Park to Park 2017

I've been doing Park to Park for years.  It was the first big goal open water swim I did when I was getting into swimming.  And it is a staple in my summer calendar. The course is fun, straight across Lake Washington, from one city park to another. I do the "classic" one way course.

Last year, the conditions were awful.  Worse waves then I typically see in Puget Sound.  My time was long- 1:14 for the 1.4 ish miles of the swim.

This year I didn't think much about the swim. I joined at the last moment possible. I didn't do any special training other than skipping the long swim I usually do the day before.

I joined up with some of my friends from the Notorious Alki Swimmers.  I love these folks.  They are strong, powerful, funny, smart people. I'm always excited to see them and am so glad they have become friends.

My goal for this swim was pretty much "fun and finish."  I have been working on my freestyle (crawl) and thought I'd try to add more free into the swim.  To achieve that goal, I was wearing my motion sickness wrist bands.

The swim was chip timed. This is also new in the last few years. It means they KNOW that everyone who entered the water also got out.  It also means we get to take a "prison chic" photo. (that's me with the aqua sock on!)

The swim has moved to a mass start in recent years, away from the wave start in the past, with slow waves going first.  The advantage of this is that slower swimmers don't have the constant experience of being passed by faster swimmers, and the mental head-game that brings. The downside is that it means that the mass start is chaotic, and one has to try to seed themselves appropriately.

 The mass start looks like this:

A challenge for me at the start can be going out too fast and therefore loosing breath control, hyperventilating and having to work hard to calm down. As I've become more experienced at these events I've gotten better at seeding myself, and at knowing I need to swim my own event. Sometimes a warm up that helps to get over the cold shock can help, but this time I decided the water was warm enough to not need that.  I was right.

I started near the rear, figuring I could avoid the "washing machine" feeling at the beginning, and that passing people later would feel good. I started out with free, and quickly realized that was a mistake. I needed to warm up and get a rhythm in breast, then could switch over. Part of how I knew it was a mistake is that I couldn't focus on anything except swimming. I wasn't able to sing a song, or work on bi-lateral breathing. I was just swimming, and expending a lot of energy. So I switched back to breast for a while.

The course had large numbered buoys to show the way. They started at 5 and worked their way down to 1, so you always had a sense of where you were.  I actually found this a bit annoying. It took away some of the challenge of an OWS. I like having to pay attention and sight.

Once I got my rhythm, I tried to increase my percent of free. I set a goal of doing only free from buoy 4 to buoy 3.  During this time I did watch a rescue, so did a few strokes of breast for that.  There was a swimmer hanging onto a kayak.  The kayaker had their paddle up in the air to signal for a boat. The paddle boarder nearby also raised her paddle. But for some reason the boat didn't come.  So the paddle boarder went and got the motor boat. Which, once they got the boat's attention, came quickly and got the swimmer out of the water. I was a bit distressed by how long it took, however.

I did make it to buoy 3 with only free-- except for the time to watch and make sure the other swimmer was safe. It is very hard to tread water and take a selfie when you want a specific background, but some how I was able to commemorate the occasion.

The buoys counted down pretty quickly. My shoulder got a bit tired of the free, so I switched back and forth with more regularity after that one long push.  I never got to the "I need to finish now" point. I felt strong.  The finish came up pretty quickly.  I was still surrounded by swimmers. I never got that "i'm alone on the course" feeling.

They used a bright light (seen in the photo above) to make finding the finish easier.  It helped, but again, took some of the fun out of the adventure.

After the swim I met back up with my friends and we all compared notes. Everyone had a great time, and was happy. The food was OK, bagels etc and the Greek yogurt folks were there giving out some AMAZING yogurt! I got the bus back to the cars, and chatted with a friend the whole way. 

When I got home, I checked my time. 1:07. A whole 7 minutes faster than last  year!! That's about 13% faster!

Park to Park swim 2016

The Park to Park swim is a 1.5 ish mile swim across Lake Washington. Like a lot of open water swims, I clarify the distance with an "ish" because swimming a straight line is unlikely, and therefore the measured distance and the actual distance can be two different things.

I have done this swim 5 times previously- '10, '11, '12. '13, and '14. I was registered last year but had a back injury about 6 weeks prior and was unable to swim that distance at that time.

This year a friend of mine who is close to my pace, and hasn't done many open water events, asked if we could swim together. After a "shake down swim" two weeks prior to test pace match, we decided to give it a try.  It was wonderful to have a partner in crime when this event got tough, and tough it did get!

We gathered at Mathew's Beach around 7:15. I found a bunch of my Notorious Alki Swimmer friends. I'm so glad I joined NAS last year because it has given me a posse of like minded people. We took a few photos before hand, and this is by far my favorite! (NAS isn't all women all the time, that's just who we had for the photo).

What beautiful and colorful women!! Love to  join with them (that's me on the far left in my new bathing suit!!)

We joked about how silly it was to wear the ankle bracelets.  Between that and the number on the arm, we felt a little like prisoners.

The swim was supposed to have a line of buoys guiding us across the lake, but the wind had done a job on them in the few hours before the start and they were all way down the lake.  The staff was doing their best to re-place them before the start, but it was impossible.  This should have clued us in as to what we were getting ourselves into.

This year, because they gave us timing chips, they decided to do a mass start.  Those were were "competitive" started at the front, and the "recreational" at the back. People slowly walked through the start chute and into the water to start swimming.  It was pretty chaotic and still took a while for us to all spread out and find our groove.  D and I started at the back, wanting to just take it easy.

The water was warm, and started out flat.  We got into a good groove and were cruising along. I checked in with D a few times on pace and how she was doing.  She was swimming strong and having a good time. 

As we eased into the middle of the lake, the waves picked up.  D commented that she kept seeing "whale spouts" and I said I would believe it in these conditions.  The swells rose to about 2 feet, with white caps on top.

At one point I suggested D turn around and look behind us.  We were about half way across. It is amazing to see how far back the previous shore is, and it is reassuring when the shore ahead really doesn't seem to be getting any closer.

A few times, I saw a white cap crash above me while I was under water for a stroke.  The way the light played on the water they would appear to be sea-creatures of some sort.  I decided they were mermaids, and good luck.

The waves really were relentless. I reassured D that she was earning her Bad-ass points for the day, as this was the worst conditions I'd ever done Park to Park in.  She appreciated the reassurance, cursing the friends who talked her into it saying that lake swims are supposed to be calm and flat.

I was glad for both of us that we'd done so much training at Alki.

The safety crew were having a hard time managing their boats and paddle boards in the high winds and waves. At one point a safety kayaker was struggling with his boat and almost ran over me, D, and another swimmer.  I put up a hand to fend him off, as I knew I could push the boat away, protecting all of our heads.  He was able to maneuver away without my touching him (yay for following channel rules) but it was a bit harrowing.  After this incident, I realized, again, how incredibly comfortable and strong I feel in the water these days.  I never felt that I was at risk from that kayaker as I knew I had the ability to judge if I needed to push him away, grab on, or dive under.  It is great to see how confident I am in water these days.

D and I made it to the finish.  Tired, and with more water in our sinuses and stomachs than we would have prefered.  Everyone gets rockstar points for completing this swim.  It was a challenging one.

Final time was 1:14:08.  Slower than I'd anticipated, but I'll take it considering the conditions.

Park to Park Swim- Race Report

Today was the annual Park to Park swim- an approximately 1.5 mile swim across Lake Washington, from Mathews Beach to O.D. Denny Park. Today was also a vindication of my swim from last week.

This swim was an act of faith. Faith that the other side was there, through all the fog. Faith that I'd eventually be able to see the finish line. And faith in myself, that I could make it.

Alarm at 6:12 felt early, but I'd made some wise decisions the night before, stayed in the bar with friends until only 10:30 and didn't have any alcohol. The weather was foggy. But it wasn't raining. My Sister-in-law, J, and her friend, L, picked me up at 6:40. The plan was for the partners to meet us on the other side of the lake for the ride back.

When we got to Mathews Beach you couldn't see the other side of the lake, the fog was so dense. But there was a shadow of a sun behind the fog, and an indication that it might burn off. As swimmers discussed the course ahead of time, another swimmer had said we were to swim towards the white sign on the other shore. Most of us replied with "what white sign?" By our start time, skies were clearing, but that sign was still illusive.

I was in the first wave-- those with pink caps. There were blue, yellow, green and white behind us, starting at 5 minute intervals. People self seeded, based on predicted pace, with the slowest swimmers going out first. I swam this in about a hour and 8 minutes last year and was predicting a similar time for this year. The swim is not timed, and not, technically, a race.

As I got on my wetsuit, I struggled a bit with the demons from last week. I'd had a good chat about it the night before with a friend-- and had re-asserted my belief that I could have finished last week, and could have done it in about an hour, if I'd been given the opportunity. But the self-doubt still crept in. Was the kayaker from last week correct? Was I really in that bad of shape? Was I making a huge mistake by going out into the deep water again this week? The only way to prove to myself that I do have the capacity for this type of swim was to do it. So I did.

The pinks started off, and I started with them. Crawl to begin. I kept up with the pack pretty well for the first three or four minutes. Then, as last week, realized that the adrenalin had me going out too fast, and I needed to slow down. The doubts crept in, already. Was I really too unfit for this? Was my training weaker that I'd thought? Switched to breast, caught my breath, and pushed on.

My 10k time, when I was running regularly, was about an hour and five minutes. This swim is similar to a 10k. However, during most runs I would talk to people-- other runners, volunteers. On a swim, you don't. You are left alone with your thoughts.

During the swim it was impossible to not compare this event to the one from last week. The only time this week I spoke to a kayaker was when I asked for help with sighting. Otherwise, they left us alone. Unlike last week's staff that were on top of me the whole time. This swim supports swimmers of all abilities, not just those who maintain specific time frames. I thought about my nieces, and what we want to teach them about athleticism. They are 7 and 9, and strong, smart girls. However, they come from a genetic stock that means they will never be elite or even strongly competitive athletes. However, we would like them, like me and their mom, to love sport. To want to see what their bodies can do. To enjoy training and pushing their bodies to test their own limits. We want them to love what they can do, and be proud of themselves, even if they aren't the fastest, strongest, or most adept. An event, like the Park-to-Park, supports that. It welcomes all trained athletes to test themselves. This is the type of event I want to support. One that supports swimmers like me.

Mentally I divided the swim into three sections, of approximately a half mile each. The first one whizzed by. I just got my grove on and it was done. The next one was pure pleasure. The joy that motion brings. The final one was work. But even as I got near the end, I didn't want it to end.

Once I got my groove, I pretty much just put my head down and swam. As I neared the end I feared I'd be the last swimmer to finish. That I was slower than I'd thought. That I'd have that embarassment of the applause from everyone, as I was last. That I'd have DFL (Dead F-in Last) as the letters from this swim as opposed to the DNF (did not finish) I got last week. I don't know why it bothered me so much. I'd been DFL before-- in a 7 mile trail race that had only 36 entrants. I still felt accomplished. But for some reason, last week's swim got under my skin. And I felt like I had something to prove. I turned to look behind me and saw a good two dozen swimmers, including others in pink caps. I knew I'd be fine.

Eventually, the finish banner came into sight, and the white sign on the shore near it. Last year their had been a strong current, away from shore, just before landing. I prepared for it. But it was absent this year. (last year the wind had also been strong enough to cause huge waves and motion sickness, this year it was flat).

J, L, and the partners were waiting on shore. I finished strong and happy. I also restored my faith in myself.