Catalina Details and 10k Nationals
This week is a special week for me. Monday was my two-year Channel Swim anniversary!
As of yesterday I am officially two weeks out from my Catalina Channel crossing. Now that my boat, kayak, crew, accomodations (thanks to my LTF swimmer, Nadine Treon, who was kind enough to cash in some of her hotel points for me) and flights are all arranged, I am just focusing on my taper and gathering all of my equipment and supplies for my swim. The running list is as follows, and I would welcome any suggestions!
Water
Apple Juice
Energy Gel Packets
Cliff Bars
Vaseline
Motion Sickness Pills
Liquid Tylenol
Glow Sticks
Floating Thermometer
Dry Erase Board and Markers
Mouthwash (to prevent swelling in the mouth and throat)
Jellyfish Sting Relief
Extra Towels
Extra Caps and Goggles
Camera/Video Camera
Rain Gear for Crew
Food and Drink for Crew
Sunscreen
Chrispy Critter All Natural After Burn Gel, available on Amazon.com
Did I forget anything?!?!?!?
Here’s the rest of the skinny: My crew and I will start boarding the boat around 6:00pm on August 9th with a departure for Catalina Island at 8:30pm and an 11pm swim time (Pacific Time Zone). If everything goes as planned, I should be finishing between 7-9am somewhere near the beach just south of Point Vicente Lighthouse. Feel free to show up and take some pictures! If you do plan on making an appearance, shoot me an email (use the contact form) with a phone number so that my boat crew can communicate ETA and location. For those of you who can only attend “in spirit,” updates will be posted on my facebook pages and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/swimsevenseas .
In other news, last weekend was the USMS 10K Nationals in Morse Reservoir. I would highly recommend ANY race put on by Dick Sidner, including next year’s 25k Nationals, because he really knows how to put on a good event. The race would have been more fun if it weren’t for the brutal Midwest heat wave that brought the water temperature as high as 90 degrees and 84 the day of the race, but the swim gave me an opportunity to practice racing in less-than-ideal conditions and gave me a clearer picture of what I should be working on. After leading the women’s race for 8K, the heat got to me and I dropped off to second, splitting 4 minutes slower on the second 5k than the first, and exiting the water with a slight case of heat exhaustion. While this finish was disappointing to say the least, I KNOW I could have and should have done better, and that the reason I failed was all mental. I’m just going to chalk it up to a learning experience and continue to feel confident in my physical abilities while improving on the most important skill in marathon swimming: metal toughness.
Taper is feeling good and I’m ready to rock! Thank you all for your support!
Taking it out with the big boys at 10K Nationals (closest to the camera).
Jul 29, 2010
Can you explain the strategy behind doing the Catalina Channel through the night as oppose to the day? I agree – the conditions were brutal at the 10K this year. Glad to see you had a solid finish despite the adversity. Hope to see you at the 25K next summer.
Jul 29, 2010
I think you forgot the HOT CHOCOLATE! Isn’t that a staple of long-distance swims?
Jul 29, 2010
Also, I realize this may sound wierd, but you might want to bring earplugs. I always swim with earplugs, and I believe they ARE allowed in Channel crossing rules. The low-frequency vibrations of the bubbles rising next to my ears bothers me. My favorite type are these really soft purple ones I got at Big 5, brand name “Macks”. They aren’t the maleable clay kind you have to jam in, they are the flange type. Mack’s are better than Speedos, where are too hard.