Oopps, wrong positioning for the swim!

Race number 2 was mumbles tri, an idylic setting and again another calm morning. the water was bloody cold in this one and this was the race where it all very nearly went horribly wrong. entering the water for the warm up i was towards the front of the mass and as the countdown to race start began i realised i was bang up the front for the swim - oopps!!!!!! swim is my worst element and i have anxieties about being swam over, swallowing water whilst gulping for air and ultimately drowning. Needless to say i knew i needed to move sharpish! i started the race but because of my anxiety i couldn't get my breathing settled and knew i needed to move over to the side out of the way. as it was i was able to get to the side without any mishaps but i was severely out of breath and had doubts in my head about this being too hard and i wouldn't be able to do it. but then i thought, no, everyone is watching, you can't get out before the race has even hardly begun. I also thought, no curry for you tonight if you wimp out now! (post-race indulgence what i look forward to!) the lifeguard on a surfboard was great, asking if i wanted to hold on - no chance! i'm not sure how long i was over the side, felt like a few minutes but then i slowly started off again and got into a rhythm. by now i was way behind but i didn't panic i just got into a pace and was happy to just get this race done. What did annoy me though is that on the race course as i was rounding the final buoy i could see everyone had streamed down the middle of the course, missing out the final 2 buoys meaning most people swam a lot less distance than me.

anyway, out of the water, had some cheers which was nice but felt a tad embarrassed at how slowly the swim was. then faffed a bit in transition - glasses or not, hmmmm, decided not as it was a bit gloomy and possible specs of water. from this point on though everything went well. i caught up loads on the bike, this type of course suited me as i'm strong on hills so lunnon hill i was able to take loads here, even having time to ask the guy who had fallen off and into the gutter if he was ok - no chance of me stopping though whilst mid-flow on lunnon hill! what was great was that the marhsals had stopped the traffic coming down the hill, which is a godsend when it is 20 degree gradient, narrow, and with an adverse camber bend in it! so, came storming in off the bike and out on the run but felt the bike in my legs this time, probably because of the hills, and the run 2.5k out to the turn point felt a helluva long way! i could see the women in front of me but didn't think i had enough time to catch them. as it was i was only a handful of seconds off 4th place and if i hadn't mucked the swim up, nor had the majority swim a short route, i would have made 4th. However, i learnt a lesson, start where i feel comfortable, and not disadvantage myself from the start. i'll never be the best swimmer so i have to work to my strengths.