CDA Swim Meet: Part 1 of 2

I keep a big calendar on my refrigerator, in the spot for writing in the month I wrote, “March Is Always My Month.”  For the past few years I have had tough Decembers and Januarys.  February brings a little relief (and sun), but March is my month.  I want to do this race report in two parts because the journey I just completed is nothing short of a dream come true.

*Smiling because I like lime green run kits. Even while running I thought about swimming :)

First I owe a big thank you to my friends and family who love and support me.  I also owe a mention to my friends at Hammer Nutrition.  Their products are amazing and I am so very lucky to be one of their athletes.  After years of begging, they released lime green kits. WOW.  I combined their amazing products with clothing that feels good to wear for one of the best training phases of my whole racing life. 

A funny side note, a week or so ago I got a call from a restricted phone number from a girl posing as a representative of Hammer.  She was asking about another interview and about my favorite Hammer Products.  A couple minutes into the conversation I asked her with a laugh, “are you aware that I just had an interview for Endurance News, and I’m guessing people don’t want to see me again so soon.”  She in a somewhat snapping tone said, “Are you aware that you are hot?”  I was so taken off guard that I sat there silent… After she said that I heard an eruption of multiple sources of girl-giggling on the phone before she hung up on me.  It was kind of funny in a ridiculously immature way.  But, I can take a joke. Ha ha.  If that person is reading this….you’re a sucker J 

*Sweet pre swim meet bike kit, also sporting a longer hair style just for this adventure.

I am guessing people don’t come here to hear blathering talk about training, that’s all blah blah and if it isn’t your training you probably don’t care.  My training isn’t the message.  The message was dedication to what I thought was impossible.  That is the message and that applies to everyone in a variety of situations. 

One of the most satisfying things about this swim meet was the preparation and attack plan that I put on this adventure.  I did not cut a single corner, not one.  I even grew out my hair so I could attach something different to the goal. My life for the past three months has been very simple and very satisfying.  

I love what I am doing and I enjoyed everyday and every workout.  There is something special about dedication of everything you have; energy, time, diet, and focus to one thing.  I shared so many special moments with my workout friends.  Going to the pool to swim 5 x 400IM with Ayla was so rewarding. Those are moments we will remember for our entire lives.

*My diet included large amounts of a secret shake I call "Mean Green." I love lime green!

*I call the salad "Lean Green" Yep, more lime green.

Before starting this training I was terrified of how hard the combination of the 200 butterfly and 400IM would be.  Those two events happened at the end of the program and within minutes of each other. I knew I would be the only one at the meet brave (stupid) enough to attempt it…terrified.  That’s why it’s so rewarding.  

I went to the pool for the entire month of February and pounded out 200fly to 400IM combos in nearly every workout.  It was grueling, I had fear the whole time, and sometimes I failed trying to do it.  There was more than one occasion that I slammed the water with my fist after failing to do it, but I kept focused and told myself to take it day by day. March rolled around and after doing two and three sets of those back to back it wasn’t intimidating anymore. I had broken through.

*Swim Outlet sent me some great stuff right before the meet.

By the time the meet rolled around I looked back and realized that all those small moments of strength and sacrifice and even the small failures had added up.  They were now one solid foundation of strength.  The day before the meet I had one of the most amazing bike to run workouts ever, I felt so energized, so focused, and so ready to do what I had trained to do. 

I felt so proud of what I had done with my efforts and talents the past three months and so happy to just be me.  It is so simple. 

The morning of the swim meet I woke and got in a nice little trainer ride to flush my legs and prime my cardiovascular system in preparation of harnessing this monstrous goal I had been dreaming about since December. While I was pedaling away on the trainer I was shooting texts to Ayla and Deidre about our theme songs and the events.  It was clear that we were all very excited and ready to race.

*Pre race pedaling away on the trainer. I have lots of space, but I prefer to ride in the storage room where my bikes sleep, I don't know why.

*While in the storage room I don't watch TV, I just look at picture of the Murder Machine decked out in battle gear and listen to music and I love it.

We all have big dreams, mine are no exception, everyone has something that they want to do.  They might not all be swimming or triathlon related, but everyone has something that burns deep inside.  I wonder how many people have the desire to live it.  

*You are what you eat, drinking "Mean Green" after a run and turning into it.

My hope is that the people reading this will "get it."  I'm not sharing this adventure, or maintaining this website to say "I'm so cool," because I am no more so than any other dreamer.  If someone gets the vibe of self righteousness then I did a poor job in conveying what this is all about.  

This is NOT about being the fittest, fastest, or strongest athlete out there, because of which I am certainly NOT. This is about passion, dedication, and doing the things everyday that set you up to live your dreams.  It's about dreaming big and going for it.  

It's about Believing In The Power Of One.  Nothing more, nothing less. 

I am psyched....Can you tell?  :)

CDA Swim Meet Preview

I had one of the greatest swim days of my whole life.  Period.

 *Uriah's informal protest to the picture  :)

Race Report To Follow

Facing Your Fears...

*We have all been training ourselves out of the fear zone and into the I-Can-Do-This zone.  

The other day I was doing a swim workout and there were a couple high school kids next to me. I was chatting with one of them as we both would take a rest at the wall. He was working out because he wanted to pass the water test for entry into the Navy and he wasn't an accomplished swimmer.

As the workout progressed two more kids, whom I presume to know the kid I was talking to, started giving him a little bit of a hard time about his swim training.  After listening to the two other kids using the F-word a record number of times in a sentence, I slid over my lane line and into my friend's lane.  I looked at the two boys in the lane next to him and calmly said, "You two seem to be giving my friend here a hard time, what's up?"

I'm not an intimidating guy, nor do I pride myself on intimidating high school bullies, but I was genuinely questioning these two kids as to their reasoning for giving the other kid such a hard time and polluting the friendly pool environment with cursing that would make a sailor blush (pun intended). All the Navy kid was trying to do was get better and prepare for a goal.

The two kids seemed shocked when I spoke to them, maybe it was the fact that they both now had, with their profanity laced ribbing, my attention, or maybe it was the non-sophomore-muscled kid (me) asking them what was up, but they both muttered something about "just joking" and got really quiet.  I politely asked them if they wouldn't mind bumping down a few lanes, which they did without protest.

I gave my Navy friend a high-five, and said, "Just do you man, let's get back to work," and slipped back into my lane.  Neither of us heard another word from the two mouthy kids for the rest of the workout, it was nice.  It reminded me of one of my favorite memories from when I was younger.

When I was in Jr. high there was a kid who, in a word, was a bully.  He was a tough kid, pretty scrappy, beat up a few people on the play ground, and was generally feared by the entire class.  When he would walk down the halls people were careful not to step out of line for fear of his wrath.  I generally just kept my distance from him, but for whatever reason he was giving me a hard time one day.  I remember being slightly intimidated, frustrated, and flustered with a mixing of fear and fight.  I think we have all had that feeling, and it sucks.

This is one of my best kid-stories because for a brief period he joined the wrestling team.  He was one weight class above me, and at one of the Saturday meets I got my chance to wrestle him.  I remember lighting up inside thinking that I finally get to face this bully.  I was scared, but I was also motivated, I was sick of this kid tormenting me and seeing him torment others in my class.

He was a tough kid, but when we got on the wrestling mat I was not scared. I have always been a baby-face (still am) but they call me "Ferocious Brosious" for a reason. :)  I remember thinking "this is your chance!"  There is something about facing your fears that is both terrifying and inspiring in a twisted combination.

The referee blew the whistle to start the match, we circled around a bit before he shot in for a double leg takedown. Just like a bully he was going right after me trying to over-power me. He grabbed my leg and I could feel his strength, I under-hooked his left arm with my right, and with all my 8th grade strength I flung him sideways and we tumbled out of bounds.  I sprang up super charged, and ran back to the center of the mat.  We started again, tussled, and I decided to bring the fight to him and I shot in on great single leg takedown slamming him on his side for two points.

Every ounce of frustration was coursing through my veins thinking about wrestling this bully.  I honestly think this was the first time that anyone had opposed the will of this kid, the more I "stood up to him" on the wrestling mat, the weaker he became, I could feel it like his strength draining out of him as he learned that he had messed with the wrong person for the past month. I rode him out for the rest of the period refusing to let up any pressure.

The second period started, I remember thinking "Let's turn it up, keep the pressure on him, he'll fold."  I heard my dad just before the action picked up, he yelled, "Put it on him now."  We circled again and pulled on each other, neither giving an inch.  He shot in for a takedown and I hit one of the best chin-rip sprawls I've ever done, over powered him, and ripped him right to his back.  I followed him down and held him there.  I felt his power drain as my legs laced over his and my clenched muscles tightened to hold him on his back.  He fought hard, briefly. I held with all my strength.  He let out a "uhhhhh" and I knew he was done, quitting.  The referee signaled the pin and I remember being so relieved with what I had just done.

It was surprisingly easy...

The hard part was standing up to him in the first place...

I haven't seen that kid in 8 years, and I'm sure he turned out just fine, but for the 4.5 years of school we had together after that match, I never had a single problem with him.  I didn't bully him back or rub it in, I just left it and we never had another problem. I was actually invited to one of his birthday parties a few years later.  :)

My build up for the CDA swim meet stirred up these long forgotten anxieties and fears of bullies.  My two favorite swimming events are the 400 individual medley (IM) and the 200 butterfly.  Both are super hard events. I have been scared of how hard the 200 fly and 400IM are this year and have not swam them in competition in 2013.  The next meet will be insanely difficult because those events come at the end of a one-day meet, and they are separated only by a few minutes, and I will be swimming them both.  That means I have to swim a full program, and finish the day with those two nearly back to back.  The thought turns my stomach at times because those events are so hard that even finishing them is a challenge.

I have lost sleep thinking about how hard it will be, how my arms lock up during 200 grueling meters of butterfly, and then having to swim the 400IM.  But, you know what, I love that feeling. I live for it.  I train to overcome it.  Acknowledging that feeling, and succeeding in spite of it is what I do. That is why I train, and that is why I race.

I won't lie...I am scared.  I am not ashamed to say this. There will be a lot of people there watching me and to not finish those will be devastating to me.  It will take everything I have to succeed.

That fear has allowed me to focus my efforts for the past two months as I have ridden one of the my best training phases in my whole life.  That fear has been with me, I think about the difficulty of those events every day.  To prepare, I have been challenging myself with longer IM sets, 200 fly-to-400IM combos, and 400IM repeats.

The scary part is there are some days in which I simply can't do it.  My arms won't move and my legs won't kick.  The comforting part is the suffering now will pay off in a mere 2 weeks when I collect the reward.  In 2020 I am going to look back on this and remember the focused assault that I put into this anxiety filled challenge.  I will do my best to topple this bully. That is what dreams are made of and I am super excited.

Just the other day, I roped Ayla into a challenge-workout.  She is testing herself at the meet by swimming her first 200 individual medley so we both did 5 consecutive sets of our IM distance. She did 5 by 200IM and I did 5 by 400IM.  We did them on the 10 minute mark.  To start each set we high-fived each other before a dive start.  We both completed our tests, it was incredibly hard, and it feels amazing.  This is what it takes.

Much like that 8th grade bully in the wrestling match, the hard part of the swim challenge is facing the fear, of which I have been doing for the past two months.  I will be ready and I am confident in hoping that this next swim meet will be one of my favorite big-kid stories.

The theme song for our swim meet is Fall Out Boy's "My songs Know...(Light 'em Up)"  We all intend to go in with an attitude not of fear, but an attitude of attack, an attitude to face our fears and Light 'em Up.  That is powerful stuff that many people will never understand. When someone asks why I am training so hard for this meet, I think to myself, "This is what I do. Period. And I love it."  

What fears are you ready to face?

My BIG Secret!

The past couple couple of months I have been keeping a secret, and now I get to let it out.  A while back Hammer Nutrition approached me about doing an interview for the February/March edition of their magazine.  At first I was taken back when I got the phone call, "You meant to call me and not someone else, right?"  :)  I have been reading this magazine for years and to be featured in it is humbling and a secret dream come true.

*My favorite pic from the article, Kevin gets the photo credit.

It was my absolute pleasure to share my story for the article.  I was interviewed by one of the greatest Race Across America (RAAM) athletes in history, Steve Born.

If you would like to read the article click the following link to Hammer Nutrition's Endurance Magazine. My article starts on page 54.  The whole magazine is great, I'm only a small portion of it.

Steve and I had a lot of fun putting the article together. He was very receptive to the approach I wanted to take and the points I wanted to make. I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish with the article, I think it has a great message, and I am so thankful for all the awesome things that have been coming my way.

Thanks for reading.

Wenatchee Swim Meet

I previously said that I couldn’t relate “my message” to my last attempted post, the training montage.  Relating the message came much easier in the current post.  All of us in the entourage had a fantastic meet.  

*I put on my best smile and asked Charlotte if she would join our relay team. :)

A few highlights of the meet were the three relay races.  The relays are a free-for-all and I did my best to recruit my friends (and make new ones) and setup a relay team for each.  Evan, Ayla, and I were the constant three. The fourth person changed for each of the relays.  First we had Lacy from Great Falls swim for us.  Then we had Deidre, a swimmer from Coeur D Alene, join us.  In the grand finale, the 200 free relay I recruited my lovely swim friend, Charlotte.  90 years old and still swimming fast.  She enjoyed the relay as much as we enjoyed having her. 

*Post swim victory party.

Another highlight of the day was having Ayla's mom, Terri, join us.  She is a very nice lady who cheered us on all day.  It was a lot of fun to go out to dinner after the meet with Ayla and her mom.  We were lucky to have both of them join us for the day.  

Just after the Wenatchee Swim Meet Ayla sent me a text that said:  “Thank you for getting me interested in swimming and triathlons.  They have changed my life, thanks for all the help.” 

That is the message. 

I love to train hard and I love to see what I am made of.  It isn’t always about me though.  My goal is to help as many people believe in themselves at the same time that I am on my own quests to be the power of one.  There is nothing more satisfying than a thank you like the one Ayla sent to me.  That is a powerful message.  Ayla did awesome in all her events, a credit to her hard work and taking that first step.

*Ayla works the draft in the 200 freestyle

*All smiles before the meet.

It was nice to have Evan join me for another race trip.  When he isn't pestering me like a brother does, it's actually nice to have him around :)  He did great in all his events and left with an arm-full of awards.   He also made a fantastic dinner for us the night before.  After going to the mall, watching Zero Dark Thirty at the IMAX, Evan cooked a gourmet pasta and meat something dish (showing my lack of divine dining terminology here).

*Evan works his magic

*I'm not much of a cook so Evan told me to "stand there and look pretty."  

*Evan and his mom always take great care in preparing us for the competition with great food.

A really cool portion of the meet was when we raced unsanctioned 25 yard races. We dove off the starting blocks,  swam one length to the opposite end as fast as we could, and that was the end of race.  That's not a regular distance race, thus not sanctioned, thus a chance to have a little fun.  I received a lot of laughs during my 25 yard freestyle after diving off the start blocks, and frog-man swimming underwater to the other wall without surfacing.  I myself found it quite comical and so did the timers.

*These suits should be unsanctioned, don't blame me, blame USA Swimming.

The relays were fun, the 25s were hilarious.  Of the 12 events that I swam (a daunting schedule) my best race was my 200 individual medley.  That's a four-lap, eight-length race.  I have been training like a machine and I knew I was primed to swim fast for the 200im.  I knew I had it in me to do well.

*Warming up the turbos before the 200im. I'm smiling because I knew I was about to crush it.

*Stretching them out

Right before the official gave us the "Swimmers taker your mark" que, I said to myself, "Let's kill this thing."  The starter signaled and we all dove in.  I streamlined deep into the water and dolphin-kicked the first half of the pool.  I surfaced and took easy speed to the first wall.  I had a great turn, got deep under the oncoming wave and swam strong to the second wall right with the leaders of my heat.

*"Stay calm, easy speed," I told myself.

I had a good wall transitioning to the backstroke and again got really deep.  It seems counter intuitive, but swimming under water is actually faster than swimming on the surface.  It's a marvel of physics called "surface tension."  I knew I was in good shape when out of the corner of my goggles I saw the lane next to me surface while I was still kicking on my back under water.  I need all the help I can get in the middle portions of the IM as that is usually where I lose time.

I hit the third wall with a pretty good flip turn and came off again on my back.  By the time I made the completion of the backstroke portion I was right in the hunt for the lead.

*Breaking the surface on the backstroke

The third stroke, the breast stroke is my least effective stroke (notice I didn't say "worst stroke") and I lost time to the leaders.  My goal for this stroke is to suffer through it and limit the damage.  When I finished this stroke I was a body-length behind the leader.

*Just suffer through it and finish strong.

The final stroke, the freestyle is my finishing kick.  I swim a lot for triathlons so I have a pretty decent front-crawl stroke.  I came off the wall on the final lap, tried to stay deep, and surfaced swimming tempo.  I kept repeating to myself a phrase Rowdy Gaines always says on TV, "Keep the head down and go to the legs here."  This is the last portion of the race and it hurts at times.  You are combining tired muscles and holding your breath....uncomfortable to say the least.

At the final wall I had an awesome flip turn and was within a half body length of the super swimmer next to me.  I was breathing to my right so I could see him clearly.  I kept my stroke long, my head down, and my legs kicking.  I was screaming in my head, "You are a finisher, stay on the pace!"  With every breath I got a clear look, I was moving up with each stroke.  When we hit the final wall my hand hit first, about the length of wrist to elbow before his.  The time difference was less than half a second.

That was my best swim ever, 13 seconds faster than the same race one year ago, and 5 seconds off of my all-time best.  I was so happy with the race, and how much fun I had.  That was a great moment of satisfaction and competition.

After that, we all cooled down, went to dinner, joked around, and went home with a bunch of awards.  It was a great day and I am lucky to have shared it will all my friends.

*Evan had a good time it would appear.