Update T-10

So I broke the 100,000 yard mark today (since August).  I am feeling pretty good.  The swim this afternoon was 6,000 yards in 1hour 35 mins which equaled 1 min 35 sec on the 100.  I am working to be a little faster but LOVE the symmetry in the numbers today (is that wrong?).

Training this month

So, I have swum 46,750 yards since August 7th and I am feeling a little tired… Working on my stroke too… Working out at the gym… Starting school… I do have a sweet life!

46750

Channel Swimming

OK, well, it’s been a while… and I am back!

I have a coach, Paul Hopfensperger, and have started training.  My Channel Year started on August 1st and I have been swimming!!

So far this is what I know:   I need to work on my endurance.  Work on my nutrition.  Work on my rest.  Work on my stroke.

Fortunately I have had a few friends who have been very willing to kayak for me and I have been getting out. (Thanks Jeremy and Annjenette!)  The water this summer has been lovely… right around 51F or so.  It makes my shoulders and (strangely) my knee feel great!

Stay tuned for more!!

After the Pennock

The Pennock is over–and what a GREAT time it was!  HARD and FUN and exhausting.  4 hours 9 mins and 30 secs. Whew!  I need more understanding about fueling and feeding.  And training. What a great experience!

 

Time to get on stregthening the shoulders and nailing down some solid training plans.

frustrated…

So, I am feeling pretty frustrated lately. I can’t find kayakers or swimmers to go with me when I swim open water… What do others do?  I have gone alone but all that does is just freak out my friends.  I have been swimming at the HS pool but, that isn’t OPEN WATER.  Hum…

My HERO!

Check out Michelle Macy’s blog:  http://macyswim.com/  SHE’S AWESOME!

Goals… and swimming

OK so, it’s been a little… I have gotten a couple more OW swims in since last entry… I have also bumped up my regular daily pool swims–I think that I need to work on my endurance (especially if I am going to get ready for Pennock).  I have pretty bad chafing going on–it looks like I had a rope around my neck   but it doesn’t hurt so, all is well.

Back to it in Kodiak

OK, so I went out this morning with Dave B. We headed from his beach over towards Woody Island. It was flat calm with no tide to speak of. The water temp was 45.9 according to the Coastal Water Temp Table (http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/alaska.html). It didn’t seem so bad in about the middle of the swim. Dave got a Garmin Forerunner for his birthday yesterday and so he said I swam 1.7 miles in 53 minutes. The bullkelp FREAKED me out… you know as I swim all I see is a light green color just above a blackness… then out of no where up pops these long fat cords coming up out of the dark with tiny heads and wide long fronds of kelp… I yelled when I saw it–I think Dave almost had a heart attack. When I was little people would talk about that kelp getting us kids. Makes my heart jump and me gasp for air… The plan? Just have to master my breathing when I see it…

I lost my right ear plug just over 1/2 way through when I rolled over and yelled “yahoo” at the sun (it peaked out!). So, it was a chilly swim back. My neck got pretty chafed as I swam… I’ll be glad to get out of the suit as soon as it warms up a little more.

A tour boat slowed down and took a couple of pictures of me as I swam… People are funny.

It was a GREAT swim!!

Tri club swimming

I am up in Anchorage this week for a little summer work and was lucky enough to go swimming with the Alaska Tri Club.  We took a dip in Little Campbell Lake (aka Beercan Lake) out at Kincaid Park.  The water was around 55F.  I will say while it did feel chilly, it was really pretty nice.  No current!   We did a quick 3 laps (about 1.4 miles).  Peter, who is training for Ironman Coeur d’Alene was there.  It was good to see him (he was one of the Alaskans who did the Florida IM when I did it 2 years ago).  I love hanging out with people who are  interested in the fun activities that I like!

Another dip!

BEAUTIFUL day for an open water swim! We’ve had 4 days of sunny weather and it felt A LOT warmer today than last Sunday. The US NODC Coastal Water Temperature web site has us at 43.5F today though…

Went right at height of low tide and felt no current. NICE!! Two fishing boats slowed down and took a gander at the crazy swimmer… Dave’s comment for me (because I was RAVING about how nice the water was today) was “I liked it better last week when you seemed more in touch with reality” (referencing how I yelled that I must be crazy when I got in last week) I had my face/head in the water for much of the time–QUITE A CHANGE from last week when I swam heads up most of the way!!