A great day in the pool. I did the first 20 lengths (0.5k) using the crawl, but then realized I was still slower with the new stroke than with the breaststroke.
So, I amended my kick from a frog manoeuvre to a straight up and down kick, thus protecting the knees much more.
In 1:43, I did 2.1k, bringing the remaining distance to 17.6k. I have the full two hours tomorrow and Sunday, and then I think I'm going to double up my swimming, both for this event and for exercise, to twice a day on Mondays and Wednesdays.
I'm adding lengths swims on those days at White Oaks pool, where I'll swim from 6 to 8 a.m., and then go to the Ridge for the regular 11:45 to 1:30 p.m. slot.
I'd like to be less than 200 pounds by fall.
See you tomorrow. And ask everyone you know if they've pledged yet. Donations have really slowed, and I have high hopes of making my goal.
Thanks to those of you who have already become part of the team.

by Debbie Shallhorn King on Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 2:13 PM. To pledge, please click on my personal page.

Today, I took one of my "rain" days and used it as a rest day. This will not affect the timing of the end date.
I will be able to make up the distance on the weekends.
When the alarm went off today, my whole body, and my brain, said, "We need more sleep." The next thing I knew, it was after 12, and I vaguely heard Andy come in the door.
I didn't even open my eyes until it was after 3 p.m.
So, tomorrow I should be reconstituted by adding water.
Blessings to you all.

by Debbie Shallhorn King on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 @ 4:57 PM. To pledge, please click on my personal page.

It took some breaststroking and the crawl to get the 2k done today.
The pool was busy, but not quite as crowded as yesterday.
I'm going to call the pool manager and see if I can get in a tad earlier than the other swimmers to get a few lengths in so I'm not scrambling so much.
The worst problem today was all my own, though. I had an eyelash drop into my right eye less than halfway through, and I just had to leave it there.
The only way to get it out was with a finger, and with all the chlorine etc in the water, I didn't want to risk an eye problem.
It came out in the shower, but it sure was aggravating.
Thanks again to all my pledgers to date. We're more than a third of the way to the goal of personally raising $3,000, with 19.7k still to do. To badly mangle an old U.S. election quote, "Pledge early and pledge often!"
And bug everyone else to sign on for the cause. It will give them great joy to end this scourge, which affects both women and men.
I'll meet you back here tomorrow, God willing. In the meantime, for all you francophiles, have a Happy Bastille Day!

by Debbie Shallhorn King on Wed, Jul 14, 2010 @ 3:27 PM. To pledge, please click on my personal page.

I got in 2k, but it was a rush. They didn't open the doors till almost 11:50, which cuts another five minutes off, and they are letting the 1:30 kids who have lessons come out all over the pool deck at 1:20, which makes those of us in the pool feel pressed to cut our time even shorter.
It also was a mixture of bumper-to-bumper swimmers and people who swam so slowly you'd swear they were going backward.
A few people complained about the lane hogs (one woman takes up both return lanes with her arm span of about six feet) and about the slow swimmers, but the lifeguards are just kids and they won't do anything to encourage people to follow the rules or to move to the exercise area, where you can be as slow as you like.
I was clawed in the head and legs a few times by the hands of the long-limbed swimmer, but not enough to drown me, just enough to make me have to stop and tread water and wait for her to get out of reach. I ended up doing almost a third of the swim with a very slow breaststroke, because at least I could gain a few metres every 30 seconds rather than tread water.
I'm afraid the dreaded coming hot/humid spell will drive more people to the pool, which will simply make it worse.
As for distance, I have 21.7k yet to do, beginning again tomorrow morning to strike off another 2k.

by Debbie Shallhorn King on Tue, Jul 13, 2010 @ 3:12 PM. To donate, please click on my personal page.

The first day!!
I was a bit slow at first, and not very impressive in terms of breathing.
I can usually do four strokes of the crawl before needing to breathe again, but it took me about 30 minutes to gain the cardio strength to do it.
It was the first time in the pool in about a month -- loss of our only car (a beloved 10-year-old van), high-school formal and grad for our younger "child," trips to emergency for me and one for Andy, who fractured his ankle badly while visiting the tall ships in Toronto.
I'm doing the 25.8k version of the event, and got in 2.1k in just less than one hour and 42 minutes.
So, I have 23.7k to go. That lets me finish on the day of the event on the Severn.
I hope to be able to increase my speed each day, but it depends on the number of people in my lane and whether they are fast or not. Today was busy, but most swimmers went at a reasonable pace, so I didn't have to tread water while waiting for them to get far enough ahead that we didn't collide.
More tomorrow!

by Debbie Shallhorn King on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 3:14 PM. To pledge, please click on my personal page.