(S)he-Man was the top female finisher at the 25K championship. Congrats!
"The winning time was 5:39.09 by Richard Kramer, 42, of Illinois Masters. The first female to complete the race was Kristina Ulveling, 35, of Georgia Masters, who swam the 25K in 6:25.25"
www.usms.org/features.php
The most amazing thing to me is she considered herself to be a sprinter up to about a year ago!
And a high maintenance sprinter at that! It's very exciting that she has morphed into something else, something very special. And yet she still enjoys that 50 fly (and being a pain in the ass!). Oh yeah!
And kudos to LBJ for providing advice for the marathon swim! That's a very inspiring thing about this forum.
Please come to Colonies LCM Zones. I have to meet you and bask in the glory of your presence. :groovy: :groovy:
Forget about Colonies, Kristina. You're a free woman now in a free country.
Come to our Ottawa Winterlude ---LCM--- Fest (Feb); Canada was never a Colony (methinks.)
Well done (and you had doubts! Sheesh!)
Please come to Colonies LCM Zones. I have to meet you and bask in the glory of your presence. :groovy: :groovy:
Paul
The line for basking starts where my cheeks end, Hulk...
Thank you!!! :o
Richard Kramer (the overall winner) is insanely fast. I think he almost lapped me.
:notworthy:
This was the most difficult thing I've attempted to date.
I can't really compare it to any pool races. And the 10K seemed like a walk in the park in comparison to this swim. I am, however, really excited to race SCY b/c now I feel I can rip up those distances so to speak.
One of the most challenging things was to learn how to pee while swimming. Dang. It took me about 2 laps (5K was one lap) to figure it out. Energy levels were fine throughout. I wasn't bored b/c there was always something going on - whether it was sighting, fueling up and hydrating, passing other swimmers and kayakers - or being passed! :rofl:, enjoying the scenery, whatever.
I got totally psyched out the night before when reviewing the bios of the swimmers listed in the program. It was amazing to talk to and swim with people who have done the MIMS, Tampa, English Channel, Key West - just these insanely difficult swims. I was really freaked out on Friday. But I got it together in time for the race start on Saturday. I started out pretty slow as I knew it was a LONG race and I saw LOTS of people passing me. I almost felt like I was in last place (especially after I was used to leading a pack in the 10K.) I even asked my kayaker if I was last and she said, "No way!!!" So that gave me energy to continue on.
I started to make a move and pick it up around 18K (too early), so I was really hurting the last 7500 meters. Energy was good (breathing was no issue either - I think my aerobic base is rather good), but my arms HURT.
I finished the race and was not very lady like as I was woozy and cursing from the pain. I'll have to work on that for the next time. I basically felt and looked like death. Fortunately, in a few hours I felt much better and ate a huge Mexican dinner. So yummy!!!!
Not sure I'll do it again. But we'll see!
Thank you for all the nice comments!
QSilver - I thought I had my name listed in my profile. Anyway, most everyone knows who I am - and a royal pain the butt to boot! :laugh2:
Geek, you know I am extremely demented. :rofl:
Paul - when you put it that way - ouch! It doesn't seem very fast does it?!
My only excuse is that I stopped every 15 minutes to drink or fuel. No joke. It sort of killed me on the time thing. It was really hot outside and I wanted to be sure that I finished. I switched to fueling every 30 minutes for the last 1.5 laps.
Chaos - I don't know. Do I really want to do another painful thing like this again??? MIMS or Tampa sound tempting. The only issue is that these races sort of wreck me for my pool meets. I'm NOT doing SR State unfortunately as I need to recover and rest.
Stud - not too sure I'll be able to do Colonies this year. My coach, a very laid back guy, actually said, "No!" to any more meets this season. GAH! He said I need to rest and take the break that the kids take and that, "you need one." HOWEVER, I KNOW I will do one meet up there SOON as I would love to meet ya'll!!!
Ahmed, I've never been to Canada. I think I'd like to visit.:canada::canada:
Thank you Donna and Elise! Elise, I don't run that far either. Icky!
Kirk, thanks for starting the thread. You still killed me in our gridge this past year. I think I need to try it again for this next SCY season. It's a pipe dream. . . but I may go for it. I'd love to do 5:00 or so on the 500 fr. Maybe after doing this swim, I can face the pain! Won't it seem like a sprint now?!
I wanted to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Leonard Jansen. I would not have attempted this swim without his continual advice and encouragement. Leonard - you are wonderful!
Very impressive, congratulations. I can't even imagine what your lat burn must have been like afterwards. This is the type of swim the Ironman triathlon should have.
Thank you!!! :o
Paul - when you put it that way - ouch! It doesn't seem very fast does it?!
My only excuse is that I stopped every 15 minutes to drink or fuel. No joke. It sort of killed me on the time thing. It was really hot outside and I wanted to be sure that I finished. I switched to fueling every 30 minutes for the last 1.5 laps.
Um, not that fast, riiiiiiiiight. My comment was intended a VERY tough-in-cheek. That was a fantastic swim. Maintaining that pace for over SIX HOURS pretty much meets my definition of incredible.
