Monday, July 31, 2017

31Jul17

Great swim today.  Met Lisa at 0500 and I forgot that as summer winds down, the sunrise is a bit later.  It was still completely dark when it was 0500 instead of the light creeping over the mountains. Neither one of us packed lights so we decided to be safe and wait until there was some light out so we could see each other.  It was a safe and smart move.
I don't even know what time we got in.  We just headed to the dam then straight east.  Before we started again after 2200 yards, I asked if she could feel the swim Friday.  She said she could.  OK, so she is not Superwoman.  I'm glad I wasn't alone.  My shoulders were pretty sore.  The way east was nice and smooth  Once we had hit the end of that stretch, we headed north to the buoy line.  The buoy line was the line back to the marina.
The water was perfect and I was feeling great at this point.  When we got to the green buoy, we were just over 4 miles.  I asked if she wanted to call it or do one more.  I was praying she said one more because I was feeling good.  She said one more and I was glad to get going.  I picked it up a little bit the last mile and felt really strong.
We finished the 5 miles and I felt as fresh as I had just gotten in.
It was the usual swim, the first mile was horrible and I was sore and complaining a lot in my head.  The 2nd mile started to get better.  Mile 3-4 I felt good and held a good pace.  Mile 5 I felt energized and swam stronger.  I truly hope I feel this energized and mentally motivated next week when I hit 5 miles at Deer Creek and it's only halfway!

5 miles OW

Saturday, July 29, 2017

28Jul17 - UTC 24 Test 1

I decided awhile ago to test out swimming 3 different swims on one day with breaks in between to see what it was like.  A small simulation of what the Utah Triple Crown in 24 hours (UTC24) will be like.  I planned many things in advance and talked with a few world class swimmers on preparation items such as nutrition, rest cycles, etc.  Time to test them out.
The alarm went off at 0200 and I was at JN by 0300.  Lisa and I quickly got ready and we headed out for a 3 mile swim.  We headed straight toward the dam but not after I had dropped my light off of my swimmer buddy into the water.  Of course the light was off so we could not find it.  Guess we will have to wait until sunrise to find it.
The 3 miles was pretty uneventful.  Lisa was with me the whole swim and we stopped about every 1/2 mile to make sure we were still together and got going again.  Small miracle was that when we finished our 3 miles, the lamp was glowing red and Lisa found it.  It's a miracle because it was OFF when it dropped in and it takes hitting the button 3 times then holding it for the red to come on.  No idea what happened but I was praying I would find it.  The prayer worked and the foolishness I felt for losing it was gone.
After the 3 miles, we headed to our cars and I ate some food and took a special made recovery drink. I then laid out in the back of my SUV and went to sleep for 2 hours.  The idea is that I will do Bear Lake all in the dark then sleep for the 2+ hour drive down to Deer Creek.  That is why the first swim today was all in the dark.
I woke up a bit early to Lisa's car alarm going off.  I jumped up only to see her fine and dandy with no danger.  She looked a wee bit embarrassed and I promptly gave her the finger and tried to get back to sleep.  No use.  I needed to get up in 15 minutes anyway so I might as well get up now.  We packed our gear and greased up.  This will be the long one.
6 miles this time.  We measured out a 2 mile loop and I would take a drink at 1 mile then head back to the boat ramp to end the 2 mile loop.  I would then take a food feed and repeat.  After the 2nd lap (mile 4), a pretty good wind came along with rain.  There was no lightning so we continued.  My swimmer buddy kept flipping over so I left it at the boat ramp.  No boats were out at this time anyway so I wasn't worried about being spotted.  The water got ROUGH and I LOVED it.  Lisa is not as comfortable with rough water and for awhile, I was able to keep up with her.  Then my energy faded and she dropped me like an old habit.  We did the last 2 miles in 1 mile laps so we could stay near boat ramp and land just in case.
After we finished the 6 miles, we headed back up and the weather was getting a bit better.  This time I rested for an hour only.  It is only an hour+ drive to the GSL from Deer Creek so I can't rest more than I plan on resting for the real event.
The hour went by quick and I knew the last 3 miles were going to be a bitch.  I was right.  I got in and immediately felt my shoulders and arms severely complaining.  I decided to just slow down and do long stroke and dynamic drills.  This slowed my rotation down quite a bit but alleviated my pain significantly.  It also increased my time but I did not care about time.  Before getting in, we decided to do 3 x 1 mile laps.  After the 1st lap, I felt pretty good.  I finished in 35 min which isn't too bad really.  The sun was up and Lisa was warm and happy.  She was swimming fast and strong again and I was on survival mode.
Poor Lisa was well ahead of me and had to wait a bit longer than usual for me to get to her at the boat ramp.  When I was taking my drink, I asked her, "You know how you had to wait awhile for me?"  She said "Yes".  "Well, get used to it!"  Good laugh for both of us.  We needed it.
Mile 2 was decent and mile 3 I felt pretty good at the end.
When we were finishing, I had requested that Lisa wait for me at the last buoy and we finish the swim together.  It just meant a lot to me mentally.  We both accomplished something very hard to do.  When I got to her, I said I was feeling great and we should do one more mile, she just scoffed at me.  She knew I had zero intentions of swimming any more today.
When it was truly over, I felt fantastic.  I was physically beat up but mentally I was sharp as ever.  We gave each other a big hug and everyone at the boat ramp just looked at us like we were nuts.  Yes, yes we are!

I did learn quite a few things and took notes.  I was happy with my feeds and my energy was kept up as long as I kept eating the right things in the right order.  My recovery drinks were nothing short of magic.  I did have a few small problems but easily fixed.  This was a test run and I passed it with flying colors.

I want to thank my wife for not killing me when the alarm went off at 0200 and I was gone all day.  you have been great with letting me swim so early daily.  Thanks for the support.  Not much longer until it is over I promise.
I also want to thank Lisa for helping me today.  I know it was a challenge for you too and I'm proud of what we both did.  We accomplished something great and we accomplished it together.  Glad you were with me.  (Mind the buttons on your key ring please!)  :)

3 miles then 6 miles then 3 miles = 12 miles.  4th longest swim I've ever done in one day.
In 2 weeks I'm doing 3-10-3 then a few weeks after that is the real deal.  I know mentally that I can do the 3-10-3 now and once I do that, I will know for sure I can finish the UTC24.  I'm genuinely excited.

12 miles OW

Thursday, July 27, 2017

27Jul17

Easy day today.
Becky was kind enough to meet me at JN this morning at 0600.  She is going to kayak for me for the Deer Creek portion of my UTC24 so she wanted to learn to kayak.  Each swimmer likes different things from their yacker.  We got in the water and did some practice feeds, directions, hand signals, etc.  We went down the buoy line and back.  Finished just around a mile.  It was an easy swim and most of the time I spent talking to her.  She was nervous at first but got better and was doing pretty good at the end.
I think she is going to do great for my DC portion.

1 mile OW

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

25Jul17

Pool day today.  I met Becky at the Kearns pool at 0500 and she had a workout ready.
400 free
300 drill
200 - I can't remember!
100 swim
Main set
400 IM
300 IM but minus a stroke
200 same
100 same
4 x 100 K on the 2:00
3 x 100 K on the 1:55
2 x 100 K on the 1:50
100 K on the 1:45
10 x 50 pull on :55
5 x 100 pull on the 1:50
Skill work next
4 x 100 with paddle on right hand and fin on left foot
4 x 100 reverse paddle and fin ---I started to cramp in my foot a bit so we dropped the last 2 x 100 and did 100 with buoy at knees then 100 at ankles.
200 CD

I felt MUCH better today.  I slept a lot more yesterday after I wrote up my blog and went to bed as soon as I was done blowing things up in my street to celebrate the state holiday.
Getting up was tough but once I was done with the warm up, I felt happy to be there.
Tomorrow is 4 miles again.

5000 LCM

Monday, July 24, 2017

24Jul17 - S**t Swim

Woke up at 0400 and headed to JN.  Met up with Lisa. It was good to be able to swim with her again.  I am glad she is healed.  I have not slept well or felt that great since getting back from NC.  Last night was no exception.  I kept waking up and forcing myself back to sleep.  As I was standing in the water chatting with Lisa, all I could think about was how tired I was and how neither my body nor my mind was awake.  I hoped it would change once I got going.  It did not.
We decided to go to the dam.  When I was at 2000 yards, I took a feed and could not see Lisa at all.  I swam more to the dam and looked around awhile.  Still nothing.  I took my ear plugs out and yelled for her.  She was near the dam but I could not see her.  At least she was alive.  I was starting to freak out.  It was not even 0600 and there was light boat traffic.  It is a state holiday in Utah so people started to flood the reservoir early.
We met up and once I knew she was alive and well, we headed west.  Once at the dead end, we went north.  Along this route are submerged trees.  We avoided most of them but I did get poked from some we missed.  Lisa was slowing down to swim with me but I was all over the place.
Once we hit the buoy line, I took a food feed and started swimming again.  It did nothing.  My energy was spent and this was not a chore.  I just wanted to quit.  I was swimming slower and slower and we still had a mile left.
I slowly....SLOWLY got the last mile done and we finished at the boat ramp.  I was glad to be done.  I felt terrible.
When I got home, I went straight to bed and actually got a decent sleep.  I woke up around noon.  I still feel tired and weak as I type this but I plan on taking it easy today and going to bed as son as possible.

Thanks Lisa for the support and thanks for helping me today.  I needed it.

4 miles OW

Sunday, July 23, 2017

20Jul17

Family day all day on the beach.  No storms in sight but since none of us have had a beach day, I decided to scrap my long swim and just do a short one.  I only did a mile and spent the rest of the time playing with my kids in the waves.  Our family vacation with my mom, sisters, and lot of other families only happens once a year so I knew it would be better to spend it with them on our first real nice day of weather.

1 mile OW

19Jul17 - Crazy day

My plan was 5 miles today.  I had a good route set up and lots of feeds with me.  I headed 2 miles south against the current then got back to where I could touch and took a big feed.  I then headed back with current.  I pushed it a little bit and after about 1.3 miles, I got to a sand bar and took another feed.  I got back in and had JUST started getting going again when a lifeguard swam out to me to stop me.  I knew a storm was coming in but as far as I could see, it was only wind and rain.  I never heard anything or saw lightning when I was taking my feed.  It had just started to rain slightly.  She told me that it's safer for me to be off the beach so I did what she said.  I headed in and started to jog back.  A bit of cross training I guess.  Luckily the beach was empty because it was raining so almost no one saw some idiot in a yellow cap, carrying a big orange balloon, wearing only a speedo, running down the shore!
I had almost gotten back to the house when I started to complain how I should have just kept going. THE second I finished the complaint in my head, a huge thunder clap boomed right above me.  OK OK, it was smart to get out.  Thanks for the hint God!
I headed in and was safe.  I was hoping to do my last 1.5 miles later on but other commitments kept me from the rest.  Family is more fun anyway.

3.5 OW

18Jul17

Snuck in a swim between storms.  I got in another 3 miles today.
Current was STRONG so going out was tough.  Going back was fun though!

3 miles OW

17Jul17

I'm keeping these short.
I did 2 miles again this morning.  It has been bad weather here and we've had thunderstorms on and off for past few days.  More are expected the next few days also.

2 miles OW

15Jul17 - OBX

Back to the Outer Banks (OBX) and that means OCEAN!!
I was traveling most of Wednesday afternoon then was taking a holiday to Hershey, PA for the day.  We drove to NC all day Friday and I was too tired to swim Friday.
I took a nice easy swim Saturday morning.  I did a mile north then a mile south.  It felt great to be back in the ocean.  A steady current really adds something to your swim you can't get in a lake.

2 miles OW

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

12Jul17

Met one of my friends Chaz Felt at JN this morning.  He is a triathlete and so anything over a mile is about his limit.  He did say that going straight south to the dam would be fine.  He put on his wetsuit in case he needed a break and some buoyancy help.
We headed straight to the dam and for some reason, my GPS watch was acting weird.  It wasn't tracking for awhile.  I knew when we were mostly at the dam and we turned back.  When we got to shore, he said his read for 1.5 miles.  He was tired but happy since this was the farthest he has ever swam before.  Great job man!
I reset my GPS then headed out and did a few laps along the buoys.  When I was done, I knew I just had to add 1.5 miles to whatever it read.
I wanted to hit 5 today but Chaz is a slow and steady swimmer like me.  It was fine but took a bit longer than expected.  I had to get out and my total was 2.8 miles.  With the distance I did with Chaz, that equals 4.3 miles.  Not too bad.  Despite feeling fresh, I had to get out and get home.  I have some last minute chores to do and then pack.  Tonight we fly to the east coast for our annual week in the Outer Banks, NC.  I am really excited to log some miles in the ocean.  I am also considering swimming the long bridge solo this year.  We'll see.

4.3 miles OW

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

11Jul17

Cross training day today.
I had some home projects to work on so I decided to sleep in a bit and get up at 0700.

At 1030, I saw an ENT specialist and had some custom made ear plugs made for me.  I will get to try them out tomorrow.

In the afternoon, I did some weight training in my basement and some core work.  I then did some running on the treadmill.  I worked up a good sweat and got my core to the point where moving around hurt pretty good.

No swimming but a bit of cross training is always good once and awhile.

Monday, July 10, 2017

10Jul17

Wasn't feeling well Friday so I took the day off. Make up day today but in the pool.

1500 WU
2(50-100-150-200)
20 x 50 pull
Something else that added up to 1000.  I can't remember!
50-100-150-200
This put me at 5000 LCM.  Then I did my own workout.  Becky joined me for most of it which helped me a lot.
400 swim
300 pull
200 kick
100 swim
4 x 500 (1&3 were swim.  2 = 2 x 200 then 100 hard.  4 = 3 x 100 then 4 x 50 hard)
6 x 200 N/S
300 K
10 x 100 pull
50-100-150-200-150-100-50

DONE

This put me at 11,300 meters = 7 miles.  I think this might be my longest pool workout ever.  I did test out some different foods and they all were great and nothing upset my stomach.  My legs were a bit cramped near the end but I'm sure that is from all the wall push offs.

Good day today.  7 miles is mentally checked off.

11,300 LCM (7 miles)

Thursday, July 6, 2017

6Jul17

At JN at 0500.  Water felt great.  I swam 2 miles before meeting with a friend and one of his co workers.  We did another mile.  Pretty relaxing day today and I felt good the whole swim.
Tomorrow I plan on 7 so I'm a bit nervous about that.  I hope I have the same energy I did when I first did 5 a few weeks ago.  I will have plenty of feeds, food, and Advil!

3 miles OW

5Jul17

Not much that was exciting today.  I was in the lake at 0500 and stuck to the buoy line for the whole swim.  I considered heading to the dam but realized there might be a boat or 2 in the water from the fireworks last night.  I didn't want to risk banging into one.
It took about 2 miles to get going then once I was "warmed up", I never got much faster.  No real energy today.  Pretty much blah the whole swim.
When I got home, I wasn't needed for awhile so I went back to bed.  I slept from 0900-1300 and it was a deep, heavy sleep.  I guess I was just tired.

5 miles OW

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

4Jul17 - 4 for 4 on the 4th!

Fun day today.  I did a 4 miles divided into 4 lakes a couple of years ago and decided to do it again.
The first spot was Rockport Reservoir.  I have only swam in this place once before so I pretty much considered it my first visit.  I went to the boat ramp and took a temp reading - 71.  Piece of cake.  I swam to the buoy line and headed toward the dam.  I waited until my GPS watch read 900 yards then turned around.  Swam back and got out.  Apparently I left my towel too close to the ramp and as a few people put their boats in, the water rose up and soaked my towel.  Oh well, I brought 4.
Getting ready at Rockport
#1 done


Next stop was Jordanelle.  This is my usual stomping ground so I wasted no time getting in.  I actualy jumped off the dock instead of going down the boat ramp.  I headed east until 1/2 mile then back in.  I was feeling good.
Entering Jordanelle

#2 done

Stop 3 was Deer Creek.  I wanted to park near where a small island is at the east end and swim around the island.  I got there and it was already busy.  A lot of cars going in and people were staking their claim of where they were going to hang out and party all day.  I got in the lake and had to avoid boat traffic for the first few minutes.  When I got to the island, I just swam close enough to its shore that I could see the bottom all the time.  I swam around the island but it was not quite a mile so I had to swim around some more.  Not only were there boats and jet skis everywhere, there were a few people SCUBA diving with spear guns I swam around too.  I swam with my head on a swivel for the entire time and this swim took the longest.  The water temp was nice but it was extremely crowded.  The cherry on top was I slammed my left toes into some big rocks getting out and thought I had broken a toe.  It is fine but I did holler a bit.

Deer Creek

#3 done

Last stop was Strawberry Reservoir.  This place is about 1000 feet above all the other lakes and so it is colder.  The water temp was 64.  Higher than expected really.  When I was getting in, the shore was filled with people fishing.  One guy was there with his son and his son had a neon orange shirt on.  Perfect for sighting when I come back in!  I got in and I was chilled but not too bad.  I adjusted quickly and hammered out my mile.  This swim was my most enjoyable.  I swam in an inlet so no buoy lines to follow, no boats were out, and the water was perfect.  What a great way to end this fun adventure.  I got out and felt as if I had not swam at all today.
Strawberry Reservoir

#4 done and DONE!

I did a small experiment with some new recovery feeds that Grace Van der Byle recommended and so far, so good.  One of these drinks has me drinking almond mile.  Yes, Goody is drinking almond milk.  I can't believe it myself.  But I would drink a bit of this after getting out of each lake then drive 30-45 minutes to the next.  Before getting in, I would take a regular feed then get right into the water.  Never had a stomach issue.  I will try this again mixed in with some solid foods when I do my next trial of doing a few swims per day.  I have a 3-6-3 mile set coming up then a 3-10-3 set coming up.  Those will be the real test.

Got home and took a nice nap.

4 miles OW

3Jul17

Pool day today.
400 WU
2 x 300 - Kick then Drill
3 x 300 pull
4 x 200 Negative Split
4 x 300 pull
3 x 200 Negative Split
2 x 100 Sprint
300 CD

Workout seemed to go by fast.

5000 LCM.