A first and a last

Last weekend was one with two exciting events, in two separate states. On Saturday, I had my first ever grappling tournament in Wake Forest, NC. Then on Sunday I went to Smith Mountain Lake Virginia, for my last open water race of the season. I had very different approaches to these 2 events:

VS.

As you know, I have been around the lake a few times. So when I swim I am pretty cool and collected. Whether I am in shape or not, the open water is my element. I go into races relaxed, believing that I will do well. This confidence can be beneficial but on the flip side, I have a hard time getting myself psyched up. I approach the race start with a resting pulse rate of around 60. I listen to some aggressive rap music, take some quick, shallow breaths, and maybe - just maybe - I can get my pulse up to a pounding 65. Hell Yeah!

The mat, however, is a different realm. I went into my first tournament shaking in my rashguard. I had a crazy dream the night before that I was retaking calculus and forgot to withdrawl from the class and now had to cram for tomorrow's midterm, lest I fail. Now, you might argue that this dream is about sucking at math (true, I scraped through calculus II with a less than stellar B-) but the inner psychologist in me attributes it to performance anxiety (no, not that kind. Get your mind out of the gutter).

The morning of the tournament, my heart felt like it was racing along at about 312 beats per minute. I paced around, chatted incessantly, and couldn't touch the breakfast I had packed. In an open water race, you might get swum over or slammed into a buoy, but this was stepping it up a notch. These gals were out to choke me or break my arm.

Once I was on the mat with the clock running, however, all I was aware of were my opponent's limbs and my coach's voice telling me how to bend those limbs the wrong way. I won both of my matches by submission and left the tournament wishing I had more matches to roll. And my team won for overall team points! Here are the videos from my 2 fights:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=567078423251&ref=mf

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=567077739621&ref=mf

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/video/video.php?v=567074975161&ref=mf



Now, in the grand scheme of things, I still basically suck at Jiu Jitsu. I will continue to suck for some time, because it takes a really, really long time to get good. But among novice women, I seem to do ok! So, if you are a female of low skill level who's been thinking about attacking me, all I can say is DON'T!! There's a very good chance I can take you. However, if you are a dude or a chick with some skills who's been thinking of attacking me, well, still please don't. Chances are you can take me, and I don't want to get beat up.

The Smith Mountain Lake swim was fun as usual. My DAMA teammates represented well in the 5K. We camped out in a cabin, took a good old-fashioned snipe hunt, and told some very frightening stories around the campfire. The 1 mile swim was on Sunday morning. I was the 1st one out of the water in my wave, the age 20 and up old farts. One girl beat me from an earlier wave though, a scrappy 16 year old.

Now, the weather is getting colder and there will be no more open water races until spring. Boo! There will, however, be more grappling tournaments. Next time I will try to woman up and be less chicken.

Nuclear swim

Two weeks ago was the last race in the FS Triangle Open Water Swim Series. As with last year, it was a very well run series of races, with chip timing, good post-race refreshments, and fast awards.

In this race, there was a $100 cash prize for the male and female overall winners, which made things a bit more competitive!

The guys started 10 min ahead of the ladies, which was good for Kevin, since he would not have the option of hanging back to draft off of me.

I won the ladies' race by the narrow margin of 1 second. Sheesh! Way too close for comfort. Here is a tape of the finish:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=438323353704&ref=mf

Kevin lost the guys' race by a heartbreaking 3 seconds (don't tell him, but I think the ladies finish was a lot scrappier)

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=438325513704&ref=mf


I also want to give a shout out to my friend Cynthia Aguilar, who attempted to break the world paddleboard record by paddleboarding 130 miles from Cuba to Key West. Here at Channel drop out, we are supportive of all those who attempt crazy endurance events, especially those that are water-based.




After spending 17 hours on the board in the middle if the ocean, Cynthia was pulled out of the water, short of her goal. Man of wars and hypothermia cut this attempt short, but Cynthia will be getting back on her board, giving it another try! To support her efforts and raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation, go to http://keeppaddlin.org/

Lake Gaston

Last weekend was the Lake Gaston Crossing, a wonderful community affair in which practically every lake resident crosses the 1 mi lake. Folks get to choose their preferred mode of transportation - some walk across the bridge, some cross in man-powered vessels. and the truly aquatic inclined swim across.


I was introduced as the "target" for swimmers to chase.

I felt a little silly, especially when a young kid zapped me with his evil eye. I joked that this was a perfect swim for a navigationally challenged gal like me, since we had a lane line to follow the whole time. It would be impossible for me to get lost - famous last words!

We then piled into a World War II era amphibious landing vessel, which added to the swim's bad-ass factor. The landing vessel took us past the rocky shoreline so that we could enter the water safely. Certainly, it's a privilege to use such a vessel voluntarily, for a recreational swim. I'm grateful to those who boarded the vessel under less desirable circumstances, protecting a way of life that makes swims such as these possible.



We dove into the water and hightailed it to the shoreline. Being a directional dufus, I started to swim on the wrong side of the C-shaped lane line, leading me off-track. But I was the swimming target, with a bulls-eye on my cap. So the rest of the swimmers followed me off course! We went the wrong way until the support crew intercepted me to tell me where to go. Sorry guys, my bad!


I was happy to be the first person out of the water, despite my directional snafu. Local newspapers covered the event and wrote some very nice articles:

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2010/08/16/feature/doc4c67478f90c88831785449.txt

http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2010/08/14/sports/doc4c67442b44ff5535466211.txt

Little Uno and Big Deux!

This weekend was the Little Uno and the Big Deuce, 1 and 2 mile open water races put on by the FS series. My mom was in town for the weekend, and to avoid any family feuding, I opted to do the 2 mi, while she did the 1 mi.

My mama and Matt Davis before the 1 mi

The course was well marked and the field spread out quickly. I tried to draft off of my fast friend Kevin, but he didn't like that very much. So, in a very brilliant maneuver, he slowed down his own pace so he could draft off of me! That makes A LOT of sense. Of course, he could have pulled ahead easily, had he been willing to take the lead himself. But THAT would have been no fun! And truthfully, I really don't like swimming by myself, so I was happy for the company. Until, of course, Kevin and the superfast, crooked swimming overall winner took off at the end.


I ended up winning the women's race for the 2 mi and my mom won the women's 1 mi. Go Rices!

Me, looking scary after the Big Deux

I wasn't the only menacing creature looming in the lake this weekend.

::insert Halloween music::


While the scary music is playing, let's flash back to the Jordan Lake 1 mile swim, last month:

Here, my fast friend Kevin (the tall dude in the white cap) out-muscles a fiesty 13-yr-old (the little dude in the white cap) at the end of the 1 mi race.

Guess who took his revenge in the Little Uno? Guess who was the only one to beat my mama, whose accomplishments include swimming the 12.5 miles around Key West butterfly and being one of the fastest women to ever swim the English Channel?

This pint sized bad ass! The same pint sized bad ass who gave Kevin a run for his money at the Jordan Lake swim. Why don't you pick on someone your own size, son??



In other race news, my kickboxing friend Lizzie swam her 1st ever open water race AND won her age group. Way to go!

2 mi Cable Championships

Yesterday was the USMS national 2 mi cable Championships at Chris Greene Lake. Heidi and I drove up together and as soon as we got there, we saw a great omen.



Apparently, angel Yogi had summoned a local Newfoundland named Teddy to visit the lake with his humans. I told Teddy I thought he was handsome, Teddy gave me some kisses, and I knew it was going to be a great day.

Cable swims are a kind of hybrid between pool and open water swimming and always make for intense races. We would swim four laps around a quarter mile cable. There's not much sighting involved, but drafting and pack swimming are inevitable.

In the beginning, I focused on trying to cut the most direct course possible. I did this by drafting off of the leader and hugging the cable. A pack of about 6 of us stuck together and I kept getting slammed into the cable (that's me in the white cap below):





Yowza! That hurt

I began to realize that all this slamming was slowing me down. Then, I remembered from Marty Gaal's open water swim clinics that the most effective place to draft is actually beside a person's hip. So, I swam out a bit from the cable to swim on the other side of the lead swimmers. This made cutting tight turns around the buoys more difficult, but it was nice not to keep hitting the cable.

There were two heats, one starting at 8:30 and one starting at 10:30. Heidi and I swam in the 10:30 heat so that we could drive up that morning. I ended up getting 1st out of the ladies and 3rd overall out of the 10:30 heat. More people beat me from the 8:30 heat though, including 2 ladies. The first heat is usually a bit faster than the second, so I might try to get up super duper early next year.

Heidi and I won our age groups and got to add to our collection of national championship patches. Kacie Wallace placed in her age group as well.







It's clear that Teddy brought us some very good luck. Thanks for sending him, Yogi!

Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge

This weekend was the Jordan Lake 1 mi open water challenge. There were 150 swimmers and as usual, FS Series put on a very efficient and well-organized race. The race stared at 7:30 and we swam, got awards, ate Jimmy Johns sandwiches, and got home in time for third breakfast.

Keith, Kevin, and I after the race

Because of the large number of swimmers, they split us into 2 waves - the guys started in the 1st wave, and the ladies started 4 min later (and they subtracted 4 min from our clock time). This is something that I have grumbled about in the past because, in theory, it puts the fast ladies at a disadvantage. With the waves being only a few minutes apart, the faster ladies will inevitably pass a lot of the guys and waste time and energy going around them.

However, I have decided that I like the 2 wave system. It carries certain advantages for a sneaky, directionally challenged gal such as myself:

1) We get to learn from the fellas mistakes - In this case, the guys lined up in front of the second turn buoy, which put them in a disadvantageous position. Of course, girls are usually just a little bit smarter than boys are. I joined a group of ladies lined up in front on the first turn buoy, which gave us a more direct route.

2) It makes for an easier start - I usually waste a lot of energy at the start, trying to vie for position with sprinter dudes, who usually slow down within a few hundred yards. Because these sprinter dudes are big and strong, they can be hard to pass. In a ladies only heat, it is easier to establish a good position early on.

3) It's easy to keep track of where you place among the ladies - with full body suits, mandatory caps, and ubiquitous buff bods, we can easily morph into agendered blobs in an open water race. When the waves are divided by sexes, keeping track of who's who becomes much easier.

4) There are always plenty of people in front to help with sighting - my name is Kim and I am directionally challenged. I have no problem admitting that without my GPS, I would be constantly lost, chronically late for my therapy appointments, and would have been fired from my job long ago. Unfortunately, my Garmin is not water proof and is no help to me during open water swims. When half the field gets a head start, however, that does help. There are always people in front to show you which way to go.

5) You're racing against the clock - Since the guys have a 4 minute head start, to beat them you have to beat the clock, not them directly. If you come in 3 min behind the 1st guy, you still beat him by 1 min. You can see where the guys are but they can't see you. Certainly, there are guys who would pick up their game if they saw you chasing after them. But the benefit of this system is that they can't see! We can sneak up on them.


So, being split into 2 waves really is not so bad. It often works to my advantage and did in this case. I ended up getting first overall, after battling it out with a fast lady who finished only 4 sec behind me. In fact, in this race the first 4 finishers were ladies!

Way to go, girls!

Nationals, part Deux!

So the weekend after the USMS short course yards national championships was the 1 mi open water national championships in Huntersville, NC. As in the pool mile at nationals, I won my age group and got second overall out of the ladies. Now, there's nothing like a four day swim meet to remind me why open water swimming rocks so much more! Let's take a look.

	Pool swimming	Open water swimming
Duration	Nationals lasted four long, grueling days	Nationals lasted twenty minutes and change
Hydration	Important to balance water and electrolytes to avoid dehydration	Can have beer within minutes of finishing
Physical contact	Swimmers must stay in their own lanes or they get disqualified	While drowning people is frowned upon, kicking and elbows are common. It combines 2 favorite things – swimming and whooping folks
Bouts with the arch nemesis	Has a chance against Medendorp in very few pool events	Stands a much better chance of making Mark her bitch

So, while pool racing is tolerable now and again, it is open water swimming that totally rocks. Excited for this summer!

National Championships!

I ventured to Atlanta for my first USMS national championships. Pool swimming's not usually my bag, but Atlanta is so close and we had a fun group going, so I decided to give it a shot.



It was quite the experience! First, I finally met my imaginary boyfriend, Olympic gold medalist Cullen Jones.


After which I crushed my arch nemesis Mark Medendorp in the 500 free.


Now, it may be worth noting that I've been taking a fiction writing class and am learning about different shades of truth. Granted, the above statements might not hold up in the "whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help me God" sense, but they do contain certain nuances of validity.

When I say that I met my imaginary boyfriend Cullen Jones, what I might mean is that I got to meet him vicariously through my friend Jessica. I might have gotten to hear from her all about how tall he is, how nice he is, how handsome he is, etc. This might have sent me into a jealous fit that had me erasing that other broad from the photo and pasting in my own mug. Just a slightly different version of the truth!


And when I say I crushed Medendorp, what I might mean is that he beat me by a solid 11 seconds in the 500, but that I searched his Facebook page for a photo of him looking crushed. See, same thing really!


What doesn't need multiple interpretations is the fact that we all had a very fun time.


As for my goal of getting a lifetime PR: I'm still a ways off from this in my good events (meaning, distance events). However...events that I have always sucked at, I now suck at a little less! Between states and nationals, I've gotten lifetime PRs in the 100 IM, 100 back, and 50 free. Take that, 16 -year-old Kim! Plus, I could totally take you in a cage fight.

Here are my results from the meet:
http://www.usms.org/comp/meets/meetsearch.php?c=267530&MeetID=20100520SCCH10Y

Beaverdam 5280

Saturday was the 1st open water race of the year, the Beaverdam 5280. It is a small race of about 60 people, but very efficient and well organized.

The water temperature was 68, and since it was sanctioned by a triathlon organization, it went by triathlon rules - that meant it was wetsuit legal. I'm not really nuts about wetsuits and haven't raced in one before. But...they give you a huge buoyancy advantange, which translates to faster times (I swam the course in my speedo last year in a 24:17. This year my time in a wetsuit was 20:45. I did get a bit lost on the course last year and I am now swimming faster in general, but 3 and half minutes is a big difference). The wetsuit made the water a lot more comfortable too so I might be a convert - If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! A few people held onto their principles and stuck to their speedos, but the overwhelming majority had wetsuits on.


DAMA cleaned up with awards. Kevin came in 1st overall, and I finished about a minute behind him, 2nd overall and 1st female. Keith came in 3rd out of the men and Teresa, Dawn, and Alicia all placed in their age groups.



Kevin and I setting a good example for the rest of the pack. It is so important to refuel properly after a hard race.


The race was fun, but something serious and disturbing happened afterward. I got flashed! This does not need mentioning, but I am a very innocent, young lady. So you can imagine my horror as the following event unfolds:

As shadowy figure approaches me from the bushes...


She opens her trench coat to expose herself to me...


Curious about the human body, I sneak a peak...
My eyes!!! Yowza!


Of course, by "shadowy figure" I mean Derek's sister Alicia. And by "exposed herself," I mean that she unveiled her decently clad, but very hot, triathlete bod.

Editor's note: Derek did not swim the race this year, but if he had, big sis would have wooped him up good.

Farewell to the baby monster...

It is with great sadness that I had to say goodbye to my very favorite swimming buddy, Yogi. No offense to my other fantastic, equally lovable, albiet less slobbery swimming buddies (if any of you were to meet an untimely demise, I would probably write a nice blog about you, calling you my favorite swimming buddy as well). But Yogi was a great dog, with a big heart full of love and a big head full of nonsense. What he lacked in brains, he made up for with good looks and a dynamic personality. Yogi lived a short but very full life, full of walkies...




Long naps...



Car rides...

Costumes...
Piggy back rides...

And kisses...

Yogi loved to swim and he didn't mind the cold water. When I was training for the channel, Yogi would sometimes accompany me on my long swims. He wouldn't swim the whole distance, of course, but would jump in occasionally to splash around and give me kisses. He also became a fixture at open water races. At every race he attended, Yogi attracted more fans than anyone else there. Walking 100 yards could take as long as 20 minutes, with people stopping us constantly to pet him and talk about how nice and handsome he was.

Yogi was also quite the good luck charm. Of the open water races that Yogi attended, I won all but two. Of the races that he did not attend, I lost all but one. Of course, skeptics might say that Yogi came with me to local, less competitive races and stayed home for bigger races that I had to travel for. But I think that Yogi's presence gave me an invaluable morale boost. With a big, handsome monster on your side, how can you do anything less than your best?

At Christmas time last year, Yogi took the field trip of his life and came down to visit my parents in Miami. There, he spent several nights jumping into my parents' pool and then sneaking into their room to dry his wet, furry self in their bed. He pestered everybody, caused absolute chaos, and had a blast.

When we got home, Yogi wouldn't eat for a day or two and Jason and I thought he was just recovering from his awesome adventure. But when he started having trouble walking and standing up, we knew something was wrong.

Yogi had spinal meningitis, cause unknown. He was given lots of powerful, expensive meds but the vet was not sure he would make it. But Yogi proved to be stubborn and persistent like his mama. He started getting better. Neurological deficits left him clumsier, dopier than usual, but that didn't bother anybody. He was still his sweet, lovable self with just a little more nonsense than before. Yogi and I share a birthday, March 18th. Yogi turned 1 without incident and it seemed like he was out of the woods.

Then this week the meds stopped working. Yogi got sick and stopped eating again. He became too weak to stand up to go to the bathroom outside and started to go in his dog bed. This was not a good life for a 1 year old puppy. Yogi was having a relapse and there wasn't much more that could be done.

I didn't want to leave him at the end and held his big, giant head while he got put to sleep. The last thing Yogi did was give my mouth three tired kisses before he dozed off for the last time. Yogi is gone but I like to think that I now have a big, dopey guardian angel.

Yogi will be missed by many, many people. Next week will be my first open water race of the year, the Beaverdam 5280, and I know that many swimmers will be looking for him. Look behind you, and if you see a long trail of drool, you'll know he was there. I know that he wishes us all many happy swims with good snacks and slobbery kisses afterward. What more could we ask for?

Going postal

This week was the USMS 1 hour postal challenge, during which participants swim as many yards as possible in 1 hour. My goal was to swim 5100 yards, and I was very happy to swim just over that, 5120 yards (1:10.3 pace). Kevin Herlihy swam 1 length more than I did, 5145 yards. Heidi Williams and my archnemesis Mark Mendendorp also cranked out the yardage (4850 and 4900 respectively).

::Disclaimer: Mark, if you are reading this, know that I mean archnemesis in the friendliest sense and that I of course harbor no real animosity toward you. But I think it's fun to have an archnemesis and I also really like using the word archnemesis. My only real gripe against you is that your drinking games involve too much thinking::

We had a nice sized group doing the postal, which helped the yards go by quickly. Having my archnemesis there also made things a bit more competitive because, as per usual, we were motivated to beat each other.

This brings me to my new goal for the season. Sources tell me that Mendendorp would like to do a 5:05 on his 500 free at USMS nationals. So my goal is to go under a 5:05! A 5:04.9 would be fine, as it would be under Mendendorp's goal of 5:05, but a 5:03 would be a PR, so I am making that my real goal. This is tough for me because in my world the 500 is a very short sprint. The last time we raced this distance, Mendendorp beat me by 9 seconds, so I have some catching up to do!

Since I like making comparison charts (like Mendendorp likes making nerdy graphs) I thought I would compare Mendendorp to Smurfette's archnemesis, Gargamel. As you can see, the circumstances are very similar. I have not watched the Smurfs in a while, so I did some thorough, very scientific research (Wikipedia) for descriptions of Gargamel.

	Gargamel	Mendendorp
General	“He is an evil wizard though his powers appear very limited... His main goal in life is to destroy the Smurfs and/or capture enough of them to create a potion to turn base matter into gold.”	Not full of evil, a decent fella really. Powers limited to making nerdy graphs (see exhibit A from the 1hr postal) and swimming distances under 1000 yds. Enjoys a more well-balanced life than Gargamel.
Goals	“Sometimes he wants to eat the Smurfs, other times he wants to use them to make gold, and still other times he has even more bizarre uses for them (in one instance he is so enraged by his loss that he yells "I don't want to eat them, I don't want to turn them into gold, all I want now is to DESTROY THEM!")	Not out to destroy me so much as defeat me in all swimming events.
Personal life	“Not much is said of Gargamel's relationships with women, although in one episode an ugly witch named Hogatha turns herself into an attractive woman in order to seduce Gargamel into giving her his secrets.”	Has a nice girlfriend. Seems to have more success with the ladies than Gargamel, perhaps due to his more upright posture.
Sidekicks	His mangy cat Azreal	Karen Fritchie, Keith, and other Davidson swimmers, none of whom have mange

Exhibit A (Mendendorp's splits from his 1 hr postal, a.k.a the nerdy graph):


So there we have it. I'm a bit out of my element with this speed business so any help/advice is appreciated!