1.2 Mile Bay Swim: Open Water Swim Race

 Competed in this local OWS race for the 6th time this past weekend.  I had my time at 28:10 and they had it at 28:22.  Some of this is due to when I touch the dock, I stop my clock and to get to the timing mat you have to climb a small ladder (and sometimes wait in line to do so) and go about 5-10 yds to the timing mat.  I would be surprised if this took 12 seconds but we'll just go with their time.  This was the 3rd fastest of my 6 races here--although time is heavily influenced by the tides and they vary significantly from year to year. I had the distance at 2109 yds so pretty much spot on 1.2 miles.

I placed 53rd out of the 134 swimmers and was 12th/30 in the 60-69 YO Age Group and 6th/14 in the 65-69 YO Age Group.  On a %-tile basis, this is the lowest of my six races for all three %-tile metrics. Compared to a couple of guys I track my times through the years against (one--BP is front of the pack and the other, DF-is essentially about the same as I am), I was also slower than past years.  Here is a summary of my 6 races here:

This data pretty much lines up with how the swim felt.  I did not push as hard as I normally due out of a continued conservatism with respect to my right shoulder (still in come-back mode after last year).  I probably left 30 seconds on the table if I had gone for it.  Still, this swim would have been relatively slower (competitively) and that is clearly a reflection of my training status.  I just didn't swim very much in May and June (I already have more in the first 13 days of July than I did in all of May and June) due a variety of things including my 29029 focus and event.

Anyways, a real fun race and very glad I did it.  I feel good about my progress and hope to continue progressing as the summer wears on and I (hopefully) get a lot more swim volume.   all of this is predicated on not overwhelming my right shoulder, which is a continuing area of focus for me.

Onwards and Upwards!

June Training Volume Update

 Above I've updated the my training volume summary through June as compared to 2025.  Take aways:

1. Swim volume well below desired again in June as I focused on 29029 and had lots of life stuff going on.  July will include a big focus on swimming (already have nearly 20k in by 7/13).  also, did my first open water swim race on 7/11 and will report back on that shortly.  Overall, 2026 is a nice rebound from my shoulder problems of 2025.  Looking forward to lots of swimming and several more races over the remainder of 2026.

2. Bike volume was woeful in June--really put it on the back burner.  That has continued until mid-July and now if finally looks like I can get after biking and hope to get my volume up close to 900 miles despite my very slow start to July.

3. Really pleased with my walk/run training volume.  Obviously, my main focus for the first half of the year getting ready for 29029.  Now that's in the rearview I will shift the volume down quite a bit but start to feather in some modest run volume as I gear up for the 11/1 NYC Marathon, which I just got accepted into!

4. Strength/flexibility in the midst of the summer lull but would expect to start building again as we get into the fall.

5. Total training time is pretty consistent with 2025--I would expect July/August volume to moderate a bit (100ish hours) as I pivot away from 29029 training.

Onwards and Upwards!

29029 Rainier 2026 Video

 Here you go--a video recap of the action!

https://youtu.be/CTJlG-oh6EY?si=--xdGXS7y5d-k6wQ

Rainier 29029: Done and Dusted!

 so, Anders, Alex and I--the C boys (my two sons and I) were joined by our friend Josh and we all completed the 2026 Rainier 29029 event on June 26/27.  I'll provide some more detail and pics in subsequent posts but here is an overview of the event as compared to our first 29029 last year at Snow Basin:

And finally here is a pic of the three of us at the finish!