Volume 2 - Breakin' the Law

Unfortunately Sunday's weather was not as favorable as Saturday. Despite the cold temperatures (only in the 50's) we decided to make the most of it. After the dog-paddling incident at Jerseyman, I am determined to get some open water swim practice in before Mooseman. I'm sorry, but no amount of pool swimming can simulate the real thing. So after a small amount of persuading, Matt decided to accompany me back to Spruce Run State Park to get in a short swim in the lake. Besides, this could very well be the weather conditions on June 6th. My mom came with us to be our photographer. Who knew it would turn into the adventure it did..... Well, we kinda figured we would get the boot (no lifeguard on duty= no swimming), but decided to press our luck!


We came prepared to try to get 2 laps across the lake and then onto the 5k run course from Jerseyman. As we approached the park, we could already spot at least 2 park ranger vehicles and guys mowing, picking up trash from the grounds, etc. Crap. They must be preparing for opening weekend over Memorial Day. Should we go for it??? No guts, no glory!




So, we parked the car and proceeded to carry our wetsuits, towels, etc down to the far edge of the beach...not too suspicious. We tried to be quick about getting into our wetsuits, caps, goggles, etc while my mom kept watch.



Here comes a car....Duck!!! ok...he drove by. I'm sure he didn't notice our bright yellow heads! There's another park ranger.....quick, pull off the caps and sit on the bench! Nooo, we aren't planning to get in the water officer! He's slowing down.....ok, he drove by. Let's get in the water! Down the beach and into the lake we go. The air was so cold & windy that the water felt warmer than I thought. We waded out, found the green sign across the lake to sight off of and began swimming. Stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe....stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe.... Hey, I just might be able to do this! The came the whistle and siren.....dang it! Swim's over..... I doubt that we even got 50m before we were headed back to shore. (My hair was still dry when I took my cap off!)



We walked up to the park ranger in his jeep and apologized, but explained our reasoning behind our law-breaking stunt. He was pretty cool....said he knows "how crazy you people are....clearly you must be training for something". He then says to me, "Looks like you must have been a swimmer in college." HA!! That's funny stuff, right there! We talked for a few minutes about polar bear swims that he used to do and our upcoming races and then we parted ways as friends.



Back to the car to dry off and then we headed out for the 5k run....at least running is legal! My mom walked, while we ran. Matt was ahead of me by a bit, but was experiencing some knee discomfort and slowed enough for me to catch up. After the "long swim" it took my legs 1.5 miles or so to warm up. I finished feeling stronger at the end, like last week's race, so that was consistent. Good thing...I'll have to keep going at Mooseman.

After we run, we headed back home to spend the afternoon with Kryste and Ian. By last night, the most pain I was experiencing was, well, in the butt. After inten-sati, the long bike and then the run my gluts and hamstrings were just plain ol' sore. What a welcome difference from the shooting sciatica pain! maybe things are moving in the right direction after all....slowly, but surely.

Stay tuned for Volume 3.....Monday's Masters.