She sat on the side of the pool, shivering. At the tick of 7:30, she slid into the water, pulled on her black bathing cap,tugged the strap of the over sized goggles around the back of her head and positioned the tinted lens over her eyes. When she straightened up in the shallow end of the pool, her chin seemed barely above the water. At 4'11" she is petite, and while not fragile, she is not "ripped" or visibly muscular. So I was surprised the first time I watched her power through the water, arms windmilling, head swiveling and moving really, really fast.
After watching her swim, I wasn't surprised to find out she had run last year's Boston Marathon, nor that she had run the New York City Marathon in the fall, but I was surprised to find out that she had a beer after each - legally. I thought she was about 18, but I was wrong by a decade.
Last night she surprised me again, she being Christina, one of three sprites I share the pool with during Thursday nights' Stroke Improvement classes. While it was Thursday, and Coach Aaron was on the deck, and Christina, Jessica, Kelly, Mike and I were in the pool, there was no class, since it was school vacation week. We were all there because we had the hour blocked out in our schedules anyway, and because it sounded like a good idea.
Besides, it was really good to see everyone and catch up. Truth be told, even though Dodie was not there, there was more talking than swimming. During the chatting, Christina and Jess told us they wouldn't be participating in the March 30 indoor tri at the Guilderland Y because they would be in Washington, DC running in a marathon and half marathon respectively. Christina is "only" running a half, because she wants to peak at the Boston Marathon on April 21.
She ran a 3:58 there last year and I told her I was impressed. Christina poo-poo'd that time, and told me she was slow (slow?) because of the rotten conditions. Jess told me that she, Christina, was planning to run a 3:17 this year.
Kathy and I have wanted to see the Boston Marathon ever since Emily went to BC two years ago and described what it was like. This year we booked a hotel room on the 20th, a mile and a quarter from the course, and we plan to walk over on race day to the corner of Washington and Commonwealth and cheer for the runners as they start up the hills out of Newton - and especially for Christina.
Though taller than Christina, Jess is also petite. And strong. First time I saw her swim, I wondered what she was doing in class, because she seemed pretty good - and fast - in the water to me. Turns out that she had a flaw in her kick that was causing her leg to cramp up and fatigue as she started to pile up the laps, or the distance. Coach was able to spot the flaw and correct it. That's a good thing for Jess - since she is planning to participate in the Lake Placid Ironman in July. Considering the fact that in addition to her speed in the water she is also a strong runner, and she is also a very good cyclist - she teaches spinning classes at the Y - I am sure she is going to do a terrific job there. We may just have to make a trip to Lake Placid in July to cheer her on, too.
My friend Kelly was the third sprite in the triumvirate that night. She had been sick the entire week with a stomach bug, but she was still there working away. She felt better, but she still hadn't been able to eat much, and had been losing weight - although I don't know from where. She told me she was a little worried because she was supposed to take part in a marathon relay on Sunday - her leg was going to be 9.3 miles, and all she had eaten the last couple of days had been flat ginger ale, a few crumbs of bread - and Pepto Bismol. I told her that her teammates would certainly understand if she didn't participate. But that's not how Kelly thinks or acts.
I saw her the following Monday night at the Y - she was working at the desk and I was coming in to swim. I asked her if she had run, and if so, how she did. Not only did she run her leg, but she had done 7:30 miles, a PB for her. I asked her how she felt, and she told me her legs were a little sore. I certainly understood that. Then she told me it wasn't from the race - she said she had felt so good Monday morning, and Monday afternoon was such a lovely day outside that she couldn't waste it - so she had run 5 miles before coming to work. And her legs were a little (!) tired.
So here's to my friends and teammates - the 3 Sprites. Though they are small in stature, they do mighty deeds, and when I am with them, I feel as though I am standing among Giants!
After My First Tri: Pinebush '06
Me & Coach Andrea - Armed and Dangerous!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
First Tri of 2008
First one for 2008 is in the books!
I completed the Southern Saratoga YMCA "Love to Tri" indoor triathlon this morning.
The Event
The tri consisted of 15 minutes in the pool, 15 minutes on a spinning bike and 15 minutes on the indoor track. The participant (by gender) going the farthest in each event gets 100 points, and everyone else gets points proportional to the distance he or she covered relative to the leader. For example, if I swam 24.5 lengths (which I did) to the leader's 40 (as did the leader in Mike's heat), he would get 100 points for the swim, and I would get 61. The top three men and women, regardless of age, win prizes.
Preliminaries
I signed in and picked up my race packet yesterday (a pretty cool t-shirt) so I knew my wave didn't start until 9:40 am, and that I didn't need to be on the pool deck until 9:30. The Clifton Park Y is only 15 miles from my house, which meant I got up at a very civil 6:45 am. and left the house at 7:45 am. I had plenty of time to sign in, get numbered on my right arm and left calf, and go check out the bikes.
Last year a vendor brought in 8 super cool high tech stationary bikes, complete with HD video screens displaying virtual courses that made you feel like you were out an actual road course - the bike got harder to pedal when you went "uphill" and you slowed down if you went off the "course" No such glitz and glamor this year - they brought down 8 spinning bikes from upstairs for us to ride. I have never been on a bike like this before, and wasn't quite sure how they worked. One of the nice volunteers - and there were plenty of them there for this event - showed me how to adjust the seat up and down, and forward and backwards, and how to adjust the handlebars up and down. I memorized the settings - 6 for the handlebars, K for the seat stem height and 2.5 for the seat position, and went off to watch the earlier heats.
I got to cheer for my dentist again - he's the one who introduced me to this event last year. He's a very good competitor and did well - I think he was second in the running portion of his wave, which was lead by a very quick 6 minute miler who ran the whole race with his head cocked to the left.
Final Preparations
Then it was off to the pool. Following the tip of a participant from last year, I grabbed two side by side lockers - one for my street clothes and one for my tri gear. I wore my bike shorts, glasses and flip flops into the pool area, and carried my towel and goggles. Not knowing where I would exit the pool, I hung the towel and my glasses on the safety grab bar nearest the men's locker room, being careful to put my glasses to the side, and not on top of, my towel - no repeats from last May, when I came out of the pool, grabbed the towel and flung my glasses into a nearby field!
Jessica from our Thursday nite swim class was warming up when I got there, and I got to cheer for her during her wave. She is a good swimmer and a good triathlete.
I was pretty nervous for much of the morning, but talking and cheering for Jess, and then talking the other people in my heat - who also admitted to being nervous - calmed me down. Donna came in and it was good to see her, and talking with her took my mind even more off of being nervous.
The Swim
We got about 3 minutes to warm up, entering the pool at the shallow end. This time, I took advantage and swam a couple of laps, first with the breast and then with the freestyle. We started in the water, at the deep end of the pool. I concentrated very hard on relaxing, getting some deep breaths before the whistle, and not going out too fast. Oh, yes - I also concentrated on not talking and missing the start, like I did last year!
When the whistle blew, I started my watch, and pushed off, being careful to slow down, stretch out and breathe. My goal was to swim freestyle and complete 24 lengths (12 laps) in the 15 minutes, just about a 10% improvement from the 11 laps I did last year. How did I do? Fair - I got 24.5 laps, so I made my goal.
But, I found my self holding each wall for a second or two, both to grab a quick rest and to look at my watch to see how much time was left. Turns out, by the way, that I hadn't turned my watch to the stop watch mode, and what I kept looking at was the time of day setting not the elapsed time. This was discouraging when I thought I had only done 7 laps in 9 + minutes, way under my desired pace. I asked the volunteer counting my laps how much time was remaining, and she then let me know each time I got to that end of the pool. I felt better and was able to push harder knowing I was on target.
Also, I got tired and had to swim one length with the breast stroke about 18 lengths in. On the good side, at some points when I started to get breathless, I remembered Kiera's tip and rolled farther to my breathing side and looked up at the ceiling - that slowed me down, let me get a fuller breath and helped me recover. ( I think that's like finding your sweet spot in Total Immersion.)
No zoomers for this swim, of course, and my feet did feel naked and my legs felt disconnected from my stroke - sharp, short kicks with naked feet do not provide the power response you get when wearing zoomers. But, my arms, legs and core were definitely stronger, and I felt comfortable pulling myself through the water. Thank you, Coach Aaron and Stroke Improvement Class!
All in all, I give myself a "B" for the swim.
The Bike
You get 5 minutes between events in this tri - a lifetime compared to outdoor triathlons. But, somehow the swim clock and the bike clocks were a little out of synch - and people were late getting on the bikes, including my friend Mike. This means he and the others got less than the alloted 15 minutes to ride, and could not cover as much distance as they should have been able to do - and lost points. I felt bad for them, and especially for Mike.
I learned two things about the Spinning Bikes. First, unlike the electronic stationary bikes I am used to riding, there is no relationship between the resistance and the speed/distance registered at any level of RPM's. That is, on the electronic bikes, at 90 RPM's you may be going 12 mph at level 2, but 15 mph at level 6, meaning you would be registering more distance covered at level 6. On the Spinning Bike, it made no difference whatsoever. The goal is to find the minimum level of tension on the bike which lets you attain maximum RPM's without letting the wheel spin out of control. It took me a few minutes to figure this out, meaning I was working harder but not registering more distance.
The second thing I learned is that no matter how fast you pedal, the bikes will not register over 120 RPM's. So my frantic two minute spin at the end of the period trying to gain more distance did nothing but tire me out unnecessarily. (Well, from a training point of view, I guess it was like doing interval training...)
In other words, to register maximum distance on a Spinning Bike in 15 minutes, pedal at 120 RPM's for the duration.
Final Result: 6.42 miles. Effort "A" Results "B"
The Run
After I got off the bike, I ate a piece of orange (the host Y had oranges, bananas, water, etc both in the bike room and in the lobby), drank from my 50-50 gatorade/water, changed headbands (both color coordinated with my classic blue EMS techwick shirt, of course), popped in a fresh piece of gum and headed upstairs to the track.
Since they count laps covered, not distance covered, during this event, it's best to run, jog or walk on the inner lane. The track is a little bigger than the one at the Guilderland Y - at the Clifton Park Y it takes 14 laps around the inner most lane to cover 1 mile, while it takes 15 trips on the Guilderland track. But, since the middle or jogging lane in Guilderland is 14 laps to the mile, and that's the lane I have been training on, I felt very comfortable.
I had run a 12:18 training mile on Friday night, a little over 50 seconds per lap, and I hoped to be able to match that, and cover 17 laps, a little under 1.25 miles.
Didn't happen. I forgot how tired my legs get after hard biking, and I had done no "brick" training before the event. I was able to jog the first two laps pretty well, but then I got tired. I ended up alternating jog laps with walking laps - not what I had wanted to do at all. Even with Mike, and Jess and her sister Melanie, and Donna's friend Mike cheering me on, I only managed 15.25 laps. I did the mile in 13 minutes, and then only managed 2.25 laps in the remaining two minutes. I'm pretty sure I did a 12:30 mile last year, and ended up with more laps.
Grade: Even cutting myself some slack for loss of training in the Fall due to pulled hamstring, "C-" (Note - my cheering section did point out to me that the other guy in my wave walked the entire time, meaning that I won't be last!)
Lessons Learned
Keep working on the swimming to build endurance - and swim more often without the Zoomers.
Since the next tri, which will be at the Guilderland Y on March 30, is likely to also use Spinning Bikes for its bike leg, train on the stationary bike at high RPM's.
Work to increase the distance I run during each run workout in order to build up my leg strength and endurance.
B-R-I-C-K-S!
I am more focused and train harder if I train with other people and if I train for a specific event.
Finally, participating in events with friends, cheering for them and having them cheer for me, is the icing on the cake. I am, after all, a Social Athlete!
I completed the Southern Saratoga YMCA "Love to Tri" indoor triathlon this morning.
The Event
The tri consisted of 15 minutes in the pool, 15 minutes on a spinning bike and 15 minutes on the indoor track. The participant (by gender) going the farthest in each event gets 100 points, and everyone else gets points proportional to the distance he or she covered relative to the leader. For example, if I swam 24.5 lengths (which I did) to the leader's 40 (as did the leader in Mike's heat), he would get 100 points for the swim, and I would get 61. The top three men and women, regardless of age, win prizes.
Preliminaries
I signed in and picked up my race packet yesterday (a pretty cool t-shirt) so I knew my wave didn't start until 9:40 am, and that I didn't need to be on the pool deck until 9:30. The Clifton Park Y is only 15 miles from my house, which meant I got up at a very civil 6:45 am. and left the house at 7:45 am. I had plenty of time to sign in, get numbered on my right arm and left calf, and go check out the bikes.
Last year a vendor brought in 8 super cool high tech stationary bikes, complete with HD video screens displaying virtual courses that made you feel like you were out an actual road course - the bike got harder to pedal when you went "uphill" and you slowed down if you went off the "course" No such glitz and glamor this year - they brought down 8 spinning bikes from upstairs for us to ride. I have never been on a bike like this before, and wasn't quite sure how they worked. One of the nice volunteers - and there were plenty of them there for this event - showed me how to adjust the seat up and down, and forward and backwards, and how to adjust the handlebars up and down. I memorized the settings - 6 for the handlebars, K for the seat stem height and 2.5 for the seat position, and went off to watch the earlier heats.
I got to cheer for my dentist again - he's the one who introduced me to this event last year. He's a very good competitor and did well - I think he was second in the running portion of his wave, which was lead by a very quick 6 minute miler who ran the whole race with his head cocked to the left.
Final Preparations
Then it was off to the pool. Following the tip of a participant from last year, I grabbed two side by side lockers - one for my street clothes and one for my tri gear. I wore my bike shorts, glasses and flip flops into the pool area, and carried my towel and goggles. Not knowing where I would exit the pool, I hung the towel and my glasses on the safety grab bar nearest the men's locker room, being careful to put my glasses to the side, and not on top of, my towel - no repeats from last May, when I came out of the pool, grabbed the towel and flung my glasses into a nearby field!
Jessica from our Thursday nite swim class was warming up when I got there, and I got to cheer for her during her wave. She is a good swimmer and a good triathlete.
I was pretty nervous for much of the morning, but talking and cheering for Jess, and then talking the other people in my heat - who also admitted to being nervous - calmed me down. Donna came in and it was good to see her, and talking with her took my mind even more off of being nervous.
The Swim
We got about 3 minutes to warm up, entering the pool at the shallow end. This time, I took advantage and swam a couple of laps, first with the breast and then with the freestyle. We started in the water, at the deep end of the pool. I concentrated very hard on relaxing, getting some deep breaths before the whistle, and not going out too fast. Oh, yes - I also concentrated on not talking and missing the start, like I did last year!
When the whistle blew, I started my watch, and pushed off, being careful to slow down, stretch out and breathe. My goal was to swim freestyle and complete 24 lengths (12 laps) in the 15 minutes, just about a 10% improvement from the 11 laps I did last year. How did I do? Fair - I got 24.5 laps, so I made my goal.
But, I found my self holding each wall for a second or two, both to grab a quick rest and to look at my watch to see how much time was left. Turns out, by the way, that I hadn't turned my watch to the stop watch mode, and what I kept looking at was the time of day setting not the elapsed time. This was discouraging when I thought I had only done 7 laps in 9 + minutes, way under my desired pace. I asked the volunteer counting my laps how much time was remaining, and she then let me know each time I got to that end of the pool. I felt better and was able to push harder knowing I was on target.
Also, I got tired and had to swim one length with the breast stroke about 18 lengths in. On the good side, at some points when I started to get breathless, I remembered Kiera's tip and rolled farther to my breathing side and looked up at the ceiling - that slowed me down, let me get a fuller breath and helped me recover. ( I think that's like finding your sweet spot in Total Immersion.)
No zoomers for this swim, of course, and my feet did feel naked and my legs felt disconnected from my stroke - sharp, short kicks with naked feet do not provide the power response you get when wearing zoomers. But, my arms, legs and core were definitely stronger, and I felt comfortable pulling myself through the water. Thank you, Coach Aaron and Stroke Improvement Class!
All in all, I give myself a "B" for the swim.
The Bike
You get 5 minutes between events in this tri - a lifetime compared to outdoor triathlons. But, somehow the swim clock and the bike clocks were a little out of synch - and people were late getting on the bikes, including my friend Mike. This means he and the others got less than the alloted 15 minutes to ride, and could not cover as much distance as they should have been able to do - and lost points. I felt bad for them, and especially for Mike.
I learned two things about the Spinning Bikes. First, unlike the electronic stationary bikes I am used to riding, there is no relationship between the resistance and the speed/distance registered at any level of RPM's. That is, on the electronic bikes, at 90 RPM's you may be going 12 mph at level 2, but 15 mph at level 6, meaning you would be registering more distance covered at level 6. On the Spinning Bike, it made no difference whatsoever. The goal is to find the minimum level of tension on the bike which lets you attain maximum RPM's without letting the wheel spin out of control. It took me a few minutes to figure this out, meaning I was working harder but not registering more distance.
The second thing I learned is that no matter how fast you pedal, the bikes will not register over 120 RPM's. So my frantic two minute spin at the end of the period trying to gain more distance did nothing but tire me out unnecessarily. (Well, from a training point of view, I guess it was like doing interval training...)
In other words, to register maximum distance on a Spinning Bike in 15 minutes, pedal at 120 RPM's for the duration.
Final Result: 6.42 miles. Effort "A" Results "B"
The Run
After I got off the bike, I ate a piece of orange (the host Y had oranges, bananas, water, etc both in the bike room and in the lobby), drank from my 50-50 gatorade/water, changed headbands (both color coordinated with my classic blue EMS techwick shirt, of course), popped in a fresh piece of gum and headed upstairs to the track.
Since they count laps covered, not distance covered, during this event, it's best to run, jog or walk on the inner lane. The track is a little bigger than the one at the Guilderland Y - at the Clifton Park Y it takes 14 laps around the inner most lane to cover 1 mile, while it takes 15 trips on the Guilderland track. But, since the middle or jogging lane in Guilderland is 14 laps to the mile, and that's the lane I have been training on, I felt very comfortable.
I had run a 12:18 training mile on Friday night, a little over 50 seconds per lap, and I hoped to be able to match that, and cover 17 laps, a little under 1.25 miles.
Didn't happen. I forgot how tired my legs get after hard biking, and I had done no "brick" training before the event. I was able to jog the first two laps pretty well, but then I got tired. I ended up alternating jog laps with walking laps - not what I had wanted to do at all. Even with Mike, and Jess and her sister Melanie, and Donna's friend Mike cheering me on, I only managed 15.25 laps. I did the mile in 13 minutes, and then only managed 2.25 laps in the remaining two minutes. I'm pretty sure I did a 12:30 mile last year, and ended up with more laps.
Grade: Even cutting myself some slack for loss of training in the Fall due to pulled hamstring, "C-" (Note - my cheering section did point out to me that the other guy in my wave walked the entire time, meaning that I won't be last!)
Lessons Learned
Keep working on the swimming to build endurance - and swim more often without the Zoomers.
Since the next tri, which will be at the Guilderland Y on March 30, is likely to also use Spinning Bikes for its bike leg, train on the stationary bike at high RPM's.
Work to increase the distance I run during each run workout in order to build up my leg strength and endurance.
B-R-I-C-K-S!
I am more focused and train harder if I train with other people and if I train for a specific event.
Finally, participating in events with friends, cheering for them and having them cheer for me, is the icing on the cake. I am, after all, a Social Athlete!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Sea Turtles
Got to give Coach Aaron an A for Active Imagination, as in he always tries to come up with new and creative activities for our for swim class. He knows that there are only so many variations of "Front, Back, Side" before we get bored, no matter how good those laps are for us. So, he intersperses the lap work with brick work, variations on treading water (hands only, feet only, feet only with the brick), "melt downs" (("interval training"), races (beat your team mates) and timed 50's (beat your own time). And every now and then, something special.
Often the drills we do during our sessions are designed to work on strengthening different muscle groups. The backstroke, for example, works different arm and back muscles than the freestyle. The "chair race" drill, where one person "sits" in the water about half way between each end of the pool and sculls madly backwards towards the near end of the pool, using only his arms, while trying to beat a free-style swimming classmate headed for the same end, but starting from the far side of the pool, is designed to work the biceps and pecs, which it does. It also tests the sanity of the "chair" swimmer, since he or she is always supposed to lose the race!
Last week Aaron hurried us along through our opening drills because he wanted extra time to introduce a new drill - "The Train". I think we all should have been a little suspicious when he opened the class by asking all of us if we minded touching someone else's feet. That seemed a little weird, but we like Aaron, so we went along with it. Turns out that none of the five of us professed to have any particular problem with feet, and besides, we wanted to see what he was up to.
Sure enough, about half way through class, he assembled us all at the deep end of the pool and introduced us to "The Train" or at least, he tried to. Again, we should have been suspicious when he told us that he had a new drill and that he had tried it out first with his class of kids. They loved the drill and "got it" immediately.
The object of this drill is to work the arm muscles of the lead swimmer, or "locomotive", in the train. He (or she) has to pull the entire train, using just his arms, since the "car" behind him connects by grabbing onto his to feet, meaning he cannot use his legs for propulsion. Each "car" in turn, grabs onto the legs of the person in front, until the train is fully formed. Then the locomotive has to pull the train to the other end of the pool. At least that's the theory.
We, apparently, are not smarter that a group of 5th graders. I volunteered to be the first "locomotive". Initially, I had to really work to try to go forward and then, all of a sudden, I shot forward. Turns out the "cars" behind me couldn't stay connected to each other. Aaron, standing at the deck at the end of the pool, was exasperated.
"What's wrong?"
"We can't hold our breath that long!"
"Who told you to hold your breath? Just breathe!"
So, we tried it again, with everyone breathing and then putting his or her face in the water, exhaling, and then repeating. That went ok for a few seconds - and then the train "derailed" again.
If Aaron hadn't had buzzed nearly all his hair off, he would have begun pulling it out at this point.
"Now what's wrong?"
"We're sinking!"
Turns out all the sprites and elves behind me had too little body fat to float, and I wasn't pulling the train fast enough to keep them above water.
Not to fear - Coach gets a big "C" for creativity and using his noodle. Or more precisely, the Y's noodles. He went into the storage room at the side of the pool, and came out with 5 swim noodles. These 5' long green foam tubes, each about the thickness of my arm, are very buoyant, and great flotation aids. Coach had each of us put the tubes under our arms and across our chests. This worked like a charm, and off we went to the other end of the pool. At that point, we switched "locomotives", changed the line-up, and off we went again to the other end, where we repeated the process, until every had a chance to pull the train.
At first I felt bad for Christina and Jess and Kelly, since they had to pull not only their fellow sprites, but also me and Gil. But they are pretty strong and they did fine, doing both the breast stroke and the arm over arm freestyle. Gil did a super job, too.
As you might imagine, Aaron did not call "All aboard" this week - he didn't give a specific reason, but I'm guessing that it just took too long to get through the drill, especially with us. Since Mike and Dodie were in class this week (but not Christina and Jess) and they didn't know how to do the drill and would have had to be taught. Of course, he did mention that his kids loved the drill and asked him first thing in class to do it again.
Kelly was busting on me, complaining that she had had to drag my butt around the pool last week. I told her at least I had a butt! Then I tried to explain the physics of the drill, that since we floated, the "locomotive" had to pull the mass and not the weight of the group.
Kelly piped up and said, "That's what I said - I had to drag your a** up and down the pool!" I gave up.
One last note: Kathy has been coming to the Y on Thursday nights and after she walks upstairs on the track, she comes down to the pool. I asked her if she had seen any of the class, and if so, what she thought. She said she hadn't seen much, but at one point she glanced over and thought we all looked like a bunch of sea turtles.
Some how, I don't think that's what Coach had in mind.....
Often the drills we do during our sessions are designed to work on strengthening different muscle groups. The backstroke, for example, works different arm and back muscles than the freestyle. The "chair race" drill, where one person "sits" in the water about half way between each end of the pool and sculls madly backwards towards the near end of the pool, using only his arms, while trying to beat a free-style swimming classmate headed for the same end, but starting from the far side of the pool, is designed to work the biceps and pecs, which it does. It also tests the sanity of the "chair" swimmer, since he or she is always supposed to lose the race!
Last week Aaron hurried us along through our opening drills because he wanted extra time to introduce a new drill - "The Train". I think we all should have been a little suspicious when he opened the class by asking all of us if we minded touching someone else's feet. That seemed a little weird, but we like Aaron, so we went along with it. Turns out that none of the five of us professed to have any particular problem with feet, and besides, we wanted to see what he was up to.
Sure enough, about half way through class, he assembled us all at the deep end of the pool and introduced us to "The Train" or at least, he tried to. Again, we should have been suspicious when he told us that he had a new drill and that he had tried it out first with his class of kids. They loved the drill and "got it" immediately.
The object of this drill is to work the arm muscles of the lead swimmer, or "locomotive", in the train. He (or she) has to pull the entire train, using just his arms, since the "car" behind him connects by grabbing onto his to feet, meaning he cannot use his legs for propulsion. Each "car" in turn, grabs onto the legs of the person in front, until the train is fully formed. Then the locomotive has to pull the train to the other end of the pool. At least that's the theory.
We, apparently, are not smarter that a group of 5th graders. I volunteered to be the first "locomotive". Initially, I had to really work to try to go forward and then, all of a sudden, I shot forward. Turns out the "cars" behind me couldn't stay connected to each other. Aaron, standing at the deck at the end of the pool, was exasperated.
"What's wrong?"
"We can't hold our breath that long!"
"Who told you to hold your breath? Just breathe!"
So, we tried it again, with everyone breathing and then putting his or her face in the water, exhaling, and then repeating. That went ok for a few seconds - and then the train "derailed" again.
If Aaron hadn't had buzzed nearly all his hair off, he would have begun pulling it out at this point.
"Now what's wrong?"
"We're sinking!"
Turns out all the sprites and elves behind me had too little body fat to float, and I wasn't pulling the train fast enough to keep them above water.
Not to fear - Coach gets a big "C" for creativity and using his noodle. Or more precisely, the Y's noodles. He went into the storage room at the side of the pool, and came out with 5 swim noodles. These 5' long green foam tubes, each about the thickness of my arm, are very buoyant, and great flotation aids. Coach had each of us put the tubes under our arms and across our chests. This worked like a charm, and off we went to the other end of the pool. At that point, we switched "locomotives", changed the line-up, and off we went again to the other end, where we repeated the process, until every had a chance to pull the train.
At first I felt bad for Christina and Jess and Kelly, since they had to pull not only their fellow sprites, but also me and Gil. But they are pretty strong and they did fine, doing both the breast stroke and the arm over arm freestyle. Gil did a super job, too.
As you might imagine, Aaron did not call "All aboard" this week - he didn't give a specific reason, but I'm guessing that it just took too long to get through the drill, especially with us. Since Mike and Dodie were in class this week (but not Christina and Jess) and they didn't know how to do the drill and would have had to be taught. Of course, he did mention that his kids loved the drill and asked him first thing in class to do it again.
Kelly was busting on me, complaining that she had had to drag my butt around the pool last week. I told her at least I had a butt! Then I tried to explain the physics of the drill, that since we floated, the "locomotive" had to pull the mass and not the weight of the group.
Kelly piped up and said, "That's what I said - I had to drag your a** up and down the pool!" I gave up.
One last note: Kathy has been coming to the Y on Thursday nights and after she walks upstairs on the track, she comes down to the pool. I asked her if she had seen any of the class, and if so, what she thought. She said she hadn't seen much, but at one point she glanced over and thought we all looked like a bunch of sea turtles.
Some how, I don't think that's what Coach had in mind.....
Sunday, February 10, 2008
There's No Place Like (The) Home!
The season has been over for a while now, and it ended in disappointment. Fortunately, the sport lends itself to redeeming moments, and the new season is almost here. To get ready, though, you need to train, to learn new things, to work on your weaknesses,to polish your strengths. But, it is tough to get outdoors and train hard in the middle of a cold NE winter. What to do?
Easy - do what has been done for years - go someplace where it's warm! The perfect spot would add solid facilities and equipment into the mix, and a great training table, because nutrition is vital. There should be a bunch of recreational opportunities near-by, because even the serious don't train every minute of every day. To top it off, you absolutely need good people to share the experience with you.
I know the perfect spot: since I am talking about triathlons and not baseball, and me and not the Mets, the perfect spot is not Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie - it's Doris's Rest Camp at "The Home", in Boca Raton.
To be fair, it's not really called "the Home". That's just the verbal shorthand my sisters and I use, because its real name is the A.C.T.S Retirement Life Community at St. Andrews South. For the last nine years my mom, and until last November, my dad, have lived there and at least once every winter, I go down to visit. Often I go down in January, to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is on January 22. Sometimes we get a twofer in, because my sister Tammy, who lives in FL, but 8 hrs away, has her birthday on the 23rd.
I like The Home - I'm not ready to move in yet - but I like it, and I think it makes a perfect winter training location. First, the weather in January is terrific. Mom often frets and tells me the weather is fickle and it can be chilly in January - daytime highs could drop way down into the 60's!
The facility has it's own training room, too. It's not fancy, but it has treadmills and an elliptical - both brand new on this trip, and recumbent bikes. It has weight machines for all the essential body parts, and an ab frame, so you can get down on the mats and crunch away. It's air-conditioned, of course, and you can go any time of the day or night.
They have three outdoor pools, too, all within easy walking distance, and two of them are heated. I admit that they are short, and only one is ok - barely - for lap swimming. But that's not really a problem, because the Boca YMCA is only two miles away, and it has great pools, and just about every kind of fitness equipment available. Of course, the hours at the Y aren't quite as good as they are at The Home, but you've always got to make trade-offs.
I think the food at the home is great, too. They have a full service dining hall, staffed by a terrific crew of polite, friendly and very nice local high school and college kids. If you don't like the daily specials, you can have chicken or fish or prime rib every day. You can choose from a half different kinds of salad every day, and get the dressing of your choice.
Lots of drink choices, too - water, coffee, hot or iced-tea, lemonade, and my personal favorite - buttermilk. ( No booze, but a fair number of the residents gather in each other's apartments for cocktails before coming down to dinner) I always get a large glass of buttermilk when I eat there - cold and tangy and contrary to what you might think, very low in calories.
Add to that a half dozen different sides, including white or sweet potato every day, and a half dozen different desserts - you can mix and match those too - pie ala mode, anyone? You can tailor your meals to any diet or dietary restriction you can think of, including regular, low sodium, low sugar, or any combination. And you can have a half portion or a double portion - just ask. When you're done, the nice staff clears the dishes and does them! How can you beat that? The only down side - you have to dress for dinner - that means a blazer and shirt for men (no tie required, though), every night except Monday or Friday - you can go Casual on those two nights. Or you can eat in the new Cafe, which is casual all the time.
As far as recreation, pick it: beach, shopping, theater, movies, golf, clubbing, bingo - you name it, it's five minutes away. Don't laugh: my mom turned her 50 cents into $7 one night while I was there!
On this visit, I also helped my mom pack to get ready to move. She is staying at The Home, but moving one building away to a smaller, one-bedroom apartment. So, I added weight lifting to my training - sorting through the hundreds of books, CD's, cassette tapes and video tapes my father had collected, boxing them and either getting them ready to be moved to the new apartment, donating them or tossing them. Great for the arms, quads and glutes.
After getting all the books of the 7 foot bookcase, I got to get a little speed work in, too - chasing after all the dust bunnies! My mom is 86 - even though she is in great shape, you don't think she was going to be getting up on the ladder to dust, did you? Although, knowing my mother she might have - I had to fight with her so she didn't try to carry boxes of books to the dumpster!
The people there are not only nice, they are also bright, and active and very interesting. Lots of them were CEO's,lawyers, doctor's, ministers, etc. before they retired - you name it, they came from a broad cross-section of professions. Makes for very stimulating dinner conversation.
Very good for my ego, too - they think I'm superman in the gym - and yes, many of them are right there in the gym with me.
Finally, you know I've always maintained that once I hit middle age, I became invisible to women (not that I was any great stud muffin when I was younger). At The Home, I noticed that there is a corollary to that rule - once the women hit 85, I am suddenly visible again! And given the way the sexes age, there's a lot less competition, too.
In conclusion, I think The Home is the perfect winter training spot. After all, I lost 5 pounds and came back stronger and faster after my last visit.
In all seriousness - as I said earlier, I'm not ready to move in yet, but I am very glad that my mom lives there. Be great if I had a place to go like that when I needed it, too. God willing, I hope that I remain a visitor there for many years to come.
Easy - do what has been done for years - go someplace where it's warm! The perfect spot would add solid facilities and equipment into the mix, and a great training table, because nutrition is vital. There should be a bunch of recreational opportunities near-by, because even the serious don't train every minute of every day. To top it off, you absolutely need good people to share the experience with you.
I know the perfect spot: since I am talking about triathlons and not baseball, and me and not the Mets, the perfect spot is not Tradition Field in Port St. Lucie - it's Doris's Rest Camp at "The Home", in Boca Raton.
To be fair, it's not really called "the Home". That's just the verbal shorthand my sisters and I use, because its real name is the A.C.T.S Retirement Life Community at St. Andrews South. For the last nine years my mom, and until last November, my dad, have lived there and at least once every winter, I go down to visit. Often I go down in January, to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is on January 22. Sometimes we get a twofer in, because my sister Tammy, who lives in FL, but 8 hrs away, has her birthday on the 23rd.
I like The Home - I'm not ready to move in yet - but I like it, and I think it makes a perfect winter training location. First, the weather in January is terrific. Mom often frets and tells me the weather is fickle and it can be chilly in January - daytime highs could drop way down into the 60's!
The facility has it's own training room, too. It's not fancy, but it has treadmills and an elliptical - both brand new on this trip, and recumbent bikes. It has weight machines for all the essential body parts, and an ab frame, so you can get down on the mats and crunch away. It's air-conditioned, of course, and you can go any time of the day or night.
They have three outdoor pools, too, all within easy walking distance, and two of them are heated. I admit that they are short, and only one is ok - barely - for lap swimming. But that's not really a problem, because the Boca YMCA is only two miles away, and it has great pools, and just about every kind of fitness equipment available. Of course, the hours at the Y aren't quite as good as they are at The Home, but you've always got to make trade-offs.
I think the food at the home is great, too. They have a full service dining hall, staffed by a terrific crew of polite, friendly and very nice local high school and college kids. If you don't like the daily specials, you can have chicken or fish or prime rib every day. You can choose from a half different kinds of salad every day, and get the dressing of your choice.
Lots of drink choices, too - water, coffee, hot or iced-tea, lemonade, and my personal favorite - buttermilk. ( No booze, but a fair number of the residents gather in each other's apartments for cocktails before coming down to dinner) I always get a large glass of buttermilk when I eat there - cold and tangy and contrary to what you might think, very low in calories.
Add to that a half dozen different sides, including white or sweet potato every day, and a half dozen different desserts - you can mix and match those too - pie ala mode, anyone? You can tailor your meals to any diet or dietary restriction you can think of, including regular, low sodium, low sugar, or any combination. And you can have a half portion or a double portion - just ask. When you're done, the nice staff clears the dishes and does them! How can you beat that? The only down side - you have to dress for dinner - that means a blazer and shirt for men (no tie required, though), every night except Monday or Friday - you can go Casual on those two nights. Or you can eat in the new Cafe, which is casual all the time.
As far as recreation, pick it: beach, shopping, theater, movies, golf, clubbing, bingo - you name it, it's five minutes away. Don't laugh: my mom turned her 50 cents into $7 one night while I was there!
On this visit, I also helped my mom pack to get ready to move. She is staying at The Home, but moving one building away to a smaller, one-bedroom apartment. So, I added weight lifting to my training - sorting through the hundreds of books, CD's, cassette tapes and video tapes my father had collected, boxing them and either getting them ready to be moved to the new apartment, donating them or tossing them. Great for the arms, quads and glutes.
After getting all the books of the 7 foot bookcase, I got to get a little speed work in, too - chasing after all the dust bunnies! My mom is 86 - even though she is in great shape, you don't think she was going to be getting up on the ladder to dust, did you? Although, knowing my mother she might have - I had to fight with her so she didn't try to carry boxes of books to the dumpster!
The people there are not only nice, they are also bright, and active and very interesting. Lots of them were CEO's,lawyers, doctor's, ministers, etc. before they retired - you name it, they came from a broad cross-section of professions. Makes for very stimulating dinner conversation.
Very good for my ego, too - they think I'm superman in the gym - and yes, many of them are right there in the gym with me.
Finally, you know I've always maintained that once I hit middle age, I became invisible to women (not that I was any great stud muffin when I was younger). At The Home, I noticed that there is a corollary to that rule - once the women hit 85, I am suddenly visible again! And given the way the sexes age, there's a lot less competition, too.
In conclusion, I think The Home is the perfect winter training spot. After all, I lost 5 pounds and came back stronger and faster after my last visit.
In all seriousness - as I said earlier, I'm not ready to move in yet, but I am very glad that my mom lives there. Be great if I had a place to go like that when I needed it, too. God willing, I hope that I remain a visitor there for many years to come.
Hot! Hot! Hot
This, after Stroke Improvement Class two weeks ago:
Christina - "Are we going in the hot tub?"
Jess - "Are you kidding? That's the best part of the night!"
So off we went, easing into a corner, and letting the jets and hot water loosen everything. As we relaxed, we talked - and one by one, we shared our fantasies.
Gil's fantasy is sleek, and very responsive. Though her clothes shimmer and she wears silver on the outside, underneath she favors black. When he stretches out over her and she responds to his wishes, she can really, really move. Beauty and performance do not come cheaply - but he's pretty sure she's the one, and he's been saving up and says he's willing to pay what it will take to own her.
Jess confessed that knew what she wanted - and that she had gone out and got it! Her needs were, shall we say, "specialized".
Mike admitted that years of pounding had worn out one of his "parts". He thought he could get someone to help him rehab it, that it would feel better and be a little easier than doing it by himself the old way. But she told him that he needed go faster, and work "harder" - and then she made him stand up! (Gil admitted he had tried it once - but he wasn't sure it was meeting his needs, wasn't sure he was getting into the right "zone.")
Speaking of zones, Christina takes a more "asian" approach - she prefers doing it rhythmically, over a protracted period of time, to reach a feeling of "Zen". Sometimes, she admitted, she will practice the art for four hours!
Mike told us that he, too, was attracted to the "asian style", but that he was considering a different kind of "discipline"
Several of us were familiar with the arcane language and postures of a different pursuit, one that encourages you to leave one in front until the other catches up, that encourages you to find your own "sweet spot", that teaches the benefits of powerful hip rotation. Jess pointed out that the technique is very technical. Although none of us had sought the help of a professional, Jess did have two videos, and I had two books to help us learn. (I ordered my "aids" through the mail - discretely. I don't know how Jess got hers.) I lent one of my books to Kelly, but before she could get through it, her husband confiscated it and read it cover to cover - I guess he wants to improve his technique, which is already superior (Don't ask!). We all agreed that to get really good at it, we needed to become totally immersed.
Me? I admit that after two years of indulging in the more traditional activities , I am a little intrigued by the thought of about crossing over. But I am not so sure I can get into the "Hurts So Good" thing.
Nope - the idea that's been slowly twisting in the recesses of my mind lately involves a penguin and LSD. Pretty kinky, huh? Could take me a whole year to work that one out!
Christina - "Are we going in the hot tub?"
Jess - "Are you kidding? That's the best part of the night!"
So off we went, easing into a corner, and letting the jets and hot water loosen everything. As we relaxed, we talked - and one by one, we shared our fantasies.
Gil's fantasy is sleek, and very responsive. Though her clothes shimmer and she wears silver on the outside, underneath she favors black. When he stretches out over her and she responds to his wishes, she can really, really move. Beauty and performance do not come cheaply - but he's pretty sure she's the one, and he's been saving up and says he's willing to pay what it will take to own her.
Jess confessed that knew what she wanted - and that she had gone out and got it! Her needs were, shall we say, "specialized".
Mike admitted that years of pounding had worn out one of his "parts". He thought he could get someone to help him rehab it, that it would feel better and be a little easier than doing it by himself the old way. But she told him that he needed go faster, and work "harder" - and then she made him stand up! (Gil admitted he had tried it once - but he wasn't sure it was meeting his needs, wasn't sure he was getting into the right "zone.")
Speaking of zones, Christina takes a more "asian" approach - she prefers doing it rhythmically, over a protracted period of time, to reach a feeling of "Zen". Sometimes, she admitted, she will practice the art for four hours!
Mike told us that he, too, was attracted to the "asian style", but that he was considering a different kind of "discipline"
Several of us were familiar with the arcane language and postures of a different pursuit, one that encourages you to leave one in front until the other catches up, that encourages you to find your own "sweet spot", that teaches the benefits of powerful hip rotation. Jess pointed out that the technique is very technical. Although none of us had sought the help of a professional, Jess did have two videos, and I had two books to help us learn. (I ordered my "aids" through the mail - discretely. I don't know how Jess got hers.) I lent one of my books to Kelly, but before she could get through it, her husband confiscated it and read it cover to cover - I guess he wants to improve his technique, which is already superior (Don't ask!). We all agreed that to get really good at it, we needed to become totally immersed.
Me? I admit that after two years of indulging in the more traditional activities , I am a little intrigued by the thought of about crossing over. But I am not so sure I can get into the "Hurts So Good" thing.
Nope - the idea that's been slowly twisting in the recesses of my mind lately involves a penguin and LSD. Pretty kinky, huh? Could take me a whole year to work that one out!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)