Hey Buddy You've Got Two More Buoys

This morning I did the 2.4 mile Lake Monona swim on the Ironman course.  

There were two races to choose from, the wetsuit race for triathletes practicing for ironman (who else would wear a wetsuit in 80 degree water?), and the "championship" race for competitive swimmers.  I am neither, but I figured it would be less humiliating to get my butt kicked by honest-to-God swimmers, so I entered the championship race.

As I crossed the timing mat to get into the water I saw Megan.  Drat!  There went my chance at winning.

My main concern was just being able to swim that far.  But I was surprised how easy it was.  I probably should have tried to swim faster.

The course was rectangular, marked by large buoys at the corners, with smaller buoys in between.  On the backstretch of the second loop I thought I had come to the corner buoy, so I made the turn back to the shore.  Give me some slack here, Patriarchs are known for their wisdom, not their eyesight. 

I didn't get far before I had a guy in a kayak yelling at me, "Hey buddy, you've got two more buoys!".   So now I was even further back in the pack.  No matter, it was great fun!

Megan was the first woman, second overall.  Josh was 4th in his age group.  And I was not last.

Next swim:  Sunday 10AM Klode  

 

This Morning's Out-Back Trip

G'day Mates....was the greeting The Patriarch and I received as we arrived on the Klode scene this morning. New comer Peter travelled all the way from Australia to participate in the Klode experience. (...actually, Peter has travelled here to compete in Ironman Wisconsin which is now just a little more than 2 weeks away.) New comer Tom also joined in on this morning's swim with Lindsay and Robin.

The sky was grey but the winds were calm. There were a few waves rolling on shore but no where near as frequent or as sizable as yesterday....but still enough to occasionally interrupt your swim stroke if you began to get lazy. The water was clear on shore...the weeds apparently have been reclaimed by the lake with the recent waves. Offshore the water clarity was good...although a bit cloudy. Visibility ranged from 5-8 feet in spots.

The water remained warm enough to get by without a wetsuit but was perhaps a tad bit cooler than yesterday....although its certainly conceivable that this may be solely the result of the grey skies and not the seasonal trend that I would prefer not to think about.

As the Patriarch was preparing for his momentous 2.4 mile swim in Lake Monona tomorrow his out-back journey this morning took him to the garage and back. For the rest of us, our out-back adventure took us up to the 'rockpile'.

UPCOMING PLANS:
Saturday: 3pm Klode (1pm remains a possibility)
Sunday: 10am Klode

-Capt'n

Rolling Along....

The winds were blowing gently from the south east and the familiar sound of waves coming onshore could be heard from the Klode parking lot this morning. While the initial impressions suggested a repeat performance of the last 2 days the lake conditions were no where's near as challenging.

Replacing the giant waves from the past 2 days were frequent rolling 1-3ft waves moving in quickly from the south east. Thinking that this could make for a challenging swim southward The Patriarch, David, Robin, Mike and I all unanimously decided to tackle the swim south first.

Water conditions remained comfortably warm and the clarity was much improved from yesterday morning. The near shore water remained stirred up while just 50 meters from shore the turquoise water could be found with about 5 feet of visibility.

We swam from north beach south for a little over 20 minutes which took us to the familiar storm water drain also known as the 'sewer pipe'. Turning around the expectation was that we would fly northward as we did yesterday. This though, did not turnout to be true as the return trip took approximately 20 minutes as well. In the end, the constant rolling waves presented the same challenge to maintain your swim stroke regardless of the direction you were heading.

Bradford Beach Report....The Patriarch did a little lunch time reconnaissance swim at Bradford Beach today. He reports that the scenary was very pleasing to the eyes despite the presence of seaweed for the first 10 feet from shore. The water there too was comfortably warm.

UPCOMING SWIM PLANS:
Friday: 6am Klode
Saturday: 3pm Klode (...although 1pm is a possibility if anyone has a preference.)
Sunday: 10am Klode

Officially Sanctioned Lake Michigan Swim Gear

As mentioned in previous posts, we have an official beer, Bell's Lager of the Lakes: http://www.bellsbeer.com/index.php?c=product_info&content=8

Now we've found an official swim cap:

http://www.tyr.com/shop/pirates-silicone-p-701-c-68_77_78.html

Any suggestions for a suit, or a T-shirt, or other gear?

Cap'n and Linda and me had a deee-lightful swim this afternoon.  There was still a big current and some waves, but nothing approaching the bodyslammers we experienced this morning.  All the seaweed that was nearshore is gone too.  The water is clean and very warm.

If anyone is interested in a car pool to the Monona swim Saturday, let me know.

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning 6AM at Klode

X-treme Peaks and Valleys

If you missed out on yesterday's opportunity to play in the waves don't despair, just get out there today!

The winds this morning were blowing gently from the east as The Patriarch and I arrived at the Klode parking lot. The familiar sound of waves crashing into the Klode beach were once again prevalent as we stepped out of our cars. We were greeted by a new comer, Mike, who had heard about our group from a friend. Welcome aboard Mike!

As we journeyed down to the beach the scene was quite similar to yesterdays...a bright red sun peaking over the horizon and a lake surface lined with waves but not white capped serpents. We would soon find out though, that today's adventure would have 3 distinct differences from yesterday.

(1) Upon arriving down on the beach it became obvious that today's waves were considerably taller than yesterday. While yesterday had a smattering of 4-6 foot waves just about everyone of them today towered above the shoreline....perhaps all closer to the 6 foot range.

(2) As we walked the plank into the water instead of being greeted by an occasional high five from the lake were were greeted with frequent pommelling attempts by the lake to welcome us to the warm and playful surf.

(3) Our journey northward to our typical first checkpoint (the 'garage') actually turned out to be more of a skip this morning rather than the normal hop, skip and a jump or yesterday's simulation of an endless pool swim . To be honest, I think I may have blinked and missed the section of water between the Klode beach and the garage. After what felt like just a couple swim strokes I was quite surprised to hear the Patriarch call out...'Garage ahoy Captn't...dere she be!".

The waves and current this morning were pushing hard, from the south west. As a result, the trek from Klode to the garage literally took about 90-120 seconds. The return trip, though, took 7-10 minutes depending on how determined you were to maintain your swim stroke. Much like a puppy dog that persistently pulls on your pant legs and begs to play, the Lady of the Lake this morning continually tugged on our arms and tempted us to skip the swim and just play in the waves.

Oh what fun this morning's swim was! Swimming next to the Patriarch and Mike was a virtual magic act...now you see them, now you don't. The extreme peaks and valleys provided quite a thrill. One second you feel like you're on the top of the beach....then suddenly you're in the land of giant waves and see absolutely nothing but walls of water all around you....what a rush!

Upcoming Patriarch / Capt'n Swim Plans:
Wednesday Evening: 4:30pm Klode
Thursday Morning: 6am Klode

Also, the Patriarch has signed up for the Lake Monona Open Water Swim in Madison this Saturday. Anyone else doing it? I plan to swim mid-day / afternoon at Klode on Saturday if anyone is interested in joining me.

Hope to see you on the Beach!
-Capt'n

Distances Between Beaches

Gui asked an interesting question about the distances between north shore beaches. It would be an interesting endeavor to swim all these segments. These are all approximate distances and depend on where exactly you get in and out, and what line you swim (follow the shore or straight across bays), etc. I've starred the ones I've actually done.

Starting from McKinley and going north:
0.5 miles to the south end of Bradford Beach *
0.4 to the north end of Bradford *
2.0 to Atwater
1.6 to Big Bay
1.2 to Klode *
1.9 to the south end of Beach Drive (the witch's house) *
1.4 to Doctors Park
You could keep going obviously, but that's already over 9 miles.

For today's conditions and tomorrow's swim see the preceding post

Work Hard / Play Hard

With visions still dancing around in our heads of last nights swim from Klode under pristine conditions (...which included a glass like water surface, crystal clear water, comfortable water temps...and Nahi without a wetsuit!), the picture this morning was considerably different. Upon greeting Josh, Linda, Robin, Sandy and Patriarch in the Klode parking lot the thunderous crash of waves were hard to ignore. It was obvious without even seeing the water that our experience this morning was going to be quite different than yesterdays.

As we journeyed down to the beach a bright red sun peaked over the horizon to reveal a lake surface lined with large rolling waves. While the sun lit horizon did not reveal any white capped serpents the waves were certainly the largest of the season.

Water conditions remained warm so we all ventured out clad only in swim suits. As we 'walked the plank' out into the water the size and frequency of the waves provided a true test of our determination to swim this morning...we were certainly in for quite the workout this morning.

The waves were large, frequent and rolling in from the north west. As a result, the swim north to garage proved to be quite a test of strength and efficiency...well, at least for the Patriarch and I it was so. For Josh and Sandy it may have been a different story as they certainly made the conditions look a lot more trivial than they were as they effortlessly passed the garage on their way up to the rock pile.

Anxious to realize the spoils of our work the Patriarch and I decided it was time to play upon arriving at the garage. So we turned around and literally flew back towards the Klode beach. Whippee, what a ride! The journey back unfortunately only seemed to last but a few seconds. Unfulfilled, I turned around and traversed the route again....swimming hard up to the garage and then enjoying the ride home.

UPCOMING PLANS:
Tuesday noon - the Patriarch may be back for more with a swim from Bradford
Wednesday 6am - Swim from Klode

Anyone else planning to come out and play? :)

-Capt'n