Hey friends! I have been experiencing a very busy summer between keeping up both of my podcasts and my other responsibilities. I haven’t been as involved in open water swimming in the last 2 years as I once was but I still really love the sport. Last year I didn’t do the swim at Deer Creek and I really regretted it. It’s such a terrific event and there’s no pressure as far as time because we all have support and the 10 milers (I still can’t believe there are 10 milers!) give me plenty of time to finish before things are done.

Even though I really wanted to, I was nervous about participating this year because of my terrible sleep schedule and my lack of training. I knew I wasn’t as ready as I should be but I felt I could still do it if I could wake up in time. I gave it some thought and decided to go for it. Then 3 days before the swim my paddler had to cancel and I thought that might be the end of it. However, to my joy my friend Lisa agreed to paddle for me, which I am super grateful for.

Last night I was actually able to get to sleep at a decent hour! It wasn’t all REM but I got a good 5-6 hours which is great for me so I woke up nervous but excited. Then I started in on the race and the water felt great. Half of the race is mental because it feels like you aren’t making any progress and it can get very discouraging. Luckily I had support and I just keep swimming (as Dory says!). It got harder towards the end because there were more boat waves but I kept going and eventually finished.  It was a slow but I did it.

You can watch it all in the above video. Another race has come and gone- 12 races in total for me. Now I just want to get even more ready for next year! What a great experience!