Practicing the Jump

One of my fears, in getting ready for Alcatraz, is that I have to jump off a boat for the start.  I'm afraid of heights (see my historic fear of flying) and although landing in water is comfortable, the "fall" part of the jump isn't.  So I did what any afraid person would do, I researched the heck out of it, then I practiced.

First, I looked through photos of last year's swim, to get a sense of the jump distance.

 The roll shows a HUGE ferry, and the jump, two or three people at a time, of what I'm estimating to be four feet. Four feet isn't a huge jump, but it also isn't my typical "wade in to my waist then wait until I'm ready to swim and ease in to head up breast stroke" way of entering the water. This jump was something I needed to know more about.

So I grabbed my two partners in crime for the swim, E and A, and headed down to Green Lake to the diving boards to practice the jump. We estimate that the low board is about four feet above the water. 

Our plan was to get to Green Lake at 7 as the lifeguards went off duty, in hopes that it would be quiet and we could jump multiple times in peace. Boy were we wrong. The place was packed. On a day that was over 80* in Seattle, we shouldn't have been surprised.  We waited a while, watching the kids go off the boards, and the adults who were playing water polo in the lake. Then we got in for our turn.

I decided I had to do it without too much thought at the end of the board, or I'd chicken out.  In truth, it wasn't as high or as scary as I'd feared. 

The first jump I got water up my nose, and in my goggles. Up the nose isn't pleasant in Green Lake (ick) but would be worse in salt water (ouch!). And the goggles weren't so water logged that I couldn't at least swim out of the way of others before clearing them. 

I jumped again. Water up the nose, and in the goggles.  Tightened the goggles a little, and jumped again.  They stayed secure, but water up the nose.  Held my nose, jumped again. Bingo. That's the magic combination.

My hair is about to my elbows right now, so I have a pretty big bun in my swim cap. Having one of the goggle straps below the bun keeps the goggles from coming off on impact.  And holding my nose, well, it keeps water out of my nose on impact.

The four foot distance wasn't that bad. I needed to not really pause at the edge, but just take a second to check that the water below was clear and jump. Doing it fast kept the fear from seeping in.

Now off to find something else to obsess about for the swim.

Swimming through the Lockdown

I've been working from home for nine weeks now, and my state has been on a "Stay at Home" order for almost as long. Pools are closed. And I'm antsy. To add to the difficulty, the main bridge between my house and Alki beach, where I swim in the Sound, is closed for repairs, indefinitely.  So I head to my little local lake- Green Lake.

This little, 5k circumference, lake, is about 60* now. I swim from the Rec Center to the Bathhouse and back, an approximately one mile route. At 60* I swim skin and have a few observations from my swims.

Sixty is cold enough to get chilled, but not cold enough to go numb. So I continue to feel cold through the whole swim. However, I re-warm after far faster than I do in the sub 50* Puget Sound.

There is a lot less interesting to watch in the fresh water lake than there is in the salt water Sound. No seals or sea lions. No crabs or starfish. I did see a turtle. And often see large fish.

And the most important thing I've noticed, swimming in Green Lake.... It makes me happy. It may not be Alki surrounded by friends, but a good hard swim makes the day better regardless.

Race Report: Green Lake Open Water Swim (again) 2018

Green Lake Open Water Swim (GLOWS) was my first open water swim event, and has become a family tradition.  My Sister-In-Law swam it long before I did (well, by "long" I mean a few years, it hasn't been going on that long) and now my nieces swim it. (Earlier Race Reports, 2010, 2012, 2007)

GLOWS is a family friendly event with a choice of the half mile (one way) or the mile (round trip) in a small protected (if a bit dirty) lake in the middle of north Seattle.

The first time I did GLOWS, I panicked in the water. I was training for a triathlon and between the cold shock and the adrenaline I had a hard time recovering my breathing. I remember thinking, in the middle of the lake, "this is how a strong swimmer drowns".

Now, with a lot of open water swimming under my belt, the half mile distance seems "cute" and compared to Alki, Green Lake is not cold at all!! I guess this is a sign of improvement.

The nieces were doing the half mile, and my sister-in-law was going to swim with the younger one.  The older one is a lifeguard now, so she was on her own. I arrived just as they were getting on the shuttle, wished them luck and went to get my gear and find my brother.

We watched the half mile swimmers get closer and closer, until we could spot the family. All swimming together and looking strong. After cheering them to the finish, and glowing like the proud auntie that I am, I got my cap and goggles on and got ready for my swim. I told the spouse to expect me in about 45 min, and that I might be the last finisher.  In my mind I thought 42 min was more likely, but I didn't want to be embarrassed if I was slower.

The water felt great. About half way through the swim the sun came out and turned it into a glorious day.  I got my rhythm pretty quickly. One of my goals was to increase my front crawl as a percent of my swimming. I'm usually a breast stroker. So I bounced back and forth between the two strokes.  As a right side breather, with the buoys on the left, sighting was hard. With breast, you can sight every stroke. Not so for crawl. I'll need to work on sighting in crawl if I'm going to get serious about it as a stroke.

As the pack spread out, I found myself just behind a woman in a shorty wet-suit with a pink cap on (not the green cap handed out by the event). She and I were amazingly well paced with each other. She'd pull ahead a tiny bit when I'd switch strokes, but I pretty much kept in her bubbles the whole way. I may Facebook stalk her and see if we can swim together in the lakes some time.

I felt great the whole swim.  I noticed the lead swimmers coming back when I was more than half way across. And saw the last swimmer behind me when I was well past the turning point. I spent some time singing and some time just reflecting on how lucky I am to have a body that can swim, and live in a culture that promotes this type of community activities, keeps its bodies of water reasonably clean, and makes it safe for participation.

As I got near the end, I considered working to pass the woman I'd been swimming with. But decided I didn't need a full sprint to the finish, so finished at a steady pace, and with her about 20 seconds ahead of me.  The biggest shocker was the time clock when I finished. 37:40.  Even faster than my hoped for fast finish time!  My confidence and speed today let me see that I really am an intermediate open water
swimmer.

Green Lake Open Water Swim Race Report 2010

GLOWS report written elsewhere, brought here for continuity, hence no photos.

Swam GLOWS (Green Lake Open Water Swim) for the second time this morning. It's a half mile open water swim with the finish about 2 blocks from my house (the start is just half a mile across the lake from that). When I swam it 2 years ago, it was my first ever open water swim, I panicked in the middle of the lake and thought I was going to drown. I somehow pushed through the panic and made it across, I was DFL for a while, but passed two people and finished third to last with a time of 22:58. My goal for today was to 1) not drown, 2) finish further up in the pack and 3) beat my time.

Training had been OK. I haven't been in a pool in months, but had been getting in the lake when the weather allowed (Yeah, I don't swim in the lake in the rain, I might get wet). My last swim had been a half mile out-and-back in the lake on Wednesday. I wore my wetsuit and was warm enough.

This morning the water temp was 64 degrees and the skies were overcast and in the 60s. I got up, had a banana, put on my suit and walked over to the lake. We met my SIL (J) and her friend L and L's daughter E. I picked up my packet which was a t-shirt a "personal best" ribbon and my number. They were using pin-on numbers this year, and body marking only folks that didn't have wetsuits.  We took the shuttle around the lake to the start and I got suited up.  My spouse kindly offered to carry gear back to the finish for us. He took a few photos and took off walking the .8 miles back to the finish when we got in the water.

The water felt cold and I was glad to have my wetsuit. It was a wet start, with the line of the docks as our "line" so we treaded water until the air horn sounded. Then I swam. Started crawl, turned back to breast, and back to crawl. Alternating as needed. I had a very hard time catching my breath, and would stop to tread and breathe, but then pant as soon as I started swimming again. I told myself "slow down, this isn't a race" then laughed, because it was, in fact, a race, but I didn't want to race it, in that way. I decided to just pant, and be ok with it. I got into a rhythm of 20 strokes breast 10 strokes crawl, repeat, and it seemed to work. About half way across the lake, I looked back to see how I was doing, and saw that I was both half way across and there were a good dozen or so people behind me. That felt good, and I was able to stay in my rhythm.

At one point, another swimmer swam across my line, and straight for a guard on a surfboard. I figured he was ending his race. Nope, just off course. The guard set him straight, which didn't last long. He proceeded to cross my line at least 8 more times. The poor guy probably swam a mile in a half mile race!

Nearing the finish I was happy to see the line come into sight. The guard boat passed, leaving a huge wake, and carrying 2 swimmers they had pulled out. I tried to ride the wave in, a bit. Finally, I felt the ground with my hands, stood and smiled. My spouse was on shore taking photos. I looked up at the finish clock and it said 22:xx, I sprinted and finished with a time of 22:27, and at least 15 people behind me, meeting all 3 of my goals!! And I had enough energy to spend the afternoon at the Pride Parade!

The spouse commented that I came out of the water much less shaky than last time, and generally I felt strong. I need to work on my front crawl, and keep increasing my distance, my goal is a 2 mile swim in the other lake on Aug 31. My SIL finished in about 15 min, her friend L just ahead of her and E just behind. E got third in her age group (15-19) which is awesome because the first OA finisher was in her age group (with a time of 10 and change).

Green Lake Open Water Swim Race Report 2015

Moving a race report written elsewhere to here. (ergo, no photos and the date stamp being wonky)

I did GLOWS (Green Lake Open Water Swim) today for the 5th or 6th time (I’m losing track). Seattle has been having a huge heat wave, highs in the 90s and lows in the high 70s.  I barely slept the night before, and woke up tired and cranky.  The water temperature was 71, so I chose to swim without my wetsuit for the first time in this event.  Last year it was so cold that they waived the “no wetsuit for award” requirement, and almost everyone was wearing one.

My cousin T was in town, so I invited her to join me.  So around 8am T, her boyfriend and my husband and I made our way down to the lake. Packet pickup was smooth, with body marking (which I usually don’t do because of the wetsuit). They wrote my number, 29, on my arm, to which my response was “how cool, they are putting our age on our arms.”

I ran into my brother sister in law and nieces. My oldest niece, M, was going to swim for her fist time (she’s 13).  My sister in law and her swimming buddy were going to pace M in the half mile then swim the full mile as their event.  We all made our way around the lake to the start in a van, and hung out for about 10 min waiting.

After last year’s event, where I couldn’t catch my breath the whole time, I was determined to warm up and not have the cold water shock me into hyperventilation. So I did about 5 min of paddling around and made sure to go fully under water three times.

Starting gun and we are off—I promptly get kicked in the side, and so drop back, let people go ahead of me, no  need to fight for space, the lake is large. About three minutes in, I’m swimming just behind my niece, I lift my head to cheer her on and she takes off. I get a good rhythm and keep stroking. I’m focused on swimming and have very little memory of what I was thinking about.  A few times I think I’m feeling so good I should pick up the pace a bit, and so I do.  I stroke hard.  I’m pretty much a breast stroker, but throw in some crawl here and there.  This morning, before heading to the lake, I’d looked up prior times and they ranged from 22:20 to 25:40.  I have no idea what my time will be like, but figure I should push it here and there.

Just as I’m passing the last large buoy (there is still one small one to go) I see a swimmer a few strokes ahead of me and contemplate trying to catch him.  I pick up the pace again. I realize I’m too far out to start a sprint to the finish, so try to go faster without it being full out sprint. It works. I don’t catch the guy, but I do close the gap. Then I look up and see the finish clock. I think that it is still under 20 min.  That seems fast for me, so I push the pace again.  As I get closer, I realize that I can beat my best time, if I just keep pushing. So I do. I swim past the buoys that mark the guarded swim area during the week, and stand up, run through knee deep water (which is pretty hard) and up the stone stairs to the finish. 21:44, a personal best!!

My husband and brother both high five me in the chute. I tear my tag and my husband greets me with a bottle of water and a towel.  My niece finished in 19 something and my cousin in 17 and change.  They are both happy and relaxed.

We watch the mile swimmers start, and watch the thunder clouds roll in.  The mile swimmers are near the turn around point when the lightening starts.  And it starts to rain.  We wait for my sister in law to finish, and then run for cover. Most swimmers say they didn’t realize it was raining. I’m glad I’m not a lifeguard responsible for the event!!

Great morning for a swim. Proud of my accomplishment. Makes me think I should push my speed a bit more, and see what I can do!

Intermediate Swimmer

I couldn't make my usual weekend swim at Alki, but a stranger had posted on Facebook that she wanted to swim at Greenlake, so we arranged a meet-up. Turns out although she's a really experienced open water swimmer, this was her first time in water under 60 degrees.

Her desire and instinct was to run in and run out, so she never warmed up. I encouraged her to stay in and use her motion to generate heat to warm up.  She wasn't wearing ear plugs, and I suggested that they would help keep her warmer.  We had other chats about acclimatization and how to increase your cold water endurance and how to rewarm after (bath not shower, get the wet suit off as fast as possible, etc).

At the end, her spouse thanked me for sharing my wisdom on the topic.

Two years of experience with Puget Sound meas I've learned enough to teach others. I think this makes me a solid, intermediate, swimmer. I still have a lot to learn to be "expert" but it is fun to feel out of the "novice" category.

Greenlake Picnic an Swim

I typically have dinner with my brother and his family (wife, two kids) on Monday nights.  But this week the kids are at camp, so instead of going to their house, we went to the lake for a pic-nic dinner and a swim.

This was my first swim without my wet-suit.  My sister-in-law was going "in skin" so I thought I'd try it too. The lake was the perfect temperature.  I used the prescription goggles again, and my swim safe buoy.  The guys, who sat on shore and talked while we women swam, said they could see the buoy most of the way across the lake.  Unfortunately, I managed to screw the valve cover on crooked, and when I went to unscrew it, the whole cap mechanism came out.  So the buoy is useless now.  I hope I can fix it!

But back to the swim-- almost a mile, easy and pleasurable!

Green Lake Open Water Swim- Race Report

The Green Lake Open Water Swim (GLOWS) is always the "early" swim of the season. This season it seems to have come too early. I've swum it two of the last three years, and finished in 22-23 minutes.  The course is a short half mile course. This year I felt under-trained-- I've been in the lake, what, 5 times so far?? Not a lot of swimming!  But I knew I could do the distance, if not at the speed I'd done in the past.

Going to the start on the bus (it's a point-to-point swim) I was amazed at the number of people who seemed to be doing it for the first time. Turns out the first year I did this, about 65 people finished (the half mile), and this year over 80 did (just in the half mile), so there must be more and more first-timers each year.

The water temps were cold, and the race organizers encouraged us to wear wetsuits.  I would have anyway.  I hung out at the start until about 5 min before gun, then got into the water.

I started at the back of the pack, but in the middle, not off to the side. It wasn't planned, it was just where I was when the gun went off.  The water was cold, but not as cold as Lake Washington had been so far this season.  I started swimming fine, then a few minutes in, couldn't control my breath.  It was similar to the Whidbey Island swim in that way. I didn't panic. But I couldn't control my breathing.  I switched to head up breast stroke and kept swimming, knowing that when I caught my breath I'd be fine.

Sure enough, two or three minutes later, I was.  I got into a rhythm, and could swim.  I could feel my shoulders getting tight (ah, the joys of under-training) but just kept swimming. By half way across the lake I was alternating 10 strokes of crawl with 10 strokes of breast.  I was in a grove, and fine.  I wasn't loving it.  I felt slow. And the distance felt long. I was happy when I saw the finish.  I crossed in 25:26.  My slowest time ever for this swim. That just teaches me that I have to get in the water more!

Not my best race ever, but I'm glad I did it!