Tri for 30!! And the swim training begins!!

     I have decided to compete in a triathlon on October 13th. I kind of do an embarrassed snicker when I say it out loud like Yeah right! ha ha!  So I basically have 3 months to get into race shape... honestly I'm a little nervous.
     Swimming- not my strong suit.  I like to say that I swim well enough not to drown.  I imagine that I'm better at it than I'm giving myself credit for because once upon a time, I spent a summer as a certified lifeguard. Still not really sure how that happened! ha ha
     So today was my first day of swim training... state of mind: I'm going to show that pool who's boss!!
I squeeze into my trusty one piece suit... to be sure to look the part, then my first fail.
I know that Mason (2 year old son) had the goggles the other day at the pool, but now that I needed them, they have disappeared.  I had a very limited window of solo training time- left Eric to have diner solo with the boys, but wanted to be back by bed time. Searching for goggles that I had no idea where they were was not in the timeline.
     Second fail... I rode my bike to the pool (about .5 miles- no biggie) and am stopped at the gate by this lifeguard boy (and I mean boy, he couldn't be more than 15 years old and I'm not entirely sure that he could save me if it came down to it!) "Do you have your membership card" Me: "Nope" Boy: "are you a member?" Me: "uhhhh... sure, but I uhhh forgot my card?? Are you really going to make me ride my bike ALLL the way back to my house for the card?" Intimidated Boy "Just pretend you are handing me something" Definitely not getting saved now.
     There I was, pool side, serious swimmer suit, sans goggles, and thought: Ok, what now?  I jumped in and though how nice it was to be in a pool and not have anxiety about one of my kids drowning, being kidnapped, or running away... ok Sarah, get serious. Start swimming!
I thought I'd start out serious... freestyle.  But I didn't have goggles and am a chicken who won't open my eyes under water- it's a salt water pool and to be honest- it hurts and I still can't see anything anyway. So I have no idea how far I've gone but am guessing that I've gotten close to the other side.  Pop up and look around.  Not only am I only half way across, I'm 2 lanes over. Crap.  This is not going to work out.  I look over at the lifeguards who are now giving me the "are you serious?" look and I want to yell at them- my kid lost my goggles!! But anyway I kept going with my head up out of the water looking like a total rookie, but determined not to give up... and thats half the battle right??

Summary: Goggles are a must... along with no shame and a lot of determination to muscle through looking like a fool.  Michael Phelps must have looked like an idiot the first time he swam... probably when he was like 5.  Oh well... as my role model Joe Dirt says... gotta "Keep on Keepin on!!