About Me

I was in a bad car accident 11 years ago, and was diagnosed with a Brachial Plexus injury. My left arm has been paralyzed ever since. I was sent to an occupational therapist to get help doing things one-handed, and was told that bicycling and kayaking were "essentially two-handed sports". I was on a bike within a week, and have since logged thousands of miles. I rediscovered running soon afterward, and have run 4 marathons (including the Boston Marathon) and 14+ half marathons since I was injured. Last year I did my first sprint triathlon (Danskin), and beat nearly half the women in the swim using my one arm. Now I'm training for a 2-mile swim in St Croix in October. It will be a challenge to get up to that distance, but I'm sure I'll get there. I'm hoping to build a community that encourages challenged athletes in our individual effort, and gives us a place to share our athletic successes and challenges.

Friday, September 26, 2008

My First 2-Mile Swim

This week I did my first 2-mile training swim, and it was hard! 

As soon as I got in the water, I realized that there was a strong current against me that day. Lake Washington is big enough to have currents, especially on days with a lot of wind. I always thought currents had to do with tidal pull, but I'm not sure in the case of a big lake.

Anyway, I was doing an "out and back" swim parallel to the shore, so I knew I'd get some relief once I turned around. Problem was that I felt like I was barely moving at times, and the first mile already felt like 2. So I finally got to turn around, but I was already tired by then so it still felt hard.

I did get to have some moments in my tiredness, where my body relaxed so much that I felt like I was working totally with the water, never fighting it. That's the best feeling--when you feel one with the water!

Maybe that was just a hallucination though, because I was getting really cold and a little dizzy-brained. The water temperature had actually gone up this week, but the air temperature was below 60, and the parts of my body that weren't always in the water started getting REALLY cold (my face, hands & feet).

By the time I got out I was so happy to have dry clothes and a car to wait in while Jonathan finished his swim! He was doing 4 miles, but he's a lot faster than me and had a head-start, so I didn't have to wait too long.

After a hot bath, we made our way over to our favorite Pub in Fremont for a celebratory meal & pint. Not exactly a healthy recovery meal, but it sure was good :)
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