Category Archives: General

I took most of December off from swimming to regroup, eat, drink, eat, celebrate the holidays…did I mention eat?

Well, yesterday was my first official day back in the pool and the start of my training for 2015.  You can imagine my surprise when I arrived to find the pool was set for Long Course Meters rather then short course yards!  I did what any swimmer would have done…I relied on a friend (Amy Taylor thank you very much) to rearrange my sets to fit into Long Course and push me along.

I always think a break is such a good idea…no, a great idea…until I get to the first 100 after the hiatus and feel like I hit a brick wall.  I know every stroke will get a bit easier, and in no time, I will feel like I am back in the groove…but boy is it hard.  My goals for this 2015 training are: lose the weight I found in 2014 while training for Catalina, eat better, add more sculling into my workouts, lift free weights more and dare I say it…run a bit as part of my dryland.  I am excited and nervous for the 8 bridges Hudson swim and Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, but I look forward to the journey. I’m up for the challenge these two swims will bring, and I cannot wait to see what crazy special characters I will be adding to this chapter.

If you know me, you know that my reasons for my swims are not completed for bragging rights or titles.  There is a well thought out reason behind each one.  The swims have to call me.  They have to mean something.  I was applying for the 8 Bridges swim last night and the application asked for links to swims that one has accomplished.  I knew that the Catalina Channel Federation would soon be updating their list of completed swims for this year but was not sure.  I went on the website.  Under successful crossings, there I was #295 Lori King.  The feeling is so good that I had to share it.  I hope this does not seems like I am bragging.  That is not what this is about.  I am sharing because I have looked at that list over the past several year; Looked at it in different ways: To see who crossed; to see which way they crossed; how many crossed mainland to Catalina and vise versa.  I looked at the list to see how many Americans were on it; how many men, how many women.  I looked at the list in a way that a person looking in would.  Seeing my name on the list changed things for me.  When I saw my name, I immediately thought of the day, the pain, the hard work, the faces of the people who got me across.  I thought of the feeling I had when I reached the rocks and crawled up finally ending the journey.  I thought about my now, West Coast, swim family – the beautiful relationships I have made.  Can you imagine…all this from one swim?  I make a lot of sacrifices to do what I love and my family makes a lot of sacrifices so my heart has to be in it.  I have to not only go through the motions because I can do it but I have to put my heart into it each time.  The feeling at the end is so much better.  To be able to embark on such amazing journeys that very few can, gives me an appreciation that cannot be explained by words.  It is a feeling…a really good, warm, rainbows, unicorns and mermaids kind of feeling.  Thank you to everyone who made the 295th crossing successful.  Catalina was a beautiful beast.  http://swimcatalina.com/index.php/successful-swims/successes

As this year comes to an end, Bonnie and I have been discussing swims for next year (see us hard at work).  While the prospect terrifies me, she would like me to do more 10k swims but the two big ones will be the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim (MIMS) (if my application gets accepted) and the 8 Bridges Hudson Swim. I am excited for these swims for a number of reasons, the three big reasons are: 1) they are in my home territory so my children and family will be able to actually celebrate with me, 2) I look forward to the beautiful experience and comradery that is shared while moving down the Hudson during the 8 bridges swim, and 3) There is a sense of pride that goes along with being able to represent for swims so close to home.  Along with these two major swim, Bonnie and I are in discussions for an even bigger swim in 2016.  Details will be revealed once major logistics are worked out and we can confidently announce a date.

But for now…back to 2015.  Since MIMS and 8 Bridges are two big swims, I have decided that I will fundraise for Semper Fi.  I am, as always, looking for corporate sponsors.  I am excited about fundraising for Semper Fi because I believe in the cause.  While I get to swim every day and do what I love, there are men and women making sacrifices to ensure that I (and the rest of the country) can breathe easy and go about our normal routines.  We get to go out to dinner, go to the movies, play sports, watch our kids grow and play happily under the blanket of freedom our country has so lovingly weaved and continues to weave through the years.  What better way to say “thank you” then to try and give back a little to not only the men and women who serve but to their families who are also making incredible sacrifices.

I am excited to get started on this journey for 2015.  Please visit http://semperfifund.org/ to learn more about this wonderful organization.

I was talking to a friend about my Catalina swim in August. She said, “so let me get this straight…you are swimming a crazy amount every day?” I said “yes”…”to swim for over 10 hours in freezing cold water?” I said “yes”…”and the expense is high?” I said “yes”…”and you’ve gained 13 lbs. and are still gaining while you are training?”…I said “YES.” She said, “well I just don’t understand this at ALL!” I told her I really couldn’t explain it either because I don’t understand it myself sometimes. I thought I would be one of those “too vain to gain” swimmers but it turns out I have no problem eating my face off. As a matter of fact I can’t stop even when I try to control myself. I am not eating any more than I usually do when I train but for some reason, add the cold water and, the pounds seem to pack on. My coach says “your body just knows what it needs to do.” My husband says, “I don’t remember signing on for this cold water acclimating, weight gain business.” I think to myself, ‘I distinctly remember you promising ‘for better or for worse’ and although he did stutter over ‘for richer or for poorer,’ he did promise to all of the above so he’s in for the ups and downs, even if the ups mean a 10-15 pound heavier wife. It’s not like he sweeps me off my feet and carries me around so I don’t know what he’s complaining about. The good news is, the wrinkles around my eyes are not as bad:) So here’s the question part of my thoughts…Is it considered cheating myself if I wear an extra tight swimsuit on my IM days? Does anyone else ever get nervous before a practice when they know it will be a hard one? Did you ever do a long swim and daydream so much that you almost smack into the wall? Is chugging a coffee right before you get in the water at 6 AM considered hydrating? Is anyone actually reading this?

When people find out what I am up to with my swimming, the first question they always ask is: Why? I have asked this question to myself many times. “Why am I doing this?” I first met my coach in 2005 months after she swam the English Channel. The first words out of my mouth were “what were you thinking?” She began to answer that question with: “I know, people always ask me that questions…the whole thing sounds crazy right, and I am crazy for doing such a swim,” and I stopped her. She misunderstood my question. So I restated, “No. I mean what was going through your mind those 13 hours you were swimming in darkness, with 4 foot swells and a broken shoulder that popped the first hour into your swim?” That was the first time I thought to myself, ‘some day I want to do that. I want to swim far and long to see what it feels like.’ Could I do it? That is a question I ask myself every time I get into the open water. I do my long swims because I feel, in my heart, in my mind, that I can and I want to see just how far I can go. Not for awards (there are much faster swimmers than I), not for recognition (because even the best hardly get recognize outside of this sport for their amazing accomplishments), but for the need and because I am pretty good at it. The need to push myself, the need for my kids to know mommy did other things in life, the need to go as far as I can and take the experiences I have learned from those journeys with me in life. Each time I conquer a swim (or am defeated by Mother Nature), it changes me. It makes me think a bit differently about life: how lucky we are, how small we are in such a beautiful, big, changing world and how sometimes the big things on my list of priorities really may not be so big after all. I feel incredibly lucky to get in the open water and be able to swim. There is a feeling that you are closer with the sea life, closer with the ocean…I can’t explain it exactly. I could say you feel like a mermaid, but it’s not that exactly, and I’d rather people not think I am completely crazy so I won’t say that. So I’ll go back to my first comment – on the surface – I do it to see what it feels like, to see how far I can go. I very very experienced open water marathon swimmer once told me that not all waters are meant to be swum by all people. Find what you are good swimming in and stick with it. You can try other things but you may not succeed that that is ok. I will say that if I cannot swim in something with just my suit, cap and goggles then I do not want to swim in it. Catalina is calling me. I am not sure why but I feel I have to try it…no conquer it. I am doing everything I can to anticipate everything that could possibly happen to me during my swim but sometimes that just may not be enough…I won’t know until I am there and swimming. There is only one absolute that you can count on in open water swimming and that is that there is no absolute–there is no controlling the water, the creatures that live in it or the variables that can change it in an instant. Isn’t that what makes it fun?