Waking up naturally

Last night I set my alarm for 4:00 am,  however I forgot to turn it ON.  So I was having a very pleasant dream and at a critical point I suddenly woke up.  I looked over at the alarm clock and it read 4:10am.  Woah!  I got up and was in the water at 5:20am and swam:

10000 - 5 x 2000's free on 29:00
600 - 6 x 100's odd IM on 1:45, even free on 1:30


10,600 yards total in 2:37


After my shower there was a guy at my locker trying to open my lock. After a couple of failed attempts he was visually annoyed.  Then his friend came over and tried it without any luck.  I was laughing and finally said, "Hey, that's my lock.".  They could tell I was amused and they probably felt a little dumb.  Then he moved over two lockers (his lock had a red face and mine is black).  He tried his and it opened on the first try.  Haha.

Yesterday I finally registered for the Open Water Swimming Safety Conference in March.  Utah Masters is paying for my registration and hotel.  I have to pay for the airfare.  That's a great deal.   I'm very excited to go!

Paying dearly for the long weekend

So last Friday I slept in and didn't get my swim in, and Friday/Saturday went on a winter camp with the scouts.  So I had three days of rest.  That was a little too much as this morning's swim was BLAH!  Not to mention that when I got to the parking lot of the pool, I couldn't find my green duffle bag with all my swimming stuff.  Cathi must have taken it out to make room for some kids.  Good thing I have a backup bag with spare suits and goggles hidden in the trunk!

Got in the water at 5:08am:
3000 yards straight.  David Balling was in the next lane cruising!  He was doing 500's I think.  Just enough distance to lap me once.  But then I'd keep going and he'd start back up when I was back at the wall.  Today's swim felt "wavy".  Even though there were lane lines in, it sure didn't feel like it.  I hate swimming without ear plugs now. I guess that is now a crutch.  It just seems so noisy.  Need to track down my bag before tomorrow.

Then swam with masters:

600 - 300 swim, 150 kick, 150 touch and pull
2000 - 5 x 400's

1st set - 400 pull easy, 2nd set - 4 x 100's on 1:30, 3rd - 400 pull, 4th - 400 kick, 5th - 8 x 50's :05 ri 

600 - 6 x 100's IM on 1:45
300 - 6 x 50's fly on 1:15
500 easy

Then moved on to:
2000 pull

9000 yards total

Getting past the "I don't feel like it"

This morning I slept in till 5:00 instead of getting up at 4:00.  Hit snooze like 10 times.  Didn't get to bed until a little after 10pm last night.  After I got dressed the though popped into my head, make sure your shoulders aren't sore, cause you could just go to work early.  So I did a few shoulder rotations and yes they were just a tad sore, but not bad.  They were about 10% off.  Barely noticeable.  So I sucked it up and went to the pool anyway and did the following:

4000 - 2 x 2000's free on 30:00
200 back - really easy

Took a couple minutes to talk to Kevin.

4000 - 2 x 2000's free on 30:00
1000 build.  Finish REALLY strong
50 grandpa swimming

9250 yards total in 2:10- felt great!  


Now I'm glad I didn't listen to the lazy sucker on my right shoulder and heeded the advice of the athlete on my left.   

Man I needed that!

Yesterday on the way to the pool, my shoulders just felt sore, so I went straight to work and took the day off from swimming.  I sure needed that!  Today's swim was great:

2000 free then started with masters:

300 choice
400 - 8 x 50's on :45 desc 1-4 & 5-8
300 - 3 x (4 x 25's kick with fins)

1st Underwater dolphin, 2nd free on side, 3rd back kick, 4th backstroke

1350 - 3 x (250 free, 150 back, 50 sprints off the block)
50 easy
600 - 4 x 125 kick 3rd and 5th 25 kick hard!
100 easy
300 - 6 x 50's fast on 1:00 (25 fly, 25 free)

Then did:
1000 free with Jeff

Took a few minutes and chatted.  Talked with Jeff about the GSL swim.  Hope to get him to register for the one mile. He seems like a good distance guy and would probably like the experience.

1000 kick
1000 free
1000 kick


9400 yards total

 

1000 with Jeff

This morning I got up at 4:20 and was in the pool at 5:30.  Swam

2000 free

then joined Masters with:

300 - 100 free, 100 back, 100 kick
450 - 9 x 50's kick
800 - 4 x 200 IM's on 3:40
800 - 4 x 200's pull on 2:45
400 - 4 x 100 IM's on 1:40
400 - 4 x 100's free no equip on 1:25
250 - 10 x 25's 6 fly, 2 back, 1 breast, 1 free

Then stayed after and Jeff joined me for:

1000 free.  Pace was at 1:27/100yd nice and easy
He took off and I continued with:

2000 - 2 x 1000s on 15:00
500 pull
500 kick


9400 yards total

Met Maurice.  He's an older gentleman who I often see there.  He's a retired accountant.  He uses a rolling walker and I see him in the leisure pool with his wife.  Nice guy.

Meeting with Lynn de Freitas

This morning I met Lynn de Freitas, the Executive Director of Friends of Great Salt Lake.  I also met with KUED Producers Nancy Green and Natalie Avery.  We met at the Oasis Cafe for breakfast to talk about the GSL length swim for any potential in doing a documentary.  I was surprised at how much money is needed to really put something together.  Wow!  I would need Cathi to help me by focusing on fund raising and let me do my training.   Anyhow I enjoyed meeting with them and am eager to do my part in drawing more attention to the lake.  It really is something that doesn't get enough attention given it's vastness and beauty which most people fail to recognize.

Todays workout began at 2:30pm since SDRC was closed to the public this morning due to another high school regional swim meet.   I carbed up like crazy the last couple days knowing I'd be doing a long one today:

20,000 - 10 x 2000 yards odd sets free, even pull on 30:00
1000 - 2 x 500 kick with fins
400 IM easy

21,400 yards total in 5:15

Had some minor aches in the shoulders, but nothing major.  I could tell at 18K yards that I wasn't getting enough water as I felt my hands were getting all shriveled.  I forgot to stop and get a Gatorade on the way in and my water at that point was warm and gross so I didn't get hydrated as much as I should have.   But I swam strong and I really enjoyed the pulling.

I really bruised up my right arch in my foot.  Three different times when I did a flip turn I pushed off the wall and my foot slid up the wall and pushed against the edge of the gutter which really hurt the arch of my foot each time that happened.  I need to push off the wall a little deeper to prevent that kind of crap from happening.

But today's workout went well.  I had originally planned on 20K, but put in a little extra to round up the yardage to a whole mile amount - 12 miles exactly.

Getting pushed out of the pool by the high schoolers

Got up early and was in the pool at 5:15am.  Swam

2000 - 2000 free in 28 minutes
1000 free just in time for Masters workout:

300 - 6 x 50's drill/swim on :50
300 - 6 x 50's kick free/fly on 1:00
500 - 10 x 50's free build on :50
500 - 10 x 50's back on 1:00 every 4th one all out!
500 - 10 x 50's desc 1-3 three time, 10th one easy
500 - 10 x 50's pull on :40

5600 yards total

The pool was all setup with chairs, timing system pads, posters, you name it.  Made me wish I was in high school.  Didn't get to swim after 7am cause they were going to open the pool to warm ups soon.  Will get in a long swim tomorrow.   Aiming for 20,000 yards (that is if Cathi will let me have that much time on a Saturday)

Lifeguarding Mr. Rogers

Today was my last day working at SDRC as a lifeguard and there is one guy there who is no kidding a clone of Mr. Rogers.  He wears a solid blue jammer and does laps at a leisurely rate.  If he came in there with a sweater and sat down to take off his shoes, I'd love it!

I noticed the other day that my PR for doing a 4 mile swim is 1:42:59?  I can certainly beat that!  So I kept track today of my time which was:

6000 - 3 x 2000's free stop only to tread for :15 and get a drink from the water bottle, then continue:
1200 free strong

7200 yards total in 1:39:40

So there you go!  A new PR for 4 miles.  If I tried swimming 7050 straight I'm sure I'd break the record again.

Coveting Superpowers

I slept in this morning a little but I still made it to the pool at 6:00am sharp.  I started right with the Masters team:

300 warmup choice
200 - 4 x 50's choice drill/swim by 25
2500 - 5 x 500's Odd 500 swim, even - 5 x 100's on 1:20  I pulled the 3rd 500 and was able to stay with Josh. That guy is fast and pulling strong was all I could do to keep up with the guy.
200 - 4 x 50's descending free on 1:00 (:36, :34, :32, :30)
100 - 2 x 50's off the block sprints (Both :28)
100 easy

Then I did:
800 kick with fins
4000 - 2 x 2000's free 1st one pull (under 26:30), 2nd one no equip(27:15).  Go strong!
200 - 100 back, 50 breast, 50 free easy

8400 yards total

I felt so good today!  I sometimes get worried that if I really push myself with masters, that I'll die out and won't be able to get my 8-9K for the day with much quality, but today proved that theory wrong.  I swam really strong with Masters and didn't bonk for the distance sets in fact I did pretty well.

During my swim today I kept thinking "What if I were given a free superpower but only one?"  You can pick:

1. The ability to fly
2. Super strength
3. The ability to breathe underwater 
4. Lightning speed
5. Be the object of desire around the world by silly girls.

I would definitely pick #3!  I felt like a fish today!

Being lapped, and being the lapper

After I guarded from 5-7 this morning I got in and did:

4200 yards free straight
15 sec rest while treading to get a drink
3000 yards free - last 150 sprint!

7200 yards total

During the first hour, coach Steve had three of his fastest boys doing sets of 400 and during those sets I would get lapped once.  The got out and during the second hour of my swim there was a bunch of other guys where I was the one lapping them every 400 yards.  But then again I was going straight and not doing any particular sets.

I placed the flyer for the greatsaltlakeopenwater.com race on the bulletin board at SDRC.