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River, Lake, (Pool,) and Ocean

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After last year’s Catalina Channel I figured I was ready for some other challenge. The famous 20 Bridges, i.e. the circumnavigation of Manhattan Island, was the first thing that popped to my mind.

This is part of the Triple Crown of Marathon Swimming and an extremely scenic swim: it’s a rare feature to have such a view all the way through a marathon swim (specially one in a Ocean..)

Since the date I found was quite early in the season I also figured I had enough time to fit in yet another swim, and that’s when I thought of the length of Lake Tahoe.

As the season unrolled and after the Manhattan swim I felt good about my training and general fitness, so I decided to squeeze a bit more out of the season and to swim the Santa Barbara Channel, from Anacapa to Oxnard, so to complete the Triple Crown of California and close the season in style.

These are quite different swims, being in quite different bodies of water, and my training this season also changed quite a bit, teaching few important lessons.

The Plan

In my mind I was going to just rinse and repeat what I did the year before to prepare for the Catalina Channel. Basically keep at a solid 30k yards per week, allowing for peaks around 35k/40k. Using the pool to get some cheap yards in winter, when water is cold, and to fill up the bucket later in the season too.

Month Days Yardage Yds/Day Yds/Week max hrs
November 30 80000 2,857.14285 20000 7.6
December 31 125000 4032.258065 25000 7.6
January 31 125000 4032.258065 28000 7.6
February 28 130000 4642.857143 32500 9.8
March 31 140000 4516.129032 31615 10.6
April 31 140000 4516.129032 31615 10.6
May 31 140000 4516.129032 31615 8.5
June 30 150000 5000 35000 11.4

A classic of this strategy is to hit Tsunami’s Saturday workouts for 7k in 2 hours and then finish off with another hour or so in the Bay. It worked once, it must work again (and again and again….)

The Execution

WRONG!

This didn’t work out at all. My execution was very poor and I had to figure out how to adjust and roll with the punches. As you can see below my weekly yardage hardly surpassed 30k and hovered between 20k and 25k for most of the time.

distance hours weekly distance
start_date
November 78246.264446 23.200000 19561.566112
December 97274.312919 27.511667 24318.578230
January 66520.140582 19.327222 16630.035146
February 78037.494297 22.824167 19509.373574
March 126980.041349 38.380833 31745.010337
April 106163.393721 30.941111 26540.848430
May 91044.672915 28.476667 22761.168229
June 121913.564941 28.591667 30478.391235
July 92905.122247 27.617778 23226.280562
August 13375.943910 4.436944 3343.985977
September 63659.803627 17.061944 15914.950907

Year on Year

To give a better idea of how much less this is wrt last year let’s compare the two seasons directly

Year on Year: 2017/2018 = 81.263238% 2016/2017

total percentage
is_pool
open water 0.949321 1.168204
pool 0.611793 0.752853

So I swam 20% less yards than last year. Pool was drastically decreased by 40% while the percentage of training yards in open water increased by 16% wrt last year. We’ll see in the next section how this is one of the most important lessons I learned.

distance_yoy weekly_distance_yoy hours_yoy
start_date
January 56.55% 56.55% 53.43%
February 68.48% 68.48% 69.71%
March 83.98% 83.98% 92.42%
April 63.80% 63.80% 68.02%
May 54.30% 54.30% 64.11%
June 80.61% 80.61% 69.73%
July 61.04% 61.04% 62.45%

The World’s smallest violin

I hate complaints and don’t see the point of finding excuses: my plan didn’t work and I didn’t have the discipline and mental fortitude to follow up.

However, I think that explaining what are the snags I hit it’s helpful since they bore lessons that made me a better athlete in the long run. I also strongly believe in adapting to the conditions more than in brute force, so, being honest about the blockers is the first step to get around them (since I’m not strong enough to just brute force past them). The weekly yardage plot below shows significant ups and downs, falling/rising/falling again. Main reasons for these were the brutally cold season, the loss of acclimation after the closure time due to the sealion attacks and to the particularly bad strain of flu that knocked me down for few weeks and dragged on even after I treated with antibiotics. The sealion accidents also relegated most of us to swimming close to shore, which made it particularly tough mentally.

Another large factor was boredom in the pool. I entered this circle of showing up, getting frustrated at the practice, being not yard intensive enough or too technical, and getting out early, generating more anger and frustration in not being able to crunch enough yards.

If you add to this the lack of momentum created by the lack of the novelty anxiety and the lack of stable training partners you have the full picture of what was going through my mind around February.

I even considered calling off the season… but I’m glad I didn’t since I ended up learning a lot about how to get around these issues.

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Paradigm shift

Since my plan wasn’t working at all I started talking to people and thinking. Fortunately I’m surrounded by so many extremely talented swimmers that getting different perspectives is easy.

I am specifically grateful to Ryan, Catherine, and Duke for their insight and friendship.

The main shift has been to mix it up: more time in the Bay, using the pool as a tool to build quality and speed and the Bay as the main source of yards. A big swim in the weekend builds more expectation and focus than a “death by thousand cuts”. This can be accentuated by traveling to get a milestone swim somewhere else: I got a great 4 and 6 hours in San Diego, hard, choppy and cold. Once you fly somewhere you’re too invested to turn back: you have to make it! Same can be said with a long week end swim: you waited the whole week to do this and if you don’t make it it’s irreparable (which silences the voice in your head tempting you to go short today and make up for it another day…).

Another interesting approach is to focus more on intensity. Between a 8 hours swim and two back to back 4 hours swim on consecutive days, go for the second. This is not a good option for your first swim, but once you mentally get the gist there isn’t much more value to go longer than 6 hours (at least if you’re around 2 miles per hour pace). Of course having multiple crossings in a season offers the opportunity of having a high intensity 8+ hours swim and to use it as a training for the swims you care the most for, but instead of looping around for 8 hours I see more value in splitting the time on two days/sessions, to get better quality and to get used to swim when your body is already tired.

This is not a way to get around putting in yards and time, but a way to put in more quality than quantity, or, to put in plenty of quality yards instead of a huge amount of uneventful ones.

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Crosstraining

Crosstraining also helped immensely in switching it up and in getting more strength. This specially helped me to strengthen up my hips (which gave me issues last year) and I’ll be going down the route of more running, more Yoga and more strength training at Body Works SF.

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The Crossings

20 Bridges

Signing up for this swim is one of its main challenges: just like Hamilton tickets you have to be online and ready on November 1st at 9am Pacific time and even a small delay may put you on the waitlist or worse. This is a super popular swim which gathers an extremely international crowd. Be sure to have a few dates options: the swim has 4 monthly dates, from June to September, 15 swimmers per date. Good Luck!

On this swim I had my own parents as my crew, which they really loved! They finally got to see how much fun I’m having doing this and it made clear that I’m not suffering but full of joy (even when things aren’t easy). They brought all their Love and cheered all the way through, I am so grateful. Only advice for the crew is to be ready for rain or shine, it could get extremely hot (I swam through a heat wave) and not all boats have a toilet, even if they claim to. Our captain (Lenny Brown of “O C’mon”) pointed at a jar when we asked him where the toilet was. So.. be prepared…

The swim is quite technical, I had the fortune of receiving a great description of the challenges from Louise Darlington, an awesome open water coach and swimmer, which put together a super comprehensive summary of the swim. I’m reporting a few of those thoughts here, but the credit goes to her.

The first thing to realize is that this is a quick swim: likely under 10 hours, but sub 8 for sure if you’re a fast swimmer. The tides turn every 6 hours, so you have to “dance” with them and be at the right place at the right time, i.e. in the Harlem by end of flood and in the Hudson by beginning of Ebb, otherwise you might find yourself wrestling the tide, and we all know who wins…

The swim is impeccably organized by Rondi Davies and David Barra. David seems to be everytwhere at once on the rivers and gave me an extra boost when he showed up on the Harlem river to deliver an italian flag to my kayaker! That is one of the things that made my day.

Rondi runs a smooth operation and is the ultimate authority on timing the waves. I was perplexed since I found myself in a wave I thought to be too fast and I got proven wrong: the timing was perfect. Be honest and trust her.

You’re assigned a Kayaker, and they’re top of the line! Mine, Valerie Thomas, was insanely good! She managed to get through the Hudson in extremely rough conditions and she was always by my side, never missing a beat, with a great attitude and taking me where the water was the fastest. Not only that, but she spoke italian to my parents!

I’m usually skeptical about using a paddler, specially for feeding. I get apprehensive about them being ok, and I worry about them capsizing and losing my feeds.

On this swim it’s worth it to work super closely with your kayaker for few reasons. The boat is not going to be super reliable and at times it could be impossible for the pilot to follow the swimmer. Currents may be pretty volatile, and the kayaker can be more nimble in taking the swimmer where the water is faster. This matters quite a lot more in a river than in a large lake or an ocean.

Remember to bring ice to keep your feeds cool since the day could get hella hot. For this and to replenish, the kayaker will be going back to the boat from time to time, but they are pretty efficient, and I didn’t see this as a big issue. I didn’t end up needing the rope since the kayaker is so close to you she can just hand you stuff easily.

The caliber of the swimmers is also outstanding, I had the honor of meeting Pat Gallant-Charette and posing for a selfie together.

Louise decribes the swim as a “chess match between the swimmer and three of the most amazing rivers”, and she surely hits the spot since it’s all about timing and making it to the right place by the right time.

Her advice on strategy can be summarized by these 3 rules:

  1. Be relaxed, keep your head down (you do not need to sight ever thanks to the kayaker) and just concentrate on swimming well.
  2. Feed and hydrate well: specially on hot days you’ll be losing a lot of water.
  3. Pace: this swim is a Tango with the tides.

These were the mantras that got me through the swim.

I flew up the East River! the flood was ripping and thanks to Valerie we rode it all the way. The view was awesome. We hit Hell’s Gate pretty quickly and I did know why is it called so: the water started to churn and got really rough.

Once I passed it the tide slowed down and died and it started the slow crawl up the Harlem River. I spent maybe 2 hours in the Harlem, cooking in the hot water. Water here was quite smelly and murky and distractions were lacking since the skyline is way less dramatic. Passing the bridges and catching up other swimmers were good distractions, but this was my least favorite part of the swim.

The Spuyten Dyvil (Spitting Devil in Dutch) is really scenic and came as a relief. Against all my beliefs I checked the time: 4 hours and change, half way I thought. Here the boat splits ways and rejoins right after the rail bridge. My parents were cheering super loud and they were so stoked of how I was swimming (still around 70 spm).

Once in the Hudson I cooled off a bit and felt way better, the George Washington bridge seemed 4/5 feeds away (and it was) and I started going at it while the wind picked up and it all turned to hell! The Hudson is really wide and it felt like swimming in the Bay: small chops, head down not to swallow water (I drank gallons of it, it must be clean since I didn’t get sick at all), slapping waves at every stroke. I was really impressed by how Valierie kept the pace, the conditions were no joke. She lead me the fastest way and we made good progress, it was a relief when we passed the GW Bridge and from there I gave it all I had and ended up almost catching the second swimmer (missed by 6”!!!!!!). Final time was 8 hours 22’. The tides were slower than other dates, but still decent to finish 3rd among pros.

On the jetski back to the boat the rider joked about how I was the only swimmer smiling as much as at the start. What a great day.

Tahoe

The next two swims in the season were relatively more straightforward than the 20 Bridges, so I’ll zip through them quicker.

After 20 Bridges Tahoe was next. I got one more long swim in (RT Golden Gate Bridge with Steve and Cam) and just cruised on the training I had so far (since 20 Bridges counted as a 8 hours training swim).

This is, by contrast, an extremely easy swim to organize: just reach out to Reptile directly or through the Federation. Pacific Swim Co has also being piloting and organizing epic swims and training, but Tom is a Legend! He’s super fun and he has swum the lake so many times! (as of 2018 he has swam each route 3 times!!!). I also clicked when he said “if you can swim in the direction I tell you I won’t pull you”. Word.

I have to thank the Wynn’s from the bottom of my heart for hosting me in Reno, driving me to the start, and for keeping me calm while I had my pre-swim anxieties.

My crew was outstanding and super competent:

  • Tom “Reptile” Linthicum: Pilot. He’s one of the most prolific pilots and got so many people across.
  • Ryan Utsumi: Crew Chief. This guy’s a Beast and a great friends. I owe him a lot since he taught me and supported me considerably this year.
  • Alex Sigal: Crew and backup paddler. Alex is one of my best friends, a great athlete and a super caring person. He crewed for my Catalina and drove up after work to be on my crew all night!
  • Jon Grunstad: backup Pilot and paddler. Jon is an awesome kayaker and with Reptile he took a lot of swimmers across the lake.
  • Laura Guptill Hovden: Observer. She’s a great swimmer and South Ender and brought a great attitude to the group.

I was anxious all day before the swim, despite the great conditions ahead. My stomach was in a knot and cramping, I thought it was just my nerves, but then I jumped and it didn’t clear up. I kept having stomach cramps, but decided to ignore them and don’t tell my crew not to make them worry. The night was really dark since the boat has no lights, but the crew communicated with me using different lights for having me come close to the boat, swim further from it, give me 5’ warnings for the feeds, or just entertain me with glowstick dance moves (Alex!). The night sky was covered by the smoke of the fires and the day was hazy. As the Sun came up I went against another one of my dogmas and I had to switch my goggles. Ryan kept me up to date with my pace and, when I fell under 2 mph he guilted me into picking it up by saying “Luca, this one was a bit slower, it’s ok if this is how you want to do it, but…”: needless to say I picked up my pace…

Since the cramps were annoying I had to get a few feeds of just water (hydration and salts are super important for a fresh water swim), but I didn’t want to puke since I didn’t know if I could replenish after that. Also, learning how to go “Number 2” in the water might be a useful skill to learn, since it could have eased my guts and my mind.

I finished in 10h 31’ and I was stoked with it (specially since I miscounted my feeds and I thought I was on the 12 hours range).

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Gay Games 2018: Paris!

As an “Intermezzo” in this jam packed season, Kris and I traveled to Paris to compete in the Gay Games. This was a super fun experience with all of our Friends! The atmosphere was awesome and, even if the organization wasn’t the best (open water was particularly poorly organized), we had great fun and did really well (Kris brought back 6 Golds!).

Competing in the pool really highlighted how much I need some solid quality work in the pool and how bad my technique got. Back to the drawing board….

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Anacapa

To ride the wave of the season and squeeze the last mileage out of the training I impulse-signedup for an Anacapa Island to Oxnard crossing. After Paris I barely swam and only got a 2 hours tuning swim in. I felt ready anyway.

Signing up is extremely easy on the SBCSA website and finding boats is quite simple too, since these little known gems experience less demand than Catalina you don’t need to book months in advance, but often you can find spots few weeks ahead of time.

My crew was composed by:

  • Bob Andrieux, Tuna Thumper: Captain. I strongly recommend this boat since it’s large and comfortable and way more stable than a sailboat.
  • Peter Hayden: Observer. Peter was fun to work with and shared some great advice about the swim.
  • Kris “Killa” Estrada-Pozzi: my lovely (and fierce) wife as a crew chief. She did awesome (and almost learned how to throw the bottle well :P ).
  • Sheila Estrada: my beloved mother in Law which loved the boat ride and brought tons of love and support.

Meeting time at the doc was 3am (Ouch), we got to the Island around 5am, I got greased up and painted and jumped around 5:30am. Swam in the dark to the Island to touch it, through bioluminescence (hands down my favorite thing) that lighted stripes of lights behind few fish.

Water temp dropped in the days before the swim, but it was a warm 66F around the Island, dropping to 64F closer to shore (still quite cozy coming from SF).

The swim was quite simple, just swimming and enjoying the wonderful water a lot! Finished in 5 hours and 48’. First Italian to achieve the California Triple Crown!

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Lessons Learned

Training plan and mental Judo

Here a few considerations about training, learned lessons and new strategies to try:

  • Pool is for quality, not for quantity: I need to work more on my speed and technique and stop trying to squeeze yards out of it: it’s frustrating and not as rewarding.

  • Destination swims are more fun and create more commitment since you have more stake in the matter. Crossings, for examples, work better for 8+ hours swims than just looping in the Cove/Lagoon for the same time.

  • Back to back 4+ hours swims are tough and seem to be good alternatives to longer more monotone swims since you can think more about speed.

  • I got the idea of solid 2+ hours every Saturday through winter from Lauren Au, Randy “The Beast” Edwards and Yossi Ettinger (who crushed the EC this year) and I’m looking forward to apply this strategy to next season.

  • Cross-training makes the process more fun and rounds up the preparation pretty well, I’m going to double up on that next season.

  • During a swim I never want to know how much time went by or how long is ahead of me: I need to live in the present and just think about what’s happening in the now. However, I find myself doubting that I’m swimming fast enough. To get around this I ask my crew to tell me if my pace is on track (2+ mph) and if my stroke per minute is around 70. This is all I need to know. Then the Coca Cola at the 4-th to last feed is the bell that tells me I’m almost done. Until then it’s shut up and swim o’ clock.

  • Map the swim! I should have Google Mapped the courses beforehand. Had I known Manhattan’s skyline better, the shape of Tahoe or how far the “Gina” oilrig is from shore I would have got less restless. In Tahoe in particular I thought we were swimming parallel to shore since the East coast is quite close to the track. “Gina” is 3/4 of the way from Anacapa to Oxnard, approximately 4 miles to go. I was convinced it was the half way mark and got kinda bummed about my supposed pace.

Gear and nutrition

I also tuned my understanding of nutrition and the gear I use:

  • The god bottle I was so fond of leaks quite badly. I replaced them with the CamelBak Chute .75L Water Bottles but I’m considering other options that don’t have a screw top.

  • Desitin is not enough to protect you from the Sun. It has to do with the diameter of the zinc particles. So I’m using it as a outer layer/warpaint and applying sunscreen under it, relying on the Desitin for extra protection and to keep the suncreen from getting washed away. I discovered two pretty tough sunscreens which I really like:
  • Future work will have to be put in counting the calories in the feed I take so I can actually plan my intake better.

  • The rice mix could be better: apparently amid and sugar can ferment (and they do often) making it fizzy. It also sometimes ends up being hard to digest and it’s not the most practical to make. I’m considering other options for palatable but high energy feeds.

Appendix: The Full Training

Total Yards: 936120

ds_week_ending name distance hours activity
start_date
2017-11-02 16:59:37-07:00 2017-11-05 Therapy swim 1555.660225 0.443333 open water
2017-11-03 07:19:25-07:00 2017-11-05 Trying to gain the habit back 1676.941574 0.489444 open water
2017-11-04 08:35:01-07:00 2017-11-05 Marinading 1775.585196 0.576111 open water
2017-11-06 07:01:06-08:00 2017-11-12 So it begins. 2592.402505 0.718611 open water
2017-11-07 06:51:15-08:00 2017-11-12 Chafing ‘cos I’m chubby 2571.295832 0.789444 open water
2017-11-07 19:20:00-08:00 2017-11-12 [POOL] back in the pit! 1760.055934 0.500000 pool
2017-11-08 07:19:30-08:00 2017-11-12 Steel grey... 2566.702670 0.688333 open water
2017-11-09 07:01:18-08:00 2017-11-12 Chas Lap (feat. Agent Hornet) 3951.103569 1.062778 open water
2017-11-10 14:31:11-08:00 2017-11-12 Better Chas than never 3566.809015 1.039167 open water
2017-11-11 08:35:55-08:00 2017-11-12 I Licked the buoy 6777.210531 2.018333 open water
2017-11-13 18:28:29-08:00 2017-11-19 Lazy in the morning run at night 7363.057408 0.595000 Run
2017-11-14 06:54:00-08:00 2017-11-19 Bruno Lap! 4979.425052 1.496111 open water
2017-11-15 13:02:20-08:00 2017-11-19 So fucking lazy today. 2685.796799 0.723056 open water
2017-11-17 16:11:22-08:00 2017-11-19 Lazy triangle 1138.666732 0.327222 open water
2017-11-19 12:38:32-08:00 2017-11-19 [POOL] lazy Sundays 1804.456500 0.546944 pool
2017-11-20 18:35:49-08:00 2017-11-26 [POOL] swimming smart is hard 3827.635000 1.500000 pool
2017-11-21 06:43:13-08:00 2017-11-26 Early morning meetings suck 3800.732194 1.178333 open water
2017-11-23 12:12:12-08:00 2017-11-26 Chasgiving day 3545.921064 0.979167 open water
2017-11-25 08:38:18-08:00 2017-11-26 Fucking fishing lines! 8010.365167 2.204167 open water
2017-11-26 15:55:33-08:00 2017-11-26 Finish up the yards 1381.448152 0.425278 open water
2017-11-27 07:16:06-08:00 2017-12-03 Leisure Swim 2061.236128 0.577778 open water
2017-11-27 18:45:00-08:00 2017-12-03 [POOL] stress release 3280.830000 1.000000 pool
2017-11-28 06:55:11-08:00 2017-12-03 Bruno lap ignoring the jellies 5025.575394 1.502500 open water
2017-11-29 18:30:36-08:00 2017-12-03 [POOL] hella sass 3936.996000 1.250000 pool
2017-11-30 07:07:08-08:00 2017-12-03 Too bad work got in the way 3973.413213 1.163889 open water
2017-12-01 07:07:03-08:00 2017-12-03 I got touched 4973.082114 1.412222 open water
2017-12-02 08:29:29-08:00 2017-12-03 Billingham!!! 6400.789969 1.705278 open water
2017-12-05 06:55:12-08:00 2017-12-10 Wrestling the King Tide 3560.903521 1.225000 open water
2017-12-06 11:23:11-08:00 2017-12-10 Too bad was too short 1542.646266 0.414722 open water
2017-12-07 07:03:55-08:00 2017-12-10 That jelly doesn’t sting 3428.029906 0.923333 open water
2017-12-07 19:38:51-08:00 2017-12-10 [POOL] in no mood for sprinting 1760.055934 0.500000 pool
2017-12-08 07:00:24-08:00 2017-12-10 Fortunately the Seal ignored me 4026.343937 1.116667 open water
2017-12-10 10:02:12-08:00 2017-12-10 [POOL] suburban swim 4374.440000 1.067778 pool
2017-12-11 07:06:54-08:00 2017-12-17 Some mornings you’re weaker than others, but y... 1631.119315 0.474444 open water
2017-12-11 18:45:00-08:00 2017-12-17 [POOL] making up for this mañana 4374.440000 1.250000 Run
2017-12-16 08:51:46-08:00 2017-12-17 Bridge to Bridge in Alameda 5642.808878 1.594167 open water
2017-12-16 09:00:00-08:00 2017-12-17 [MISC] extra GPS 656.166000 0.116667 open water
2017-12-16 11:01:52-08:00 2017-12-17 [POOL] warm up & down 3718.274000 1.128333 pool
2017-12-17 12:59:32-08:00 2017-12-17 [POOL] round and round 10936.100000 2.769444 pool
2017-12-18 06:53:48-08:00 2017-12-24 [POOL] away from the bites 4049.965913 1.153333 pool
2017-12-18 18:45:00-08:00 2017-12-24 [POOL] nursery swim 3280.830000 1.000000 pool
2017-12-20 18:40:00-08:00 2017-12-24 [POOL] breakfast for snack is bad idea 5139.967000 1.500000 pool
2017-12-21 07:18:20-08:00 2017-12-24 Starting from scratch 2228.011653 0.646667 open water
2017-12-22 10:51:48-08:00 2017-12-24 Working my way back 1527.445087 0.463056 open water
2017-12-23 08:00:00-08:00 2017-12-24 [POOL] my head is killing me 3062.108000 1.000000 pool
2017-12-27 13:52:27-08:00 2017-12-31 This is not San Diego 1501.526530 0.420278 open water
2017-12-27 18:44:09-08:00 2017-12-31 [POOL] solid sass 5030.606000 1.500000 pool
2017-12-28 12:03:39-08:00 2017-12-31 Getting the gist of it 3297.234150 0.849167 open water
2017-12-29 11:03:11-08:00 2017-12-31 Saved by Private Ryan 4467.615572 1.191944 open water
2017-12-30 08:00:00-08:00 2017-12-31 [POOL] last Tsunami of 2017 4702.523000 1.500000 pool
2017-12-30 11:23:40-08:00 2017-12-31 Last Bay of 2017 2453.404674 0.657500 open water
2017-12-31 10:07:26-08:00 2017-12-31 [POOL] junk yards 3882.315500 1.181667 pool
2018-01-01 17:02:20-08:00 2018-01-07 Sunglasses at night: blind swimming 1422.677249 0.385833 open water
2018-01-02 19:15:00-08:00 2018-01-07 [POOL] no hot tea?! What a disaster... 5030.606000 1.500000 pool
2018-01-03 07:34:28-08:00 2018-01-07 Getting used to get out of bed again 2320.968503 0.621111 open water
2018-01-03 16:10:17-08:00 2018-01-07 Sealion got in the way... 2084.201938 0.578889 open water
2018-01-03 18:31:46-08:00 2018-01-07 [POOL] new year same me 4374.440000 1.500000 pool
2018-01-04 16:08:49-08:00 2018-01-07 Uneventful Swim 2513.553224 0.638056 open water
2018-01-05 07:04:01-08:00 2018-01-07 The most beautiful rainbow I ever seen! 3819.432925 1.042222 open water
2018-01-08 07:14:22-08:00 2018-01-14 Still sick :( 1509.291161 0.414167 open water
2018-01-08 18:30:00-08:00 2018-01-14 [POOL] meh 3167.969448 1.000000 pool
2018-01-09 07:00:31-08:00 2018-01-14 Barely waking up 2521.645938 0.637222 open water
2018-01-18 08:36:11-08:00 2018-01-21 [POOL] still sick as a dog 1650.038768 0.750000 pool
2018-01-22 19:04:36-08:00 2018-01-28 [POOL] Finally Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 4499.986428 1.000000 pool
2018-01-23 06:58:10-08:00 2018-01-28 Two weeks hiatus = Pain 1988.511063 0.667222 open water
2018-01-24 18:30:00-08:00 2018-01-28 [POOL] Rain N Chlorine 4299.965159 1.000000 pool
2018-01-25 07:04:44-08:00 2018-01-28 Brisk! 2102.246503 0.669722 open water
2018-01-27 10:10:31-08:00 2018-01-28 Swimming with Dolphins! 4885.483953 1.314444 open water
2018-01-28 13:25:02-08:00 2018-01-28 [POOL] fouronethousand 4429.120500 1.358333 pool
2018-01-29 18:45:26-08:00 2018-02-04 [POOL] pumped up for a new start! 3999.987936 1.250000 pool
2018-01-30 19:15:00-08:00 2018-02-04 [POOL] swim the blues away 5200.006189 1.500000 pool
2018-01-31 18:35:45-08:00 2018-02-04 [POOL] corkscrew is THE Shit! 4700.007697 1.500000 pool
2018-02-02 16:59:29-08:00 2018-02-04 This was gorgeous 1569.439711 0.409444 open water
2018-02-03 08:15:02-08:00 2018-02-04 [POOL] Charlie don’t sprint.... 6499.980396 2.016667 pool
2018-02-03 10:56:27-08:00 2018-02-04 Cool down 3302.702200 0.832500 open water
2018-02-05 15:34:36-08:00 2018-02-11 Swimming away the stress 1506.775858 0.400278 open water
2018-02-06 15:54:54-08:00 2018-02-11 Warmup in the Bay 1516.946431 0.415278 open water
2018-02-06 19:20:56-08:00 2018-02-11 [POOL] starting to gain traction 5700.004681 1.500000 pool
2018-02-07 15:22:56-08:00 2018-02-11 Playing Hookie 1528.429336 0.426944 open water
2018-02-07 18:34:39-08:00 2018-02-11 Lane Etiquette.......... 5499.983412 1.533333 open water
2018-02-09 06:45:25-08:00 2018-02-11 Finally made it outta bed! 2916.329787 0.874722 open water
2018-02-10 08:02:23-08:00 2018-02-11 [POOL] it’s Science Baby 7200.000157 2.000000 pool
2018-02-10 11:06:40-08:00 2018-02-11 Quick cool down 2334.529267 0.638056 open water
2018-02-11 09:00:00-08:00 2018-02-11 [POOL] streamline with the skyline 3999.987936 1.500000 pool
2018-02-13 19:33:27-08:00 2018-02-18 [POOL] Held Hostage 3700.010713 1.500000 pool
2018-02-14 14:44:53-08:00 2018-02-18 So windy!!!! 1454.938744 0.390833 open water
2018-02-14 18:40:00-08:00 2018-02-18 [POOL] V day strokes 4499.986428 1.000000 pool
2018-02-21 18:28:46-08:00 2018-02-25 [POOL] after party... 2200.015237 0.750000 pool
2018-02-23 13:43:44-08:00 2018-02-25 Acclimation Ground Zero 1424.973830 0.393056 open water
2018-02-24 08:19:35-08:00 2018-02-25 [POOL] overflowed 3700.010713 1.000000 pool
2018-02-24 10:45:30-08:00 2018-02-25 No one kicks you out of the bay 1511.587742 0.410833 open water
2018-02-26 18:47:00-08:00 2018-03-04 [POOL] 20 is a big number 3400.033490 1.000000 pool
2018-02-27 15:40:09-08:00 2018-03-04 Fuck. Why still so cold?! 1500.870364 0.389722 open water
2018-02-27 19:15:00-08:00 2018-03-04 [POOL] hiiiiiiiiiiii 5499.983412 1.500000 pool
2018-02-28 07:33:03-08:00 2018-03-04 Learning to show up again 1569.986516 0.442500 open water
2018-02-28 18:17:22-08:00 2018-03-04 [POOL] Kris slaying, me dying 3999.987936 1.500000 pool
2018-03-03 08:04:19-08:00 2018-03-04 [POOL] eye rolling 999.996984 0.750000 pool
2018-03-03 09:59:07-08:00 2018-03-04 Getting the gist of it 2202.093096 0.551389 open water
2018-03-04 09:00:00-08:00 2018-03-04 [POOL] Super Sayan Swimming 4499.986428 1.500000 pool
2018-03-05 06:48:42-08:00 2018-03-11 Brisk end of polar bear 2793.626745 0.720000 open water
2018-03-05 18:30:27-08:00 2018-03-11 [POOL] ¡Los Aburrimiento! 2499.992460 0.833333 pool
2018-03-06 11:19:02-08:00 2018-03-11 Sunny and warm(ish) 2274.927522 0.609444 open water
2018-03-07 06:53:08-08:00 2018-03-11 [POOL] Fly in the Mission 3849.944644 1.500000 pool
2018-03-07 18:30:00-08:00 2018-03-11 [POOL] do you even spawn bro? 3999.987936 1.000000 pool
2018-03-10 14:30:15-08:00 2018-03-11 Therapeutic Swim 3404.954735 0.842222 open water
2018-03-11 10:11:56-07:00 2018-03-11 [POOL] Tsunami’s first bi-annual 100x100 11264.183000 3.500000 pool
2018-03-12 06:54:55-07:00 2018-03-18 Time changed. Water didn’t. 2737.633913 0.756667 open water
2018-03-12 08:15:11-07:00 2018-03-18 [MISC] GPS missed yards 200.021269 0.016667 open water
2018-03-13 06:41:53-07:00 2018-03-18 Shorty swim 2085.404909 0.549444 open water
2018-03-13 19:18:53-07:00 2018-03-18 [POOL] more fun than it seemed 4799.963651 1.500000 pool
2018-03-14 18:36:32-07:00 2018-03-18 [POOL] Yard Kweens!!! 4849.941628 1.500000 pool
2018-03-15 06:55:02-07:00 2018-03-18 Finally outta the Cove! 3347.212127 0.893333 open water
2018-03-17 14:45:02-07:00 2018-03-18 [POOL] Coronado shake off 1999.993968 0.750000 pool
2018-03-18 08:27:54-07:00 2018-03-18 Hit the wall on the second hour, but so much f... 12654.598754 4.032222 open water
2018-03-20 19:20:00-07:00 2018-03-25 [POOL] struggle bus ran me over 4299.965159 1.250000 pool
2018-03-21 06:54:12-07:00 2018-03-25 The dark end of polar bear 2432.954167 0.628889 open water
2018-03-21 19:03:41-07:00 2018-03-25 [POOL] sprint to clear up my mind + change fro... 3999.987936 1.000000 pool
2018-03-23 18:20:34-07:00 2018-03-25 Friday happy hour 2397.739925 0.630000 open water
2018-03-24 08:00:00-07:00 2018-03-25 [POOL] not enough 4999.984920 2.000000 pool
2018-03-24 11:04:42-07:00 2018-03-25 Cloudy swim 5004.906165 1.400000 open water
2018-03-26 07:06:20-07:00 2018-04-01 Minimo sindacale 2537.503283 0.669167 open water
2018-03-26 18:15:00-07:00 2018-04-01 Golden! 3612.631274 0.916389 open water
2018-03-27 06:56:50-07:00 2018-04-01 Gorgeous morning! 3816.152095 1.025278 open water
2018-03-27 19:15:00-07:00 2018-04-01 [POOL] warmdown with Dave 4099.943890 1.500000 pool
2018-03-28 06:52:33-07:00 2018-04-01 Fighting for every inch! 3896.641791 1.193889 open water
2018-03-28 18:34:19-07:00 2018-04-01 [POOL] Resigned to my fate 5200.006189 1.500000 pool
2018-03-29 06:55:19-07:00 2018-04-01 Seven in a row 2516.287249 0.826389 open water
2018-03-31 08:40:52-07:00 2018-04-01 Crazy Covin’ 7700.873537 2.036111 open water
2018-04-02 06:52:01-07:00 2018-04-08 Rize N shine 3661.515641 0.958889 open water
2018-04-03 06:57:18-07:00 2018-04-08 Sunrise and Baby Jelly 2811.671310 0.779444 open water
2018-04-03 19:26:47-07:00 2018-04-08 [POOL] rough water! 4999.984920 1.500000 pool
2018-04-04 18:34:16-07:00 2018-04-08 [POOL] keep dat pace 4799.963651 1.500000 pool
2018-04-05 06:24:54-07:00 2018-04-08 He gone!!! 5486.969453 1.338889 open water
2018-04-07 08:56:47-07:00 2018-04-08 One arm and half leg in the sewage runoff 14606.255160 4.030833 open water
2018-04-10 06:57:35-07:00 2018-04-15 Musical break at the opening courtesy of Kala 2956.355913 0.821944 open water
2018-04-11 18:33:30-07:00 2018-04-15 [POOL] Extra Sass 4999.984920 1.500000 pool
2018-04-12 06:38:04-07:00 2018-04-15 The longest short swim! 3172.453249 1.080278 open water
2018-04-14 09:27:58-07:00 2018-04-15 Plan C: “Shut Up and Swim” 19970.193488 6.005833 open water
2018-04-22 10:51:45-07:00 2018-04-22 [POOL] back to it 3799.966667 1.500000 pool
2018-04-24 06:35:23-07:00 2018-04-29 Ebb and Chill 3074.575154 0.847222 open water
2018-04-25 06:22:42-07:00 2018-04-29 Straight to the point 3951.541013 1.195278 open water
2018-04-28 09:08:04-07:00 2018-04-29 Pre-Gaming 9342.382147 2.477222 open water
2018-04-28 20:18:41-07:00 2018-04-29 Putting the Night in NightTrain 14279.593853 3.905278 open water
2018-04-29 09:00:00-07:00 2018-04-29 [POOL] hot tubbin’ 4249.987182 1.500000 pool
2018-05-01 06:42:27-07:00 2018-05-06 Hail Satan!!! 1899.819292 0.517222 open water
2018-05-03 19:16:11-07:00 2018-05-06 [POOL] boooooooooring..... 1999.993968 1.000000 pool
2018-05-04 06:02:19-07:00 2018-05-06 Glad it’s done 7269.881836 1.886944 open water
2018-05-05 08:40:38-07:00 2018-05-06 Listening to my guts... 1624.010850 0.480556 open water
2018-05-08 06:40:50-07:00 2018-05-13 Literally rolled outta bed last minute 3002.068811 0.871111 open water
2018-05-09 06:37:35-07:00 2018-05-13 Chop chop 2679.891305 0.674722 open water
2018-05-09 18:39:15-07:00 2018-05-13 [POOL] kind like a bar 3200.012221 1.250000 pool
2018-05-10 06:37:55-07:00 2018-05-13 Peacefully marinading 2056.752327 0.702500 open water
2018-05-11 19:46:54-07:00 2018-05-13 Let’s call it a night 11080.347159 3.822500 open water
2018-05-12 08:40:06-07:00 2018-05-13 4 Seasons 4729.425806 1.305278 open water
2018-05-13 09:24:36-07:00 2018-05-13 [POOL] wash off the hangover 3200.012221 1.500000 pool
2018-05-15 06:44:15-07:00 2018-05-20 Even the GPS couldn’t have it 1970.685220 0.588333 open water
2018-05-15 07:58:06-07:00 2018-05-20 [MISC] GPS didn’t wake up either 499.998492 0.100000 open water
2018-05-15 19:42:01-07:00 2018-05-20 [POOL] lazy pyramids 3999.987936 1.250000 pool
2018-05-17 06:53:24-07:00 2018-05-20 Lazily Marinading 1721.014057 0.627500 open water
2018-05-19 08:50:31-07:00 2018-05-20 Lost all feeds but not all hopes 6148.603503 1.672778 open water
2018-05-20 06:54:49-07:00 2018-05-20 Six hours Sunday 21142.215325 6.058056 open water
2018-05-21 18:32:38-07:00 2018-05-27 [POOL] Post-Lagoon Frolicking 1999.993968 0.833333 pool
2018-05-22 06:17:30-07:00 2018-05-27 Getting swole 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-05-22 07:09:43-07:00 2018-05-27 Aftermath shake off 1462.375292 0.106667 Run
2018-05-22 07:27:59-07:00 2018-05-27 On a different time zone 835.846123 0.228889 open water
2018-05-23 06:25:00-07:00 2018-05-27 So sore! 1431.535490 0.421389 open water
2018-05-26 09:21:49-07:00 2018-05-27 [POOL] this week was about not getting injured 1200.018253 0.500000 pool
2018-05-28 08:36:31-07:00 2018-06-03 Run to and from gym 3443.777890 0.503611 Run
2018-05-28 09:16:54-07:00 2018-06-03 This still hurts :P 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-05-28 10:50:29-07:00 2018-06-03 Chit chat cove 1337.266308 0.417222 open water
2018-05-29 06:39:39-07:00 2018-06-03 Heaven! 3015.301492 0.768333 open water
2018-05-30 18:45:00-07:00 2018-06-03 [POOL] hump day! 2999.990952 1.000000 pool
2018-06-01 06:53:00-07:00 2018-06-03 Dress rehearsal swim 2922.016559 0.789722 open water
2018-06-01 19:14:53-07:00 2018-06-03 Bored.... 11182.271611 3.150000 open water
2018-06-02 08:40:30-07:00 2018-06-03 Summer is here!!!! 7322.593838 2.005000 open water
2018-06-03 09:47:35-07:00 2018-06-03 [POOL] perfect Sunday! 3200.012221 1.500000 pool
2018-06-05 06:45:11-07:00 2018-06-10 Shit getting real in the Sauna 2331.904603 0.745278 open water
2018-06-05 17:08:51-07:00 2018-06-10 Run from werk 3913.920829 0.365833 Run
2018-06-05 17:39:07-07:00 2018-06-10 Werk dem hips 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-06-07 06:43:03-07:00 2018-06-10 B2B Reunion Swim 2253.492766 0.716944 open water
2018-06-09 08:11:45-07:00 2018-06-10 Lake DelValle with an extra kick 11511.120138 2.843333 open water
2018-06-11 06:42:11-07:00 2018-06-17 Walk on the ghost beach 4140.079377 1.199167 open water
2018-06-12 06:45:15-07:00 2018-06-17 Chasing Joe 4078.290412 1.023333 open water
2018-06-12 17:00:07-07:00 2018-06-17 Heavy backpack! 3530.282441 0.364167 Run
2018-06-12 17:30:56-07:00 2018-06-17 This crushed me! 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-06-15 06:48:40-07:00 2018-06-17 Winterish again? 2932.077771 0.780833 open water
2018-06-16 11:44:50-07:00 2018-06-17 Late Cove 1504.479277 0.391667 open water
2018-06-18 06:41:34-07:00 2018-06-24 Filthy morning 2953.075083 0.772222 open water
2018-06-19 06:38:27-07:00 2018-06-24 Filthy water :( 3032.580530 0.830278 open water
2018-06-19 16:56:54-07:00 2018-06-24 Them hills! 5573.364643 1.770000 Run
2018-06-19 17:20:00-07:00 2018-06-24 Actividad de tarde 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-06-21 06:46:29-07:00 2018-06-24 Eucalyptus bomb!! 3019.785293 0.831944 open water
2018-06-24 10:03:28-07:00 2018-06-24 [POOL] last hurrah at the Bay Club 3400.033490 1.000000 pool
2018-06-25 06:43:23-07:00 2018-07-01 Morning Swim 2814.405335 0.778056 open water
2018-06-27 06:48:29-07:00 2018-07-01 Sendoff star 1570.533321 0.393611 open water
2018-06-28 06:39:23-07:00 2018-07-01 Blind creakers 1584.859612 0.473611 open water
2018-06-30 06:45:00-07:00 2018-07-01 [GPS] 20 Bridges y’all! 50159.953704 8.366667 open water
2018-07-03 06:41:46-07:00 2018-07-08 Jump back into it! 1747.588780 0.501667 open water
2018-07-04 16:18:39-07:00 2018-07-08 Run for ‘murika! 7253.040242 0.640833 Run
2018-07-05 06:41:50-07:00 2018-07-08 Post 4th dip 1701.985243 0.576389 open water
2018-07-05 19:37:25-07:00 2018-07-08 [POOL] Bye Felicia 999.996984 0.500000 pool
2018-07-07 08:52:58-07:00 2018-07-08 Morning Swim 6815.268159 2.033889 open water
2018-07-10 17:08:10-07:00 2018-07-15 Warmup! 3917.967186 0.350556 Run
2018-07-10 17:41:22-07:00 2018-07-15 Back to the gym 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-07-10 19:19:31-07:00 2018-07-15 Cooldown with Bae 726.813206 0.260000 open water
2018-07-11 19:09:36-07:00 2018-07-15 [POOL] how did I end up not getting out? 3999.987936 1.250000 pool
2018-07-12 06:39:12-07:00 2018-07-15 Damn fishing lines! 4106.177467 1.085556 open water
2018-07-13 05:35:40-07:00 2018-07-15 Almost sucked to Hawaii 12037.583992 3.562500 open water
2018-07-14 12:44:28-07:00 2018-07-15 This didn’t suck 2400.036506 0.803611 open water
2018-07-14 14:49:55-07:00 2018-07-15 California AF 1045.163077 0.317500 open water
2018-07-17 17:04:44-07:00 2018-07-22 Warmup/warmdown 5439.944223 1.701111 Run
2018-07-17 17:30:00-07:00 2018-07-22 One last push before Tahoe 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-07-18 18:45:00-07:00 2018-07-22 [POOL] swimming by the private lane 3599.945398 1.000000 pool
2018-07-19 06:43:49-07:00 2018-07-22 Lazy floating on the ebb 2223.309130 0.709444 open water
2018-07-20 06:45:28-07:00 2018-07-22 Uninspiring morning 2109.792412 0.552222 open water
2018-07-21 09:59:18-07:00 2018-07-22 Beginning of taper 1502.073335 0.418056 open water
2018-07-24 06:41:01-07:00 2018-07-29 Guest Star: Agent Hornet 2380.679609 0.856944 open water
2018-07-26 06:43:30-07:00 2018-07-29 Humongous Jelly 3856.178221 1.012500 open water
2018-07-28 11:26:06-07:00 2018-07-29 Tuneup with Ryan 1603.232260 0.463889 open water
2018-07-29 15:11:37-07:00 2018-07-29 Sendoff swim 1582.125587 0.480278 open water
2018-07-31 23:49:25-07:00 2018-08-05 Lenght of Tahoe with the Best crew! 38467.184945 11.233333 open water
2018-08-13 07:18:12-07:00 2018-08-19 [POOL] Aquatica!!! 2734.025000 0.985556 pool
2018-08-15 03:30:00-07:00 2018-08-19 Pompar Ferro 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-08-16 02:23:17-07:00 2018-08-19 [POOL] Private pool 2734.025000 0.930556 pool
2018-08-17 01:46:53-07:00 2018-08-19 [POOL] one last splash 2624.664000 0.795833 pool
2018-08-23 06:44:44-07:00 2018-08-26 Chilly comeback! 2283.238958 0.725000 open water
2018-08-28 17:30:00-07:00 2018-09-02 Back to it! 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-08-29 18:47:51-07:00 2018-09-02 [POOL] at least I stayed in a little bit more 2999.990952 1.000000 pool
2018-09-01 07:00:00-07:00 2018-09-02 Quick dip in the Lagoon 5976.031845 1.640278 open water
2018-09-03 14:57:55-07:00 2018-09-09 In the Bay with the Gang! 1350.498989 0.446111 open water
2018-09-05 07:02:10-07:00 2018-09-09 Got barked at by a Lion 2672.564118 0.755000 open water
2018-09-08 09:07:26-07:00 2018-09-09 Get back the plaque!!!! 2783.784255 0.466389 open water
2018-09-08 11:01:01-07:00 2018-09-09 Just a warm body 12174.722686 1.118056 Run
2018-09-09 10:33:26-07:00 2018-09-09 Swimming with my kweens 1426.723606 0.466111 open water
2018-09-10 07:06:16-07:00 2018-09-16 Best conditions! 2091.091681 0.627500 open water
2018-09-11 06:38:31-07:00 2018-09-16 Seals everywhere!!! 4035.092817 1.042222 open water
2018-09-11 17:05:39-07:00 2018-09-16 Everything hurts 3610.772137 0.385833 Run
2018-09-11 17:33:12-07:00 2018-09-16 Sweating weakness off 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-09-14 07:31:55-07:00 2018-09-16 Lazy Swim 1656.709789 0.442500 open water
2018-09-15 09:06:02-07:00 2018-09-16 5 EZ Covez 7586.372570 2.013056 open water
2018-09-18 06:46:21-07:00 2018-09-23 Straight to business 3983.474425 1.051667 open water
2018-09-18 16:56:51-07:00 2018-09-23 Faster than driving 3733.147096 0.380833 Run
2018-09-18 17:30:00-07:00 2018-09-23 Getting better at this! 0.000000 1.000000 WeightTraining
2018-09-21 06:35:05-07:00 2018-09-23 Marinade and sprint! 4128.268389 1.218333 open water
2018-09-25 06:53:46-07:00 2018-09-30 Very very lazy 2585.075318 0.691111 open water
2018-09-27 06:56:45-07:00 2018-09-30 Barely made it 1397.524219 0.411944 open water
2018-09-29 05:38:23-07:00 2018-09-30 Anacapa and Cali Triple Crown!!! 21986.591606 5.789722 open water

source

Data Scientist. Born and raised in Italy. Marathon Swimmer.

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