Justin Johnson's swim vid

Met up this morning with my former co-worker and friend Justin Johnson.  He's a triathlete and wanted some tips and video analysis of his swim.  So I was there at 5:15 at the pool where I took some video.  Here's the video with analysis captioned into it:



I pointed him to a few videos for helping correct some of the small flaws:

Initiating pull with the elbow, and avoiding crossing over:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr9Wg0Trubk
Pulling through:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpFVvho0o4
Kicking:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgZ5-oatDg8 

I definitely don't want to come across as a know it all, or that I have the perfect stroke.  I definitely DO NOT.  In fact Dennis gave me a tip this morning that helped me focus the rest of the workout.


What other suggestions would you make if you were the coach?

Afterwards I started my swim with Salt, where Kyle came up with the workout:

200 warmup
1000 - 8 x 125's (50 back, 75 dps swim) on 2:15
Main set, all pulling various paddles sizes
900 - 400 free :15 ri, 500 - 4 x 125's free descending on 2:00
775 - 400 free :15 ri, 375 - 3 x 125's free descending on 2:00
650 - 400 free :15 ri, 250 - 2 x 125's free descending on 2:00
525 - 400 free :15 ri, 125 - 1 x 125 free strong
700 yards warmdown

4750 yards total in 1:40


Dennis told me I'm not pulling with my elbow.  This morning I didn't get a good warmup and my upper lats were sore, as well as my triceps.  Because of this I was failing to really focus on the very start of my pull and getting lazy.  Something to work on for sure.  Here's a little video of what I should be doing:


As you could see, today's workout was shortened for a couple reasons.

1. My arms are toast!  
2. I hit my major goal for the month of February swimming a quarter million yards (actually swam 253,450 yards for the month)

So I rewarded myself with getting out early.  In fact, I'll take it nice and easy the rest of this week by swimming less than 5000 yards per day.  Then I'll pick it back up on Monday.  I killed it this month and feel like a little R and R is in order.

Depleting Distance workout

This morning Randy came up with the workout.  Yesterday he told me, "You're gonna love tomorrow's workout".  Well, it actually was not very fun.  Not because the workout sucked, but because I just wasn't able to hold a decent pace and my arms were wasted.  But I did get through it.

600 free
600 - 150 free, 150 back, 150 free, 150 breast
400 - 8 x 50's (25 kick, 25 one arm fly) on :50
4000 - 4 x 1000's (1st one - 200 free, 50 kick 4 times, 2nd one - 175 free, 75 kick 4 times, 3rd one 150 free, 100 stroke 4 times, 4th one - 125 free, 125 back pull)

At this point I was completely drained!  Decided to just warmdown and get to work.  Good thing this is a non-leap year.  I need the extra day to hit my 250K goal for the month.  

300 easy
400 - 8 x 50's alternate IM, free


6,300 yards total in 2 hours


Hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Quickening my base

Was in the water at 0515 and did:
1000 free

Then joined SALT:
800 - 100 free, back, breast, kick, IM drill, choice, free, back
450 - 6 x 75's free/back/free on 1:10
1600 - 4 x 4 x 100's free (1-4 on 1:30, 5-8 on 1:25, 9-12 on 1:20, 13-16 on 1:15 (pull))
1800 - 3 x 4 x 150's free (1-4 on 2:10, 5-8 on 2:05, 9-12 on 2:00 (pull))
350 easy

Then did my own thing:

1000 pull large paddles
1000 pull small paddles


9,000 yards total in 3:00


Felt good about the 100s on 1:15.  Was able to hit all those.  Cut out just a little early cause Monday morning's are a little crazy at work.  Will make up for it tomorrow.

Topping off the weekend with some 2Ks

Swam this afternoon at SDRC and did sets of 2000:

2 x  {2000 free, 2000 big paddles, 2000 finger paddles}
300 easy
12,300 yards total in 3:10

The Evangelists really had a crowd this afternoon and spent 95% of their time talking and 5% swimming.  I'd love to find out what the heck they talk about for so long.

Good workout today.  But my watch ran out of juice at 8000 so I had to count the yards myself.  Good to keep my mind in the game.

Total for the week is over 44 miles.  Pretty good especially having taken two days off this week.

.39 miles in 44 degrees

Goody and Me near the marina opening
Photo by Josh Green

This evening I met Goody, Josh, Jim at the Marina.  Goody was in a hurry and was first in the water.  I hung out a little for Jim and we got in and headed to the opening to join Goody.

I definitely noticed that I didn't get my cold water swim last week.  It was tough this week!  My breathing the first minute was hard to get under control.  Not hyperventilating, but definitely quicker than normal.  But once I got about 200 yards into it, I was fine and slowed down.  I met up with Goody for a quick picture by Josh who had his boys with him and like a good father didn't just go swimming leaving them on shore.  But he came out to take pictures and cheer on the rest of us.  What a nice guy!
I decided to swim out of the marina out towards the buoy.  Here's a satellite pic with my path outlined:

.39 miles of swimmng in 44 degrees

Goody took the temp for me while I was getting ready.  It came to 44 degrees.  After our swim Josh took a temp with his.  Amazing, it wasn't off by two degrees like it normally is.  It read 44 degrees too!

When I got out and put my parka on I noticed that I was chaffed up real bad!  On my stomach and under my arm pits.  Wow.  My stroke must look like real crap when I'm swimming like mad and trying to stay warm.  I need to remember to put on some grease cause it doesn't take very long to get serious rub burns going in the Great Salt Lake.  I keep forgetting that little fact.

I got out and Jim was coming back. He spent a few more minutes in than I did.  He's getting to be very resilient in that cold water!

I'm rounding the buoy and Jim
is coming up on it too.  

Anyway, I had to hurry off as I was supposed to go to a dinner out with Cathi and her side of the family.  I was supposed to pick her up at the train station in Woods Cross.  Usually I'm done shivering by the time I get to the Hunter Douglas warehouse near the airport, but this time I shivered the whole way to Redwood Road where I got off to take a quick shower at my parents house.  I took my heart rate when I got on I-80 and it was high!  I wasn't breathing hard, but I could tell my heart was freaking out.  I was a little concerned about going 80 miles an hour down the freeway and having my body go through recovery like that.  I told Cathi that from now on, if we plan anything right after a cold water swim, that she needs to give me some time to recover slowly.   I'd rather pass out and wake up in a warm parked car, than in a brilliantly white place looking up at St. Peter who is shaking his head and looking at me like I'm an idiot, cause I just wrecked on the freeway while passed out.

Total distance: .39 miles (680 yards) in around 8 or 9 minutes.  I forgot to start my stopwatch duh!

Awesome JGal workout

Today I was in charge of the workout, so I dug up this one from when JulieAnn Galloway was my coach.  I started out a little early and did 600 free easy, followed by this workout by JGal:

800 warmup
600 - 12x50 down drill, back swim, focus on strokes :50
3000 - 30x100 (10 on 1:40 [can use equipment], 10 on 1:30, 10 on 1:20 fast) descend through rounds of 10,

last 10 HARD!  (Challenge: Only use paddles or fins on the first 10, go naked on the others)

200 stretch out free
500 - 20x25 odds sprint evens easy on :30
300 warmdown
total 5400

Then joined masters round 2:

600 - 6 x 100's (kick 50, swim 50)
300 IM kick/drill/swim by 25
100 - 4 x 25's slow/fast on :30
900 - 4 x 225's 25 flutter kick no board w/head up, 200 free easy
700 - 4 x 175's IM (25 fly, 50 other strokes)
500 - 4 x 125's free build on 1:40
200 easy
1000 - 2 x 500's big/small paddles
100 free grandpa swimming


10,400 yards total in 3:15


Shoulders did MUCH better today, no issues at all and I was holding 1:12-1:14 on my hundreds on the second set and 1:10 on my last set of 10.  Kick butt speed today!  Holding steady with speed demon Kyle Treadway who was in the next lane for most of the 100s.


Here's a very entertaining video of JGal's channel crossing with the very animated Nick Adams as videographer and support crew member.

Rough one

This morning the clock went much faster than normal and I was five minutes late getting in the water.  Not a big deal, but only got 600 yards in before SALT practice:

600 free warmup
400 - 4 x 100's touch and pull w/finger paddles
3 x (4 x 100's free (r1: on 1:30, r2: on 1:25, r3: on 1:20), 200 back, 6 x 50's (r1: kick, r2: desc 1-3, r3: 2 fast, 1 ez (twice))

I was holding 1:15 on these and felt great!  On the last set, I did pull them, and held 1:10

400 - 4 x 100's hypoxic breathing
600 pull
300 warmdown

Then did my own thing:
400 kick with fins
2000 pull big paddles
1000 pull finger paddles
500 free strong no paddles
500 PT paddles
100 easy


10,100 yards total in 3:00

Shoulder was a bit more touchy than normal, but nothing major.  Got through it without too much discomfort.  Nothing that a little Vitamin-I can't take care of.

Tomorrow I am in charge of bringing the workout.  Will probably just go dig up a nice one that JGal gave me a couple years back.

Facial burns

Everytime I spend all day in the pool, the next day my face feels like it's on fire!  Today was no exception.  I got in and did 1000 yards before masters and then joined them (Randy's workout this morning:

600 warmup
125 kick
150 IM
75 IM
1050 - 6 x 175's on 2:30 (middle 25 back)
900 - 6 x 150's on 2:15 (middle 50 back)
750 - 6 x 125's on 2:00 (middle 75 back)
600 - 6 x 100's kick with fins on 1:45
450 - 6 x 75's rolling IM on 1:15
300 - 6 x 50's warm down

Then joined Masters Round 2:

400 Free warmup
1000 IM Pyramid:

25 fly
25 fly, 50 back
25 fly, 50 back, 75 breast
25 fly, 50 back, 75 breast, 100 free
25 fly, 50 back, 75 breast, 100 free
25 fly, 50 back, 75 breast
25 fly, 50 back
25 fly

750 - 3 x (200 free fast (get under 2:40, on 2:50), 50 back easy on 1:15)

200 kick
300 pull easy


8,650 yards total in 3:00


Felt stiff in my shoulder blades, but the outer shoulders are feeling fine.  Felt great on my 200's fast near the end.  Was swimming strong and didn't feel affected by yesterday's swim.

President's Day swim

I love paid holidays!  That typically means a crazy long swim!  Since doing a crazy long swim outside is still out of the question, that means it's a long day at the pool.  


I met Josh, Goody and Kim at SDRC at 5am.  Josh and I shared a lane and Goody/Kim shared a lane until it got really busy and then we shared a lane for about an hour and circle swam.  Josh was all about doing sets of 2000 all without equipment.  Here's what I ended up doing:

The four of us:  me, Josh, Goody and Kim

I started by taking 800 Mg Ibuprofen knowing it was going to be needed in a few hours.


1000 free warmup (14:20)
1000 free side by side with Josh (14:25)
1000 pull (13:38)
1000 finger paddles (14:27)
2000 free (29:27)

2000 free (29:23) 

1000 finger paddles (14:11)

I couldn't have a better pacer for the English Channel.  Josh and I were doing sets of 2000 synchronously.  It was fun!

1000 - 10 x 100's kick on 1:55

(10,000) 3 min break

1400 - 7 x 200's odd free, even IM :10 ri

2000 free (28:21)
1200 free (17:40)
1800 free (25:28)
600 - 3 x 200's IM 
1000 free

(18,000) 3 min break

Distance work:

8000 - 4 x 2000's your choice on 31:00

First one side by side with Josh, 2nd pull big paddles, 3rd finger paddles, 4th no equip. 

(26,000) 3 min break

7500 - 5 x (500 free easy pace :20 ri, 400 free regular pace :15 ri, 300 free strong pace :10 ri, 200 free :05 ri, 100 sprint (get under 1:15) 1:00 ri)

After 20 miles of swimming, my hand is all pickled!

(33,500) 3 min break

1000 - 10 x 100's kick with fins

900 - 3 x 300's choice on 5:00 (all free desc paddles, last no equip)

150 Grandpa

35,550 (20.19 miles) total in 10 hours including bathroom breaks, feedings, picture taking, and rest between sets.


Here's what the swimsense logged.  It couldn't log the kicking sets, and it messed up a couple times because I had to stop to throw a water polo back over the bulkhead a few times.  


Josh was there for 20,000 yards and got his own PR for distance in one day.  Very nice!  Goody and Kim did 10,000 yards and that was the longest distance this year they've done.  When we weren't circle swimming I tried just swimming right next to Josh and maintaining the same pace.  That was fun!   


Ninja girl was there and she asked how far we were going.  

Ho Ho Ho, taking a much deserved bubble bath

A couple of pains: 

1. My face is fried!  
2. My shoulder feels just fine, but the muscles in my upper back around my shoulder blades and in to my neck need a good massage.  
3. The beard did the protection against chaffing only so long before I started to get rub marks on my right shoulder.  I applied some channel grease between a set and after that it was much better.

My feedings today consisted of 36 ounces of my special Orange/Vanilla Perpetuem mixed with Grape and Pineapple juices.  It was yummy!  I also had about 4 cereal bars throughout the workout as well as one Foosh (100 mg caffeine).  I also took 800 MG Ibuprofen about 24,000 yards into it.  


Felt great to finish the prescribed distance and not bad time either thanks to Josh.    If I was on my own I would have really slowed down and taken it easy.  Thanks bro!  

QUAC meet

A very well organized swim club in Utah named QUAC put together a meet.  I only signed up for the 100 and 50 free and then agreed to do a few relays with friends.  I met Ben, who is putting on the Bear Lake race this year.

Got in a lane and did 1000 yards free easy for a warm up.  Then we started the meet by having Josh, Goody, Chad and myself in a 200 free relay.  We got a 1:46 and actually won!  It was awesome.

Our Relay team, Josh, myself, Goody and Chad Starks

I then had to wait for a few events, but it went really quickly, cause I was talking with Ben in the stands when I looked down and Goody was up on the blocks looking up at me with his hands up like he was saying "What the heck Gords!"  I missed my 50 free.  Dang it!  There was another break and I got in and did 300 free easy.

I helped Goody by being his counter on the 500 free.  He said his goal was under 7:30 and he ended up with a 6:52.  He was happy with that and it was cool to see him destroy his goal.

We did a 200 medley relay and ended up with a 2:12 I think it was.  Not too bad.
I made sure to pay attention and when my 100 free came up I was on the blocks ready to go.  I ended up getting 58.22.  I wanted to get anything in the 58 second range or less so I was good with that time.  Two years ago I was more geared for sprinting and was 3 seconds faster in the 100, but today, I'm slower, fatter, greyer, and sporting a beard.  Oh well.

Had lots of fun and its good to see everyone at the pool trying hard to swim their best and improve themselves. I walked into the locker room to change before heading home.  There were tons of naked dudes in there all changing.  I was like... Uhh, I think I'll shower at home.  Collected my stuff and drove home.

On Monday I'm planning a good long swim.  Should take about 10 hours or so.\\


1,650 yards total - Raced 3 x 50's in a relay, and 100 free, then 1500 yards of easy swimming.

Will's brilliant!

At the end of the workout today Will ran an idea that he had by me that I've never heard before and really got me excited about.  But I'll save that for the end of this post.

I was at the pool at 5:10am as planned to meet with my buddy Justin to film him swimming.  He's planning to do a full Ironman and was hoping to get some swim technique in.  However he didn't show up so I started my warmup before Masters:

650 yards free
Then Masters:

600 warmup
200 kick
300 IM

100 - 2 x 50's free
200 - 2 x 100's free
300 - 2 x 150's free
400 - 2 x 200's pull
300 - 2 x 150's pull finger paddles
200 - 2 x 100's pull finger paddles
100 - 2 x 50's pull finger paddles
600 - 2 x 300s IM
600 - 3 x 200s IM
600 - 6 x 100's IM


5,150 yards total in 2:15

Tomorrow I'm swimming at a meet.  And although I don't really care all that much about it, I still would like an excuse to get out early, so I'll call it a taper day.

Will started talking to me as I was getting out and has this idea about a "Pick Your Poison" race where instead of a triathlon, where you have a single person doing all three disciplines, there is a single race, but you pick which event you do.  All the swimmers, runners and cyclists start at the same time and try to finish first competing against everyone including those in the other sports.  The swimmers swim a 10K, the runners do a marathon, and the cyclists do @ 75 mile ride (depending on the road).  It would take coordinating by three event directors over the three disciplines where they focus on their sport.  Really it's three separate races all done at the same time and starting and finishing in the same place.  The shirts, awards, and promotion could all be shared, but the race logistics would need to be handled separately.

Doesn't that sound cool?  Will said it's 10K across Utah Lake, and a full marathon around the north end, and a decent bike ride around the south end.  Wow.  What an idea!  My life is WAY too busy to consider pursuing it so I'll just pass it along to some people and see if they want to jump on it.

I also mailed in my registration for the Utah State end of season Masters Meet next month.  You know, when it comes to competition in a pool.  My hearts just not in it.  I don't really care if I get new PR's, and with my distance swimming, there's no way I'm gonna sacrifice that do a long taper for a meet.  Sure I'll cut back a little the day before, but I'm not going to do a full taper.  I need to tell myself that just being there, meeting people, and interacting with the other swimmers will help the cause the most.  Not my performance.

Energized

Had a fantastic workout again this morning.  Started out with:

1000 free before joining SALT.  Will came up with this morning's workout.  I loved it.  Lots of distance pace swimming followed by all out sprints.  My sprints felt great.  Definitely not graceful, but quick though.

600 warmup
600 - 6 x (50 kick, 50 free drill) on 1:00, :50
300 - 2 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)

400 - 3 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)
500 - 4 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)
600 - 5 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)
700 - 6 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)
800 - 7 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)
900 - 8 x 100's easy pace (hit 1:25), then 100 sprint (hit 1:10 or faster)

I was landing between 1:05 - 1:08 on all those fast sets.  I like the change to the slower pace, but went all out on those fast ones.  Felt great!  Took a drink of my orange perpetuem after every sprint, which kept me energized and I never did bomb out today.

400 easy

Then I joined the second group:

100 kick on 2:00
200 - 4 x 50's one arm fly on :55
100 kick on 2:00 ( first and third length fast)
200 - 4 x 50's touch and pull on :50
100 kick on 2:00 ( second and fourth length fast)
200 - Distance per stroke freestyle on :50
Main Set:
500 - 4 x 125's free on 1:40
300 IM
400 - 4 x 100's IM on 1:45
300 Pull
300 - 4 x 75's back on 1:15
300 IM easy

Then I did my own thing and topped it off with:
500 kick with fins
1000 - 2 x 500's with pull buoy and ankle strap (1st 100 - big paddles, 2nd - finger, 3rd no paddles, 4th - PT Paddles, 5th no paddles fast)


11,300 yards total in 3:22
Very enjoyable workout

Analysis of what effects of frequent exposure to the waters of Great Salt Lake have on Mercury toxicity in humans

There have been quite a few alarming reports of the level of mercury found in birds and spiders that live in and around the Great Salt Lake.  I've emailed the USGS scientist, David Natz, who reported to the news about the dangerous levels of mercury in the Great Salt Lake, but received no response from him.  I've also been warned by a local University of Utah professor about swimming in the Great Salt Lake.  

When I initially studied the possibilities of swimming in the Great Salt Lake, I was concerned and emailed the  GSL Harbormaster, Dave Shearer, who told me that the warnings are for eating ducks that nest and live on the shorelines of the lake, and that it was perfectly safe to swim in.  I took a leap of faith and began my adventure swims in the lake starting in June 2010.  

Over the past 10 months May 2011 - Feb 2012, I have swam 50 times in the Great Salt Lake totaling 136 miles, mostly in the following areas of the lake:

• Great Salt Lake Marina
• North of Antelope Island

Total time immersed in the water: approximately 70 hours

During this time I have probably swallowed a total of 1/2 cup of the highly salinated water among five different incidents where water entered my mouth and I was unable to be quick enough to stop it's flow down my throat.  

Last week I had my blood drawn at the IHC Lab in Bountiful for the purposes of having it tested for mercury toxicity.   My results came back in the mail this evening and the results said my blood contained 3 ug/L.  The report stated that normal range in humans is 0-10 ug/L.  

Here are a couple of documents discussing mercury toxicity in humans:

1. http://www.med.ucla.edu/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=311
2. http://ehs.okstate.edu/training/mercury.htm

The second article mentioned above reports that symptoms of repeated mercury exposure include:

1. Gum problems. The gums become soft and spongy, the teeth get loose, sores may develop, and there may be increased saliva.
2. Mood and mental changes. People with chronic mercury poisoning often have wide swings of mood, becoming irritable, frightened, depressed or excited very quickly for no apparent reason. Such people may become extremely upset at any criticism, lose all self-confidence, and become apathetic. Hallucinations, memory loss and inability to concentrate can occur.
3. Nervous system. The earliest and most frequent symptom is a fine tremor (shaking) of the hand. A tremor may also occur in the tongue and eyelids. Eventually this can progress to trouble balancing and walking.

I have not experienced any of the above symptoms.  Being a software developer it often takes a great deal of logical thinking and if I had problems with my nervous system, it would soon become obvious in my performance in my career, which right now is doing extremely well.

My skin is very healthy and is not noticeably irritated with the frequent exposure to the Great Salt Lake.  In comparison, it is slightly irritated with long term exposure to chlorine from swimming pools, than it is from being exposed to Great Salt Lake Water.  

Conclusion:  Swimming in the Great Salt Lake is safe for humans, and I will continue to swim in the awesome body of water.

Double it

This morning I got in a little faster than normal.  I was able to do 1200 yards before masters began:

600 warmup
300 - 4 x 25's kick on :35, 100 kick, 4 x 25's kick on :30 all with fins
1800 - 4 x {200 IM on 3:20, 250 free pull on 3:20}
300 - same kick set from above no fins

I went first in the lane on this one and man I was kicking!  I've not kicked with as much effort since high school.

1800 - 8 x {100 IM on 1:40, 125 free pull on 1:40}
200 easy

I did the same workout as above after everyone left and then threw on an addition 100 yards cool down.


11,300 yards total in 3:27

I'm looking forward to next Monday at SDRC.  Planning a 35,200 yard workout which should definitely get me a good buffer for my 250K goal for Feb.

Stopping for feeding without taking one

Did 1000 free before Masters, and Randy came up with the workout.  It was geared towards OW swimmers, due to the nature of stopping and starting in the middle of the pool.  Supposed to simulate a stop for feeding.  However my fuel was on the wall.  I needed a platform or something in the middle of the pool to really simulate taking a feed in open water.  However, the sets were too fast for me and I actually only was able to get rest on about 20% of the sets, so it didn't matter anyway.

500 warmup - 125 free/back/breast/one arm fly
4300 - 4 sets of....
(12.5, 4 x 25, 50, 4 x 75, 100, 4 x 125, 12.5 on :15, :25, :50, 1:15, 1:40, 2:00, 1:00)
All mixed with kicking, back, breast, free, one arm fly.

By the end of this I was so wasted and my arms were like putty.  My form was total crap and I needed to get caught up on things at work, so I left at this point.  Next Monday during President's day I'm planning to do 20 miles, so that should make up for today.

5,800 yards total in 1:55

Strong Pulling

This morning's workout was FANTASTIC!  I felt especially great about the pulling set.  I was first in my lane and was up against Kyle and Randy.  I was able to not only hold my own, but push them too.  Felt awesome.

1400 yards free before Masters
Then joined masters:
600 easy
800 - 16 x 50's alt kick/drill
1600 - Ladder by 25's up to 200, then back down.  IM order on 25's
1600 - Ladder by 25's up to 200 freestyle PULL (first half finger paddles, last half big paddles) on :20 per 25  

Rocked these!

1000 - 4 x 100's each stroke, 600 kick with fins
2000 pull finger paddles easy
2000 no equipment strong free sight forward @ end of every 50.
100 backstroke


11,100 yards total in 3:10


I mailed in my CS&PF application and my medical stuff.  Cost me 240 pounds to apply for a one way crossing. ($378)

I also got my Cholesterol lab results back and I'm a little high, but not enough to need a prescription.  I've not been strict on eating healthy all the time, and can do much better.  With better eating habits I can easily pull it down.  I've done it before.

The lab results for mercury testing have not been completed yet and the Dr. said he would get them to me as soon as he gets them.  Anxious to get that information.

Valentines Swimfest with Friends

This morning I slept in just a tad and was in the water at SDRC at 0635 and did:

2000 free easy
2000 pull
2000 finger paddles
1000 - 2 x 500's strong on 7:30
1000 - 2 x 200's on 3:00, 4 x 100's on 1:30
750 easy

Then went to Murray Park Aquatic Center with my Swimfest friends.  Josh put together a small workout for us all before we did a few relays:

500 free easy
50 kick

One of the relays involved swimming
with a big shirt and passing to the
next team member.

100 sprint (1:07)
150 easy
400 - 2 x 200 IM
150 easy

Then did some relays which came to 200 more yards  My favorite was one where we had to swim underwater and push a small car on the bottom which was about 9 feet deep.  Goody kicked butt on that one.

Also, Goody has some really cool plans for this summer, although I'm not sure I'm at liberty to speak about publicly, but he's got some exciting things in the works!  I just hope that it works out with my PTO at work, that I can be be a significant support in his adventure.  We'll have to see.

Total 10,300 yards and lots of fun!

Then we went out for breakfast together as a group.  Lots of fun!

Last relay was to swim and eat a saltine at the end and then
whistle before the next person could go.  Lots of
fun relays. 

I also hit another major milestone:  3000 miles of logged work on this blog.

Feeling MUCH better

I was a little worried that with how exhausted I was yesterday morning that unless I got a ton of sleep last night (which I didn't), I would be in bad shape this morning.  But that was not the case.  I felt great and my shoulder really likes the swim, much more than sleeping.

1000 free, then joined masters
600 free
300 kick
1000 - 5 x 200's (IM, 50fl/150back, 50 fl/150 breast, 50 fl/150 free, 200 IM)
300 pull
500 - 5 x 100's (IM, 25fl/75back, 25 fl/75 breast, 25 fl/75 free, 100 IM)
300 pull
500 - 5 x 100's fly/breast
350 - 7 x 50's free on :55
150 easy
Then did my own thing:
1000 kick with fins
1000 pull finger paddles
1000 pull big paddles
1000 - 5 x 200's strong on 3:00 (2:40)
1000 - 5 x 100's free strong on 1:30 (1:20)
300 - 100 back/breast/one arm fly


11,300 yards total in 3:35

My Nike swimsuit is noticeable discolored worse each day.  It is now an ugly green/brown/grey color.  I've only worn it about a month and it is about at the end of it's life.  That's terrible.  Nike should go back to just making shoes.

Getting shown up by Jim Hubbard!

Got Salt?  

Jim Hubbard swam
10 minutes in icy wota

Jim's a stud and one of the friendliest guys I know, and he had double my mental strength tonight!  I'm not ashamed though, I'm used to getting my butt kicked by older dudes.  The SALT Club members are all in their 50's and they're making me swallow their wake.  I wanna be like alot of these guys when I grow up.

At 4:36pm, I picked up Cathi from the downtown Frontrunner station, and we sped out to the GSL Marina, where I met Josh, Goody and Jim for our weekly swim.  The water warmed up to 41°F and I did my typical lap.  I wasn't really prepared mentally for more than that today.  I enjoyed getting out and not having my hands and feet feel like they were going to break off.

Josh followed me out to the marina opening, and Goody made it to the other side of the Marina as well.  Jim did two laps and was in the water for over 10 minutes!  Wow!  I was very impressed.  When we all got out were were all looked like, well.... Hellboy.  Red as lobsters.

Fun times.  Next time I'll be prepared for a double.


Total Distance: 350 yards in 5:15

Harrison just to the left of Josh, also joined the club as he put his foot in the
water a couple times tonight.  Can't wait to see him in the coming years
be as daring as his Dad.

Here's a video:

The best 50 yards I've ever swam in my life

Critical angularity: "The further the destination or goal, the greater the importance of the first few steps or decisions, that get you started in the right direction". - Gords

I'm not an astronaut, but I've heard that when it comes to reentering earth's atmosphere the difference between bouncing off, burning up and entering the atmosphere safely is just a fraction of a degree depending on where you are coming from.

From Swimming

That's the same with life.  If you have certain life objectives and plans, you need to consider the small decisions that will help get you started and on your way, as not really insignificant.  Every single facet of my life is thanks to my wife, Cathi.  My happy marriage, my family, my career, and even my swimming achievements are ALL because of her.  I'm almost certain my life would pretty much suck right now if I hadn't decided to pursue her.  Even though it wasn't fast, that first lap I took with her was the best 50 yards of my entire life and always will be.

This morning I was able to get out of bed, but I took my sweet time getting ready and I wasn't in the water until 0530.  I did:

1000 free
1000 kick with fins
2000 pull
2000 finger paddles
1000 - 200 kick no fins, 300 free, 200 kick no fins, 300 free


7,000 yards total in 2:10 


Left early as I was REALLY slow this morning.  Even Raj was keeping up.  I went over to the lab and gave up about 2oz of my blood to the vampire for mercury testing.  I can't wait for the report.

Meeting with WFPBC this afternoon for a ice water swim.

I passed

After this morning's swim I went to my Dr who filled out the CS&PF Medical form.   He officially deemed me FIT physically to swim the English Channel.  They should really consider sending you to a psychologist as well given that swimming the channel is also such a mentally challenging feat.

I have a lab form for getting my blood taken, but I have to be fasting for 8 hours so I'll take it tomorrow morning.  Then I'll get to the bottom of this methyl mercury business.

This morning I swam at SDRC since my Dr. office is right across the street from the pool.  I was in at 0500 and did:

2000 free
2000 pull
2000 - 1000 kick, 10 x 100's odd free on 1:30 (hold under 1:20), even back/breast on 2:00
2000 - 2 x 1000's free
2000 - pull with finger paddles
2000 - 500 PT paddles, 500 no paddles, 10 x 100's odd free desc on 1:30 (1:20, 1:18, 1:16, 1:11, 1:10), even back/breast on 2:00
500 free easy


12,500 yards total in 3:45

600s

This morning's workout was full of 600.  Will and Gary lapped me at least once on almost every 600 and I was the last one in the lane.  I wasn't dogging it either.  They're just good IMers and kickers.  I'm definitely the small fish in this pool.

Randy's compilation

Started at 0512 with:  1200 free, then joined the SALT club with:

600 - 200 swim, 200 drill, 200 kick
600 - odd 50 free, even 50 kick (with fins)
600 - 300 swim, 300 pull
600  - 400 pull, 200 back
600 - 200 IM, 200 free, 200 kick
600 - 150 IM, 150 free, 150 kick, 150 stroke
600 - 100 IM, 100 free, 100 kick, 100 one arm fly, 100 back, 100 breast
600 - 200 kick with fins, 200 back, 200 free

500 easy

then joined Masters group #2 with
200 easy
200 - 4 x 50's one arm
200 - 4 x 50's desc 1-4
3 sets of

200 pull on 3:00, 4 x 100's (first set get 1:20 on 1:30, 2nd 1:15 on 1:40, 3rd 1:10 on 1:50), 200 kick

200 easy

Then did my own thing:

1800 - 3 x 600's first finger paddles, 2nd large paddles, 3rd - 1/2 PT, 1/2 no equip


 11,200 yards in 3:20

My Swimsense froze up around 7am and wouldn't even turn off, it just wasn't responsive.  I've got it plugged in to the computer charging and it responds now.  Good thing I had a set workout so it was easy to know where I was and not rely totally on the watch for keeping track of distance.

 

Not amused

The last 20 minutes of today's workout some old guy in the lane next to me was wearing a french cut speedo.  If I had a "slightly off" fuel mixture I would have thrown it up this morning.  I was NOT amused.

Was in the water at 0510 and did:

1050 free and joined masters:

600 warmup
600 - 6 x 100's 3rd length kick on 1:45
600 - 3 x 200's, 150 @ 65%, 50 @ 85% on 2:45
600 - 3 x 200's, 100 @ 65%, 100 @ 85% on 2:45
600 - 3 x 200's, 150 @ 65%, 50 @ 85% on 2:45
200 easy on 3:00
200 all out (got 2:15)
300 - 3 x 100's fly/back on 1:30
300 - 3 x 100's back/breast on 1:30
300 - 3 x 100's breast/free on 1:30
100 IM all out
400 - 8 x 50's free no breath in/out turns on :50
Then did my own thing with Will for part of it:

1000 pull big paddles
1000 pull finger paddles
1000 free no equipment
1000 kick with fins
1000 free no equipment
500 - 4 x 100's free strong on 1:30, 100 back easy


11,350 yards total in 3:20

Finally hit my 500 mile goal

This morning I had to pass up the Polar Bear Dip so that I could baptize my son Isaac.  This morning I told him, "Make sure you dress warm, we're baptizing you out at the Great Salt Lake.  It's gonna be cold."  He go this terrified look on his face.  I said, "Yeah, we'll go real fast and you can get dried off and warmed up.  You'll never forget your baptism!"  He almost started to cry so I told him I was just kidding.  (I wish I wasn't).  Had a great time with family and there was a great spirit at his baptism.  He was so happy today.

We had family come over and ate a ton of food.  Party was over around 11am so I got the thumbs up from Cathi to do a swim this afternoon.  So I went to SDRC and was in the water at 1:30pm.  I did the same workout that Will posted that the SALT club did this morning, with a few minor modifications since I was going off memory and not a piece of paper.


1000 free easy
900 - 9 x 100's free fast on 1:30 (got all just under 1:20)
800 - 4 x 200's finger paddles on 2:50
700 - 300 free, 100 back, 300 free
600 kick with fins
500 free drill
400 pull
300 free easy
200 PT Paddles
100 - Two over/unders
2000 - 8 x 250's odd free, even back or breast no rest interval

100 - Two over/unders
200 PT Paddles
300 free easy
400 pull
500 free drill
600 kick with fins
700 - 300 free, 100 back, 300 free
800 - 4 x 200's finger paddles on 2:50 (got all under 2:40)

900 - 9 x 100's free fast on 1:30 (got all just under 1:15)
1000 free easy
200 back/breast
13,200 yards total in 3:55

Starting in October was this virtual open water race that was 250 miles.  I tried talking Karen Reeder into creating a 500 mile race, but she didn't want to do it this year.   Probably not enough nuts out there to go for that distance in 6 months.  Well I hit it almost two months ahead of the cutoff.  500 miles in 127 days.

Today I drank a Orange/Vanilla Perpetuem with about 12 ounces of OJ added.  Not so good.  It tasted like Orange Juice and milk mixed together.  Not really gross, but not anywhere as good as yesterday.  I think I need to stick with pear juice and not OJ.

Finally found the most tasty workout fuel so far

This morning when I woke up my shoulder was not feeling great and I was still so exhausted!  So I went back to bed and slept in.  Man that felt so good.  I had a busy day at work and got off at 4:30 pm then went over to SDRC on the way home and swam:

2000 free
2000 - 4 x 500's PT Paddle/no equip/finger paddles/Huge Paddles
2000 free
100 easy
900 - 9 x 100's kick with fins
1000 - 200's free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 pull
2000 cruising pace


10,000 yards total in 2:35

When I got in the water my shoulder was only feeling like 75%, but by the time I got out, it felt like 95%.  I really enjoyed this swim cause I was alone and didn't feel pressured to go fast to hit certain times.  I really enjoyed today's pace.  Very relaxing and therapeutic for my shoulder.

Today's fuel source was fantastic!  I mixed Strawbery Perpetuem with 16 oz of water, and 8 ounces of pear juice.  Oh my gosh it was awesome.  What a treat!  I'm definitely going to reuse that recipe.

When I was finished I called Cathi on the way home and she was having a good time with the kids and said everything was fine and that she saved me some dinner.  What a dream woman!  She's so patient with me and the time I'm spending in the pool.  I'm so grateful for her!

Eerie, cold Groundhog day

This afternoon at 4:45 I met Goody out at the GSL Marina.  We were hoping to have Michelle and her friends meet us out there, but we waiting until 5 and then figure it was just us.   So we took the temp and it came to 35.9°F (2.2°C).  The wind was going pretty strong from the northwest and there were some pretty decent waves and water movement coming from the marina opening.

I resolved to do my normal lap of going to the marina opening and back.  I got in and started making my way there.  My goggles worked out great and didn't fog at all.  I've been using an anti-fog on them before putting them away each time.  As I swam closer to the turn around point, the waves were getting stronger, I breathed to the right side and in three different times ended up not only getting water in my mouth but ended up swallowing it.  (Now before JQ pipes up with some smart ass comment, I'm going to see my Dr next Wednesday for my EC medical papers, and at the same time am going to demand I get a mercury level blood test to see how bad it really is).

I made it to the turn around point no problem and made my way back.  Why is it that the last 100 yards, time slows down and it seems to take forever!  I stopped my watch when I got out and it was 5 minutes exactly.  Awesome.  Got dressed and went back to my warm car.  Another week of overcoming my lazy weak self.


350 yards in 5 minutes in 2.2c


I won't be able to join the group on Saturday since my son Isaac is getting baptized.  Too bad we can't do it in the GSL and he can have quite the baptism story for his grandkids.  Instead it'll be in a nice clean font with water that is probably 95 degrees.

Having the "Will" to give 100%

Today Will came up with the workout.  Man it was awesome!  It involved giving 100% and rewarded with more rest.  He said often we focus on a low amount of rest and only go at about 80-90% at most.  Occasionally it's OK to take lots of rest, as long as you go all out!  And that's what we did today on several sets of 100s.

Got in the water at 0515 and did:

1100 free, then joined masters...
600 warmup
300 - 6 x 50's descending stroke count on 1:00
4000 - 4 sets of

200 pull on 3:30,
6 x 100's free (first round on 1:30 (hit 1:20), second round on 1:40 (hit 1:15), third round on 1:50 (hit 1:10, fourth round of six on 2:00 (hit 1:05) I used finger paddles on the fourth round, but the rest were all me. I was very happy with the effort I gave on these. My HR was just above 170bpm and I was breathing like an asthmatic upon hitting the wall, but by the time it was time to go for the next rep I was almost breathing normal.  I was right behind Will.  I left exactly 5 seconds after he did, and my goal was to just stay 5 seconds behind him (or less).  .
200 kick (no fins)

400 easy

Fantastic workout!!!

Then a TON of people came in for Masters (round 2).  This group of swimmers are much more varied in abilities.  I initially swam with the wrong group.  They were really slow.  So I moved to the other side of the pool and the two fast lanes already had like 7-8 people in them.  It was really crowded.  I got in at the butt end of the second lane.  It sucked cause everyone ahead of me still was a tad too slow, but the fastest lane was just as crowded and were faster people.  Oh well, I was really tired at this point, so I just went at the slower pace.

300 - 3 x 100's 50 kick/50 swim
200 - 4 x 50's back
100 - 4 x 25's varied swim
Main set:
300 - 3 x 100's free base +5, base, base -5
300 - 6 x 50's kick on 1:00
400 - 4 x 100's free base +5, base, base - 5
200 - 4 x 50's one arm fly/free on 1:00
500 - 5 x 100's free base +5, base, base -5
100 - 2 x 50's back, free
600 drill/kick/swim

Then everyone got out and it was a ghost town. I continued with:
1000 pull cruising pace
500 kick with fins


10,900 yards in 3:20


I left my prepared mixture of hammer drink in the fridge and I had an extra gatorade in my car so I used that.  After the workout, on the way to work I tried a Hammer Almond Raisin bar.  Holy crap was that good!  I've tried all sorts of different energy bars, and most of them taste like crap, even the ones that are supposed to taste like a candy bar instead of an energy bar.  They taste so fake.  But this was authentic, it tasted like a delicious bowl of raisin bran, except in a bar.  It has 270 calories, and a good blend of carbs, fat, protein.  I'm definitely going to keep this one on my list.


Tonight I'm going for a short cold water swim in the GSL.  Looking forward to that.

February Fitness Challenge

Yesterday I hit snooze too many times and was seriously late to swim, so I decided to just go to work early and get in some serious hours so that I front load the week with hours.  Because of that I was eager to get up this morning and did not hit snooze.  Cathi did her traditional back scratch for me for about 30 seconds.  Awesome way to wake up!

This morning I was in the water at 5:15am and did:

Kyle Treadway came up with this doozy

1150 yards free then joined masters:

600 free easy

1250 - 3 x 250 (100 free pull, 50 back pull, 100 free pull), 3 x 100 IM, 4 x 50's kick

repeated three times

600 - 4 x 100's hypoxic breathing/50 back

100 easy

I was in Will's lane, and for most of the entire workout I either only got 3 seconds rest or had to flip turn right into the next rep.  I'm definitely one of the slowest guys there.

Then did my own thing after everyone left:

2000 - 2 x 1000's free cruising pace

2000 - 500 PT paddles, 500 no equip, 500 finger paddles,  500 huge paddles

800 - 8 x 100's kick with fins

11,000 yards total in 3:10

I just signed up for the "February Fitness" challenge today.  My goal is to swim a quarter million yards.  That's gonna mean an average of 62,500 yards per week.  That's some SERIOUS yardage.  But not unreasonable for me.

I also tried the Unflavored Sustained Energy today.  I mixed it with about 20 ounces of water, 6 ounces of concentrated pear juice and about 8 ounces of pure orange juice.  It actually was good!  It wasn't extremely powerful, but had enough taste to make my taste buds happy.  I can't say it really helped me during my workout today, I don't think I've ever had a "popeye reaction" to anything I've had.

But in the past I've definitely had a negative reaction to not taking anything at all.  And I didn't bomb out today.   This stuff wasn't bad, but for me it's about taste anyway and the added juices were the key here.  I'm looking forward to my shipment of Orange flavored Perpetuem to arrive.