Daddy's Princess preparing our weekend!

Thanks, little Addison.  Make sure to keep those on ice.  Ready for this weekend - can't believe it's the last before race weekend in the big lake. 

I still remember the view of the lake from the trip back home and realizing the distance that we all swam. 

What a great feeling.

Time for some baseball with the boys and Addison.  Should be a great weekend weather wise and relaxing before next week's travels.

Getting to the last few practices before the race and feeling good.  No extensive soreness, just a good sore from use, not abuse.

Last night I did a few faster short distances to put myself in a fatigued state, then completed a 2km swim nice and easy

Thursday PM:

4 x 500m descend (8:38, 8:28, 8:11, 7:41)  (1:43, 1:41.6, 1:38.2, 1:32.2)

2km swim - cool down, stretch (38:12) (1:54 / 100m)

Memories of last year

Great collage of pics from last year's trip.  It was great to have time with my favorite person in the whole world as well as my best supporter / kayak guide.

Crazy that the economy's timing has made Lake Las Vegas a virtual ghost town.  The casino is completely closed down, the restaurant that looks like an Italian hillside wine bar / restaurant is just a bit of the scenery now.

The new bridge over the Colorado was just opened the weekend before our trip.  We actually were routed via our GPS through Laughlin because of the delay, then went via the dam on the way back home.  Good trip.

I was proud to have completed the event.  My time was certainly no where near the top or even the middle, but I still wore my medallion for completion with pride that evening at the buffet we chose.

This year will be pretty low key.  We have a hotel on the strip, but will not have a big budget to blow at the casinos or shows.  Vegas is a great city, but not one that you can have too much fun with a tight budget.  We'll still be happy.  The drive will be great.  The time together without the kids will be a well deserved break, especially for Taressa now that her major school projects and classes are coming to an end.

Last night's swim was awesome.  I did 6600 yards (6000 meters) in 1:45 - easy to convert to time per 100 at 1:45 / 100meters.  This would place my swim time near 2:20.  I definitely gutted out the last 1000 having not fueled for this distance.  I believe I'm right on with a shot of fuel at about :50, 1:40, then finish.  I'm counting on Taressa to keep us going super straight to each of the next turn points so I'll not have to add too much distance.

Weight is down to 161.2 as of last night.  Started at near 190 when I began training again. My diet has been much better than average, but not perfect.  Taressa helps with her greens and grains and veggies she prepares most meals.  My cookie habit is awful. 

All in all, I'm very proud of my commitment and my identity as a swimmer.  Next year will bring an increased attention to more distance, more open water focus.  I still have Catalina in mind for the summer of 2013.

Wednesday PM practice:

6KM straight: 1:45 (1:45 / 100 m pace)

That kind of Wednesday...

One week out from Vegas..

Workouts and work and family and... it's always a fight for balance.  I believe I've done a good job, maybe not an excellent job.  Challenging workouts leave me toast for most of the following morning.  Missing a workout leaves me mentally discouraged.

The past few days have been great with both pace and pretty good distance.  I would like to be nearer 8 to 10 km per practice.  Mentally, I guess I feel like I'm cheating if I divide this into 2 practices per day, but that's going to have to be the next step.  My body is craving more recovery than this allows now.

Saturday:  6KM swim+  Nice pace and then some sprints to open up my stroke count.

Sunday:  4KM swim (1:14) or 1:51 / 100m  This was prepped as a 10 km swim with a 4k, 3k, 2k, 1k swim.  After completion of the 4km in a pretty decent pace, I was just tingly and numb - did not fuel well that morning.  Lesson learned.  Saturday, Taressa had class and this was the first day we have had together for some time.  It was easy to make the trade off to be back with her for a great breakfast.

Monday:  Off

Tuesday:  4 x 1km (descend)  (18:10)  (17:00)  (17:15)  (17:30)  Didn't quite hit the descend targets, but felt very strong.  The splits were ranging between 1:42 and 1:48 / 100m.  The first km felt quite sloppy - no warm up and there were several pretty decent swimmers creating more disturbance in the water than my normal crystal clear laps of early morning swims alone.  That was a good reminder that the lake will not be much different.  I was glad that the subsequent 1000's were so strong - time wise relative to effort.  I believe I can hold a sub 1:45 / 100km pace for the entire race.  That would put me in the 2:20 to 2:30 range for the 8KM (factoring no walls and probably not swimming exactly straight).  This would represent a 50 to 40 minute redux from last year's first attempt.  Needless to say, I'd be very happy with this progress.

Focus will be on flawless nutrition from here on - that last donut did taste extra good knowing that this morning.

Khaaaaaaan! : Damn it Jim, I'm a Swimmer Consultant, not a Blogger

Always try to expand the boy's cinema experience when a classic flashes upon a lazy weekend.  Star Trek - you know, the one with the ear bug.  Often find these movies not holding up to the original memories, but this was still decent.  I think the boys enjoyed it.  We caught bits of Avatar the night before.  Edited by me for the more mature items.

Swims have felt really good.  I feel in control in the water and the work that has been a bit mind-numbing on my catch and rotation of my left arm seems to be paying off.  I still fade back into old habits of too straight of a reach, then results in a weak side rotation and wide pull.  Not only is it inefficient, it actually tires me out at twice amount.

Saturday: 

1KM (18:30)  (1:49 / 100m)
2KM (34:20)  (1:42 / 100m)
3KM (53:00)  (1:46 / 100m)

Total: 6000 meters + some stroke work  - next time I'll do a full up and down this one... liked the increasing, then decreasing distances.  Made the 3km not seem like nearly 2 miles.

Sunday:  3 x 500 descend (7:40, 7:38, 7:24)  - not trying to kill any one of them, but control effort / speed ratio.

Monday:  Golf in the AM, Family Day!!

Tuesday: Travel / work in Mission Viejo, CA