Archive for March, 2009

Everything is starting to fall into place for my swim across Tahoe in the first week of August. It is all that I have been thinking about lately. Every time I eat, I think this is fuel for my training, every time I sleep, I think this is rest and recovery, every time I swim, I think I am one stroke closer. I guess that all consuming feeling is what it takes to accomplish this goal.
Thanks to my friend Jenn I now have a boat and a driver. This was a key piece to the puzzle of getting ready. My team is coming together and each person that will be present will have an important roll in helping me achieve my goal. I am hoping that many people will come out and join me on the swim. I have a few friends that have agreed to meet me somewhere on the swim and pace me. I think this will help me make it through the many hours in the water.
I banged out over 17,000 yds in the pool this last weekend. Not too easy to do. It wasn’t hard to keep my arms going, it was just hard to deal with the chlorine for that long. I have been building my yardage and time in the water. I believe I am right on track. I am really looking forward to being in the lake soon. Just a few short months to go on my training. I have been thinking about this goal for 35 years and actively working towards it for 3 years now. All good things, in all good time…

Photo by Allen Luong 2009

When I exited the Bay Bridge on Saturday morning and started my journey down the Embarcadero the sun was just rising. I sat at the stop light by the big arrow and saw the sun pop up behind the bridge and thought to myself in a few hours I will swimming by here. It was a beautiful day and after all of the weather we had this week I was feeling very fortunate. When I left the mountains on Thursday morning we had 6-8 feet of new snow and I couldn’t help but think that I was a little crazy to be excited to go down the mountain and everyone else was excited to come up. I was really loving the late start to this swim. I had a full 8 hours of sleep and I felt very calm and relaxed.
I arrived at the club and started to organize my gear. I didn’t have my regular big swim routine this morning. Instead I opted to sit and have coffee with my Dad and visit with him. It was a really nice start to a big day. I think my Dad’s early morning calm energy set the tone for my mellow demeanor all day. I wasn’t feeling any nervous energy like I was before Point Bonita. It is equally as big of a swim but that is where the similarities end. The Point Bonita swim felt like it was in black and white, this swim was in full color. Of course it helped that we met for the briefing at 7:30 and the sun was up and the air was warm.
Bob briefed us on what the swim was going to be like. He made sure we knew who our pilots were and we set off once again for the Happy Days. I was so lucky to be paired up with Andy Fields as my pilot. I had seen him around the club but had never had the opportunity to introduce myself. Everything about this swim start to finish had an easy going feeling. Andy’s attitude fit perfectly.
We boarded the boat and took a sunny cruise out to Candlestick. I kept an eye out so that I could make mental notes about some of the landmarks on shore. I had never swum on the other side of the Bay Bridge so I thought it might be helpful to know where I was in the swim. I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to talk with Sharko on the ride out. He imparted some great knowledge from his experiences of marathon swimming. I am always on the search for information about long swims. We arrived at Candlestick and waited for a little while for the tides to change. I slowly started to prepare myself and then I saw Bobby motion for me to climb into one of the zodiacs. This was so different from Point Bonita. We took a nice little zod ride all the way up to the beach. We still had our jackets on, everyone went up to the bathrooms on shore to use them, we hung out on the beach talking for a little while, took some pictures and then oh yeah we started the swim. The horn blew and most everyone still had their jackets on. We slowly waded into the water and I looked at Michelle and said “it is so funny how nobody really wants to go”. I thought at any minute someone was going to spread out a blanket and we were all going to sit down for a picnic on the beach.
I pushed into the water and remembered that I had a plan for this swim. My plan was to start out sort of hard, push myself to really get moving from the beginning until I got out into the current and then let the bay take me back to SERC. I started turning my arms over and felt really good. I stretched out as much as I could to try and warm up my larger back muscles. I looked over at Andy and he had the biggest smile on his face. I felt very connected to him from the beginning. He would move his kayak a little and I would follow exactly. I was sighting as to where I was going but Andy had the ultimate control of our navigation. I trusted that he was going to pick the perfect line for us throughout the swim.
We moved our way across the cove from Candlestick and shot through the pier out into the bay. There was quite a bit of chop at the start. I kept thinking to myself that it was similar to the chop in Tahoe in the afternoon. This was perfect practice for me. Although I did think that if I had to swim through the chop the whole way, it was going to turn into a very long swim. Luckily after a little while it started to calm down. This is when I felt like I should put my head down and really get to work. Andy moved me about 50 yards out further into the current and we really started to move. The Happy Days pulled up next to us and I could see everyone smiling and cheering. That is such a great feeling!
I really felt great at this point. It never crossed my mind to stop and take in some nutrition. I just kept turning over and moving along very quickly. In front of me I could see a large green buoy moving closer. The Happy Days pulled up again and I could hear Bobby screaming “Go baby, go baby, GO!” I tried as hard as I could to swim near the buoy but I didn’t realize how fast the water was moving until I saw the stationary buoy go flying past me. Whoa! That is when I realized that the ebb was in full motion. This is going to be a great ride back to Aquatic park.
I kept moving on until I felt like I should grab something to drink. I stopped Andy and asked for some Accelerade. I drank quickly and realized that I had no idea where anyone else was in the water. I took a look back and saw Darrin just a little behind me. I swam on and that is when I bonked. I should have taken in some GU earlier but oh well better do it now. I stopped Andy again and took some GU and Cytomax. I was having a hard time turning over my arms. I did feel the boost from the GU but because I had waited too long to take it in, I felt as though I was running a deficit. Lesson learned!
In front of me was one of the most incredible sights I had seen swimming. An entire view of the city and the Bay Bridge directly in front of me. I kept lifting my head forward to look at it even though I felt so tired. I couldn’t stop looking at it. Then I saw Darrin go flying past me. It was such a weird feeling. I was turning my arms over but couldn’t catch him. I was really looking forward to being under the bridge now. I knew that after the bridge it was only another 45 minutes or so before I was back to SERC. I kept following the tip of Andy’s kayak as he moved me out about mid span between the alpha and beta tower. This was the perfect line because out of the corner of my goggles I could see us go flying past Darrin. His line was a little closer to shore and I could see that they missed the free ride.
Just on the other side of the bridge is where all of the ferry’s go in and out. At this point I was well protected. I had a zodiac, rowboats and Andy watching out for me. This is when I felt like swimming royalty. I know that is the support crews job but I was out in front at this point so everyone was there for me. It is such a great feeling. I could see a large ferry coming towards me and I kept lifting my head forward and then Andy said with a big smile “don’t worry, we got you”. I put my head down and figured I better get going here on the home stretch.
When we passed by Pier 7, I felt like I was home. The previous day Allen had piloted Paul, Reptile and myself from Pier 7 so everything felt very familiar. I started thinking that because I had a lazy morning with my Dad I didn’t take the time to eat enough. I was really hungry and the more I thought about the hungrier I became. Then we passed by Pier 39 and all I could smell was hot dogs or corn dogs or hamburgers or french fries. I thought maybe we could swim up and grab a bite to eat but the water was moving to fast and we quickly passed it by. I popped my head up and told Andy that I was really freakin’ hungry. He said “well lets get back and get you something to eat”. The rest of the swim was a quick ride into the cove. We shot perfectly into the inside of the break wall, rounded the corner and I had almost forgot the Balcultha was back to greet me. I swam by so close to it that I had to duck under its ropes. It felt like running into the arms of your Mama. Just a few more strokes and I was back to the club. Rafe was standing on the dock recording the times and told me my time was 2:29. Perfect since my goal was 2:30. When I exited the water I could have sworn that it was a summer day. The air was warm and I was not cold at all. In fact I think I forgot to be cold at all on this swim. I waited a few moments on the beach for Darrin to arrive and then it was off to the sauna.
Everyone started to arrive in the shower. Susan and Cathy had swum from Pac Bell Park. That is such a great swim for them. Rosemary jumped in a little later and came in with a big smile on her face. We all started to tell our stories. I love hearing about what it is like being on the boat and watching the swimmers. Everyone is so complementary of each other and I love the locker room camaraderie. I was looking forward to lunch at Cappuro’s and swapping stories with everyone else.
There are no words to express my gratitude for everyone who supported us on this swim. As always it is such a team effort. I feel as though I have the easiest job. All I have to do is get in and turn my arms over. Everyone else takes care of everything else.
After lunch I headed back up the mountain. I just put on some mellow music and before I knew it I was gaining altitude. I could see the sun going down in my rear view mirror and the glow turning the mountain hot pink. I shed a few tears of joy. How was I so blessed?

Here is the video from my last big swim by Allen Luong.

Today I hit the saturation point in the pool. I completed a 3 hour straight swim. After about 2 hours it felt as though I was completely saturated with chlorine. My fingers were shriveled, my sinuses were swollen, my mouth felt raw, my tongue was swollen and my face was puffy. Not a pretty sight. On a positive note, I felt like I could have continued for many more hours. Too bad the pool is only open for 3 hours. This was a boost to my self confidence. I think I am right where I need to be in my training for Tahoe. I would like to up my straight swim by an hour in a few weeks. I will have to organize a pilot to do it in the bay. 4 hours at 53 degrees will be much different from 4 hours at 80 degrees. I will probably be just as swollen though.
My sinuses are just starting to be normal again 7 hours after getting out of the pool and my mind is thinking about nothing other than Candlestick park next Saturday.