I like this race; a 1 mile swim around the Santa Cruz Wharf. It's a chance to see old swim friends, and a course that's ALWAYS exactly the same and so is a good opportunity to see progress over the years. This day we had cool foggy conditions, but water warmer than it's been lately; 59F, which is just fine for wetsuit weenies like me.
The night before, I had two big bowls of Trader Joe's organic flax seed cereal with vanilla soy milk and heaping handfuls of nuts and dried cranberries just before bed. In the morning, B complex, D, CaMg, E vitamins/minerals, a banana and a cup of chocolate soy+1 scoop of MetRx high protein, 90 minutes before the race. 20 minutes before the start I had 2/3 of a bottle of Accelerade.
Commiserating before things get underway |
A confident smile pre-race |
All eyes are on the race director as he gives instructions. Right? He's the guy in back with the microphone. |
It was a colorful group of characters |
The trek under the wharf to the start in front of the Cocoanut Grove. I rush to stick my camera back in my gear bag at the finish and then get some acclimation in the ocean on the way to the start |
My left rotator cuff had been getting sore this season in swims, forcing me to reduce intensity, and I figure its been because I have been doing my recovery reach pretty much completely out of the water, trying to minimize drag. But last night when talking with Delucchi, I realized by keeping my arm out of the water, I was only making the rest of my body ride a bit deeper, neutralizing the drag argument. I also remember watching those endless pool ads with Roudy Gaines and how his recovery hand slides just under the water surface. So today I vowed to focus on practicing this recovery and upping my intensity and see what would happen.
I love open water swimming... except for swimming into someone's kicking feet. I'll swim a more round about line just to avoid that. I took an outside line and never came close to contact, and had a good line after rounding the end of the wharf. My PR for this course is the '96 race: 23:59. Never come close to that before or since, 26+ at others. But, I felt I could put in a second best ever today with a little luck. My goal was to break 25 minutes. Water-entry-to-exit was 24:55. Chip timing (sand start to chip beep on the carpet up on the sand) was 25:28, (a little slow as I toppled over the first time I stood up, when the undertow hit me). My second best swim, and I'm an old geezer now! So I'm happy, and best of all, no soreness in my rotator cuff; either side. After, I drank the rest of my Accelerade and grabbed my camera to photo some random finishers.
After the race. |
a bit of added salt-water weathering have I |
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Marta... |
...and friends, clearly all endorphine'd up |
The Santa Cruz Masters contingent... |
...took home... |
...more than their share of the medals |
Coach Wilson... CRUSHed the competition in my age group |
sans wetsuit, at home on my deck. Yeah, kinda self-promoting I suppose. But some day my body'll fall apart and it's nice to remind myself I'm not washed up quite yet |
