Shark Attack

It could have been, but wasn't. Thankfully.

I was pleasantly engrossed in a 45 minute ocean swim this morning, minding my own business, so to speak, when I saw the fin about 15m away. I was about 1.5 km from shore, so running up onto the beach wasn't a realistic option. I was trying really hard to convince myself that it wasn't a shark, but the bugger was just cruising on the surface, and I though dolphins do, you know, dolphin sort of swimming. After a rather anxious 20 seconds or so I saw another 3-4 fins surface, and finally realised that I wasn't about to become fish breakfast after all.

Now I know why the race organisers recommend that you swim in pairs; it would have been nice to have put someone else between me and it.

I'm really enjoying the chance to do the ocean swimming. I'm normally very comfortable on my own swimming away from the shore, and here it is especially enjoyable, as there are a lot of smaller (ie less than shark sized) fish about, and the water is clear and warm - about 28 degrees or so I reckon. I'm reassured that in the history of the race, no one has been shark tucker.

Tonight it was a 75 minute run taking in the section heading into what is called the Energy Lab. I ran between the 18 and 33km points, or there about. The Energy Lab sits down a dead end road, and there is a slight, but noticeable decent down to the turn around point. Reaching this turn around is a key part of the race, as there is a very tangible feeling of heading home to the finish. The 30 km point is also a traditional point in the race where people fade badly, as the accumulated fatigue really starts to be noticed.

Its a lonely bit of road heading out to the Energy Lab - open and exposed. Today I could feel the heat of the road coming up through my shoes after about 5 minutes.