Taper Time!

What's taper you ask?

Well according to the American Swimming Coaches Association:

A taper is "the reduction of workload during a period immediately prior to a major competition." There is no one way to do a taper, nor a magic formula. One of the most important things that a swimmer must do during a taper, any taper, is to believe in themselves, their abilities, and the work they have done over the course of the season.

So after three months of consistent, and relatively high-volume swimming, lifting, and yoga (given that I have a full time job), it's taper time!  I'm still exercising, but doing less work and lowering the intensity.  In fact today--Wednesday--will be my last swim before Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim.  As an added bonus, I'm getting a massage tonight to work out all the kinks in my shoulders!

Taper, is also a topic with a lot of niche humor in the swim community.  Some samples:

Taper means "a gradual lessening" but when I'm tapering, I'm not running, jumping, walking, lifting, moving, or talking.
— Mike Gustafson (@mikelgustafson) July 19, 2013

Tip #3 Walking is overrated! #GroceryShopping #TaperTipsWithZiggy @swimswamnews pic.twitter.com/Bce4MYcp
— Ziggy McGinnis (@Zach_McGinnis) February 2, 2013

Missy Franklin is featured in her club team's parody video about taper:


So, if you're looking for me, I'm on taper!

Monday Morning Video: Swim and Shine (Not Giving In)

Earlier this summer, a video made the rounds that many were hailing as the greatest swimming psych up video of all time.

And while that video was motivating, I have to admit that I prefer this one--for the soundtrack, for the inclusion of open water swimmers, women, paralympians, and swimmers of all ages.  And for the fact that there's a lot more swimming in it. So, as I start to get myself psyched up for the "big swim," the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim, it seemed fitting that this week's Monday Morning Video be my favorite swimming psych up vid!

Hat tip to SwimSwam for bringing both videos to my attention!

As a reminder, we're in the final week of fundraising for cancer research with the hope of raising $4000 for the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Care Center at Johns Hopkins.  And we have a challenge grant.  Since we're only $555 away, I will match the first $200 in donations.  Donate here!

To Swim, Perchance to Dream: Regent Park Aquatic Centre

Regent Park Aquatic Centre after morning lap swim ended.

Some people have a dream car, or a dream house.  But the more I get into swimming, the more I have dream pools.  Places I'd like to swim, or wish I could swim every day.  

There are only 11 days until the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim (and you can still donate!)  On Saturday, I hopped a flight to Toronto for a weekend visit with my friend Cynthia  and a three day visit to the Meeting of the Minds conference.

Cynthia is a friend I made when we were both traveling in Cambodia, and this is the first time I've seen her since.  We had lots of fun exploring Toronto on Saturday, and on Sunday, she upped my game on my yoga practice by introducing me to Moksha Yoga (in a heated room), and then doing a flow class outdoors in Toronto's beautiful High Park! 

On Monday, I knew I had to get back in the pool.  And that's where this week's dream pool comes into play!

The Regent Park Aquatic Centre is a public swimming pool built in the midst "of a failed postwar social housing community" and as an anchor for that neighborhood's revitalization.  There's a great article on the design of the Centre from the Toronto Star.

The staff is lovely, the pool and facilities are beautiful and well maintained, and it's free!  The only drawback on Monday at 7:30 am, was that it was BUSY!  Turns out a lot of the other public pools get cleaned this time of year, so everyone came over to Regent Park.  But, I managed--with the help of a woman who was just back from the Big Shoulders 5k in Chicago--to log about 3200 meters before swim wrapped up at 9 am.  Not bad for work travel!

Have a suggestion for a future post of "To Swim, Perchance to Dream?"  Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #dreampool.  

The view walking up to the Regent Park Aquatic Centre for my morning swim!

 

4 Sites for Swim News, Training and Tips

For me, the internet can be a rabbit hole.  I start out reading an article, or doing a search, and 3 hours later I might be spending $100 to buy something I don't need, reliving the 2012 Olympics, or developing a deep passion for a topic I did not know existed the previous day.  The internet is so great and so horrible at the same time.

I think the web is an amazing resource for swim training.  And since my last post about online swim training tools turned out to be quite popular (by the standards of my little blog), I figured I'd share some more resources I've discovered.

Active.com Swimming
Folks may be familiar with Active.com as the online community where you can find out about and get tips on swimming, biking and triathlon events.  But, I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of their Swimming section of the site.  It has some nice articles on workouts, technique, and in particular open water swimming.  I recently enjoyed their list of 7 Swims to Do Before You Die!  Yes please to Waikiki Rough Water and Big Shoulders!

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is a Canadian swimmer and writer who focuses a lot on motivation, goal setting and self improvement.  He has a book he's created (which I'll admit I haven't read), but I actually think that's a bit secondary to the bits of motivational wisdom and ideas he explores in his blog and weekly e-newsletter.  Two recent blog posts I enjoyed: 7 Ways to be More Optimistic at the Pool and How Much Does Michael Phelps Hate to Lose? which is just a set of photos of Phelps' awesome facial expressions after losses.




As a thanks for supporting the Kickstarter campaign for Touch the Wall, the documentary about Missy Franklin, I was granted one month of free access to GoSwim.  While I haven't yet decided if I'll sign up for a subscription (it's $9.99/month or $99.99/year) it is a great source of quality videos on technique featuring both "real people" and some extraordinarily, elite swimmers.  Their trailer video features like 20 Olympians demonstrating strokes and drills.  Really useful if you're a visual learner, and want your swim technique videos in a consistent and easily searchable format.

How do describe SwimSwam?  Eighty percent swimming news, twenty percent swimming adjacent news.  What do I mean? It does great coverage of everything going on in the swimming world-international, national, college, open water, Masters, high school and includes coverage relating to training and health.  And then covers the fun of the sport, and how it shows up in pop culture.  What do I mean?  Well, there is Gary Hall Jr. and David Cromwell's occasional column where they basically just make fun of eachother, lots of great videos (one of the most popular is entitled Nathan Adrian Responds to Suit Split--and it does feature photos). And they are great about promoting swimming however it shows up in pop culture.  Whether it's their excitement over the swimming section of the latest Kia Soul Hamster commercial or the latest that Ryan Lochte might actually getting his wish and appearing on Dancing with the Stars.


Have other recommendations for websites on swim news, training and tips?  Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #swimsites.

From the Team Goldfish Gear Bag: Poolmate Watch

Team Goldfish Note: When I recommend something from the gear bag, it's not because someone's asking or paying me to promote it. I'm sharing some tools and gear that I've found to be good quality and useful for swim training!  Please remember it's just one woman's opinion.

For anyone who's ever trained for a big event, or been working on getting better at a sport, you know it's important use data!  In the case of swimming, that means being able to track yardage and times.   When I talk about my swimming, and the distances I practice, folks often ask how do you keep track of all your laps and times? 

That's where the Poolmate Watch from Swimovate comes in!  About five months into swimming consistently, my parents gave me the Poolmate as a holiday gift.  The instructions were easy to follow to set it up--pool length, your weight, which hand you wear it on.  And I immediately loved how it let me track laps and times.  And the great advantage of the Poolmate over other tools is that it tracks your lengths automatically--no clicking of counters--because it senses your push off from the wall. You just need to click the button at the beginning and the end of the set.  It also stores a history of your workouts so you can go back in time and take a look.  While the watch is great for tracking distance in freestyle and back sets, I've found it a bit iffy with my breaststroke sets, and it doesn't track distance in open water, though I do still use it for timing open water swims. 

It also has a cool story.  It was invented by a married couple who had gotten into triathlon and couldn't find a pool watch.  There's a nice little video telling their story on the site!

I have the basic model, but there is also a Pro model which includes the ability to download all your data to the computer. If this post has piqued your interest, the folks at Swimovate are offering 10% any order from their website using the coupon code social10!

Diana Nyad Inspires Me to Set 2 Personal Bests!

“@diananyad: "People always ask me What's the hardest part? By far, without a doubt, it's the moment before embarking.” via @OtherShoreMovie
— Alison Gold (@AKGold11) August 31, 2013

Yesterday I watched Diana Nyad complete an extraordinary challenge.  In her fifth attempt, she swam the 110 miles of the Florida Straits from Cuba to Key West in ~52 hours of non-stop swimming. It was the longest open water swim ever done without a shark cage. On Twitter and her blog she received congratulations messages from Olympic gold medal winning swimmers and famous actors, "regular" people and the President of the United States.

She was greeted by 100s of people at the beach at Key West and many television cameras.  Despite her exhaustion and sunburn and chafed skin and lips she said, "I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you never are too old to chase your dreams. And three is, it looks like a solitary sport but it's a team."

Diana Nyad Florida Straits Swim Tracker.

About an hour later, I headed to the pool for the first time in more than a week.  Buzzing from having watched the live footage of Nyad's accomplishment, and anxious to see what the time out of the pool and on the hiking trails would do to my swimming, I decided to log some yardage.

My Labor Day workout:

Warm up:
200 free
100 drill (alternating 25 fingertip drill/25 catch up)
200 free

Main Set:
2x1650

Warm Down:
100 free
50 breast
50 back
100 free

I was pretty shocked when I checked my Poolmate watch for my time on my first 200.  I felt like my body was rotating well and I was really "feeling the water."  But, 3:34 was an 8 second drop on my previous personal best and I wasn't trying to go fast.  Then I managed a 3:35 on the second warm up 200. 

I was hoping that I could also log a new personal best in the 1650 free, also known as the swimmer's mile.  My previous best was 32:01 from back in May.  And because I have been working on distance per stroke and technique, I've logged a lot of slower swims in the last couple of months.  But, I also know that in the last couple of weeks, the tweaks to my stroke had started to click, and the strength training and open water practice were helping me move more water.

Even with a week out of the water, I was fast and feeling good.  Similar to what I experienced when I logged my new personal best in the 1000, both my 1650s were better than my previous personal best!  The second was 31:50, which was a respectable 12 second drop from my previous record.  Especially since I had already swum another mile set just 2 minutes before that one.  But the first set was a doozie:

  It was a 1 minute and 50 second drop!  I was so excited I had to let Diana Nyad know:

.@diananyad was my inspriration in the pool today & I dropped 1:50 on my swimmer's mile! #xtremedream #teamgoldfish pic.twitter.com/c0V9cc42jE
— Alison Gold (@AKGold11) September 2, 2013

And despite the fact I mispelled inspiration, her team retweeted it! A great way to head into the final three weeks of training before the big swim!

Team Goldfish September Training Schedule

It's hard to believe that there are only three weeks until the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim. I'm excited, and of course, a bit nervous to take on my biggest swim to date--3 miles! 

When I get nervous, part of what I like to do is plan.  So, now that I'm back from a great week of vacation--which included the Park to Park Swim in Seattle, and 4 great days of hiking on the Olympic Peninsula (I think that counts as cross-training), I mapped out my training schedule for the next 21 days.  It's a lot, but I think it's doable, and the prep will get me where I want to be on race day!

I won a medal redux!

Back in July, I wrote about my great experience swimming at the Chris Green Lake Swim in Charlottesville, VA.  I also shared my excitement in having placed third in my age group and snagging my first ever open water medal!  A couple of weeks ago, they posted photos from the medal ceremony, and I wanted to share the one of me!

Park to Park Swim-Cap

Marta and Alison swim Lake Washington in Seattle!

 On this day in 1875, Captain Matthew Webb swam from Dover to Calais in 22 hours and became the first man to swim the English Channel.
 
Today, Team Goldfish member Marta and I set out to do a much more measured swim--the 1.42 mile swim across Lake Washington--at the Park to Park swim in Seattle. 

Following a full day of plane travel and a rough night of sleep (when you've trained yourself to get up at 6 am or before, the three hour time difference between the east and west coasts can wreak some havoc on your sleep routine), I picked Marta up at her apartment and we headed out to Matthews Beach at Lake Washington.

We lucked out with an absolutely perfect day--the sun was shining, and while the air was cool, the water temperature was really mild.  And Lake Washington is gorgeous!  But, I was sort of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, mainly due to the really long bathroom line.  No time for dynamic warm ups, or the shoulder and thoracic spine opening stretches I'd hoped to do.  Lots of rushing to get ready in time for the start of our wave. 

The route of the Park to Park Open Water Swim

The Park to Park Swim sold out this year, but it's not a race.  It's a fundraiser for Seattle Children's hospital.  As such, they don't time it for you, and you didn't need to provide a seed time, just the time range you expected it would take you to finish the swim.  Both Marta and I, along with about 100 other swimmers, had checked the box next to 30-50 minutes.  So we were the penultimate wave (the slowest swimmers went first), and far and away the biggest. 

I've learned that you have good days, and rough days in the water.  That's true when you're me or Missy Franklin. There are days that I swim fast and it hurts, and days I swim slow and feels good and vice versa.  I think the combination of the plane travel, rough night's sleep, rushed feeling, and wearing my wetsuit for the first time since May, and the fact that there was nothing to site to (no buoys, just the other shore) made it one of those rough days.

If I reflect on the race, there is a lot I could have done better. I got swept up in the start, and overswam--too fast, not finding my rhythm, breathing every stroke cycle.  And it took me nearly a mile to calm myself down.  In the middle of the lake, the chop picked up and while my stroke allowed me to cut through it, I honestly didn't have a lot of fun doing it.  (In contrast, I had a really fun 1.5 mile swim on Thursday night at National Harbor.  I was tired after a morning lift, and a full work day, but enjoyed the process,  was feeling the water well, and held my form and moved fast).   By the last half mile, I did manage to find my form, but my wetsuit lifts my butt and legs and I need to work on correcting the arch it creates in my back.

Marta debriefed our experiences at the beach of O.O. Denny (the photos above are from the end of the race--both of us wore our Team Goldfish caps under our swim-sanctioned caps), and she had a similar experience.

And for all that critique, we both still managed to finish in between 44 and 45 minutes, she a bit ahead of me.  Right what we were aiming for. 

It was a rough swim, it was less fun than I had hoped, yet I powered through and I think it will help me be mentally tougher and better prepared for the big swim on September 22.

Me and Marta post swim

A special shout out to Marta who has been a great friend, training buddy and supporter of me and Team Goldfish.  She was one of the people who said "you should totally sign up for that 3 mile swim" way back in the spring!

Gone Swimming! Seattle Park to Park Swim

Today, I'm flying out to "the other Washington" for a week of vacation.  I'll be spending a majority of my time hiking and camping on the Olympic Peninsula.

Some of my favorite spots on the Olympic Peninsula: Ozette, Kalaloch and the Ho Rain Forest.

But, before I commune with nature, I'll be spending some quality time with my friend and swim buddy, and former neighbor, Marta.  In fact, Marta will be joining me in my penultimate open water swim of the season-the 1.42 mile Park to Park swim across Lake Washington in Seattle!  This event will benefit the Patient Emergency Assistance Fund at Seattle Children's Hospital.

Emergency Patient Assistance Fund at

I'm excited about a lot of things relating to this event.  First, I'm psyched to swim with Marta.  Second, I've never done a point-to-point swim (as the logo says--no turns) so this will be a new adventure.  And third, this will be only the second time I'll be swimming in a wet suit.  I haven't worn one since my first open water swim back over Memorial Day weekend when I logged a mile in a very respectable 33:14.  So I'm excited to see how fast I can go, given the additional experience in open water, all the hard training I've been doing this summer, and with the benefit of my wetsuit's buoyancy.

For now, I've gone swimming!

The Goldfish Net: Interesting Swim Stuff from Around the Interweb

The more I've been swimming and blogging about swimming, the more I've discovered that there are so many great resources on the topic.  Occasionally I'll round up some interesting swim stuff from around the interweb using The Goldfish Net.

Lone Swimmer: Addressing my own stroke deficiencies
Great post about getting back to technique basics, featuring video drills from a resource new to me, Grimseys Adult Swim.

Swimming Science: Friday Interview with Kevin O'Connell Ph.D. Candidate on Genes and Cramping
This one is pretty technical, but if you're like me and you get cramps (I can get brutal charley horses in my calves), you've probably been told that it's a result of dehydration.  O'Connell's research indicates a genetic source of cramping (which may be why my dad suffers from calf cramps, too.) Interesting exploration of the science, and then some practical tips about preventing and dealing with cramps.

USA Triathalon: Plan Your Open Water Swim Training
Something so obvious, that I hadn't thought about, "Just as you need to have a solid plan for your workouts in the pool (warm up, drills, main sets, cool down) you need to have a plan for your open water swims as well."

Swim Across America launched a Blog! 
Only one post up yet, but they promise more to come!

Finding at 50: NYC Swim Statue of Liberty Swim...cap
Louise Darlington does an epic recap (with great photos) of her experience doing NYC Swim's Statue of Liberty swim.  It's definitely making me want to do it next year!  And she posted part 2 with insight into her training and tips.

NY Times: Hurricane Sandy Crept Up on a Boy Who Couldn’t Swim. GuessWhat He Did.

"The hourlong class, held on a steamy summer evening, was a step toward addressing one of New York’s more persistent and surprising disparities: many of the poor and working-class residents who live along some of the most popular beaches in the city cannot swim." 

Something fun to end on! The Guardian recreated Michael Phelps' 16th Gold Medal (1 year ago) in Legos.  SwimSwam also has the comparison to the real footage!

Team Goldfish Sunday Fundraising Update: Greater, Faster, Farther!

It's been a week of big milestones for Team Goldfish-in the water and outside of it.  I'm excited to share them with you!

Greater!  In the July 21 Team Goldfish Sunday Fundraising Update I announced that I was unofficially trying to double on my fundraising goal for the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim.  As you may remember, my initial goal was $1500, which Team Goldfish supporters helped me raise really quickly.  And with 43 days to go, we've already broken the $3000 goal and regained the fundraising lead for my category at the swim!  Thank you to the amazing members of Team Goldfish who made this possible!

If you haven't yet donated, don't worry, you can still support me and the important cancer research happening at Johns Hopkins Medical.  Unfortunately, I'm out of Team Goldfish swimcaps, but I do still have stickers for anyone who contributes!

Faster! Every month, I try and assess my progress by timing myself doing a 1000 or 1650 yard set.  Over the last couple of months, my times in the 1000 have plateaued as my focus had turned to building endurance and improving my form. 

But, as you well know from this blog, over the last month I've been training hard (between the pool, yoga, strength training and open water practice), and I finally feel like my mind and my body have internalized all the changes to my form that I've been working on all summer. 

On Saturday, I got up early, and committed to doing some significant swim: 4000 yards.  The bulk of this would be my main set where I set out to do 3x1000 with 2 minutes rest in between sets.  My hope was that I'd break my previous personal best 19:08 in the first set.  And I did.  Actually I smashed it, dropping 52 seconds off my personal best in the first set (18:16!) and swimming the other two 1000s in 18:30 and 18:38 respectively.  Saturday's swim was great validation of the work I've been putting in, and is keeping me motivated for September 22!

 
Farther! This week, I achieved the first major goal I set when I took up swimming last summer. After nearly 11 months, I completed my virtual swim from Sri Lanka to India.  Read all about it here!

My route from Sri Lanka to India!

Again, thank you to all the members of Team Goldfish for your support--both monetary and emotional.  This continues to be an amazing and exciting challenge, and I'm really honored to share it with all of you!

I swam from Sri Lanka to India!

On September 13, 2012, I set a goal.  Using the Speedo Pace Club app, I mapped a route that I would swim virtually between two of my favorite countries: from Negombo, Sri Lanka to Tamil Nadu, India.  169.3 miles. A long way.  A big commitment.

The route I set on September 13, 2012

Over the last 329 days, I've chipped away at that goal.  I've gone swimming 143 times.  In Washington, DC, in Glenview, IL, in Scottsdale, AZ.  I've swum in open water in Virginia and Maryland.  I've swum in fancy pools and free public pools.

I've worn out 4 swimsuits (and dropped 2 suit sizes).  I've eaten ~300 bananas to prevent cramping, and still managed to cramp up at least 10 times.  I acquired 10 swim caps, and 3 pairs of goggles.  I've dropped minutes of my personal best in the 1650 free (the swimmers mile), relearned my flip turns, gotten my breast and backstrokes in working order, and avoided the fly like the plague. 

During the last 7896 hours, I've spent 115 of the them swimming.  I've swum a lot.

And tonight, at Open Water Happy Hour, I jumped into the flat waters of National Harbor on the Potomac with real purpose.  I logged a 1.5 mile swim (and it was a fast one for me--47 minutes) and when I climbed up the ladder to the pier, I reveled in the fact that I had finally arrived on the shores of India. 

10 months and 26 days later, I've finished the swim from Sri Lanka to India!

I have other milestones--200 miles for 2013 via U.S. Masters Go the Distance Challenge, of course the 3 mile Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water swim.  But this milestone was my biggest, it was the first enormous, crazy goal I set in my swim life.

Honestly, I feel a bit like Inigo Montoya after he's killed the six finger man in The Princess Bride.



But, for now, I'm just going to enjoy how far I've come. 

The Cadence of Your Swim: Music and Motivation

There are many sports where you can easily listen to music while you train, but swimming isn't one of them.  Sure, you can buy yourself a waterproof MP3 player, but as swim coach Robby Lambert said in Lynn Sherr's excellent book, Swim: Why We Love the Water, "When you swim, you're taking away one of your senses, your hearing...So it leaves you the peace of your mind, the cadence of your swim."

That being said, music is a huge motivator before I swim.  I have a playlist of psych up music called swimming songs on my iphone. (I also have a playlist called yoga warm-up which is much mellower for before sunrise yoga at 6:30 am, and walking songs which is mainly cheery songs of moderate pace for my walks to and from work).

My musical preferences tend toward the indie, garage, alt-country and post-punk genres.  So if you don't like noise, these probably won't be for you. But for those who do, I figured I'd share three songs that help me get pumped up to swim.

(We Are) Augustines-Chapel Song
This track has such a great driving beat, and it is the perfect pace to have in my head when I'm heading out into open water.  It's from the band's first album, Rise Ye Sunken Ships--so maybe the connection to the open water was intentional.




The Features--Blow it Out 
I've found that this is a great song to listen to pre-swim on the mornings where it's tough to get out of bed, or it's cold outside.  It's just so darn infectious.  Because "if you're happy and you know it/turn the volume up/and blow it out!"

 
Weekend-Mirror
This is the newest of the tracks in my psych-up rotation, because I just discovered Weekend's record, Jinx last month.  But it's been in constant rotation since I downloaded it. This song has a great driving beat, and a mix of edgy noise and harmonics that  I'm a sucker for, and the refrain "I feel sick, sick, sick, sick/In my heeaaarrrrtt" is another good one for pacing.


Do you have favorite psych up music for your workouts? Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #swimsongs.

Training Update: Harborfest Swim

Another Sunday, another early start.  This time for the Harborfest Swim--where I opted for the 1.2 mile course--at the Potomac River's National Harbor.

I was joined for this swim by my new swim friend and Team Goldfish supporter Christina who opted to swim the big one--the 2.4 mile course.  I met Christina at the Wave One Happy Hour Swims, and in addition to being a lovely person, she shares in my belief that tri-atheletes are nuts.  Here we are pre-race on the pier. 

As an aside, my shirt was created by the world's foremost unknown swim vloggers Eve and Candace in honor of Olympian and all-around awesome dude Anthony Ervin.  You can buy it--and see him modeling it--here. 

Okay, back to Harborfest.  After an afternoon and evening of rain, the sun was showing, the temperature and humidity were low, and the water was a perfect 78 degrees!  The only imperfect condition  was the wind which was whipping up a bit of chop on the water, leading the event coordinators to adjust the course from 1000 meters, to 500 meters, and requiring all swimmers to do more laps.

The 750 m swimmers on the Harborfest course

My goal for the 1.2 mile swim, since it was sans wetsuit, and there was some chop on the water, was to finish in around 45 minutes.  And I did.  My official time was: 46:41, finishing 28th of 57 swimmers--right in the middle of the pack.  My first two laps were pretty strong, and I clocked them in about 21 minutes, but I was slow on third--it took me about 14 minutes, however it also motivated me to do the last one in less than 12. 

All in all, it was a fun morning.  Proving yet again that every day is made better by a swim!

Team Goldfish Sunday Fundraising Upate: $254 and 49 days to go!

The title says it all!  If you'd like to support me and cancer research thru the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water Swim, you can do it here!  My next two contributors will get the last Team Goldfish swim caps.

I swam the Harborfest swim this morning, so I'm a bit beat. I'm going to keep today's update brief and just share a favorite swim quote with you.

New Goggles and the Harborfest Swim!

Sporting my new Tyr Limited Edition Crazy Special Ops Goggles and Team Goldfish Swimcap

As I mentioned last week, I've added a fifth open water event to my summer schedule, the Harborfest Swim which is tomorrow morning.  I'll be doing the 1.2 mile course and proceeds from the event benefit the Surfrider Foundation and the Special Olympics.

Looking forward to the event and trying out my new Tyr Limited Edition Crazy Special Ops Goggles!  Up until now, I've been wearing my Speedo Vanquishers during the open water swims.  But, they are pool goggles, and I've had a lot of trouble siting with them. 

Then, the March/April edition of the U.S. Masters Swimming magazine, Swimmer arrived full of open water goggle reviews!  After reading the reviews, and weighing aesthetics and cost, I found that the Tyr's were on sale at Swim Outlet.  So, I took the plunge!

A full report on how the goggles and I do at the Harborfest Swim coming soon!

5 Great Post-Swim Snacks!

You burn a lot of calories while swimming.  And that's great--it's helped me lose weight.  But, I've also learned that it's really important to eat post-swim to ensure that I'm being kind to my body, that I have plenty of energy and that I'm building up my muscles, not tearing them down.  Over the last year, I've developed a cadre of easy snacks to eat after workouts, so I thought I'd share with you.

1. Banana and an Iced Coffee/Soy Latte--When I swim before work, this is my go to snack.  I suffer from charley horses, and have found that bananas are a key to preventing them.  From what I understand it's the potassium and magnesium in bananas that is key, as is hydration and stretching.  In the hot summer months of DC, I opt for an iced coffee with lots of skim milk.  When the weather cools down, my favorite post-workout drink is a soy latte.

My hunch is that most of the readers of the Team Goldfish blog did not watch Ryan Lochte's reality show.  However, if you're looking for a guilty pleasure, I recommend it.  Proof, here's a hilarious 30 second clip involving a banana (it's not crude in the least).



2. Almond Butter Delight with Crackers and Apples
Lots of people love nuts, and I do too.  But peanut butter and almond butter are sometimes a bit too much for me.  When I was visiting Canyon Ranch, I discovered almond butter delight and loved it.  It's a mix of almond butter, fat free ricotta, vanilla, honey and cinnamon and the recipe's online here.  I pair it with savory crackers (like the ones that Trader Joe's makes) and an apple.

3. Chocolate Milk
I've read that lowfat chocolate milk has the right balance between fat, protein, calories to help with recovery after workouts.  And the same week I'm posting this, the great blog Swim Science posted an analysis of the scientific literature on Chocolate Milk for Recovery concluding "Overall, the evidence shows that chocolate milk is at least comparable, if not superior to high-carbohydrate recovery options."

Chocolate milk isn't an every day snack for me.  But I've found that on days where I'm doing heavy yardage workouts, it's a great and quick thing to bring with me to the pool.  I buy the Horizon Organic shelf stable single serving low fat chocolate milk, and just throw one into my swim bag on my way to the pool.  Also they have great ads featuring some of my favorite swimmers: Ricky Berens, Chloe Sutton and Nathan Adrian.

4. Babybel Cheese and Berries
Who doesn't love cheese covered in wax?  For some reason it is so much more satisfying to eat.  I snack on these with a side of berries (raspberries or strawberries are my favorites) or grapes, and it feels downright elegant!

5. Assorted Veggies and Healthy Dips
I tend to favor fruit as a snack, but I recently was chatting with a nutritionist and she said that after 2 pm, since fruit is high in sugar, I'd be better off switching to veggies and dip.  So I've been experimenting with different combos of carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery with hummus, eggplant and red pepper dip, and tatziki.  My favorite dips come from a local store called Cava.  They have a grill near my house, but Whole Foods and Giant both stock their dips in the DC area.   

Do you have other favorite post-swim snacks?  Email me or tweet me with the hashtag #swimsnacks.

Team Goldfish Sunday Fundraising Upate: 56 days and 414 dollars to go!

Less than two months until the Swim Across America Baltimore Open Water swim and my training and fundraising are in full swing!

From a training perspective, I've spent much of July cross-training with a goal of building additional muscle endurance and mobility so that I don't get injured as I up the distances I'm swimming.  Two yoga sessions each week, and 1-2 visits to the gym have added some diversity to my routine, though I'll be honest that when combined with 3-4 swims per week, I'm running out of hours in the day!

Swimmers entering the water at the 2012 Harborfest Swim

The other piece of news on the training front, is that I just can't stay away from the open water!  I've added another race to my schedule in order to get more experience racing in open water.  Next weekend, I'll be participating in the Harborfest Swim doing the 1.2 mile race.  The event benefits the Surfrider Foundation and Special Olympics.  And if any of my triathelete or swimmer friends, want to join me they have 750 meter, 1.2 mile and 2.4 mile races down at National Harbor in Maryland let me know!  I'll share the full report from the event, and how I do next weekend!

From the fundraising perspective, we're going like gangbusters and still clipping at the heels of my fictional rival Peggy Brennecke.  In fact, when I started writing this update, I had $514 to raise to meet my doubled fundraising goal of $3000.  But, then I went downstairs to change over a load of laundry and lo and behold Team Goldfish gained some new members and the total dropped to $414. 

Thank you to everyone who has supported Team Goldfish thus far.  And for those who haven't yet, you've still got 56 days left to make your tax deductible contribution!

What is your motivation to swim?

What is your motivation to swim? #motivationalmonday
— Swim Across America (@SAAswim) July 22, 2013

Why do you swim?
— Masters Swimming (@MastersSwimming) July 25, 2013

I've been thinking a lot about motivation lately.  On Monday, Swim Across America posted the above question on Twitter, and then on Thursday US Masters Swimming kept it in the front of my mind!

I remember reading a biography of Shane Gould, an Australian swimming champion, when I was a kid.  She is the only person, male or female, to hold every world freestyle record from 100 meters to 1500 meters simultaneously, which she did when she was just 16! After reading about her, I remember asking my older brother to wake me up early so I could run around the outside of our house and "train." I also LOVED Janet Evans, and distinctly remember being super psyched when my Sports Illustrated for Kids arrived with her on the cover:

 
By the way, I still think Janet Evans is awesome, and thought it was so cool that she swam at the last Olympic trials!

When I was a kid, I swam with a club team--New Trier Swim Club.  Back then my motivation was fun, and sports "heroes." But, by the time I was 10,  I got sick so much from swimming all during the winter, that I eventually quit to play other sports.  Over the years, I've always come back to swimming--at overnight camp I got certified in emergency water safety, in college I took lap swim for gym credit 3 semesters, and one summer I even taught swimming and was a lifeguard at a day camp.

But, I've swum more, and more consistently over the last year, then during any time in my life since third grade.  So,what is my motivation to swim? 

Honestly, it started almost exactly a year ago, that I was sitting in my apartment in DC, watching the Olympics on TV and getting really excited about the swimming. My childhood love of Olympics swimming has not diminished.  But, as I sat on the couch, very overweight and not very happy, watching some of the world's most extraordinary athletes, it dawned on me that I needed to make some serious changes.

Also, this ad about a dad using all sorts of phone apps to get in shape for his daughter's wedding KEPT being played during the commercial breaks.  And I'm a sucker, because I found it  moving and motivating. 

The combination led me to the free app from Speedo called the Pace Club. (I've written about it before.) Within a week, I was following the Pace Club training track to increase my endurance.  And I completed all 24 workouts.  I also downloaded the Weight Watchers app, and started tracking what I eat.

So, that motivated me to start swimming, but what has kept me going for a year?  Habit.  Because the habit of swimming has powerful implications for my physical and mental health.

Physically, swimming has helped me lose 45 pounds, gain greater endurance and energy, and transform my body into one that is strong and flexible. It's also helped me improve my sleep.

Mentally, it is a challenge and an escape.  The challenge: How do I improve? Yet, how do I be kind to myself when I don't have a good swim?  At the same time, it's a place where my mind gets to meditate on 1-2-3 breathe, or getting my catch right, or keeping a steady 4 beat kick, or perfecting my flip turns.  It's the place where I can escape and work out my frustration and anxiety.  It makes me a happier person, it enables me to be more open and empathetic towards others.

For me, a day when I get to swim is the best kind of day.