Take it easy bro!

Last Saturday I took the scouts on a long hike (15 miles) up to Ben Lomond Peak.  I've been told that's the 5th highest peak in Utah.  It was a little brutal.  But the biggest issue was on Saturday morning as we were tearing down camp and putting gear back in the trailer, I was lifting a heavy camp stove into the corner of the trailer and the lateral movement of that weight caused a searing pain in my left shoulder.  Ouch!  Despite icing it all Saturday and Sunday, it was only at about 30% on Monday so I skipped yesterdays workout.  Which was good because it improved and this morning was around 60%

This morning's workout was pretty good.  I was planning on double this, but thought I really shouldn't push it and leave the workout feeling strong, and also give the shoulder a break.  I'm going to make sure to hit some dry land exercises and work on that lateral movement which at the moment is the painful movement with my shoulder.

6200 - 4 sets of {500 free, 400 pull, 300 free, 200 IM, 100 fast (all under 1:15), 50 kick}


6200 yards total in 1:30

Hoping to build up the yardage this week instead of front loading and making the shoulder get more tender each day.

Meeting Pete Wetterhall

This morning I was up at 0350 and was in the water exactly at 0500.  I did:

2000 free in under 14 minutes (Felt great!)
1950 Free again ( I was supposed to do 2000, but.....)

About 500 yards into some guy got in the next lane over and he was quick.  In fact he was gaining on me.  My goal was that once he caught up to me fully, I would just stay with him.  Which I did, but I had to push it.  Long strong pulls and breathing on the right side.  Bilateral is great for a channel pace, but I just can't go strong and breathe bilaterally, I need more air.  After staying with him for about 300 yards or so, he was done and I did a few more laps.  I stopped to talk to him.  His name is Pete Wetterhall and he said he did the Slam the Dam 8K in 2:19.  What!?  How is it that some guy that I've never seen before is a Davis county local and is as quick as he is?  

Apparently he swam in Bountiful Lake several times this summer as well as pineview.  I'd love to get with this guy.  He's about 5-10% faster than me and I really have to go just to stay with him.  I told him about the GSL race in June and the Polar Bear Club we're starting.  He appeared interested.  

 Masters workout:
400 free easy
400 - 8 x 50's kick no rest
800 - 4 x 200's free on 2:50
2000 - 10 x (100 free strong on 1:30-1:40, 75 stronger on 1:15, 25 sprint on :45)
50 easy

7,650 yards total


Today at noon I listened to a Webinar where Mike Lewis interviewed Jamie Patrick.  The coolest thing I heard was the mental exercise he goes through during super long swims.

He starts at the letter A and picks three people that he knows with their first name starting with A.  Then he names three characteristics about that person, how they met, and the last time he saw them.  Then go on to the next two people, then moves on to B.  That is something I definitely want to keep in mind cause that could be something that would seem to work so well when your mind starts to break down and you need to refocus on something other than how bad you hurt.

First week of Polar Bear swim - 63.5° in GSL

I started a group in Facebook - Wasatch Front Polar Bear Club and our first dip was this evening.  I heard reports that GSL is 60 degrees.  I drove out to Saltair and met up with Jake and Josh Green.  Then we carpooled out to Blackrock.  The gates are closed after 5pm, but we got permission from Dave to use the code to get in and drive out to BR.  When we got in my digital them read 63.6° F!  That's barely cold!  I was a little annoyed that it wasn't below 60.  I didn't put on any lube or I would have swam out to the buoys at the marina opening and back.  I somehow scratched the inside of my arm earlier this week and the salt water was really stinging it.

Anyhow the water felt great and when I got out I wasn't even cold.  I bought a hot chocolate on the way there and so I drank it not to waste it.  But it wasn't needed.  No shivering at all.  Can't wait for the temps to drop and it can really count as a polar bear swim!

Total Distance: @ 1/3 mile
Time Spent: 15 minutes
Lots of chatting with Josh and Jake.

When I got home, the sweatshirts that I ordered for the 5 original club member (Josh, Jake, Myself, Goody and Heidi) were home.

Half Fast swim

Say "Half Fast swim" fast, and that about sums up today's workout.
Got up at 0420 and was in the water at 0543:

1000 free easy
Masters workout:

300 swim, drill, kick
500 - 500 free @ 80%, long efficient strokes
500 - 5 x 100's free fast (90%) on 1:45 (held 1:10)
500 pull @ 85%
500 - 10 x 50's free fast (95%) on 1:00 (held :32)
500 - 5 x 100's free descend 1-5 on 1:40, 1:35, 1:30, 1:25, 1:20, 1:15
200 easy 

This workout came from Andrew and I loved it.  I was feeling like a putz when I got in and did the 1000. It was slow and I felt like an old fart.  But then the 500 sets really got me going and I was put into first position in my lane with Kris and Scott.  Had to step up.  

 Then stayed after and did:
1000 pull
1000 kick with fins


6000 yards total in 1:58
Feeling very sluggish!  Getting up at 0400 is starting to wear on me.  Tomorrow evening is the cold water swim.  Looking forward to it.  This weekend I'm doing a 20 mile hike with the scouts so I'll probably not do a swim this Saturday since I'll be wasted from that hike!

2500 miles

This morning's workout was let's just say, lethargic.  I wasn't completely dead tired, but just didn't have it in me to hold a fast pace.  Took it easy today.  Also today I hit 2500 miles logged since the beginning of the blog.

On the first four of the following, take an extra minute break midway between each major set.
4000 - 8 x 500's free (On 7:15 first four, 8 minutes second four)
3200 - 8 x 400's free (On 6:00 first four, 6:30 second four)
1600 - 8 x 200's free (On 3:00 on all)
800 - 8 x 100's free (On 1:30 all)
600 - 8 x 75's easy IM progression (on 1:30 all)
400 - 8 x 50's (Over unders on 1:15)


10,600 yards total in 2:58

1000th post

Today is a major milestone, this is my 1000th post on the blog!

This morning the alarm was going, but my brain wasn't registering the sound and Cathi woke me up.  Sorry Cath!

I was in the water at 0515 and did:

3000 - 3 x 1000's free on 15:00
100 easy
then joined masters:
400 Drills (1 arm fly, touch and pull)

I was in a lane with Josh and Tim.  

400 Freestyle
400 - 4 x 100's favorite stroke(free) on 1:20
300 kick with fins
300 - 6 x 75's  second favorite stroke (one arm fly on first and last 25 and full fly on middle 25) on 1:15
200 pull
400 - 8 x 50's 3rd favorite (back) on :45
100 free
250 - 10 x 25's least liked stroke (breast) on :25

200 IM all out!

I've never timed my 200 IM.  I was thinking getting under 3:00 was reasonable and was my goal.  I ended up going 2:42.  Felt really good about that.  

200 cooldown

Masters work done and followed up on my own with:

2000 pull easy
4000 - 4 x 1000's free on 15:00


Total: 12,250 yards in 3:30

Today's workout was fantastic!  Felt good the whole time.

Intrasquad Meet

This morning was a very small internal meet with South Davis Masters.  Got there and warmed up:

400 - 100 free, kick, stroke, drill
400 - 8 x 50's free build 1-4
200 easy
Then the meet started I did:
50 Fly: 28.95
200 Free: 2:19.39

I was beat from the 50 and intentionally did not push this one very hard.  I had a 500 coming up and wanted to do fairly well on that one.

100 Free: 58.6
500 Free: 6:00.4

I was surprised I got that time.  I was aiming for a 6:15, but felt like I was probably going to get a 6:30.  I just took strong long strokes but didn't kick hardly at all.  

50 free: 27.87

Then I participated in two relays.  Two five member teams doing 50 yards each.  I was the freestyle leg in the medley, and again in the 250 free relay.  Our team won both events.  I told Kris that I felt dead after the first two events, more so than if I did a 10K straight.
(100 free for relay portion)

Did 100 cooldown and after talking with several people, moved to the north end (Since VHS moved in the south end for a swim meet), and did:
1000 free pull
1000 kick with fins
2000 pull on 30:00
2000 free
300 - 100 IM, 100 free, 100 back


8400 yards total

Shoulder is still feeling awesome!  I'm stoked that I'm already doing this much hard work with it, and it's not giving me troubles.  I feel like a new man!

Planning out 2012

Today I read about a new record that was set.  John Kelly and Tom Brown are swimmers in Wyoming.  They worked together to accomplish swimming the length of a 9 mile lake in their area called Fremont Lake.  They both have been dreamed of crossing it and were able to do it last week.  Awesome!  Here's their story.





I was surprised to find that this isn't unreasonably far for me to travel to and try to beat.  It's super high elevation (Around 7430) so it's pretty cold.  I'm thinking about doing a double crossing of this lake and at the same time see if I can break the single crossing record.

Next year I plan to make trips to Bear Lake several times a month during the summer where the water is cold compared to other lakes in the Wasatch Front.  Once I get sufficiently cold water conditioned with the Bear Lake swims, I'd like to extend my next northerly visit and go all the way up to Fremont Lake and go for a double.  I'd like to do this in on July 15th, 2012.  Any later and it's too close to my EC crossing.  Any earlier, and I risk it being too cold.   Based on this article,  Fremont lake is considered a glacial lake.  It's also 1500 feet higher than Bear Lake.

It's very deep, and has a low content of diluted minerals.  I guess that makes it quite unique from other lakes.  Average ice breakup is in mid May.  And the temp in mid June is in the range of 50 degrees. Temp in mid July is high 50s.  So I'm thinking if I really trained well in cold water a July 15th swim should be good.  My EC trip would be a little more than three weeks later.  

I wish this lake were closer!  It sounds like a good place to train for cold water conditioning throughout the summer months!

High School Swimming Officials class

2000 - 2000 free no equipment.  This went by so fast!  Got this in under 27 minutes.
Masters workout begins:
300 free
300 - 6 x 75's (25 kick, stroke, drill)
200 - 2 x 100's build
600 - 4 x 150's @ 75% on 2:05
50 back easy
450 - 3 x 150's pull @ 80% on 2:00
50 back easy
300 - 2 x 150's free @ 90% on 1:50
50 back easy
150 strong set goal (1:45) - got 1:38!  Nice!
100 easy
300 - 6 x 50's kick descend 1-3 (first two dolphin, third flutter...repeat) on 1:00

Moved to the North end and did:
300 easy (100 free, 200 back)
1200 pull


6350 yards total in 2:00

Last night I attended a High School Swimming Official class and I'm now certified to officiate as a stroke and turn judge.  Kind of worried that there was no test, just instruction that was 150 minutes.  As an official I enforce the rules, regardless of whether I agree with them or not and nearly all of them I do... except for two small rules where the discussion seemed to take up a good chunk of the class:

1) No jewelry rule.  I recognize that big dangly loop earings, or a loose fitting necklace probably isn't the safest thing.  But a ring?  Or a watch?  I've worn both to meets and in workouts and they've never posed a safety problem.  Why ban jewelry all together?  Seems extreme.  Then some doofus brought up, "What about tongue rings or tongue studs?"  Oh my gosh.  I just don't get the anality of it all.

2) Logos on caps and suits.  Non water permeable logos cannot take up more than 9 inches and must only be contained in one logo, not two.  The size of the logos on the caps can't be greater than a certain size.  And the names on caps must be a form of the person's actual name.  No nicknames (unless its a form of the person's first name)  Wow!  Seems ridiculous. Sure you don't want profanity on a cap, but if a guy's nickname is "Doofus" why not let him have it on the cap?  I just don't get it.

One thing that was not discussed and I was hoping wasn't a rule...  Do you notice that a good majority of swimming officials who watch turns hold their hands behind their back?  Why?  I don't see people holding their hands like that when they standing and watching their kids play soccer, or standing at line at the movies.  It looks really dumb.  I almost piped up.  "Do I have to hold my hands behind my back when I'm watching turns at the end of the pool watching as an official.  You know the typical "I'm important, notice me" stance?  I didn't see anything in the rulebook that said I have to stand like that."  But I didn't think that would fly very well with the group.

Glad I went though.  I got a rulebook that I'm going to have to read in detail and highlight.  It shed light on a few things that I simply didn't know, or weren't enforced rules when I was a kid.  I remember being DQ'd my senior year at state in the 500.  That is probably one of the saddest moments of my life.

Attending a class like that made me SO GLAD I didn't pursue my career path of law enforcement.

The power of pacing

This morning I slept in a little to make up for yesterdays early morning.  I was in the water at 0658 and swam the following:

6000 - 6 x 1000 free no equipment on 15:00.

Was holding between 14:11 and 14:30 on all these.  Halfway into the second set (@1500 yards), I felt low in energy.  I didn't eat a very good dinner last night and I was low in fuel.  But then some guy got in the next lane over and started swimming 50's on :45.  That got my mind off the negative energy and focused on staying ahead of his pace.  He got out only after doing about 15 sets of 50, but by that time, I was in a rhythm and felt strong.  I was thinking during my swim why pacers are allowed in an EC crossing.  I mean the standards are there to maintain as similar standards as what he did.  He didn't have a pacer.  Not that I'm complaining.  I'm glad to have Josh give me a boost, but I'm just curious why they allow that, but not like MP3 players.  Not that I have ever used, or plan to use an MP3 player while swimming.  Just curious as to the reasoning behind allowing pacing.  

My 500 splits were even and I was holding a constant and even pace of low 7 minute 500's.  

Distance: 6000 yards
Time: 1:29

The water was noticably warmer today.  I measured it on the way out with my digital therm and it read 84.7  Usually its 81 or colder.  I left a note in the comment box today asking for it be kept around 80 or lower.  (I'll be happy if its 81)

Yesterday afternoon I went to a meeting at the Rose Park Library where 20 people gathered to discuss a couple of issues concerning the lake:

• Phragmities - this noxious weed is spreading like wildfire and it threatens the wetlands and nesting areas of birds.  Alot of money and effort is going into analyzing the plants spread, and methods in fighting its spread.
• The new 180 foot bridge that is potentially going up to replace the cracked culverts that go across the causeway.  This is intended to even the flow of saline water between the north and south ends of the lake.  

When the meeting started they had everyone go around the room and introduce themselves and give their title, such as "My name is Kathleen Anderson, from the US Army Corps of Engineers", or "My name is Lacenda Downs, Davis County Commissioner".  Crap! Nobody was like "My name is John Williams, I'm just a lake lover."  So I had to come up with something so I didn't sound like I wasn't just some doofus who walked in off the street, so I said, "My name is Gordon Gridley, from Great Salt Lake Open Water".  I saw some people nod their heads like they knew what the heck that was.  Ha ha.

The info of phragmities was interesting.  I'm amazed at how much money is going into fighting this thing (over a million dollars collectively)

Also the presentation by the US Army Corps of Engineers on the new bridge proposal was very interesting and presented in layman terms so I was able to follow along.  Very cool stuff.  It looks like everyone in the room is in agreement that the desired state is to bring the north and south ends of the lake into a more equal level of salinity.  This would mean that the south end would get even saltier!  But I'd be surprised if it would really be noticeable in my lifetime.  Especially down at the very south end by the marina where there are a couple of inlets of freshwater.