Hamilton Aquatic Club (HAC) Athletic Banquet

Last night I had the honour of being guest speaker at the Hamilton Aquatic Club's athletic banquet.  I was a little nervous but I made it through! 
I am so proud of all of HAC swimmers including my daughter Cadence and all my novice swimmers, whether they received awards or not. 
I also presented a special award to a swimmer who had tried something new and persevered, to Adam Vowles who did his 1st open water 10k race this summer after being named to the junior world open water prepatory team!
 ~ congrats Adam and HAC on a great year!


This is my speech:

not the original plan for the weekend, but still a good one!

Last weekend I should have been racing at the International Triathlon Union (ITU) long distance world championships (2k swim, 120k bike, 30k run) in Nevada... it would have been so cool to be a part of Team Canada, do the parade etc and the course looks so scenic (& tough)! 

Post Race Depression (PRD) upgraded to a "little funk"...

I started writing this awhile ago, but didn't finish/post, for a few reasons, such as not wanting to sound like a whiner and just feeling it was too personal, but now that I'm feeling a little more positive (depression has been upgraded to a "little funk") maybe posting will be helpful (to me; to others, I'm not sure) but it is part of the adventure and have decided to finish this blog and post it...

To dream the impossible dream

A nice little poem I stumbled across (I can't take credit for)

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have tons to be thankful for.  I know I do!  (I am sorry for being a little late, but I am thankful everyday, so hopefully you can forgive me)
I am thankful for my great family who I love very much, including my beautiful daughters who continually make me proud and happy; and my husband, who not only puts up with me, but supports my crazy goals and then asks "What's next?"
In terms of my Lake Swim this year, I am thankful for a great year of training and thankfully the injuries held off (until after).  The miles were more fun thanks to my BMSC and LOST mates!  Also thanks to kayak supporters from Peninsula Kayak Club, as well as Andrew, hubby Bill and daughter Cadence for keeping me safe on the water.  Thanks to my family for not killing me because of the sacrifices they had to make while I put in the time. Also to those who helped on the home front, (Terri in particular for watching the girls), thank you!
I hope my crew knows how much I thank them for all they did to help me.  They made the adventure more special and I can never quite thank them enough.
Thank you also to many who supported me in so many ways, coming out to events, sending me well wishes, buying T-shirts and raffle tickets etc etc
Thank you to those who made donations to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and to LOW directly for helping protect our great Lake.  I am very thankful to have Lake Ontario so close by and to be able to enjoy the Lake so often!
Above and beyond the swim though, I really have an amazing circle of amazing people in my life! Thank you!!
XOXO  Melanie

SSO award luncheon




On Oct 1st, Solo Swims of Ontario held a luncheon.  Here are some pictures from the event:

Life, as I once knew it, returns

September means Cadence is back to school and back to swimming!  After a pretty lazy summer, I think she was ready!
Also this September, little Dahlia started junior kindergarten.  She is adjusting to the new routine much easier than I thought.  My baby is growing up!  
I'm back coaching novice swimming.  I struggle to do the arm circles with the kids (but it's coming).  Monday and Wednesday are chaos as Bill and Cadence swim and I coach (all at different locations & times), so we are running all over the city, but we've managed to make it work (so far).  Of course swimming lessons for Dahlia are offered on Mondays or Saturdays - I prefer the weeknight because lots comes up on weekends, but Monday just isn't doable, so she will start this Saturday!

Even though we are back into a "regular" routine, the crossing is still pretty fresh in my mind.  The start of the HAC season (Cadence's swimming and my coaching) has meant many congrats and enquiries about the swim.  I particularly like it when the novice kids ask questions about it.  They have some great questions and I can see the potential for it to inspire some of them, which is a totally incredible feeling!!
HAC also got a write-up about my swim in SportsXpress magazine - check out the latest issue!  http://hamiltonsportsxpress.ca/2011/08/14/hamilton-aquatic-clubs-novice-coach-melanie-price-conquers-lake-ontario/ and in magazine form in this web flipbook: http://hamiltonsportsxpress.ca/Hamilton/wp-content/plugins/page-flip-image-gallery/popup.php?book_id=7
We had the crew party (see previous blog: http://melaniepriceadventures.blogspot.com/2011/09/crew-party.html) A very special evening!
My family doctor also made a big fuss about me, the other day while in the waiting room, completely embarrassing me, but in a good way!  Although there for Dahlia's needles, I managed to get my doctor to book an ultrasound for my shoulders (so mid Oct I should have a better idea what the diagnosis is)
Solo Swims of Ontario (SSO) who oversees Lake Ontario crossings has now ratified my swim and has it listed on the site: http://www.soloswims.com/swims-ontario-other.htm.  There will be an awards luncheon on October 1st, when I will get my certificate!  

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (LOW) just posted a little story about my swim: http://www.waterkeeper.ca/2011/09/20/the-lake-ontario-crossing-that-almost-wasnt/  Allie (from LOW) was there at the finish and I love hearing the stories of what it was like witnessing and waiting for me to complete the crossing.  LOW has helped me to learn more about some of the environmental challenges that face the Lake and I hope to continue to be able to help them, work with them and learn from them (they are investigating holding a "shorter" swim race/challenge in the Lake, and I would love to take part and help with some of the organization of the event, hopefully it will be possible next summer)  In the mean time, donations to LOW are still possible through my giving page at: http://www.canadahelps.org/gp/11261 and much appreciated!

I am including the questions Allie asked me (and the team) to help her write her story above and my responses because I think they get to the heart and express my feelings about the crossing quite well:

Crew Party

We had a crew party last night!  It was a little over a month later, to give everyone some time to recouperate and get some non-swim things done first.  Unfortunately we missed a few members of the team, but most were able to come!  It was a little chilly, so no swimming was done - more time to eat, drink and socialize! Yeah!!

It was intended as a party to say thank you to my crew, but they ended up surprising me with a big beautiful framed picture arrangement which they also all wrote little congratulation messages on.  It is a fantastic keepsake!  Thank you crew!  You really are the best!  Never before has the Power of a Team been so evident to me as on swim crossing day and you continue to surprise me!
Andrew, crew photographer also put together a video, it's over 10 minutes, long but not when you consider they spent 18 hours out there with me, it's just a drop in the bucket!  There are some great shots, the underwater video is awesome and a very humourous ending.  Enjoy!!  I sure do!!  Great job Andrew (and photography is just a hobby for him, incredible!!)

Again thank you!
Melanie Price xoxo

still sometimes can't believe it's all over

It's been 2 weeks already... I've easily adjusted to not running off to the Lake every spare moment and I've been pretty lazy and don't feel bad about it yet.  Although volunteering with Bill and the girls at the off-road triathlon and then tracking friends at Ironman Canada Sunday (the 28th) has me excited about getting some variety in my training again and I was even inspired to do a little run this morning!

Many have asked about how I felt and what I did after:

Wetsuit winner

We had the draw today and I am happy to announce the winner is Andrew Ullock (BMSC, LOST and photographer and pacer on the swim)!
Congrats Andrew.
Thanks to everyone who participated!  And thanks to Xterra for sponsoring us with the wetsuit!

A few loose ends

• The xterra wetsuit raffle did not happen at the finish as planned, due to the chaos.  So the draw is re-scheduled to be held Saturday August 20th at LOST coffee.  (Therefore, there is still time to buy tickets: $5/ticket or 5 tickets (plus a free swim cap) for $20)
•  The event T-shirts were a hit, and have been sold out!  I have had some requests to still purchase them.  So if you want a Great T-shirt for $15, please send me an email at pryson3@cogeco.ca with your firm commitment to purchase one and what size you would like.  If I have enough interest I will place another order next week.
• Donations to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper are still welcome and appreciated: http://www.canadahelps.org/gp/11261
• I have a massage in Burlington Thursday Aug 18th at 7:30pm, after which I will be going to QB's.  I'd love to have some company to clink my glass with...
• Finally, I'm thinking tattoo, but not really sure what or where, let me know if you have any thoughts or know good tattoo artists...

Cheers,
Mel

Touching that rock!

This is my story about how I enjoyed almost every moment of my 18 hour Lake Ontario swim crossing,,,

Leaving at midnight was a good plan.  It meant the least number of hours in darkness and without pacers.  However it was extremely hard to rest before midnight as the anticipation & the nerves were too much to actually get any sleep… It was also somewhat challenging for the crew and I getting ready in the darkness.  Although most of it had been done earlier, there were last minute things to do.  [For more pictures from our evening in Port click here]

Shortly before midnight, I said “See you soon” to my crew and got a drive over to the beach.    There was a small gathering in the parking lot.  They got a chuckle out of Rob applying the grease to my lower legs, armpits, and neck before the final walk down to the water.  I took the walk with Rob and absorbed his final words of wisdom and experience.

It was pretty dark and I yelled out “Cadence”, as I needed to find my oldest daughter before taking the plunge.  She said I smelt bad (the grease, sunscreen, A535), and I said "I won’t smell any better on the other-side"… Quite a few people were on the beach waiting to see me off (at midnight Thursday) it was fantastic!  Thanks everyone!  But then I had to do it, I said "Goodbye" and stepped in.  [For more pictures of the send-off click here]

My first thought: the water temperature is great (for Lake Ontario)!  And away I went… I caught up to Zodiac 1, which had husband Bill (nutritionist), Dave J (coach) and Colleen (SSO official) who would be by my side the whole way.  At first they were shining the light right on me and it was impossible for me to tell how far away they were.  So we sorted that out and they came around to the other side of me so I could see the string of glow lights they had hung along the side of the boat like Christmas lights.  It really was a pleasant sight!  They kept the light shining in front of me for the rest of the night.  Although it didn’t actually make a lit path for me to follow, it did make a iridescent effect in the water.  

The waves were coming at me, it was choppy and although I had done a few night swims, they had been calm compared to this.  I felt like I was fighting the waves that first hour, as I couldn’t tell where or when they would hit from next.  At the second feeding Dave told me to engage my core as rolling more would help me with the waves.  Doing so made it possible for me to roll with the waves instead of trying to plough through them.  It was much better.  I don’t really mind waves, it just took some getting used to in the dark. 

I could see the lights from the distant shore on my left the whole night, intermittently between waves.  And with the almost full moon it was picturesque and if I got caught up in a wave or found myself a little off course, I reminded myself how lucky I was that the temperature wasn’t freezing and what a beautiful evening it was for a “little” swim.  [For more night swimming pictures, click here

I wasn’t allowed to wear a watch, but with the feedings being every half an hour (I remain in the water while feeding), I was sort of keeping track of the time.  After approximately 4 hours (around 4 am) I asked for a ‘legal’ pain pill.  I was feeling it more then I wanted to be so early into the swim.  That first hour before I figured out how to work with the waves in the dark and lifting my head to sight on the lead sailboat was straining my back and neck, and it was taking its toll.   I wonder how much of the pain relief is mental, as I did feel a bit better very quickly.

On it went, a few more hours and the sun would be rising. To pass the time I sang the theme song from Gilligan’s Island and I pretended my crew were characters from the show.

Then the sun was rising and they were radioing for Petra to join me in the water.  I felt pretty chipper to see her and we commented on the beautiful sunrise.  It is great pacing with her because we naturally have a similar turnover.  It is amazing how clear the water is, and how nice it is to have a smiling face look at you under water and when you breathe.  That first hour with a pacer went super fast!  [For pictures of the sunrise and Petra's 1st pace, click here] 

Stacey was up next.  During the trial swim, we had the roughest leg together and now on the real swim, I think it was even rougher. She paced me through it no problems again.  Stacey is a regular lane mate in practice, so I just let my mind go with the familiarity of swimming with her.  It helped to break it down into segments like this… and not think too much about the whole thing.

It was starting to feel like I would be against the waves the whole way.  I realized the difference between a “crossing” and the other long swims I had done, which had been repeats out and back or loops, which meant you got a little “headwind” for one section and a little “tailwind” for another, whereas this was looking like it would be all against me.  A daunting thought as I tried to do the math and figured I had done about 8 hours of swimming and was hoping I was nearing half way.  This is the other big difference - I had no idea how far I had gone. There were no landmarks, no mile-markers.  I didn’t really want regular updates, as I just wanted to swim in the moment.  But it is a hard habit to break and I asked to be told when I was over 20k.  I thought it would be a pick me up to think I was swimming further then I ever had before.  However waiting for them to tell me I was past 20k drained some of the positive effect out of finally hearing it.    

Denyse came out next, I said "Punk, it’s better then the wave pool” and then we swam.  I watched Denyse’s perfect stroke, tried to follow it, knowing if I had a better stroke, I’d probably be feeling less pain.  I thought of Denyse doing her first 200m fly this year.  I drew strength from her, and did a little one arm fly in honour of her accomplishment. [more morning swim pictures can be seen here]

Andrew was the next pacer.  He was also the official photographer for the crossing, capturing many fantastic pictures and sending them to land for people to see almost live (thanks also to the tracking done by Accipiter Radar, people on land felt very connected).  So during our swim I pretended he was paparazzi...  Around this time I think the waves were starting to die down a bit too, which I welcomed. 

Next in was Maisey (Rob’s daughter).  She was the one pacer that I don’t regularly swim with.  She’s just 16, all the rest of us are “old masters”.  She was interested in taking part, had some experience from being around her dad’s marathon swims, and she doubled as a lifeguard.  I also thought the experience would be great for her as I suspect she’ll be doing this in the not so distant future!  (no pressure Maisey)  I think I said "you shouldn’t be in your wetsuit" to her as she seems to have a natural ability to handle cooler temperatures, so she really didn’t need it.  As well the wetsuit made it harder for her to go slow enough with me.  I could see her putting her legs up to get some drag, although she did well to not let on and not get away from me.  During the feed break I told her how I worried the crew could hear me fart and she was laughing at me.

The next pacer in was Fiona, who also was the manager for the crossing.  Fiona put in countless hours behind the scenes.  Bill later told me Colleen (who has been on and in many crossings) was in awe at how well she had everything organized.  The organization behind this is a gigantic task!  Fiona is a true gem for all her help and ensuring things ran so smoothly!

Towards the end of the swim with her, I saw Bill putting on his wetsuit and let out a little shriek of joy to know soon he would join me in the water.  When he got in, I jokingly asked everyone to close their eyes so I could have a kiss, but of course we couldn’t as purposeful contact like that would get me disqualified.  Similar to Fiona, Bill did a ton of work long before we left at midnight to get us prepared.  He was selfless and understanding during the training, he kayaked beside me for hours, he talked me through lows and made the daily grind more fun!  He also got his boating licence and worked with me on my nutrition plan.  During the crossing, he drove the boat, got my feedings together, and now he paced me.  Underwater it looked like he was mouthing words to me.  I though he was saying "Elephant shoes" ? [See more pictures of Fiona & Bill pacing with Mel here]

Well all the pacers had been in and it was time to start the rotation again.  I think it was around the beginning of the second rotation that the wind actually seemed to turn and be behind us.  Also I was told we had under 10k left.  At this point, I made a bit of a mental error.  I let myself think that Lake O was saying I had earned it and was granting me a smooth ride in.  On a misjudged high, I paced with Petra like we were out for a two hour training pace.  It was invigorating and I felt great, but later I learned never think you are there until you are actually there!

With the next few pacers I switched more to breaststroke to give my muscles a change.  Breaststroke is my natural stroke and my strongest stroke (unfortunately it is the slowest stroke). But now it wasn’t feeling that great either.  It still requires arms upfront and oddly my ankles were hurting. I guess because they had been pointed so long in freestyle that the ankle flexion for breaststroke needed some oiling. 

Although I didn’t see David L during the swim, (as much as I tried to catch him), he played a major part in the crossing.  He was the navigator, volunteering his time and his sailboat Kachina.  Thank you David L! I followed his boat eagerly, maybe because I thought its shape from the back resembled a bottle of beer.  I sang "99 bottles of beer on the wall" in my head, and had to count down 30 bottles while doing freestyle before I could switch to breaststroke or backstroke or some variation… 

Also special thanks to Tyler, another swimming friend on the crew, who also volunteered his time and his motor boat.  Since they were the tail-boat, I only saw them occasionally during feeds and they seemed to be having fun on the water! If Dave’s boat was the beer, Tyler’s boat was the party, and I was in the middle!

I also want to thank the Grimsby Auxiliary guys, who volunteered their big red / orange zodiac and time.  It was great to see them jump in the water a few times and cool off too!

I didn’t think I would be cycling through all my pacers again, but the good tides turned.  I hit a current, the wind and waves were back in my face and the waves picked up again.  I could see shore and she wasn’t getting any bigger/closer.  I started to realize I was going to have a really hard time finishing.  I didn't feel I was strong enough or fast enough to beat the current, waves, and wind.  I was getting discouraged.  I was down to about 2k left and I didn’t think I could do it.  I will also mention I was tired, sore and hungry.  We had already adjusted feedings down to more frequent intervals.  But now my bladder felt full, yet I wasn’t able to pee, and it was becoming incredibly painful.  I wanted to quit, but even thinking of quitting so close to shore was breaking my heart. [see a slideshow of things getting 'rough' for me here]

Then I figured since I didn’t think I could make it to shore, if I just fell asleep I would get pulled from the water and although it would be an awful ending, it seemed more and more like the only acceptable option I had… breaststroke in this would take me backwards, and freestyle was so spent by this point it would not be much better.  I closed my eyes and tuned the crew out, not wanting to face them in such a low.  I’m not sure how long I was like this but, somehow my mind was still churning… I did some calculations and thought the last 1500m could take me 1.5 hours (which is around 3.5 times what it should take). I looked for the sun in the sky. It hadn’t set yet, so I knew it wasn’t 9pm yet. Since I had told people that the crossing could take anywhere from 15-21 hours, I resolved myself to keep trying until the 21 hours were up and see where that got us and then I would allow myself to re-assess my options.  So although my hopes were low, I put myself back in the game and had a few Reese mini cups as some happy food (it wasn’t a cinnamon donut but it was the next best thing) Then with my amazing team around me (all the pacers and Dr John and lifeguard Jennifer all got in the water) I felt their strength and encouragement and I gave it my all, my everything, more then I knew I had. 

I thought about each member of my crew, individually, what they had done for me to get me this far, I thought of the people on shore (Fiona told me she could hear them). I thought of each person who had told me they would try to be there at the finish.

I thought of the people who had sent me well wishes. I thought of Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and hoped that finishing would mean more donations for them.  I thought of my girls and my husband and how this swim has been so engulfing for our family and how much we had all sacrificed.  I thought of my parents, and how worried they have been about the whole thing.  I thought about my family, my extended family, my friends on shore and how I just wanted to be able to swim up to them for hugs and kisses!

I put my head down.  I listened to Dave J’s legendary ‘GO’; Fiona was up front, organizing the last push forward, in amazing Fiona spirit.  Bill was beside me as he had been all along.  Many of my team went ‘naked’ and we had some cold patches.  Petra reacted with a squeal to a cold spot and it gave me a laugh, a much needed smile.  Slowly I was getting there.  I could see trees.  Eventually I could see people on land, and the orange shirts.  My amazing team and the spectators were in my head, cheering for me, giving me strength, hope and the will to finally touch that rock!  [more great pictures of the final push here] 

Touching a rock has never felt so good or so overwhelming!  The emotions swelled over me, yet I was still in disbelief.  At 6:09pm on Aug 12, 2011 I completed swimming over 40k across Lake Ontario.  But I can’t emphasize enough, this was not a solo swim, it took a fabulous team of great friends on the water and lots and lots of supportive friends on land!  When my belief in myself got washed away with the current, my incredible team kept believing in me and wouldn’t let me give-up!  Thank you all!  Thank you again and again!  

I learned later that the current pushed me east, so that I didn’t actually land at my original destination; and that those on shore had to hop into their cars and drive along the shore and then had to run through people’s backyards and through sprinklers to see me touch a rock!  How crazy is that!  Later at the hospital to get my vitals checked, we see our friend John A and learn he cut his head on a sign running to see the finish, now I have to live with the guilt of him having 8 staples in his head.  What a chaotic ending to an incredible experience! [Pictures of the spectators waiting for the finish can be seen by clicking here and after the finish here and even more here]

P.S.  Donations to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper are still welcome and appreciated at www.canadahelps.org/GP/11261

Again thank you,
Melanie Price
xoxoxo

The route as tracked by Accipiter Radar

Last details and it is coming together...

After sitting on pins and needles a bit yesterday and this morning while a strong wind warning was in effect, we have gotten word that as of now we are a go for tonight at midnight.  So that is midnight Thursday aka 12am Friday, from Lakeside Park in Port Dalhousie!
This may be my last blog although I have tons of emotions and thoughts to share, I don't think I could sit still long enough to share them all!
But I did want to tell you how to track the swim and get twitter updates:
Accipiter Radar is proudly tracking the crossing and posting twitter updates from crew at http://www.accipiterradar.com/page/melanie-price-lake-crossing - So follow along!  - I guess I'll be a very slow moving dot :)
And we finish in Coronation Park (the east/north side), in Oakville sometime Friday... Find my mom, in a bright orange event T-shirt, and get yours!  Also Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, hopes to be there too!  Raising more money for them would be the cherry on top, so they can do Great things to help our Great Lake!  http://www.canadahelps.org/GP/11261 Thank you to all who have made donations so far and for all the support!!

Honestly I was feeling overwhelmed with emotions earlier, until we went out to see the Lake this morning.  She looked beautiful!  She wasn't actually calm, but she didn't look angry either,  she looked purposeful, and I started to feel how she looked!  So here we go!!

Your thoughts keep me strong, friends!  I love you!
Melanie Price

Just a couple nice pictures from our evening in Port Dalhousie Tuesday night

It is funny what has become a date night for Bill and I:

 

LOST in Welland

I took the girls down to Welland on Sunday to watch the Welland Open Water Races and support some LOSTies and other friends who were participating.

 

planking

Dahlia wanted right it the water!



Unfortunately many of the racers did not get to complete their swim before the thunderstorms, and I haven't seen the results posted yet, but I do know that LOSTie Bud won the 10k and in 2nd was another LOSTie Gary.  Way to dominate the 10k LOSTies!! 

I also know Anna-Marie finished the 3k.  Anna-Maria is a sweetie and was also my room-mate at Nationals this year, being the only LOSTie competing there for LOST!  She is a great swimmer too!

We also saw Carolyn (LOSTie), Miguel (Lake O crosser, who I crewed for) and his son San before they went to start the 5k, but I don't believe any 5k'ers were able to finish due to the weather...
There were other LOSTies participating that we didn't see, we left when they started packing up and the rain came... but I hope to see them soon and hear how it went at least up until the storm.

And last, but not least we saw Christine, who I have become friends with through our common goal to cross the Lake this summer, and coincidentally Christine is raising money for the Welland International Flat Water Centre and left for her swim crossing the next day and finished 22.5 hours later (today)!  Way to go Christine! 

We are on a roll and I am up next...

Teenager shows the way for the rest of the Lake O crossing aspirants

Rebekah Boscariol, a 17 year old from Markham has successfully swum across Lake Ontario in near record time.  I can't even imagine doing this as a teenager and apparently Rebekah  wanted to try a few years ago but it took this long to convince her parents of the idea!
(Although it is a good thing I didn't have to convince my mom of the idea, or I probably wouldn't be doing it, lol)
Rebekah got the ball rolling for the 3 or 4 other aspirants this year, including myself and Christine Arsenault who I have become friends with through our shared goal.
While Rebekah was swimming I was thinking about her.  My weekend was full of Lake Ontario and hence Rebekah was not far from my mind.  I went out on the Lake in Tyler's boat (the tailboat for my crossing) on Friday night for a little boatwarming party and we drifted in the  waves, and I thought of Rebekah in the waves and dark! 
Saturday morning I had a beautiful swim with LOST, I thought of Rebekah having the swim of her life (so far)! 
Home from LOST, I learned Rebekah was successful and felt relief and hope that brings the rest of us good luck!
Then having learned through Lake Ontario Waterkeeper (the charity I'm raising funds for) about Bronte Harbour Days we went to Heritage Waterfront Park with Bill and the kids and Cadence's friend Madeline and we enjoyed some time by the water, checked out the sand sculpting contest and Dahlia had a blast in the playarea ... and I kept looking out to the Lake thinking of Rebekah's accomplishment!  Congrats Rebekah!!

beautiful girls by beautiful Lake O



amazing sand sculptures











Dahlia brought her fishing rod



 





Quick update on Thursday's swim since Wednesday's was cancelled due to weather

So a bunch of kayakers showed up last night, Jen & Chris Davies and Jane & John Wolfenberg.  There were some big crashing waves near shore making it a bit tricky getting in & out after, just ask John), but once out into the water it was just nice rolling swells, beautiful for swimming in.  The temperature was nice, the sun was setting.
I felt great - physically and mentally! 
I am ready for this,,, just one week until the planned big day!

Pictures from Thursday's swim, courtesy of John:

 

It's a small world after all & about 70% of the earth's surface is water!

So today I saw one of my teachers from elementary school, Jane, again for the 1st time since my elementary school days.  The meeting was planned as Jane and her husband John are members of the Peninsula Paddlers Kayaking Club that I've connected with through my friend Jennifer Davies, who I know from when she swam with BMSC, and Jane and John had offered to kayak for me.  We met at Lake Ontario but the conditions were not favourable for kayaking (or swimming)  The white caps went way out there for awhile, strong winds and the fog was coming in, not to mention John has 2 broken feet, although I think it rarely slows him down!
But the connection goes further then me and Jen, the kayak club and Jane because John's daughter, another Jen, also used to swim with me at BMSC, until the birth of her daughter, named coincidentally, Melanie.
And as we stood in the drizzle, John mentioned kayaking across Lake Ontario and how one of the times he did so was for a swim relay, which we believe was the same relay race I was a part of in 1995... small world!
They and other members of the kayak club, have also been involved with trying to keep our waters clean, and were involved with the Cootes Paradise clean up, for example, actually out in their kayaks in Cootes dragging out garbage!

So once again water connects me to great people, some new and some renewed ...

Thanks again John and Jane for coming out, hope we get out on/in the water next time! :)

August holiday weekend

This August holiday weekend, started away from Lake Ontario and instead we went to Darien Lake.  3 car loads of Johnson family members descended on the amusement park.  Special thanks to Terri for organizing and for watching Dahlia sometimes so Bill and I could do some adult rides and hang with our Brady bunch nieces and nephews...  Still managed to get a bit wet on some rides and in the water park, where Dahlia had a great time and I tried to keep up to her!

Sunday we tried out our new boat (see previous blog http://melaniepriceadventures.blogspot.com/2011/07/whatever-floats-your-boat.html )and then Bill and I went back again on Monday to get a longer swim in.  Both days Lake Ontario was busy!  Yeah!  And the amount of people actually out in the water was amazing!!  It means Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and other such groups have been doing a great job with caring for Lake Ontario! A couple of years ago, you would see maybe one person in the water off Hamilton's shore and people would think that one person was crazy or would grow a 3rd eye or would be sick after,,,even though they were sweating buckets on shore and wishing they felt it was safe to take a dip too...  Well now more swimming areas are open, more of the time.  It's great!!  Kudos to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper - the charity I'm raising funds for with my swim across the Lake (soon - see up-to-date plan: http://melaniepriceadventures.blogspot.com/2011/07/main-event-swim-crossing.html ).  Help them to continue to "help put the Great back into the Lake" at www.canadahelps.org/gp/11261 

Thanks & keep enjoying & caring for Lake O!

P.S. Funny comment of the day - while Bill was kayaking beside me swimming, we came along another kayaker, who said to Bill: Couldn't you afford 2 (kayaks)?  LOL!