Bill Welzien Update - September 2006 Goal:  To swim around the island of Key West each month for 12 consecutive months.   Date:  Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 Start time:  8:15AM (High Tide in Key West Harbor at 9:29AM -2.12ft.) I am in a very real sense into uncharted waters.  Yes, it is true the course is the same but at the same time the course and it is changing.  What do I mean?  Let me try to explain.  I have done something I have never done before.  I have now swum around the island of Key West for 3 consecutive months.  That is pioneering.  I had done it in the past twice in a year a couple of times but never before 3 times.  I say I am in uncharted waters because I have never done this swim in any other months aside from May, June and July.  Now I am beginning to experience difference in tidal flow and currents and I am sure beginning with the next swim a change in water temperature.  It will be slight in October but there is a touch of coolness in the air.  I am certain it would be imperceptible to any northerner but to me it is there, and I say this with gladness.  This summer has been to warm and humid.  Swimming in warm water doesn’t really bother me, I do have real concerns about how I will do in the waters here later in this year and early next year, but I will have to wait on that to see.  It is ridiculous to dwell there at this time.  Today is Tuesday, October 4th and tomorrow I will swim my Swim #4.  before I give any further thought to tomorrow let me give my account of  Swim #3. My September swim came about mid month primarily because I was out of the country for a full week.  My wife and I flew to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  We spent 7 days at the Colonial Majestic all inclusive resort.  What a gorgeous location.  My only beef about the place is that there was nowhere for us to Worship on the Lord’s Day.  The staff there made us feel as royalty.  While the food was great and plentiful we spent each morning working out.  In the beginning I was on the tread mill and stationary bike but as the week unfolded I began running around the resort (a distance of 1.2 miles each revolution).  On Monday, September 11th I ran 18 miles.  My Son-in-law Terence and I hope to run the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama on December 9th of this year.  Let me add that I continued to swim primarily in the huge resort pool, but some in the ocean as well.  We returned to Miami by air on Tuesday and arrived home on Wednesday, September 13th at about 1:00AM.   One week later I was in the water for Swim #3.   Swim #3 was a new record for me.  It was the longest time I ever spent in the water, by almost one hour.  Yes, last month I swam the 12.5 miles in 6:08.  This swim I completed in 7:04.  A full 56 minutes more swim time!  What happened you ask?  Let me tell you I asked myself that question many a time during that swim.  I will go back to the basic format I have been using in describing my experiences and work in the uniqueness of this swim. Weather:  This was the earliest of my 3 swims.  My daughter Christiana served my as my kayaker.  She is still at home so we left the house together.  We were prepared the evening before.  Had everything ready and the kayak was strapped to the lid of my ’95 Ford Explorer.  This is one of the great advantages of doing the swim with regularity as opposed to a once a year event.  I am staring to get the system of preparation down.  My drinks and other needs are already together for tomorrow morning and it is now but 4:00PM.  Christy (19) has a good deal of experience, as much as daughter Abigail (22) and a bit more than their younger sister Julianne (16).  They all do a very good job. We got to the start point at Bertha Street boat ramp approximately 30 minutes before our start time.  Unloaded the stuff and I parked the vehicle.  It was a calm day.  No threatening storm clouds anywhere.  I wanted to leisurely swim off shore and so I swam perpendicular to the shore so I was pretty much looking at White Street Pier as a straight swim.  The water was tranquil, lake like.  At 7:00AM I began stroking.  Thankfully, I started my stopwatch properly this time.  After I past White Street Pier I noticed resistance.  It wasn’t terribly difficult resistance but I felt as though I was swimming against the current.  I needed to prove this to myself so I focused on the weeds, clearly visible, on the ocean bottom.  Indeed they were bent back toward me.   This caused a flurry of thoughts to flood my mind.  Did I start too soon?  Was my calculations way off?  Would I find the current raging against me as I swam into the Key West Harbor?  If this was the case would I have to tread water for hours waiting for the tide to change, or would I scuttle this swim and try another day?  It is amazing how quickly so many divergent thoughts can enter one head.  As I considered my situation I consoled my self with the idea that, I had simply begun too early and this mild current against me had yet to become slack.  When I earlier spoke of pioneering this is what I meant.  I was learning as I went.   Tides and current in June are not the same as tides and currents in September and there will be some difference in the next swim and the one following.  I just don’t know enough about all this to know what to predict.  I know some basic principles and I am following them and I am going to need to make adjustments and hope that my tweaks don’t thwart me. As I passed my first mile I felt something touching my legs.  Whatever it was it was pretty insistent.  My guess it that is was a sucker fish trying to attach itself to me.  It wanted a host and I was unwilling.   I kicked harder every time I felt that touching sensation.  Later, I told Christy about this and she said she wondered why I was kicking so hard at the time.  As I approached to the #2 mile I ran face into what I believe was a  pile of  seaweed.  It felt like I had acid thrown into my face.  The area all around my goggles burned, especially my forehead.  I had experienced these stinging things before and my experience has been the pain will pass.  It normally takes 10 to 20 minutes but it passes.  This proved true this time but after the swim welt marks were still visible and then they turned into little scabs, now long gone. After the swim Christy asked me if I saw the dolphins.  I told her I was unaware of any dolphins.  She said there were two quite close to me as I swam around the Fort Zachary Taylor area.  I didn’t see the dolphins but I did see a pretty large school of tarpon in that area. On entering the Key West Harbor, I no longer felt as though I was working contrary to the current.  There was a huge Carnival Cruise Line Ship at Mallory Square.  I always advise my kayaker to stick very close to me because the Key West harbor is proper harbor with a good deal of traffic. We encountered the Coast Guard as we approached to Coast Guard Base.  Thankfully there was no command to exit the water.  Christy had some pleasantries with the men on the boat and we carried on into the Fleming Cut. As I entered the Cut I found myself surrounded by a massive school of yellowtail.  A truly exciting experience.  As I swam the Cut, the current was not against me, just the opposite it was for me but not in any powerful manner.  As I checked my watch I noted that my time were way off track.  I was way behind schedule.  Why, I wondered?  I didn’t feel weak.  Maybe, I was over trained.  I actually felt pretty good.  So why were my times so flat?  That thought would plague me even after the swim was over.  However, while I want o swim a good pace and finish with a good time that is not primary.  My main goal is to swim around Key West 12 times in 12 consecutive months.  I must tell you that I most enjoyed my swim from the Fleming Cut Bridge out to Sigsby and around.  It is two miles of swimming that doesn’t demand much attention.  There is no boat traffic to speak of.  The boats there are sailboats that are moored.  It is a safe, straight shot in water that is adequately deep.  I noticed I didn’t make as many stops to drink, perhaps because the sun wasn’t as hot or perhaps more likely I realized that my times were so off that I knew I had to keep going or I would be out there all day!! The only area where I didn’t lost time (compared to Swim #1 was from the Sigsby to the Cow Key Channel Bridge).  It was pretty close the same time.  The reason I believe was that the wind began to kick up and provided me with a push from behind.  The Cow Key Cannel (mile 9) was moving in my direction.  Once again I examined the weeds on the bottom and they were laid down under me in the direction I was headed.  I made it through nicely but my major challenge in these past few swim has been the final couple of miles.  It has been so hard to find water deep enough to swim through naturally.  I don’t enjoy doing strange gyrations with my stroke.  I don’t enjoy having my chest drag on the bottom or my thighs.  Coming out of the Cow Key and entering the Atlantic has to be the most difficult part of the course.  After I got out into the Atlantic I continued my search for deep water.  I was out further that I normally swim.  That was clearly evident as I approached the poles that separate the swim area from the boating area off Smathers’ Beach.  I had to swim way in.  That last couple of mile allowed me to swim very close to two sharks.  They were nurse sharks, very docile; each one was about 3 feet long.  I find them very fascinating and not intimidating at all. Water Conditions: It was a calm water situation for the first 7.5 miles.  The wind out of the west kicked up.  That helped me until I came around the other side and had to swim into that wind.  Of course with the wind picking up there was a chop to the water.   All told water condition on the surface but I may need to recheck my departures time.  After reflection, I think the reason my times were almost an hour slower is because the differential between the high tide and the low tide is not so great as we move into the latter part of the year.  It appears that the summers high tides are higher and the low tides are lower, so that when they reverse you get much more push.  Now the conditions resemble more that of a swimming pool.  Yes, when the tide is behind you get some push but not as great.  Rather that be discouraged as I finished, I thought to myself maybe I could complete the Tampa Bay swim.  Then I thought I could begin to add miles on my Key West swim as time went on.  I could stretch out the 12.5 miles into 13, 14 15 or more.  It is an exciting thought! Nutrition/ Performance:  This time I drank a quart of Perpetuum over the course of over an hour, from shortly after I awoke until I entered the water.  I took some electrolyte capsules and ate a full Clif Bar.  Over the course of the swim I consumed 2.5 quarts of Perpertuum and a quarter of a Clif Bar.  I also had a total of 6 more electrolyte capsules.  I took thee each time.  I just had Christy drop them in my mouth as I treaded water near the kayak.  At approximately 2:25 into the swim I had her hand me a small bottle of the 5 Hour Energy drink (available at Walgreens Drug Store). I felt good after the swim.  I had made a mixture of a soy protein drink which I froze in a sport bottle.  This was defrosted by the time I finished and I ate a Clif protein bar.  I understand it is good to get some protein in your system as soon as possible after a good endurance event.  After the swim I dropped Christy off at the Community College for her late afternoon class.  I headed home cleaned up and got ready to do my open air evangelism presentations at Mallory Square’s Sunset Celebration.  So I felt great!! My time for this swim was 7:04.  I have now swum around Key West 22 times.  This was the third time in three consecutive months.  Next scheduled swim is October 5th, at 7:10AM Problems: I felt good, healthy.  I had a bit of a sore throat after.  I may have begun to get a cold but it didn’t last.  I think endurance events simulate a fever which kills whatever it is trying to get you!  I mentioned getting hit with some organisms on seaweed.   Maybe it was jelly fish, I really don’t know.  It hurt pretty bad at the time but left no lasting damage Goal:  I have now completed three of my 12 consecutive monthly swims.  I don’t know what to expect in many ways with the upcoming swims.  I will know about each swims unique personality as I make its acquaintance.   Next Swim: Swim #4: Thursday, October 5th beginning at 7:10AM.  High tide is at 9:09AM (2.27 ft.) in the Key West Harbor.   Sunrise at 7:20AM 1) Tuesday, July 11th, 2006  Start time 7:53AM Splits: Start to Mile 2 - 57:17 Mile 2 to Mile 4 - 51:25 (1:48) Mile 4 to Mile 5 – 16:59 (2:05) Mile 5 to Mile 6 – 40:50 (2:46) Mile 6 to Mile 7.5 – 41:05 (3:27) Mile 7.5-Mile 9 – 48:42 (4:16) Mile 9 to First piling at Smathers Beach _ 1:16 (5:32) First piling to Finish  -  20:52 (Finish time 5:53:31) 2) Wednesday, August 9th, 2006  Start time 8:01AM Splits: Start to Mile 2 – 61:14 Mile 2 to Mile 4 - 55:15 (2:09) Mile 4 to Mile 5 – 21:09 (2:21) Mile 5 to Mile 6 – 42:10 (3:03) Mile 6 to Mile 7.5 – 41:20 (3:44) Mile 7.5-Mile 9 – 48:37 (4:32) Mile 9 to First piling at Smathers Beach - 1:17 (5:39) First piling to Finish  - 21:16 (Finish time  6:08) 3) Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 Start time 7:00AM Splits Start to Mile 2 – 1:12:28 Mile 2 to Mile 4 – 1:01:25 (2:13:53) Mile 4 to Mile 5 – 29:25 (2:43:19) Mile 5 to Mile 6 – 49:19:19 (4:16:19) Mile 6 to Mile 7.5 – 41:20 (3:44) Mile 7.5-Mile 9 – 47:54 (5:04:14) Mile 9 to First piling at Smathers’ Beach - 1:32:53 (6:37:09) First piling to Finish - 26:53 (Finish time  7:04)