Last workout of April. I start doing swims every morning now except Sundays so the yards/miles are going to pile up. I drove to Pineview on Saturday and did a temp reading. It's at 45. I'm ok with that but not alone. I got back to the car and decided to have a "day of nothing" that day. I'm a little burned out on swimming so I took Saturday off and sat my fat lazy ass on the sofa ALL DAY and watched the NBA playoffs. As Peter says on the movie Office Space, "I did absolutely nothing, and it was everything that I thought it could be".
I got 45 miles last month which put me over 150 miles so far for the year. I hit the 150 mile mark today by doing 4000. I was aiming for 5k but got started a bit late and I was pretty sluggish too.
The pull sets I had to do were hurting my shoulders and I was REALLY unmotivated to get any of the times that I was supposed to get. I got about 1500 into the workout when I just said "screw it" and swam for distance to just get it done and couldn't care less about the times anymore. Oh well.
4k today
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
27Apr12
I was pretty sore from yesterdays swim at the GSL so I took it easier today. I just did 3k with a lot of DPS drills and some kicking.
I was able to feel better after about 1500 but I just wasn't really motivated to push it today.
Nice easy 3k was fine.
I was able to feel better after about 1500 but I just wasn't really motivated to push it today.
Nice easy 3k was fine.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
26Apr12 - WHAT?
Good swim today. Shoulders were a bit tired until around 1k. Did some longer sets that descended in length with some 50's between sets for faster times. The shorter the distance, the faster I had to go. I was pretty worn out at the end and I can usually go sub 30 EASY for a 50 but my last 2 sprints for 50's I hit 32. TIRED!!!
Rounded out at 4500 today. There is supposed to be a storm coming in but I'm hoping it doesn't have thunder/lightning because I want to swim in the GSL again after work.
Okay, Kim pointed something out to me that I've never seen before. A woman in the lane next to us was swimming well enough and was even doing some drill work. Nothing spectacular. What caught her eye, which she stopped me to show me, was the woman was doing 1/2 strokes with her arms and had fins on WITH a buoy between her legs! WHAT? lol We both got a good laugh out of this. It just looked so weird.
2nd thing was when I was getting dressed. 2 guys nearby were talking about their "diet knowledge" and one was trying to convince the other on how good it is to cut out all carbs. He kept saying that if you are training for endurance races, you should cut carbs down to zero and even all sugars including those found in a lot of vegetables. Just plain veggies and protein is all you need according to him. WHAT??
Yes, when you cut carbs you lose weight.....TEMPORARILY. When you go back because after awhile, you body WILL start to shut down, you rebound back to normal PLUS another 20-30% more mass than before. Who the hell thinks they should cut carbs when training for endurance races? Seriously, who is that dumb? Short term may be able to get by but long term you are going to do some serious damage.
I always liked the quote, "You don't get to the Superbowl by only going to the salad bar". I kept my silence but couldn't stop wishing I could yell at this guy.
The most prominent thing I wanted to tell him is that no carb people are dumber. LITERALLY. When the synapse of your brain fires off, the gap between where the electricity needs an element to speed up the process. Thus you can think faster and more efficiently. The first product preferred for this method is glucose. The most significant source of glucose preferred comes from carbs. NO CARBS = NO GLUCOSE That means the transmission of information in your brain is decreased in speed AND CAPACITY. This means you are DUMBER!!! As evident by the "don't eat carbs" jackass I had to listen to today.
Ok, I'm done. I took a neuromuscular anatomy course in college and this is one of the things I found most fascinating. We got to break down, on a molecular, level why "fad" diets such as no carbs are all BS!
OK, after work I went to the GSL. The storm was late but the wind had arrived. It was really windy, the current was strong, and there was at least a 3 foot swell. The marina was nice and calm and Chad, Jim and I all headed out together. Once outside the marina it turned very quickly against us. Nothing to protect us from the current going north. The first buoy is west so I kept getting rolled around. I passed Jim and he said he was okay but he clearly did not seem to be having fun. I got to the buoy with Chad and we were LOVING it. It was fun for us. We waited for Jim and he said to go ahead. He told us he was just going to head in and he would be good but his face clearly stated, "screw this, I'll leave this type of violent swim to you 2 nut jobs"!
Chad and I headed north with the current. The whole way there we kept looking at each other and laughing. The current was so strong that I could actually feel it pushing me along as if there was a gigantic invisible hand pushing me from behind. We got to our destination buoy REALLY fast then the fun began when we had to head back. Going south was an adventure. I kept getting tossed all over the place, punched in the face by the waves, and could only get air if I stuck my mouth into my armpit to block the water. The roller coaster of up and down was good too. I don't get seasick from swimming so I just enjoyed the fight. The biggest struggle was the PFD/SSD I have with me. It was dragging me back whenever a good enough wave would get hold of it.
Chad and I were having way to much fun to stop after getting back to the starting point. We did another lap then headed into the marina. We got food and some drink then back in for more. We met up with Gords and Michelle at the first buoy then decided to do one more swim north and get out at the north end of the marina.
It was EXTREMELY fun yesterday and even though I got the hell beaten out of me, swallowed a lot of water, and had to fight the entire swim, I loved every second of it.
Rounded out at 4500 today. There is supposed to be a storm coming in but I'm hoping it doesn't have thunder/lightning because I want to swim in the GSL again after work.
Okay, Kim pointed something out to me that I've never seen before. A woman in the lane next to us was swimming well enough and was even doing some drill work. Nothing spectacular. What caught her eye, which she stopped me to show me, was the woman was doing 1/2 strokes with her arms and had fins on WITH a buoy between her legs! WHAT? lol We both got a good laugh out of this. It just looked so weird.
2nd thing was when I was getting dressed. 2 guys nearby were talking about their "diet knowledge" and one was trying to convince the other on how good it is to cut out all carbs. He kept saying that if you are training for endurance races, you should cut carbs down to zero and even all sugars including those found in a lot of vegetables. Just plain veggies and protein is all you need according to him. WHAT??
Yes, when you cut carbs you lose weight.....TEMPORARILY. When you go back because after awhile, you body WILL start to shut down, you rebound back to normal PLUS another 20-30% more mass than before. Who the hell thinks they should cut carbs when training for endurance races? Seriously, who is that dumb? Short term may be able to get by but long term you are going to do some serious damage.
I always liked the quote, "You don't get to the Superbowl by only going to the salad bar". I kept my silence but couldn't stop wishing I could yell at this guy.
The most prominent thing I wanted to tell him is that no carb people are dumber. LITERALLY. When the synapse of your brain fires off, the gap between where the electricity needs an element to speed up the process. Thus you can think faster and more efficiently. The first product preferred for this method is glucose. The most significant source of glucose preferred comes from carbs. NO CARBS = NO GLUCOSE That means the transmission of information in your brain is decreased in speed AND CAPACITY. This means you are DUMBER!!! As evident by the "don't eat carbs" jackass I had to listen to today.
Ok, I'm done. I took a neuromuscular anatomy course in college and this is one of the things I found most fascinating. We got to break down, on a molecular, level why "fad" diets such as no carbs are all BS!
OK, after work I went to the GSL. The storm was late but the wind had arrived. It was really windy, the current was strong, and there was at least a 3 foot swell. The marina was nice and calm and Chad, Jim and I all headed out together. Once outside the marina it turned very quickly against us. Nothing to protect us from the current going north. The first buoy is west so I kept getting rolled around. I passed Jim and he said he was okay but he clearly did not seem to be having fun. I got to the buoy with Chad and we were LOVING it. It was fun for us. We waited for Jim and he said to go ahead. He told us he was just going to head in and he would be good but his face clearly stated, "screw this, I'll leave this type of violent swim to you 2 nut jobs"!
Chad and I headed north with the current. The whole way there we kept looking at each other and laughing. The current was so strong that I could actually feel it pushing me along as if there was a gigantic invisible hand pushing me from behind. We got to our destination buoy REALLY fast then the fun began when we had to head back. Going south was an adventure. I kept getting tossed all over the place, punched in the face by the waves, and could only get air if I stuck my mouth into my armpit to block the water. The roller coaster of up and down was good too. I don't get seasick from swimming so I just enjoyed the fight. The biggest struggle was the PFD/SSD I have with me. It was dragging me back whenever a good enough wave would get hold of it.
Chad and I were having way to much fun to stop after getting back to the starting point. We did another lap then headed into the marina. We got food and some drink then back in for more. We met up with Gords and Michelle at the first buoy then decided to do one more swim north and get out at the north end of the marina.
It was EXTREMELY fun yesterday and even though I got the hell beaten out of me, swallowed a lot of water, and had to fight the entire swim, I loved every second of it.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
24Apr12
I feel like I'm in a funk. Swimming seems to be a chore right now and I'm not enjoying it as much as I normally do. I'm sure we all go through this but I just don't like it. I find that I'm forcing myself to get up each morning to swim and I can only think of excuses to go back to bed instead of being excited to hit the pool.
I decided to dump my workout today and just do a casual swim. No toys, no sets, no times. I just got in and swam while zoned out. I haven't done that in awhile so it was nice. I stopped when I wanted something to drink but each rest was only 20 sec at most.
When my finger counter hit 100, I got out. Nice and easy 5000 today. Since Thursday is looking ugly for the weather, I might hit the GSL this afternoon for a bit.
Went to the GSL after work and met up with Josh and Gords. Water temp was 62...I guess. One reading was 57, one was 60, one was 67, and one was 68....who knows! Water felt great regardless. We all decided to do the Gridley Straight today. My shoulders were a bit sore but after about 1/4 mile they felt better. I didn't push it too much and spent a good deal of time thinking about my stroke and good follow throughs. As usual, Josh and Gords slowly got ahead then by the end of the mile, they had to wait a bit for me. I just can't keep up with them. They don't mind but I do feel like Randy Parker from A Christmas Story...."HEY GUYS WAIT UP"!!!
On the way back I started to feel really good. When I got back to the marina buoy, I really wanted to do more. I was low on drinks and I had some food in my car. Gords took off for another lap and I tried to convince Josh to do some more with me too. He said he was done and headed in. If I had some more to drink I would have gone for much more. I just went west to the next red buoy, headed north to the green one then back in. It added more. When I was at the 2nd buoy and was debating going to the 3rd, the ONLY thing I could think of was FOOD. (Should I get Subway, In and Out, 5 buck pizza???) I was starving at this point I guess.
I headed back in and Josh was about to leave. We chatted for a bit and while we were talking I realized I really need to pack more food with me and drinks. If I was better prepared, I would have kept on going.
My GPS on my phone stopped for some reason which REALLY pissed me off. I wanted to know the exact distance I swam. I want to keep accurate records and I'm real particular about it so this upset me quite a bit. Josh said I probably did 2.75 total but I'm going to cut myself short and say only 2.5 to be safe. I KNOW I did more but I'd rather record less than more than an honest swim. Grrrrr.
My entire drive home I kept thinking of food. I had a Cliff bar in my bag and it took 2 bites for it to be gone. When I got home I ordered a large all meat pizza. I picked it up and destroyed the whole thing in one sitting. It was fantastic! I love being able to eat like that and not feel guilty.
Total for the day is 5.5 miles. Not bad.
I decided to dump my workout today and just do a casual swim. No toys, no sets, no times. I just got in and swam while zoned out. I haven't done that in awhile so it was nice. I stopped when I wanted something to drink but each rest was only 20 sec at most.
When my finger counter hit 100, I got out. Nice and easy 5000 today. Since Thursday is looking ugly for the weather, I might hit the GSL this afternoon for a bit.
Went to the GSL after work and met up with Josh and Gords. Water temp was 62...I guess. One reading was 57, one was 60, one was 67, and one was 68....who knows! Water felt great regardless. We all decided to do the Gridley Straight today. My shoulders were a bit sore but after about 1/4 mile they felt better. I didn't push it too much and spent a good deal of time thinking about my stroke and good follow throughs. As usual, Josh and Gords slowly got ahead then by the end of the mile, they had to wait a bit for me. I just can't keep up with them. They don't mind but I do feel like Randy Parker from A Christmas Story...."HEY GUYS WAIT UP"!!!
On the way back I started to feel really good. When I got back to the marina buoy, I really wanted to do more. I was low on drinks and I had some food in my car. Gords took off for another lap and I tried to convince Josh to do some more with me too. He said he was done and headed in. If I had some more to drink I would have gone for much more. I just went west to the next red buoy, headed north to the green one then back in. It added more. When I was at the 2nd buoy and was debating going to the 3rd, the ONLY thing I could think of was FOOD. (Should I get Subway, In and Out, 5 buck pizza???) I was starving at this point I guess.
 |
| Me coming in. |
My GPS on my phone stopped for some reason which REALLY pissed me off. I wanted to know the exact distance I swam. I want to keep accurate records and I'm real particular about it so this upset me quite a bit. Josh said I probably did 2.75 total but I'm going to cut myself short and say only 2.5 to be safe. I KNOW I did more but I'd rather record less than more than an honest swim. Grrrrr.
My entire drive home I kept thinking of food. I had a Cliff bar in my bag and it took 2 bites for it to be gone. When I got home I ordered a large all meat pizza. I picked it up and destroyed the whole thing in one sitting. It was fantastic! I love being able to eat like that and not feel guilty.
Total for the day is 5.5 miles. Not bad.
Monday, April 23, 2012
23Apr12
Today was ....interesting. Didn't sleep that great and when I got up this morning, my stomach was upset. Went to the pool anyway and tried to be motivated to swim despite the strong desire to go back to bed.
Did an older workout from Marcia and I had to stop a few times to use the bathroom or stand up so I wouldn't barf in the pool. I converted my interval sets into longer and slower sets. Each time I tried to push it, I would start getting sick.
Not that much fun. I did finish the workout and it was good to swim with Kim again. I'm trying to encourage her to come more. She has other commitments some mornings but I really want her there when she can be. We both push each other and train better than when we are doing solo workouts.
4500 today
Did an older workout from Marcia and I had to stop a few times to use the bathroom or stand up so I wouldn't barf in the pool. I converted my interval sets into longer and slower sets. Each time I tried to push it, I would start getting sick.
Not that much fun. I did finish the workout and it was good to swim with Kim again. I'm trying to encourage her to come more. She has other commitments some mornings but I really want her there when she can be. We both push each other and train better than when we are doing solo workouts.
4500 today
Saturday, April 21, 2012
21Apr12
Met up with Kim today and we went to Antelope Island together. I'm trying to get her to get more accustomed to the GSL and comfortable with swimming in an even more open body of water vs. the Pineview Reservoir.
The water was below 60 but I was fine. We decided to do 30 out and 30 back then get some drink then repeat.
Going out was fine, we were going well but my shoulders took awhile to relax. On the way back the cold started to get to Kim. She started to swim all over the place and even asked me if we were going in the right direction. This is the 2nd time in a month that I've seen how cold water can make you lose your sense of direction and basic logic so easily. She was still swimming well so I told her to just focus on me and nothing else. She did complain that she kept drinking the water (EWWWW) and she felt like barfing every time we chatted. I guided her back into the marina and once she saw the boat ramp, she took off like a bat out of hell. One we were safe, she said she was done. I got something to drink then hung around with her for a minute. When I got back in to do a little more, I was cold and started shivering pretty bad. I'm fine as long as I don't stop I guess. I turned back and we headed out. I wanted to do more today but safety first.
I'm comfortable saying we did 2 miles.
The water was below 60 but I was fine. We decided to do 30 out and 30 back then get some drink then repeat.
Going out was fine, we were going well but my shoulders took awhile to relax. On the way back the cold started to get to Kim. She started to swim all over the place and even asked me if we were going in the right direction. This is the 2nd time in a month that I've seen how cold water can make you lose your sense of direction and basic logic so easily. She was still swimming well so I told her to just focus on me and nothing else. She did complain that she kept drinking the water (EWWWW) and she felt like barfing every time we chatted. I guided her back into the marina and once she saw the boat ramp, she took off like a bat out of hell. One we were safe, she said she was done. I got something to drink then hung around with her for a minute. When I got back in to do a little more, I was cold and started shivering pretty bad. I'm fine as long as I don't stop I guess. I turned back and we headed out. I wanted to do more today but safety first.
I'm comfortable saying we did 2 miles.
Friday, April 20, 2012
20Apr12
I plan on doing a longer swim today at the GSL so I had a real short swim this morning. I mainly went slow and focused on my stroke then did some minor hypoxic training.
500 WU
500 K
5 x 100 on the 2:00 - I know....LOL
Rotation of 25 kick then 50 swim repeats where I don't breathe within flags. Real easy stuff today.
Ended at 2000 yards. Hopefully a lot more to come after work today.
500 WU
500 K
5 x 100 on the 2:00 - I know....LOL
Rotation of 25 kick then 50 swim repeats where I don't breathe within flags. Real easy stuff today.
Ended at 2000 yards. Hopefully a lot more to come after work today.
19Apr12
Got up and was ready at 0435. Still not sure about how I would do considering I was off all last week so I did my own workout.
500 WU
500 K
500 with PT paddles
500 with pull paddles
500 kick
250 swim
250 pull
ladders by 50 up to 200 then back down
4000 today
I plan on going to the GSL this afternoon for more. I did try my new Infinite drink and it wasn't bad. Decent flavor and did not upset my stomach at all. I'll have to keep using it and especially on long swims to see if I can still handle it.
Got to the GSL marina just around 1645 and there were other people there. Jim was there along with Josh and Chad. There were some newcomers too. They all had wetsuits so I had to bite my tongue but it was nice to have new swimmers there. They all seemed to enjoy the water and all kept staring at us when we went in with only speedos. Josh stayed with a new woman that wants to start coming out with us on Thursdays to just make sure she was okay.
Chad and I wanted to do some more. The water temp was 58 and felt nice. Once we left the marina it got a bit warmer. We decided to not do the Gridley Straight but head west like we did on Tuesday. About halfway to the 2nd buoy, the temperature just bottomed out. You were nice one stroke and the next arm stroke it just DROPPED. It was that fast. Both Chad and I stopped our swim for a second to comment on how much it shocked us. I'll conservatively say it went down 5 degrees. Chad thought more. It made me cold immediately. We pressed on anyway and stayed together to the farthest buoy. We headed back in and we were side by side when we hit the "warmer" 58 degree water again. I gave him a thumbs up as I was swimming and he pooped up with a huge smile on his face yelling, "There it is"! It felt nice and we even sat around in it for about 30 seconds.
Finish up at just over 1.5 miles. The nice thing was being out in the water again today.
The bummer thing was that it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that my shoulders relaxed and I could stroke efficiently without pain. I was pulling real gently the whole way because anything more than that caused some minor pain.
I ended up going to bed at 2000. I was pretty beat.
500 WU
500 K
500 with PT paddles
500 with pull paddles
500 kick
250 swim
250 pull
ladders by 50 up to 200 then back down
4000 today
I plan on going to the GSL this afternoon for more. I did try my new Infinite drink and it wasn't bad. Decent flavor and did not upset my stomach at all. I'll have to keep using it and especially on long swims to see if I can still handle it.
Got to the GSL marina just around 1645 and there were other people there. Jim was there along with Josh and Chad. There were some newcomers too. They all had wetsuits so I had to bite my tongue but it was nice to have new swimmers there. They all seemed to enjoy the water and all kept staring at us when we went in with only speedos. Josh stayed with a new woman that wants to start coming out with us on Thursdays to just make sure she was okay.
Chad and I wanted to do some more. The water temp was 58 and felt nice. Once we left the marina it got a bit warmer. We decided to not do the Gridley Straight but head west like we did on Tuesday. About halfway to the 2nd buoy, the temperature just bottomed out. You were nice one stroke and the next arm stroke it just DROPPED. It was that fast. Both Chad and I stopped our swim for a second to comment on how much it shocked us. I'll conservatively say it went down 5 degrees. Chad thought more. It made me cold immediately. We pressed on anyway and stayed together to the farthest buoy. We headed back in and we were side by side when we hit the "warmer" 58 degree water again. I gave him a thumbs up as I was swimming and he pooped up with a huge smile on his face yelling, "There it is"! It felt nice and we even sat around in it for about 30 seconds.
Finish up at just over 1.5 miles. The nice thing was being out in the water again today.
The bummer thing was that it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that my shoulders relaxed and I could stroke efficiently without pain. I was pulling real gently the whole way because anything more than that caused some minor pain.
I ended up going to bed at 2000. I was pretty beat.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
17Apr12
I overslept my workout this morning and was going to head to the pool on the way home but I figured I would call my swim buddies to see if anyone was game for a lake swim instead. Lucky for me, Chad was already headed there. I got to try my HydroTracker for the first time and a 50/50 mix of lanolin and Vaseline.
The water was great and Chad and I had a good swim. You can see it here. The current was with us going out and against us coming back in. I felt really good during the swim and even picked it up a bit near the end. We did stop at each buoy to chat a bit and heading out I was going really slow until my nose adjusted. Overall I'm happy with today's swim.
2815 yards = 1.6 miles
The water was great and Chad and I had a good swim. You can see it here. The current was with us going out and against us coming back in. I felt really good during the swim and even picked it up a bit near the end. We did stop at each buoy to chat a bit and heading out I was going really slow until my nose adjusted. Overall I'm happy with today's swim.
2815 yards = 1.6 miles
Monday, April 16, 2012
16Apr11 - Back to reality
Was in Disneyland most of last week for Spring Break. Had a wonderful time and I can honestly say I know where pretty much every ice cream stand is in that entire place. I put on about 6 lbs while I was gone and got zero swimming in. I was planning on meeting Jen Schumacher on Friday for an ocean swim but it rained pretty good Thursday and Friday morning so all the oil and junk from roads etc washes into the ocean and it's advised to not swim for 72 hours. Neither of us are silly enough to ignore that.
I did get to the pool this morning and got some swimming done. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Kim was really tired also so she was okay with something easier.
500 warmup
500 kick
swim ladders by 50 up to 200
pull ladders by 50 back down
500 kick
200 CD
2700 total nothing spectacular but it was something.
Back to the grind now and my next vacation is swim camp in May. It felt good to be back in the pool but I did notice that I had digressed some...and I noticed some of all the ice cream I ate. WORTH IT!
I did get to the pool this morning and got some swimming done. I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Kim was really tired also so she was okay with something easier.
500 warmup
500 kick
swim ladders by 50 up to 200
pull ladders by 50 back down
500 kick
200 CD
2700 total nothing spectacular but it was something.
Back to the grind now and my next vacation is swim camp in May. It felt good to be back in the pool but I did notice that I had digressed some...and I noticed some of all the ice cream I ate. WORTH IT!
Monday, April 9, 2012
9Apr12
Even though it's spring break for me at work, I got up at 0400 anyway to swim. I probably won't have an opportunity to swim until Friday. I wanted to do a long workout and luckily Kim was up for it too.
Warmup was 5 x 200 swim, kick, swim, drill, swim
500 K
Pull by 50 up to 250 repeat down
500 kick
swim by 50 up to 500 repeat down (2nd half with fins)
500 kick with fins
Pull by 50 up to 250 repeat down
500 kick with fins
swim by 50 up to 250 repeat down
13,000 total today. My arms were pretty tired at the end. Glad I got the distance but man I needed some vitamin I.
Warmup was 5 x 200 swim, kick, swim, drill, swim
500 K
Pull by 50 up to 250 repeat down
500 kick
swim by 50 up to 500 repeat down (2nd half with fins)
500 kick with fins
Pull by 50 up to 250 repeat down
500 kick with fins
swim by 50 up to 250 repeat down
13,000 total today. My arms were pretty tired at the end. Glad I got the distance but man I needed some vitamin I.
Friday, April 6, 2012
6Apr11
Considering I kicked about 1/4 mile yesterday with a grown man in tow, for some reason, I was really tired this morning.....hmmmm.
I went to the pool anyway and just did an EASY workout.
500 warmup
500 kick
pulling ladders by 50 to 200 repeat then back down for 1000
500 kick
500 swim
3k today
I went to the pool anyway and just did an EASY workout.
500 warmup
500 kick
pulling ladders by 50 to 200 repeat then back down for 1000
500 kick
500 swim
3k today
Thursday, April 5, 2012
5Apr12
Better day today. I talked with my coach Marcia about yesterday and some other things. She helped calm me down and I felt a lot better when we hung up.
One bit of really good news is that she said she will most likely be able to make my Catalina swim. It will be nice to meet her in person and having someone on board with as much knowledge and experience as her is a definite plus.
Had a "me" day today while swimming. I went to the pool and just did what I wanted and I didn't care about my times today...AT ALL.
700 warmup
300 kick
Ladder by 50 pulls up to 250 repeat then back down for 1500
500 kick with fins
1200 swim with fins
200 kick
100 CD
Looking forward to the GSL this afternoon.
4500 total
Well the GLS turned out to be an adventure. Got there a bit early and there were some people from Norway there checking out the lake. They had been told that people never swim in the GSL and they wanted to see it. Well luck was on them because "never" turned into them watching 4 of us go for a swim! It's always nice to have an audience when you are heading out for a swim.
Water temp was 58 and it felt fantastic. I adjusted really fast and even the pain spot between my eyes adjusted faster than normal. When we got out of the marina, there was about a foot swell from the winds from the storm that is due tomorrow. Nothing bad and it was easy to picture myself in the ocean.
We all decided to do the Gridley Straight. Heading to Blackrock was great. I just took nice long DPS strokes and enjoyed the rolling. There were a few spots where the temp dropped drasticaly and the first one that hit me actually made me freeze in place from shock for about 1 second. I just kicked harder and pulled stronger to get through. When we got to Blackrock, I was last there so we all took off as soon as I got something to drink.
Halfway back, Josh started to slow down and I caught up with him. His goggles were off and he didn't look well. I asked if he was okay and he said he felt like he was going to have a panic attack. Something wasn't right and he knew it.
I called Chad over and was very happy to learn he is EMT certified for his work. I'm combat medic trained from the Army but as soon as he said he's EMT certified, I was more than happy to let him run the show. He did AMAZING! He talked Josh into a nice calm state and got him feeling better for a bit. Josh started swimming again and I was on his right and Chad was on his left for comfort. Well we hit another cold spot and Josh started going faster. When he's going strong, he's really tough to keep up with. Chad and I did a great job for as long as we could but we eventually were at a full sprint and burned out and fell behind. He was really close to Gords now so that made us feel better.
About 1/4 mile from the marina Josh pulled up again. I was first to him again and he looked REALLY confused. He could only talk about how cold he was, how much he didn't want to swim anymore and he was saying over and over how much he wanted to get out...NOW. There was even a TINY bit of aggression in his voice. He saw land to the east and started to head that direction but the marina was closer. I had to cut him off then as I'm waving Chad and Gords to me, try to tell him that I have him and to just stay with me because where he wants to go is farther away. When all of us were together, Chad had Gords swim ahead to get cars warmed up and blankets etc. Chad and I then took hold of Joshs' arms and "towed" him into the marina. It was a long and tough task. We could only kick and do some side stroke. What made it REALLY fun was we hit another cold spot that seemed to last forever, the clouds covered the sun making it even colder, and there was a pushback from the marina which made it even more difficult to swim into. Chad and I both started to wear out as we got near the rocks. Chad even had to pull off for a bit to stretch out a cramp he was getting. My energy was tanking quick and I kept telling Josh the distance and how close we were. Some was for him, and some was for me to keep me going. When we were at the marina entrance, Josh had been given a series of simple questions by Chad to answer every few minutes. As time was passing, these questions took longer and longer for him to answer and his speech was getting a bit slurred. Not much but enough to notice.
We finally got into the marina and got Josh on some rocks that he could walk up to a path. Gords was there with blankets and clothes to help him. I was VERY relieved when he was on dry land and in good hands. Chad and I looked at each other with a silent "Thank God" acknowledgement and we headed in. When we got done I was pretty warn out physically and mentally. I spent the entire drive home thinking about how strong of a swimmer Josh is and he's put in just as much time as Gords and I have to get cold water acclimated and yet today it got to him. One thing for sure is that I'm not going "out" into the lake without a buddy until the water is in the mid 60's. If I do any solo swims, I'll only do them in the Antelope island marina where it's big and enclosed and if I get into trouble, land is always close.
I'm glad all of us swim together and we are all friends looking out for each other. Swimming with these guys makes it fun but when the time calls, we are there for each other to help. GO FRIENDS!!!
2.2 miles OW
One bit of really good news is that she said she will most likely be able to make my Catalina swim. It will be nice to meet her in person and having someone on board with as much knowledge and experience as her is a definite plus.
Had a "me" day today while swimming. I went to the pool and just did what I wanted and I didn't care about my times today...AT ALL.
700 warmup
300 kick
Ladder by 50 pulls up to 250 repeat then back down for 1500
500 kick with fins
1200 swim with fins
200 kick
100 CD
Looking forward to the GSL this afternoon.
4500 total
Well the GLS turned out to be an adventure. Got there a bit early and there were some people from Norway there checking out the lake. They had been told that people never swim in the GSL and they wanted to see it. Well luck was on them because "never" turned into them watching 4 of us go for a swim! It's always nice to have an audience when you are heading out for a swim.
Water temp was 58 and it felt fantastic. I adjusted really fast and even the pain spot between my eyes adjusted faster than normal. When we got out of the marina, there was about a foot swell from the winds from the storm that is due tomorrow. Nothing bad and it was easy to picture myself in the ocean.
We all decided to do the Gridley Straight. Heading to Blackrock was great. I just took nice long DPS strokes and enjoyed the rolling. There were a few spots where the temp dropped drasticaly and the first one that hit me actually made me freeze in place from shock for about 1 second. I just kicked harder and pulled stronger to get through. When we got to Blackrock, I was last there so we all took off as soon as I got something to drink.
Halfway back, Josh started to slow down and I caught up with him. His goggles were off and he didn't look well. I asked if he was okay and he said he felt like he was going to have a panic attack. Something wasn't right and he knew it.
I called Chad over and was very happy to learn he is EMT certified for his work. I'm combat medic trained from the Army but as soon as he said he's EMT certified, I was more than happy to let him run the show. He did AMAZING! He talked Josh into a nice calm state and got him feeling better for a bit. Josh started swimming again and I was on his right and Chad was on his left for comfort. Well we hit another cold spot and Josh started going faster. When he's going strong, he's really tough to keep up with. Chad and I did a great job for as long as we could but we eventually were at a full sprint and burned out and fell behind. He was really close to Gords now so that made us feel better.
About 1/4 mile from the marina Josh pulled up again. I was first to him again and he looked REALLY confused. He could only talk about how cold he was, how much he didn't want to swim anymore and he was saying over and over how much he wanted to get out...NOW. There was even a TINY bit of aggression in his voice. He saw land to the east and started to head that direction but the marina was closer. I had to cut him off then as I'm waving Chad and Gords to me, try to tell him that I have him and to just stay with me because where he wants to go is farther away. When all of us were together, Chad had Gords swim ahead to get cars warmed up and blankets etc. Chad and I then took hold of Joshs' arms and "towed" him into the marina. It was a long and tough task. We could only kick and do some side stroke. What made it REALLY fun was we hit another cold spot that seemed to last forever, the clouds covered the sun making it even colder, and there was a pushback from the marina which made it even more difficult to swim into. Chad and I both started to wear out as we got near the rocks. Chad even had to pull off for a bit to stretch out a cramp he was getting. My energy was tanking quick and I kept telling Josh the distance and how close we were. Some was for him, and some was for me to keep me going. When we were at the marina entrance, Josh had been given a series of simple questions by Chad to answer every few minutes. As time was passing, these questions took longer and longer for him to answer and his speech was getting a bit slurred. Not much but enough to notice.
We finally got into the marina and got Josh on some rocks that he could walk up to a path. Gords was there with blankets and clothes to help him. I was VERY relieved when he was on dry land and in good hands. Chad and I looked at each other with a silent "Thank God" acknowledgement and we headed in. When we got done I was pretty warn out physically and mentally. I spent the entire drive home thinking about how strong of a swimmer Josh is and he's put in just as much time as Gords and I have to get cold water acclimated and yet today it got to him. One thing for sure is that I'm not going "out" into the lake without a buddy until the water is in the mid 60's. If I do any solo swims, I'll only do them in the Antelope island marina where it's big and enclosed and if I get into trouble, land is always close.
I'm glad all of us swim together and we are all friends looking out for each other. Swimming with these guys makes it fun but when the time calls, we are there for each other to help. GO FRIENDS!!!
2.2 miles OW
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
4Apr12
Was supposed to swim yesterday morning but I woke up at 0400 with a pretty good wet cough so I decided to push it back until later. When I got home, I had "honey do" chores to do so I had to go today on my "day off" instead. Today's swim was complete garbage.
I did an earlier workout and could NOT get myself moving. I missed pretty much every time I needed to hit and some of the intervals I was at a full sprint and still did not make the time. This really bummed me out. Shoulders felt like they had tar in them. I was pulling as strong as I could and recovering as fast as I could but was just not going anywhere. It was pretty ugly to be honest. First I was bummed but by the end of the workout I was pretty pissed. I kept dropping F bombs all over the place at myself, my goggles when they leaked, the kickboard, my leg buoy ...none were spared!
I did get 4500 in today which is good but man alive what a sh**ty swim today was.
4500 yards
I did an earlier workout and could NOT get myself moving. I missed pretty much every time I needed to hit and some of the intervals I was at a full sprint and still did not make the time. This really bummed me out. Shoulders felt like they had tar in them. I was pulling as strong as I could and recovering as fast as I could but was just not going anywhere. It was pretty ugly to be honest. First I was bummed but by the end of the workout I was pretty pissed. I kept dropping F bombs all over the place at myself, my goggles when they leaked, the kickboard, my leg buoy ...none were spared!
I did get 4500 in today which is good but man alive what a sh**ty swim today was.
4500 yards
Monday, April 2, 2012
2Apr12
Woke up today with a wet cough. It wasn't that bad so I went to the pool anyway. I decided to do one of my own workouts instead of Marcia's.
ladders by 50 up to 200 then repeat back down for 1k set
300kick
ladders again but with paddles
300 kick
ladders again just swim
300 kick
100 CD
I've had a theory that I've been pretty sure about and I joke around with Kim about. We always swim next to each other and most of the time she's a bit faster than me. Especially on pull sets. She LOVES pulling. Anyhow, when we are just doing a normal 200, she will get about 1/2 body length ahead of me and if I try to move up to get even with her, she would speed up. This happens ALL THE TIME. I told her about this but she would just laugh and lightly deny it. Well today during our ladders I was doing about 45 sec per lap. Just nice and even, nothing tough. She was about 1 second per 50 faster than me. So this means she was doing about 44 sec per lap or 43 at best per lap average. On one of our 200's I kept up with her and made it a point to stay right with her the whole time. Sure enough, every time we hit the 50, I'd do an open turn and look at the clock. We were averaging 38-39 second laps the whole way! BUSTED! She's fine as long as I'm behind her but as soon as I get even or ahead, she takes off. Now I had proof. I told her and showed her our times and she couldn't deny it. She just rolled her shoulders up some and laughed. The only time I can get her and she can't beat me is when we do 100's or 50's really hard. For 50's I beat her pretty good and for 100's I normally out-touch her or get her by one arm length but it's me 99% of the time. Anything longer than that and she picks it up if I get even with her. It's kinda funny but I now have proof when I yell at her to pace herself! She says she does but no no Kim....BUSTED!
4k today.
ladders by 50 up to 200 then repeat back down for 1k set
300kick
ladders again but with paddles
300 kick
ladders again just swim
300 kick
100 CD
I've had a theory that I've been pretty sure about and I joke around with Kim about. We always swim next to each other and most of the time she's a bit faster than me. Especially on pull sets. She LOVES pulling. Anyhow, when we are just doing a normal 200, she will get about 1/2 body length ahead of me and if I try to move up to get even with her, she would speed up. This happens ALL THE TIME. I told her about this but she would just laugh and lightly deny it. Well today during our ladders I was doing about 45 sec per lap. Just nice and even, nothing tough. She was about 1 second per 50 faster than me. So this means she was doing about 44 sec per lap or 43 at best per lap average. On one of our 200's I kept up with her and made it a point to stay right with her the whole time. Sure enough, every time we hit the 50, I'd do an open turn and look at the clock. We were averaging 38-39 second laps the whole way! BUSTED! She's fine as long as I'm behind her but as soon as I get even or ahead, she takes off. Now I had proof. I told her and showed her our times and she couldn't deny it. She just rolled her shoulders up some and laughed. The only time I can get her and she can't beat me is when we do 100's or 50's really hard. For 50's I beat her pretty good and for 100's I normally out-touch her or get her by one arm length but it's me 99% of the time. Anything longer than that and she picks it up if I get even with her. It's kinda funny but I now have proof when I yell at her to pace herself! She says she does but no no Kim....BUSTED!
4k today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)