaxing in our cottage and my addiction to tea got the better of me and i decided to make a cup. long story short, i ended up burning my left hand - second degree scald burns on all four fingers and spent the next 12 hours with my hand immersed in a cup of ice water i had to keep refreshing. we had race meetings that evening but weren't even sure how bad my burn was and if i would be able to race at all. (note to self: hazard to self on all fronts. do not handle anything remotely risky, for will, inevitably, hurt myself.) the race director gave all participants the option to switch race entries and we decided that would be the best bet. we switched my distance from 10K to 5K and hoped i would be able to race 3 miles the next morning.

the hand did not stop giving off serious heat (and melting all ice within a 1 ft radius....if only that was a superpower and not a product of my never-ending idiocy) until 2am race morning and we had an early morning ahead of us.

(an aside: i had to keep my hand inside a pitcher of ice water until 2am and i asked justin if that trick we all used to play at slumber parties about putting the hand of the first person who falls asleep in a pot of water to make them pee while they slept actually worked....we never found out but my concerns about its veracity certainly kept me awake. the things we learn....)

race morning rolls around and my burns have begun to blister but we decided to go down to the race site and make a game time decision. worst case scenario: justin swims and i hang out on shore, stuffing myself with complimentary pancakes. i decided, after lathering ourselves in a ridiculous amount of sunblock, that i would try and swim.

justin said he would stay with me for the entire three miles and we would just take it as it came. the water was beautiful and the visibility was like swimming in a large aquarium tank. we saw so many kinds of fish, i cannot even begin to identify them and justin stopped me mid-swim to watch a green sea turtle swim underneath us. there were no buoys in this race - the main markers were a huge barge and a few dive boats. the turn around was the only buoy - a small white blip among neverending blue. the wind was pretty strong and consistent the whole time in both directions, but the current was stronger heading back towards our start position. the race director and kayakers kept on insisting that if we swam closer to the shore/continental shelf, there would be "no current." certainly a relative bonaire perception as to what constitutes "current."

by the time the dock was in sight, my hand had tolerated about all it was going to and i was glad i decided to shorten my distance.

it took us about 2 hrs to swim 3 miles in the toughest conditions i had ever experienced in open water. i did not swim dewey in 2005 but i have heard that was pretty brutal and i am sure, much harder than this day.

but the water was lovely, i didnt get a sunburn on my butt, and i still got a pretty cool tee shirt. and learned a ton from this experience.
1) NO MORE TEAKETTLES. at least not before big races and will only use if have big gloves available.
2) the 10K, healthy hand or not, might have been a bit more than i was ready for. i am still a new long distance swimmer and certainly a new open water swimmer and this race was very tough. i have a lot of work in front of me.
3) i also don't think i could have prepared for this race any more in the pool. preparation now needs to come from more racing experience - shorter races in the ocean and any other set of conditions i can find. while distance has the aura of "badass-ness" to it, i need to focus on what my weaknesses are and work on addressing them rather than promoting my badass street cred;)
4) the pool beckons as well - there is much i can do there to increase my strength and power, which is one of the projects for the winter.

so big thank yous to everyone who supported me and stay tuned for more adventures with appliances. and here is a picture of my hand, just in case anyone was curious:)



collective ewwww everyone. i do think it does not look nearly as bad in that photo as it looks to me. its a shame halloween is over - now i don't have a reason to scare small children with it.