Longest open-water swim yet

I got up very early this morning (by my standards, since I work swing shifts) at about 7:30. Kelly and I wanted to get to Pineview Reservoir nice and early, so we could get a good swim in on calm water. We took Kelly's kayak, because he wasn't interested in logging the same kind of distance I had planned.

Passing the dam on my first lap.

When we got in, the lake was completely empty, short of a few paddle boarders and some jumping fish. I wanted to do two dam routes, which is about 2.2 miles per lap. Kelly paddled next to me for the entire first lap, snapping a few photos before his camera died. Sorry Kelly, no pics of you today... I felt good for the most part, taking a feeding after about 50 minutes. Kelly said it looked like I was starting to run out of gas during the last half mile and he was right, I simply wasn't feeling it and my arms were getting tired. Once we finished the lap, we carried the kayak back to the car.

I quickly ate another jelly-cube thingy, drank some water and got back in the water with Kelly. Instead of doing another full dam route, we did a slightly modified version of it, which is about one mile shorter. To my surprise, the feeding and quick break boosted my energy and I felt great for the whole second lap, even sprinting my last few hundred yards or so to the beach. I stretched my muscles as good as I could, while Kelly finished up his lap. It gave me a little more confidence for Bear Lake, knowing that if I take my feedings regularly, maybe every mile or so, then I should be just fine if I train hard for these next couple of weeks.

Empty lake, just asking for me to jump in it.

On a funny and kind of gross side note, I got attacked by a fish early in my swim. Well, not attacked exactly. Sometimes, when I'm swimming long distances, my nose starts to run. It occasionally runs in big elongated boogers that hang out of my nostril until they eventually detach (didn't want to interrupt my stroke to take care of it). Haha. I don't know if this ever happens to other swimmers, or perhaps I'm just a mutant. Anyway, seemingly out of nowhere, a fish was right in my face and took a snap at my nose. At first I thought it bit me, but then I realized it was going for that booger. And he got it... Scared the living shit out of me and Kelly just laughed his ass off when I immediately panicked. Yes, a fish ate a booger right out of my nose.

New open-water long today. I haven't swam that far since the Deer Creek race last year (3.1 miles). I have finished a 5-mile swim once, but it was in a pool.

Total distance: 3.4 miles

The Pineview Mirror

Kelly and I hit Pineview Reservoir for an open water swim today and we couldn't have asked for better conditions. There were a few clouds out, but the water was as still as glass. Looking out over the lake, it was like one big mirror.

Mmmm ... mmm ... toasty!

When we got in, we chatted with a triathlete who was just finishing up his swim for a little while then finally went out. I did a buoy lap to start, then turned back around and did a half buoy lap. Kelly was doing his own thing, swimming out to a buoy and back and he left a gel pack and drink on the beach for me for when I returned, since we probably wouldn't cross paths for a while.

After sucking those down, I did a big lap around the little bay, not quite going all the way down into the damn. Based off my watch (1:29.10) I estimated I swam just about 3 miles, perhaps a little less. That would have been a very fast three miles for me. I usually do it in around 1:35.00-ish. But when I went and looked at the map online to get a better calculation, it says I only did 2.4 miles. I'm certain it was more than that, so I'm going to conservatively say I came just short of three miles. I did feel like I was moving quickly in the glassy water and my shoulder felt OK.


We went to Quiznos after. We were starving, and it was so damn good....


Total distance: 2.7 miles

Day at the beach

I joined Wes and Dani for an afternoon at Pineview Reservoir before heading into work. It was the first day in a while where the wind wasn't blowing, so it was perfect for a day at the beach. Jen was shacked up at home with a dislocated knee, so I felt kind of bad leaving her there, but she was in no shape to be swimming.

I didn't plan on doing any ACTUAL swimming, but it only took about two minutes once we got there for me to cave, slap on my Speedo and head out. I swam out to the first buoy with my safe swimmer and then turned around and went back. It probably wasn't more than half a mile. It was a nice little swim though, considering the sad state of my shoulder at the moment. I wish I would have taken pictures...

Total distance: 1,000 yards (roughly)

Short Pineview swim with anxiety

I took a trip up to Pineview Reservoir for a swim today. I was planning on doing three buoy laps to start training for Bear Lake, which is probably going to be my next big swim. It's a crossing of the width of the lake, which is a bit over seven miles. The weather was beautiful and when I got there, the water appeared calm.

Snapped a quick photo when I got out of the water since I couldn't get the damn camera out of the safe swimmer when I was in the water.

The water felt great and I was moving along nicely for the first part of the swim. I hit the first buoy, realizing I accidentally went to the second one, rather than the first, so I doubled back to the original buoy before crossing the length of the "bay." The water was starting to get a little choppy by the time I hit the fourth buoy, which is the turnaround point, so I stopped and attempted to pull the camera out of the safe swimmer, which is where I discovered my first complaint about it. If you have more than a few small items in it, it is too difficult to grab anything from inside it while it is still inflated, thus making it nearly impossible to tread water and keep it from getting submerged while you take stuff out/in. I spent a solid two minutes doing eggbeater kicks just trying to re-inflate it and then readjust the waist strap. It was exhausting and I never could get the camera out.

Before I got in. The ripples in the water may look small, but they aren't so little when you are trying to swim through them.

On my way back, the waves really started to pick up, just like they were at the GSL race last Saturday. Although this time, rather than hitting me from the side, they were coming straight at me. There wasn't a boat in sight, but all the sudden a great deal of anxiety and panic came over me. Sighting the buoys became very hard and the waves really shook my psyche. I swam as hard as I could to the final buoy and then back to the beach. I'm not sure what came over me, because my stroke felt strong and I wasn't getting tired, but I just had a feeling like I was truly alone and it freaked me out. Being by myself and with no support kayak, it just didn't feel right to go back out for another two laps, even with my safe swimmer. All-in-all, it wasn't a great start to my Bear Lake training. I only did about 1/3 the distance I wanted to. Next time I'll just have to go out with Jen on the kayak and then I'll probably feel better about going for longer.

Total distance: About 1 mile

No Pineview, but a nice pool swim

I was planning on going for a solo open water swim at Pineview Reservoir this morning, but when I woke up, it was really windy outside. Choppy waters usually make swimmers less visible and if I went by myself, it probably wouldn't be the safest idea. Instead I hit the Roy Rec Center for a nice easy swim.

Warm up
200 free
Core
2750 free
Cool down
200 breast

I felt great the whole time and I even picked up my stroke a bit for the last 500 yards or so. With race day on Saturday, I probably will only swim once more this week before giving my shoulder time to rest. Hopefully, it's an open water though.

Total distance: 3,150 yards