I woke up to sunshine this morning and was immediately excited for my swim, but then I went outside and felt the howling wind. As I walked Lulu I had to brace myself against it; it was the kind of blusteriness that has people running down the streets chasing after their hats. I thought, no… Read More Bikini Beach, Vancouver (Day 94)
It was a beautiful Saturday morning at the Albany Bulb with the usual festiveness of lots of swimmers, lots of dogs playing on the beach, and people walking. Kim, Arwen, Angie, Colleen, Kaushik, and I all plunged in together. I ran into my friend, Andrea, on the way in and she took this picture of… Read More Beautiful Saturday (Day 85)
Each day at eight you can count on a group of swimmers—Marcia always and whichever gang of regular joins her that day—clamoring into the water at the Albany Bulb and going for a solid 30-50 minute swim. We are often getting in before or after them and always look on with awe as they swim… Read More 8 O’Clock Swimmers (Day 84)
It was another mountain bike race weekend, this time down near Monterey. Kevin and I spent the morning watching Hazel killing it on the track. And then, while she cheered on the rest of her team (mountain bikes races are ALL day affairs), we snuck away for a few hours to find a place to… Read More Lover’s Point Beach and (Not) Facing Fears (Day 79)
I celebrated Saint Patrick’s day this morning with a wild swim with my favorite wild, Irish swimmers, Sheila and Angie. I can’t get over how radically the bay changes from one day to the next. Yesterday was as calm as it gets; all soft rippling water in bright colors, sunlight pouring down, the gentlest tickle… Read More Happy Saint Patrick’s Day (Day 76)
Our most substantial storm in weeks arrived this morning. I was hoping for a rainy swim, which we didn’t get, but the clouds were stunning and the waves rollicking. Colleen, Angie, Kim, and I went out today. The coldest part was running through the wind to the bay in our bathing suits. Once there, the… Read More Stormy (Day 62)
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)
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 was an early swim with Angie, Sheila, and Colleen at the bulb. A cold wind was whipping as we arrived; making the view dazzling, but the prospect of getting in the water daunting. I said several times over this last warm week that I missed the cold water and I got it back today!… Read More Windy and Wavy (Day 46)
What a difference a day makes; yesterday’s calm, hot, summer-like swim was nowhere to be seen in the fog, wind, wavy, wild bay of today. Arwen and I went for an afternoon swim at the Berkeley Marina. It was low tide and so we got in at the little beach by the boarded up Hs.… Read More Valentine’s Day (Day 45)