I was fortunate enough to make the lottery for the Bay Swim this year on June 8th. The bay swim starts at Sandy Point on the west shore and proceeds to follow in-between the Bay Bridge spans to a marina on the opposite shore.

Which was unfortunate was the fact that I got sick with a fever and an upset stomach Wednesday night. I ended up missing both Thursday and Friday from work. Friday night I was wondering if I was even go to make it to the event. At least Saturday I was able to make it back to work and then afterwards drove to the pool to test how I felt. After about 400 meters I felt ok, but could notice that my force and endurance just weren't there any more. However I felt like I could finish it, just not in decent time I had planned.

Sunday morning I drive out to race, park my car, got on the bus and got shuttled over to the starting point. At this point I noticed I left my car lights on. Excellent! Least of my worries right now. Luckily enough the bay was pretty calm.

The start was pretty rough for me, already being fatigued from being ill, I really didn't have the force to jockey with the other swimmers. So after being punished for going out in the front and made it to the back of the pack. My HR was up and when I did a sighting at the one mile marker nobody was around. Not a good feeling. Fear of cut off times kept going through my brain. I didn't remember what they were. (apparently I was well with in the window) Sightings were a no brainer on this swim, you have to stay in between the two bridge spans, think of it like a giant swim lane. Actually staying in between the spans is harder than it sounds because of current. As I said before my force was shot, and not being able to muscle through the current made some parts difficult. A little after mile 2 the current slackened and I made excellent time to mile marker 3. At this time I started hearing the high pitched squalling in the water. Thinking it was a boat coming to pick me up I look around and see nothing. Then I realize it must be dolphins, after about the 30 minutes of their squalling the quaintness grew thin. Somewhere before mile 4 I see a sight for sore eyes. The FOOD BOAT. Full of Gatorade, gels, and other goodies for the tired swimmer. Apparently my definition of FOOD BOAT and their definition are very different. I swam up to the boat and got a dixie cup of water, and they offered me some vanilla wafers, but I was bit skeptical of food I hadn't tried before. Regardless of the lack of my imagined goodies, I am very thankful to boaters who came out to the race to supply the swimmers with food and water. The current changed directions after the food boat and my endurance started to wavier, I found a kayaker and grabbed on. Talked a little bit, rested for a minute and then went on. At mile 4 I saw the other food boat, however it was on the other side of the "lane" a good 500 meters away and against the current. I passed on it, the thought of subs and sodas at the finish kept me going. Before making the final 800 meters I hung out on another kayaker, who gave me some encouragement. I excited the spans and started swimming to the marina, which still seemed very far away. After about 400 meters I realized that it was shallow enough to stand. That felt good. I swam the rest of the way and was excited enough about finished to attempt some porpoising in the shallows. It was a great experience and the RD and team did a first rate job putting together. I wolfed down a foot long sub and 2 doughnuts, and then took a look at my damage. Even with body glide I had serve chaffing from the wetsuit along my neck and armpits. Plus really bad chaffing from the HR monitor strap. Excellent day, a very unique race, and I was just happy to finish it, even recovering from being sick. Great Times.