Exercising to the Beat of the Street

  What an amazing day of swimming at the Point to Point 1.2-Mile Avalon Bay Swim! The current was rough, & it felt like the longest left turn ever, but we were all awesome Meghan O'Keefe for winning her age group & to Ducks Ellen& Carolyn for placing in their age groups! So proud of you all! Way to go ladies!

Cedar Island 5K Swim in Avalon, N.J. with Rowdy Gaines

The Jellyfish Swim of 2022 still holds the top spot for my Worst Open Water Race ever.  Swimming in a fog of nothingness & floating out to sea Poverty to Cove race, has now elbowed its way to the second spot over the Miniature Child Swim Cap Debacle of 2022 at the Cedar Island 5K race!  Stinging wildlife, weather conditions & swim gear issues will always land a spot on my "never again" race list.   The hot & humid day & 85-degree Lake Nockamixon was a fun challenge, in contrast to the dense fog at last Sunday's Poverty to Cove 2.4-Mile Swim in Cape May.  I've competed in all types of weather conditions, but I'll definitely take soaking wet & racing in a Broad Street Run 10-Miler downpour or a hot tub lake any day over drifting out into the Atlantic. When I swam this race two years ago, my first ocean race, it was a beautiful day & I loved swimming past the oceanfront Victorian houses.  Arriving at Poverty Beach about 6:45 a.m., I not...

  What an amazing day of swimming at the Nockamixon Swim Challenge! We had several first-time OWS & three who placed in their age groups! Thanks Kev for being our cheerleader & photog!

I love to mix a race with a vacation.  When I ran a half-marathon in Arizona for my 40th birthday, we stayed for few days longer & visited the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Navajo National Monument, Antelope Canyon & Horseshoe Bend.  Running & swimming are such great ways to experience a new environment. So when Kevin & I were planning our long-planned vacation to Ireland, I tried to find out if there were any open water swim races and/or groups I could join for a quick dip. I learned about the Dunmurry Dippers , a group that swims everyday at the Colin River in Northern Ireland, & the Walrus Winter Swimming Group , who jump into the Dublin Bay at Forty Foot. Logistically we could not meet up with the Dippers, so we set our sights on the Walruses. After picking up our rental car, which Kevin did an amazing job driving on the left side of the road, we headed to Forty Foot  at the southern tip of Dublin Bay at Sandycove.  If you don't have a car, F...

The idea of swimming outdoors in a lake in November sounded amazing, so on a warm & muggy fall day I headed to Blue Marsh Lake in Reading to meet my friend Kari.   It started to rain during the 80-minute drive with Kevin & our pup Georgie & I was thinking, "why am I jumping into a lake?" But it was still warm & in the 70s, so I'll just deal with the lake temps.