Aug 27

Great swim yesterday -- flat, few swells, went about 1.1 miles along OOB. Went at threshold for last .4 mile. Today was nearly flat, no swells and again I went about 1.1 miles. Arms were tired so I didn't go to threshold until last .2 miles. Last day swimming in OP for the summer. Ugh.... back to school tomorrow afternoon and work on Wednesday. Bummer.

Aug 25

Extra special treat today. The stars were aligned just right and Mary and I got to swim together. There were extra adults in the cottage and some kids were sleeping so we had plenty of child care. It was a beautiful and hot day, just right for a swim in the ocean. We swam down just beyone the the second set of rocks. Lots of surfers out and some big waves but nothing like yesterday. A ski-doo and a fishing boat came a bit close, but being close to the surfers we were more visible. We swam for about 40 minutes. One of the last Ocean Park swims of the summer!

Aug 24th

Today was the roughest day in the ocean this whole summer. I swam about 1 mile along Old Orchard Beach and Ocean Park and got flipped several times by massive waves. Even breathing on every 3rd rotation I still and keeping an eye out for on-coming waves I had to dive under many to avoid getting sucked under. Going out any deeper would have been too far from shore. But it was great! The adventure of being out there in the ocean is such an adrenaline rush. And I can tell I am getting stronger as I didn't even notice the first set of rocks.

I just completed the swim leg of the Urban/EPIC triathalon in Portland Maine on August 18th and what a blast! It was supposed to be a 1.5K swim but it turned out to be about 1.3 miles according to the organizers. The currents were strong and it was a tough S-shaped course with a lot of sighting involved. I was excited because our relay placed first for all female relays and I swam the course in the top 7% of all finishers. Final time 29:44.... lots of room for improvement as I got lost once I got inside the boats and had to ask for directions!

Next race: Lobsterman Triathalon in Freeport Maine on September 15th. I'll be doing the relay with my brother biking and a to be decided runner. My good friend Mary had such a good race at Timberman that she decided to do the Lobsterman on her own. Go Mary!