Open Water Swimming at the 2008 Olympics

I got my butt out of bed today to do a nice morning run with my brother-in-law Kevin. It was a great run. The morning was just cold enough that the lakeshore path wasn’t completely packed with runners, but warm enough we both sported shorts (with hat, gloves, and long sleeve shirts, but shorts none the less).

Kevin and I both travel with our work, and thus we don’t get to spend as much time hanging out as we would like. We also share a lot of common interests, which include triathlons, thus whenever we can we try to catch up over a workout.

You may remember Kevin from when he destroyed the competition in our indoor triathlon at UIC.

As we were wrapping up our run today, we talked about how we were really looking forward to the Olympics this year, and how the number of events we were interested in watching has grown since the last time they held the games. That is when I mentioned that open water swimming will be an event for the first time this year.

I hadn’t really thought much about open water swimming as a competitive event until I started doing triathlons. That, along with my best friend preparing for the English Channel swim this summer has me interested in what this sport would look like.

Well it sounds very aggressive, check out this story in the Wall Street Journal. In Beijing they will will compete around a 2.5K course for the 10k Swim. I am sure it will be something to watch.

As for the run, I though Kevin was pushing the pace the whole time, and that we would be sub 8:30 miles, but it turns out we were only running 8:50s. Time to get back to the track…

Running:
7.35 miles, 8:50 min/mile pace, Kevin kicking my ass… again.

Bonus:
Here are some of the efforts of Kevin's work...

Catch Up Post

Well we had a great weekend in Iowa. I survived the Drake Relays on the Road Half Marathon. I will give it proper attention in a full write up later in the week.  There are a lot of other stories I needed to follow up on. I apologize I am so far behind.

Lance and Mike in Boston

The Boston Marathon was a few weeks ago. You may remember my joking about Lance Armstrong becoming an Ironman competitor a while back. It seemed to make sense to me as he is obviously strong in the bike, and his marathon times keep creeping down. That along with the fact he actually started his career in tri’s before moving to a full time professional cyclist.

He finished race just over 2:50 minutes. I am pretty certain that is his PR, but not quite as good as he had hoped to do (I think he was hoping for something in the low 2:40s). Still for Boston, which is a fairly hilly race, that is a great job. I will be interested to see how he does in NYC this fall.

Also running in Boston was former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. His day did not end so well as he had to drop out of the race with runners knee (an IT band issue). I guess he needs to spend more time running, less time running for president. A problem we all run into from time to time.

Liz Rocked St. Anthony's
Last week I wished my friend and classmate at ND Liz Berls good luck on her first tri. She did very well (Swim: 25:38, Bike 1:33:49, Run: 59:22, Total: 3:07:43!). Yes, Liz is a very good swimmer. What I wouldn’t do to get out of the water in 25 minutes.

She wrote a cool summery of her weekend. I will steal a little bit of it for those of you who are thinking about doing a tri, or more importantly thinking of doing an endurance event for a charity.

"This was truly one of the best experiences I’ve ever had and am proud that I not only completed this physical and mental challenge but also surpassed my fund raising goal by raising more than $5600 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society."

Yep, that is over $1000 more than her goal. Great job Liz. I have done a few events for charity, it really adds to the experience. I cannot say enough good things about Team in Training (the endurance sport training wing of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society). Not only is my father in remission from lymphoma, but my good friend in Kansas City Emily runs one of the Team in Training groups. They really do a great job raising important research dollars and getting people trained for triathlons, marathons, and century rides. If you have never done one of these events and are thinking about it, look up Team in Training.

For those of you who didn’t donate to Liz’s fund, here is your last chance. Click here.

Sharks
Very sad story out of California.  I man was training for a triathlon lost his life to a shark attack.  I must admit this has always been a slight fear of mine.  I am not a good swimmer. I have enough to thinking about while swimming. I have a small fear of the ocean to start with… now we are hearing about more shark attacks. This story is tragic, but according to the experts, you have a better chance of dying via car accident on the way to the beach than you do by shark attack.

In other news, while there may be cougars roaming Chicago, there are no reports of great white sharks in Lake Michigan.  So I am safe for now.

Hy-Vee Tri Looking Better All the Time
It is a rare occasion when a law is passed that completely make sense, one where you want to call your local representative and say “Thank you.” Well that happened in Iowa recently. The state senate made an exception to the rule disallowing acholhol served on the state capital grounds at any time. And the one acception… the finish line for the Hy-Vee Triathlon.

Oh, we going to booze it up! Margarittas with the Govenor Culver! Would you like another martini Lt Gov Judge? I can only assume that they will have beer instead of Gatorade at the water stops right?

Wrong, but it will be fun to have a little bubbly if I make it to the finish line.

Payout for Des Moines?
Lastly, I thought I would bring some attention to this article from Tuscaloosa, which discusses how much money they brought in for having the tri there. Hopefully there will be a similar revenue flow headed Des Moines way for hosting the Hy-Vee Triathlon in June. I am a big fan of the Hy-Vee event, and I hope it continues to grow it as the years pass.

Hoops Team Report
My rec basketball team won our second game on Monday. It was the first win in which I was in town to play. I knocked down a bunch of free throws at the end of the game to seal it, apparently earning my new nickname “Ice Cold.” [I would really like to put an Outkast song in here now, but despite the use of the phase “ice cold” I don’t think the rest of the song would impress many of the readers.]

Workout Report
Last night was a killer one at the Chicago Blue Dolphins practice. We were in the long 50 m pool, where I worked out with the “transition” group. Believe me, I was fine with that. The Group 1 was doing repeat 300, which was just a little too aggressive for me. I was just fine doing my repeat 150, which might as well been repeat miles for me.

Swim:
1700 M, 1.5 Hours

Another Fun Weekend!

Running in Des Moines

I am off to Des Moines this weekend to do my first half-marathon of the season, the Drake Relays on the Roads.  It has cooled off a little bit, race weather looks to be in the 40s.  But the sky should be clear, so I won't complain.

Best of Luck to Liz

My good friend Liz Berls from college is participating in the St. Anthony's Triathlon in St. Petersburg FL.  It is an olympic distance tri and it is Liz's first.  She has been a swimmer her whole life, and a natural athlete, so I am sure she will do great.  

The best part is Liz is doing the tri as a part of Team in Training, raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  

As my father actually had lymphoma a few years ago, and I am happy to say he is doing very well now, this charity is a special one for my family.  So way to go Liz, have fun on Sunday.  And for any of you looking to donate to a great cause, see Liz's site.  

Way to Go Silvia

One of my favorite pastimes is convince people what they are capable of doing.  This week my cube neighbor at work, Silvia, signed up for the Soldier Field 10 Mile race over Memorial Day weekend.  It will be her first race anywhere near that distance, and she is a little bit nervous, but I know she will do great.

Topics of the Day: Speed Work and Keeping Up with the Halls

My Peter Pan Syndrome is well documented.  

On the night of my 29th birthday, I explained to my friends that I never thought I was going to make it to 30.  This revelation was upsetting to my friends, but it was really matter of fact to me.  

It isn't that I necessarily thought I was going to die, in fact I haven't really thought about that at all  (nor do I want to.)   Rather I just never imaged myself as someone older than 30.

What does this have to do with running?  Well I am older than 31 now, and I am getting slower.

Why?  Part of it is that I am working more and running less, but a bigger part is I am just getting slower (read: not as fast as I was in college).  Well I will not go quietly into the "waddle on" running crew.  Thus, speedwork is the topic of the day.

Looking back at my racing results, the point at which I was fastest at distance was 2002.  I ran my best times in both the 10 mile and the marathon that year.  What was the difference?  I was running 6 days a week and consistently doing track work.  At the time I was training for the marathon, and had read in Runner's World about Yasso 800s.  Which is a great workout that is running half mile repeats at the time you expect to run the marathon (read the article for greater detail).  

Since I have moved to Chicago my workouts, and especially my speedwork, have not been as consistent, and it shows in my race results.

This summer I am turning a new page.  That is one of the reasons why running a 5k in 20 minutes is one of my goals.  In addition, I need to get faster for my triathlons, when I am only running 6.2 miles.   I am committed to doing the time on the track.

So last Thursday night I joined the Chicago Tri Club in the first track workout session of the season.  They hold them every Thursday at 7 at the North Park Track.  The track is actually very nice, and the group is great too.  I immediately jumped in with the "faster" runners (because when running with others, I never say no to my ego).  As it turned out, I could hang with some of them.  We were only doing 8 200s, so the workout was short, but moving forward they are going to split it into two groups doing different workouts (one long, and one short).  It was fun to be on the track with others again.  Kind of like high school track, which I always enjoyed.

So I hope to continue this commitment to doing the track work.  I am hoping it leads to a fitter me, and blazing times!

Speaking of Blazing Times and Speedwork...

One would be hard pressed to find a faster running couple than Ryan and Sara Hall.  May God help the Kenyans if these two ever have kids...  actually God may need to help the Kenyans or anyone else in the world if they plan on beating the Halls in Beijing.  

You want freaky fast?  Don't go to Jimmy John's, just watch Ryan Hall's Olympic Trials marathon in NYC last November.  He crushed the field running in 2:09 (on a hilly central park course).  Check out this Runners' World article on Ryan Hall just before he smoked everyone at the US Olympic Trials in the Marathon.  It has great stories about his first long run (15 miles at a very young age), and how he was doing 10 mile tempo runs with college teams when he was n high school.  Sick.

This week in the New York Times, there was a great article about doing races at different distance and incorporating speedwork into training regimens.  It specifically talked about how Sara Hall has come to run the mile and her training for the Olympic Trials.  

Today's Run:

Tapering 6.19 miles with CARA Training group (last one for the winter session, everyone is racing next week!).   49:51, 8:03 minute/mile

Big Weekend in US Endurance Sports

US Olympic Trials in the Triathlon
This is a BIG weekend in US endurance sports events. First, tomorrow we have the second of three Olympic Trials for the US Triathlon team in Tuscaloosa, AL. Here is a good story in Inside Triathlon that explains the qualifying and the favorites.

The third and last of the Olympic qualifying races is the Hy-Vee Triathlon in Des Moines, June 22. I will be there, although only racing against the other age-group competitors (they keep us well separated from the pros).

Patriot's Day in Boston
Then of course Monday is the third Monday in April, which in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is Patriot's Day. It is the celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord in the Revolutionary War. Traditionally the Boston Red Sox play a home game at Fenway Park and the granddaddy of all running races, the Boston Marathon, is run. I will get to the marathon in a minute, but of note with the Red Sox... every year since 1960 they have scheduled the game so that it ends about the time the runners are running through the area (so the fans can leave and cheer on the runners in Kenmore Square). Sounds like both the coolest thing ever for the runners, and a logistical nightmare.

The Boston Globe has a great overview of this weekends events, with include the 112th running of the marathon on Monday AND the US Olympic Trials for the women on Sunday. You might remember they ran the men's Olympic trials in the marathon in November the day before the NYC Marathon.

Very exciting stuff.

Here from the Boston Globe is a story of marathon runner who runs and incredible amount of races, at a very good pace. His name is Michael Wardian and he runs a sub 2:30 marathon, but he does it almost every week! Makes you wonder if this guy learned how to train for a specific race, just how fast he could be. On the other side of it, it is pretty cool that he just likes to go out and race. He will be lining up next to my fellow blogger Donald at the Western States.

So enjoy the weekend, it is a good one for endurance sports fans. Between watching some of these event on tv I am looking forward to a rainy Cubs game tomorrow here in Chicago. Hopefully they will bounce back from a tough loss yesterday. Go Cubs!

We Talking About Practice?

Yes Allen, we talkin' about practice.
Went to the Chicago Blue Dolphins practice this morning at Moody Bible Institute's pool. It was my first time going to their morning practices. They don't have a transition group at the morning practice, and there were not very many people there for a level 1 group, so Fitz threw me in with the level 2 group.

There were two full lanes of level twos, and Fitz was loving it because it felt like a swim team practice. It actually did kind of feel like high school swim practice, it was hard work and I was coming in last most of the time. The good news was it was sprint work (I can hang with that)... the bad news, they had 150s and 200s in between sprint sets (anything longer than a 75 and I start to lose my "form"). The practice was tough, but great.

Fitz also emailed me the next set of lessons. I am going to try to sign up for some. There was one that promises "Speed and Distance," which is exactly what I am looking for.

Moral of the story, I may never be an awesome swimmer, but feeling better about it all the time.

Race to Wrigley...

You just have to love a good 5k.

Why?  They are so inclusive.  Don't get me wrong, I also like 10 mile races, because not everyone can go out and walk/trot a 10 mile race.  There is some self selection in the event, which allows for it to be run by runners who understand the few unwritten rules to a running race. 

That being said, the neighborhood 5k is just as much fun, for different reasons.  First of all, they are smaller races.  Here in Chicago, the Race to Wrigley I ran on Saturday is about as big as the neighborhood 5ks get (5000 registrants).  Now there are much larger city events (Chase Corp Challange, Shamrock Shuffle get over 15,000 runners), but there are a bunch of these neighborhood events that are just great.

So pretty much everyone can get out and do a 5k.  Some people walk and run, some people do it it in under 20 minutes (me someday?), but most people finish between 20-30 minutes.  A great way to start a Sunday if you ask me.

Of course, not everyone was asking me... or wanted to hear from me for that matter.  Top on that list was What's Next Dave Gal (see above).  We celebrated a friend's new job and impending move from Chicago the night before, at which time WNDGal was trying to find excuses not to run the race the day.  Apparently the best thing she could think of was a hang over, well that didn't stop her.  

The next morning she was up and at 'em (although not pleased), and managed to brave the low 30 degree weather and threat of snow.  With WNDGal is our good friend Sara (having a laugh at poor WNDGals expense). 

On to the Race

This is only the third running of this race, and it has really improved every year.  The route is a real good one, and nice because it is in an area I know very well.  As you can see from the photos, it ends going through the Wrigley concourse, and coming out under the famous marquee.  Cool stuff.

I didn't run nearly as well as I did last year, finishing 2 minutes slower in 23:57 (ouch, I know).  Not sure what was going on with that, but it would have been slower had I not run with my co-worker Brittany.  I think much of the problem is it has only been some 14 hours since I ran 12 miles (which is my high for this year thus far.)  I thought about putting off the long run to do better in the race, but decided the schedule just did work out well if I did that.

All in all I think everyone had a good time, with the possible exception of WNDGal, who left her breakfast right around 1.5 miles into it.  Even she was glad she did it, and ran the route later in the week to prove she could do it. 

Running:

3.1 Mile Race, 24:57, 7:47 minute/mile

Have Love, Will Travel

There are few things I like doing more than going to a real good rock and roll show.  My favorite type of music is rock with a real soul blues sound to it.  The kind that makes you hurt, and the kind of music The Black Keys drop upon every unsuspecting room they play. 

What's Next Dave Gal and I had a chance to go see The Black Keys at Martyr's in Chicago on Saturday, and it rocked.  It was part of WXRT's Studio-X series, where they get a band or performer who plays big shows (in this case The Keys were playing the Riviera later in the evening) and put on a short show in a small venue which XRT then plays on the radio in it's completion typically a few weeks later.

So Martyr's might hold 2o0 people, all of which won the tickets from the radio station.  So we were pretty stoked for the mid-afternoon show.  They only played 4 songs, and one of XRTs DJ's tried to do some interviews between the songs (although The Black Keys don't give interviews, and made the whole thing very awkward, and somewhat funny).  

Although short, the show rocked.  

I read this comment about The Black Keys recently:

The Black Keys are incredible refreshing, if this doesn't want to make you eat BBQ, drink beer, smoke cigarettes and piss in your neighbors mailbox, I don't know what does.

Well, I certainly don't condone pissing in your neighbors mailbox, at least without provocation, but I understand how they certainly stir the soul.

The Black Keys also played David Letterman last night (April 17).  I was about to head to bed when I heard they were coming on.  They gave a great performance.  They are promoting their new album, Attack and Release, which is a good one if you don't already have it.  

They are also playing Chicago's Lollapalooza show in August.  I haven't decided if I am going to pony up for the ticket yet (and whether I am going to do a tri that weekend), but the line up is very intriguing (Radiohead, Wilco, The Raconteurs, Kayne West, Flogging Molly, The National, Explosions in the Sky, to name some of my favorites there).  I am hoping they put enough of then on the Friday or Saturday show that I can go one day of it.  Three days is a lot of festival for me.

Here's a listen off the new album:

Quick Workout Diddy:

So I just didn't feel good getting out of bed on Saturday, so I didn't make it to run with my CARA group (sorry Rob and Ellen), but I did do my 12 mile run in the afternoon.  It was pretty unremarkable.  A little slower pace than usual, but I was ok with that as I still wasn't feeling up to par.

Run:

12 Miles, 1:50, 9:05 min/mile pace

Fridays Rock

Congratulations to the Notre Dame Hockey team for advancing to the NCAA Championship Game
They beat Michigan 5-4 in OT in the "Frozen Four."
They next play 6 PM CST on Saturday on ESPN vs BC for all the marbles.

Happy Friday People

Sunday is the 3rd Annual Race to Wrigley 5k! I have run in it every year, and it is becoming one of my favorite race for many reasons, not least of which is the fact it is only four blocks from my house. Other highlights of this race include this its ties to my Chicago Cubs (who are on a five game win streak) and their Cubs Cares Charity, how it ends coming out under the famous Wrigley Field marquee (see right), and how I can typically get some people to do it with me.

Speaking of people who are signed up for the race, What's Next Dave Gal is not looking forward to this race whatsoever. I will save the, "Don't Over Encourage Your Girlfriend Run a Half-Marathon" post for another day, but she hasn't run much since we ran the Chicago Half Marathon together last fall. She said that she had retired from running.

So her running hibernation, plus the weather forecast (mid 30s, snow) has her preparing me for the idea that she might not run. I think she is just being silly, and with all the friends we have participating, I do not take her seriously. I will report back next week.

Notes

• Here is an article in Runner's World about Never Bonking Again (forwarded to you by the King of Bonk)
• Going to see Black Keys play tomorrow. They are a guitar heavy rock-blues duo who are in my humble opinion, bitch'in.
  
• Here's to good rivalries... (see right)
• Yesterday's Workout
  Spinning Class 60 Minutes
  Crossfit's WOD from Tuesday
  Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps,
  Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps,
  Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps
  Run 7 Miles on the Treadmill, 59:26 minutes, 8:29 min/mile pace

Early Attempt at Channel Swim... Duo Comes Up 21 Miles Short

Peak and Pond

My best friend Chuck is attempting to become the very first American to climb Mt. Everest and swim the English Channel. He has already knocked of the climbing part, and he is scheduled to swim this August. It looks like he might have some competition from an MBA student who is trying the swim a little earlier in the summer. In which case, Chuck will be the first Iowan, the first American guy with red hair, the first grandson of a Governor, and the first guy who can use the suffix XVIII after his name to do both.

Anyhow, he is back in Des Moines swimming more than I am running (seriously), which is probably good because I am not currently signed up for any races that long. The Channel is around 21 miles at it's narrowest point, although due to the current it is unlikely to actually end up being that short.

Early Attempt at the Swim

In an effort to support Chuck, the last couple of months I have been following Channel crossing news. I missed this article, but a big thanks to Chuck for pointing it out to me.

This is the story of brothers who tried to swim across the channel in a VERY early attempt in the year. Due to a number of unfortunate factors had to turn back early (after about 20 yards).

Chilly Channel defeats brothers’ swim attempt

A very funny read.

Notes

• At Chicago Blue Dolphins masters practice at the 50 meter pool on Tuesday, Fitz the swim coach says, "Do you have a blog?"
  "Uh, yeah."
  
• I am not sure why, but for an instant I was incredibly embarrassed. I guess his wife, Mrs. Fitz (his real last name is Fitzpatrick, this is a bad attempt at humor), found it through a Google alert. After I realized I really don't have too much to be embarrassed about, I asked what he thought of it. He said he was ok with it, because I say nothing but good things about the practices and lessons.


• Seeing she still has the Google alert, here is a hello and welcome to Mrs. Fitz. Sorry you had to marry a Michigan guy.


• Cubs having a rough week in Pittsburgh. Two wins, 29 innings. I will take the wins, but it is tough when you plan to go for a run after the game, and the game lasts another 6 innings.


• Here is a great blog entry from Donald and his blog, Running and Rambling. It is about lack of sleep and a recent news story that has run amok about blogging to death. The whole thing is really quite silly, but I can really relate to Donald's take. Between work, family, doing things that keep you sane, and working one's creative outlet, sleep can take a back seat sometimes. One of the many reasons I will never be a sub 2 hour triathlete, or a sub 3 hour marathoner.

An Open Letter to Lance Armstrong

Dear Lance,

I am just writing you today to wish you good luck in this year’s Boston Marathon. Hopefully they won’t have a northeaster like last year so you can make you goal of mid 2:40s.

I am also very excited to see you run the NYC Marathon this fall. Hopefully I win the lottery too, so I can run with you. By the way, that goal of mid 2:30s there is pretty cool too.

You wouldn’t be thinking about buying a beach house in Kona would you?

I am pretty sure everyone in the multisport world, with he exception of those who want to win, would love to see you there.

Yours truly,

Dave

If You Want to Win an Indoor Tri, Don't Invite Your Brother-in-Law

A big congratulations goes out to the UIC Triathlon Club for a very well run inaugural indoor triathlon. A second big congratulations goes out to the big winner, my brother-in-law Kevin Browning. Kevin blew away the field on this one, and I wasn't too surprised. He is becoming a very good triathlete. In last year's Accenture Triathlon in Chicago, in only his second tri, Kevin finished the international distance tri in 2:26.

The triathlon was done on time, 10 minutes for a swim, 30 on the spin bike, and 20 on the treadmill. They were very generous on the transitions (I think 10 minutes apiece to change), and the whole atmosphere was very laid back. It was in no way too intense, and a very inviting competition.

I am happy to report that I was very pleased with the swim. My reach goal was to swim 500 yards, and that is exactly what I swam. I stayed on pace and kept it constant throughout the 10 minutes. My next step is to master flip turns, and really work on the efficiency of my stroke, but this was HUGE improvement. Thank you Chicago Blue Dolphins.

In the photo above (taken by What's Next Dave Gal), Kevin is on the left and I am on the right. Kevin finished 26 lengths of the pool to my 20.

The bike was interesting. I had actually picked up new STP cleated shoes for this (I had wanted some for my mountain bike and spinning classes). They on measured how many times the bike wheel went around, having no measurement for resistance. Thus, you had the the resistance off and you were spinning as fast as you could. I went 14.3 "miles." Kevin too first in the bike (by a lot) with 24 "miles" in 30 minutes.

By the time I got to the run, I had some serious lactate acid build-up. On my first two steps on the treadmill I felt like I was going to visit puke city. It was at this time I remembered thinking the day before, 10 miles into that run, that I might not feel the best for my tri.

The worse part was, the high for the men's run was only 2.73 miles in 20 minutes, which would be well with in my reach if I had any legs at all under me.

But I just didn't have any fuel left in the tank. So I set the treadmill at 7:41 min/mile, and then moved it around the 8 minute mark, finishing at 2.53 miles.

Kevin did have some gas left. He kicked out 2.93 to secure his title as champion of the UIC Triathlon.

All in all, really fun experience. It was a great check up to see how the swimming is progressing, and a good reminder that I need to dust off my bike now the weather is changing.

Take homes, congrats to UIC Tri Club and Kevin, and we are on track to improve substantially in Des Moines.