Swimming Madness at the USAT National Challenge Competition

I had been looking forward to the USAT NCC challenge since before completing IMAZ. Is set my goals right after Ironman to keep myself challenged, otherwise I’d do nothing and regret it later. I committed to putting more effort into the swim and maybe being top 10 in my Tri Club (TCSD). Last year, in the last week of the challenge, I realized I could do well as I was fine with swimming more. While I am slow, I am determined and willing tot put the time in. Last year I saw my rankings climb, not to the top but it reflected how much work and time I put into it. I can do better. And wouldn’t it be neat to be up there with the REALLY amazing swimmers on Tri Club.

I established a plan. Goal was consistency, less yardage early in the week (2.5-3K) mostly due to my work schedule, working my way up to a 5-6k by Thurs and Friday and attempt a 10K every Sunday. The 10K was added after the first week. I told myself to stick with the plan and I will see myself go up in the rankings. When I was thinking rankings, I was really thinking national age group because every year I hover around 40^th in my age group. I was also really thinking within my team, T1(team 1) in Tri Club. I was always on T2 (team 2) which is usually those who do a little less mileage than T1 although there are many athletes on T2 that were killing it this year! I was proud to be on T1 this year because that is where my coach is and she is a rockstar. I need to show that I am “worthy” of being on T1.

Mid week of the first week I see myself above really prominent swimmers on our team. What?? How is that possible? I’m slow. I logged my first 10K of the season and Bam! I’m #1 on T1. Okay so the first week was rough, as a team we just weren’t swimming as much as we should, the energy was low. TCSD was third place in the nation. We won the last 2 years. Once everyone gets going I will be back down to 5 or 8. At this point I’m getting a lot of cheers from other TCSD swimmers which feeds my soul. I start looking at my national rankings in the swim portion and OMG I’m in the top 10-20 out of 3000! I’m hovering between 8-13^th place, slowly remaining top 10 nationally. Seeing my name on the top 10 is amazing.

I change my swim plan. I can do MORE. I also know that at any moment my coach, or Peter or Alexis or Chris or Jim or just about any other amazing rockstar TCSD swimmer can throw down and knock me off #1 in our club. In fact, I expect it, especially from Julie or Peter. Last year Peter swam 19K in one day. He has not done that yet and I imagine he will soon. I was always in awe of him when he did that. I could not wrap my head around it.  10K was hard enough for me last year. When I did my one 10K then I broke it up over the day in 2 different pools and thought I was going to die afterwards. So how does anyone do 19,000 yards and still smile? Real swimmers do - swimmers who have been competing their whole lives. Not new swimmers who learned how to swim from zero in their mid 30’s and are one of the slowest swimmers in Tri Club. There was a little birdie in the back of my head that held onto Peter’s 19k- one day maybe I can do it. Not this year of course but someday!

The Mike Plumb birdie puts a little idea into my head. At this point I have the most overall distance. While I do not need a prize, it’s fun. Just seeing my name climb the rankings and knowing I am helping our team is enough motivation. However one prize offered by Tri Club catches my eye “most overall distance up to 12/12/15, a pair of XTERRA Lava Shorts. Bonus if that person is also in the top 5 overall swimmers in the NCC, upgraded to XTERRA Lava Pants.” The top 5 overall grabbed me. I’m between 8-13 this week depending on the minute. I’m holding 8 in the last few days. I want top 5. I want the Lava pants. I WANT THIS. I WILL DO IT. After a longer swim I get a text from my spouse asking how my swim was, not specifically asking but just texting “Lava pants, today?” meaning did I swim enough to get into the top 5. The Lava pants become the symbol of working even harder. Honestly, I don’t even know what to do with Lava pants. I just want top 5 in the swim nationally even for one day. I change my plan again and swim even more. I can do this. I increase my swims to twice a day before and after work. My skin hurts.

I look at the rankings and I am almost there. I look at my TCSD rankings and…

I’m #2!!! What? Whoa? I was starting to get used to it. Okay, well  honestly I was expecting the above named swimmers to pass me. That’s fine. No it wasn’t them at all. It was someone who was completely off my radar. Alan? Who is this guy? Where was he? Where did he come from? WTF? He swam 10 miles at once. WHO does that? I look at my plan and see if I can beat him. It’s going to be hard as there are only a few days left this week for the Lava Pants. This was the second of 2 long works days. I have to swim more but my time is really limited this week. The 4am swims the next two days start. And I have 2 holiday parties in a row this weekend, so no sleep. I am motivated to do everything to beat this guy. I swim day and night averaging 6 hours of sleep a day or less. I cannot function on less than 7.5 hours sleep a night. I push it. I swim then go straight to the final work holiday party dolled up in a beautiful dress with goggle eyes on Saturday night, celebrate with my coworkers then  and find a 24 hour fitness and throw down one more 3000 yard swim before 11pm. I put in on the NCC logs and there I am at 10:45pm #5 nationally. At this point I don’t care about the Lava pants, I liked the challenge of both getting a top 5 and trying to beat Alan.

Monday morning- I’m hit by a truck, sick, fever, feeling awful and not at all functional. I call into work sick and stay in bed. I knew better. I knew as I was losing sleep going to holiday parties swimming before and after them, working and keeping some semblance of sanity in my life while burning the candle at both ends I’d get sick. Later in the day, I drag out of bed to at least swim 1700 to keep my daily streak. It was awful. I cursed every lap and fretted about how cold I was. I reassessed my goals and saw that there was no way I was beating Alan. This guy is amazing. Might as well join him. BUT I can work towards staying in the top 5 nationally. By the way, I got the Lava Pants.

I went to the 100x100 swim the following week. I had increased my yardage once again as soon as I recovered. I had less obligations, no extra longer work days. I guarded my sleep better. Part of me wanted to just leave it at that. I put in a lot for the team, I can slow down and stay well. I don’t need to be in the top nationally. I had 2 weeks of being at the top. And I will reach my goal of 100K yards easily and early. I’m done, right?  A little bird named Julie Dunkle whispered into my ear- not really but she did award me with more prizes- a new swimsuit AND ZOGG goggles! What? She says I’ve been working my ass off and she wants to keep it that way. Oh the “keep it that way” translates that I am not done, I am not slowing down, I have to keep pushing hard. Okay.

So that day I go for a PR- 15K in one swim. My last PR was 12.5K last week. I’m sure to jump in the national rankings. I’m 5 at the start. I decide I want 3^rd overall. After that epic swim I only move to 4^th. I’m crushed. It was really hard swimming this. The last 2K were awful. No one was left at the 100x100 group swim. On some level I loved having almost the whole pool to myself but it was lonely. I saw Julie on my bathroom break at the 10K and told her I had 5K left. She was leaving. Aw.

I keep swimming. I’m loving all of the cheers from other TCSD members online. It helps a lot. I so want to tell the new swimmers, the slower swimmers that they can do this too. I’m a slow swimmer and I’m doing this! Sure I’m sore but that’s all it is, muscles breaking down to become even stronger. I love seeing what everyone else is doing. So many folks making PRs. Meanwhile Alan is my biggest cheerleader. He is throwing down insane miles and still cheerful. He motivates me. I’m getting crankier each day and welcome the xmas break- break=lower yardage. I take a few days of low mileage. I rewrite my plan for the last week of the swim. Our team is winning but not by much. I’m going for it all. I want 3^rd and I want overall female. I am leapfrogging with this woman from Florida who doesn’t always post her mileage ethically (or at least I think that). So I start waiting a day or two to post. I need to know what she is doing so I can plan my swim after work--- to beat hers. She obviously has the same goals. There are 2 others that I leapfrog for third place. At this point a little birdie names Alan whispers something- “Drop them! go for 2^nd place, you and me, #1 and #2.” I like it. I swim day and night. 4am throwing down 9500+ yards before work, adding another 3-6K after work. I hurt everywhere. I decide to go for another PR Wed 12/30 when I have time before and after work. 16000 yards. On my swim the day before I keep thinking of Peter who did the 19k. I am also realizing I may not get 2nd or even 3^rd nationally. But I can do 20K and swim the most mileage in one day in Tri Club. I like that. I think it over. It’s a lot. It is still Tuesday and I am running on fumes. I vacillate between enthusiasm and extreme burnout literally from one minute to the next.  I don’t want to get sick but I do have a 4 ½ day weekend at the end of this. I will sleep Jan 1. I commit to eating well, staying hydrated, and sleeping as much as I can.  Wednesday is the big day and Thursday I work half day and the gym closes at 6pm. Another little bird named Luna, my 16 year old daughter whispered in my ear a few times that the last two days I should swim until 11pm or all night if I have to. She says, “do it. go big or go home. You chose this. If you want to win you have swim more.” I keep that in my head all week. She is hard core. She is also a good swimmer. I tell her I’m exhausted, she in unforgiving, “so what. You started it, finish it.” “Go big or Go home.” WHO IS THIS CHILD?? AM I cursed or blessed? After my Tuesday swim I truly am burnt out.  I’m cranky, tearful, fearful, hurting. I hate water. I dread the goggles as the skin around my eyes is chafed. My ear hurts. My skin hurts. I’m done. I did enough and can accept whatever happens. It’s all or nothing- either swim or quit. I want to quit. I want to sleep. I want to STOP blowing my nose every 30 seconds! I tell myself to do the planned morning swim and see how I feel about the afternoon swim. If I struggle in the am, then don’t worry about the epic PR in the pm and just go for the 16K total instead. That was the original plan and a 10K on the final day. And the morning swim is the last 4am swim of the month. When I say 4am that means in the water at 4am, I wake up at 3. I go to bed earlier which was nice. I slept well.

The morning swim was smooth. 10,500 yards done. I was positive again and reflected a lot on the month. I was driven to keep trying to beat the woman form Florida. I still want 3^rd. Original plan was a 2 hour swim after work so what’s another 1:10 for an epic PR of 20,000 total? It’s only 9500.  I’ll be okay with being slow. I commit.

After work, I head straight for the pool and do it. It’s not bad at all. I smile in the last 25 yards. Holy shit. I just swam 20,000 yards today! I did what Peter did! I hop out of the pool. I am floppy but fine. I’m very hungry. I told myself I could get the large smoothie at the club. I hurry and shower to get the smoothie. Closed. Awe! I get home and there is a bowl of vegan choc cherry ice cream for me. That will do. I pick at dinner and just want to go to bed. I am exhausted, more exhausted than after Ironman. The week caught up with me. One more day. And since the club is closed early in the morning I get to sleep in until 6:30am. I’ll be well rested for the last day.

Thursday- ½ day at work. I decide to go home before the swim and eat lunch first. Plan is for a 10K. That will keep me at 3^rd. At this point, I won’t beat the woman from Florida but I can remain in 3^rd. I fret before the swim. I think about the line between sanity and madness as I realize I am about to throw down a 10 k less than 18 hours after a 20K. I don’t know if I can do this? When will my body say no? What will happen? I remember the first week when I was swimming 2500 a day and so sore. My shoulder was really hurting and I thought then that my shoulder may put a stop to all of this. It hasn’t. I wasn’t sore in that shoulder last night. No one pulled me out of the pool on a stretcher last night. Today is just half. I slept, I ate, I drank, I am fine. Stop thinking and just do- I can do this. Mid swim I decide to go for an extra 1000 and do 11K for fun. No not really for fun but to ensure 3^rd place and I had a little time. James shows up on deck in the last 1K and scares the hell out of me. I had the pool to myself so it was easy to get into a zone. All of a sudden he is standing at my lane. It was good to see him, to see someone. The pool was mostly empty the whole time so I could move around lanes to break the monotony. I swam 4k in one lane, 3k in the next one and finished the final 4k in the last lane. I’m done. I’m ready to accept whatever happens in the rankings. I am proud to know that I helped TCSD win.

I surprised myself by pushing well beyond what I thought I could ever do. I pushed well beyond pain and exhaustion to do this. And yes, it was harder than Ironman. Day in and day out long swims while working full time and sometimes more than full time is depleting. This hard work led me to place 3rd nationally in the swim portion (out of 3000 athletes), 2nd overall in my age group and 2nd in my awesome Tri Club Team 1. Near the end of the month I still swam despite exhaustion and pain to swim a hell of a personal record of 20,000 yards (11.36 miles) in 1 day. Last year I could not even wrap my head around anyone swimming so long. I did this. I swam among some of the top swimmers in the nation. I am honored to be a part of that. It turns out Alan, the TCSD swimmer that motivated me is a Triple Crown marathon swimmer meaning he swam the English Channel, swam around Manhattan and swam from Catalina! I am honored to have shared this insanity with him. Funny he became my biggest cheerleader and motivator in this. If he hadn’t beat me I would have never challenged myself as much as I did.

So here are the goals:

80-100k yards in Dec  Goal exceeded: 212044 yards done
Swim every day in Dec – Done.
Work towards a faster 500 – Still recovering, planning a time trial this week, I’m hopeful.

Swim further in 1 day than I did last year which was 10K – Goal exceeded multiple times

I exceeded my distance goal early so I set new goals:

Swim 100MILES in Dec – Goal exceeded 120.48 miles done

Swim 19K in one day- Goal exceeded 20,000 yards in one day done

Place in the top 5 swim portion nationally – Goal exceeded 3^rd place in the swim

Place first female swim portion nationally – Goal not met, it was a fight to the end. Next year.