Panic! in the water....

So today was an exciting day. It was our first open water swim practice. I (just like a lot of other women apparently...) thought I would be fine. I grew up playing in Deep Creek Lake and used to think it was cool we could go underwater and not see our hands. 

Well. When you're 10 - that's cool.

When you're an adult - its NOT. (At least to some of us...)

We went to Gunpowder State Park. It was really nice out there. Large lake, lots of people grilling and playing on the beach. I had no idea it was even out there. We all met in the parking lot and started to walk down to the water. Ken, another TNTer remarked he had been there since 10am and we were in luck because the water was warm. That was hopeful!

Swim cap on. 

Goggles on. 

Ear plug in. 

In we went. 

We waded out. The best part about this location was that we could put our feet down at any time if we needed too. There was a mentor on a kayak in the front and our coach was in the back. She's told us stories about people thinking they'll be OK with the open water swim portion, get to the race and panic because they aren't used to it. I totally didn't think I fit into that category. 

I was wrong.

We started to swim and I started to freak. All of a sudden I couldn't get my strokes, breathing and kicking in sync. That made me panic even more. I wasn't able to get good clean breaths and I felt myself start to freak. 

I was that girl that needed to hang onto the edge of the kayak (before I remembered I could just stand there... sheesh...)!!!  All in all, I finally got used to it. It took me 48:00 to swim .5 miles (I'm usually around 20 minutes...) but that 48 minutes included a panic and getting back on track. By the end, I was used to it. It wasn't so cold. I was able to get into a rhythm and I didn't really want to stop. 

Hooray! I survived.