Late season fun

Fall swimming is in the air in Portland, but not in the Gorge!  The past two weekends I've made the short trek out to Hood River to swim 5 miles from Mosher to the Best Western in Hood River. It is such a gorgeous swim and the water remains a balmy 68 Fahrenheit while the rivers in Portland continue to cool down to the mid to low 60s. 


On both weekends there was a moderate current assist, but the locals insisted "there's not any current right now."  Well, I know my 500 m splits and sub-7 minutes is not my usual pace in open water. Regardless, the water and scenery are lovely and the company wasn't bad either 😉. The first weekend was a bit rough for me, I hadn't been sleeping well and was feeling burned out from studying. The swim was fine the scenery was beautiful, but I was tired before I got in and so it was less enjoyable than a swim in the Gorge usually is. BUT! Week 2, wow. It was GREAT. I was better rested, Sue from Corvallis joined us, Brianna came, Eivind swam instead of paddled, and more locals joined us too. It was playful and relaxing. We practiced drafting, spent time back floating and laughing while watching the barges go by, and then played in the rollers from their wake. It was everything a shot swim should be, little kid happy for five miles. 


The only downside is the nerve pain in my neck and shoulder is back. It's not bad, but it's there. I got hit in the neck by a flying umbrella in June and it's not been right since then. (I know, seriously, I can't make this stuff up.) So, rather than continuing my progress toward my 500-mile goal for 2022, I'm going to back off the yardage, hit the yoga mat and gym more, and do my daily nerve glides with diligence. I'm also studying for OT boards and have been spending a lot more time at my desk and writing out my notes to study, which I'm pretty sure is contributing to my shoulder problems. Boards are later this month, so hopefully, with some rest from swimming and some self-inflicted therapy, I'll be right as rain in time for the winter swim season. 

I'm working on scheduling Angel Island for August 2022, and hopefully the Jessica Kieras Waldo Lake route for later the same month. Rest is important. Recovery is important. I haven't prioritized these things in the past and it's catching up to me. Don't worry. I'll still be in the water, just wearing fins and floating more while I ride the thermometer down. 

See you in the water!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buoy Repair 101

Image
Pinholes, cracks, abrasions. They're unavoidable and death for swim buoys. Fortunately, they can be patched and stretch out the life of the buoy.  Unfortunately, some holes are harder than others to successfully patch. To illustrate I have patched three different buoys of different construction with holes in different places. I'll follow up at the end and report which buoys are doing the best one month after being patched.  You will need the following things to begin.  1. Dish soap & bathtub or bucket full of water. 2. Rubbing alcohol.  3. Duct tape or masking tape.  4. Aquaseal brand wetsuit cement (Try others, but this is the brand I've used for years to repair gear. It can be purchased at REI, Wal-Mart, or most marine supply stores.) 5. Something to spread it with (I frequently will use cardboard and cut it into scrapers) paper towels.  6. Patience. 7. More patience.  8. If you're messy like me: Craft gloves. Aquaseal gets everywhere and does ...
Read more

Welcome to 2024

Image
The start of 2024 marks the start of training, and planning, for Catalina Channel- both of which are epic feats in themselves and happen before I hit the water in Doctor's Cove. In talking to folks over the years people are always wowed by the swimming part, but really it's the planning and the crew that are most impressive. So, on my journey to Doctor's Cove, I'm going to bring the whole Internet along for the ride, well maybe not the WHOLE INTERNET just the handful of folks that read my blog. To start things out, this is my spreadsheet: Catalina Training  Yeah, it's a training plan/tracker and you can follow along with what I actually do to get ready for the swim. I'm working on a Spotify playlist too, if you have recommendations for pump-up songs- put them in the comments! This past November I attended Swim Camp Catalina for my birthday and got to know the water there a little bit. I swam with bioluminescence for the first time, a truly mesmerizing experien...
Read more

RTAI 9.23.23

Image
Mid channel to Alcatraz  Round Trip Angel Island (RTAI) A month ago now I was walking out of the water (at about the time I'm starting this post) after swimming 7 hours 50 minutes and 9 seconds in the San Francisco Bay. The course was the famous  Round Trip Angel Island , one of the  Toughest Thirteen  according to MSF. Leading up to this swim I was a nervous wreck. This past summer was especially tough. After a successful, but painful,  Portland Bridge Swim  I had to cancel my planned  Three Islands Waldo Lake  route to focus on stroke work with  Intrepid Water  (more later in this post on my work with Shannon at Intrepid Water) and shoulder recovery. I felt undertrained and like I was still mending when my feet hit the water in Aquatic Park at 3AM on September 23. For all those feelings of trepidation, I made it through- in large part to my crew: Sue Phillips, Wendy "Pepper", Vicky Miller, and Sumner Williams; piloted by Tom "Reptile" ...
Read more