Shadow Poop

Part of my blogging includes writing about things I'm grateful for (see blogs on Sports Basement, TNT, Nick, Coach Nicole, etc.).  Today's post is about the Orcas at Shadow Cliff.  Shadow Cliff is a regional park that is only about 15 minutes away from Nick's house.  It's a little beach park with lots of running trails and a man-made lake.  The beach is full of goose poop (bet you didn't know that duck and goose poop actually smells did you?), which is why we call it Shadow Poop, and there is a roped off area with a super long swim lane that anyone can swim in.  However, for those wanting more open water experience, you can join the Orcas, which is an open water swim group.  We can only swim certain hours, have to get certified (to make sure we won't drown out there), we are required to wear a yellow cap (received after getting certified), to check in/out on a sign up sheet, and we can NEVER swim alone, which means waiting around to find others to swim with you.  It's like a game of pickup basketball.  "Hey, can I swim with you guys?"


The lake isn't very big (80 acres), but there are 3 routes we can do depending on how long we are supposed to swim that day.  And, the water is warm enough that we don't need a wetsuit anymore (although I probably should be back in mine since that's what I'll be wearing in only 36 days).  Eeek!


Anyway, after yesterday's swim I just realized how grateful I am to be able to have this practically in the backyard.  Yes, it full of poop (gives it character, right?).  And, supposedly will give you a weird skin condition when it starts to "grow" things later this summer (yeah, I'll probably stick to the pool then).  And, it is always crowded with BBQs, and crazy baptisms, and families that reserve their tables with bigass watermelons starting around 8am. But, it's convenient.  And, training for an IM is pretty much the opposite of convenient. So this means I will embrace the duck poop!