Day in the Life: Marcia Benjamin, Days 5-7

OAKLAND, California, May 21. BAY Area Masters swimming Marcia Benjamin closes out her run in the "A Day in the Life" series on SwimmingWorldMagazine.com. In her final edition, she recaps a weekend that included an open water competition at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, Calif. She also discusses the five-year Masters cycle as swimmers age up. Finally, she writes about her fondness for awards and trophies.

We'd like to take time out to thank Marcia for a sensational week of daily recaps. Her quick wit has had us laughing, and we're thankful that she stepped up to the plate and volunteered.

If any swimmers out there would like to take a turn as a Day in the Lifer, please contact Jason Marsteller.

Friday, May 18, 2007 – Sunday, May 20, 2007: Days 5-7
Let's just get this right up front – I got second in my age group at last Saturday's open water swim at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa, Calif. Like most Masters swimmers, we have five-year mini-lifecycles. The first couple of years, we age up, we compete like crazy and then at the end of our cycle we drop off and pretend to be concerned with our family – like some sort of government official who wants to spend more time with his loved ones after he is found with a bloody hatchet and a bag full of heroin.

As I'm in the first year of my new age group, I'm in the former group. I started swimming again in January of 2006, because I knew that when the FINA World Championships came to my neighborhood in Stanford, I would be in a new age group, even though my birthday hadn't actually happened (long course rules).

Though I'd swam two or three competitions in the last 10 years since my daughter was born, I'd only trained for a month here and there, no sort of training program that actually included a base. So I thought that I'd do it right for my 2006 New Year's resolution. There were probably smarter ways to commence the training regimen than doing the USMS One-Hour Postal Swim, but it seemed to me to be pretty easy. I mean, I couldn't be out there longer than anyone else, right?

I climbed into the Funkytown pool and pushed off. My plan was to do 450 yards freestyle and 50 backstroke, just to give my lats a break. That only worked once. I had gone past oxygen debt and officially filed for Chapter 11. At 500 yards, I stopped for some water and then only could make about 300 before I had to roll over on my back again. It was like torture grinding out the 500s, and by the time the hour mercifully finished I was seeing the water separate into little hydrogens and oxygens, like angels and devils, though I couldn't tell who the good guys were. I had no idea how I'd actually climb out of the pool, nor how I could possible count for my husband who was to go next.

But after that, it got better each week, and I ended the season at Worlds with a fourth-place finish in the Open Water swim. So now I'm still in the youngish end of my five-year mini-lifecycle, three of my biggest rivals haven't aged up with me yet (I know all their birthdays, like some sort of weird history buff), and it's time for me to race a lot.

Spring Lake went well. I seeded myself with the second wave that went off, instead of my usual first. Sometimes the waves are predetermined, like under/over 40 or men/women, but at Spring Lake it was by time. When I'm in the first wave of fast swimmers, I usually end up near the back and have nice open water, a good pack to trail, and no one to push me. Last Saturday in the second wave, I was with the front pack and banging it up for most of the race. I'm not sure which worked out better yet.

Spring Lake is distinguished by two things: a spring somewhere, I guess, and the highest concentrations of weeds since the "before" picture in some pesticide ad. I guess no one would come to recreate if they called it Big Gross Scratchy Weed Lake. Between the shore and the first buoy the weeds brushed against the swimmers every stroke we took, but between the first and second buoys they were hanging off my arms and legs and pulling at my goggles. I felt like some sort of Sasquatch. I tried kicking harder to see if I could shake them off but I ended up grabbing a handful on my leg and ripping. I think rich people pay to get treatments like this in spas. California herbal exfoliating pack.

There appear to be two kinds of Masters swimmers: ones that like receiving awards and think that they're all nice; and those that scoff at them, blow off the awards ceremony itself, or trudge forward to receive it and then toss it in the back of their closet. I'm one of those people that wished they lived in a round house so that I would have more walls to put things up on!

I love the big ribbons with rosettes, I love the plaques and I love the medals with neck ribbons. Of course, I only wear them when I coach at Laney College (and maybe at lunch after the race, when I volunteer in my daughter's school, and maybe when I just want a little pick-me-up) – it's not like I wear them to the grocery store or anything. As if I'd show off.

In Pacific Masters, we have a season-long points competition for open water swimming. At the end of the year, we hand out additional awards to the top three in each age group who have scored the most points in the 15+ event season. Since I keep track of the points, I generally do pretty well. I mean, I enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow swimmers, especially when it's the last event of the year and I have my placing assured.

So, every year, I have people who look at the award and roll their eyes. I even have people who ask me what it is first before they tell me who they are. What is not to like about free stuff, folks?! It isn't like I give out herring picklers or 8-track tapes. Is it so hard to smile and say thank you for a mug? Are you hydroponic??

Well at Spring Lake, it was nice rosettes. I'm looking at it right now (in the mirror). It was a good week of training and a great finish. This blog has been part of a good week for me, too. Thanks to Jason Marsteller for enabling me and to my family for putting up with me ("Sorry, just find one of Daddy's old t-shirts to clean up the broken glass/rare fossil/blood; Mommy's on the computer!"). And thanks to my new friends. Okay, friend. If you're e-mailing from prison, good luck with the rest of the life term.

Slacking off again, IM

Marcia Benjamin

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