What Does Vacation Mean to You?

I can guarantee when the word vacation is mentioned, meaning people are thinking about relaxing on the beach, drinking beverages and eating lots of food. I would even bet that many people expect to gain weight while on vacation and do not really think twice about it. Well, I have a different take on vacation.

To me, it means long runs on the beach. It also means long swims in an outdoor pool or better yet, the ocean. It means eating fresh food, straight out of the ocean and it also means drinking lots of water and Gatorade. You see, that is my mindset for the next 2 weeks while on vacation in Florida. And I can't wait to get it started.

See we left Memphis Saturday afternoon after we ran a 5K race that morning. We drove to Macon, Georgia or about 7 hours and then we got up and drove the rest of the way to the beach Sunday. Monday was a sleep in day (and I sort of tweaked my back loading the van), but the rest of the days are going to involve running on the beach and swimming.

I am normally not a huge fan of swimming in the ocean, but being able to swim and swim and swim without turning around at the wall is going to be awesome. I have my GPS packed so I should be able to get a good distance marker measured. I would like to run one day and swim the next and just alternate this daily. And I think I will. Plus I should be able to work on my tan while I am doing it.

To me, this is a vacation. No work to get in the way and no fast food, cause there really isn't anything close by! Win/Win/Win!!!

1st Open Water Swim- Ocean Style



This is what it felt like...

 Today I did a first for me, I did my first open water swim in the ocean, and I loved it. This was always a reason I said I did not want to do an Ironman where there was an ocean swim. I was afraid of swimming in the ocean becasue...I live in TN. We have zero ocean front property! and I do not want ot be eaten by anything.

The Atlantic Ocean was very calm yesterday evening, so my wife said, "Honey, we should open water swim out there tomorrow if it stays this calm."  I admit, part of me wanted it to be choppy and not swimable today. But when I woke up and looked out the window, I saw calm waters with gentle waves breaking close to the beach, which meant we did not have to go to far out to get to a good place to swim. So I decided, today was the day to conquer that fear.



This is what I expected to happen...

 My other thought was this, and it is a stupid one, but I was worried about what to wear. Do I wear my jammers and be "that guy" on the beach in a speedo tight suit (no, not a speedo-speedo) or do I wear my normal beach bathing suit?? I really struggled with this decision, but I decided to wear my normal bathing suit. It was totally a different feeling than normal when swimming and I felt like I was going to lose my suit several times, but I felt better knowing that I could then hang there on the beach.

So, my wife and I went out and swam. we swam about 250 yards one way, then stopped and turned around, so about 500 yards in total. I can't say that it was much different than any other OWS I have done, except for the saltwater taste I had in my mouth. Other than that, it was great, and I will most likely do it again this week.

Thanks for reading!