26Jun13

Got up at 0400 this morning to go swimming.  Last year it was habit waking up each weekday at 0400 to be in the pool by 0430.  That was awhile ago and it was rough getting out of bed.  I told Gords that I would meet him so too bad for me being tired.  Another EC crosser Joelle Beard was meeting him there and I wanted to meet her.  Got to the parking lot at Pineview around 0545.  Gords son arrived and Joelle was already there.  We all decided to do a long dam route that goes about 2.5 miles.

Joelle, Gords, me

 The 2 of them took off and it took a long time for me to get comfortable in the water.  I felt fine but my arms were just heavy.  I finally got settled in and started to swim well.  I noticed after getting to the buoys in front of the dam that I was staying about the same distance behind them.  I wasn't losing more distance.  I picked it up a bit and felt good.  When I turned along the buoy line for the last 1/2 mile, my arms quit on me.  My energy was gone and each pull took real effort.  Not sure what happened but I felt like I was just short of bonking.  I slowed down considerably and just swam nice and easy along the buoy line then headed in.  I wanted to make the distance today and forced myself to not care about my time.
I'm a bit disappointed that I crashed after 2 miles.  I think I just need to swim more distance and for more days.  It's foreign to me again and I don't like it.  I want to go back to where I think swimming anything under 5 miles is a "short"  swim.  I considered resting a bit then doing a bit more but my body quickly vetoed that idea.
Very glad I went and when I checked my GPS, I was surprised at what I saw.  My average per mile was 30:16.  This means that even with me going really slow the last 1/2 mile, I still averaged faster than my 2 miles on Saturday.
GPS says my first mile was 28:48  2nd mile was 33:22 (yuck)

Total distance was 2.43 miles.  Total swim time was 1:13.26  I'm happy with this.

I just feel SO stinking tired right now.  A tiny part of my brain wonders if I'm still slightly anemic. I'll ask when I get my cancer screen and blood work in a few weeks.

24Jun13

Didn't sleep well last night and it showed this morning.
Was at the pool at 0550 and ready to get in as soon as the lifeguard arrived.
Just kept it simple today.
Ladders by 100 up to 500 repeat then back down.
On the 300 and 200 of back half, I pulled.

3000 LCM total.

Wasn't really feeling it today.  Never got into my workout mentally or physically.  Glad I did it but I just wasn't there today.

Extremely cool thing happened this afternoon.  Josh called me and told me that the MIMS winner Paul Newsome is passing through Salt Lake City and wanted to swim in the GSL.  I was actually drying off from a shower from taking my kid for a swim lesson when he called.  How could I say no?  Got clearance from my wife and I was out the door again!
Met Paul with his buddy Adam at the marina.  We chatted a bit as Gords and Josh arrived.  We all went out for a short swim.  It was REALLY windy which was nice for keeping the flies away but it made the water really choppy.  Paul and Adam had the usual joy of floating in the GSL and it was easy to see they were having a good time.

Adam, me,Josh and Paul

We cleared the marina and the wind was pretty calm.  Good current heading north.  I was wearing my SSD and soon enough the wind picked up and my SSD was banging me on the back of the head.  Got to the 2nd red buoy when Adam pulled up.  His fun meter was dropping quickly.  I wanted to go to the third buoy with the others but I'm not about to leave a newcomer alone in this lake in these conditions.  We both turned around but Adam soon found that he was pretty much swimming in place.  He pulled up again and said, "Well we found the wind".  He was right, the wind was blowing pretty hard at this point.  No idea the speed but I'm sure the gusts got over 30 a few times.  Salt water spray was everywhere.  I told him we could cut east and hit the "beach" side.  He liked this idea and we headed to the other side of the marina.
We got out and rinsed off and the other 3 were soon coming back the same way.  We all chatted a bit as they showered.  It was cool hearing about their cross country swim adventure.  It was a real privilege to swim with such an elite swimmer.

Here are some pics of Gordon "showering" with Adam and Paul.  Nothing gay about it...just Gordon "working on international relationships"!

1/2 mile OW.....I guess

22Jun13

Went out to Deer Creek today and met Josh with his family, Sue, Rachel, and Jim with his wife.  It was a perfect day for a lake swim.  Warm sun and a chilly lake.  The average temp read 67 degrees.  I was a tiny bit chilly when I got in but as soon as I started to actually swim, I was fine.  I followed Sue and we did the course for the Deer Creek marathon swim.  We went all the way down to where you turn for the 5k and up course and when we hit land, we turned around.  Sue was ahead of me and was on her way back when I swam to her.  Headed back and felt really good the entire swim.  Boat traffic was present but we stayed in a huge no wake zone so I never felt nervous.
Got back and we all packed up.  When I was out, Sue was shaking pretty good and said she had gotten pretty cold when she finished.  I have been back to taking only cold showers and I am positive it helps.  I got out and felt completely warm.  Granted, I also have a much higher fat % than Sue but it did make me feel good that the "cold" water barely effected me.
I was really excited that this was my first real distance swim in a long time.  It was in a lake and it brought back a lot of feelings and memories.  I was glad to be there.  I was really happy when my GPS read 2.1 miles.  I did this non stop.  I really felt like I could have done more.  I decided to just pack it in with the group and be happy with what I had done.  More will happen next time.  I'm definitely seeing improvements and it really encourages me.

2.1 miles OW

20Jun13

I needed to go to work today for a few hours to inventory my PE equipment.  I was at Kearns pool at 0600.
1000 WU
500K
 6 x 200's with Sue of various stuff like strong pulls, kicking, drills, speed work, etc
200 DPS
100 CD

3k LCM total

Arms were really tight when I got in but warmed up quick.

19Jun13

There is a pool only 2 miles from my house that is outdoors and is set up for 50 LCM in the morning.  As great as it sounds, they only have lap swimming for 50 M from 0600 - 0730.  Then they have swim team then they change it to 25 yard pool for most of the day.  If you want LCM, then you get an hour and a half.  If you want to swim for several hours, you have to do it in the middle of the day and when families are nearby.  Hey, it's SOMETHING!
Got there and was in the pool at 0600.  I decided to just go for 1500.  I 'm glad I did.  I made 15 laps and now I'm positive I can do a Gridley Straight or Pineview or w/e.  Halfway through my 1500, a guy got in the same lane as me and I pulled up to verify we would just split.  When I finished my 1500, he was there and we started chatting.  After a few minutes I realized who he was.  I was swimming with Richard Barnes.  This is the first person from Utah to swim the English Channel.  I'm sharing a lane with a Utah legend!  Turns out he doesn't live far from me.  I (of course) immediately plug the Deer Creek swim and Bear Lake swim coming up then went back to swimming.

1500 swim
100 K
400 swim with fins
200 IM (Sun was in my eyes on back so I drifted BAD)
100 breathing every 4 strokes
100 breathing every 3,5,7,5,3 whole way.  This got tough near end.  My lungs are so small right now.
100 easy CD

2500 LCM

Left a card with Richard about the swims.

17Jun13 - Sick

Got up and met Sue at Kearns this morning at 0530.  I was not feeling well and the past 2 weeks I've either been doing house renovations to our new place or completely moving in.  When I started swimming I did have any energy or ANY care about swimming.  After a few hundred meters, I got into a fight with my body and forced myself to keep swimming.  My mind pulled a "fast one" on me and decided I would have a "liquidation sale" of all contents in my intestines.  I got out and took care of it.  I went back and started swimming again.  Same result.  This was repeated several times.  I finally started to get the hint that I wasn't going to swim today.  I would feel fine until I started swimming then immediately need to get out.
I stopped at 950 meters and gave up.  I needed to go home.  I got home around 0645 and went back to bed.  I did not wake up until noon!  My body has completely crashed from exhaustion and all the times the past few weeks forcing myself to work past the warnings of my body getting too tired to continue.  I would force myself to exhaustion and haven't had a chance to rest.  Well it finally caught up to me this morning.  A total shut down was ordered by my brain and I obeyed.
It's almost 4 hours since I woke up and even walking around is a tiresome activity.

950 LCM total

12Jun13 - GSL Mile

Met Gordon at the Saltair Marina at 0615.  We chatted a bit while greasing and getting our ID key rings put into place.  It was a beautiful day to be at the lake.  Water was calm and we figured it was about 71 degrees as we got in.

Gords and me

 We went down the "beach" side instead of the boat ramp.  Gords wanted to do longer loops and I still want to stay near the marina just in case.  My apprehension of being alone out there is almost gone but as long as there is at least 1% of uncertainty of my ability out there, I'm going to play it safe.  I keep reminding myself, it would look REAL bad if the safety officer for SLOW drowned or had to be rescued!
I swam out to a red buoy that was a few hundred yards away with Gordon.  He turned west and I turned back to the marina.  There is a line of red buoys that go parallel to the marina and shallow water isn't far away.  I just swam back down the buoy line past several of them then turning around and repeating.  I went back and forth a few times until I was sure I had gone over a mile.
When I was swimming, a few things crossed my mind.
1. Man, this salt stings!  I'm not accustomed to it like I have been before.  My tongue is already mad at me and stings like crazy.
2. My goggles got a tiny bit of water in them and my eye burned really bad.  Once again I'm soft!
3. My breathing is HORRIBLE.  I kept forgetting to alter my breathing pattern and technique and paid the price for it.
Despite these complaints, my overriding thought was I AM SO GLAD I'M DOING THIS.  I haven't done a mile in GSL in a LONG time and she is just welcoming me back!  The things people complain about the most often are the things I have grown to love the most about the GSL.
I felt really good after a mile but needed to get going.  I definitely feel ready for a Gridley Straight soon.  I'll need someone with me but I know I can do it.
Yesterday Gordon passed 300 accumulated miles in the GSL.  This amazes me and makes me wonder how many miles I've accumulated.  I honestly have no idea.  I know he has the most ever by far but I'm pretty sure I'm 2nd for most miles accumulated.    Congrats buddy!

1 mile OW

11Jun13

Met Sue at the pool at 0600.
Ladder by 100 up to 500 repeat back down.
That put me at 3k.
The last 100 I focused on my pull and got 1:42.  This made me quite happy.
Kicked 6 x 100 with Sue
4 x 50
1 x 100 hard pull.  This one I really pulled hard but still wasn't in a sprint.  Hit 1:31!!!  Woooooo!!!
100 CD

4k total.  Felt really tired to day and it took over 1k to warm up but was REALLY glad I swam and I was really happy with my times when I was pushing it.  Some of the times during the 400's and 500's I got pretty tired.

6Jun13 - Surprise

Met Sue at Kearns pool at 0730.  We both were planning on doing an easy workout.  She's tapering down for GSL 8 miler and my arms are beat from working on our new house several hours daily.

700 WU - I did break up the last few 100's to have a short break.  I swam with Sue for 3 of these 100's and was able to keep up with her.  She DID pick it up the 2nd 50 of each of these...THANKS!  I thought she was racing me and decided to try something. On the 2nd 50, when she would breathe on the other side of me, I picked it up for a few strokes to get a bit ahead.  Sure enough, as soon as I would turn to her again, she would be a bit ahead of me....RACING ME EH?!?!  Ok, let's dance!
5 x 100 K
200
2 x 100
4 x 50
Here is where it gets interesting.  I said we should do these 50's slow, medium, fast, all out per 50.  Sue was game and we were right next to each other for all of the 50 except the last one.  When we started, I was going about 95% and when we hit the halfway mark, I went all out.  To much shock and surprise, I buried Sue.  I beat her by a decent margin.  She was just as surprised as me and she wanted to do it again.
50M to other end EASY
50 Race with Sue again.  Same result.  She was with me until I really turned it on then she got dropped.  I even eased up the last 15 meters and glided into the wall.
100 easy.

Now lets keep this in perspective.  She is not a sprinter.  I used to train in sprinting but I still consider myself in HORRIBLE swim condition.  I still have NO ability to keep up with her for more than a 200 at MOST.  I'm still nowhere near where I consider myself in "shape" for swimming distance.  It DID feel good to swim next to her on the 100s and keep up with her without thinking I was going to die.  That is definite improvement when I was struggling to keep pace with her for a 50 a few weeks ago.
It did make me feel good knowing I got her on the sprints.  I can definitely feel a difference in my stroke and my abilities for the better.  Having her there pacing me and pushing me to be better is the one of the biggest reasons that I am improving.  Thanks Sue!

2000 LCM total

3Jun13

Met Sue at the pool at 0700.  I don't have to be to work today until 0830 so this gives me a nice hour to swim.  Sue is doing her tapering so I did my own thing.

400 WU
1000 free
4 x 100 pull (one of these I paced with Sue who was doing a pull set.  I was able to stay with her..ONCE!)
1 x 100 kick no fins
100 CD

Happy doing the 1k straight.  Need to keep working on distance.  I'll probably start trying to get a full mile in the GSL soon.

2k M total