Kitsilano Pool AKA: My happy place

It was a three day weekend in the US, so the spouse and I took off for territories north to visit friends and family and eat vegan dim sum. One of my favorite things to do in the summer in Vancouver, BC is swim in the Kitsilano Pool. This pool is 137 meters long, salt water, outdoor on the beach, and absolute bliss.

The pool is so large I struggled to get a photo that showed the whole thing.

The water was perfect. Just warm enough to swim but not overheat. Clean. Clear. Only mildly salty. It was windy outside which made it a little cold when I got out. But perfect while swimming.

I did a mileish of laps, with 274 of just kicking. I've been wanting to improve my kick strength. The lap swimming is done by staying to the right of the two black lines you can see in the photo. Slower people go outside, faster inside. You can cross inside the line to pass if you need to.  Generally it was pretty well organized, even with a few dozen people swimming.  The pool is so long, you get spread out!

This pool is always on my list of places to go when I visit Vancouver between May Long Weekend and Labor Day!

Swim in the rain, eh?

I went down to Magnusun for a Sunday morning swim. It was raining lightly, so I left all my dry stuff (towel) in the car. Slipped into the wetsuit and headed down to the beach. As I was finishing getting dressed, a man asked me how cold the water was.

I said, "I think about 55, I didn't check today but last week the bouy reading was about 13, which is around 55."
Man: In the winter it gets down to about 45, doesn't it?
Me: Yeah, I think the coldest is about 8 or 9, so around that.
Man: What are you, Canadian?
Me: Well, dual, actually, but the bouy reports in Centigrade, hence my thinking about the temps in C.
Man: I knew I'd get it out of you!

I walked off to swim.

Did my half mile out and back. I'm out of swim shape. And the water is still cold on my face. Most of the "out" was warm up. But for the "back it was easy to put my face in the water and just swim.

I did notice that the current in the lake was going the wrong way.  I swim north of the ship canal, which is wear the lake drains to Puget Sound. So usually the current is from the north to the south.  Today it was from the south.  This also made the "back" portion of my swim "upstream" and therefore a little tougher.  Not sure if it was the wind's direction or if one of the in-put streams was causing the current.

When I got back to the beach there was a 5-year-old birthday party going on. They were flying kites-- in the rain. I took off my wetsuit and showered off in the outdoor shower.  One kid was staring at me while I was showering.  I could tell her mom was uncomfortable with how hard she was staring. So I spoke to her, telling her about the wetsuit and how it keeps me warm in cold water.  She just kept staring.  I wonder why I was so interesting to her.

Another mom asked me what triathlon I was training for.  I said just swimming. She seemed disappointed.

This is who I am.

This post is a week late. The swim was last Saturday. Sunday I got on a train across Canada, and couldn't post. So here it is.

I didn't do the "last gasp" swim.  I'd pulled my glute muscle earlier in the week, and wasn't sure I'd have a strong enough kick. Another "DNF" was not the way to gain back my confidence. So I thought I'd test things out in Lake Washington instead.  This idea proved to be brilliant.

I was having a very emotional day. The trip across Canada was one I'd been anticipating for almost a year. And the fact that I was finally packing to go had me in a vulnerable feeling head space. That, combined with almost a week off exercise to rest the glute left me craving a workout.

I took a break from packing, and headed down to the lake. As I was getting in, a father, out walking with his young son, asked me about the water temp. My reply was "probably in the high 60's, so a little warmer than the air."  When I checked the bouy stats, I was right. 68*.  Perfect for a short swim.

Within 5 strokes I KNEW I'd made the right decision.  I remembered who I am.  Swimming makes me the most me I know. The sky's were cloudy, so visibility under water was excellent. And I relaxed.  The stress of the trip, the emotionality floated away.  It was the perfect swim.

It rained briefly. My first "wet" swim.  And the waves were whitecaps for a while.  I probably only swam for 25 minutes, as I still had some housework to do.  But it was still perfect.  A reminder of who I am.

I don't have photos from the swim.... so here's one from the train trip across Canada.'

Alice Lake.

We went camping at Alice Lake this weekend. Alice Lake is a great little provincial park about half way between Vancouver and Whistler. It is just a few km north of Squamish. The park hosts four lakes, and on Sunday afternoon we did the "four lake hike," a hike of about 5.5km that takes you past all four lakes. On the way we encountered an aggressive dog and two frogs (I am deathly afraid of frogs). The hike was pretty, and I evaluated the swim-ability of each of the lakes and decided that Alice was the best choice for my swim the next morning.

Monday was a bit colder and more overcast than Sunday, and I set off to swim around 11am. I started on the swim beach near the campground, swam to the far beach and back, then did another lap. Total distance around .75 miles.

The water was warm enough that I didn't need the wetsuit- but I wore it anyway. Since it was an overcast Monday there weren't other people in the water. A few kids were playing on the beach, but otherwise I had the place to myself. My spotter sat and read as I swam. It was quiet.

The only drawback of this swim, was the 9 hours my wetsuit sat wet in the car on the way back to Seattle. ICK! There needs to be another plan next time.

Air temp: 68 Lake temp: 66 Time in water: 35 min.

Harrison Hot Springs

CJ (my partner) and I went away for the holiday weekend. It was a holiday in both countries. Sunday we drove up the Frasier Valley to look for a campground. Our one goal was a camping site where I could swim. Oh yeah, and spending some quality time together.

Kilby Park was our first stop. At the spot where the Frasier River meets the Harrison River, this campground is on a spit of land surrounded by water. It would be perfect, for camping, for a swim....except.... within moments of arriving and getting out of the car to pay our fees, we each got approximately 8 mosquito bites. The spot was immediately nixed. And off we went, in search of less buggy grounds.

There isn't much to the town of Harrison Hot Springs. Except the hot springs, some hotels, and one VERY LARGE Lake.

After a quick pic-nic and walk, I donned the wetsuit and headed out. The plan was to swim, parallel to the shore, while CJ walked along, spotting me. I swam what google maps shows to be about 2/3 of a mile, in what was very cold water. I wished I had my booties, as my feet never warmed up. The hands did, once I got moving.

Following shore I was able to wave to lots of people out walking. And communicate with CJ when needed. The water was not very clear-- I couldn't see my hands when my arms were extended. Probably the minerals from the geothermal pools nearby.

After, CJ and I had a conversation about safety. He'd like to get something he could throw to me, if I was in distress. So we brainstormed ropes with buoys on them, or other options. I'll do some research and see.

Air Temp: 68* Water Temp: Unknown (but cold) Time in the Water: 25 min.