Becoming shark bait

I am, and always will be, a distance runner. In the last two years I have run four more half marathons. But, I felt like it was time to take on a new challenge. Our friend, Kurt, his son and brother, Kim, were visiting from Texas in July. During the course of one of our discussions Kim mentioned how he had won a lottery spot for an upcoming Alcatraz swim. It turned out his family had banned him participating because of concerns about the cold, currents and sharks. As we were talking I started wondering why I had never thought about swimming in the bay. I live close to Aquatic Park in San Francisco, which is the perfect training area for open water swimming in the city. Yes, I always though those people were crazy, but the more I thought about it the more I wanted to try it.

First things first- I had to get over my fears-the cold, rogue man eating sharks from the Farralones, currents, drowning and the fact that you cannot see a thing in the water. This was not like the snorkeling/swimming I've done in the nice, warm, CLEAR tropical waters of Mexico/Hawaii. So, how was I ever going to get in the water? I did a Google search and saw that there was an upcoming Intro to Open Water Swimming Class through Swim Art. This clinic sounded like it was exactly what I needed to get over my fears of swimming in the bay.

The on land instruction was really helpful in prepping the group on what to expect, answering any questions that the group had, walking everyone through getting suited up in their wetsuits, etc. Then came the fun part of getting in the water. We were broken up into 3 smaller groups (about 4-5 swimmers per group) and each assigned a coach. My coach was very encouraging and would call people out if they seemed like they were getting flustered. We practiced sighting, worked on form and adjusted to swimming in wetsuits (for many of us it was the first time). We spent about an hour in the water. We also got to experience the fun of having tourists stand around snapping pictures of all us crazy people in the water. Afterwards, we did a quick debrief on land.

The verdict after the clinic? Loved it.

In fact, I decided that I loved it SO much that I went ahead and registered for the 2013 Alcatraz Sharkfest Swim and bought a wetsuit before I had a chance to change my mind. And yes, I agree-not the best name for someone who has a fear of being eaten by sharks.

I also convinced my husband to join in on the fun. We now have 6 months to train so we can make the 1.5 mile swim from Alcatraz back to Aquatic Park. I'm excited and a little apprehensive about this new challenge. As far as animal encounters in the water-so far I've seen one friendly sea lion that lives in Aquatic Park and all the other crazy swimmers out there. NO SHARKS. I'll continue to blog about our training leading up to the big day!