Double dip with a little salt

Today was such a wonderful day for swimming. First, I hit the pool for a nice easy mile early this afternoon. I actually did it, to make sure I was getting a decent amount of yardage in, just in case I didn't do to much in the Great Salt Lake open water clinic in the evening.

View from the top of the boat ramp before I jumped in.

I was stunned to see how many people were at the marina when I arrived around 5:45. Josh and Gords have really done a great job with these and more and more people seem to be interested in open water because of these two guys. They did a nice little talk, going over some of the basics of open water and then we all jumped in.

I kind of felt like an overeager fool at first, because after the "lesson" I was the first one in the water. I was pretty amped and immediately took off before the rest of the group. I finally purchased a Safe Swimmer from Josh and I was excited to try it out, so I set out for a buoy Josh told me about a little earlier. I seemed to hit the buoy in no time and flipped around to head back up to the boat ramp. I passed the group on my way back and it seemed like they were heading out to the same white buoy.

I'm so happy I bought one of these. I was pleasantly surprised with it today.

The salt wasn't bothering me nearly as much as it did last year, and it was nice to be able to stop once I reached the buoy and pull my bottle of water out of the Safe Swimmer to rinse out my mouth a bit. I did the same thing once I returned to the boat ramp. I was feeling good, so I went right back out and once I swam out of the marina, I saw Josh and Chad by a different buoy (green one this time) and swam to meet them. It was nice to finally meet Chad and chat with the two of them for 30 minutes or so, floating lazily in the warm Great Salt Lake water, while we waited for the rest of the swimmers to all finish up and return to the ramp. I'm not positive how many yards I swam, but Josh gave me some rough calculations based off his GPS, so I think I guessed fairly accurate.

The lake was so calm and the weather was perfect. I didn't think I'd be so excited for next week's race, especially after the experience I had last year, but thanks to today, I feel much more confident about it.

P.S.: I really need to invest in a waterproof camera, so I can take some good shots during swims, now that my open water season has officially began.

Total distance: 4,200 yards (sum of both swims)

Descending 1,000

The Roy Rec Center's hours have officially changed for the summer, severely limiting when I can get in the pool. I now have only a one-hour window to swim every day during the week, but that's OK, because it's about time I start open water season. I'm planning on FINALLY joining Utah Open Water for a group swim at the Salt Lake marina on Thursday to christen the new year of outdoor swimming for 2012. Anyway, here's today's short swim.

Warm up
250 free
Core
2 x 1,000 free (17:03 and 16:31)
300 kick with fins
Cool down
300 easy (alternating breast and free every 50)

I'm still really trying to work on my pacing over long distances, especially after my disappointing one-mile time last Friday, so I tried to do a moderate 1,000 followed by another 1,000 negative split on only 30 seconds rest. I knocked off 32 seconds from the first one, so that's a good start. Getting a good sense of pace and then picking it up down the stretch is a tricky beast in marathon swimming...

Total distance: 2,850 yards

Sluggish one-mile test

I was determined to set a new one-mile pool best today. However, three things didn't bode in my favor. First, I stayed up way too late, playing video games with Kelly, Zack and Wes, so I woke up with only an hour of lap-swim time remaining. Second, while in the pool, stupid kids were messing around in my lane during lap swim, which was really distracting, when I got kicked in the face twice. The Roy Rec Center is usually pretty good about keeping them out, but hey, at least I got some open-water "combat swimming" experience. Haha! And third, my shoulder is still effing sore. I think I did too many bloody push-ups earlier this week and it hasn't fully recovered.

Anyway, I still felt relatively good during my swim. I gave it everything I had and for the first time in a long while, I honestly thought I might puke once I finished. I was encouraged until I looked at my watch and it read 28:51. Crap!! I didn't even beat my best mark for 2012 (28:47), let alone my all-time high (28:36). I'm sure I didn't lose count this time, and its frustrating to see that you only missed a mark by just 15 seconds over the time span of almost a half-hour. That's less than a half-second per lap difference.

Oh well. When I left, they had another 50-mile swim certificate waiting for me at the front desk. That's the third one I've earned and call me a 7-year-old child, but I took it home and slapped it on the fridge. Yes!!!

On a side note, Gordon showed me the design for the GSL marathon swim medals yesterday, and I thought it was pretty dang cool. I love the local "brine shrimp" tribute. That's only one of many reasons GSL is unique, so I think the design was particularly cool.

Total distance: 2,850 yards

Bleh....

Gonna make it short today. My shoulder is still sore from Tuesday's weightlifting and push-up session, so I put off my swim for one more day. I have no choice but to swim tomorrow if I want to get my third swim in this week. However, I rode the stationary bike for 50 minutes today and got my sweat on. I wish I could have been in the pool, but at least this was something.

Total distance: 12.1 miles cycling

Bike and bonus yards

I didn't want to push it too hard on my shoulder today, so I rode the bike instead. After about 30 minutes, I did some ab work and light weight training and still felt like I had some energy, so I went downstairs and jumped into the pool for a few bonus yards.

I only did kicks, alternating freestyle and breaststroke and then with and without fins. It was nice to add a few extra yards to this week's total without even using my arms. Well, kind of ... I still did a bunch of push-ups and weightlifting, but no freestyle pulling. That should give my shoulder a nice little breather before tomorrow's swim. I'm going to go for at least a mile and a half, possibly timing my mile time to see where I'm at now.

Total distance: 7.5 miles cycling, 800 yards swimming

Double-down Monday

Having missed a swim late last week, I wanted to make sure I made up for it this week. I got in the pool nice and early and did a big ladder set.

Warm up
200 free
Core
250 free
500 free
1,000 free
2,000 free
Cool down
300 kick
200 breast

I felt great, and it seemed like the ladders -- which I doubled every new set -- got easier as the distances increased (as odd as that sounds). I was only resting for 30 seconds between sets, and by the end of my 2,000, I felt like my stroke was smoother than ever and I was moving faster than when I did the first 250. I have just under three weeks until the Salt Lake swim and I am confident if I push hard for the next two weeks, I'll be able to destroy last year's mark.

Very encouraging day...

Total distance: 4,450 yards (new 2012 high)

Long night on the mountain

Wes and I finally went for our overnight camp at the top of Hidden Valley, last night. That hike is always difficult, but with 40-pound packs on, it was an intense workout. For once, I didn't feel guilty for missing a swim. All was well when we got camp set up. The weather was nice, we got a fire going and cooked dinner.

All smiles halfway up the trail. I had no idea about the misery that was in store for me later that night.

However, just before hitting the sack, we walked about 50 yards to a clearing by the rock cairn where we had cell-phone reception so we could call our wives and say good night. It was getting dark and as I was walking, I heard a shuffle near my foot, followed by the dreaded RATTLING sound. I looked down, and sure enough, about a foot away from my shoe was the snake. I immediately jumped back and Wes' dog ran after the snake as we yelled and called for her to come back. Fortunately, no one was hurt. But I was freaked out and retreated to the tent for the night.

Our view from camp, right near where I almost stepped on a rattler a few hours later.

Then it got worse.

I woke up at about 1 a.m. with what might have been the worse headache of my life. I was shaking uncontrollably, sweating profusely and I'm certain I was running a fever. Wes, being the good friend he is, helped me pack up camp a few hours later when I wasn't getting any better. I started vomiting, so we decided to quickly make our way down the mountain in the dead of night, so I could get some medicine/help. It didn't help that my knees were already shaky when we went downhill, plus the rattlesnake scare was still in our heads as we trekked down the trail in the dark. After what seemingly took forever, we made it to the bottom by 4 a.m., and I was home by 4:30 where Jen made me sit in a hot bath after swallowing a handful of ibuprofen. It made a world of difference. After about another hour, I was feeling a little better and I could finally lie down. My own bed never felt so good and I was out. I didn't wake up until 11:30.

I feel fine now, and I'm not quite sure what overtook me last night. Very rarely have I felt so scared. Jen thinks I was severely dehydrated, but I have my doubts, because Wes and I took a ton of water with us. I drank at least two liters before we went to sleep. With a ton of black widows in our garage lately -- where we store our camping gear/sleeping bags -- Jen also thinks I may have been bitten by a spider and that made me sick. Personally, I think I may have gotten food poisoning from dinner. But who knows... It may have soiled me on camping for a little while, but I'm glad to have a good friend in Wes, who didn't mess around and helped me get down the mountain when I felt like death. Jen, as always, was up late at night with me, too, and I am thankful to have the both of them in my life.

Thanks guys...

Just say no to the Marshall White Center

Today was just a disaster day for swimming. I met Jen for sushi early in the afternoon and we totally pigged out. I felt guilty and went to the Marshall White Center to swim some of it off, because I missed the Roy lap swim hours.

Almost immediately, I realized why I hate swimming there. It's a filthy, smelly facility, but I was able to look past that for an hour or so in the pool. However, when I was in the pool the chlorine content was so ridiculously high, that I had cotton mouth within 10 minutes. Last summer, their pool ate through a brand new jammer in just two swims. It's like acid in that pool and no matter how much I scrubbed, I can still feel it on my skin, burning, even now.

On top of that, there were a dozen or so kids swimming around in the pool during lap swim hours and the lifeguard didn't bother to tell them to stay out of the way of lap swimmers. After running into kids, twice stopping my progress, I looked at the lifeguard like, "Hey! What the hell is going on?" She simply grinned and moved on. After running into kids two or three more times, I finally gave up and got out of the water. It frustrates me, because it's already such a crappy facility, and if they want to stay in business they can at least provide decent enough service to its customers. Ogden City has dumped thousands of dollars into that place just to keep it afloat and they shouldn't be alienating people who want to bring them business.

Never going back and I highly discourage any desperate Ogden-area swimmers from going there. It just isn't worth it.

Total distance: A measly 1,600 yards

Back in action after a break

My dad was in town last week and I wasn't able to get in the pool for four days. I wanted to log a decent amount of yardage today in order to make up for some missed time and get a good start to the week. It might have been a blessing in disguise, though, giving my shoulder a little extra rest.

Warm up
200 free
Core
3,500 free (1:01.24)
300 kick
Cool down
100 breast

My muscles felt very tight during the first 1,000 yards or so, plus there were a couple of military douches dicking around in the lane next to me, which was a bit distracting. However, they weren't taking their swims very serious and didn't last long, and then I was able to settle in nicely for the two-mile swim. After that, I did a few hundred yards of kicks with fins before cooling down. Good start to the week...

Total distance: 4,100 yards

Longing for water

When I was completely out of action in the swimming department, I often found myself sitting on the stationary bike, looking down at the pool and wishing I could be in the water. With my shoulder a bit sore today, I went with a little dryland training and cycled for about 30 minutes. It didn't last long before I gave in and ran downstairs to the locker room, slipped on my suit and jumped in the pool for a few laps.

I didn't want to go all out, considering I was originally planning on resting my shoulder today, so after a 250-yard warm up, I turned on my watch and swam for 20 minutes, managing 1,100 yards without really going faster than an easy pace.

Total distance: 1,350 yards swimming, 7.75 miles cycling

Swim golf with Kelly

Kelly joined me for a swim today and we both decided to try something I read in "Swimmer." It's called swim golf, where you count your strokes and your seconds, add them together and that's your score. We did it in 50's because counting any more beyond that is just a pain in the ass. 

We take our swims very serious

At first I had a score of 79. After 10 attempts, I was able to get it down to 66 a few times, but I couldn't beat it. It really helps with getting more out of every stroke, also teaching you to maximize your kicking. Every time I swam I faster 50, my stroke count went up. Every time I took longer, stronger strokes, my time went up. I couldn't win. It seems like an effective training tool. We also just kind of screwed around and did some other random stuff.

Warm up

150 free

Core

500 free

10 x 50 golf

2 x 100 golf

500 kick

500 free

50 butterfly

Cool down

100 free easy

As you can see, it was quite a random assortment today. My shoulder is hurting (AGAIN!), so I didn't want to push it too hard, but my ice pack will still get full use for the remainder of the day. 

Total distance: 2,500 yards

Hiking with mom

I've been talking about taking my mom on a hike for a few weeks now, and she had some time off work this week, so we went for it today. I didn't want to go on anything too strenuous, that way we could actually enjoy the hike, so I figured Waterfall Canyon was a simple choice.

Mom at the waterfall.

It was nice to chat with her during the way up. The weather was beautiful today and never got terribly hot and it was even borderline cold once we reached the top. The sun hadn't yet peaked up over the cliff inside the canyon, and the mist from the waterfall was cold. It felt great! After we reached the bottom of the trail head, we both pigged out on some Doritos Locos Tacos from Taco Bell. We both love those things. I wonder if it is possible to pass food tastes and preferences down to your offspring genetically. Haha...

Empty pool and disappointment

Getting a late start to the pool always seems to burn me. It usually gets busiest at the Roy Rec Center during the late hours of lap swim. However, when I got there today, it was completely empty. It might be the first time this year I've had an entire pool to myself. With nobody around except a lifeguard, I decided to test my mile swim again.

The empty pool just after I finished my swim. Note the ripples still in the water.

Warm up

200 free

Core

1,750 free (hard)

Cool down

1,000 free (alternating 150 free easy and 50 breast)

It felt like I pushed it very hard and I was pretty gassed by about 1,000 yards. The last 250 yards were very tough to muscle through, but I still went hard to finish the set. When I looked at my watch, I was shocked to see 28:56. I swam it nine seconds faster during my last mile test and I felt like I went much faster and harder this time around. I'm about 75% sure I did an extra lap, because I recall losing count for a minute there right around 1,200 yards. Because I can't know for sure, I can't bring myself to knock off 45 seconds or so and count it as my new best mile time. It's a shame, but it just wouldn't feel right. I'll have to make sure I don't lose count next time and really smash my old record.

I did a nice and easy 1,000-yard swim as an extended cool down. I was hoping to go to the Salt Lake Marina and join Gords, Josh, Goody and others for an open-water swim, but once again, I couldn't make it. I have to cover a prep soccer game this afternoon. Hopefully I'll get in a nice nap after, because Jen surprised me with midnight showing tickets for The Avengers tonight. Should be fun...

Total distance: 2,950 yards

Negative splits after a mile

I hit the pool for the second consecutive day, today. I wanted to do some distance and work on speed, so I did a little bit of both. Afterward, I hit the weight room for some light chest and ab work. 

Warm up

300 free

Core

2,000 free

5 x 100 free on 2:00 (negative split)

4 x 50 free on 1:00 (negative split)

Cool down

200 breast

After doing the initial 2,000 yards, I went straight into speed sets. In the 100's did 1:31, 1:30, 1:29, 1:30 again and 1:27 to finish. In the 50's, I did :43, :42, :42 and :40. I know they were very short sets, but I did manage to negative split them. Next time I try negative splits, I'm going to add some more.

Total distance: 3,200 yards