Wednesday, June 6, 2012
not crashing into the kayak
Did a session in the lake with Wifey kayaking for me. It went great. I didn't crash into the kayak once. There was a light breeze, too. This is very important practice for some upcoming swims.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
pile it on
I think it might be time to add more weight to my deadlift, again. For a while I was adding weight almost every week. Right now I seem to repeat the same poundage three or four or five times.
I see strength training as a constant balancing act. I need to keep pushing for additional strength, meaning I want to add weight to the big lifts as often as possible. But I also need to avoid hurting undoing weeks or months of work, meaning I need to add weight slowly and safely. It really helps that I have no particular deadline.
I see strength training as a constant balancing act. I need to keep pushing for additional strength, meaning I want to add weight to the big lifts as often as possible. But I also need to avoid hurting undoing weeks or months of work, meaning I need to add weight slowly and safely. It really helps that I have no particular deadline.
Monday, June 4, 2012
emphasis on the work
So, I made it through my speed work this afternoon. Not surprisingly, after a busy weekend, it was a bit of a struggle. I do believe that these workouts make a difference, even though they continue to happen in the pool.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
In the lake
I met up with my coach for some lake swimming. Absolutely beautiful day. Nothing like yesterday at all. Also got in more than three miles and it felt fantastic. I've got to find some stronger sun protection though; I think I got a little burned on my back. I guess this is when I start buying up diaper cream for the zinc oxide. After all this wonderful open water swimming I could almost skip my monday pool workout. But I still think that my speed work is too valuable (and too productive) to slack off of it.
Alone in the middle of the Hudson River
So the race started at 11:30, check in at 10. So that means wake up, eat breakfast, get ready and go. Poughkeepie is just around an hour out so leaving the house at 9 feels pretty civilized. It is no exaggeration to say the weather was miserable. Overcast, cold, and alternating between raining a lot and only raining a little bit. When we found the starting line it looked pretty sparse. Just a handful of swimmers and volunteers mostly staying out of the drizzle under the tent. I passed the time drinking blue gatorade and then running off to the porta-john.
I was worried about the colder water and about the current and chop. I was also worried that swimming under the bridges would trigger a sense of vertigo that I sometimes get, kind of like a fear of heights. So naturally I was signed up to swim 5k and see how I dealt with all of that.
After getting a head count of swimmers at the starting line, and with zero ceremony they started a countdown from ten and we were off. This was the biggest mass start I've been a part of so far, and we had to turn around a buoy just about a hundred meters from shore so things seemed pretty crazy for a while. I tried to relax, not get kicked in the face and wait for things to open up. There were three buoys marking the triangle turn to be made around the easternmost stanchion of the mid-hudson bridge. As we rounded these buoys most of my attention was on avoiding bad collisions with very little to spare for whether passing under the bridge would make me feel small and dizzy. I set my sights on the walkway over the Hudson some 900M north against the current and my stroke fell apart. I was swimming directly into some waves, possibly the wake of a moderately sized boat and I was having trouble adjusting my breathing so as not to get a lungfull of riverwater. When paused in my struggle and looked around I had lost sight of every other swimmer and most of the support boats. There I was, as the title of this post suggests. For all I knew I was in dead last, after all it was a pretty small field. Surprisingly these things did not cause me to feel nervous and upset. With about 1K of 5 behind me I finally started to feel pretty good. I pointed myself at the walkway bridges and kept going.
It turns out that I had not been left behind as much as I thought because I met up with a few other swimmer when I finally found my way to the walkway over the hudson and rounded the triangle turn. While trying to cross back under the walkway I had the distinct impression that I was swimming in place under the bridge. This would not be the last time I felt that way. Once I cleared the walkway I was heading south again and with the current. I actually had another swimmer with me for a while, until I wandered off course, or perhaps the current nudged me.
I caught a glance at the starting buoy when I was about 50 yards past it. This worried me. "How am I ever going to spot that on my next time around?", I wondered to myself.
While rounding the three buoys at the mid-hudson bridge I overtook a group of swimmers. I was already several strokes ahead of them before I realized they were wearing yellow caps instead of green. The 2.5k'ers. I figured if they started 45mins behind us and these are the first yellow caps I'm seeing then I am way off my pace for this swim. Oh well, I was still feeling good, and if it took me longer to finish at least I would know I could handle the extra time in the water. On my way back to the walkway I overtook maybe two more yellow caps. And while I was rounding the buoys I spotted two green caps as well. I tried to pour on some power for the last few hundred meter, but I felt like the current was throwing me around. Somehow I caught a look a the finish buoy and I was able to head straight for it. Actually the river was pushing me closer to shore so I had to adjust my course a few times. I rounded the buoy and started what I thought would be the final push into shore. The current threw me off course in about ten strokes, but I managed to get in eventually. I stepped onto shore carefully, they recorded my finish and another swim hits my personal record books.
I was worried about the colder water and about the current and chop. I was also worried that swimming under the bridges would trigger a sense of vertigo that I sometimes get, kind of like a fear of heights. So naturally I was signed up to swim 5k and see how I dealt with all of that.
After getting a head count of swimmers at the starting line, and with zero ceremony they started a countdown from ten and we were off. This was the biggest mass start I've been a part of so far, and we had to turn around a buoy just about a hundred meters from shore so things seemed pretty crazy for a while. I tried to relax, not get kicked in the face and wait for things to open up. There were three buoys marking the triangle turn to be made around the easternmost stanchion of the mid-hudson bridge. As we rounded these buoys most of my attention was on avoiding bad collisions with very little to spare for whether passing under the bridge would make me feel small and dizzy. I set my sights on the walkway over the Hudson some 900M north against the current and my stroke fell apart. I was swimming directly into some waves, possibly the wake of a moderately sized boat and I was having trouble adjusting my breathing so as not to get a lungfull of riverwater. When paused in my struggle and looked around I had lost sight of every other swimmer and most of the support boats. There I was, as the title of this post suggests. For all I knew I was in dead last, after all it was a pretty small field. Surprisingly these things did not cause me to feel nervous and upset. With about 1K of 5 behind me I finally started to feel pretty good. I pointed myself at the walkway bridges and kept going.
It turns out that I had not been left behind as much as I thought because I met up with a few other swimmer when I finally found my way to the walkway over the hudson and rounded the triangle turn. While trying to cross back under the walkway I had the distinct impression that I was swimming in place under the bridge. This would not be the last time I felt that way. Once I cleared the walkway I was heading south again and with the current. I actually had another swimmer with me for a while, until I wandered off course, or perhaps the current nudged me.
I caught a glance at the starting buoy when I was about 50 yards past it. This worried me. "How am I ever going to spot that on my next time around?", I wondered to myself.
While rounding the three buoys at the mid-hudson bridge I overtook a group of swimmers. I was already several strokes ahead of them before I realized they were wearing yellow caps instead of green. The 2.5k'ers. I figured if they started 45mins behind us and these are the first yellow caps I'm seeing then I am way off my pace for this swim. Oh well, I was still feeling good, and if it took me longer to finish at least I would know I could handle the extra time in the water. On my way back to the walkway I overtook maybe two more yellow caps. And while I was rounding the buoys I spotted two green caps as well. I tried to pour on some power for the last few hundred meter, but I felt like the current was throwing me around. Somehow I caught a look a the finish buoy and I was able to head straight for it. Actually the river was pushing me closer to shore so I had to adjust my course a few times. I rounded the buoy and started what I thought would be the final push into shore. The current threw me off course in about ten strokes, but I managed to get in eventually. I stepped onto shore carefully, they recorded my finish and another swim hits my personal record books.
2 bridges
So lets start with the basic info before I get into my own experience.
Who: 8bridges.org and CIBBOWS
What: The first ever 2 Bridges Swim under the walkway
When: Jun 2nd 2012
Where: The Hudson River at Poughkeepsie NY
Why: Because you think big rivers are awesome
So this was the first ever 2 bridges swim. There was no swag bag, no chip timing, and just a skeleton crew of volunteers. But I had a pretty great time
(I'm the one with the beard)
Who: 8bridges.org and CIBBOWS
What: The first ever 2 Bridges Swim under the walkway
When: Jun 2nd 2012
Where: The Hudson River at Poughkeepsie NY
Why: Because you think big rivers are awesome
So this was the first ever 2 bridges swim. There was no swag bag, no chip timing, and just a skeleton crew of volunteers. But I had a pretty great time
(I'm the one with the beard)
Friday, June 1, 2012
Poughkeepsie
Tomorrow is the second weekend of my first ever open water season. Poughkeepsie is actually close enough to qualify as local. The water should be considerably colder than in Virginia last week. About 68-71 as compared to 76-78. Also it looks like there is a chance of rain. I hope that doesn't turn out to be a problem. I'm taking today off swimming to keep my shoulders fresh.
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