My Monday swims are always a bit up in the air. I have my Lift & Sprint class in the morning and while on the other mornings I have my class (Wednesday and Friday), I like to go straight from class to the bulb for a quick swim, Monday mornings are reserved for Hazel. Her… Read More Low Tide at the Marina (Day 59)
Kevin returned from three weeks in England while Hazel and I were at the mountain bike race and today we headed down to the marina for a lovely day of sailing. Our friend Johnny came, too, which made it an even better day of sailing for me because I didn’t have to do any of… Read More Angel Island (Day 58)
Today began in the pre-dawn hours with Hazel and I waking up in a hotel room in Modesto where we’d spent the night before in order to make it to her mountain bike race by 6:30 am. The pain of the early hour was tempered by how incredibly beautiful the awakening day was. Mountain bike… Read More Turlock Lake (Day 57)
The first time I saw the swimmers at Aquatic Park, I was chaperoning a 5th grade overnight field trip to a 300 ft, square-rigged tall ship called the Balclutha. Built in 1886 for the grain trade, the Balclutha is now a national historic landmark vessel. When those 30 fifth graders from Cragmont Elementary School stepped… Read More Aquatic Park (Day 56)
It was especially peaceful at the bulb this morning. Angie and I arrived as the sun was starting to warm a morning that began coated in a thin layer of pale, glittering frost. Colleen was already there doing her PT exercises. The wild waves from earlier in the week, which had calmed yesterday, were nonexistent… Read More War and Peace (Day 55)
I had to scrape a thick layer of ice off my car before I could drive down to the water today. This week is bringing a whole new level of cold to shake up us mild-weather-acclimated Californians. At the bulb, an icy wind blew, but not as strong as yesterday. The water was also calmer—energetic,… Read More Swimming and Reading (Day 54)
Today was COLD. For the first time since my swims up north, my legs ached as I waded in. A couple of swimmers were coming in as we were going out and a quick chat revealed that they’d been swimming since dawn (an hour and twenty minutes) and one of them was swimming skins (she’s… Read More It’s Cold! (Day 53)
My phone died yesterday and I stayed up late last night trying to figure out how to fix it. Then I woke up early and tried some more. Hazel and I had a plan to swim together later in the day at the pool and so I was going to skip my morning bay swim,… Read More Technical Difficulties (Day 52)
It was wild and wavy today. The water was a collage of greens (I promise this was true–even if my pictures are a study in gray), the clouds heavy and dark. The wind whipped. Because it was a Sunday, there were many swimmers gathering at the bulb and we all stared at that water in… Read More Roller Coaster (Day 51)
It’s my fiftieth swim! My fiftieth swim on my swimming quest in honor of my fiftieth birthday. It seems like I should have celebrated this milestone somehow, but instead, I am only just realizing its significance as I sit down to write. Isn’t that often the way? Maybe it’s as it should be. It’s in… Read More My 50th Swim! (Day 50)