Getting Ready - South End Rowing Club Alcatraz Invitational

What a diverse mix of similar people.  Such a mix of personalities and backgrounds.  We're all getting ready to swim the SERC Alcatraz Invitational swim.  So, what do we all have in common?  For one, we all belong to Mike Lynch, our coach at Peninsula Community Aquatics Masters

Mike's over there on the right, 3rd guy up in the back.  He's hard to notice, and I think he likes it that way.  And yet, he's drawn together some of the nicest, friendliest, most inspiring, fun, motivated, driven people I know.  He helps us all, getting where we want to go.  In this case, we just finished our swim in aquatic park.  Yep, the water has warmed up to a balmy 61.3 degrees.  Up from a bone-chilling 59.5 degrees last time I got in.  Cold enough to induce amnesia.  Another story you'll have to ask me about.  The short answer is, he's alright now, thank God.

We're standing in a history-rich section of San Francisco, at Hyde and Beach.  That's the famous Irish coffee bar, Buena Vista on the far corner, and you can see the cable car coming to the end of the line.

Looking the other way down Hyde Street, you see the Pier and Alcatraz in the background just to the right.

Here's down the other side of Hyde Street Pier.  It's an interesting vantage point where you almost feel like you've gone back in time, with the tall ship and all it's huge masts, the steamer ship, and old pier to the right, and a small one on the left.  Probably something like it looked a hundred years ago, or more.

 See the Golden Gate?  In front of that is the pier on the left of Aquatic Park.  We swim along that, to the opening, you can't see in this view, but essentially, from outside the opening, you can see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate.  It's a spectacular view, and exciting to see it from the water.

 I Throw this shot in for a couple reasons.  It's the best I've got showing a tid bit of the concrete bleachers just above the two fences on the right, to the left of the flags.  That's the finish line of the swim.  You come out to a small beach, like the one in the foreground.  Also, you can see Ghirardelli Square sign on the horizon for a landmark everyone has heard of.  To the right of Ghirardelli are a pair of tall apartment buildings.  That is what I target, or sight on, when doing the Alcatraz swim.  It's big enough I can usually pick it out, even with waves, or obstructed goggles.

The white building top left is the Dolphin club, which further left, next to it, is the South End Rowing Club building.  The beach we swim from is just on the other side of that fence.

The other side of the fence, is shown here.  Each club has a small dock, they take their vintage row boats out from there.  We swim out, from between the two docks.

I put this in, because this was a picture someone took a couple hours before the 2009 Alcatraz swim.   You may notice, this is from outside the bridge. We actually had a bit of rain during the swim.  I don't think there was any more lightning.  Pretty rare in these parts.  Probably 20% of the swimmers opted out this year.  :-)

Halfway

Trans Tahoe team Zola

Trans Tahoe swim 2011

Team Zola

Saturday workout PCC

This was the 3rd Saturday morning workout at PCC Master's.  I swam the one prior, at 7:15am in lane 6, the farthest right.  It's my least favorite due to the wall, along over half our lane.  It's not forgiving, if you drift in your lane a bit.

It was a fast fun day.  I even kept up in the 2:50 200M  and the 100 M at the end of the workout, I held a good 1:20 pace, without draft.  A nice workout!  And, great to see Damon and Bill in the pool.  Damon's not been swimming much, but still had good speed, at least compared to me.

Jib Jab
I have been missing the Saturday workouts.  Mostly 'letting myself off' instead of having something else going on.  Bill said he's working on improving his speed too, and said adding 5000M on Saturday is helping.  I'm going to give it a try, although I got in about 3300M today.

PCC new landscaping

Finally, we are re-landscaping our backyard, so I've been trying to notice gardens I like.  This one is subtle, but nice.  I like it.  Why?  I am not totally sure.  It's simple.  Nice vegetation.  Not over filled or sparse.  Contrasting colors.  I like the spiky guys, and the little variegated bush.  It's got a little purple flower on it now.

Blogging

Part of the April harvest

Jib Jab styled click here
The picture is the latest harvest from the garden.  I am at the point where, Spring is here, but I've only got my trees in, and a couple summer squash and cucumbers in the ground.  The irrigation system is still not working, so I am hand watering.  It's a race to get some plants in the ground, and get those roots started.

Coming Soon!
I get so many lemons from this tiny tree.  These are the incredibly flavorful Meyer lemons.  I have a goose laying golden lemons.  They just keep coming and coming and coming!  So, I gave some out at work, and to my sister, and last weekend I put some to good use:  I made:

• Limoncello
• Preserved Lemons
• Lemonade
• Grilled chicken with dijon mustard, lemon, rosemary, pepper flakes marinade

The Limoncello and preserved lemons take like 80 days until they are ready.  Okay, at least a few weeks.  The point is, I will be posting, and the recipes are coming.  My goal is 1 recipe a day.

Jib Jab
I've been feeling a lack of JibJab. At the top of my mind are:

Mexico mission trip
Patrick is building houses on a Mexico mission trip.  I'm pretty excited for him.  It was a moving experience for his sister, and me when we went a couple years ago. 

Blogging
I've been thinking a lot about blogging, and writing, and photography and small businesses.  I'm not sure where it's all going, but I'm enjoying and thinking.

It's Spring!
I feel this tremendous energy developing as the days get longer, more sunny days, so much is in bloom.  It's time to plant! And plan. And yeah.

Swimming
I've been setting personal best times.  It's really kind of exciting.  I don't think I'm peaking yet either, from the new techniques I've been using.  I'm trying some new things, and it's paying off.  It's still raw, but it's working!!  I've hit some good (for me) times in 25 M, 50M, 100M, and 300M.  I do want to work on the longer distances.  Stay tuned.

Finally, the Giants!!
Wow, here we go with another season.  This isn't going to be a slam-dunk season for the Giants, even at this early stage of the season, they've shown some weakness.  Yes, these guys are World Series Champions.  Yet, they have struggles and challenges every day.  Every day!  It's been impressive to see them win more games lately, and come back from deficits to win.  They came so close to sweeping the Diamondbacks.  So so close.  It would have been incredible.  And, not the Giants.  They are earning their 'Torture' stripes again this year.  This is a big week.  Playing the Rockies, in Denver, and the Rocks are red red hot.  Already 4 games up, and have won 12 of their first 15 games.  WOW!

Try this link I keep popping in here and there.  It's a fun little feature of blogspot.  It takes my content and formats it in interesting ways.   Try the different options on the top right.  Let me know what you think!

Goal: 300 Meters - 4:00 minutes

I love this photo.  This is getting to the pool, for the 6am workout a couple days ago.  It's a little eerie, a little daunting, and a downright blast to be swimming in the dark, as the sun starts coming up.  The colors are outrageous.  The whole thing is a comfortable transition from not being able to see, and focusing inward, to gradually adding spectacular saturated colors, to the white light of the day.  It's a beautiful way to start the day.

4 minute 300
It's also how I've been feeling about the 4:00 minute 300M.  It just sounds daunting!  It's not a little challenge.  It's, well, I don't know how I'm going to do it challenge.  I had a workout the other day where I was leading the lane, and feeling particularly strong, fast and comfortable.  We were doing 300's and I came in on 4:45!  Everyone in the lane had a comment about how fast we went.  I felt great too.  Glenn even said it's the fastest 300 he's done.  Ever. 

Then I thought about the 4 minute challenge.  Dang!!!  Unfathomable!  I ended up swimming a 4:30 300.  A stellar benchmark for me.  A super strong swim for me.  In fact, a 1:25 100 is a super fast 100M for me.  So, how in God's green earth...  And yes, why? is another question altogether.  How to get to the 4 minute 300?

Get in.  Go back and forth
So much of the challenge is, get in.  Get going.  Swimming a 1:20 pace per 100 is something I've only done when sprinting my fastest 100's ever.  The fastest I've ever done in my life is about a 1:17 100.  So, I'm working on it.  Yesterday I swam 50's as hard as I could.  Feeling how fast fast is, for me.  I swam a 37 second 50.  Dang.  I didn't know I could do that.  Sweet!  :-)  Makes me happy.  And, I can see the sun coming up. It's starting to clear, what I need to do.  No question.  Still a long way to go, but I'm starting to envision what it will take.

Sun coming up

Oak at PCC, after the morning swim

Meter Mania

43,900 meters. One more day. Hmmm. Should I go for 50,000?

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So, I swam 3,200 meters at 6am today, just to get things going. That leaves, yep, 2,900 meters to achieve the mystical 50,000 meters.  It's an arbitrary goal I wouldn't have even considered had I not totaled up my meters on Sunday for the month and saw I was close to, well, 50,000.  

It's Meter Mania at PCA this month
If you are trying to find my numbers in the photo, it's kind of hard because I am showing the names associated with the second column, and cut off my name on the far left.  Look for Josh L on the right, that's my row.  The top number I show is how many meters I did for that day, and under that, I put my total in for the month.  You can see I did 4,000 meters on Sunday, with my good buddy Rich E.  He's on pace to complete 200,000 meters as of today.  That is A LOT of meters.  Maybe the most of anyone at the club.  Something like 150 people signed up for Meter Mania.  I would guess I may be in the top 10.  I am not sure.   The other thing you might notice about my row above is, there's a bunch of blank days.  Those are days I didn't swim, first because I was in Barcelona for a week, and then in Tahoe for 5-6 days.  I think I missed 14 days out of a short month. 

For more background and previous years on Meter Mania at PCA, click here.

The Challenge
So, my challenge to myself and you.  I will swim again today, 100 meters for every follower I have.  Those who are already following, I have you covered.  The problem is, that only gets me to 2,700.  I need two (2) more followers to accomplish my goal.  See where you come in?  Over on the right, click on follow.  It's real easy.  If it seems confusing, just guess, you'll be right.  No, you won't get extra emails or anything.  You are just part of the cause, and I thank you!

Jib Jab
I made 50,000 meters.  I also had two firsts yesterday.  First time for swimming twice in one day, the 6am workout and the 6:45pm workout. That's kind of pushing it, because I have done consecutive swims on the Saturday workouts, and have on several occasions done all 3 Saturday workouts, but the nuance is, I don't have to get out of the pool between workouts on Saturday.

The other first is an interesting one.  
First time to do the evening workout.  I would say I am not a night person, and say it without too much conviction, but the data is, well, fascinating (to me).  I have been swimming masters for about 15 years, mostly at PCC.  PCC has about 20 different workouts a week.  I have done all of them many many times.  Except the evening ones.  Lots of times, I've said to myself, okay, well, I missed my regular but will go to the evening one, and it just never happens.  I've even arrived at the gym, looked at the evening practice, but didn't get in.  Kind of weird when I think about it.  None-the-less, I broke the ice yesterday, and did the evening workout.  Actually, the drama continues.  I only needed another 750 meters when I started with them, so I only finished the first set, 400 meters more than I needed, but I got out after that.  :-)  Another first still available.  The whole evening workout.  I love a challenge.

100 posts later... 2,500 unique visits, 24 followers Thank You!

Moira is 18!

It's all part of life's rich pageant. 
On a whim, I wanted to see what was entailed in creating a blog, so, I went ahead and made one. 
We were doing the garden, so it's the san carlos garden.  I made a few posts, and said, okay, that's what it is.  I stopped until Sarah came home for the holidays, and we started cooking, and baking.  Sarah got me going with recipes on blogs, and we really had fun with it, laughing and giggling about all the comments, especially those along the lines of "This is the best recipe ever!  I just used milk for cream, and almonds for walnuts, doubled the cinnamon, and nutmeg, and cut the butter with sour cream... but I loved this recipe!"  I'm laughing just thinking about it, partly because it's funny, partly because that's what we were doing!  So, I started blogging on that.  And, I started noticing formats, styles, and so on.  It's really cool!

Steel cut oatmeal, roasted hazelnuts, pears and sliced banana with milk and brown sugar

So, all the fun online, led to more cooking, and more photos of food.  More posts led to more visits and more visits inspired more posts.

Sculpture granite and ceramic by Tony Stanzione decorated for Christmas Greenwood Village, Colorado

The metrics
And then there are the metrics.  How many visitors, repeat, and unique, and where they are from, city, state, country, continent.  And which posts got the traffic?  It's all really cool, and exciting and interesting and motivating, and just plain fun.

The comments
Okay, it's really all about the comments.  It's really fun to get feedback.  You never know how something impacts someone, so hearing a little bit, it's such a charge to hear from you.  So, if you ever wonder, add a comment.  You'll make my day.

Sarah and Lauren at Nan's

Thank You!
So, I know.  What? Why?  How do you have time?  I don't get it?  I know. I know.  It really is about connecting with you.  I get so much energy from others.  Which is selfish.  It's true, and, I know how much I enjoy other people's writing, so thanks for sharing back. 

So, I'm looking for topics, improving my photography, my writing, and growing our community.  We just crossed 24 followers, which is awesome.  I also crossed 2,500 unique visitors.  And all the countries of visitors!  US of course, a big band of cities from West to East coast.  There's my family, on both coasts, and Denver.  Sarah at school gives me comments, which I love...and Kirsty, who keeps up too... thanks Goose and Kirsty and then breaking out to others, like my buddy Jennie in Seattle, another who does comments... Thanks Jennie.  And then new friends in Germany and France, Australia, and on and on and on.  I've been writing about swimming lately, and got a comment from a friend who said she was inspired to start swimming again, and another friend sharing my recipes with his family... it's all good.

So thanks to all of you.  You inspire me.  Let me know your thoughts and ideas.

Tim, Dad, Dan golfing Dec 27th, Denver

Triple Crown PCC Aquatics Center

Peninsula Community Center Pool

We already swam the middle leg.   I started my swim with a bunch of my fellow Masters swimmers at 6am last Saturday.  Before the day was done, we set a new record with 64 swimmers in the pool at once.  I got out of the pool, having finished 7,500 meters for the Christmas swim, celebrated with my buds, and home by 9:30 am.  BAM.

What's the Triple Crown?
It's a fun event we do at PCC Masters, and I think it's something that many Master's teams do.  It's a holiday event, with swims on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day.  Actually, the Christmas swim is on an alternate day, ours was last Saturday.  Each day has a longer distance at each of the three levels.  To accommodate all our swimmers, we have 2 start times.  I usually do the early one, 6am.

Here's my guess at the meters at each level:

Level/Day             Thanksgiving             Christmas            New Years Day
Bronze                       1,500                           2,500                       3,500
Silver                         3,500                           5,000                       6,500
Gold                           5,000                           7,500                     10,000
 
The gold levels equate to 3 miles, 4.6 miles, and 6.2 miles on New Year's Day.  That's at least 3.5hrs for me.

Jib Jab with Tim
I took this picture after our workout.   You can see two people still in the hot tub.   Notice all 6 lanes of the pool.  I've been swimming lane 4 lately.  Each lane is a progressively faster pace, lane 5 being the fastest, and lane 6 is available as needed.  When you think about 64 swimmers in this pool at once, it's well, amazing.

Typical Workout on the board

Here's a typical workout.  You can see we do all strokes.  Anything from 25 meters, to 400 meter swims.  All said, including 500 meter warm-up, 2,900 meters for those in the faster lanes.  The number matrix shows times for each length.  The numbers closest to the left are for the faster lanes.  For example, top left in the 2nd set (#2) is 600 which means 6 minutes for 1x 400 meters.  That's a 1:30 pace per 100 meters.  Pretty rockin for me, and I am happy to say, I made it!

PCC Pool

A couple more shots- This shows our coach, Mike on the pool deck.  The motto sounds a lot like Mike's motto for us.  It's incredibly straight-forward, yet incredibly life-changing.  "Get in, go back and forth."

 

Double Jib Jab

Swimming has become an integral part of my life.  It seems every day I swim is a good day.  Every other day may be too, it's just those swim days seem particularly special.  Here's a couple pictures on the 7 minute drive to the pool.

Alcatraz!

We made it!  This is Paul, Bill and me after swimming from Alcatraz.  It was a great day, a tiny bit overcast, but calm, the water a balmy 61 degrees. That's Ghirardelli Square in the background.  We just finished in the famous Aquatic Park in the San Francisco Bay.

 This is another friend of mine, from the good ole days.  Thanks for coming out to cheer us on!

More fans, Hi Kathy and Kirsty!


Jib Jab
That week I went mountain biking with Paul and Matt, two guys I used to wrestle with, back in 7-8th grade.  As it turns out, Brian wrestled with us too.  To add to the coincidence, another one of my best buddies, Ray just called today.  He is coming out to visit in a couple weeks, and he too used to wrestle with us, way back in middle school.  Could we have ever known we would all meet again in California?

Click for more Alcatraz photos(thanks Brian!)

Thanks for the encouragement to get a new post out!

Preparing for the South End Rowing Club Alcatraz Swim

This is my PCA masters group doing a Sunday (Aug 22nd) morning San Francisco Aquatic Park swim.   As you can see from the pic, you don't need to bring much.  Googles, cap, swimsuit.  Front right is Damon, my Zola buddy, and I am front left, and coach Mike, 2nd from left front.  Mike, thanks for bring us up!

I think this will be my 4th Alcatraz swim coming up, Sept 18th.  Each one is it's own adventure and I'll get into that in a bit.  In the past, I've made the crossing with others.  This is the first time I am trying to lead a couple swimmers, from Colorado.  Pablo and his friend Bill.  This post is for you guys, and anyone else planning to do the swim.

What to bring for the swim:
- avoid trying something new.  use your regular suit, goggles, cap.  Having said that, take a look at the below and try out what you may use before race day.  You have enough time to order this stuff and try it, if you act soon.
- wear a thermal cap.  What's that, you say?  It's a swim cap made from wetsuit  material (neoprene).
This one looks good.  It actually looks better than mine.  If you can try one on before purchase, ideal.  If not, get something like this.   The key is flexible.  Mine is too tight.  Warm, yes.  Too tight takes it's toll on race day, and for days after, because of the chafing.  Over top of your thermal cap, you will wear a regular rubber cap from your race packet.
- I have a new pair of goggles I used for my last open-water swim.  They are from my favorite goggle manufacturer, Aqua Sphere.  These are called Kayenne.  They are nice for a couple reasons; they are super comfortable and seal well.  They have a wide field of view, nice for open water.  As far as lens color, clear would be ideal for Alcatraz, but not essential.  I am sure even the smoke would be fine.
- That's pretty much it!  They will give you ear wax to use race day, with your packet.  I have always used mine.  I asked around about why, and basically you want to not let your inner ear get too cold.  Bad things happen if you do.  (I don't remember what.)  It might be disorienting for one.  The other is, as you get cold, you start to get, well, dumb.  It gets harder to concentrate on your stroke, and navigation and so on if you get too cold.

Specific race day stuff
This is where Alcatraz is really cool.  Around 7am we all gather to walk from Aquatic Park area to the Red and White fleet, or whatever color it is.  It's about a 6-8 block walk to the ferry, and essentially you're doing it in your speedo.  Some people do it with a cheap pair of flip-flops.  You could do it in an old pair of socks too.  I'm too Irish for all that, and just walk it bare foot.  We actually follow some bagpipers along the way.  It's all very inspiring, walking through the famous SF waterfront with a bunch of other swimmers, the music and energy is really awesome.  Oh, and some wear a throw-away tee shirt, and I've seen some wear a trash bag to stay warm.  I think you can take a bag with a number on it too, and then try to find it at the finish.  For us, we will have our cheerleaders carrying a towel and clothes for us.

So, anyways, we get on the ferry, and it's about 15-20 minutes over to the Island.  Alcatraz.  The ferry isn't allowed to get closer than 50 feet or something like that, for eco reasons.  It's plenty close.  Totally awesome to see it like this.  At the same time you are looking back at San Francisco Bay, the city, the Bay bridge, and so on.  It's pretty amazing, until you start thinking, you are getting back to the city in the water!!  Yahoo!!  We float around on the ferry until the organizers decide the current is as close to slack as possible.  Usually, just a couple minutes, but seems really long.

Get in!
The start is somewhat non-eventful.  Of course people start snuggling closer and sort of pushing toward the boat gates.  There are two, one on each side of the boat.  The opening is wide enough for 3 to jump off at a time.  Fasties get in first.  Just wait.  You will be in the water within 2-3 minutes even if you are in the middle of the pack.  So, once you get to the gate, jump in.  It's about 7-8 feet above the water.  I hold on to my goggles, going in feet first, and then, as quick as possible without panicking, start swimming.  Now, you may have to do a little breast stroke until you catch your breath, and sight your finish line.  I sight on the two big apartment buildings behind Ghirardelli Square.  you can't miss them.  So, right now, do not swim too hard.  In fact, you probably want to swim as slow as you can for the first 3 minutes or so, until you settle into a pace without losing your breath.  Don't worry, you will have plenty of time to hit it harder later.  It's going to take about 40 - 60 minutes to get across.

Navigation
This hasn't always been a good thing for me, except last time.  My strategy worked.  Essentially, 20 strokes, then spot, 20 strokes, then spot.  For my strokes, to go as straight as possible, I found when I get tired, my hands start to cross.  To avoid this, I point my hands from entry to exit in sort of an A frame.  The top of the A, me, and the bottom, my hands, so pointing them wide, which, in actuality, probably puts them right where they are supposed to be.  Regardless, it worked.  I swam straight as ever, and it made for something I could concentrate on.

More later, Guys.  Let me know what questions and comments you have.

At 2:42  you can see my master's team, PCA.  At 4:40 you can see the apartment buildings I mentioned for sighting and navigation.

Getting Ready for Trans-Tahoe July 17th

This is a picture I took last year, just before the relay.  We started here, took the boats across the Lake, and swam from the other side.  It felt a little daunting at the time.  It's a long long way across....

It turns out, it was a long way, but so much fun.  Prior to, there was so much to worry about.  As a fill-in member of the team, I was nervous about pulling my weight, and as it turns out, my team are guys that have been the best of friends for, well, forever.  Additionally, they are all about 15 years younger than me...  Not sure exactly, but best as I can tell...  So, yeah.

Getting ready
So, this year they asked me to come back.  That's good.  So, getting ready.  I've been swimming pretty good, but missed a couple months, more or less, April and May.  Coming back though, I really didn't worry about it.  I actually started back in lane 2.  I haven't done that in many years, but coach put me there.  Again, it was fine.  I knew it would come back fast.  And, it did.  I just swam probably my fastest 100 meters ever.  1min 19sec.  Yahoo!!  So, I have basically a week left to train.  I think I am as strong as I will get, but I am going to focus on doing 30 minute swims.  The first legs of the Trans-Tahoe are 30 minutes.  It's about 1/2 of our normal workout, but typically, we are swimming 100, 200, 300, sometimes 400 meters at a time, instead of race day, it's more like 1600 meters.  About a mile.  So, I am excited!  It's going to be fun.


Jib Jab
I'll have to get back to this.  Gotta run to the store...Happy weekend!!

PCA Masters Swim Practice August 12, 2009

I just found this video off our PCA Masters website. It's really pretty mundane, but explains a lot that would take forever to explain and never really get conveyed by writing.


The lanes
This view is positioned over lanes 4 (right) and 5 (left). You can see some of lane 3 and 6 to the further right and left respectively. Each lane has swimmers with similar pace. In fact, they are pretty much in order of their pace within the lane too. The fastest leads the lane, followed by the next fastest and so on, with the slowest person in the back.

Lane personalities
As it turns out, our fastest lane is lane 5. Typically, those in this lane raced in college or at some point were very competitive, and now, they are still really fast. They pretty much know the drill, and are sophisticated on how they approach each workout, down to each swim within the workout. The only people in lane 5 that do not fit this description have some swim aids.

Swim aids
Swim aids include "zoomers" or swim fins. They are little short fins designed to be used for swim training. There are also paddles. These fit the palm of your hands, and use rubber tubing around your hand to hold them in place. They are larger than your hand, so you can pull more water in your stroke. Finally, the 3rd swim aid is the pull bouy. Usually it sounds like pull boy... the two words are hard to say together, especially if you are mid-workout. The pull bouy is a styrofoam figure eight shape piece you hold between your upper thighs. It's purpose is to hold your hips higher in the water so you can pull with just your arms, and let your legs drag behind you without sinking. All three of these theoretically help you focus on strengthening something. Sort of the concept of batters swinging two bats before they go to the plate, so one bat feels so much lighter. The unwritten part about swim aids is, they are a crutch. They allow you to swim faster than if you weren't using them. Swimming fast feels really really good. No question, it's a great workout, with or without aids. With aids, you can go fast. The other unwritten thing about swim aids. They really don't make you go faster without them. It's a myth!! The myth holds up, because they are really fun to use, and we need something we can say, why we use them other than, I am using a crutch. So, notice their use in each lane...and smile.

More on lanes
Moving from lane 5 to 4, those in lane 4, in general can have similar characteristics to lane 5 although of course, they are slower. Whereas lane 5 becomes predominantly men, lane 4 has a larger percentage of woman, and typically they are woman who swam at college level. Also, you will find men who used to be lane 5, and are at a point where they need to move down a lane now. Finally, there are young men who have come up through the ranks, or just because they are young, and strong, and pretty good swimmers, they can hang in lane 4. And last but not least are the oldies. Guys like me. We have been swimming a while, but came up through the ranks, typically starting in lane 1, and as we got stronger, moved up. Lane 4 is cool. Everyone is used to the routine. We work hard. And occasionally have a bit of time for Jib Jab.

My lane
These days I call lane 4, my lane. I pretty much have to be on my game to stick with lane 4. For example, I missed about 2 months of swimming and came back to lane 3 by my choice, and mid-workout, my coach said, move to lane 2!! Dang!! I haven't swam lane 2 for a while. Which brings me to another point. Swimming you lose fast, and gain strength back fast. I told someone this week, think in terms of a day a week. Meaning, for every day you practice, you erase a week of not having practiced. So, last week I swam 4 days. Using my formula, I would erase 4 weeks of no practice. Half way back!! So far, this week I moved back to lane 4. It's been a huge struggle. I can't keep up. So, I go to the back of the lane. As long as I don't get lapped, its fine. I just get less rest, and work harder every lap, with of course, the intention of getting back to where I left off.

Goals
So, that's my goal. To get back to where I was. Why? Okay, the real goal is, swim Trans-Tahoe relay without being an embarrassment to my team. What team? It's the same guys I swam with last year. Team Zola*. A bunch of really nice guys, albeit younger than me by 10-15 years. I hope no more than that, but it's possible. Anyways, they are all super swimmers. In fact of the 6 of us, I think at least are swimming in lane 5 and the rest are in lane 4. So, you see? I am working my fanny off to get to be the slowest person on the team, and hopefully not as slow as I am now.

Jib Jab
Okay, this whole post was Jib Jab.
*One of our team members, Chris Cuvelier is the founder and president of Zola, a superfood energy / nutrition drink company (and our sponsor)!
**I used to be addicted to swim aids.  Especially zoomers.  They were so much fun!!   The downside for me, was trying to swim in events, after not having swam aid-free.  So,  I am on the 12-step program, and take it a day at a time.

Trans Tahoe Invitational, July 17th and other stuff

I am really feeling good.

My breathing feels big and full.  My shoulders and back and chest feel strong.  My whole body.  The thing is, a week ago, I just broke a dry streak (pun intended).  I last swam regularly mid April.  Since then, I have been traveling and working a lot.  Definitely messed up my exercise balance.  After a streak like that, everything gets out of balance for me.  Eating, sleeping, just lower energy, and it takes its toll on attitude and motivation.  Everything seems like it gets priority besides my swimming.  It's hard to motivate.

All that said, I feel good today.  I swam 4 days this week.  I missed Monday and Friday, work still getting in the way, but today was the 4th day this week.  Saturday is a longer workout too, and sometimes requires extra motivation.  There's a 6am, 7:15am and an 8:30.  It's easy to skip the early ones, which is what I did, but got the last one in.  And did a bit over 2 miles.  I love this feeling.  It's like happy pills.  I've paid the 4 days of work, to get it back, and now it's like happy pills.

I dropped down a lane, just to not overstress, and get back into the swing of things without injuring myself.  I ended up leading the lane most of the workout, none-the-less.  Even still, I held back a little just so I didn't hurt myself.  And in the end, it was an awesome workout, and I feel great.  The previous weeks are now behind me, and I am looking at getting ready for Trans Tahoe.  It's coming up quick.  I am the old guy on my team, so I don't want to hold my guys back too much.  Here's some pictures from last year.

Jib Jab
World Cup
USA has some work to do.  Again, they let in a goal in the first 15 minutes.  Ugh.  They just do not look strong.  Come on guys.  They do have a history of finishing strong.  Looking forward to the second half.

Go USA!!!  Overtime!!  Tied 1-1  Doooh!

Garden
Here it is, end of June, and we barely got the garden in.  I still don't have the gardener started on my big re-do.  Hopefully I'll get that in today, and started for next week.  Having sprinkler issues... 

Food
Kirsty made incredible soup yesterday.  We have a lot of Thai basil.  She made really good Thai basil soup - two versions.  One with shrimp and one tofu.  So delicious.  Coconut milk, lots of basil and not sure what else.

Something New

Patrick is swimming.  Moira and Patrick are getting up for breakfast.  I have been working in the gym.  My fish had babies!  I have a new job.

Peach pancakes with yogurt and peach sauce.  Peaches from Anne and Gary's garden, frozen. 

Pog has been talking about playing water polo next year for about 6 months.  Backstory: He quit soccer to play rugby.  He lasted a few weeks playing rugby, then quit.  So, for a few weeks, he has said, I am going to swim, twice a week.  And the weeks go by.  Pog, do you want to swim?  Not now, maybe later...was the typical response.  I am too tired.  I just want to chill.  Finally, he said, I promise.  I am going to swim twice this week.  Every day, Pog, how about today?  So, Finally, the week goes by, and no swimming.  So, then it's next week I will.

On Monday, he "swam".  It's a struggle.  He can't breathe and stroke.  The other shocker, is he asked me for coaching.  I thought, okay, get in, 1-2 tips, work on it, I will go do something else.  But he wanted me to stay.  And he kept working at it.  He had so much to learn.  At once, it was hard to see how far he had to go, and at the same time, admiring his determination.  I decided to sneak in a target.  500 meters.  And he made it.  It took an hour.  Whew.  Tuesday, he swam again.   Again, it was a struggle, and we set the same goal.  500 meters.   He made it this time in about 40 minutes.  We swam again on Wednesday and Thursday too.  Thursday it was about 30 minutes, and he swam the whole thing with me in the clubhouse.  Then no Friday, or Saturday.  And then, we went again on Sunday.  He was really swimming.  The whole length, breathing, albeit with extraordinary effort, but he had a rhythm going.  Dang!!  I am impressed.  Admiring him.  We went into the gym too, just for a short bit.  He benches about as much as me, he is really getting strong.  On top of it all, he has been talking with me.  Without arguing!  Anyways, I just wanted to jot that down.  It's really nice to think about.

Okay, the breakfast thing.  I've been talking about it, Moira has been talking about it.  She even said, she wants to get up early to sit down and eat breakfast before she goes to school, instead of frantically grabbing the toast Kirsty makes for them (and fruit and cheese).

So, I was thinking about balancing out my carb-loaded breakfast too, so I made oatmeal- steel cut, with filberts I toasted, and Breaburn (sp?) apples, sliced thin, and brown sugar.  Okay, still a lot of carbs there, but including nuts!!  So, this morning, I made the oatmeal, and tried to get Mo and Pog up.  It still seemed like they might, so I put the whole dang breakfast together, and sure enough, Mo comes out, all dressed up, and sits down, actually smiling, eating her oatmeal.  She said, wow, this is really good. (I frigging know!! It's outrageously good!!)  Every time, I am amazed how excited I am to see her happy from my cooking.  Well, anyone for that matter, but especially Mo, and Pog, who are on their own teenage journey.  So, yes, Pog too, but he doesn't like nuts in stuff, so I said what about your protein, Pog?  And strangly, he had this half drunk protien powder and milk thing in the fridge left over.  It looked horrible, so I offered to blend it with my new immersion mixer.  Dude, that thing rocks!!  It pulls the liquid under the blades, so no mess, and it blends like crazy, and so easy to clean!!!  So, yeah, he drank it.  I tasted it, and yeah, very pasty flavor, but drinkable!!  So, yeah.  Stupid, simple, but made my day.  Both kids with a reasonable breakfast.  [Okay, a crazy good breakfast, if I do say so!!]

Okay, there's been trauma in my fishtank.  We've reached a new equilibrium.  And...holy cat fish, we have babies!!  Little guppies everywhere.  I counted about 10.  Way cool.  So far, none of the other guys seem to be eating them either...so we will see...  Can you find him?

Finally, I have a new job.  I am product manager for a telco blade server line.  I am also newly an Oracle employee.  So, a couple of really brief thoughts on that.  1)  I am excited about this product.  Customers love it.  The value proposition is strong.  I have some background in the industry, so I don't feel completely like a fish out of water.  I am working with a team I used to work with.  They asked for me back, which is affirming.  My VP has been given new direction, and has asked us product managers to spend more time with our sales team and customers.  My sweet spot.  It's what I love.  [Jib Jabbing!]

Mom sent us some St Patrick's Day dish towels.  Totally made my day.  Woo hoo!

Okay, sneak peak on another topic.  We need a new family car.  I got a little windfall cash from the end of my Sun stock.  Sarah took the family car to LA for school.  With my new job, carpooling the kids is really getting cumbersome [although I love that little time with the kids in the afternoon].   So, just thinking about what to get.  Then thought, they can have my 10 year old car, and I get something.  So, I am just starting the process.  What to get.  So, I thought.  Hmmm.  How about a Porsche?   So, anyways, not sure it's what I want, but fun to think about.  I was looking at a 2003-2004 Boxster.  Total two seater, very fun looking.  Convertible.  Anyways, just thinking.  Actually, I am afraid I would like it about once a month, and the rest of the time, prefer something more like a Subaru or something...so, more to come on that.  I have been avoiding the BMW thing, but may have to revisit that.

Get In, Go Back and Forth

Yesterday was just another day at the pool.  Sometimes the easiest things seem hard.  Sometimes I am just not up for anything.  So, as much as I wanted to just recover, relax and take it easy, I showed up.  I rationalized, okay, take it easy, stretch out, lay low.  But no, Mike put me in the fast lane, with two fast-ies, and no where to hide.  So, I just closed my eyes, and went as fast as I could.  Each time, falling further and further behind.  Afterward, I told my lane-mate, thanks, you really pushed me.  She surprised me, saying, "I wouldn't have done it myself, without you in the lane."

When I first got to the pool, I ran into an old friend.  It was great to see him, and then I found out he just lost his job.  "Let's have coffee, okay?"  Not even a minute later, I see another friend, much younger, I hadn't seen for a while, Kent.

Whenever I see him, he reminds me of when he pushed me to my ultimate capacity and beyond.  He just gives me energy.  I talked him into swimming instead of the weight room.  He seemed really hesitant, and most of the work out, he was hanging on the wall.  I thought about what he does for me, and after seeing him hanging, I shouted, GO!  He was still on the wall.  After a couple more laps I said, come on,  you're in, now just go back and forth!!   He did swim a few laps.  He's fighting cancer, and doesn't have the strength he had, when he played water polo.  He said it's been hard lately.  I think it's the first I have heard him say it's hard.

As I was leaving, I didn't realize all that was going on behind the scenes in my mind, and there was Bob.  My longest running swim buddy.  He missed the workout, and was just showing up.  He said he was visiting his mom.  He told me before, she was sleeping a lot.  Listening to him, it finally dawned on me.  She's 92.  She's not interested in eating.  She doesn't like to get up.  She can't really hold a conversation.  He said the nurse told him, there's not much more we can do.

I could see Bob's eyes welling up, which shocked me.  See, Rob is John Wayne*.  Same size.  Same personality.  Same age.  Solid, stable, always sees things in perspective.  Always positive.  *Okay, with one exception - Bob loves to talk.  Almost as much as me.  That said, somehow I didn't know what to say.

So?

Mike, my coach, knows everyone.  The friendliest guy on the planet, says hi, and doesn't foist himself on you.  Knows everyone's name, and their stories.  He has doubled the size of our team, in his quiet attractive way.   I used to think I wanted a coach who told me exactly where I could improve, what I was doing wrong, and how I could get better.  I love Mike, but never really totally appreciated Mike's coaching style.  His tips for me, are the same as for everyone else.

Get in, go back and forth.

I can add, as long I you can.   It's important for me, and as much as I need others, they need me.

Meter Mania Month

This is meter mania month for Peninsula Community Center Masters (PCA Masters).  It's kind of an interesting phenomena, in that we have the exact same workouts at exactly the same time of day, with the same coaches, the same swimmers, the same number of minutes per workout, and yet, for the shortest month of the year, we count how many meters we swim, and without scientific data to show it, we swim a lot more during this month than any other month!  So, what's up with that?

It's all about setting tangible goals, and measuring results.  In our case; count your meters.  We know how we are doing along the way (we write our daily results on the wall).  We think about it, notice it, talk about it, and somehow, there is this motivation to push the number up.  How far can we go?  It's funny.  Some folks look forward to meter mania all year, and then swim 10,000 meters a day!  For reference, we normally do about 2400 - 2700 meters a day, which takes about an hour.  10,000 meters would take a good 3, realistically 3.5 hours in the pool.  

Some people have to do more than most.  Some have to have a 'respectable' number of meters, but pretty much everybody has to do more than they would any other month in the year.  Just for fun, I asked a few folks what their goals were, and why they do it.   Hey, I am going to put my numbers up, for everyone to see!  Or, I did so and so last year.  This year I am doing (put in the number) more.  The more was typically a lot, too!! 50%, double, even triple last year!

So what?  For me, the moral of the story is:  Be careful what you measure.  You will most likely do more, do better, or improve, whichever way you want the number to go.

Here's some of my swimming examples where I was measured:  Swimming from Alcatraz to San Francisco.  Go.  You get a medal for it.  Or, let's swim 5000 meters on Thanksgiving, 7500 meters on Christmas and 10,000 meters on New Years!  You get a sweatshirt for it!  Here's a cool picture of Aquatic Park looking back at Alcatraz, and seeing some swimmers out there.  One more:  Trans-Tahoe relay - 5 man teams, swim across Lake Tahoe (12 miles).  Go.

Anyways, I am thinking about what else to measure.