Putting in the dock

I decided to register for the full season of crew this year. I will have to miss some days for work, but when I did the math I decided that the cost was still reasonable enough for what I would be getting, and it was such a good workout + being on the water that I want to do it. Today we put the docks and launches into the water. It was hard. Definitely a strength training workout!

There are 32 sections of dock, some heavier than others. Fortunately there were a lot of people there to help with the work, because it was a lot to move. One thing that I really like about the group is that everyone is equal - everyone was expected and accepted to lift and move things. A couple times I was in a spot where I was like "this is too heavy, I can't lift it" and guy would switch spots with me, but there was never a time when the guys were like "old ladies can't lift." For a while I held a rope that was attached to the dock in the water to make sure it didn't float away - that was cold because the rope was wet, and I thought about post 200 in VT - my hands did not reach that level of cold, thankfully. The most fun job I wound up with was moving the launches in the water around the dock with a couple other people. We got a good system going by the end. We start rowing on the 30th; I'm going to be sore tomorrow but hopefully will be better by the first day of rowing :)

The ask to help said that it would be from 8 am to 11 or 12, but by the time we finished it was 1:00. I was supposed to meet folks at the lake at 2, so I went home and had something to eat. I didn't shower because I was just getting into a lake. We went to the beach today because the ice is totally gone! That happened fast. It was nice to be in a little more nature-y setting, and the many bald eagles were still there to entertain us. There were at least 4, but maybe more. One juvenile flew over us with a giant fish in its claws. We sat around in the sun and enjoyed the birds and company for over an hour before we got it. 

The water is up to 41, which is still cold but obviously getting warmer. It's the warmest temp for and ice mile - I couldn't imagine swimming that. I wore my swim suit, booties with wool socks under them, mittens and a wool hat. It was cold getting in, but after a couple minutes it was a really nice dip - hopefully it will keep me from feeling as sore tomorrow. After my swim I wore my dryrobe, heated mittens, hat and uggs, but I didn't bring hot water and I didn't wear my heated vest. I did take a nice long hot shower and then sit on my couch with my hot pad.

Tomorrow I'm planning on hitting the garden for some clean-up, raspberry cane trimming, and spring set up. Super exciting! 

Eagle bonanza

It turns out that I was exhausted after my swim festival because I was sick - I had some chest cold that left me feeling exhausted for about a week and a half. It took two whole weeks before I could go swimming again, or really do any exercise. I'm better now, though, fortunately.

Last week we had a day where it got up to 76 with sun! It was so nice out that at lunch I had to go to the lake for a swim even though no one else could join me. The dock was covered in Tufts students enjoying the sun. I sat on a bench for a little bit and enjoyed it too. After a while it was time to get in. Even though it was warm out the ice shelf was still there, so my goal was to swim out to it, of course. I got in and headed out slowly, got to the shelf and tested it out. It was still a couple inches thick and when I put my weight on it it felt solid. There was some slush on top which actually made it easier to climb out, and as I was thinking about that I heard a general buzzing from the dock. I climbed out and stood up and all the students applauded me - it was pretty awesome, to be honest. Since it was so nice out I stayed in for over 10 minutes. When I got out my watch said the water was 37, which is still pretty cold. After I sat on a rock in the sun in my dry robe both feeling warm on the surface and also shivering. It was so weird.

Yesterday I met a friend at the lake in the afternoon. There were a ton of bird watchers and people with telephoto lenses, which had to mean eagles! Soon we saw three giant birds flying overhead. I wasn't sure if they were eagles - the body type looked right, but I didn't see the white heads. Later there were 5 of them, and one had the white feathers - I think the others must have been juveniles. It was pretty windy out, and they were catching drafts, hanging out, and just doing bird stuff. We swam for about 10 minutes - I went to the ice shelf but it was a little cracky and so I didn't get out on it. The water was up to 39. On the drive home I saw three more sitting on the ice, just hanging out and chilling. 

This morning I went and hung out with my friend in Gloucester at the quarry. We were a little worried that it would be frozen over and not swimable, but when we got there the was just enough cracking in the ice at the shore that we could get in. It was fun walking around on top of the ice, popping in and out of the water, and moving the ice around on the surface. The water was 39 there, so getting warmer, but still cold enough to get a nice shiver on the drive to get pancakes. I love that it's quarry season again!

Success!

The swim festival was this weekend, and again it was a success!! This year the festival was only 2 days - Saturday and Sunday - because there were fewer people swimming. We had booked our airbnb before they changed it from 3 to 2 days, and so we went up on Thursday and spent Friday skiing, shopping and playing. It was a really nice, and really exhausting, weekend. 

The most important part, of course, was the 200. Somehow I got lucky again and was paired with another slow swimmer who I beat by about 1.5 seconds. And I beat my friend who I always swim with - he actually came in last. It snowed on Friday night into Saturday morning - probably about 5 inches. In northern VT they are very efficient with the clean up though, so it was no problem to get to the lake. The hat racers started in flurries and by the end of that round it had stopped snowing. As I was walking out the sun came out - a good sign. Despite that I was not at all psyched about the swim, in fact I was kind of dreading it. But, that's what I was there for, and so I got in when they told me to, and then off I went. 

Once again I started too fast and my spotter had to tell me to slow down a little (which of course is kind of a funny thing to tell someone in a race, but it was really appreciated). The second length I slowed down a little and let my heart catch up to where it should be. On the third length I was like "this sucks, I'm getting out when I get back to the other side," because my heart was racing and I was feeling a little gaspy. But then as I was swimming back I had a little talk with myself and reminded me how much I had prepared and how frustrated with myself I would be if I got out, and that it was only going to take me another 3 or 4 minutes, and I could do anything for that amount of time. And when I got back I just turned and kept going until I finished. I did run into the lane line a bit and didn't focus on my stroke technique at all during the swim. When I was pushing off at the last turn I realized that the woman I was swimming with was just getting to the turn, and I put on a little speed to #1 finish and #2 beat her. We high fived and hugged and then got out of the water.

My hands felt like blocks of ice, they were so cold! I couldn't get my goggles off or my robe on (even though someone was assisting me) and my feet were so cold I couldn't bend them to put them in my shoe, and then I couldn't use my hands to move the strap that was in the way - someone had to do it for me. One I had shoes and robe on I was so happy to walk to the nice warm changing room, dunk my hands in hot water, and get a hot microwaved sock with rice in it. I got changed, warmed my hands on the sock a bit, and jumped around a little. I was smart this year and brought my own microwavable hot pad so I could take it with me when I left the changing room, and we were lucky that we got the table by the fireplace. I was thinking about going back to the airbnb to shower, but then there were french fries, so I just ate and warmed up and felt happy and accomplished.

It turned into a really nice day. I went and cheered on the other swimmers a little bit but then decided it would be amazing to ski across the lake - not something I would necessarily do here in MA, so I got my cross country skis and went for a little jaunt. Which was super fun. Because it had snowed the evening before the snow was light and flaky, but a bunch of people were snowmobiling around, so I went in their tracks. It was really nice skiing! I got back to the restaurant where the races are held, though, and realized that I'd kind of over done it. I was so tired and a bit dehydrated. I decided to go back to the airbnb, stopipng for a gatorade hydration drink, which I am sure saved me from a migraine. 

I went back for dinner and the awards celebration where the merfolk won the scallywag's award, which I think means that we are considered cool and "in," because I don't understand what else he was talking about when he gave us the award. One of our crew had written a song to the tune of an abba song, and so we sang it then (I sang in front of people and no one clutched their ears and ran, in fact they gave us a big round of applause). The dinner was all heavy sauces and gloopy stuff, and I decided to skip it and just go back to the airbnb - everyone else soon joined me. We were all pooped!

One of our group really wanted to do the 50 meter relay, but she'd been back and forth so much that I didn't think it was going to happen and signed up for the 100. But on Saturday night she talked a group of us into it - it's a 4 person relay, with each swimmer doing 50 meters for a total of 200. I was all "I'll do it, but I think I will switch from the 100 to the relay rather than do both of them." And then when I got to the restaurant on Sunday I got dressed and did the 100 and then the relay. Which was also hard! I remembered that last year before the relay I had been all "it's nothing. I did the 200, this will be easy." And it wasn't easy. So this year I kept my mental game up, reminding myself that it was still 100 meters and then 50 meters in 32 degree water, and that's no joke. Which I think was really important. Both races were fine. Hard, but fine. I didn't have as long as I would have liked to warm up between them. In fact I changed from the 100 right into my other swim suit for the relay. It was fun to go with my friends and swim as a group.

There was this olympic athlete swimming this year - I think he won silver in 2004. He was amazing - I just saw him swim the 25, but wow he was fast. Anyhow, he was supposed to be on the relay team that swam against us. At first I was like "that's gonna suck" but then I was really excited about it because how often do I get to race against and olympic athlete? Unfortunately there is a blizzard coming tonight into tomorrow, so a lot of people left early, and three of four members of his team weren't there. So they didn't compete with us. Probably they were just scared. :)

I haven't seen the time results for any of the races but the 200 (which I did in 5 minutes and 17 seconds, so 2 seconds slower than last year, which I can totally live with). My friends said that I looked strong swimming, and they couldn't tell that I wanted to get out of the water. Which I also felt good about.

I went cross country skiing three days in a row - I stopped on the way up at franconia inn which has trails. It's kind of behind cannon mountain. It was really warm that day and the trails were pretty slushy, so skiing was tough, but I still went for about an hour. On Friday I was thinking about going to craftsbury cross country ski area which is like 45 minutes away, but then I learned that there were trails right in newport, and the newport ones are free. So I did that instead. The conditions weren't that good, but it was nice to be skiing out in the wild where the scenery was so pretty. And then of course the ski across the lake which took me about a half hour.

As I mentioned, we are expecting a blizzard tonight into tomorrow, so I wanted to get home to beat the storm and buy some food. It's the end of school vacation week, so I was a little worried about traffic, but it was totally fine until Concord - the last hour was pretty crazy. This one idiot in a truck was so close to rear ending me, and there was no where for me to go to change lane - I just clutched my steering wheel and screamed. Because we were going pretty darn fast ( I bet he was going 100), fortunately he moved over to the next lane and went around me. I gave him the finger and fumed about it until I reminded myself that my being angry wasn't bothering him.

When I got home my cat had thrown up so many places and pooped on the bedroom rug. That was not a nice surprise. I spent a half hour doing clean up before unpacking. Now it's nice to be chilling on my couch. The tips of my fingers are still a bit numb which I guess will take a couple weeks to heal. But otherwise a really fun, though exhausting, weekend. Psyched to do it again next year. And also to go to the lake and just be able to play and have fun, while wearing my swim gloves and booties!

Final training swim

I finished my six 200's in February, two a week, to prepare for the big swim. And it was intense. Now that I'm done, though, I'm really glad I did it. Today is president's day and so I have the day off work. I slept in a little and then went to yoga class. After I was meant to go for a swim with a friend, but he messaged that he wasn't feeling well. I was like "I don't want to go. It's just me, I can go on Wednesday." But then another person from the group said that she was going to come just to say hi, and I was like "fine, I'll go, but I might not swim." Of course then I got to the lake, put on all my stuff, and swam. It was hard. But now I'm so glad that I did it!

According to my watch it was 35 degrees and I swam a little over 200 meters in less than 8 minutes I think. Which is not less than five minutes, but whatever. According to my watch I did the first 200 at a 1'07" pace, and after that at a 3'44" pace. Which is just not true. So, I can confidently say that my watch isn't always correct on the pacing. Hopefully it's good enough.

Yesterday I went cross country skiing. That makes 11 times so far with the annual ski pass, just need 4 more to make it worth the cost. It's nice that there is still real snow on the tracks, so the place is a lot bigger. There is an area on the other side of the river that's a blue track that I tried for the first time last week and discovered that I love. If there's snow over there, that's my place now. The tracks wind around on the golf course, you can see the river, there are trees and it's a little less crowded. There's one big hill that's a little hard to go down, and even harder to get up. But it's really not that bad. I'm planning for some skiing during the trip to vermont and am pretty excited about it. If I like it on a golf course I think it's going to be really amazing in the woods.

One week left...

A group of us met at the lake today for some swimming. I was just going to dip and maybe play around on the ice shelf, but my friend who is doing the 200 was all "I'm going to do a practice swim!" and that motivated me to do one as well. I wasn't super psyched about it, but what can you do?

Even though it was warm out today there was no sun and a bit of a wind off the water - it felt colder than yesterday! By the time we had chatted and hung out and such I was already a little cold, but then I reasoned that being a little cold before getting into a 35 degree body of water isn't really a deal breaker. I was so not excited as I put in my ear buds, but now I'm so glad that I did the swim! Just one more on my completely unscientific training plan.

The ice shelf was pretty much in the same place as yesterday but there were more of us swimming.  I swam sort of at an angle to the ice shelf and back five times. I wore the thin gloves and no booties. My hands were pretty cold at the end. I know they will be killing me on race day! It was a tough one, but I reminded myself during the swim that I can do anything for 10 minutes and I would be so glad when it was done. Which I was. By the time I finished everyone else was out of the water and someone had poured my water into my bucket again. It felt so good to put my hands and feet into the hot water.

I spent some time reading about swim stroke yesterday and it said that you should imagine that you are rolling your arm over a barrel at the start of the pull to get a little extra oomph, making sure that your hand goes down fast so that you are forcing the water behind you instead of down. I was able to focus on this for most of my swim, and I thought maybe I was moving faster than usual, but when I got out of the water and looked at my splits it was significantly slower than yesterday. So, maybe don't try to change the swim stroke the week before the race.

We are going to go again on Monday and I will try to get in my last official swim then. I am also thinking that I will try to go on Wednesday, just to play around in the water a little, maybe with no gloves on. Or maybe I will go out to the ice shelf again and have a little fun before the big day. 

Right now I'm registered for the 200 on Saturday and the 100 on Sunday. We keep talking about doing the 50 relay on Sunday as well. Now I know I can do the 200 two days in a row (of course, with gloves. Without gloves is next level.) I will think about doing all three, but we'll see...

8 days to go

Today I met 3 friends at the lake for a swim. We got there at 4:00, which is a cutting it a little close with the sun going down. By the time everyone got there, chatted and puttered around it was about 4:30 and I was starting to get antsy because although sunset is after 5:00 the trees around the lake mean that you stop feeling any warmth from the sun before that. So, finally I just got ready, remembered to put in my ear thingies, got my goggles and thin gloves (no booties) and headed to the water. Everyone else was still fully clothed, but I was like "see you on the other side," and went for it! 

My strategy of acclimatizing is working because although it was cold, I felt fine as I started to swim. The ice had melted back and I was able to swim almost as far in each lap as usual, though not quite. I got acclimated pretty fast and was able to spend most of the swim focusing on technique, counting strokes, and trying not to hit anyone. I didn't manage to swim in a straight line, but whatever.

Towards the end of the swim I had that funny feeling that my hands were outside my gloves again, but not quite as bad. When I got out of the water one of my friends was pouring my hot water into my foot bucket for me, which was so nice! My hands and feet were so cold, it was super helpful to just be able to get them in the water without fumbling with pouring. I will say that my feet and hands are getting more used to the water now that I'm not wearing the booties and thick mittens (though I'm excited to go back to them after the Big Swim). 

We had a 4 person team for the relay last year and it seems like we are going to get one together again this year. I am now registered for the 200 and the 100, I'll have to decide if I will also add the 50 or just switch from the 100 to the 50 relay. I'm going to try to get in two more 200 swims before race day - it looks like it's going to be a warm week, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Solo 200

No one was able to join me for a swim today, so I popped over to the lake by myself at lunch time. It was beautiful out - 30 degrees with sun and almost no wind. It felt positively balmy compared to some of the recent weather. When I got to the lake, though, it was so frozen in! Even though both agitators were going by the docks the area that we usually swim in was covered with a thin (but not insignificant) layer of ice, leaving me only a short space by the shore on either side of the docks to swim. At first I was like "well that's it, I can't do it." But then I calmed myself down and made a plan. There may have been a little more space on the far side of the dock, but it was in the shade and I wasn't so excited about swimming there. The side where we usually swim was at least in the sun, and there was enough space for about 15 or so strokes with each arm before turning around. I was a little nervous, though, because there's a spillway that pulls water underground near the dam, and it was bubbling a little. So, I decided to swim on the sunny side, but to turn around well before the bubbling. 

I've been trying to acclimate my hand and feet, and went for my first dip without booties yesterday. My feet were so cold! I didn't wear booties again today and they were much better. I also wore my thinest gloves instead of the nice cozy mittens. Because my feet were bare I decided to step in off the dock, walk up to my waist, and go from there. 

For whatever reason, it was actually a pretty easy swim today! In part because I had to stay close to shore and so when I turned around I could put my feet down and push off (something that you can do on race day) and in part because of the sun. I did have to swim shorter laps of about 10-15 strokes in each direction, but I still went to about 175 strokes with each arm, which should have been a 200. For whatever reason my watch didn't pick up the distance correctly - maybe because I was swimming such short laps? At one point I did run into the ice shelf and cut up my arm a bit, but otherwise it was uneventful. When I got out I was cold, especially my feet, but not freezing. I did a quick change, got into my car, and came on home.

It's hard to believe that the Big Swim is just 11 days from now! I'm hoping to get in three more practice swims before the event. That's just 4 200's left this season hopefully. Then I can go back to playing on the ice shelf :) 

Another 200

I did my second 200 this week! I met a couple friends after work at the docks - it's so nice that the sun is going down after 5 these days so we still have sun at the end of the day. I used voice to text to message about the swim, and I accidentally sent a message that I would be there at R. The messages that get mixed up are so funny :)

It was mostly cloudy and gently snowing while we were there. I love that kind of weather, where it's so silent and everything has almost a pastel haze. One of the docks had come detached early in the winter and floated next to the other one, but when we got there today it was reattached where it belonged. Which meant that the area that I was swimming was smaller. I decided to swim on the other side of the dock, in the normal area, and maybe just have to do an extra lap and try not to hit anyone.

I did have the thinner gloves today but I forgot my crocs - I should just put them in my bag now before I forget. Anyhow, my hands were plenty cold in the gloves, I guess it's OK to wait for next time to torture my feet.

I got into the water, walked up to my waist, and went for it. Again, the first strokes were so hard, but then I could focus better on technique and breathing. I went out the the ice shelf and back 4 times before stopping to look at my watch. When I did, it looked like I was still a little short, so I did some extra strokes, and then wound up having to do more. In the end it was about 200 strokes with each arm. One thing that was nice was that I swam all the way back to the shallow part and was able to turn around and push off from there. At the other end it was slower because I had to make sure not to run into the ice shelf and and to turn with nothing to push off of. In the end I did a little over 200 meters in about 9 minutes, which is a little faster than I've been going. I think the push-off helps (which there will be two platforms at the swim fest, so double push off).

By the end of the swim my fingers especially were really cold. They felt like they were outside the gloves instead of inside, which I know isn't possible. But still I spent the last lap thinking about it anyhow. After the swim I was cold, but not too bad. In addition to jumping up and down and waving my arms around I also ran a couple laps in the parking lot to help warm up. I did have a good shiver in the car on the way home and a nice hot shower. 

Tomorrow its supposed to snow and Sunday it will be very cold - a high of 14 according to weather underground. When I looked at the forecast for northern Vermont, it's supposed to be a high of -2, without wind! I feel like if it was that cold on the festival day they would have to cancel, not for the swimmers but the judges and volunteers.

I'm hoping to get in 3-4 more practices before the big race - I can't believe it's only 15 days away!

Mock 200

Things are starting to get real - the big race is in 18 days, so I need to stop sledding into the lake, climbing on the ice shelf, and get in some practice. Today I met a couple friends at the lake at lunch time for a swim. It's been so cold and windy out that the 32 degrees with sun and no wind felt so nice. I was standing around in my dry robe feeling a little hot. Of course, once I got into the water that all changed.

I decided to do the swim on the far side of the docks because the water over there is a little more open and I thought I could swim more in each lap. Which I think was a good plan. I got in and went for it, just like at the swim fest. Again, the first 20 or so strokes were fine, then it was really hard for about 40 strokes, then it was fine again. Unfortunately something was up with my watch because it said that I only swam 88 yards, which I know isn't true. I counted my strokes and it should have been a full 200 meters, maybe more. Hopefully more, because it took me almost 10 minutes, and I think we can all agree that that's more than 5 minutes. Hopefully during race day I will be a little faster with the push off the wall instead of having to stop, turn on nothing, and then go in the other direction. 

After the swim I was so cold at first, then better, then really cold again. I tried not taking a shower when I got home, but it was killing me, so I caved and did. And it felt awesome. On race day of course I can't shower, but I will get to change in a nice warm room, and someone will bring me a hot sock filled with rice, etc. 

I do need to work a little on acclimating my hands and feet. I've been wearing booties because I don't like walking on the pavement without them. A friend brings his crocs and puts them on in the water. I think I need to try that. I did swim with gloves on today instead of the lovely mittens, but I could only find one of the thinner gloves so I had to wear my thicker ones (what can you do?) Of course when I got home I found the second one in my bag. My plan is to go for another swim on Friday at lunch and bring the thin gloves and crocks and see how it goes.

Yesterday I had my last swim lesson for the session. We did a lot of drills with different strokes, but while practicing my freestyle I really focused on tightening my core and the pull work. Hopefully they won't pull me out of the lake if I'm going too slow, but if they do they do. I don't think I will be much faster over the next 20 days. 

Sledding at the lake

We got a nice storm over the weekend - super fluffy snow that took an entire day to come down. I spent Sunday doing a puzzle and overeating and really enjoyed it. We wound up with almost 2 feet of snow, which was the largest storm in 4 years.

One of my swim friends has long wanted to sled down the hill at the lake into the water, and today we did! It was so fun. Not the longest sledding hill, but reasonable. And the splash at the end was epic. The water was 36 and the air was in the 20's. While sledding I was fine, but I had a big case of shivers on the drive home. 

Before sledding it had been such a stressful day, but once we started I immediately felt better. 10 of 10 would absolutely do again.

Cold Day Swim

Since it was the coldest day of the year we of course thought it was a good idea to go for a dip today. According to weather underground it was 11 degrees out, with a feels like of -4. I will say, though, that we found a spot by the building where there was sun and no wind, so that make things a little easier - when we were changing it was more like 11 degrees. Which is not warm.

Because it's so cold the water temp was down to 35 again. The best part, though, is that the ice shelf is back. Of course I swam out to it and got on. I decided that maybe I've been cutting myself getting back in, as opposed to getting out, and so I sat on the shelf and slid in on my butt. I noticed much less in the way of scrapes, so I think that's a good strategy. We stayed in for about 7 minutes and I took my gloves off at the end to acclimate my hands. My new mittens are amazing, and dang it's hard to stick my hands in the water. The big swim is going to be intense.

After I had a lot of after drop on the drive home. I took a long shower and sat on the couch with my hot pad for a bit. And then I started feeling so tired that I took a nap (which was quite delightful). I'm still psyched about the upcoming storm - I hope it's going to be a fun one.

One month to the Big Swim

The winter swim festival is fast approaching, and so a friend and I went to the lake for a practice run. It's not too bad out, except that it is pretty windy. We're expecting bitter cold tomorrow and a big snow storm on Sunday, so lunch today seemed like the best time for a practice 200. We decided to do our changing by the parking lot so that the boathouse would block the wind - it was definitely a good decision. After getting changed, remembering to put in my ear plugs, putting anti-fog spray on my goggles, etc, we headed down. I was really really dreading the swim, but as I walked in it actually wasn't that bad in the water. My watch later said that the water was up to 36, which is still pretty cold. I wore my new mittens which really are such a game changer in terms of my hands, which also helped. Finally, the sun was out and even though it's not very strong this time of year it still made a difference. 

I walked in to about my waist and then just went for it. Of course the water was cold and I felt a bit breathless. I made sure to watch my pace and not swim too fast. There was a nice big space open between the docks and the dam, and so I was able to swim about 25 strokes in each direction, doing four laps. That's the same as the actual swim. After doing my laps I stopped for a minute to take my gloves off so I can acclimate my hands to the water a bit. It was so cold! I did another 20 strokes with each arm before finishing. In the end I did about .13 miles, which is a little more than the 200. I was in the water for 10 minutes, though it took some time to walk in, to take off my gloves and to do my last little swim. According to my watch I was swimming about a 3'42" pace, which is definitely slower than my pace last year at the race - there I did 2'34 for the first half and 3'15" for the second half. I think having extra adrenalin and a wall to push off of makes a difference on race day, but it's still definitely slower than 5 minutes for the 200. 

On Wednesday after work I stopped at the ski place to get in another few laps. I skied for a half hour and was pretty excited to see that my pace jumped up to an average of 3.4 mph, with the second half actually being at a 3.7 mph pace! I think I'm starting to get how it all works. I still can't ski outside of the tracks and hills are a puzzlement, but I'm quite happy with my progress. And I love that it's such good exercise in an outdoor venue.

We are expecting a big snow storm on Sunday into Monday - the amounts keep getting bigger and bigger, but it sounds like it's going to be over a foot of snow. I'm super excited about it. I've got a puzzle, food and cats - I hope the storm is up the the hype!!

Faster skiing

My office was closed today because we had a big event over the weekend - the best part was that I didn't actually have to help with the event! I just got a free day off :) After sitting on my couch for a bit I visited with a friend who is fostering a puppy (so cute) and then went skiing. It was sunny but really cold out, which actually feels like perfect ski weather to me - I always work up such a sweat. The best thing though, was that there was almost no one there, and the whole place was open. There wasn't a single person lying in the tracks or just standing there that I had to pass - it was much better in terms of annoyance factor.

I watched a few youtubes last night to work on my understanding of the mechanics of skiing, and I think they were helpful! According to my watch I was going about 3.2 miles an hour, which is still a pace I could walk, but it's faster than yesterdays. For part of the time I really felt the balance shift and glide as well as the kick back. And, I am getting more comfortable with the angle of my weight being forward.

I did three loops around the bigger track and on the second loop I did an extra circle around the long flat part for some extra practice. According to my watch I went 4.3 miles in an hour and 22 minutes, most of the time in zone 3 for heart rate, but a full 20 minutes in zone 4. It's funny how much easier it is to get my heart rate up doing skiing than it is erging at the gym. 

The only thing that I haven't really figured out for myself is the water situation. I don't have anything to carry it in, and I'm always so thirsty when I finish. I suppose I could just stick one of those small water bottles in my pocket. 

All and all, I was pretty happy with the day's exercise, and enjoyed it so much more than a day at work :) 

Ski and Swim day

Today is one of my swim friend's birthday and so we were planning a group dip at the lake. Also, we had snow last night, and it was beautiful out. So, I decided to combine skiing and swimming into one adventure. The plan was to go skiing for an hour, come home, change, and then hit the lake. Unfortunately my bed was a little too cozy, and my coffee a little too good, and by the time I was ready to go ski there wasn't time to come home in between. So, I made it one big outing.

I made a cake for my friend last night, so I had my skis, the cake and my swim gear. Plus all the necessary clothing changes - my swim suit and easy to take off/put on clothes and my dry robe. It was so much stuff - I think I've traveled to foreign countries for two weeks with less equipment. I took my skis out first, put them in the car, and brushed the snow off. While I was there the guy who parks next to me got home - he drives this massive 4x4 truck (which at first I wasn't excited about, but I have to say that he can fit it in his space just fine, without being a hinderance to me at all). Anyhow, he helped me clear my car and we chatted a little. Then I went back inside, changed into my ski gear, and took two more trips to bring everything else out.

When I got to the ski area the parking lot was completely full. Fortunately my outstanding parking karma once again worked, and someone left with perfect timing for me to get their spot. I changed my shoes (so much easier to do with cross country than downhill), grabbed my gear and headed up to ski. Even though there were a ton of people there it wasn't that crowded because the whole place was open. I did a much bigger loop than I had been doing - it's a little over a mile. I had time to go around twice, and then I did a few quick back and forth passes closer in to the lot because I was running out of time. To some degree I am getting the rhythm of skiing - it feels a little like skating where you are pushing with one foot and gliding on the other, and to some degree I have a long ways to go. On the bright side, it seems I was moving faster than most of the other skiers in the little track things. But also, they were moving slower and it was kind of annoying. I kept having to step out of the things to pass people. And as soon as I step out of the tracks I'm slower - so frustrating. I should have several more opportunities for skiing this week because my office is closed tomorrow and then I'm going in on Wed and Thurs, so I can go after work. According to my watch I went 2.8 miles in an hour, which again is just a little slower than if I walked. I did get my heart rate up pretty well - over 20 min in zone 2 and over 25 min in zone 3.

After I finished skiing I was so hungry! I thought that I might need something to eat and had brought an orange, which definitely wasn't enough. I had just enough time to stop and get a slice of pizza, which I chowed on in the car, before swimming. 

My friend is a teacher at a school that was actually closed for a couple days last year due to norovirus, so needless to say I didn't put candles in the cake for her to blow out, instead we just lit a regular candle, sang, and she blew that out. Then we went for a dip. 

The water is still 35 though the ice shelf has melted back a lot. I was thinking about doing a real swim, but just couldn't psych myself up for it (I did one on Saturday, so I felt like I had done my hard-core work for the week.) Instead I went out to the ice and found a spot where I could climb on it - it was pretty slushy and thin, but there were still some solid bits. I could feel the ice moving as I was standing on it so only stayed up for a moment. It's supposed to be really cold again, so maybe we will have more freezing. After our swims we all ate cake (which I have to say was delicious), chatted and bounced around to warm up. 

Yesterday I went climbing at my fav gym, metrorock. I warmed up with a 5.7 on autobelay, then I did a 5.8, 5.9, and three 5.10's - an a, b, and c. The 5.10 b killed me, I fell so many times. I really liked the c - it's in my favorite chimney, though I also fell on that one. And the a is on my fav slab - I just fell once on that one. I cooled down with a 5.7 that was fun. My arms were toast at the end, though I think seven climbs is pretty good.

5 weeks

5 weeks from today is the big race! I've been dipping, but only swam swam once recently, and it was brutal. I decided I better get back to it so I'm acclimatized and ready, but I have to admit I was dreading it. It's about 32 out today and cloudy, as we arrived at the lake there were flurries coming down which was pretty cool. 

It's gotten warmer and the ice is melting. Unfortunately it's floated towards the dock and there isn't a ton of space for swimming. And, there were four other people there, so I had to share the space (and since I don't really swim in a straight line in open water, that's kind of a problem). I was so dreading it by the time I got into the water, but then it was actually fine. 

Because I didn't want to cut myself up on the ice, and my goggles fogged up, I wound up swimming pretty slowly. And I had my super warm gloves and wool socks under my booties. So, after all the dread it was completely fine. The water didn't feel that bad (though it was 35) and my hands and feet weren't freezing. I did feel a little breathless at first, but then I was completely fine. Probably in a big part because I was swimming pretty slow. I counted strokes, but at a certain point I lost track because I couldn't see well and was trying to stay away from both the agitator and ice. In the end I only swam about 145 yards, which isn't that far, but I decided it was OK because my face was in the water for about 9 minutes, and that's what I need to be working on now. After the swim we warmed up, danced around a little, and then I came home and am spending the rest of the day on the couch.

I did a swim last week that was brutal - I got into the water and couldn't breathe. I wanted to get out, but I made myself finish. It was so hard. Funny how today was so much easier. I'm going to try to do at least one swim swim a week until the big race as a way to prepare.

This week for work we were at HMS for four days. I biked there two of the days with a blue bike e bike. It was mostly nicer to bike there than drive - I took the bike path to the MOS, crossed the bridge there and then went down the bike path on storrow to mass ave. The only part that wasn't bike path was from mass ave to the school, but a bunch of that had protected bike lanes. The one thing that was hard was on friday it was so cold, and there was a wind blowing off the charles river. I was freezing! My hands hurt just like when I am swimming and when I looked at my face when I got there it was red and blotchy. Still, better than sitting in traffic. I could never have biked like that when I worked downtown, but the infrastructure is so much better now.

Coyotes by the lake

I went with a friend for a late-ish dip at the lake tonight. We got there at 6:30 and by the time we'd procrastinated and such, we got in for our swim at about 7. It was a little warmer out than it's been, without any real wind. The ice shelf has definitely melted some, but a few places that I tested felt firm enough to climb on. I didn't want to cut myself up again, so I resisted the urge. We stayed in for 10 minutes, and my watch said that the water was still 34.

I have been having some pretty intense zings with the nerves on my hands and decided that maybe I should protect them a little better. I bought these kayaking gloves from Amazon that are amazing. They are three layers - a waterproof one, a neoprene one for warmth and a fabric-y one for more warmth. It almost felt like cheating because my hands weren't in pain.

After our swim, while we were drying off we heard what sounded like a massive pack of coyotes on the other side of the lake. They went on for a while, howling and barking and creating mayhem. It was pretty cool, though I was glad that the sound was coming from the other side of the lake.

Back to swim lessons

I went back to swim class today. I wasn't especially excited about it, but once I got there it was fine - it felt good to be in the pool again, doing real swimming and getting an aerobic workout. And, I was able to time my swim speed and did a 100 yard swim in about 2 minutes and 10 seconds, which does convert to doing a 200 meter swim in less than 5 minutes. Of course, once you add in the cold factor it becomes slower and longer, but still less than 7 minutes. Which is what I have been doing at the lake.

In the pool it's a lot easier to focus on reaching and pulling, something that's harder to do when I'm thinking about how cold I am. But, I need to remember to focus on that when cold water swimming. I'll have three more lessons, so a good chance to practice and remind myself of what a good swim stroke looks like. 

Ice Shelf

The ice shelf is back! Hooray! It's even earlier than last year - it's been a pretty cold winter. We went for a dip on Saturday and of course I had to climb on the shelf, twice. It was pretty hard to get up there because the edges are so smooth and there wasn't much to grab hold of when I was trying to get up. Eventually I broke enough of the ice to make a little indent, making it easier to swing my legs up and get on top of it. Once I was up there things felt pretty solid and I was able to stand for a second before getting back into the water. After I felt like it was too short a time up there, so I climbed on it again. I was so proud of myself for not cutting my legs up, but then when I got out of the water I realized that no, I had just not felt it because I was frozen. 

I've been having a lot of spiciness with my hands and wrists, and I just ordered new swim mittens that will hopefully help. On new years I could feel some zings from my wrists when they touched the water - not good. I know on the swim fest day I will be in some pain, but I'm just going to have to live with it. Otherwise I don't necessarily want to do permanent harm to my nerves with my silly hobby.

I signed up for four swim classes at mit to work on my form and speed again. I'm not super excited about it, but once I go I always enjoy them. I also got an annual ski pass for cross country skiing at this place near me that makes snow. I went today for about 45 minutes and did 3 loops around their space before calling it a day. I am feeling a little more comfortable on the skis, but also my right leg is a bit sore. I have to go 15 times to make it worth getting the pass, which I am using as a motivator - I've been 2x now, so only 13 to go :) I kind of like that I can just go there for 45 minutes, just like I would go to the gym for that long, so that's another good thing about the season pass. It's a lot of exercise-y things for me to be doing, because I'm also trying to keep up with yoga, strength training, stretching my IT band and keeping my glute strong - I guess it is good to be busy with exercise this time of year.

My post swim legs:

 

2026

I've been enjoying a quiet vacation, and had a relaxing NYE and NY. As in past years I spent NYE at yoga - the same place as last year in jp, and it was really nice. The class went from 10:15 - 12:05, with about an hour and 15 minutes of flow, half hour ish of restorative and then a meditation that started right before midnight. I really like the instructor alot and she doesn't take it easy just because it's late at night. So, the first part was pretty intense flow. I was so glad when she slowed it down and we did our restorative - I usually don't love restorative because you do kind of just lie there. But at 11:30 pm it works. During the meditation I thought about what a crazy year it's been around the world and felt grateful for everything that I have going for me. 

On NY day we had our fourth polar plunge at the lake. It was freezing - definitely one of the colder days we've had ever. The beach is completely frozen so we wound up doing it at the lower lake and having a little party in the woods after. The water is still around 35, so people weren't really hanging around for too long after going in. We had a bunch of new faces and waves of people. I kept my hands out of the water, but even so they were freezing. It was a tough on for sure. After I went home and felt cold for the rest of the day.

Today I went for another cross country ski. The place here that makes snow isn't as nice as it was going out in the woods, but it was super easy to get there, and it's good for me to get lots of practice. I bought a season pass for the year to force myself to keep working on my skills. The best part so far is when I'm on a trail that's a little downhill, so I can just glide. There is a circuit there, and I went around it 5 times which took me an hour - according to my watch I went 2.86 miles with 169 elevation gain, so again just a little slower than if I was walking :). Looking at my splits, I did get a little faster with each lap, so that's something. The ski area is convenient, inexpensive, and they make snow, which is really nice. But there are a lot of people there, which can be a pain. I had my first fall today because a woman stopped at the bottom of the hill (it's a small hill, but still a hill) and just stood there, in the tracks, because her friend fell. I was coming down and yelled to her, but of course she didn't move. And I can't stop that effectively so I had to fall to not hit her. The good news is that I was fine after, nothing bad happened, and I was able to get back up. So, I guess it was a good learning experience, even though I am still pissed about it.

The other thing that happened this year is that my garbage disposal died. It's been giving me issues for the last month or so, but yesterday I looked at the disposal and it was dripping water out the bottom, which just isn't a good thing for an electric appliance to do. I unplugged it and looking into replacing it - which is something I hate so much since repair people always charge a ton to women. I watched a bunch of youtubes about replacing your disposal and it didn't look that hard, so on the way back from skiing I stopped at the hardware store and bought a new one. And I replaced it myself! I feel so accomplished and adult (even though it wasn't that hard because I put in the same brand so I didn't have to do any of the difficult parts). The only really bad moment was at the end when I realized that the flange thing wasn't on, and I thought I was going to have to take the whole thing off. But then thankfully I realized that you just put it in from the top of the sink. Phew! I'm going to be watching for leaks for a while, but I'm super proud of myself.