Easter Basket

Happy Belated Easter!

Easter has always been my favorite holiday. I always liked little things (buttons, beads, Polly Pockets, Beanie Babies, etc.) and anything colorful as a kid, so a holiday where everything was small and in bright colors really spoke to a young me.

Instead of doing anything big for Valentine's Day, Francis and I decided to do Easter baskets. He came up with an amazing basket stuffer: a bunny shaped hot/cold pack! Pain comes with the territory of training, so this gift is not only adorable, but really functional. We saw it at the Container Store (of all places!) a few weeks before Easter, and he went back to get it right before Easter. The bunny is named Barry, and he has already come in handy! For the record, I got him a cool action figure of Leonardo from Ninja Turtles and a Guinness pouring spoon :)

Hold Fast,
Laura

Barry the Soothing Bunny

So, What Is This Stage 6 You Keep Talking About?

On June 24th, 2014, I will be attempting my first marathon swim. 

A marathon swim is considered to be any swim over 10K (6 miles). I completed my first 10K in September, The Little Red Lighthouse Swim (72nd Street Boat Basin in Manhattan to 207th Street). I swam it in an awesome time and felt really good afterwards, so I decided that this was the year to really start to go for my longer swimming goals. 

My first marathon swim will be Stage 6 of the 8 Bridges Swim. 8 Bridges is an event put on by my swim team CIBBOWS (Coney Island Brighton Beach Open Water Swimmers). The swim strings together the Rip Van Winkle, Kingston-Rhinecliff, Mid-Hudson, Newburgh-Beacon, Bear Mountain, Tappan Zee, George Washington, and Verrazano Narrows Bridges (Credit: 8 Bridges).

My stage is Stage 6: The Tappan Zee Bridge to the George Washington Bridge. I selected this stage for a few reasons:

1. When I was 10, my mom took me to an awesome science enrichment program (aka nerd camp) sponsored by Johns Hopkins at the Maritime Aquarium in Connecticut. We went over the Tappan Zee Bridge on our way there, and I was completely mesmerized! It is the widest area of the Hudson River, and therefore, one of the most scenic.

2. In terms of distance, it is close to the Ederle Swim (15 miles compared to 17.5)

3. It is the easiest stage to to get to, and offers a great tidal assist

4. My first apartment in Manhattan was right by the GW in Washington Heights. It is also awesome to end up right where my longer distance swimming career really began, since the LRL Swim ends about a mile north of the GW.

Coach Bonnie will be in a kayak right next to me, and Francis will be on a safety support vessel. I also know many of the swimmers in this leg, so there will be no shortage of safety and emotional support on this one!

Stage 6 Info

Stage 6 Map

It is going to be a challenge, but I like to think of a great line from "A League of Their Own" when I contemplate this distance: 'If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great."

Hold Fast,

Laura

New Sets

Here are the sets I am currently working on. I usually mix up the main sets to keep myself from getting bored.

400 Warm Up
6 x 50 kick (with a board) after warm up before your main set. (Work up to 10 of these)
Main Set
 *Work with 1:45 per 100m pace.

1.  10 x 100 on 1:45
And/Or

2.  5 x 400

        1.  400 swim on  7:00
        2.  2 x 200  on  3:30
        3.  4 x 100  on  1:45
        4.  8 x 50    on :50 
        5  16 x 25   on :30  (desc* 1-4, 5-8, 9-12, 13-16)
*Descend = get faster on each 25 in groups of 4.  so, if you go :25 on the first one, then you should go :24, :23, :22 on the next 3.  You can drop more time on each one, but you must drop each time.  Number 5 could go back  to around a 25, and repeat.

3.  500 on 8:45
400 on  7:00  1 x 100 FAST on  1:55
300 on  5:15  2 x 100 FAST on  1:50
200 on  3:30  3 x 100 FAST on  1:45
100 on  1:45  4 x 100 FAST on  1:40 ("touch and go" is ok)

Finish with some hypoxic:  either breathing patterns, no breathers, etc)

Pretty fun! 

Also, this is the number of bananas Francis and I went through last week alone. Not a single banana went bad! This is what happens when a girl training for a 15 mile swim and a boy training for an Olympic triathlon cohabitate. 

Hold Fast, 
Laura

Interwebs!

As marathon swimmer and aspiring aquarium animal Andrew Malinak announced to me via Twitter this week "Our names are on the internet!"

The swimmer list for 8 Bridges is up! There are still some more slots open in other stages in case any of you want to jump in!

Check it out here- http://www.8bridges.org/more/swimmer-list/

Hold Fast,
Laura

Early Mornings and Kickboard-ing

Well, I have certainly neglected this blog for a bit! In my defense, March was a bit CRAZY. I moved to Morningside Heights on March 15th, and also helped my parents get their home of 28 years ready to hit the market.

I've made a lot of strides (or strokes, to be more accurate) this month in training. I'm doing intervals, kicking really hard, and also making sure that I am eating more. My schedule is Tuesday-Friday from 5:45 to 7:30, and then one light swim on the weekends. There is no way that I can get to the pool Monday mornings once Game of Thrones starts on Sunday nights :)

My favorite drills have been the 50 meter kickboard sprints. They are really challenging, and there are times that it feels like my heart is going to explode, but they are so fun. I have always been a strong kicker, and this is just going to be another weapon in my arsenal as I race the tide in the Hudson.

The hardest part is the early wake ups. I am naturally an early to bed early to rise kind of girl, but making sure that I get those 7-8 hours of sleep is tough. I've tried to function on less, but it is just not conducive to my training at the moment. Luckily, I have an incredible group of supportive friends  who understand that I can't always be out late, and help make my weekend free time really fun.

Hold Fast,
Laura

PS- If you read my previous rant about pants, you should know I FOUND AWESOME PANTS!
http://bit.ly/1ml1bDW

Pants...

Well, the 2014 Winter Olympic Games are almost over. I was completely CRUSHED yesterday when the U.S. lost to Canada in women's hockey again. I didn't even have all my adult teeth the last time they won gold! The game was so close! But hey, silver is amazing and I think much more pretty.

I recently saw an article on skiers that caught my eye as a swimmer. Sarah Lyall of the New York Times wrote about how skiers have a difficult time finding pants that fit.  A link to the story is at the bottom of the post. 

Watching the skiers come off the slopes after their runs here at the Winter Games is to see a parade of superconditioned lower bodies whose every powerful contour ripples graphically underneath what are essentially very expensive tights.“Yes, we have derrières,” said Chemmy Alcott, a British skier. “We’ve got booties. I’ve spent 28 years squatting in that squat position, and I’m really proud of it. It would be a lot easier for me to be a skinny normal person. I have to work really hard to get this muscle.”Skiers say that they need big legs and rears to get them down the slopes as quickly and forcefully as possible.

Well, I immediately wanted to jump up and yell "YES!" Open water swimming is a sport that allows people of very diverse body types to compete. Come to a swim, and you will see people of all shapes and sizes competing in the same field. A very common complaint, especially from female swimmers, is the thunder thighs. Trying on a pair of pants at the Gap is excruciating! they will be completely cutting off the circulation in my thighs, and then be 2 sizes too big in the waist. It is a never ending quest to find pants that are flattering, yet fit the muscles that have only been growing these past few months.  My biggest takeaway when reading this article was a wish that some fashion designer could make pants specifically for people with athletic legs. There has to be enough demand between swimmers, skiers, and gymnasts! Body image issues run rampant in sports. It caused me to quit swimming once before, and to this day it can be a struggle. I even let the thought "I want to quit swimming so I can wear smaller jeans" enter my head this week. Thankfully, I was talked off the ledge by three awesome people. If just one clothing company could help design pants that we all felt comfortable and confident in, I honestly thing that it would help combat all of those negative thoughts! 

Well, another way to combat negativity is a 3,000 meter work out like today's. That will make anyone feel amazing no matter what the jean situation is!

Hold Fast,

Laura

Link to New York Times article- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/sports/olympics/chasing-gold-and-jeans-that-fit.html?_r=0

Link to my story on the BMW bobsled (you know, for self promotion)- http://nbclearn.com/2014olympics/cuecard/68317

5,500 Meter Swim

I kicked off my President's Day Monday with a challenging 5,500 meter work out from Coach Bonnie. This is a workout that will establish some base times so that I can start interval training. 

Francis and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:15, and headed to the West Side YMCA. I wanted to have the most accurate times that I could, so Francis graciously agreed to sit on the side of the pool and time the sets that needed timing. He looked like quite the coach with his stopwatch, TYR jammers, and clipboard! I was so glad that he was there, and felt really guilty since he did not have Monday off. It helped to see his face on the turns and have someone there in case something went wrong. I have a great swim caddy :)

I swim in a 25 meter pool, so a 100 is 4 laps. Multiply all sets by 4 for the number of laps:

800m Warm Up. Include at least 200 yards of kicking and mix in some stroke (breaststroke, back, and fly).

10 x 100m Free with 10 seconds rest to see what time you can hold.  Get times. 
-Basically 10 100m Freestyles with a 10 second rest between each set.

2 x Broken 1500m (1500 is a mile) Get times.

1) Build up
100m (Rest 10 seconds)
200m (Rest 15 seconds)
300m (Rest 20 seconds)
400m (Rest 25 seconds)
500m (Rest 30 seconds)

2) Try descending these
500m ( Rest 25 seconds)
400m (Rest 20 seconds)
300m ( Rest 15 seconds)
200m ( Rest 10 seconds)
100m

10 x 25m (These make me feel like a dolphin!)
Odd under water
Even sprint

200m Cool Down

There were a few moments of "and why am I doing this again?", but for the most part it felt awesome! The worst part of winter training is not getting those long swims in quite as easily. Pools are really boring when you have swam by the sights of Coney Island and NYC. Plus, no waves, current, or salt water. 

One funny mishap! One the first 300 of the Build Up set, I miscounted and still had 4 to go, which Francis very kindly reminded me of. Then, on the same set, my goggles came off and I finished the last 25 meters with my eyes closed. 

The best part of the day thought was getting to replenish those calories at Eataly with my roommates and some friends. Nothing like food well earned and well prepared! 

Hold Fast,
Laura