The Traditional Mother's Day Lake Swim

It's become a Mother's Day tradition in our family: don't give mom flowers or anything silly like a blender, take her to the lake and let her swim! Since today looked like it would be rainy, we set out yesterday for this beautiful lake near the beach. This year I was joined by a couple of friends who are training for their first triathlon. They just got wetsuits so this was their first open water swim ever. What an experience!

The water was surprisingly pleasant and the skies were blue. The kids and dogs all romped around on the beach and we took off in the sunshine. Remember your first open-water experience? It can be a little panic-inducing. I get a bit of the heebie-jeebies the first open water swim of the year too, and I've been doing it forever. But they both did great! They were even brave enough to set out across the lake, leaving the shore behind. During last week's pool session, we worked on sighting but there's nothing like trying to swim straight out in the open water. It's a skill for sure. One thing I try to do is pick something on the horizon to sight on - a tall tree, a building, a hill - that's behind what I'm aiming for  in the water. That way I don't have to really focus super hard, I can just get a quick glance and make sure I'm on course.

I am usually a pretty straight swimmer in the lake, but one thing I noticed is that my left arm fatigued a lot faster in the wetsuit and so after awhile I started curving off to the left. I've got a couple more weeks before the triathlon to get that arm even stronger so I can swim straight.

We were given the gift of a beautiful day, clear warm(ish) water, good friends, and the ability to swim, swim, swim. So to all the moms out there, I wish you a wonderful day filled with whatever brings you joy. Happy Mother's Day!

I Told You The Lake Was Beautiful

Imagine....

Imagine... a dock on an empty lake

...a perfect day under a beautiful blue sky

...water so clear you can look down dozens of feet and see the rocks beneath you

...air so warm and sweet that with every breath you smell the pine duff of the forest from the trees on the shore

...you're camping next to the lakeshore, looking out longingly at this perfect water when...

...you remember that your wetsuit is still packed in the back of the camper...

...you put it on and wade out into the perfect water


Imagine

...the sound of boats does not disturb the quiet of the morning

...you hear the wind sighing through the trees and the call of the shorebirds

...you look up and see snowy peaks in the blue distance beyond

...the lake smells as clean as freshly melted snow

...your feet move carefully over smoothly rounded rocks...

...and then...

...you start to swim

My New Lake Buddy

Last weekend was my mom's birthday, so we met up with her halfway between her house and ours (about an hour and a half drive for each of us) at the lovely Umpqua river. The great thing about my mom is you'd never know she's 67 years old, certainly not by her energy level! We met up, went for a beautiful hike to a waterfall, then we found this cute little reservoir and she pulled her kayak off of her car and took the kids kayaking around the lake. Mackenzie decided he wanted to try it out on his own and she let him borrow her kayak. He proceeded to pretty much monopolize it for the rest of the afternoon. By the end of the day, he was moving a kayak to the top of his next birthday list.

The fun bit was when I went for a swim and he kayaked alongside of me. He was quick to point out that one advantage of getting him his own kayak would be that whenever I want to do open water training, he could paddle along next to me. I have to admit, it was really fun to swim and watch him smoothly maneuvering through the water next to me. My mom is all for the idea. Being a mom (and I do understand now!) she always worried about me going out into these lakes by myself and swimming. You know, the Loch Ness Monster might eat me or something. And my hubby who is much more of a mother hen than I'll ever be pretty much feels the same way about it. So I've taken to scanning CraigsList for a Swifty kayak like my mom's, and maybe I'll have a little buddy to head out on the lake with me this summer!

So, here's to my mom: 67 years young, a hiking, kayaking, fun-filled dynamo of a lady. She's inspired me in so many ways, and she's a great friend.

Happy Birthday Mom!