Tomorrow. There is a lot of safety in the word "tomorrow." "I'll show you my homework tomorrow," "I'll get it to you by 9 a.m. tomorrow," or "maybe tomorrow." People put a lot of faith in the word. Kids. Adults. It's a very long word with a lot of letters to hide behind. I swam Saturday morning with our team in 85+ degree water and then drove up north to the big lake, hoping to get in and swim a bit. We found wind gusting up to 40 mph, rain and a high in the mid-40s. The lake temperature was 47 degrees with 3-4 ft waves. After watching the wind overturn patio furniture, I thought, "Maybe I'll get in tomorrow."

Before I knew it, tomorrow was today, and those same waves and winds had stuck around town. The waves even captured a portion of the neighbor's dock and sent it floating south in Lake Huron. That seemed like a good time to finally get in that swim! Acclimating to cold water is part of the process. I knew I had to increase the amount of time spent in the cold water from my last swim in 50 degree F water.  We bundled up and went over to the city beach to try to find more protected water in Tawas Bay. My husband packed my wetsuit just in case the lake was below 50. I threw in a thermometer and started getting ready (yep, 47 degrees, air 48, damp, still 30 mph gusts) and did put on the wetsuit (and tested Speedo ear plugs for the first time in my life) for this one. My husband and I jogged down the beach to warm-up, ran in, screamed a bit, and started swimming head-up water polo style. My aunt walked the beach with our dog to make sure we were okay. A teeth chattering swim, but I knew I'd warm up- by tomorrow.

The last week of April's swimming totaled 37,850 meters. I started off with 9,000m on Sunday, April 24 (30 x 300), took Monday off, 6600m on Tuesday, 5250m on Wednesday, 7000m on Thursday (and massage!), 5000m on Friday and 5,000m on Saturday. This week's goal falls somewhere between 40,000 and 45,000m. Started off well with a long drive and my first long course swim of 2011 at Eastern Michigan University on Sunday, May 1 (12,200m), followed by dinner and watching the Red Wings in Ann Arbor at Pizza House. The age group divers were practicing on springboards and platforms while I was swimming. All of a sudden, a gigantic wave pushed the green and white lane marker into my body and I thought I had blacked out and was swimming crooked. Hello bubble machine! This allows divers to attempt new dives without risking major injury. By creating a sea of bubbles in the target zone, the bubble machine breaks the surface tension and softens their landing. This wave creating gadget livened up my 3.5 hour pool swim.   Got in 7,500m today and mixed in a lot of kicking to give my arms a bit of a break. In nutrition news, my two tubs of 2kg energy mix for marathon swimming, Maxim, arrived from the UK yesterday (used Chain Reaction Cycles.com) so I'll have to try it out this week. It's carbohydrate powder (matodextrin) with vitamins to mix with water, juice, or warm drinks in open water. Look for my review next week.