Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Day boat crew has returned.


Paul here.  Day boat crew just got back.  Emily's kicking butt!!   She's smiling, keeping positive, and now has a fresh new boat crew to see her through the night.  The wind's at her back.

Co-heroes of the evening are Aunt Kathy and the nice gentleman at the Manson, WA, Red Apple that helped her come up with a pseudo sterno-stove on 20 minutes notice to get Emily warm drinks through the night.  Well done!!

Sister Krissy bought back some pictures from the swim, but it's going to probably be at least another hour or two to get them uploaded.

Stand by.  Paul B

Quick mileage update


Paul here. According to the lat/long coordinates from SPOT as of 7:39 PDT, Emily has swum 5.9 miles.

48.30544, -120.65718 @ 4:09 PDT (Point 3 on SPOT)
48.22430, -120.61455 @ 7:39 PDT (Point 8 on SPOT)

No word yet from the returning morning boat crew.

Cheers,
Paul B

A quick word from our sponsors and a weather update.

Paul here, with a quick weather update after a shout-out to one of Emily's sponsors, without which this endeavor would not be possible:

Thanks to Jet Skis Ahoy for your support! http://jetskisahoy.com/home.php



Weather (at the bottom of the lake anyway) is absolutely magnificent!! A few scattered clouds, but upper 70s to low 80s and calm winds.

Be sure and check in with SPOT, it looks like Emily's making a pretty good pace:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0vhF4eMA2qDL9XZ8L7XQSGEEBuamVFtuK

Cheers!! Paul B

Pictures from the launch this morning

Paul here.  I got a little out of sync and haven't been able to upload some pictures from the boat launch earlier this morning until now.  I hope you like them:






The swim has BEGUN!!

Paul here. I just received word that as of about 4:00 pm Pacific time, Emily is swimming!! Woo hoo!!! SPOT has begun real-time tracking as well:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0vhF4eMA2qDL9XZ8L7XQSGEEBuamVFtuK

Also at about 4:00 pm, the relief crew has left Jetskis Ahoy! to meet up with the morning boat crew.

Let 'er RIP Emily!!!

Paul B

Delayed start...

Hi folks, Paul here.  First word from the boat is that the unexpected headwind they departed into has resulted in a pretty significant delay in getting up to Stehekin and getting started.  I just learned of this and will of course update when I hear of the start.  Thanks for your patience!  Paul B

Progress update #1 - in transit to Stehekin and the swim start!

Good morning from beautiful Lake Chelan everyone!  This is Emily's older brother Paul.  I'll be reporting out on Emily's status throughout the swim as I receive information from the boat crews.

Some of you may have already received a text message from her SPOT GPS locator (findmespot.com) indicating that Emily is still swimming and everything's going well.  This was an erroneous push of a button, and she has yet to begin swimming.  Sorry about that.

Emily and the first pontoon boat crew left the dock at Jetskis Ahoy! at the south end of Lake Chelan at 9:10 am Pacific time.  There's about a 15 knot wind, and the lake is pretty choppy at the moment.  So let's keep our fingers crossed that things settle down by the time she starts swimming!

They planned for about a three-hour transit up to Stehekin at the top of the lake, so I expect to hear from the boat via satellite phone at around noon Pacific that Emily has begun her swim for young Katelyn.

In the meantime I will follow up with a few pictures from the launch at Jetskis Ahoy!  But I will also be posting more pictures on my Flickr page where you can download different sizes (and check out some of my awesome pictures of airplanes if you so desire).

I'll also try and be a bit less wordy with the forthcoming updates.

Thank you all SO MUCH for supporting my baby sister and Katelyn & her family!!

Cheers,
Paul Blumenauer

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Dear Lake Chelan: I am ready

So its finally here!  It feels like Christmas eve!  : )  It has been a busy afternoon/evening getting all of the final details in place.  Tomorrow will be the product of 17 weeks of training and months of nearly every decision I have made having to take into consideration this event.  I am excited, but also nervous.  A lot of things have to come together for a good swim and only a handful of those things are such that I can control.

I do not however, hope for a day free of any challenges.  Rather, I anticipate that challenges will arise, although I am not sure in what form, and I hope for the strength, both physical and mental, to overcome those challenges.

I'd also like you all to know that even at the darkest point of the swim, when I am hurting the most and feeling knocked down that it will pale in comparision to the struggles that little Katelyn has enountered and faced, with her beautiful smiley face, in her young life.  It is for Katelyn I swim this lake and it is her that will inspire me through those tough times.  Please donate to this family if you are able to do so.

I am humbed by all those who have helped me along this journey.  I look forward to near 30 hours of laughs with my support crew-you guys rock!  I also can't wait to hear from all my friends, family and fans who wanted to be here and will be tracking my progress online.  I could feel all your support last year during my swim and I will feel it again this year.

My brother will post updates during the swim, but remember to track my swim following the SPOT gps map: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0vhF4eMA2qDL9XZ8L7XQSGEEBuamVFtuK

Good night!

~Emily

In Chelan!

Hey everyone!  Made it to Chelan safe and sound!  I am hopefully going to get one last practice swim in this afternoon/evening.  But mostly tonight will be as low stress as possible.  I've got millions of butterflies now that I am finally here, but those should calm down soon!

I met Kim, the owner of Mountain View Lodge who so graciously donated the use of the condo for myself and the boat crew for these next few days!

A few notes on some things everyone seems to have been asking about logistics:

Tomorrow the first boat crew will be meeting at 8:00 am at Jet Ski's Ahoy in Chelan and loading the boat, etc.  We will leave from that location at 8:30 ish.  The boat ride to the swim "start" is about 3 hours long.  My swim will begin near Stehekin at about noon.

The "night crew" will meet at 4:00 pm at the dock in Mason (its a public access called Old Mill Parik).  My dad will transfer that crew out to the pontoon and then return the "day crew" back to the dock at Mason (they should be there back about 6 pm).

The "day crew" then meets the next morning at 7:15 at the dock in Manson.  Dad will transfer that crew out to the pontoon boat and bring the night crew back to Manson.  The "day crew" on Thursday will stick with me until the end, which will hopefully will be sometime late afternoon/early evening.

Sounds simple right?  Hopefully everything goes without a hitch in terms of the transfers.  The Lake looks great today...nice and flat.  If the weather stays like this should make for a great swim!

Also, great coverage from GoLakeChelan: http://golakechelan.com/ Scroll down a little ways for a recent interview.  They will be updating during the swim as well!

I will probably get one more post in before I go to bed!  Until then!

~Emily

You know who you are...

You probably are not reading this, but I hope you are.  You have probably long since forgotten about me, but I hope I still cross your mind.

You played such an integral role in me developing into the athlete, and person, I am today-I still thank you for that.  I look back on the years you were in my life- the laughs, the tears and the obstacles we overcame- and I cannot help but smile.  The end to that story still does not make sense to me, but some things are not supposed to make sense.  I still look up to you as one of the great influences upon my life.

I vividly recall one of the last occassions that were shared a conversation on the pool deck.  I mostly recall the disappointment I felt in falling short of a goal that I had wanted so badly.  I told you I had been hoping for a "knock yor socks off" kind of swim.  That was not what happened that day...

...which is why I hope you are watching tomorrow...

~Em

Monday, August 29, 2011

Its all coming together!

So….tomorrow I head up to Chelan!  I am getting really tired of “resting” and I am ready to get going!  I am also tired of eating.  Real carbo loading is hard work!  (Ashley-I’m doing my best, but 1000 grams of carbs is a lot!).

Yesterday I got in a really nice 1 mile swim in at Vantage in the Columbia River (its calm there don’t worry).  The main purpose was a loosen up swim and to test my new Garmin forerunner (thanks to a group effort from Snappys, Runner’s Edge and KS).  There are many reviews out there on the forerunner and there are complaints that it doesn’t track swim distance accurately.  My review of it is that it does.  I don’t believe the “pace” function works properly, but the tracking function appears to, at least by my estimates.

We seem to be very covered in terms of GPS devices.  We’ve got the Forerunner, which will be on me.  Then on the boat we will have Daren’s SPOT GPS, which (once it’s turned on Wednesday) will show my progress at the following map:


(Again there will be no data appearing on this map until Wednesday).  Additionally, we will have Paul’s handheld GPS which will keep us on track based on the pre-plotted “way points.”  So in this regard we are WAY more prepared than last year.

Today mom and I packed all of my food for the swim.  I’ve got about 20 or so different options of things to eat during the swim, so again as opposed to last year, I will probably not be eating anything enough to get sick of any one single thing.

Everything seems to be in order.  Weather appears to be working in my favor!  And…one other exciting piece of news today.  Jaime text messaged me today and told me that Katelyn and family WILL be at the swim!  I don’t know the particulars on why that changed but I imagine it had to do with hurricane Irene and their inability to get to New York this week.  But I am very happy they will be there!  KK’s dad Brian will be filling the last vacant crew position I needed filled as well!  So we are all set.

Tonight’s an important sleep night (even more so than tomorrow night).  I will probably get at least one post in tomorrow but in case I forget to tell you….during my swim my brother Paul will be updating my blog and my facebook sites with as much information as he can.  During the early parts of the swim information may be limited to the SPOT map, as cell coverage on the north part of the lake is nonexistent and although we did rent some satellite phones, they cost 1.98 a minute for calls-they will be used for emergencies only.  As we get further down the lake and cell coverage gets better updates will be more frequent.  But I will address that in a post tomorrow again!

Well I should get to bed here pretty soon!  Good night!

~Emily

Friday, August 26, 2011

Stand Back Up



The above is a pic from the other evening when I had frozen yogurt with KK and Jaime.

So, I got to my parents house in Ellensburg safe and sound!  It was an early start today.  I was up at 5:00 am and at the KECI studios by 5:45 for my interview.  I think my interview went well, except they didn’t have the photos I had sent them of Katelyn.  Here is the link:


After my interview I went and had breakfast at Paul’s Pancake Parlor!  Yummm Yummm.  Then I contemplated killing time until 11 and getting my swim in at Splash Montana, but I would have had to kill about 4 hours and I decided I would swim once I got to Ellensburg-thinking the college pool would be open at CWU.

So I hit the road and had a great drive.  I had just gotten Colbie Caillat’s new CD-which I love and traffic was fairly light.  I stopped at the mall in Spokane to go to Old Navy and then I had lunch at Red Robin.

Once I got to Ellensburg I discovered that the CWU pool is closed-ughhh.  I was pretty tired from the drive so I took a two hour nap and then had dinner with my parents.  I hope to get a “loosen up” swim in tomorrow.

I am feeling pretty good physically today-except that with all the carb loading and water I am drinking I feel a bit like the marshmallow man…and although I am convinced I look chubby on my interview from this morning…my mom says I look fine.  Anyway….its not about how I look right now…it’s about storing as much extra energy as I can before the swim!

I am feeling pretty nervous today…I know as soon as I step into the Lake all that nervousness will wash away…but the lead up, especially the forcing myself to “rest” is what is particularly nerve racking for me.  I like good music and quotes when I’m feeling nervous.  The Sugar Land song Stand Back Up is a good one…here are the lyrics:

"Stand Back Up"

Go ahead and take your best shot,
Let 'er rip, give it all you've got,
I'm laid out on the floor, but I've been here before,
I may stumble, yeah I might fall,
Only human aren't we all?
I might lose my way, but hear me when I say,

I will stand back up,
You'll know just the moment when I've had enough,
Sometimes I'm afraid, and I don't feel that tough,
But I'll stand back up,

I've been beaten up and bruised,
I've been kicked right off my shoes,
Been down on my knees more times than you'd believe,
When the darkness tries to get me,
There's a light that just won't let me,
It might take my pride, and my tears may fill my eyes,
But I'll stand back up,

I've weathered all these storms,
But I just turn them into wind, so I can fly,
What don't kill you makes you stronger,
When I take my last breath,
That's when I'll just give up,

So, go ahead and take your best shot,
Let 'er rip, give it all you've got,
You might win this round but you can't keep me down,

'Cause I'll stand back up,
And you'll know just the moment when I've had enough,
Sometimes I'm afraid and I don't feel that tough,
But I'll stand back up,

You'll know just the moment when I've had enough,
Sometimes I'm afraid and I don't feel that tough,
But I'll stand back up.

On that note, I’m going to get to sleep now!  Goodnight!

~Emily

Thursday, August 25, 2011

I'll grab the Wheel and point it West....

Well my car is packed up and I am about to hit the road!

Tuesday I got a short (30 minute) swim in at Flathead Lake.  KAJ/KPAX was out filming a portion of my practice and they did another story on the swim and Katelyn.

http://www.kaj18.com/news/kalispell-swimmer-helping-young-cancer-patient/

Yesterday was a day off, but I did go in for my last massage before the swim!  It hurt, I was pretty tight, especially my neck.  I am a bit sore from it this morning, but I should be feeling great by tomorrow or Saturday.

Last night I met Katelyn and Jaime for frozen yogurt at Twisted Bliss.  It was so much fun!  Katelyn told me all about her first day of kindergarden, how she just lost a tooth (and has another one that's wiggly) and about her dog.  I was able to give both Katelyn and her mom the shirts we had made for the support crew (with KK's drawing on the front).  Unfortunately Katelyn leaves again for New York on Sunday so her and her mom will not be able to come to the swim, but clearly her treatment is the priority.  We are going to try to have the finish skyped to them in New York, but we will have to get the internet connection figured out!

I guess (and forgive me if I can't explain this well) that the treatment Katelyn is recieving is going really well because she did not develop an immunity to the HAMA, which is why she is ready for more treatment already.

Today is a travel day.  I will head to Missoula for the night.  I have an interview with Montana Today in the morning, which I am a little nervous about becuase I think its aired live!

Once I am back at my parents house I will post some pictures/video-my computer has been being a little difficult.

Anyway, I appreciate all of the support and comments both on here and on facebook!

~Emily

Monday, August 22, 2011

Sunshiney Days!

I am feeling MUCH better today!  Had a relatively low stress day at work, got a lot of sleep yesterday and last night and the knot is finally gone!  The knot being gone really helped matters!

In other super-fantastic news…the 10 day forecast finally reaches the first day of the swim…AND….it’s all sunshine…no rain and warm temps!



My friend Katie has been orchestrating the shirt production for my crew members with Rocky Mountain Images and she went and looked at the proof today and said they look GREAT!  The design guy there said he’s never made a t-shirt with the image drawn in crayon, but he accepted the challenge and apparently was successful!  I cannot wait to see them!

I have just three (maybe 4) workouts to get in during the next 9 days.  Relaxing and taking it easy are not things I am particularly good at, so that aspect of tapering has always been a challenge, but luckily there are still a few logistical puzzles I need to figure out prior to the swim which should require me to sit still for a few hours!  

I think Dixie-pup knows something is up.  Isn’t it funny how animals can sense when something is off?  Dixie will not be accompanying me to Washington, as it would be too much to make someone else deal with while I am swimming and she will have more fun staying in Kalispell with her doggy BFF Scoutie.  Katie will be watching Dixie most of the nearly week and a half I am gone, until she comes over to be on the night crew (with her minor’s headlamp-I’m sure), then Savannah will be watching Dixie and Scoutie together.  The dogs love Savannah.  I am much happier with this arrangement than having to kennel Dixie, which I’ve never done before.

I also spoke with the Chelan Rotary Club (good suggestion Krissy) to hopefully fill the two vacant boat driver spots I have on my crew.  They were very nice and said they would see if they could find a few more volunteers!

Now one last thing to report…and I’m really excited about this.  Katie wrote to Dara Torres and told her about “A Lakke for Katelyn” and told her what a fan of hers I am (she is my favorite swimmer ever!) and asked that she send me some words of encouragement.  Well…she sent me a signed swim cap and a signed photo with the message “To Emily, Always Believe.”  Pretty awesome!  She’s an amazing swimmer.


Well, I've got to get a few things done before bed!  Have a great night!

~Em

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Why Knot?

Seriously!  I have had the most painful knot in the side of my neck since Thursday night and my super long swim yesterday didn’t seem to help matters any!

I did not post at all last week due to work consuming pretty much every spare minute.  Other unnecessary drama included my car getting broken into-in my driveway.  I had a trial on Thursday and I didn’t have any days that I worked less than 10 hours last week, in fact two were 11 hour days!  Sheesh…no wonder I was tired!

My swims during the week were few and they were short.  I swam Tuesday (3200 yards) and Friday (3600 yards).  I did get my last long training swim in yesterday-which did get me meeting my weekly yardage goal.

Yesterday’s swim was from Woods Bay to Yellow Bay in Flathead Lake.  The map shows the distances between these two fishing access points to be roughly 11 miles, but given that it took me a little over 6.5 hours with my breaks I think the mileage actually swum had to be closer to 13-I really do.  But regardless, I would estimate yardage being between 21,000 and 24,000-but again its only an estimate-we didn’t have a GPS.  So my weekly total was between 28,000 and 31,000 yards)

A few things that didn’t go well yesterday. 

First, sunscreen.  I put on SPF 50, but it apparently washed off and the reapplication once wet may not be successful.  My face got pretty burnt.  Any sunscreen suggestions?

Second, nutrition error.  For Flathead Lake and for my other long training swims this year, my nutrition intake has been Cytomax at 30 minutes and food on the hour.  Those would be off of the “running total” clocks to ensure I was meeting my hourly caloric needs.  Yesterday my kayaker was keeping a watch of “swim time” stopping the watch while I was on “break” to eat.   At the time I didn’t see this as a big deal, however over the course of nearly 7 hours I had only met nutrition needs for 5 hours.  I was having some bicep cramps which is something that hasn’t happened before and by the time I got home I was just spent.

So with those two “tiny” errors I had a rather painful evening.  Although my shoulders felt great both last night and this morning, the knot in my neck did not!  I went to bed last night at about 6:30 and woke up in tears at 8:30 due to the pain from the knot.  I think what made this worse was that I was suffering from a mild case of heat exhaustion and the sunburn.  So I got up and drank a lot of water, put ice packs around my neck, took some ibuprofen and watched an hour of Grey’s Anatomy.  Feeling much better after that, I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until 9 this morning (which is sleeping in for me!).

I’m feeling better today morning, but the knot is still tender…looking forward to my massage this week!  I’m glad to have learned these little lessons on a training swim rather than the real thing.  My taper starts today, so resting up is on the agenda for the next 10 days!

I should end with some positives, as despite those two errors, it was a good swim.  I used my brand new Blueseventy wetsuit, which felt great!  It was a beautiful day on the lake and I feel grateful that my friend Blane was willing to give up the better part of his Saturday to kayak alongside me [Erika-he had no problems keeping up and was a little less whiney than you, but he did not take any photos or video; you are better at multitasking- : )].  Boat traffic was not a problem.  Had a nice wind going with me for most of the swim-which created some waves, but “helpful” ones.  With the exception of the bicep cramping (which I think can be credited due to not enough fluids), I didn’t have any other issues during the swim that would make me question my ability to go further.  None of the items that I did consume (Cytomax, graham crackers, poptart, pb sandwich, animal crackers, licorice) caused me any stomach issues-which is a positive.

Last night I got about 13 hours of sleep and after waking up this morning and going to breakfast at IHOP…I took a 2 hour nap.  Taper week off to a good start I’d say!

I’ll be better about posting this week!

~Emily

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Swimming After Midnight

My midnight swim was SO much fun!  It was a beautiful night for a swim.  My friend Katie was able to borrow a tiny blue rowboat from her friend Darla and we were able to go out into the middle of Flathead Lake for about an hour at midnight.  The full moon provided a good deal of light (unfortunately my swim in a few weeks will not have that benefit), but Katie also had a small lantern in the boat, which from the water made the whole boat glow.  I wish I had a photo of this from the water...I should also add that Katie had a "miner's light" on her forhead too.

Once we got out about 15 minutes, I swam in circles around Katie so she wouldn’t have to row and could take some pictures.  While I was swimming (and Katie did not appreciate me telling her this) I was thinking that my view was probably much like a shark’s who would circle a small boat hoping for a tip over!  : )



The water was a little chilly at first, but once I started moving it was perfect.  I had two close encounters with bats flying a little bit too close to my arms, and I ran into a small piece of driftwood (which caused me to scream a little due to the fact that I watch too many horror movies) but other than that I had no problems.  I’d estimate I did roughly 3500 yards in about an hour.  That puts me at 16,000 for the week (remember this was a recovery week).


It was such a nice relaxing swim.  And it was so quiet and no jet skis to worry about.

By the time I got back to my house it was nearly 2 am.  For the first time in months I was able to sleep in until nearly 10!  It was pretty slow moving this morning, but I got to the pool and got another swim in (4,500 yards).

After my swim I went into work for several hours, which was a little easier to do than it was yesterday!  I like knowing that I am going to start the week with a good amount of the files cleared off my desk!

After work I went to Costco to begin stocking up on my “swim snacks.”  It was a fun shopping trip as I had with me a list of high carb foods from my nutritionist.

Now I’ve got to get to bed here pretty shortly…its going to be another busy week, but I’m looking forward to my last long training swim this Saturday and then my TAPER begins next Wednesday!

Goodnight!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Katelyn's Endurance

Falling a little behind on posts again!  Well, yesterday was pretty non-eventful workout wise, I ended up working at the office a little later than I had planned, so I missed lap swim at the pool.  I did an arms/legs VASA workout instead.

Yesterday the Flathead Beacon posted its online version of the article it ran on Wednesday…here is the link:


Endurance is defined as the ability or strength to continue or last, especially despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina.  I love that the title of the Beacon's article is “Katelyn’s Endurance.”  I think it really puts the spotlight where it should be.  Yes, a swim of 55-miles is a showing of great athletic endurance, but it pales in comparison to the endurance that Katelyn has exhibited in her life.  She’s a pretty incredible kid.

Katelyn and her mom return to Kalispell next week, which must be very exciting for them.  I’m hoping to get together with them for some frozen yogurt once they are back so I can thank Katelyn in person for the bracelet she made for me! 

Today was a busy Saturday.  I started off the day coaching my swim group at the Summit.  Then I had to go into work for about 6 hours (ugghhhh I know….it was gorgeous today, its terrible being stuck in an office-but I still have some comp time I need to earn before the swim).  After work I headed to Flathead Lake for a swim practice with the Black Lab swim club.  I swam for a little over an hour.  Dixie took two trips out to the Island and back with me.  Scoutie, Dixie’s doggy BFF, was only interested in playing fetch and finding sticks and I couldn’t get her to follow me for a swim…maybe next time.  I’d say my swim was about 4,000 yards.

I’m not done for the day though….I’m going to head back down to Flathead Lake this evening, after sundown for a midnight swim (Dixie pup will not be joining me...as she is pretty wiped out).  I’ve got a friend who will boat along side with a light and I hope to get in about an hour swim….so it’s going to be a late night, however I do not have to get up early tomorrow so I can sleep in!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

~Em

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Katelyn's Drawing

Great day today!  Most of that is due to the fact that I got a package from a very special someone in New York!  Katelyn sent me a picture she drew for the front of our Boat Crew shirts….it’s pretty cute-and makes you all want to be on the boat crew huh? 



Little KK is also an expert bracelet maker and she sent me this bracelet she made with all my favorite colors!  That Katelyn is a busy girl!  : )


In training news, I am happy to report I got a nice swim in the evening (and I know yesterday I said I was going to get up early in the am and swim…but I wanted more sleep!).  My practice this evening was a short 4000 yard swim mostly consisting of a longer pull set.  On pull sets I use Keifer Stroke Maker Paddles (the red ones), which I love.  Paddles make your shoulders stronger (and make you feel super speedy).

I also got another boat crew spot filled with a swimmer from Oregon who read the Interlake article and will be in Chelan the week of my swim.  Yay!

Well, it’s a short post today….but I’ve still got lots to do before bed!  Goodnight!

~Emily

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Cover Girl ; )

Okay friends, exciting things to report this evening.  First a recap of the last few days.

Monday was a well deserved day off.  After my 40,000 yard week last week, everything kind of caught up to me on Monday.  I was exhausted.  I had to take my best friend Erika back to the airport, which left the house MUCH quieter than it had been last week.  Erika has the fullest, most infectious laugh that can’t help but make you smile.  I wish Alaska were closer to Montana!

Tuesday was a little rough.  I came down with a little stomach bug.  I slept in a bit to try and “re-set” and made it to work several hours late.  I was feeling much better by the afternoon, however, I follow a rule my mom instituted when I was a kid… “if you are too sick to go to school (now work) you are too sick to go to swim practice!”  So then, following a sick day, I have another training rule-that experience has taught me, after being sick, once you feel better, wait one full day before resuming your practice schedule.  So that bought me another day off today.  I could afford to do that this week, as it’s a recovery week.  I am feeling much better this evening and will be getting an early morning swim in tomorrow!

I’m still well above my training from last year, here is a yardage comparison chart.  Through Sunday I was up about 60,000 yards from last year’s training plan!



Well, on to the good stuff!  I met yesterday with my nutritionist, Ashley at the Summit.  I had my body comp re-analyzed and both my arms are roughly 3% stronger than last month and my lean muscle mass is up a few percentage points!  Good stuff, training is working nicely!  Ashley and I also planned out my week prior to swim nutrition, my during the swim nutrition and my recovery nutrition plan.  I am stoked!  Most of my plan still consists of “eating like a baby dinosaur” with the twist of the week before and during the swim its essentially all carbs.  I love carbs!

AND…A Lakke for Katelyn made the cover of the Daily Interlake-ABOVE THE FOLD!  Here’s the link for those who missed it:


There was also an article in the Flathead Beacon, which was on the front of the Sports page.  The Beacon article is not yet online, and I will post a link when it is, but take note that one of the photographs is of me practicing with Dixie Doodle swimming alongside!  She’s a famous puppy!

Today was also massage day!  And boy was I ready for it after last week!

One last thing before I call it a night.  I am still short 4-6 people for my boat crew.  So if you would like to be a part of this event as another helper on the boat crew (we have two “day shifts” and a “night shift”), please let me know.

Good night!

~Em

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Ladybugs

So after Thursday’s swim, I took Friday and Saturday off and today’s swim was just a 7,000 meter swim at Splash Montana that put my total for the week over 40,000 yards!  All my swims this week were outside and only today’s swim was a pool swim!  As you can imagine, I am a bit tired this evening!

The outline of the rest of my training for these last three weeks is as follows: recovery week, slight build (but not much) and then TAPER!!!!!  I’m still hoping to get in an in the dark swim in the next few weeks to get a better handle on the overnight portion of the swim.   My injury prevention exercises (stretch cords and light VASA workouts) will continue up until taper week.

Only 24 days until the swim and now is the time to get all the last minute items in order.  I need to finalize the crew schedule, get our communication issues from boat to land straightened out and other things like that.  I’ve also got an appointment with my nutritionist on Tuesday to go over my nutrition plan for the swim.  The foods that I have been “practicing” with have been good so far, my stomach doesn’t seem to have problems with any foods in particular, I can eat just about anything while swimming.

Another thing I would like to share is that today while swimming a ladybug landed on me.  I am sort of superstitious about a few things in relation to athletics (and I guess life in general) and one of those things is that lady bugs are good luck.  Every time I see a lady bug something really good happens shortly after.  So…not sure what lucky thing this little swimming ladybug had to bring me…but something good is on the way!

Okay, well time to get to bed-goodnight!

~Em

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Glacier National Park-great place to swim!

Sorry that I haven’t posted for a few days!  I’ve been having so much fun with Erika visiting!  Tuesday and Wednesday were both outdoor swims in Flathead Lake.  I did about 5000 yards on Tuesday and maybe 2000 yards on Wednesday.  Tuesday the Daily Interlake Photographer was at my practice taking photos and on Wednesday I was interviewed by the Flathead Beacon.  Those papers should be running articles on the swim sometime next week.



I took today off to hang out with Erika and today was seriously one of my best training swims ever!  I got in a 5 hour swim in Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park!  Erika kayaked while I swam.  We set out to do a 3 hour out and back in the lake, however we got 3 hours out, but the way back only took us 2 hours!  My estimates are that I swam around 20,000 yards.  I was able to practice eating some different things from last year (less candy, more real food).  It was beautiful and there was hardly any boat traffic on the lake (and best of all no jet skis allowed).   The water was fairly chilly, but I didn’t mind it too much. 



I seriously feel so lucky to have a backyard playground that includes such beautiful places like Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park.  I love Montana!

Just have to get through one more day of work and then Erika and I are heading to Missoula for the weekend.  Today’s swim earned me two rest days, then I will have a short swim on Sunday and I hit 40,000 yards this week!

Goodnight!

~Emily

Monday, August 1, 2011

Bubblewrap

So….the 6-hour practice planned for yesterday did not happen.  I woke up feeling under the weather, decided that I needed to give myself a break after a really tough and stressful work week and accept that 24,000 yards was my total for the week and I would not be hitting 40,000 yards.

I needed a day where I didn’t have to work and I didn’t have to work out.  I had a nice relaxing day with a Grey’s Anatomy marathon and some cleaning in between.  I did nearly break my big toe (the market toe) by dropping my pancake grill on it…which caused me to cry for about 10 minutes.  I’m not sure that it really hurt that bad, or if I just had an emotional week and it was a necessary cry down (a break down with tears).

My Erika got here last night!  I have missed her SO much and it’s so nice to have her here for a week.  Today she stayed home while I got a little bit of work in and she played with Dixie all morning, which as you can imagine, Dixie Doodle loved!  When I got off work at 2, Erika and I went to Sportsman and Savannah helped us pick out a doggie life vest for Dixie so she can open water swim with me!  Then we went to Flathead Lake and Dixie swam all the way out to the island and back with me (about 1000 yards I would imagine).  She did so good!  I swam about 4,000 yards after that while Dixie and Erika played fetch.



Then we had dinner at the Montana Club and picked up some groceries after.  We also got a Giant Hamburger Cake….that looked like a delicious dessert!

In the parking lot at the store, I stubbed my little toe on my left foot on the shopping cart which resulted in a deep cut.  So now about 4 weeks out from the swim my clumsiness is apparently in full swing and I feel a desire to wrap myself in bubble wrap before leaving the house. 

Anyway…off to eat some cake!

Goodnight!

~Emily