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.