Taking a salty sip before the big drink

We're inside 48 hours now until start time.  Rob and I got up early today and went to the race site to test out the salty waters of the Gulf.  I was a bit nervous about the waves crashing in, and rightfully so.  The first 100 meters can be a bit sketchy.  I got a few mouthfulls (and nosefulls) of salty water right at the beginning.  After that, though, it got a little easier to get into a rhythm.  The water is about 70 degrees, which is not much cooler than the swimming pool. 

But did I mention that the Gulf is salty?  It has waves, too.  I've played around with waves before, but I've never tried to swim right into them.  I did my best surfer impersonation and tried to duck under the break.  A couple of waves about knocked my goggles off my face.  And it only takes one mouthful of that salty water to ruin your day.  Coming back to the beach, when you get behind a big wave, you can't even see the tall buildings on the shore.  I literally thought I had turned around and was swimming the wrong way.  I suspect sighting will be very difficult on race day.

On the bright side, just getting out and swimming in the Gulf did a lot for my confidence.  I took some time to just bob up and down with the waves and get a feel for the rhythm.  If there weren't 3,000 other people swimming with us on race day, it might be a fun swim.

We snapped a few photos for posterity's sake.  Ignore the fact that we're both wearing women's flip-flops.  Iron Men are sensitive like that.