Lake Quassy Swimfest - 3 Mile Swim

Doing the three mile swim at Lake Quassy has been a longstanding goal of mine. The last two years when I did the mile and a half, as I arrived I saw the last of the three milers coming in and thought, damn if I had only done the three mile that would be me coming in now.

So this year it was one of my goal races, along with Litchfield Hills, the Lord of the Flies, the Terramuggus Olympic and the Hartford Half Marathon. I missed out on the Litchfield because I wasn’t fit and only did the Olympic portion of the Lord of the Flies, missed Terramuggus because of last minute family issues. I did not want another goal race to slip past.

I have yet to make it out to West Hill Lake this year, so my only open water swims were the Quassy Mile, the half mile at Niantic and Griskus, and the 600 yard swims at Terramuggus. I did go to cornerstone and in the last two months, managed three one mile swims, two mile and a half swims and one two mile swim. (I get dreadfully bored counting laps, so lately I just swim by time assigning 40 minutes to the mile. After the two mile swim I felt confident I could complete the three mile. I didn’t want to do a three mile in the pool for fear of straining a muscle that would hinder my race.

I admit I had nervousness about the race – nervousness apart from the normal race anxiety. What if suddenly in the middle of the Lake I passed out or just suddenly bonked. I have never done an open water swim more than a mile and a half, if I don’t count the West Hill out and back, which I think is 1.6. I knew I would have the wet suit so I could always stop and float, but its not like biking or running where you can just walk. It’s either swim or be rescued by a kayaker or else dragged up in a dredge. For the first time I had a true what if I drowned fear.

I packed my wet suit and gear in the car the night before, and worked hard to keep myself hydrated. That was another fear. How do you hydrate when you open water swim? I was unaware of any water stops in a lake and it was not like I would have my own support boat.

A couple days before the race my daughter and wife both got respiratory infections, which is a huge fear for me because when I get one they tend to anchor in my chest and can knock me down for weeks and weeks, and set my training back even farther. So I started premedicating myself with Musinex. I made a mistake the day before the race of taking another dose at 2:30 in the afternoon. It kept me up all night with that awake sleep state.

I was one of the first arrivers at the race, which enabled me to rest sleep on the grass prior to the race. The race ended up not going off till 8:20 or so. I was guessing the race would take me 2 hours, but I did not want to still be out there when the 11 o’clock mile and a half race started. They did allow us to put water on a raft at the turn around point so that helped allay my dehydration concerns.

The night before I treated myself to a new pair of goggles and some antifog spray, and they were great. My goggled were awesome for the whole race. No fogging, no water, no scratching view. I swam easy in no hurry. The buoys were well spaced, alternating in color between yellow and red in a straight line. The course is out and back and out and back again in a clock wise fashion. The water was 77 degrees, and unlike the Quassy Mile in June there were many in wet suits.

The first leg out I just took it as a regular swim, three quarters of a mile easy, do it all the time. At the turn point I was glad to see I was not last, although I did see there were only a few people behind me. The next leg was also fairly easy, just doing my mile and a half, feline good. I even had to caution myself to slow down a little as I approach the turn around. No need to race or pass the swimmer in front of me. As I swing by the raft, I grabbed my drink and guzzled, then went right back to swimming. I felt a little queasy as I tried to digest it.

On the third leg which I had though might be the hardest I tried to think about different topics between each buoy, that worked fairly well, my left arm was starting to strain to the point I was a little worried about it, but though t maybe it would just be a matter of not being able to lift it the next day. Once I passed the two mile point, I started to feel more serious fatigue. Swimming around for the home stretch, on what I thought would be a celebratory, I am actually going to finish this race and reach my goal feeling, suddenly became a struggle. I had a hard time concentrating on my chosen topic, and I felt myself drifting off line. I felt some nausea, and a little bit of panic like maybe I won’t make this. I ended up just having to focus on the next buoy. The only thing in my mind became red buoy, red buoy, red buoy, until I reached it and then it was yellow buoy, yellow buoy. Instead of sighting every three strokes, I sighted every other stroke so I could keep my focus on the buoy. Getting closer, getting closer. The only issue I had was the kayakers sometimes positioned themselves in front of the buoys so when I looked up to sight there was suddenly no buoys visible, which was disorienting. Fortunately, the kayakers after several more strokes would drift away and I could focus again on my talisman buoy.

It wasn’t until the last buoy when I could see the finish area that I felt better and increased my stroke. I swam in and fortunately they had two people in the water to offer a hand getting out, which I accepted. I finished in 1:54:56.

It took me awhile to get my wet suit off, but fortunately I didn’t have to hop on the bike. I guzzled warm Gatorade from my backpack and I laid down on my towel for awhile before I felt strong enough to tackle the walk up the steep hill to where the refreshments were.

I don’t know if the 11 o’clock race went off on schedule or not, but I would not have been in shape to do another mile and a half this time. I drank two Gatorades and ate some of the pastries and muffins then went over to the amusement park to meet my family.

Today, my left arm is surprisingly okay, just my neck is somewhat stiff. Before I commit to doing all three next year, I will have to train more.

Results