4Jul11

Happy 235th Birthday America!  I celebrated with some friends early this morning by going for a "freedom swim".  OK, it was just a swim but on the 4th, you can do anything and tag "freedom" in front of it.
I met Gords, Kim, Alicia with her dad (to kayak), and Lisa (who I know from the gym) at Pineview at 0730.  We all stayed relatively together and did the buoy route first because it was all Lisa wanted to do.  Once we finished the first loop, Lisa needed to head out but the rest of us stayed in.  We all decided to head straight for the middle buoy then make a straight line for the dam.  This was a nice open area and the whole thing is a no wake zone so boat traffic is minimum and very slow at best.  Very little danger.  I started feeling good soon after I started to head to the dam and dare I say, DARE I SAY, I was keeping up with Gords!  I was told by my paddler for this weekend Suzie Dods that I'll have to push it at certain parts during my Alcatraz swim.  I made myself do just that.  I made good solid pulls and limited my breathing the best I could.  My lungs were not very happy at times and I got that "you're a fatty" cramp under my right rib but I pushed through it anyway.  It felt good to be in such a strong pulling stride.  I got to the buoys blocking the dam right with Gords and we waited for Kim and Alicia to come to us.  We rested a minute and got some fluids then decided to head back the same way.  About halfway we regrouped again to decide to head with the shoreline back to the beach or farther out to the buoy where we started.  We all wanted more so we unanimously voted for the longer route.  This made me happy!  Once at the buoys we followed them all the way in instead of heading straight toward beach.
I know it was the longest swim of the year so far for Kim and Alicia and I'm glad they did it.  It was REALLY nice having my friends out there with me today swimming.  I'm trying to convince Kim to do the Deer Creek 10k event.  I think she's seriously considering it.  I could tell she was having a really good time despite it being a longer swim than her norm.
Alicia's dad did a nice job of staying with us and getting us what we needed when we needed it.
All in all, it was a PERFECT day on the lake and the swim was more fun than can be described with words.  Thanks all that came out and more of these get togethers will be done soon!

Distance was about 3.5 miles