Are you going to be there?

It was gorgeous here today….but unfortunately I spent nearly the entire day inside.  Ughh!  I started off the day coaching my masters swim group for an hour.  Then I went into work for about 4 hours (got a lot done-but took more home with me to work on). 

I then made it to the pool at 2:15 and had exactly 2.5 hours to get my 9000 yard workout done.  I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, but I did…and boy are my shoulders SORE!  Dixie and I then went to a BBQ for a few hours and pretended to be social…but the whole time I was thinking how nice ice packs on my shoulders and a giant bowl of ice cream would be.

I now have a favor to ask you all…

Okay, so one of my personal flaws is, and I think may always have been, difficulty in asking for help when I need it.  Maybe that comes from being the second youngest of 5 siblings-I don’t want help, I want to do it myself.  Every time I see a small child wanting to tie their shoe on their own, while a parent impatiently fights the urge to do it for them….I think of my own stubbornness and desire to be independent.

But….much like it takes a whole village to raise a child…it takes an entire crew to get a swimmer across a 55 mile lake.  So this is me, asking for help.  So if I have ever helped you, if I have ever motivated you, I’m cashing in on a favor right now.   I have coached upwards of 200 swimmers since I began coaching.  I have driven hours to attend first races of athletes.  I have stood around from the gun going off to last athletes finishing.  Anyone who has ever competed at any level knows what a great difference it makes having a support team watching you race. 

So how about you….wanna be on my support crew?

Right now I would say my crew is about ½ staffed.  I do not need anything real technical here in terms of specialized knowledge.  I need people on my crew who

·         can be positive for the entire length of their shift (6 hour shifts),

·         can keep track of my nutrition(it will all be planned out ahead of time…you just have to throw out the food at the right time)

·         can drive a boat

·         can motivate me

·         can make me laugh when I want to cry

·         can hop in the water and swim with me if I need it (and those folks, unlike me could wear fins)

·         can work a GPS.

The lodging for the crew is completely taken care of for the time periods when you are not on the boat.  The only thing you’d need to do is get yourself to Lake Chelan, which is about 2 hours North of Ellensburg….approximately 8 hours from Kalispell/Missoula.

I know giving up two days is a commitment, especially in the middle of the week…but for those who can help me out with this, I would be forever grateful.

So….who wants to come to Chelan?

~Emily

Gearing up for a TOUGH weekend!

Well….made it through the week!  But I didn’t get as many workouts in as I had hoped (which was mostly due to the fact that I had a trial this week and ended up working about 50 hours!).

Since I missed a few days writing, here’s the recap:

Wednesday, I met with an athlete for a personal training session at 5:30 am…so no swimming that morning.  In the evening I had my massage (which was pretty painful this time) so no swimming in the evening.

Thursday was trial day, so I let myself “sleep in” until 5:30 (that is sick and wrong to call that sleeping in, I know!) and after an 11 hour day at work, I was too wiped out when I got home to get a swim in that evening.

And that brings us to today….I let myself sleep until the last possible moment this morning (7:15) to get to work by 8.  When my 4 am alarm went off I tried to get up, but I didn’t feel well (stuffed up, sore throat)…so I thought rather than risk that turning into a head cold, I would try and get some more sleep.  Being stressed out and run down is the perfect environment to get sick….and the swim is close enough that I can’t risk that.

Today I put in an 8-5 with no lunch break, but even though going to swim was the LAST thing I wanted to do once I got home, I made it to the Summit and got in a 5000 yard practice.  Immediately after hopping in the pool, I was glad I got myself there.  It was a very good practice. 

Since I missed several of my planned practices this week, I’m looking at a pretty intense weekend of practices (9,000 on Saturday and 17,000 on Sunday).  BUT after that, my best friend Erika flies in from Alaska for a weeklong visit on Sunday night, which will be an excellent reward!!!!

I hope you all are doing well!  Thanks for reading and good night!

~Emily

9,000 before 9:00 am

What a looooooooooooooooong day!  I was up at 4:30 am and for a split second I thought about hitting the snooze button….but then I remember how jam packed this week is and I knew I couldn’t afford to miss a swim this am.  I got in 9,000 yards this morning in 2 hours and 45 minutes!  I was able to go into work an hour late, which enabled me to do this.  The first hour of my swim I did my hour “test set” and I got in 3750 yards in an hour…without looking it up, I can’t recall what my last hour test was, but I’m still a little slower than my targeted 2.5 miles per hour pace, but there’s still time…and TAPER in my favor!

When I swim I have my workouts written out on an index card and then I put the index card inside a sandwich baggie and stick it to the end of my lane.  While today I had a lane buddy for the last hour and a half of my practice and she must have been snooping on my workout while I was swimming because when I got out she said “Did you really swim 9,000 yards today!”  And I said “yep!” 

Also while swimming this morning, to help amuse myself amidst a fairly crowded lap swim crowd this morning, I was taking part in “sneak races.”  Sneak racing is a technique by which a person races someone who has no idea there is a race going on….so I’d randomly pick a lap swimmer to be the “rabbit” and make it a goal to catch up to them in a certain amount of time.   It’s a good way to make the time go by faster and it helps me push myself when I don’t have anyone doing my workout with me.

Work was very busy today….and I don’t want to talk about it….at all.  Ugghhh!

I stayed at work until 7:00pm…double ughhhh!  And here it is, a little after 8 and I’m about to go to sleep and do it all over again tomorrow.  But there is one good thing to look forward to tomorrow!  It’s MASSAGE DAY!!!!!!! 

Well….goodnight all!

~Emily

A Big THANK YOU to Mountain View Lodge!

So last night I got an AMAZING 11 hours of sleep-which was MUCH needed for sure!  Today was a scheduled “off” day for working out (swimming and dryland), so I worked a ten hour day at the office.  I still have a good amount of “comp. time” I need to build up prior to the swim so I can take all the time off I need.  With the busyness of this week, I will no doubt be working some extra hours, but the challenge is going to be putting in extra work hours without taking away from swimming time.  This week I am hoping to get close to 40,000 yards, which is a lot…but if I am going to hit 40 it has got to be this week.

I do have some excellent details to share with you about my latest sponsor, Mountain View Lodge.  The lodge is providing me with a townhome/condo for myself and my support crew for the 3-nights in Chelan (the crew obviously will be there more than me, as I will be swimming) AND for anyone coming to just watch Mountain View Lodge will provide rooms at the lodge at a 20% discount for friends and family!  It’s a pretty great deal because none of the lodging up there provides summer time discounts.  So, check out the link to Mountain View Lodge under “Sponsors” in the side of my blog and make your reservations! 

It’s a short post tonight, because I am hoping to get dinner in quick and another early bed time ! 

Good night!

~Emily

Another Missoula Weekend

WHAT a weekend!  Holy smokes am I exhausted!   Ok….so yesterday was a swimming day off, but definitely not what I would consider a rest day!

My friend Jeff is the General Manager of the Osprey Baseball team in Missoula and he let me come and set up a table at the game Saturday night, which was also Tough enough to Wear Pink night.  Sooooooooo….that’s where I was Saturday night!  I had quite a few people come up to my table and ask more about what I was doing.  There were folks that remembered seeing me on the news last year for the Flathead swim.  A lot of kids came up (the table next to mine had candy), and I observed that as parents read my fliers, they would hug their kids closer.  I think by now most people are very aware of how non-discriminating cancer is and it makes most people realize how lucky they are to be healthy and that their kids are healthy.  Several people that stopped by the table know Karmyn (of last year’s 50K for Karmyn).  But my absolute favorite visitor of the night was a little boy who was about 8 years old.  He and his friends were frequenting the candy dish at the table next door and finally after about the 20^th time of him shyly looking over at my table he says to me, in an all business tone, “so what’s this all about.”  I showed him a picture of Katelyn and I told him that she was sick and that I was doing a fundraiser to help raise money to help her get better.   I told him about the lake I was swimming (which he didn’t quite get the concept of how that would help KK…but he was only 8).  From there the game of 20 questions began, how cold is the lake, how deep is the lake, are there lots of fish in the lake, etc.  The whole time he was talking to me he was playing with a quarter in his hands.  He left and came back one last time and asked “how long is the English Channel”  I told him it was a little over 20 miles.  He then says to me, “You will be swimming a long ways…so here is a donation,” and he handed me his quarter, wished me luck and went back to the baseball game.  I wasn’t supposed to be collecting donations at the game (just directing people how they could donate), but I couldn’t turn away this kiddos quarter. 

It was a good night.

This morning while adorning my new “rockstar” suit that is much more suitable for tan lines while outdoor swimming, I headed to Splash Montana and got in a respectable 6,000 meters (about 6500 yards).  I ran into Simone-one of my favorite former swimmers at the YMCA!  Simone was also on my crew for last year’s swim.  Simone gave me some great suggestions for additional sponsorship.

After swimming, I had lunch with a friend, caught up a bit and THEN, the highlight of my weekend, I had ice cream with Karmyn, her mom Tiff and her little brother.  Karmyn wasn’t as shy as she has been in the past with me and after ice cream we went over to the little splash park.  Tiff reports that Karmyn is doing well and is set to be done with her treatment in January.  She also has a birthday coming up, which I am hoping to be able to make it to.  The family intends to come and watch my swim for Katelyn-which I am pretty excited about.  Katelyn and Karmyn are friends (which I didn’t find out until after deciding to swim this lake for Katelyn). 

I hit the road about 5 and made pretty good time back to Kalispell.  I can’t remember a trip home where I have been as tired, but I made it.  I picked Dixie up and Katie had a salad waiting for me to take home too….10 points for Katie.  So I am heading to bed right….about….now!

Good night guys!

~Em

A little off today

So on recovery weeks, I am more inclined to give myself a break on certain things.  For example…yesterday I was supposed to get a swim in this morning before work….but I didn’t fall asleep until after 11 last night, so 4:30 am came too soon…so I let myself skip the swim and sleep until 7.  Rather than getting a swim in last night, I did a 45 minute leg/abs/arms VASA workout.  I got to sleep around 8:30 last night, which made getting up for this morning’s practice a little easier.

Getting up may have been easy…but it was downhill from there.  First I discovered I was out of bread…so no PB toast for breakfast-which made me cranky.  Then once I started swimming I just felt off the whole time.  I think I am a little dehydrated this morning…evidenced by the splitting headache I have.  So I got 3500 yards in, but it sure wasn’t pretty.  Once I got home in an effort to turn things around…I had my new favorite post workout snack.  A berry smoothie with Muscle Milk and cyto carb mixed in.  And that’s where we are now.  For once I am getting my blogging in before work instead of after work.

I am determined to turn my mood around this morning and have a good day.  Every practice isn’t going to be a good one….but the rough ones make you appreciate the good ones even more!

In other news….last night I secured another sponsor!  Thank you to Mountain View Lodge at Lake Chelan for providing lodging for myself and my crew!  More details on that later!

Hope you all have a great day!  Thanks for reading!

~Em

The butterflies have arrived...

I’m starting to feel a little bit anxious about all of the stuff I still have to get done in the next six weeks!  It will all fall into place, I know, but a lot goes into big events like this.  There is a good deal of behind the scenes, small detail stuff that just takes time.   I get butterflies when I think about the swim...because I know how fast 6 weeks will pass!  Last year I don't remember getting butterflies until about two weeks out...but bigger lakes must mean bigger butterflies...

Today I am also feeling sad after reading Katelyn’s caring bridge page and learning that the family is once again having to battle with the insurance company regarding payment for Katelyn’s treatment.  Because she is in her second remission, the insurance company does not deem her eligible for coverage of this treatment.  The terrible irony of this decision is that this treatment is likely the only thing that will keep the cancer in remission and her doctors believe she will need at least two years of this treatment.  I don’t think this is right, and I don’t think that after all this family has gone through they should even have to worry about money at all.  I think if a doctor recommends a course of treatment insurance companies should have to cover it.  I could go on and on about this…

Well, on the training front today was business as usual…except I did not do my swim early in the morning…too sleepy to get up at 4:30!  I instead swam a nice relaxing 3500 yards after work.  I was hoping to get to bed early tonight…but here it is 10:00 pm and I am still on the computer.

I should get to sleep now though!

Good night all….

~Emily

One of the toughest girls I know...Katelyn Roker

First things first.  Today was a non-swim day, but not a day off.  It is a recovery week for me, but I am sort of isolating my arms in that category.  So today I had a tough legs and abs VASA workout.  I am going to have SORE legs tomorrow!

I'd like to talk a little bit about Katelyn.  I chatted with Katelyn’s mom Jaime on facebook today.  Here is an adorable photo of Katelyn and Jaime!

I learned a bit about Katelyn’s next steps in treatment.  Katelyn is now in second remission, but as I understand it the hard part is not over.  Katelyn now has two years of an experimental treatment to prevent the return of the Neuroblastoma.  This an aggressive form of cancer and since Katelyn's cancer came back so quickly after her first remission, they have to give her as much of this experimental medication as possible.  Katelyn will have to travel not only to Spokane but also back and forth to New York for this treatment.  There are significant side effects to this treatment as well-here is a link that Jaime sent me:

http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/3215.cfm#261340

And for those of you that need another website to follow : )  Here is a link to Katelyn’s Caringbridge website which is updated frequently about her journey:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katelynroker

Folks its crunch time here-we are six weeks out from the swim, I need your help getting the word out about the swim.  The fundraising efforts are going well, in less than two weeks that I’ve been collecting donations we have raised over $1,000!  But I think we can do better, I think we can raise more.  I encourage you all to pass this site on to your friends.  Anyone know any business owners that might want to donate…I am still seeking sponsorship, any businesses that donate money to this cause I will list as a sponsor on my blog, all fliers and the support crew t-shirts.  Lets spread the word folks, if you know someone looking for a good cause, you would be hard pressed to find a better cause than this one.  Lets help out Katelyn, one of the toughest girls I know.

Let's talk numbers!

Okay…I feel AWESOME today-I surely don’t feel like I swam 11,000 meters yesterday.  That is so great!  To be able to pull in a long, hard practice like that and then feel this well the next day speaks volumes about the effectiveness of my recovery (which I think is due to my recent nutrition changes, including the addition of Muscle Milk).

Today was my “back to reality” day.  After two weeks of Hannah being here and only working half days, today I went back to full days!  And although my house is cleaner and it’s a little bit quieter, I kind of miss my little sidekick.  The last two weeks was the first time since I moved up here that every time I wanted to go do something I had someone to go with me!  But it really is time to get cracking-  I am six weeks and two days out from the swim…so let’s talk numbers.

My training plan last year began 9 weeks earlier than this year’s (but this year I was training for the Nashville marathon-running-so my training started after a week recovery from that race).  So this year I have a 17-week training plan and my comparisons below I took the last 17 weeks of my Flathead Lake training and compared.

So last week I had a total of 28,000 yards, making my 10 week training total up to 193,500 yards, compared to last year’s 153, 450 yards for the same period of training.  That means I am up 40,050 yards from last year!  That’s pretty exciting.

More things to think about, 55 miles is 96,800 yards.  Last year, the longest training swim I did was a four hour 12,600 yard swim and Flathead Lake was 52,800 yards (approximately, I still maintain that I swam more than 30 miles).  So my longest training swim last year was 23% of the total distance I was able to cover.  This sounds ridiculous, and I honestly wasn’t sure it was going to work last year; however you do not have to train the distance you intend to complete when doing ultra-long endurance events.  In fact if I were out getting 30 mile swims in every weekend, my body wouldn’t be able to recover enough in between workouts and completion of the target swim would likely not be possible.

Last year I consumed 4,220 calories during the swim, but by my estimates I believe I under-ate by approximately 5,000 calories.  I ate 5 different kinds of food (goldfish, gummy bears, pretzels, sweedish fish, and PB sandwiches) and alternated between 3 different drinks (water, Cytomax and Gatorade).  By my estimates (and I still have to meet with my nutritionist about this) this year to meet my caloric needs I will need to consume roughly 15,000 calories during the swim.  This is gonna be fun.  : )

Thanks for reading!

~Emily

Flathead Lake-iversary

So one year ago today I did what many people told me I was crazy for even trying.  Yes, today is My Flathead Lake-iversary!  Although Flathead Lake and I are still deeply in love…I am seeing other lakes, well at least one.  : )

I can’t believe a year has gone by already.  Today I got up at 4:00 am and began the drive back to Washington.  It was a good day for a long drive.  I watched the sunrise and remembered how cool it was to begin the swim last year in the pitch black with the stars and moon as my only light and stroke after stroke the sun crept up from behind the mountains.

Why such an early start today?  Well, for starters I didn’t end up swimming yesterday-the trip to Chelan took pretty much the whole day.  Also, I wanted to swing by Missoula on my way back home and get my long swim for the week in at the outdoor pool…my goal was 11,000 meters.  I made pretty good time on the drive and got to Missoula at about 11:00 which gave me enough time to drop Dixie off at Cassie’s (thanks again!) and scarf down a subway sandwich before beginning my swim at about noon.  I ran into several of my YMCA swimmers-George, Shane and Jennifer and also Ellen from the Grizzly pool!  After a little more chit chat than was probably necessary I eventually got to my workout.  And I did it, the whole 11,000 meters.  It was a very good workout-my shoulders didn’t ever get tight and I think I mixed it up enough so it wasn’t boring.

            1000 swim

            10 x 50 kick

            8 x 100 swim

            6 x 200 IM

            4 x 400 pull

            2 x 800 swim

            4 x 400 pull

            6 x 200 IM

            8 x 100 swim

            10 x 50 kick

            200 easy

I find pyramid sets are really nice from a mental standpoint as at about the half way point you can say “nothing longer than an 800 left!”

After I finished swimming (and I should note that during the 4.5 hours I had approximately 8 different lane buddies, I drank two water bottles of Cytomax and tropical fruit shot blocks and reapplied sunscreen twice), I picked up Dixie and got some Red Robin take out.  I hung out at a friend’s house until about 8, then drove the remaining two hours of the trip.

I was already starving again by the time I got home, so I had some Muscle Milk, but I still think that I was about 1,000 calories short today given the extra hours I swam, but I’m too tired to eat more now.

I haven’t calculated this week’s total yardage, but I think it was close to 30,000.  Tomorrow I will have a cool comparison chart of yardage this year vs. yardage last year.  But that’s all for tonight!

Goodnight!

~Em

One of my favorite pools!

Hello from Ellensburg!  Today for the most part was a lazy day at my parents house.  I did get a number of emails sent, etc. while being lazy, but I was pretty lazy.  My mom took Hannah the rest of the way home today, so it was just dad and I for the afternoon/evening.  Dixie was sad to see Hannah go, and actually whined at the door when she left (which she has never done before).

This evening I got my swim in at the Central Washington University Pool.  My alma mater and one of my all time favorite pools.  They only had an hour of lap swim, but it was totally worth it.  I got in 4000 yards and the whole practice I was swimming through 5 years of memories I have from that pool.  The pool is in really good shape and it appears someone has put a bit of money into it.  : )  They recently put in a new liner and they put this really fancy wall mounted pool covers that appear to be rigged up to some sort of automatic pool covering system.  I have never seen anything like that before.  Just one cynical comment...I swear...it seems kind of ironic that all these expensive pool improvements can be made just six years after the school cut the swimming programs.  I'm just saying....

I really like that pool though.  Unfortunatly, the summer hours there are only lap swims for one hour Monday-Friday, so if I want to swim tomorrow I have to go to the city pool...which is not nearly as nice as the college pool.  But eh, you do what you gotta do right?

Dad and I may head up to Chelan tomorrow to explore a bit, but we'll see how the morning goes.

After swimming dad and I went out to dinner and we ate SO much that the waitress didn't even ask if we wanted dessert.  My dad and I laughed pretty hard about that. 

Little Dixie pup had a tiring day chasing my parents dog around and running through the field.  She had a litle mishap when she ran full speed into a barbed wire fence...she's okay, but she learned the hard way what a barbed wire fence is.  She also came very close to learning the hard way what a mouse trap is when she tried to get the "treat." 

Anyhow....Dad and I are going to watch a movie now....have a good night!

~Emily

Washington for the weekend

So today was a pretty good day!  Got up at 4:30 and swam (Hannah came with me).  Then we got in a good morning swim, I did 6,000 yards and Hannah did 3,400 yards!  I felt really good today.  It was the first time I have got a practice in the morning following a massage and I think it made a world of difference.

After practice I tried the Vanilla Creme Muscle milk, which smells (and TASTES) just like frosting!  Really good.   (mid-day today I felt awesome, which I hope is a result of all things coming together: training, nutrition and massage).

It took about 2 hours to help Hannah find all of her stuff and get the car packed, but by 11 we were on the road back to Washington.  Although I did want to swim this evening, by the time we got to Ellensburg, and had dinner with my parents, it was too late to get to the pool for another workout.

Sorry for the short post, but I'm tired and I've got a busy next few days ahead of me.

Good night!

~Emily

Thunder and lightning

So last night I awoke to an amazing thunderstorm at around midnight.  Its kind of funny because as a kid my family took quite a few vacations to Montana and I can vividly remember the Montana thunderstorms and the lightning stretching across big sky country.  Last night’s storm was so loud that it woke me from a sound sleep and literally took my breath away.  I woke up this morning for morning practice and from the sky sparkling with stars you wouldn’t even be able to tell there had been a storm 4 hours earlier.  So cool!

For a split second I almost went back to sleep after my alarm went off.  But then I reminded myself I had a new flavor of Cytomax to try during my practice today…Pomegranate!  It was REALLY good!   My 6,000 yards went by very quickly today.  I felt like I was bouncing off the walls after my last two practices being in the 50 meter pool in Missoula.  : )

I also tried Cytosport’s Muscle Milk as my post workout meal.  I had chocolate, yum yum.

Today was also Massage day.  This week was 60 minutes just on back and shoulders and the first thing that Jeff did was just press down on my back and it popped like 10 times all in a row, it sounded like bubble wrap…but felt really good.   I also got a few really good pops out of my left shoulder.  I think the every other week massage therapy appointments are really helping.   Its definitely an extra expense, but I feel like the massage in combination with my slight changes nutritionally is going to be the difference this year in getting 55 miles out of my body as opposed to 30.

When I got home, since my massage was shoulders and back only and not legs, I did about 15 min. of legs on the VASA.  Then Hannah and I had pizza, watched a movie, and painted our nails.  Its Hannah’s last night in Montana, I drive her back to WA tomorrow.  I’m gonna miss my little sidekick! 

Anyway…I better get to bed so I can get a swim in before our little road trip.

Goodnight!

~Em

THANK YOU CYTOSPORT

A big Thank you to Cytosport for sponsoring me and this swim by donation of Cytomax and Muscle Milk (a recovery drink), which arrived yesterday.  Felt like Christmas!  I’ve been drinking Cytomax since college and it’s my favorite electrolyte drink by far.  Last year’s swim I was worried that eating or drinking the same thing for that length of time would make me totally sick of it by the end, but of all the things that I consumed during the 18.5 hour swim last year, Cytomax was the one thing I couldn’t get enough of (it was also the one thing I ran out of).

Yesterday was a day off after a weekend of hard training.  Two days in a row of over 3 hour practices wore me out.  Even with Monday being an off day, I took a nice 2 hour nap in the afternoon (Hannah did too).  Yesterday I was also still recovering from my sunburn on the backs of my legs.

Today I took an extra day off as I was still super fatigued when I woke up and I knew I was in for a long day at work.  This evening I moved the VASA trainer from my second bedroom out to my garage and did an hour workout (10 min. legs, 10 min. arms, 10 min. abs, repeat).  Now that it’s out in the garage, I can do the leg focused workouts better (as there is wall space in my garage to push off of)…maybe next week I will post a video of some of my favorite VASA exercises.

The rest of this week I need to get in a few fairly long swims in since I took two days off at the beginning of the week.   However, I have to drive Hannah back to WA on Thursday, so travel will likely take out another day.  But hopefully a stop at my parents house in Ellensburg will mean that I can get a swim in at my old collegiate pool (which is my all time favorite indoor pool).  On the way back to Montana I plan to drive through Missoula on Sunday and get a 4-5 hour swim in then.

Anyway…time for a movie and some relaxation before going to bed!

Good night!

~Emily

Splash Montana

Sorry it’s been a few days, but I had a blast this weekend and was too busy to blog.  Lets start with Friday…not much to talk about since it was a day off workout wise (resting up for a big weekend).

Saturday, after coaching my Masters group, Hannah and I drove down to Missoula.  My friend Crissi-Lyn joined us at Splash Montana where I got a 6,000 meter (in the wonderful 50 meter outdoor pool), while Hannah floated the Lazy River & took about 50 trips down the water slides and Crissi-Lyn got a suntan.  I LOVE that pool, it is seriously one of the things I miss most about Missoula.  My left shoulder was aching a little towards the end, but I think I was doing a little “outsweep” with that hand entry when breathing to the other side.

After swimming, we went to my favorite Mexican restaurant where I devoured my baby-dinosaur meal and then it was off to the ball game.  We had great seats for the Osprey baseball game.  The Osprey won and it was a really fun night.

This morning Hannah and I woke up early and hiked the “M” which, as always offered a spectacular view of Missoula.  After our hike we went to the delicious Paul’s Pancake Parlor…OH SO GOOD.  I had a bacon and cheese omlet, hasbrowns and whole wheat pancakes.  Then we headed to Splash Montana again where I got in a 3.5 hour practice (and Hannah again took the water slides by storm).  After Splash we went to Red Robin where we ate WAY too many fries (you only live once right), I had the California chicken burger and then for dessert…Mountain High Mud Pie…YUM.

Red Robin was really fun, we went because Hannah had this gift card that she earned for selling 1,000 boxes of campfire candy!!!  And it was so cute because she insisted that I order a “pretty drink” (I think she noticed that I always order water, but she wanted to “treat” me).  Then after we had our Mountain High Mud Pie, she says in a radio announcer’s voice: “How did they do it….the conquered TWO mountains in ONE day.”  Hahahahahahahaha…..she was referencing our earlier hike…so funny.

Then after Red Robin we went to Old Navy and they were having a sale on summer dresses….so I got one for me and two for Hannah…I love sales and dresses.

Then we headed back to Kalispell.  We did discover shortly into our drive home, that although we did each apply SPF 50 sunscreen, we were both pretty sunburned…mine worse than Hannah’s.  So, although we will be going to bed in pain this evening…it was SO WORTH IT.

It was a really fun weekend, I ran into quite a few friendly faces in Missoula (Hannah said “Auntie, you have too many friends.”).  At the pancake parlor ( a local I frequented quite regularly when I lived in Missoula), the owner recognized me and said “aren’t you the girl that swam Flathead Lake,”  when we sat down Hannah looks at me with HUGE eyes and whispers, “wow, Auntie, you are famous.”  I love that kid…she makes me feel like a rockstar every day.  This time that I have gotten to spend with her was something I really needed.

Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.  I’m off to bed!

(weekly yardage total: 13500 yards and 13000 meters, so approximately 27,700 total yards)….not a bad week at all!

~Emily

Lots of swimming requires lots of sleep

I got SO much sleep last night.  I was asleep by 8pm and decided against swimming early in the morning.  So I got nearly 11 hours of sleep!  So wonderful.

Work today was NOT so wonderful….started with my computer deciding not to want to open any files that I had saved the previous day…so as you can imagine… the morning was one big headache.

I got to leave work again at noon and over the lunch hour I had a telephone interview with the KOMO News Radio Station in Seattle.  They saw the Everett Herald Article and wanted to interview me on their station.  It was pretty cool!  Once I have a link to the interview I will post it on here.

This evening I got a 5,000 yard swim in and then Miss Hannah and I went out to dinner with my friend Katie…and then of course since we were right by frozen yogurt we got that too!

Now it’s off to bed and I definitely think that I earned my Friday!

Good night!

~Em

Ready for bed

E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D!  Seriously!  Up at 4:30 (although Miss Hannah and I went to bed at 10…she seemed to have every question imaginable while “falling asleep” and thus I don’t believe I fell asleep until well after 11).  5.5 hours of sleep = unacceptable.  While Hannah is here I am only working half days, so there was that little ray of sunshine for the day.  Hannah did come and swim with me this morning, I’d say she got in a little over 2,000 yards and I got in about 6,000 yards.  The swim felt good, but the rest of the day I feel like I was late for EVERYTHING.

After the half day of work was done, Hannah and I went home and ate lunch, then she took about a 2 hour nap…I should have done the same (kids are smarter than adults), but I didn’t.  I made some phone calls, sent some emails-as I am still trying to figure out some logistical stuff about the swim, that I know once I figure those things out my stress level will lower a little.  My two biggest concerns (obviously besides the fact that 55-miles is a crazy long way) is fully staffing my crew (I’d say I have confirmed 4/12) and getting lodging figured out for the crew.

But I am way too tired to solve any of those problems tonight-and I can't complain too mush honestly.  Training is going well, no shoulder pain and donations are starting to roll in.  Also its looking like if all goes well I will be asleep by 8pm this evening.

Good night!

~Emily

Attn: Boat People

It was kind of a late night with firework watching and all.  I did have every intention of getting out of bed at 4:30 and swimming this morning (miss Hannah even said she wanted to get up and swim then too), however I didn’t sleep too well and when the alarm went off at 4:30 I knew I would be a crab apple all day if I didn’t get more than three hours of sleep.

So this morning I did a short 15-min. VASA trainer workout and I did my stretch cords this evening.

I told Miss Hannah that tonight we were going to bed MUCH earlier than last night….so that tomorrow morning workout is a possibility! 

Now, one thing that I need to start doing a lot more of is incorporating outdoor swims into more of my weekly workout routine.  As more and more of my favorite swimming locations are being taken over by jetskiers, I am thinking that it is not only more practical, but also more safe to have a boat accompanying me on my outdoor swims (it would also enable me to get some longer swims in).

So….that being said-I need some helpers here.  Anyone in the Flathead Valley with a boat willing to take me out on a lake (preferably Flathead as it will be the most like Lake Chelan’s temperature) and basically make sure I don’t get hit by anything-I am willing to barter with you.  Here’s what I can offer: I will trade you hour for hour- swim lessons-and I’m good.  I obviously have an extensive background in swimming, I also have a background of 5 years teaching swim lessons to children ages toddler to 18 and roughly a 4 year coaching background in swimming and triathlon.

As for what kind of boat...I don't care if it is a row boat, paddle boat, kayak, canoe, etc.  Just anything more visible than a tiny pink cap bobbing in the lake.

Obviously, for training reasons, I won’t be able to fit in many lessons prior to the swim, but will “repay” starting in September.  So if you have a boat and are willing to help me out, I will trade your time for mine-in the form of swim lessons.  I also need to get some night time swims in (these will be particularly important as I will be swimming a good number of hours in the complete dark during my Chelan swim) and nighttime swims I will trade at time and a half (so for every 1 hour you give me, I give you 1.5 hours).  If you are interested in helping me out, please comment on this posting with your email address and I will be in contact with you.

Oh…and if you help me out…you will get a shout out on my blog….which is a pretty big deal because a lot of people are reading it now!  : )

Speaking of shout outs…a big THANK YOU to Julie Muhlstein at the Everett Herald for the awesome article in the Sunday paper in Everett Washington (the story was the 3^rd most popular online story over the weekend).  Here is the link for those who missed it:

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20110703/NEWS01/707039963

Thanks for reading---and have a good night!

~Em

The Shoulder Report

Happy 4^th of July!  It was a gorgeous day here in the Flathead Valley.  All the people and animals in my house had a serious sleep in day today!  I didn’t wake up until 9:45-that’s the latest I have slept in for months!  I had an athlete to meet with at 11, then Hannah and I swam (got in about 2500 yards).

I should also add that my left shoulder is feeling much better after the resting week.  I do need to be more conscious of doing my stretch cord exercises EVERY day-I had kind of been slacking on those.  Injury prevention is MUCH easier than injury treatment.  I am hopng  my shoulders do well this week and I can get in some tough practices in at Splash Montana (the outdoor pool in Missoula) when Hannah and I are there this weekend!

The rest of the day was fairly laid back.  Hannah, Dixie and I went to Woodland Park so that Hannah could roller blade and Dixie could try and chase ducks!  : )

We had Pizza for dinner and then watched movies until it got dark enough to go outside and watch some fireworks.  Luckily I live in a location where we were able to watch everyone else’s fireworks without having to light any of our own off.

I hope you all had a safe and FUN holiday!

~Emily

Little Eyes

Whew!  What a whirlwind the last week has been!  I apologize for the lack of posts, but here’s a summary:

Took Thursday and Friday off (so four days in a row) to accommodate the tender left shoulder that my massage therapist thought might have a bit of tendonitis.  I really err on the side of rest in those situations, plus, I had family coming in for the weekend and that means deep cleaning!  : )  My mom, sister, niece and nephew arrived Friday night.  I had baked my nephew a birthday cake (he’s 10 years old-I can’t hardly believe it) and we had a little birthday party for him. 

On Saturday we went to the Great Bear Adventure just outside of West Glacier.  You drive your car through the property and “your car is your cage” and you are basically driving in an open bear enclosure.  The bears would walk right up to cars (windows had to stay closed for obvious reasons.  It was pretty cool and we got some great shots of the bears.  My mom really enjoyed it.

Then after nonstop questions of “when can we go swimming” by the kids (can you tell we are related?) we went to Flathead lake with the kids and dogs.  My nephew was the first one in and the last one out, my niece took a little longer because she said it was cold.

I swam around the Somers Islands for about 30 minutes-I’d say around 2,000 yards.   Then I played with the kids and dogs.

My sister Krissy also took some photos for my promotional flier for the swim.  She is a very talented photographer.  I really like this one, except for that piece of hair right in my face. : )  I'll post some more of those shots over the next few days!

The closest thing I have to a “mini-me” is my niece Hannah.  I don’t think anyone in the world looks up to me the way this kid does.  My sister and mom and nephew left for home this morning and Miss Hannah gets to stay with me for TWO WEEKS!  We went swimming this morning and she did nearly all of my 3000 yard workout.  And as is most always the case around kids, I became acutely aware of the little eyes on me the whole time.  About ½ way through the practice Hannah says, “Auntie I don’t think you were streamlining your best off that last wall.”    Or a little later I looked over and she was watching and imitating EXACTLY what I was doing.  If you have little eyes around you they are always watching….

Hannah and I just had dinner and now we are going to watch a movie and eat some frozen yogurt!

Good night!

~Emily