Jordan Lake

Mondays are traditionally a recovery day and after yesterday's run these sore legs need a day off. The Bean boys decided to make my swim at Jordan Lake a family outing. My parents worry about me solo swimming, so my dad and brother came along to read and relax while I worked on a deep catch and connecting hip rotation to the catch. Left to my own devices I'd do solo open-water swims all the time, but when in Rome...

Jordan Lake has a cove just off Farrington Road that's protected from the chop and usually boats, although many boats were out enjoying the sun and moderate temperatures this Labor Day. My swim was unspectacular, though it was good to simply get in a swim without having to do a single flip turn. Open water swims improve navigation skills and the endurance needed for Ironman's 4 km swim. I decided on a main set of 7x 5' upbeat, with 20" recoveries. The first 5 were pulling until a paddle snapped. I wish I could claim that it was my Man-Torque that ripped that paddle apart.

Speaking of swimming Man-Torque, fellow Inside-Out-Sports teammate for the 2006 Silverman Triathlon 100k Relay Challenge, Mark Warkentin, placed 8th in the Olympic 10 km open water swim. He was only 21 seconds behind gold medalist Maarten van der Weijden of the Netherlands...think about that; 21 seconds after 10,000 meters of swimming! During my swim I remembered what Mark would do for a pull set, 10x 500 yards on a 5:00 send-off. Here he is after a 45:00 swim split through uber-chop at the Silverman.


In other sporting news
At the Louisville Ironman, contested yesterday in 90+ degrees and typical Kentucky humidity, Richard Armstrong made a strong showing in the men's pro division in 11th place. I coached Richard two years ago helping him make some big strides and it's good to see him continuing to race well. He is one of the most disciplined athletes I've met.

ISCorp teammate Justin Dyszelski placed 11th in the 18-24 age group Justin was running in 3rd place off the bike when the heat and humidity caught up to this Wisconsinite and he struggled through a cramping 5 hour marathon. Better luck next time Justin, that's just part of the game. Maybe you should have done some long runs in a plastic sweat suit to acclimate??

Another athlete to keep your eyes on is Robert Ferris, who placed 3rd in the 25-29 age group at Ironman Canada, qualifying for the Big Dance in an impressive 9:42. I've had the pleasure of coaching Rob since last year. His times are dropping out of the sky, and he's as motivated and disciplined at they come. Rob now has the unenviable challenge of recovering from Canada, getting in a training block, and then tapering for Hawaii, all in 7 weeks. Good luck, 'cuz it sounds like it could hurt. Rob and I will stay together with Rob's family in Hawaii. I'm definitely looking forward to Rob's mom's home cooked meals, but a bit disappointed Rob and I won't be able to hammer each other with a century up Mauna Kea's 13,000' peak two days before the Ironman. Rob? We'll have to do it later this month on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Legs Still Sore
A swim is great for recovery, but in the evening the legs were still sore, too sore for the bike-run sufferfest I planned for tomorrow. An extremely easy 30km ride was in order. I toured a few neighborhoods and golf courses with an average HR of 90.