10 Year Anniversary

Walking into MIT's Z-center this morning I pulled out my identification card to get into the pool locker room and noted the following on the top right corner of the card; member since 9/30/2005. I have been swimming with Tech Masters formerly known as MIT Masters for 10 years! Wow-I can't believe how time flies!

My only real recollection of that first day was walking onto the pool deck with a bit of trepidation of meeting new people and trying to figure out what lane I belonged in.  With assistance from some outgoing regulars and a gregarious coach I settled in Lane 3.  There was also the warning not to touch the toes of the swimmer ahead of you, especially one woman.

(that one woman) ; )

(Coach Bill & me)

Ten years later I have moved up a lane or two, swimming faster (I think) and have made great friends. I can't believe, nor explain how much this morning ritual and the all people, my now friends, are such an important part of my everyday life and life in general.  It is such a great mix of people of all ages old and young and walks of life. I swim with doctors, lawyers, phd's, deans, business people, academics, consultants, students, techie types, the list goes on. 

(A Lane Night Out)

(A Dean and a Doctor)

Everyday I look forward to seeing who is on deck. While you would think the very nature of swimming and having your head in the water that it isn't a very social sport-it's quite the contrary. The camaraderie in the water is so strong that sometimes I feel that swimming is just an excuse to socialize with your friends.

(Lane 1&2)

Special shout out today to the people that help make my life feel so full in and out of the water; Coach Bill, Katie, Elaine, Hubbard, Heather, Josh, Jeff, Carmen, Steve, Ian, Joe, Sarah, John, Bill, Rachel, Elaine2, Dr. Bob, Dr. Bob (yes there are two), Carrie, Jacki, Dustin, Phil, Craig, Mike, Cliff, Frank, Chris, Chris, Joel and the lifeguards that keep us safe, Jimmy and Andy.

My best days are when I start it at MIT's Z-Center with my friends at Tech Masters. Looking forward to many more.

(After 10 years...l need a nap)

(After the next 10 years...?)

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Most likely yesterdays Boston Sharkfest was the last open water competition of the year. From here on out the water will get colder and fewer and fewer swimmers will want to compete in organized races. So sad!

Happily though it was a beautiful day in Boston with a gorgeous water temp of 68 degrees and I walked away with a "W" in my age group-again! This was the fourth annual Sharkfest swim in Boston's Seaport District. Swimmers are shuttled from the booming Seaport district via water taxi to Pier Park in East Boston to swim 1500 meters across the channel to the Moakley Courthouse. The Sharkfest Series is organized by Enviro-Sports out of Stinson Beach, CA. Brother Bill and I are familiar with them as their marquee swim and a original swim is the Alcatraz Sharkfest swim which we have done multiple times San Francisco Bay in the late 90's (yikes-that makes one feel old).

It has been fun to see the franchise grow to multiple swims across the country and finally to land in Boston.  I have competed all four years and have won my age group the last two years.

This year I swam with my fast (younger) friend Tucker.  He is a fast former Weston Tide swimmer and Massachusetts state champion. Tucker and I swam this event with each other in a couple of years ago. (see blogpost dated 9/22/13) 

We both had good swims this year. Tucker swam with his fast new wetsuit this year and got second overall and first in his age group. I swam skins got first in my age group and swam two minutes faster than last year.  Me being me I did a bit more analysis of the results and found out I was the top non-wetsuit male in every age group down to 30-34. Not to bad.

All in all it was a great day. Great weather, great water temp and great swimming.  Couldn't have asked for a much better fall Saturday! 

End of summer...

I hated typing that subject line! While I think we have some beautiful summer type days ahead of us the traditional Labor Day end of summer weekend has come and has almost gone. 

Below are some aquatic type adventures for the tail end of the traditional summer.

This years Salem Swim & Fin was the last weekend of August. My MIT friend Josh and I did the 5k with no wetsuits. The water was a very nice high 60's to low 70's. It's a big three loop course that gets pretty old by the end of the thrid loop. Josh and I both won our age groups. I'm four age groups ahead of him. There is a good chance I was the only person in my non-wetsuit age group. I'm always a winner!

The long Labor Day weekend started with a Saturday morning workout with Wayland Masters and Coach Jen. She always gives such great workouts. This was the last workout before they put the bubble back on. Very sad. Outdoor pools and swimming are the best! I hope to swim more there this fall.

The highlight of the long weekend was an  impromptu Sunday day trip to Provincetown by Shannon and I. We took the first ferry out from Boston's Long Wharf and the last ferry back with a lot of activity in between. 

Once we got to Ptown we headed by bike to Race Point on the National Seashore for some beach time. After a nice but sometimes hilly bike ride we were pleased to see this long white pristine beach and the blue Atlantic that stretches as far as the eye can see. In fact, the next body of land you hit would be Europe. I  couldn't wait to take a dip.

Walking down to the beach we were welcomed by the sign below. 

Needless to say, for as crowded as the beach was, not many people were in the water and they certainly didn't swim far out. I swam maybe 100 yards about 15 feet from shore. Just 10 miles down the beach a male great white  washed up onto to the beach later in the day.  

The rest of the day we enjoyied all the colors of the rainbow Ptown has to offer. A late light lunch at the Red Inn celebrating its 100th year over looking the harbor followed by the traditional Tea Dance at the Boatslip-oh my!

Our evening was capped of by a nice dinner at Jimmy's Hideaway and a evening stroll  down Commerical Street with homemade ice cream from Spiritus and people watching. A long but very fun day.

The beloved Weston Town Pool was closed for the season so this Labor Day finds me at a beach and body of water a bit less familiar. The Wayland Town Beach is on Lake Cohicuate. While I've done a couple of open water swims here with friends and have picked Courtney up numerous times from crew practice it's has never been a destination beach for me. It's actually a lovely setting with a good amount of activity and a nice way to wind down a Labor Day weekend.

As summer technically draws to a close I've decided that when my next chapter starts I will aspire to an "endless summer" lifestyle. I will wear shorts and flip flops all year long! I will never type that subject line again. Here's to Endless Summers!!!