The nerves hit just before the start of the swim- once I get hit or kicked in the water I’m fine, but until that time, it’s all nerves.  The biggest problem with this swim was people in my wave that were even slower than me- a lot of side-strokes and other strokes that quite frankly got in the way.  I just cruised down to the turnaround, staying with the bulk of my wave and making my way around those slow swimmers to get there.

I was a little confused at the turnaround, as I was expecting 2 big yellow buoys, but got only one.  The backstretch is really long, but with buoys every 50 yards or so, it was easy to stay on course.  The next biggest problem came as I got to the last turn- right about the time the bulk of the wave after me caught me- just as we hit the turn.  This is where the bulk of the hitting and kicking took place, but it cleared out by about the time we were about half-way in.

The third problem was that the water was so clean and clear that I thought the water was much more shallow when I stood up and ended up running through knee deep water- I usually swim in much further than that.  Look at me- complaining about clean water.

The last problem was the wetsuit strippers having trouble getting my wetsuit off.  So all-in-all, considering those were the only things I can think of as negatives in the swim- it was a GREAT swim.

T1  (Transition from Swim to Bike)- After my very first TRI two years ago, when I spent something like 12 minutes in T1, I have actually been pretty good in transition.  This was only my second race this year and I see that I need to work on it again.  Transitions kept me out of the top 20.  I spent 3 minutes in T1

Tomorrow: The Bike!

3 days ago

For the past three weekends, as we get closer to Ironman, each weekend has featured a long segment of one of the three events…two weeks ago we rode 110 miles followed by a short run (in the heat).  Last weekend we just roade 30 miles (in the thunderstorm), but that was followed by a 20 mile run (in the extreme heat).  This past weekend- a long (2.4 mile) swim, followed by a 30 mile bike ride, followed by a 6 mile run.  Or that was the plan…

We got to Devils Lake at 7am yesterday morning- after driving through several heavy downpours.  Laura was ready to kayak along.  Until she got out of the car and looked out at the lake.  The rain was coming down.  The lake was choppy.  Laura’s NOT going out in the kayak.  Laura’s sitting in the shelter and holding everyone’s car keys while we swim.

The swim iteself went fairly well- the water was choppy and it was raining, but you really don’t notice rain while you’re swimming and you get used to the choppy waters.  You get into a little bit of a rhythm- as you feel your body come to the top of a wave, you breathe.  If it’s time to breathe and you’re not at the top of a wave, you wait until you are at the top of a wave.  Sounds relatively simple- but it doesn’t always work out right. 

About half-way across the lake I went to take a breath and sight on the small shelter on the other side of the lake and instead took a BIG mouth-full of water.  I tried just spitting it out, but eventually had to completely stop swimming and cough a bit until everything was cleared out.  And then the panic hit.  I’m in the middle of the lake and it’s storming (thankfully no lightning- or I really would have freaked out).  Eventually I calmed myself and started swimming again.  Made it across the lake and turned around and came back.

Over the past year I have really improved my sighting technique.  I usually swim 4 strokes, breathe to the right, take 2 more strokes sight forward, 4 strokes, breathe to the right, etc.  I have real trouble breahing to the left, so unless I absolutely have to, I skip it.  That pattern of breathing right, then sighting has turned me into a really straight line swimmer.  To the point where other slow swimmers (fast swimmers can’t do this) will sight on me.  The problem on Sunday was that my goggles fogged and I could just make out the outline of the trees on the shore of the lake.  Those on shore were watching me and said I was swimming perfectly in a straight line towards the shelter, when suddenly I took a hard right and started heading way off course.  I knew exactly what they were talking about.  I was probably 1/4 mile from shore, when a couple of cars pulled into the parking lot to the right of the shelter- and all I could focus on was the headlights of those cars.  So I headed straight for the lights.  And away from the shelter.

By the time I finally did make my way to the shelter- it was still raining.  Hard.  And windy.  About that time we all decided that we have had enough practice riding and running in the rain.  So we called it a day and headed home.

5:30am- open water swim class.  The group gets broken up into two smaller groups- the fast group and the not so fast group.  I’m in the not so fast group.  But this morning I was the fastest of the not so fast group.  That honor kind of rotates around and it was my turn today. 

The lake was pretty choppy this morning so Derek (our instructor) had us working on 2 things…

1) Breathing technique in the choppy conditions.

2) Sighting technique in the choppy conditions.

The breathing is a bit of a challenge, as you need to kind of feel when you rise up to the top of a wave and take your breath at that point.  You also need to know which direction the waves are coming from and breath on the opposite side.  If you mess up either of these- you get a mouth full of water.  Dirty, green water.

The sighting is also a challenge- for much the same reason.  You need to again feel when you are on the top of a wave and quickly look up and sight on the next buoy.  Often times there are more big waves ahead of you, so that quick glance doesn’t do it- you need to keep your head up for a while longer to find that buoy.  Keeping your head up for a while longer once again risks taking on a mouth full of water.  Dirty, green water.

So as we finished up the class, us not so fast kids were talking about the swim and I mentioned how tough it was to sight at times.  One by one they all said they had no problem sighting at all- they all knew I swim a straight line, so they just followed my swim cap- never really had to find the buoys.  Just follow Pat- it’s not that tough (so I guess I’m not the fastest- I was just out front so they didn’t have to sight).  Derek and I had a good laugh about that one- you all should have met me a year ago- as Derek pointed out, at that time I couldn’t swim 4 strokes without getting off course- he also used that as an example of what practice can do…

What is it with coaches and their obsession with practice?

Honestly- cool, clear water was not what I was looking for this morning.  On Friday’s I usually meet a group out at Governor Nelson State Park for an early morning swim.  This time of year the water is anything but clear (it’s kinda green) and it’s actually warmed up quite nicely by this point.

Well- the alarm went off at about 5:30 and it was raining.  Hard.  I know what you’re thinking- “your gonna get wet anyway, you might as well go swimming.”  And I thought about it- but then I saw the lightning and decided a swim in the pool at Harbor Athletic would be better.

I got to the pool a little after 6 and ran into two women from the masters swim class (I’m hardly a master- they both are).  Both were feeling the same as I was- we’d much rather be outside in the dirty warm water.  I know that sounds a bit odd, but there are advantages to the open water swim- mainly you don’t have to stop and turn around every 25 yards.

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend, so there’s plenty of time for open water swimming- but the one time in the pool was a nice reminder of how much I like being in the open water.

So the 4th of July started with a splash this year.  About 20 of us went to Devils Lake to swim.  It’s 1.2 miles across the lake- so swimming across and back is good practice for the 2.4 mile Ironman swim.  It’s got the advantage of having a nice rest stop at the 1.2 mile point (you’ve crossed the lake, stand there and rest for a while until you are ready to swim back) and it has the advantage of being far less crowded than the actual Ironman swim.  Far less crowded, but it can still be a bit confusing…

Confusion #1: My wife came along with a kayak and spent the morning watching over us.  About 1/2 way across the lake I noticed that my normal swim partner (Julie swims exactly the same speed as me- so we are usually right next to each other) was drifting to the right, so I stopped to tell Laura to try to corral people- as I stopped, I noticed that everyone was scattered across the lake- no way for her to corral us all.

Confusion #2: Sighting is nearly immpossible (as evidenced by the people swimming in all different directions- as noted above).  At Ironman there are big- REALLY BIG buoys every 100 yards or so.  It’s real easy to sight.  Swimming across Devils Lake we were sighting on a tiny building on the opposite shore.  Not quite as bad on the way back, as we were sighting on a bigger building- but still tougher than having big buoys every 100 yards.

Confusion #3: As we got to the South shore (we started on the North shore), we did a quick head-count.  We were down 2 swimmers- we could see Laura out in the kayak with one of them, but where was the other?  We looked all across the lake and didn’t even see any splashing anywhere.  Just as we were starting to panic, Laura paddled in to tell us that “the guy in the silver swim cap turned around at the half-way point and headed back.”

Confusion #4: o.k., not really a confusion- just poor planning.  There were a few people that had to get back home early- so they were the first to start swimming back to the start.  What we didn’t think of was the fact that Laura had everybodies car keys in a dry bag in the kayak.  Laura was watching over us slow swimmers.  About half way across the lake I realized that this could be a problem, so I told Laura to head in- give the keys back to people and come back out to make sure we were still o.k. 

Confusion #5: By the time Laura got back out to us slow swimmers there were two other groups out there swimming- the Madison Multisport group and one other that I didn’t recognize.  Now try to keep track of who’s who and keep your group headed in the right direction.  Pretty much impossible- in fact I’m pretty sure she led somebody from one of the other groups in by accident.

So, lots of goofy stuff happened on the swim- but all-in-all a great swim, a real confidence booster and a whole lot of fun.

I was talking big this morning- gonna swim a mile before work.  But, by the end of swim I started remembering some of the guys that I swam with last year.

Last Winter, when I was still learning to swim, I would go to the pool and as I was struggling, I’d watch the other guys- they’d swim a lap or two and then stand at the end of the pool and gab.  Swim another couple laps, stand at the end of the pool talking.  And so on and so on and so on.  I even heard them joking about it one morning- “Yeah everone at work thinks I come here every morning and get a great workout- when really I swim a couple of laps and spend the rest of the time talking.”

That was me this morning- I met my friend Tara at 6:15 for a swim.  When she asked what I was doing for the workout- I said I would swim a mile.  And what happened?  We swam a couple of laps, stood at the end of the pool talking.  Swam a couple of more laps, gabbed a bit more.  And so on, and so on, and so on.

So I guess I’ve improved- to the point where I can hang with the guys that use the swim in place of their morning coffee.

My swim class at Harbor Athletic ended last week and the next session doesn’t start until next week- so I had a Tuesday morning when I could actually sleep in and not be at the club at 5:30am.  And I did- I slept in.  I woke up at 5:30am and was at the club by 6am.  To my surprise, I was not the only person from my class who got there early to swim.  Two women from the class actually beat me to the pool and another joined a few minutes later.  I didn’t work nearly as hard as I would have in class, but the point is I got up and did it.  Even when I didn’t have to.  And I’m feeling pretty good about that.

A couple of weeks ago at the end of the Masters Swim Class at Harbor Athletic, I was lending a hand- putting the steps back into the pool,  the other guy working with me commented how much he hates those steps- but of course there are a lot of people who use them, so after class we have to replace them.  My comment back was that I love those steps- in fact, whenever I can I choose the lane with the steps. 

Why?

Because when I am in the lane with the steps, I almost NEVER have to share the lane.  It’s the last lane that gets asked to share. And I don’t share well with others.

I took a little grief about that.  But then I started looking around.  I’m not the only swimmer who doesn’t like to share.  A few others…

- The BIG SPLASH swimmer.  Every flip-turn creates such a huge wave, that not only do you not want to share the lane- you don’t want to be in the lane on either side.

- The TONS OF EQUIPMENT swimmer.  Layed out at the end of the lane- a pull bouy, flippers, goggles, Gatorade bottle, kick board and a few other very important things- so many things, in fact,  that it already looks like there are three people sharing the lane.

- The BAD swimmer.  Belly-flops into the water, then swims the most awkward laps you have ever seen- usually stopping to rest after every 25 yards (sometimes in the middle of the 25 yards) no style points here, lots of splashing, lots of arms waving in every direction- often looks like their drowning.

…it’s getting better every day!

I know, they probably were NOT talking about my abilities in the pool…but I am.

The latest session of the Masters swim class at Harbor Athletic ended today.  The main part of today’s workout was three 500 yard sets.  Decreasing time on each of the sets.  Didn’t go to good for me.  Or so I thought.  I actually got worse with each set.  I did the first set in 10:07, the second set in 10:35 and the third set in 11 minutes even. 

That’s not the way the workout was supposed to work.  I was supposed to get faster with each set.

Here’s the thing though.  I opened my e-mail this afternoon and found a message from Derek- our instructor.  In his e-mail he gave us all of our times for every set since last Fall.  When we started in the Fall I was doing a 100 yard pace of 2:30.  The fastest person in the class was at 1:58 per 100. 

BTW- that was tested on a 200 yard set- not a 500 yard set, as we did this morning.

So- This morning my fastest set was just a couple of seconds off the pace of the fastest person last Fall.  My slowest set this morning would have been right in line with the rest of the class last Fall.  My slowest set today would have actually beat my training partner last Fall (just checking to see if you’re reading Susan).

Now all I need is a time-machine to take me back to last Fall.

It probably doesn’t seem like much of a breakthrough for a lot of swimmers- but I was pretty excited over the weekend.

The main set of the Saturday workout called for a timed 1000 yard swim.  From that we were to figure our 100 yard average.  Mine came out to be just under 2:05.  Not exactly fast, but I was pretty happy with it.

The breakthrough came on Sunday when the main set in the workout called for five 100 yard sets.  The idea was to decrease the time for each of those 100s.  I did the first set at what felt like a slow, comfortable pace.  When I finished, I looked up at the clock and I had done it in 2 minutes even.  Faster than that 100 yeard average from Saturday.  That’s good.  But with the good comes bad- how would I improve on that with each of the reamaining four 100s?

But I did- each 100 got progressively better until I was swimming just under 1:50 100’s!

Like I said- a breakthrough for me!  But to put it all in perspective, earlier today I got an e-mail from my swim instructor.  He was telling the whole class about the boys high school state swim meet coming up this weekend.  He mentioned that the two fastest distance swimmers in teh state (one of which he coaches) will most likely be setting new records in the 200 and 500 freestyle- the pace they will be swimming…

…somewhere in the range of :53 seconds per 100!

O.K. – now I have something to shoot for!