Beach to Docks and Back without stopping!

I certainly never thought I would be able to swim the entire way from the beach to the docks and back without stopping, but today I did!! It was a beautiful day and the water was super calm, which made it nice for swimming. The temperatures in the water are going up, though still cold enough that when I get in I'm a little chilly at first. Once I get going, though, it's completely fine. I decided I wanted to do a long swim, and to challenge myself to go the full distance without stopping, and that's what I did. I got to the docks and did a funny little doggy paddle to turn around and went right back to the beach. 

The swim took me exactly one hour. It's about 1.2 miles, so I think a mile was about 50 minutes. Which is still more than the 40 minutes they give you for the Charles River swim, but not unreasonably so. Hopefully they will let me finish. 

I have to say that swimming for an hour is a little bit boring. I worked on my breathing a lot, and not dropping my hand, and stretching as long as I could, but also I had some time to ponder life, and wish I had more tunes on my headphones. I might try putting some podcasts on there, just so I have something new to listen to.

A few of my friends were on the beach waiting when I got out. I got a high five, but then they all left. I sat on the beach and enjoyed the sun for a bit.

I have a patch on my left arm where I get some really bad chaffing. Who knew that would happen, but one of the other women gets it too.

Mt Morgan and Percival

It's Memorial Day weekend, a traditional weekend for me to do a hike. I was going to go on Sunday, but then it was so hot out, and I read the trail reviews and everyone said it was buggy out, and I just couldn't stand the thought of hot and buggy. So, I went to parkour and then planted stuff in my garden on Sunday and hiked today. 

It was still hot and buggy, and I had to deal with traffic on the way home. But, not too bad because Morgan and Percival aren't too far away - less than two hours without traffic, a little more with traffic. And it was way less hot then yesterday.

For whatever reason, last night I couldn't sleep - I finally gave up at like 1 am and watched some TV, which thankfully knocked me out. I knew it was about 4 hours of driving and 4 hours of hiking, so I slept in a little, but still only got like 5 hours of sleep. I hate it when I do that - I wish I was a better sleeper.

I knew just how to get to the parking lot, because I had written directions out in my blog the last time I did the hike (thanks, past me!) The start of the hike was nice, but also super buggy. Thankfully I had some deet, which I don't usually wear but today really needed. The hike up was good - there were a few points where I was breathing hard, but not so hard. A group of six 20 something guys passed me - 3 first and then 3 more a little later. We met up at the ladders (which looked exactly the same as when I climbed it last time) and one of the guys offered me a hand. Sweet, but also, I can climb a ladder dude! Then I climbed through the cave and up the stone faster than their group. Ha!

I remembered the last time that there was a nice ledge to sit on and eat, but I skipped it and then regretted it. This time I didn't make that mistake again - I sat and ate half a cheese and avocado sandwich on whole wheat bread, corn nuts and an orange while enjoying the view and lack of bugs in the breeze. After a little bit I went and tagged the peak, and then walked the ridgeline - again really like it! I finished the other half of the sandwich and then took the cliff trail down. 

The first little bit of the cliff trail was really nice - good view. But, that was all. The cave trail was way better. If I do this hike again I will definitely do cave. I walked back into the bug zone, and then back to my car where I changed my shoes but didn't do anything else because I wanted to get away from the bug zone. Nice hike again, glad that I did the shorter hike (due to bugs) and the shorter drive (due to traffic). I was pleased to see that I was faster this time than last, though the last time I spent a while trying to fine the trail to the caves.

 

Beach to the Docks and Back!

Today I had my longest swim yet - from the beach to the docks and back. That's about 1.2 miles and it took me a little over an hour! I certainly never thought I could swim that far, but I did :).  Now that I can keep my right arm up on the reach, I've been working on the pull and rhythm of my strokes. I started to get in something of a groove with reaching as far out as I can and rotating my body, catching and pulling hard. I'm definitely getting better at only bringing one eye of my goggles out of the water, and I thought I was doing better with swimming in a straight line - but maybe I wasn't.

I swam with two friends who are so much faster than me, I was sad because they both took off and I was just putzing along. Then I reminded myself that comparison is the thief of joy, and tried to focus on my swimming.

I had baked banana bread, and after we sat on the beach and watched the sun go down, and snacked.  

Big disappointment - my scooter came and it wasn't really fun to ride. The scooter was fun, but it was kind of like riding a bike in Somerville - narrow bumpy roads and feeling squished and not super safe. I returned it. Sad. 

Walden - Half mile without stopping!

Today was actually pretty cold. It looked nice out, but it was about 53 degrees out. I was excited because today was the second to last day that I had to go into work until August. Tomorrow is the last. I'm eager to get this going-to-work business over with, and just work from the comforts of my couch office.

My office is always super hot, and it's been warm out lately, so I wore a sleeveless dress. I went to take a walk at lunch, but it was windy and cold, so I went back inside. My plan had been for a Walden swim, but I decided to wait until tomorrow when it's supposed to be warmer and sunnier and not windy. But, when I got to my car, google said it would take over an hour to get home, and I just didn't want to sit in traffic for that long, so I went to Walden.

I realized on my way over that I didn't have a change of pants, which was a disappointment. I thought about bagging it again, but the traffic was so unappealing. I've put some pants in the trunk of my car for the future, though.

Anyhow, I got to the pond and there weren't that many people there. Even though it was windy out, the pond is pretty protected, so though the water wasn't smooth it wasn't too wavy. I changed at the beach, and got in. It was feeling cold! I'm sure it's in the 60's, but I got in and didn't want to put my face in, and wasn't sure that I was going to be able to do a long swim. But then I started swimming and it felt just fine.

The exciting thing from today was that I swam the entire way across without stopping! At first I was focusing on my stroke, trying to keep my arm up and then roll it around an imaginary barrel. Then I did a little singing along with my tunes on my headphones - in my head only, of course, because of the whole breathing thing. Then, I realized I was about half way across, and I thought maybe I could make it the whole way, and I did! I got to the cove, gave myself a little pat on the back, and then headed back. On the way back I had to stop a few times - I think the water was blowing in my mouth in that direction.

I made it back, dried off, put on my underware, and then flashed the beach a little changing back into my dress. It was pretty empty - the only people there seemed like they weren't from the US, so I hoped that it wasn't that unusual for them.

I've been participating in a clinical trial, and I went yesterday for shot #3. Not only do I get the shots, but also they pay me for it. I've been kind of wanting a scooter since DC, and I decided today that I should use the $ to get one. I found a $500 scooter for $335 (I think it's last year's model - it's got good ratings) and I was able to buy it with my clinical trial money! I didn't realize I had that much on the card. I should get the scooter tomorrow, and I'm excited to ride it to the garden instead of putzing along in traffic in my car.

Bilateral Breathing to the Point

I decided that I needed to force myself to do some bilateral breathing. I met up with some friends at the beach around sunset, and the water was flat and beautiful - a perfect day for bilateral breathing practice. I started out slow and relaxed, and did about a dozen breaths - half on each side. Then I had to rest a little. And then I did it again, etc. I made it all the way to the point, taking breaks along the way. Much of the breathing on my bad side wasn't pretty. But, I did breathe! 

I started the way back with bilateral breathing, but it was getting hard, so I gave myself permission to just swim back. I tried thinking "long" as I reached out and "strong" during the stroke, and I think it helped me to move faster. 

Keeping my right arm moving forward instead of dipping down as I breathe is getting easier. Unfortunately it's really hard on the other side. Something to work on - I hope that by this time next year I can do bilateral breathing efficiently.

After we watched the sun set and chatted. Excited for summer!

Waldon Pond - my first one mile swim!

Today I did something I never thought I would be able to do - I swam the length of Walden Pond!! It's about a mile and it took me about 55 minutes. I think the water was probably around 60 degrees - it's been around that temperature at Mystic, and it felt about the same.

I went into work today because we took our work/study students out to lunch to celebrate the year. One of them is graduating, and we got her one of the official school diploma frames, and she loved it. It was a nice day. And, now I've gotten one of my days for the week over with. Yay!

After work I knew I wanted to go to Walden for a swim. It's getting a little more crowded at the beach, with kids and families at the beach, and a few people hanging out and catching some sun. My goal was to swim over to Thoreau's cove, but when I got there there were two people in kayaks fishing, and I didn't want to bother them, or the fish. Or get hooked with a fishing line since my direction is still pretty bad. At the cove I realized that the other end of the pond wasn't that far, and decided to go for it. I was so excited when I got there! I didn't go to the furthest cove, but I got about 10 feet from shore, which felt like close enough (at the shore when I got in I saw some really big fish under me, and I didn't feel a need to see more). I breathed for a little bit and savored my accomplishment, but then reminded myself that I hadn't really done it until I got back. 

The swim back was easier in some ways, because I knew I where I was headed, and because I was swimming closer to the land on the left, which is the direction that I breathe to. On the other hand, it did seem like a long time - it took me about 22 minutes to get there and about 30 to get back (with about a 3 minute rest at the other side), so I was definitely slowing down on the way back. It was a long swim for me, but it felt very doable.  

I worked on getting my right arm to stay up while I lifted my head to breathe - I have this idea that this is the most important thing that I need to do to be able to improve my stroke. After 55 minutes of work on it, I did feel myself improving - there were a lot of strokes where I felt like I was breathing right. I feel like this week is going to be the week of the right arm. Then I need to work on my bilateral breathing, my catch, and the pull with elbow above hand. I feel like bilateral breathing will take the longest, but also be the best addition to my swimming. 

Swam 3/4 mile!

It was a beautiful day out today, kind of like summer! I went to parkour in the morning, and then did some clean up at the garden. After I went to a friend's house because she's fostering a puppy, and the puppy is nervous. So, I'm helping to socialize. The puppy is so cute, but also so scared.

Later I went to the beach, and we swam to the point from the dock instead of the beach! According to google maps, it's about .75 mile swim in total. I swam the whole way back without stopping - it took 20 minutes! I was pretty excited about that - I will say that there was some wind and a little chop, so the way there was harder. Also, the water is still like 58 degrees, so it took a minute to want to put my face in and swim - no booties or gloves though for a while.

After, we sat on the dock eating candy and drinking tea, watching the sun set and chatting. A couple other members of our group came later for a swim, and they found some packets of seaweed in the water. It was so funny - they were all sealed, so a couple people ate them. 

Working on my swim stroke

My one mile swim race is in just 6.5 weeks, so it's time to get serious about training! I went to the Y to practice my stroke in a controlled setting, where I didn't have to worry about cold or current. I really practiced my breathing drills on both sides, doing the bad side first. I also tried doing regular, bilateral breathing, swimming with fins on, which was really helpful. It got me moving my legs more correctly, and I moved faster. I understand in theory that when you are swimming there should be a little pocket of air when you come up to breathe, and when I was moving with the fins I actually found it a few times! It was pretty awesome.

One thing that I noticed is that I have a hard time keeping my arm forward when I breathe on my good side - it always seems to trail down, which I think makes my stroke shorter and weaker. And maybe is why I don't swim in a straight line? I'm going to have to do a lot of practice on this for the race - you only have 40 minutes to swim a mile, and it would be a bummer to be pulled on my third every swim race.

Swim to the Slide

The water temperature is measuring a pretty consistent 59 by the dock, though when we got away from it today there was a really big drop in temp, probably a few degrees. Anyhow, it's warm enough for a little bit more swimming. Today we swam over to the slide, climbed out onto the deck (not at all gracefully) and went down. It's so fun! 

I tried practicing my breathing that I learned from my swim lesson, but kept getting a mouth full of water. So, I went back to my old ways. I did notice that I'm moving a little faster, and am keeping up with the pack while swimming (well, there were 5 of us, maybe that's not a pack?)

Over the weekend at parkour we played this game where we got to fling people. It was really cool, because when you were being flung you could really feel the extra boost to your jump. I think this summer we should fling people off the dock.