Making Waves

Growing up in North Carolina we would go to the beach every summer for a week or so. The water was warm and swimable, if dirty. Regardless of how careful I was, every summer I'd get knocked over by a wave and have that horrible moment of tumbling, not knowing which way was up, and getting water up my nose.  I hated it, and it instilled in me a fear of high surf.

In early November, the spouse and I were in California for a vacation. I did a swim in the ocean near Ventura, and wanted to do another near Carlsbad. When we got to Ventura and I looked at the water, I was not fully confident of my ability to swim in the surf.  This is what it looked like:

Yeah, I know, most don't look at that and get scared. But I do. Any breaker feels like a lot to me.  But I went and swam. I did laps parallel to shore for half an hour while the spouse sat on a beach chair and read.

A friend from Alki had told me, prior, that if I watched the water for a while, I'd see the wave pattern and have a better sense as to when to go in.  She was right. After watching the waves I knew when I was about to get a low one, and used that opportunity to get to deeper water.  I had a great swim (the water was WARM compared to up north here) and was proud of how I did in waves I wasn't that confident about.

Then, New Year's Day 2018 came. And I wanted to do a NYD swim.  Not just a "plunge" where you go in and immediately come back out, but a true swim. The gang from Alki met up for a 1pm swim.  There were just a few of us who showed up:

The wind was from the north, so the waves were big.

I got in and swam. It was hard. I was uncomfortable. I got water up my nose and in my throat.  But I felt safe.  There were so many other swimmers, and I'm getting more comfortable in the water as well.  I'm really glad that I swam, even if the video should be entitled "Rebecca, look behind you".

Happy new year, and see you in the waves!

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.

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.

I should have known...

I should have known this wasn't going to be a great swim when I got to the lake and saw white caps.  But I was determined. I'd rested my shoulder this weekend because it was sore from tumbling class, and I really wanted to swim.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a great swim when my goggles strap broke. I'd left my spare pair at home, trying to streamline what I carry with me.  I was able to make do with the stump of the strap, but they didn't fit quite right.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a great swim when my Vibrams started irritating my toe with the missing nail.  The nail is growing back slowly.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a great swim when I kept getting hit in the head by my swim safety buoy.  Usually it floats behind me and I don't even know it's there.  Today the wind kept blowing it at me and it got in my way.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a great swim when the waves started making me sick.  I swam north, as I usually do, with the wind coming from the south east, the waves crossed me in a way that made me ill.

But then I turned around.  Into the waves.  And swam back.  And suddenly, it was a great swim.

35 min. Water temp- 64* Air temp- 62*