Swimming Through (and with) the Decades

As I made my way to the pool on Saturday for a cram session to prepare for the upcoming NEM meet, it dawned on me: I would be swimming that morning with a twenty-something, a thirty-something, a forty-something (moi), a fifty-something, and a sixty-something master's swimmer. As I arrived on deck I mentioned this to the fifty-something, who said he thought about the exact same thing on his way in. I am hard pressed to think about any other competitive sport where there is a forty-year difference between the youngest and the oldest and we are all doing the same workout on the same intervals. But it happens in the pool, and it speaks to the uniqueness of master's swimming. I have written before that master's is a meritocracy - what you do for work, how much money you make, or how old you are doesn't matter when you get into the pool, but how you swim does. The exception, of course, is that the people who make a lot of money buy those fancy technical suits, but notwithstanding that, it's about equal. I will say that age and experience did come into play late in the workout. The sixty-something began to crush everyone, as is usually the case.

300 swim
2 x 75 drill/swim
2 x 75 kick/swim
2 x 75 descend
300 on 4:20
300 on 4:10
300 on 4:00
200 on 3:00
200 on 2:50
200 on 2:40
100 on 1:30
100 on 1:25
100 fast
400 pull
4 x 75
2 x 50

Moonlight Swim

A few years ago I tried to drop in to a Master's practice near my mom's house in Virginia and it was a disaster. I was put in the slowest lane and everyone was grumpy and mean. I left about halfway through.  So it was with trepidation that I agreed to go with my friend Laurie ("don't call me Lori") to practice with a group she swims with in Naples, FL. She promised it would be different, and the experience did not disappoint. 

It was 54 degrees on the pool deck at 5:30am (reminder: I am on VACATION) and the moon was bright as the steam rose above the 50 meter pool. The locals were cold, but did I complain? No way. It was zero at home and I was about to get into an outside long course pool. Immediately I sensed this was different as everyone was as friendly as could be, especially given the early hour. I swam with Ian and Michelle, who could not have been more welcoming. There were a few notable differences:

• The swimmers were there and ready to go at 5:30! I have to attribute this to time saved in not having to heat up car or scrape off snow/ice. 
• The coach Chris did not bring coffee, he made it on deck. Yep, they have a Keurig machine on deck. That is first class master's swimming, people.
• I kept waiting for the sun to rise. At one point I asked when it would come up and was told that when it starts to get light, practice is over. That was about right. 
• The Penn State swim team was on deck after master's practice. Nothing makes you feel your age and bring you back to reality like a bunch of 19-21 year olds. 

While I might attribute my warm welcome to the fact that Laurie introduced me, I have enough sense to know that this is just a great group. The only small issue was that the coach had on a Michigan hat. Nothing is perfect! So, if you are in Naples, check out T2 Aquatics!

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween to all! Tricks and Treats abounded today at practice. One treat was the discovery that the majority of my lane (2/3) was from the metro C-Bus area. For all of you not from the Midwest, that is Columbus, OH. Even better, we were from rival high schools (Upper Arlington and Worthington). We bonded over our love of Ohio and set aside our petty childish rivalries. I must point out that I was nearly out of high school by the time this kid was born, though he played nice with me and BB and pretended we were not that much older. The trick was that coach Bill made us do relays at the end of practice to earn a zombie bar. Special props to Solly who went in to the locker room to try to find the scary monster who is spraying the Axe aerosol deodorant at 6:50 every morning. He was a minute too late, but we think we have narrowed the window to 10 minutes and he shall be found. Our lungs and general health thank you, Solly!

9 x 75’s on :10r

  1-3:  are all drill

   4:  breast

   5:  back

   6:  fly

   7-9:  free descend

4 x 150 free pull hypoxic 9, 3, 7 on 2:25

5 x 200’s broken going: 75 on :60, 100 on 1:15/1:20, 25 on :40

4 x 100 IM

Relays: One 200 free, One 200IM, One coaches choice.

200 warmdown

To the Bridge and Back: Recap

My last race of the season was a fun one, a five mile swim in the James River in Richmond called "To the Bridge and Back."  It was a nice bookend to a bridge-themed season which started with the Great Chesapeake Bay Bridge swim in June. I happen to have some very hard core open-water swimming friends who would not think 5 miles is a big deal, but for me it was a foray into trying out a long swim, and it didn't disappoint.

I picked this race because my family lives in Richmond and it was a perfect excuse to visit. I had also heard good things about the race organizer, Jay Peluso, from my sister and brother-in-law so I felt like it was a good fit. The evening before I was thrilled to find out that I was assigned my own escort kayaker, a high school student named Caroline who turned out to be my niece's swim coach. That day I must have exchanged 238 text messages with my friends Elaine and Rachel about the weather and whether to wear a wetsuit. After my practice swim on Friday, it was an easy decision not to wear one as it was balmy.

Race day was ideal with 60's air temps and 70 degree water - simply perfect. Turns out most people did not wear a wetsuit given the conditions. They started us out in waves of 10 and I was in the second wave. The course went out 2.5 miles and then (surprise!) back. I got out strong and then just started swimming. And swimming, and swimming. We were against the current, which appeared to strengthen as we rounded a corner and saw the infamous bridge. I didn't wear a watch but the first leg seemed to go on forever.  There is a huge mansion on the shore and I thought "oh, what a pretty house" when I first saw it. 10 minutes later, "wow, the house is still there."  Another 10 minutes went by, and still that damn house. By then I had the chance to really critique it and it wasn't that great. We finally rounded the buoy at the bridge, I drank some energy drink and off I went. It probably took me 1:20-1:30 to go the first 2.5 miles. The way back was awesome. That house? It went by fast and was pretty again. I had been chasing a guy from the first wave in a purple cap the whole time but never caught him. My stroke count dropped but I tried to keep my pace up. My sister Carrie surprised me by coming out on a jet ski to take pics and then Ryon, Carrie and the boys all came out on a boat to cheer me on with about 1.5 miles to go. I was happy with my swim and it gave me a good baseline for more, possibly longer races. Unfortunately my mom videotaped my exit, which consisted of me knee deep in river mud stumbling like a drunk zombie towards shore. I shall make sure that video never sees the light of day.

Overall, it was a really fun event and adventure, very well run and a perfect way to end the season. Thanks to my support crew on land - mom, Carrie, Ryon, Celia, Jake, and Mason - and to Caroline in the kayak. And fun to see Courtney Paulk, Boston Light Swim alum and open water swimmer extraordinaire, in her natural habitat! And to my awesome training partners at MIT Masters who pushed me this season.

Best support crew!

The kiddos and a dolphin

Perfect

I rarely regret making the decision to get up to swim in the morning, and with few exceptions I always enjoy the workout and the camaraderie that comes with being on a team. But there are some days and workouts that are extra special, where the challenge factor and the good lane karma factor collide to make it the perfect workout. That was today! So I want to capture the workout to replicate it if I ever want to swim on my own. Thanks to my lane mates for kicking butt today, especially Joe K and BB.

400 warm up

400 going 25 stroke – 25 free

300 free drill

200 reverse IM

100 free each 25 gets faster

Main Set:

6 x 150 free on 2:15 hold pace
4 x 25 ez

5 x 150 free on 2:05 hold pace

4 x 25 ez

4 x 150 free 1:55 hold pace!

4 x 25 ex

4 x 100 descend 1-3, easy 4

Subs Gone Wild

I have good memories of substitute teachers, and they mostly follow the "oh, we're going to get off easy today" narrative. They were all nice, probably a bit scared, but they pretty much stuck to the script of not rocking the boat. Here at MIT Masters, we have had a series of substitute coaches on deck this summer, something that all of us appreciate very much. And while they are all nice (important trait #1 for a sub), they are definitely not scared of us and most assuredly did not stick to the script, particularly in the first couple weeks. In fact, there was a strange competition between the subs as to who could provide the most outlandish workout. 800 fly? Yep. A matrix where you had to be able to count and swim? That too. A pace-line catch-up thing which was meant to build lane camaraderie? Fun times. I'm frankly surprised that we did not have a drone dropping off a set and then zapping us when we didn't make the interval (it's MIT: anything is possible). Thankfully, things have calmed down quite a bit and substitute favorite Derek was on deck today, with special thanks to E for writing up the workout and Coach Bill for preparing it. I will say that the past few weeks have served to reenforce why I love swimming at MIT Masters: Wonderful lane mates/teammates and coach Bill.

Long Course Meters:

200 swim :20r
200 stroke/swim :20r
200 drill swim :20r

6 x 100 on 1:40 working on various parts of your stroke

Twice thru:
100 going 50 fly, 25 back, 25 free
100 going 50 back, 25 breast, 50 back
100 going 50 breast, 25 free, 25 breast

Main Set: Five times thru:
100 on 1:25
50 easy on :60
50 hard on :40
100 easy on 1:50

Great Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim 2014

I was fortunate to compete in the 2014 Great Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim yesterday. The event is a 4.4 mile swim across Chesapeake Bay, under the double spans of the bridge. The event has been running for over thirty years and is a benefit for the March of Dimes. 600 swimmers compete each year and must enter a lottery and then submit a qualifying time to participate. After several years of getting shut out of the lottery, I finally got in this year. My MIT Masters teammate Rafael also got in, so I had a veteran of the race to guide me, along with all my other swim friends who have done this race in the past.

I soaked up advice from coach Bill and the others who participated. Two themes emerged: One, have fun during the swim because it's long; and two, when you think you are done and reached land, think again. Both proved to be worth heeding!

The day was warm (80) and so was the water (74-75 at start and finish, 72 in middle). My training plan included a wetsuit, and the race directors recommended a wetsuit, but a wetsuit did not seem necessary given the warm temps. Still, I didn't know how cool it would get in the middle so I opted for my wetsuit. Many others did as well but there were quite a few who did not, including Rafael. At the pre-race meeting the race director said that the conditions were ideal for the day, and looking out at the water it was hard to argue with that. The race went off in two waves, mine being the second with about 300 swimmers. It was a scrum for the first 30 minutes but once we got under the bridge I was amazed at how much room we had. Driving over the bridge it looks like the two spans are nearly touching, but under the bridge it seems like a mile!

I tried to follow the advice of the director with regard to the currents and stayed to the left initially, then in the middle, then to the right. But the truth is it was much rougher than I ever imagined, and at certain points I felt like I was surfing the waves, and not always riding them in the right direction! I wasn't able to pick up a group but tried to draft off of a couple of swimmers when I could and helped others when they needed a draft. This is one thing I love about open water swims, that the swimmers are conscientious of other swimmers and, in my experience, do not try to swim over or purposefully elbow other swimmers.

Toward the end of the race as we left the bridge I expected it to be tough and it was. It almost felt like swimming in an endless pool and it was a struggle to get through the current and towards land. I was dizzy upon exiting the water but it was all worth it to see my sisters, brother in law, and niece and nephews there to greet me. I was very happy with my swim and met my goal, finishing in one hour, fifty eight minutes and six seconds. Full results are here.

Yet there was tragic news from the race. A 58 year old man died during the competition, someone who had done this race dozens of times. This was not the case of an amateur getting into something too much to handle. It sounds like he had a medical incident and was unable to be revived. I am sure the race support did everything they could. I'm so sad for his family and they are in my prayers.

This was a very well run event, from the initial lottery entry to the race execution. The support on the course was unparalleled, from the coast guard, private boats serving as rescue boats for tired swimmers, kayakers, feed stations, even a helicopter. They shut down the shipping channel during the race as well. I recommend it as a destination race to all open water swimmers. Most thanks goes to my family for being there, which made the experience so much more fun!

My swim wave

Awesome support crew!

Rafael and me relaxing at start

Hot times in the wetsuit!