First swim in pink lemonade

Jonas had a ball on this Dad/Son
fieldtrip.

History of the railroad causeway that caused the Great Salt Lake to really seem like conjoined twins, but one being disturbingly strange.

This morning I got a text from Becky that she is planning to be at the Spiral Jetty this evening.  She told me she was craving root beer so I made a plan to meet her there with a large root beer float.  I called Cathi to get the "Go" for the plan.  She was on-board as long as I took Jonas for some Dad bonding time.  Great idea.

So I got off work at 4pm and stopped by to pick up Jonas and the spoils for Becky.  I could tell throughout the day that meeting at the Spiral Jetty was in jeopardy because it was still a ways away for her to be there at 8pm.  The spotGPS page I was getting on my cell, but it was extremely slow and for some reason wasn't updating every 10 minutes like it's supposed to.  I didn't see any accessible roads near the shoreline that would take me close to her so I went to the Spiral Jetty anyway hoping for the best and that she still might be able to make up some time.

One small step for Gords, a giant leap
for GSL swimmers

But when I got there I could tell that with the strong wind in the wrong direction, that it was probably not going to work out.  So I stripped down to my suit and got in and for a test swim.  I could see from a distance arriving the pink hue to the color.  It was VERY creepy to see.  When we got up close to the water, it was even more creepy.  You could see rocks, but they were covered in salt.  It really was like looking at water that might more resemble a lake on Mars or some other strange planet.  This was not the home planet I am used to.  I dipped my hand down and scooped up a handful of water.  Put it to my mouth and tasted the water.  It wasn't as toxic as I thought it was going to be.  It had a smoother salty taste to it.

I waded out to the very center of the spiral jetty and had Jonas take a few pictures.  Then I went to the outside edge towards the lake and with the storm front coming in, the waves were very intimidating.  The vastness of the lake was overwhelming.  I waded out about 50 yards and the water was up to mid thigh.  The temperature was warm.  Probably high 70s.  I knelt down and started to swim freestyle with my face in. I couldn't see underwater very far, only about a foot.   Couldn't see my hands.  Even though I swim like I normally do in the GSL, the "fumes" of the salt still made it into my nose and seemed to make it down my throat even though I did not take in any water.  It was extremely toxic.  It reminded me of when I was a stupid teenager and opened a container of pure hydrochloric acid and took a sniff.  It nearly made me pass out.  I tried to focus and just deal with it, but I only made about a dozen strokes and it was just too much.

I am probably one of the last people to call the GSL "non-swimmable", but the north arm, I dare say you would literally have to be a superhero to swim in there more than a mile all freestyle.  I converted to breaststroke, and that was just fine, but I'm not a breaststroker, and definitely not a long distance breast stroker.  Capt Matthew Webb would have totally kicked butt on a swim here.  If I were to plan a swim up here I would really need to brush up on my breaststroke.




After my swim I got out and setup a quick little base where we got some water starting to boil with my single burner propane stove.  I brought along a few freeze dried dinners (which are so delicious).  While that was boiling Jonas and I tried to locate Becky's cache and stick in our goodies for her, but we were unable to find it.  We did happen to find:

• a black widow spider web
• A 4 foot garter snake
• A 1 foot rattlesnake
• A red ant hill with hundred of large red ants
• about a dozen rabbits
• a coyote

It was getting dark fast, and the storm had moved around west of us and was now to our north.  The wind direction changed from a southwesterly wind to a northeasterly wind.  A direction that would actually benefit Becky's travel direction.  We lit a propane lantern and ate our dinners at the makeshift firepit near the base of the spiral jetty.  We found some rocks and made our own little cache for Becky.  I inscribed her name in the firm sand near the firepit.  I sent her a text describing the location of the cache, but I'm worried that she won't see it because the lack of cell service.  My text was just queued and was sent as soon as we started making our way home.  Makes me sad that our cache will probably go unopened by her, and probably discovered by some unsuspecting tourist. 

While I was looking out and hearing the rumbling of the waves coming in with the high winds, it sounded just like the ocean.  I had Jonas with me, and that was comforting, but if I was out here by myself that would conjure up very insecure feelings of loneliness I think.  Becky must be extremely comfortable with solitude.  What she is doing takes a superhuman amount of bravery.  The lake can be extremely aggressive and unforgiving and while she is smartly staying relatively close to the shoreline, it can still be quite daunting to be out there.  I can only imagine the amount of strength she must possess.  

About 9:45 we collected our stuff and walked by lantern light back to the car.  I took another look back to see if any light out there was on the water, and there was none.  I was sad to leave.  I wished I had a tent and the day off work so that I might be able to stay, but Jonas had school as well.  

On the way home the GPS was telling us to take a shortcut and I didn't realize that it was not the same way we came.  We came to a locked gate.  I was confused why someone would lock a gate that was previously open.  We back tracked and the GPS told us to try a different way, another locked gate.  I started to panic a little inside.  We backtracked even further and finally the GPS took us to the road we came in on.  Whew! I thought we would be spending the night in the car waiting for some rancher to come unlock the gate.  

Finally drove into the driveway at home at 11:45pm.  What an adventure!  

I walked in the bathroom and looked in the mirror.  I looked like the sandman.  I had salt all over my face.  The water on the north arm is much more fine.  The salt is less abrasive and smooth, however in much greater concentration.  It's also extremely deceptive.  The smell of the intense salt goes unnoticed by me.  With my nose surgery from several years back my sense of smell is MUCH less than the average person.  I didn't notice any difference in the smell of the air than at the south end.  That pink water though is just so strange.  I definitely want to come back and give it another try when I have more time, and a kayak to paddle with me, and when the water and wind is calmer. 

Here are all the pics from our visit.

Total: 50 yards in about 2 minutes.  Wow!  Like swimming in acid.

300

300 miles in the Great Salt Lake.  That's 40% of ALL may open water mileage.

This morning I met Goody at the GSL Marina for a swim. The water was glasslike and the water felt great.  I estimate that it was right around 70 degrees.

Swam a double horned loop with more emphasis on going north and went around the G11 buoy about 1/2 mile north of the marina, then headed to black rock.  

The water was very clear and I was extremely entertained and mesmerized by the tufa rock on the lake bottom.  It is so cool to see.  Of the entire population in the world only a handful of people really get to enjoy this.  Not even the sail boat enthusiasts that come out here.  You have to put your head in the water and swim.  It's really awesome.  But you have to come out on a smooth day or you can't see it.

Today was a huge personal milestone.  I finally hit the 300th mile in the Great Salt Lake.  That consists of 123 individual swims ranging from a couple hundred yards to 21 miles.  40% of all my open water mileage has been done in the Great Salt Lake.  All my stats I've tracked on where, when and how far, is found here.

My friend Becky Richins reached the north end of the GSL last night in her kayak.  She is making history.  I was thinking about how my tongue reacts to the lake water with only 4 miles of swimming, and I suggested this idea to Cathi.  When I do my own gsladventure, I might be able to avoid getting any water in my mouth if I use a high quality snorkel.  But she countered that it was against EC rules, and that most marathon swimmers would discount the feat.  What a smart woman I have?  I never would have pinned her as being an open water purist.  She said, "You just need to figure out a way to make it work without compromising the standards.  Try vaseline in your mouth, or rinsing with something, or even just acclimatizing your mouth, but no aids, that would invalidate your accomplishments"  Holy crap, what a slave driver coach I've got!


Total: 4.6 miles in 2:15

Canary in a coal mine

I've noticed that during stressful events in my life, that leading up to something big, or just completing something big that I get a cold sore.  My mom tells me that they're stress related.  Well I got one started and man does it hurt.  When I feel one coming on I overload on L-Lysine supplements.  If I don't they last a couple weeks, but with the early detection and supplements they last about half that time.  I figure the stress of organizing the race was too much for my body and its retaliating.  

This morning's swim was cut short.  Swam at SDRC:

2000 free

1000 - 5 x 200's odd IM, even kick no fins

2000 pull - using the crappy equipment SDRC provides

300 - 100 easy, 200 IM

5,300 yards total in 1:30

Kindred Spirit

"I'd rather be crazy, than stupid" - she
must be told she's crazy alot.  I get
that too.

This morning I got to the GSL marina at 6:40am and was did a full Double Horned loop from the marina to Blackrock.

I saw Becky's truck parked at the marina and thought of her trek all morning during my swim.  She is making fantastic progress and should be able to get to Spring Bay by tomorrow I'm guessing.  Here's her GPS tracking site: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0NWcIpq5zPTGOy1DMml5eagqqL7S1jX5a

 The water this morning was glassy and the temp was good.  No more swimming there for me in the afternoon.  I didn't take a temp, but it felt like it was right around 72.  Also last night I stayed up to watch Adam's report on Talkin' Sports.  It turned out well:

The magesty of swimming in the GSL really happens during
sunrise and sunset.  Middle of the day swims are kinda
'Blah", but when the sun comes up, or goes down
and the water temp isn't too warm,  It's heaven!

Part 1: http://www.kutv.com/sports/features/talkin-sports/stories/vid_698.shtml
Part 2:  http://www.kutv.com/sports/features/talkin-sports/stories/vid_699.shtml

And again this morning I woke to an email from Simon Griffiths, Managing Editor for H2Open who wanted to write up an article on swimming in the Great Salt Lake and on open water swimming in Utah.  So stoked with this flood of media attention lately.  It's pretty gratifying.

I was planning to swim in Pineview this morning.  Last night I looked for a current water temp reading cause I don't want to mess with temps less than 60 and wanted a 4 mile swim this morning.  I was going to go and hope for the best, but then I found out that someone drowned in Pineview yesterday, and during the interview with search and rescue, they gave the water temp at 56°.  Yeah, I think I'll hold off swimming there for decent training for another week or two, especially for morning swims.

By the way, when you swim open water, please know your limitations.  This guy was swimming with friends which was great, but he went too far, and wasn't able to get back and went under.  Again, a Safe Swimmer buoy or a Swimmer Buddy sure gives you so much protection.

I was pondering during my swim how well my shoulders have held up since my surgery.  They are stronger than ever and don't give me any trouble.  So grateful for that.  Good times.  Planning to go back out there Wednesday morning.

Today's swim according to my GPS was 4.3 miles in 2:03.

Results of the Great Salt Lake Open Water Marathon

I feel like such a slacker this week.  I've been so involved in organization and last minute To-Dos that my swim training this week has been less than ideal.  However, my body aches and sleep deprivation have reminded me that it still has been no picnic.

On Saturday morning I was up at 4:30 and got the kids in the car and drove the marina.  I setup the tent and the check-in booth and got all the kayaks laid out and helped Josh get the 8 milers taken care of.  There was one cancellation at the last minute so there were a total of 12 swimmers.  I got my brother, Russell, to drive the huge trailer.

While the 8 milers were about to leave, my new found friend, Becky Richins was at the boat ramp about to leave on her own adventure: a double crossing of the Great Salt Lake length in a kayak.  She is a dreamer like me and I admire that.  I gave her the spotGPS and her tracking can be found here.   She's doing awesome!

Once the 8 milers left the 1 milers started checking in.  We had out raffle, and Henry Hudson won!  We had our safety crew meeting and we got them out in the water.  Then we had our swimmers safety meeting and got them out on the water.  Since the water level was so much lower than the past two years, we had to pull the course back a little to make it a legitimate one mile.  I put the buoys in on Friday evening and measured the course with my GPS.  I  had the "finish" of the swim at about 300 yards away from the waters edge.  I didn't want it to be a one mile total with only 70 percent of it actually swimming.  So the time for the one mile this year is not really comparable with last year.  We need to figure out how to get the finish line to be in the water for the one mile cause it really should be a one mile timed swim, not a one mile swim and then a long wade in the water while the clock is still ticking.

I had the swimmers get in the water on the east side of the marina by Silversands beach.  Many of them took their sweet time getting in the water even though I gave them plenty of time to get to the red buoy just north of the observation deck.  I gave them a 10 minute heads up, then a 5 minute heads up, 4,3,2,1 and then a 10 second count down, and there were still a couple swimmers very slowly making their way to the red buoy.  I wasn't about to wait another minute.  They were given plenty of warning and chance to get to the buoy on time.  I had the dozen or so people watching at the start yell out the count down from 10.  They all took off and I jumped in a kayak to help support.

There was one swimmer who was pulled from the course.  That was a first time that's happened.  Typically in the one mile event everyone who started finished.

Anyway, it's a level playing field for the entire field of swimmers, by year.  You just can't really compare year to year in any reliable way.  The ONLY thing that went less than ideally, was the lack of an organized awards ceremony.  I ended up giving the awards to the winners back at the marina, rather than at the finish.  I was unable to do this because I was in charge of safety and we still had people in the water.  I was unable to be at the end and cheer for people when I was in the water supporting the last of the pack.

I got my sister to help shuttle people back to the marina which was good.  Then I went to Blackrock to get one of the kayaks and start getting the two buoys out of the water.  One of the swimmers showed up and reported in.  He was about 4 miles into his swim when he ingested too much water and was throwing up.  He called Dave Shearer and got picked up.  So the field was down to 12 swimmers.

Traditional pickled tongue pic.  Winner:
Micki Poole

On my way back to the marina with the buoys, I noticed a few of the 8 milers coming in.  They were ahead of schedule.  When I got the buoys out and back to Blackrock I found out that Will Reeves won and came in at 3:10:10!  That is an amazing time!  Annie came in second place with 3:36:44.  That is the fastest time ever by a female swimmer.  Congratulations Annie!

After they all came in we went through the process of getting them and their kayaks all transported over to the Marina.  What a long day!

Here's the results, and some pics for the one-mile, and for the 8 mile.   Now back to focusing on my own training.  Tomorrow I'm heading to Pineview in the morning.

8 lakes - Josh's invitation to join quest

This afternoon Josh invited a group of us to join him on a quest to swim in 8 lakes along the Wasatch back. One mile in each lake then move on to the next.  8 miles swimming straight would take like 4-5 hours.  But getting out and driving to the next one?  This is gonna take all day!  I freaking love it!  I'd love it even more if we could get enough people to split it into two vans and turn it into a Ragnar type competition.

Tonight I met Josh and a small group of swimmers at the GSL Marina for a free clinic.  We swam out to the red eastern buoy and back.  One mile.  The water was like a hot tub.  The brine flies are hatching.  Good think the race is this weekend, cause after that, I'm out until fall.  Pineview here I come!  That's when it really starts to sink in that Catalina is right around the corner.

Photo by Mark Spratt

Saw the garter snake again along the path going down into the water.  The KUTV guy who came almost died.  He didn't see it until he was almost right on top of it, and at the same time someone said, "Rattlesnake".   He freaked.  It was awesome.  I'm going to name this snake "Pepper".  Seems like he may be a regular.  Seen him twice in less than a week.  

I can't wait for this week to be over.  Organizing a race is stressful!  And realizing that odds are that someone is probably gonna walk away pissed over something doesn't sit well with me, so I do my best to make EVERYONE happy.  That's the goal, but its a never ending battle.

All Things Considered

So tomorrow (Friday June 7th), my friends and I will be on NPR's All Things Considered.  If you're in Utah, It airs on KUER 90.1.  Otherwise you can listen to it online probably on Saturday since they're about a day behind getting the program online.  Should be pretty good.

This morning I swam Wes' workout.  My legs are sore from a killer lifting session a couple days back.  Ouch.

700 warmup

300 pull

300 - 2 x 150's kick

300 - 3 x 100's fast on 1:40

300 Free strong

300 - 2 x 150's IM, No free

300 - 3 x 100's FAST on 1:35

300 Free strong

300 - 2 x 150's Free easy

300 - 3 x 100's Desc 1-3 on 1:30

300 warmdown

3,700 meters in 1:10

Tonight is the GSL clinic.  Hoping to get in two miles there.

Got to Chattin'

This morning I went to NWRC cause I wanted to start earlier.  Did 2000 yards before masters started at 6am then did Coach Craig's workout:

400 warmup
600 - 12 x 50's desc 1-4 on :40
400 - 8 x 50's kick/free on :50
2000 - 4 x ( 4 x 200 pull on 2:30, 4 x 150's fly/back/breast on 2:20, 4 x 100's pull on 1:10, 4 x 50's free fast no equipment on :35)

Then did:

600 kick with fins
2000 agility paddles

Wanted to get in 10K today, but didn't have time as I spent too much of it talking with Kevin, Scott, Jeff and a little with Josh Eaton.  I think Kevin might come out to the GSL one mile.  Crossing my fingers.

8,000 yards total in 2:30

10 weeks

Yesterday I was thinking, and I only have 10 weeks before we'll be in California gearing up for the Catalina swim.  I'm getting excited!

This morning I came up with this workout since Andy is gone:

500 warmup
1200 - 6 x 200's desc 1-3
400 fins
1600 - 4 x 400's pull desc 1-3
1200 - 4 x 300's free/back by 100
1000 - 10 x 100's drill free on 1:30
1000 - 5 x 200's pull on 2:30
800 - 4 x 200's free/IM
300 warmdown

8,000 yards total in 2:10

What an eventful morning!

This morning I got to the pool knowing it would be cut short with the facility holding it's Splash and Dash event.  I ended up doing:

2000 - 10 x 200's free, kick, IM, pull large paddles, free, agility paddles, kick, IM, free, back

Just before getting out, I asked James if he wanted video of his stroke and then he took some of my stroke.  Oh my I had no idea that my catch was so non existent!  I'm going to have to work on that.



Then met Annie at the marina and we did a Double Horned Straight.

I went down the ramp to put up the flag.  Annie waited at the top of the ramp cause we were going to get in on the other side down at the end of the walkway to Silversands beach.  She pointed out a snake that kinda scared her.  It was a three and a half foot garter snake.  Pretty good sized little guy.  I like snakes, mostly cause I really enjoyed Steve Irwin.  That guy was my hero.  Here's a funny little clip of Irwin:

Probably one meter long water snake at the marina.

We waded out about a hundred yards to mid thigh level and took off to the red buoy.  The water was barely rippling and the sky was completely clear and blue.  Perfect day!

I took three readings with my watch throughout the swim: 67, 70 and 68.  I was annoyed with my shivering.  I didn't feel cold, but when we took a drink break at black rock I noticed that I was shivering slightly!  How embarrassing!

When we got back my GPS read 4.09 miles and my watch stopped at 2:01 including drink breaks and stopping once to get that one stupid drop of salt water out of my goggles.

I noticed a kayaker at the boat ramp.  I went down to retrieve the posted swimmer flag and asked her if she would be willing to come out and help kayak next week.  She said that she couldn't and that she was starting hew own adventure across the lake.  The lightbulb went off for me cause I had a conversation via email earlier this week with a Rebecca Richins.  She is a hardcord kayaker that is attempting a double length crossing of the Great Salt Lake.  What a coincidence that she would be here this morning.  We talked for a good bit and her friend was there taking video.  She is producing a documentary of Rebecca's adventure.  During our conversation she was intrigued and asked me some questions.

I'm especially interested in Rebecca's journey.  I told her a bit about Fremont Island and about the story of John Baptiste.  She hadn't heard of "Redemption" so I stopped by at Seagull book on the way home and picked one up for her.  I know she'd really like it. I'm eager to talk with her again.  

Total for the day: 2000 sc yards and 4.09 miles open water