Hello Lane 6 babes--Well Spring Lake was truly an experience. Quite a drive. Water was about 70 degrees. Weather was hot. Polar Bear and I arrived very early but still there was an a buzz of excitement in the air with everyone queuing up for their numbers and t-shirts. The event was extremely well run and went off with minimal hitches. It had a very collegial and relaxed feeling to it though the competitive spirit was high. Lots of what I have come to know as the "regulars" at the masters events were there. No neoprenies. Well, maybe one was there but the tri's there were in their regular suits and not neoprene.
And as we found out today, Polar Bear took home a 3rd place ribbon in the race!! So hats off to her for an outstanding swim!!
I had thought Spring Lake was named that because it was fed by springs. However, I am now thinking that it was named that because it is most lake like in the Spring time when there is lots of water. It is a very lovely, idyllic sort of small lake that I am sure supports lots of birds and other kinds of wild life. An excellent setting for a picnic and swimming and for those into trail running lots of those around as well.
I had thought Spring Lake was named that because it was fed by springs. However, I am now thinking that it was named that because it is most lake like in the Spring time when there is lots of water. It is a very lovely, idyllic sort of small lake that I am sure supports lots of birds and other kinds of wild life. An excellent setting for a picnic and swimming and for those into trail running lots of those around as well.
Lots of grass on the ground to spread out on and lots of grass in the water to swim through. But it was a very fun event despite the challenging botanical features.
There were 3 heats and we were in the third. The race was pretty uneventful. It was a swim down to the right and then around a tightly bunched set of 3 buoys then up the lake to the final 3 buoys and then back to the finish. You see in the picture with polar bear a look to the right where there was the first set of buoys and then the other pic above it shows the finish taken from about the same spot.
It was a water start with each heat staggered by about 5 minutes. And it was unclear to me whether we were supposed to stay inside the yellow buoys to avoid the water grass or stay outside. But we were cautioned that the wise do not stray close the edge of the water because of branches and the like. Fortunately they did not mention water snakes so I was very happy about that. However, it seemed that the path of choice for the faster swimmers was nearer to the edge so I may have erred on that one! Yet, everyone seemed to have some story about where the water grass affixed itself. The faster swimmers seemed to have it stuck in their goggles... (heads down... well done!!) and the slower swimmers such as moi had it in their watch bands--far more preferable in my estimate.
Polar Bear put in quite a good swim and just kept to her pace and swam and her race. Outstanding Polar bear!!
I struck out and felt I had a good pace too and really felt that I didn't have a lot of navigation problems so it was just a great morning for a nice swim! (: It was a very "clean" race in my opinion and sportsmanship was high in everyone's mind.
The drive back over the bridge was incredible with fog wafting in over the gg bridge and all of the sail boats out in the bay and the breakfast in town was very good too. I would definitely recommend this event to people for next year. Well run, fun and a great location. (:
