Archive for January, 2009

Point Bonita

As January is quickly coming to a close, I have my mind firmly set on the 9th of February. My body is ready, my mind is confident and my heart is bursting with excitement. I spent 3 days last week swimming in the bay. Another extraordinary weekend experience. It seems as though each time I enter the water whether it be fresh, chlorinated or salted, I have a life changing experience. I truly believe that from the water I could solve all of the worlds problems. Well, I definitely solve any of my problems. 3 days of bliss in the city makes me a happier better person.
I am swimming with the big boys now!

On this day, while I watched our nation change its leadership I felt a shift in the universe. It did not only have to do with the change in power but the change in the people. Our hope has been replenished, our goals have been refocused and our integrity has been restored.
In honor of this inaugural day, I decided to have my inaugural swim of the year in Lake Tahoe. Braving the 43 degree water with my friend Reptile we accomplished more than we expected. It was a stellar day here for the 20th of January and everything lined up perfectly. It was an unforgettable experience. My universe shifted today and my soul can feel it.
During the swim I couldn’t help but think of the last of Obama’s speech when he quoted the father of our country, except in my icy mind I changed the words.

Let it be told to the future world…that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive … that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to (SWIM) meet [it].”

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave (LAKE TAHOE) once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children’s children that when we were tested we refused to let this (SWIM) journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God’s grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Go Forth, Be Positive!

15 x 500 yrds was my workout yesterday. It seemed to go by very quickly. I took my time warming up (6 of the 15). Then I focused on holding a steady pace per 100 yrds. for 3 of the 15. I swam those 3 as hard as I could holding 1:10 per 100. Not bad… The rest (6 more) was switching between swimming, pulling and kicking. My endurance is improving and I am really able to settle my mind for longer periods.
Today I swam with the masters. It was a stoke workout but my stroke for the day was free. I don’t want to spend several days being too sore after doing butterfly so, I am just sticking to free for now.
Tomorrow is my long distance workout. I am going to do 6 x 30 min, as long as I can talk the lifeguards into letting me stay in an extra 12 minutes past the pool closing. We will have to see if they will let me. If not I will do 5 x 30 minutes with an extra warm up/warm down to complete 3 hours.
The best part about training is the nap I take every afternoon!

Back in October I learned something new about being an athlete. I was down in the bay for a 4 day training session and to participate in a few races. What happened to me after those 4 days is how I learned the hard way about immunosuppression and immunodepression. Below is a brief description from the Journal of Sports Medicine about immunity and athletes.

“It has become clear that the immune system responds to increased physical activity and may be given some of the credit for exercise-related reduction in illness. In contrast, it has repeatedly been shown that intense exercise causes immunosuppression. In essence the immune system is enhanced during moderate and severe exercise, and only intense long-duration exercise is followed by immunodepression. The latter include suppressed concentration of lymphocytes, suppressed natural killer and lymphokine activated killer cytotoxicity and secretory IgA in mucosa. Whether or not the open window in the immune system occurs is dependent on the intensity and duration of exercise. One reason for the overtraining effect seen in elite athletes could be that this window of opportunism for pathogens is longer and the degree of immunosuppression more pronounced. It is being hypothesized that severe immunodepression may occur if athletes does not allow the immune system to recover, but initiate a new bout of exercise while still immunodepressed. It has also been suggested that neutrophils serve as a last line of defence. The removal of this back-up system following extreme activity would be compatible with the propensity of overtrained individuals to develop upper respiratory tract infections.”

When I returned from my trip in October I started into a cycle of illness. It was apparent to me that I had depleted my immune system and I needed to figure out how repair, replenish and not repeat. After much research I decided to try mycelium. Mycelium is the vegetative part of fungus. What I learned was that fungi and humans are more closely related than either is to plants. The diseases that are typical to plants do not afflict humans but the diseases of fungi do. Since fungi and humans share common diseases such as ecoli, staph and many more, then we can learn a lot about fungis natural defense to these diseases. Fungi over many hundreds of millions of years have interestingly learned to produce their own antibiotics to fend off disease. I realized that I could learn a lot from mycelium and that it was going to help me repair and replenish my immune system. I found a product called Host Defense which is a combination of 16 different mushrooms mycelium grown by Paul Stamets (the mushroom guru). If you don’t know who Stamets is, you should. Just watch his youtube video about how mushrooms can save the world.

Months later I found that I am caught in a web of mycelium. I feel healthier than ever. I have done more research on mycelium and I am now fascinated with its affects on energy, specifically Cordyceps and the Chinese marathon runners. More to come….

Bob Roper Photo by Allen Luong 2009

The South End Rowing Club is any open water swimmers training mecca. It not only has the perfect location perched on the edge of aquatic park but it is about the people you meet while at the club. During my last visit I was able to spend a little bit of time with open water swimming pioneer and patron saint of the South End Rowing Club, Bob Roper. In 1969 Bob crossed the Golden Gate in 21 minutes 17 seconds, a record that still stands today. He is not only a great swimmer but he is one of the best pilots.

I had read many accounts and heard stories about what is known as the dreaded 9th of February swim. Symbolically (not really statistically) it is the day that the water temperature is at its coldest. Dreaded because one year the weather was terrible and everything went wrong and from then on it was known as the dreaded 9th of February.
Bob usually organizes a longer swim for this dreaded date and a select few are able to join in. After a little bribing, much flirting and some coercing, I am blessed to be one of the few.
The plan is to swim from Point Bonita to SERC. That is approximately a 7 mile swim and the water temperature will be 49 degrees. I am not sure how long this swim will take me because there are so many variables. With the 4.4 knot flood and good piloting I am planning on 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I have been waking nightly finding myself kicking my feet dreaming of this swim. Yeah Baby, Yeah I can’t wait!!

Today I entered back into the chlorine. It was so hard diving in after spending several days in the cool (49 degrees) refreshing water of the San Francisco bay. I had to force myself to the pool this morning but I am glad that I did. I accomplished 4 x 30 minutes of straight swimming with 15 min warm up and a 10 minute cool down. This has slowly become one of my favorite work outs. It is not about the mileage that I put in, it is about the time spent quieting my mind. For the first 30 I found myself lifting my head to see who was doing what in the pool and who walked through the door each time it opened up. After a quick 2 minute break, a few gulps of cytomax and a lime GU, I found my ability to let go was better. The next three 30 minute periods flew by. I forgot my arms were going around and only every now and again would I watch the pace clock to see my 100yd pace. That usually gives me my overall pace so that I can estimate my total mileage. I figure I swam around 4+ miles including my warm up and warm down. Not bad!

Check it off!
Doing an Alcatraz crossing on New Year’s day has always been on my list of goals to accomplish. I can now check it off.
I couldn’t think of a better way to start the year. Especially this year because my swimming goals are set in motion. My crew is coming together and my mind is clear as to what is needed to accomplish my swim across Tahoe.
When I was around 7 years old and we would vacation at the Tahoe Keys, I would stand at the edge of Lake Tahoe and think to myself someday I will swim across. I have lived in Tahoe now for almost 20 years and I still stand at the edge and think I will swim across. This is the year I will check it off my list!