If I take one more stroke, it'll be the deepest lake I have ever swam around

Apologies to Samwise Gamgee for stealing/amending his quote about leaving the Shire with Frodo in "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring".

Six of us ventured to Lake Placid for three days of half-ironman triathlon training June 30-July 2. The weather was always on our minds as rain and thunder were forecast on and off throughout the weekend. We arrived Friday afternoon and before checking into our motel (The Hungry Trout - Wilmington) immediately began swimming in Mirror Lake. Jan was kind enough to kayak while four swam and one went shopping (she is "only" running the 13.1 mile leg as part of a relay team).

It's nice that the town sets up buoys for the IM swim course knowing that hundreds of people come there to train for the full IM or 1/2 IM. It's amazing how far away 800 yards looks across a lake. Many thoughts ran through my head while swimming;

1. I'm glad I have a wetsuit on. (bouyancy)
2. I'm glad Jan is nearby with the kayak.
3. This isn't Canandaigua Lake where I can stand up when swimming the buoys. Mirror Lake is up to 65 feet in depth, though its' average depth is much less. Still, if you get tired, there is no standing.
4. There are fish in this lake. Bass, trout, perch and more. I don't want to see fish, unless it's deep fried and surrounded by cole slaw, fries and buried in tartar sauce with an ubu beer nearby. Hopefully the noise of me swimming is scaring them away.
5. My sighting of buoys is poor. In part this is due to my goggles always fogging over, the buoys being small and me being scared of hitting another swimmer. This causes me to swim further than necessary.
6.  Lake Placid, the movie, wasn't based on fact, right? No crocodiles in this lake. Then why do I keep thinking about this possibility while swimming?
7. I hope Joanne, who is holding my wallet, cash and credit cards, isn't going on a major shopping spree while I'm in the water.
8. I'm swimming great! Fifty yards later.. I'm so slow, and back again. But I did get out of the water feeling pretty good, not overly tired. Something about training, maybe it does work?
9. I'm sorry Jan didn't get to swim (threatening clouds/rain moved in just after we finished). But at least she swam the course before (two loops) for her Ironman race a few years ago.
10. I'm really glad the rest of us had the chance to swim the course. My confidence has increased regarding the swim. I won't be fast, but hopefully will be steady and keep my breathing in check.