[VIDEO] The Moment I Finished #Uberman & What I'm Most Proud of Accomplishing

Posted on November 4, 2016 by | Leave a comment

This is the moment that I decided it was time to finish my Uberman experience and attempt to complete “The World’s Toughest Triathlon” – 84 hours from the time I slipped into the water at Catalina Island and swam nearly 24 miles to shore, after 140 miles of desert terrain on my bike, then persisting nearly 38 miles on foot from Badwater Basin along CA-160 towards Mt. Whitney – captured on video, and I’m delighted to share this moment with you:

I’ve chronicled each segment of my Uberman experience in detailed posts here:

I’ve thought about the experience many times since this moment captured above – from the decision on April 1 to start my training to this finish. Looking back, the seven months flew by, yet I know that each training day and week seemed endless at times. I wanted to see how far I could push myself and to know what enough felt like. And I found it, right there, in the middle of Death Valley with my closest friends and family at mile 37.72 of the run.

People have already asked me – “Will you do it again next year?” If I could hop into a time machine and be magically transported to the starting line, then yes. I love personal challenge. I just can’t do the training anymore – scheduling every moment of every day, negotiating time with myself and my family, finding good calories to consume six… seven… eight times a day, waking up at 5:00am to swim 5000 yards or do sets of deadlifts.

I’ll continue to do events – ultra-marathons seem most appealing because of the relatively low training burden and enjoyment of trail running.

Here’s what I’m most proud of accomplishing over these past seven months:

1 – Successful completing the Catalina Channel swim with the best time of any competitor.

This swim was beyond any single endurance event I’ve ever attempted, This include my three Ironman races. In those races, I knew that barring the catastrophe of a bike crash or some kind of freak injury, I would finish the event within the prescribed 17-hour time limit. The same with the 50-mile ultra-marathon I ran last year – I knew I’d finish, it was just a matter of what my finishing time would be.

For the Catalina Channel swim, my finishing time of 14 hours 25 minutes was exactly in the 14-15 hour range I predicted, and was the best of the competitors that attempted it. So technically, I was leading the race after the swim… 🙂

More so, that meant my training and personal expectations were exactly correct.

The Catalina Channel is one of the three marathon swims comprising the Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming. (The English Channel and circumnavigating Manhattan Island are the other two.)

For the Catalina Channel swim, I was very, very scared – scared of the distance, scared of the currents and tides, scared of getting lost at sea, scared of sharks and scared of being ill-prepared because of my training program choices. (More on this later.)

I was scared of not finishing – approaching shore only to get pulled because of body temperature or conditions. I’d read enough blog posts from experienced marathon swimmers who got as close as a mile did not complete the swim. These fears were very real and very true.

We could have packed up here and I would have been happy and excited with my accomplishment. Everything past the swim was just gravy for me.

A number of variables affected the probability of completing the swim:

  • The 4:00am start time. Most swimmers begin at midnight from Catalina to avoid typical late afternoon winds that create chop and a headwind. While I hit headwinds and current as expected, I was very lucky to have had an remarkably smooth first 15-16 miles for the swim. As I saw and felt conditions change with about six miles to go and the final 3-4 miles were extremely tough. [More details here in the Swim Segment chronicle.]
  • Currents. The swim route from Two Harbors to Rancho Palos Verdes is essentially south to north. The currents that day would be moving in a southeasterly direction, meaning that as the current and wind picked up later in the day, I would be swimming “uphill” into a current to reach our planned end point of Terranea Beach. Many swimmers report getting pushed south towards San Pedro because of these currents, forcing them to swim 3-4 miles longer than planned. We chose a straight line route with course corrections throughout the day to swim the shortest possible distance. Even taking this approach, the 21-mile course took me 23.76 miles to complete.
screenshot-2016-11-03-06-47-46

Current direction day of the swim. Source: http://www.sccoos.org/data/hfrnet/

  • Timing of low and high tides that day. On the day of the swim (October 19th), low tides were in the early morning as we started, high tides just past 12noon, and the next low tides again just past 7:00pm. This meant that I’d be reaching the midpoint at high tide and fighting the low tide waters getting shore at my expected finishing time.
screenshot-2016-11-03-08-47-24

Tide variance the day of the swim. Source: https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/noaatidepredictions/NOAATidesFacade.jsp?Stationid=9410079&bmon=10&bday=18&byear=2016&edate=&timelength=daily

  • Tidal flow relative to the moon phases, which affect the severity of the tide. Because we started just past a full moon phase, the tide heights relative to baseline range were high as two meters. Here’s a graph of the variance that day from NOAA:

2 – Being physically & mentally ready. Accomplishing any one of these endurance events on their own – the Catalina Channel swim, a 140+ mile bike ride or a 38-miles desert run – would be a huge personal accomplishment. I did each these in four days’ time and felt muscularly and mentally ready for each day. I owe that all to my programming, training and diet. The only adverse effect I experienced was the thrashing of my rotator cuffs, and I’m not sure any amount of training could have prevented this.

I not only trained very hard, I had the RIGHT training program. (Thanks to my awesome wife and Brian MacKenzie.)

ready-to-go-on-the-bike

I eschewed the typical long, slow distance (LSD) training (more on this in a later post…). Any one of these three segments – the swim, bike or run – would reasonably take six months of dedicated LSD training just to complete that one event. I was training to compete in all three in five days’ time, so LSD simply would not be feasible even if I training as a full-time athlete and had no job or family. More so, I believe that LSD without building muscle tissue strength and tolerance to the extreme physical tests would not have been enough.

After hitting a peak of LSD training in late July to build my endurance engine, I consciously switched to higher intensity, CrossFit-infused training for a month on my own, then followed a training program set up after spending a day training with Brian at my wife’s suggestion.

For context, just 15 months ago, I swam 2.5 miles roundtrip from Aquatic Park to Alcatraz and back. My Catalina swim was 23.76 miles – nearly ten times the distance, and across a challenging body of water and more than doubled my longest distance swim of 10.5 miles across Lake Tahoe.

Then completing the 144 mile bike ride, and then 13.5 hours later starting on the Badwater run mentally ready and excited to claim as much of the 135 miles course as possible. I sincerely felt that I was physically able to complete the entire run course, however long it might take me. To reach that mental and physical state is incredibly satisfying.

The 144 miles on the bike is 30 miles longer than any ride I’ve ever done. I hit the 37.72 mile mark on the run with PLENTY in the tank before stopping.

3 – Making good, rational decisions throughout Uberman to return home safely.

I need to give a huge amount of credit to my wife, Lena. Throughout the event, she allowed me to make decisions on my own even though after making these decisions, she was happy and relieved that I made them. A few examples:

  • Skipping Day 1 of the bike. Because of my physical condition coming out of the swim (shoulders and feet injuries), it would have been unsafe to spend 14-16 hours covering 200 miles on a bike. Not only that, it would not have been fun or joyful.
  • Ending the Day 2 bike segment at 144 miles instead of going the full 200 miles. We reached the peak at Town Pass well past sunset. Navigating the 10 mile descent would have been treacherous and irresponsible from a safety standpoint. While I felt strong and able to cover the last 56 miles, finishing when we did and giving myself an opportunity to start the run the next day relatively fresh was absolutely the right decision.
  • Riding on Pedro (my road bike) for a large chunk of the ride because of road conditions and descents, and because I felt far less strain and pain in my shoulders vs my TT bike (a.k.a. “George”).
  • Doing weigh-ins & doing urine checks during the run. While the heat wasn’t overbearing, I had a hard time forcing myself to eat and consume calories on the run. We did a couple of weigh-ins to make sure I was maintaining my weight. Tim to monitored my urine – color and frequency – to make sure that my mind’s desire to keep going was overriding my body’s operating system.
  • Finishing Uberman at mile 37.72 of the run. I felt completely satisfied and a sense of “enough” for perhaps the first time in my life.

There were a hundred ways to get hurt out there, or even encounter life-threatening situations. We minimized the risk at every turn with planning and discussion and decision-making.

4 – That my son stayed happy and safe. The kid is a trooper. Even his low points with patience and frustration barely scraped typical low points we might hit on any day of any given week. He found entertainment in counting cacti and determining which was the pointiest, throwing dirt on to the highway at rest stops, hiking and looking for rocks, sitting in The Beast and waving to me through the windows. Everyone stayed focused on him throughout the journey and his presence there gave me a sense of calm and perspective.

benajmin-happy

benjamin-desert

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even the on the long drive home from Panamint Springs to Davos on Sunday, he chilled in The Beast with me for nine hours, never complaining or whining or going stir crazy.

I could have done this race alone with Lena and asked my family to stay back in Davis with Benjamin while I was out there. I wanted him there to see the desert and to make this a family adventure, not some crazy thing Scott does on the side.

5 – My team. (I’m saving the best for last here…)

From beginning to end, never did the team hit a point of outward frustration towards each other, the race, the demands of the expedition or me.

I give all of the credit to the team – Lena, Tbone, my in-laws (Nina & Paul), Tim and Benjamin for staying patient and accepting the challenge of supporting me not just on the course, but 24 x 7 throughout the entire event.

2016-10-22-17-37-56

The end of each day was always the most trying. Being out on the course is work, but you’re in the moment and thinking about what needs to happen next – when is the next feed, how many miles to go, where should we meet you next, what does Scott need at the next rest stop. These activities kept the crew focused on a task.

But… at the end of each day, there was a huge transaction cost going from the finishing point to the next morning:

  • Packing up The Beast and getting to the next hotel
  • Finding a place to park The Beast
  • Cleaning The Beast from the day and prepping for the next day
  • Checking into the hotel
  • Finding a place to eat
  • Tending for my injuries
  • Making sure our son is fed, bathed and comfortably to bed each night
  • Deciding who’s sleeping in the hotel and who’s sleeping in the camper
  • Building a plan the next day’s segment – who is getting up early with me to push me on to the course
  • … just to name a few…

I got a sense of what it might be like to be a professional athlete – a team of people that care for every aspect of your self and body. You saw me breakdown in the finishing video because at the end of the run, I felt the overwhelming love and support of everyone that helped me reach this point – from training to planning to executing Uberman. I felt, and always will feel, forever grateful for everyone that helped me along to way to take part in this endeavor.

__ __ __

If you want to read the details from each segment – the swim, bike, and run – I’ve chronicled each in detail here:

I hope you’ll read them, and understand if you don’t. Most of all, if you found this post or anyone of the posts I’ve done related to Uberman, please share them with a friend.

While I write these posts as much for myself to document and remember the adventure, I’m hopeful that somehow these posts will be useful to someone else considering the same type of adventure, or that they will motivate someone to take the next step towards their own adventure.

I’ll be posting over the coming weeks and months beyond these race reports – sharing a few ideas and experiences around:

  • Nutrition and diet plans during training and Uberman
  • Details about my training program
  • Planning & logistics (lists, checklists, mistakes made)
  • What I’d do differently: Uberman planning and execution
  • Stuff I’ll miss about Uberman
  • Stuff I won’t miss about Uberman
  • The Beast
  • Gratitude to everyone that cheered me on Facebook

Thanks for reading this far. I appreciate it. Please share this post if you found it valuable, or think it will be valuable to a friend.

I’ve also prepared a talk about my Uberman experience for companies, triathlon clubs and teams. Click here to learn more.

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One week to go. Shit's getting real. [Uberman]

Posted on October 11, 2016 by | Leave a comment

A week from today, I’ll be in Los Angeles for final prep before hopping on a boat to head to Catalina Island to kick off my attempt at Uberman.

The boat ride will take about two hours. The swim back to shore will be a bit closer to 15 hours…

I’ve done all the training I can do and now it’s just a matter of whether or I’m able I can put together five days of execution.  I’m well past the physical challenge of the ordeal. It’s become a massive puzzle:

… How to manage a 21-mile swim that starts in the dark and likely ends in the dark

… How I’ll keep myself going while still deploying good judgement after what’s safe and responsible to my family and myself.

… What to do if the current is strong. Or the winds create chop. Or there’s a migration of sea lions causing a shark feeding frenzy. Or that I’m just plain tired and unable to safely continue.

… Then if I finish the swim, how to get on a bike less than 12 hours later to start the first of two, 200-mile cycling segments knowing I’ll have back pain after the first 90 minutes…

… And if I finish the bike, how to start, continue, and complete a 135-mile trek by foot over 36 hours.

 

 

Yep, shit is getting real.

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Less than a month to go…[Uberman]

Posted on September 22, 2016 by | Leave a comment

When Uberman comes up in conversation, most people say something to the effect of – “Wow – that’s amazing!”

My reply is usually – “Well it’ll be amazing if I actually do it. Right now it’s all talk.”

I’ve reached the point in training where:

  1. I’m pretty sick of training. The grind is getting to me. I’d really, really like to have some of my life back.
  2. It’s a final push to sharpen and eek out any gains possible for whatever conditions the event or my body throw at me.
  3. Don’t get injured.

Re: Training…

I spent a day with Brian MacKenzie about a month ago at CrossFit-Costa Mesa. He is the real deal. We put together a Training-Strength & Conditioning-Nutrition-Mobility Plan. What to do every day of the week and I’ve been following nearly to a T since then.

The plan is no joke. Here’s a view of the workouts day-by-day. Every night, I’m doing 15-30 minutes of stretching and mobility:

Monday:

3x Bike (15-20 min)-Run (10 min) Brick. Max effort on all segments with fast transitions. These are basically all-out sprints for the times, so I’m at 22mph bike avg and 6:30-6:45 mile pace.

Swim (my add): 3000-4000 yards with random intervals.

Tuesday:

Long Run – 10-15 miles, with one minute pick-ups every ten minutes. The pick-ups add to the run pretty significantly. A 10-11 mile run with pickups feels like a 15 miler on long slow distance.

Swim (my add) – 2500-4000 yards with random intervals.

Wednesday:

Long Bike – 3+ hours on the bike with with one minute pick-ups every ten minutes.

Thursday:

Strength & Conditioning – Deadlifts & Lunges, followed by a Cross-Fit workout –> 6-10 rounds of 200 yard sprint, 5 pull-ups, 5 push-ups. I usually go 6-7 rounds on this over 13-17 minutes.

Long Interval Swims – 500-1000 yard intervals with 250 yard rest between. I can go 4-5 rounds of this totally 4000 yards and I’m completely spent after.

Friday:

Strength & Conditioning – Shoulder Presses, then Cross-Fit movements for time. ie. 100 kettlebell swings, wall balls or box jumps for time.

Long Interval Runs – 800-1200 yard all out, then recover to HR = 99, then go again, and keep going until I’m cooked. That’s about 6-7 miles right now.

Saturday:

Short Interval Swims – 50 yard intervals, going the whole length with minimal breathing (I can go 25 yards end-to-end without breathing now).

Long Interval Bike – 5-10 minutes all out, then recover to HR = 99, then go again. Do this for two hours.

Sunday: Rest

More updates to come as we get closer. Just wanted to share where I am for those interested…

 

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Uberman Training Update

Posted on July 18, 2016 by | 1 comment

NOTE: This post, nor any of my posts, are to be considered medical or training advice. This is only my reports of what I’m doing and what’s working and not working. Use it for informational and educational purposes only. If you’re thinking about endurance training, get some help from a certified coach…

As some of you know, and the rest of you now do, I’m training for Uberman. It’s a multi-day endurance event in October comprised of:

  • 21-mile swim across the Catalina Channel
  • 400-mile bike ride from the coast to Death Valley
  • 135-mile run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney (the Badwater course)

The race is now three months away, which gives me less than three months of training to go…

I spent April, May, and June ramping up my general baseline fitness – getting myself into general Ironman shape and focusing heaving on ramping up swim mileage each week.

Last week was a bit of a personal test to see how much volume my body could take in a single week, while still working, sleeping, and otherwise functioning as a husband and father. I think I passed the test. Now the hard stuff ahead…

TRAINING TOTALS FOR THE WEEK:

  • Swim: 32,000 yards (18.35 miles)
  • Bike: 151.5 miles
  • Run: 20 miles
  • Weightlifting: Two (2) short sessions focused on posterior chain and stability

THE DETAILS:

Sunday: 5000 yard swim, Weightlifting

Notes:

  • I planned to go longer – as much as 7500 or 10k yards, but just didn’t have the energy. At least I got in the pool after two weeks away from regular training.
  • We spent two weeks in Portland where I worked in frequent open water swimming, but my total mileage dropped way down and I paid the price on this first day back in the pool.
  • Deadlifts and kettle bell swings after the swim to work on posterior chain and stability.

Monday: 35 mile bike, 6 mile run

Notes:

  • I planned to do 50 miles on my Tri-Bike (aka “George”) but had some mechanical issues and instead did a shorter ride on my road bike (“Pedro”), using the wind as a workout.
  • I had a pretty solid crosswind and headwind the entire ride, so I put Pedro in a heavy gear and focused on heart rate. The ride felt like a long incline most of the way, giving my legs a very solid workout.
  • With temperatures in the low 90s, the run was a chance to see how I’d do in the heat with pace and heart rate. Overall, I’m pleased.
  • My baseline running heart rate is 135 bpm for long runs, and I started there, with it slowly climbing throughout the run.
  • By the last couple of miles, I was into the 145 range, and I practiced a run-walk strategy to make sure my HR would drop when I walked, and it did quickly, which is a positive sign that I have it under control in the heat.
  • I purposely didn’t take any water or cold packs with me to reduce variables contributing to my heart rate test.

Tuesday: 7500-yard swim, 2.75 mile run

Notes:

  • Back in the pool for real yardage by doing 7 x 1000, then a 500-yard cool down. It felt forced and lacked rhythm which I further attribute to my lack of pool swimming the last couple of weeks.
  • By 4000, it got a little better when my arms fatigued and I was forced into a longer, slower stroke more representative of what I’ll need to do in the race swim.
  • I was able to keep a 15:30 to 15:45 per 1000-yard pace, which is a good indicator for me. That’s roughly a 2.0 mph pace, and about what I’ve swam in my Ironman races.
  • The run was a simple jaunt around the neighborhood in the evening to get my legs moving and find a few extra miles for the week.

Wednesday: 2000-yard swim, Light weightlifting, 51.5 mile-bike

Notes:

  • The swim was a bonus – I found an extra 45 minutes in the day so I hopped in the pool and did 500 yards to warm up, then 10 x 100 intervals at an 7-8 RPE, then 500 cool down. I mostly just wanted to get in a little intensity for the swim and force myself to sharpen my stroke with the faster pace. Mission accomplished.
  • Weightlifting – overhead squats with dumbbells and kettle bell swings. Focusing on posterior chain to strengthen my cycling and climbing, and the kettle bells for core strengthen and overall stability.
  • Cycling was very, very hard. It was 99 degrees and no joke. The first hour was generally okay and smooth, though I was feeling Monday’s ride in my quads.
  • Hour two included some basic climbs that I’ve done a hundred times, and I knew I was fatigued based on the gears I needed and the amount of time I spent out of the saddle trying to work up the Steiger and Cantelow climbs. These are pretty modest climbs that I usually do in the saddle and at a controlled heart rate. Today? Not so much… I thought about turning around and going home a couple of times, and kept going, and was glad I did.
  • For the final stretch on Putah Creek Road, my butt was burning in the saddle and I turned to meditating while riding and simply facing the sensation until it was over. Good practice for Uberman.

Thursday: 7500-yard swim, 3.25 mile run

Notes:

  • Swim Ladder workout in the pool: 500-1000-1500-2000-1500-500-500
  • The second 1500 was the toughest. I was VERY drained after this, and at home laid on the floor staring at the ceiling while Lena made dinner. This never happens. I felt much, much better after eating, and concluding that I’m just not eating enough during the day. More fats please…
  • The run was another quick evening jog to work in some miles and otherwise reset myself to recover from the swim. Then a good stretch at night and felt much better the next morning.

Friday: 10,000-yard swim, 5.35 mile run

Notes:

  • 10 x 1000 yards midday in 99 degree heat. I learned about a new hazard while pool swimming – sunburn. Ugh. Sunscreen next time…
  • The first 3000 yards were smooth, then I dipped a bit until 6000-7000 where I found a nice glide for the first time on my left side. This has long been a struggle for me. It only lasted about 2000 yards, then I was fatigued.
  • 9000 was a bit more tolerable because I knew then I had only one set left. The last 1000 went really well and I pushed hard for a 15:30 pace – a solid indicator.
  • I brought nutrition to drink during the swim to begin thinking about my “feeds” in the open water. I drank my drink mix every 2000 yards (roughly every 30 minutes0 to get some calories and I felt a huge difference between yesterday’s and today’s post-workout. I was far less hungry and drained afterwards, so a positive development there.
  • With the heat as it was, I thought an outside run would be good so I plodded along the miles at a 8:50 pace to feel the heat and see how I’d feel. Wasn’t too bad and I was glad to get in a solid run and a few miles, and to know I had only a bike ride left in the week.

Saturday: 65-mile bike, 2.75 mile run

Notes:

  • Early ride in the cool morning air. Wow – what a difference 30 degrees makes. I felt great the entire ride and did some decent climbing and repeats.
  • But… I had a hard time getting my heart rate UP… I’m usually at a 118-122 HR in my zone 2, and was about 10-12 bpm slower. This is a sign of general fatigue. Even climbing, I couldn’t get above 130-135 bpm.
  • I was glad to experience this for a few reasons. First, I knew that I hit a physical limit for the week, which was kind of the plan anyway. Secondly. despite the signal of physical fatigue, I was able to maintain speed and power throughout the ride, and even the last 10-15 miles home, I felt good and strong and felt I could have gone another 35 miles if needed.
  • Most of all, I used ZERO nutrition on this ride. 3:35 in the saddle and 65 miles while fatigued with nothing but water. Of course I brought drink mix and an energy bar, and was able to go without. Before the ride, I ate an avocado and a banana, and drank black coffee. A good indication that my body can turn to fat for sustained energy.

Sunday: Rest

Notes:

  • I thought about a run, and mostly felt mentally tired from the week and wanted to just spend time doing nothing.
  • I cracked open my new book – “Power Speed Endurance” by Brian MacKenzie. (Thank you, Lena!)
  • The next focus area is mobility and flexibility.
  • Stay tuned…

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Swimming the Williamette River near Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge

Posted on June 25, 2016 by | 1 comment

Where motor boats are freshwater sharks… 

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Scott's Personal Update: 5/25/16

Posted on May 26, 2016 by | Leave a comment

It’s my birthday today. I’m 42 now. Here’s what I’ve been up to…

Work Stuff:

I’m nearly through eight months running my own company full-time (www.salesqualia.com). I started the year with very lofty goals around revenue and customers. Then I realized the most important thing I can do is survive the first year, and all the mistakes that I’ll make. I’ve made a few, none disastrous, and some have been pretty frustrating and good learning opportunities.

Life Stuff:

Lena is also eight months into life as a PhD. It’s pretty awesome spending weekends together and watching her have the opportunity to fly airplanes. Very cool. Benjamin is now four-years-old. I try to make everything we do together fun like taking him to school in the bike trailer, and sometimes taking the long way through the olive grove.

Training Stuff:

I’m registered for this thing call Uberman. It’s a multi-day endurance event that’s pretty close to what I wanted to do this summer on my own. But better because there are eight of us doing the event, and it’ll only take 5-6 days instead of the 10-day event I was planning for myself.

The end of May concludes my second month of training. Pretty happy with where I’m at – did a 100+mile bike ride on Saturday and off to the pool tomorrow AM for a 10,000 yard swim (10 x 1000). For those keeping score at home, that’s 400 lengths in a 25-yard pool, and comes to roughly six miles. Yeah. This is how I choose to spend the day after my birthday.

I haven’t been running to let my tendon injury heal, and it seems to be working. I figure I can catch up on the running training with my general fitness at a very solid level. People I’ve know for a while have said things like – “You look really fit.” – which I says a lot because I’ve considered myself pretty fit for a few years now. Seems that the training is having an effect.

Back in December, I ran my first ultra-marathon. I have a race report drafted that I need to finish and post.

Personal Stuff:

I’m continuing my practice of Morning Pages and meditation most mornings, though cutting back from 6-7 days/week to 4-5 simply because some mornings are swim mornings and I need to get to the pool by 5am. On weekends, I also generally skip to grab some more sleep or get up early for a bike ride.

Thanks for reading. I’ll do a better job of posting.

 

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Left-handed swimming. Running 50 miles.

Posted on September 4, 2015 by | 1 comment

I started left-handed swimming yesterday. When I changed my swimming form for the better this summer (thanks to Total Immersion), the externality was a further etching of my right-arm dominant swimming stroke. Even before my near debacle during the Alcatraz swim two weeks ago, I knew I need to switch up my breathing and stroke pattern, so September will be that month to undo more than five years of my right-arm swimming addiction.

Rumor has it that even Aquaman had to overcome a right-handed swimming addiction.

Rumor has it that even Aquaman had to overcome a right-handed swimming addiction.

I started this week with two 2500 yards swims already, almost entirely left-side breathing with some trilateral breathing. The first 1500 yards of the first workout were brutally bad – it felt as comfortable as brushing my teething or throwing a football left-handed The last 1000 yards got a little better, so I left encouraged. The second workout was less bad, so all is trending in the right direction. I’m planning on three swim workouts a week this month, all of them left-handed.

Once October rolls around, I’ll move to trilateral breathing permanently. I’m hoping to find some long distance open water swims throughout the Fall and Winter, even I have to travel to places like Florida, Hawaii, or the Carribbean. Suggestions welcome.

Now if I could only learn how to do flip turns…

On the running front, I’m registered for The North Face Endurance Challenge 50-miler. Super pumped for this event. I did their half-marathon distance in 2009, then tried the 50k distance in 2010 and withdrew around mile 18 because of an injury.  The course is awesome and I remember the event organization to be very, very good.

I got back into running mode with 19 miles last week and I’m on track for 20+ miles this week. That’ll ramp up over the next few weeks to the 30 mile/week range, and I’m planning a 20 mile/30k trail run sometime in late October/early November as a precursor to the 50-miler in December. Suggestions welcome here too.

Once I bag the 50-miler, I’ll get to work on running back-to-back 50 milers by early Spring as training for The California Challenge.

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More plants. More sleep. Fewer cows. Less coffee.

Posted on August 31, 2015 by | 6 comments

(Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this post does not constitute medical advice of any kind whatsoever. The information presented here is only for recording my own diet and nutrition plans. Any application of this information for personal use should absolutely be verified with medical and scientific professionals.)

Eat more kale.

Eat more kale.

I’m giving a plant-centric diet a shot.

Plant-centric, not vegetarianism or vegan. Just lots and lots of plants throughout the day, every day.

Why more plants?

rich roll finding ultraRich Roll, an ultra-distance endurance athlete, is plant-based (completely vegan). I first learned about Rich from this James Altucher podcast interview, and I found his story highly relatable. Then a month ago, I listened to Rich’s book – “Finding Ultra.”  (Thanks Kim!)

I figure if this man can do all that he does on 100% plants, it’s possible. Other highly accomplished endurance athletes (i.e.  Scott Jurek) are vegan. In fact, I read Scott’s book, “Eat and Run,” two+ years ago which led me to my first effort in this direction with my diet.

scott jurek

I’m taking the view that the ideal diet for each of us is both deeply personal – mentally, physically, and psychologically – and this is why I’m not simply copying Rich or Scott by going 100% vegan. I want to do what feels right for me, while infusing science, pragmatism, and personal preference wherever I feel is appropriate.

All of this is foundation for my training for next summer’s California Challenge.

Early results

I’ve lost about 4-5 pounds in the last month. I’m down to 186 in the mornings and 183 after a heavy workout. The is surprising for a couple of reasons:

  1. I’ve been squarely at 190 lbs since my last Ironman in 2013, and I’ve maintained that weight for a couple of years since. I crept up briefly to 200 lbs last year after my knee surgery, and then lost that weight quickly once I started training again.
  2. I haven’t been trained particularly hard since last month’s Donner half-iron triathlon, so I dropped the weight without an accompanying training load.

A few lessons learned so far

  • Salad for breakfast, replacing yogurt and eggs as my morning mainstay. Kale, spinach, zucchini, carrots, flax seed, sunflower seeds, avocado, pumpkin seeds, almonds, apples, peaches, olive oil, vinegar. Then salad for lunch. Then salad for dinner.
  • Salad need not be only leafy green stuff. For example, last night I concocted a lovely crunchy salad of bell peppers, carrots, Persian cucumbers, and zucchini.
  • Mix fruit with traditional vegetables. Blueberries and strawberries added to kale is very yummy.
  • Prepare said salad the night before. Creating a salad takes significantly longer than scooping out a bowlful of yogurt.
  • Allocate more time to eat breakfast. Consuming carrots and almonds quickly is not recommended.
  • Work with the seasons. Fall is near, and yesterday I had my first butternut squash in a while. Yummy.
  • Deviate when necessary because of limited access to food or my palette’s desires i.e. the two pieces of yummy Peruvian chicken I demolished last night and the ham and cheese from the sandwiches offered at lunch last Wednesday.
  • I’m thinking about a Vitamix, though I have some reservations about how satisfying a smoothie can be, vs. chewing and swallowing whole food.

More changes

Alkalizing

This is not puddle water.

This is not puddle water.

  • I add apple vinegar to my water. The vinegar is an alkalizing agent to counteract acidic foods. I’ve taken to the taste too.
  • A lower alkaline body composition leads to fewer colds and reduces the risk of long-term chronic diseases such as cancer.
  • Here’s a useful food chart by Susan Brown on big and low acidic and alkaline foods.
  • Here’s a layman’s guide to pH levels from WedMD.
  • I’m sure that just pouring apple cider vinegar into my water isn’t enough on its own. It’s just a start. Reducing coffee intake also helps.
    (I learned this trick from Tim Ferriss.)

Coffee

  • My caffeine intake fluctuates, and I found that even on weekends, I was up to 3-4 large espressos daily. I’ve cut back to two cups now, and next I’ll see about pushing down to a single cup.
  • The goal is a more consistent energy level throughout the day, and to avoid dependency on a stimulant for productivity.
  • Note: I am not anti-coffee, and in fact, I’m very “pro” it’s antioxidant properties. Everything in moderation.
  • In fact, here are a few research studies on coffee: Coffee might aid in reducing dementia, and Antioxidants found in coffee.

Hydration

  • I also add sea salt to my water. With the reduction in meat consumption, I feel like my sodium levels have dropped and I need to maintain consistent hydration with my endurance training.
  • I did a quick experiment yesterday. It was about 11:30am and I started to drag ass. I guessed I was more dehydrated than tired. Instead of coffee (which I wanted dearly), I drank a bottle of water, which absolutely helped with my energy level for a couple of hours.
  • Based on the yellowish color of my urine even after the water, I feel I had to be dehydrated. Placebo or real? Dunno. I win either way.

Snacking

  • Carry a bag of partially salted seeds and nuts – cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, etc.
  • These are great for protein, oils, and good fats. Makes a dense paste in my stomach that carries me through the mid-morning and mid-afternoon hunger pangs.

My bag of nuts.

My bag of nuts… (okay people, grow up…)

Fewer energy bars (i.e. Larabars, Clif Bars, Quest Bars)

  • At one point, I was up to 4-5 per day with a busy schedule depending on travel and teaching schedules.
  • Lara Bars, which I particularly like because they’re gluten free, have about 20 grams of sugar per bar. Clif Bars are more than double that. Ugh.
  • Quest Bars are better on both fronts and I find them to be more satisfying, but they are at least 2x more expensive ($2.40/bar vs $0.99/bar)
  • I’m capping myself to no more than two per day on busy day, and 0-1 on most days. This is where carrying seeds and nuts is helpful.

Sleep

  • I was good for a while in getting 7-8 hours every night.
  • But… Benjamin is getting to bed a bit later now – 9pm+ (or later) instead of 7:30-8pm from a year ago, and I’m an early riser.
  • I went through a stretch recently in which I was only getting about six hours per night, and I know that’s unsustainable.
  • The early morning hours are my most productive time, so I really struggle with balancing enough sleep with the opportunity cost of my productive time.
  • If Jimmy Wales can find eight hours a day, so can I.
  • Read: “Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication“
  • I definitely feel tired by midday most days, especially on the weekends when I have a heavy morning workout followed by a day keeping up with Benjamin. I need at least a 10-15 minute nap to recharge. As my schedule continues to evolve, I plan to work in real naps every day of the week.
  • I do sometimes purposely to train on short sleep from time to time. I feel like it conditions my body to handle tiredness.

I’ll post more as a I learn. Thanks for reading this far.

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Posted in Life stuff, Race Reports & Training

Touch Alcatraz 'n Go! Race Report [Long distance swimming]

Posted on August 25, 2015 by | 5 comments

That was interesting…

Pre-race

I felt nervous walking from the hotel to the starting area. Real butterflies. This was a new event for me. In triathlons and trail races, I know what to expect from myself and my body. The Touch Alcatraz ‘n Go Swim was going to be about raw effort and faith in my abilities and strength.

2015-08-23 07.39.15

If you think I look confused here, wait until the end of the race…

We arrived at the swim start and most of the swimmers had already checked in, most donning their wetsuits and looking ready. I noticed a hint of community here – long distance swimmers greeting what was ahead with enthusiasm. I left a little out of place, though still confident I would have a good day. That no one knew me or my abilities gave my solace that with a good swim I could compete with the specialists.

The water was warm by San Francisco Bay standards – 65 degrees at shore and 63-65 degrees out by Alcatraz. I talked about the water temperatures with a race organizer and suggested that I might even skip my thermal cap. “Oh yeah. It’s warm out there. I haven’t seen a thermal cap out here in weeks.” So that decision was made. I was going completely skin and felt a pang of contentment that I had a good reason to go without. I wanted to see how I’d hold up in cold water and to be able to say after the event that I did the swim without any aids.

The course was pretty simple – swim from the shores of Aquatic Park, out of the opening to a boat anchored on the west side of Alcatraz, touch the boat, then head back to shore. The pre-race briefer recommended we swim directly for the boat, then head back aiming to the left of the Aquatic Park opening, creating a slight loop. With plenty of large buildings and objects at shore, sighting would be easy.

Race Strategy & Time Goals

I planned to approach the swim much like I would a longer distance triathlon:

  1. Start slow. Focus on form. Find a flow.
  2. Be fresh at the turnaround.
  3. Hammer home and finish strong.

Considering the swim distance (2.5 miles) and my best Ironman swim time ( 1:05), I figured that I should definitely finish by 1:45, with 1:30 as a reasonable goal. I thought I might have a shot at a 1:15 time with the perfect swim. I tend to start slow, picking up steam as I go, and I expected today to be the same.

Race Start

I was purposely last in the water at race start, trailing the rest of the swimmers – keep everyone in view so I wouldn’t feel pressure to keep up with anyone else’s pace or react to getting passed. Plus I assumed I would pass a few early swimmers which would help me trust my form and strategy.

Last man in the water

Last man in the water.

I found a nice rhythm in the alcove heading out to the Bat. The water felt warm and I imagined a strong swim. The water had a greenish tint with visibility limited to a few feet down.

Once out of the alcove, the water noticeably changed. Small consistent swells of slightly colder water told me – “Hey man, just in case you forgot, you’re now swimming in San Francisco Bay.”

I adjusted my thinking and felt my brain move more into a protective, thoughtful mindset – one that tensed me up a bit, putting me on notice that I was embarking on a challenge. A paddle boarder hovered right next to me. It felt like a personal escort for a while. I maintained my rhythm, passed a couple of swimmers, and the paddle boarder migrated away from me. I now felt more alone in the wide open space ahead, with the exception of a lone wetsuit swimmer about 10 yards ahead. I thought I might pass, tried, didn’t, and realized that it was no matter.

Eventually I pulled up into a crawl to stretch out my chest and to check in with myself. All was well. The single wetsuit pulled far ahead and I discovered a kayaker to my left. I asked if we were swimming to the white boat out there, which he confirmed. I sighted and went back to swimming.

Middle of the Bay

A rather large dark object swam across me, which I thought was a sea lion at first. I pulled up and looked, and it was a just sea gull swimming by. He sort of gave me a look as if to say – “Hmm… Interesting. Cheerio.” and we both went our separate ways.

Screenshot 2015-08-24 09.01.10Occasionally I thought about sharks and accepted there was no way they’d be in the water today. My mind turned to the water’s depth. I guessed that the water must be 80-100 feet below me. (Turns out this estimate is pretty close. The bay averages only 43 feet and is 15-20 feet in most places but the shipping channels are dredged to 100 feet.) That got inside my head a little – no bottom to touch. If anything went fearsomely wrong, I might sink to the bottom and never be found. Yes, these scraped along in my mind.

I thought about the experience of swimming the English Channel. I know this guy who’s done the Channel swim, with water temperatures another 5-10 degrees colder over a course that is ten times the length. I gained an even greater appreciation for that feat as I felt he cold water on my arms and shoulders.

From time to time, I looked back at the Bay Bridge and San Francisco to my right, and once I turned to the left because I wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge, completely forgetting that I’d get a heavy dose on the return segment. Occasionally I glanced at Alcatraz ahead, and it still looked far away.

More swimming. More swimming. I eventually crept closer to the turnaround boat, and it felt like I was creeping. Maybe it was the current or that I was feeling tired, but as I pushed closer, it seemed to take longer than I expected once I had it clearly in sight. A couple of swimmers on their way back to shore passed me and I took a moment to look at Alcatraz again. It finally looked large and close, looming there like a postcard against the gray sky. I began to feel cold and tired. Having worked for a solid 25-30 minutes so far, it seemed illogical that I would feel cold – cold in my upper arms, cold in my central body.

Back to shore

Finally reaching the boat, the crew instructed me to aim for Fort Mason on the return. This was puzzling given the pre-race briefing to aim to the left of the alcove and just to the right of the gray battleship because the expected slack in current. I ignored the instructions instead finding a high rise just above the alcove opening and two tall residential buildings as my targets.

The current softened, and I began a push for shore at a faster, stronger pace. While I had 1.25 miles to go, I equated that to a 2000 yard workout in my mind which I could do at pace and unlike a triathlon, I had no reason to save anything for the bike and run. Looking back, I think this was partly my reptilian brain telling me to get back to shore as quickly as possible.

After a few minutes of a driving stroke, I pulled up to confirm with a kayaker that I was headed in the right direction. “Yep, you’re doing great!” he said. Hearing that gave me a burst of confidence, and yet I still felt like a problem was growing. After another swimming burst, I pulled up again and despite the increased work load, I felt cold. And while the shore looked closer, I still had a lot of work to do.

In returning back to my stroke, I couldn’t find a rhythm. My arms splashed. My pace slowed. My form disintegrated. I started taking in seawater. I would stroke for another 100-200 yards, then pull up to sight again. Another 100 yards, then sight again. My visual field narrowed and the buildings on shore bounced erratically. I considered that I might need to grab a kayaker or they might pull me from the water. I was in a gray zone.

Grinding through, I saw that the alcove piers were just ahead. Several swimmers passed me, hitting the opening and appearing to swim much stronger than me. More kayaks hovered around. which now I suspect could have either been for my safety or simply because a group of us where hitting shore at the same time.

Once inside the alcove, I sighted for the yellow flags. I tried to think like I would in a triathlon – Just keep stroking. Avoid looking at the flags. Maintain form. My knuckles finally dragged on the sand, I stood up and wobbled to shore.

Not exactly how I expected to feel after...

Not exactly how I expected to feel after…

I heard Lena’s voice and saw the semblance of her face next to me. All I could muster was “cold” and “blanket.” Once back to the seating area, the team of Lena, Kim, and Benjamin dressed me and wrapped me in blankets. I shivered uncontrollably from my core A medic came over with three warm packs. “I want you to put these two under your arms. Now take this one and put it down your pants.” After a minute of two, he said – “Okay, get up and walk around.” A fellow swimmer shared her hot tea from her Thermos, and after fifteen minutes of this I returned to a more normal state. Done and done.

My awesome team!

My awesome team!

Hi Kim - Thanks for the hot tea. I kinda needed it... :-)

Hi Kim – Thanks for the hot tea. I kinda needed it… 🙂

Results:

  • Time: 1:31:17
  • 21/25 Overall
  • 8/8 Non-wetsuit

What I learned:

  • Cold water swimming is no joke. I knew this already and have verified.
  • I have a long way to go before I can do distance swimming without help from a wet suit. Over the last two months, I did several lake and ocean swims without a wetsuit, and found myself shivering even in those shorter swims in warmer water. I’m note sure why I thought I could make it the full 2.5 miles of the course in cold water without a wet suit without ill effects
  • My swim stroke is atrocious. My right arm dominates. Lena noticed this as I reached shore and a video from Kim confirms. I’ve known this to be the case, and now the next month will be dedicated to left side breathing only to balance and develop a tri-stroke breathing pattern.
  • I know what it’s like to feel distressed, and Lena now knows how I look and act when I’m in distress. This is a good thing as we do more events, especially self-supported ones like next summer’s California Challenge.
  • I’m glad I had the thought that I may need to reach for assistance during the swim. It’s reassuring that I have the ability to maintain some semblance of good judgement in hairy situations.

Training & Preparation:

  • Last month’s Donner Lake Half-Ironman gave me a solid baseline, and in training for that race, I trained past the distance – hitting 2500-3500 yard workouts regularly.
  • Less than two weeks ago, I did a two mile continuous pool swim and felt great. This past week, I did three one mile ocean swims, then a 3×1000 workout on Thursday. Thursday’s workout felt forced, and mentally, I felt underprepared going into the race because this workout. At the time, I chalked it up to tiredness and overtraining.
  • I didn’t do enough long distance open water swimming, nor enough speed work. The speed work forces me to swim in a recovery mode after a hard burst. With current, water temperature, and tidal swells, there were times in the swim that I need to push a little and times I could have slowed. The speed workouts could have prepared me more.
  • More strength training. I let this completely fall off this past month, and 1-2 CrossFit workouts per week would have helped my balance and strength in the final 1/2 mile of the swim.

Event Organization

  • The $295 entry fee is pretty steep. With only 30 participants, I’m sure there’s not much profit margin there given the number of support personal – kayakers and medical – and whatever permissions and permits were required to block off the shipping lanes for the event. Nevertheless, I can do three local triathlons for less than $295.
  • The on-course support was great. I definitely felt like there was help if I needed it and that I received personal attention. The medical help I received post-race was huge.
  • Everyone received a t-shirt and a medal. Both feel pretty cheap. The t-shirt is white cotton and the medal was low quality. These should be better for that price.
  • The organizers had a small spread of coffee, bagels, peanut butter, and energy bars pre-race. I didn’t have any. It was nice to see there.
  • Having warming blankets and hot water would have been nice. The organizers did ask everyone to bring their own, and I mostly had what I needed. Guess I’m just considering what you get for the fee.

What’s Next

  • I’m glad I did the event and I don’t think I need to do it again. I know where I am with cold-water distance swimming. I definitely have work to do.
  • Separately, I’ve registered for the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 mile trail run in December. Swimming will be a big part of the cross-training for that.
  • I’m planning to work up to a 10×1000 workout by the end of September, and then continue to push the distances up each month with workouts like 5×2500, then 10×3000 by early next year. My English Channel friend worked up a 10×4000 workout preparing for his swim. While I’m not doing the English Channel, I do have a 24 mile swim planned in Lake Tahoe next summer as part of the California Challenge.
  • Back to the pool to fix my stroke and increase my distances. I’m considering a weekend at Donner Lake in September for a top to bottom swim (~3 smiles), or even a top to bottom and back (~6 miles). Stay tuned…

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Posted in Race Reports & Training

Open water swimming at Corson's Inlet (Ocean City, NJ)

Posted on August 18, 2015 by | Leave a comment

I just finished three glorious days in a row of morning swims at Corson’s Inlet, which separates Ocean City, NJ and Sea Isle City.

I only needed only to be 50 yards from shore at any point to stay clear of the fishing lines cast from shore, and that kept me safely from the motor boats and jet skis.

 

Equipment note: I LOVE my Kiefer SafeSwimmer buoy. IT IS AWESOME. Thank you to my wonderful wife for this gift.

From the spot I dipped into the water near the connector bridge, I could site by a white water tank, and when that fell from view, I shifted to a tall red radio tower to hit the sandy point.

On Saturday and Sunday, I swam right at high tide, so there was virtually no current.

This morning (Monday), I swam with an incoming tide and really felt it as I reached the sandy point. I got out to rest and a fisherman applauded me for the work out I was giving myself. He also commented how cool and visible by swim buoy was. Lots of fun out there.

Couple of notes:

  • It’s almost exactly a half mile from the Corson’s Inlet State Park entrance to the sandy point that juts out, making a solid one mile swim without much effort.
  • Rounding the sandy point can be a little treacherous, as the jet skis cut the corner and the water gets a little rough going out to the ocean. I think a strong swimmer could be just fine, I just wouldn’t recommend taking the risk unless you’re in a group and have a kayak or boat spotting you.
  • Check the local tide chart. The high and low tides change by about 45 minutes each day. Didn’t know that until my mom shared a tide chart with me. (Thanks, Mom. 🙂

 

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Posted in Race Reports & Training