Night Swimming

Goody picket me up at 7:30pm and we drove down to the GSL Marina for a night swim.  I would have preferred to go to Antelope Island, but Dave Shearer hinted to Goody that he'd prefer our first night swim to be down there.  So we went down there.  I was supposed to bring a high powered flashlight, but I forgot and we were already 10 minutes from my house so we decided to just bag it and hope that we wouldn't really need it.  Fortunately we didn't.

When we got there we checked in with Dave.  He asked if we knew a swimmer with a camo truck.  We didn't.  He said that someone with a camo truck came into the marina early in the morning and swam out of the marina without a friend, and without an SSD and almost got hit by a sailboat.  Not good.  If an accident happens, Dave would probably prohibit swimming in the marina.  Have I swam alone, have I swam without an SSD?  Yes.  So I'm not much of a perfect example.  But 95% of the time I'm with someone and/or wearing a SSD or Swimming Buddy.

Anyway,  Goody and waiting till around 9:15 and set out for Black Rock.  He swam first.  I paddled to the right of him and although there was no moon at all tonight, the lights from the Kennecott plant on the other side of I-80 had blazing lights that reflected over to the lake and I could see as well as if there was a full moon.  We swam towards black rock and although I couldn't see it, I could see the "Gap" in the red tail lights of the cars heading towards Stansbury Park.  That "gap" was where the lights were unseen as they were behind black rock.  We got within 200 yards of blackrock and my GPS read 1.02 miles.  Goody took a feeding and we turned around.  Occasionally he would do some breaststroke, and would also tell me that there were some serious cold patches that he had to swim through.

When we got back to the marina, he got dried off, clothed and we switched.  My clear goggles that I picked up at Big 5 on the way in sucked bigtime.  They leaked within a few seconds.  Foam padding goggles suck!  I switched to my charcoal ones that I didn't want to use.  "I wear my sunglasses at night".  Anyway, at least they didn't leak and I could still see bright lights, and barely see the green glowsticks that were tied to the kayak.  The swim out to black rock was awesome.  The first 2-3 inches of water was cold (probably around 66f), but below that, much warmer.  There was no wind at all and it was like glass on the lake.  Awesome for a night swim.  I swam strong, yet relaxed.  Goody said my stroke count was averaging around 63 spm.  I moved the glowstick from the back of my goggles to inside my wrist watch, which I liked much better.  To see the bioluminescence of the glow stick was quite fun especially since I couldn't see much light at all otherwise with my stupid dark goggles.

Swam back and this time it was easier to sight as there was a huge glaring light at the mouth of the marina.  When we got back it was a little after 11:30 and I called home to make sure everyone was in bed and they knew I was on my way.

What a fun evening!  Definitely want to do it again.  Next time Antelope Island Marina though.

Total Distance: 2.0 miles in 58 minutes

New toy - the Swimmer Buddy

My in-laws gave me the best birthday present ever.  I told Cathi about a month ago about the Swimmer Buddy I saw in Swimmer Magazine.  Which is basically a commercialized version of Rob D's Frankenfish.  I dreamed of super quick feeds, and a very cool way to take video while swimming that didn't involve strapping the GoPro to my noggin.

Goody and I chatting just before getting in at the
Antelope Island Marina boat ramp.

Well my sweet in-laws got this for my birthday, (which we celebrated last week, but isn't until later this month). I was so happy!  This afternoon I met Goody out at Antelope Island Marina and this was the maiden voyage.  My initial impression with it was fantastic.  Sure it has slightly more drag than a SSD (Which has gone through too many names), but it allows me to put my stuff in a waterproof container and get easy access to it.  I put my GPS in there, my car keys, a couple cereal bars and an extra pair of goggles.  Then I strapped the GPS to the front of the noodle that goes across the top.  

It took fantastic pics and video, although with any picture I take, the media just seems to never capture the true roughness of the water.

When we got in Goody took a temp and he read 55f?  It definitely did not feel that cold.  But it felt much colder than Tuesday's swim.  Once we swam for 30 minutes, I stopped took a quick feed and was ready to go in less than 30 seconds.  It was awesome.  No fumbling with opening the SSD, just reached under the netting for my drink, pulled it out and bam!  Goody was only behind me about 20 yards, and while he got his drink I took a temp with my watch - 66.2f.  I also remembered how my expensive GPS unit died last year right before the GSLOW race due to prolonged exposure to water, so I put the GPS which I had dangling from the noodle in my waterproof container.

The wind was coming from the northwest and we were heading right into it.  The drag wasn't terribly annoying and I liked how the tether to my belt wasn't on a sliding contraption.  That was one of the biggest peeves I had with the SSD.  It would slide to one side and I had to make a quick adjustment while swimming to get it centered.  However, with the Swimmer buddy, the line goes back past my feet and sometimes when I'd kick during my rotation, my feet would feel the line.  So it prevented me from really kicking hard to avoid wrapping my feet around the cord.  Not a huge deal, especially in the GSL when I normally hardly kick at all.

At each 30 minute interval we'd stop for a quick feed.  After going for 1:20 northwest towards Fremont Island, we turned around and headed back.  This time we were going with the wind and the waves.  It went much faster this time.  The USA flag which I had posted at the back of my Swimmer Buddy occasionally acted like a sail and at the top of a really big wave would cause the thing to flip.  I had attached my waterproof container to the netting system with a keychain so I knew that would get separated, and when I flipped it back over both the drink and the container were still held within the bungee netting.  Goody was entertained with the flipping.  As the wind continued to grow and the waves getting more dramatic, the flipping was happening more frequently too.  With my drink nearly gone there was hardly any weight on the thing so Goody attached his SSD belt to the back of the noodle and let it drag behind to weigh it down.  That helped, but it flipped one more time going back and I realized that the wet flag was really causing the problem with the wind, so I quickly pulled it out and slid it under the netting.  No more flipping after that.  I took another reading on the way back and it read 64f.

When we got back to the marina, with the lack of waves we both really poured it on for a sprint to the finish.  It was a good day and the GPS read 4.15 miles at the end.  We were greeted by a motorcycle guy who asked us a few questions.  He must have thought we were nuts, both of us swimming that far in the waves, and walking up the ramp spitting in vain to get that salty taste out of our mouths.

Goody opened up his SSD and found that his phone which he had in two ziplock bags had taken on water, and it was dead.  I told him about the rice immersion trick which worked for me a couple times before with wet electronics.  Crossing my fingers for him that it works.

Even though it was about a mile short of what I wanted, I was pleased with today's swim.  It felt more English Channel like with the cooler temp, and the crazy waves and wind.  Not a bad afternoon.

Total distance: 4.15 miles in 2:30

Late, but not out

Slept in, so I got to the pool late and missed all of the warmup except for a quick 100:

100 free
150 - 2 x 75's drill (was supposed to do 4 but had to ask Dennis about sponsoring GSLOW and DC)
2400 - 6 x (200 free strong, 100 IM, 2 x 50's breast kick)

Moved to LC Meter pool and did:
1200 - 8 x 150's middle 50 back (pull)
Then did my own thing
1500 pull
2000 finger paddles
600 kick with fins
400 IM
1500 free


7200 M + 2650 Y = @10,525 yards total in 3:15  
Some shoulder fatigue today, no pain, just tired. 
The outdoor pool felt really good.  Much cooler than Monday.  Didn't take a temp though.  I had my swimsense on.

Afternoon swims are about to end

Second stop at Blackrock

Tonight I met Goody, Chad and Josh at the marina and was ready to get in a 4:40pm.  We all got in and Chad, Goody and I swam out to Blackrock and back.  I was feeling strong and did it at a decent pace.  At each stop I would hurry and get my drink, get back to swimming, and then start up again with them once they got their drinks.

View from Silversands beach.

Did two laps of the straight and then did an extra double buoy loop (that route adds and extra 1.5 miles to the course).  I was in a race against the sun.  It was dropping fast.  Ended up beating it by like 40 minutes.

I took three reading throughout my swim.  The water ranged from 68 to 71 degrees depending on where I was with the cold spots, and the warm surface of the water.  Swimming in 68 is just too warm to really be good training for channel conditions.  Today's swim made me come to a conclusion:   After this week, I'm planning to swim T/Th mornings at the marina just as the sun comes up.  I'm hoping that the cool nights drops the water temp a few degrees and I'm able to swim in water that is below 65.

GPS track of this evening's swim.  

After recently reading this blog post from Mark Robson, the English Channel temperatures this year, are quite a bit chillier than past years.  I may not be swimming in water that is 60 degrees or higher.  When I felt the cooler water about 2 feet deep, or when passing behind the wake of a sailboat, I welcomed the cooler water which probably would have registered as 65f.  Come June/July, I'm going to have to do some consistent training swims in Pineview instead of GSL.  And also lots of bear lake weekends.  And just to be sure, cold showers, which I hate!

Finished at Silversands beach and stopped my GPS and it read 5.58 miles, and my watch stopped at 2:49.  not too shabby considering about 5 minutes of that was "frolicking", as Goody put it.


Total: 5.58 miles in 2:49

New Life

I love watching the sun come up in the morning!  Felt like
I was swimming open water when I swim in this pool.

Today I had a wonderful experience in the pool.  Felt symbolic of a new life in aquatics for me.  After the first half of my workout (once the 50M pool opened), the masters group moved to that pool.  At first I was kind of disgusted because there were tons of leaves and pits of trash in the pool, but then I felt a little at home (as if I was swimming in Bountiful Lake).  The wind picked up and while I didn't have to deal with chop and waves, the wind was fairly strong and felt great on my arms when they were out of the water during the recovery.  So that kind of encouraged a long stroke so that I could exaggerate my recovery to feel the cool wind on my arms.  The swim in the 50M pool today went by so fast!  I was sad once 8:30 came around and I had to get out!

Started out in the 25Y pool with:
400 free, then joined Kyle and the other group of Masters:
600 Warmup
900 - 12 x 75's drill IM by 75
500 - 10 x 50's kick with fins on :55
1800 - 9 x 200's free to back by 25 each set (pull) on 2:50
(4200 yards)
Then moved to the 50 M pool and did:
1000 - 10 x 100's on 1:30
Then did my own thing:
2000 pull
2000 finger paddles
1000 free
300 - 100 back/breast/free easy

6300 Meters + 4200 yards = @11,090 yards in 3:10

Thankful tongue

My tongue the 24 hours has still been extremely numb and the inside of my lips have been peeling pretty bad, so I figured I'd let them rest a bit and get back to the GSL on Tuesday.  So today's swim was in a pool.  I could have opted for Bountiful Lake, but after reading an article in H2Open about Weil's disease, I figured I'd try to avoid that place when possible.  So this morning I opted for the clean and clear chlorinated water of the SDRC.  That was a good choice and my tongue was ever so grateful!

Today I did:
1000 free warmup
2000 pull
1000 - 10 x 100's odd IM, even free on 1:40
2000 finger paddles
1000 kick with fins
1000 free easy
2000 paddles
1000 - 500 free, 500 back
2000 finger paddles
1000 free strong
100 - 50 back, 50 breast

14,100 yards total in 4:02 (The same time that Cathi took this morning in the Provo marathon)

Chat with Will

Did 1000 yards before masters:

600 warmup
600 - 12 x 50's kick/drill/swim IM Order
1000 - 8 x 125's 1st and 5th length, no kick on 1:50
1000 - 10 x (50 fast, 2 x 25's easy) free
800  pull
I started to do my add-ons, but Will had some interesting thoughts on the GSL race and talked about how to promote it better.   Some swimmers were giving us the evil eye for chatting and not swimming.  I finally got to my add on stuff, but got to worrying about something left undone at work and cut it short to get a jump on the day.

1550 finger paddles


6,550 yards total


Hoping to get off at a decent time and doing a short one at SDRC on the way home to make up for this morning.

Fun afternoon GSL Swim

I had a work deadline that I needed to work on this morning so I was at my desk at 5am instead of in the pool.

I did get the work done and the deadline was met with a few hours to spare so I got the OK to get off early.  I was in the water at the marina at 3:25pm and swam out and around the buoys.  On the way back I was wondering if I locked my car or not so I went around and got out at the silver sands rock path. My GPS said 1 mile exactly.

I checked my car and yes I did lock it.  I then went back down the boat ramp and reset my GPS and swam out to find Goody at the marina opening.  He said his goggles were giving him crap so we swam back to the ramp and he switched them out while I did another lap within the marina.

Then we swam out to Blackrock and back.  The water was so clear!  I got see the bottom and it was so fun to see!  Up till now this year in the GSL it has been murky and ony about 20 inches of visibility, but today it was like 10 feet of visibility in many places.

On my way back to the boat ramp, I met with Jim, and then Etsuko.  She even was wearing a Got Salt suit!  I was very pleased to see that!  I then met Levi, who is swimming the Antelope Island to Black Rock race.  The water temp with my watch on the surface read 66f and the digital them read 64 about 12 inches below the surface (where your body feels it the most).  Never felt cold during this swim, and I really enjoyed the movement of the water today.  It was some decent swells and not much in chop or in wind.  Definitely not flat though.

I took lots of pics with my GoPro.  Over 1000 as a matter of fact.  But here are just a handful of my favs.  I had to hurry to go to my son's school performance so I took a shower at the marina which I never do.  I was in there and realized there was no soap so I went out to get some from the dispenser and locked myself out with the hot water running and all my clothes and car keys in there.  Luckily I still had my speedo on and hurried off to track down Dave to get back in.  I must have looked real dumb running around in my "Rob Aquatics" speedo in the parking lot trying to get back in as quick as possible.

Total: 3.5 miles in 1:50

4 miles in the morning, 4 miles at night

Left foot, Left foot, Left foot, Right!

This afternoon I picked up Michelle downtown and we met Goody, Chad, and Josh out at the Marina.  Josh and Michelle opted for some buoy laps around the marina, while Chad, Goody and I did the Gridley Straight.  The wind and waves were coming fairly strong from the northeast.  Swimming out to Black Rock was awesome.  Got pushed the whole way, but coming back was quite the adventure.

Tongue numbness and salt burn

After one lap, Goody and I continued for another one while Chad did more around the Marina.  One thing that is getting tough is after I open my bag and get my drink and put it back, I'm ready to go, but I've been waiting to regroup.  From now on, after I get my drink, I'll swim out to them, swim back to the rendezvous point, and then start to swim back out while they get their drinks, and then back again once they start.  I gotta keep moving.  No wonder EC feeds are encouraged to be 1 minute or less.  It doesn't take long for the body to cool down.

At the end of the swim, my GPS read 4.1 miles.  Time: 2:25 including the three breaks and regrouping at mile points.

Because of all the wave action going on, I got more water than normal in my mouth.  My tongue took a beating.  Good thing next GSL swim is two days away.   I gave a French tourist at the marina a GSLOW magnet for a free souvenir.  She said, "Merci!"

The difference between Pineview and Bear Lake

This morning I opted to swim at SDRC since I needed to get my tires rotated this morning after my swim.  It was so refreshing to swim there for a couple reasons:

1. My favorite shower in the world.  
2. The water at SDRC is clear, relatively cool (81°F), and blue.  The water at Steiner lately has been cloudy, warm, and murky.  

The difference in pools at SLCSC and SDRC is like the difference between Pineview and Bear Lake.  Not that pineview is bad, but Bear Lake is awesome.  No wonder it's slightly more expensive at SDRC.  But my opinion will probably change next week once the 50M pool opens up.

Today I did:

2000 free 

2000 pull

1000 finger paddles

1000 kick with fins

1000 free

100 back/breast

7,100 yards total in 2:10

Looking forward to a 2-4 mile swim at GSL this afternoon.