Beyond the Breakers swim conference

Big congrats to Craig Lewin on hosting the inaugural Beyond The Breakers open water swim conference in Waltham, MA! It takes tremendous time and effort to organize something like this. I came away with a number of takeaways to weave into next year's training plan, got to meet my swim coach in person for the first time, and delved into some deep conversations about what all this means and why we do it. Topics covered in the sessions I attended: applying sports psychology techniques to tough environments, great white shark migration and behaviour, failing as an opportunity to learn, ice swimming as a place to grow, getting to the start as the hardest part but curiosity can lead you to adventure, and a great panel discussion on crewing for swims. And really glad to have had the opportunity to spend time with Justine Brousseau!

Topped off the weekend in MA with more fun. Morning swim lesson with coach Shannon, followed by a group swim at Walden Pond, which is really beautiful, water 11-12C. It was nice to finally get to swim there. We had lunch with the gang, then dinner with Elaine and Mark. I'm so glad to have had the opportunity for this visit, how lucky we are to have this community...find your people, love 'em hard