.

This week marked the first of my long training swims, which in a way is kind of funny: 2 hours is going to seem like child’s play come August! Still, the water is a heck of a lot colder now than it will be in 4 months, and seeing as how all week it was 52 degrees or below, I was understandably nervous. Thankfully, San Francisco Bay decided to have pity on me and warmed up a whole 2 degrees! Yay!

Luckily, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and I loved getting to swim out of the cove and explore the Bay a little. My pilots timed it so I got to ride the flood current back to the Dolphin Club, so I felt like I was flying! Which is always nice when your hands are paralyzed in a funky sort of claw, and you would otherwise believe they couldn’t pull you anywhere. (That’s from the cold, by the way…normally my hands are quite nice actually).

I was colder by the end than I’ve ever been in my life while swimming, but hey, that was also longer than I’ve ever been in water so cold.  2 hours: check!

Next for May: 3 hours in a few weeks and 4 hours at the end of the month. Stay tuned!

I’m a little over 6 months out now from my Channel date!  It’s time to start thinking about what I need to do to prepare myself for success.

My dear friend, mentor, coach, motivator, and recently named “Life Member” of the Dolphin Club, Reuben Hechanova, has put together a rough outline for what I need to be aiming for in terms of training over the next few months:

MARCH:

• 1 to1-1/2 hour minimum daily pool sessions to start, leading up to 2 hours by mid-month
• 1hour SF Bay swims on Saturday and Sunday: No ‘hard swimming’; medium to moderate stroke pace

APRIL:

• 2 hour pool training sessions
• 1 hour SF Bay swims on Saturday and Sunday
• Benchmark of 2 hour SF Bay swim