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 :)

Mary Weybright - Selfless, courageous, brave, loving and a true hero

It is with deep sadness and sympathy I share news of Mary's passing earlier today. Her long battle now over, she is in a far better place than we.

Perhaps you can say a prayer for her, her family, three small kids.

Qualified for English Channel, Conquering Ones Doubts

This one is for Mary Weybright! A friend who is battling for her life and demonstrating such courage and strength that by comparison makes my meager efforts herein nothing.

You go girl!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed this past Saturday I arrived at Seal Beach, CA for nothing more than a training swim or at least that is what I was telling most others. I now can admit my ego was a bit bruised when I retired from my attempt not more than a month ago stopping with cramps at 4:45 into the effort. With the encouragement of Doug, Marcia and others I delicately stepped forward in the weeks leading up to this effort working even harder in practice focusing on my mental game. I have now learned that in marathon swimming, the mental game is what separates the wheat from the chaff.  

So, here I am getting ready with Beth Barnes just before embarking on my swim. No doubt the IU swim tee-shirt was the basis for my success. The phoenix has risen, or at least for me a pigeon! What a corn ball, hey Katie! (FYI. for those of you that don't know, my sister was a stud muffin IU swimmer, twice to the Olympic trials, multiple Big Ten champ, etc, etc,) so we have fun with such things in our house! Need I say anything about Purwho, MICHu...

In usual fashion, talking about food and energy in feeds became central to the swimming effort before the jump. One of the theories I had from my first failed first attempt was that my substitution of warm tea (which seemed logical, warmth during a cold swim) was actually substituting energy out. Thus I simply ran out of glycogen and likely sodium and potassium leading to cramps. This time was to be different, no tea. So my usual mix of 100 mg (Maxim Carbo loader, 4 scoops), 1 pouch of Gatorade pro and a partial scoop of protein in 10 oz. of water would do the trick. I calculated that this provided me about 700 -900 calories per hour Yummy!.

While this rib sticking thick liquid actual tastes pretty good after 6 hour worth of feeds every 30 minutes, needless to say one gets hungry for solid food. We also mixed in one GU PAC every hour and some fresh water to rinse out the salt that was pickling my tongue. Like eating a meal after getting your teeth drilled by the dentist with Novocain.We also threw in a few Cliff bar pieces, this was so so. I really didn't want to introduce anything to new this time so rice pudding, oatmeal were left at the dock as were the bananas. Beth provided me with some maritime superstition about them, although I think it was from slipping on the peal and not eating meat. Too much grog!

I found my way to Seal Beach, CA in the capable and encouraging hands of Beth Barnes (www.Ikayak4u.com, she does a great job) via a long trail of relationships. Marica Cleveland (my coach) who had suggested I look for warmer places to re-qualify led me to Dick Sidner in Indianapolis where things were a bit warmer. Mother nature however threw me a curve ball and as most know things got cold quick here in the Midwest. Dick graciously led me to Jim Barber, Victorian Rian and Mallory Mead who themselves like Marcia are English Channel, Catalina Island and other huge swim success stories way beyond my skills. Thank you all for encouraging words and the link to Seal Beach.

The weather Saturday was 'Doverish' later said Anne Cleveland a friend of Beth's (who fits right in with those mentioned above) which I am glad she said later rather than earlier. At the start it was 54f air, grey, drizzle and a yucky wind whipped 15-20 knots coming on-shore. The salt water averaged anywhere from 59-61f for a pleasant day :) Beth made a great safety call after discussing with beach life guards the pounding surf issue and decided the swim would be around an island called Naples, which is a three mile loop just inside Alamitos Bay.

Here is a map link:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=alamitos+bay,ca&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Alamitos+Bay&gl=us&ei=I8rqTL6iLNPMngfx5YiqDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA


So off we went. Jumping in was the usual, a few heart pounding strokes. The water felt just fine. We were swimming by beautiful homes and huge yachts, which in retrospect I appreciate now they were at dock due to the weather otherwise I would have been dodging them all day. Below is a little backstroke warm up which as many of you that know for me is faster than my freestyle (Go figure!).

You notice the funny floating islands, well this is another tall seasonal story, yes they are for Christmas. I guess each year they float these islands with Xmas lights shaped as a tree all around the Island. They have a celebration turning them on (drinking more grog and watching 'The Grinch' - I'm embellishing a bit here). This was hilarious. Then the pelicans came in force swooping down, around us and the docks no doubt sizing me or maybe Beth up for a meal. Not sure if Beth made it without getting pooped on? But this wouldn't matter since several times during the swim the sky open up and poured rain so hard it looked like fog.

Around 41/2 hours I did feel a tightening of my triceps, as if I had little to no power but I was able to stroke comfortably but felt like like effort was much greater than before. I wonder if i was at the point of depleting my bodies carbos (glycogen) to fat. Perhaps someone that is 'in the know' can offer a better explanation. But I pushed through this time relaxed actually quite comfortably. I think the first failure taught me a lot about what this felt like and how to work through a tough patch. Good news this time I did not ever have a pang of pain like I did with the hamstring and glut cramps. 

Obviously a happy camper near the end. Those GU Pac's and Maxim mix did the trick as I worked through 5 hours, then 51/2. I was really comfortable now and easily could swim on. My daughter, Rachel will no doubt like the fact I borrowed her IU swim cap just for this occasion. 

For those of you again 'in the know' of open water swimming, I consider myself an anomaly. I have a slower stroke rate than most, averaging 47 per minute all the time, ever time. During my swim I actually took it out for a stroll at 45 per minute the first hour or so I recall Beth saying and then picked up a bit as the day went on to 47-50. Judging this against what I hope someday are my peers, they tear up the water with rates as fast as 55-70 and they do this for hours! Of course I think their nuts and just plug along (the tortoise)  plop, plop, plop... One thing for sure my stroke is very efficient, I have a long reach and long extension out the back. Marcia has been helping me train to lower my head down (like above in the picture) to relieve the C 5,6 and 7 joint pain and increase distance per stroke. I now in a pool rarely take more than 5-6 full cycles in 25 yards. Having Beth kayaking on my right side made the day a piece of cake on my neck. I did breath to the right ever so often more for relief than anything. 

So in the end, as my training partner Doug said, 'you hear-by have punched the ticket'. Must be a saying from silly sport that uses a ball or something??

While failing at my initial attempt was no fun, I do look back now and know I am much stronger, mentally tougher for it. Getting in an additional long cold training swim is worth its weight in gold having now done this twice. I look forward to endless laps in a pool (30,000 yards per week and up) for several months. I hope to steal away to somewhere warm and do a long swim this winter. Next up is perhaps some training in Tampa Bay, FL with an eye on a 24 mile race across Tampa Bay, FL in April. While the water will be relatively warm, by English Channel standards, this is no joke swim and will be another serious test. I will be ready, I am ready. Thanks to my wife Jennifer, daughter Rachel, Doug, Marcia, the Indy folks, Barrington masters and Club folks and Dave Barra for keeping me up and on track through this great experience.

I will finish as I began with a some thoughts about Mary Weybright from Indianapolis, IN a long time family friend. 

Anything I have offered above, is shallow and a meager description of a selfish endeavor compared to Mary's fight. Mary you inspire me to give back, to do better and to offer more. I think of you often during my swims. Many times you give me the strength to push on.

You see, Mary is lying in a hospital bed, now for many months, clinging to life day to day, fighting the battle of her life. Her husband Nick, the kids and family nearby. Mary is fully aware of her challenge and the multitude of health issues that confuse the very best medical experts. I cannot comprehend this strength. She is one of life's true selfless teachers, a beacon of hope for never giving up despite the most dire times! Lying in her bed starring death in the face every day, she takes time to write little notes to friends and family to see visitors and give kind looks and a warm handshakes. During this Thanksgiving season, perhaps Mary can teach us all to deal with life's little setbacks differently. To work through bad days, to graciously compromise work challenges, to shrug your shoulder at being bullied at school or to simply give back in some way to others less fortunate.

I am not very good writer. Perhaps learning from Mary's strength and adding what I simplistically describe as a 'One Stroke at Time' approach to my life's journey, Mary has taught me (us) to deal with life's challenges.

Perhaps this Thanksgiving, you might offer the same support to those around you as Mary has offered? Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Coney Island- Veterans Day Cold Water Swim (54f smoking degrees)

Hi all,

After a couple of weeks of heavy training back in the pool (31 k 35,000k yards/week), I joined fellow OW swimmers at Coney Island, NY this past weekend for a chilly ocean swim. Dave Bara from New York, whom I met at the Boston Light Swim and just coming off a huge OW season was very supportive in asking me to join the CIBBOWS crew at the beach, great hospitality and thanks Dave!

I was in NYC for business and Jennifer joined me. Had a wonderful time. We trained from downtown and had a hilarious experience navigating the subway system. We learned that weekend trains don't follow the same schedule as weekdays, but I am sure that was spelled out clearly on some sign covered in subway grime and dirt, but hey that's my fault for not knowing. Well anyway, we got to the beach just as the race started. Thinking all was lost, we casually strolled up to the race director, sorry can't remember your name, but he and others were great. They said, no problem, get dressed and when the leaders roll around the first buoy jump on in. So I changed on the beach, got greased up and away I went. Below is a picture as I was turning the final buoy to finish.



I knew I was swimming with some great company as Dave Barra and others who did the channel this summer among other 'mount everest' type swims were all in the group. This was also a charity event for Veterans, wounded warriors (Some of you may not know that my cousin was Scott Speicher who was shot down in the first Gulf war off the USS Saratoga and was missing in action for 18 years, Our government left him there, the bastards! Not a good subject from my perspective) so support our troops! Anyway showing up late and accepting that fact relaxed me and I had nothing to loose. To my surprise and to most others I proceeded to rip a 2.2 miler at a good pace finishing at 57 minutes against the dropping tide swirling around the Coney Island pier against the tide. For you non open water swimmers, it's like swimming upstream in a creek. It was really weird leaving the beach and it seemingly took forever against the tide to get the buoy, then turning for a straight mile parallel to the beach to the next turn, it eased.

Moral to the story, don't think about the race, just do.

I can't thank everyone at CIBBOWS for being so kind and welcoming, allowing me to, as my coach Marcia Cleveland says, 'take a dip' in some really really cold water under control and having fun. Who would have ever thought these things were possible.

Well, up next is a nice training swim at Seal Beach, CA for what will be a strong effort on my part to complete some un finished business on qualifying for the channel. I guess cold salt water is my element.

EC Qualifying Swim Experience

'Behind every success, there are multitude of failures, false starts, unplanned circumstances, unexpected situations and unsuccessful attempts'

Doc would be proud of the form, Elbows Up!

I 'retired' from my swim at 4 hours and 45 minutes yesterday short of the 6 hour minimum objective for this trial effort. Good news is I fought the good fight in pretty cold conditions and mentally had more than enough in the tank to keep going. Today I believe a combination of factors treated me to a lesson. On the bright side, I have plenty of time to "punch my ticket" as Doug likes to say. next time I will be relaxed and even more confident.

When I began this journey it was with the intent to share publicly just that, my personal journey, to cross the English Channel. My intent to share openly (despite the council of some very accomplished coaches and fellow swimmers) the successes, failures, challenges and lessons learned along the way both physically and mentally is not without its caution. A point well taken, however I am not deterred in revealing these sides of this wonderful sport in the hopes that through my experience a few might take a dip, take a chance and explore there own dreams wherever they lead.

As mentioned before, my effort ended at 4 hours and 45 minutes. The combined water temp and air temp early that morning started at around 56f-ish water and 45f-ish air.  Ultimately this proved too big a hill to overcome combined with what I believe was an equally important nutrition/feeding challenge of not being able to consume enough calories and electrolytes per hour necessary to fuel the huge energy requirement of my body to both stay warm and swim. I'll explain a bit the overall physiological impacts and others feel free to add in replies.

The up side is my conditioning was not in question nor my mental state. Not sure which came first but not being able to pee early perhaps due to feeling full or simply the cold shutting down my muscle usage in "that area" what ever the reason, just wasn't happening easily. Anyway feeling dreadfully full made me not want to consume additional feeds easily after the first hour or so. This is probably the underlying reason for cramping in my legs and then the onset of shivering much later that followed and I will describe as the day progressed. My high carbo feed source is made up from (maxim 100 mg/hour (4 scoops) rate) with protein (25 mg/hour rate) and Gatorade pro electrolytes powder (two scoops equal to one 8 12 oz. standard bottle by volume). I take in 8-10 ounces of this mixture every 30 minutes. I had previously used this mix ratio successfully in my Boston Light House Race where I ran the 8 plus miles in 3 hours, partially tide assisted. Thus, I do not believe the nutrition itself was a problem. I believe the inability to feed fully created a calorie deficit and it's a slippery slope going forward to make this up whiling expending these huge amounts of energy. One addition to my feeding scheduling new was drinking warm tea in tandem during my feed stops. In retrospect this probably took up valuable stomach space displacing very important calories and the desire to drink other foods. This is an important lesson, in the future warming my carbohydrate mix kills two birds with one stone, getting food plus warmth. I really do not believe the cramping was related to anything other than depletion of food sources and electrolytes in my body. My god I have swum almost 600 miles this year alone preparing for what lies ahead?



It was not easy stopping. But in the end I knew it was the smart and safe thing to do. Swimming back out and having things get worse was not something for myself nor my wonderful crew of volunteers to wrestle with in deep water. Hauling my big ass into a canoe, as Red correctly pointed out earlier in the day during or safety talk was not a task for the faint of heart!

I typically swim around 2-2.5 miles per hour so give or take 10 miles for 4:45 time is probably fair. But the experience swimming for such a long period of time in that cold of water is priceless and I consider a huge success. In retrospect, I feel the combined water/air temperature experience has made me a much stronger athlete. Learning to listen to my safety crew, would perhaps have made a difference starting later? The experience with feedings while seemingly a small thing turned out to be huge thing. Stopping completely for feedings does not work for me. It was a necessary failure to learn now as this marathon swimming is more than just the English Channel for me…yes I am hooked

To my safety crew and volunteers. I cannot thank you enough. You give me hope, encouragement, counsel and kept me safe doing something that probably most folks consider nuts anyhow. But this is what I do, these are the people I like who do this. Am I addicted to open water swimming, you bet, there is nothing like bobbing in the middle of a lake watching the sun rise with not another living sole around (except for who is swimming with you or crewing near by). Bill and Red, thank you very much for supporting me, what a wonderful surprise. The rest of the McConnell clan thank you for kayaking and feed stops, next time I will eat a bit more. Eric and Lex as fellow triathletes and swimmers I hope you enjoyed this experience and your kayaking workout, I'll swim with you two anytime. Lindo, thanks again for the wonderful access to Lake Zurich and your hospitality. Being awarded an official hat certainly was a nice touch. Marcia the coaching is what got me to this point and its been a great experience, I have learned so much and appreciate your time and effort. Lots more to come. Laura, Marita and everyone else thanks for the warm wishes. Doug what you said to me on the pier privately meant the world and Jennifer thanks for supporting my crazy dreams.

I am already thinking of where I can go a get another one in, anybody care to join?

Oh, one more thing. I read recently that my former teammate from Goshen Craig Kercher got in some good distance swims in the recent indoor 5 and 10k swim, congrats. Lake Travis would be a fun one to do together?

Qualifying Swim this Sunday

Well after a wonderful time in California to celebrate my parents 50th wedding Anniv. with family and friends back to swimming. Got a couple of nice San Francisco bay swims in so I am ready.

My training partner and teammate Doug McConnell was able to get his swim in at 6 hours and 15 minutes so he has paid his dues.

Sunday at 8am we start and I know it will be a great experience. I have a whole bunch of folks joining me as a support and safety crew. let you know how it goes a bit later.