Swim Around Key West

Last weekend was the 12.5 mi Swim Around Key West, one of my favorite races despite the very hot water. This was my 4th time swimming the race - I did it twice in high school and also swam it last year. I was especially excited this year because several DAMA friends were swimming it as well. Matt Davis and Karen Fritchie did solo swims while Jason Mask, Joe Caruth, and Josh Eudaily did a party cruise, er, relay.

A couple of things were different about the swim this year. The swim started later than usual (8:30 am instead of 7:00 am) and it also started in a new location, a different point on the island:

I wasn't sure how these changes would affect the current-assisted swim, so I tried to set a reasonable goal. I finished the race last year in 4 hours, 37 min. Since I now had better endurance from all my channel training, I hoped to finish this year under 4:30.



The morning of the race was fraught with excitement. We ate our breakfasts, changed into our suits, and walked down to beach where the starting area was. Now for those of you who have never been there, Key West is a very colorful place. During our weekend stay, we were met with a variety of characters including several drag queens, a man in a Borat-style bathing suit, and a group dressed as the village people. Needless to say, this was not a place where Karen and I expected to draw much attention. After all, we are straight-laced young professionals who couldn't possibly match the level of weird that Key West is used to.


However, as we walked down to the beach we were repeatedly subjected to pointing, giggling, and incredulous looks from passersby. One man stopped his car, pulled over to the curb, and pleaded with us to let him take our picture. How could this be?! How could Karen and I draw such attention to ourselves on an island of freaks?




Perhaps it had something to do with the entire pound and a half of zinc oxide that we applied to our bodies before the race. One man even asked Karen if she would do "mime moves" for him. She respectfully declined.





After an hour or so of camera dodging, the race finally started. The water was hotter than I remembered - upper 80s -and it felt like bath water, even from the start. My original plan was to stop and drink every 30 minutes, but I already started to feel dehydrated after the 1st hour, so I changed it to every 20 minutes. I usually drank Gatorade, but every third feeding I took chocolate milk instead, to give me a little bit of protein and to take a break from all the electrolytes (since I was already swallowing so much salt from the water).


I felt very strong for the first half of the race, but then things began to fizzle. The race is usually timed so that the current pushes most of the swimmers the entire way. The fastest swimmers might slightly out swim the tide and could end up swimming about a mile against the current. No big deal, right? Well, this year there was a serious error in the timing of start relative to the currents. We swam AGAINST the strong current for almost half of the race. This is not something that any of my team had trained for and it was exhausting. After the race, Matt told me that he didn't stop to drink for 2 whole hours because he didn't want the current to push him backward while he was treading water and drinking.


As my kayak support person, my mom tried very hard to steer me to slower moving water. However, in many places the water became very shallow, too shallow to take complete, full strokes. In several places, my mom had to decide whether to keep me in the extremely shallow water, or to move me out to deeper water where I would be swimming against a stronger current. It was a tricky tactical decision. She usually kept me in the shallow water, which seemed to be to my benefit.


Finally, my stop watch read 4 hours. Thank God! I was absolutely elated. According to my projected finish time, that meant I should only have about a mile to go. I asked my mom how much further we had and she said "You're doing great. You're almost at mile 9." Almost at mile 9?! In other words, I still had 4 miles to go? I couldn't believe it. I had mentally prepared myself to swim for only 4.5 hours but now it was clear that I would swim well over 5. My arms couldn't handle that! I had already bargained with them, told them that if they hung in there just a little longer, we'd be done soon. Now what was I going to tell them?

It was then that I understood the value of what English channel swimmers call "total body confusion" training. These swimmers go into their training swims with no plan of how far they will go or when they will stop. They might swim for 1 hour one day, 4 hours the next day, and two hours the day after that. They make spur of the moment decisions at the end of their swims to extend their training a few hours longer. On long swims, they don't look at the clock; it is their coaches who decide how far they will go and when they will get out. The idea is to get out of the habit of training yourself to swim for a certain amount of time. These time frames impose physical and mental limits that are difficult to overcome. If I train to do a 10 hour English Channel crossing, what happens if conditions are worse than expected and I need 12 hours to complete the swim? How would I make it through those last 2 "bonus" hours? By preparing myself to swim Key West in 4.5 hours, I had made swimming beyond this point extremely difficult.

Sure enough, by 4.5 hours I was thoroughly cooked. I made it through the rest of the swim by sheer power of will. I began to understand why some English Channel swimmers give up within a mile of reaching France. We all have a point that we reach where it feels like we can't swim another stroke, let alone another thirty minutes. Extremes in temperature - the heat of Key West or the cold of the channel - add to the fatigue. I made it to the finish buoy and got another surprise - the finish line had been moved to the beach! I had another 200 yards to swim and then would have to crawl out of the water before the clock would stop.


Muttering expletives that only the fishes would hear, I swam hard to the shore. When I got out, the race had one last surprise for me and this one was a good one. I was the overall solo winner! They only 2 people out of the water ahead of me were relay swimmers.


I left the beach to shower, remove as much of the zinc oxide as I could, and change into some dry clothes. When I went back to the beach to watch the others finish, I realized that everyone was having a hard time with the conditions this year. Times were all much slower than expected. Karen and Matt both finished strong, but the relay ran into some trouble. I found out that Joe started throwing up 8 miles into the race and had to be rescued by one of the safety boats. Jason and Josh finished for the team, both swimming more than they had prepared to.


A reporter from the Key West Citizen interviewed me and I was quoted in the paper:
http://keysnews.com/print/1437979


Awards for the race were Key West conch shells. Karen and Matt both placed in their age groups and the relay came in 2nd place out of the 3 person relays. We all won conchs!

Conch-erers!

The next day, a group of us drove to Orlando for some "active recovery" at Disney.

We had a blast! We all left much more broke than we had arrived, but such is the spirit of Disney.

Yogi's first swim

This weekend was the 2nd race in the Triangle Open Water Mile Series - the Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge. While wetsuits were allowed yet again (grumble, grumble), the "naked" DAMA swimmers put up an excellent showing. Out of the 125 swimmers, I was first overall female, Heidi Williams was 2nd overall female, Sarah Todd got 3rd in the 25-29 age group, Derek Parr got 2nd in the 35-39 age group, Matt Davis got 3rd in the 35-39 age group, and Gretchen Van de Carr got 3rd in the 50-54 age group!

The real hit was Yogi, who came along to go for his first swim.

Its awfully early for a field trip...

Sand! It's like dirt, only tastier

You get in first, dad.
I already swam today. You get in, Yogi.
No, I'm just a puppy. You get in.
Your brain is the size of a walnut. Therefore you have to listen to me. You get in.

I'd rather eat more sand

Yogi swim for a minute or so, before he got out and returned to his adoring fans on the beach.

For us swimmers, there are certain disadvantages to swims run by triathlon rules (wetsuit rules, extra fees for USAT insurance), but I am finding that there are advantages too. Namely, they are run more smoothly than a lot of swimmer-run races. With the help of chip timing, results were accurate, awards were prompt, and official results were posted online that very day!

Compare this to the Masters NC state open water championships, held last weekend. Nearly all of us had some gripe or another (or 2 or 3 gripes) with the results. As for me, a whopping 30 minutes was added to my 5K time when results were posted. Our coach Andrea is very organized and sent a list of our grumbles to the race directors. She sent the following:

1) Joseph Caruth was not registered, did not pay and did not swim in the 800m. He is currently listed as NS.

2) Heidi Williams age is listed as 46 but she is actually 40, her DOB is 03-21-69

3) The five minute delay was not yet subtracted from the results posted.

4) Matthew Davis (DAMA) 36 is listed as David Mathew in the results. He also swam in the 800m and finished the first Masters men but was not listed. His time was approx. 9:15, he paid 15$ and added this event at registration. He was the first male Master's and received a medal that day.

5)" DAMA" stands for Durham Area Masters Aquatics, in the team scores we are listed as Durham Aquatic Masters.

6) Roerden, Jeffrey is not on our team, yet is listed in the results as DAMA.

7) Tommerdahl, Kathy is not on our team either, yet is listed as DAMA.

8) Mary Anna Hovey 66 is actually on our team yet is listed as unattached.

9) Mark Medendorp 31 is also on our team yet is listed as unattached.

10) Our team relay was not included in the results yet we paid 20$ in cash to Andrea (short brown hair) and wrote our entry on a yellow legal pad with the names on it and gave it to her. There were no relay forms available for us to fill out.
Heidi Williams 5K
Mark Medendorp 3K
Kim Sarah Rice 2K
Matthew Davis 800m

11) Kim Sarah Rice finish time was 1:18 in the 5K yet is listed as 1:48. She was the first Masters female and received a medal after the race.
12) Erik Crankshaw finish time was 1:13 in the 5k yet is listed as 1:29:53. He was the first male Masters to finish and received a medal after the race.

13) Mark Savoldi 42 is on our team yet is listed as unattached.


Yes, even with his walnut brain, Yogi could have done a better job with these results! For a championship race, this is disappointing to say the least.

My suggestion to the Triangle OW series organizers - why not put in a bid to run the USMS championships next year? We know you would do a better job!!!

Week 22:
With the Swim Around Key West next week, I've been cutting down my yardage a bit. To not lose any aerobic fitness, I've been trying to walk and run more.

Mon: swim 3800 yds
Tues: swim 3700 walk 4 mi
Wed: stormed out of practice; run 5 mi
Thurs: swim 8,000
Fri: swim 3300
Sat: walk 5 mi
Sun: swim 3500, walk 3 mi
Total: swim 22,300; walk/run 17 mi

Not swimming related - but Yogi is just so damn cute. Here are more pics:

NC open water championships

This week was the NC state open water championships in Pinehurst.

They didn't offer a 10K this year, so I entered the 5K and decided to enter the 2K too, to get in some extra yardage. The 5K course was 4 laps around a 1.25km triangle - easy navigating! What I wanted to do more than anything was swim straight and not get lost. So concerned was I with knowing the course that I swam a practice lap before the race!

In order to keep the USMS and USA swimming races separate, we were started in waves. We old folks started 5 min behind the 19 and under boys, and 2 min behind the 19 and under girls. While weaving though packs of swimmers was a little time consuming, it did help with sighting - it's hard to get lost when there are always feet ahead of you! I'm happy to say that I stayed on course and swam relatively straight. I figured out that I tend to veer left when I swim. I made some minor course corrections, but nothing major. I swam hard, holding nothing back for the 2K and ended up getting first out of the masters women.

I cooled down, watched some of the 3K, then warmed up again for the 2K. For this, the course was different - 2 laps, out and back between 2 bouys. I was tired from the 5K, but did not want to swim the next day so I needed to do the extra yardage. Again, the masters started 5 min behind the 1st wave of kids. By the time we started, the kids were near the turn around buoy.

Trying to swim as straight as possible again, I sighted for the 2nd buoy right from the start. Soon, however, I ran into a little problem. The kids had rounded the first buoy and were headed back to the first - straight at us! We were trying to hold the same, straight paths but were going in opposite directions. My priorities shifted from trying to swim as fast as possible to trying to avoid a head-on collision. This was not a freestyle race - it was a head-up freestyle race! I got 2nd out of the masters women, but that's not as impressive as it sounds because there weren't many of us in the 2K.

Now on to more important things...

Meet Yogi - my future training buddy!

Yes, Daisy and Sneakers have a new little brother! Yogi is a Newfoundland, which makes him an excellent swimmer. According to K9 web, "the Newfoundland dog is physically well-suited to swimming, with its webbed feet, thick rudder-like tail, water-resistant double coat and its powerful build, strength and stamina." Welcome to the family Yogi!

Newfies in their natural element

As many of you know, Karen has been an excellent training buddy these past few months, not only keeping me company on long swims, but often pushing me to go farther and faster. Unfortunately, Key West is around the corner and I have been unable to trick Karen into signing up for something else extremely long. That's where Yogi comes in - open water champion of the future!

How do Karen and Yogi match up, you ask? Let's do a comparison:

Swimming fitness	Possesses webbed paws and a rudder-like tail; instinct for the water	Instinct for the water, but no tail of any sort. Shoulder and elbow joints allow for a rounder, more complete stroke
Location flexibility	Is not allowed in public swimming pools. Limited to open water and backyard pools	Enjoys free access to all public swimming areas
Cold water tolerance	Thick coat and extra blubber provide excellent cold water tolerance	Not hairy or blubbery. Better suited for warm climates
Bribeability	Will generally do what you ask in exchange for cookies	There’s a limit to what she will do for cookies. Often requires more complex, time-consuming persuasion techniques
Endurance	Easily distracted; requires frequent naps	Often prefers middle distance but does well during long swims too. Also a fan of naps
Personal hygiene	Frequent crotch sniffing, butt licking	Karen is the clear winner here

As you can see it's a toss-up! Time will tell how Yogi does as a swimming buddy, but he sure is cute and lovable. Welcome home, little bear!

Week 21:
Mon: rest - swim 16,000 yds
Tues: walk 3 mi
Wed: rest - swim 3800, run 3 mi
Thurs: swim 1100 - rained out
Fri: swim 2000
Sat: swim about 11,500
Sun: walk 5 mi
Total: swim 34,400; walk/run 11 mi

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