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First Thread: I started swimming more than I ever swam. More than when I started training for my first IM, more than for the Maggie swim and certainly more than the Lighthouse swim. Initially, I didn't see a difference but then I did. Started swimming on Monday and Wednesday's morning at 5 am with the complementary swims at night. Then I added Tuesday after the run (easier to do when Jeremy has tennis at 6pm) and Tuesday morning. Thursday sometimes too. In short, lots of pool time. Not only that but Wednesday at this point has been 6,000 at night for the last 2 weeks at least. I come home hungry as hell but that makes sense...
How did I notice a difference? Swim a 1,000-1,300 consistently in the a.m and sometimes after the run completly desensitized me from that distance. In plain English, it made that distance a non-event. How could 1,000 yards be scary when I have done 6.2 miles? I don't know but I do know that any workout that has anything over 400 always scared me. Now, it's not a big deal. Now, I worry less about pulling. The fact that Adele is at times sore from her bootcamp and I have no choice also helped and now it's not (such) an issue. Besides being stronger in the swim, I have also noticed I got faster. This is a good thing.
The race was set for Sunday, July 7th and my guys went to my in-laws in New Jersey on Wednesday July 3rd and came back July 4th. They went to celebrate my father-in-laws birthday and fathers day and slept over so as to not worry about getting stuck in traffic in either direction too bad. That Wednesday morning, I swam and then went to work. Came home real early because I didn't want to leave LC by himself for the fireworks bombing when I would have swam in the evening. It was a crazy hot day and I walked to the YMCA to try to meet Adele at 1pm. Got there about 10 minutes late and completly drenched. It was that HOT!!! The small pool was closing at 3:30 and I had hoped to have that 2.5 hours to swim 6,000. Getting in the pool 15 minutes late did NOT make me happy. I had assumed that the 1,000 would take about 30 minutes since I usually do that in the morning but apparently I go slow in the morning since we did the 1,000 in 15 minutes. Suddennly we were back on schedule. Adele stayed for about 5K or so which was pretty good for me as it's easier to swim with a person. I was worried about completing my plan but I managed to finish the swim and kick 300 with about 10 minutes to spare. NICE!
Second Thread: Jeremy...Jeremy at the time of this race was 14. Actually he still is and in order to do nycswim races you must be 15 years or older unless you can get a special dispensation. I had to submit his history of races which included open water swims, then had him do a statute mile in the pool observed and signed by the lifeguard and then had to sign a CYA(Cover Your A$$) form that I won't sue if anything happens. It was then reviewed and somesuch and finally approved. Signed him up knowing he will be competing in the 15-19 group. Initially there was only 1 other male in that group quite coincidentally named Jeremy as well. The other Jeremy was 16 and I made sure Jeremy knew that I don't/didn't care if he wins an age group award or not but that it was exciting. Oh, did I forget to mention that for his age group there was only 1 award?!? Bastards... Well, a litle while later a 19 year old male (fast) joined too and that sucked but Adele made me realize that he might actually place overall. He was seeded 4th overall or 1st for males! And then another 19 year old joined too. Oi...Still, in my book, showing up and racing is a big win in of itself especially with open water swimming...
I never really mention nerves in my reports but perhaps I should in this case...
| Adele | Didn't really seem stressed or worried but she had a chance of placing and I am sure that went through her head. They allowed for 10 overall M/F. |
|---|---|
| Elizabeth | I don't know. If she was worried, she didn't show it. Still, I think she had faith in Jeremy and even more in my judgement to let him swim. If I am ok with it, then she was ok with it. |
| Jessie | Probably nothing. |
| Jeremy | I'm not 100 % sure. The day before he admitted to being a little worried but he was immersed in his book and didn't even realize when we were on the bridge he was going to swim under. |
| Me | I wasn't worried or nervous for me that's for sure. The distance was small so it wasn't an issue and I knew I would not place anyway so just shut up and finish... Was I worried a little for Jeremy tho? Not too much... I knew he could do it...Still, more on that later! |
We got to the Manhattan Side and familarity from two years ago took over. Parked in the same exact lot as last time and started looking for a cab. Two years ago, we walked over the bridge this time we cabbed it right away. The driver was flakey and needed help but whatever... We got there and got there early!
We immediatly ran into Kamen Yotov and chilled with him a little. He asked me for a favor that crazy guy...After he checks in, can I put his bag on the truck for him? He would immediatly leave and goto Randalls Island as his daughter was competing in a running event. He would then rush back, do the race, pick his bag up and then immediatly rush over back to Randalls Island. Wow!!! And Awesome Dad!
We all checked in and Kamen ran. We chilled. Eventually the meeting and except for the subway roaring over our head and stopping the meeting there was nothing huge here except for the fact that the guy told us where we need to keep the buoys and when he finally stopped he was told he screwed it up. Nice...
Lined up. Adele was in wave 2, I was in wave 3 and Jeremy was in wave 8 of 10. Sucked that I couldn't be with him as the NYCSWIM crew get all bent out of shape when people leave the chronological line. Jeremy wasn't too happy as he wore my speedo. If he would have worn his jammer, he would NOT be eligible for an award but since he wore a "traditional" bathing suit, he was eligible.
This was actually also a big thread pre swim that I forgot to mention or at least part of the 2nd... What to wear...? I was hoping the water would warm up since he doesn't have a wetsuit but here are the considerations. If the water is over 68, then only traditional bathing suits are eligible for an award. If it gets too hot then there is a chance that the Jellies would show up. If the water doesn't warm up then he will be cold. At the end of the day, mother nature took care of that decision. It was in the low 70's and a speedo was worn and Jeremy HATED it!
So, let's face it ok? The worst part of any race (forget huge waves or hills or heat or cold - not sure about the Jellies tho) is the wait. We are on line and waiting and waiting. Lots of people who wore a wetsuit had it on even before the meeting. Why?!? Gonna overheat... Anyway, first wave goes in and they leave. Wave 2 is in the water and I finally put my swim cap on. I keep looking back to see if I can see Jeremy but nothing. Sucks. Wave 2 is about to leave and I see Adele trying to re-position herself as they are about to leave. Wave 2 leaves and I start the dangerous walk into the water. It's slippery and sharp rocks are underfoot. I'm in and finally spot Jessie and Elizabeth. I wave bye and we are off.
I start strong and right away have goggle issues. I'm leaking... Stop to fix and in the fray. First buoy and the fight to the next. Supposed to turn at the buoy with the buoy on the right. OK - I cheated. There was too much fighting and I wasn't trying to cheat or fight so I took it with it on the left. Yes - I cheated but I wasn't getting that much of an advantage. I took it on the left but was touching it. Still, a kayaker yelled at me and so did this woman. Wonderful. I was trying to avoid fighting with her (from now on I will refer to her as white goggles) and she's yelling at me. Tried to say sorry for cheating but she didn't hear me.
Anyway, swimming and I experienced something that never happened to me before...I was worried. Real worried. For Jeremy. Any other race, that we have done, I wasn't worried. In a running race, if you are tired - WALK. In a swim - hm...Not too many options. He has done swims and tri's and other somesuch but this is his first "REAL" Open Water Swim in my opinion. Swimming in an ocean in a protected bay is not the same thing as crossing the East River. Swimming with the current in the Hudson is not even the same thing. Here you will be blown by the current as you are swimming perpendicular to it and I was worried. Later, both Elizabeth and Adele tried to "console" me about my time with me being worried but that's a story for later. Don't want to jump ahead.
Anyway, can't worry too much about it. Goggles on/off leaking. Swimming. Wanted to catch up to white goggles to apologize but then got annoyed at her and decided to annoy her. Caught up to her and initially drafted then decided to swim ahead of her showing her I didn't need the damn thing. We traded positions on/off and then I got tired of the game and I went for it.
Before the swim, I told Jeremy that the water will be cold but not that bad but under the bridge in the shade it will be colder! I was right...There was a certain area, definitly near the finish in the shade, where the water was much colder but at that point who cares, right?
Last buoy turn and white goggles is not in my forward sight. Had enough of that game. Pushed ahead and time to pass people right and left to the finish. Swam till I could stand and run up the beach to the timing mat and done! Ran into Adele who game me some water. Tried to find (whistling like crazy) Elizabeth and Jessie and got a good spot to view the swimmers. I couldn't remember what swim cap he was but Adele did and we were looking... Nope - that guy has a watch. Nope - that guy has tattoos. Nope - that guys has beefy man arms. Wait - Is that him? Hm... YES! Started screaming his name. Pretty sure people in Brooklyn heard me. He didn't but as soon as he stood up he heard me scream at him to GO!!! And he did. So proud...Dude got up and ran up the beach to the finish. NICE!
Gave him the water Adele got for him and right then Jessie heard me whistle and they came over. Lee had his flip-flops and a towel and he used them. He was very self-conscious about the speedo and was a little out of sort too I think. Adele and I wore the garbage pedicure flip-flops they gave and we started walking to the beer garden to get our clothes.
Got our bag, got the goody bag and some food and stood in line for a rinse. Adele showered but that water was C-O-L-D! No way...Just a rinse is good enough.
And now for the big news...Jeremy beat me by 12 seconds! Very happy. Can't wait for him to beat me at a 5K too. He'll have to work on that tho!
Walked to the parking lot, got the car and went home. Good day.
Later when we found out he beat me, Adele asked me if he was psyched about it. Took me a few seconds to get his attention as he was reading and his answer was "yeah...Sure" and then back to the book. Ha...
During dinner, I was teasing him about something and he didn't have a wiseguy reply so instead I got "Well we'll talk when you learn how to swim!" Boom... The gloves came off. Adele the following Tuesday on the treadmill also didn't have a clever comeback for something and gave out a "well, why don't you ask Jeremy to teach you how to swim!" Boom...Oh boy.
I posted the following two posts on facebook that day. Here they are:
One of the earliest and fondest memory I have of when we first came to America was of my mother dropping my father and me on the Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn bridge, then going to look for a spot on the manhattan side as my father and I crossed the bridge by foot. Two years ago, the wife, kids and I crossed the bridge by foot too. In a few hours, Jeremy will get a different view of the bridge that most people will never get in their lifetime. Swim on with Elizabeth Hirsch and Jeremy Hirsch.Which actually got 24 likes suprisingly and the second one was:
And I was worried...! Jeremy in his first "real" open water swim, starting in a much later wave kicked his fathers butt!!! Guy beat me by 12 seconds! Can't be happier. I knew the day would come. Many more with Elizabeth Hirsch and Jeremy HirschWhich actually got 43 likes. Everyone likes the kid kicking the old guys butt I guess.
As I mentioned, I was consoled about my "loss" to Jeremy. No need - very happy. Still thought about it and I don't blame my goggles or my worrying. I have a feeling that the later waves had more favorable conditions. There is a swimmer out there who finished about 50 seconds after me and she is slower than me. Doesn't make sense but does it really matter? Sometimes you get a good wave with tidal assist and sometimes you don't. Cool.
kinda disappointed with the no medals anymore thing. They are trying to save $$ by giving more awards and no medals. More awards is a very small part of the population and while it's great for Adele, I think the majority would rather have finishers medals. Whatever... It is what it is.
On another note, Lee did email NYCSWIM to complain about the fact that Jeremy Chang wore non-traditional swimwear. Listen, he kicked Jeremy's butt and that doesn't really matter but we later figured that he did NOT wear a jammer but rather a square cut which does count as a tradional swimwear. Now I gotta buy Jeremy square cuts...
