It's summer! (Duh. I told you this wasn't going to be very exciting.) As always, we are racing in the ocean pretty often now- more than ever actually b/c the North Shore Series added a 5th swim (!) and there's another new one up there in September which is a 5K and that just pretty much makes me drool. So every other Saturday for most of the summer we'll probably be posting pics of beautiful blue ocean and us hanging out up there. :) This is Pipeline in the summer.
This past Saturday was the first one and the conditions were awesome for a point to point race. The first one is only about a mile (maybe slightly longer?) and it's a total crap shoot as far as what line to take to get to the finish line fastest.
Nalani and I got in for a longish warm up and specifically tested out the currents. (This is a very complicated process involving treading water and looking at the bottom to see if you move.) We actually didn't find evidence of any current at all- we tested it near the shore then swam out and checked again and found nothing... so our conclusion was that the line wouldn't matter much... Maybe would be better to swim deeper to avoid the surf breaks? But Mark was insistent that it would be fastest to swim right along the beach in shallow water- he promised we'd be sucked right along to the finish. I believed him and half way through the race ended up caught up in a spot where the water was too shallow to take a stroke and white water was crashing on my head. Excellent. I had to laugh though and I reminded myself Michelle you took the risk and picked this line now you live with your choice! Eventually I managed to get back to where it was deep enough to swim again and while I was still diving under breaking surf, I had the thought that I was glad I'm comfortable in those conditions because honestly, it was pretty fun. After the race I didn't talk to anyone who said I nailed it and totally chose the fastest line! The story from everyone who went wide was that they were swimming endless pool style against a strong current... and everyone who went inside had the same story as me. I don't know. Maybe we all should have just swam up the middle?
This is a garmin file from one of my athletes who apparently took the outside line! My green line, had I worn a garmin, would have been next to the sand and might have even touched that little point 1/2 way through. ;)
Other than swim racing, I'm actually going to do a whole bunch of little local triathlons this summer. In years past I've avoided all these races because I'd always had a bigger fish to fry, but this year I have no big fish to fry so I'm going to just fry a whole bunch of little fish. :) Who knows? Maybe I'll find out that I like little fish? There is a part of me that is actually pretty excited about it b/c it's so different than what I have focused on in the past. I get to race often and none of them matter for anything so I can feel free to maybe take some risks and try some different strategies with no pressure to do anything but try to learn and grow. So that sounds pretty fun to me!
Training is back to good as of today. Last week I picked up a virus/bug of some sort- probably at the ice skating rink I took Moana to- then spent a couple days last week in bed feeling like crap. Even Saturday when I headed up to that swim race I'd admit that I felt like garbage but I think the ocean is healing. I felt better after the race than I did when I got in to warm up. So there's your magic cure! Feeling sick? Go swim in the ocean! In good news I can say that I am maturing because for once I did not drag my sorry ass through any training when I wasn't up for it... I did go for one swim on Friday morning but got out when it was clear that I wasn't doing myself any favors. I came home and laid around and ate greens like it was my job and the virus was gone after 3-4 days. Phew!
What else? Moana is having a fun summer so far... lots of play time and she is still loving swim team. We go almost every day and she's been a huge fan so far. What's not to like about this?? Auntie Lectie makes a fun playmate in the pool. :)
I think there was more I was going to say but can't think of it now so I'll wrap it up. Until next time...
1 comment:
When I was in MN I swore that going for a run in below freezing weather cured illnesses. But I like your swimming in the ocean theory waaaaayyyy better!
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