English Channel Swimming

Sunday, February 14, 2010

SERC Fast Eddie Training for English Channel Swim

This great video was taken by Allen Wong while I was paddle boarding around the Aquatic Park. Enjoy it!

Monday, February 8, 2010

Save your shoulders: Cross train!

Being a member of the South End Rowing club is definitely an advantage when the subject is swimming across the English Channel. The club is located in one of the best places for any channel training, specifically the English Channel, due to its cold water temperatures and strong tides, making it natural training grounds for open cold water swims and fostering endurance swimmers. We are also neighbors to another fantastic swimming and rowing club, The Dolphin Club, also well known for having sent many swimmers to the English Channel.

So far the SERC has logged something like 20 successful solo crossings and three 6 people relay teams. In 2002 I was part of one of these teams, crossing the Channel in 13:03 hours. So I know from experience that training in the San Francisco Bay is definitely an advantage for anybody seeking to master their open water swim skills and gather information for future channel attempts.

My biggest concern about my English Channel training making sure I don’t injure myself, especially my shoulders, since shoulder injuries tend to be common among long distance open water swimmers.

Some things I try to do to avoid injuries include breaking up my long training sessions in the bay and ocean with intermittent pool swimming to maintain my stroke, lots of stretching, weight training, resting, and cross training. This combination, in my opinion, helps me avoid some of the wear and tear on my shoulders.

For cross training, my schedule typically includes:

• Biking
• Running
• Stretching
• Weight lifting
• Yoga
• Sea-kayaking
• Rowing
• Paddle boarding

The beauty of the examples I mentioned above is the fact that I love doing them and I never get bored adding them to my regular pool and bay swim workouts. Many of you know the kick start for my English Channel training was completing my first IRONMAN in Florianopolis, Brazil. Training for that IRONMAN formed the foundation for my water training, and more importantly, the mental training, because I had never done a sports event lasting over 10 hours before that. (My write up about the Ironman is below.)

My favorite bike workout is going from the SERC to Bolinas and back. It is about 60 miles with a lot of climbs and descents.

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My favorite run workout is running the Dipsea trail. A double, of course! (About 14 miles round trip of steep mountain trails starting at about 0’ in Mill Valley, peaking at 1360’ just above Cardiac Hill and dipping back to 0’ again at Stinson Beach.)

In the picture above I am on my way back from Stinson Beach.

Take a look at this oldest trail race in Amercia: http://www.dipsea.org/

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Stretching and yoga are my routine during my flying trips. For my yoga I follow a great book from Peter Kelder. You can check it out at:

http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Secret-Fountain-Youth-Book/dp/0385491670

Weights

There is a lot of information on the web regarding swimming exercises and weight training. Weight training when done right will definitely improve your strength in the water. I find this website very helpful: http://www.netfit.co.uk/swimming-web.htm

Below is a nice circuit I like to do in the SERC or hotel gym:

Squats
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Leg Curl
Lat Pull-down
Seated Rowing
Bent-over Rowing
Lateral Raise
Shoulder Press
Bench Press
Dumbbell Curl
Push-up
Abdominal Work
Assorted Stretches

Sea Kayaking is another passion of mine. Either doing a round trip Alcatraz at 5:00 pm when the winds are gusting and there are white caps all over the bay or riding the big rollers under the Golden Gate Bridge are my favorite kayak workouts.

Rowing is another great way to cross train because it uses so many different muscles in the body. It’s pretty much the closest thing to running in terms of using the whole body. If not out on the water, in the gym on the rowing machine. The SERC has a fantastic rowing program and a variety of boats, from old woodens like the one I’m rowing in the photo below, or racing shells.

Paddle boarding lately has been my most frequent non-swimming workout. It is a fantastic upper body and shoulder workout since your body is pretty much on the water line. Every time I go back to my regular pool and open water workouts I really feel the strength in my stroke after a good paddle board workout.

20,000 YARDS OF THANKSGIVING

On November 25th 2009, the day before Thanksgiving, I did an 11+ mile workout at University of San Francisco that took me 6:15 hours. I had the company of many South End Rowing Club and Dolphin Club members including a personal pacer, Tom Keller, former president of the Dolphin Club.

20,000 yards later and still smiling

Tom successfully crossed the English Channel a few years back and has accomplished many open water swims, including the Sacramento River delta swim relay, from Sacramento to the Aquatic Park in San Francisco. The swim raised funds for BAYKEEPER, the same nonprofit I am raising money for, bringing awareness to people about the water quality in and around the San Francisco Bay.

Before my workout I had the opportunity to meet in person Larry Scroggins, an “OG” (old guy) by his own words, who also will be crossing the English Channel this summer. Larry is a fantastic swimmer, a great guy, and as I learned recently, also a great writer – check out his blog about swimming and training for the Channel:
http://larrychannel.blogspot.com/.

Look at the “OG’s” abs, 22 years older than me. I feel like the Michelin man next to him.

This was my workout breakdown in the pool that Wednesday before Thanksgiving:

• 7X1000 YARDS 15’ REST
• 3000 YARDS KICK FINS
• 3000 YARDS PULL BUOY WORK
• 2000 YARDS SWIMMING WITH FINS
• 1000 YARDS BACKSTROKE
• 20X200 FREESTYLE EACH 4’

Since the pool rules don’t allow eating around the pool, I had to feed on liquid carbohydrates, mainly Endurox.

Pool workouts are a fantastic way for any open water swimmer to improve their speed, work on their stroke, and pay attention to details that are neglected during open water events due to the sometimes overwhelming conditions. Details like:

• Neck chains
• Wristwatches
• Earrings
• Swim cap (too tight or too loose)
• Uncomfortable swimsuits
• Uncomfortable goggles

The list could go on and on, especially when you have 800 laps to cover. The mind has a lot of time to wander around and pay attention to details you never thought or worried about during an ocean swim.

One of the biggest things I learned about that swim is that one should avoid drinking and eating the night before the swim wheat beer, a variety of sharp Belgium cheeses, gigantic slices of pecan pie and pita chips and humus. I confess at least a couple thousand yards were covered by “jet propulsion”. Other than a turbulent swim caused by self-induced turbulence, it was a smooth swim.

Recued Bird

During a two-hour training on a paddle board around Aquatic Cove in San Francisco, I noticed a beautiful bird wandering around the surface of the water looking kind of lost. As I got closer, I realized it was in distress. I decided to approach it and the closer I got, the more in trouble I saw it was in. It had a broken beak! Amazingly, the bird agreed to come up on the paddle board with me, near my chest. I calmly but quickly paddled back to the club, wrapped a towel around him and took him inside looking for help.

Club manager Wayne Black was there at the moment and we decided to call my wife Kim Howard, knowing she’d be in front of a computer, to help us figure out who to call. She looked up the wild life refuge animal control phone number. I told them what happened and they said to stay there, that they’d be over as soon as they could. I was really worried because his throat was really swollen and he was having a hard time breathing.

Not much longer, while waiting for the wild life rescuers to arrive, sadly, the bird died in my arms. It was one of the saddest experiences I have ever had with an animal. I was really hoping to save him.

I learned later that the bird was a grebe, known for its superior swimming and flying abilities, two things I admire a lot.

Growing up in Brazil, one of my childhood dreams was to become a veterinarian. I have always loved animals. They are innocent and pure. While I pursued my other childhood dream and became an airline pilot, I hope someday to do both. Maybe flying animal rescue missions, or saving animals from natural disasters, like Hurricane Katrina.

In any case, watching that grebe die that day was the main inspiration for learning more about BAYKEEPER, and the reason why I decided to raise funds for them. I don’t know what broke that bird’s beak, but I do know we need to be doing more to keep our water clean and safe, for all of us.

Monday, January 11, 2010

It’s cold baby, it is cold! Ten days of hell!

After spending a fantastic full blue moon New Year’s Eve at 35,000 feet commuting from San Francisco to Chicago onboard American Airlines, completely by myself in first class but wishing I was at the South End cooking with everybody for the New Year’s Day swim, my 2010 started with a three-day trip flying in and out of Chicago O’Hare. The temperature in the Midwest dropped below freezing, making my days a bit cold and miserable. At least I was being exposed to the cold weather, which had me thinking about my Channel swim training pretty much non-stop.

Since signing up for the solo Channel swim back in September 2008, I have discovered that the most difficult part of training is the winter season. I remember trying to keep the edge during my Ironman training last winter; it was hard.

Winter days are shorter, the air is cold if not freezing, the wind chill makes my body think it is an Eskimo, my biological clock slows down, at 4:00 p.m. I am ready for bed, I am always hungry for hearty meals, and the blankets are cozier than usual, making that fantastic jump in the San Francisco Bay at 6:15 a.m. feel like a real sacrifice with the water temperature at 49-52 degrees Fahrenheit.

On top of that, as an airline pilot, I am exposed to thousands of people on board, in airports, in hotels – all the holiday travelers, especially families with kids, and of course all the illnesses that tag along with them. And being based in Chicago flying all over the Midwest and Canada constantly exposes my body to air temperatures well below freezing. On January 1st I flew to Saskatoon, Canada, and after we landed I did the walk-around safety check of the airplane. The temperature was -15 Fahrenheit.

All this to say that the past few weeks really put my body to a test, and maybe not so surprisingly, I found myself fighting a miserable cold, something fierce. My lips were cracked and bleeding because of the dry cold air and my lower back was aching from so much flying and lugging my bags around the airport. Add to this a date with the dentist on Jan. 3 during which she sliced open my gum and carved my jawbone to lower it 3 millimeters to make space for a new crown, and that was it. I was down for the count.

Even though logically I understood that these were all good reasons for me to rest, my mind was telling me I was missing out on training during the important 6-months-to-go window. “You are not training enough.” “Why aren’t you training today?” I had a feeling my mind was playing shenanigans on me. And it was.

I knew that if I didn’t put a stop to those thoughts and that pressure, I would end up listening only to my mind, forgetting to listen to my body. I need to have confidence in my training schedule and what I have planned for the whole season, and more importantly, to listen to my body when it really needs to rest.

It is fantastic to recognize how our minds can play tricks on us when we are under the gun training for events like the English Channel or an Ironman triathlon. It’s easy to keep pushing, pushing, pushing to “stay on schedule.” But sometimes that kind of pushing can lead to over-training or to increasing miles just for the sake of increasing miles (‘garbage miles’), which can lead to getting hurt, and in the end sabotaging the overall game plan. It’s important to recognize the difference between resting when it’s needed and resting because the mind or body are just a little tired. I was more than just a little tired.

Training-wise…well I couldn’t resist and ended up “visiting “ the pool for a few days and swimming 15,000 yards for the week, pulling weights twice and escaping from Alcatraz with the “Fantastic Four”: Paul Saab, Steven Ray, Commissioner Cathy, and Bill James on the engine. Still, in my mind I heard “Why are you swimming only 5,000 yards instead 15,000 yards?” and “How come you did only a one-way Alcatraz swim instead of a round-trip?”

Luckily, I was able to quiet the little devil, and during the few days I was off duty and at home in early January, I focused on healing, sleeping a lot, eating well, and completing all my Channel Swimming Association Medical exams, blood tests, urine analysis, fee payments, etc., which ended up being very time consuming.

I am glad I put in a few long swims in October, November and December before the water and air temperature dropped. I even ran a marathon on December 20th as part of my cross training schedulle. I actually had in mind to slow down between December and January, but my body did it for me and I am very glad I was able to listen to it, even though I wanted to keep going.

So these past ten days I really took it easy, gave my body a chance to heal, got my back in shape, my jaw is not swollen anymore, my lips are in one piece and the cold weather, well…it is -15F right now in Quebec City.

Cold, damn cold, baby!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

6 Hour Swim

On August 26th 2009, I did a 6 hour swim around the San Francisco Bay with my friend Paul Saab, also swimming the English Channel in 2010. It included e few round trips to Alcatraz, and a few laps around the Aquatic Park. The swim was piloted by Joel Lanz, JJ, Joe Butler, Steven Ray and Bill James. It was a perfect day!