No surprise that today is 8/8....

If I don't post about this morning, I think I'm going to get some major blog hate so...

I actually didn't even realize that when I got up to swim at Walden this morning (the alliteration is back-Walden Wednesdays-wait does that even count as an alliteration?) that today is the 8th. Eight is my favorite number if that wasn't clear by me drawing attention to the date.

It's also the day I swam the farthest I ever have (a little over a mile) and went into the dragon cove at Walden :)

After being very disappointed with last week and mentally committing myself to do an Olympic distance tri in September, I knew that today was going to be the day. Too bad I'm still a really slow swimmer. I warned my group I was going to be out there for awhile but I still hate making people wait. I know that the only way to get better is just to take everything one step at a time even if that means being the last one done with a workout.

When I headed out, the cove seemed so freakin far away for a long time and the fact that there was a misty haze on top of the water didn't help things. I actually swam further away from the shoreline (crazy, right?) and just accepted that if the pond monsters were going to get me well...I guess today is the day. I swam away from the shore line because on a the little map thing we have of Walden a mile is measured straight out from the boathouse to the cove so that was the only measuring tool I had to work with. My co worker joined us today and I saw him in between the end of one shore line and the cove. He asked if I was going over to the cove and I said ugh, yeah I have to. He informed me that it was stale water, had duck poop in it and to not put my feet down. Delightful! Way to make the sound cove sound even more enticing haha He also referred to it as "like two feet away" (it's not) but him belittling the distance left to it made me even more determined to visit the duck poop filled dragon dwelling cove of gross wonders. And I did.

Having that description in my mind, I only went about half way in but I went in enough to make it "count." I swam in so I had both sides of the cove around me. I saw a white cap on the other side and I assumed it was one of my swim buddies, Greg, so I shouted out and waved, "Greg, I'm in the cove!!!" It wasn't Greg.

Moving right along after that mistake, I knew I couldn't really rest anywhere so I just headed back. If you have ever been to Walden you know that there is this Cape style boathouse thing on the shore that works as a good landmark when you are swimming back. Unfortunately, due to the haze this boathouse was impossible to see. I am terrible at swimming in a straight line, absolutely terrible. Without having that landmark as a good indicator of where the shore was, I definitely swam all over the place. The Sun was also coming up in a blinding fashion over the trees. Although all this light impeded me from seeing the boathouse even more, I knew I could use it to try to find the way back. The Sun told me that two things: 1) That was East (not that knowing that helped me much) 2) When I was pointing back towards the shore its rays were hitting me on my left goggle; so I figured if I always felt the Sun on that part of my face, I would be ok. I also had this moment where I actually thought Walden swimming was really pretty. Shocking, I know. The Sun was casting its rays on the water and I saw in front of me a silhouette of a swimmer and it just looked like the perfect moment. Hey painter friend, that's the image I want on the painting I'll commission from you!

Anyways, my following the Sun's rays on the left part of my face wasn't the perfect plan but it did kind of work. After much expletive language in my head, I finally saw the boathouse. I also saw my swimming buddies already standing on the shore but I did my best not to feel bad if I was holding them up and just concentrated on finishing my swim.

Greg (recently accomplished Ironman and good triatlete) took a pic of me finishing up and looking like a terrifying pond monster:

TA-DA! If the bad triathlete can do it, so can you :) Here we go Boston Tri this weekend!

In closing, here is my first first product review: Speaking of boathouses, this drink is freakin delicious! I don't think it's that bad for you either? It is quite wonderful to have after Walden. Wait...I just realized it's called Bolthouse not Boathouse...not as cool any more-but it's still very tasty.

Nope, got my own :) ...and apparently it has more protein and calcium than yours??

Have a fabulous 8/8 everyone!