Summer 2013 Megafuntastical: The Red Hook Marathon

So I did a marathon over the summer. Of swimming. In Red Hook. For a t-shirt. Here is the third and final post in the series I like to call Summer 2013 Megafuntastical.

-----------------------------

New York City Aquatics has been operating their outdoor pool adult lap swim summer program for years now. This was the first year I took advantage of it.  Carla started a Facebook group page and added a bunch of us SCBkRs.  I imagined visiting the pool a few times to complement my running. But then we spotted this:

        "Participants who swim 25 miles or more over the summer will receive a free t-shirt..."

Tempting, but I was focused on my running and training for my A race and did not see earning that prized t-shirt as a reasonable thing to do. And then my calf happened. So the quest for the Night Owl T-Shirt began.

Red Hook Recreation Center: My second home for the summer

Endurance fitness translates.  It was demonstrated while cycling through the Berkshires in June and swimming in the Red Hook Pool in July. All the running I do translates to other activities. My first dip in the pool went for 3/4 of a mile, the second for 1.2 miles, and the third for nearly 2 miles.  I got into the habit of getting to Red Hook as soon as possible after work, trying to be at the door at 6:55pm as they let the evening lap swimmers, or Night Owls as they called us, into the building.  Then I'd swim until the lifeguards blew the whistle.  That generally equated to about 90 minutes of swimming. Some days I'd arrive late, but still for a solid swim. It was enough to feel like I wouldn't lose much while allowing my calf to heal.

As the sessions accumulated, it occurred to me that the t-shirt may actually be in reach. I started getting tingles of motivation. Twenty-five cumulative miles over the summer could mathematically be achievable for me. But maybe not everyone saw it this way for themselves.  Maybe not everyone was interested in devoting so much time in the water over the summer. I wished they were.  I came up with the charts because I'm a data geek.  I came up with the badges to get more of my friends in the pool.

One of my favorite badges.  I'll be back on that track in a couple weeks

This badge was a big deal, a real confidence booster, I think. So many earned it and are on their way to an actual half Ironman!

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

This one was a hit and many swimmers earned it

It's hilarious how much fun I had with this. It seems everyone did. More than thirty of us hit the pool and twenty six participated in the lap tracking and badge earning. Why are these badges so motivating?  Why was the t-shirt such a prize?  I have no idea. I suppose it's the same with finisher medals at the end of races or that pretty cool hoody for the Brooklyn Marathon. Some people save their race bibs, others get tattoos commemorating their achievements. But that's not to say events without awards aren't fun.  One of my favorite thing is finding small, inexpensive, medal-less events to run. Perhaps that, in and of itself, is a badge of awesomeness, too, though...

Just a sample of the mileage we covered

As we approached the last few weeks of the summer, the pool started closing at 8pm. Because of this, my planned 90 minute sessions would be limited to 60. And where I thought I'd have plenty of time to squeeze the 25 miles in, I now saw I'd be one or two days shy, leaving me a couple miles short of 25, but more to the point, it would be a couple miles shy of that t-shirt. I wasn't having any of that.  Neither was Jon.  We both cut out some plans, rearranged our schedules and ducked out of work "early" to get laps in.    With the fear of weather causing an issue, I left an extra day at the end.

This one only applied to Jon and I.  I have a feeling next year more of us will earn it.

Sun sets on the season

On that last Friday of the season, I surpassed 26.2 miles.  Both Jon and I earned our t-shirts, but our quest did not end there.  It seems there was a end of season swimming party, where t-shirts were handed out, that we were not invited to.  We had the option of either going to the NYC Aquatic headquarters in Flushing Meadows, Queens, or calling them up and asking them to transport the shirt to the borough office of our choice.  We chose the latter and Jon's shirt made it safely to Brooklyn.  Mine did not.

From a fitness perspective, swimming saved my summer.  My calf, in all its painful glory, prevented any meaningful miles on foot. September came and my running returned with a sucessful Reach the Beach Relay. It was now October, a week before what would have been my Marathon, what was now my next half marathon, and time to finally wrap up the quest the only way that seemed fit.  I ran 8.7 miles to Flushing Meadows and claimed my prize.

Quest complete.  At least for 2013...

---------------------------------------------------------

"It was a summer of extra-ordinary magnitude."

This statement will forever identify one distinct and amazing summer for me- the summer of 1994- which had nothing to do with swimming or running or cycling, but rather Mountain Dew, Cooler Ranch Doritos, and blacksploitation movies.  It was the summer the sky opened over Rotterdam, life long friendships were forged in the fires of funk and ridiculousness and the Squad was formed.

Perhaps it's too early to say, but I'm going to say it anyways.  This summer and all its megafuntasticalness will stand the test of time.