If I’m going to get sick from this red tide, today will be the day it happens: I swallowed and/or inhaled so much water my lips are puckered. I swam with the 8 o’clock swimmers today; this time dragging Angie and Kim along with me. Gray skies with glimpses of the city greeted us, along… Read More Drinking in the Bay (Day 237)
Whitecaps and waves and a glistening clear view of the city after days of haze greeted me at the Albany Bulb today, telling me it was going to be a wild, wavy swim. It was. I headed out with the 8 o’clock crew, finding some folks at my pace and sticking close to them. Somehow… Read More Wild Ride (Day 233)
Back in 2008 when I was still living in Montreal, I joined a writing group in California in anticipation of our move there. I was taking a leave of absence from my job at McGill in order to try my luck at fiction writing and knew if I had any chance of taking myself seriously… Read More Celebrating Kira (Day 232)
My photos from today look like they were taken with black and white film; except for this first one where the colorful buoys and hats of the 8 o’clock swimmers are bright against the gray. It was a gray and blustery morning; stripping down to my bathing suit and plunging into the water was uninviting,… Read More Black-and-White (Day 231)
Angie and I joined the 8 o’clock swimmers this morning, though they shot off before we were even in the water, so it was just the two of us. Determined to get a good, hard swim in, we refrained from chatting and just swam. It wasn’t especially wavy, but the water still churned, and as… Read More The Bay (Day 225)
I went to sleep last night with the goal of waking up early for a 5:30am swim; we planned to watch the sun rise and the full moon set over the Golden Gate Bridge. I managed to wake up, but when I looked out the window, I saw nothing but clouds. So I sent a… Read More Solo Swim (Day 223)
The cold that has been nipping at my heels the last two days settled in for real today. I’ve been hacking and sniffling and sneezing and feeling like garbage all day. Multiple Covid tests continue to tell me it’s not that and I don’t really feel like I felt in April when I had Covid… Read More Swimming with a Cold (Day 220)
A highlight of each summer at the lake is the Lawrence Irany Great Relay Race. Now in its 36th year, the race starts off with a 6.5-kilometer bike ride along the windy, gravelly ups and downs of the lake roads. The biker then hands the baton (sweatband) over to a runner for a 4.5-kilometer trek… Read More The Great Relay Race (Day 211)
It was long distance swim at the club again today and this time I wasn’t the only swimmer. Yesterday’s rain had cooled the lake a couple of degrees and it felt good getting in; refreshing, invigorating, and like I wanted to swim hard. It was sunny and breezy and the lake was full of energy.… Read More Wavy Swim to the Island (Day 187)
This morning was my last swim in the bay until August. The Albany Bulb sent me off with a wild last ride through crazy waves, fog that rolled in and out, and blustery winds. The waves felt an especially fitting goodbye since I will be spending the next six weeks swimming in a (mostly) tranquil… Read More Goodbyes and WTFs (Day 175)