Two Minutes Too Slow for Alcatraz
The official kick off of summer swimming is July first. I have tried to use Memorial Day as my open water swim start, but this season, spring just never seemed to warm up the water, leaving the Lake Huron shoreline cold, windy, and wavy.
I jumped into the lake on Memorial Day, just so I could say I did. At a brisk 43 degrees, I managed only about ten strokes. My face went numb, and I lost feeling in my legs, but I did it—I marked the start of summer with a swim. For the rest of us, with July approaching. Welcome to summer of 2026.
I applied for the Escape from Alcatraz swim and reserved my spot for July 22. Unfortunately, my timing per 100 yards did not qualify. I am about 2 minutes too slow. I called my coach, and will start training with her next month. With the strong currents in the San Francisco Bay, I was told I needed a certain speed to make it through them. I am going to reapply for September…otherwise that will be a 2027 goal.
According to AI, Lake Huron is supposed to warm up by ten degrees in the next ten days. Soon the water temperature should be in the mid 60's, which is great for a swim.
I invite my readers to join me this season for an event I'm calling Swim with Sally.
Starting in July, you can log your distance as often as you like on the website, and we'll compare notes each week. At the end of September, when the water begins to cool here, the winner of the distance swim will be awarded a character named after them in my next project.
The character may be a villain, or an antagonist, we will not know until the piece gets published. But you will know you earned it through a rigorous summer of swimming. If we start in July, the official swimming season for Lake Huron, you will have three months to focus on building a stronger body through swimming.
Swimming by itself has its own rewards. Not only does it exercise various body muscles and tone your body, but it is also a fluid motion that eases stress and gives you a mental break from the daily grind.
Speed is not the objective. Rather, you should focus on your distance and strengthening your body and your stamina.
Sign up to join the group here, and I'll keep a running log of everyone's name and distance. You'll be able to see how the group is doing all summer long.
Do not hesitate to commit. You can swim in your pool, the Y pool, open lake, a pond or the ocean. Whatever body of water, keep track of your time and distance. I use a Garmin watch to do this, but there are a ton of apps for your phone too.
Haute Cuisine Hell is still being shopped. I am working with a co-author on a manuscript that takes place in the thumb region here. Depending on how far along we are, that may be the award but probably will happen in the sequel of the current manuscript.
Happy Summer and Swim!
— Sally
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