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
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