I have had a heck of a time keeping up on blogging....as I write this I notice that my last blog post was early February! Sorry. The quick catch up.....my back issue healed and I have not had any reoccurring issues with that, but I have had a few pretty decent colds over the past three months that side tracked some things a little bit. I have been swimming a bunch (including my first OWS of the season yesterday), however, my yardage volumes have deviated a bit from my plan due to those issues. But one of the fundamental traits needed for success when training for lengthy endurance events is flexibility and the ability to modify plans as your body requires.
Spring has yet to really arrive in Montana. We've had a handful of nice days, but mostly a bunch of RAIN. A week ago I was in Sunny Riverside California for USMS Spring Nationals....which has left me daydreaming for more beach time. I was able to spend an afternoon at Huntington Beach while I was in California.....but I was alone that day and inadequate sunscreen application with a spray bottle of sunscreen left me with some interesting "tan lines."
Nationals was quite a bit of fun despite coming down with laryngitis and bringing home a nasty cold as a souvenir. My best placing was in the 1000 Free, which I placed 3rd (my highest national placing so far) and I also got a 6th place medal in the 1650 Free. Two of my teammates and I broke away from the meet for a fun day at Universal Studios one of the days we were in California as well.
Returning to Kalispell, I had a rough time getting back into my routine. I was super tired and sick....I ended up taking a bit of sick leave from work and slept A TON Monday-Wednesday, but I was back to work full days on Thursday and Friday.
Saturday I was feeling well enough to dust off my wetsuit for our first open water swim practice of 2017. Last year I was in open water mid-April, but our late winter this season pushed our start date back slightly. The water temps were low to mid 50s (we were in a very shallow portion of the North end of Flathead Lake) and we stayed in for about 15 minutes. I was expecting it to be a bit colder, honestly, so I was pleasantly surprised by the water conditions.
This weekend was also the board retreat for the Enduring Waves Foundation. The board is now fully staffed with an amazing group of folks and I'm feeling really good about our fundraising efforts and swim events we discussed and planned this weekend. We selected two children to raise funds for this year (but the official announcements of the selected children will come towards the end of this week). Also this year, in addition to raising funds for two children, we will have TWO swimmers completing a marathon charity swim this summer! I have been training with local pediatrician John Cole since December. John and I will be completing our swims together in Flathead Lake the last weekend in July. My swim will be a North-to-South-to-North Double crossing of the lake and John will hop in at Polson and complete a South-to-North single crossing. We are both super excited for this endeavor and to raise funds to help the two children selected by the Enduring Waves Foundation.
That's all for now....but check back later this week as we launch our fundraising efforts and provide more details about our 2017 fundraising events!
Happy Swimming!
~Emily
