I’ve never officially swam a Marathon Swim. To do so, you must swim 6.2 miles in a sanctioned event. I swam more than 6.2 miles in the Maggie Fischer Memorial Cross Bay Swim a few years back. But that was because we were taken off course by the current. If my son (the kayaker) and I had gone the course, we would have only done 5.5 miles.
About two years ago, I wanted to do an official marathon swim, but something happened, and I could not train, so I only swam a 5K.
Therefore, I decided 2024 was the year to swim my official marathon. I signed up with Epic Races in Michigan for their annual Swim to the Moon race. This year, they have it on two days. On Saturday, there is a 10K, a 5K, a 1 mile, and a half mile swim. On Sunday, there is a 15K, 5K, 1.2-mile swim, and a half-mile swim.
I’ve been gearing up for a while, but I started officially training about a month ago. For a while, I swam two miles. Then, I swam three. This past week, I swam nearly five miles in a session.
A 5K in the pool in prep for the Marathon Swim
A couple of weeks back, I had to swim a 5K in the open water. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. It was raining and foggy. Since my swim buddy wasn’t around, I decided to swim in the pool at Hofstra. I had three hours to complete the task.
Hofstra has camp during the summer and the pool is only open from 6 am to 9 am.
I was so conscience of the time. I met a few people at Hofstra but when I started I didn’t want to talk with anyone. I was on a mission to complete the 5K.
Two hundred and twenty five laps later, I was done. I completed 5500 yards in less than 2 hours, 1:54:36 to be exact.
A 7K Swim in the Open Water
A couple of weeks later, my coach called for a 7K swim in the open water. I went out to Tobay with my training buddy, Ray. He promised that he would do half with me and the rest I was on my own.
We ended up swimming with a guy named Josh for the first half. Then the rest of the swim, I was alone. I started to hallucinate a bit but pushed the images and thoughts out of my head. I was focused on getting this done.
And, I did it.
I particularly loved what Jackie Miller of Q2T, who is my coach commented on Training Peaks. She said, “OMG, I love that I put 6500 to 7000 and you went for the gusto and in a 7K! I’m so damned proud of you and even more impressed!”
It made me feel so good!
Last Long Swim – 4.86 Miles in prep for the Marathon Swim
My last long swim before the Swim to the Moon 10K was on Monday, August 5. It was supposed to be on Friday, but my daughter’s water broke and I had to get into the city to be there for her, so I was unable to get it done. That is why I did it on Monday.
There were very few people in the water. Ray, my training partner, told me he would do 4K with me. As soon as I got to the beach, I realized I never charged my watch and only had two hours on it.
“Don’t worry,” Ray said. “You can do half here and half at the pool.”
He was right. In retrospect, it was a good call.
I swam a little more than 4K with Ray and then continued to the Marina. My watch stopped at 4600 yards. I knew that it was approximately 450 from the marina back to the beach so I used those calculations and headed back to the beach for a total of 5020 yards.
Jackie called for 7500 – 8000 yards. But I wanted to make sure I was ready for the race.
Pool Time
So, I headed home, charged up my watch, ate something, and headed back out to the pool. Sometimes, I actually amaze myself that I can do these things. I mean, a lot of people would have just said, “screw it. I did enough.” But I didn’t feel that way. I felt that I needed to get in another 3500 yards.
At the Nassau County Aquatic Center, I had my own lane. At that point, it was 9 a.m. I saw a woman swimming and I picked the lane next to her. But it wasn’t the best decision. She was a good swimmer and fast. I find myself trying to compete with people in the lanes next to mine. I can see them swimming and I feel like I need to either keep up or pass them. I couldn’t do it this time.
I kept telling myself, “You just did 5,000 yards in the open water. Stop competing.” So, I did my own thing.
I decided to swim three 1000s and then, a 500 as a cool down.
Although the woman next to me, who was probably young enough to be my daughter, kept flying past me, I tried to focus. I kept saying to myself, I’m not going to let this get in my head. (You know how at times, you think, “I’m not good enough, I’m not fast enough, etc.? I was focusing on staying positive. “I got this,” I told myself.)
I finished the swim and all I wanted to do was scream and shout and do a happy dance. But instead I took a photo of myself by the pool.
In preparation for Swim to the Moon
As I prepare for Swim to the Moon, I look back on my journey and am grateful to Ray and to my coach, Jackie. They both have been wonderful during this journey and I don’t think I could or would want to do it without them!
