Friday, September 8-4:00 p.m. (34 hours to go)
It was late in the afternoon, but the sun was still shining on the water in Nice.
It was time to go test the new swim goggles … and then get ready for “Shabbos in Nice France.”
(Did you wear flip flops this time?)
Absolutely! The beaches of Nice are not sandy … they are covered in silver dollar sized pebbles and those hurt. At the water’s edge I slipped off my Bike4Chai flip flops. I fitted the new goggles on my face and looked back to see my footwear float off like Wilson in the Tom Hank’s movie, “Castaway.”
I reached out in waist deep water and grabbed the blue and yellow footwear.
(Prophetic sign that you would fail on Sunday?)
I don’t believe in that stuff. No omens; no jinxes. We make our own luck by preparing for everything that can go wrong.
(That makes no sense.)
Control everything that you can and let go of what you can’t; that is in Hashem’s hands.
(OK, that makes sense.)
As I swam parallel to the shore, my mind drifted back to the conversation I had with Joanna at the expo. She was the reason I was here. She was the person who had told me three months before that if I finished Ironman UK, I would be awarded a spot at the Ironman World Championship. When I told her that she was the reason I was here in Nice for the World Championship she said,
“No, you made this happen.”
I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea and the line from the Second Book of Shmuel, 12:7 “Natan said to David, ‘You are the man!’ came to mind.
(Did you think, “I’m the man!” like Jack in Titanic. You know, it’s all about you?)
You misunderstood the line in this book of the Prophets.
Natan is telling David, you are here because God wills it. All of this is because God wills it. Everything so far has been because God wills it. I needed to focus on what I can control and trust in God.
(That is not the context of the story, you do know that?)
I know. I also know that I needed to focus. I get very distracted when I get deregulated and when I get enthusiastic.
(Which one were you feeling?)
Oh, I was flying. My mind was racing. I had been ecstatic since the bracelet went on my wrist. After 10 minutes in the water I decided that the goggles “checked out.”
(That’s all you needed?)
There was nothing I could do about the other thing.
(What other thing?)
We had heard that the swim might not be “wetsuit legal.”
(They give out moving violations, like when your car is not street legal?)
In the States, the thermal cut off for wearing a wetsuit is 78 F, but I wouldn’t want to swim in temps that warm.
(It sounds comfy.)
A 90-minute swim will create a lot of body heat, so for me, I need it to be under 75 F.
(What was the ocean temperature?)
75 F.
(What is the advantage of a wetsuit?)
A wetsuit makes you faster because it makes you float.
(It makes you buoyant)
The short swim was to check out my new goggles … and to feel the water.
(It’s just water.)
It’s the South of France. The water was the color of the aqua blue sky. It was saltier than I was used to for an ocean swim. Better to experience this now than on race day and lose my focus by the surprise.
(That’s great, but when was the last time you swam 2.4 miles without a wetsuit?)
Before we left New Jersey.
(Yes, but that was in a swimming pool. When was the last time you swam 2.4 miles in open water without the support of a wetsuit?)
Oh … 2014.
(Did you feel that you were ready to do this task again?)
It didn’t matter anymore what I felt. The wheels were set in motion and this was happening whether I was ready to or not. “Alea iacta est.”
(Who said that?)
Julius Casesar when he crossed the Rubican River.
“The die is cast.”
David Roher is a USAT certified triathlon and marathon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and veteran special education teacher. He is on Instagram @David Roher140.6. He can be reached at [email protected].
