From Cold Swim to Comeback

The Mission:

Gina found her way into the social network of triathletes in Tyler, Texas a few years into her fitness and weight loss journey. What had started as daily walks and joining a rec swim team to get back to the sport she’d loved as a teen, developed into a deep sense of camaraderie and support with other athletes in her area. She had completed a sprint triathlon before, and long runs, rides, and swims individually. When others in the group picked the Boulder Ironman, she felt ready to jump in. She and two other athletes worked with the same coach throughout the training block, often completing long workouts together, and inviting others from the community to join. Gina loved the training period: hanging with friends, keeping each other inspired and motivated, and sharing their progress as a group.

They planned the trip like a family vacation— a big rented house with the athletes, their spouses and kids. They spent the week in Colorado, acclimating to the altitude, sharing meals and meeting up with others in their community who were lodging elsewhere. 

The Attempt:

A few days before the race, Gina’s coach came to the house in Boulder to discuss race strategy. 

She asked Gina about her wetsuit for the swim. It was forecast to be in the 50s on the morning of the race. Gina had never considered that she might need a wetsuit to swim in the reservoir in Boulder, coming from Texas, where the water is always warm, and somehow it hadn’t come up with her coach before. They decided that it was much too late to get a wetsuit now, as Gina had never swam in one before and throwing in a variable like that this late in the game would be risky. Gina had been a competitive swimmer in high school and felt confident that whatever happened, she could complete the swim. The group went out for a practice swim in the days before the race—it was cold, but Gina was sure it would be doable. 

Facing the Cold Reality: The Swim

When she lined up beneath misty grey skies in the sea of wetsuit-clad athletes the morning of the race, she noticed one other swimmer in a speedo. She tried not to get in her head about it—that wouldn’t help anything. Her plan was to start off with a breaststroke, until she got warm enough in the 60 degree water and transition to a front crawl. She ended up doing the breaststroke for the entire 2.4 miles because she never got warm enough to put her face down in the water without a feeling of shock running through her body. 

Gina’s husband was worried about her later than expected arrival, but she finished the swim well within the middle of the pack. Her foundation as a swimmer carried her through nearly two hours of unexpected breaststroke. She pushed herself to keep moving as the cold burrowed into her muscles and bones.

ADVERTISEMENT

JOIN THE EVERYDAY ATHLETE CLUBHOUSE – RECEIVE A DISCOUNT CODE FOR 25% OFF BLUESEVENTY GEAR

Battling the Elements: The Bike Leg

By the time Gina was riding on her bike, the steely grey skies still offered no warmth. She had managed only a few bites of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had packed for the transition. When the sun finally peeked out many miles later, she reveled in its rays piercing through the chill air to reach her shoulders. She pedaled along, shivering in the wind, eating at regular intervals until her food supply ran out before the first resupply station. Her stomach protested the exertion, cramping and knotting as she bent over the handlebars. She pulled off to the side of the course at mile 62, planning to dismount her bike and stretch, in hopes that would help with the cramps. She never quite got unclipped and toppled sideways into the grass, still attached to her bike.  

The Call:

Volunteers came to help Gina disentangle and get upright. They shuffled her to a nearby medical tent where she was provided food and hydration. She gratefully ate snacks, wrapped in a warm blanket, until she saw the volunteers loading her bike into the back of a truck. That’s when she realized her race was being ended for her. Tears rolled down her face as she ate to refuel her depleted body and had her temperature taken—92 degrees after more than 60 miles of biking. A while later, she and her husband drove away from the course. The rented house which had been so full all week with her friends and teammates, now echoed in silence as she showered and changed into street clothes. When she felt ready, they headed back to the cheering section at one of the aid stations in the running stage and Gina greeted her friends as they came through. Some of them asked what had happened, but she just told them to keep their head in the race and offered words of encouragement.