Alternative pool in West Virginia

My last post was about the prospect of our pools shutting down again due to the worsening pandemic. I said if that happened, I'd take dryland workouts more seriously than before. And that's still true. However, my wife doesn't handle the word "no" very well, so when the governor's orders came down, closing all fitness centers as of Saturday morning, she went on the search for alternatives. She found the Aquatics Center at Mylan Park outside Morgantown, WV. It is a new facility where the swim teams at WVU compete, and the competition pool is open a lot of hours to the public each week. West Virginia is so far not experiencing the surge of coronavirus (and it's a more conservative state), so its facilities are still open. Further, Pennsylvania travel restrictions allow for trips out of state if they are for less than 24 hours. So, we went. Admittedly, we are still supposed to reduce non-essential travel, and this excursion doesn't qualify as "essential," no matter how my wife tries to parse it. Nevertheless, from a public health perspective, the Morgantown area has fewer cases of COVID-19 than our home county, so what we did was relatively safe.

So now that I've gotten that off my chest (I'm a stickler for rules and feel bad if I don't follow them), let me tell you a couple more things about this workout. First, the day became frustrating when, after a 1.3 hour car trip, I sat in the driver's seat in the parking lot and stretched my back. It was a natural thing to do, but when I did, I felt a pop and knew immediately that I had torn a muscle fiber in my upper back. This is a chronic injury that happens an average of once per year. My last incidence was more than a year and a half ago, so I guess it was time. Sometimes the injury is so severe that it keeps me in bed for days afterward. More recently, the injuries are mild and only sideline me for a day or two. The problem is, I never know which kind of injury it is until the next day.

I didn't know if I could swim, but I tried and it worked. I was very gentle and didn't do any flip turns, nor did I stretch my arms out front like I have been trying to do. A day later (as I write this), i can report that my injury was mild and I can return to working out tomorrow. Yay!

The facility is an exceptional one. It is smaller than the Spire Institute in Ohio, but seems to be built for the same kind of swimmers: high-caliber competitive athletes. Olympians would be comfortable training there, as the pool is state of the art, best I can tell.

As I said, I didn't do any hard swims there, and regardless of my back injury I hadn't intended to. This day was supposed to be a long run on my workout calendar. I wanted to accommodate my wife on this spur-of-the-moment trip, so I just figured I'd do a treadmill run at home when we returned. I didn't. You see, this day (yesterday) was the very last day of my maintenance training plan. I've been following Phil Mosley's 12-week triathlon intermediate maintenance plan, and it ended today. This was to get me fit enough to start serious Ironman training for IMLP in July 2021. I've now purchased the 30-week advanced masters long-course training plan, and that will start at the end of this month. Therefore, I'm in-between plans, and so today, as I'm recovering from the muscle pull, I did no workouts! I actually felt fidgety, which is a good sign. I'm looking forward to more training. Despite what I sometimes write, it's the training that is really my favorite part of this ironman life.

Will my pool shut down again?

The coronavirus pandemic is getting worse and worse by the day. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, has just announced that all pools and gyms will close beginning December 12. I don't live in Allegheny County, but I live nearby, so I'm wondering when and if this becomes a statewide mandate like last spring. I'm a huge proponent of staying safe and reducing risk, so I will not complain if my pool access is prohibited. However, I need a plan. 

Last spring, all pools were shut down for about six weeks. At the time, I was training for Ironman Lake Placid and swam a little over 18,000 yards in the month of February. I was using the pool at our local YMCA. Then, halfway through March, the facility closed. I just shrugged and kept running and bike riding until the end of May when I learned that IMLP was cancelled. If it wasn't for my wife's almost obsessive need to swim, I would not have started to swim again until the pool at my college opened up in the fall. But Shannan is a stubborn one, and she convinced me to go with her on the hour-long drive to Moraine State Park each week during the summer to swim in the lake. I'm not complaining here. I'm glad we did that. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention what Shannan was doing during the spring shutdown. She bought an outdoor pool and set it up in March when the air temperature was still cool and the water was even colder. She wore her wetsuit and strapped a bungee around her waist, and went swimming in the pool. I was very impressed with this...though not impressed enough to join her. That water was too cold.

I'm writing about all this now because I need to figure out what to do before the college pool shuts down. In the month of November I swam almost 13,000 yards, and my planned yardage will only increase as I once again begin training for IMLP. It really is too cold now to set up the backyard pool. First, the water will freeze, but more importantly, the pool has a fatal leak and needs to be replaced. Open water swimming is out as well, due to the cold weather. So that leaves dryland workouts. I really, really, don't like those because I'm not confident I'm doing them right, and they don't seem hard enough. No wait, those aren't my true concerns. I guess I'm just not convinced they are worth it. I don't see how exercising my arms with an elastic band is doing the same thing as swimming laps. 

I know, this is my own stubbornness talking, and my concerns aren't even true. Swimming is, in one sense, a cardiovascular workout. If I cannot swim, it's not necessary for me to make up the deficit because I'll be doing biking and running to keep my heart and lungs and blood vessels in top shape. Swimming, in another sense, is a strength workout for muscles, and if I take time off from that, my muscles will miss it. It is this aspect that can be made up--at least a little--with appropriate dryland workouts. My plan, therefore, is to find dryland swimming workouts to do and do them. If I am unsure of how to do them, I will study them. I might even video myself to see if I am doing them correctly. And if I need to purchase more gym equipment, let's go. We just bought a treadmill. I might as well add to the collection. 'Cause who knows how long this pandemic will go on. I want to be optimistic, but I'm really not. Vaccine distribution won't proceed as smoothly as predicted since no one has experience doing it on such a giant scale.

I'm writing about that nowIt reopened for a time over the summer but it was under such financial burden that it closed again. Today the YMCA is open for a few activities but it's on life-support and if it comes back to life, it won't be until late 2021. 

AMYMSA Edinboro

Race:
Date: September 15, 2019
Location: Edinboro University

The start of swim season! I've been concentrating on my running, plus work has been busy, plus I had a cut on my finger (squirrel bite), so I haven't been swimming much. That's pretty much what everyone else at Masters said, so I fit right in. No pressure today.

100-yard freestyle: I didn't beat my seed time, but was close. My turns were not explosive at all; my legs are tired from a 12-mile run yesterday.

25-yard backstroke: It took almost the whole length to get my legs up and finally get into a good rhythm. I feel like I might be kicking too hard at first, causing some kind of drag on my legs.

50-yard freestyle: I beat my seed time by almost a second, coming in at 29.18 seconds. This is not bad at all for the start of the season. It felt good; I concentrated on NOT fishtailing the whole way and took limited breaths.

25-yard butterfly: Felt good, but not fast at all!

Overall, a good time. I have just recently signed up for Ironman Lake Placid (July 2020) so I'm going to take my swimming more seriously this year. And my biking. And my running. And my protein intake. And my lifting. And my blogging! It's going to be my last full-length triathlon so I want to get the most out of it. We'll talk soon.

Masters Swim Champs 2019

I’ve had trouble with motivation the last 6 months, so my running, biking, weight-training, and swim training have all been less than normal. I started the weekend knowing I was not in top condition, but I still had hope for some good swims because I started taking my swim training more seriously in the last month. I did a lot of sprints to get my body used to swimming fast. Based on my results, it seems that even if I did wait until the last minute (figuratively) to get into shape, it worked! I am lucky. Here’s the rundown:

 

SATURDAY

Event #4, 100-yard Individual Medley

I had not swum this event in competition since Oct 2017, and I can’t remember the last time I actually practiced it. I had no expectation for this swim, so I told myself it was just for fun. However, I didn’t want to be embarrassed, so I decided to practice it three times about 90 minutes before my start. It didn’t feel good. My arms felt tired. Anyway, during the actual race I think my dive was fine but I forgot to streamline underwater before starting the butterfly stroke. Then on backstroke, my legs sank for half the pool length. By the time I got to the freestyle segment I was finally hitting my stride, and I powered to the finish. My finish time was 1:15.23, which was 5% slower than my personal best. I was pleased with this, as I had predicted a slower swim.

 

Event #6, 50-yard Butterfly

I always try to visualize my performance on the starting block before the starting beep. I had planned to concentrate on three things in this swim: a good dive, limiting myself to just 2 breaths, and stretching out my arms with each stroke. Unfortunately, I was distracted on the starting bock by the fact that I grabbed the wrong pair of goggles. I had on my older pair, and while there is nothing wrong with them, the inadvertent change in plans caused me to lose concentration. I dove well, surfaced, and then skimmed across the water. I was thinking about when I should take my first breath and then suddenly I was at the wall. I just wasn’t thinking ahead and because my goggles were fogged up, I didn’t see the black warning markers at the bottom of the pool. In mid-stroke at the last possible moment, I saw the wall and made a very awkward turn. My finish time was 32.35 seconds, my season’s best time, but 8% slower than my historical best time. Besides the poor turn, I totally forgot to increase my arm reach with each stroke, so that’s how I can improve next time.

 

Event #11, 200-yard Freestyle

I was fairly optimistic about this swim. I had practiced it at the YMCA all month, working on my flip turns, contracting my abs to keep a better streamline, and pacing myself so as not to tire out before the end. I had Coach Josh give me some pointers on my start and turns, and I think that helped. My dive was great and I felt strong with my stroke. However, I had two turns that were pretty bad. I turned too soon and didn’t have enough foot contact with the wall to push off with much momentum. Even so, I saw that my nearest competitors were well behind me. At my finish, I looked around and saw I had won my heat, having swum more than 11 seconds faster than I expected. I set a new personal best at 2:26.30, which was 1.15 seconds faster than the record I set a year ago at Spire. I know I have an even faster time in me. I could probably have gone a second faster with better turns, and after looking at photos that Arianne took of me during this swim, I see that my head comes out of the water a little too much during my breaths.

 

 

 

Event #12, 25-yard Breaststroke

This was actually my best shot at setting a new personal best because I’ve never swam this event at Spire before. The pool at Spire is state-of-the-art and helps swimmers achieve their best times. Anyway, I had a mediocre swim, finishing in 17.46 seconds, 3% slower than my personal best. I used to have a strong kick, but it didn’t feel that way today.

 

 

SUNDAY

Event #17, 100-yard Freestyle

Based on my swim season this year, I thought maybe I could set a personal best time today because my season’s best (1:06.23) was only 4% slower than my personal best time (1:03.57). At a pool like Spire, improving by 4% or more is certainly possible. My plan was to start with a great dive by pulling my hips up high on the block and taking full advantage of the angled wedge of the block; not to breathe until after the first turn; and kick rapidly during the last 50 yards. I carried this plan out to the letter. I finished in 1:01.59, setting a new personal best and coming in 7% faster than I had all season long. I was elated. Before today I would never have thought the 1:00 threshold could be broken (by me). But now I’m really close. Maybe I’ll do it next year!

 

Event #21, 50-yard Freestyle

Going into today, my season’s best time was 28.73 seconds, more than 6% slower than my personal best set at Spire in 2017 (27.00). Before this meet, I really did expect something around 28.00 seconds, but I thought 27.00 was out of reach. This expectation was reinforced just before my race when Shannan told me that during my 100-yard freestyle, my first split had been 28-point-something. “Yeah, that seems about right,” I thought. So on the block I thought about all the things I would have to do perfectly in order to beat 27.00 seconds, and the list just seemed too long. A short-distance race like this one is unforgiving if one makes an error like a dive that’s too deep, a bad turn, an extra breath, or a lazy punch of the pad at the end. At the beep, I plunged in and went as fast as I could. Everything seemed to go well. At the end, I knew I had done my best. I looked timidly at the timing board to see my result. It read 27.08 seconds. I smiled. I was happy with that. I didn’t deserve anything faster. But next year, maybe I will with more regular training.

 

Event #23, 50-yard Breaststroke

The last swim of a meet is rarely my best, and the relatively poor showing in my 25-yard Breaststroke the day before didn’t help my mood. Nevertheless, I feel good about my start and turns during this swim. It’s just the strokes in between that didn’t seem to have a lot of power and glide. Midway through, I attempted to improve my arm pull because it seemed my arms weren’t grabbing the water as much as they could. But the good kick I sometimes have just didn’t materialize. I finished in 38.86 seconds, an improvement of 1.47 seconds from my season’s best time, but still more than 4.5% slower than my all-time personal best of 37.15 swum at Spire last year.

 

It took 2.5 hours to drive home today, and that’s plenty of time to think about things. I set more personal bests this year than I thought, and it has inspired me to improve some more. That’s why I do these athletic events. I see what’s possible and then try to beat it. If I can do that at age 44 (and I am!), that’s something to really celebrate. I’ve got a marathon coming up in September. I think I’m going to beat my old time, and if I don’t, it will be fun trying.

Goals for 2019

It's early for New Year's resolutions, but I figure I'm giving you all some time to think about them. Who wants to join me for the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) on May 5th? Who wants to join me for a 150-mile bike ride with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on June 8-9 (starts in Portersville, PA)? Who wants to join me for the Air Force Marathon (26.2 miles) on Sept 21st (Dayton, OH)? Who wants to join our Masters Swim Team in 2019 and compete in meets at YMCAs across western PA? Ok, go! Get in on the fun! Get active with me!

 

(I've been a sloth since my Ironman in September, so this post is just as much for me as it is you)

My first false start as a swimmer

I did something I've never done before in my 8-year career as a swimmer: I had a false start! (that means I left the diving block early, which is a bad thing!). I blame it on the fact that I turned a year older today. I'm just not as sprightly as I used to be, eh? No big deal. In a later race, the 200-yard freestyle, I set a season's best time.

Ironman Maryland Race Report

Race: Ironman Maryland

Date: September 28, 2018

Location: Cambridge, Maryland

Time: 14:21

Overall Rank: X out of XX 

Age Group Rank: X out of X 

Results: http:

 

I returned to work today and met with a few students to help them review for an upcoming exam. One of them got an average score on her first quiz and a below-average score on her second quiz. She told me she wants to be a surgeon. I wouldn’t rule that out as a career for her, but her first few quiz scores suggest she’s going to struggle to achieve that goal. In my role as a professor, youth-group leader, and step-parent, I know of so many kids that dream big. They want to be the best in everything they do. However, that kind of success is very rare. As an adult, I find that I am good at doing lots of things, but there is always someone better or something more I could have done. So what does this all have to do with my second Ironman race? Everything. I am like that student who scored okay on her first quiz but not so well on her second. I finished the race but didn’t perform as well as I wanted. I’m never going to be at the top of my age group. I’m never going to win, but the drive to be better next time remains. Until I became an adult, I never knew that athletic endeavors were a true metaphor for life; success comes from hard work; success may come a lot later than you expect; your definition of success may change with time; and success usually has more to do with how you deal with adversity than it does with how many competitors you beat. I don’t know yet whether or not I will do another Ironman 140.6-mile race. I think I will. I had an amazing time in Maryland, and I’ve still got some work I’d like to do. Here are some stories from this weekend:

Sandwich Snafu

My “secret sauce” that boosted my spirits during my first Ironman in 2016 was a 6-inch Subway sandwich I ate halfway through the bike route. I attempted this again this year, but after picking up the sandwich Friday night, I forgot to put it in the motel room refrigerator. Discovering this error at 4:15am when I got up, I threw the sandwich out and had less of a lunch on Saturday than planned. I didn’t anticipate that missing a sandwich would have much impact on my race, but in retrospect, my body really did miss the extra 340 calories and 1,090 mg of sodium.

 

Porta Potty Problem

I narrowly avoided a disaster right at the start of the race. There were only 33 porta potties set up for 1400 athletes and family members to use during the hour before our 6:45am start time. I got in line at 6:22am. My turn to use the facility didn’t come until 6:44am. While I was in line I went through my two options: (1) start the race on time in an uncomfortable state, or (2) use the toilet and start late. I decided on the second option. This was to be a 13- or 14-hour race, so I figured starting a few minutes late wouldn’t be a big deal. This choice would have been fine had I brought my wetsuit, goggles, and morning clothes bag with me to the porta potty. However, I left these items in the transition zone with my bike (because I never anticipated spending 22+ min in line), and had to go pick them up after I was done using the bathroom. 

 

The huge crowd of athletes and guests trying to use the portable toilets prior to the race at Ironman Maryland. This almost cost me any chance of finishing my race.

The problem was that according to the rules, the transition zone closes at the start of the race. When I attempted to enter, a volunteer stopped me and said “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t let you through.” I lingered and paced for a moment, thinking about what to do. I wondered if I was finished already, without having begun. Then I wondered if I could swim the 2.4-mile course without a wetsuit and without goggles. I wasn’t about to quit now, so this is what I was going to do. Swimming in open water without goggles would have been a severe hardship. I was nearly ready to accept this fate when I saw a race official, and I pleaded with her to gain access to my wetsuit bag. She said no, but she decided she could get my stuff. “What do you need?” she asked. I said “grab everything!” Of course I needed my wetsuit and goggles, but the clothes bag contained my wallet, keys, and phone. 

Mine is not a fancy bike, but it gets the job done.

 

Maybe the official broke a rule on my behalf, and for that I am both sorry and thankful. She saved my race. I ran over to the drop-off site for my clothes bag, put my wetsuit on, and lined up with other swimmers. Fortunately with the time-trial entry, there were plenty of athletes who had not yet entered the water, and I had time to regroup and settle my nerves.

 

Waiting for our wave start of the swim at Ironman Maryland. Not my photo. I'm not sure where I downloaded it from.

 

2.4-mile Swim Course

I really enjoyed the swim. It was not as crowded as I anticipated, and I saw no jellyfish. Apparently there were some this year, but not as many as in past years. I honestly looked forward to encountering a few because it would make for an even better Ironman challenge. The water was not choppy, but a strong current pushed the swimmers to the left as we started the loop and to the right as we finished up. The swim course was actually two loops around the same set of buoys, and as I finished my first loop I could hear the announcer at the water exit cheer for the “first woman to finish the swim!” How do people swim that fast!? Maybe I wasn’t a fast swimmer, but my body was handling the distance well. My arms did not feel fatigued and I could have gone on for another mile or more. The only pain I experienced was early in the swim when my lower back started to hurt. At first I couldn’t figure out why I’d get pain in that area since swimming doesn’t tax the muscles there. However, the biologist in me realized that it was “referred pain,” that is, pain felt in one location due to a problem at another location. In this case, the wetsuit was too tight at my crotch and was causing “my boys” to be unhappy. I stopped swimming for a moment to adjust their position. In case you didn’t know, athletes regularly talk about bodily functions, so my testicular discomfort is just another detail to keep this story interesting. You are going to be okay.

 

Swim course at Ironman Maryland. Good weather and calm waters. Not too crowded, and no jellyfish. A great swim!

I finished the swim in 1:29, which was 1 minute slower than in 2016. This difference is insignificant and I was pleased. Compared to my gender age group, I was 109 out of 199 athletes (top 55%). My swims at other triathlons usually put me in the top 25% of my age group, but not at Ironman. These are more experienced and better trained athletes than the weekend warriors I usually compete against.

 

112-mile Bike Course

There were so many athletes exiting the transition zone at the same time that it took a dozen miles for me to filter through them and go the speed I wanted. There are penalties if athletes are caught drafting (following too close), blocking (riding side-by-side), or passing too slowly (a pass must occur within 25 seconds), so it took some time and effort to pass someone. I didn’t want to burn too much extra fuel by repeated passes, but I was feeling some adrenaline and wanted to! To my credit, I kept my speed nice and steady at 18.5 mph for the first 43 miles. Between miles 43 and 52, my Garmin shows I slowed to around 16 mph. I just looked at the course map and this section matched up precisely with my travel on the west side of the loop going north on Route 9. Guess what direction the wind was blowing? That’s right; I was getting a headwind in this section.

 

I remember someone asking me a few days before the race, “Will all the birds in the National Wildlife Refuge distract you?” My answer was “No, unfortunately, I’ll be keeping my head down and concentrating on going fast,” but that’s not entirely what happened. There were beautiful, open, and watery sections of the landscape where I looked for birds to keep my mind occupied and my spirit playful. I saw a heron, some egrets, mallards, cormorants, and fish crows. In addition, I heard blue jays and cardinals, woodpeckers and wrens.

Typical scene on the bike ride at Ironman Maryland. I took this photo the day after my race.

 

Given that people were not supposed to ride side-by-side, there was very little talking among athletes. It would not have been easy to share my sighting of an egret with anyone. It was heartening to find at least two sets of partners doing the race together. In one case, I heard the guy behind me giggle as he passed me, and I asked what was funny. He said he just saw his girlfriend up ahead, and watching their reunion was fun, if only fleeting. He passed her and kept going; that’s fine. In another case, in the windy section I came upon a man and woman, both in their upper 50s and in matching triathlon suits. He was following her, and as I passed him I asked if that was his wife. He said “Yes, we are doing this together. This is her second Ironman, and this is my first!” It was mile 86 and he was still very excited. I truly hope that my wife and I will go on some big adventure like this when we are that age. It’s important to keep doing new things, and do them together.

 

Lunch was at mile 64 in a high school parking lot. Mom and Dad had ridden a bus to get to that spot in an effort to see me, and there they were at the entrance to the parking lot! I couldn’t stop right there, though, so I continued a little ways to the place where they were giving the athletes the “special needs bags,” which we had packed for ourselves. This is where I was missing my Subway sandwich, but I had packed an apple and a bag of chips. I ate those as I walked through the parking lot to see my parents. My Garmin tells me I stopped for only 10 minutes to eat and talk. This is less time than in 2016, and that’s probably good. In fact, the walk was good for me because I was experiencing a lot of hip discomfort on the left side during the bike ride, and this cleared the pain up for the remainder of the day.

My bike speed during the Ironman Maryland race (blue line, right vertical axis). My heart rate is shown by the gray bars. Lunch occurred midway through the race.

 

I feel like a lot of people passed me during my short lunch. The second loop featured far fewer cyclists. I got a burst of energy after lunch and went more than 22 mph for the first 10 miles. This also corresponds to a tailwind, but I didn’t know that at the time. I just felt good, and despite worrying about burning out, I pedaled hard in high gear.

 

I knew I was still “on track” when I finished the bike leg. I knew that in 2016 I had completed the bike course in 6:42, and my official 2018 results show a bike time of 6:38. Isn’t that extraordinary? The two bike courses were in different states (I was in Ohio in 2016) and under different weather conditions, but yet my performance was nearly the same. In fact, if I remove the “lunch break” from my bike data, in 2016 I spent 6:19 on the bike going an average speed of 17.8 mph. In 2018, I spent 6:15 on the bike going an average speed of 17.8 mph. Amazing!

 

Nutrition and Hydration

Done with the swim and the bike, I was ready to start my run. I felt good, but that feeling wouldn’t last. They say that nutrition/hydration is the fourth leg of triathlon and this is where I floundered. An endurance athlete is supposed to consume about 200 calories per hour of exercise (this is a simplification of data in a book by Matt Dixon). For me on the bike, that would be 6.5 hrs x 200 = 1,300 calories. I didn’t document every GU energy gel, Honey Stinger waffle, banana, and mini Clif Bar that I consumed, but I tried to stay on a schedule where I ate and drank something every 20 minutes, and I think this would add up to at least 1,300 calories.

 

My fluid intake was not far off recommended parameters. I should have been drinking around 24 ounces per hour. For me, that would be 6.5 hrs x 24 = 156 ounces = 5.5 bottles of water/Gatorade. I recall discarding 3 empty bottles from my bike (aid stations were placed every 15 miles on the route to resupply athletes), and the two still on my bike at the end of my ride were nearly empty.

 

I think I got into problems with sodium and other electrolytes. Guidelines suggest a sodium intake of at least 700 mg per hour during an event like Ironman in cooler weather (today’s air temperature was around 70 degrees). Looking at my intake, I estimate I was getting 375 mg from food, 143 mg from Gatorade, and 66 mg of salt supplement per hour. That’s only 83% of what I should have been taking in. These are pretty rough estimates, but what if I had consumed that Subway sandwich for lunch? That would have raised my salt intake to an average of 752 mg per hour. I never would have thought a sandwich would be so important!

 

Having just finished the 112 mile bike ride, I'm about to start my 26.2 mile run at Ironman Maryland.

26.2-mile Run Course

After a quick visit with Mom and Dad in the transition zone, I started out on the run. I felt great. In fact, the bike shoes had felt tight and getting into running shoes gave me some relief. I started with an 8:15 min per mile pace, and quickly dialed it down because I knew that wouldn’t be sustainable. However, just two weeks earlier I maintained an average 8:45 pace for the Air Force Half Marathon, and I felt optimistic about today’s run. I therefore chose to stick to a 9:00-10:00 min pace for today’s race.

 

My Garmin watch data shows I stuck to this goal for about 3.5 miles. From there, I steadily slowed down. At mile 5, I had a 10:51 pace. At mile 6, I had a 10:48 pace. At mile 7, I had a 10:53 pace. By this time I was feeling dizzy and weak. There were other runners around me who were experiencing some of the same symptoms; they were weaving back and forth, and some had already knelt to the ground as if they were trying not to faint. Just a little before mile 8, I decided I was in bad enough shape that if I continued to exert myself, I would lose my balance and fall over. So I walked. I walked for 38 minutes. This section of the running route took me into the town of Cambridge where crowds were cheering for early finishers. Since the course was looped, I would have to pass by this point twice more before I was done. Spectators didn’t have any way to know how far along I was, so most of them seemed to think I was finishing. As they encouraged me, I got emotional. They were so happy and yet I was so sad because I was walking and had many miles to cover before I would finish. I never doubted that I would finish; I just knew I wouldn’t finish early, and I felt like I failed. I eventually convinced myself that I was feeling a little better in the head (not dizzy), so I tried to run again. Immediately, I got an abdominal cramp and my calf muscles were twitching. I pushed through this for 16 minutes to the next aid station where I stopped to walk and get food and drink. Attempting to run again, I found that I couldn’t get my legs to move fast enough, and my calves were going to seize up at any moment.

I walked for another hour and 28 minutes. I really, really wanted to run, so I tested my legs twice more during this period to see if the cramping was over. No success. I stopped at a porta potty and found my urine to be thick and dark. The muscle cramps, weakness, and dark urine suggested my water and salt levels were still out of balance. At that point, at mile 17.5, I determined that I couldn’t run and so I would just concentrate on walking fast and trying to have a good time doing it. Today wasn’t my day. “Let’s move past it,” I thought. I turned off the “run” setting on my watch and switched it to “walk.” I started to converse with a few other walkers. I started to look at the colored clouds and the setting sun at dusk. I thanked God for helping me get to this point in my race and my life.

 

Run cadence measured over the first 17 miles of the Ironman Maryland run segment. Green levels indicate pretty efficient running for a person of my height. But then as I started to suffer from electrolyte imbalance, I slowed (orange) and eventually had to walk (red).

My running pace during the first 17 miles of the Ironman Maryland run segment is shown by the blue line. Heart rate is in gray. I had to walk after mile 7 and again around mile 12.

Ha! That didn’t last. Six minutes later I thought “I’m at mile 18 and if I keep walking at a pace around 15 min/mile, that’s 2 more hours to go! I won’t finish until 9:45pm.” That would be well before the midnight cutoff, but I wanted to be done now, not two hours from now. So I started to run. I ran 4 miles without stopping. I saw Mom and Dad cheering for me along that stretch but I could not stop for fear of losing my momentum. I did the second loop through the town and saw all the same spectators there, and they could see I was feeling good and they thought I was about to finish. I let them think that, and I gave them a bunch of high-fives. My calves started to seize up after 4 miles, so I slowed to walk again, but my spirits were high and I had just gotten to mile 22. This thing was almost done. I could do the rest. My watch battery died, so I don’t know how much of the remaining 4.2 miles I ran and how much I walked, but it was a mix. I was walking at mile 25 and knew I could run the rest of the way, so I started up one last time and entered the town again for all the spectators’ support. Unfortunately, the dinner hour was done and a lot of them had either gone home or moved to the finish line.

 

Indeed, the finish line was lined with spectators. I wanted to get the most of it so I started on the left of the chute, slapping hands as I passed, and then I switched to the right side. I immediately saw my parents with their cow bell, white board sign, and the two funny, spinning, colored light toys they acquired somewhere during their own life journey (One showed up in 2016 but I didn’t remember them having two!). I ran past them and got to the finish line with my arms in the air. I really felt like I was hamming it up, but when I see the video of me finishing, I look pretty tired and not as enthused as I felt.

 

Me at the finish line

of Ironman Maryland 2018.

 

Volunteer Catcher

There were hundreds of volunteers helping with this race, and one position some of them had was “catcher.” These folks are at the finish line and grab you by the arm just as you finish, making sure you don’t fall over. I didn’t need catching, but I appreciated the calming presence of my catcher. He steered me by the arm to where I got my finisher’s medal and where they removed my timing chip. He steered me over to another volunteer who gave me a hat and a shirt. He steered me to the photo area where they took my photo. Then he asked me what else he could do, and I asked him “Where’s the food?” For those of you who know me well, that was a very “Jim” thing to say. If I had lost myself during the marathon, I was back now. I was well.

 

My official run time was 5:54. This compares to 5:01 when I did my Rev3 race in 2016. I’m surprised that walking about half the marathon only slowed me down by 53 minutes (compared to 2016 when I was able to run nearly the whole thing). But the math helps me understand it; a fast walk is only 3 or 4 minutes per mile slower than a slow run.

 

I admit to being disappointed in my finish time of 14 hours and 21 minutes. This is 43 minutes slower than my personal best in 2016, but it’s only a 5% difference. I really can’t complain! I didn’t do it to win. I did it to have fun and feel alive. I tell my students all the time that life is full of challenges and you grow the most when you have to struggle. Things that come easy are not worth much. So yes, I think I’ll do another. I’ve got more work to do, and there will be more joy to come.

My 6th annual Presque Isle Triathlon

Race: Presque Isle Sprint Triathlon

Date: August 26, 2018

Location: Erie, PA

Time: 1:22:29

Overall Rank: 62 out of 247

Age Group Rank: 7 out of 18

Results: http:

 

As always, my race report is too long. For those with limited interest, just know that I had one of my best performances at the Presque Isle Sprint Triathlon in recent years, and I had fun. For those of you who care more, read on!

 

This was my 6th time racing at Presque Isle State Park. I finished the course in 1:22:29, coming in 7th in my age group (of 18) and 62nd place overall (of 247). The course this year was in a different part of the park so it is hard to compare this year’s results with previous ones, but 62nd place is the best I’ve ever finished. Interestingly, my best segment was the 12.5 mile bike ride, in which I came in 54th place (finishing in 36:39, my average speed was 20.4 mph), but my swim segment was not far off (58th place, finishing 775 yards in 14:43). My running segments have never been my strong suit but I actually had a solid performance today, running 3.1 miles in 25:29 at a pace of 8:02 miles/min. This was the 73rd fastest run among the 247 competitors, and it was by far the fastest running pace I have ever had during a triathlon.

 

Observers report that my transition times were slow. It takes considerable time for me to strip off my wetsuit in T1, and I admit to spending an extra 10 seconds to my T2 today, as I chose to walk from where my bike was racked to the transition zone exit where the run course began. I didn’t think my transition times were any worse than normal, but it’s definitely true that I was slow compared to my friend Dan. Dan’s finish time was 66 seconds faster than mine; he placed 5th in our age group. This is typical, as he has always beaten me, and I admire him for that. The funny thing is that his success over me was not necessarily in the way I expected it. He out-performed me by 22 seconds in the swim, 54 seconds in T1, 8 seconds on the bike, and 35 seconds in T2. All of this is typical. However, I had a faster run by 53 seconds (not typical). If my transition times were equal to his, I would have beaten him by 23 seconds. So my friends, this is a great reminder that transitions during the triathlon count, and a race can be won or lost because of them. We shall not speak of my transition times again.

 

Besides all these statistics, I want to say this was a fun race. The weather was beautiful. The swim was in Lake Erie at Beach 10. The swim was a wave start, and I positioned myself with 3 or 4 rows of swimmers ahead of me in the middle of the pack. I didn’t really plan it that way, but after the race began and I found myself with kicking feet in my face and swimmers crowding me from both sides, I figured this was great practice for my upcoming Ironman, where the swim course will be populated with 2000 swimmers all at once. I didn’t panic and I didn’t even get frustrated. I just swam left or right to find a hole between swimmers. I drifted to the outside, away from the buoys. I probably swam a farther distance than I had to, but with water clearer of competitors, I could relax. Indeed, I didn’t swim at top speed. Maybe I was thinking about my longer Ironman swim (going slower means I can swim longer…), but honestly I just wanted to feel comfortable. That strategy doesn’t win races, but it does preserve the fun.

 

I started the bike segment using my typical strategy of maintaining a pedal cadence of 80-100 rounds per minute. With this, my speedometer hovered around 19 mph. About a third of the way through my ride, though, I began to second-guess this strategy. Science shows that at a cadence of 80-100 rpm, a cyclist is at the peak of energy efficiency. Just like a car, if one has high efficiency, one can go more miles using the same amount of energy (food for the body, or fuel for a car). But this was a sprint race! I’d be finished in less than an hour and a half, and I have trained my body to exercise for a lot longer than that. It therefore didn’t matter if I was burning fuel a little less efficiently, because it didn’t need to last that long. With this eureka moment, I shifted into a higher gear and pedaled at a lower cadence. This pushed me into the 21-22 mph range. I stayed aero for the whole race and tried to concentrate on making my pedal stroke smooth (if slower), and to keep my toes pointed forward at all times. This is something I’m not yet in the habit of doing all the time, but I am working on it. This foot position puts more force into each stroke and I can literally feel the bike thrust forward when I do it.

 

The bike segment featured unprecedented wind off the bay. There were wind gusts that pushed me from side to side, and I don’t remember ever being exposed to that condition before. Nearly all the wind was perpendicular to my direction of movement, so I wasn’t slowed down too much. Even during the higher gusts, my speed only dropped to 18 mph.

 

Running straight off the bike always feels strange, and today was no exception. I am so glad I have a GPS watch now, because it can tell me my running pace at any given moment. I was initially running at a pace of 7:45 miles/min. I knew this was not sustainable for me, so I tried to slow down. The key word here is “try,” because I only had limited success. I felt like I was running down a hill (I wasn’t) and putting on the brakes wasn’t having much effect. After about a mile, I got to an 8:10 pace and kept it there. I was working hard, my legs hurt, my breathing was labored, and my heart monitor tells me I was at the top of my range. Exactly right. This is what it should feel like toward the end of a race. At age 43, I don’t know how much faster I can train my body to be in swimming, cycling, and running. However, after 7 years of doing triathlons, I feel my experience allows me to race smarter. I know my limits and I know how much to push on any given day. Let’s just not mention those transitions. I want to end this report on a positive note.

AMYMSA Championships 2018

I took my swimming league’s championship very seriously this year. Masters swimming is much less about beating other swimmers and teams, but instead, it is about setting personal goals and trying to beat them. My goal this year was to come as close as possible to repeating the performances I had last year when I achieved 6 personal bests out of 7 events. That was huge, so I didn’t think it would be realistic to perform quite as well this time. Instead of 6 personal bests, my goal was one. Good news! I beat that goal and set 2 new personal bests out of 7 events. Here’s a rundown:

 

SATURDAY

Event #3: 100-yard Freestyle

This would be my best opportunity for a personal best because I had not swum this at Spire before. The pool at Spire is state-of-the-art and due to design features, its waters are free of waves and turbulence that in other pools slow swimmers down. All I would have to do is lower my time by more than 1.5%, and I’d get a personal best. That seemed likely, given that in the past two years at Spire, I was able to lower my times by an average of 1.6%. On the starting block I pulled up my hips like Coach Josh had shown me a few days before, and I rocketed into the water at the starting beep. My dive felt fast, I kicked hard, and took no breaths in the first length. I almost missed the wall at the first turn, and that slowed me down a little, but I kept going and had a good turn the second time. Heading into the wall again at the opposite end, I flipped over too soon and only the tips of my toes brushed the wall for the push off. Danise said I came to a complete stop in the water. It’s hard to recover from that, but I tried. I finished the event in 1:03.88, which was 0.31 seconds slower than my personal best. This record could have been easily broken by 2 full seconds had it not been for that bad turn. Knowing this, I was optimistic about the rest of my swims at champs; this swim showed I was in peak condition.

 

Event #7: 50-yard Freestyle

I couldn’t imagine beating my personal best of 27.00 in this event, set at Spire last year. I do this swim every month at swim meets, and throughout 2017-18, I had never swum this faster than 28.50. I didn’t care. I would just go as fast as I could. I plunged into the water and pulled hard with my arms with each stroke. I had planned my breaths ahead of time: no breaths going out, and two breaths on the way back. This is where my personality gets in the way of things. On the way back, I didn’t really feel the need to breathe. But my plan said I should. The debate in my head caused me to take an awkward half-breath that didn’t do me much good. In fact, Shannan said I paused in my stroke when I took that breath. I finished in 27.26 seconds. That’s right; if I had skipped that (unneeded) breath entirely, I would have beaten my personal best!

 

Event #9: 50-yard Breaststroke

My personal best in this event was 37.34, set way back in 2013. My 2017-18 season’s best time was close, so in Spire’s awesome pool, I knew I had a chance to set a new record. The problem with breaststroke is that you can go fast in two different ways: (1) increase your stroke rate, or (2) increase the glide between strokes. I’m never sure which works best for me. For the last few years I have been doing the former. This year I planned to do the latter. I was talking to Gary about this as we lined up at the starting blocks. He gave me some pointers on what might make one’s breaststroke faster, and I appreciated that, but the moment before a race is never the time to experiment with a new technique. I don’t remember my dive or pullout, but what I do remember is the novel sensation of water rushing over my freshly shaven legs. I’ve never shaved my legs before, but for this one swim it was worth it. I concentrated on my kick, making it push as much water behind me as I could. I could feel every water molecule as I did it, and I savored the sensation. I finished in 37.15 seconds, a new personal best.

 

SUNDAY

Event #12: 500 –yard Freestyle

I felt less energy on Sunday morning than I did on Saturday, so I didn’t know what would happen with this long-distance race. I didn’t expect to lower my personal best set at Spire last year because in my training during the previous month I have been doing a lot of sprints and not practicing my longer distances. Anyway, I had two strategies this year. First, I wanted to quicken my pace after length 14, because that is when I typically slow down due to fatigue. To quicken my pace, I concentrated on reaching farther with my arms and pulling more water. Looking at my results, I see that this had no effect. I still got slower. I admit at this point I was thinking about my future swims and I didn’t want to go too fast. My second strategy was to stay with my nearest competitor in the water because he had a similar seed time. This didn’t work because I went too fast and got well ahead of him during the first half of my swim. He came charging past me midway through, and I didn’t have the energy to keep up at that point. Despite not improving in the ways that I wanted, I finished this swim in 6:50.65, just 0.41 seconds slower than my personal best. If only I had added one extra kick to length 11, or streamlined a little more on turn 6, or shaved the little hairs on my toes!! Missing my record by one tenth of one percent was the hardest thing to endure this weekend. The regret was sour! That’s ok, I can learn from this.

 

Event #16: 50-yard Butterfly

This swim was the longest-shot for obtaining a new personal best. My season’s best time had been 32.18 and my personal best was 30.06 seconds. I’d have to increase my speed by more than 7% to set a new record. Not likely, but I love the 50 Fly and I really wanted this one to be my best swim of the weekend. I’d been practicing it a lot, and doing a lot of weight training to help my upper body strength. I was confident enough that I asked Shannan to record it on video. Dan and I were in adjacent lanes, and that can sometimes cause me some subconscious stress as I try to beat my friend and competitor. Today, though, I paid Dan no attention when we were in the water. As he said, “In a 50-yard race, there is no time to look around.” I’m really happy with my swim. I planned to take 4 breaths but only took one or two. My turnover was fast, and I felt like I was just skimming the surface the whole time. I finished in 30.75 seconds. Percentage-wise, this was my second-worst performance of the weekend, but I don’t feel bad about it at all. I did everything I had trained to do, and I had fun.

 

Event #20: 50-yard Backstroke

This is the one swim I am disappointed with. I had been practicing my backstroke a lot, and I felt I had a decent shot at breaking a personal record. Alas, I couldn’t get my hips up. This is not a problem in practice, but when I go at race pace, I somehow lose my posture and create a lot of drag under the water. I finished in 37.30 seconds, much slower than my personal best of 36.02.

 

Event #21: 200-yard Freestyle

I had little time to rest before this next event, my last of the meet. Since it was my last swim, I didn’t have to save any energy for a later swim. The chance of a personal best was somewhat low, given my season’s best time was 3.2% slower than my record of 2:27.86. I concentrated on a good dive and long stroke length. I felt invigorated and powerful. I punched the wall at 2:27.45 and smiled wide.

AMYMSA Greensburg

Race: masters swim meet
Date: November 19, 2017
Location: Greensburg, Pa

I always skimp on a warmup at the Greensburg meet. First, we go to church so we arrive late and there is less time to fit in a warmup. Second, I sing the national anthem and my singing voice is negatively affected by all the chlorine I inhale during a warmup. So, I did two 25-yard sprints off the block and counted that as my warmup. Then I spent 10 minutes in the hot tub to warm my body in a different way. Ha!

I sang the national anthem with Shannan and Arianne and I think we sounded great. Then I swam in heat 2 of the first event so I had to get ready right away. The first event was the 100 Freestyle. I had a good race, finishing in 1:04.52, less than a second slower than my personal best of 1:03.57. Ben approached me later and scolded me for having lousy turns. "Be sure to tuck your head," he said, because it slows you down. "You were ahead of Dan most of the race but he beat you to the wall because you has a bad turn." Dan was three lanes away, so I had no idea where he was in the race. I just know that I was feeling pretty strong, I limited my breathing, and I kicked pretty hard. I was giving it everything I had, and I was surprised because I didn't think today would be a good meet. I swam only once in the last 7 days. My work life has been so busy.

My 100-yard breaststroke was pretty lousy. I was 5 seconds slower than my personal best. My kick didn't seem to be very strong, and I was still kind of out of breath from the 100 free, even though it was more than 15 minutes earlier. Maybe the air quality was poor?

The 50-freestyle was the very next event, so I had no time for rest. I felt pretty good while swimming, so I was surprised to see that I was 2.45 seconds off my fastest time! Part of this was a dive that was too deep. My underwater swimming isn't very fast.

I had mixed feelings about my 200IM at the start. I didn't feel like doing it, but another part of me wanted to work hard. I started with the butterfly and this went well enough. I didn't tire out or get out of breath..until near the end of the stroke where waves of water poured into my mouth on a couple of the strokes. I had good rhythm and I am happy that my knee didn't hurt, as that kept me from practicing the stroke for more than a week. I had a bad turn starting the backstroke (I was out of breath there, having swallowed water), but I am happy that I was able to keep my hips up. I liked my backstroke turn at the opposite wall, but my back-to-breast turn was nasty. My breaststroke was very sluggish. I didn't seem to have a lot of arm strength at this point, and my legs were not much better. I also swallowed more water. By the freestyle section I was just happy to be finishing up and I knew it was going to be a slow swim for me. I was more than 13 seconds slower than my fastest time. Ha! I had quite the leisurely time in the pool. I remained in a good mood, though. Swimming makes me feel young--an important feeling on a birthday weekend!

AMYMSA Allegheny Valley

Race: masters swim meet
Date: October 1, 2017
Location:

Event #1: 100 IM. My fly was good, but the backstroke--oh boy--do I need to work on that. My legs sank, despite my head being in a good position and my efforts to contract my buttocks during my kicking. Shannan says I need to concentrate on raising my hips, so I will work on that. My finish time was 1:16.49, which was 0.9 seconds slower than Dan, and about 4.7 seconds (6%) slower than my personal best. My quads were burning a little after this race, so I know I put an appropriate amount of effort into it.

Event #4: 50 Fly. Dan and I were in the same heat and we talked about strategy. I said my speed would depend on whether or not I took a breath during this swim. I did, in fact, go without a breath for the first 25 yards and I took about 3 breaths on the return. If I had skipped just one of those breaths I would have beat Dan, since he beat me by 0.01 seconds. My finish time was 32.18, which was 2.1 seconds (7%) slower than my personal best. Danise says Dan was well ahead of me at the turn and I just about caught up with him in the last 25. I wasn't aware of any of that, but I know that my rhythm felt better during the last half of my swim. I concentrated more on my kick during that time, and less on my arms.

Event #9: 200 Free. There was lots of talk before this race about what a difficult race it is. You can't sprint the whole time, but it's not a long distance, either. I went fairly confident that I would pace myself well. I have a long history with this distance--I've done it a lot at meets--and I do a lot of these distances in practice. I was in heat 1, lane 6. This made it hard to judge my pace because the people next to me were much faster. Anyway, I finished in 2:32.52, which was 4.7 seconds (12%) slower than my personal best. Given this result, it appears I went slower than I could have. I am not surprised. I was not extraordinarily tired or winded when I got out of the water. I did feel some lactic acid circulating through my body (a queasy stomach feeling), but it didn't last long and was probably just from sprinting the last 25 yards. I had more fuel in the tank and I should have burned it.

Event #10: 25 Breast. I had a good race until I swallowed water during one of my strokes. It is terribly hard to get air after that because with each successive breath my timing was off and I kept getting more water in my mouth. Oh well. My result was 17.16 seconds, which was 0.18 seconds (1%) slower than my personal best. This record will definitely fall sometime this season.

Event #11: Mixed Medley 200 Relay: I had the freestyle segment. There were no splits so I don't know how I did. I felt really good, though, at least after a lousy dive.

AMYMSA at Baierl

Race: masters swim meet
Date: September 10, 2017
Location:
I started with 100 freestyle, finishing about 3 seconds slower than my personal best. That will be pretty easy to lower as my season progresses.

My second event was the 50 freestyle. I swam it in 28.50, exactly 1.5 seconds slower than my personal best. Again, I am happy with that. Dan and I were in adjacent lanes and while he beat me quite solidly, I think that happened at the turn where he got ahead. Otherwise, my strategy to do the swim without breathing really helped me keep up.

My third event was the 50-breast. Dan and I again were in the same heat but in opposite sides of the pool. My stroke felt really strong, so I employed more glide with a slower stroke rate. This led me to finish 0.63 seconds slower than my personal best. This has to be taken with a grain of salt because this meet was relying on stopwatch timers and not electronic touch pads. But if my time was accurate, that's a big deal. I can easily improve over the next few months and finally break a personal record set in 2013.

The 200 IM was the next event so I didn't have much time to rest. I didn't care. I knew I had not practiced this event in months, so I had low expectations. I decided to swim it for fun. My time was 3:03.16, much worse than my 2:48.62 personal best. I was considerably out of breath when I finished, so I know i didn't totally slack on that race, but my muscles didn't feel tired or sore, so I also know I didn't work very hard. One good thing about this swim was my legs didn't sink during the backstroke, which has been a recent challenge.

Split times of 500 Free at Spire

These split times represent the time it takes for me to swim each successive 50-yard lap during a 500-yard race. The lower the line, the faster I am swimming. The best strategy is to go at a consistent speed for the whole race. However, my recent swims show I am still slowing down toward the end of the race (the lines increase at the right side of graph). I set a personal best last week, and this was accomplished by swimming faster throughout the whole distance. Meanwhile, I am still tired out at the end, and I could improve my overall finish time by keeping a consistent speed.

AMYMSA Champs at Spire

Race: Masters swim meet, championship
Date: April 8-9, 2017
Location: Geneva, OH

This past weekend was my Master’s Swim Association Championship Meet at the Spire Institute near Geneva, Ohio. I had a good feeling going into the meet; I thought I was going to do well because I felt prepared and strong. I even posted to Facebook the day before we left, saying “I’m going to kick butt at champs!” This ended up being completely and undisputedly true.

Event#3: 100-yard Individual Medley
I swam this in 1:11.78, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set in February 2014. I kicked this old record good, lowering my time by 1.98 seconds, a decrease of 2.7%. My friends report I was first in my heat at the halfway mark but my competitors caught up during my breaststroke. This is ironic because I had made plans about my butterfly (“use a smaller kick and faster stroke rate”), backstroke (“kick fast and keep my hips up”), and freestyle (“take fewer breaths”), but I didn’t have a strategy for my breaststroke. I thank Arianne Winkleblech for helping me improve my backstroke kick in practices last month.

Event #5: 50-yard Butterfly
I swam this in 30.06, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set in November 2014. I kicked this old record good, too, lowering my time by 1.52 seconds, a decrease of 4.8%. I have reinvented my butterfly stroke this winter, making my kick smaller and increasing my arm stroke rate. I could do this consistently during the first 25 yards in practice, but I had had limited success at the 50-yard distance. Today I did the new stroke the whole distance. I actually placed 2nd in my age group, beating out the reliable powerhouses of Daniel Pruzinsky and Ben Mayhew. Ben was gracious and supportive, while also expressing great surprise. Me too, Ben. Me too.

Event #8: 100-yard Butterfly
I swam this in 1:12.50, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set in January 2013. I thought this would be an easy record to beat because I had never swum in this event since I set that old record. Surely I have improved in 4 years! I lowered my time by a whopping 7.74 seconds, a drop of 9.6%. I have more I can improve upon; I noted a bad turn at the 50-yard mark, and I started taking too many breaths during the last length.

Event #10: 200-yard Freestyle
I swam this in 2:27.86, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set in February 2016. The improvement was 0.59 seconds or 0.4%. My dive felt great and I felt very powerful until I got to the 100 yard mark. Then, I nearly missed the wall. My toe barely brushed across the touchpad and I lost all momentum. Daniel Pruzinsky and I were in adjacent lanes and while at first he and I were neck-to-neck, this poor turn caused me to drop well back from him. Not only did a bad turn slow me down, but the next 25 yards of swimming were spent thinking about the mistake and wondering if I would get disqualified (the officials at this meet were actually giving out DQs), rather than what I could do to minimize its impacts. I thank Josh Gurekovich working with me this past week on my dives.

To sum up my first day of Champs, I set new personal bests in all four events. Three of these were substantial improvements resulting from changes I made to my butterfly stroke. I did some other things differently in the last few weeks of training that may have also made a difference. I will list these later in this post.

When I was a new swimmer in 2010, it was commonplace to set new personal bests, but it has been harder to set them now that my stroke techniques have matured and the small inefficiencies that developed early in my career have become ingrained and harder to squelch. Swimming is a highly technical sport, and tiny adjustments in body placement significantly impact speed. Somehow at this Championship meet, I made a few adjustments that made a difference. My great success from Saturday continued into Sunday.

Event #13: 500-yard Freestyle
I swam this in 6:50.24, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set last year at Spire in April 2016. I kicked this old record good, lowering my time by 14.12 seconds, a decrease of 3.3%. My goals were to keep my pace steady from lap to lap, concentrate on having streamlined turns, and to stay ahead of all my competitors in adjacent lanes, since all had similar seed times as me. During the race I saw that I was leading my heat from the start, and I tried to slow down just a little so I wouldn’t burn out. I didn’t need to do this. I had practiced this swim over and over during my practices in the preceding month so I would probably have been fine going a little faster. I felt strong throughout, and I was not breathing hard, which helped me stay under the water longer at each turn. I smiled underwater when I saw the official standing over my lane, ringing the bell. This was a signal to everyone that the fastest swimmer of the heat had one more lap. Guess who that was? It was me! And I promptly got distracted by my giddiness and screwed up my last turn, right under the official’s nose. I thank Shannan for counting my laps and cheering me on.

Event #19: 50-yard Freestyle
I swam this event in 27.00 seconds, which was a new personal best, breaking my old record set last year at Spire in April 2016. I lowered my time by 1.38 seconds or 4.9%. This magnitude of improvement rarely happens in a 50-yard race; there is simply too little distance over which small changes in technique can have a cumulative effect. I really couldn’t believe what I saw when I looked at the timing board and saw 27.00. How did I do it? I had a great dive, strong arm pull, and I took only two breaths.

Event #21: 50-yard Breaststroke
I swam this event in 37.56 seconds, which ended up being 0.20 seconds slower than my personal best, set in November 2015. It’s too bad I couldn’t go 7 for 7 in terms of setting records, but the way I am looking at it now is that I’m leaving an easy record for me to beat next time. I went into the race with some mixed emotions, so my failure to swim it fast was probably a result of psychological factors instead of physical factors. Coach Josh thinks my breaststroke is my best stroke out of the four (breast, back, free, and fly). However, others whom I trust saw an issue with my head movement that could be improved. I learned about this on the day of my race, so during warm-ups I practiced the breaststroke with less head movement, and a fellow swimmer walking by my lane actually complimented me on how “smooth” my stroke was. I had not sought out this feedback, so I thought I must have fixed the problem. I think I probably did, but it was not enough to set a personal best. I don’t care. With so many fallen records in this meet, I am content.

In sum, I set 6 personal bests out of 7 events. My average improvement was 3.6%. I cannot wait to compete again to see if I can keep lowering my times. To do so, I have to figure out what I did this year that could have resulted in such success. Here is a list of things I think could have made a difference:

1. I wrote up a list of things ahead of time to concentrate on during each event. This helped me focus. Many athletes forget how important it is to mentally prepare for a race.

2. I shaved my chest and wore a swim cap. There isn’t a lot of data out there on whether or not this produces a measureable effect; it may reduce drag in the water, or it may be the placebo effect. In any case, the effect is estimated to be 1-2%, so this could account for only part of my success.

3. I asked my coach to work with me on my dives the week before my swim meet. This likely helped a lot on my 50- and 100-yard events, where the dive accounts for a significant part of the swim.

4. I sought out advice on my backstroke and freestyle kicks from Arianne a couple weeks before my swim meet. This helped my 100-yard IM.

5. I did extra weight lifting for more than a month in advance of champs. I think this accounts for a lot of success, especially in my butterfly stroke.

6. I practiced the actual events I would swim over and over during my practice sessions, even if they were not at race pace. I’m not sure I have done this in past years. My practices are usually more geared to freestyle. I know I did not change my practice volume (I did about 10 miles per month in the three months preceding champs).

7. My body weight is about the same as it was last year at this time, but I have more fat now (12% instead of 7%) and less muscle mass (42% instead of 44%). I was training for my Ironman last year; the numbers don’t lie!

8. I did longer warm-ups on Saturday before the afternoon session (500 yards); I also swam 300 yards to warm-up on Sunday morning, and another 300 yards before the afternoon session. I timed these much more carefully than usual to be within 30 minutes of my actual races.

9. I have been running long distances (5-7 miles) once a week since February. My overall mileage is no different from last year, so I can’t think of why that would make a difference in my swimming performance. Still, it’s a change of pace that is worth noting.

AMYMSA Oil City

Race: Masters swim meet
Date: March 5, 2017
Location: Oil City, Pa

After a 400 yard warm up, I did four events: (1) 100 IM, (2) 50 Fly, (3) 100 Back, and (4) 200 free. The 100IM was probably my best swim of the meet, since I came within a third of a second of my personal best and unexpectedly beat Ben. There is a pattern when I do these IMs that the backstroke segment leads to my legs sinking and I've tried to correct it to no avail. However, today I got the idea to just kick harder, and surprise, it worked! (why didn't I think of this earlier?). My 50-fly was fine, though I still want to clean up the pause I make between arm strokes. My 100-backstroke was a disappointment. I haven't swam that event in a couple years so I was expecting a large improvement. However, I did not pace myself appropriately. I went way too slow on the first 50. My 200-free was also a bit of a disappointment because I had some bad turns, and I think that prevented me from attaining a personal best time. I am really looking forward to Spire next month. I plan to do a lot of practices between now and then, and get into great shape.

Split times of the 500 free at AMYMSA Franklin

I had a master's swim meet yesterday and had a great time. In my first event, the 100-yard freestyle, I broke my old personal best by 2.02 seconds, lowering it to 1:03.57. That was an awesome feeling! My other events went well, too, including the 500-yard freestyle, which I finished just 2.4 seconds shy of my personal best. However, I wasn't necessarily wanting to set a record in that event. Instead, I have been working on my pacing. I tend to go too fast in the beginning and then tire out at the end. This is apparent in the graph below, with a steep increase in the time it takes each successive 50-yard lap in the pool (10x50=500 yards). I have plotted three of my swims from the 2016-17 season. In each swim I have slightly improved my pacing so that the line is not as steep. My faster and more experienced friend Daniel Pruzinsky has better pacing, as evidenced by the fourth, flatter line in the middle. I want to be like him, so there is more work for me to do.

AMYMSA Franklin

Race: Masters swim meet
Date: February 5, 2017
Location: Franklin, Pa.

I enjoyed this meet a lot. My mood was certainly buoyed by my first event of the day, the 100 freestyle. I swam it in record time, 1:03.57. This shattered my old personal best of 1:05.59. Part of my success (maybe) was that "fast man" Dan was right beside me and I use him to pace myself. The other part of this success was simply that I have not swam this event recently, making a large improvement more likely. The last time I swam the 100 freestyle was in January 2016 when I swam it in 1:05.64. I have to go all the way back to December of 2014 to find that 1:05.59 record that I broke. Note to self: swim this event more often!

My second event was the 100-yard breaststroke. I have now swam it 3 times this season and today's swim was the fastest at 1:23.00. However, this is only an improvement of 0.58 seconds from October 2016, and it is 3.14 seconds slower than my personal best of 1:19.86 set last year at Spire. Dan was in my heat again, but one lane over, and I didn't look for him. Note to self: practice breaststroke more.

My third event was the 50-yard freestyle. I swam it in 28.84 seconds, which is 0.46 seconds slower than my personal best of 28.38, set at Spire last year. I am confident I can lower this again at Spire at the end of this season.

My last event was the 500-yard freestyle. I swam it in 7:06.76. This was 2.4 seconds slower than my personal best, set last year at Spire. I have swam this event three times this season with the goal of improving my pacing. I have been mildly successful. The STDEV of my split times today was 2.48 seconds, compared to the 4.04 seconds calculated from split times in October. The goal is to get this as low as possible, so I'm heading in the right direction.

AMYMSA Duquesne

Race: Masters swim meet
Date: January 22, 2017
Location: Duquesne, Pa

100 IM:
3 JIM KELLAM 42 M GRBG 1:13.79
35.21 38.58
This was just 0.03 seconds slower than my best time, so I am happy with it. Dan beat me by 0.04 seconds, so it was a good match.

50 Butterfly:
2 JIM KELLAM 42 M GRBG 32.25
This was 0.67 seconds slower than my personal best. I had a good swim. I never got tired but as I headed into the wall at the end I felt my stroke got short. I tried to lengthen it by adding some bigger kicks that probably didn't help me in the end.

200 Freestyle:
4 JIM KELLAM 42 M GRBG 2:30.13
34.59 37.03 39.05 39.46
This is 1.68 seconds slower than my personal best. I'm kind of in a funk with this event. I am concentrating on maintaining a consistent pace (not tiring out at the end). I did this a little bit today but I still need improvement.

25-breast:
2 JIM KELLAM 42 M GRBG 17.35
I missed a personal best by 0.37 seconds, which is a lot. Perhaps I was distracted by the false start the guy next to me did.

AMYMSA Sewickly

Race: Masters swim meet
Date: December 4, 2016
Location: Sewickly, Pa

100 breaststroke: This felt like a strong and fast swim but I finished 3.63 seconds slower than my personal best. That's a lot of time for a 100-yard race. I am puzzled. My only explanation is that my warmup swim of 300 yards was more than an hour before and I wasn't "warm" anymore.

50-free: I finished in 29.21 seconds, which is 0.83 seconds slower than my personal best. This would be a mediocre result if I hadn't slipped on the starting block at the start. Because I didn't have a good start, I know I could have finished with a faster time, coming much closer to my personal best if not setting a new one.

25-yard butterfly: I signed up for this event just for fun but after my disappointing 100-breaststroke earlier in the meet, I wanted to do this one well. Nope! I finished in 14.96, which is 1.22 seconds slower than my personal best. That's terrible for a 25-yard event! **But in 2015-16 season my best time was 14.98, so at least I am better than last year.

500-free: I finished in 7:08.78, which was 4.42 seconds slower than my personal best. I had a really solid first 300 yards, beating or staying with my nearest competitor two lanes away. Shannan says I was on pace to finish around 6:50. But my last 200 was slower. I think I could have beat my time but I didn't have the motivation.

AMYMSA Greensburg

Race: Masters swim meet
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Greensburg, PA

I'm starting to get serious about my competitive swimming again (after a lazy year in 2015 and the longer distance training for my 2016 Ironman). This meet illustrates that I still have speed, and by later in the season I am likely to have more.

My first event was the 100 IM. This was extra fun because Dan was in the lane next to me, and one of these days I'm going to beat him. I didn't have a great dive; I just wasn't ready when the signal sounded. My fly felt good though, and I was at the wall before I knew it. My turn was sloppy. I really need to think while I swim and plan ahead for these things. Anyway, Dan was ahead during the whole butterfly segment and I needed to get closer on backstroke. You can't see your competitors during backstroke so I just went as fast as i could. I felt my legs sinking a bit and solved the problem halfway through by kicking with my hips more than my knees. I had a nice turn at the wall and saw that Dan and I were neck-to-neck. My pullout in the breaststroke was a little short, but I was keeping up with Dan. His turns are better than mine, but in breaststroke I might have a touch faster stroke. At the wall I did a good turn and poured on the gas during freestyle. I kicked hard. I stopped breathing. I wanted to out-touch Dan. I think I improved my position from half a body length to getting even with him. We touched the wall at the same time...well, almost. He finished in 1:13.65. I finished in 1:13.88. I didn't beat him...this time! I still feel great about my race though, as I was just 0.12 seconds slower than my personal best. I can beat that next time.

My second event was the 50 Fly. I practiced this some during the previous week, but I'm pretty rusty after having ignored the stroke during my Ironman training. My dive was good and I added a few underwater kicks that seem to be helping me to surface in a more horizontal position. I concentrated on form and my swim probably looked really good, but I didn't have a fast turnover rate. My time was thus 1.69 seconds slower than my personal best. I am not unhappy with this. In order to get faster I had to improve my form. I didn't have good form last month; now I do, and I will get faster next swim meet.

My third event was the 50 Back. I don't swim this often because I don't feel good about my start (and it is hard to practice it at my pool). Anyway, I learned from the 100 IM and made sure to kick with my whole legs instead of just below the knees. I pulled a lot of water with my arms and I did the best I could. Even my turn and finish were really good. My finish time was 36.16, which was just 0.14 seconds off my personal best. Again, I feel like I can lower this next time I swim!

Feeling good about my previous events, I felt the pressure to perform lighten and it appears I took the 200 Freestyle a little too easy. A swimmer at the block was talking to me about how important it is to swim a little slower during the first half of the event so that you still have power at the end. I decided to take this advice so I reigned in my swimming during the first 3 laps. But this backfired because by the last lap my arms were still fatigued and I couldn't go any faster. My finish time was 2:31.27, almost 3 seconds slower than my personal best, and 0.39 seconds slower than two weeks ago.

Overall, I had a great time, and made an effort to talk to more people, too. The meets in 2015 were not as fun because I wasn't as social and I wasn't training as hard, either.