28Aug17

2 x 1000 WU
10 x 100 Free first 50 and choice (no free) 2nd 50 on 1:50
length reverse ladders 11 - 1 pull  5-10 sec rest between each
12 x 25 sprint on :45.  Easy on 5 and 11
50 CD

5000 SCY

24Aug17

1000 WU
5 x 200 swim
5 x 200 pull
4 x 100 IM, 75 drop a stroke, 50 drop a stroke, 25 drop a stroke
4 x 100 on 1:40
3 x 100 on 1:35
2 x 100 on 1:30
1 x 100 on 1:25
500 CD

5000 SCY

22Aug17 - Back to the Pool

Summer is over for me and work begins again.  Today I went back to Kearns and the pool had been converted back to SCY.....  :(
1000 WU
500 K
1150 by length swimming 9 down to 1.  Odds pull and evens swim.  Last length put me at other end so it was light pull back.
350 K
10 x 50 on minute, trying to hit wall under :45
2 x 100 N/S
2 x 50 CD

I noticed that I have gotten a LOT slower in the pool.  I've done so much longer slower swimming that I am not making the times I am used to for pool workouts in SCY.
I will work on that over the winter.

4000 SCY

21Aug17 - Solar Eclipse Day

Up and at JN by 0500.  Lisa had prior commitments so I was solo today.  I decided to swim to the dam and back anyway.  I had a lot on my mind this morning so going out seemed to go by quick.  Once I was at the dam, I swam east for a few hundred yards then back west.  I then headed north back to the boat ramp.  When I got to the green buoy, I headed east for 1/2 mile then back.  This put me at 4 miles.  My GPS stopped working during the whole first half of the last mile but I have swam this reservoir so many times I know distances there pretty well.
I got out feeling good and barely noticing that I had swam.

4 miles OW

18Aug17

Met Lisa at 0500 at JN.  The air was in the low 40's and the water was noticeably cold when we got in.  The plan was the big loop to get to 4 miles then go from there.  I have not slept well the past 2 days or slept much at all for that matter because of things going on at home.  Just been a stressful few days.  I told Lisa that depending on how I feel, we might just do dam and back.
We headed out and what seemed like forever, we hit the dam.  I asked how she was doing and she said she was ready to head back in.  This immediately got my attention.  I asked what was going on and she said she was a bit cold.  Looking back, I believe that this is the first time that Lisa has ever uttered a word that even remotely sounded like a complaint.  She is one of the toughest and strongest willed people I have ever met.  Her admitting that something is bothering her means something.  She said she needed to swim fast so she could warm up.
Off she went and by the time I got to the boat ramp, she was fully dressed and looking...."less than comfortable".  This is our last swim together for the summer.  School is back and we will both be busy with it and won't be able to swim anymore at the reservoir.
I told her how much I appreciate her coming to swim with me over the summer and help me but words will never express how much I respect her for what she has done for me these past months.  I am ready for the UTC24 because of her.

I was feeling warm and energetic so I headed out to get myself to 4 miles.  I hit 4 miles and took another feed.  Might was well do one more!  I did one more mile then headed in.  I was glad I did the 5th mile and felt good the last 2 miles.  I was warm, comfortable and was keeping a good pace.
I will probably do a swim Monday but not sure yet.

5 miles OW

17Aug17

Test for my muscles today.
1000 WU
8 x 50's on 1:05
6 x50 on 1:00
4 x 50 on :55
2 x 50 on :50
200 easy
500 pull...muscles were sore but not pain.
300 CD

To the lake tomorrow!!!

3000 LCM

15Aug17

Took Monday off to recover a bit from Saturday.  Turns out that it wasn't enough rest.
1000 WU
Did some IM work that is too weird to write down to make any sense.  At 2k, I was supposed to do a pull set that would equal 1500.  After 300, my triceps started to hurt.  It was not an ache, but actual sharp pain in my muscles.  I guess they had not forgiven me yet.
I took paddles off and did light laps until I hit 4000.  I was supposed to do 8000 today but I don't want to injure myself.

4000 LCM

12Aug17 - UTC24 Test #2

Alarm goes off at 0150.  Everything is already packed so I just put my clothes on and walked straight into my car and met Lisa at JN at 0300.  I arrived a bit earlier to get some items organized and prep for the upcoming day of "fun".
Lisa and I were in the water at 0250 and off we went.  I felt good and calm.  The usual aches of the first mile were setting in when I took a breath to my left and saw a massive flash of lightning.  Lisa and I both stopped and immediately turned back for the boat ramp.  When we got in, it was clear to the west and the east was ugly but nothing to keep us out.  We made it back to the green buoy and we just floated there a bit.  No more lightning.  We decided to play it safe and just go back and forth a few buoys at a time until we were 100% sure it was gone.  We made it 3 buoys and another flash lit up the sky.  "That's it...we are done!"  We headed in and got to our vehicles.  I looked at my GPS and it read that we had done a mile. I was actually disappointed we only got a mile in instead of the planned 3.  Safety first.  After we were dry and getting ready to sleep, we noticed the clouds were moving but they were heading away from us and the lightning had stopped.  Oh well!  At least we didn't act stupid and stay in thinking we would be fine.
Alarm was set for 0630 and I fell asleep quickly in the back of my SUV.
Awoke feeling good and Lisa drove me to Deer Creek (DC).  Today is the open water marathon swim that my friend Jim and his wife put together each year.  I was signed up for the 10 mile event and Lisa was going to paddle for me.
There was a pretty good turn out for other events but there were only 4 of us for the 10 mile event.  I got my gear and greased up with Desitin.  It is a baby diaper rash cream but it has 40% zinc and never....NEVER comes off!  I looked like a ghost and an even bigger idiot than usual.

She's leaning in but she does not want to touch me!

We started and I just got into a comfortable pace.  I was not concerned about speed or beating the hell out of myself.  My only thought was finding a good pace that I know I can hold without breaking myself.  This would be my 2nd swim today and I had another 3 to go after finishing this.  I need to simulate my speed and ability as much as possible today.
The miles ticked by and nothing major happened....except one thing.  The U.S. Coat Guard was there. They had a little boat and a few guys on it.  What made these lads interesting was that not one of them looked like they were in shape to be considered to be in the military on any level.  One guy was so big he made his PFD look like an orange sports bra.  I named them the Beef-Cake boat.  Every time they would come by to check on us, I would tell Lisa, "Beef Cake!"  I am very pro military and I strongly believe that if you wear anything that represent any of the 5 branches of our military, you better look like it.

Heading back.  This was the Beef Cake boat behind the jet ski

Lisa did a good job navigating and keeping my feeds at good intervals.  Our communication was good except ONE thing.  No matter how many times I would ask, she would paddle ahead of me.  I prefer my paddler to be a bit behind me so I can look back to see them.  This helps keep my form a bit better and whenever I see my paddler moving ahead, I feel like I am moving backwards and it can be discouraging at times.  I got really angry at her but kept my calm when asking her to please come back for me.  It was fine overall and she and I had a good laugh about it when it was all over.  She would just get caught up in thinking about work or the wind resistance of butterfly wings or who the hell knows and pull ahead!

Plugging along

Me looking like an idiot

I felt pretty good until about mile 9.  The last mile seemed to take longer than usual and I was becoming eager to finish.  I felt okay but I knew that soon I could rest and that was taking over my thoughts instead of my stroke and what I was doing.  Lisa even noticed I was not that great the last mile.  We survived and I finished with an official time of 5:43:31.  My 2nd best time for this event.

Punching the finish buoy

 
I left my kayak at the edge of the water and Lisa and I went to the SUV to rest for 90 minutes.  We just sat there relaxing and talking about the swim and how the next one will go.  We then talked about our kids and etc to pass the time.
90 minutes were up and back to the water we went.  She got back into the kayak and I got back into the water. I considered only doing 2 and calling it good.  The biggest test was completing the 10 miler so I had already considered this day a success.  Fortunately/unfortunately my GPS watch was not being accurate so Lisa took me all the way down the first bay before it read I had done 1 mile.  We both knew I was well past it so I might was well go to where the 5k turn around was and then head back.
As we were heading back, a boat came close to us and I could see they were talking to Lisa.  They were asking where we were going and that we needed to get out.  Soon, a familiar fellow moved up to the front and asked, "Hey, isn't that the same guy that did the swim earlier?"  It was the head Beef Cake himself still in his orange sports bra PFD.  He looked at the others and told them I was good and they took off.  Lisa looked at me and mouthed "beef cake" and it took me over a minute to stop choking on water from laughter.
We finished the 3 miles and I felt great.  I just went slow and steady.  Lisa said I was moving slow but I looked good and my stroke looked like it was holding well.  I knew I could hold this stroke rate for hours more if needed.  I was now 100% sure I will be able to complete the UTC24.
Bad news ruined the day though.  As we were getting out, there were police everywhere, a news van and a commotion at the boat ramp.  We asked what was going on and apparently someone had drowned.  It happened right near where we turned around for our 3 mile swim and right around the same time.  Eerie!  Someone dying is sad but the person was in a kayak with his wife.  The kayak flipped and neither had a PFD on.  What?  Then it comes out that the both had a PFD but it was sitting in the kayak.  WHAT?!?!?!  Why would you have a life jacket and not wear it?  Loss of life like this is sad but this recklessness makes it stupid.  Such blatant disregard for your safety when you have something to help keep you alive right next to you and yet it is left to be ignored.  Ridiculous!

I finished the day with a 1 mile swim at JN, 10 mile at DC, then another 3 at DC.  14 miles total.  Good day.  I was able to test out some more items for when the UTC24 is really upon me.

Thanks go out to the Hubbard family for putting the race together.  Thanks to Josh and his family for timing the event.  Thanks to Lisa for swimming/paddling for me the whole day.  I could not have survived today without you.  The most gratitude goes to my wife.  She had to listen to my alarm going off at 0150 and deal with my kids and other family members by herself all day so I could splash around some reservoirs.  Another summer is ending and you have been nothing but supportive for my drug habit I know as swimming.

14 miles OW

9Aug17

Met with Lisa at 0600 at JN.  She needed to learn how to kayak for me.  Every swimmer likes their kayaker to do certain things and be in certain places.  We just headed to the dam and worked on signals, feeds, and pacing.
It was a great success.  Going out was pretty good but coming back our distance to each other, communication, and pacing was fantastic.  Lisa is going to be great coming Saturday.
Having a kayaker is so nice.  I never had to look up, worry where I was going, looking out for boats, etc.  Lisa was in charge of all of that.  I just focused on my strokes and keeping my body in good position.  The 3 miles seemed to go by quickly.  I am looking forward to the 10 mile event Saturday.
This coming Saturday I am doing a 3-10-3 event for my final test for the UTC24.  Completing this will be a huge mental boost for me.

3 miles OW

8Aug17

Pool day today.
Met Becky at 0500 at Kearns.
1000 WU
10 x 100 on the 2:00 but must hit 1:45 or it doesn't count
2(5 lengths pull, 4 lengths IM order, 3 kick, 2 swim, 1 swim harder, 1 pull back)
5 lengths pull, 4 swim, 3 pull, 2 swim, 2 pull.
2(3 lengths - breath by length, 3, 5 7)
Rest was easy free to 50 laps

5000 LCM

7Aug17

Left my house for JN and the sky was clear and the moon was big and beautiful.  This was going to be a great swim in the dark.  Met Lisa at 0500 but at JN, there was massive cloud coverage and nothing could be seen.  We were both a bit disappointed.  When we got in, we both noticed that not only the air was cooler, but the water was too.
The plan was for 6.  Lisa said she wanted to go to the dam and back twice then some buoys to make up the rest to get to 6.  Sounds good to me.
I started out slow and achy as usual but getting to the dam did not seem to take too long.  I started to feel decent at this point.  Quick drink and back we went.  Lisa took off and about 20 minutes into going back, my body started to shut down.  I felt myself slowing down and I became tired.  I lost motivation to be out there and I had to really focus on what I was doing.
I made it back but told Lisa that considering coming back was a struggle, it was probably not safe to be that far from shore again.  She agreed and said it was probably best to do the 1 mile route we know.  I took a feed and tried a new flavor of buzz bite.  If these don't kick in then I'm done after 4.
About halfway between mile 3 and 4 the food and buzz bite kicked in.  I felt great and the caffeine put me on HIGH alert.  When I was finishing the 4th mile, Lisa was already out and dressed.  I asked her to get dressed and do one more with me.  It was a pipe dream request.  She looked a bit chilly and I could tell she was done.  The cold today was noticeable and having to wait for me probably froze her out.
I took another liquid feed and took off for another mile as Lisa went home.  I paced myself and felt pretty good.  I finished mile 5 and at this point, it was lightly raining and the wind was picking up.  I called it after 5.
Considering I lost the will to swim before 3 and was seriously considering stopping at 4, I am glad I did 5.  It is less than what I intended but more than I expected after how I felt after mile 2.  I just need to keep that in mind.  If I feel that bad again, just let the food and caffeine do their thing and be patient.  It was still smart that I stayed close to shore for safety reasons.  Going back out to the dam would have made sure I finished at 6 but that would have been foolish.

5 miles OW

4Aug17

I had a ROUGH day yesterday in my personal life.  My wife and kids are in southern Utah for their annual girls trip to see plays, go shopping, etc.  I was enjoying the bachelor life until a bunch of garbage fell into my lap that ruined my day a bit.  It then spilled into the night and I did not sleep well.  I kept waking up every 20 minutes the whole night.
Despite all this, today is a new day so no excuses to not get to the lake.
I met Lisa and we did our 4 mile loop to the dam, then east, then north, the west along buoy line to end then back.  We swam wider than usual and we were already over 4 when we hit the green buoy the first time.  Someone hit and killed a skunk somewhere nearby because the entire swim back from the easternmost buoy to the green buoy smelled horrible.  Lisa wanted to do a bit more so we kept going west.  The smell wasn't as bad that direction.  We hit the turn around and headed back to green then in.
Lisa had work to get to but I was not done.  I have commented before how sometimes I will do a swim and feel so good at the end I wish I would have brought more feeds.  Well today I did!
I took another feed with me and as Lisa went to her car, I headed back out for more.
I headed west to avoid the skunk smell and finished my drink at the end buoy.  I then headed east until 3 buoys past the red then turned back for green then in.
That put me at 6 miles.  I was a bit sore and tired when I finished.  I know it was because of the lack of sleep.
The nice thing is that since I am alone at home, I went straight back to bed and did not wake up until past 1300!   I guess I needed it.  I still feel a bit lethargic.  I hope I'm not getting sick.  There is a possibility of meeting Lisa tomorrow for a short and easy 3 mile-ish swim.

6 miles OW

2Aug17

Lisa texted me at 0330 saying she was not doing well so I went to the pool today.

1000
5 x 100 on 1:50
10 x 50 on :55
10 x 50 on :50 pull
12 x 50 K down and swim back
2 x 100 easy
400 IM
2 x 100 easy
400 pull
4 x 50 swim on :50
Last few laps was just easy free for CD

5000 LCM