Oops, I did it again...

Last weekend ended with me fizzled out and run down. I wasn't sure why until on Sunday night, when I started coming down with a nasty virus. I felt terrible and didn't swim for 3 days. On Thursday, I started to perk up, so I decided to ease back into the pool. I was coughing up hail-sized phlem, but a funny thing happened - my arms felt great! Three days of laying around sick left my muscles feeling tapered. I glided through the water without the usual fatigue and muscle knots that accompany weeks of heavy yardage. I was excited about racing the Low Country Splash on Saturday where I hoped to take advantage of my unplanned taper!

The race was 2.4 mi down the Cooper River, in the Charleston Harbor. We would start at Hobcaw Yacht Club, swim along the Mount Pleasant shoreline, continue under the New Cooper River Bridge to pass the USS Yorktown Aircraft Carrier, finally finishing at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Center. The race is always fun because there are a lot of competitors (over 450) and there is a very strong current assist. What's even better is that they have kegs of beer for us at the finish!

It was a mass start, and with so many people I knew that I needed to start out fast so that I could break away from the crowd quickly. The gun went off and I broke into a sprint. With the current behind me, I was cruising! My arms felt great and I decided to try to maintain the pace for the whole race. Woohoo! Before I knew it, there weren't many feet ahead of me. I kept swimming farther and farther down the Cooper River, building up speed.

The New Cooper River Bridge was getting larger. I sighted to the right of the midpoint of the bridge, right between the 3rd and 4th piling, like thought I remembered from the prerace meeting.

I kept swimming and soon there was no one in front of me. In fact, there was no one behind or next to me either. Where was everyone? I started getting nervous. There were some very fast age group swimmers there and it made no sense for me to be so far ahead of the pack. Boats were going by and the wake hit me - hard. The boats felt close. What was going on?

It was then that one of the safety officials kayaked up to me. I was swimming into the shipping lane - WAY off course. I needed to swim to the left of the midpoint of the bridge, between the 1st and 2nd pilings, not the 3rd and 4th. I wasn't swimming alone because I was ahead of the pack - I was alone because I was to the RIGHT of the pack. I looked over to the race course and felt like crying. I was swimming so hard, sprinting the entire way, but it was for nothing. I was going the wrong way!

I felt like giving up, slowing down, and resigning myself to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack. How could I possibly do well now? Still, I swam back to the course, trying to maintain my pace. I joined the nearest pack and found that they were holding a quick pace. I guess I wasn't that far behind after all! I dug deep, trying to catch up to the frontrunners as much as I could.

Before I knew it, I was passing the aircraft carrier and rounding the finish. I ended up finishing 7th out of the women and 1st in my age group. I was happy with my swim pace and how I placed, but I was disappointed with how lost I got, yet again. When was I going to learn? Now I'm just thankful that I will have a guide boat for both the Swim Around Key West and more importantly for the English Channel.

Another issue had me and the rest of DAMA grumbling. Since this spring has been unusually cold and the race day water temperature was in the low 70s, the race director decided at the last minute to allow the use of wetsuits. Wetsuits are illegal in all races sanctioned by all major swimming bodies - USA Swimming, US Masters swimming, and FINA - because they provide a tremendous buoyancy advantage and can make swimmers up to 15% faster. However, triathletes like buying expensive workout gadgets so they have different rules. Wetsuits are allowed in triathlons under a certain temperature. The Low Country Splash was not sanctioned by any swimming body, so race officials could do whatever they wanted regarding wetsuits. The water was 72 degrees - hardly a cause for hypothermia concern - but they decided to allow wetsuits anyway, citing safetly concerns.

Most open water swimmers, like myself, are very pleased that more triathletes and beginner swimmers are participating in our sport. However, we are wary of "watering down" the rules, so to speak. Environmental elements, temperature, and navigation are all challenges that separate open water swimming from pool swimming. When wetsuits are legalized, you practically have to wear one to stay competitive. However, that's not a purchase that most of us want to make. If race directors want to legalize wetsuits to accomodate more swimmers, they should do so, but score these swimmers in a separate awards category. That way, those who don't want to shell out hundreds of dollars on a wetsuit and those who want to adhere to stricter, "purer" swimming standards would not be penalized.

Our Charleston trip was short but very fun. Here are some pictures:

Me with Heidi Williams, another age group winner, at the Battery.

A trip to the dungeon, which withstood both the Revolutionary War and the Civ - er- the War of Northern Aggression.

Week 20:
Mon: rest - sick
Tues: walk 5 mi
Wed: rest - sick
Thurs: swim 5100 yds
Fri: swim 2000
Sat: swim about 4000
Sun: swim 4000
Total: swim 15,200; walk 5 mi

Is that a Powerbar in your Speedo or are you happy to see me?

I have started reading Swimming to Antartica, a collection of stories of long distance swimmer Lynne Cox.

Lynne is best known for swimming 1 mile in the iceberg filled seas of Antartica and that is what I knew her for. She was able to survive in water that would kill most people in just a few minutes. I was impressed by her cold tolerance, but I had no idea what a fast and accomplished swimmer she was!

Lynne Cox held the world record for both the English Channel and Catalina Channel crossings. While these swims were challenging, they were a bit too traditional, a little boring for Lynne. She soon set her sights on something more harrowing. Lynne swam across the Cook Strait in New Zealand and then battled torrential currents to swim across the Strait of Magellan. Next, she swam with 20 foot great whites and around raging whirlpools to circumvent the Cape of Good Hope. Perhaps most impressive was her swim across the 38 degree Bering Strait, taking to her from Alaska right into Cold War Russia!

Lynne completed dozens of such swims, too many to mention here. I thought I was adventurous for tackling the 60 degree waters of the English Channel. Nothing like this to put everything in perspective! Lynne Cox is 1 part Michael Phelps, 1 part Evil Knievel, and 1 part polar bear.

Now as for my more mundane swimming adventures:
Karen and I attempted a 17,000 yd swim on Friday, and I have to say that she rose to the challenge beautifully. Karen provided the workout:

4x1200 descend
4x1000 descend
4x800 descend
4x600 descend
4x400 descend
4x200 descend
200 cool down

I tried to hang in there - really, I did. But I got through the 800s and my arms just started to give out. I went a bit longer, but was going super slow and just felt like I was doing junk yardage at that point. I'm sorry to say that I abandoned Karen and got out after 12,000 yards. Karen continued to descend her swims and finished the entire workout by herself. Way to go!

As for the title of this post...Here at Channel Bound I like to write about a variety of swim related topics, because while my life is not as exciting as that of Lynn Cox, simply talking about swimming lap after lap is, well, boring. As I limped through 12,000 yds of this week's long swim, I ended up cutting some of the swims short in order to get extra rest. And as I hung on the wall waiting for Karen to power through the set, I noticed a curious sight.

A very skinny twenty-something man in a Speedo was walking around the pool deck in what I will delicately deem "an enhanced male state." This was not something I meant to stare at, but as with a car wreck I found my eyes flickering towards it against my will. The scene was peculiar for a couple of reasons. First, Homestead pool is competition temperature (read: chilly) and the young man remained in this state long enough to make me wonder if he should seek immediate medical attention. But even more puzzling was how unencumbered he was. With no concern for his appearance, he kept diving in, jumping out, running around the pool deck to talk to his friends (incurring numerous whistle blows from the lifeguards, which he was also unconcerned with), and jumping in again! He kept this up all while Karen innocently cranked out laps right in the next lane. Impressive feats of endurance all around!

Now, for obvious reasons I'm not posting a picture to illustrate this topic. However, Jason and I went to an art festival this weekend and bought our very first piece of real art! (Ok, so it's a print not the original, but it does come with its own certificate of authenticity). Since it looks very much like a picture of a swimmer, I'll post a photo of it here:

For more information about the artist, check out:
http://kelisegallery.com/pages/representational.html

Week 19:
Mon: swim 3500 yds
Tues: swim 4800, walk 5 mi
Wed: swim 4200
Thurs: swim 4500
Fri: swim 12,000
Sat: rest
Sun: swim ,000
Total: swim 35,000, walk 5 mi

Next week will be a much needed recovery week before a race in Charleston next weekend.

Trial run

The channel gods were conspiring against me this week. First, I got pulled out of the pool on Tuesday because of a serious thunderstorm. I thought that the lifeguards were being lazy and looking for thunder, but the hail and tornadoes proved otherwise. Then, there was a major crisis at work on Wednesday. With the sky falling and pigs flying, my mind just wasn't focused on my evening workout. Then, the final, sabatoging blow to my weekly yardage count came when the Homestead pool was closed for maintenance, so I didn't get my usual long swim in on Friday. What was a channel bound girl to do?

I decided to call upon Matt Davis, a fellow DAMA swimmer who is also doing the swim around Key West. I was looking for someone to open water swim with for, oh maybe an hour or so, on Sunday. Well, Matt had other ideas. He wanted to swim for 3 hours, for a minimum of 6 miles. This put a damper in my afternoon plans of watching lifetime and eating bonbons. Still, despite the pleading eyes of my lap loving pug, I agreed (sorry Sneakers). I decided to make this a trial run for the Key West race, a dress rehearsal so to speak.

I wore my open water racing suit, since I had never worn it in a long event before and wanted to see where it might chafe. After 3 hr 8 min of continuous swim time (3 hr 30min of total water time and about 13,500 yards covered) I felt tired, but I didn't think my pace had slowed down much. I got out of the lake feeling hungry but pleased. When I changed, I found that I had 2 swim hickies (swimsuit chafe marks around my neck) and this very dainty little sunburn:



Week 18:
Mon: swim 4500 yds
Tues: swim 1600 yds
Wed: swim 3400
Thurs: swim 8300
Fri: swim 4400
Sat: rest
Sun: swim 13,500
Total: swim 35,700

The Slurpee turned on me...

I left work on Friday with a sinking feeling in my stomach, thinking that I was about to walk into the jaws of doom. Voluntarily. Karen and I were about to attempt a 16,000 yd workout, the longest training swim I have ever done (so far, of course. They will only get longer in the next 15 months).

I left work on time, but got a phone call from my boss that left me running a few minutes late. I was left with a choice - should I forgo my usual slurpee run so that I could be on time to meet Karen? Forgo the frozen, sugary goodness that has fueled all my long swims up to this point? Which should I choose - friend or frozen beverage?

Well, my apologizes to Karen but the slurpee won. Karen, I knew, was dreading this swim as much as I was and she wasn't going to start without me. But in my haste to be no later than necessary, I forgot to stash my slurpees away in the side pockets of my swim bag the way I usually do. Instead, I boldly walked into the Homestead Aquatic Center with twin slurpees in hand, plopped them on the counter, and swiped my frequent swimmer's card. "Ma'am," the desk attendant chided, "you can't bring those onto the pool deck."




This was a moment I knew would happen, a moment I had been preparing for ever since I had discovered the wonders of the slupree. My response was prepared - "I'm about to do a very long swim and THIS is my energy drink. It's just a concentrated form of Gatorade and I need it to sustain my glyoogen levels." With a skeptical look I was waved in.

Our workout was written by fellow DAMA swimmer and distance swimmer extraordinaire, Heidi Williams. This was the gist:

Warm-up (1000), 15:00
5 x 200 3:00

Set 1 (3200), 44:45
1 x 800 swim - moderate neg split 10:45
2 x 400 swim - 2nd one faster 5:30
4 x 200 - descend 2:45
8 x 100 - descend 1-4, 5-8 1:30

Set 2 (5000), 67:10
1 x 600 50 drill/50 swim easy 9:00
2 x 500 swim easy/moderate 7:00
3 x 400 swim moderate 5:20
4 x 300 swim moderate/fast 3:55
5 x 200 swim fast pace 2:30

Set 3 (3600), 49:15
4 x 100 build each 100 1:30
3 x 200 neg. split 2:50
2 x 300 maintain mod/fast pace 4:00
1 x 400 fast pace 5:00
2 x 300 one recovery; one moderate 4:30/4:15
3 x 200 moderate/fast pace 2:40
4 x 100 fast 1:15

Set 4 (2800) - aerobic pacing, 37.20
2 x 500 6:40
2 x 400 5:20
2 x 300 4:00
2 x 200 2:40

Cool Down 400

Total Yards 16,000; Total Time 3:33:30 + breaks & cool down

I made it through the beginning without much of a problem, but toward the end of set 2 it hit me. A sick churning in my stomach. A wave of nausea in my chest. A cramp that ripped through the arch of my foot like Jason's teeth through a bacon cheeseburger. The slurpee was turning on me! I couldn't believe it but it was true. It dawned on me then that I might need an energy drink with less high fructose corn syrup and more electrolytes.

Maybe the man at the front desk knew something that I didn't. Next time, I will take a more conventional approach to fluid replacement and drink Gatorade for at least the first half of the swim. I will switch to my beloved slurpee if and only if my energy levels fall and I begin to crash.

In non-swimming news, Jason and I went to Brian Wear and Heather Hilton's beautiful wedding on Saturday. Here are a few pictures:

Week 17:
Mon: swim 4300 yds
Tues: swim 4700
Wed: rest
Thurs: swim 3900
Fri: swim 16,000
Sat: rest
Sun: swim 3200, 40 min abs
Total: 32,100 40 min abs