Well…as I sit to write this year end blog I am not totally sure where to start. In many ways this year felt much like 2020 filled with all that grief, angst and tedium of the covid pandemic. In many other ways, there were green shoots of optimism, positivity, accomplishment and feelings of “normal times”.
While I try to put my thoughts together to summarize the year let me first get the important swimming metrics stated up front:
- 589 miles swum
- 1,037,309 yards
- 948,516 meters
- 237 swim sessions
- 308 hours
- 2 new pools (kinda weak)
- 5 open bodies of water
Putting the above into the perspective that is equivalent to swimming from Bend, Oregon to Whistler, British Columbia and swimming for 13 days straight. My swim goal for the year was 450 miles so I guess I over achieved.
Despite the ongoing pandemic I think the word that I must reflect on and try to remember (hard as it may be) for the year is~gratitude. I was grateful to start the year by lap swimming in what was likely due to covid restrictions one of the only pools open in Oregon~Tetherow Sport because it was an outdoor pool (see High, Low, High blog). Thankfully, the Juniper Park pool re-opened fairly early on and when covid restrictions reared its ugly head again in spring the Juniper pool took the bubble off so we were covid compliant to swim (see Undressing blog)
Swimming in open water in 2021 was something to be grateful for too. There were a couple of trips to Maui where I could swim in warm familiar places, in the cool waters of San Francisco Bay, the scenic beauty of Lake Washington in Seattle and locally here in Bend at Elk Lake. All of these spots idyllic training grounds for the last of my Triple Crown pursuits-the Catalina Channel.
Swimming the Catalina Channel was certainly a swimming highlight of the year. There were all sorts of lessons learned and new experiences in that swim; don’t change your feed plan, night swimming and throwing up multiple times in the middle of the Pacific, and swimming with a pod of dolphins (see 👑 Catalina Channel 👑 blog).
And lastly, I was grateful to spend time with friends and family. We enjoyed visitors from the East and West coast coming to visit us in Bend. It was fun to show off our new surroundings and fun activities from skiing, hiking, floating down the river, outdoor concerts and sampling microbrews.
We also enjoyed a Burrow Family Reunion in Mexico, a 30th Wedding Anniversary trip in the Bay Area and Christmas in Samara Beach, Costa Rica.
In the end, feeling grateful for having pools to swim in, open water swims in beautiful locations and spending time with family and friends isn’t to shabby of a way to spend a year (even in a pandemic)
After fours years of pursing the Triple Crown of swimming an endeavor that I quite honestly fell into it was really nice to be done. There were times when swimming felt like “job” and perhaps I didn’t enjoy it as much as I should have. With the Triple Crown accomplished I feel like I can ease up a bit and just enjoy swimming and immerse myself in my new swimming community.
Remembering that it’s the journey and not the destination I am looking forward to all 2022 has to bring~I hope it’s a lot!
Goggle Reflections 