Swim Meet at Carmody

I really enjoy these dual meets with the Dawgs. The food is great, the people are friendly, the competition is low key, and I get to do some really fun events. Plus, the food is great! (Did I mention that already?)

I swam 10 events in about a 2-hour span, and was feeling pretty much exhausted after the first 50 of the first event. It was a 200 butterfly, and I took it out too fast. Had to catch my breath on the walls, and it was pretty slow. But hey...nobody else there did a 200 fly, so I guess you could say I won the event, right?

I also swam a 50 Taz (didn't even break a minute--ugh!), 50 sidestroke, and 100 elementary backstroke. Then there were a few standard races, like the 100 and 200 IM, and the 500 free. I can't say there was much speed exhibited in any of those events, but I tried.

So, just like Friday's run, I'm going to say that it was a positive training experience. If all you did was look at my times, you could justifiably make the assumption that I pretty much stunk it up...and I could not argue with you. But if you consider the effort I put in, and the race-environment experience, well -- then you could easily conclude that I achieved some sort of valuable training.

Of course, much of that was counteracted by pigging out at the potluck lunch after the meet. There was this killer coffeecake, you see, deeply encrusted with cinnamon/sugar and full of fresh blueberries bursting with flavor. Mmmm. A single slice would've provided adequate calories for the day, but I was unable to stop there. I pretty much ate the whole thing.

Oh well, the good news is that I'm very proud of the other Foothills participants. I know that Kim (pictured above) set a couple of PRs, and new team members Steve and Seth were impressive in their Foothills debut, as well. It was a solid performance all around, including some excellent swims by Cliff's kids and Doug's daughter Megan, and the expected solid performances from Cliff and Doug themselves, as well as by the always-impressive Mr. Kalstrom.

And we owe special thanks to Desmond Ford for showing up and supporting us with his mad stopwatch skillz.

The only disappointment was that none of the Foothills women showed up. It seems odd -- because as impressive as our male swimmers are, the females in the group make us guys look like a bunch of dandelions. They often outnumber us at practice, work harder than we do, and complain less. Yet when it's time to show up and represent the team, they vanish like Saddam's WMDs. It's a mystery to me.

But I do have another positive item to share. I learned how to make Yam Chips! I had read a recipe in one of those doctor's office magazines, along with a pitch for how healthy and delicious they were. So I picked up a couple of the big orange 'taters at the store and spent a good chunk of Saturday afternoon trying to slice them as thin as I could. This is not easy, since I don't have a slicing machine, and am not generally permitted to handle sharp cutting tools. But despite some inconsistencies in thickness, I somehow managed to get a couple of them completely chopped into wafers, and all without losing any fingers or thumbs.

I sprayed them with a light coating of oil, sprinkled on some seasoning salt, and tossed them in the oven. The good news is that they went over pretty well at the potluck...not a single one was left for me to bring home. The bad news is that it took forever to bake them to the desired crispness. In fact, I gave up when it was time to go to bed or they might have been even crisper. But without more oil, higher heat, or perhaps even a deep fryer, it is not a quick process to chippify moist spuds. They were pretty tasty, but I think next time I'll just go down to the healthfood store and buy some instead of spending my entire day in the kitchen for what amounted to about a half bag of goodies.

Anyway, it was a fun meet, and a good way to finish off the weekend. Yes, I know I said I would probably try to finish my taxes, but c'mon...I was tired when I got home. Mebee next weekend. Still, I enjoyed myself, and as always, was happy to spend some time with my friends on the Dawgs. (Swimmers are great people, in case you haven't noticed...even if they are on the other team.) But I did make this minor observation: when the meet was over, all the adults stood around talking with each other. The kids, well--not so much.

What this means for the future of our society, I do not know. But I'm just glad they showed up to swim with us. Even if they are totally absorbed by smart phone technology, at least they're swimmers, and are therefore good-hearted and intelligent human beings. I suspect that the future will be in good hands, despite the distractions of iPhones.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who participated, and thanks to Jim Murphy and his crew for putting on another great event. I'm looking forward to the next one, and I hope you are, too. In the meantime, I'll see you at the pool--Have a great day!