Lake Swimming

Refreshments after a swim at Sparkling Ridge

We may be in the middle of a nor'easter right now, but last week's summer-like weather was absolutely perfect for training. The warm days allowed us to get a jump start on open water swim practice which we don't usually start until later in May (at least here in New York). The water temperature was in the low 60's and, with a wetsuit on, I didn't even get a chill. --Bec

Training Update: Occupy Lane 2 11k Swim

pre-workout energyIt's that time of year again:  The annual New Year's Swim set. Typically, New Year's swims are a minimum of 10k and are the last big swim set of the year.  

Today, our small swim squad, "occupied" lane 2 of the Bard College Aquatic Center for the better part of the afternoon.  We only had one small sign (a whiteboard with our set written on it), but had plenty of food and drink (EFS drinks & gels).  We set out to do a 10k set, but I got the bright idea to tack on an extra 1000 at around the 6.5k mark.  At 8.5k I had second thoughts, but there was no turning back.

This is the set we did, written by Dave Barra:

Click to read more ...

Boxing Day

 

Shots from a morning hike with Mrs. H around Lake Minnewaska, followed by a warm drink, snack and visit to a junk shop in High Falls.  

Brighton Beach Swimming

This article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal starts to get the idea of what it's like to train on the 1 mile stretch between Brighton Beach and Coney Island, but you really have to go there to experience the true culture.  Like many parts of Brooklyn, it feels like a foreign country that's only a 45 minute subway ride away from manhattan.  Once you find the secret meeting spot on the beach (which is on the CIBBOWS.org website), you'll feel right at home, surrounded by a group of like-minded swimmers.  

Click to read more ...

8 Bridges Swim

A few images of Hudson River swimming:

Not afraid to get in,

happy to get out (after 4+ hours).

Grimaldo's Mile

Photo: LJW, summer 2011

NYC triathletes and swimmers: Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Head out to Coney Island on Sunday morning for Grimaldo's Mile. This is a point to point ocean swim. Bring running shoes too for post swim run on the boardwalk.

For race information click here:

http://www.cibbows.org/races/

this was taken near the end of the swim. really slowing down at this point.

8 Bridges Swim

After flying home from the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis on Saturday evening, I jumped into the Hudson on Sunday morning at 10am for a 13.5 miles swim race. Stage 3 started at the Mid-Hudson Bridge, which connects Poughkeepsie to Highland (near New Paltz).

Water temp was about 78 and I was all set to wear my speedsuit (TYR sayonara), but made a last minute decision to remove it after advice from a more experienced open water swimmer. Turns out I didn't really need it because the water was mostly warm, with some really cold patches every now and then.

When the race started, I set off at a quick pace and after a few minutes got it in my head that I shouldn't stop until at least 1 hour, so that I could see what an Ironman swim felt like. The first hour went surprisingly fast, probably because there wasn't too much to look at, other than my kayakers, SJ on the left and Dan W. on the right. You would think that having things to look at would help, but that wasn't really the case. Things on the shore seemed so close, but in reality they were frustratingly far away.

When I finally stopped after my pretend Ironman swim, I was informed that I really needed to stop more to drink and eat. So, I ignored advice and put my head down and swam for another 45 minutes straight. I took a few sips of water and a gulp of EFS shot and then swam for another 30 min. I carried on like this until about 3 hours in when things started to fall apart a little. I stopped for a little longer at that point - to force myself to drink - and got passed by Rondi, a very experienced and fast open water swimmer, who was actually pacing herself. I tried to go with Rondi and her kayaker. I gave it a good effort, but after a few failed attempts, I realized that I had to focus on just finishing and not racing my way to the bridge.

Staring at the finish line for an hour before crossing was really difficult, especially since I was starting to get cold. If I didn't have the encouragement from SJ and Dan, I don't know if I could have gotten there! It took a total of 4.5 hours to reach the spans. From there, I grabbed on to the end of SJ's kayak and he towed me to the boat. Completely spent, I crawled aboard the boat and was handed a ZICO, a dove bar and my favorite TEAM FIGHT sweatshirt. I was so tired that I had to lay down on the side of the boat and basically passed out while everyone else finished.

It was quite an experience, but for now I'm content to race 1500m ...or possibly one day 2.4 miles.

Thanks to Dave B for letting me join in on the fun, Clare and the rest of the crew for looking after me after the race, and thanks especially my kayakers for leading the way. It is hard to imagine jumping in the water and doing that all over again today--that's what Stage 4 races are doing today. Good Luck!!