Lake Zurich Swim - Training

Just want to give a wrap up of my training for my Lake Zurich Marathon swim.

Below are my training regimes for LZ and Rotto and if you notice there are some big differences.

Lake Zurich Training 

18 Weeks

Total Miles 167.4359241

Total Kilometres 269.462

Rottnest Channel Training 

16 Weeks

Total Miles 283.376332

Total Kilometres 411.977607

LZ was 2 weeks longer but shorter mileage than Rotto!

This was not very good and made all the difference.

Main Reasons -> mainly comes down to injuries.  Was doing things different and wanted to mix it up.  I usually only swim FC and only FC for everything.  In the middle of the LZ training I started to put BF, BS, and weights into the mix.  This caused a lot of unusual soreness and cramping for a couple of weeks.  I pushed through these issues and it just got worse and worse with ending early and taking days off.  In the end this is where I paid the price.  I was in and out of the water for 2 weeks when I should have been peaking my training.

This is a valuable learning experience for the future!

Rottnest Solo Channel Swim Details - Part II

....Nothing eventful happen, 5k came and went.  10k finally arrived at 3.5 hours.  It was the half way point and knew it was all down hill from here.

The pack to the left of me and about quarter way mark:

At the 15k point this is were the race became interesting.  I took a GPS straight line as I mentioned earlier.  It was clear sailing up to about 12k and I started to notice boats and other swimmers at that point.

At or around the 15k point, I ran into a point.  Could not beleive it.  I said to myself this is some sort of joke.  Not only did he hit me once he hit me 2 other times and really did not care, he shitty relay team was more important.  I was too focus to actually say anything but I should of grabbed the fatty and drowned him...

Seconds before the boat hits me.

Afterwards there was another really annoying huge boat called the Mahalo.  First, it was a yacht, second they did not care for anyone else swimming.  I counted about 5 times this boat cut in front of me and than blasted it's engines blowing me back about 4 meters.  Everytime, I actually had to scream at the asshole, but little good that did.  This was the def the worst part of the race.  Since everyone has to get into a gate it starts to bottleneck here.  Everyone is hitting each other, paddlers are running into each other, swimmers are becoming tight, boats were picking relays members up, chop, exhaust, this was def the worst part.   On top of this there was a brisk current that was there and the wind also kicked up making the swells pretty high.

After the gate it thinned out as the boats could not escort any longer.  The current went away and the wind died due to being sheltered by the island.  At the 800m point the paddler goes away and your home free!

They have a the entire area roped off all the way to the finish so it was a clear shot to the finish line.  All you see on each side of you is tons of boats.  You can't see the island at all just boats!  It was really pretty cool.  About 150m from shore, the jellies kicked in.  I was getting stung all over my arms, pits and shoulders.  It was quite unpleasant but just reminded you that you are still alive...  25m from the shore, I knew I was still breathing and kicking I could not take it as the jellies hit me the neck.  That was it, I got up and walked/ran the rest of the way in!

Final time - 07:16:15

Rottnest Solo Channel Swim Details - Part I

Finally getting around to update the full story of the swim.  I am happy to say that I completed the swim with no real issues except a bit of a sunburn and much longer than expected.

Got up Saturday morning at 0400, had everything pack and ready to go.  We dropped  my support crew at the boat on the way to Cottesloe Beach.  I had my speed suit on already as I had to stop for a bit of a morning gitters so I put it on in the service station bathroom.  Got to the beach at 0510 with 35 minutes before start time and checked in.   I was already sunblocked up but that would not really last if going past the 4+ hour mark.  So I put a layer of zinc on my exposed areas.  I was all ready and set to go and walked away to the start but felt something was wrong could not figure it out till I saw someone else walk by with the same suit on.  OH, I forgot to zip it up.  When we zipped it up, I forgot all about putting zinc on that area :(

I get to the starting line with the first wave of swimmers out for the day.  There is about a hundred of us.  I position myself to meet up with my paddler and support boat on the right hand side.  There was not that many people on this side as everyone pushed to the left.  I was feeling a little nervous at this point.  Is the water too cold, am I going to puke like the last time, did I do enough training, all these thoughts ran through my head.  UGH...  It was stressful.  The horn blew and we were off!

Programmed to just go, did not even think about it and was off.  Since the sun was just coming up it was still quite dark and really could not see out on the sea.  I quickly noticed something was not right here.  50m's, 100m's, 250m's and finally 500m, meet my paddler and told him WTF is up with the swells.  He says, Yea it is not good.  I was watching the weather all week and was more worried about the wind and totally forgot to check the swells.  It was going to be an adventure!

So 1.5k out we meet up with the boat and they have pre-programmed the GPS for a direct line to the island.  I don't know if that was the right thing as everyone went left about 500m to 750m away to the left of us.  At this point all I could do was trust the support boat and my team which I had full confidence that they would get me there in the end.

An hour and a quarter into my swim I am ready for my first feed and progress report.  I have already stopped for 2 waterings and was feeling nice and strong.  Had a nice consistent stroke despite the 2m swells hitting me every 15 to 20 seconds.   When I asked them what distance I have done, I get back a little over 3k.  Ahh, This was not what I wanted to hear.  This was daunting!  I was not happy and had to ask again with the same response.  On the next watering I actually asked a boat next to me and they confirmed it as well.  I was really hoping for 4k or 4.5k.  At this point I started to realize that this was going to be an extremely long race and there was nothing I can do about it but just go...  I actually kept telling myself they are LIAR's to keep pushing on...

TO BE CONTINUED...

Rottnest Solo Channel Swim Update

Tomorrow is my solo swim to Rottnest Island here in Perth, Auz.  A quick run down from my last post.  I hurt both shoulders last thursday swimming with paddles.  So took it easy and iced them everyday.  Wednesday morning got out to the ocean swim 5k with no issues, no pain, and no soreness. The next day felt golden, no stiffness, no soreness.  So lets see tomorrow.

I got here on Tuesday morning, 0005, so some would say Monday night.  Was in Singapore for a 24 hour layover.  Too bad it was Chinese New Year.  Everything was closed but was able to check out all the sites and get some great chinese food.  

Before leaving, I got a msg on my mobile from an Auz TV reporter, requesting an interview.  Now the pressure is on.  He stated that I was a top seed to win the event.  UGH...  This is not the pressure that I need!  So I called him on Tuesday, thinking one of my auzzie friends is trying to stitch me up.  Nope, could not get that lucky.  It is true!  I really like going in anonymous on these things.  I thought it had to do with the phone number or nationality, but they said they got the top six swimmers and need to do interviews.  So I have that lined up today along with my briefing and meeting my boat captain and paddler.

Damn 20k is going to be a long hard battle...

Coming down to the wire - 30 days till rotto

I got 30 days till the big Rotto swim.  Have two support boats, 2 jet ski's and one and a half paddlers on the 'yak.  Got some great tips this morning on navigation, just did not anticipate a massive current!

Training is going well!  Running 3 days a week, weights 3 days, and swimming 6 days a week.  The masters at the Sharks is getting pretty intense on the long distance.  Coming home shattered almost every time with them.  It is a little under 4k but at crazy fast paces in the endurance sets.  Tonight, I wanted to quit to get a couple of breaths but thought about the sharks chasing me at old Rotto!

Can't even think about the channel or the Lake Zurich training.  Both are going to be grueling as well.  EC will be cold water training as well as getting over sea sickness!  Zurich is going to be getting thru a lake w/o salt water buoyancy!

Birthday Swim

Yesterday was my birthday and I spent it riding around San Fran with a bicycle.  Hills are a bitch but was a pretty good work out and saw quite a bit of the city. 

Afterwards, I was able to get a 5 mile swim at the Dolphin Club Swim Club in the San Francisco Bay Aquatic Center.  I got in with a wetsuit so I can get mileage instead of coldwater training.  The water was not bad 50F, I could have done a swim without the WS but I def would not make it 2 hours that I was in there.  I used baby oil and should have used vaseline bc my neck is so f-in chaffed!  Pics will follow...

Well, I have to get 7 more miles added on to that in 5 weeks for the Rotto Swim!  Going to have to start double dipping starting tomorrow in San Jose and continue on for the next 4 weeks.

8 Weeks and Over 200 Miles

In the last eight weeks, I have swam 206 miles or 288 kilometers!  So far I am on track to hitting my goals of 15 miles or 25 kilometers per week by the end of the month.  I have 11 more weeks of training til Rottnest Channel Swim with each week getting harder and longer.  The only set back was a quick cold that I came down with over the weekend.  Was forced to call out of practice yesterday.  I don't see tonights practice going very well though, still a lil congested :(

Going on my 6th week of training for Rottnest!

First Post!

I am going into my 6th week of training for Rotto. About two weeks ago signed up for a Master Swim program with a team called the Bethnal Green Sharks. The program is good and I get a lot of endurance/sprint work with likewise swimmers! I almost had a set back last weekend though. Last Friday's practice the had us do about a k of back. I felt my shoulder pop and just ignored it, bad move. Lived with ICE for the entire weekend but had to do a cold water session on Saturday. Only did 1.5k of open water in a balmy 8-9c, in essence I did ice it being the water being that cold. Took Sunday and Monday off. Was back in the water this last Tuesday w/ the sharks, a little sore but was told I could just substitute stroke for my choice. So doing tons of free now.

4 sessions p/w - avg 5k per session