I CAME. I SWAM. I CONQUERED.

I did it mother fuckers!  I swam in my first marathon swim… and I loved it!!   

For those wondering what the fuck is a marathon swim.  It’s a 10k (6.2 miles) swim or longer done in open waters without a wetsuit or any other external aids such as flippers. 

I picked El Cruce Cancun 10k as my first marathon swim for its location, ocean swim, point to point, and being 100% a self-supported race.  Most marathon swims require you to have your own kayaker.  The kayaker helps the swimmer with navigation, sighting, fueling, and pretty much becomes the swimmer’s lifeline. 

For El Cruce 10k, personal kayaks or escorts are not allowed.  Instead, a swim safety buoy is mandatory for each swimmer as it becomes the swimmer’s personal lifeline and a place to tow hydration/fueling for the race.  Swimmers have to do their own navigation and sighing from Cancun to Isla Mujeres.

All the race logistics for El Cruce Cancun excited me, especially since this was my first ever swim race and I wanted it to be fucking epic!

After completing 17x IRONMAN 70.3s, 5x IRONMANs, and 4x stand-alone marathons, this athlete was ready for a new challenge… and guess what?  I loved everything about my race and cannot wait for my next open water long distance swim adventure!

I did it!!! I swam my first marathon swim race! Data downloaded from my Garmin Fenix watch on race day.

RACE RECAP (TIME:  3:09 RANK:  9) 

El Curce 10k starts from Playa Caracol in Cancun’s hotel zone and finishes in the Aquatic Fun Day in Isla Mujeres.  Race is capped at 1000 swimmers and race sold out.  There were 17 different countries representing in this race with many Olympian swimmers from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and USA.   

On race morning, the water temperature was 26C/80F with strong winds.  We were warned to expect strong tides and tons of chop and swell.  Navigation was key to avoid over swimming the finish line.   

Race was delayed that morning. They had us staged outside the beach on the ferry’s parking lot. Eventually they called the men to line up at the beach.  Their wave kicked off at 8AM.  Then the females were called to the beach.  Our wave started at 8:30AM.

Both waves were a mass swim start, which creats a bit of chaos and bottlenecking for the first couple of meters.  For the first few 100 meters we had big red buoys to sight but unfortunately due to the heavy winds and currents the buoys had drifted out of the preferred swim trajectory.  We all had to sight often from the very beginning of the crossing.  

We were instructed to sight the biggest and tallest white building on Isla Mujeres.  This big white block is the only building you can see from Cancun making it easy to sight from 10k away.  Our 2nd landmark to sight once we got closer to Isla Mujeres was 2 red buildings to the left of the white building.  The 3rd landmark we would spot was an antenna tower to the left of the 2 red buildings.

All 3 landmarks were not the finish line but reference points for the crossing. 

Once you were close to the island and swimming parallel to it, our 4th and final landmark to sight was a big red slide.  The slide was part of the Aquatic Fun Day where the finish line and our loved ones were awaiting us! 

The route was also marked by moving boats carrying bright yellow flags.  These boasts were moving with the swimmers for safety purposes.  On route there were 3 large boats anchored with a red flag marking 3k, 5k, and 7k.  These boats had hydration/fuel for any swimmer that might need the extra help.  I saw 1 of the 3 anchored boats and only because a female swimmer grabbed me asking for water.  We were approaching the 5k midpoint and I told her to swim to the large anchored boat for water. 

It was at this moment that I made my first mistake in my navigation. 

RACE STRATEGY

My race strategy was simple.  For the first half swim relaxed, stay on top of my hydration/fueling plan and sight often for the big white building.  For the second half, it is when I would officially start racing.

For the first half the swim, the swim felt “easy” but things shifted rapidly on the second half. 

The strong winds that morning created big waves for all swimmers especially in the middle of the crossing.  It was almost impossible to sight while freestyling.  I had to switch from freestyle to breast stroke each time I wanted to sight. 

After directing the thirsty female swimmer to the large anchored boat for hydration, I remember vividly swimming away from her and the other swimmers.  In my head I was following the instructions to start sighting for the 2nd landmark even though everybody else was staying to my right.    

Not many people know this about me, but I don’t see well from far.  I actually own a pair of glasses that I keep in my car to drive at night or when I need to read signs.  So, in my head when I saw the 2nd landmark, I was fuck it, IF I CAN see this landmark, it means it’s time to swim towards it.

This was my biggest mistake in this race.  I started sighting for the 2nd building WAY to soon. 

Our instructions from the online race briefing on which buildings to sight for the 10k crossing.

When I realized what happened, I found myself completely isolated from other swimmers and boats.  It was in this very moment that I felt 100% alone.  If something were too happen to me, nobody would know.  All I could control was how I reacted. 

Right away, I went back to sighting for the big white building in order to correct my navigation.  It took 3 lonely kilometers before I rejoined the other swimmers and boats.  During those lonely kilometers, I never felt fear.  In the contrary, I felt this immense sensation of freedom, protection, and peace.  I felt very close to my father.

For those that don’t know, my father took his own life during my last year of university.  My world was shattered with his suicide.  It took me many years to forgive, let go and reconnect.  It actually took me to almost losing my own life to realize I was surviving and not living. What I felt in El Cruce was magnificent. A total connection with self, nature, and loved ones.

Life is an absolute journey with living it to the fullest! For me, it’s through this endurance races that help me navigate life. They force me to stay in the present. They keep reminding me there is no finish line.

This is my 10k swim race route downloaded from my Garmin Fenix watch.

FUELING

My second mistake in El Cruce 10k was how I carried my fuel. 

It was mandatory to swim with a swim safety buoy for both boat visibility and to carry hydration/fuel.  I bought the Zone3 safety buoy that has a dry bag donut.  In the dry bag I stored all my fuel and hydration for the crossing as well as a pair of extra swim goggles.

My plan was to fuel/hydrate every 30-min by flipping on my back, grab my swim buoy, open the dry bag, and while kicking to keep progressing forward I would fuel.  My husband called this maneuver the otter.  It takes a bit of practice to open and close the dry bag while treading water but the hardest part was opening gels.  For race day, I decided to pre-open all my gels to save time. 

My best feed was by far the first one.  It was efficient and fast.  On the 2nd feed I noticed my dry bag was no longer dry.  Water had entered it either from me not closing the dry bag properly or from one of my tailwind hydration flasks.  I grabbed a gel, washed it down with tailwind, closed the dry bag tight and kept going.

On the 3rd feed I opened the dry bag to only find all my pre opened Maurten gels floating in their own ocean. I tried to find one gel that still had something inside the wrapper.  They were all pretty much gone so I squeezed as much out from each opened gel. I took some extra time in this feed to dump all the water from inside my dry bag to avoid dragging more unwanted weight.  Then I placed everything back inside, drank some tailwind, closed the dry bag tight, and kept swimming. 

The next 2 feeds were quick since all I had left was tailwind.  I wasn’t concerned about losing the gels.  I knew my fueling/hydration plan was conservative.  My goal through fueling for endurance racing is always to minimize stress which then helps recovery faster!

THE VIEW

Regardless of the chop, currents, tides, navigation, fueling, and getting stung by little jellyfish… I enjoyed every second of this race! 

The view is mind blowing! 

You are swimming in crystal clear water and you see the bottom of the ocean during the entire crossing!  The depth gets up to 40-ft and the marine life is abundant.  At times you forget you are actually racing versus snorkeling.  I saw so many tropical fish of all colors and shapes, starfish, a baby barracuda, manta rays of different colors, so many shapes and colors of corals.  Other swimmers saw sea turtles and you get to swim over an underwater museum (which I missed with my navigation error).

Lots of people asked if I saw any sharks. I was mentally prepared. But the answer is no. I did not see any sharks.

What I was not prepared for, was for my tongue to feel numb and swollen post-race.  Apparently, this is very common with long distance ocean swims but nothing that a good old cold Coca-Cola cannot fix by neutralizing the salts.  The second non sexy post-race thing was having a really funny swim cap tan line on my forehead.  Actually, it was really funny, as you could spot at a distance all the marathon swimmers around the island, on the ferry, and at the airport with their distinctive swim cap forehead tan line!!!

BEYOND A RACE

El Cruce 10k was more than a race for me.  At age 4 I almost drowned in a pool while my family and I were in vacation.  Later, my mom taught me and my siblings how to swim breast stroke.  That was the extend of my swimming capabilities.

It was only eight years ago, that I got into swimming through triathlons.  I registered for IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel in 2015 as a cyclist looking for a new challenge.  I quickly learned how to freestyle by watching YouTube videos.  Swimming was my weakness.  Today, after swimming for 8 consecutive years all year round and having hired swim coaches to correct my form, I have made swimming my strength especially when it comes to open water swimming.    

Yet, for the past 8 years, I’ve always called myself a triathlete swimmer or an adult swimmer.  But ever since doing El Cruce 10k, you will never hear me again introduce myself as a non-swimmer swimmer.  I am owning my swim strength.  I am a fucking swimmer. 

WAIT… I am a marathon swimmer mother fuckers!