March - the month OW swimmers daydream through!

There are these feelings that happen in March: ambition, hope, optimism, excitement, hunger? It's something about the days getting brighter and longer in the Pacific NW, and the dawning of the coldest salt water of the year, that an awakening takes place. Essentially, it's pre-spring. Swim event emails go out with all your favorite event lineups. Friends start encouraging each other to swim outside, or to swim longer, or with no wetsuit. More meetups occur. I personally get the swimsuit-shopping bug (although I must also PURGE the suits that have worn out, or never properly fit in the first place...looking at YOU, Jolyn one-piece!). 

This month I'll be looking carefully at West Coast open water events--to hold myself to goals and as a forced way to keep working out in a vigorous way! The Monday 1:1 crossfit is an indelible part of this routine. It's an appointment I do not miss, and I feel the hurt for about two days after, but good protein eases the lactic acid punishment. 

Locally I hope to knock out the Whidbey Adventure Swim, Fat Salmon, Last Splash (if I'm around), lots on training here on Vashon and in Lake WA, oh! ...and a swim around Blake Island and camp there, which requires skillful packing of EVERYTHING to kayak over, and now that you can't even buy firewood there it's extra challenging (hopefully that changes!). 

By connection of another friend, I may have just landed as the sixth relayer on an August Catalina relay team--I'll know more next week. The 11-mile(?) Portland Bridge Swim in July has my attention--I wouldn't be setting any speed records but tempting! I also whimsically registered for Aug. middle distance nationals being held in BFE (SD) and ain't NO WAY I'm roadtripping to it, so if I do it, it's going to be via a Denver flight connection. Nothing gets you looking at a map like finding a swim destination called Lake Oahe. (Bee. Eff. E.) I also checked out the Vikingsholm swim possibility (Lake Tahoe - width) but high elevation + unrelenting chop + whipping wind = hard no. 

What also excites me about the season is having a front-row seat to two friends achieving their goals: I am crewing two Cat solos nearly back to back in late Sept and I bow down to the immense yardage both of these friends are already clocking! Mary and Mark, you guys put me to shame but YOU CAN HAVE IT.  Mix your food? Grease you up? Count strokes? Cheer from the rails? I'm your crew! Last year we watched MarySue give it a go and it's truly a great experience.

This whimsy comes courtesy of a long dark winter and a yearning to get outside and challenge myself! Speaking of challenge swims: Below is MarySue (l) and me on the right just as we started our Around Coronado tandem in 2021. Really grateful for that experience and to take on the next!

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