In The Zone

It's been decades since I've "competed" in a swim meet. I must've been about 10 years old. I remember diving off the block, trying to swim fast, Coach Pickering yelling "Pull, Sally, pull!" from the side of the pool as the other swimmers pulled ahead of me. I always finished last or next to last. But, hey, they gave ribbons for 5th and 6th place back then, so I was happy. 

Look who showed up

I was having flashbacks to those days during the Colonies Zone Swim Meet at George Mason U. Team Z had taken over the long course portion of the meet--the Z green was everywhere!

I had gone to Dominic's dive start and flip turn clinic a month before and was nervous about diving off the block (flip turns were out of the question). But by the time of my heat--the last one--I decided to go for it.

I was sooo glad I did because the diving start shaved about 10 seconds off my first lap! I went all out, going for the faster turnover and the more streamlined open turns swim coach Mark had taught me. I really pushed it -- it was "only" 1,650 yards, after all, a fraction of the thousands I was used to swimming!  

After 66 laps, I was done in 33:38, winning my heat and taking first place in my age group.  I averaged 1:01:23 per lap (chart below), swimming my first lap in 51.84, thanks to the diving in thing. It's still not as fast as I want to be, but I'll take it for now.




1 Kidd, Sally            51 FAIRFAX COUNTY M 40:00.00   33:38.90

51.84                   1:49.66 (57.82)

2:48.30 (58.64)          3:49.45 (1:01.15)

4:49.72 (1:00.27)        5:50.53 (1:00.81)

6:52.70 (1:02.17)        7:51.89 (59.19)

8:54.69 (1:02.80)        9:55.19 (1:00.50)

10:54.95 (59.76)        11:54.90 (59.95)

12:55.43 (1:00.53)      13:55.88 (1:00.45)

14:58.31 (1:02.43)      16:00.64 (1:02.33)

17:02.88 (1:02.24)      18:03.43 (1:00.55)

19:05.65 (1:02.22)      20:06.55 (1:00.90)

21:08.46 (1:01.91)      22:11.25 (1:02.79)

23:14.04 (1:02.79)      24:14.77 (1:00.73)

25:17.61 (1:02.84)      26:20.13 (1:02.52)

27:23.18 (1:03.05)      28:27.39 (1:04.21)

29:29.08 (1:01.69)      30:32.39 (1:03.31)

31:34.46 (1:02.07)      32:37.67 (1:03.21)  33:38.90 (1:01.23)

 

1 Kidd, Sally            51 FAIRFAX COUNTY M 40:00.00   33:38.90     

      51.84                   1:49.66 (57.82)

  2:48.30 (58.64)          3:49.45 (1:01.15)

  4:49.72 (1:00.27)        5:50.53 (1:00.81)

  6:52.70 (1:02.17)        7:51.89 (59.19)

  8:54.69 (1:02.80)        9:55.19 (1:00.50)

  10:54.95 (59.76)        11:54.90 (59.95)

  12:55.43 (1:00.53)      13:55.88 (1:00.45)

  14:58.31 (1:02.43)      16:00.64 (1:02.33)

  17:02.88 (1:02.24)      18:03.43 (1:00.55)

  19:05.65 (1:02.22)      20:06.55 (1:00.90)

  21:08.46 (1:01.91)      22:11.25 (1:02.79)

  23:14.04 (1:02.79)      24:14.77 (1:00.73)

  25:17.61 (1:02.84)      26:20.13 (1:02.52)

  27:23.18 (1:03.05)      28:27.39 (1:04.21)

  29:29.08 (1:01.69)      30:32.39 (1:03.31)

  31:34.46 (1:02.07)      32:37.67 (1:03.21)  33:38.90 (1:01.23)

Great Chesapeake Bay Swimagain!

I've spent the past four months in a chlorine fog. Weekends dominated by trips to the pool. Hours of back and forth, back and forth, hundreds of mindless laps, thousands of yards....Shew!
 
The Bay Swim is one month away. Yes, I'm giving it another shot this year. Last year's goal was to finish; this year's goal is to finish under 3.5 hours. I'm pumped!

The long swims this past winter haven't felt so torturous. You know what you gotta do and you just get it done. It helps to have company. Tomorrow, my swim peeps and I are up for 7700 yards. That's 4.3 miles. Might as well round it off to 8,000 for 4.5 miles, right? What's another 300 when you're going that far?!

So here's our route across the bay. We just stay in between the two bridge spans and we're fine. Let's hope the weather's this awesome and the bay is this calm!

Can Do, Can Lake!

And the 50 mile ultra training has begun.

Doesn't this look awesome?! It's the Can Lake 50, a 50 mile race around Lake Candandaigua, one of the finger lakes in western New York....and supposedly the prettiest of all the finger lakes. Here's how the  race director describes the Can Lake 50:

Nicely stocked aid stations, peak fall foliage, and age-graded medals are just a few things that make this an ideal ultramarathon. The race venue is a pretty holiday location over Columbus Day weekend. The scenery of this rural road race is sure to be enjoyed by runner and crew. Be aware, this is a challenge.  Everything from rolling to steep long hills, both up and down, will test the runners. However, if you prepare, you will be successful as these races have a high finish rate.

The course goes around the entire lake, with a total ascent/descent of 3,500 feet. Sounds doable, right? This was a tough decision. After ruling out the JFK and various single track mountain-runs-from-hell, I had narrowed it down to Can Lake and Tussey.

Tussey, with its dirt roads and shady course had loads of running "ambience;" however, I'd have to shave at least 20 minutes off last year's pace to make the cutoffs, so......yeah, not so doable.

Can Lake doesn't have as many hills, but it'll be a lot of pounding the pavement. What swayed me is the description of Can Lake as "beginner friendly." Even though I'm not exactly a beginner, it usually translates to "BOP friendly." And they let slow folk start an hour early...so I'll have 13 hours to finish the race. So, Can lake it is!!