Blue Marsh National Recreation Area in Reading

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.

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Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown - race #1

My goal is to run a 5K race each weekend in Delaware County (and one 10-miler in Philadelphia) for the next six weeks. They're fun, a goal I can work toward each week & they're almost all in a five-mile radius of my house. The races are usually $20, I get a T-shirt I can brag about & the money raised always go to a good cause. Back in 2008, my New Year's resolution was to run a 5K, and since then I've done 14 races. That year I started with the Kevin Cain Make My Day 5K in Havertown. (See photos & video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/6kfhcyb ). Being in good shape, I thought I could translate my swimmer's endurance from the pool to the pavement. It was a little bit tougher than that, and the Kevin Cain race is one of the more challenging 5K routes I've done. After taking off from it last year, I was back to race it last Sunday, April 3. It's a huge party, wi...

Forty Foot in Dublin Bay, Ireland

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...

Swimming on in honor of Coach Rick Field

I thought of swimming as a solitary activity. The rhythmic breathing, 18-20 strokes to the wall, flip turn, repeat, blocking out all sound and sights and just following the black line. Other than being a part of my high school swim team, which I had joined because my friend Tara encouraged me, I’ve been swimming laps by myself for more than 20 years. Coach Rick I was in the pool at Rocky Run Y several years ago, when Rick Field walked over and told me my right hand was entering the water too far to the side. I had met Rick in 2011, when he first started as a swim coach and teacher at the Y. I didn’t know what to make of him at first, he seemed loud and maybe a bit pushy, but he grew on me and I saw how much he cared for his swimmers to succeed. The Cedar Island 5K So in November 2019, after many years of asking me to join his swim workouts, I broke away from the solitary swim life to be part of a team again. Every Sunday from 7-8:30 a.m., our swim group would try our best follow...

Exercising to the Beat of the Street

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