Today I headed out to Roslyn lake for a longer training swim.  3-4 hour swims on Saturday and Sunday are going to soon become the norm.  I thought might as well head to Roslyn to hit the cold water as well.

Upon arriving at Roslyn Lake and walking down to the dock, I had the pleasure of watching 2 bald eagles fishing over the lake.  I thought this was a good sign.  I was busy taking a water temperature while watching the aerial acrobatics of the eagles.  As I was filled with feelings of good omens, I pulled out the water thermometer.   My good vibes were short lived.  Again the warm weather played havoc on my training grounds.  Lake Temperature = 72 degrees.  Within one week, Roslyn went from 58 to 72 degrees.  One of the park officials mentioned that my trout fishing was going to be ruined.  I tried to gently explain that I was there to swim around the lake for Channel training.  His reply “Holy Shit!”  Sorry for the language, but I wanted to quote him exactly.  He then recovered and said that if it looked like I was getting tired someone would kayak out to help me.

Since I was already here, I planned to get in the water anyways.  It was quiet with the exception of a few duck and geese families.  Oh and the eagles were still around.  Plus this would provide a good opportunity to test my feedings. 

Every lap of the lake took me about 55 minutes, which provided the exact time I needed before coming in for a feeding.  Feedings consisted of hot tea with honey and Carbo Pro and canned peaches.   Both seemed to sit very well during the training.  I had a small side ache after each feeding, but it quickly subsided.

Swimming thoughts for the day:

• Budweiser and Coors Light seem to be the unanimous beer of choice for fisherman, as I have seen a plethora of these on the bottom of the lakes I’ve swam in.
• The trout fisherman were not going to have any luck as I saw no evidence of fish.  Only some small salamanders
• Chiggers are nasty little bugs that bite while swimming. Unfortunately you don’t know that they are there until after the swimming is done and you itch like crazy.  I look like I have the chicken pox.  For this reason alone Lake Roslyn is off of my training schedule.

Next weeks plan. 

• Heal from the chigger bites.
• Swim 3-5 hours on both Saturday and Sunday.  This time down at Nehalem Bay.
• Test the following for feedings; hot tea with honey and Carbo Pro, canned peaches, fruit filled Newtons and Clif Shot Blocks.