6 more days - almost there...

OK. It's Tuesday evening.  We are now down to 6 days before we go...  It looks like we're up to two boats and 13+ swimmers?  These are both records - this thing continues to grow.  Every year, we get a couple of new folks, and mostly people just keep coming back. This really is a great day - one of those "pause and reflect" days.  A time to remember each successive year - what you were doing the year before, etc. A milestone of sorts for each of the swimmers. 

Here's our schedule. At 7am (or so) we arrive at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (GPYC), who have been our gracious hosts for 6 years in a row now.  Special thanks to Fred Mihalik, the pool facility manager and a renowned swim coach.  He has always been there to help us,m and we appreciate it.  We're generally in the boat by 7:30, and headed to Harsen's Island. The feeling of the boat at speed, smell of the water, the excitement of the swim and just having a chance to meet up with everyone again makes this one of my favorite parts of the whole day.

We're in the water by about 8am.  B
y about 8:30 we're between the South Channel lighthouses and heading for the open bay.  At this point you can begin to make out the tower at Nine Mile Road. This the tower that will look exactly the same size after swimming for 4 more hours - at times it is maddening...

And so it goes - for 8 hours... It isn't as hard as you might think - although when the waves are coming directly at you, it gets old pretty quickly. It is just a grind it out kind of day, but it is invigorating and a day I look forward to every year.  

FINALLY, somewhere around 4:00 or so we are nearing the shore. When you are beginning to get close, it is tantalizing - it looks as if you could sprint the rest of the way, until you realize there is still a mile and half to go... But toward 5pm, we see the following site from the water - the Tower at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.

And then its off to Brownie's on the River for drinks and dinner, and a place to sit down and relax.