And then it rained some MORE!

Haven't gotten to swim outside since Monday, as the rain hasn't let up much here this week. Today in particular was very rainy and windy. So rather than exploring for more lakes to swim in, today I tried out another indoor pool here. I swam today at the Summit. The pool is really nice, but I'm not sure about the lap swim availability. I used a guest pass today, and I talked to a few other swimmers about lap swim times. It sounds like the early morning times are pretty open, and I guess since the full time job starts next week, the 5 am lap swims will be my slot!

Interesting thing about the Summit is that it is half salt water! Now those of you that swim probably know that different pools "taste" different, but the salt water mixed with Chlorine really tastes different. I swam in a pool back in Washington during club swimming that was a salt water mix. Those kinds of pools are REALLY fast pools (buoyancy is increased), but I'm not sure that I will be able to stay in for long without swimming with gum in my mouth. : )

So my swim today was only about 3000 yards in a little under an hour. I hope to get an outdoor swim in tomorrow if the weather is better. But should the rain clouds stick around through the weekend, I will decide which gym I am going to join tomorrow and I can get in a long pool swim.

Great swim today!

Today I went to The Wave with Savannah and swam 6000 yards in about a hour and a half! It felt REALLY great. The swim was about 1000 warm up and then 5 x 1000's alternating swim and pull. I really like the pool at the Wave. I am still trying to decide on which gym I join. The Wave is in Whitefish, and it is really nice and also has a lot of open pool time. Tomorrow I am going to check out the Summit, which is the facility in Kalispell.

Feeling a little bit tired..so its off to bed! : )

Brrrrrrr!

Learning as I go here, so for any of my worrying supporters (Mom, dad, Paul...), maybe skip this post. Swam in Foys Lake Monday (if you recall that was the lake that I lasted only two minutes in last month as it was 52 degrees). I am all moved in up in Kalispell and Foys Lake is the closest lake to my house. My friend Savannah assured me that Foys was 60 degrees, which is about what Frenchtown pond was last week. Once at Foys, I checked the temp. at the shore which was 59 degrees, however I believe the center of the lake had to have been more like 55!

We swam about a thousand yards, staying in for roughly 15 minutes. My arms were freezing, but after about 5-8minutes I could no longer feel them. I told Savannah I didn't think we should stay in much longer, as hypothermia is something I don't want. Upon getting out of the water my arms were beat red and covered in tiny welts. We stripped off our wetsuits, bundled up and cranked the heat in Savannah's car. I felt better by the time we got back to my house, but still waited about an hour to take a warm shower (jumping right into a warm shower after a cold swim is not a good idea).

Tuesday I felt terrible. From Monday night to Tuesday afternoon, I slept about 14-16 hours, and I couldn't stay warm. So yesterday I did not work out, in fact I barely left my bed. Waking up this morning I am feeling MUCH better, but I think my rule has to be no water temps lower than 60 degrees!

I LOVE swimming outside

I am happy to report I have gotten TWO open water swims in this week. Both were in Frenchtown Pond. The temp. is about 60-62 degrees right now, but felt pretty good with a wetsuit. I swam 32 minutes on Sunday (after a short bike ride). Today I got in a nice 45 minutes and I felt I could have stayed in longer (temperature wise), but I was SO hungry. I swam by myself today, but there were a few onlookers on the shore looking at me like I was nuts. I love that part. : )

I'm moving up to Kalispell on Thursday and hoping I can get a swim in up there outside too!

If you aren't an open water swimming fan, I suggest trying it. I feel more at peace in the middle of a lake by myself than I do anywhere else. I've been pretty overwhelmed lately with the changes occuring in my life and swimming sure grounds me.

Anyway, more later! Thanks to everyone who is reading, I love the encouragement and support!

Open Water Swim...attempt No. 2

Again, its been crazy lately with the move and all, I promise my posts will be more regular again next week! I forgot to mention that about two weeks ago I attempted my first open water swim of the season. Yes, I said attempted! My good friend Savannah and I tried to swim in Foys Lake up by Kalispell. It was 52 degrees. That's pretty cold. My wetsuit doesn't have arms...my arms felt like they were being poked with about 1000 needles! We lasted about 2 minutes, then retreated to Savannah's gym, sat in the hot tub, then swam for a few hours in the pool.

Today, I am going on a bike ride with my good friend Erika and I'm planning on getting a little swim in after that in Frenchtown pond. I'll post later and let you know how it went! : )

Cherry Creek Radio station interviews today!

I will be on the following stations morning shows this morning talking about my swim:

StarFM – KXDR “Today’s Hit Music”Hot ACwww.starfm.net
Z100 KZOQ “Missoula’s Classic Rock”Classic Rock / AORwww.kzoq.com
Eagle 93 – KGGL “The Most Country Music”Countrywww.eagle93.com
Oldies 106.7 KBQQ “The Greatest Hits of All Time”Oldieswww.oldies1067.net / www.q1067.com

You should listen! : )

Twice the speed of life

Agghh! Its been too loong since I posted I know (I was doing really well posting every day there for awhile)! Anyway, last week was another low yardage week due to getting everything into place for the big move in a week and a half! Things are moving REALLY fast in my life right now (new job, new house, etc), but my training should get back on track this week.

I had a few really good workouts over the past week, and a few I'd like to forget. Sometimes when I am training a lot I get a knot under my right shoulder blade that is REALLY painful. This hampered my weekend workouts this past week, but its getting better!

Some exciting news this week: a local radio station (Cherry Creek Radio) is interviewing me on Thursday on all four of their morning shows to help me promote the swim! Also, I spoke to Karmyn's mom this weekend and it sounds like she is doing really well. Donation checks are starting to roll in as well, I'm excited for the fundraising to get going!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement!