Less than 24 hours until Sharkfest!

It's the day before the Alcatraz Sharkfest! Since my last blog I have been swimming every Sunday with the Water World Swim group, swimming in the Bay one weeknight a week and swimming in the pool. I've also been running a couple days a week since I'm signed up to run the SF Marathon in June and I am nowhere where I should be with my training!

The Sunday swims with Water World have been great. I've gone from struggling just to breathe in the cold water, to having to turn back because I couldn't swim against the current and got stuck, all the way to swimming through that current to make it close to the end of the sea wall and back in the cove. I've gotten up to swimming over a mile in open water in the last 2 months. The Water World coaches/team have been incredibly supportive and have given great advice. Even though I am one of the slower swimmers and am usually lagging at the very back of the pack I still feel welcome in the group.

So, tomorrow is the big day. I'm hoping for calm water and no wind. I'm nervous about the chaotic start that is going to involve 900 people offboarding a perfectly good boat within 10 minutes. I'm hoping no one kicks me in the head. I'm wondering if I've trained enough. I'm also hoping that I can finish the swim and don't have to be one of the swimmers picked up by one of the boats to be repositioned into Aquatic Park.

But, most importantly, I'm proud that I'm trying something new. I never ever thought I would try swimming in the bay, let alone attempting an Alcatraz swim.Can't wait to go through this experience tomorrow. Good luck to all the other Sharkfest swimmers!

Getting back in the Bay

For the last 4 months I've been focusing on training in the pool, working on increasing my swimming distance. Now, with 2 months to go before Sharkfest, I decided it's time to get acclimated to swimming in the bay again. Last weekend I went back into the bay and swam for the first time with the Water World Swim group. There were about 25 of us and they gave us the option of swimming out to the entrance of Aquatic Park or staying within the cove. There were four of us who opted to stay in the cove-all of us newbies. Coach Pedro wanted us to jump right in and swim out to one of buoys and back. First thoughts in my head-"I've got this! Water wasn't that cold in November when I was in and I'm stronger than I was back then. Let's do it!" So, I dove right in.  Boy...was I wrong. I failed to think about the fact that coming out of Winter the water was going to be much colder than in November-52 degrees! 8-10 degrees makes a big difference! My face was burning and it knocked the breath out of me. Add in the fact that I needed to get used to swimming in a wetsuit again and it took all my focus just to regulate my breathing. My form went out the window. I struggled through the first drill and got back to the beach. My group was really supportive but I was so frustrated with myself for not being able to perform at the level I wanted to. Next drill was to swim out to one of the boats floating near the entrance and back-if we got tired we could turn around at any point. I calmed myself and just started to focus on my breath-but was still fighting to get comfortable. About halfway to the boat I stopped to gather myself and look around. The rest of my group was almost to the boat. Frustrated, cold, and spitting out salt water, I asked myself what the heck I was doing out there and why I was putting myself through this. (Actually, I used a few other choice words.) I contemplated turning around but decided that I needed to suck it up and get myself to the boat. I made it out there while the rest of my group cheered me on. On the return back the current was helping push us back to shore and I finally started to feel more relaxed. Staggering back up to the beach I got high fives from the rest of my group.

What I'm realizing is just like running a half marathon, swimming is about 60% endurance/physical and 40% mental toughness.

I went back out this morning and the experience was 10 times better. Just have to keep getting myself out there until it becomes second nature. Sharkfest, here I come!