A last hurrah?

My 2K swim in Sylvan Lake yesterday may have been my last hurrah.  After three years without a swim, it did not go as planned and I'm not sure why because I have done at least six such swims without incident?  

Was it because of the disgusting algae that filled the shallow beach, through which we had to slog to get to the start?  Was it that I was not familiar with the course?  Was it because of the blazing sun that seared through my un-tinted goggles and blinded me on the leg out swimming east?  A bit of each, I'm afraid, but mostly the sun issue.  Anyway, it was a struggle.  

I came fourth woman out of four in my age group, over 60, but I am waaaaay over sixty and the other women looked much younger.  The dumb thing about this race was that it was plotted so you had to swim directly into a low sun on the way out, which literally and figuratively blind-sided me.  And my artificial lenses made it all the worse because they make everything sharper and harsher -- great in a pool, but not in open water facing the sun.  

I don't want to admit this, but here goes:  I could not finish and had to turn back halfway to the first 1,000-metre buoy.  Of course, the way back was easy because I was swimming west, leaving that blistering light behind me.  Now, if the course had been south to north, not west to east, I would have had no trouble because I could simply have shut my eyes when turning my head to the sun side.

But they did not design it that way, thus I had to slink back and face the hoards awaiting their "champions" to emerge victorious from the waves.  I was not one of them -- although it looked as though I had come first!  Worse, the organizers all ran around concerned because they thought I had been struggling and near drowning.  Didn't need that kerfuffle.  But they were all very nice and even gave me a pair of beautiful tinted goggles as consolation for the next time.  

So, dear readers and friends, Sylvan Lake and its sun overwhelmed and ultimately defeated me, but for some bizarre reason, a "DNF" (did not finish) does not appear after my name in the results?  They may have calculated my theoretical time, had I swum the entire course, or it could have been a technical glitch.  Personally, I think it was a sympathetic gesture by the kind organizers to avoid the humiliation with which a DNF would have tainted me?  

Either way, it's over and the results posted.  I have to thank my hubby for waiting on the beach and consoling me in defeat.  "At least you tried and remember, you were the oldest swimmer in the race of either gender."

But, as I said, this may have been my last hurrah.  

                                                

 Optimistically setting out with my Swim Buddy (note the algae, yuck!)

Post-race dejection

My ill-fated number 234, which won't come off -- a sad badge of defeat (and no, I didn't wear all my bling in the swim).

The beautiful consolation goggles given me, which I should have worn, but which will be perfect when we go to the cottage and I do my daily, open-water swim there.

I did get a great bathing cap, which will fool people into thinking I finished!  Hahahah!