Dear Cove Lovers,
Now that Kim and I are flying home from Europe (where, among other things, we finalized preparations for my English Channel swim for next July), I finally have time to write about the 15 Coves of Love swim I did just before we left in honor of Adriana Ospina.
For PHOTOS taken mostly by Elizabeth Glass, one of the best swim supporters I have ever known, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Kimikatis/15CovesOfLove
The idea of the 15 Coves swim came to my mind when I was looking for an over-six-hour swim for the month of September. Since I hate to swim by myself in the sharkless infested bay, with its murky waters and horny sea lions and sea lioness, stinging jellyfish, nipple-biter harbor seals, and giant squids, AND because I truly enjoy other people’s company, I realized that the Friday before the Alcatraz Invitational would be the perfect opportunity to swim with as many people as possible. Cove swimming is also a great opportunity to train for frequency, feeding experiments, support, love and companionship from fellow South Enders and Dolphins.
Turns out the combination of company, friends, support, and time in the water was more than perfect. The 15 Coves of Love was one of the best swims of my life. IF for some reason (and there are many ifs out there in the middle of the English Channel), I don’t reach the shores of France next year, I will be content with this and all the other trainings I have done and will do that are adding to my life as a person and as an amateur athlete. It has been a fantastic journey!
Thursday the 10th: Preparation Day
After a crazy six-day work trip, flying in and out of Chicago O’Hare and then commuting five hours to SFO, I finally made it home late Thursday morning.
Trying to figure out a feeding schedule and options, pacing tactics, took me quite some time. It required pulling all my Ironman training logbooks, both mental and physical. (So glad I did that Ironman in May.)
During my last six-hour swim in the bay I took some liquid protein, soy milk based, and that was a disaster. I had a lot of cramps and had to go to the “rest-ebb-room” (don’t worry Paul Saab, you were upwind of me). So I had to come up with an alternative protein. A trip to Trader Joe’s and Sports Basement later, I had my feeding ready…at midnight the night before. The menu was:
· Endurox
· Green tea+Gu+ginsen
· Water
· Vanilla meringues
· Chocolate espresso beans
· Hash browns
· Meatballs (easy and quick to eat)
· Port wine
After a short night of sleep, about three hours, I headed towards the SERC to pilot the Alcatraz Test Swim.
Since Wednesday night, I was anxious, nervous, excited, happy, pumped and scared. I had never prepared for a swim like that or been in the water for over six hours, so the outcome was very unpredictable.
My warm up for the swim was rowing the Sal Reina to Alcatraz with swimmer David Yudovin and his wife in tow, and piloting him back to shore. Great people. Great test swim.
At 10:00 I set up at the end of the dock my feeding station, plus coffee and snacks for the helpers/swimmers/cove lovers. I was nervous and impatient. Even Lynne Cox asked me how many times I had gone back and forth on that dock and with a nervous smile I joked: oh I am just warming up. Right!
10:05 AM
My #1 supporter Elizabeth Glass took a few pictures of my great support team at the dock: Najee, John Walker, Keith Nowell, Rose McNally, Sara, Anna Sojourner (thanks for the special care Anna), and Dan McLaughlin, and then I headed towards the beach. I saw a few kayaks on the beach from the test swim, and didn’t think twice about towing one for a couple coves.
I wish I could remember the names of everybody who jumped in and out of the water to swim coves with me, because I’m grateful to everyone who did. Boy does it make a big difference to have company out there. I know for sure that Allison Kalhammer, Stephanie Gerk, Anna Sojourner, Sarah Mehl, Dan Needham, Paul Weiss, John Walker, Jim Miller, and Mark Stone did at least one cove with me at some point along the journey. Thanks for that.
10:10…I started and started strong!
COVE 1
At the flag my mind told me 14 and ¾ to go! WOW! I tell you that was a very scary thought. But I immediately recognized that my mind was already trying to play shenanigans on me and right way I decided not to think about the number 15. From that moment on I decided to focus on each individual cove; one by one. And there I went; negotiating the goal posts, going under the Chinese and Mexican fishermen’s fishing lines, negotiating the Muni pier and the opening buoy, going around the two white Balclutha buoys, around the green boat, around the two white Thayer buoys and headed to the dock.
COVES 2, 3, 4
With a quick Endurox feeding during each stop at the dock, I was able to maintain a pace of about 25 minutes per cove.
COVE 5, THEN LUNCH TIME
Hash browns, meatballs, meringues and water
COVES 6, 7, 8, 9
Maintaining the 25-minute pace per cove, I was able to mix in some kicking, pull buoy and hand paddles. It was a great but tough workout and I started feeling tired. Usually it takes me 1 hour to warm up but for some reason I started warming up only after 3 hours. I felt many cold spots around the cove and later Mark Stone told me his watch was showing 59 degrees.
COVE 10, WOW 10 COVES!
At the 4-hour-10-minute mark, I reached the dock for the 10th time. Completing 10 coves gave me a boost of energy and excitement. I had only 5 more to go! Seeing how much fun everyone on the dock was having gave me a boost too. I remember a lot of faces out there and everybody cheering and having a good time. After the 10th cove, it was time for my last long feeding, because after that my stops would be quick because I was trying to pick up the pace so my body temperature wouldn’t drop. I was getting a little tired for sure. After a couple meatballs and hash brown bites, Dave Maloney served me some port wine and there I went, to the last five coves.
COVES 11, 12, 13
After 5 hours in the water I was definitely feeling the weight of towing the kayak. I think it was a 1.9 knot flood and if that helped me a little on one side of the cove, on the other side it was making me work hard. The water was very choppy by the afternoon. Even though it was a perfect, sunny day, it was windy and at the opening I was literally being tossed around and getting pushed towards the breakwater.
There is something interesting about doing laps to train for a big event. After that much time going around and around I started to go a little crazy. Maybe to prevent myself from going insane, I started memorizing all the landmarks I saw over and over: the flag, the Ghirardelli sign, the Maritime Museum, the Sea Scouts boathouse, the goal posts, the anchored blue and red sail boats, the canon doors of the Balclutha. But even with memorizing landmarks and swimming in circles, every time I went around I had a new perspective of the cove, of the swim, and indeed of each new battle in my head to keep going.
By cove 12, I needed to draw on anything I could to stay focused and energized. I imagined the path I was making in the cove from above, of the forces being created by the circular motion, picturing a centripetal force anchored at the dock, creating a brightly lit path around the cove with a new electric energy. The force was strong like a turbine engine. I visualized drawing from that force to propel myself forward, again and again, like earth rotating fast around the sun. I heard Newton in my head and felt my body being impelled towards the dock.
By cove 13, I was well known fella to the Mexican and Chinese fishermen, having dragged their fishing lines under the kayak I was towing every time I swam along the Muni Pier. This time they asked how many times I was going around. I said “13 down, 2 to go.” They looked at each other and I heard “Pute madre pinche loco (crazy son of a bit@#!)!”
COVES 14 AND 15 - THE LAST TWO!
Approaching 6 hours, it was time to let the kayak go. I had enough drag for the day. After a quick stop at the dock to drop the kayak, I started the last two coves strong. During the 14th cove I started realizing how many coves I had done and what I was about to accomplish. I was about to swim 15 coves.
As I was passing the opening I saw a swimmer with a yellow cap: it was Mark Stone. I stopped and he asked if he could join me, and of course I said yes, it was an honor. On the way to the dock to complete the 14th cove I could see everybody cheering and shouting: 15th! The last one! Smiling, I pretty much passed by, didn’t care about feeding and just went for it! Anna and a few others joined me and Mark, and there we went! I was pumped!
At that point, everything becomes the last one. The last flag, the last goal posts, the last opening, the last Jacuzzi, the last cove! As I passed the flag, I had a huge sense of gratitude and thankfulness for the 14 times I had passed it. It was almost like “thanks for being there marking my path.” I saw the South End and Dolphin stickers on it. It made me proud to belong to these clubs (one literally, one in spirit). It made me so happy to be part of such a unique corner of the world. Negotiating the Muni pier, I made sure I rimmed it. Like the others before it, it had to be a real official cove. Once again my friends the Mexicans and Chinese were there, waiving. I shouted, “Last one!! Fifteen, quince!!” They waved goodbye and there I went. I could see the South End and Dolphin piers from the opening. It was a perfect evening! I was almost done! Swam around the white buoys and headed toward the middle of the docks. I stopped and already with tears in my eyes thanked Mark Stone for being there with me and I sprinted towards the beach. I could feel the sand between my fingers. In a quick flash future I imagined reaching France! I made it!
There was quite a crowd in the beach! I was warmed to see everybody there, happy they were sharing that day with me. We drank some champagne and port on the beach and shared many warm hugs. I couldn’t have done without all that support, without all that love. I was very happy.
With my parka on, I walked towards the end of the dock, stopped at the end of it and one more time, my eyes went around the cove remembering every moment I had gone throughout every cove. I thanked Mother Nature for the protection and love. In silence I dedicated those coves of love to Adriana Ospina and wished her well.
I thought about how much this swim brought to me. I had learned about myself, my body, my mind, my Channel training. After that much time in the water, I had a new understanding of cold water swimming, even though I couldn’t quite explain it, I just had experienced it. It took my respect for marathon swimming to a whole new level, even though 6:40 hours in the water is just a detail when you compare it to the swims like the English Channel, Catalina, Lake Tahoe, Tom Lithicum’s 10 hour round trip Angel Island and so on.
To all of you who imagined swimming a distance you weren’t sure you could make and went for it anyway, whether from Gas House Cove or Alcatraz or the English Channel or anything in between, thanks for your inspiration.
Below are all the people I’d like to thank (in no particular order) for being there, for swimming with me, for cheerleading, for supporting me, for feeding me. Thank you so much.
Love,
Fast Eddie
Keith Nowell
Naji
John Walker
Rosemary McNally
Dan McLaughlin
Barry from the Dolphin Club
The black dog on the beach
Bob Roper
Sarah Mehl
Anna Sojourner
Elizabeth Glass
Lynn Sowolsky
Dan Needham
Allison Kalhammer
Stephanie Gerk
Berry Maguire’s friend with tattoo
Point Bonita girl swimmer
Tina diLorenzo
Dave Maloney (Port and Meatballs!)
Jason Carls for rescuing my fins
David Yudovin
Lynne Cox
The log that was floating around the cove
Bonnie
Paul Weiss and his friend
Naji’s doggie
Bill Wygant
Jim Miller
The swimmers I ran over during the test swim
Mark Stone and his wife
Kimberly Howard, for putting up with my crazy training schedule
Rafe for allowing me use the kitchen to cook some pasta for the crew
Cecile Marie
Connie Wellen
Dave Santos
The one harbor seal who seriously considered jumping on my kayak for a free ride
The one sea lion
Wayne Black
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