Exercising to the Beat of the Street

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, Forty Foot is a

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.