Archive for January, 2010

Today I got back in the pool for the first time in 2 weeks. It felt oh so good! I didn’t put in too much yardage. My goal was to get in, get my arms going around and assess how my body was feeling. I was pleasantly surprised that I felt better than I thought I would. So, a quick 2500 yards and a little extra time floating around enjoying the high humidity in the pool area left me with a big smile on my face. Smile On!

The bay gives and the bay takes. This time it has given me bacterial pneumonia and has taken my ability to be well. On my last swim to Pt. Bonita, I must have inhaled bay water into my lungs. The water festered in my lungs for a few days and then took me down last Saturday. 6 days later…I am starting to feel better. This is a hard place for me to be in. Not because I am loosing training time but because I have a hard time not being in water. So, over the past 6 days, I have taken a total of 25 baths. Yep, that’s right, 25. My poor gas bill is going to be so high this month.

I am not feeling too concerned about loosing precious training time. I packed my off season with endurance building swims and dry land training. This has given me a solid foundation and it shouldn’t take me too much time to be back on my game. I just need to remind myself to take it slow.

So, I have taken a great lesson from this sickness and I give my respect to the San Francisco bay.

Please excuse the look of my blog for a little while. I am in the process of redesigning it and adding some new gadgets. It is a great way to keep myself busy while still thinking about swimming from the comfort of my bed.

Last Sunday (1/10)  I completed a swim from the Richmond San Rafael Bridge to Point Bonita. 14 miles, 50 degree water and it took me 3 hours 20 minutes. I learned a lot about myself on this swim. What I learned was how loud my inner dialog can be in my head and how that dialog can dictate how my body performs.

I started my swim by first touching the bridge and figuring out that it was smooth. I looked at the boat and gave my crew the signal to wait one minute.  I just couldn’t help it…it was going to be the best flipturn ever. I swam away from the bridge and then swam back towards it and did a flipturn and I was off.  The water was really moving from the moment I jumped in so I knew that it was going to be a nice ride out to the mighty Pacific. It only took a matter of minutes before that signature frozen smile was on my face. I giggled to myself and thought here I am back in my favorite place in the world and kept repeating the phrase “There  is no other place in the world I would rather be than right here, right now”. I felt fortunate to experience that moment of living in the present and all the stresses of  life on land were washed away and well on their way out to sea.

After I snapped back from my aqua spiritual moment and started to associate again, I began to do a body check in. Shoulders feeling good…check…hands and feet numb but feeling good….check….core holding its required temperature….check….head feeling okay…check but my brain said ” let it all go”.  So I did and I drifted off into disassociating again. It is very similar to a working meditation. Things, ideas or thoughts bubble up in my head but they just flutter past my consciousness and then dissipate. I like this place. I feel happy in this place.

The next thing I knew I was turning the corner to Raccoon Straits and realized that my swim was almost half over. I could see the Golden Gate Bridge off in the distance and I could feel the seals that had been following me for miles swimming in unison with me. I stopped to take a feeding and Naji said ” I am pretty sure those seals are asking you out on a date to the prom”  I said that I would accept their offer as long as I could wear the purple taffeta dress. Everyone laughed and I swam off with my new friends and proceeded through the straits towards the gate. It is very hard to explain what it feels like heading out to sea through the Golden Gate on a 4.1 knot ebb tide. The only analogy I can come up with is it is like being squeezed out of a tube of tooth paste.  I was just a small speck being pulled and tossed around by the pull of the ebb tide.

After crossing the opening to Sausalito I was met by a few dolphins who felt the need to escort me under the bridge. This is not the first time that this has happened to me in the same place. During a swim from Point Bonita to Aquatic Park last year, I was escorted by several porpoises that swam me under the bridge and then proceeded to swim under me and kick me before they swam off.   How lucky was I to have this experience.  Do I send some type of signal to them to join me, similar to hailing a cab? I wish I had these powers but for now I will just pretend that I do.

After crossing under the Golden Gate Bridge and doing my usual few strokes of backstroke, I realized that this is where the meat and potatoes of the swim began. The inner struggle that happened between ego and body. The inner dialog that happens between reptile brain and the more developed human brain. The part of the swim in which my body said enough is enough and my ego said keep going a little longer. I made the mistake of waving off my last feeding with about a half hour left of the swim. This left me in a state of depletion and I learned a great lesson. For my body to battle my strong ego, I must fuel the body to fulfill the egos wishes.

All in all it was a great way to start out the year. I learned a lot about myself and that is what training swims are all about. I am moving toward my ultimate goal of the year of swimming from the Farallon Islands to Aquatic Park.  No female has ever accomplished a swim from the Farallons and my mantra is “I am just the girl for the job!”

Thank you to my crew.  Naji, thank you for feeding me and fueling me with your smile. Dewey, I loved the first thing you said to me in the morning “Isn’t it a great day to be alive!” Bobby, how do I love thee…let me count the ways. As always a true team effort and I couldn’t have done any of it without you.

2010 has arrived and I am well on my way toward my swim goals. My off-season training has turned into on-season training which consists of more time in the water. I will be starting off the year with a swim from the Richmond San Rafael Bridge to Point Bonita. The north bay will be new swimming territory for me and I have a feeling that I will spend a lot of time over there in 2010. Check back after Sunday to see how it went.

Lately I have been tapping into my inner-mermaid. She will beckon you to swim anywhere in 50 degree water.