Longest Swim of the Year in the GSL

I got to the marina really early because I work across the street, by 4:30 I was wondering if anyone was going to show up. Right then everyone did. I met Josh, Gords, Sara, Sam and Lisa. This was Lisa's first time in the GSL and she rocked it. I wanted to do 2 Gridley Straights but when I left the protection of the break walls the seas were churning. I started behind Sara and was following her and then went around her. I think the waves were bothering her. I swam non stop to Black Rock and checked the time. I was at a 35 minute mile and was slightly disappointed.I looked around for a bit to see who was behind me and I couldn't See anyone.they must of turned around. I took a drink and headed back towards the marina. the waves were starting to pick up and I was being pushed to shore. I had to turn and swim directly into the waves to make it back to the marina opening. I got to the red buoy and took another drink and decided that I wanted to swim more than the 2 miles that I did, so I started swimming directly into the waves out towards the middle of the lake. The waves and swells were getting pretty big, I would swim hard to get on top of them and get my face slammed into the bottom of the next wave. I swam until I was getting tired of my face hurting and turned around and headed back towards the marina opening. This was the payoff for swimming directly into the waves because I was basically body surfing on my way back in. the only part I don't like about it is when the next wave comes to push you you get sucked backwards slightly. I got back to the boat ramp and looked at my watch. 3.11 miles in 1:28:07 minutes. water was warmer and it was a good workout to go along with my aerobics class.

Interesting pool swim

Today I actually got to the pool on time and hoped right in to get a long swim in. My plan was to swim a time 5000 yard swim to see if I have improved any over the last week. at about  mile into my swim I noticed the lane lines disappearing on both sides of me and some one then tapped me on my shoulder on one of my turns. I stopped to see who it was and the gal from the front desk said that they had a water aerobics class starting and that I would have to stop swimming because one lady was concerned that I was watching her from under the water. I asked her how much the class was and if you had to sign up in advance. She said that it was free with your membership and that you could just show up. I said thanks and took my goggles off and proceeded to join the class. I found the ornery lady really quick and moved into place right next to her and started doing what the instructor was doing but opposite so that when we would turn we were facing each other. every time our hand were supposed to come out of the water I would give her a high five and tell her "this is awesome great work out" I stayed for the whole class and at the end when we were getting out of the water a cute old lady came up to me and said it was really fun watching me in the class and hoped that I would join next week with them. That was the Icing on the cake for me and I know it burned my high five partner pretty bad. So next week water aerobics here I come.

Work out for today 2,000 yards and 45 minutes of water aerobics! Cant wait for the GSL this afternoon

GSL and morning swim

RI went to the GSL yesterday afternoon to meet with Goody and swim. I got there early and waited around the parking lot and read the new displays they have at the look out. I was looking out into the lake and it was white capping in some spots and I knew it was going to be a fun swim. When Goody got there we greased up and chatted for a bit and got in up to or waist. we stood there for a bit while my watch was searching for satellite's. we swam out into the mouth of the marina and the waves were pushing me back inside so I had to pour it on to get to the first buoy. we got there finally and decided to swim down the buoy line until we got to the 5th one. we made it to the 3rd one and decided to turn around and head back to the first buoy. it took us 32 minutes to get to the third on. on the way back we decided we were going to stop at the second buoy and the way the current was pushing us I completely missed the buoy. when I got back to the first buoy I looked at my watch and it took 10 minutes to get back. talk about a current! we then decided to swim directly into the current for a bit and when we stopped  a big wave came and on the down side of it I could feel the bottom. when I stood up the water was about chest deep. the current was pushing hard enough you could not stand in one spot. when we started back towards the mouth of the marina I knew I had to swim at an angle to hit the mouth, but when I got there the current had pushed me enough that I had to swim into it at a sprint to get into the marina. water was 58 degrees inside the marina and a little colder out in the lake and made for a good swim. the whole time I was swimming all I could think about was the English Channel next year. I cant wait for it to be here! on a side note I also swam 2 miles in the pool this morning and with the 1.4 I finished out at 3.4 miles for the day. A little short of what I wanted to do but with the current I figure I got my workout in.  Here is the link to the GPS for the swim at GSL

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/489559014
   

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This morning I got to the pool late and was only able to get 3000 yards before I had to leave for work. the only good thing about the pool that I go to is its open 24hrs a day so I can go back pretty easy so I am planning on going back tonight for at least another 3000 yards. whatever they did to to pool I am glad because its colder and water is much more clear as well.
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When back to the pool tonight to get my yardage. Ended up swimming another 5000 yards! All I can think about is my English Channel Attempt next year.

A.M. Pool swim

I got to the pool a little later than I would have liked and took my time getting into the water.
I sat in the steam room to help warm my body up for about 10 minutes. while sitting in there I could hear some moaning, singing and yelling. I walked out to see a guy getting out of the pool and he gave me a high five and said "I did it! 10 laps without stopping, Ive never done that before" I said great job and promptly jumped into the water and took off. I wanted to really work on distance and my stroke today to try new things to help with my lower back hurting so much. I really concentrated on keeping my head down and stretching out my stroke. it worked back did not hurt today at all. was not a bad work out just a little short of my planned 5,000 yards but ended up with 4,000 yards in 1:12:41 and not a sore back!

Haven't Gone Anywhere

I was reading thru a few of my freinds blogs and realized that I suck at keeping mine current. I will try to do better and logging my workouts leading up to my big swim.

If anyone reading this has not heard yet, I have the #2 spot on the neap tide for the English Channel in September 2015 I have talked to my wife about this for a couple of years and finnally decided to pull the plug and make the attempt. I know I will give it my best shot because of the people that are behind me. I want to say thanks to Gords for all the insite that he has given me up to this point and I hope that he dosent mind if I keep picking his brain.

As for todays workout I was in the pool at 0430 I decided to pace myself against the clock and see what my mile time would be. I feel I am doing good and if I can maintain 30 minute miles the the EC should be a success. total yardage was 5,500 yards and averaged 27 minute miles

                                           My Muffin top is slowly going away!

GSL 8 Mile Swim

I have had a rough go lately posting anything to my blog, I have been really pool sour dealing with all variety's of people that lap swim here at the Tooele pool. I have not been swimming near as much as I needed to for my race at the GSL yesterday but I knew I would at least finish. I started out the morning heading to the marina  at 5:45 when Chandra and I got there Gords and Josh were already there getting set up. I signed the required paperwork and got all my stuff situated for the ride to the island. I was able to see a few people that I haven't had a chance to see in a while and chatted until everyone was ready to go. Me and Lang got into Josh's van along with Sue and Kate. Chandra and Ryan took his car to the island to help drive the van back to the marina. C.J. rode with me to the island and he kept everyone laughing while in route. when we got past the gate Sue noticed a coyote using the bathroom on the salt flats and told C.j. that it was a kangaroo a few minutes later another "kangaroo" was chasing Antelope along the salt flats. we got to the stopping point and got greased up. I kissed Chandra and C.j. bye and headed towards the water. We ended up walking quite a ways before the water was deep enough to swim. everyone lined up and the countdown was on I started my watch and took off. the chop was pretty rough for quite a while and the way the wind was blowing was pushing us towards Saltair instead of Black Rock. It was quite a fight for a while. about 3/4 way thru the race is smoothed out for the most part and was a great swim. I really was doing better than I had predicted because of the lack of training, but I credit most of it to the time I have spent in the GSL. the longest feed break I took was about 45 seconds which I was proud of. the current pushed me basically to the marina entrance and at least from there I knew exactly how far I had to go. I took one more quick feed and swam the rest of the way to Black Rock. The finish was way different from the previous two years because the water was so low. the last 100 or so yards was walking in calf to ankle deep water, I heard Josh yelling at me that this was a race to get moving. I smiled because I was done no running for me. I probably would have fell down and stuck my head in the mud. All in all this was as usual an awesome race. Josh and Gords work there butts off to give everyone a great experience. and as usual they pulled it off like they have been doing it for years. There were a few things I learned from this race, and in no particular order here they are.

1) Sunscreen you Idiot. I have sun burn in places that should never see sun
2) Train more you will be happier with you time if you put in the effort before hand
3) Did I mention sunscreen.

I want to personally thank my support crew for being there for me Lang for paddling, Ryan for hanging out with my wife, and Chandra for putting up with my grumpy self and pushing me to do better. with out you guys I could never do these swims.

Up next BEAR LAKE MONSTER SWIM! I will remember my sunscreen.

                                            smooth water

                                          the "chop"

C.j on the way to the start

Look who's back

So after a long break from swimming after the 7 mile swim at bear lake to let my shoulder heal, I am back. I went for a swim at the GSL on Monday. I met Sue out at the Marina and I  dragged my wife and her freind Cindy along as well. I got the kayak ready for Chandra and Cindy got them in the water and we were off. I swam out of the Marina and into the lake, I forgot how much I love swimming there. We headed towards black rock, I kept my head down and pushed the whole way and felt pretty good all the way there. When I got as far as I could go swimming because the water level had dropped drastically, which was about 200 yards short of the beach we stopped and grabbed a drink. We chatted for a few minutes and Sue was not as far ahead of me as I had expected her to be. After chatting we headed back to the Marina. I could not believe how clear the water was the whole time. We got out rinsed off and were on our way. I feel a ton better about Slam the Dam I may not be the fastest but I know I can finish in the 4 hours that I have to do it.

Slam the Dam here I come!