Most people, when they take on this ultra-endurance sport that I’ve taken on, they ease into it. For instance, most ultra-runners probably have completed many marathons before they take on their first ultramarathon. I can’t imagine a weekend 10K runner would all of a sudden decide to do the Leadville 100.

And up until this year, I followed that theory. Just look to the left under resume. In general, I started short and worked up to the 10-miler. (10 miles swimming is roughly equivalent of a 40 mile run.)

But look at my marathon schedule for this year. Ouch! My first marathon is 26.7 miles, in North Dakota. Two months after that the 15 miler in New Jersey. I finish my marathon swimming year with a repeat of the 10 miles through beautiful Tennessee.

What idiot decreases his race mileage through the season? Me. I do.

Look at it another way, though. When you do pyramid swims in the pool, isn’t it so much nicer when you’re swimming on the way down the pyramid? Yes! I can tell you I prefer swimming my broken 5K as a 2000, 1500, 1000, 500 instead of going up from 500 to 2000!