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END-WET 2014 Registration is OPEN
Leonard_Jansen
Charter Member
END-WET for 2014 is open for registration. (Note: new course this year and it's 36 miles, entry fee is $300 for solo). This was originally supposed to open on 1 January, but it apparently opened 2 weeks ago. This is a two thumbs way, way up event.
-LBJ
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
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Banging head on desk
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Maybe we can all head back East and hit 8 Bridges for stages 6 and 7.
Untrained? You swam on by me in the second half last year.
Since we are finishing in town this year you don't have to worry about having to ride in the back of the van again for 30 minutes after the race.
I think I popped something trying to beat the 2 person relay....
http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nd/nwis/uv?site_no=05082500
Might be a cold swim.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
We had a good ride last year because of near levee topping flooding that had started to subside a couple days before the swim. I have no business swimming that long a distance in that short an amount of time.
Looks like I may need to start taking some ice baths or something. And hope that my wife, who is paddling for me, doesn't decide to route me into all manner of underwater obstructions.
1) Swim the race
2) Mini-golf indoors at the Guesthouse motel after.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Count me in...
Weather.com: Sunny with clouds
Accuweather.com: Strong thunderstorm.
I'm glad they agree so closely, it really eases my mind.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Also, I just looked at the Facebook website and it says they are going to REQUIRE all swimmers to wear a Swim Safety Device, like the ISHOF one. So add that as a new one to race-specific exceptions of the MSF rules.
If anyone is there and reads this, can you give a shout out and let us know what speed the river is flowing at and the temp? I'll be there late tomorrow afternoon, but need to wrap my brain around this.
We are going to die and it's so cool...
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Oy vey!
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Same here, Amanda - assuming I actually can get there, that is.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
LBJ - I got a call this morning from American on my way to work that my flights today were canceled. Fortunatley, they rebooked me on something tomorrow, and I'll get to Fargo around 5:30 pm. Less than ideal, but at least I'll still get there.
I'm still down for mini golf later in the evening, although my wife (pregnant and paddling for me anyway) isn't sure what to make of the fact that we're staying in a hotel with a mini golf course.
If that's what local law enforcement requires to do the swim...
River flows app reports 68.1°F, 28.1 kcfs right now
The weekend didn't have the best start. Thursday morning, killing time before I helped drop or dogs off at the kennel, I got a call from American airlines that our flights were canceled, but we had been rebooked for flights on Thursday. The good news is that I got one more night in my own bed, but is lose a day is on site preparation. Nothing I could do about it, bit oh well.
Or flights Thursday were, thankfully non eventful. We only ended up with about 20 minutes of delays, and minimal hassle despite not originally hanging been assigned seats. We landed in Fargo around 5:30 on Friday, picked up our bags, got our rental car, and drove the hour or so to Grand Forks.
When we got off the interstate to go to Target, I noticed that the traffic lights were out. Thankfully, Target was still open, so we could get water for my bottles and food for Amanda.
We stopped at McDonald's and went to check in to the hotel. After texting the race director to figure out where we needed to be the next morning, since we had missed the meeting that night, I made my bottles and got stuff ready for Saturday, and worked on getting to sleep.
I slept relatively well, at least for me. Got up earlier than I needed to, filled our coolers out of the ice machine, got my bottles ready and hung out until it was time to leave.
We checked in, got on the bus, and started the drive south to Belmont Park for the start. After our missed turn, we got there and were told we didn't have very much time to get ready. I went to the restroom behind a tree, them worked with the race director to figure out which boat Amanda would be in. After that, I put sunscreen in my arms, got help from Amanda for my back. Hurriedly greased up, helped carry the boat to the water, then joined the other swimmers. A little after 8, we walked into the 68 degree river with our SSD's to head back to Grand Forks.
I very quickly realized that I had caused myself a problem. When I had gotten in a hurry, I got grease or sunscreen on my goggles. Coupled with the cool water and the low morning sun, I could hardly see anything (there wasn't any visibility in the water, but that was expected because of the river's turbidity). At some point, I asked Amanda for a different pair of dark goggles.
All of the messing with my goggles, i'm pretty sure put me near the back of the race. I didn't feel great yet, but I never do my first hour in the water, so I wasn't concerned yet. Got through my first 3 feeds (I feed on a 20 minute schedule), but I still want feeling great, although I was physically feeling fine and with the current, I was making good progress.
The river was quite high, with record rains in the region, above flood stage. As a result, the river had a lot of driftwood and debris. Amanda tried to keep the bigger stuff away from me, but I was still getting hit by a lot of it. My goggles were still fogging up a lot, and the combination of not being able to see and getting hit with so much debris combined to make me very angry and frustrated. I wanted out of the river, and I wanted to go home. I went to a dark place mentally. I wasn't mad at anyone else, but I did share with Amanda how frustrated I was. There was a bridge at about 15 miles, and I was very close to getting out. I wasn't having any fun at all. Physically I felt just fine, but the world between my ears was very very dark.
I struggled there between about miles 8 and probably 14. But between a combination of yelling at myself and starting to catch people, my outlook improved. I caught two people, and after trading positions when we fed, I finally put them behind me as I got to my best part of the race, the back half. A few miles later, I caught another person. I swam with her for a bit, then eventually dropped her. I caught the butterflier who started two hours before us just before we got to mile 22. Mile 24 was a big one for me, as it meant I was two thirds done with "only" 20k to go. Each mile marker after that (only even miles were marked) was a mental boost. My shoulders were starting to hurt, but not bad enough that I couldn't fight through it or needed to swim one armed.
At around 31 miles, I saw someone on a bike path stop to watch for a minute. We were in town! Somewhere around 32 miles, we went under a pedestrian bridge. We swing around a bend in river and saw the bridge again. Due to the gliding, we realized we could have cut the corner. I'm glad we didn't.
As we got past the 34 mile mark, I realized we hadn't asked about the finish and hasn't made the meeting. Oops. Thankfully, a relay that finished before us was heading back upstream to take their boat out and told us where it was.
Entering the homestretch, and staying to the right to be closer to the finish, there is another river that empties into the red right there. That was noticeably colder water. But, we saw the area where we had parked our car that morning. I swam under the last two bridges and swam for the finish line. I was so happy to be finished. 9 hours and 24 minutes. From a time elapsed perspective, the second longest swim I've ever done. Easily the longest distance wise.
I'm proud that I finished, especially after the huge mental battle I had so early in the race (which I know cost me plenty of time, and maybe one place in the final standings). While I'd like to be able to maybe start a little faster, I was adobe to demonstrate again that I can survive to swim a strong last half. It hurt, but I seem to hang on better than some folks. Amanda helps me through a lot of stuff, even if she doesn't have to say anything, just by being there, which is a huge help.
And aren't those things normally farther behind you? Or did they make you use a shorter strap?
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
I didn't have the strap quite all the way out, so when I'd turn around to tread with the current while I was feeding, sometimes I felt like it would get in the way, or if I'd turn to look behind me, it wouldn't turn around on its own. When I'd drop my hips to get vertical in the water to feed, even if I didn't turn around, I'd feel it pull a bit.
I understand why they made us wear them, and given the river level, I don't disagree with the decision, but I'm still not a fan of swimming with it. I'd rather swim with an escort for visibility rather than the buoy, but they weren't making us wear them for visibility, the only boat traffic on the river was associated with the race, and all the swimmers had an escort.
We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams
And so we reached this last weekend and although some were successful and some were not, everyone came away with the faintest shimmer of stardust on hands covered with the silt of the Red River of the North. This race is a mitzvah and every swimmer should, at least once, immerse themselves in the Red River, receive its blessing and experience the endless possibilities.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
Had fun swimming next to @ChickenOSea for the better part of 10 hours.
There was a lot of debris though. All of the stick drill my coach has given me over the years paid off. It didn't bother me as I would grab one at entry until it was out of the way. I never thought of my goggles so much as a safety device as I did Saturday.
Kudos to End-Wet for requiring this piece of safety equipment in the flood water conditions. One can never predict what will happen in a flooded river. Having your swimmers wear the SSD was cheap insurance so that swimmers were more visible at all times.
Random stuff: The Sheriff's main boat sank when they somehow put a hole in the one pontoon. Someone got an excellent picture of everything but the canopy underwater.
Everyone involved with the race organization and who volunteered were insanely great. Andy Magness, the race director, must be one of the world's greatest salesmen for convincing the sheriff's department that the race was doable in such a flood. It WAS doable, obviously, but the local wisdom has it that the river borders on being a sentient evil creature waiting to kill anyone that goes near it. How he got around that has to be one of the great conversations in open water history. Dakota Harvest must put crack in those semi-sweet, sea salt chocolate chip cookies. I'm thinking about them already. Will I sign up for next year? Ask me in a few days when the ache goes away and if I ever get out of the Fargo airport where I am as I type this. Also, there are now three great adventure beards in the sport - Rob Aquatics, Darren Miller (when he has one) and Landon Ascheman, who finished END-Wet. It's a serious beard.
You must put this race on your to-do list. Period.
-LBJ
“Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.” - Oscar Wilde
I'm not sure if I'll go back next year or not, but I would recommend the swim to anyone. The event is well run, but laid back at the same time. I have no bad words to say about the race director and organization at all
From time to time I swim with the ISHOF thingy. I haven't quite got the hang of it but think it's probably a good idea to know how to use one.
Congratulations to all on a Very Exciting Meet!
in Hawaii when it rains we have brown water advisories and are told to stay out. some of the concerns has to do with sharks congregating at river mouths waiting for dead animals to float down but the water is brown and yucky.
so I need to know what you all think. I did ask Stefan (2nd overall) if the water tasted bad and he said it didn't.