Things have been hectic. I'm supposed to do the Brooklyn Bridge Swim tomorrow. Nothing else on the plate when I got the "Guess what...You did get into the Maggie Fischer Great South Bay Cross Bay Swim email". The Brooklyn Bridge is "just" a K so no problem there but suddenly I gotta ramp up the training. I started ramping up because of the 10K Lighthouse swim in September but suddenly this is here...
Again, Brooklyn shouldn't be a problem but suddenly my Wednesday long swim is L-O-N-G! It used to be medium on Monday, long on Wednesday and short/hard/sprint on Friday. Now, my medium Monday is long, my long Wednesday is huge and Friday is Friday.
My last 4 Wednesday's have been over 6,000 yards. This past Wednesday was 7,000! At 6,850, my calf cramped up. At 6,900, they announced the pool is closed. I begged the lifeguard (don't know her - she's new) to let me do just 1 more 100. She looked at me like I am nuts but said ok. Ended up sprinting it. By the way, 7,000 yards is 3.97 miles or 280 laps in our 25 yard pool. What that means is that I got the Maggie swim covered.
So, here's the schedule for the next 2 weeks...Tonight I have the Maggie swim meeting. Tomorrow is the Brooklyn Bridge swim followed by a day in the city with the family from Israel. Sunday will be regular training. Next week Friday is the Maggie swim with Saturday being a family day in PA.
A little crazy. So basically tonight, I go to a meeting regarding next weeks swim. Gotta plan that out but more importantly gotta plan out tomorrow...
Now for things specifically to this swim. As you can see, I have been ramping up the mileage. I'm not sure with my schedule if I will be able to get over the 7,000 mark nor do I know if I really want to do that again in our pool. It's a little crazy.
Still, I re-built the mileage and am happy about that. Andre skipped out completly and so did DD. Adele thank God has been there and a great companion. One day, she and I joined (she got there later due to down trees caused by Hurricane Irene) Kelly and her husband. The other guy in the lane, who didn't belong, immediatly skidadled. I didn't like the workout but it was 4,200 so dealt with it. It was a lot of swim Vs. Kick for a while followed by a 10*100 set. Yuck but hey it got the job done. Swam instead of kicked and happened to join toward the end of the swim/kick thing and did the 10*100. Adele left and I managed a 6,000 that day. Last weekend was an Andre workout who didn't show up. He had SOS the weekend after. Drafted Adele who was doing the new coach's workout. Lily joined at 1 point, Adele left, Lily left and I was left behind. Situation normal...Hoped for 6,500. At one point, I realized in alarm that it would not happen. Had to revise goal to a hopeful 5,500. Swam fast a major portion of end for a 6,200. Could have possibly snuck in more if I would have hurried even more but that's ok. Glad I toughed it out to the 6K mark and went over.
This last weekend was Jeremy's Bar-Mitzvah and therefore we are now a little more relaxed. Got 2 more Wednesday's left and gonna miss the Medium swim tonight due to school conflict. This Wednesday will be the last looong push. That's ok. I know we won't have as much of a tidal assist with the new course but I can deal with it. The Maggie swim taught me that. All good. Gonna have to deal with the commute soon. To make things even more interesting, Joseph Glickman's Bar-Mitzvah is that same day. Already told Donna that I would be late for it while the rest of the family will be there on time. Just gotta make it happen.
The weekend before, I felt good and was thinking for the rest of the season. Ran 20.15 on Saturday and Rode 85.5 on Sunday. The ride was all hills. Went out at 5am in complete blackout night and rode. Met Jim. Killed him with the hills. He rode 55 which is a little more than he wanted but the last hill (Mills Hill) was the killer and it's elevation is a little worse than the pocono's HIM so he felt good about that.
After that, it was time to sort_of_kinda_of taper. That meant 2,400 in the pool on Monday and running on Tuesday. Wednesday, I think I got a 1,000 in the pool. HA!
Started weather watching. Initially, they said crappy, rainy week but clear on Saturday for the swim. The rain didn't come. The rain was delayed. And then, the weather report said rain starting Wednesday and ending Tuesday! Then the weather was saying real bad for Friday and Saturday. Now, I also gotta mention Huricane Irene. She did some real damage and the water while clean in terms of bacteria was full of Jetsam and Flotsam and brown. Not the usual Hudson color. It was dirty while clean. Go figure. Learned a new word: Turpidity.
I was worried that they would cancel the swim. Actually, I was on the fence. PArt of me was very nervous and wanted it cancelled. The other part said, you trained for this, paid for it in sweat and tears, now let's get it done.
nycswim.org didn't post waves till last minute - not good.
Temps dipped below the 68 degrees and wearing a wetsuit made you still eligible for awards so why not. That and the weather made things very simple: WETSUIT! Although, I still wore my speedo brief instead of my jammer "just in case".
Resigned for the weather. Cold meant no jellies but with the weather you have the chance of people getting seasick and vomitting and I'd rather be in a wetsuit if that happens.
Spoke to Adele and we decided to meet at Penn station. Check in is at 6:30 in Harlem and I have 2 trains to choose from:
We decided to meet at 5:30 in Penn. Set the alarm clock to the usual 2am and prayed I would get up. Ended up sleeping about 3:15 which is a little low for me. Was hoping for 4. Woke up, got ready, walked the dog early (he didn't mind), took the car out and put my change of cloths in there. Left the house and made it to the train in time. Can't afford to miss it. At this time of day, I had to switch at Jamaica station from the train I was in (Brooklyn bound) to the Penn station (Manhattan bound) train. No problem. Doors open, you get out, walk across to the opposite side and the train is there and they announced last call and closed the doors. None of us made it!!! What the hell?
Freaking out. Not just stupid me...There are people going to work at this time. We're watching. Something is gonna happen, right? Suddenly, the conductor from our previous train, comes running across and sticks his key in to open the doors. He opened the last 4 cars (which wasn't where I was) and then ran to open ours. The fact that he opened the doors made it that they could not leave. WHEW! As he opens our door, I hear him mumbling, "She said all aboard and was about to leave. UnFreakingBelievable".
Calamity over. Pants still dry and clean. Settle in for ride. Get into Penn and wait for Adele who texts me that she had her own (subway) issues and she is running late. No problem. She gets there eventually and we take a little walk to my work place for indoor plumbing action. From there, instead of subway to Harlem, which neither of us wanted, we cabbed it to the race site.
Got there 6:45 and all good.
Check-ed in and only complaint I got is 3 porta-potties for 315 people and family? Who came up with that stupid number? Got online immediatly while it was still short. Upside in being super early. Short(er) line and still clean.
So, here's what's coming up. Meeting and are supposed to board a big boat to the drop off so we can swim back here. Gotta pee again and line is huge. Meeting started late but the boat eventually gets in. A NYC water taxi.
So, here's the real deal...Waves 1-3 go on taxi now. Waves 4 and 5 go on smaller boats. Apparently, the other taxi didn't make it. The taxi is supposed to come back and pick the rest of us up. Still gotta pee but will NOT pee in wetsuit. Guess, will hold it in or on boat.
Taxi leaves and they are calling for waves 4 and 5 to board smaller boats. I see these 2 women and they are just goofing off. I tell them that they will miss their boat and they don't believe me. They were wave 5 and thought they are going on the Taxi. OOPS. I was right...They ran and just made it. Those boats left and some woman comes and asks a volunteer something and discovered she just missed the boat. OOPS.
They had us line up in numerical order. Adele is in wave 7 and I am in wave 8 which I think is a HUGE insult to her. She's faster than me and the fastest people go last. She doesn't care.
She stands in line like a good soldier while I sit on a bench. Why should I stand for 45 minutes for no reason before this? Lots of people finally sit on the floor. I go to the porta-potties and there is no line. Other people realize and get smart. We're hanging out when the boat finally arrives. Gotta pee again so go stand in small line for the Head. My overactive bladder...
Ride takes a long time. Sucks.
Some "funny" Morty-isms from the meeting.
Hm... In the boat and looking for the first and slowest swimmers. Once I see them, I know that we are almost there, right? Where the hell are they?!?
Finally see them. Whew. People getting ready to go. Saying goodbyes, lubing up and closing wetsuits, putting shirts in last minute bags.
Adele's wave goes and they call us up. Actually, the way they did it was a little stressing. They called our wave, in numerical order and no one comes up. Screw it. I come and jump and the water is cold but manageable. Glad to have the wetsuit. Cold not a problem except my hands were cold. It's all good.
I hear the countdown. 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..LOUD HORN!!!! Someone was a little trigger happy but who cares. Started swimming. Must keep red buoys on left side.
The first buoy is running away from me. I'm chasing it and there is a kayaker there who makes sure you pass it on the right. OK...I wasn't gonna screw around anyway.
I read plenty of RR and they all told how the bridge never seems to get any closer. I figured, based on the Maggie Fischer swim and pool swim, that I would average 30 minutes per mile and that's without the current being against us. Very annoying thing was that the buoys were unevenly spread out so you couldn't tell where you were or how you were doing.
Still, things went quickly. The bridge seemed to get close real fast which made no sense. Here's the conversation I was having in my head:
The bridge is coming real fast Yup Liar. All the RR said it never gets closer. I know, I know. Just lieing to my self...but it is getting closer.
And it was. Went under the bridge and looked at my watch and it said 1:10. That didn't make sense...That means 4 miles in 1 hour and 10 minutes??? Should only be 2 miles in. Figured, I must have stopped my watch and that it meant 1 minute and 10 seconds. Still, clicked the interval and swam. Who cares, I only have 2 miles to go. The next buoy after the bridge was way out in the river. Later Adele and other people mentioned that it seemed like it was in the Jersey side of things.
I tried to get to it but realized 2 things. The first was that it was way to far in the middle (or past) of the river and there was no point in it. The second was that none of the swimmers were going after it. They all ignored it and let's face it, we were supposed to go in a straight line and that wasn't...Still, I saw 3 swimmers go after it and decided they should go if they want to but I am NOT going.
Water started getting choppy. Things got real yucky.
As I'm swimming, I realize that the later and faster waves are catching up to me. In theory, I should be catching earlier waves too. I can't tell. It would make me feel better knowing that I am catching people too. I tried to look at numbers. Some people are definitly catching me. I can't tell if I am passing people as well. Whatever. There were many boats out there and I noticed 2 scuba diving teams on a zodiac. I can't tell if it's the same crew and I saw them twice or if there were 2 crews. Makes me feel better that they were there but it kinda sucks if you think about it.
Anyway, I am swimming and the water is definitly rough. A boat comes close to me and tells me to get out of the middle of the river where the buoys are and to go closer to shore. In the boat, there is a swimmer who was plucked out of the river. She's still wearing her cap and is using a mylar blanket. Glad they were plucked out when needed but sucks for them as well.
I wave OK and continue swimming. Another boat comes close to me, like a German Shepard, literally pushing me closer to shore. I wave that I am OK and they yell to me to really get closer to shore and make sure to make a VERY hard left at the yellow buoy. Apparently, swimmers are getting swept past the finish line.
In the deep part of the river, the current is awesome. The closer to shore at this point, we are close to the Sewage Treatment Plant and just like the Memorial Day Swim, the water is real choppy here. Really getting bounced around. That's ok. Been there, done that.
The Yellow buoy is coming. Instead of making the left, at the buoy, I cut left early. Figured let the current push me into position. The current was so strong, I had a hard time going to the finish early. Pushed and saw my target. The person I was gonna pass. Pushed and pushed and passed my guy straight to the finish. Got to the ladder. The helpers told me to give them my hand so they can help me. Nah...Climbed up myself onto the first pontoon. Calf cramped for a second but cleared up right away. Then there was a big step to a second pontoon. They had so many people there because there was a 2 foot seperation. Nah...Jumped across and scared the volunteers. Then, long walkway up to the timing mat. That sucked. I usually recover fast and want to run to the mat. Wasn't happening. Guy behind me came over to say thanks. He was happy, I passed him because my wetsuit has a green portion and he said that he "used the green as a beacon to the finish".
Adele was up there. She just finished herself. Allok. Got the goody bag and food and got in line for the shower.
Usually, I just rinse off but with Joseph's Bar-Mitzvah, I actually showered. The water was of course COLDER than the Hudson. Heart rate went up. Cardio for the day.
Hopped on a cab. I realized it doesn't make sense to take a cab to Penn, LIRR and then another cab. Took a cab straight to the event. Got dressed in our car and quickly hightailed it to the Shul. Found my guys and food and felt better. From there, no rest for the wicked.
Didn't rest at all this weekend but felt good anyway. Wanted to race with Jim but it was probably the right choice for my body and for the family.
Results: Adele came in 10/20 in 30-34 Female. I came in 16/23 in 35-39 Male.
Post event....When I put the wetsuit on, I felt chafing downtown. Never wore a brief with a wetsuit and no matter how much lube, it still felt weird. Made sure to lube back of neck. Still, as I swam I felt the back of the neck. Was bad. Wearing a nice shirt and a tie didn't help. Had Lee put a band-aid on it but it made things worse.
Post Post event....Adele and I are negotiating about doing the MIMS relay. Who knows...