Here we go again, 2018 begins with a bang as we start preparation and planning for 20 Bridges on June 30^th! Top of the list of announcements is my new partnership with Skratch Labs as a Skratch Ambassador for the 2018 season, a huge season, which I am hoping will round out the Triple Crown (fingers crossed, knock on wood, all that superstitious stuff as it’s not over until the fat crab is on the plate for dinner). For those of you who remember my blog post for the Catalina swim, Just Close Your Eyes, it was full of beauty and well….. vomit.  Yep, that’s right, I got seasick and well you can read the rest in the recap of that swim.

Why is this important? For any endurance athlete hydration and nutrition is key. When you are 6 hours in and can’t keep anything down, the ‘I can’t do this anymore’ words start coming out of your mouth in a serious way.  My coach, Ben, switched me to Skratch and finally I was able to keep something down.  What I love about Skratch is that it is made from natural goodness, so it was light on my stomach, not thick, just awesome flavor.  I used Skratch exclusively for my hydration mix to supplement my carbohydrates for flavor on my English Channel swim, which many of you followed (and I appreciate you all for it).  Skratch makes this amazing cinnamon apples hydration mix that no joke tastes like warm apple cobbler.  I LOVED it and actually looked forward to having it as a treat during my swim.

The reason being a Skratch Ambassador is so important to me heading into New York, is that it’s truly a product I believe in, I absolutely love, I actually use, but not many marathon swimmers I’ve spoken with know about it.  Marathon swimming is a beautiful, hard, tough, miserably rewarding sport.  It is something you have to love and have passion for, have the passion for being out in the open water, accepting that you are not in control of your swim and that mother nature, the sea, river or lake you are in ultimately decides if you succeed or not.  You have to be patient now knowing what conditions you’ll get, when they’ll change, or how long you’re going to have to keep going.  I’m so happy and thankful to have been introduced to this sport and so when I find a product I love that helps me be successful, I want to share it with the swimmers I love who have been doing it forever as well as the new swimmers who are just starting their journey.

As I prepare for 20 Bridges, without a doubt Skratch is going to be in my go-bags, the pineapples and the apple cinnamon!  In addition to being a Skratch Ambassador, I’m also thrilled to have my best buds and who have both stood by me and supported me the past several years on my crew, Ben Bigglestone with VO2 Multisport, and Paul Raknes with Build Performance Center.  We’ve trained together, swam together, and celebrated together, shared successes and lessons learned together.

Someone recently told me that “sometimes your needs come disguised as something else.”  This really hit me like a bullet when I heard it and made me think of all the decisions I’ve made in my life these past several years regarding swimming and the people I’ve chose to include in this journey.  I honestly had no idea what I was getting into when I started.  Swimming the English Channel and then on to the Triple Crown was something I thought would be great in theory, but would it be something I could actually accomplish?  Did I really want this to be a goal?  The more I think about it, I don’t think it was ever about accomplishing the goal in the end, rather a goal that disguised my intrinsic need to meet all the amazing people I now have in my life, develop lifelong relationships I wouldn’t have had otherwise, to inspire others through coaching, and to find my passion, my love, and my place life by developing a relationship with the sea.

Whew, okay, that took a serious turn out of nowhere haha!  Okay, back to what I love doing the most – swimming (of course with Skratch, pineapples this evening) followed by a big cup of hot cocoa.  Here’s to 2018 and all that waits in The Big Flipper (meaning New York, because it’s swimming related).  Here we go and my love to everyone as we are in the final stretch.

Xoxoxoxoxo,

Your Mermaid in Pink