A Big Fish Tale

Question: Why do tri-athletes wear wet-suits?

Answer: So these fish don't chew on them!

Life is full of Fish tales

Oh Goody, Goody open water is coming in Chicago...

My Aquatic Christmas Card - 700 Miles, a parody and poem just for you.

The mileage: 700 and counting..


The parody:


Very few know I was 'this close' to becoming an oceanographer, went as far as having dinner Jean-Michel Cousteau.

The Poem:
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the land, People were jumping on the open water band.

Goggles and swimsuits were selected with care,
In hopes that summer season soon would be there.

Marathon swimmers with big dreams in their heads,
After miles of training, fall fast asleep in their beds.

And pilots with boats and coaches with caps,
Had just settled down for a long look at coastal maps.

When out over the water there arose such a clatter,
Swimmers sprang from the shore to see what was the matter.

Just a boat – but no waves or wind along the coast,
It was conditions that swimmers like the most.

The season continues with coaches standing on docks
Training swimmers in the oceans and in deep, cold lochs.

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,
But focused swimmers sprinting so dear.

With passion abundant, open water swimmers are ready,
To live up to hopes that are courageously heady.

Spouses knew in a moment it must be the ocean,
More rapid than sharks in a furious motion.

Swimmers whistled and shouted and called out by name;
"Now, Dover! Now, Cook! Now, Zürich and Catalina!
On Rio! On Manhattan! On Rottenest and Messina!

To the top of the podium, to the first to the shore,
Now swim and kick and sprint all the more!

When the waves are high and the water is cold,
Keep true to the course and stay mighty bold.

And to all of you who are the sport’s good friends,
Our deep thanks to you as another year ends.

Poem, original copyright © 2010 by Open Water Source

Swimming a Million Yards?

Hi One Stroke At A Time followers - 


I was swimming away this morning through my 4600 yard early a.m. workout trying to think of anything but the pain and boring back and forth of the 25 yard pool. I was doing a bunch of butterfly then a series of no breath 25's, glad this doesn't happen often since as I was getting dizzy. 

I finally focused my mental game and in a compliment to my training partner Doug McConnell, started counting strokes (he does this allot, you see?). After getting into the several hundred stroke count range I of course lost track and eventually gave up, going back to my songs and pretending to chase fish and turtles. Not sure who is more unstable here me or him? Then after awhile, I seemed to hone in on some John Mellencamp tunes thinking for some reason about my inner Hoosier college days. My thoughts then focused on a meeting later in the morning with someone who was being kind enough to help me organize my charity work and give advice on mental health challenges parents and kids have in today's self imposed stressful society (My opinion, not hers).


This got me to thinking. I have mentioned in earlier blog writings the connection of my mental health (swimming all this way, not me personally stupid!) to the public subject in general. The relationship between marathon swimming and these challenges are quite profound. While I never conceptualized the depth and relationship before I started, It is clear to me now its the sheer amount of resilience that one has in any life pursuit that makes the difference. 


Since I am not an especially gifted swimmer, it takes me an enormous amount of day-to-day resilience "One Stroke At A Time' to swim a million yards and then some. I never dreamed this distance was remotely possible nor did I ever calculate, before I started, what this meant to me and my family. I knew it was allot, but...This is just like life, things happen, they stack up, the days roll on and we accumulate all sorts of bits and pieces. These affect how we feel, how we react, what we say and do to ourselves and others in all situations but most importantly how we see ourselves - our self worth, image and self respect. 


In this day of want, want, want maybe we as parents can instead teach ours kids and friends to be more resilient so they can give back. My parents did (Don and Jean) and I am so thankful. Merry Christmas and keep those 'Elbows High'


So for me this is how a million yards relates to resilience - Year to date in 2010, I have swum 684.85 miles or 1,205,343 yards or 1,102,165 meters. That's about 578,564 strokes and god knows how many hours? The plan between today and August 20th, 2011 (when my swim English Channel 'window' opens) is to average 33,000 - 35,000 yards per week (equal to the entire distance across the English Channel, one way, each week). That's an additional 1,122,000 - 1,190,000 yards; 680 - 721 miles; or 538,560 - 571,200 strokes for those of you counting. I am halfway home and still smiling :)

2.5 miles of lake Michigan practice, 1 miles up and down

Cruising through the weeks leading up to masters open water national 10k(6.2 mile) race and continue logging 28k yards per week. Spent this week in the open water, except two pool practices, focused on longer swims at a solid pace and working on technique. Tired but gaining confidence to swim through the next several weeks and big races to my real test, that at Boston 8 to 10 miles cold (55-65f) ocean race then on to my 6-8 hour English channel qualifying swim in the fall.

Had a good swim with my coach (Marcia Cleveland) in lake Michigan this week. Booked 2.5 miles in a 1-3 foot swells. Learning to sense the pattern of the waves, several big rollers and the calm. During the calm I take advantage and bi- lateral breath which balances my stroke and releives my neck stress, then back at riding the waves. It's amazing how different it is swimming in even easy rolling waves, the extra time it requires, to complete the same distance in a pool or smooth lake. But I am now confident I can take on some big wavy water if needed and be patient and work through it. Next on my trainig regime is to swim a night. I finally found a few folks willing to tolerate me crazy dream and help me out at night kayaking with glow sticks and head lamps while I swim. We'll try easy lake Zurich first and then move on to lake Michigan.

As for Boston, I will be honest I am a little nervous, it's my first big ocean swim despite the fact that I will have been swimming in and around martha's vineyard the week before. Guess where jaws was filmed ... You guessed it...martha's vineyard. Oh the joy of knowing this. But I have to face these fears because In the end, get busy living or get busy dying. I'll be just fine in all these but it's the mental game.

Thank you to everyone that sends notes and akses about how it's going. You can't imagine the challenge of something this big, the details, the logistics, the learning of both oneself and how to work with mother nature. Special thanks to jennifer, mom and dad, Katie, Ted, Kevin, and my swi coaches marita, Marcia and John, and doug McConnell (he inspires me every to try harder). Oh one last driving reason, to teach my daughter that despite very big odds, something like this can be done, I hope she someday she has a similar opportunity of a life challenge.

62 degree's and Big Surf in Michigan

Had a great swim yesterday morning in lake Michigan at tower park beach in winnetka,IL water was a balmy 62f and pretty wavy. Got to swim with my coach Marcia Cleveland and one of her swim buddies. I was in good company as both are very accomplished open water swimmers. These opportunities to swim with folks like this is so important for me as I learn just how different open water swim technique from the pool.

When we first got in, I was a bit nervous as Marcia said "Oh this is about the worst you would swim in in the english channel". Needless to say I was a bit concerned bordering more on 'what the F $&@(/;... am I doing'! Getting in the cold water was not the challenge and that aspect felt just fine, every swim in cold water accumulates on you and makes the next time easier. The waves took at least 15 minutes to get used to and I swallowed lots of water. As time went on I began to sense the pattern of the waves and then started to relax.

I have three weeks until my first 10k (6.2 mile) swim in lake maxencukie (sorry I know this is spelled wrong)' anyway it's the lake at Culver military. So this should be a calm, relative long workout swim and just doing it to get a sense of the distance. In the coming weeks my trainignwill continually be at 4 - 6 miles a couple times a week with the balance being pool workouts. This should be fun.

In the beginning....God made the earth, then God made man and man wanted to go for a swim

Welcome


I am inviting you to share (should you choose) in one of my life dreams - to swim the English Channel. Perhaps while sharing this journey we may both be inspired.

This journey while rigorous will be fun, filled with many ups and downs but ultimately no different than life itself. It is the journey that defines oneself.

Please know upfront five things are important to me: my family, my god, your friendship, my community and the journey. Everything else follows. I have the utmost respect to know the first four tenants of my journey lead to the last and this is why I ask for your support?


Lets answer that nagging question WHY? For a moment, open your mind to when you were young and dreamed. As you got older you began to ask yourself, Why ......(you fill in the blank)? Seeking knowledge may have been your answer but deeper, wasn't there more? And today your wise enough to know it is the journey that matters as the result is a forgone conclusion to a successful journey?


For me "why" is simple - Can I swim across the English Channel? Asking"why" presumes you have an outcome, end or result already in mind otherwise why ask the question? Its the "how" that matters isn't it?


My journey is to fulfill one of my life long dreams - swimming the English Channel. It began many years ago when my parents signed me up for swim lessons in Indiana. Their desire to raise their kids in small town America was strong and grew from their up-bringing in rural Midwest states. Later they signed me up for the local swim club with the usual parental desire of helping their child become a better person by learning "life skills" via a sport that creates this opportunity through personal focus, challenge and team work. Thus my journey began and I didn't even know it?


So here are the first steps of my plan.

This blog will be the central place to update folks on where I am in this journey and to hopefully receive feedback. Ultimately I hope to incorporate charitable and maybe even sponsorship features.

During this investigation phase getting the logistic's understood and time table is key. I am already swimming an average 20,000 yards per week (11 miles for you land lubbers) but this is just the beginning. I need to do this for a year to get the base needed and then increase up to 38,000 yards as the event nears. I am gathering input from many places, former channel swimmers, teammates on the local Masters swim club - some of whom are really good coaches and swimmers in their own rite, doctors, physiologists, etc. I am seeking the advice from actual channel experiences to formulate the road map.

Physical preparation is a two year effort and will have many hard tests just to check on progress, give myself an at ta-boy once and awhile and to ensure I scale-up correctly. In this early stage, I plan for one month of work for each mile but this will change as advice warrants. I would like to devise milestones along the way that build endurance, physical, cold water and mental experiences into the journey. For this I plan to seek input from those who have come before me like Marcia Cleveland, multi-time channel swimmer and author of Dover Solo who lives here locally among others.

Weather is a huge part of the equation during the swim and this I cannot control unless Poseidon or Oceanus decide to help. I will continue to swim in all types of good and bad weather, day or night and wavy or calm as I understand the channel can change very quickly.

The cold is another key factor and this requires steady acclamation leading up to the event. Warm showers are a thing of the past and finding cold swims 56f + are preferred. This will mean early spring and late fall practices in nearby Lake Michigan.