Richelle: What’s the plan for tomorrow? How far are we going?
Barrett: 2 maybe 3 . . .
Richelle: And then this weekend? How far are we going?
Barrett: Shooting for 5.
When talking about Colin’s Hope swim training, the above conversation is the norm. I know that 2, 3, or 5 translates to 2 miles, 3 miles, or 5 miles of swimming. The distance dictates what is loaded onto the kayak for the swim. Water and electrolyte mix have sufficed since training swims have been 4 miles or shorter, but this weekend, the training swim is going to be 5 miles. Out of curiosity, I searched for a “calories burned while swimming” calculator. I entered Barrett’s info, clicked the “calculate” button, and voila! Barrett will burn approximately 2560 calories during the 11K Colin’s Hope Got2Swim event.
That is the equivalent of 49 doughnut holes and Barrett loves doughnut holes!! I don’t know how feasible it would be to stockpile doughnut holes on the kayak and I am pretty sure those tasty little doughnut holes would disintegrate in Lake Austin. Instead, we’ll be testing a combination of water, electrolytes, and some form of calories. There are many options thanks to the booming energy bar and gel industry. We can also keep it simple and just pack some snickers bars or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Figuring out nutrition is an important part of training and if done right it can also be fun!
Colin’s Hope is hosting a practice swim, Sunday morning at 9 AM at Pure Austin Quarry Lake. Barrett is going to swim 5 miles for practice. He’ll be in the water for about 2.5 hours. The kayak will be packed with a myriad of calories so we know what works and what doesn’t work. The swim guardian will be burning calories too, just not at the same speed as the swimmer. Stay tuned for a follow-up on the swim!!!
Thank you to all those who have donated to Colin’s Hope Charity. Barrett is over halfway to reaching his goal of raising $1000 for Colin’s Hope. Please visit Barrett’s fundraising page if you would like to donate.
Just keep swimming . . .
Happy Treading 