Slam the Dam Open Water Swim

My brother, Chris, sent me a link to this event. I have never heard of the Slam the Dam before but looks like a fun race. It is in October in Lake Mead in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to their site, they have a 1.2M, a 2.4M, and an 8K events. In addition to those races they have a Super Slam(1.2M and 2.4M) and Grand Slam (8K and 1.2M) events. I am guessing they total the time and determine winners based on the cumulative time for the two races.

Being in Las Vegas, the elevation will be a bit higher than I am used to here in Ohio. That would be an interesting challenge for sure.

This event sounds like a lot of fun and you can't beat the scenery. Not sure I'll get out there this year (or even next) but it is definitely one to put on the list.

Anyone heard about this event, or done it in the past? Please share any info you have.

Great Ohio River Swim & Getting Back in the Water

Have been out of the loop recently. After the Great Ohio River Swim, I took a few days off but am back in the water now. Nothing too serious but got a solid week of training in the books this week so hopefully I can get build on that. An easy 5200 left me pretty tired but satisfied.

The Great Ohio River Swim was a lot of fun as usual. Even though I wasn't in peak fitness, I was able to pull out the win. Really two extremes with the 25K in Noblesville to a ten minute splash in the Ohio. Here are a few pictures from the race.

Still deciding about the Swim the Suck 10 Mile race. It sounds like a lot of fun but I don't know if I will be fit enough to really enjoy it.

Great Ohio River Swim

4th Annual Great Ohio River Swim takes place tomorrow morning. Going to try to make it across the Ohio River without drowning or catching a disease. Also looking forward to a dominant performance by Dan and Kip!

Recovery

After yesterday's big effort my arms needed a rest. Went for a very easy 3100 this morning trying to concentrate on technique and loosening up. Back to work on Monday so training will be shorter but hopefully a bit more intense.

Holiday Training

With some time off of work this week I spent some extra time in the pool. Around 24K in 4 days which is a pretty heavy load for me this time of year. Knocked out 8,300 today - we'll see how the body reacts for tomorrow's workout.

Great List of Marathon Swims

Freshwater Swimmer put together a fairly comprehensive list of marathon swim events. Check it out and leave a comment with any addition events that were missed.

Starting Over...

Feels like I am starting all over again. My fitness has fallen off a cliff and every workout feels horrible. I am going to try and stay consistent and keep plugging away.

Aquaphor Survey

Just finished a midseason survey for Team Aquaphor. Glad to give some feedback and do my part for the team.

Fat Rabbit Racing - No 2010 Races?

I was just checking out the Fat Rabbit Racing Website and read a sad message. The note indicated that the 2010 race schedule would be cancelled. Too bad - I always enjoyed their races and was looking forward to swimming with them in 2010.

Big Shoulders and Week of Training

I had a very up and down week of training this week. Missed workouts on Monday and Tuesday, then had two high quality sessions on Wednesday and Thursday. I really want to concentrate on getting a solid week of training in this week and build from there. I also need to get serious about my nutrition and eating.

I did get signed up for the Big Shoulders 5K Swim which is on September 11th in Chicago. Looking forward to that race and some fun time with Courtney.

USMS 2010K National Championships

Registration is now open for the USMS 2010K National Championships. Check out their site at http://www.grinswim.org/USMS2010K/. Looking forward to another great race with Dick and his crew.

2010 Race Schedule

Here is my tentative 2010 race schedule. I will probably compete in a few adventure races and perhaps a few more swims.

1/22/2010 - USMS 1 Hour Postal Swim, Kettering, Ohio - Swim as far as you can in 1 hour

Goals:
-Complete 4700 yards in 1 Hour.

6/26/2010 – Columbus Open Water Swims, Alum Creek State Park - (1.5K, .75K and 3K swims)

Goals:
-Podium in all events
-Swim the 3K strong from start to finish

2009 Results
1.5K Open Water Swim - 19:51
.75K Open Water Swim - 10:23
3.0K Open Water Swim - 41:46

7/10/2010 - Muncie Endurathon, Muncie Indiana - Half Ironman Relay (1.2 Mile Swim)

Goals:
-Win the overall relay division
-First out of the water
-Swim Under 26 Minutes
-Have nice solid hit out before next week's "A" race.

7/17/2010 - USMS 2010 10K Open Water National Championships
Noblesville, Indiana - 10K Open water Swim

Goals:
-Podium in the 10K
-Swim under 2:15
-Hit my taper.

7/24/2010 – Great Ohio River Swim, Cincinnati, Ohio - Swim across the Ohio River and back.

Goals:
-Defend Title!

2009 Results
~.8K Open Water Swim - 8:46

9/2010 - Big Shoulders 5K, Chicago, Illinois

Goals:
-Finish Season STRONG
-Go under 1 Hour (will depend on conditions)

2009 Results
5K Open Water Swim - 1:05:36

GU

Getting ready to place a huge GU order! I am looking forward to getting some of their Recovery Brew as I haven't tried it yet.

Check out their online store, they have some really cool stuff.

100s Challenge

Completed the 100s Challenge today. Ended up not going too extreme. I did 70x100s, Chris knocked out 45 and Kip ended up with 50. Solid effort all around. Well done boys.

First Annual 100s Challenge

What is it?
Come up with a goal number for as many 100s as you can do in a 24 hour
period and try to finish them. The only rule is that your send
off/interval for the 100s must not be any slower than your send off for
your first 100. For example, if you do your first 100 on 2:00 minutes,
then that is the slowest send off you can have for the rest of your
100s.

Why?
Why the hell not?

When is it?
Saturday, December 12th.

Timeline:
7:00-8:45 Swim
9:00-10:00 Pancake Breakfast at CF Holliday Elementary School (Chris is
buying)
10:00 – 1:00 Try not to pass out
1:00 - ??? Swim

Prizes
Chris to provide!

3000 Postal

Completed the USMS 3000 Postal last weekend at the Kettering Rec Center. I did the swim with my friend Kip while Chris timed us both.

I didn't have real high hopes for the swim as while I had been training but hadn't been putting up huge efforts. I started off a little too fast with a 5:42 500. I think had I gone just a few seconds slower here I could have pulled back more time down the road.

Here were my splits by 300:
300 split 0:03:24.89
600 split 0:06:50.46
900 split 0:10:15.35
1200 split 0:13:42.11
1500 split 0:17:11.11
1800 split 0:20:44.78
2100 split 0:24:15.84
2400 split 0:27:46.39
2700 split 0:31:16.35
3000 split 0:34:39.95

I am going to take a little time off and then start building a base for next season. Have some exciting races planned for next year so I will have to get to work soon!

The Games II Adventure Race

Chris and I completed the games II Adventure race put on my Central Ohio Adventure Racing and held at Caesars Creek State Park. It was an eight hour race and Chris and I were out on the course for about 7.5 hours. It was a very long day of running, paddling, mountain biking, and orienteering.

Our goal was to pretty much finish as a ranked team, meaning that we got the required number of checkpoints in each discipline. We were able to do that but looking back I think both Chris and I realize some of the mistakes we made and know we can do better in the future.

I will try to get some pics posted and some more detail added soon.

Big Shoulders Report

Well the race is over and Courtney and I are back in Ohio. We had a great time in Chicago but are glad to be back home with Riley and Jake.

The Race...

I ended up finishing 45th overall, 6th in my age group in a time of 1:05:36. Overall I was very happy with my performance. Going into the race I thought a time between 1:07 and 1:12 was doable so when I saw 1:05 I was very happy.

The race was a lot of fun. The water was awesome. Clear and somewhere between 70 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit. It was a little cool when you first got in but was nothing but comfortable the for the rest of the day.

Courtney and I got into Chicago around 3, found a place to park and checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Allerton on Huron, very nice place and within easy walking distance to the race start. After settling in at the hotel we headed off to Ohio Street Beach where the race would take place. I wanted to get a quick swim in so I could get accustomed to the surroundings and not shocked when tomorrow rolled around. I did an easy 15 minutes in the lake and then we grabbed dinner on Navy Pier.

We got up around 5:20 on race morning which gave us enough time to get to the beach early and still allow for Courtney to stop at Starbucks :) I got registered, and Courtney found a good spot to watch the race. I stretched really well and drank Gatorade and water but did not get in the water and warm up. Maybe this was a mistake but I did not want to get in, get cold, and then have to warm back up again before the start.

I was scheduled to go off in the first wave at 8:00. At 7:55 we walked
out into the water and got setup for the start. The way the start
worked was that they had a person in a boat holding a rope and when the
horn sounded he raised the rope and everyone takes off. I worked my
way toward the front for the start right behind the guys from
Northwestern University Swim Team. I figured they would take off fast
and I could get go with them for a while.

Turns out the beginning of the race was pretty fast and I ended up swimming at a decent pace to get clear and then settled in. The first lap around the course was
pretty uneventful. I did force myself to take in the beautiful skyline
of Chicago and enjoy the view. I felt good the first lap but I didn't
really have any idea of how I was doing in terms of placing and time.
It would have been cool to have some sort of in-water timing system so
you could get a sense of splits and how many places you gained or
lost.

Once I started the second lap things got much more crowded. It
seemed like you were passing people all of the time which makes you feel
good nut also slows you down as you have to navigate through the crowds. I felt good throughout most of the second lap but I would tell I was fatiguing with about 500-600meters left in the race.

After the race Courtney and I hung around for a while and enjoyed the festivities. Then we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the rest of our stay in the city. All in all it was a lot of fun and a race that I will definitely try to attend in the future.

Many thanks to Courtney for all of her support and to the guys at the pool(Dan, Kip and Chris) for keeping me in line.

Up next? The Central Ohio Adventure Race at Caesars Creek on September 26th!

9/10/2009

Finished my last swim in a pool before Big Shoulders. I swam a very relaxed 1800 with a couple of broken 100's.

I felt ok, not great, bit ok. My shoulder is still a bit tight so I am hoping it will come around by Saturday.

That's all for now. I will provide an in depth review after the race.

9/9/2009

3 days till Big Shoulders. Did an easy 2600 this morning. Planning on another easy day tomorrow and then Court and I are off to Chicago.

Psych Sheets have been posted for the race, take a look.