So the 4th of July started with a splash this year. About 20 of us went to Devils Lake to swim. It's 1.2 miles across the lake- so swimming across and back is good practice for the 2.4 mile Ironman swim. It's got the advantage of having a nice rest stop at the 1.2 mile point (you've crossed the lake, stand there and rest for a while until you are ready to swim back) and it has the advantage of being far less crowded than the actual Ironman swim. Far less crowded, but it can still be a bit confusing...
Confusion #1: My wife came along with a kayak and spent the morning watching over us. About 1/2 way across the lake I noticed that my normal swim partner (Julie swims exactly the same speed as me- so we are usually right next to each other) was drifting to the right, so I stopped to tell Laura to try to corral people- as I stopped, I noticed that everyone was scattered across the lake- no way for her to corral us all.
Confusion #2: Sighting is nearly immpossible (as evidenced by the people swimming in all different directions- as noted above). At Ironman there are big- REALLY BIG buoys every 100 yards or so. It's real easy to sight. Swimming across Devils Lake we were sighting on a tiny building on the opposite shore. Not quite as bad on the way back, as we were sighting on a bigger building- but still tougher than having big buoys every 100 yards.
Confusion #3: As we got to the South shore (we started on the North shore), we did a quick head-count. We were down 2 swimmers- we could see Laura out in the kayak with one of them, but where was the other? We looked all across the lake and didn't even see any splashing anywhere. Just as we were starting to panic, Laura paddled in to tell us that "the guy in the silver swim cap turned around at the half-way point and headed back."
Confusion #4: o.k., not really a confusion- just poor planning. There were a few people that had to get back home early- so they were the first to start swimming back to the start. What we didn't think of was the fact that Laura had everybodies car keys in a dry bag in the kayak. Laura was watching over us slow swimmers. About half way across the lake I realized that this could be a problem, so I told Laura to head in- give the keys back to people and come back out to make sure we were still o.k.
Confusion #5: By the time Laura got back out to us slow swimmers there were two other groups out there swimming- the Madison Multisport group and one other that I didn't recognize. Now try to keep track of who's who and keep your group headed in the right direction. Pretty much impossible- in fact I'm pretty sure she led somebody from one of the other groups in by accident.
So, lots of goofy stuff happened on the swim- but all-in-all a great swim, a real confidence booster and a whole lot of fun.
Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
One small detail I like about Bonnaroo ... the security people's shirts say "Safety" and "Here to help". They seem well-trained and they do the things security folk do ... but I like the emphasis on safety and that they're doing these things...
Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
One small detail I like about Bonnaroo ... the security people's shirts say "Safety" and "Here to help". They seem well-trained and they do the things security folk do ... but I like the emphasis on safety and that they're doing these things...
