4 mile kayak

It was a beautiful day today - sunny, cool and not humid. I was mostly feeling lazy from yesterday's exercise, and spent a good chunk of time lying in my chilbo shwagins in the back corner of our parking lot listening to a book on audible and doing sudoku, but after dinner I decided I had to stop being lazy, and get some exercise. I'm kayaking for a friend at a race in Vermont in July, so I wanted to be sure that I could do the whole thing. The race is a 5K, so I decided to go kayak 4 miles and make sure it was fine, which it was!

I decided to kayak up the mystic river to the lower lake. There's a spot on the Mystic that's really close to me, but it's not really that nice for kayaking. The highway goes right next to it, and it just looks like a river at the side of a highway. A little further up it's more residential and parks, and a lot of birds. I love the folding kayak that I have - it's really easy to unfold and get going, the only thing that's a pain is drying it off at the end, but really it's not that big a deal. I had no problem with parking, got set up in just a couple minutes, and was off.

It was a really nice night for a kayak - just a tiny breeze, but nothing that I would call a current or that I had to paddle against. I saw a bunch of guys fishing, people walking on the lake, birds and a few turtles. I'm kind of into the book I'm listening to, so for a change I brought my earbuds and phone, and listened as I paddled. 

According to my fitbit it took me and hour and 15 minutes to do the 4 miles, which I'm pretty happy with. At no point was I rushing, but I didn't really stop either. I feel like I should be fine for the length and duration of the swim, as long as the water isn't horrible. I'm going to try to get out at least once a week to prep for the event, just in case the weather is rough.

I swam the Charles!

Today was my second run at the Charles River Swim! First, I beat my record from last year when I did the mile in 54 minutes and was third to last. This year I did it in 52 minutes and was fifth to last! Two minutes faster doesn't seem like that big a difference, but I was super off course, and so I actually did a little longer swim. Of course, I was probably pretty off course last year as well.

Even though we had to be at the race start at 7 am, I decided to bike over. I renewed my Blue Bikes for the year, even though I also got mine fixed - they are just so convenient! And, the bikes were great for today, no doubt about it. I was super lucky and got an ebike for the ride there. I was able to go so much faster because the ebike allowed me to just power over Beacon Hill, instead of go around it or slog up. I got the bike parked, walked the last little bit, and got there right on time.

Once again I was kind of nervous before the start of the race. And then for the first bit of the race this woman who we will call "*ucking bubble chick" (because she was swimming with a swim bubble) kept crossing in front of me. It was so annoying because I would see her over to the side doing backstroke, and I would pass her, and then she would switch to crawl and would pass me, but right in front of me. The first time I let it go, but by the third time I was pissed. I decided that if she swam in front of me again I was just going to keep going and let her deal with me swimming into her. And that's what I did. And after that she didn't swim in front of me (apparently she went on to swim in front of one of my friends).

The way out seemed to take forever, and there was a part of me that just wanted to flag down a kayak and take a ride home. But then I reminded myself that we were going out for pancakes - or, breakfast to everyone else - and I needed to earn them. And I thought about pancakes for a little while. I finally got to the bouy and as I rounded it I saw another swimmer - I didn't realize that it was another one of my friends, who had recognized me. So, the whole way back, she was all happy to be swimming with me, and I was like "why is that person always right to my right? It's a big river!" After I realized what had happened, I though I should maybe consider my attitude. Anyhow, I finally got to the third bouy (though I was really really far off for a while. I heard shouting, and soon realized that they were shouting at me to go right) and remembered that last time it seemed to take forever to get from the second bouy to the dock, which prepared me for the fact that the last little bit was so long). Especially going into the dock I couldn't see very well and that slowed me down a little. But, once I figured out where I was headed I speeded up and got to the dock ahead of my friend who had been swimming next to me. *ucking bubble girl was last, so I beat her at least. Ha!

After we did indeed go for pancakes (well, 3 of us had pancakes) and they were delicious. After, I did a little shopping, since I was downtown and the stores were open anyhow. And then I biked back home - no ebike was available for the way back, and so I did all the peddling myself. I was pooped after and sat on my couch like a bum for a little bit.

Later, someone emailed that a branch came down in the garden during a storm we had yesterday, and so I went and cleared it up. It was a pretty huge branch, and I got to do lots of sawing. Which is hard work, but also very satisfying.

Landshark and Mt Major

This year I decided I wanted to get a few more swim events under my belt so that I would be more prepared for the winter swim fest next year. So, I signed up for the Landshark swim in Amesbury (mostly because I thought the name was cool). The big race was yesterday and I swam 1.2 miles in one hour, one minute and 23 seconds! Which is a pace of a 51 minute mile, which is about 3 minutes faster than I did my mile in the Charles last year.

There are 4 different groups for the race - one does a .5 mile swim and a 2 mile run, one does just the .5 mile swim, the 1.2 mile one that I did, and a 2.4 mile swim, which is two times around the 1.2 miler. The 1.2 mile group went last, and so I got to see everyone else speeding off. The race started at 9:15 am, which is not my time to exercise really, so I got off to a slow start. After the first five minutes or so I got going and feeling at my pace, like I could do the thing. The race was an out and back, and the way out was just fine. Luckily the bouys that you followed were to the left, which is the way I naturally breathe, so sighting was easy. After I turned around, though, I realized that I'd been swimming away from the sun, and now it was in my eyes. That made finding my way back a little difficult - I had to stop a few times and figure out where I was, and a couple times folks in kayaks or on paddleboards had to redirect me. In the end I thought I was supposed to go around this last bouy, but I was supposed to be on the other side, and so that cost me time, probably that 23 seconds :)

After the race I decided to go to Kittery for some outlet shopping, since it was only about a half hour away. I got a few cute outfits, ate a lobster roll, and watched some dogs in a silly run, jump and swim competition. I debate from there if I should go home after, or go hike Mt. Major, which is just 45 minutes away. It was pretty hot out and I was considering heading home, but the lobster roll came with fries and butter, and so I figured I better hike that mountain.

I got to Mt. Major at 3 ish and found the parking lot closed. Apparently the private land owner sold the land recently to a nature org that's spiffing the place up! There's to be a new trail that's graded and has switchbacks! It looks really nice, and actually parking on the street was no problem.

I was dragging a bit on the way up. It was so hot, and I'd stupidly packed long running tights. But, I took it slow and steady, relaxed for a bit when I needed to, and in no time was at the top. Fortunately there was a breeze up there, and after a little bit I sat in a shady spot and watched the birds of prey soaring. The way down was much easier, of course. I actually passed a couple! They were moving super slow. 

As I got down to the logging road this guy was just turning around, and he was chatty. At first it was fine, we were just talking about the trail work and how nice it was going to be, but then he kept talking and taking... Finally I just sped up a little, and ditched him. I got down the mountain much faster than up it, so I guess the conclusion is that I just need someone trying to be social and I can become a faster hiker. Anyhow, after I drove home a different way that google told me about, and it was nice, it took me to 93 after Concord. I would go that way again.

All and all a fun and active day! I woke up this morning and felt exhausted and achy all day.

Dock to Beach to Dock

This year for Memorial Day weekend I was thinking about a hike, but then I thought about all the bugs and decided that I would do a practice long swim for the landshark next weekend. It's been very busy at the lake, and they are ticketing and towing, so I decided to just park a mile away at joe pizza and bike. But then I couldn't find my bike rack, so I decided to walk instead. It was actually a nice walk, and much less stressful than trying to park. Thumbs up, would definitely do again.

I got to the dock and there were a ton of people there. The club that's across the lake is open now (and they have their slide and high dive out again). After the walk I was pretty hot and got right to the swim. I felt pretty good for the entire swim, I worked on my pull and on my breathing. There were a bunch of boats out there, but I didn't have any issues. And, the water was nice and smooth. My swim cap came off a little on the way to the beach, so I stopped when I got there and fixed it, and then turned around and went back. When I got to the docks it was almost exactly one hour, which is pretty much exactly the same as what I did this weekend last year. Booo. Here I thought I might be getting faster, but turns out that's not the case. Well, at least I'm still swimming.

Last week we did a full moon swim, and I decided to try biking to the lake. It was fun, but also it turns out that 10 miles is kind of a long bike ride. I was so glad I didn't do the marathon when I was thinking about it! Definitely a good way to get to the lake, though on a really hot day it would probably be difficult. 

Swim across Walden

I did my first swim across Walden this year today, and it was lovely! It was a beautiful sunny day today, though a little windy. After work I went to the garden store and got two tomato plants, some peppers and rosemary and thyme (resisting the urge to get parsley and sage) and planted them in my garden. I only got the small sungold tomatoes this year to keep down on the rats, but decided that two of them was reasonable. Over the weekend I put in two tomatillos and some potatoes. I think there's space for one more tomatillo and maybe a little of something else - I have to decide what though.

I brought my swim gear with me in the hopes that I could push myself to go for a swim. I'm signed up for the land shark on June 2, which is less than 3 weeks away, and I haven't done a long swim for a while. I was a little concerned about my ability to do the swim, so I decided to go swim across Walden as a first warm up. It was a really nice swim!

When I mapped out the swim it looks like it was about .9 mile, so I swam across a shorter part. According to my fitbit I was swimming for 46 minutes, so that would be a little over 50 min pace for a mile. The water is about 61 degrees, though there were a few warm spots and a couple really cold ones. When I got out I was glad that I had my dryrobe, though I don't think I will need it much longer this season.

I've been really working on the pull on my swimming so that I can move faster. It's really hard, though. I think I have to go more often to work on my arm strength. I've also been working on my breathing - turning my head just enough so only half of my mouth comes out of the water. I'm doing much better with it. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 80, but of course I have a silly busy day, so not sure I will be able to get to the lake, but I hope so! 

Zoe

A couple weeks ago I learned that one of my favorite podcasts, Zoe, has a whole nutrition program that goes along with it. They test your microbiome, glucose levels and blood levels and then help you find a diet that works for your body specifically. I love the science focus in the podcast and so I thought I would try it!

I started the program yesterday - they send you a glucose monitor to wear on your arm, and so of course now I'm checking by glucose levels every 10 seconds. I learned that my fasting glucose level was a little high this morning. For the first day, which I am doing now, you have to eat two disgusting breakfast cookies and then fast for 4 hours (they said the cookies were "delicious" which was my first clue that they were not going to be delicious. Seriously, I had to choke them down.) And, there are two more for lunch - slightly different but I am betting equally disgusting. They also have you send in a sample of your poop and blood. It said to get the stool sample later today, but I had to go this morning, so I sent it in early. I can't just be sitting around for 4 hours waiting! After I took the world's slowest walk to the post office to mail it in because you are also not supposed to exercise, but if I wait until later today the post office will be closed, and it's Saturday. Later today I will do a blood sample, which I'm not excited about.

I'm curious to see what the results will be!

Today I am Julie

I've done the triangle swim a couple more times since I last wrote - the water's getting warmer and it's not hard to stay in for 20-30 minutes. When I swam on Sunday it was between 60 and 63, depending on the part of the lake. There were people on the beach and they were sitting on our bench and using our picnic table. Cold water season is coming to an end. It was a good year, except for the whole Memphramagog fiasco, but I'll be back next year!

I've been going to this HIIT class at the Y - well, I've gone twice now. It's pretty good. The coach is 20, but he puts together a good set of exercises. Today we did 2 sets of 4 and 1 set of 3, with each exercise for 45 seconds. The first set was burpees (yuck), weighted lunges and some exercise I can't remember. The second round was push-ups, weighted jumping squats and Russian Deadlifts with kettlebells. And then the third round was leg raises, side arm lifts and heal lifts. There were a few moments when I felt a little like puking, so good workout. 

I missed yoga last Friday and I've been feeling it, so I decided to go to yoga after - the class was a meditative one, so I figured it would be fine. The teacher, though, started taking attendance, and it's such a pain to sign up online that when she called out "Julie!" and looked like she didn't know the woman, and no one answered, I said that was me. It seemed like and easier thing to do. But then of course fricking Julie showed up. I figured a yoga teacher wasn't going to call me out on it, and I lay on the floor and pretended I was meditating, which was effective. The class wasn't even that good, though I did get some stretching in. 

Over the weekend I went climbing with my brother and his partner. I actually did a 5.9+ clean, but just because it was on the slabby wall. I got up a 5.10 on the slabby wall with a few rests, and up a 5.8 and 5.9, but after my arms were killing! It's been three days and they are just starting to feel better. I'm so out of climbing shape.

Triangle swim

Today I did my second triangle swim of the season - three of us went to the point, across the lake and then back to the beach. The swim is about a half a mile, but I am pretty sure I made it longer by not swimming in a straight line. I mean, I was really off course several times.

I started the day with geriatric parkour, which I think I'm going to continue with - it's fun and the people are cool and my knees are hurting a lot less in this class than the regular one. But, it hurts my ego a little bit. We are back at the school across the street from my home, so it's silly to not go when it's so close. And, I have to say, the class is a little more chill than the other one, but still a workout.

Later in the day I met six friends at the beach and three of us did the swim to the point and then across the lake. It was pretty windy and cloudy today, which made it hard to get into the water and difficult to get going. I felt like I was pulling and pulling on the way to the point, but going nowhere. But finally I made it there, with only a little swallowed water. When we got there, we were all trying to decide if we wanted to swim across the lake with the waves, but tbh I was feeling pretty good - the water temp is about 55/56 and it's warmer than the air, so I was like "let's do it!" So we did. 

Swimming across the lake I got super off track and kept looking up wondering where i was. It didn't help that my goggles were completely fogged. I tried to work on stretching out, especially with my left hand, not turning my head too far (sometimes I can breathe and half of my mouth is still in the water, but I do that thing where I only open my mouth on the out of water side), and really pulling on the pull. I feel like sometimes I can go faster by really focusing on the pull (I guess that's not surprising, but there it is). According to my fitbit we swam for 23 minutes, which isn't bad for me for a half mile. 

Yesterday my family all met at a deli in CT for lunch, which is something we do about once a year. It's nice to have everyone together, but at the same time it's a lot of driving. I wound up taking my nephew home, and so I was driving for about 3.5 hours for the day. After I got home I decided to head to the dock for a quick dip, which turned into a swim - the water was so flat it was amazing! After I finished, as I was drying off, a bald eagle landed at the end of the dock and proceeded to eat dinner. It was so cool!

The first race that I'm signed up for is the landshark, and that's in 6 weeks. I have to work up to 1.2 miles. So, practice is important now.

Mt. Pemigewasset and a Total Eclipse

Monday there was a total eclipse! I was originally going to just watch it from Boston and enjoy the 92% eclipse, but a friend of mine convinced me that it would be so much better to be in the Path of Totality, and she was completely right. I'm so glad I went.

It seemed like Vermont was the best place to go to for viewing in terms of full effect and distance to drive. My friends reserved an airbnb about a year ago, but since I was so late to the game I wound up choosing a hipcamp camping site, which worked out really well. A couple friends joined me for the adventure, and we met up at the airbnb for the big event. 

One way to get up to that part of Vermont is to drive through Franconia Notch, which seemed like a perfect opportunity to stop and hike Mt. Pemigewasset - a hike that I've wanted to do for a while, but since it's 3 miles, not a hike I would just drive up for. It was the perfect hike to stop and do on the way, though. I forgot how much I love spring hiking - there was a solid monorail on the trail and I wore my microspikes for the top half. Because of the snow, though, the rockiness of the trail is smoothed out, and there aren't big steps up and down. The woods are so peaceful with the snow, and there was a great view of some of the big mountains on the way up. The hike had 1260 feet of elevation gain, which is respectable but not killer, and had some nice switchbacks, which were delightful. Near the top was a ledge and a really pretty view. I tagged the summit and sat and ate an egg salad sandwich that I got at the rest stop, and it was delicious.

After, I headed up to the camping site. The place we stayed is in someone's yard - I think it was her first weekend hosting, and so they had some figuring out to do. For starters, it's Mud season in VT, so the place that we were meant to go wasn't really inhabitable. She was able to put us in a different area, which wound up pretty full. I think the place had pretty much every type of sleeping setup. My friends and I set up our tents. There was also a couple from NYC who were tenting. There were two brothers from MA who had a really cute dog - one had this pop up tent on the roof of his SUV and the other had a tent. Then someone came in a converted school bus (it turned out that he was in the middle of a one week fast, and had all sorts of weird ideas of what his body was doing). Then, there was a family of four who had a pop up trailer. We had one just like it when I was a kid, and it brought back memories! There was a 92 year old man and his wife in a diesel truck with a trailer in the bed (they had been from Belize to Alaska in it!), a family in a big trailer that was dragged behind a truck, a winabego, and a woman with a sprinter van. There was also a couple that stayed in an RV that they had on the property. Aside from the guy who was fasting, there was also a conspiracy theorist who thought the moon was hollow and did not believe in vaccination. The couple from NYC cooked cinnamon buns in orange peels in the fire, which looked delicious. 

I got a new tent because I'm also going to go camping later this summer, and thought it was worth the expense to be comfortable. I also think that I could camp before some of the big hikes, and save myself from having to get up at 6 am by driving up the night before. We knew it was going to be cold, and especially the first night it was! I had 3 sleeping bags, 2 pairs of long underware, my heated socks and vest, and I was still a bit chilly. The second night wasn't as bad, or maybe I was just exhausted because I hadn't slept? Anyhow, after we set up we went to Smugglers Notch ski area where there was a "Fire Circus" which was really cool - there was a fire juggler, a woman hoola hooping with fire things on the outside of the hoops, and some fire spitting. After, they had fireworks.

The big day, though, was the eclipse. I'd read about what to expect, but of course it didn't really prepare me for it. We started sitting in the yard at the airbnb. It was a warm day, so I was wearing a tshirt and pants, and I was so warm I rolled up the legs of my pants. It was so cool seeing the moon cover just a little bit of the sun, and then watch it move over, but the most amazing part was totality. As it got closer to totality, it got colder and colder, so I had to unroll my pants and put on a jacket. The air got still and the light was weird and eiree. Everything started to look like it normally does at dusk, but the sun was still above. Watching the last bit of sun disappear, everything felt strange and exciting, and then it was gone and we could take off our eclipse glasses and look at the corona. It was really amazing - there was a bright pink solar spot at the bottom, and the light of the corona went out a pretty good way, we could see the other planets. I meant to do all sorts of things, like look to see if there was a sunset all around us, and look for stars and listen for animals freaking out, but instead I just stared at it in awe. So cool. And then, really fast, the sun was back and we had to put our glasses back on. It's pretty amazing that with all the technology we have, and all the shiny things, so many people were still out, watching the moon and sun in awe. I'm so glad I went, 10 out of 10, would do again.  

I drove home today and there definitely was some traffic, but not as much as after the eclipse. Apparently some folks were at such a standstill that they would leave their cars to walk the dog. My friend say that she knew someone who spent about 12 hours doing a 4 hour drive! So glad we stayed an extra day. 

MIT PreMasters

I'm back to my swim lessons at MIT - I signed up for the "PreMasters" level this session, and I'm glad I did! It turns out that the practice pool had some issues and is closed for a while - at least until Labor Day, and so they cancelled most of the lower level classes due to the depth of the pool. 

I really like this class, it's mostly swim drills, but the instructor is really good and gives a lot of individual feedback. The first week he told me to reach out further with my left arm before pulling, and to rotate less on my non-breathing side. This week he said to put my arm into the water at an angle before extending it and to look down and not move my head (it was sort of bobbing around). So, I tried looking down and thrusting my arm into the water at the same time, and I think it worked! I will continue to practice.

We did a lot of interval training - first we did 4-50's, then 4-100's. We did a rest between sets, but a short rest between set one and two and three and four, and a longer rest between two and three. Then we did 25's of backstroke and breaststroke. And then we swam for 8 minutes straight. It was all pretty tiring, but I did get into a rhythm by the middle of the 8 minutes.

We were four to a lane this week (last week I got my own mini-lane which was really nice). I started out first and was all stressed out about the person behind me catching up to me, but actually she only did on the backstroke. And then I made her go first. I actually lapped a couple people during the 8 minute swim! 

This week is really exciting because after 5.5 years at Wellesley I'm finally getting my Hilary moment! She will be on campus Saturday and I'm volunteering at the event. Also, Marie Yavanovich and a couple nobel laureates. They will be talking about women and democracy - should be really interesting. 

Swim to the Point

My first swim to the point in 2024! The water is now about 50 and it was sunny and warm today. A group of us met, and a couple of us decided that we were tired of swimming laps and wanted to head out to the point. It's been a few weeks since I swam-swam, and at first it was hard for me to get my face in the water again. But, I took a couple short breaks, breathed through it, and soon was doing fine.

The swimming part was hard too. I was focused on how cold it was, and not my stroke technique and it was slow going. It took forever to get to the point.  When I arrived my friend was already there waiting for me. He was like "do you want to swim across the lake to the other point?" And in my head I really didn't, but out loud I said "sure," and we swam over. It was kind of windy today, and the water was a little choppy. I swallowed some water, and I got water in my goggles - that section of the swim was the hardest. By the time we got to the last leg of our triangle, though, I was getting the hang of it, working on my reach and strong arms for the pull. I think the last bit was the fastest. In the end we were in the water for about 35 minutes, with most of it swimming. The route is a little over a half mile, so it wasn't the fastest swim, though we did stop for a bit at a couple points. 

The other thing that I did was pick up my bike from the shop. I hadn't used it since before my trip to Africa, and it was in kind of sad shape. Now it's all squeaky clean, and has a new chain. Before the swim, I rode it around the lakes, which is about 4.75 miles.  My plan is to ride it to the lake some this summer, so I don't have to worry about the parking situation. The ride to the lake, if I take the bike path and minimize time on the roads, is about a mile longer than the ride I did today, which was totally fine. 

50 degrees

Spring has arrived! Scary early, it's not such a good thing, but it is really nice. Today at work I went for a walk around campus without a jacket, I even ate my lunch outside and enjoyed the sun. The daffodils are in bloom, and it's so pretty out. 

I was really proud of myself because I adulted really hard today at work, having a difficult conversation with my boss without being emotional (well, not too emotional at least) and getting my point across. And then I rewarded myself with ice cream, which wasn't really what I meant to do, it just kind of happened.

After work a group of us met at the beach for a relaxing swim. According to my fish-momoter the water was about 50 at the surface, and a degree or two cooler about four feet down. We had a pretty chill swim, just bobbing around and doing the old lady breast stroke, but we did stay in for 25 minutes. I wore my gloves, but I don't think I'll need to for much longer. We briefly thought about a swim to the point, but where feeling a bit lazy. It's really time, though, that we can stay in long enough to get to the point! Super exciting. 

I found a new weight training program that's for women of my age, and I started it this week at the Y. It's called hailey happens, and so far I'm enjoying it. The program allows me to life higher weights, and a lot of free weights, which I actually do prefer. I went to do deadlifts, though, and just used the barbell because it was all kind of heavy. I'll have to look back at my crossfit records to see how much I used to lift.

The other thing I've been doing lately is I impulse bought a ukulele (off ebay for $20) and am trying to learn to play. There are lessons at the cambridge adult ed center, but of course they are the same time as my swimming lessons coming up. I think they offer them every season, so I'll have to try to take them in the summer.

Back to the Lake

I'm finally over my cold, and finished with a busy week at work. Today was the first day I got any exercise in two weeks! I went to a kind of chill yoga class and then for a dip at the lake. The water is getting warmer - today it was around 42.5, though we went after dark which always makes swimming harder. As always, I didn't really want to go in, but then we all did and it felt great. In a not-so-great way. We stayed in for 10 minutes - I wore my gloves and was cold but not too bad. 

After we were standing around snacking and warming up when I realized that there was someone in the old pump house that's by the lake. We've never seen anyone in there, so of course we went to investigate. The building is brick, with no windows, and it's got a lot of pumping equipment and such, plus a kayak. The guy was really nice and he let us go in and look around. He told us that there's an old spillway that goes out by the lake and tunnels into the bottom of the building. Of course we will need to check that out, though I'm pretty claustrophobic and probably won't go that far. 

Race Day Cold

Just came back from the swim fest which didn't go at all like I wanted because I was sick and couldn't finish my long swim, or be a stripper. We drove up on Thursday and I noticed I was a little grumpy and sneezy, and that my throat hurt, but I didn't really think much of it. On Friday I did my hat swim in the morning (feeling even grumpier), and then came the big swim. It was so disappointing.  I got in the water and it was cold but fine. I started with the swim, and had so much adrenalin that I started off too fast and didn't pace myself. I actually beat the other woman I was swimming with for the first 25 meters. But then as I turned back my chest was pounding and I felt like I was going to throw up. And, I just didn't feel right, so I had to get out. 

I went to the warming hut and was even grumpier. And then warmed up, and went and sat outside. I didn't get what my deal was, but then in the middle of the night I woke up and was so congested, I was like "aaah, that was the problem." I spent the second day of the festival by myself at the airbnb, reading a book and feeling like crap. Today I went and supported the team, and the came home. After all that training, it was such a bummer. Well, I wasn't sure what I was going to have to shoot for next year, but I guess it will be a Redemption Swim for the 200.

Things I did well:

1. Practice and acclimatize - I really was ready for the event
2. Improve my swim technique

Things to change for next year:

1. I didn't pace my anxiety and got way too in my head. With a long-ish race like this, it's a while from race start to my start.
2. Worry about things in my power, not things that I can't control. There was an email two weeks before the race saying that we had to finish in 4 minutes, which I knew I couldn't do. I let that get to my head, when in reality there was nothing I could do about it. And, they did let people finish in over 5 minutes.
3. Carpooling - it was really frustrating not having a car. I think I would have just gone home if I did, but as it was I was stuck and had to rely on everyone else for everything (like cold meds). Also, it was a lot of together time.
4. I may need to wear a mask for the week before the race so I don't get sick! That really sucked.

Less than a Week to Go!

One week from now I'll be done with my memphremagog swims for the year! Things are starting to get real. We got an email a week ago that they want you to finish the 200 within 4 minutes and will pull you if you over 3 minutes at 150. Which seems a little silly because if you can make it to 150 then why can't you make it to 200? I'm hoping that they just did it to scare people into dropping out if they know they can't do the race in 4 minutes. Well, I'm not falling for it. I know I can't do it in 4 minutes, but I'm going to make them pull me. Or just let me finish. You have to have a spotter watching you during the 200, and mine is a second grade teacher - she's going to use her teacher voice if they tell her I have to come out. That's my strategy.

I've been doing a good amount of practice. Yesterday I swam a quarter mile in water that was about 38 degrees I think. It was pretty cold. My goggles leaked so I had to keep stopping to fix them for the first several minutes, so it was a pretty slow swim. I did finally get the goggles to work, but in the process gave myself a little bit of a black eye. I think I was in the water for about 13-14 minutes. I was pretty cold when I finished and had to do my penguin walk out, where I shuffle a little as a try not to fall over. After, I went to hot yoga which felt really nice.

Tomorrow we are doing a little going away event, with a pre-swim, so I'll be trying again with the 200. Probably my last go at it before the big race! I have to say, I'll be a little bit happy to stop with the swimming, it's SO HARD in the cold. I may just dip until we are over 40 degrees.

Swim Speed

I'm getting a little nervous that I won't be swimming fast enough for the 200 and they are going to pull me before I finish. Another woman who's swimming the 200 was going on about how nervous she was about it, and then we swam and she finished almost a full lap ahead of me. Sigh. That was a low moment of training.

I decided that I've worked hard over the year, and if they pull me, they pull me. I'll just have to learn to swim faster and try again next year. 

But, before we get to that point I do still have 17 days until the race. I resolved that I would do some research on how to swim faster and go to the pool and practice at least 10 times before the race. Which is a lot. And not a lot. I'm not sure how much of a difference I can make in 5 hours (because I can't deal with much longer than 30 minutes in the pool), but I can at least try.

Today I watched a video that said to shrug my shoulder as my hand goes into the water and keep it shrugged until my arm is bent and I'm at the pull. I tried doing that and it was hard, but I did think I was going faster (go me!) It also said to slowly get your arm in the correct position first, and then accelerate the speed of the arm. With the images it makes a lot of sense. So, I'm going to keep watching the video and keep practicing. Today was one day - just 9 more practices to go :) 

Presidential success

Presidential visit was a success! There was no exercise involved, but I just want to remember that she stayed for almost an hour and a half answering questions and complemented me on the program. The students asked really good questions and seemed super inspired. I managed to not say anything stupid for a full hour and a half. Phew. 

Two swims in one day

I've been wanting to figure out how long it takes me to swim 200 meters and how many strokes it takes for me to do a 25 meter length. I was going to go swim at the Y yesterday, but it was snowy out and I didn't want to drive (OK, it was mostly rainy out, but it could have turned to snow!) So, today I decided was the day for pool practice. 

The Somerville Y's pool is only 20 meters, so I wound up going to the one in Woburn. I did 3 200-meter swims, some drills, and some just swimming back and forth. In total I was in the water for about 35 minutes. It turns out that it takes me about 4 minutes and 30 seconds to swim 200 meters, which is within the time restrictions for memphremagog, but also pretty much the slowest time that anyone has posted in the last couple of years. I can live with that, though. Of course, swimming in cold water is slower because you have to catch your breath. But hopefully I can do it in less than 5 minutes. It took me about 25 strokes for each length, so about a stroke a meter (or a meter a stroke?) When I really tried I could do it in fewer strokes, but not that many fewer.

When I got home people were going to the lake, so I decided that I would also test my "hat" for the hat competition. I'm going to be a cat wearing the "cone of shame," and I wanted to make sure I could swim in it. And I can. It's not remarkably comfortable, bit it is only 25 meters, so it shouldn't be too bad - I swam that far today and it was fine.

It's been a little warmer out, and the water was at 37 today. Because I had already been for a swim and was trying my hat, I only stayed in for a couple minutes - it was so chill! I got out and I was cold, but once I put my hands and feet in some hot water I was fine. I was barely even shivery! 

Tomorrow I have my event with the president of the college. I hope it goes OK, I really admire her, but she's one intimidating woman. 

Practice run

Four weeks from today I'll be done with my swims at memphramagog. I hope they go well! We are all getting more serious about training - today we met at the lake in the afternoon for a swim. My swim buddy nick who is also doing the 200 and I decided that since the beach was still icy we would swim over to the side point and back. According to google maps it's about a quarter of a mile there and back, so twice the distance of the long swim. Seemed like a good plan!

My fingers are still a little funky from the swim at lake sunapee, so I'm still wearing gloves when I swim. I started with the 5mm gloves, but they were really clunky and didn't let me move my hands well to swim. Also, they don't dry out well, so they are really cold when I first put them on. Now I'm using the 3 mm ons, which provide enough protection that my fingers aren't freezing. I think I'm just going to keep wearing them until race day. I'm resigned to the fact that my hands will be cold on that day, and will just have to grit my teeth and get through it.

We got into the water and headed off for our swim. We quickly ran into each other - I was going across the water and nick was going along the shore. My googles fogged up, so I couldn't really see - so I just kept swimming waiting to get to shore. After a bit I heard shouting, and popped my head up. Nick was like "we're there! It's time to turn back." It was a good thing I heard him and we turned around - I was swimming at an angle and wasn't going to hit shore. 

The way back I could see the shore better, and was able to stay closer to it. But, my swim bouy kept slipping down my legs and at one point actually came off. Not sure how that happened, it's definitely not that I've lost weight. Anyhow, I could feel my body giving off that awesome burning feeling on the way  back - it feels so good, but it's also a sign that I'm getting cold. I tried to swim faster, and kind of did, I think. We got into shore and nick's wife was there with both our jackets - it's was really nice!

I did feel a little funky as I went back to my stuff - I definitely felt a little nauseous and wobbly. I was wearing wax ear things to keep the cold water out of my ears, so everything was really quiet. Once I poured out my hot water and got my hands and feet into it I started feeling better. It took me a little bit to get dressed, but I felt much better by the time I did. I was definitely shivery, but otherwise good. 

Tuesday is one of the group's birthday, but I can't be there (I'm at work and we have the president of the college coming to talk to this program that I run. gulp). So, I made a cake for today - a chocolate texas grandma sort of cake where you melt the butter and cocoa together and add the wet ingredients hot, and then you cook it really hot - at 475 for only 18 minutes. And, the frosting was also melted butter with cocoa and powdered sugar added. It was really delicious and made me feel so much better after the swim. That and some tea and I felt great! We danced a little on the beach before heading home.

According to nick it was about 36 degrees and we were in the water for 14.5 minutes, which is a pretty long swim at that temperature. I still want to do more training for race day, but I feel like I'm headed into the final stretch in good shape.

Ski Day 3 - A Good Day!

Maybe I just need to accept that the first ski days of the season are going to be a refresher, and a bit rough. Today I went to crotched mountain again, and it was a good day! I had the day off from work because I worked yesterday - the same event that we had a year ago, when I got stuck in the snow. Today was sunny and cold - perfect for skiing.

Since it was really cold overnight, I decided it was OK to sleep in a little and get to the mountain around 10 when it would be a tad warmer. I layered up with 2 pairs of smartwool long underware on top and bottom, my fleece lined tights, my cute ski socks with the pagodas on them, ski jacket, heated gloves and of course my helmet and goggles. In the end only my nose was sticking out. Still, two people asked me if I was wearing regular tights and if I was cold! I was not.

I started the day with a run on the green that has the slow lift, and it felt good. I decided I should get to the top and the scary lift early - maybe it would be less scary with fewer people on the mountain? It wasn't. I had a few good runs where I did OK, and one where I could hear snow boarders behind me and it made me nervous. And then I went back to the slow lift again for several runs. I feel like I'm getting much better at knowing where my body is as I go down the trail, and making sure that I'm leaning forward enough so that my weight is well distributed. I'm also feeling better about switching edges and going a little faster. But, my ability to go fast is hampered by my fear of crashing into other people, or falling down. In the end, I think I did the scary trail about a half dozen times.

I found one little path that goes through the trees that was pretty flat and well covered with snow, and so I skied it - so fun! But only because it was so easy. After the path in the trees, though, it wasn't groomed and I fell. As always, it wasn't a big deal except I struggled to get my ski back on. 

I stayed until about 2:30, by which time I was getting tired and wanting to get home before dark. Definitely felt zen on a few runs, and enjoyed it!

Ski Fail and 34.4 Degree Dip

It's MLK weekend and I wanted to get in a ski day. I'm going to Walden with the merfolk tomorrow, so today was the day. With my ski pass I can go to two mountains that are 1.5 hours away, and I decided to try sunapee today. Mistake. It turns out that the mountain was a little too advanced for me. I did the green dot a few times, but it was shorter, and full of little kids, and really steep. It rained yesterday, so the snow wasn't that great, and all the steeper parts were harder. I did manage to do them fine (go me!) but it was also so crowded that I didn't feel that confident. There were slower people in front of me (there are slower people, crazy) but also faster folks wizzing past me. After just an hour, I was like "I can waste the money that I spent to come here, or I can waste the day" and I decided that the money was a sunk cost, and left. 

It was so crowded that when I got there I already had to park in the third of three lots. And there were more people coming! That lot was almost full by the time I left, and people were parking at the beach. It was craziness. 

I did look at a map last night before I packed up and had seen the beach that was close by, and decided to pack my swim stuff just in case I wanted to dip after. Of course, after the complete bust of a ski day, I had to go for a swim. The parking lot was almost full, and I had to hunt for a spot. When I did park, though, there was a woman there who looked suspiciously like she was going dipping too. And she was! By the time I got changed, she had gone to the lake and returned saying that the ice was too thick, except in a spot that was deep and had a current. 

There was a stream going by, which wasn't that deep and had a current, but we went in there anyhow. I got in first and sat down - it was deep enough to cover me to the shoulders. She got in after me, I think almost a minute after, and we just sat and chatted a bit. I brought the fish-momoter in, and it said the water was 34.4! Which is very cold. Apparently the woman has a stopwatch on her watch (cool feature) and she stayed in for 5 minutes, so I think I was in for about 6. I felt cold, but fine, except for my hands which were freezing. After I got out I tried to open my water to soak them in the heat, but I couldn't get the top off - I think it was frozen. Eventually I got the smaller cap off and soaked my hands (which really burned). I was surprisingly fine after the dip, except my fingers. My feet warmed up, and I shivered a little, but not too much. It might have helped that I was in the car with the heat blasting. 

However, the tips of my fingers are still a little numb. As I type, I feel a funny tingling in them when they touch the keyboard. Hopefully this will clear up soon - I want to get in a good swim at Walden, but I might need to wear gloves tomorrow!

I think I'll stick with crotched mountain for now, and maybe go up to wildcat once? The pass is good for there, and they have a long green run. I'll have to decide if I want to do this pass gain next year - it's such a good deal, but not if I don't like the mountains.

Below 40

The water finally went below 40 at the lake - it was really cold! I think it was about 39. I went for an afternoon swim yesterday. We had a storm brewing, so there was no sun. And, I forgot my favorite goggles, so I had to wear the ones designed for sunny weather. Mistake! I couldn't see anything and swam in even less of a straight line than normal. I did do my usual Memphe prep - I walked into the lake from the beach to my waist and then just went for it with swimming. It was so cold! The hardest things were how cold my hands were, and breathing in the colder water. For the first 75 yards I really had to breathe slowly, which also meant swimming slowly (even more slowly than usual). I just kept telling myself to breathe through it, and I did. 

When I got out, it felt like I'd only been swimming for about 5 minutes, which is something that seems to happen a lot - it seems like I'm in for about 1/3 of actual time. I didn't finish my last lap fully because I was so cold, couldn't see, and one of my goggles was leaking. I thought that it was a lot less than the 1/4 mile I hoped to do, but because I was not swimming in a straight line it seems that I did. According to my fitbit I swam about .23 mile in 17 minutes, which isn't bad given the cold.

The after drop was pretty brutal, but I added a scarf around my neck and that sealed the heat in - def going to keep up with that. After 20 minutes I was feeling fine. Good training swim!

First Ski of the Season

I got the epic pass this year, which allows me to go for 5 days of skiing. Today was day 1. I went to crotched mountain, which only has man-made snow right now, but will probably have real snow after this storm that's meant to come on Sunday. It was such a cold day! I had on long underware, fleece tights, a smart wool top with a hood that covers most of my face, my heated gloves, my super-cute gondola socks, and my jacket and I was chilly all day. 

I wanted to get in a warm up day, where I got my ski legs again. I mostly just did the greens, which was fun. They have a high speed lift that goes to the top, but what I hate about it is this one short stretch where it's steep, narrow, and the snow always seems to be bumpy. It's a blue square, but it always seems so hard! The other part that makes it hard is that the end of the tricky part crosses a black trail, so there's a chance that someone else could come down from a different direction. But, there is a really nice green after that, which I really enjoy, so I kept telling myself that it was my reward for going down the hard part. I did that trail a half dozen times, and the rest of the time I took the slow lift.

I think I got back into skiing pretty fast this year. I was able to pick up speed throughout the day and was doing well with my edging. The first few runs were hard, and my legs were killing my by the end of the day, but I definitely had a few really fun runs where it felt easy and relaxing. 

NY Dips

To ring in the new year, I thought it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping in the lake. Not sure why i thought it would be a good idea, but I did. I managed to talk exactly one friend into going with me, and it was cold. Apparently swim suits do actually provide a little warmth. After, I went to yoga in JP, which was pretty chill. I've been doing yoga to welcome the new year for several years now, and it's a very zen way to welcome the new year. I was trying to decide between two studios and in-person vs virtual. In the end I went in person (glad I did) and to a studio in JP. I liked the class, though it could have had a little more intensity. At the end the teacher played glass bowls and it was insanely good - I could feel the vibrations throughout my body.

For new year's we had a dip at the beach. It was pretty cool - lots of people came - some from our group and some just randoms. We were there for a couple hours and it was fun to see so many people coming for a plunge. After we warmed up to dance music which was a lot of fun.

Once again, I've gotten so fat I can't stand it, and have to start the new year with a diet. Yuck.