Sunday, August 21, 2016

#78 Rocky Mountain High

This weeks blog reminds me of one of my favorite albums growing up; John Denver's Greatest Hits. I remember buying it at Wagners grocery store in Bend, Oregon. My favorite song on the album was Rocky Mountain High.  Was John Denver referring to high altitude training? Likely, not...but that is what I think about as this is the second time in a month that I have been in Colorado swimming in high altitude. The first time in Colorado Springs and this time in Boulder. 


I had never been to Boulder. It is one of those special places I have always heard about and finally I got to go there. This trip was extra special as first I got two great swims in and second and more importantly...well I will get to that later.

Pool #78 was the Scott Carpenter Pool a 50 meter outdoor pool in a beautiful park setting. I swam with Boulder Area Masters. With the number of swimmers in the water for the first practice at 5:40am and a second workout to follow BAM clearly has a robust membership. Not surprising as Boulder is a mecca for healthy living. It was a solid 3500m workout and while I felt the altitude respiratory wise I also felt it with heavy legs. 



The second swim was an open water swim again organized Boulder Area Masters. It was at Boulder Reservoir at sunrise~beautiful! It was a fully supported session with two courses set up and kayakers with walkie-talkies watching swimmers. It was clearly a training ground for triathletes as many were going out for a bike ride post swim.



The second reason this trip to Boulder was so special and bittersweet was we were dropping Sean off at CU. Sean wanted a mountain feel to his school and a place that would complement his outdoors lifestyle. He found it with CU in Boulder. It is a beautiful campus at the base of the Flatiron Moutnains with Tuscan sandstone architecture. 



I will have a lot memories of this college drop off but the overriding one was seeing how happy Sean was from the way walked and looked around but mostly a silly smile he couldn't wipe off his face. 

(the silly smile)

We will miss his lumbering presence and big caring personality in Weston but know it will be used in Boulder to meet new people, do new things and begin to discover himself and what success means to him.

Sean we are very proud of you! #skobuffs

Looking forward to more Rocky Moutnain Highs and altitude training in Boulder.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Cold Water Acclimatization~Mount Desert Island, Maine

This year we shook up things up vacation  wise and went to up to Maine. We headed pretty far north up to Mount Desert Island. It's home to Acadia National Park which is celebrating its 100 year anniversary.


Shannon rented a cool house in Southwest Harbor with a huge deck overlooking the harbor. It was to be a fun filled family week; hiking, kayaking, biking, eating and...swimming.

My friend Grant had a lot suggestions of various watering holes to swim in as he knew the area well because they have a family summer cottage there. 

Below are some of the cold water hotspots I hit. As it was vacation I only swam for 1000-2000 per session. Not far but it did the trick to get some exercise in, experience cool open water and check out new swimming holes.

First up was Valley Cove a quick drive from our house. It was a short family hike with beautiful views overlooking Somes Sound before coming upon Valley Cove. We were all pretty hot due to the hike so a dip in the cool (low 60 degrees) water was welcome. 



Next up was the harbor right off our deck. The water was tidal so there was quite an ebb and flow with the tide coming in and out. My big toe said the water temp again in the low 60's.

(Tide in morning)
(Tide in-evening)
(Tide out)

With a couple of salt water swims under my speedo it was time for some freshwater.  Echo Lake was a family beach a short drive from our place in Southwest Harbor. Not sure what the water temp was, maybe mid/high 60's. Whatever it was it felt really nice and comfortable.


The next fresh water spot was Long Pond where I had a couple sessions. It is anything but a pond~it's a huge freshwater lake. Long Pond is where Grant trains when in Maine. The water temp so pleasant just like Echo. I did a couple out and backs that just scratched the surface of the pond. Looking forward to swimming more there in the future.


Going back to salt water brought me  deep into Acadia National Park to Sand Beach. After a hot morning hike up the Beehive Trial with Shannon a cool swim was sounding welcome. I didn't realize how cool it would be though! There was fair number of people on the beach but very people in the water. If they were in it, it was only up to their knees. That's because according to the sign on the lifeguard tower it said it was only 58 degrees!!! While I only had time to swim about 1000 yards I must say while cool it didn't feel too, too bad.


(Sand Beach from the top of Beehive)

Fun times checking out new places to swim and new experiences with the family. Looking forward to going back to MDI in the future. 









Saturday, August 6, 2016

Citius, Altius, Fortius

With the opening ceremonies of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janiero taking place last night I think it only appropriate to have an Olympic theme to this blog.

The Olympic motto; Citius, Altius, Fortius meaning Faster, Higher, Stronger was top of mind this morning for a couple reasons. First I was going to compete for the first time in the Wild Fish Swim Festival in Salem, MA. Second and more importantly Olympic swimming kicks off tonight and my friend Conor Dwyer is seated well and looking really strong for his events.


I entered the 2 mile swim and obviously did it sans wetsuit. It was a small cove and the water was quite warm and I must say the water was a bit dank. It was a two loop course that I swam with my synchro partner Jen. 

Felt good throughout the race pacing well with Jen and as we made the turn at the backside Bobby M came from out of nowhere. He passed us but we remained very close to him. I tried to put on the gas at the last buoy thinking I could catch him but to no avail. Bobby finished just a small bit ahead of Jen and I. Per usual Jen came out ahead. 

Post swim I was a bit obsessed in how Conor did in prelims in the 400 free in Rio. As it turned out he did really well and cut 1.5 seconds off his best time and is seated first for finals tonight. How crazy and exciting is that?

My Olympic moment was making the podium today. I finished second behind Bobby M. I beat him in the last two races this summer but he got me today by a small bit. 


Age adjusted with the other two competitors on the podium being 25 to 33 years younger than me I feel like a gold medalist!

While not a medal I did get a wash rag to commemorate my awesomeness!