Today Uncle Dan really put on a show at Laguna. As we entered the water, we realized that the temperature had plummeted to an unexpected sub-60 degrees - a shocker for late July, and one that we had not anticipated. Typically, Uncle Dan’s way of coping with this is to do some crazy song and/or dance while getting in. Today, the performance was Beyonce’s Single Ladies. I captured this phenomenon in a series of photos before the swim, and after he put on a special encore and I got a video. There are also some pictures from my weekend swim with Chris and David, two of my teammates doing the Swim22 Catalina channel event.

After my daily dose of swimming combined with entertainment, I went for a run and then lifted at the J. Quite the workout day, but still feeling a bit sluggish from my time off and need to play catch up. Tomorrow I’ll ride my bike to and from WWAC for a pool workout. Assuming the temperature rebounds, the agenda for this weekend is a 6 hour swim on Friday and a 2 hour swim on Saturday.

The 4-by-Catalina crossing is also being referred to as EACH2O = Extreme Adventure Challenge in the water. Check out each2o.net and swim22.net for the latest news about this great adventure the four of us are training for and our primary beneficiary, Jay Nolan Community Services. Spread the word about this never been done before event!

My website is currently under construction to reflect my upcoming summer swims, but in the meantime I wanted to share a very special and exciting event I will be a part of. I will be joining the 3 swimmers pictured below in an extreme adventure challenge: each of us will swim the Catalina Channel back to back, relay style. David (left) will be starting the swim on the mainland. Mike (right) will follow David; I’ll be going third, and Chris (middle) will anchor the relay-style 4-person contagious crossing.

They approached me prior to my Manhattan Island race asking if I would be interested in completing the team. After asking them all of my questions and making sure they are serious (they are!), I decided I would love to help and be a part of this momentous and challenging event. Our collective crossings will likely take at least 48 hours, so logistics will be tricky. As the only person who has previously crossed the Catalina Channel, I got one of the two, possibly three, legs that will necessarily take place mostly in the choppy, windy afternoon. David, starting first, has the other one. None of these swims will be easy; they all come with challenges - not least of which is the uncertainty of where and when each swimmer will start - but the stakes are high. While this endeavor will be extremely difficult to plan and execute, it will be the first event of it’s kind done on any channel. The team and I are looking forward to making history, and for a cause as extraordinary as our event. Proceeds will benefit Jay Nolan Community Services, a wonderful group dedicated to assisting the developmentally disabled. This organization does great work for the people that will be serving as our motivation as we cross the Catalina Channel, and all of us are so excited to be doing something wonderful with our passion for swimming. The event’s website is swim22.net - check it out!

The Daily News of Open Water Swimming featured an article about our swim: http://www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/2010/06/quadruple-catalina-channel-attempt.html
Also, The Signal: http://www.the-signal.com/section/20/article/31099/

As far as training goes, yesterday Chris and I swam 4 hours at CDM with my mom in the kayak. Below are pictures from the swim. Then today we met David at Manhattan Beach for a 2.5 hour swim, assisted by David’s daughter Brittany and her friend in a 2-seater kayak. Today was pretty choppy and a brisk 63 degrees…a bit challenging to get through especially after yesterday. My arms are pretty sore and I haven’t decided whether or not to take tomorrow off to rest, but after the two back-to-back long swims I finally feel back in distance shape and on my way to marathon swimming shape.

As Caila’s first open water training session, we started out with two boxes to get comfortable. My dad set the pace quick, as he has become more comfortable and must faster with his duck feet. After the boxes we decided to swim out to sea (Little Corona buoys). After a brief close encounter with two fisherman, we headed back to CDM at what gradually turned into a quick clip, and then drop dead sprint finish at the last buoy. It was a great workout and simulation for our shorter races this summer season. I brought along my underwater camera and took a few pictures:

After an incredible month-long tour around Europe with Scott, I am finally back at home and back to training. Scott and I landed in CA on Thursday, my birthday, and no sooner than Friday morning was I back in at Laguna with Uncle Dan to take back our beach! We swam our typical course and it was a beautiful day. I had a few surprises for him out in the middle of the ocean. First, I brought out a hot pink underwater camera I bought in Gibraltar after seeing how cool Sakura’s camera was. I had swam with it in my suit and snapped a few great shots of our swim:

The next surprise for UD, as seen above, were chocolate mini rolls I had stashed along with the camera in my suit. These are all the rage in Dover, the beach where English Channel aspirants come to train. They’re similar to ding dongs: chocolate coated chocolate cake with white frosting inside. Very squishy and easy to eat quickly, and most importantly tasty. So we each enjoyed the mini rolls I traveled with and brought back home just for this occasion.

Next in my back-to-shape-as-fast-as-possible training schedule was a visit to the gym to do my therapy. With the schedule I have coming up to rectify one month of almost no activity, I need my shoulders to be as strong as ever. I will discuss my training plan further in another post, but basically I have 5 weeks to get back in marathon swim shape, and not much of a base. Physical therapy is essential for me to train the way I must to do long swims, and I need it more now than ever.

The next day it was off to the pool for interval training, another must in my soft condition, and then a short run. On Sunday, my mom (kayaking), UD, and Marlena joined me for parts of my 3-hour swim. Marlena did the first hour, and UD did the first 2. Of course, my mom kayaked the whole way :) The hardest thing was to turn around for that final hour and not swim in with UD and call it a day, but I managed to ignore my body’s pleading for rest and finished what I set out to do. During our swim, Marlena had quite the lesson in pacing. After 30 minutes, I stopped to the discouraging comment: “Wow, we REALLY slowed down after 10 minutes. Uncle Dan and I had to slow down for you, Jen.” After offering Marlena the option to swim ahead of us, I then jabbed, well you can swim the whole 3 hours with me if you want. That was quickly denied. Despite the picture above, I was not happy at all, and turned around for another 30. I noticed Marlena falling a bit behind, possibly trying to create space so she could swim faster and catch back up to keep warm, a trick I’ve used in the past with other swimmers. Thankfully though, when we stopped, she blurted “Oh Jen I was WAY wrong, I’m DYING!” This, as you can imagine, was music to my ears. Needless to say, Marlena will be joining me for a few swims to learn pacing :)

For those of you who are interested, an article was published about the study Dan, Lenny, and I did on my Catalina swim. We had a poster presentation in June at ACSM, the annual sports medicine conference, in Baltimore, and this article does a great job of summarizing the study: http://www.dailynewsofopenwaterswimming.com/2010/07/before-during-and-after-catalina.html

Mark, Nick, Sakura, and I were unfortunately unable to swim the Strait of Gibraltar. We did not receive permission from the Moroccan embassy in time, but regardless the weather would likely not have permitted a crossing either way. We still enjoyed our time on the sailboat and did some great coastal swims in the Mediterranean Sea. The first afternoon when we arrived we did a very short swim on the East side of Gibraltar just to get wet. We were greeted by warm waters and two curious sun fish, or mola mola. We got some great pictures of these slow, docile, and not-so-cute creatures with Sakura’s underwater camera. The next morning we did a 2 mile swim along the coast of Algeciras and landed on a beach in Spain. The water was a beautiful deep blue, and again we spotted another sun fish. Following that swim we sailed to Ceuta, a Spanish colony technically in Africa, so now I’ve been to Africa! Captain Scott steered the boat most of the way. Once in Africa, we swam half a mile in one of their ocean-side salt-water pools then went out for a late Spanish dinner.

The next morning we set sail back to Gibraltar, to attempt a Swim Around the Rock, an 11.5 K swim around the entire peninsula of Gibraltar. We set out just north of their on-the-water runway (cool pictures of that too!), and swam south through tankers and past sea walls. Sadly, the already somewhat choppy and windy conditions worsened as we neared the tip of the rock, where a pretty lighthouse sits, and the raw, untreated sewage of all the residents of Gibraltar is released into the sea. After smelling Gibraltarian poo, attempting to swallow as little as possible, and staring at a lighthouse and murky brown water with pieces of tissue paper floating around for over 40 minutes, we realized we were no longer making progress and the tide was increasing against us. The picture above shows just how far off shore we were pushed by the current, and our pace indicates how rough the swim was. We called it a day, boarded the boat, and showered off the poo. Until the end, it was a beautiful swim, and despite the rough conditions I enjoyed myself. It was about as bad as the Hudson at MIMS during some parts, but I was much happier. I also discovered a new fuel courtesy of my swim buddies - Milky Ways! Easy to chew and get down, the chocolately taste was a wonderful contrast to the salty Mediterranean.

Overall, we had a great time in Gibraltar. We were all disappointed the Strait of Gibraltar did not work out, but I suppose now we all have an excuse to return!

Yesterday, Nick, Sakura, and Mark (who I will be crossing Gibraltar with next weekend) took me out for a swim in the Thames River. The beautiful swim was with a slight current, past gorgeous scenery, many swans, and ending swimming into the view of Windsor Castle. It was a great swim and nice to practice all swimming together, which we did well at an even pace all side-by-side. If only Gibraltar were going to be as flat as the Thames!

This was only the fourth river I’ve ever swam in (so before NY I’d never swum in a river). I was surprised with how little we could see, although I had a sense it was not very deep. Towards the end we could see the bottom very close, which typically unnerves me, but I felt okay sandwiched between friends. We passed several boats and keep peeking behind us to make sure we did not get run over. Swimming with and past swans was so amazing. Luckily Sakura brought her waterproof camera; I’ll post pictures soon. At one point we saw a swan with two cute grey baby swans. Near the finish there were at least 20 of them, which we fed with stale bread to encourage them to come closer. It was a bit scary, because even if attacked by a swan, it is unlawful to harm them, as every swan in England is property of the Queen.

Europe

Wow, I’m on a roll with cool GPS maps. Scott and I are almost a week into our Europe trip and are staying in Kinsale, Ireland, a small village in Cork. This morning, I joined Ned Denison and his open water group for a swim. Many of the swimmers were doing long qualifying swims for their Channel attempts this season; I just hoped in for 3 laps around Sandycove island. It was a beautiful swim: sunny, flat, good visibility, and much different sea life than I’m used to – strange variations of seaweed, tiny fish everywhere, and a bottom so shallow I could see crabs walking along! It was so nice to be back in the water, and in such a great place. The worldly GPS images will continue on, and I will post anything swim-related on our trip here. Not until mid-July will I be back for a Laguna map…sorry Uncle Dan.

MIMS: caution, big feelings below

A week has passed since I finished MIMS, and while traveling has been a huge distraction from reflecting on the swim, it seems almost every night I lay awake unable to kick a feeling of unfulfilled goals and realize the sense of accomplishment I know I should be feeling. This may startle those of you who I have not talked to personally, as I did swim around the entire island, and in a respectable time in my opinion, so let me explain.

When I entered MIMS, my main goal of course was to finish the swim and do the best I could, but in the back of my mind I set another goal: to be among the top three women to finish. I felt this to be a reasonable, yet challenging goal. I trained to finish, but I also trained to race and compete. Although training started out spotty for a number of reasons, on the day I felt confident in my preparation. Sure, I’d make some minor changes now looking back, but I’m happy with how I trained and would not have changed the big things. I also know I did all the research I could – reading about the swim, learning the NY waterways, talking to those who have done it, won it, and kayaked for winners. I had a plan going into the swim. My preparation was solid.

Two mistakes: not sticking to my plan, and settling.

I felt perfect starting. Good energy, just enough time in the water to swim around and get warm, and a calm, mostly non-violent start. I did not go out with the leaders, as planned. I swam my pace at the start, and eventually found my kayakers first, then boat. With a swift current, we flew up the East River in no time at all. The plan here was to get into a rhythm and enjoy going under the iconic bridges of NY, which we did well.

Again, as planned, I picked up the pace a bit going into Hell’s Gate, where the turbulent meeting of rivers slows swimmers down, a natural place to make up ground. I felt good and continued on that way in the Harlem. At MIMS, the race takes place in the Hudson. However, when my team and I noticed I was closing in on another woman in the Harlem, we got caught up in the excitement of it. I’m told I passed several swimmers in the Harlem, but this one I noticed, this one I raced, and this one I gave my energy and attention to. I felt good and believed I could hold her off (for 5 hours). Shortly after, I ran into a momentary stomach problem, most likely caused by the taste and smell of gaseous fumes from many boats crowded into the narrow Harlem. I have a phobia of pucking, and panicked for a moment before taking a few deep breaths, continuing on, and feeling much better. I had minor intestinal issues for most of the race, which is unusual for me, but other than that brief barfing scare, there was nothing that hindered my performance or can be offered up as a scapegoat.

For quite some time I longed for the Columbia C (halfway), and it finally came. We had a very easy time maneuvering the sometimes-challenging Spyuten Dyvil (another convergence of rivers) and swiftly made our way into the ebbing Hudson. The powerful river carried us back home at an unbelievably swift rate (to give an idea, we covered the second 14 miles in less than 4 hours!) but if it weren’t for the unusually fast moving scenery, I would have never known. The south-flowing Hudson was confronting a north-blowing wind, creating a good deal of chop to fight through. After an hour it really began to pick up, and my left shoulder knew it and would acutely remind me each time it pulled. I was achy and tired when I was told, with an hour and a half to go, that a woman was closing in on me. Again, I surged, but with no idea of how long I would be at that pace. At that point I couldn’t have told you if I had one mile left or 10. I surged like I had one, but it turns out I had about 8. Inevitably the surge turned into a half-surge, something more sustainable. At my next feed stop I frantically asked for her number while squeezing as much of a GU as I could in my mouth, and kept swimming before they could tell me they did not know. Soon enough, I knew. I could see Samantha’s number and cheering father out of the corner of my eye, and watched as she crept up next to me, and then eventually in front of me.

“I’m third!” I cheered in my head. I knew Samantha was second; I must have passed her briefly to gain second, and now she’s simply back to restore order in the world. I’m third, I settled. I did not care. I was done.

I kept a reasonable pace, only because I could see my mom wildly cheering. I had assumed she was pushing me to take back second, or that we were close to done. But then I saw why she was frantically cheering: Tobey flew by me like I was standing still, and I deserved it. She eventually overtook Samantha as well. As much as she looked like the speed and energy of a freshly-placed relay swimmer, I knew her number as it dashed by along the seawall between North and South Cove. The finish was 100 yards away. I sprinted the rest out of utter embarrassment and the slight glimmer of hope that maybe, just maybe, one of them would burn up, but in the back of my head I knew my place.

Now this is not at all to say that those two women did not earn it, they competed all the way in. I don’t for a moment think if I had a better mindset I would have been assured one of their positions; it would not have even been likely, it just would have been possible. I’m just kicking myself for not trying, not even giving myself a chance, and subsequently wondering each night before I fall asleep what I could have done. The second I stopped competing I earned fourth woman.

That’s about enough violin-backed wallowing in my own pity-party. And if you could not make it down to this point I don’t blame you; this may be more challenging to read than MIMS was to swim (I now know because I’ve done both; it’s a close call). This was a selfish post – it feels incredibly cathartic to get all of this out and explain to people why I’m not exuberantly replying to emails, facebook, and posting all sorts of stuff like I did after Catalina. That was a much different feeling. This one is more of a bittersweet sense of accomplishment: I’ve completed this huge thing I set out to do, and I enjoyed every minute of training for and swimming MIMS, but I know I left something in the river, and that flavors the experience just slightly, much in the way that motor oil flavors the Harlem. Still an incredible experience that I’m proud of and will always remember, but with a less-than-pleasant aftertaste.

So where do I go now? That seems to always be the question after these swims. And with how I feel about MIMS, coming back is definitely on the table. And so is the English Channel, just because at least fifty people have asked when – not if, but when – I’m going to complete the triple crown, and it’s starting to make me consider this option. A 25K maybe, while I’m still young. Or perhaps something entirely different, a random swim for nothing other than the fact that I want to do it. All I know is that there will be more marathon swims…and not just because I have some planned for later this summer. There will be more marathon swims in other summers too. I’m hooked.

But for now, I’m going to let those thoughts float around, enjoy resting my little arms in Europe, and wait until I come back to deal with getting bigger arms and making such decisions. Any and all comments or suggestions are welcome…

Yesterday I successfully completed the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim in 8:11:05. Pictures from the swim (taken by Scott on the boat) are in the previous post. I’m very happy with the swim, my time, and my effort, but I did learn a lot about how to swim this particular race, and have a few things I would change in the future, would I come back to race again. But overall I am very happy with my swim and had a great time out there. Swimming through those rivers was just incredible, and to go that far with the current in that amount of time, while seeing the great NY landmarks I got the chance to see as I swam, was amazing and something few get to experience. My mom in the kayak, along with Mike Matty (assigned by MIMS), also enjoyed the sights. The Hudson got quite choppy in the afternoon, but still provided a great assisting current that swept us home to South Cove for a close race finish.

Thank you everyone who was following my swim and encouraging me from wherever they were. I really appreciate your thoughts, messages, and support!