The Lake Berryessa swim today was awesome!  The lake is beautiful, the water clear, clean, and warm (69 degrees!)  While this is obviously way, way warmer than the Channel, it was a fun chance to have fun and race.  The sun was shining, and it was super warm out. 

A ton of my friends showed up – members of the Dolphin Club, South End Club, San Mateo Master Marlins, and Mountain View Masters were there, and I met some really nice people from Santa Cruz.  I also managed to get my friend and former Princeton swimmer Fernando out to swim.  What can I say, swimmers have a tendency to rock. 

The Davis team did a fanstastic job running the event, and they used a really nifty timing system.  They had us all wear electronic bands on our ankles that recorded times as we ran up the beach.  Very high tech, and it made turn around time on the results very fast. 

I entered both the 2 mile and 1 mile events.  The 2 mile went off at 9:45, and it was this race that was my focus.  I got out fast, and once I was in the lead, I started freaking out that someone was going to catch me from behind at the finish (it’s happened before).  Since open water swimming has no turns, I had no idea where people were behind me, so I kept ramping up the effort through the whole race.  It paid off, and I came in as the first female age 18-39(11th overall if you include the men).  Later in the day, Suzanne Heim-Bowen, a fellow Dolphin Club member, would surpass my time by 35 seconds to claim the 5th spot overall.  Well done her!

I was feeling tired, and the 1 mile was set to start what seemed like almost immediately.  I decided to just have fun on the 1 mile – just enjoy the warm, clear water and the chance to swim with other people.  But 30 seconds after the start, I found myself at the head of the pack again.  Well, I figured, if I’m ahead now, I may as well try to stay there! 

The 1 mile seemed to be over almost as soon as it started, but once again, I finished first out of the women age 18-39. 

I had a great time, and I’m definitely going to be back next year!  Hope to see you there, too! 

PS.  Loved the shirts!

The Davis Aquatic Masters are hosting what promises to be an awesome open water event this weekend! There will be a 1 and a 2 mile event (and if you enter both, there’s a discount), as well as age group events.

It will be held at the beautiful Lake Berryessa in Napa, California.  If you haven’t got something fun to do on Saturday morning, you should definitely come out and swim!  And maybe hang around for some wine tasting in the afternoon. 

Info at http://www.damfast.org/berrywelcome.html

Summer is just around the corner, and that means it’s open water race season!  Both Southern California and the Bay Area have tons of swims scheduled for the open water swimming fan.  From the beautiful Pacific Ocean to the myriad of lakes dotting our glorious, sunny state, you can find plenty of opportunities to join fellow swimmers in an escape from black lines and chlorine.

Just make sure you rinse your suit out well so your swim bag doesn’t take on the permanent fragrance of ocean bottom!

• May 31:  Lake Del Valle .75 mile and 1.5 mile, Livermore (NorCal)
• June 6:  Lake Berryessa 1 mile and 2 mile, Napa (NorCal)
• June 27:  Lake Mendocino 2 mile, Lake Mendocino (NorCal)
• July 11:  Balboa to Newport Pier to Pier 2 mile, Newport Beach (SoCal)
• July 12:  Seal Beach Rough Water Swim 1 mile and 3 mile, Seal Beach (SoCal)
• July 12:  Semana Nautica 6 mile, Santa Barbara (SoCal)
• July 18:  Trans-Tahoe Relay, Lake Tahoe (NorCal)
• August 2:  CRUZ Cruise 2 mile, Santa Cruz (NorCal)
• August 8:  Donner Lake 2.7 mile, Donner Lake (NorCal)
• August 16:  Naples Island 1 mile and 3 mile, Long Beach (SoCal)
• August 22:  Russian River 1 mile, Healdsberg (NorCal)
• August 29:  Corona del Mar 1 mile, Corona del Mar (SoCal)
• September 12:  Alcatraz Invitational, San Francisco (NorCal)
• September 13:  Whiskey Lake 1 mile and 2 mile, Reading (NorCal)
• September 13:  Tiburon Mile, Tiburon (NorCal)
• September 13:  La Jolla Rough Water Swim, La Jolla (SoCal)
• September 19:  Santa Barbara Pier to Pier 3 mile and 10 mile, Santa Barbara (SoCal)

Happy Swimming!

3 Hour Swim Course

Well, the swims continue to increase in duration!  On Saturday, I did a 3 hour swim out in the San Francisco Bay.  The course, above, was designed by Reuben, my wonderful pilot and SF Bay guru.  I went against the current for most of it, then flew back with the current at the end.  It was very similar to my 2 hour a few weeks ago, only this time I nearly made it to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Which is actually a little scary at 11am on a Saturday, given that boat traffic picks up considerably.  Still, I had Reuben to guide me and Neal to time and feed me, so I was well taken-care-of.

Unlike my 2 hour swim, I followed orders and ate (1 GU) and drank (250-300mL of GU2O or jasmine tea with sugar – delicious!) every half hour.   It made a huge difference!  The water was still quite cold (55-56 degrees), but I stayed relatively comfortable and my body felt fine at the end as far as fatigue goes.  I really felt like I could have swum for hours more.  Amazing what nutrition will do for you.  I’m still having hip flexor issues – they were burning like crazy at the conclusion of 3 hours.  Duke, a Channel swimmer at the Dolphin Club, recommended I curl up in a ball for a quick second at every feeding to help this and to prevent my back from getting too stiff.  I think I”ll try that next time.

I started cruising a bit too much during the last hour – my stroke rate noticeably declined.  Another thing I’m going to start doing is to record my CPM (cycles per minute) every hour, and focus on keeping it consistent for the duration of the swim.  All in all, though, this 3 hour went very well.

Next on the list:  4 hours at the end of May.  Woohoo!

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The following are the top 5 reasons why you should try swimming in the SF Bay with me:

1.  It’s super refreshing – once you get past the initial icy blast, you emerge from your swim feeling fantastic!

2.  Lounging in a deliciously warm sauna has never felt so good, or so earned.

3.  You get to feel famous – everyone on the beach or pier is watching you, admiring how studly you are!

4.  We all know that swimming is an awesome workout already, but with so many elements changing in the bay, you will not be bored.

5.  You win initiation into the select band of cold water aficionados, and the corresponding camaraderie with incredible people who do incredible things and are incredibly nice.  (Really, it’s incredible).

So come take a dip!  Dolphin Club, South End Club, either way, you can’t go wrong.

Try it out and have some fun!  I’ll see you in the water.