Final swim of 2012

This afternoon I got off work and went straight to SDRC for my final swim of the year.  I did:

1000 free easy
1000 kick with fins
1200 - 6 x {150 build, 50 fast, 25 sprint} odd free, even stroke
300 - 6 x 50's - 25 fingertip drag drill, 25 finger countdown
2500 pull - 1000 medium, 500 large, 500 freestylers, 500 finger paddles

6,000 yards total in 1:50

Looking forward to tomorrow's Ice race!  Last night I woke up at midnight to let the dogs out, and could fall asleep after that cause I had some last minute preps in my head.  

First marathon swim (in the pool) post surgery

This morning I went to Layton Surf N' Swim at 7am and did the following:

2000 free
2000 finger paddles
2000 free
2000 no strap finis paddles
2000 free
1000 large paddles
1000 - breast/back by 100s
600 kick with fins

12,600 yards  (7.15 miles) in 3:45

Shoulder was getting a little touchy so I took it really easy on the last 1600 yards.

I'm very happy with this nutrition guidelines, and exercise routine that Cameron Brown, at Evolution Personal Training has me on.  The results are overwhelming.  Since my first weigh in, and body fat testing on December 1st, I've lost over 21 pounds of fat, and gained nearly four pounds of muscle.  That's a decrease of 8% in body fat.  From 25.97% down to 17.99%  In less than a month!

That's going from Below Average to Well Above Average!  Here's the standard.  I'm not done.  I want to get down to 190 pounds and I weighed in yesterday at 211.  At this rate I should reach that by the end of February.  I'd love it if I could get my BF down to under 12%  Cameron is kicking out butts and we're working hard and making good changes in our lifestyle to be healthier.  I'm inspired.

Eye on the prize

I've wanted to hit the 750 mile mark for 2012, and I'm less than 10 miles away now.  Only have 2 more swimming days available to do them in.  So I've got to hit it hard.  This morning I got to the pool right at 6am and got in the water, but I was the only masters swimmer.  Coach Andy gave me the following workout, which I did twice through:

Warm up:

400 -  200 swim, 100 IM easy, 4 x 25's free fast on :30

Main set:

2100 - :3 x {300 pull, 2 x 100 IM's on 1:45, 4 x 50's fast on 1:00}

600 - 8 x 75's fast/ez/fast odd free, even back or breast on 1:15/1:30

After doing that twice I did:
400 kick with fins
400 - 300 pull freestyler paddles, 100 anti paddles
50 grandpa swimming

7,050 yards total in 2:30

Still feel awesome about yesterday evening's 1.5°C swim.  The New Years Race is gonna be cake.

 

 

Meeting Esther Stokes

This evening I met Jim at the Marina, and boy was it snowy!  It was just what every extreme winter swim should look like.  Just last Saturday the picture didn't look like a winter swim.  But today, it definitely did!

Always happy to see a newcomer!

Jim and I were just about to get in when we saw a new swimmer come down the ramp.  We met Esther Stokes.  She did the GSL 1 mile last summer, and the Deer Creek 5K.  She wanted to try this and boy what a day to start!  Jim took a temp and it read 34.7degrees (1.5c).  There was about 3 inches of snow on the ground and on the deck.  I cleared a small part for my clothes after getting out, and talked a little with Esther before getting in and joining Jim who was already half way to the other end.

I swam as fast as I could to the other side and I remember feeling little pin pricks in my finger tips and it felt like I was bleeding through the holes where the pin pricks were.  Throbbing in beat with my heart.  Didn't hurt, just felt weird.  When I reached the other side, quickly turned around and swam back.  I saw Esther start to wade in and looked at my watch: 4:15 elapsed since I started.  When I got out I didn't stop my watch, but noticed that it read 5:38. I walked through the snow to my clothes and started to dry off and get my shirt on.  It was terrible.  My hands were absolutely useless.  I finally got dressed and Esther was having trouble.  She said she was getting out even though she didn't hit the 5 minute goal.  I looked at my watch when she go out and it read 7:15.  She was in for three minutes exactly.

I just reviewed Goody's original guidelines for earning a cap, and I just realized that we are now at the point where you only have to be in the water for 2 minutes.  The water was definitely under 35 degrees, so she earned a cap.  I feel bad for not realizing this at the moment, so I owe her a WFPBC Cap!

Jim, Me and Esther

I helped her carry her bag to her car.  I could barely get the keys out of my pocket to unlock the car.  When I got in I sat there with the heat on high.  My stop watch was still going.  I was shaking and the hardest part were my hands again.  But I controlled my breathing and kept my mind off the pain.  After 30 minutes of sitting in the car, I finally felt warmth in my fingertips and felt stable enough to drive.  Jim came over and I rolled down my window.  Shook his hand and said, "Next time we get in will be under medical surveillance."

Looking forward to next Tuesday!  If anyone wants to help volunteer, I'd like to get someone else besides me and Josh to paddle.  We'll provide the kayaks, but you'd need to paddle out along the course keeping an eye on the swimmers.  And stay relatively close to them to provide reassurance.

In memory of Brent Taylor

I read this morning that my first swim coach in competitive swimming passed away.  Brent Taylor was the West High swim coach when I was a sophomore at West High School and was the first year I swam competitively.  He literally taught me all the stroke techniques to get me to be a competent swimmer.

One of the most vivid memories I have involving him:

One day in the middle of the swimming season my friend Travis Bailey and I were at Deseret Gym in the locker rooms getting ready for swim practice.  He asked if I wanted to sluff swim practice and go play racquetball.  I was kinda burned out at that point in the season and said yes.  So we went and played racquetball.  

The next day at practice Mr T shook my hand, except he didn't let go.  He squeezed my bone in my hand into another bone right were a nerve was and it was one of the most excruciatingly painful experiences of my life.  He asked me very calmly:  Where were you yesterday?  I wasn't about to tell him I sluffed in fear that he'd squeeze my fingers completely off.  So I cried out, "I was sick! I was sick!"  I was 16 and crying.  Literally tears were flowing and I was crying in pain.  He finally let go.  Oh man.  That was the LAST time I didn't show up for practice.  Travis kept his distance from Mr T and didn't ever get his friendly handshake.

After spending 45 minutes on the treadmill I drove to NWRC and did:

1000 - 3 x (100 back/breast/free) + 100 IM easy
1000 kick with fins
1000 - 2 x 500's pull on 7:15
500 - 5 x 100's free on 1:30
200 easy

3,700 yards total in 1:05

 

New Years Day Swim shirts

200 - 4 x 50's free on :45
1000 - 4 x {100 IM, 75 free, 50 back, 25 breast}
900 - 6 x 150's pull
300 - 4 x 75's drill/sprint/drill
100 - 4 x 25's sprint IM order
100 easy
300 kick
500 pull easy
500 breast/back/free
500 fins
1000 - 10 x 100's pull (no strap paddle) on 1:30 (piece of cake - got @ 1:20 on all)

300 easy - back, breast free

5700 yards total in 2:15

Picked up the shirts for the New Years Race.  They look fantastic.  Except I'm very disappointed that we only 6 people who have voiced any interest.  Was hoping for at least 8.  Also was hoping some super fast pool swimmer/triathlete would be enticed by the first place prize to brave the water for a measly 5 minutes.  But doesn't look like it.  Actually kinda bugged.

I bought 20 of these shirts and may end up giving two shirts to each swimmer.  I'll still have some left over for the volunteers.

12 Days of Christmas with South Davis Masters

Met with South Davis Masters this morning for a workout.  I was late getting in cause I had to help get the lanes in, and the workouts posted.  All before I was ready to swim.  So I joined in on the 3 French Hens Part:

300 - 3 x 100's back
400 - 4 x 100's Pull on 1:45
500 - 5 x 100 IMs on 2:00
450 - 6 x 75s descend 1-3 on 1:15
350 - 7 x 50's fly/free
400 - 8 x 50's free descend by pairs 1 - 4
100 - 2 x 50's during crab hat relay

Total:  2500 yards total

Then had a breakfast with the group.

Last night went over to see Goody and to deliver him this plaque.  He's doing relatively well.  He's tired a lot, and feels drained.  But it doesn't appear to be affecting his mood too much.  He's still pleasant to be around. He goes back for another round of chemo on Jan 7th.  He was touched by the plaque and thanks everyone who has been so supportive!

100th Swim in the Great Salt Lake

What an epic milestone for me today!  Today was the 100th time I've swam in the waters of the Great Salt Lake!  Those 100 swims totaled 261.9 miles.  I wonder how many swims Orson Spencer did in the GSL?

I spent an hour of my afternoon with my friends Josh and Jim and sadly Goody was home feeling drained from his Chemo treatments.  I talked with him on the phone on the way out there.  I know it pains him to not be able to participate, and I'm sure he'd much rather be with us.  So I photo-shopped him in with us!

Water looks warm, but it was a cool 39 degrees

I'm WAY off in the distance in front of
the boat.  Had to make the pilot's
navigation go easier, but just going slow
so he could comfortable pass.

 Goody's friend, Alan Sage, I met for the first time in person.  After this picture was taken I said Merry Christmas to the guys and took off!  I'm better off going as fast as I can.  No more breaststroke taking it easy.  When I got to the other side, I saw JR in his boat exiting the marina so I stayed as far out of the way as possible until he was past, and then I went back to swimming to the boat ramp as fast as I could.  Did the round trip in 6:59, including picture taking, and boat yielding.  My watch read 39.4°F.  Shoulder is feeling awesome!

What a great day!

Me, Jim, Alan and Josh getting ready to go for it!

Drained

Wow, after last night's swim I am drained!   I was about 15 minutes late to the workout and it was just Coach Andy and James . I jumped in the lane next to James and picked up where he was at in the workout:

300 - 3 x 100's down swim, back free on 2:00 lots of rest
400 pull using Finis Freestyler paddles
400 - 4 x 100's down swim, back free on 2:00
400 pull using large paddles, keep an even split on each 100 (1:15/100 yards successful)
400 - 8 x 50's kick with fins
200 - 4 x 50's sprint the first 30 and coast the last 20
100 easy

Then wrapped around and did the start of the workout since I was a slacker:
100 down swim, back free on 2:00
600 - 200 s, 200 kick, 200 pull

2900 yards total in 1:10

Not the most intense workout, but a welcome degree of difficulty given the energy level.  Looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday!

In Ice Swimming news,  there was a race in Russia and the results are totally mind boggling to me:

Here's the article   The winner swam 2.25 km in 0.3°C (32°F) for over an hour!  I was being a cry baby last night about being in 39°F water for 5 1/2 minutes, and that was quite a bit warmer.  I'm such a whiner....

Oh My Heck!

Wow! This evening's swim was tough!  The actual swim and getting in was not bad.  But getting out and dry and warmed up was brutal!  My fingers felt completely frozen, I couldn't move them and I sat in the car and shivered like crazy.  Then I remembered seeing the shower room door was open, so I drove over and took a warm shower.

That was almost worse!  But after three more minutes of pain in my fingers and sides, I was able to get warmed up.  Hurried over to NWRC and took a shower there too.  The swim was fast though.  Did the whole course in 5:36.

Nate, Me and Jim after the swim.  39 degrees baby!

Nathan Nelson came this time and he was in the water for 12 minutes!  More than double what I was in for. I was so cold and frozen that my brain wasn't functioning enough to remember to give him his well deserved cap!  I'll have to mail it to him.  Unfortunately I don't meet up with him much since we live so far away.

Jim was there with Connie and they snapped this picture after they got out.  Notice that I'm already fully dressed.  I don't mess around with getting all bundled up.  Plus I was in the water far less than them.  Beautiful clear day with lots of sunshine.  Except the air temp wasn't all that nice.  Temp on my watch when I got out read 39.2.

Total: 400 yards in 5:36

SIck of Chlorine

I have definitely not had this much consistent exposure to chlorine in well over 6 months!  I'm all itchy and I'm even taking the time to soap up real good afterwards.  I'll adapt.  This morning's swim was short and sweet:

600 - 3 x 200 breast/back/free
1000 kick with fins
1000 - 10 x 100's pull easy on 1:30
1000 - 3 x 3 x 100's (breast, back free) + 2 laps of over/unders

3600 yards total in 1:15

This morning I weighed myself and I've lost 15 pounds in 20 days.  And based on the trainer's caliper measurements, and the calculations he's made, it's been all fat, and I've gained muscle.  Good balanced diet, avoiding high GI stuff, and including lots of cardio and strength training.  I could be in maintenance mode in about a month at this rate.  Feeling good.

KSL Blog of the Week

Check out the Browser 5.0 Blog of the Week showing today on Channel 5 at 12:45pm.  I'll be discussing the blog, open water swimming in Utah, and hopefully get a plug for the Wasatch Front Polar Bear Club and the New Years Race in the Great Salt Lake.

I'll embed the clip of the show here once it's online!

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On the way home I was feeling down and wanted a pick me up so I stopped at the NWRC and did:

600 free
600 pull
600 - 3 x 200's back/breast/one arm fly
200 easy free

2000 total with daily total of 6400 yards

I'm free!

My physical therapist, Grayson Doar after interviewing me and giving me a series of strength tests, said that I'm free to train at the level I'm comfortable with and within reason.  So this morning I met up with the Northwest Recreation Center masters group and did their workout with them:

I was late getting in and picked up where there were at:

150 free
500 - 2 x 250's free
400 Pull with huge paddles build by 50s
400 - 4 x 100 IMs (one arm fly) on 2:00
400 - 8 x 50's IM order sprint on 1:15 (lots of rest)
500 kick with fins
150 easy

1000 - 10 x 100's free no strap pulling on 1:40.  Long, deliberate pulls.  Not fast.
500 - 4 x 100's IM Order w/ 100 easy


Talked with Kevin and Jeff about the New Years race and getting out to GSL.  Not sure they're going to go for it.  It does take a lot of guts to even give it a try.

Met Wayne who is in the far right with the white cap.

This morning I met Wayne, who was swimming in the next lane over.  I recognized him from SDRC and asked him if he swam there.  Not only that, but he swam the One Mile GSL race last year!  He said he hated it.  I was sad to hear that.  I told him that the GSL is the best place to identify flaws in the timing with breathing.  Cause if you don't get your timing right and breath in with water, you'll pay the price.  He's training for the St. George Half Ironman next year.  What a stud.  Over 60 and still kicking butt.


After all this talk, I was out of time and did a cool down:

400 pull easy

4400 yards total in 1:30  Felt great!  No shoulder issues.  Wish I had time for more.

Looking forward to the ice swim tomorrow afternoon!

5 Million yards

This morning I hit the 5,000,000 pool yards since I started recording this stuff.  I got an email from Kris Edwards last night informing me that the SDRC pool had a maintenance issue and would be closed today, so I drove down to Northwest Recreation Center.  

When I got there the Masters coach and a few swimmers were already in their workout.  There was a lane that was available and I did:

1000 - 500 swim (200 back, 200 breast, 100 free), 500 kick with fins

1000 - 500 swim, 500 pull (5 x 100's on 1:30)

Then the masters team got out and I talked to the coach for a bit.  Found out that they don't charge anything more than just the facility entrance.  Wow!  How can they afford that?  They must be paying the coach hardly a thing.  The entire facility is clean, the showers are nice.  The only thing is they open at 6am and not 5am.  So those long swim days will interfere with my work a little.  But I don't think I'll need to put in those 12K swims on a normal basis.  I think I overdid the training a little for EC.  I can tone it down just a bit and still be OK I think.  So I think I'm going to renew my membership with SL county and have NWRC be my pool of choice throughout the winter.  

I introduced myself and told him of my goal to swim Catalina this August and that I was just barely getting back in the water after surgery.  I hope it works out with these guys and at the same time I'm able to get some open water swimmers out of the group.  The coach told me that one of his swimmers heard about an eight mile race out at GSL and I told him that I was the race director and was happy to hear that he had a swimmer interested in it.  

Continued with my workout:

1000 - 1000 pull (10 x 100's free on 1:30)

200 easy

3,200 yards total in 1:15

Cathi also has been having me join her in seeing a personal trainer.  I've been on this diet/exercise routine for a couple weeks now, and the results are exhilarating.  Went from 230 to 219 in two weeks.  And based on all the caliber and fat pinching he did when we started to this last Saturday, I went from being "Obese" to just barely "Normal" skipping the "Overweight" category completely which is based on a body fat percentage. (Over 24% down to under 21%) Although I would actually still consider myself overweight.  I have 19 pounds to go till I hit my sweet spot.  And at the rate I'm going I should hit that by mid January or so.  

He's got Cathi and me doing fat burning cardio, weights three times a week, and that is on top of our running/swimming.  Then he educated us on lots of nutrition and instructed us to eat a certain amount of calories with percentages of that amount coming from carbs (low GI types), protein, and fat.  If we target those percentages and eat 5 meals a day that are at a certain caloric amount, that it produces results and boy has it ever!  I'm very pleased with it.  And I LOVE the weight lifting.  

I also sent my $1000 deposit to John Pittman on Saturday.  He's the owner/operator of the Outrider.  One of the two pilots who do Catalina Crossings.  I'm very pleased to have locked in my desired date: August 14th.  

2012 Christmas Swimfest and cooling down at GSL Marina

This morning I met up with all the SLOW swim friends at Gene Fullmer pool and we did some relays and games. Followed up with lunch together. It was great to mingle with these people and have some fun. Rachel did a great job organizing it and putting it all together.

 Then Josh came out with the very first SLOW newsletter. Looks professional!

 Then joined Sue and Jim out at the GSL where it was snowing while we swam. It was fun! The temp on my watch was 41.2 and did my lap in 6:15. Recovery was easy comparatively.  What a fun day it was.

Total swimming:

200 yards in pool
400 yards in GSL

600 yards - I know I should feel like a slacker.  But today was just a fun goof off day.

Good morning

This morning I got up early and got to the pool and did 1000 kick with fins.  Then started doing some free and Wow!  Shoulder was not liking it.  I probably put enough work on it with yesterday's fast 400 yard swim that it needed to recover a bit from that.  So I only did another 200 breast.  Couldn't get last night's swim out of my head.

Goody has definitely shown his mettle last night!  I'm so happy for him.  Didn't mind getting out early so I could start producing a video of it.

Total: 1200 yards in 20 minutes.

Utah's first Ice Swimmer

I feel honored, proud, and very privileged to have witnessed something this evening.  A very historical moment.

This afternoon Goody messaged me that he starts chemo therapy on Monday and that he wanted one last swim before then.  After that starts he would probably not feel up to swimming.  This would be his farewell swim for the moment.

I drove out to the marina and met him and Josh out there.  My plan was to swim one lap and one lap only.  I've had it with those 15+  minute swims that take more time in recovery than actually swimming.  I told Goody,  "I know I won't be in the water as long as you guys, so I'll hurry back and get busy snapping pictures."  He responded.  "Well I'll see how it goes after one lap, but I'd like to do at least two".

When we started I kicked off my stop watch.  I swam a little harder this time than I did a couple days ago.  When I got out the watch read 6:02 and I wanted to get under 6 minutes this time.  When I got to the turnaround point I didn't dilly dally.  I got back to swimming towards the boat ramp.  I passed Josh and Goody still heading west.  When I got to the boat ramp, I just kept swimming until my fingertips hit the bottom of the ramp.  I took a quick temp reading with my watch:  41 degrees.  I stood up as fast as I could and jumped out.  Stopped the clock!  5:59.59  Whew!  That was close!

Shoulder felt fine and I was glad to towel off and act as photographer for the other guys.  A few minutes later than finished their first lap and turned around and wen't back out!  Those guys are amazing!

Then when they finished their second lap, Goody asked if he extended the third lap to a buoy that is about 50 yards out from the marina opening, if that third lap extension would total to one mile.  I yelled out, "I really don't think so, but I've never measured that before."  He yelled out asking me to walk along the marina wall with him.  He was going for a mile.  I was in awe.  I snapped more pictures and kept a close eye on his stroke.  It looked strong.  A couple time he stopped real quick to adjust his goggles and clear the water out.

Each lap was a "big boy lap".  Which involves turning around at the very end of the marina instead of where I like to turn around which is at the very western edge of the marina.

Josh was right with him on the first two, and then got out.  I witnessed the second two laps from dry ground.  Still shaking from my one puny "little boy lap".  Dave Shearer, the Harbormaster for the marina was in his huge metal rescue boat and came in from being out on the lake.  He witnessed Goody's third lap and half of his last lap, before heading to the office.  Josh was at the boat ramp with some tourists who happened to come to the marina.  I yelled for Josh to see if he could go get his car heated up and ready for Goody when he got out.

At the turnaround point of that final lap!

I was throwing out thumbs up signs on his last lap.  I couldn't believe he was doing this!  I was trying to think about what his thought processes were.  Being in the water this long is risking his life. Does he desire this ice mile so bad that he accepts and almost welcomes the fact that it could kill him? I mean, less than a month ago, two duck hunters were out on the lake when their boat took on water and they both died from exposure to the cold.  Based on the conversation we had about 30 minutes later in the shower, I wasn't far off.  Jumping ahead to recovery in the shower, Goody told us he had already signed papers with the hospital that waived them should he actually die during all the surgeries and chemo treatments.  He told us, "so I said, Why not go for it and if I die, at least I do it doing something I love".

In addition to my temperature read on my watch,
here is the official temp recorded that day on the
Utah State Parks GSL Marina webpage.

Back to the fourth lap heading back to the ramp, I kept cheering for him and figured he was already in the water well over 35 minutes.  I stopped my watch when I got out, so I don't personally know what his final time was, but I'm estimating that it was around 40 minutes.  The last minute of the final lap I ran back to the boat ramp to be there ready for him with his towel and help him dry off and get dressed as quickly as possible.

Four .25 mile laps = 1 mile

We helped him get from sitting on the dock to the car which was very toasty at this point.  He sat and went through the recovery stage while we monitored him.  I took his pulse and it took a while for me to locate it due to all the shivering muscle fibers in his neck.  It was at a normal rate and continued to keep an eye on him.  He was moaning in pain.  But that is normal even for a moderate distance that I rarely put myself through.

He took a couple sips of warm water and asked for hot shower.  Josh said, "Warm?  I thought you were done with those?"  We all laughed and eventually got him in that shower.  The shower is in a little room and we helped him get seated with that warm water streaming into him.  He told us his thought process.  As he poured out his heart and emotions that he has been going through with his cancer, I was nearly brought to tears.  I could only imagine what he has gone through and is about to go through.

After about 20 minutes in that shower, he started to celebrate and joke around and I could see his white cold feet turn red again.  He was warming up and the hypothermia recovery was a success.  Josh and I were so happy for him.  This is the best Christmas present he could ever give himself.  A major success like this to ponder on over the next several months while he fights the cancer which will take every ounce of life to beat it.  I thought to myself, if he can take each treatment as well as he does each lap leading up to an ice mile, he's going to make it look easy.  Although I know that it actually won't be easy and nothing I can say will make it any easier.  I've never been there.  I don't have a clue.  I can only be there for the man.

I'm so proud of what he was able to do this evening!  I can't begin to express how honored I am to know such a fighter.  There are over 1800 English Channel swimmers, but only handfuls of real Ice Swimmers.  He is in an extremely rare club!  He challenged Josh and I to follow suit.  Man!  He's got the wheels turning in my head.  The fear of that kind of pain exceeds any kind of pain from a marathon swim.  Hypothermia is definitely something to NEVER take lightly.  Physiologically, you can get to a point where you really can't be reheated, and then it's all over.  Or you may get out, but the super cold blood from your extremities get to your heart and you have a heart attack.  This kind of a challenge I'm going to have to train for, but I cherish my warm, hot showers too much at this point.

Goody wrote up his experience and includes what got him motivated to DO THIS!

Here's some video:

I'm listening

One of the orders I received from Grayson at my last visit was to "Listen to your body".  I've been doing that, and my swims have been relatively short because of that.

Last night I stopped at the pool on the way home and did:

2000 - 4 x 500's - first swim, 2nd kick, 3rd swim, 4th pull all free using the strapless paddles.

The pulling wasn't hard on my shoulder at all.  Felt good

Then this morning I got up early and was planning on a 6000+ swim, but the shoulder said no and I wasn't about to push it.  Ended up doing:

1000  - 200 breast, 200 back, 200 free, 200 back, 200 breast
1000 kick - 600 with fins, 400 without
500 pull - shoulder started to say no about 400 yards into it.
200 back/breast

2700 yards total in 1 hour

Swimming with Goody at GSL this evening.  Aiming for face in free the first length, then breast coming back.

Best cold water swim of the year

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the past weeks of swimming in the GSL.  But swimming breaststroke.... well sucks!  In celebration of hitting my 3 month anniversary of recovering from surgery I was officially given permission to swim freestyle.  With that, I donned my neoprene hat and sweet WFPBC cap.  Started the swim with Jim, Josh and Miles.  I got in, and immediately went to face in freestyle.  Did the 400 yard swim in 6 minutes.  Yes I was trying to get a good pace going.  The water felt fine on my face, and I was pleased that it wasn't terrible.  When I got out, I stopped the watch: 6:02. Not too shabby for a bird just getting back in the air after resting a broken wing.

Miles was in for well over 10 minutes and earned his cap.  Yes his skin matched the color of the cap, as does everyone else.

When I got out and dressed, Sabrina walked down the ramp with her friend Anna Halverson, who also got in and earned her cap.  The Utah State Parks official temp was 38.  Both Jim and my watches read 41.2f.  So we figured an average temp was 40.

Jim and Josh both were in the water more than double of what I did, but my days of seeing how much time I can spend in the water is over.  My goal from here on out will be for a specific distance, and not time.  I can't compete with those dudes.

Total: 400 yards in 6:02

Oh, and here's a little video I put together as an ad for the New Years Race:

50 year old freshman

Got this documentary in the mail this weekend:

I saw it at the Global Open Water Swimming conference a few months back.  It was awesome.

Its a story about an open water swimmer who went back to college at the age of 50 and joined the swim team there and was a leader among the young ones. She is a great example that you are only as old as you feel.

Great film.

This morning's workout was:

4000 - 8 x 500's odd kick, even swim in 1:17

Did total of 800 yards free today.  Not bad.  Shoulder's feeling good.

Its not funny anymore

During today's workout I noticed that my funny bone wasn't triggered anymore.  For the past couple weeks when doing breast stroke the nerve in my elbow was firing, not at 100% like you just hit your funny bone, but at about 20% or so.  Kind of a twinge that was extremely annoying.  I told my physical therapist about it this week and she said if it sticks around for a long time or progresses then I need to see a hand/arm specialist.  I don't have any idea why it was doing that, but today I didn't feel it.  So that's great!

2000 - 5 x 400's in 45 minutes.  Swim through without stopping

1st and 3rd set breast stroke, 2nd and 4th set swim, 5th - 200 breast, 200 free 

Nobody is coming up to the cabin this weekend so it looks like its just our family.  I hope there is snow up there.

Driven

There is a documentary film that is in post-production and needs some funding to get off the ground.  It features a couple of swimmers that I swam with last year at Jamie's swim camp.

How many documentaries do you know of that cover marathon swimming?  Exactly.  None.  This is most likely the first one.  I have done my part to help fund this thing.  If you have some extra dough, please consider helping out.  You'll get a copy too, which is nice cause I don't think you'll be able to pick this up at Blockbuster.



This morning's swim was great.  I enjoyed it and felt rejuvinated afterwards.

4000 - 10 x 400's in 1:25

1st, 5th, and 10th set kick with fins.  All others swim

Almost there....

Goody asked for a countdown to snapping the picture
so he could smile.  I wanted the countdown so I could
look dumb.

Yesterday evening I met up with Josh, Goody and Jim for a cold water swim out at the marina.  Did the normal 400 yard lap to the end of the marina and back in 16 minutes.  The water was 46°F.  I'm looking forward to doing heads in free next week.  Hoping to do the one lap in about 8 minutes or less.

After this morning's swim, my Physical Therapist, Grayson Doar, said that I can start doing front crawl next week.  Thing is, I've started doing it just to see how its going, and it's going awesome.  So I'll keep it to a minimum until next week.

Anyway, got in this morning and did:

4000 - 10 x 400's (odd kick with fins, even swim no rest interval

Physical therapy is cake.  No pain and the exercises are fairly challenging the first few days, but by the end of the two weeks, they're easy.  Very pleased with the progress and am looking forward to getting back into the routine.

Balance

Today was one of those days where I had to exercise some balance.  Swimming vs PT and Cardio?  How about both!  I only did 1000 yards this morning, and then quickly went to the gym for my hour of cardio/Physical Therapy.  Given that I have to be out of the office at 3:45 this afternoon I simply didn't have time to put in a full day at work and get in the amount of swimming I wanted, but the cold water swim this evening will be worth it.

400 kick with fins
400 breast stroke
200 free - felt great!

1000 Yards total

600 yards at 47 degrees

This afternoon Cathi and I stopped at the GSL Marina and met up with Sue Frehse and her husband Todd and their son Ryan who also came to earn his cap.  He did great and withstood the cold to earn his own cap.  We also had Vicky show up and also stayed in for more than 12 minutes.  I wanted to hit that 600 yard mark as well as the 20 minute mark.

Swam along with Goody and Josh and got that 1 1/2 laps and did it in 21 minutes.  I did it all breaststroke which is nice because I don't have to deal with the cold from the upper shoulders up.  Josh and Goody were amused with the very distinct red line where the water line was on my back.

So with tonight there are officially 6 qualified swimmers for the New Years Day Race.  Looking forward to Tuesday evening.

Today swam over 3 miles which I'm very pleased with.

Therapy

This morning I woke up and my left shoulder was aching.  Not terribly, but about a 2.  After today's workout it dropped down to a zero.  So swimming is total therapy physically and mentally.

1000 breast
1000 - 1000 kick w/fins
1000 - breast/one arm fly combo
1000 - 1000 kick with fins
1000 - 400 breast, 200 backstroke, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 one arm fly

5000 yards total in 1:45

Looking forward to this afternoon's WFPBC swim