A Glorious Swim

    As tired as I am, I really wanted to write about my swim tonight while it was fresh in my mind. Suddenly, I love open water swimming. It is such freedom. So peaceful. So thrilling. The Cove was, at one time, a gravel quarry. Now it is a 50' deep, emerald green lake, hidden in plain sight. I am always amazed how few people are ever there. Tonight was downright zany, there must have been at least 10 people scattered around the edges, and a whopping 5 other swimmers! It was like a convention! Seriously, it is a decent sized lake, with clean, deep water, and there is rarely more than a handful of people along the water's edge, or out partaking in the cool bliss. Granted, it does not have sandy shores. The banks are rocky. But I ignore the "No Trespassing" sign and cross the little bridge to the county boathouse, so I can take advantage of its nice dock, and little ladder down into the water. Tonight I really felt at ease in the water, as if I belonged there. As I was slipping effortlessly through the cool water my mind flitted back to last season, and how exhausted the half mile swim of the sprint triathlons made me. I literally staggered out of the water after two of them.  But now I can swim almost tirelessly if I choose to, and for a mile or two easily. I can find that easy pace, the long steady strokes, the hypnotic rhythm of my body as it rocks side to side. True, the tireless pace is  not  my race pace. But I know that if I find myself getting overexcited, or feeling overly strained, I can slow a bit, find my rhythm and just slip through the water. Tonight taught me that. The Cove showed me that I can indeed be a Selkie, a creature of the water. By conquering my fear, my unfounded fear, I now have a whole new world open to me. A wonderful, quiet, private, magical world. And a new level of confidence to carry me through whatever other hurdles I might face. Tonight was a glorious swim.