Save the Bay Swim

We timed our vacation well.  The week we spent  in Rhode Island last month just so happened to be the same week as the 35th Annual Save the Bay Swim AND the 40th Annual Blessing of the Fleet 10 mile road race.

This husband + wife team divided and conquered.  I opted for the swim, and Dave took on the run.

I started getting prepared for the Save the Bay swim months ago when I amped up my weekly Master swim practice,  hit up the Mad Dogs Wednesday night OWS at Pass-A-Grill, and kicked off my fundraising efforts.  Each swimmer is required to raise $300 to participate. 

I begged and pleaded and some how convinced friends and family to donate to the cause.

A huge thanks to…

• my mom (the best mom in the world)
• my dad (my adventure buddy)
• my sister, Kathleen (my fashion icon)
• Michael (my sister’s boyfriend who I want on my team if the Jeopardy category is sports)
• Kelly (my swim team buddy!)
• Jordan (my “Emerald Faerie-Peace Corps friend who up and moved to Saudi Arabia on me and I miss her.”)
• Ed (my “I’m running across America” friend.  I’m dead serious here.  Check him out.  Pretty impressive.  )
• Jan (my bad ass Iron (w0)man friend who kicks major ass at every race)
• Terry (my “we met through our love of hippie music and look at us now we are triathletes” friend)
• Brooke (my “Peace Corps BFF who is amazing and beautiful and crazy and we like to sing Sugarland at the top of our lungs together”)
• Jena (my Tampa running buddy and fellow iPhone blogger extraordinaire!).

That reminds me. I owe some folks a beer!   And, if you are feeling left out; no need to worry.  There is always next year.

We arrived at the Newport Base super early. After checking in, we ran into some of Dave’s friends and chatted a bit.  I was still debating if I should wear my wetsuit for the race.

(Trent, one of Dave’s college swimming buddies, his daughter Hailey, and I)

The day before was my first swim in this wetsuit as I ditched the long sleeved one I purchased and went with a sleeveless one I borrowed from my friend Stephanie.   It is never a good idea to wear a new “outfit” on race day, so I knew I was taking a chance, especially since while testing it out, I experienced some rubbing behind my neck.  

I turned my anxiety to twitter, where some friends offered their advice. 

I didn’t want to be the one schmuck (or two) without a wetsuit, and I surly didn’t want to be at a disadvantage because I didn’t wear one. 

(Wave 1 – Swimmers only – No Kayaker!)

What?  Me?  Competitive? 

I decided to go for it.  With the help of BodyGlide.

I had time to do a quick warm-up before toeing up to the start where I positioned myself on the front line. I spotted the finish which were two very small balloons across the bay and chatted with other swimmers about a spotting strategy.  This was my first open water swim race that wasn’t along the beach or on a course with buoys to lead the way.  

I did once, very stupidly, swim for hours from one island in Fiji to another island.  I’m still alive to tell that story; however, we had to pay a local to take us back on his boat.  Kids don’t try this at home. 

When the gun went off, I was out like a bat out of hell.  I remember seeing Trent, a Providence College swim teammate and very good friend of Dave’s, out of the corner of my eye who was swimming the race backstroke.  Show off. 

I maneuvered myself around some overly ambitious swimmers who insisted on lining up at the front before finding my happy (s)pace.  I quickly realized that I had no clue where I was going, so I sped up to find some other swimmers, and pulled the ole “I hope you are a good spotter because I’m spotting off of you” technique. 

This technique can go either really well or really bad. 

Luckily, the swimmers I was spotting off of  knew where they were going.  We traded off leads across the bay, with different people taking off at different times to try to find a better route.  I was convinced that we were winning the race.

It was a nice little mental strategy.  Picturing yourself running out of the water all Baywatch style can be quite motivating. 

But when I crossed the finish line I was handed a popsicle stick with something like 40 on it, and when I walked out of the water there was Trent basking in his glory of a top 10 finish.  1.7 miles of backstroke for that guy.

Dave tried to snap a picture, but you can see how awesome those turned out below.  Definitely not making it to the photo albums.

 

After grabbing the race swag (a nice towel and shirt) and kissing my husband, I lined up for my free massage.  Nothing is better than post-race massages.  Shit, pre-race massages, during race massages, I-don’t-care-when-massages, I’ll take it.

While this wasn’t a race per say, I treated it as one, and was happy with my overall stats. 

I felt strong, performed well, and now have a base for future Save the Bay swims.

Maybe next year I’ll have my Baywatch beach finish.

The Maze on Block Island, RI

Summer vacation was delightful.  Dave and I spent a week in Narragansett, Rhode Island where our days began with a run, morphed into some beach time, turned into a lounge-in-bed-with-a-book-kind-of-afternoon (or perhaps if we were feeling up to it, a –slightly-more-active-day-with-some-bike-riding), and then wrapped up with dinner and a walk. There was some diversion though, like a day spent on Block Island or a night at Theatre by the Sea, but for the most part this year’s summer vacation was all about relaxing!

Dave grew up spending his summers in Narragansett, and this little town holds a very special spot in his heart.  Think of this as the location for Dave’s glory days – Life Guard Captain, summer love and lots of shenanigans that he and his friends always reminiscence about… basically it was the good ole carefree days of his youth!

I feel fortunate to get to spend a week every summer with Dave and his fam in Bonnet Shores, a sleepy little neighborhood that comes to life during the summers.  It is a quintessential New England beach town with a small pocket of private beach-front, a homemade ice cream shop, beach clubs, and beautiful Cape Cod homes.

We were in need of a low-key vacation, so we decided to not rent a car this year and only rely on bikes to get us to and fro.  We were forced to stay local (or ride as the passenger) instead of running around trying to see everyone and anyone in 7 days time.  We hosted a party, where everyone came to us.  Forty of Dave’s closest friends came!  They are already talking about next’s years event.  (Sorry, no pictures were taken!)

The highlight of the trip for me though was a day spent on Block Island.  This island has to be one of the coolest places I’ve been to in the States.

We take the first high speed ferry leaving Point Judith arriving to Block Island around by 9 am.  We bring our bikes and set out to explore for the day. 

The island is pedestrian friendly, and even though the roads are narrow, the drivers are used to lots of bikes and walkers.  The hills make the bike ride double as a workout, which is always nice!

Last year we explored the western side of the island, but we ran out of time to make it to the northern tip.  This year I made National Wildlife Refuge our first destination point. 

I’m easily distracted though, and when I spotted a family exiting “the bush,” I hooked a u-turn and insisted we go see where the path led. 

I love hiking.  I love hiking even more when I head down a path that I have no clue where it ends.   Don’t worry.  Safety first. 

The family we saw leave the path told us the trail went “on and on” but eventually led to the water.  How exciting!

We stashed our bikes and set out on a journey!  Not knowing how long this would last, we grabbed some water and snacks and set off.  If my friend Lorelei would have been with us she would insist we bring a cucumber.  That is required food when hiking she claims.  The refreshing cucumber hits the spot once you reach your destination or on a break.  Try it out. 

The trail was on private land, but there was a sign welcoming hikers.  There were lots of intertwining paths with no signs offering any sort of direction, so we just picked a way we thought might lead to the water and went for it.  Dave and I tried to mark each turn so we could get back, but we were making so many twists, we just said to hell with it, and kept trucking along.

Oh, the adventure.

There were trees on both sides of the trail with heavy foliage, so we couldn’t see where we were going.  We did come to a pond, which we will call “Lily” and we took a rest and enjoyed the scenery.  It was magical.  And I swear I was only on granola bars.

We kept on trekking determined to hit the water.  About an an hour later, we came to this.  And the reason why hiking is so amazing.

At this point we realized we had been on the road less traveled, which is the way I prefer to enjoy nature, but found ourselves on a main trail along the rocky cliffs heading back with some fellow hikers.  There was no way we could navigate back on “The Maze” to our bikes without being gone for hours.  And we were starting to get hungry.

We hiked back along the shoreline and came across a deserted home perched high on the cliff.  We stopped to enjoy the view on their front porch, where I’m sure many privileged Block Island teens have enjoyed their first beer or first kiss.  I could get used to living up here!

After a few hours, we made it back to the main road, where we were a mile away from our stashed bikes and the secret path that lured me in for this adventure.  I was ready to stick out my thumb and hitch a ride back to our bikes, but before we knew it, we were at the trail head where it all began.

After grabbing our wheels, Dave and I headed into town where we dined at Froozie’s Juice Bar and Cafe, one of the few vegan friendly joints on BI. 

We spent the afternoon lounging at the beach, and then boarded the ferry back to Port Judith. 

Maybe next year we’ll actually make it to the National Wildlife Refuge.