Just a short note. Went to Bloomington to pick up my daughter, Rachel, from swim camp. What a fabulous swimming pool and facility (the new one...for Katie and Dave oplinger). Anyway had the chance to jump in the outdoor pool and get in a 7200 meter workout partially on my own and then finished up with the Bloomington club team. You will laugh, good news is I was able to keep up with kids likely two ot three times my junior, but bad news is I was in ( with all due respect the girls 15 and older lane)! The coach jeff landue (Sorry for not spelling correctly) was great in letting me swim. Not too often I get to workout in a 50 meter pool. I will get up early and head back for an early workout before I pick up Rachel. I love Bloomington and just had to call Katie ( my sister for those of you who are following butndont know) as she was a real big shot at IU following Dave Oplinger as well a few years before.
Anyway, great time, great work out and just like being home with mom and my apple pie. go Hoosiers.
Jun 24, 2010
Jun 13, 2010
Swim for the Kids - 10k race
The first step of an adventure is always the hardest.
Jennifer and I made a long, one day, round trip to Culver, IN for the seasons first 10k (6.2 miles) in Lake Maxinkuckee on Saturday. Course was a 2.5k (1.5 mile) right triangle stretching down past Culver Military Academy and back to the public beach.
Finished in 3 hours and 06 minutes good enough for third place but more important to me was that I felt like I could easily keep going. Not to say it was not hard work, but there was more in the tank. The lake water and conditions were allot like swimming across old Lake Wawasee through the Channel and to Syracuse beach on July 4th! (You locals know what I mean).
Due to inclement weather, we slipped the start in between storm clouds and slight over cast skies. Weather at the start was good so lots of boats were making it really wavy about half way down the course in front of Culver Academy. They have concrete sea walls everywhere so the waves were bouncing off the walls back into us. After the race I learned from local guards they call this area the "washing machine"of course my reaction to this was...no shit! The next challenge was the course had unfortunately small marker buoy's and thus everyone spent allot of time making course corrections and looking around for where to go, especially in the waves on laps one and two. Turns one, two and the back stretch waves were very choppy and made it hard to get a good rhythm. On lap two a storm cloud brought a good down pour of rain about the boaters vanished. Laps three and four were much better and made for easier line of sight so my lap time were almost identical at 47 minutes each. At the finish the lake was calm and it was sunny again making for a nice smooth finish.
Hamming it up for the camera just after finishing...
In the end it was a great experience, learned much about the mental side of longer swims, the kinds of food and liquid carbohydrate fuel I need, things to do different next time and left with thinking about the next months of training, working my way from 3 hours to more than 6 for my English Channel qualifying swim.
This is doable, it will not be easy, but I am on my way and no small thanks to a bunch of fiends, family and coaches giving me support every day.
Next big swim is Morse Lake, Noblesville, IN for another 10k (US Masters Nationals) and then following that is the 8 mile Boston Ocean swim in August. Thanks to everyone for your support.
May 29, 2010
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.
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.
May 16, 2010
58 Degree's of Freedom
Finally got the first open water bare skin swim in today, a brisk 58.8 degrees for about 15 minutes as I swam out and around some buoys in Lake Zurich nearby the house. It was sunny so that helped and after some initial quick strokes began to settle down and relax, thinking about my stroke versus gasping for air and thrashing around like a seal waiting for a great white shark. Although come to think of it, I was probably mistaken by some local kids on the next door pier for just that.
With luck, plan to incrementally add time and days as water temp rises so that during summer I can be in the lake 3 days a week minimum and then plan my longer swims for the weekend. At some point will add in Lake Michigan, I believe it is still in the low 50's!
With luck, plan to incrementally add time and days as water temp rises so that during summer I can be in the lake 3 days a week minimum and then plan my longer swims for the weekend. At some point will add in Lake Michigan, I believe it is still in the low 50's!
May 5, 2010
Ah, the smell of fresh cold water. It Must be Spring
May 5th and everything is green as spring has sprung in Chicago land. I took a dip in the neighbors un-heated pool two days ago at 67f on a stretch code tether for 15 minutes and was just fine. This weekend its down to Lake Zurich which should be around 60f by now for some mileage and the chance to shiver...
I recently surpassed 250 miles of training and am currently 3rd in the nation for my age group (44-49) as part of the US Masters "Go the distance" program where thousands of silly people just like me train and track there mileage year by year. Its a subtle competitive moment for me everyday to log my miles and see where I stack up. Its been a long winter and mostly training by myself, so any motivator is welcomed.
Shoulders seem to be hanging in there. IWhile I have clearly gotten stronger and able to handle faster swim sets for longer periods of time, I still have residual left shoulder stuff going on and will finally get an MRI of the shoulder and neck. We are suspecting that it could be some old nerve impingement and/or muscle issue. Its been hard to diagnose due to the ability to handle the physical workload so we'll see. Maybe just getting older?
I'll be in Plymouth, IN in about a month for the seasons first 10k (6.2 miles race) so looking forward to that and also trying to figure out how to get over to Lake Wawasee near my old hometown for another swim across the lake like I did back in the 1980's. Can't believe it was that long ago?
I recently surpassed 250 miles of training and am currently 3rd in the nation for my age group (44-49) as part of the US Masters "Go the distance" program where thousands of silly people just like me train and track there mileage year by year. Its a subtle competitive moment for me everyday to log my miles and see where I stack up. Its been a long winter and mostly training by myself, so any motivator is welcomed.
Shoulders seem to be hanging in there. IWhile I have clearly gotten stronger and able to handle faster swim sets for longer periods of time, I still have residual left shoulder stuff going on and will finally get an MRI of the shoulder and neck. We are suspecting that it could be some old nerve impingement and/or muscle issue. Its been hard to diagnose due to the ability to handle the physical workload so we'll see. Maybe just getting older?
I'll be in Plymouth, IN in about a month for the seasons first 10k (6.2 miles race) so looking forward to that and also trying to figure out how to get over to Lake Wawasee near my old hometown for another swim across the lake like I did back in the 1980's. Can't believe it was that long ago?
Apr 1, 2010
Mileage & Boston Harbor
Training continues, yard-after-yard, and looking forward to getting out of the pool and into the cold lake water for a change. Mentally looking at the same tile bottom is really a bigger challenge than one might think..teaches patience.
The next two months will see yardage volume increase from an average of 25,000 to 27,000 - 30,000 yards per week as well as the tempo of swims continue to push consistently faster. Despite being tired there is evidence of progress. I can consistently swim a couple thousand yards of 100 and 200's around 1:20 pace now and then continue on with the rest of the workout. I pretty much have stopped taking any rest between sets and just keep on going. For me this good as I can put down 5000 - 6000 in 1 1/2 hours which I try to limit workouts to for work and family reasons. As soon as open water starts, I will also start long, multi-hour weekend swims trying to get up to 6-8 range.
Have decided to add the Boston Harbor 8 miler to the swim race (if your can call it that for me, races? Its really more completion thats the goal). I figured between this, which will be very cold, wavy like San Francisco and the bigger Lake Michigan swims, I will be at least physically prepared for the 8 hour qualifier in October (cold water and mental are the big unknowns yet).
Year to date I have swam a tad over 175 miles.
The next two months will see yardage volume increase from an average of 25,000 to 27,000 - 30,000 yards per week as well as the tempo of swims continue to push consistently faster. Despite being tired there is evidence of progress. I can consistently swim a couple thousand yards of 100 and 200's around 1:20 pace now and then continue on with the rest of the workout. I pretty much have stopped taking any rest between sets and just keep on going. For me this good as I can put down 5000 - 6000 in 1 1/2 hours which I try to limit workouts to for work and family reasons. As soon as open water starts, I will also start long, multi-hour weekend swims trying to get up to 6-8 range.
Have decided to add the Boston Harbor 8 miler to the swim race (if your can call it that for me, races? Its really more completion thats the goal). I figured between this, which will be very cold, wavy like San Francisco and the bigger Lake Michigan swims, I will be at least physically prepared for the 8 hour qualifier in October (cold water and mental are the big unknowns yet).
Year to date I have swam a tad over 175 miles.
Mar 18, 2010
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