Huntsville Half Marathon Race Report

My first half marathon is officially in the books, and it went better than I hoped for.

I rode up to Huntsville with Kelly and Jessica, as Jen, Coop, her brother, Tim and his wife, Nikki, drove up later to wait for me at the finish line. It was very cold (reportedly 28 degrees) when we arrived at about 8 a.m. Fortunately, we had drop bags, so we all bundled up nicely and hung out on the bus until they kicked us off after shuttling us up to the starting point.

When the race started, Kelly hung back with Jessica and I for a few miles. Since he is a much faster runner than both of us -- much to our dismay -- he kind-of pushed us to go a little faster than we originally wanted to. Eventually, he took off and we knew he was going for his goal time of less than two hours. From that point, Jess and I had a pretty smooth run.

Seeing Coop in this goofy outfit at the finish line was a perfect way to cap the race. I ran all 13.1 miles in 2:12:16.

My knee pain arrived about six miles in, which scared the shit out me. Usually, when the pain comes, I'm forced to stop and walk and I knew I wasn't going to reach my goal time of 2:25:00 if I did that. I pushed through it for about a mile and the pain gradually wore off entirely. The course was as beautiful as everyone said it was, and having Jessica there as a running partner was such a blessing. I think we kept each other honest at a solid pace and neither of us wanted to be the one who stopped and walked. It felt like we both hit a wall around the 11-mile mark, but there was a lot of entertainment (bands, cheerleaders, and other various live music) that peppered the final few miles of the course and that kept our minds occupied for the remainder of the race.

I sprinted the final 250 yards or so, even though I told Jess I wasn't going to. ;) Sorry, Jess. My competitive side kicked in a bit at the end. I couldn't find Jen, Coop, Tim and Nikki when I finished, but I located them just after I received my medal and cut the timing chip off my shoe. Kelly was there waiting, too, and he said he finished in 2:01:00, which was just over his goal time. I'm sure he would've gone under it if he didn't hang back with Jess and I for the first two or three miles.

All smiles after the race. Kudos to Jessica, who has always been my favorite running partner.

We snapped a few photos, got our stuff, said goodbye to Kelly and Jess and ate some lunch at the Huntsville Barbecue Company. When I got home, I looked up my finish time online and I clocked 2:12:16, which was almost 13 minutes faster than my goal. That time isn't going to turn any heads in the running community, but I am proud of myself for doing it. Despite fears about cardio and knee pain, I performed much better than expected. I truly don't enjoy running, but now I can say I've completed a half marathon and ran the whole way. And no, I don't have plans to do a full.

Three days later, I still feel like I was hit by a truck. My calves have never been so sore in my life...

Total distance: 13.1 miles running

Re-examining my priorities

I'm alive and well. I promise.

Due to an incredibly busy schedule, I haven't been able to update my fitness blog for about a month. I'm back though, and here's an update. The half marathon is tomorrow and I'm incredibly nervous about it. I haven't been this anxious about an event since my Bear Lake Crossing more than a year ago. Training was going very well until a little over three weeks ago, when my knee started hurting again after a long run with Jessica. Her and Kelly will be running the race, too.

Time for a run? No thanks. I'll watch Star Trek with my son instead. Maybe, if I'm lucky, he'll fall asleep.

I backed off my running a bit and amped up my workouts during swim class. Although I didn't stop exercising entirely, my dryland training came to a screeching halt, and I'm not entirely sure I'm ready for tomorrow morning's race. I never ran more than nine miles at once during my training, and somehow, I'm going to have to muscle through 13. Knowing that I never quite reached my training goal for Bear Lake, and still somehow managed to pull off that event does give me some hope that tomorrow will be OK, though. Even if it's just false confidence.

Work has been incredibly busy and my free time isn't really "free" as I am trying my best to spend that time with my family. Every new father thinks they know what is coming, and no matter how much you read in advance, you are never fully prepared. Despite all the diaper changing, play time, crying and simply trying to give Jen a bit of a break from the duties of motherhood whenever possible, it really has been an enjoyable experience thus far. But it has forced me to re-examine my priorities.

Fitness is very important, and I need to make sure I don't stray from it. However, I don't think intense training -- often sucking up multiple hours per day -- is a great thing for me or for my family right now. Now that Cooper is here, I find it very selfish to spend too much of my free time training for monster fitness events. He and Jen need me far more than I need these selfish "accomplishments." There is always more to every story, and every person has different circumstances in their lives, but I just don't see how people with multiple children can train for and participate in all of these marathon events (for any sport) and still give their families the attention they need and deserve. Somehow, I need to find a balance between staying fit and healthy, but not getting caught up in too many races, which are more of a hobby. Needs vs. wants, if you will.

Anyway, enough of my personal anecdotes. In a perfect world, I will finish tomorrow's half marathon in under 2 hours and 25 minutes with little or no knee pain. That probably won't happen, but who knows. ... maybe I'll get lucky.

New job, new motivation

I've been in a significant exercise dry spell during the past couple of weeks. I've been stressing as I wade through the hiring process of a potential new job, which would make life so much better for Jen and I. You know, interviews, call backs, waiting and more waiting. I wasn't able to sleep for more than an hour at a time for about two weeks, and it took a devastating toll on my body. Sluggish, tired and absolutely no motivation to work out.

That being said, I ended up getting the job and I start next Monday. It felt like a huge load was lifted off my shoulders and ironically, that night, I still was unable to sleep, this time out of excitement. But I'm back to normal now and today Kelly joined me for a swim at the Roy Rec Center, our first swim in a long time.

Staying true to my 2013 goals, I focused less on yardage and more on quality. Here's what I did.

Warm up
150 yard freestyle
Core
5 x 100 freestyle sprints on 2:00
10 x 50 freestyle sprints on 1:00
Cool down
350 alternating breast and free every 50 (easy)

The sprint sets were very tough. I was sucking wind the whole time, so I knew I was pushing myself hard getting solid bang for my buck without overloading my shoulder with too many yards. It felt great to get back in the pool, though.

Total distance: 1,500 yards swimming

First December swim

It took a while, but I finally mustered the guts to go for a swim this month. I've been scared to do so, given the delicate state of my shoulder, but Kelly and Jessica really wanted to go, so that was enough to talk me into it. The two of them are having a little competition called the "Iron Santa" this month, where they each want to do a full Iron Man during the month, which is something like 180 miles cycling, 26 miles running and 2.5 miles swimming. Neither of them had logged any pool time so they joined me at the Roy Rec Center.

Fuzzy photo at the pool. I'd make a poor surgeon with my shaky hands.

We actually went yesterday, but it was Zack's wedding later that day, so I didn't have time to blog about our workout. I just did a simple ladder set, throwing in 50 yards of breaststroke for every 100 yards of freestyle. Didn't want to overdo it.

Warm up
200 free
Core
Ladder set 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350
Cool down
400 free and breast easy

My shoulder didn't hurt at all after, which is a good sign. I'd like to squeeze in at least one more swim before the end of the year.

Total distance: 2,000 yards

Bachelor party recovery

Well, my body is in a weird state right now. Kelly, Wes and I celebrated Zack's upcoming wedding with a full 24 hours of drinking, junk food and video games. Today, in an effort to start recovering from it, I went to the gym. I'll need to go one more time extra to help knock off some of those extra calories.

So, today I started with a walk on the treadmill on a heavy incline, which kicks my ass worse than running at 6 mph. I did that for 20 minutes and then rode the bike for 20 minutes more. I finished up the afternoon with some upper body weight training before calling it a day.

Tomorrow, if my shoulder is feeling up to it, I might go for a light swim. No guarantees, though.

Total distance: 1.25 miles uphill treadmill, 8.2 miles cycling

Weber State Turkey Tri race report

What started out as a crummy day turned out to be a good one. I woke up early so I could get up to campus and set up my transition area for the triathlon, but it there was still a ton of snow on the ground and it was still falling. Sure enough, when I checked in, they announced the bike leg had been canceled. I was very disappointed and my heart kind of sank a bit. I've trained primarily for the bike leg, given my knee and shoulder issues restrict my swimming and running, so that was a blow. Obviously, trying to beat my time from last year was out the window since the race was only a duathlon this time around.

Chatting with Kelly and Jess just after finishing.
They were in the first wave, while I was in the second.

However, the weather cleared up a bit just before the race started and when it was my wave's turn to start the race, I was amped and determined to go all out on my run, regardless of pain, knowing I wouldn't have to follow it with a bike leg. It hurt and I was certainly sucking wind, but I gave it my all and didn't stop despite the cold. The swim was cake. I cruised past people in the short 300-yard pool event and mostly, people were conscious of faster swimmers, letting them pass when needed. I really wish that leg was longer, because it's the only place where I have an edge over most triathletes.


Me at the start of the race (in all black). Note the damn snow, just like last year.

I finished in 36:38 minutes, good enough for 5th out of 10 in my age group and 48th out of 112 overall. In the end, I'm still bummed I didn't get to use the bike I went through the trouble of borrowing, but with the time I logged on the other two legs, I'm still confident I would have finished in under an hour this year and possibly finished higher up. However, I did have one of the top 10 fastest swim legs in the whole race. To counter that, I also had one of the top 10 slowest transitions. I probably could have shaved a minute off my race if I didn't take my sweet effing time getting to the pool.

Jess, Kelly and I hanging out during the post-race raffle with our new bling.

Jessica and Kelly each won prizes in the raffle and Jess was given a medal for finishing first in her age group which was kind of cool. She acted very surprised and with good reason, because when the official results were posted today, she actually took fourth in her age group. What a fraud! Haha! Also, ran into some old friends and some acquaintances I work out with at the Roy Rec Center. After the race, I joined Jon McBride and Gentry Reinhart, -- my old pals from The Signpost -- for some lunch at the Shooting Star Saloon in Huntsville and we followed that up with a Weber State football game (also in the snow). The day still didn't end, as I took Jen to an Ogden Mustangs hockey game later that night (also in a cold ice rink).

The famous Shooting Star. My stomach
 didn't sit right for the rest of
 the day, though. Worth it...

What a day... A cold one.

Total distance: 3.1 miles running, 300 yards swimming

Slushy run with Kelly

Kelly and I had planned on running the Turkey Tri course today, and based off weather reports, we both knew it was going to be rainy and cold. We dressed warm, though and gutted it out.

If I don't look too pleased with myself, it's because I'm not. Kelly is all smiles, though.

Right after we parked and started stretching I watched someone ticket my car. I don't really care, because I'm not a student, so what are they going to do? Hold my transcripts? I graduated long ago. However, it is really stupid that Weber State doesn't have anywhere for you to park if you are a visitor or a non-student. Sorry, but I'm not going to buy one of your hundred-dollar parking passes so I can park on campus a few times a year.

Anyway, the run was incredibly tough. I tried my best to stay with Kelly the whole way, but I was hurting from the very start. I'm not sure my body was ready to run, considering I'm still sore from last Thursday's hike. Yeah, it's taking that long to heal. My shins were in a great deal of pain before we were even half way done, but any time I tried to stop or slow down, it just hurt worse, so I just trudged forward. My time was a very disappointing 34 minutes, but we did take a slightly longer route. The cold was a bit of a factor and my lungs were burning a bit, but that's to be expected. Hell! It's a triathlon in November! So I have no good excuse there. The rain stopped just before we stopped running anyway, so we did catch a break there.

Next time, I plan to stretch MUCH better and hopefully I can pull off a time closer to my Turkey Tri goal.

P.S.: Why is it already snowing? Ughhhh!!

Total distance: 3.1 miles running

Mount Ogden summit success

So we finally made our 2012 attempt to summit Mount Ogden and all went well. Wes and I met at Kelly's place before we went and packed everything away and we were on the Beus Canyon trailhead by 9:30. The two of them brought their dogs Luigi and Leia. My initial goal was to be at the top within five hours. The last time Kelly and I attempted this in 2009 we only make it a bit past halfway in almost five hours. I was fatter then, so what can I say?

Shortly after making it through Beus Canyon. Note the colors everywhere. Beautiful.

We made our way through the 2.5 miles of Beus Canyon and it was pretty cold outside. There was still frost on the leaves, which provided a scenic climb through the fern fields. Autumn really is the perfect time to make this hike.

After that, we crossed the creek and went up the south side of the canyon before turning into the next canyon, which I don't know the name of on the other side. We worked through the mountainside 2.7 more miles before cutting back west to go up the traverse to the saddle to Mount Ogden, before finally hitting the saddle itself. Once the towers and helicopter pad at the peak were in sight it made things a little more frustrating because it was deceivingly far away.

Wes in the canyon south of Beus.

Eventually, we hit the road that comes up from the east side at Snowbasin. That road was a bitch. It was easily the hardest part of our ascent. We were all sucking wind the whole way. It was worth it though, because out of nowhere we saw a line of about five mountain goats a few dozen yards ahead of us, seemingly making the exact same climb we were. That was pretty cool.

Mountain goat sighting. Unfortunately, no Goat Man sightings.

Finally, after three hours and 45 minutes we made it to the top. We ate lunch and just relaxed for about 45 minutes before heading back down at 2 p.m sharp. It took us a little longer than I had hoped to get back down, trudging into the parking lot on 46th Street at 4:30 and we were dog tired. Even the actual dogs were dog tired.

I don't know if this road has a name, but it should be dubbed Hell's Climb.

All in all, it was a successful hike. Round trip, including the 45 minutes we took to stop, it took us seven hours from start to finish. Not bad. Novice climbers are expected to take eight to nine hours and we dicked around on the helipad for a while, too. We started at 5,000 feet and finished at the top at 9,500 feet making a total ascent of 4,500 feet. I'm sure I burned a crap-ton of calories.

We made it. Almost four hours later.

Total distance: 13 miles hiking (round trip)

Our route, excluding the crappy climb up the final road.

More photos from the hike ...

Cold weather in the morning. Mid 30s.

Traversing the saddle. Mount Ogden about two mile further on the left.

Texting Jen to tell her we made it up safely. Dunno what Kelly's doing.

The view of Weber and Davis counties from the top. We had a perfect 360 degree view as far as we could see.

The road to Snowbasin and the tram on the left.

Ben Lomond peak off to the north.

It's not what it looks like. Well, maybe it is.

Gangster poses with Morgan County behind us.

Locked out of house = Long run

So, I'm a dumb ass.

Yesterday, I was supposed to meet Kelly so we could run the Turkey Tri course for the first time this year. I was running late and was in a hurry to get out of the house, so the second I closed the front door when I left, I realized I didn't have my keys or phone on me. I had nothing but my wallet and iPod on me. I was in my running clothes, so I walked up to the gas station near my house, called Jen and lefter her a message, asking her to tell Kelly I wasn't going to make it, because I'm a screw up and locked myself out.

I had over two hours until Jen would be home from work, so I said screw it and just went for a run around the neighborhood. I took a completely random route, simply trying to kill time, while still getting a decent run in. I swear I ran all over Roy city before I finally made my way back to that same gas station about 45 minutes later. I called Jen from their phone again and this time, she answered, saying she'd be there in a few minutes to pick me up and take my dumb ass to Home Depot so we can make a copy of the house key.

I'm shamed to say, this is the second time of done this, not including the few times she had to rescue me when I locked my keys in my car while in college. I'm glad she has so much patience with my scattered brain. In the end, though, I got a good sweat and sucked down a cold drink at that gas station after, because after all, I did still have my wallet. Haha!

Total distance: 4.2 miles running (after looking up my run online)

My blogaversary and a super fast 5k

I didn't realize it when writing my blog on Wednesday, but it marked the one-year anniversary since I started this blog. I can't believe it's been that long already. I'm so glad I started it and hopefully as the years go by, I will have amassed quite a few posts.

Happy blogaversary to "Swimming Upstream"

Anyway, today Kelly and I did a run. Fall is here, which to me, is my favorite time of year to be outside. It's still sunny, but the air is cool enough to work out in without worrying about dropping from the heat. I went for another three-mile run and I was shocked as to how quickly I ran it. Kelly was in front of me the whole way, which was perfect, because he set a fast pace that really forced me to push it. I ended up finishing in 28:40, which is over two minutes faster than Wednesday's run, and honestly, might be among the fastest I've ever ran that distance. I'd have to go through my logs from last summer, but it's pretty dang close, so I'm very encouraged. After that, I did a quick ladder stairs set at Roy High's stadium bleachers.

My hamstring is a bit sore, so I'm going to stretch the crap out of it tonight with the foam roller. I think my next workout will be an extensive session on the stationary bike. Then I'll try putting the two together in preparation for the Turkey Tri.

Total distance: About 3.25 miles running

Swimming and video games

Kelly and I went for a swim today, and we are both on the tail ends of our colds. I did a short run on the treadmill for about 15 minutes before we got in the water and my lungs were already burning a bit. The pool was a little busy, but it cleared out just before we started our sets. Here's what we did.

Call of Duty is such a fun game. I don't know why I've neglected it on my shelf for so long.

Warm up
200 free
Core
500 free
400 free
300 free
200 free
100 free
Cool down
100 breast

We swam a simple ladder set and then Kelly did a 50 butterfly just before we cooled down. After we left, we got some lunch and played video games at my house for about an hour. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 has been sitting on my shelf for some time now, and I've hardly played it. It's pretty fun, so I regret letting it sit there for so long. It needed a little bit of attention and I am happy to give it.

Total distance: 1.5 miles running, 1,800 yards swimming

Sickly swim

I've been battling a bit of a cold that has been going around this past week. I really wanted to work out yesterday, but I was running a fever all day and decided it probably wouldn't be very pleasant if I did. I got plenty of sleep last night, though and I felt much better this morning. Kelly was supposed to meet me for a swim at the Roy Rec Center, but he slept in, also battling that same bloody cold that I have. So I went solo today.

Gyms spread germs, so be sure to wipe the equipment down when you are done.

I rode the bike for about 20 minutes just to get my blood pumping. My cough was starting to act up, so I decided that was a good time to stop and get in the water. I was extra careful to wipe down everything I touched with disinfectant, because I didn't want to spread this shit around. Gyms are common places to catch bugs from other people. The water felt great, though and I really enjoyed the short swim. I only did a handful of sets of 200 yards, doing push-ups and crunches between sets. I got out before there was any discomfort in my shoulder, saving myself for tomorrow. Kelly's going to attempt swimming with me again.

Not a bad little workout, considering I'm still sick.

Total distance: 6.1 miles cycling, 1,000 yards swimming

Swim/treadmill combo

My shoulder has been hurting a little more ever since I started doing push-ups, so I took it back a notch and have focused more on my daily strength exercises. So, today, Kelly and I went for a swim, but didn't do a whole lot. I did a few easy sets in addition to some sprint sets. Before that, I walked on the treadmill at a high incline for about 25 minutes to get my heart going and burn a few extra calories. Not a whole lot to report.

Total distance: 1,000 yards swimming, 1.4 miles on treadmill (up hill)

Reality check in pool

Today was my first day back in the water since Bear Lake and it was not easy. It felt like I took a year off from swimming, rather than three weeks. My stroke was sloppy, I was getting winded on basic sets and overall, I just felt like shit. To be fair, the sets I was doing weren't anything like what I normally do and my upper body was tremendously sore from yesterday's push-ups out at the track with Wes.

My creepy silhouette from inside the sauna.

Kelly was with me, and we did some work with equipment, which I rarely use. We did sets with kick boards, pull buoys and then the full stroke on each different stroke. It felt like I was sprinting throughout the entire workout, which in many ways, I kind of was. It really is a totally different feel than the long distance training I've become accustomed. My shoulder was feeling OK, other than the push-up soreness, until I made one big mistake. On the equipment sets, I did the full pull-only butterfly, which really hurt. My shoulder was in pain the rest of the time after that and I didn't end up doing much more.

We sat in the sauna for a while and stretched a bit and called it a day. After three-straight days of exercise, I'm going to take it easy this weekend and jump back into it on Monday. I'm really trying to mix it up, so my body doesn't continue to break down from doing too much of one thing. I think I was good about that this week, doing one long bike, one run and one swim. Not too bad, but lots of room to improve.

Total distance: A measly 1,400 yards

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

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

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

Fun swim at Causey Reservoir

Today Kelly and I took a little trip up to Causey Reservoir for a swim. I had a terrible week in the exercise department, only working out once before today, so I had no excuses and needed to swim. Plus, the weather was great.

This isn't a photo of us, but it is of the same "smaller" rocks we jumped off. The bigger one was probably only 15-20 feet higher.

When we got there, we immediately realized we forgot to bring a camera. Oh well. We got in and just went for it, swimming a little over a half mile out to some rocks were a bunch of people were cliff jumping into the water. The biggest jump was at least 70 feet up and pretty intimidating, but I took my safe swimmer off, stowed it on a rock and climbed right up. Everyone was just standing there daring each other to jump, with nobody really doing anything, so I just went for it. Kelly told me after that he was a little stunned I just went up and jumped without even thinking about it.

We then swam back across the reservoir to another area of cliff jumping and this one was a little smaller, so Kelly and I both went up and jumped off those a few times. We could see some dark clouds a ways off and decided it would be best to put our goggles back on and swim back. It was perfect timing, because just as we got out of the water, the wind started to pick up and rain began to trickle.

All in all, the weather and the lake itself were both beautiful and it was a very fun swim, even though my shoulder is very mad at me for it. Totally worth it...

Total distance: About 1.5 miles