an actual swim race!

My friends are a bad influence. I haven't swam on the RAM team for a year. Literally, it was last May when the arthritis got so bad that I couldn't finish a practice and decided to drop the team. Well, this may they came around again and talked me into signing up for the Jordan Lake Open Water Challenge at the last minute. This is the first race in the local swim series here and I've done this race several times. It's usually early enough in the year to require a wetsuit, but this year the water temp was around 72* so I opted to go only speedo.

Really this was a social event for me. Yes I came and I swam and I totally expected to spend the rest of the day in the fetal position on the couch crying in pain. But the cool part was getting to see some friends that I hadn't been able to to hang out with for a while.

Beautiful day to be in the water

It wasn't a huge crowd this year! Daniel is a coworker and in my age group, this was his first open water swim race. The course was a bit short this year, which worked to my advantage. I've taken age group awards at this race before, but it's really hard. Daniel took 2nd place in his first race! Those RAM practices are really paying off for him.

My only hope was to get out there and not end up with horrible pain. I was able to hold my stroke for the entire course, didn't really end up with any joint pain, and finished the 1 mile course (for a 1.2 mile race - hey it was short) in 38 minutes. My previous slowest time was around 34 minutes when it was 1.2 or 1.3 miles, so that was hard to accept. I finished 6/7 in my age group, Daniel took 2nd

Me, Lisa, Rebecca (Kristen's sister), Jennifer, Tom, and Kristen the RAM coach

The whole RAM crew L-R - Tom, Amy, me, Jennifer (coworker), Daniel (coworker), Rebecca, Jen, Coach Kristen, Chris, Lisa, and Barker

This was a large crew of friends from the RAM team. It felt amazing just to be out there competing again, and having fun with old friends. I also ran into some other surprising friends, one of whom had recently lost 45 lbs and it took me a minute to recognize him. For a social event, this was wonderful. For a race, my performance was disappointing, but I was glad to just be out there again.

Almost Athletic

I got to be near an actual athletic event recently! My friend KC from the RAM team did the Swim the Suck 10.3 mile open water swim race. She asked me to pilot for her, so I hopped in the kayak. No way I'm going to pass up another road trip to Chattanooga! KC and I also got to hang out with her husband Chris, and another couple (Fred & Lisa) made the trip too. Fred swam, Lisa kayaked. I only took pictures while we were on the river, but the entire weekend was filled with craft beer, BBQ, and lots of laughs. Nooga is a really fun town.

Selfie in the house the night before. Feeling it.

Me with KC before the race

Suit up!

the Tennessee River

Selfie with a girl taking a selfie behind me

This is actually KC and Fred in the water

Lisa on pilot

Good form

My view for 4 hours in the water

Finally the clouds starting to break

They had an inflatable cow at the finish line

KC and Chris at the finish

Here we go!

That whole trip was a blast. It really makes me miss swimming open water, swimming long, and swimming on the RAM team. At least I can still run, but it only happens once or twice a week, and usually not longer than 3 miles.

Last weekend was the NC State Fair. I don't go to the fair, and usually complain about the traffic. But this year the traffic didn't bother me, my commute goes in the other direction now. I do love to run by the fairgrounds while the fair is going on, it's always so nice to see all of the people who come out to the fair. So I went out for an easy 3, and it was cool. and it felt good, and I took my phone so I could always call for a ride home. Then I decided just to keep going towards the capital building, my regular 10 mile route. And funny thing, I never fatigued! Finally I discovered I was too close to getting back to the fairgrounds to call for a ride so I decided to just finish it out. It was the first time in double digits since the marathon in Colorado, and the really I have only hit 5 miles once since then.

On Hillsborough St

At the state capital building

a farmers market downtown

the NC State Fair

So I'm feeling good. When we were in Chattanooga, Chris suggested I try CBD oil to medicinally help with the inflammation. Amazon can't sell that, but I did get some hemp oil. Funny thing is, it really seems like it's working! My hands, wrists, and elbows were in really bad shape for weeks, and I was really debating going back to the rheumatologist because the current meds just weren't working. This hemp oil does seem to be the real deal. We'll have to see how that works out.

Mentally, I'm only doing ok. Summer lasted way longer than it should have, so now we get absolutely no fall in NC. No leaf colors, they are just dropping. Went overnight from high's in the 90's to high's in the 50's. insane. I'm not ready for the holidays to be here yet. More sleep and less weight would be nice. Road trips and great long runs like this really help! But finishing the porch project would be really nice too.

Hurricane Championship Swim

This might be the first year that I've been able to successfully complete all three of the local races in the Triangle Open Water Swim Series. Last year I did the first two and the 3rd one was cancelled thanks to Hurricane Matthew. This year it was game on. Sunday, 10/15/2017 for 1.2 miles of open water fun at New Hope Overlook boat ramp in Jordan Lake.

Foggy day!

FS Series getting it setup

Can't even see the first buoy

Ready to swim

The FS Series organizers asked at the beginning if anyone could sing the national anthem, I think they were having trouble streaming the copy they usually play. I stepped up to sing with no warning, no warmup, and no practice! At least the second half of the song sounded pretty good. For a singer, performing the national anthem in front of this many veterans, there's no such thing as a good performance. You either do it right or screw it up. I think I did it right, it's an honor when you do it right.

Eventually we did start swimming at 8 am. It was really foggy outside, but the fog burned off pretty quickly after we started swimming. You couldn't see much further than the next buoy, but at least there was some direction in there. And the water was like glass. No kind of current or chop at all.

There was an unexpected sand bar out there, so they positioned the return buoys in a little bit and suggested we keep them on the left. The 2.4 milers had to go back out for a second loop, and when I kept those buoys on my left, once I looked up to see a couple of those 2.4 mile swimmers heading directly at me! Surprise!

I finished in 34:54, good enough to place 52/101 overall, 31/53 men, and 2/6 in the 40-44 age group! I'll take an age group award any way I can get one.

The finish line when I was done

the non-selfie version

happy to have that bread

RAM swimmers

With my AG award!

Going ePostal

My friend KC first put the idea of doing the ePostal 5k into my head. Between her and Jennifer wanting to do this thing it got interesting quickly. You actually swim the ePostal races before you register for them, so the format (put on by US Masters swimming) is very unique. The 5k and 10k races have to be done in a 50 meter pool before September 14th. You have to have someone time for you, they write down your split and cumulative time every 100 meters. After 50 laps, you get your time. Jennifer and I decided to meet up on Saturday morning 8/12 to get the job done. I ended up swimming first while she timed me, and then I timed her and ate recovery food.

So I started swimming. I got in some long course time once earlier in the summer, but that was my first time in at least 2 years. Long course feels totally different. It goes much slower, here I averaged around 1:53 per 100 meters, as opposed to around 1:25 per 100 yards in regular practice. My first four laps were 1:43, 1:50, 1:55, 1:55. It takes a while to get used to that, you really have to check your expectations at the gate.

My strategy was to stop and drink some sports drink every 5 laps, and I stuck to that plan pretty well. Eventually I couldn't count to 5 anymore so I stopped whenever I felt like it. Eventually around lap 33 I started drinking every 3 laps, that was easy enough to count. And I needed the extra shots of energy then!

I finished the 5000 meters in 1:34:16. This is an outstanding baseline to compare against open water 5k swims. I tend to do the longer open water swims in rivers or the ocean where I can get help from the current, so having this pool time can give me an accurate comparison for the conditions.

Jennifer swam next. The pool was only setup for long course until 12:30, or so we thought. As she got in and started swimming, I was surprised how fast the laps seemed to go by. Then the lifeguards started pulling the laneropes out, so I had to ask. Some quick math told me that she was going to finish around 12:05, and the lifeguards said they had to switch back to short course at 12:00, not 12:30. So she was screwed.

Jennifer could actually count to 5, so she stopped to drink on a regular schedule. When she got to 3k I was already doing the math. Her splits were incredibly consistent, so I told her to go ahead and pick it up. By the time she got into the last K the ropes were in the way and she had to finish in an obstacle course, swimming on strange diagonals. She still finished in only 1:38, an amazing time since she had never gone the distance before.

The ePostal races were a great way to set a goal and get a race time in while accommodating our schedules. We're going to log the splits into the USMS site and pay the registration fee, then in the end will see how we ranked against every other swimmer in the country who completed the same distance in the same length pool. This is going to be a blast!

Such a fun day in the pool! And check out those lane ropes behind us.

Little Uno Big Results

My mother came to visit for the weekend, and attend a quilting conference in Raleigh. We were thrilled to show off the new deck and be able to spend this much time with her. The date was set by the conference, and it just happened to coincide with this year's Little Uno and Big Deuce swim race. I've done the Deuce several times, but signed up for the 1 miler this year.

Before the race

My RAM team had a tent setup with the banner, so we all kind of gathered around there to hangout before & after the race. Also got to see Kenn & Betty Gardner - Kenn was swimming, and they sing in the church choir with me.

Some of the RAM teammates

The two milers started first, and I have to admit I thought about jumping up to the other distance and I'm glad I didn't. At the May race, there was only 1 other guy in my age group and I wanted an award. This time the tables were turned - about 6 people in my age group in that race that were all way faster than I would have been.

The one milers lined up in the water walking out from a boat ramp. We had to tread water for about a minute. It was all one mass start for us, so it got pretty crowded. I got way more inside than I wanted to be, but I got to the front and tried to find some clear water without too many people behind me. Sure enough, once we started I didn't have to swim over anybody and nobody swam into me.

I started in at my normal lap pace - not sprinting out of the gate like I did in May. Settle in and stretch out my form. Keep my hands wide, high elbows and strong push through after entry, feel the top of my feet hit the top of the water. My sighting was dead on, I was swimming really straight. Now just hold that form for the entire lap.

There was a lot of chop after hitting the first turn. And that's when the human traffic started to get cluttered as well. This race is a triangle course, so after the 2nd turn the people clutter was much worse than the chop. Still after the last sighting buoy I increased the arm turnover, then sprinted into the finish.

Finished: 32:44, 44/144 overall, 17/64 men, 1/11 age group
YOU READ THAT RIGHT I WON MY AGE GROUP!!!!! This should not have happened. Last year I swam a 32:53, good enough for 5/8 in my AG. That extra 9 seconds I made up clearly meant that none of the fast guys showed up. Last year's age group awards went at 25:23, 27:48, and 31:35. I thought for sure I would have to break 30 minutes to get an award. And I felt like I swam the mile in under 30 minutes so those assumptions both turned out to be false!

Happy finisher, no results yet

Hanging with the RAM crew

With my age group award, a stemless wine glass!

All four of us won our age groups, so did plenty of other RAM members. L-R Rebecca, KC, Coach Kristen, me

I'll wrap up with a couple of other pictures collected from facebook friends

The best part is hanging out with friends

Billy Su (Last year's AG winner) caught me exiting the boat ramp at the finish

KC got me with Amy Oversmith

I think this is the first time I've won my age group in a race. I've been on winning relay teams, taken 2nd and 3rd place before, and snagged a few 3rd place overall awards in 5k's, but I think this is my first outright AG win. I couldn't be happier with how the day turned out.