Are you the guy training for the Channel?

So tonight I got to BL at 4:45pm and jumped in and did 4 laps in 1:57.  I felt great!  I was going at a good strong pace, but also relaxed so that I felt like I was in meditation.  The water right on the surface was warm, but 12 inches below the surface was much cooler.  I would say that 12 inches below it was about 67 or so.  Not sure.  I didn't take my therm.

During my third lap I noticed several kayakers and some people on those stand up paddle boards.  They were getting pretty close to me and I picked up the pace cause I felt like they were checking out if they could keep up.  They very well could have, but were just testing me I think.

One lady on those stand up boards asked me as I finished, "Are you the guy training for the Channel?"  I said yes.  How in the heck did she hear about that?  She said she read about the cleanup this last weekend and followed up a little on the blog.  She asked what were the dirtiest parts of the lake.  Definitely the Southeastern corner, and the North middle sections.  She said she had a group that wants to come out and do more cleanup.  That's awesome!  I'm sure they'll get a bunch too, cause Jacob would often followup last Saturday right after me, and still find a ton of stuff that I missed.

Anyhow today's swim was awesome and I went clear until the sun was right near the horizon.  I'm definitely good to go for another week at BL.  The temp is awesome!

What a day!

What a great day it was. Got really dirty, and it felt great. Should make for a cleaner place to swim.

One of the best TI videos I've seen

Alot of what is being taught in this video makes sense.  I've been paying more attention to my hand entering the water and trying to reduce the bubbles my hand has to pull through.  I have alot of work to do to really clean up my freestyle.  I also would LOVE to correct my stroke so there is 0% rubbing of my jaw to my right (and sometimes my left) shoulder.  If I get chaff from only 5000 yards, there is a problem!


I really need to change some things.  Today's swim will be done in the evening at BL.  Slept in this morning and it felt great! I finally got my car back from the shop... Freedom! Now I can swim without relying on external support for transportation to the pool/lake.

Beetle is in the shop

My Beetle is getting some extensive work done.  My 24,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty is nearly expired (I'm at 23,600 since I bought it).  So this week I've been taking Frontrunner to work.  Josh told me he can't swim in GSL this week which is just as well since I'm carless,  So I end up having Cathi drive me to Surf N' Swim and then I walk from there to the Layton Frontrunner station after my workout.  Not a bad arrangement at all.  I got up early this morning cause Cathi had an early run so I had to accommodate her schedule.

1800 - 3 x 600's free :15 ri
1500 - 20 x 150's free moderate on 1:15
300 - 300 flutter kick with board
1000 - 20 x 50's free alternate easy with hard easy on 1:00, hard on :45
400 - 2 x 200 IMs cooldown

5000 yards total

Database of workouts

http://www.swiminfo.com/swim-cgi/

Beautiful Blue

This morning I got up early and had Cathi drop me off at Layton Surf N Swim for a swim.  The pool was closed all last week because they were putting up the bubble and emptying out the pool and replacing with fresh water.  Boy oh boy was the water absolutely beautiful.  They also replaced all the underwater lights with nice blue halogen lights.  Here's a video of 25 yards swimming underwater.

Today's workout:

1500 yards steady freestyle
700 - 7 x 100's with tempo trainer, :10 ri - 1:00, :95, :90, :85, :90, :95, 1:00 b
1400 - 7 x 200's free with tt (same as above)
200 - 200 free kick
400 - 4 x 100's IM on 2:00
1000 - 10 x 100's free on 1:40
750 - 5 x (50 yard - 8x2 drill (8 kicks 2 strokes), 100 yard free)
50 - 25 underwater with camera, 25 easy
200 free easy

6200 yards total

Bountiful Lake article

Here's the article.  I contacted Davis County Clipper about helping advertise Austin's Eagle Project for cleaning up Bountiful Lake. Scott Schulte asked about my involvement with the lake and I told him.   I was actually hoping the article would be more about Austin's project and how important it is to pick up trash at this place.

If you can come out on Saturday September 25th please do so!

You know you're a swimmer when....

You're too lazy to walk around the lake, and would rather swim around it.  

Tonight on the way home from work, I went to Bountiful Lake and put flyers around for Austin's Eagle Project on September 25th.  I got about 1/3 way around on the south side and thought.  "I don't want to walk all the way around this, I'd rather swim around it."  So I placed the last flyer, walked back to the car the way I came, hurried into my suit and did one quick lap around the lake.  I was in a race against the sunset.  I didn't want to finish when the sun was down.  There was still a ton of fishermen out and I didn't want them to say,  "Oh I couldn't see you when I pulled on the line and hooked you".  

So I did one lap in 27:37.  I also went further cause I had to go out a way from shore when I got to the docks and then moved back to normal position.  So the lap was for sure a good 1.1 miles.  The temp was also perfect as I was getting in.  It definitely wasn't 62 degrees like it was yesterday morning.  In fact, I'm planning on coming again first thing tomorrow as well.  I need as much low temp water as possible before it gets totally unbearable.

Cold and Dark

This morning I met Josh at Bountiful Lake at 6:30am and we got in slowly.  The water was cold, but not so much that it was painful to get in.  Just uncomfortable.  We did our first lap pretty much in darkness.  The second lap the sun was still behind the mountains.  By the time we could 1/4 into our 3rd and final lap, the sun finally came up over the mountains.

3 laps (@3.2 miles) in 1:31

No fisherman in sight until we finished the third lap.  After getting out I put my old thermometer in.  Waited about 4 minutes and it read 62° F.  I would have guess maybe 65, not 62.  I was happy that it was so cold, yet I didn't feel all that cold until after the first 15 seconds.  After that it felt fine.

Another Fremont Island Swimmer

I stumbled across this article from the Standard Examiner the other day.  Mike Stephens for his 48th Birthday swam one way from the tip of Promontory Point to the north end of Fremont Island  (2.7 miles).  You can read his own account in the link provided above.

It's cool that another person swam to Fremont, but I'm disappointed that the swim went so bad for him.  He said he would never do it again.   "Never say Never".

Maybe it went so terribly because he was ill prepared.  Over time, he'll ponder back on the swim, how difficult it was, the satisfaction he felt in accomplishing something that was tough, and I'm betting he's either right,  He'll never do anything like that again, or he'll grow from it, and take it to the next level.  Hopefully the latter.

Review of Lewis Pugh's "Achieving the Impossible" book

When I first heard of Lewis Pugh it was through this video:


When I saw that he was releasing this book earlier this year, I kept an eye out and when it came out I immediately bought it.

Although his swims were very inspiring, I would rate the book about a 2.5 out of 5 stars.  It was slow in many spots and often went on tangents that didn't keep me interested.  It took me 2 months to finish the book cause I wasn't consistently drawn into it.  There were about three parts in the book where I was NOT impressed by his character.

He's great at getting his mind and body able to swim in super cold water. I respect his intentions and desire to inspire change in governments and individuals in their attitude about global climate change and promote changes in behavior which will make a difference in the damage done to our planet.  However he's not a great author.  I guess I was hoping to read more about his swims, instead of so much on his personal life, and his SAS training.  It just wasn't written very well.  But kudos to him for those swims and his efforts to bring more attention to the global climate change problem.

History of Antelope to Saltair and Blackrock swims - with correction on distances

After looking at the data from the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, it is reported that the distance from Antelope to Saltair is 8.12 miles, and that Antelope to Black Rock is 8.2.  That is confusing to me especially since that 8.12 is the distance is what my GPS reports from last Saturday's race.  So this evening I checked out a copy of Dale L. Morgan's "The Great Salt Lake" book.  On p. 363 is where he sites the swimming records....

"In 1919 a professional swimmer, C.S. Leaf, negotiated the distance between Antelope Island and Saltair in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 27 seconds, and 7 years later a marathon swim was staged;  the event was won by Chick Mitchell.  The marathon was revived in 1930 and for 3 years was won by Orson Spencer; his record time, 2:20 was set in 1932.  The receding lake level, which left Saltair high and dry, killed the event, but in 1937 it was again revived under the auspices of Black Rock Beach.   

The distance between Antelope and Saltair was never formally measured, the promoters and swimmers being content to estimate that the distance ranged between 6 and 7 miles.  Continued agitation for national recognition of the event, however, led in 1937 to the survey of the new course, and the distance was officially established at 8.12 miles.  

Over this course Orson Spencer in 1937 and 1938 triumphed exactly as he had over the shorter one;  his record time of 3:40:52 was set in the former year.  In 1939, however, in rough seas E.C. Watson was not merely the winner but the only finisher, even Spencer being taken from the water a mile and a half from shore, nearly blinded by the salt, and far from the course.

The event was held for the last time in 1940, when Kenny Lyman finished ahead of Watson.  Convalescent from an automobile accident, Spencer on this occasion was not a participant.  The record for the Antelope-Black Rock course remains Spencer's time of 3 hours, 40 minutes and 52 seconds, set in 1937."

So the reason the course finish was moved from Saltair to Black Rock was because Saltair was so far from the waters edge.  In reference to the swimmers believing that the distance between Antelope and Saltair was between 6 and 7 miles (for the Saltair finish) is correct.  Here is the map from Antelope (even from a very conservative beach start to get the maximum distance) to Saltair.  It comes in at  6.55 Miles.  If you click the map below and then change the "Map Type" dropdown to "Satellite map", you'll see the landmarks clearly and that the distance of 6.55 is correct.


So the 2:20 time is for a 6.5 mile swim not an 8.12 mile swim (which is the distance to Black Rock).  If you carefully read the above quote, you realize that they're referring to the Black Rock finish as the 8.12 survey'ed distance.

"Continued agitation for national recognition of the event, however, led in 1927 to the survey of the new course, and the distance was officially established at 8.12 miles".

That clears things up for me.  When I read about the history of this swim in a book and the names of the few swimmers mentioned come into my mind it makes me wish I could go back in time to see those races and the excitement of those days before WWII.

I've recently wondered why Saltair and the Black Rock resorts lost their appeal and in p. 360 of Morgan's book he reasons:

"The war crippled both Saltair and the south shore resorts, the latter because of gas and tire rationing, the former becaus eht stock of the Salt Lake, Garfield & Western -- the electrified railroad serving it - went off to war, to the Army's Hill Field"

However in that same paragraph he says that it came back into popularity after the war:

"In 1946 both Saltair and the twin resorts on the south shore, Black Rock and Sunset beaches, hailed the return of the good old days, the rolling stock of the SLG&W returning to its own tracks, and John Q Citizen's car returning from hibernation in the family garage." 

So the resorts crept back into populartiy after the war, but not the marathon swim race?  Why the race never occurred after 1940 remains a mystery.  One question I have is, How did they get to their starting point from South Antelope?  I mean I had to jump through a few minor hoops just to get there.  Did they boat over from Saltair, or did they take the causeway from the north of Antelope like I did?   I bet they took the South Causeway to the south end of the island, which is now closed off.

Anyhow, reading this book and actually swimming the same event really gets me excited for the reintroduction of a recognized marathon swimming event in the Great Salt Lake.  Even though the historical route won't be used for logistical reasons, resurrecting a marathon swimming race in the Great Salt Lake fills my sails and gets me passionate about the sport.

Review of the Northwest Recreation Center

This morning I wanted to give my lips and tongue a treat.  Chlorine!  The skin from the inside of my mouth and lips is peeling off.  It's really weird.  When I got to Layton Surf N' Swim it was closed, so I rushed of to SDRC. It too was closed for repairs, etc.  I'm starting to really HATE the phrase "We apologize for any inconvenience". Next time make it amusing and just say "Up Yours" instead.

So I decided to go to the new Northwest Recreation Center.  My mom said she has a membership and that the pool is really good.  She was right.  It's an 8 lane pool and the whole facility is brand new so it's top notch.  Five of the eight laps are for water aerobics.  Upon seeing that I wasn't excited about feeling the temperature.  Clearfield Aquatic center is just like this pool, but they really cater to the old folks.  However I felt the water and it was surprisingly cool.  My therm read 79 degrees.   The place had a real "old people" vibe.  There weren't any athletic swimmers going, just old people bobbing, an old lady snorkel swimming, and a couple of middle aged guys getting a swimming lesson.

It cost me $4.50 for a day pass.  Not bad.  That's 50 cents cheaper than SDRC.  The place just needs more people and a masters team or something, it just FEELS so boring.

I wanted to get in 6000 yards, and thanks to Layton and SDRC I was able to get it done, but later in to work than I wanted.  The pumps or something underwater was loud!  It sounded like there were jets underwater.  I've never heard such commotion underwater in a pool before.  But it wasn't terribly distracting.  After about 5 minutes it didn't register in my mind all that much.  I'm a little sore from Saturday's swim, but not so bad that I skipped today's workout.  Today's focus is recovery and long easy strokes.  No need to really push it today:

1800 - 1800 yards straight.  Stretch out.  Get those stiff shoulders loosened
200 - 200 IM easy
2000 - 10 x 200's pull with ankle strap on 2:45
1000 - 2 x 500's kick with fins
1000 - 4 x 4 x 4

6000 Yards total

Antelope Island To Blackrock Race - 3:24:37

In preparation for this race, I was very lucky to be able to contact the wife of Orson Spencer, Phyllis, who told me during our conversation that she is over 100 years old.  She told me that her husband had passed away in 1983.  She said there were newspaper clippings of Orson's record swim which she would try to locate. Here they are!

According to the research that Josh conducted, Orson Spencer set a very respectable record of swimming from the south tip of Antelope Island to Blackrock.  He did it in 1937 at a time of 3:40:52.  That day must have been very favorable for swimming, because that is an extremely fast time for an 8.12 mile swim.  That is a 27:12/mile pace.

Well today that record is broken.

We went to Garr Ranch and hoped to meet up with one of the Antelope Island Rangers.  I had previously arranged with one of them and he was totally on board with it. But he called in sick and must not have informed any one of his colleagues of our arrangement.  But that was OK, cause Cathi, Jacob, Oliver and Sam all enjoyed Garr Ranch.  I was amused at the conversation I had with a volunteer and with the Director at Garr Ranch.  The volunteer told me you can't swim from Antelope to Blackrock anymore.  The director said, "You're going to do what!?"

It's funny/annoying when people get this certain mindset about the lake, that it's just too salty, too shallow to swim in.  It's totally false.  It's definitely shallow until you get deep enough to swim in.  But from my experience, that's anywhere from a 50 - 300 yard wade.  The salt?  My mouth has gotten used to it.  When I first started swimming in the Great Salt Lake earlier this year, I felt like I needed something to drink, or to rinse with, every 20-30 minutes.  But now I'm fine going an hour without a rinse.  Although, today I was really going for speed, and decided against frequent breaks.  Anyway, after about 30 minutes of park staff making calls to get approval for me to make the attempt, they finally opened the gate for Cathi and I to drive down the dirt road to the southern tip.

She dropped Jacob and I off where we walked 2.2 miles with the kayak along the beach and across some trails to finally get to the southern tip where we had to walk to the waters edge.  What a long walk!  I was a little tired just doing that walk.  But this was a swim I had been anticipating all week long!  I had carbed up like crazy for this swim.  I wasn't about to let a little hike ruin my day.

The awesome thing about this swim was that we had a pretty good wind from the North the whole way!  It was truly an answer to my prayers.  I really wanted to get a good time and the wind from the north really pushed me right along.  It was sunny all day and the waves were mild, but pushing me the way I was going.  It was perfect!

When we waded through the water until I got up to my waste, I took a temp using my digital therm.  It read 69.8 degrees.  Sweet!  I then took a waypoint on the GPS.  (N 40° 50.019 W112° 11.229).  I pointed Jacob in the right direction and started the swim.  Jacob did a great job staying close to me, and gave me notification at each mile point.  I only stopped for a quick drink of Gatorade every 2 miles.  I looked at my watch on each Mile point and noticed I was hold 23 minute miles.  After reviewing the GPS track data, this is how I did:

Mile 1: 23:08
Mile 2: 23:22 - 30 second Gatorade drink
Mile 3: 23:33
Mile 4: 23:38 - 30 second Gatorade drink
Mile 5: 23:17
Mile 6: 23:15 - 30 second Gatorade drink
Mile 7: 25:05
Mile 8: 25:59 - spent WAY too much time looking for the finish and wondering how much further!
Last .12 mile to the Finish: 13:20 (Had to wade through knee high water which was SO SLOW!  But once I got to mid calf depth I ran the last 50 yards.  I stopped the clock once my feet were on dry sand.
Finish: 3:24:37 (25:11 per mile pace)

Here's the map of my actual route.

I would never have gotten these times if it weren't for the strong southerly wind!  I was so pleased.  I often thought of Orson Spencer during my swim.  I definitely didn't know the man, but I respectfully thought of his swimming in these waters, and wondered what kind of life he led.  I imagined him right next to me, much like Josh, swimming along side me on this most beautiful day!  That really helped me because I focused the whole time on really strong, yet slow and deliberate pulls.  I had issues with cramps over a dozen times, but I didn't stop, I just gently kicked through those until they went away.  Good thing my legs were already floating so well.  I didn't even need to kick, but in order to get the best possible time, I occasionally did some powerful kicks to get just a few seconds faster on each mile.  I truly pushed this swim.  I felt like my pace was more like a 200 yard race, not an 8 mile race.

When I got to the mile 7, I kept anticipating seeing the black rock right there in front of me, so I spent too much time trying to sight for it.  The GSL Harbormaster, who was also notified during all the radio communication trying to get me in, came by on his boat at around 7.5 miles and checked up on us.  He said to Jacob, "Almost there!".  When I got to the point where my hand was hitting the bottom on every stroke, I decided to wade in.  I was hitting sharp Tufa reef and would rather walk gently on it than risk scratching my hands or chest on it.  It was still quite a way in, so my last tenth of a mile in to the finish was very slow. Cathi was there with the kids at the end playing at the beach along with their Hatch cousins.  They all had fun.

Today's swim wasn't the longest I've ever done, but one of the most memorable.

Here's a short video:

Update:  Here are the records of all those who have swam this specific course in the Great Salt Lake.  The course was abandoned as a race after 2014 due to logistics getting permits and transporting people to the south end of Antelope Island.  

Beep! Beep!

Today was the first time using the Finis Tempo Trainer.  I used it on my warmup.  It was cool because it kept my mind on my tempo, although I don't believe I have a drastic problem with a consistent and even stroke.  It helped me focus on long hard pulls and lengthening my stroke.  I focused so much on keeping time with the beep that I lost count several times, so I ended up guessing a couple times where I was, but took the more conservative guess and probably ended up doing more yards in the end.

1800 free w/ tempo trainer
1200 - 6 x 200's pull with ankle strap on 2:45
500 - 5 x 100's kick w/fins on 2:00
100 free fast (1:14).  I got serious cramps in BOTH lower calf muscles which I had to deal with, so my 100 fast, didn't actually reflect going fast, cause my kick was pretty much nonexistant as I tried to workout the cramps without stopping. Doing a sprint right after a fins set isn't the smartest thing, it's no wonder I was cramping up.
100 - 50 breast, 50 back easy

3700 yards total

My sinus' are messed up.  Ever get a bloody nose and get the salty "aftersmell"?  It smells like rust.  Ever smell something totally rusty?  That's the dominant smell right now in my sinus' even though I'm not around anything like that.  I believe I got some GSL water up my nose and my sinus' are like "What the heck?".  Hopefully it recovers soon.

Starting to carb up for this Saturday's sprint swim from South Antelope to Black rock.  No swim tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather clears up and I get a nice strong wind from the North!

Salty White Horses - 5K in GSL

I got up early and drove out to Black Rock to meet Josh.  Another swimmer, Julian Riley, showed up.  The wind was coming pretty strong from the west so we had a great swim to the last buoy at the end of the marina.  I stowed a Gatorade in the back of my trunks which was nice to have at the turnaround point.  We then swam back into the waves and that was much more exciting.

Compared to last Friday's swim, this was crazier.  The waves at Berkely were higher, but they were at a lower frequency.  One wave every 5 seconds or so.  This morning the waves were closer together, not as high, and even got lots of spray coming from the white horses (spit?).  We got separated pretty good about halfway back and so we waited to regroup.  We regrouped a total of 4 times throughout the swim.

I'd say that the wave conditions this morning were probably the worst I've ever swam in.  Even though I wasn't having troubles and in fact was having fun.  We were close to shore so safety really wasn't an issue.

Total swim: 5K in 1:33.  Not bad considering the 4x 2-3 minute regrouping pauses.

Great buy on Speedo brand suits

I bought 3 speedo brand suits from Swimoutlet.com for $15.95 each.  I selected Speedo grab bag suit, and the size.  I got them this weekend.  Two were regular briefs with the same coloring I usually get, and one was a square leg brief.  Total retail price of just under $150, for $45.  Very cool!  I'm definitely getting my suits this way from now on.  I can't stand those cheap brands that fade right in the butt crack after about a dozen swims.  I want something that lasts and Speedo is the brand that does, so you pay for what you get.

Swim in Berkeley Marina - 3.5 Miles

After Austin's tournament at UC Berkeley, we went down University Ave all the way over I-80 to the bay.  Josh told me to look into Berkeley Aquatic Park.  It turned out to be more of a pond that might have been fresh, which was right next to the bay.  Didn't look half as exciting as the bay on the west side of the freeway.  The bay had a Marina and I saw lots of wind surfers.  I got out of the car and walked over to the Boat rental office.  There was already a girl in there saying that she was going for a swim.  So I ran back to the car and got my ear plugs and goggles and went back over there.  I asked the lady in the office where to sight to and if there were any particular places to avoid.  She said anywhere on the the other side as long as I stayed clear of the Marina on the south end directly across cause boats come in and out of there all the time and might not see me.  

It took me 50 minutes to get over there.  The waves were coming pretty hard from the west.  Probably 5 foot swells.  When I got to the other side I got out all the way, and then started to swim back.  It seemed tougher coming back, like the waves were higher cause I ended up swallowing more water.  Not too bad though.  Total swim 3.54 miles at best, but more likely just under four.  It took me 1:50.  I was sighting for a specific building on the other side, and then on my way back, a bunch of trees.  I'm sure I was all over the place, but roughly straight.  

The sun was starting to get near the horizon.  I was taking WAY longer than I thought.  When I finally got back ALL the windersurfers were gone and I was the ONLY one left on the beach.  In fact, someone had stolen my old shoes and shorts (to cover my nakedness, well at least my speedo).  There were a few kids off I thought I heard laughing and directing their looks my way as I was limping through the sharp rocks down the path to the parking lot.  When I got back to the car I had some pretty deep cuts on my feet from the sharp rocks.  Total time in the water 1:50.  

Being this my first swim in the ocean I was pleased.  The salt water was NOTHING compared to GSL so I was glad to have exposure to the GSL.  I was a little nervous about sharks, but not too bad.  Being all by myself was the thing that bothered me about sharks.  I was a mile from the shore in some areas and could have easily been eaten to the bone, but the kind lady I met at the marina office would have said something about sharks if there was an issue before, so I was just battling my creative mind and exposure to too many shark flicks.  In actuality the only thing that bothered me was this large grey seagull that would come swoop in and I could see it hover about 5 feet directly above me.  I was thinking it was going to jump down on my back a couple of times.  After about the 5th pass where it would come and hover, I turned on my back and yelled "You wanna piece of me!" and then growled as meanly as I could.  It flew off and never came back after that.  

IM work

600 free warmup keep strokes long and easy.  Get a good push off and underwater kick off the wall.
300 - 6 x 50's backstroke on :50 (go strong)
300 - 6 x 50's breast on 1:00
300 - 6 x 50's free go strong on :40
300 - 12 x 25's fly on :30 (first 50 regular, second 50 one arm only)
1200 - 6 x 200's free pull on 2:40 (strong medium paced pulling)
400 - 4 x 100 IMs (go strong, get under 1:25 on them) Rewarded with lots of rest.  Leave on 2:00.
100 - grandpa swimming cool down
100 kick

3600 yards total

Good workout.  I haven't taken non free strokes very seriously in a LONG time.  Today I still didn't take breaststroke very seriously, but did on the others.  Fast breaststrokers are so dramatic!!  So gay looking.

4 tired laps around BL

Met with Josh a little after 0630 this morning and we did two laps together. He had to go to work and I did two more. 4 laps total in 1:59 total time.

I wasn't feeling very energetic and had some "tired" issues with my shoulder and lower back. Not really a pain, just NOT a strong feeling. I spent a majority of my time pondering the Bountiful Lake Project which will be reviewed by the Eagle Board tonight with Austin. He and I spent some time last night putting together his project proposal document and I expect it to go smoothly.

I was interviewed yesterday by Scott Schulte a writer for the Davis County Clipper who is going to put together a story for advertising the project. Once the board approves it then we can really turn on the jets and get this thing going. Should be well attended if we can get the word out like we plan.

On my fourth lap when I was on the northwest corner, I saw a water bottle floating out in the middle away from shore. I swam up to it and decided it was clean enough to tote to the finish. Some plastic bottles that I see are covered in algae and nasty, but this one didn't have any of that so I just stuck it in the back of my trunks and swam the 3/4 mile with it in there and after a couple minutes didn't even notice it was there. Did just a small amount of garbage collection when I was done.

Oh yeah, yesterday when I pulled up to the boat ramp and was preparing to start, I saw a big white and brown rat run across the ramp into the bushes. If Cathi were with me she would vow never to get in the water again. She is terrified of rats.

In fact last weekend when we were on our vacation, we stopped at Mile 16 of the Mesa Falls Marathon the day before to check out the route. All the kids got in the river which was only 2 feet deep and waded in there skipping rocks and splashing. On the way out I noticed a clump of fur by a log which was lodged in some rocks. I took a closer look. Sure enough it was a dead rat. I yelled out to Cathi who was perched on a big rock with our dog Max, "Cathi a dead rat!". She said, "No way! Uh-uh!" (I'm always teasing her trying to scare her with false alarms) I reached under and grabbed the dead rat's tail and held it up out of the water. She shrieked and jumped off that rock onto the shore. I love that woman and her femininity! She's so cute.