Easy day today.
I'm taking a class to get another endorsement for teaching so I was in a class all morning and by the time I got to the pool, I was pretty mentally tired so that made my physically tired.
My shoulders were sore and tight and didn't loosen up until about 2500 yards. That's nice and all but my swim was for only 3200 today.
Did my swim and was more than happy to get out. Just didn't feel it today.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
9Jun12
Arms were pretty stiff so I went to the pool this afternoon and did a EASY 1000 yards. 200 free then 50 breast repeats to 1000. There were a LOT of kids in the pool today and they kept moving into the lane to play or get stuff and it was pissing me off pretty bad so I left before I got mad enough to yell. I just needed to swim nice and slow to relax my sore/stiff arms and I did. Now full rest until Monday.
1000 yards - zombie pace
ANOTHER MILESTONE - today I hit 250 miles and I'm halfway to my goal of doing 500 miles for the year! HOOOOORRRAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1000 yards - zombie pace
ANOTHER MILESTONE - today I hit 250 miles and I'm halfway to my goal of doing 500 miles for the year! HOOOOORRRAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8Jun12 - GSL 8 mile
Yesterday Gordon sent out an email declaring that due to a wind storm that was supposed to come in, the GSL 8 mile race was being cancelled. I was pretty upset and disappointed about it but Gordon is very reasonable and a smart person who won't ever hesitate to put safety first so it didn't take me long to get over it. I would just do 8 miles by doing the Gridley Straight over and over. Such is life. The harbormaster at the GSL did tell Gordon that if he wanted to bump the race up a day earlier then that would be okay. Well, unbeknownst to me, Gordon is also a part time wizard! He spent the ENTIRE workday on the phone hammering out logistics so it could be possible for us to swim on Friday instead. There were 5 people from out of state that had already driven/flown in and didn't want to miss out. We all met Thursday night for dinner at the Spaghetti Factory for a nice dinner.
Today was amazing. Clear skies and a perfect day for a swim. Josh was my paddler and I was pretty happy about his. He knows me pretty well and can take it if I turned into a "diva" while swimming.
The drive out to the island was not that great but the gnats were nowhere near as bad this year as they were last year. We got loaded up quickly and started the 1/2 mile wade to the start.
We were all pretty excited and some gnats decided to say hello to me but got stuck on my channel grease. Not fun!
When we got to where we were going to start, Michelle (who is deaf) was looking at me to time for her. I counted down for her using my fingers and off we went.
We started and my goal was to beat my time last year. This shouldn't be a problem but there was a good breeze and a current that was pushing us sideways the entire swim. At times it wasn't bad and others times it was really knocking you around and making breathing efficiently difficult.
I had a specific plan for the swim and I did well following it.
I wanted to swim at a decent pace the first 3 miles to get me warmed up and going. Mile 4-6 would be faster progressively and the last 2 miles I would go for it with max effort. There were a few mishaps along the way. First was my first feeding when I turned into a diva and started yelling at Josh for not being where I wanted him to be. Then between mile 1 and mile 8....yes the WHOLE swim, we ran into each other about 10 times at least. We both took blame for this so 5 were his fault and 5 were mine.
After the first mile and everyone had settled down, I knew the French guy Gilles was in the lead and it was unlikely I would catch him. Kim was a couple of hundred yards away and I just wanted to stay in contact with her. Michelle was ahead also but she was going WAY off course to the right.
The first few feeds seemed to come quickly and I kept each one under 20 seconds. It was good practice for Catalina. Josh had a GPS and I was averaging about 1.1 miles per 30 minutes. Not bad. My reflector goggles started to leak after mile 3 and I had to change goggles even after trying to adjust them. This made me really mad. I'm glad I packed backup but the fact that they were leaking now when they were fine for so long had me puzzled. My backups are clear so my pupils were dilated and the sun was shining bright now so I felt like I was swimming blind for awhile. This is where Josh and I ran into each other the most.
After mile 4 I picked it up a bit. After mile 5 I picked it up a bit more. I noticed that coming up on mile 6 that I was closing the gap between myself and Kim. About mile 6.5 I got even with her. I was at a feed and she was parallel to me. I knew I had her. I was feeling really good and it was definitely the time to start pouring it on for effort. I got her completely behind me before mile 7 and just focused on pulling hard and keeping a strong pace. I was feeling really strong but my arms were starting to complain.
I skipped my last feed and just kept going as strong as I could. Josh kept signaling to me 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile, etc but that damn Blackrock never seems to get closer! I was at waist deep water when I was pretty much near a full sprint. My arms completely shut down and I 100% bonked with about 100 yards to go. I stood up and the water was not very deep. I just slowly walked into the finish. I was toasted from my effort but I was really happy that I had performed as well as I had hoped.
When I was done, I was told that I was 2nd place. I thought I was 3rd behind Gilles and Michelle but she was so far off course that it was taking her awhile to get back. I was then told that I had finished with a time of 3:49. This blew me away. I finished last year at 4:31 so I had made a MAJOR improvement from last year.
My training buddy Kim finished 2 minutes after me and won the women's division. I was really excited and happy for her. She was pretty worried about coming in last and she ended up winning for women! NICE JOB KIM!!!
Great swim today and it was a fantastic experience all around.
8.3 OW
Today was amazing. Clear skies and a perfect day for a swim. Josh was my paddler and I was pretty happy about his. He knows me pretty well and can take it if I turned into a "diva" while swimming.
The drive out to the island was not that great but the gnats were nowhere near as bad this year as they were last year. We got loaded up quickly and started the 1/2 mile wade to the start.
 |
| Where is my taco? |
 |
| So Kim....my plan is to stay back 300 yards for 5 miles from you then SLOWLY pass you at mile 6 then beat you by 2 minutes on the last mile....that okay? |
We were all pretty excited and some gnats decided to say hello to me but got stuck on my channel grease. Not fun!
 |
| Gnats!!!! |
When we got to where we were going to start, Michelle (who is deaf) was looking at me to time for her. I counted down for her using my fingers and off we went.
We started and my goal was to beat my time last year. This shouldn't be a problem but there was a good breeze and a current that was pushing us sideways the entire swim. At times it wasn't bad and others times it was really knocking you around and making breathing efficiently difficult.
I had a specific plan for the swim and I did well following it.
I wanted to swim at a decent pace the first 3 miles to get me warmed up and going. Mile 4-6 would be faster progressively and the last 2 miles I would go for it with max effort. There were a few mishaps along the way. First was my first feeding when I turned into a diva and started yelling at Josh for not being where I wanted him to be. Then between mile 1 and mile 8....yes the WHOLE swim, we ran into each other about 10 times at least. We both took blame for this so 5 were his fault and 5 were mine.
After the first mile and everyone had settled down, I knew the French guy Gilles was in the lead and it was unlikely I would catch him. Kim was a couple of hundred yards away and I just wanted to stay in contact with her. Michelle was ahead also but she was going WAY off course to the right.
The first few feeds seemed to come quickly and I kept each one under 20 seconds. It was good practice for Catalina. Josh had a GPS and I was averaging about 1.1 miles per 30 minutes. Not bad. My reflector goggles started to leak after mile 3 and I had to change goggles even after trying to adjust them. This made me really mad. I'm glad I packed backup but the fact that they were leaking now when they were fine for so long had me puzzled. My backups are clear so my pupils were dilated and the sun was shining bright now so I felt like I was swimming blind for awhile. This is where Josh and I ran into each other the most.
 |
| I know I'm an idiot! |
After mile 4 I picked it up a bit. After mile 5 I picked it up a bit more. I noticed that coming up on mile 6 that I was closing the gap between myself and Kim. About mile 6.5 I got even with her. I was at a feed and she was parallel to me. I knew I had her. I was feeling really good and it was definitely the time to start pouring it on for effort. I got her completely behind me before mile 7 and just focused on pulling hard and keeping a strong pace. I was feeling really strong but my arms were starting to complain.
I skipped my last feed and just kept going as strong as I could. Josh kept signaling to me 1/2 mile, 1/4 mile, etc but that damn Blackrock never seems to get closer! I was at waist deep water when I was pretty much near a full sprint. My arms completely shut down and I 100% bonked with about 100 yards to go. I stood up and the water was not very deep. I just slowly walked into the finish. I was toasted from my effort but I was really happy that I had performed as well as I had hoped.
 |
| 1/4 mile....allegedly! |
 |
| me finishing |
When I was done, I was told that I was 2nd place. I thought I was 3rd behind Gilles and Michelle but she was so far off course that it was taking her awhile to get back. I was then told that I had finished with a time of 3:49. This blew me away. I finished last year at 4:31 so I had made a MAJOR improvement from last year.
My training buddy Kim finished 2 minutes after me and won the women's division. I was really excited and happy for her. She was pretty worried about coming in last and she ended up winning for women! NICE JOB KIM!!!
 |
| Kim finishing |
Great swim today and it was a fantastic experience all around.
8.3 OW
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
6Jun12 - Treat Test!
I didn't want to hit the gym I normally go to this morning so I called Gordon last night to see if I could join him at the SLC swim complex. They have 2 pools there. One is 25 yards indoors and a 50M outdoor. We swam about 500 yards then they opened up the outdoor pool. It has been a couple of years since I've been in a 50 meter pool so I was pretty excited. The excitement was cut a bit when I realized the water temp was pretty warm. You could see steam coming off the top the whole time I was there.
I did another 1500M then a bit more to make up the 500 yards to be around 500 meters.
The workout today was all sets of 200's. Some were swimming regular, some were pulling, some were mixed speed. My shoulders took their usual sweet time to get warmed up then I started to feel pretty good.
One set was 8 x 200 and the first set I actually caught Gordon. I guess he was going really slow or stopped to read a book and I was able to catch him. This is a VERY rare occurrence. He realized it and it was the last time it happened. I was going at a solid pace but he was going back to his normal speed so I was left way behind. When we had to switch lanes for the swim team, I stood up and chatted with Will Reeves for a minute. It was a REALLY dumb move that I've told other people I have given lessons to over and over to never have your upper and lower body in 2 different temps. Sure enough, my lower body was warm from the water and my upper body was in the cold air. Like magic, my shoulders got cold and tightened up. As soon as I started swimming again, it felt like lap 1. I know better and yet I didn't chat with just my head out of the water. Dumb dumb dumb!
We then moved on to a pull set that made my shoulders REALLY hurt. I held a decent enough pace but I knew that whatever momentum and good speed I had before was now gone for good. Workout finished well enough and even had a few sprints at the end. 2nd to last sprint I was able to hang with Gordon and just barely hit the wall before him. The last one I got TOASTED and had to pull up about 15 meters short and stop because my body and energy crashed big time. Was fun anyway.
Finished out with 8000 meters. I had time to do more but am worried about doing too much before the GSL 8 miler on Sat.
One really good thing is that I have found my treat for my Catalina Crossing. I have been trying new things but Gordon liked to eat chocolate Swiss Rolls from Little Debbie snacks. The guy did the first Catalina crossing this year at a few also along the way. I gave it a shot and had one about halfway through the workout and another about 3/4 through. No problems at all. I have an iron stomach anyway but testing it is always best. I now have a nice chocolate treat I can have at times during my swim. This will be a nice mental reward and help calm the chocolate whore that lives inside of me.
I did another 1500M then a bit more to make up the 500 yards to be around 500 meters.
The workout today was all sets of 200's. Some were swimming regular, some were pulling, some were mixed speed. My shoulders took their usual sweet time to get warmed up then I started to feel pretty good.
One set was 8 x 200 and the first set I actually caught Gordon. I guess he was going really slow or stopped to read a book and I was able to catch him. This is a VERY rare occurrence. He realized it and it was the last time it happened. I was going at a solid pace but he was going back to his normal speed so I was left way behind. When we had to switch lanes for the swim team, I stood up and chatted with Will Reeves for a minute. It was a REALLY dumb move that I've told other people I have given lessons to over and over to never have your upper and lower body in 2 different temps. Sure enough, my lower body was warm from the water and my upper body was in the cold air. Like magic, my shoulders got cold and tightened up. As soon as I started swimming again, it felt like lap 1. I know better and yet I didn't chat with just my head out of the water. Dumb dumb dumb!
We then moved on to a pull set that made my shoulders REALLY hurt. I held a decent enough pace but I knew that whatever momentum and good speed I had before was now gone for good. Workout finished well enough and even had a few sprints at the end. 2nd to last sprint I was able to hang with Gordon and just barely hit the wall before him. The last one I got TOASTED and had to pull up about 15 meters short and stop because my body and energy crashed big time. Was fun anyway.
Finished out with 8000 meters. I had time to do more but am worried about doing too much before the GSL 8 miler on Sat.
One really good thing is that I have found my treat for my Catalina Crossing. I have been trying new things but Gordon liked to eat chocolate Swiss Rolls from Little Debbie snacks. The guy did the first Catalina crossing this year at a few also along the way. I gave it a shot and had one about halfway through the workout and another about 3/4 through. No problems at all. I have an iron stomach anyway but testing it is always best. I now have a nice chocolate treat I can have at times during my swim. This will be a nice mental reward and help calm the chocolate whore that lives inside of me.
Monday, June 4, 2012
4Jun12
Another valuable lesson learned today.
Got to the GSL marina at 1630 on the hopes of getting on TV. A story was supposed to be done on the GSL swim and some video was going to be shot along with some interviews but it was a no show. Thanks KSL!
A pretty good crowd turned out anyway. I wanted to do 2 Gridley Straights today and the wind was really strong. It was going to be a fun swim.
Josh helped out most of the other swimmers that only wanted to do a mile or so and Kim, Chad, his paddler Lang and I took off for Blackrock. It was a great roller coaster ride getting there. I stayed with Kim and helped her while she swam in the roughest water I'm sure she's ever been in. I was loving it!!! Towards the end of the first mile, my goggles started to leak. It was annoying as anything. When we got to Blackrock, I tried to adjust them but the bands broke. Lang lent me a cord but that didn't work very well after a few yards. It was a good thing he had a double kayak!!! I had to get in as Kim and Chad went back. It took us 44 minutes to get to Blackrock and only 19 getting back. Oh yeah!
I was really disappointed that I couldn't swim back. It looked like great fun. I was also REALLY bummed I only got one mile in today. I guess I'm going to have to get up and be at the pool tomorrow at 0430 to get my swim in.
1.2 miles OW today
Got to the GSL marina at 1630 on the hopes of getting on TV. A story was supposed to be done on the GSL swim and some video was going to be shot along with some interviews but it was a no show. Thanks KSL!
A pretty good crowd turned out anyway. I wanted to do 2 Gridley Straights today and the wind was really strong. It was going to be a fun swim.
Josh helped out most of the other swimmers that only wanted to do a mile or so and Kim, Chad, his paddler Lang and I took off for Blackrock. It was a great roller coaster ride getting there. I stayed with Kim and helped her while she swam in the roughest water I'm sure she's ever been in. I was loving it!!! Towards the end of the first mile, my goggles started to leak. It was annoying as anything. When we got to Blackrock, I tried to adjust them but the bands broke. Lang lent me a cord but that didn't work very well after a few yards. It was a good thing he had a double kayak!!! I had to get in as Kim and Chad went back. It took us 44 minutes to get to Blackrock and only 19 getting back. Oh yeah!
 |
| Lang after 1 mile. We kept laughing that the salt will make him a Caucasian. |
 |
| Free ride back! Thanks Lang |
 |
| Kim |
 |
| Kim |
 |
| Chad |
I was really disappointed that I couldn't swim back. It looked like great fun. I was also REALLY bummed I only got one mile in today. I guess I'm going to have to get up and be at the pool tomorrow at 0430 to get my swim in.
1.2 miles OW today
Saturday, June 2, 2012
2Jun12 - BAD swim
Met with Jim this morning at PineView a little after 0930. He's typically a pool swimmer but has been branching out lately to do some open water swims and helping out teams for triathlons by doing the swim portion. He was pretty excited about today's swim. We got in and the water was 64 degrees. Felt great. Jim couldn't quite understand how I was so cozy and he was still a bit chilly despite wearing a full body wetsuit. We did the dam route nice and easy. I was feeling sluggish and tired for the whole first lap. Jim couldn't stop smiling or talking about how fantastic it felt to swim in the open water compared to a pool. You could really see it in his face that the excitement and yearning to do more OW swims was there. I told him that I knew I could convert him!
When we got back, I needed another lap to get to 20 miles for the week. I'm picky about getting my distance but my feeling bad got MUCH worse. On the way back to the dam I threw up twice. Once I was at the dam I started to feel a tiny bit better but once I was almost near the end, my stomach cramped up really bad and I had to take care of something I've never had to take care of while swimming. It was a new experience to say the least. I finished the swim and was glad to be done. My stomach was killing me but I had hit my weekly quota.
3.75 miles OW today.
Now for some Pepto and a good nap!
When we got back, I needed another lap to get to 20 miles for the week. I'm picky about getting my distance but my feeling bad got MUCH worse. On the way back to the dam I threw up twice. Once I was at the dam I started to feel a tiny bit better but once I was almost near the end, my stomach cramped up really bad and I had to take care of something I've never had to take care of while swimming. It was a new experience to say the least. I finished the swim and was glad to be done. My stomach was killing me but I had hit my weekly quota.
3.75 miles OW today.
Now for some Pepto and a good nap!
Friday, June 1, 2012
1Jun12
Got up and was at the pool at 0530. This is how I'm spending my first week off for the summer? STILL getting up early to swim? lol
Kim was there and we just made up sets as we went along. We did some swimming, kicking, speed work, pace work, more kicking blah blah blah.
She got out at 3k and I kept going. I did some 100 IM's then a lot of hypoxic work. I kept doing breathing work by 25's of breath by 5, 7, 5, 9 per 25. Some of the 9's got tough but not too bad. Lungs are really big I guess.
5000 yards today
Kim was there and we just made up sets as we went along. We did some swimming, kicking, speed work, pace work, more kicking blah blah blah.
She got out at 3k and I kept going. I did some 100 IM's then a lot of hypoxic work. I kept doing breathing work by 25's of breath by 5, 7, 5, 9 per 25. Some of the 9's got tough but not too bad. Lungs are really big I guess.
5000 yards today
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