I am watching Sandra Lee work. My cheeks are flushed; my heart rate is rising - rapidly; and it's getting harder and harder to breathe.
Sandra is the host of Semi-Homemade Cooking on the Food Network and today's episode is Pagoda Passion, promising" Japanese-inspired recipes that break away from everyday menu monotony." It's not the Beef Negimaki that's got me this way, even though the thought of biting into a mouthful of the teriyaki-sauce basted, thinly sliced grilled beef and combining the tang of the green onions with the succulent tenderness of the asparagus tips within is seductive. It's not the thought of downing one of the Cucumber Saki Shots and then consuming the vessel it was served in, either, although the thought is certainly warming. It's not even the sight of Sandra herself, although she does look delectable in her snug, pink, three quarter sleeve V-neck sweater. (The look is all the rage these days among women TV food show hosts, according to Elaine Louie in her NY Times article, Frump- Free Cooking: The Look That Sizzles)
No - I am on the treadmill. Running. Uphill.
In a moment of rare clarity, it occurred to me that there is probably more than just a little irony in the fact that when I am running on the treadmill trying to lose weight, my TV viewing of choice more often than not involves food. In addition to Sandra, I am also very familiar with Rachel Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Nigella Lawson, Sara Moulton and Ellie Krieger. Lest you think I only watch the women, let me assure you that I am equally familiar with the braggadocio of Bobby Flay, that I love the geekiness of Alton Brown, and that I vote right along with the judges on Iron Chef - both in Japan and in America (although I do think that Cat Cora is kinda cute).
Recognizing this, I thought I would change the channel the next time I was on the treadmill and watch something educational, like the Discovery Channel. I found my self watching the Deadliest Catch Marathon. This show chronicles the dangers faced by the captains and crews of 8 tiny crab-fishing boats in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. The seas are fierce and unforgiving and the work is back-breaking and very, very dangerous. When the catch is good, they work 28 hours straight, hauling dozens and dozens of 800 pound metal crab pots aboard, counting the catch in each, and then furiously tossing the legal ones into holding tanks.
All this hard work has got to be inspirational, right? So, how come all I can think of is that the 56 crabs in the pot would probably make one hell of an all-you-can eat crab-leg dinner, especially with a vat of warm, drawn butter?
OK - so next I turned to Dirty Jobs. Every time I think I've got it rough at work, I turn in and watch Mike Rowe do something really nasty, like scraping the sludge from inside a 5,000 gallon oil tank, collecting bat dung, getting a snake to throw up (and getting bitten three times for his efforts, draining the abscess on a llama's neck or drawing a sample of a horse's bronchial mucous by sticking a tube up its nose. No need to worry about my food obsession while watching this show, right?
Wrong! - I ran through a recent episode featuring entrepreneurs, where Mike worked with a man who takes all the left-over food from a Las Vegas hotel's buffet - and we get to see a shot of the buffet, of course. Looked great! Sure, it's not too appetizing after that, since all the left-overs (I think my daughter told me they they used to call it "ort" at Camp Colby) run down a conveyor belt, where Mike picks out unwanted things like forks and napkins, before it is ground up, moved into a vat the size of a hay silo and cooked. The oil which rises to the surface during the process is collected and sold to manufacturers who use it to make - ready for this? - women's cosmetics. The resultant slop is, fittingly, fed to pigs. Makes me want to run right out and have a pork chop!
Speaking of which, I watched one more of Mike's shows while I was running on the treadmill. In this one, he had to clean the baked-on goodness from the inside of a huge commercial BBQ oven. Of course, before he could do this, he had to empty the traps which collected the melted fat, which was poured into tanks and sold to manufacturers who - you guessed it - used it to make women's cosmetics. At the end of this gig, he did get to eat some great looking ribs, and I have to say the ribs looked a lot more appetizing than the slop-eating pigs I saw on the previous episode.
The next time I'm on the treadmill maybe I should switch to CNN and watch the political coverage - that should make me lose my appetite!
After My First Tri: Pinebush '06
Me & Coach Andrea - Armed and Dangerous!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Chills Down My Spine
It doesn't take long to figure out that no matter what sport you try, someone out there is doing it longer, harder, faster, better. Climb the Adirondack 46 High Peaks , and find out that someone has done them all in the winter, done them at night, done them barefoot or backwards. Train over the summer and successfully ride a "Century" on your bike, and discover that the strong club riders have done in 5 hours what took you 10, or that they have ridden 200 miles to your 100. So it goes.
Since I'm a back of the pack social athlete, I've figured out I'm never going to be one of those "guys" (or gals) but I do like listening to the stories. No matter what the sport, you can hear a good story just about anywhere, too, even in the locker room of your local YMCA
Let's take running - I was talking with my friend Bob today. Now Bob is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and he is very modest and not boastful in any way, shape or form. I happen to know he ran a marathon when he was younger, but the responsibilities of raising a family, working and doing all the good things that he does for the community took most of his time, and left very little for running. This year because he's an "empty-nester", with his son in law school and his daughter in college, he has a little more time, and decided to take up running again. In typical Bob fashion, he has worked very diligently at it, increasing his distance, and losing 30 pounds while he was at it. Last July, he completed the Utica Boilermaker 15K, no mean feat, and has continued to train.
Today he told me that he would like to run a half marathon someplace this fall, and a full marathon within the next two years, some time before his 50th birthday. I think that is quite a goal, and knowing Bob, he'll do it.
Since I find 5K's challenging enough, I am in awe of marathoners, especially those that I know personally, like my friend Barbara, my training partner Dodie, who did the Las Vegas Marathon in 2006, my training partner Jenn B, marathoner and mother of 3, and my new training partner Christina, the swimming sprite, who has run the Boston Marathon (before she was legally able to quaff any of Boston's finest after the race, from the looks of her!)
The guy dressing two lockers over from Bob heard us talking, and mentioned that his wife had run a marathon last year in - you know where this is going - Antartica!
"Wasn't it cold?"
"No - they ran it in February, which was their August"
Technically, she didn't exactly run on Antarctica proper - here's a little from the website:
"The course on King George Island located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula loops through the scientific research bases of Uruguay, Chile, China and Russia who provide water, medical assistance and supportive cheers. Great care is taken to leave behind zero impact on the environment in this sensitive ecosystem."
Wow! - a marathon in Antarctica - that most be the ultimate marathon accomplishment, right?
Nope - turns out they established this marathon because:
"The goal of many marathoners is to run a 26 mile race on all 7 continents. This is the only opportunity to run a marathon on the "Seventh Continent".
Yup - they established this race so that the true nut-jobs would have something really challenging to shoot for!
I would love to be a fly on the wall, some day, some where when our locker room friend is telling the story about his wife and the Antarctica Marathon and the guy two lockers down says,
"That's pretty good - one down, only six to go!"
Longer, faster, harder, better!
Since I'm a back of the pack social athlete, I've figured out I'm never going to be one of those "guys" (or gals) but I do like listening to the stories. No matter what the sport, you can hear a good story just about anywhere, too, even in the locker room of your local YMCA
Let's take running - I was talking with my friend Bob today. Now Bob is one of the nicest guys I have ever met and he is very modest and not boastful in any way, shape or form. I happen to know he ran a marathon when he was younger, but the responsibilities of raising a family, working and doing all the good things that he does for the community took most of his time, and left very little for running. This year because he's an "empty-nester", with his son in law school and his daughter in college, he has a little more time, and decided to take up running again. In typical Bob fashion, he has worked very diligently at it, increasing his distance, and losing 30 pounds while he was at it. Last July, he completed the Utica Boilermaker 15K, no mean feat, and has continued to train.
Today he told me that he would like to run a half marathon someplace this fall, and a full marathon within the next two years, some time before his 50th birthday. I think that is quite a goal, and knowing Bob, he'll do it.
Since I find 5K's challenging enough, I am in awe of marathoners, especially those that I know personally, like my friend Barbara, my training partner Dodie, who did the Las Vegas Marathon in 2006, my training partner Jenn B, marathoner and mother of 3, and my new training partner Christina, the swimming sprite, who has run the Boston Marathon (before she was legally able to quaff any of Boston's finest after the race, from the looks of her!)
The guy dressing two lockers over from Bob heard us talking, and mentioned that his wife had run a marathon last year in - you know where this is going - Antartica!
"Wasn't it cold?"
"No - they ran it in February, which was their August"
Technically, she didn't exactly run on Antarctica proper - here's a little from the website:
"The course on King George Island located off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula loops through the scientific research bases of Uruguay, Chile, China and Russia who provide water, medical assistance and supportive cheers. Great care is taken to leave behind zero impact on the environment in this sensitive ecosystem."
Wow! - a marathon in Antarctica - that most be the ultimate marathon accomplishment, right?
Nope - turns out they established this marathon because:
"The goal of many marathoners is to run a 26 mile race on all 7 continents. This is the only opportunity to run a marathon on the "Seventh Continent".
Yup - they established this race so that the true nut-jobs would have something really challenging to shoot for!
I would love to be a fly on the wall, some day, some where when our locker room friend is telling the story about his wife and the Antarctica Marathon and the guy two lockers down says,
"That's pretty good - one down, only six to go!"
Longer, faster, harder, better!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Can Zoomers Cure a Torn Hamstring?
No - not by themselves they can't. But, surprisingly, it seems they can play an important part in the rehabilitation.
So, what are the steps to rehabbing a torn hamstring? We all know the first step: R.I.C. E. = Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
The second step? Stretching.
And the third? Strengthening.
OK. Pretty logical, but what does that have to do with zoomers?
My new zoomers arrived Friday, and they came with a pretty detailed enclosure giving lots of tips and techniques for getting the most out of them. Here's what it says under the 'Improving Strokes" section about the backstroke:
"... The muscles on the back of the upper leg (i.e. the hamstrings - my parens) are weaker than those on the front of the upper leg ( i.e. the quadriceps - my parens again). Kicking downward in the water offers more resistance than kicking upward. Backstrokers kick down against more resistance with weaker muscles. Zoomers fins work these weaker muscles much more. As these leg muscles strengthen (the hamstrings - me again), your kick will push you up higher in the water and you will swim considerably faster."
In other words, lying on my back and kicking with the zoomers will not only improve my conditioning and make me fitter and a better, faster swimmer, they will do this by strengthening my hamstrings. And stronger hamstrings should not only help heal my injury, but also lessen the chances that it will happen again. All that for $29.99. Who knew? I'm getting to like these things more and more.
So, during my swim workout this afternoon, I set some time aside aside for therapy - lying on my back, and zooming.
So, what are the steps to rehabbing a torn hamstring? We all know the first step: R.I.C. E. = Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.
The second step? Stretching.
And the third? Strengthening.
OK. Pretty logical, but what does that have to do with zoomers?
My new zoomers arrived Friday, and they came with a pretty detailed enclosure giving lots of tips and techniques for getting the most out of them. Here's what it says under the 'Improving Strokes" section about the backstroke:
"... The muscles on the back of the upper leg (i.e. the hamstrings - my parens) are weaker than those on the front of the upper leg ( i.e. the quadriceps - my parens again). Kicking downward in the water offers more resistance than kicking upward. Backstrokers kick down against more resistance with weaker muscles. Zoomers fins work these weaker muscles much more. As these leg muscles strengthen (the hamstrings - me again), your kick will push you up higher in the water and you will swim considerably faster."
In other words, lying on my back and kicking with the zoomers will not only improve my conditioning and make me fitter and a better, faster swimmer, they will do this by strengthening my hamstrings. And stronger hamstrings should not only help heal my injury, but also lessen the chances that it will happen again. All that for $29.99. Who knew? I'm getting to like these things more and more.
So, during my swim workout this afternoon, I set some time aside aside for therapy - lying on my back, and zooming.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Swim the Hudson River? Not Me!
The good folks at the Y try really hard to motivate the members towards healthful lifestyles. They offer an array of classes - everything from ballet to spinning to yoga. They have a pretty impressive array of equipment - stability balls, free weights, computerized strength machine, treadmills, recumbent bikes, elliptical machines - you name it.
And to further keep you motivated and on track, they have Fitlinxx, ( http://fitlinxx.com/brand.htm ) a really cool computerized system that is hooked into most of the strength machines and automatically keeps track of every pound and every rep of every exercise you do. You can keep track of all the exercise you do off the system, too, like running, biking, even shoveling snow by hand, and enter it on-line. To top it all off, you earn Fit Points for everything you do. Keep accumulating Fit Points, move up the color bars on the graph. After one year, I am in the Red Level (that took 50,000 points ) and 19% of the way to the Brown Level ( 75,000 points ). At this rate, I have a shot at making the top level (Platinum, 500,000 points) about 5 years after I move into the Continuing Care Faciliy, and just before I shuffle off this mortal coil (Hamlet, I think.
But the folks at the Y, just like the folks at the NYS Lottery, know that they have to keep changing it up if they want the consumers to keep buying, or in this case, buying into, the product. For instance, this month, if you take 15 classes before the end of the month, you qualify for a free "prize"! Free being a relative term, because you most certainly will pay with time, sweat and a bunch of sore muscles.
Which brings me to Swimming the Hudson River. No, not the actual Hudson River, but the virtual Hudson River. The idea is to log every lap you swim, yard by yard, mile by mile, until you swim 150 miles, the length of the Hudson River. A bunch of people I know have signed up and have been swimming pretty diligently towards that pretty worthy goal.
Not me, though. I know what you're thinking: "How come a driven, compulsive, Type- A, goal-driven neurotic like me isn't all over this challenge?" Because I figured out what it means:
1760 yards to a mile times 150 miles = 264,000 yards.
264,000 yards divided by 50 yards to a lap = 5,280 Laps.
5,280 laps divided by one minute per lap divided by 60 minutes per hour = 88 hours.
88 hours divided by 2 hours per week = 44 weeks.
In other word, to reach this goal, I would have to swim for one hour, twice a week for ten months! That would be in addition to the running, biking, lifting and competing I will need to do to complete the tri's and 5 K's I have on the agenda for this year. Not to mention work and the endless "honey-do" list.
Nope - can't do it - Won't do it. Which just goes to show, even for me, there are "lenghts" to which I won't go.
And to further keep you motivated and on track, they have Fitlinxx, ( http://fitlinxx.com/brand.htm ) a really cool computerized system that is hooked into most of the strength machines and automatically keeps track of every pound and every rep of every exercise you do. You can keep track of all the exercise you do off the system, too, like running, biking, even shoveling snow by hand, and enter it on-line. To top it all off, you earn Fit Points for everything you do. Keep accumulating Fit Points, move up the color bars on the graph. After one year, I am in the Red Level (that took 50,000 points ) and 19% of the way to the Brown Level ( 75,000 points ). At this rate, I have a shot at making the top level (Platinum, 500,000 points) about 5 years after I move into the Continuing Care Faciliy, and just before I shuffle off this mortal coil (Hamlet, I think.
But the folks at the Y, just like the folks at the NYS Lottery, know that they have to keep changing it up if they want the consumers to keep buying, or in this case, buying into, the product. For instance, this month, if you take 15 classes before the end of the month, you qualify for a free "prize"! Free being a relative term, because you most certainly will pay with time, sweat and a bunch of sore muscles.
Which brings me to Swimming the Hudson River. No, not the actual Hudson River, but the virtual Hudson River. The idea is to log every lap you swim, yard by yard, mile by mile, until you swim 150 miles, the length of the Hudson River. A bunch of people I know have signed up and have been swimming pretty diligently towards that pretty worthy goal.
Not me, though. I know what you're thinking: "How come a driven, compulsive, Type- A, goal-driven neurotic like me isn't all over this challenge?" Because I figured out what it means:
1760 yards to a mile times 150 miles = 264,000 yards.
264,000 yards divided by 50 yards to a lap = 5,280 Laps.
5,280 laps divided by one minute per lap divided by 60 minutes per hour = 88 hours.
88 hours divided by 2 hours per week = 44 weeks.
In other word, to reach this goal, I would have to swim for one hour, twice a week for ten months! That would be in addition to the running, biking, lifting and competing I will need to do to complete the tri's and 5 K's I have on the agenda for this year. Not to mention work and the endless "honey-do" list.
Nope - can't do it - Won't do it. Which just goes to show, even for me, there are "lenghts" to which I won't go.
Friday, January 4, 2008
Hope Floats
Some times the simplest things can lift your spirits. For me, it was a few words from my friend Kelly, in the middle of our swim session at the Y yesterday evening.
There was no Stroke Improvement Class last night, since we are between sessions. But, since we set Thursday nights aside for class anyway, Kelly emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to the Y and swim. I thought that was a good idea, and I arranged to meet her in the pool around 7:30, after she finished a half hour run upstairs on the track.
I got there a little before 7:30, found the frogman fins in the equipment closet, and did some warm up laps. I swam on New Year's day, but only for 20 minutes, and I was really feeling the post holiday bloat and the two week layoff since the last time I attended swim class. But hey, I was moving.
Kelly came down right on time, and just like always, I was glad to see her, and I felt better because she was there. Since there were 4 or 5 other laps swimmers there, we split a lane.
She said she was a little sore from lifting the day before - she had done a couple of exercises specifically designed to strengthen her the shoulders and lats, muscles you use a lot when you swim. (By the way, today I tried the two exercises she showed me, 15 reps of each with only 5 pound hand weights, compared to the 7 or 8 she was using, and I can understand why she was sore)
As usual, she was quick and smooth and strong in the pool, although when we talked between sets, she was quick to point out the flaw in her right arm movement during her crawl stroke, and her "terrible" backstroke. She only does the backstroke - she said - because Coach Aaron makes it part of our classes. Swears she would never do the stroke on her own, especially not during a tri. In addition to the crawl, back, breast and side strokes, she used a kickboard to isolate her legs, and then she used a pull-buoy http://swimming.about.com/cs/swimequipment/l/aa_swim_gear.htm to isolate her legs. She is almost as graceful in the water as she is when she runs, and that is say, it's a joy to watch her.
I ran through a similar workout, initially just kicking with the fins to isolate my leg muscles, first lying on my front and then on my back, then adding in my arms, doing laps with the crawl, breast and back strokes - but not the side stoke: I hate the side stroke. It was fun to swim with Kelly, but I felt leaden in the water beside her.
And then I started channeling Donna, who in two short 7 week Beginner's Sessions with Coach Aaron and Coach Bob has gone from breathing during the crawl stroke with her head out of the water, swinging it back and forth like Stevie Wonder doing Fingertips, Part 1, to doing beautiful, powerful strokes - with bi-lateral rotary breathing. That is, I decided to work on bi-lateral breathing.
Back and forth I went. It's easy to breathe to the left - for years I have turned my head that way while rotary breathing. The turn to the left has been complemented by my out of water activities, too. Because I play baseball and golf right handed, swinging both a baseball bat and a golf club require strong hip rotation to the left side. This makes left side breathing in the water comfortable and natural. Turning to the right, on the other hand, is hard. Can't seem to get enough hip or head rotation, I'm lifting my neck and head out of the water to breathe, I'm not getting nearly enough air, and more annoying, I am actually swallowing water way too often. I'm feeling pretty frustrated and wondering why I bother.
Kelly's been watching me, and asks me what I'm doing, I tell her. Then she asks why, and I tell her that, too - to try to get stronger on that side to overcome my tendency to drift left while doing the crawl stroke, and to help me sight better in during tri's with open water swims.
I swim another lap and when I get reach the end of the pool where she has been watching me she says, "You are swimming so much better than you were a year ago." No big deal to her, just a casual comment. Very big deal to me. In an instant, I remember that a year ago I could not even swim the crawl for more than a few yards without tiring, that I did all my tri's with the breast stroke. An in an instant, she has buoyed me far more than a thousand laps could ever do.
Because I am energized, and I feel light and strong, I do more laps, concentrating now on snapping my hips to the right, getting my head parallel to the water, and holding that extended arm for just a beat more. And it's working. Pretty amazing for just a few words. Wonder if they can bottle that?
So, Kelly, here's to you: Thanks! You're a great training partner and an even better friend.
There was no Stroke Improvement Class last night, since we are between sessions. But, since we set Thursday nights aside for class anyway, Kelly emailed me and asked if I wanted to go to the Y and swim. I thought that was a good idea, and I arranged to meet her in the pool around 7:30, after she finished a half hour run upstairs on the track.
I got there a little before 7:30, found the frogman fins in the equipment closet, and did some warm up laps. I swam on New Year's day, but only for 20 minutes, and I was really feeling the post holiday bloat and the two week layoff since the last time I attended swim class. But hey, I was moving.
Kelly came down right on time, and just like always, I was glad to see her, and I felt better because she was there. Since there were 4 or 5 other laps swimmers there, we split a lane.
She said she was a little sore from lifting the day before - she had done a couple of exercises specifically designed to strengthen her the shoulders and lats, muscles you use a lot when you swim. (By the way, today I tried the two exercises she showed me, 15 reps of each with only 5 pound hand weights, compared to the 7 or 8 she was using, and I can understand why she was sore)
As usual, she was quick and smooth and strong in the pool, although when we talked between sets, she was quick to point out the flaw in her right arm movement during her crawl stroke, and her "terrible" backstroke. She only does the backstroke - she said - because Coach Aaron makes it part of our classes. Swears she would never do the stroke on her own, especially not during a tri. In addition to the crawl, back, breast and side strokes, she used a kickboard to isolate her legs, and then she used a pull-buoy http://swimming.about.com/cs/swimequipment/l/aa_swim_gear.htm to isolate her legs. She is almost as graceful in the water as she is when she runs, and that is say, it's a joy to watch her.
I ran through a similar workout, initially just kicking with the fins to isolate my leg muscles, first lying on my front and then on my back, then adding in my arms, doing laps with the crawl, breast and back strokes - but not the side stoke: I hate the side stroke. It was fun to swim with Kelly, but I felt leaden in the water beside her.
And then I started channeling Donna, who in two short 7 week Beginner's Sessions with Coach Aaron and Coach Bob has gone from breathing during the crawl stroke with her head out of the water, swinging it back and forth like Stevie Wonder doing Fingertips, Part 1, to doing beautiful, powerful strokes - with bi-lateral rotary breathing. That is, I decided to work on bi-lateral breathing.
Back and forth I went. It's easy to breathe to the left - for years I have turned my head that way while rotary breathing. The turn to the left has been complemented by my out of water activities, too. Because I play baseball and golf right handed, swinging both a baseball bat and a golf club require strong hip rotation to the left side. This makes left side breathing in the water comfortable and natural. Turning to the right, on the other hand, is hard. Can't seem to get enough hip or head rotation, I'm lifting my neck and head out of the water to breathe, I'm not getting nearly enough air, and more annoying, I am actually swallowing water way too often. I'm feeling pretty frustrated and wondering why I bother.
Kelly's been watching me, and asks me what I'm doing, I tell her. Then she asks why, and I tell her that, too - to try to get stronger on that side to overcome my tendency to drift left while doing the crawl stroke, and to help me sight better in during tri's with open water swims.
I swim another lap and when I get reach the end of the pool where she has been watching me she says, "You are swimming so much better than you were a year ago." No big deal to her, just a casual comment. Very big deal to me. In an instant, I remember that a year ago I could not even swim the crawl for more than a few yards without tiring, that I did all my tri's with the breast stroke. An in an instant, she has buoyed me far more than a thousand laps could ever do.
Because I am energized, and I feel light and strong, I do more laps, concentrating now on snapping my hips to the right, getting my head parallel to the water, and holding that extended arm for just a beat more. And it's working. Pretty amazing for just a few words. Wonder if they can bottle that?
So, Kelly, here's to you: Thanks! You're a great training partner and an even better friend.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom
My feet and ankles are incredibly inflexible - this means I can't bend them out into a flat plane and explains why my flutter kick propels me backwards instead of forward in the water. But, as readers of this blog know, there is a cure: Zoomers. Coach Aaron reached into his magic closet during one of the first Stroke Improvement classes, and found a red pair in just my size. I slipped them on and the results were instantaneous and miraculous: when I kicked, I went forward!
This means I can actually get from one end of the pool to the other while lying on my back and kicking. It means I swim like an otter while lying on my back and carrying a brick on my chest - no more snorting pool water during those drills. It means I can swim 50 yard melt-downs in under 45 seconds, and lose to my bare-footed friend Kelly by only 10 seconds a lap instead of 25! Of course, going faster like that also means I am working harder, fatiguing my legs and walking like a drunken bow-legged sailor on shore leave after a session - but I don't care! I love those little things.
At least, I did. Aaron, sneaky but tall and nice guy that he is, hid the little red zoomers after each workout on the top shelf in the magic closet, the better to make sure they would be there for me on Thursday nights. Two weeks ago, he retrieved them for me at the start of class and I put them on the side of the pool while I did some warm-ups barefooted. I was probably doing the breast stroke, which is a hard stroke to do with zoomers since when you do the frog kick, you turn your feet sideways and the zoomers tend to flare out and scratch your nether regions as you draw your legs in and up.
When I finished the warmups and returned to the edge of the pool - they were GONE! Aaron noted my panic and rushed right over. He noticed that a fit young man two lanes down had a remarkably similar looking pair at the edge of his lane, and went over to speak with him. Turns out this Mark Spitz guy had been a college swimmer and claimed they were his zoomers. He pointed to the markings on the tops of each fin, told us his college coach had told them to mark them thusly so they could be easily identified. I guess he had left them at the Y after a practice one day, and they had worked their way into the magic closet, until I adopted them. What could I say? They were his.
I finished the session with a pair of frogman fins that Coach found for me. They are about as long as my snow shoes, but they do fit. Don't get me wrong - I could swim really fast with them on, and my legs were getting a great workout for sure. But, they weren't my cute little zoomers.
And then the most wonderful thing happened. Santa must have heard about me and my zoomers because under the tree on Christmas morning was - an empty shoe box, with a print out from the Zoomer site, and a note from Santa telling me my very own cute little pair of zoomers were on their way to me from California. They're not here yet - but I am just certain that me and my new zoomers will be together for the start of Aaron's next session!
This means I can actually get from one end of the pool to the other while lying on my back and kicking. It means I swim like an otter while lying on my back and carrying a brick on my chest - no more snorting pool water during those drills. It means I can swim 50 yard melt-downs in under 45 seconds, and lose to my bare-footed friend Kelly by only 10 seconds a lap instead of 25! Of course, going faster like that also means I am working harder, fatiguing my legs and walking like a drunken bow-legged sailor on shore leave after a session - but I don't care! I love those little things.
At least, I did. Aaron, sneaky but tall and nice guy that he is, hid the little red zoomers after each workout on the top shelf in the magic closet, the better to make sure they would be there for me on Thursday nights. Two weeks ago, he retrieved them for me at the start of class and I put them on the side of the pool while I did some warm-ups barefooted. I was probably doing the breast stroke, which is a hard stroke to do with zoomers since when you do the frog kick, you turn your feet sideways and the zoomers tend to flare out and scratch your nether regions as you draw your legs in and up.
When I finished the warmups and returned to the edge of the pool - they were GONE! Aaron noted my panic and rushed right over. He noticed that a fit young man two lanes down had a remarkably similar looking pair at the edge of his lane, and went over to speak with him. Turns out this Mark Spitz guy had been a college swimmer and claimed they were his zoomers. He pointed to the markings on the tops of each fin, told us his college coach had told them to mark them thusly so they could be easily identified. I guess he had left them at the Y after a practice one day, and they had worked their way into the magic closet, until I adopted them. What could I say? They were his.
I finished the session with a pair of frogman fins that Coach found for me. They are about as long as my snow shoes, but they do fit. Don't get me wrong - I could swim really fast with them on, and my legs were getting a great workout for sure. But, they weren't my cute little zoomers.
And then the most wonderful thing happened. Santa must have heard about me and my zoomers because under the tree on Christmas morning was - an empty shoe box, with a print out from the Zoomer site, and a note from Santa telling me my very own cute little pair of zoomers were on their way to me from California. They're not here yet - but I am just certain that me and my new zoomers will be together for the start of Aaron's next session!
The Year of Tears and Tears
With six weddings, three showers, one Bat Mitzvah, three graduations and three funerals. 2007 was a year of many tears: tears of joy at the weddings and tears of sorrow at the funerals. I've written tributes and remembrances for my dad and for Jackie, my friend and Step Aerobics teacher, on this blog. I did not write a piece for Vince, my friend and colleague at work for many years, a huge presence and very, very vital man who died of a heart attack at 52, leaving a wife, two young adult children and a host of family, friends and admirers. Others who knew him better have done a far better job of that than I could ever hope to do. His mention here, though brief, will serve to let you know how much I admired and liked him, and how much I miss him.
It was a year that began and ended with two tears of a different sort - tears, pronounced "tares" as in a torn Achilles and a torn hamstring. I don't think either of those brought the first kind of tears - but they were close.
In August of 2006, while training for the Cazenovia tri, I ended an interval training session with my friend Maria with a flat out foot race over the last 50 yards of the course. I won - I am pretty sure she didn't let me get to the barricade first, but I am not totally sure - but I over strode, landed "funny" and pulled the Achilles on my right foot. Those of you who read the medical literature - as I get older I seem to do a lot of that - know that "pulled" is just a less threatening word for what the injury really is: a series of small tears. I spent a lot of time resting it, salving it, soaking it, and stretching it. I also learned all about strengthening the calf muscle through something called "eccentric loading". I limped into 2007 on my bum Achilles, and by March, I was finally able to run on it without pain and without fear of getting "ripped" again in the gym - the wrong way.
It was a pretty good season - 4 tri's, beginning with the indoor one at the Southern Saratoga Y in February, and culminating with the Pine bush in Albany in July. Lots of brick workouts last year, and lots of practice with Long Slow Distance. But still, I am too heavy and run too slowly and I am never going to break 1:30 next year in the PB if I don't improve my time on the run. I decided that the only way to get better at running was to run. Knowing my self, I needed something tangible to keep me working hard. So I decided to begin running 5k's, one every other week, with the performance goal of finishing under 37:14 - 12 minute miles.
Beginning the end of July, it was "Run, Ron, Run": Silks and Satins in Saratoga; Jailhouse Rock in Ballston Spa (my favorite - it has a great downhill finish and I got my PB there; Altamont (very, very hot); SEFCU; Teal Ribbon 5K (I felt the best about this one, as I ran to honor the memory of a friend's sister and to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research, a great cause) I trained for these by running at least three times a week, often at noon and often with my friends Dorie, Donna, Deanne and of course, Maria. I ran for distance - getting up to a whole 2.25 miles at a clip before I had to walk, and for strength - running hills as often as I could, around Lincoln Park, up and down the hills in Washington Park, up and down State Street and Madison Avenue, and my favorite - "The Hill" - the one just outside the Y in Guilderland - you know, the finishing hill for the PB Tri.
Here's what I learned - flat is easier that uphill, downhill is easier than flat, cool is much easier than hot, and the worst of all is hot and humid and uphill. Hey - I never said I was a Rocket Scientist.
Here's what else I learned - I know what it feels like to tear a hamstring. A hint - it's nothing like a cramp or a Charley horse. Someone asked me if it felt like a zipper being pulled - sort of, but not exactly. Mostly it reminds me of tearing the border off my paycheck, what the perfs must be feeling as I am yanking the two pieces apart. I did this on a practice run around Lincoln Park with my buddies Dorie and Donna. As usual we started from Madison Ave outside the Concourse, across from the museum. We jogged up Madison to the intersection with Swan, and stretched while we waited for Dorie. Then we crossed Madison and headed south on Swan, down the hill to Lincoln Park. Then we started up the hill to Morton. That's when I felt the "rriiiip" in the back of my left leg, and even though I had never felt anything like that before, I was pretty sure what had happened.
I have no idea why it tore. My routine was pretty much the same as always, I wasn't running particularly hard or fast, and I had been up this hill a number of times before. I stretched a little to see if it would go away, but it didn't. Didn't take too long to figure out I couldn't run on it, either. Dorie and Donna stayed with me while I walked the course - I was already dressed and on the course - and I wanted to get my Fitlinxx Points.
I took about 10 days off, icing, soaking and stretching - reading the medical literature again, of course. I felt pretty good so I went for a flat half-mile jog along the river at noon, sandwiched in between two easy half-mile walking stints. That went ok, so two days later I went for another walk-jog, this one at Rensselaer Park, sight of the start of the PB. I jogged with Donna and Deanne and Jen M on the bike path that skirts the lake and goes out to the dump. Going out - pretty good. Coming back - pretty good until I got to the last little hill before the lake and tried to push it - I could immediately feel the strain. I backed off and walked in, stretching at the end.
Three days later I entered the Crossings 5K. The practical side of me said, "Take it easy. See how you feel" The driven part of me said, "It's a flat course - you can finally get that 37:14!" A started out at a pace some where between the two, and felt ok - until I went up that first little hill by the Ciccotti Center and felt that old familiar feeling. I stopped and stretched and thought about quitting - but you know how that went - got to get those Fitlinxx Points. Bottom line, I jogged less and walked more through each successive mile until I could only walk. About 200 yards from the finish, I got passed by an out of shape 10 year old girl who had been walking the race with her mom, and who now decided she just might be able to run to the finish. Let's just say my ego was willing but my hamstring refused - I could not run - or jog - or catch her. I was pretty humiliated. I was also pretty scared that I had really done it this time.
This happened October 6. I did not run or jog in October. I did not run or jog in November. I put on 10 pounds. On December 2, I flew to San Antonio for a conference, and the hotel had a nice little workout room. On day one, I got on the elliptical machine for a half hour and felt fine. On day two, I got back on the elliptical machine for a half hour and felt fine. On day three, I got on the treadmill and walked, elevating up to 15 degrees and back down - and felt fine. At the end of the walk - I jogged, for 1 minute at 5 mph. Good news - bad news: I felt fine, but that single minute whipped me.
I've been on the treadmill a bunch of times since then, walking and jogging, on the flat and on the incline. I am not even close to where I was three months ago. I am discouraged, but I know that with a lot of work, I can get back to where I was.
But, here's what the little voice in the back of my head whispers: "What's it going to be next?" "Is there anything I can do to prevent it?" "If it happens -when it happens - how long will it take to heal this time?" Maybe I should stop listening to the little voice in my head and just put on the headphones, get on the treadmill, and get on with my life.
Happy New Year!
It was a year that began and ended with two tears of a different sort - tears, pronounced "tares" as in a torn Achilles and a torn hamstring. I don't think either of those brought the first kind of tears - but they were close.
In August of 2006, while training for the Cazenovia tri, I ended an interval training session with my friend Maria with a flat out foot race over the last 50 yards of the course. I won - I am pretty sure she didn't let me get to the barricade first, but I am not totally sure - but I over strode, landed "funny" and pulled the Achilles on my right foot. Those of you who read the medical literature - as I get older I seem to do a lot of that - know that "pulled" is just a less threatening word for what the injury really is: a series of small tears. I spent a lot of time resting it, salving it, soaking it, and stretching it. I also learned all about strengthening the calf muscle through something called "eccentric loading". I limped into 2007 on my bum Achilles, and by March, I was finally able to run on it without pain and without fear of getting "ripped" again in the gym - the wrong way.
It was a pretty good season - 4 tri's, beginning with the indoor one at the Southern Saratoga Y in February, and culminating with the Pine bush in Albany in July. Lots of brick workouts last year, and lots of practice with Long Slow Distance. But still, I am too heavy and run too slowly and I am never going to break 1:30 next year in the PB if I don't improve my time on the run. I decided that the only way to get better at running was to run. Knowing my self, I needed something tangible to keep me working hard. So I decided to begin running 5k's, one every other week, with the performance goal of finishing under 37:14 - 12 minute miles.
Beginning the end of July, it was "Run, Ron, Run": Silks and Satins in Saratoga; Jailhouse Rock in Ballston Spa (my favorite - it has a great downhill finish and I got my PB there; Altamont (very, very hot); SEFCU; Teal Ribbon 5K (I felt the best about this one, as I ran to honor the memory of a friend's sister and to raise money for Ovarian Cancer Research, a great cause) I trained for these by running at least three times a week, often at noon and often with my friends Dorie, Donna, Deanne and of course, Maria. I ran for distance - getting up to a whole 2.25 miles at a clip before I had to walk, and for strength - running hills as often as I could, around Lincoln Park, up and down the hills in Washington Park, up and down State Street and Madison Avenue, and my favorite - "The Hill" - the one just outside the Y in Guilderland - you know, the finishing hill for the PB Tri.
Here's what I learned - flat is easier that uphill, downhill is easier than flat, cool is much easier than hot, and the worst of all is hot and humid and uphill. Hey - I never said I was a Rocket Scientist.
Here's what else I learned - I know what it feels like to tear a hamstring. A hint - it's nothing like a cramp or a Charley horse. Someone asked me if it felt like a zipper being pulled - sort of, but not exactly. Mostly it reminds me of tearing the border off my paycheck, what the perfs must be feeling as I am yanking the two pieces apart. I did this on a practice run around Lincoln Park with my buddies Dorie and Donna. As usual we started from Madison Ave outside the Concourse, across from the museum. We jogged up Madison to the intersection with Swan, and stretched while we waited for Dorie. Then we crossed Madison and headed south on Swan, down the hill to Lincoln Park. Then we started up the hill to Morton. That's when I felt the "rriiiip" in the back of my left leg, and even though I had never felt anything like that before, I was pretty sure what had happened.
I have no idea why it tore. My routine was pretty much the same as always, I wasn't running particularly hard or fast, and I had been up this hill a number of times before. I stretched a little to see if it would go away, but it didn't. Didn't take too long to figure out I couldn't run on it, either. Dorie and Donna stayed with me while I walked the course - I was already dressed and on the course - and I wanted to get my Fitlinxx Points.
I took about 10 days off, icing, soaking and stretching - reading the medical literature again, of course. I felt pretty good so I went for a flat half-mile jog along the river at noon, sandwiched in between two easy half-mile walking stints. That went ok, so two days later I went for another walk-jog, this one at Rensselaer Park, sight of the start of the PB. I jogged with Donna and Deanne and Jen M on the bike path that skirts the lake and goes out to the dump. Going out - pretty good. Coming back - pretty good until I got to the last little hill before the lake and tried to push it - I could immediately feel the strain. I backed off and walked in, stretching at the end.
Three days later I entered the Crossings 5K. The practical side of me said, "Take it easy. See how you feel" The driven part of me said, "It's a flat course - you can finally get that 37:14!" A started out at a pace some where between the two, and felt ok - until I went up that first little hill by the Ciccotti Center and felt that old familiar feeling. I stopped and stretched and thought about quitting - but you know how that went - got to get those Fitlinxx Points. Bottom line, I jogged less and walked more through each successive mile until I could only walk. About 200 yards from the finish, I got passed by an out of shape 10 year old girl who had been walking the race with her mom, and who now decided she just might be able to run to the finish. Let's just say my ego was willing but my hamstring refused - I could not run - or jog - or catch her. I was pretty humiliated. I was also pretty scared that I had really done it this time.
This happened October 6. I did not run or jog in October. I did not run or jog in November. I put on 10 pounds. On December 2, I flew to San Antonio for a conference, and the hotel had a nice little workout room. On day one, I got on the elliptical machine for a half hour and felt fine. On day two, I got back on the elliptical machine for a half hour and felt fine. On day three, I got on the treadmill and walked, elevating up to 15 degrees and back down - and felt fine. At the end of the walk - I jogged, for 1 minute at 5 mph. Good news - bad news: I felt fine, but that single minute whipped me.
I've been on the treadmill a bunch of times since then, walking and jogging, on the flat and on the incline. I am not even close to where I was three months ago. I am discouraged, but I know that with a lot of work, I can get back to where I was.
But, here's what the little voice in the back of my head whispers: "What's it going to be next?" "Is there anything I can do to prevent it?" "If it happens -when it happens - how long will it take to heal this time?" Maybe I should stop listening to the little voice in my head and just put on the headphones, get on the treadmill, and get on with my life.
Happy New Year!
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