Four-mile run with Wes

Today, Wes and I went to the Ogden River Parkway for a run. I wanted to test my knee and see where I stand in the pain department. I've been using the foam roller on my IT band for two days now, so I'm not sure that will make any huge difference yet. We ran into Jessica in the parking lot before we got started. She just finished a 9-mile run, which is pretty impressive in my book.

Wes taking a Gu Shot before our run.

The run was tougher than expected in the cardio department. Running is completely different from swimming when it comes to fitness level. Swimming for almost four and a half hours last week still doesn't make me breathe as hard as I did today when I was running. My knee, to my surprise felt fine for the most part. I started feeling the usual discomfort and then pain by about 3.5 miles, so I didn't go for too long after that. Shockingly, I finished in 38:40, just a few minutes behind Wes. I don't think I've ever ran four miles that fast before. Maybe that's why I felt so winded. Perhaps I took it out a little too hard and need to slow down a bit.

It's still hard to say how much my knee can take. I certainly am not capable of running a half marathon on it right now, but I have two solid weeks to work at it before the Huntsville Half Marathon registration deadline passes.

Total distance: 4 miles running.

What's next? Half marathon?

It's been a full week since Bear Lake, which is the longest I've gone without working out since I started exercising again over a year and a half ago. I saw the specialist on Tuesday and, to my disappointment, he really didn't give me any new information about my shoulder. The only thing I learned is that I haven't seriously damaged anything, so surgery or anything like won't be required. He offered me another cortisone injection, but I turned it down, because it only seemed to piss my shoulder off even more last time.

It's torture to use, but it is very highly reviewed for helping with IT band injuries.

I think I'm going to take one more full week off from swimming while trying to strengthen my tendons a bit with exercises the doc gave me. In the meantime, I bought a foam roller to help toughen up and stretch out my IT band in my knee. I say this because Wes is trying to talk me into running the Huntsville Half Marathon with him in a little over a month. That isn't a ton of time to train, but cardio-wise, I think I'm already in moderate shape. A half marathon and perhaps even a full marathon are both on my bucket list, but the knee kind of stopped me the last time I trained for one, although I was making very good progress, reaching eight miles at one point.

I'll start tomorrow with a 3-4 mile run with Wes and see how it feels.

Race report: Bear Lake crossing

What a 24 hours it has been. The Bear Lake swim turned out to be a success, although at times I felt like a total failure. Anyway, here's a breakdown of the day.

The best smile I could muster after the race.

Jen and I stayed at a campground the night before on the Idaho (east) side of the lake. There was nothing else available in the camping department, even though I checked six weeks in advance. We both slept like crap, due to noisy neighbors and a windy night. We both probably got less than two hours of sleep. Not a good start. In the morning, before the sun was even up, we drove around the lake to the marina in Garden City to get shuttled to the start, which was at Cisco Beach, close to where we were camping, but we wanted our car to be on the other side and ready for us when the race was over. On the bus, we chatted with Chad, Goody and his support kayaker, Lang while we drove back around the lake to the starting point. It's always fun to see those guys and I hope to see them more often this winter in some polar bear plunges.

The start of the race at Cisco Beach. I pilfered this photo from Goody's blog.

Jen and I got the kayak loaded up at the start, I did some light stretching and waded around in the water waiting for the start. A wet suit swimmer next to me was complaining about the cold water and it made me laugh, because I thought it was really warm. I looked over at Goody when she said that and he just grinned. I didn't crack any jokes about her finger paddles and flippers she had on for the swim either.

All is well and progress is good about halfway across.

The race started and we were off. I felt very good early, even though I fell to the back of the pack within the first mile or two. I was only in front of one other swimmer at that point. The water was calm, and Jen had me going at a nice pace. It wasn't until about Mile 4 or so that I started to have trouble. There were supposed to be buoys marking every mile across the lake, but some were nowhere in sight, except way off to the left and right of us. We probably followed the wrong one for a good 40 minutes before realizing the buoys had drifted and I wasted some very valuable "shoulder time" as I called it. Because not long after that, the pain started and my left arm deteriorated quickly after that. It got really bad, so I immediately went into breaststroke. For most of the remainder of the race, I alternated breaststroke and freestyle, but for a while, I couldn't get more than 20-30 strokes at a time before going back to breast. I had fallen into last place and the nearest swimmer was beyond sight, so I knew I was very far back.

Plugging away with my breaststroke

At that point, after another feed, I really wanted to stop. The race organizers were in a speedboat and were constantly zipping around me causing a strong wake and it made progress very slow. I was pissed off, in a lot of pain, but Jen wouldn't let me quit, even though I probably took a lot of my anger out on her. She pointed out a buoy to me after talking with the guys on that boat, claiming it was the Mile 5 mark, even though I probably had already done at least six. I could see the marina way off in the distance and those last "two" miles were torture. Every time I looked up, it didn't appear any closer. Later, Jen said I was pretty much swimming in place because there was a heavy current coming out of the marina due to a constant stream of boats exiting the docks. It didn't help that the same organizers were turning up the water all around me. I was beat down, both physically and emotionally.

After what seemingly took forever, my shoulder went completely numb, which probably isn't good, but the pain went away, so I said screw it and went back to freestyle for good. I finally saw another swimmer about 300 yards ahead as I finally approached the marina and Jen just looked at me with a stone face and said, "If you have anything left in the tank, now is the time. You can catch him." That got me amped and I really poured it on with my strokes, even though I was still moving slow. I caught the guy and passed him with ease as we rounded the rocks on the corner of the marina for the final stretch to the beach. I thought I was crawling at a slow pace, but when I passed the guy, I felt like a missile in the water, because he was BARELY moving, making progress in inches, so I cruised past him.

The final stretch.

Jen and I at the finish. Note the guy and his kayer I barely beat behind me.

Zonked. I couldn't hear very well for a while after. My sinuses are still messed up this morning.

I could hear Tim and Jen's parents cheering me on during the final few hundred yards which was awesome. They made the trip up just to watch me finish, which I can't thank them enough for. I stumbled out of the water and gave Jen a big hug. My watch read 4:21.34, which was well ahead of my goal of finishing under five hours. I didn't finish last either, which would have been a huge disappointment to me. Apparently, I also passed one of the relay teams during that two-mile torture stretch, which was kind of cool. I did the whole thing myself and still beat them. That boosted my ego a bit. Jen claims I probably ended up swimming around 10 miles, although I think that might be a bit of an exaggeration. It was probably closer to eight, or maybe nine at the most, but it was still more than I initially planned or trained for. The race was supposed to be a seven-mile crossing.

I'm so glad to have such a supportive wife. Jen was also hurting from paddling that whole way, fighting the same current and wake that I was and the whole time, she stayed patient with my childish complaints and didn't let me stop, no matter how much I whined. Finishing was quite an accomplishment for her, too and I'm glad we did it together. I'm super proud of her.

Jen is the best wife and support paddler I
could ever ask for.

Overall, I'm glad I did the swim, but it was very poorly organized. I had a hard time getting info leading up to the race, the shirts were cheap, there was ZERO food, water, medals or anything for that matter at the finish. The "marked" course was non-existant, due to the drifting buoys, which in a race that long, is a pretty big thing to screw up. Not to mention the damn race organizers buzzing around me in that boat like a fly throughout the last half of the race. I heard similar complaints from many other swimmers at the beach after the finish. The only real praise I have for the first annual Bear Lake Swim, was the shuttle service before the start. That was nice, I guess.

We went to lunch with Tim, Greg and Anita and we both were pretty much zombies until finally getting home at about 9 p.m.. We immediately fell asleep after showering and twelve hours later, we both feel like we got hit by a truck, but it was totally worth it. Now, it's off to the doctor to see a specialist about my shoulder on Tuesday...

P.S.: I didn't realize it until this morning, but I also passed the 200-mile mark with this race. Kind of a cool coincidence.

UPDATE: The results are posted and the "relay" I thought I beat, was actually another individual swimmer, so I finished third from last, instead of second from last. 14th out of 16 swimmers in my division. Sweet!

Total distance: 8-9 miles. Not really sure, exactly.

Here's a few more photos from the race.

We were all smiles the night before.

Bear Lake at sunset. I was ready to cross that sucker in the morning.

Chad and Goody on the shuttle to the start. They both are first-class
 swimmers and a lot of fun to be around. Utah open water swimmers really
have a great support system.

More stairs with Wes and Kelly

Today's blog isn't actually for today. I'm not working out until Saturday, but I went into work early yesterday, so I didn't have time to update with a new post.

Yesterday, Wes and Kelly came over and we went to Roy High's track to run and do some stairs. All in all, it was a good little workout. Wes is coming with Jen and I to Bear Lake tomorrow and he's going to kayak with Jen during my swim. Kelly was going to, but he got stuck working through the weekend. Still glad someone is coming to keep Jen company while I'm in the water. Four to five hours is a long time to sit in a kayak by yourself for.

Anyway, we leave tomorrow afternoon and are staying overnight in a campground at Cisco Beach, right where the race is starting. You won't hear from me until after the race. BRING THE PAIN!!

Total distance: About two miles running

Easy swim with Kelly

After almost two full weeks without swimming, I decided I would test my shoulders today. I absolutely didn't want to risk aggravating them before Saturday, so I took it nice and easy. We hit the pool and I did some slow freestyle sets with breaststroke intervals. My left shoulder hurt a bit during my warm up, but I felt zero pain for the rest of the swim. I ended up doing some moderately fast sets of 100 free, followed by breaks of 50 breast, just to get my heart rate up a little more. In the end, I'm glad I warmed up my shoulders a bit and stretched them out with a few yards in the water. I'll do one more tough dryland workout tomorrow and then start resting for Saturday. I'm super nervous.

Total distance: 2,000 yards

Stairs, and why I blog

I went down to the Roy High track to get in a weekend run, because I didn't work out much during the week. While I was there, I was thinking about my blog. Every once in a while, a friend busts my balls about my blog and how I update "the world" every time I exercise. I guess I can see how that would come across to some as showing off, or looking for praise when I work out. However, the whole reason I started this thing was for motivation. The longer I've been writing it, the more guilty I feel when I don't work out like I should or when I don't do it often enough. It's kind of an accountability thing. When I don't work out, I feel like others know, because my blog isn't updated and it's somewhat embarrassing. "Swimming Upstream" has turned into the most valuable motivational tool I have.

Running stairs is what I call hardcore cardio.

So, I apologize if I annoy when I share the links to it. Just know that I'm not starved for attention or anything like that. It's purely a training tool and away to get my thoughts down in print (sort of).

Anyway, I did some stair sprints today and they were brutal. I was only able to do about five sets worth, with one set being a full snake up one flight, running to the next and down, then running to the next set of stairs and repeating until I reach the end of the field. After that, I did a 2-mile run after a few minutes rest. I stopped before my knee started hurting as a preventative measure.

Total distance: About 3 miles running

Break from rest

I haven't worked out at all since last Friday, trying to let my body rest up, recover and taper for Bear Lake next Saturday. Today I went to the gym just to get my heart rate up a bit and warm up my muscles.
I kept it short and sweet, riding 20 minutes on the bike and then doing a quick one-mile sprint on the treadmill. I followed it up with some light weight work on my legs and arms, doing nothing that would put strain on my shoulders. No ab work today, though. Maybe tomorrow.

I was particularly inspired today knowing Gords was in the middle of crossing the English Channel, even as I type. He's kicking ass so far, well on his way to accomplishing the monumental feat. You can track his progress here. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=08lOCEPFE797pCPfsKG2qcDWn6FPhNKBE. Also, I watched the finish of the women's open-water marathon at the Olympics on the TV while on the treadmill. Exciting stuff. I'm so amped for Bear Lake, even if it surely will hurt like hell.

Total distance: 5.65 miles cycling, 1 mile running

F*$#@ng shoulders!!!

Well, bad news today. After Tuesday's five-mile swim (almost) I woke up the next day with the worst shoulder pain ever. Which would have been tolerable if it were just the one. But now, my other shoulder has joined in on the act. I've never had a single problem with it until now, and I'm certain it's tendinitis just like the other. Exact same kind of pain.

It's left me with some serious thinking to do. I have to consider the long-term consequences my body might suffer if I continue marathon swimming. Nothing I've tried over the past year has really worked, and icing constantly has kept it manageable, but I can't do it forever. I think Bear Lake might have to be the final "long" open water swim for me. I refuse to give up swimming and I'm pretty sure I can keep at it, training for pool events where the focus is more on intensity rather than volume. So here's the game plan ... for now.

1. No more swimming until Bear Lake. My shoulders are in such bad shape that I can't risk injuring them further before my big swim. I feel my cardio level is ready for the event, so I'm not too concerned about finishing in that regard. I just hope my shoulders can hold up to get across that sucker.

2. See a doctor, and actually get the work done to properly diagnose and treat my problem (MRI and possibly ultrasound).
3. After Bear Lake, take 2-5 weeks off (or whatever the doctor suggests) from swimming. I know I'll be in considerable pain after Bear Lake is all said and done, so I will need to take some time to heal. In reality, if I want to fully heal, I need to take months, rather than weeks off, but I don't know if I can do that again. I really need to work on my kicking if I want to improve pool times, so I'll probably do regular work with a kickboard while I rest my shoulders.

4. Swim in the SDRC Masters meet in mid-November. I hope six or so weeks of solid, intense training will get me ready. I might set daily yardage limits on myself, though, to keep from furthering the destruction on my shoulders. I have a few goals I'd like to meet, beating some times from last year and perhaps trying some new events.

As far as after that goes, I just don't know. I will probably swim in the open water races the following year, but they will have to be the shorter 1-mile events. Anything more probably won't be possible or even good for me.

Anyway, Kelly and I went to the gym this morning and got some leg work in. I rode the bike for 30 minutes, followed by squats, leg presses, lunges, mountain climbers and some ab work.

Total distance: 7.35 miles cycling