April 24 – May 1

Priorities

So, obviously, I haven’t posted in a while. Training has ramped up, and spending one weekend going to Southhampton for a professional football (soccer) game and the next long weekend in Ireland put me far enough behind on the blog that I despaired of catching up.

Plus, there was A LOT of sleeping to do.

But this past weekend did not completely exhaust me, so I’m going to give it a go. Instead of posting everything in one gigantic lump (painful for me and for you), I’m going to do several posts to (hopefully) get caught up.

So this post will cover Sunday, April 24 through Sunday, May 1. We’ll see if I remember anything 🙂

What I Remember

What really sticks out to me was that this was the first week the kids were in school (they are having a great time, for all those who have asked. The longer lunch periods and recesses alone won them over). For me, it meant adding about 3 miles of running per day. In retrospect, this kind of destroyed me. Luckily, that was kind of obvious to me and I took steps to decrease my time on my feet and increase my time on a bus. I do think that having some running in my training has been useful (not that I have too much of a choice), but not to the point of self-destruction. I’ll do that in the sea 🙂

[It turns out that I was still expressing a lot of my thoughts in writing that week – “I wrote it down so I wouldn’t have to remember.” – Bonus points for identifying the quote.]

The Stories We Tell About Ourselves

It took a while, but in the last week of April, I finally had the momentous thought, “I’m living in England.” 

Of course, it being me, the full thought actually was, “fine, I’ll get up and go to the bathroom” (does anyone else have to inner monologue to convince themselves to go to the bathroom? I’m quite tired), “here I am, getting up and going to the bathroom… while living in England.” And I had a delightful moment.

I have never quite been able to believe that I was the type of person who would be living in a foreign country. And I think that when you want something for so long (as long as I can remember) and it takes such a long time (44 years) to make it happen, it can get harder to tell that story about yourself – the story where you might someday realize your dream.

But I am lying here in bed (rest day), typing this in a foreign country, so I am here to tell you that you can.

And It’s Never Quite What You Think

Realizing your dreams, that is.

After my nice moment (and subsequent bathroom usage), I was thinking about it… and the funniest thing is how not-foreign it feels. Getting up to go to the bathroom at night in particular, but the whole experience in general. Obviously we could be living in a country more different from the US than the UK (it’s only one letter, really), but even if we were, our same basic human needs would need to be meet in the same basic ways. As I’ve said, different… but the same. It’s fascinating.

And perhaps it makes sense that it took this long to have the “I’m living here” moment – a month could be a long vacation. But now the kids are in school, my training is getting serious and life is more about the day-to-day than moving or touristy stuff. I am living in England.

And Speaking of My Training

Shit got real this week… in a good way. [I have a note here to talk about my training. I don’t remember what I meant by that – perhaps that I had my first real swims with the Durley group and they went well. I met and swam with someone who was my own pace, and that was fantastic. I came home from that swim really happy and optimistic about the rest of my training. I settled into a rhythm and managed to fit A’s commuting and my training in (thanks to some Wed/Fri morning help from E – thanks E!]

I don’t remember exactly what my headspace was at the time, but it’s an easy guess to say that it was: tired, but satisfied. That pretty much describes my life for the last month.

If Only

Have any athletes out there ever wished for a human recharging station? Somewhere where you can lie down and sleep, but all of your bodily needs will be taken care of? I don’t know if it’s getting older or the intensity of the training, but never before this year has the decision between continuing to lie in bed and getting up to pee been such a difficult one to make. And eating takes up so much time and energy.

I want to be a Tesla.

Magpies Are My Favorite!

I saw them, I loved them. Once identified, I failed to understand why they get a bad rap.

Weirdly, there are fewer good youtube videos of magpies in flight than you would think. Here’s one that’s got a good still image of what they look like with their wings and tail feathers spread.

The Luck of the Pigeon

And then, there are pigeons.

On Friday morning I ran over to the pool for my usual swim. When I got there, we were all informed that the pool was closed because the chlorine was off. I had difficulty mustering up a lot of disappointment about this, since I had spent the run over thinking about how tired I was. Each Friday has seen me a shell of my energetic self, but they had been getting better. But this one was worse again. Probably due to all of the running getting A to and from school. It’s only 3 miles a day, split into two parts, but apparently that’s enough to have me riding the exhaustion bus (the metaphorical exhaustion bus. Sometimes I do choose to ride an actual bus… because I’m exhausted.) Anyway, I left the pool and headed home, thinking that at least this way I could take A to school and let E sleep, since he had to work late last night. And then… I almost got pooped on by a pigeon again! 

I want to make it clear that I actually was pooped on the first time and then almost pooped on the second time. If anyone can construct that sentence better, let me know.

I’m getting a little concerned about how much luck the pigeons seem to think I need.

A Turning Point

Sometimes it feels like you’re not doing what you should. But it turns out that you really were just waiting. Waiting for the ocean to warm up, waiting for your program to start, waiting for the right training partner. And you could have been doing things… but it would have been beating your head against a brick wall. And using up valuable energy doing so. Sometimes, waiting is the right thing to do.

I hate waiting.

And if, like me, you cannot be satisfied unless you continue on to the sword fight, I leave you with this:

And By “Leave You,” I Mean “Post All of My OW Videos From the Week”

Channel Prep

Swimsuit, sunscreen, vaseline? Crew, first Durley swim, haircut for the love of god

I could write more about this, but I think my stream-of-consciousness list gives you the most accurate picture of my Channel preparations this week.

The [Time Period] in the Water (Sunday 4/24 – Sunday 5/1)

Summary

Pool Yardage ~  16,800 M 

OW Yardage ~  18,700 M

Total Yardage ~  35,500 M

OTHER:

 miles of running – 17.3 

 miles of walking (plus, you know, a lot more) – 8.7

 miles riding – 12.8

This was the first week the kids were in school, which meant that I added about 2 hours of commuting A to and from school (and missed a bit of swimming on T/Th mornings to make sure he was up and ready by the time we needed to leave for the bus).

The extra running was too much. (The walking to and from the bus and the fact that I now had to drag myself up every afternoon is not even reflected here – it didn’t feel like it during the week, but in retrospect, it was tough, energy-wise.)

Less total yardage this week, but more open water yardage than pool yardage for the first time. All part of the eventual plan, but the pool being closed when I got there on Friday definitely helped it along. (If it hadn’t been closed, I probably would have done about 5000 meters, and still done the OW swim that day. That would have put me close to last week, but probably destroyed me. Sometimes fate is a help.)

The Gory Details

Sun Apr 24

• OW swim (~ 3K) 1 h 8 m (2.2 mi ride)
• 9 AM
• Sunny, mid to upper-50s F, more wind
• Water Temp – solid 11 degrees, according to the web. It certainly didn’t feel 12 to my fingertips.
• ~ 3K
• ~1 h 8 m

OTHER:

2.2 mi riding to and from

Mon Apr 25 (~2.7 mi run; ~3 mile walk)

The new “rest day.” Ran 2.7 miles in 28 minutes (from and to A’s school), and walked 3 miles getting a cheaper school sweatshirt for J

Tues Apr 26 (~5700 M) 1 h 30 m (~3.2 mi run; 2 mi ride; ~1.3 K swim ~27 min… forgot to end swim on my watch); 3 mile walk to get A school clothes (thanks H!)

Masters (~5700 M) 1 h 30

• 300 swim
• 300 kick/drill (fly/bk/fr)
• 300 paddles (felt really good. This whole warm-up felt very Bescheresque, i.e., what my body is used to)
• 300 (3×100 IM)
• 300 ez

• 2x:
• 4×25 on :25
• 4×50 on :45
• 150 ez
• fins and paddles

• 30×100:
• 12 on 1:30
• 1:00 rest
• 10 on 1:25
• 1:00 rest
• 8 on 1:20

• 300 CD

1. OK, Besch, you ARE feeding Andy workouts
2. I legit made the 1:25s (no draft, and a challenging lanerope sitch), and I’m happy about that. I was pretty tired this morning, and I had trouble getting in gear, so it was a good effort. I put on fins for the 1:20s. 

~ 0.5 mile walk/run – 5:24

~ 2 mile ride – 11:39 (My Beryl bike seat would not stay up, so I had to ride there like a clown. Still only 12 minutes though 🙂 )

I’m starting to feel like the way I list everything has become confusing when I am switching sports so much throughout the day. So my new plan (for now) is to summarize everything next to the day, and list stuff below if there is anything interesting or different about it. Here was today:

• Run to the Beryl bike
• Ride to the pool
• Bus to the station
• Run the rest of the way home
• Get A
• Walk back to the bus station
• Take bus
• Walk from that station to his school
• Run home
• Run back
• Walk to the bus station (hopefully the driver picks us up this time!!)
• Take bus
• Walk home
• ——wait for J to get home to hear about first day——
• Drag self off couch
• Feel like even the air is too cold to be out in
• Walk down mountain
• Swim 27 minutes in 12 degree water. As usual, oddly feel better.
• Walk back up mountain

** Don’t forget – walked over to Holly’s house for school clothes

I feel like Rocky IV training in Russia… if he were a mom. Oh yeah, I forgot – walk through grocery store on your run home and then run back while holding groceries. I am going to make sweet sweet love to my car when I get back.

Wed Apr 27 (~6100 M) 2 h (3.6 mi run)

Masters (~3200 M) 1 hr

• 200 swim
• 200 IM kick
• 200 pull
• 200 IM drill
• 200 50 ez/50 fast breathe every 5 (um, yeah, not so much. You get breath holding or speed from me, but not both 🙂
• 3×100 IM on 1:45
• 6×50 on :50
• 3×100 IM on 1:45
• 4×75 on 1:00 (ugh)
• 3×100 IM on 1:45
• 3×100 on 1:25
• 400 ez w/fins (and paddles, but I deferred to my shoulder)

Lap Swim (~2900 M) 1 hr

• 200 ez (and finding a kickboard)

• 5x:
• 4x(25 kick; 50 swim) IM order on the kick, alt fr/bk on the swim)
• 200 ez

• 200CD

I felt pretty tired on the run to the pool. Even just adding in a bit of running (to and from A’s school) tends to have an impact on me, especially if it’s fast (fast for me). But after a week or two I usually adapt. I took the bus home, both to give myself a break and because I have a 3-day pass so it’s free today 🙂

The swimming felt OK – a bit tired, but better than I might expect after yesterday. I very much feel like a cog in the wheel (a brick in the wall?) during the M/W/F Masters practices. And then lap swim is frequently an adventure. Today’s lap swim went well. I put a good bit of effort into the kick and the 50’s swim. It was kind of nice to just try to go fast with a good stroke, without worrying about time. But then, it was hard to tell if the things I was doing were effective, without worrying about time 🙂 I timed one representative 50 free – I think it was a :38 or :39 (there was a sign in the way of the pace clock, so it took some number of seconds for me to shift around to see it. It was definitely :40 or below. For whatever that is worth.

Thurs Apr 28 (~5000 M) 1 h 30 (3.2 mi run; 2 mi ride; 1.3K swim 33 min 11.5 deg)

Masters (~5000 M)

• 6×300:
• Free
• IM – 50 k/25 s
• Pull
• IM – 50 drill/25 swim
• 25 ez / 25 fast
• 25s w/fins and paddles

I missed about 200 yards – I was a bit slow getting in, and then, despite having peed twice already this morning, I had to get out and pee again. Hormones are weird.

• 6×100 on 1:30
• 200 on 3:00, 4×100 on 1:30
• 2X200 on 3:00, 2×100 on 1:30
• 3×200 on 3:00
• 200 on 3:00, 400 on 6:00 (I did 75fr/25 bk, and pushed it a bit knowing I was about to be done)
• (Then there was supposed to be a 600 for time, but time was something I was running out of, so I did a 400 CD instead)

The options were all of this on 1:20 base or all on 1:30. I definitely made the right decision. I was tired when I got there, and felt tired throughout, but didn’t really need to push it to make 1:30. At least not to the extent of doing anything crazy, like kicking.

(Kidding a bit there – I am working on my kick. Every time I watch Florian Wellbrock I think, “yeah, you’re never gonna look like that without a significant kick. And if he can keep it up for 2 hours… well, you’ve just got to hold it for 10 more hours after that.”)

I’ll admit I was hoping for something a bit different today, but this was probably exactly the set I needed. Just swim and hold a (pretty decent, even if not to P and E levels) pace while thinking about good mechanics. Hitting 1:25s and trying for 1:20s is exciting, but it’s unlikely I’ll spend much time at that pace in the Channel.

• OW Swim – forgot my watch, but looked at the time on my phone before and after – about 33 minutes, so probably about 1300 M. The lifeguards said it was 11.5; internet says 12.

We’re bringing some biology up in here – After doing a podcast with Francois Haman, cold researcher, I bought a thermometer and am planning to take my temp after swims. First results seem questionable to me. I took it before I went down to swim – 36.4 degrees (this will all be by mouth for reasons). I tried to take it on the beach when I got out, but lifeguards kept talking to me. I tried again while walking up the hill, but couldn’t breath enough with my mouth shut. So I sat down and took it when I reached the flat – 34.4 degrees. After my shower (when still shivering), it read 35.6. After checking my email (and not being shivery anymore), it was back up to 36.4

I didn’t feel that cold today – not even claw handy. So that seems a little cold. I do hold cold water in my mouth as I swim – I am concerned it will be difficult to get an accurate reading

Fri Apr 29 (0 – pool closed – chlorine levels) (4.6 mi run; 2.7 mi run that may have looked a lot like walking; OW – 1.9 K, 49 minutes

• OW Swim
• 49 minute swim (from toes touching water to toes leaving)
• 1.9 K
• Temp before (just after resting – not sleeping, but laying down reading.a book): 36.3
• Temp after: 33.7
• Water temp 11.5
• Air temp mid-50s F
• Lots of wind – it felt quite cold out

Protocol – exit water, put on parka, rinse feet (cold water), climb hill, take temp in apartment. It is 10-15 minutes from leaving the water to taking the temp. But on days like today I continue to get colder, being wet and out in the wind is worse than in the water.

Had a bit of claw hand (left) in last 10 minutes or so of the swim, but felt fine. My feet were actually warmer than they had been.

I’m successfully typing this just after I took the 33.7 reading.

Temp after shower – 34.6 (I think .6 – somewhere near there)

Sat Apr 30 (~4500 M) 1 h 30; 4.4 mile ride

• 90 min swim
• 4.5 K
• Water temp – (these, btw, are not highly accurate – all sources report different temps, and indeed, different parts of the sea are at different temps as I swim through them). So, somewhere between upper 10s and 12
• Air temp – Low 50s and beautifully sunny. Not too much wind (for the beach)
• Temp post-swim: 34.7

This was a group swim. I got out and got dressed (and then sat down for a couple of minutes before remembering to get a temp) – probably about 20 minutes between exit and temp taking.

This was my longest swim to date in English waters. I shivered quite hard to warm up. Claw hand around 30 minutes, cold feet a few minutes later. But I felt fine and plan to try 2 hours Sunday, if things look good. It didn’t get worse from 45 minutes onward.

• Ride 4.4 miles

Sun May 1 (~6700 K) 2 h 7 m; 2.2 mile ride

• 2 h 7 min
• 6.7 K
• Water temp ~11
• Air temp – I think about 11… and rainy
• Took temp 13 minutes after getting out – 34.5

I felt better than I did on Saturday – not as much shivering and I was warming up a bit as I swam. Another guy and I raced back to the finish a bit – that made a big difference. I also drank chocolate drink every 30 minutes – I think that was really helpful at that temperature as well.

• Ride – 2.2 miles (Sarah gave me a ride home – no Beryl bikes. Thanks Sarah!)