If you work in the Midtown Manhattan area, you would certainly know that the UN is in town. I know this because there are police officers, secret service agents in black suits, etc out in full force this week. Every morning this week as I walked to work, I see a horde of black limousine sedans clogging up the streets. Every UN diplomat and representative is in NYC as the city plays host to the world. Bomb-sniffing canine police dogs are on every block along with road blocks set up, which are guarded by armed security personnel carrying assault rifles, M-16s, etc. Let’s just say the UN and the surrounding area is locked up tighter than the Green Zone in Iraq right now. I would hate to be a car commuter around this time of year – the traffic is a nightmare! Anyway, enough ranting this morning.
As a self-described obsessive and goal-oriented person that I am and to take my mind of admissions, I was looking to take on a new physical challenge. It’s been a couple of weeks since I biked the Century Tour and I feel rested enough to train for another endurance event. But this time, it’ll be swimming. With the approach of Fall, it’ll be getting cold – too cold to run or bike outside. But there’s always swimming indoors. The Great Hudson River swim is held annually every May. Here is their website http://www.nycswim.org/Event/Event.aspx?Event_ID=1901 The event is a 1.3 mile swim down the Hudson River. Of course with everything I heard about the water quality of the Hudson River, including the one along the lines of a person can literally dissolved in there, obviously I was a little apprehensive about signing up. It is still way too early to even register for the event, but I can always train for it. Although I consider myself a strong swimmer, I’ve only mainly swam indoors – river swimming is a whole different animal – I don’t even own a wet suit! According to their website, “There can be a substantial amount of chop in the water from wind & tide action. The waterways are salt-water and there is shipping traffic. There may be random jetsam & flotsam in the waterways.” So it would be a good idea to get some river swimming experience before I take on the challenge. I would like to add that it’s just an initial curiosity. So don’t hold me to it : ). I’ll do some more research about training, etc. and see where it goes.
Read the full article: Midtown Manhattan locked up!, A New Challenge…maybe