What a difference two years makes!

Facebook has that delightful feature where they remind you what you posted on this day in years past.  Here's one of mine for today, from two years ago.

That's me. In a swim cap, googles, and a wet suit.  In front of the "Open Water Swimming Permitted" sign at Lake Washington. My caption says "let the season begin! easy half mile in lake Washington"

Two years ago I was still wearing a wet suit.

Two years ago I was swimming mostly in Lake Washington.

Two years ago May 9th was my "season opener".

Two years ago I could swim half a mile.

Now I swim "skin" and haven't worn the wet suit in 18 months.

Now I swim mostly in Puget Sound.

Now I swim year round, so there is no season opener.

Now an "easy" swim is a mile, or more.

It is always fun to see progress.  This is a great example of how far I've come!

The chop!

This weekend I had a bridal shower that kept me from Alki (and was totally worth it, Mazel Tov to the bride-to-be!!).  A mimosa before a swim may not be the best of ideas, but it helped me be festive. Since I couldn't make it to Alki, I posted on Facebook for a friend to swim with in the afternoon.

I met up with L at the big lake in the middle of the afternoon.  Seattle is in the middle of a heat wave, so it was in the high 80s and everyone wanted to be on the water.  With a strong wind and TONS of boats the lake was really choppy. I'd estimate there were 1-2 foot swells, and in many directions. The wind was mostly out of the north.

L and I did the mile round trip to the dog park. The swim out was much rougher than the swim back, with the wind. I had to stick to breast stroke, even though I want to work on my flutter kick, as freestyle would have made me seasick.  However, I observed how comfortable I was in the waves.  I remembered a swim from my 42nd birthday, a year and a half ago, where I was in similar chop and wasn't sure I was going to make it. I kept thinking I should give up and get out.  This time that wasn't even a consideration. I knew I could handle the chop.  It was great to note how far I'd come.

The funny sight on this swim was three men swimming and trying to keep their beer bottles out of the waves.  Each one had one hand, with a bottle, raised well above his head.  They did offer to share, so at least they were nice about it.

Blue Angels

This weekend was Seafair in Seattle.  That means hotter than average temperatures (yes, this is statistically the weekend least likely to rain) and a performance by the Blue Angels. Their show was scheduled for 1:30 each day of the weekend, and the majority of Seattle takes to the water to watch. So I had to schedule my swims carefully.

Saturday I was at the lake around 11:30. It wasn't hard to park, there were still 10 or so spaces left in the lot.  But the park already felt crowded, and there were tons of boats out.  I did a half mile (I had food poisoning this week, so hadn't worked out and really needed to take it easy). The water was choppy from the boat wake. I felt like I was in the ocean, not the lake.  And the water was cloudy.  Not a bad swim, but I spent a lot of time with my head up looking out for motor boats.

Sunday I got to the lake earlier-- about 9:30.  The water was flatter and clearer.  Again I only did a half mile-- this time because I had a time deadline.  But it was good to get in the swim before things got chaotic.

I swam with the swim saftey device on my Saturday but not on Sunday. I broke the valve a few weeks ago, and in repairing it, ended up taking it out all together. Now it doesn't stay put.  I'm going to look into trading it in for a new one. I've had it for less than a year.

Swan Swim

It is amazing how my emotions change over the course of a few hours.  Even though I swam the night before, I had a swim scheduled for last night, so wanted to complete it.  I spent the day at work looking forward to it, but by the time I got home, I was tired and less sure.  By the time I got to the lake, the wind had picked up, and standing around was cold.  I almost went home. I waded into the water (without my wetsuit) and the water felt cold.  Again, I almost went home.  I stood, thigh deep in the water for a good 3 or 4 min.  Then finally said to myself, "What are you waiting for." With a laugh, I answered, "August, when the water warms up" and plunged into the water.

The waves were strong from the wind.  And blowing, as they often do, towards the north west. So I knew my standard out-and-back swim was going to be much harder on the way back.  I figured I'd take it easy for the out, and go short, then turn and hammer into the waves and wind.

Again with my prescription goggles, I could see EVERYTHING.  One of the things that this new prescription gives me is much better depth perception (to the point that one rider in my car commented that my driving was off the first week with the new glasses). Everything looks like a 3-D movie to me-- hyper clear and deep.  That included the underwater views.  I felt like I was in a 3-D movie of space, with things floating in front of my face.  Though there typcially isn't milfoil in space.

At one point, I thought I saw a dead fish floating near me in the water.  I swam away as fast as I could, totally skeeved out.  Then, as I paddled further, I realized that "fish" was most likely the reflection of my hands below the water on the surface of the water.  Nothing like being creeped out by your own stroke!

I was going to do the full mile swim, but with the waves at my back, started to worry about exhaustion on the swim back. So I turned around a few yards early.  The swim back was harder.  But I got into a great rhythm and just swam. It felt smooth and though it was hard work, it was easy to keep going.

When I finished I took a quick shower in the outdoor shower at the beach.  I realized how, after a hard workout like that, I am totally comfortable in my skin.  There is no sense of embarrassment or body consciousness about wearing just a bathing suit in public. Instead of fretting about body hair or my tummy size, I felt strong, powerful, and graceful.  It was a swan swim.