Exercising to the Beat of the Street

The dream of swimming one last open water race this year was just too hard to resist! So with about a week's notice, I registered for a race, booked a hotel and bought airfare to perpetually sunny southern California for the one-mile  San Diego Sharkfest Swim on Oct. 13. With a three-day weekend coming up, and the fact that Kevin and I have never been to San Diego, the race was a perfect time and place for a new adventure.     After three days of touring museums, ships, Balboa Park , walking around both the city and Old Town and kayaking in La Jolla and experiencing a trolley tour, I was excited/anxious to swim on Sunday. Walking from our hotel to the start, which was behind the San Diego Convention Center, I noticed a lot of people were wearing wet suits, which made me a little nervous. But the race director, a former champion open water swimmer, joked and told the crowd that they were "wussies" and warned that those who looked to be struggling would be pulled from

The water was cold and choppy, I swallowed gallons of saltwater and I got kicked & kicked others in the face, but on Aug. 25 I swam my longest open water race yet, the  Cedar Island 5K Swim  in Avalon, N.J.  The goal of the race organizers is to raise awareness and provide support to the troops and honor members of the military.      On the morning of the race, mom, Kevin and I headed down to enjoy a nice day at the beach before the 4 p.m. race. Unfortunately, the weather was cool, cloudy and very windy which made for a poor beach day. So instead we enjoyed a long lunch (cheesesteaks, soda and French fries) and made our way to the start at the Avalon Yacht Club. There I met up with nine of my fellow members of the  Rocky Run YMCA Creek Rats , a group of open water swimmers who joined over 200 other brave souls in the bay. They have all swam long-distance races, so knowing that they would be at this race eased my nerves.      After checking in and receiving my chip timing band

   The forecast said rain all day, especially during the morning, but that didn't really bother me because I was too excited about marking my 10th year running Broad Street! Though the course is always the same, each year has been an unique experience.    Waking up at 5 a.m. on May 5, my goal was to leave at 5:30, get on the subway by 6 and make it in time for a special runners' Mass at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church .  Only about two blocks from the start of the race, the  Church of the Holy Child is often referred to as the Cathedral of the North because of its massive structure and 200-feet-high steeple. Accompanied by my always supportive husband Kevin, we stepped off the subway at Logan and bypassed the crush of runners at Olney as we walked up the church's steps. The race volunteers and church staff were so welcoming to the crowd of soaking wet runners, who slowly made their way to the wooden pews.  This is definitely my new tradition.    With just a few minutes