Tri girl

Last night I registered for my first triathlon and I'm nervous about it. Can I finish? Will I survive? My biggest fear is over the open water swim. Open Water...wasn't that a really scary movie based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their dive boat inadvertently left them? I don't want to spoil the ending for anyone but I don't think they survived! Just the words open water raise my stress level.

Now I'm an okay swimmer and I certainly won't be swimming in shark infested waters at least not at first. My goal is to get into the Ironman Kona in 2012, then I may have to think about sharks. But the odds in Hawaii are in my favor. There are 1,800 triathletes in Kailua-Kona bay that morning. How many sharks can there be? Wait don't answer that, I really don't want to know.
For now my swim is a 1/4 mile swim in a lake, no sharks. Just a lot of dark, murky water. I've signed up for the All Womens, (yes, I'm doing this one without Robert), Tri-it version of the triathlon which amounts to shortest time in the water. I'm attending swim clinics to improve my technique and transition from pool to open water. I'm also training with an awesome group from Northwest Personal Training and participating in a mock triathlon to work on putting it all together. I'm doing all the right things but still I'm scared. Any suggestions?