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FAST 2009 SCY Meet Wrap Up

**Update: Results for the FAST SCY Meet have been posted here

Today I swam in Fullerton at the Janet Evans Swim Complex. At a distance it looked like a pretty nice pool, but once I got inside I was alerted to the fact that it is only 4 feet deep! Ahhhh! Even my pool in Pismo is 4 1/2 feet deep. It was very weird to dive into and race in such a shallow pool, I never really felt like I found a good rhythm in it.

In warm up I took a bunch of practice starts to get used to starting in such a shallow pool. I basically flopped right on my chest each time and then dolphin kicked the bottom of the pool right after. Ahelee from NOVA tried to help me get my dive right for this pool but I just couldn’t put it together, I kept over correcting and smacking on the top of the water. I’m very self-preservatory in nature and I think I was reflexively sabotaging myself. I resigned myself to the thought that I would either get to break a rib or a toe today which is preferable to cracking my head on the bottom of the pool, luckily I did neither!

My first event was the 100 free. I went 59 seconds in San Diego last week and I was pretty confident that I could shave another second or two off my time pretty easily as long as I didn’t make any big mistakes. My start went ok but I didn’t get in as much underwater dolphin kicking as I usually would. At the surface my kick was feeling really strong and all my turns were clean. On the last 25 I managed to swallow some water which wasn’t any fun but it didn’t slow me down. For whatever reason I can’t breath to the left when I’m sprinting, I always choke on water. Anyways, I managed to bring it in 58 seconds. A full second off last weeks time and a new best time as an adult!

Next up was the 50 fly. I’ve been chasing my national qualifying time in this event and I just can’t quite hit it. I swam a 27.7 in Vegas, and a 28 at UC Irvine and again today in Fullerton. I felt like I was really pushing myself in the 50 but I wasn’t getting any traction. There’s a definite difference in feel between a deep water pool and a shallow pool when butterflying. Shortly after I was back on the blocks for the 50 free. This one went decently, I swam a high 26 which is a second slower than my time at UCI. I didn’t feel like I did anything particularly right or wrong in this race, I just didn’t go as fast as I wanted to.

To cap off the meet I swam the 100 fly. This race was semi-disastrous. The meet itself went very quickly, sub 2 hours, and I was exhausted at this point having swam a bunch of events right on top of each other. I’m glad I didn’t sign up for a bunch of 200′s like some of the people there. I put up a 1:03 which is my second week in a row of time increases! Yikes! I went 1:01 at UCI, 1:02 in San Diego and now 1:03 in Fullerton… not cool.

I think all the traveling and driving and racing I’ve been doing this month finally caught up with me. Friday night I fell asleep fully dressed at about 8PM when I normally can’t fall asleep until around 1AM. I think this was my body’s subtle hint that I need to slow down for a little bit. I don’t have any meets to worry about until Cal Tech’s Sprint Pentathlon in March so I can try and rest a little bit. If nothing else I can try and stay in my area code for a weekend!

Heidi wanted me to point out that she took some really good pictures this weekend that actually have me in them and above water :) Here you go…

Rocking the Hotel Pool Saturday Night

The Competition Pool

100 freestyle

Finishing the 100 Free

50 Fly

Getting off track during the 100 fly

Green Goggled Eyes of Doom!

Into the Blue

Source

This picture captures about how I felt this afternoon… I went to go see my accountant today. He has an office down in Pismo Beach with a great view of the ocean. The news he had for me today was a mixed bag… I had some pretty big checks to scratch out, but luckily they were less than I expected. After giving that much money away I kinda wanted to take the rest of the day off and go float in the ocean. Unfortunately I had work to do and the water is in the high 50′s this time of year so it was back to work. boo. I am however on the verge of buying a new wetsuit so I can swim in the ocean every once and a while, I just need to find a local open water buddy or the world’s slowest kayaker.

Breathe!

Source found via Pixdaus.com

Fish Love Drunks

source via Reddit

Not particularly sure what to say here… as far as warning signs go this is pretty awesome. It reminds you that alcoholism will eventually lead to the ability to live underwater and possibly interspecies relations. No booze for me I guess, I think I’ll stick with purple Gatorade. I don’t even like sushi so I don’t think I could make out with a fish, I’m just saying…

Caught at The Exact Right Time…

Source: sawse.com via FFFFound!

What I Imagine the Pool in Vegas Looks Like…

Source

I might be wrong… it would be awesome if it really did look like this though! I’m expecting swim up cocktail waitresses in the warm up area :)

So tonight was my last night to swim before I leave for Las Vegas but I just couldn’t do it. Heidi is at the gym right now and I stayed home to pack for my trip. My prep for this meet hasn’t exactly been ideal, but I’ve been dying to get back in the pool in a competitive setting so I’m not going to skip it. The month and a half with no meets to go to sucked for me! I’ve decided to classify being sick all week as an extreme taper, my muscles should be super rested… look out I’ll be dangerous out there on Saturday!

The plan is to swim the 50 free, 50 fly, 50 breast, 100 fly, and 100 free. Normally I would have some goals set for each swim… for this one I’m just going to do my best and hope for the best. Luckily I’m not signed up for anything long. I think I can deal with just about anything for :30 to 1:00.

Why I’m Scared of Open Water…

Source: Olaf Veltman via FFFFound!

I used to be fearless in open water. I would go down to Pismo and swim with no real purpose, I’d just float around and have fun. I’ve swam with seals, otters and dolphins which I think is pretty cool. As I got older it started to freak me out a little more to swim in water I can’t see through, I don’t really know why. It probably doesn’t help that we had a fatal shark attack 15 miles from my house a few years ago. I need to find myself an open water buddy to take my mind off of what might lurk below. When I did the Naples Island Swim back in September it didn’t really bother me, I guess I figured we were using the sardine defense.

In other news… I am still super sick. I was hoping all the drugs the doc gave me yesterday would take the edge off and let me live my life. Ultimately today has been worse than yesterday… yay… I’m starting to get nervous about Saturday’s swim meet… hopefully I can shake this thing in time!

No Really, is This January? It Can’t Be!

rest stop in Shell Beach
Today I went out for a ride that ended up being about 33-34 miles with my friend Laurel. And yet again, it is insanely gorgeous out here on the central coast. It was hot with no clouds, my only complaint is that the weather matched with a 3 day weekend drew out basically everybody that lives in the central valley. I think there are more people from Fresno and Bakersfield in Pismo this weekend than people who actually live in Pismo.

In an effort to not get run over by giant diesel truck wielding tourists we did a variant of a ride I’ve done before but we did it backwards. I figured if we hit the coast early enough most of the people I was worried about would be asleep and hung over still. Luckily I was right. We cruised through Pismo with no problems. Before we started moving inland we turned into a Shell Beach neighborhood to check out the view. There were a ton of surfers out and the views went on forever. I didn’t want to leave but we had work to do. From there we rode along the frontage road into San Luis Obispo. We cut across the South Side of town and then took Orcutt road all the way down to where it hits Lopez Drive out towards the lake. Another 4 or 5 miles back towards town and we were home.

It was nice to have someone to ride with for a change. I’m glad Laurel is up to it every once and a while. I don’t really have any other friends locally that would have any interest in waking up early-ish for a 30+ mile bike ride. Most would look at me crazy for a minute and then change the subject.

Here’s some pictures from today’s excitement –

all the little dots in the water are surfers

my riding buddy for the day, Laurel

surfing in January, you can’t beat that

out on Ontario Road between the beach and SLO

me on the south end of San Luis Obispo

foothills and vineyards

more vineyard action

apparently bikes make me happy :)

rest stop in the Village (Arroyo Grande)

This is Janaury Right?

Having grown up in Wisconsin I have a deep respect for what January is capable of. The last couple days here in California have been unbelievable hot and beautiful. We’ve seen 70′s and 80′s around here all week. This afternoon me and Heidi went and had lunch at Steamers in Pismo Beach which has some of the best views in town and some of the fanciest mediocre food money can buy. After eating we decided to go down on the sand and walk around. We probably walked 1 1/2 – 2 miles through town and out on the sand. We walked barefoot out in the water a little bit and let me tell you what… the water temperature is still based in January! We finished our walk by scaling a set of death defying stairs. We were both breathing a little hard when we finally hit the top.

Later in the day we went back (Steamers actually shares a parking lot with my gym) and spent some time at the gym. We both spent about 35-40 minutes on elliptical machines. I’m still feeling the burn a little bit.

Anyways, here’s some pictures from my day off of my cell phone… I should have some more pictures tomorrow from my bike ride that I’m planning!