Conquering Hawaii's Biggest Waves

Don Macdonald kayaking down the face of a huge rolling wave crashing down on Doug McConnell

It's a few months since escorting Doug McConnell (A Long Swim) across the Molokai Channel, better known as the Ka’iwi Channel (or Channel of Bones) separating the islands of Molokai and Oahu.

Stretching 26 miles (42 kilometers) and plunging to a depth of 2,300 feet (701 meters), the Ka’iwi Channel has the reputation as one of the world’s most treacherous bodies of water.



Leaving at midnight in pitch black inky warm, with not even a house light from shore, we shoved off from shore Doug's red and green safety lights blinking away as the only visual contact between us, stars shining so bright I felt like Christopher Columbus knowing ahead there was an island yet to reveal itself after 18 hours of sun drenched paddling.

I knew that each human powered race across the Channel of Bones is regarded worldwide as the crowning achievement of the sport and it doesn’t give up easily.

Some 16 hours later, after calm seas and great swimming, mother nature unleashed strong winds following behind a tropical depression driving the seas to 12 foot.
The escort boat with a fly bridge would dip down in the trough ahead of us and disappear completely.

As evening fell, it became apparent mother nature had won this day. I leaned over to Doug and said ‘you have to let it go’, your sister and dad will understand and prefer you come home safe. I find in these swims when every ounce of energy is depleted and you are mentally destroyed, you must help swimmers (who are in a depressed state) to make these decisions with little coaching comments and suggestions to allow them to come to the right (and safest) decision. We abandoned the swim within a 1/2 mile of shore but facing jagged black rock walls, 10-foot surf to come ashore and darkness once again.

Before we left, I reflected on some recent history which left an impression and one that would live up to its reputation. The tragic loss of Hawaiian big-wave rider and waterman Eddie Aikau in the Ka’iwi Channel during the 1978 Polynesian voyage of the Hokule’a sailing canoe added to the mystique and revered power of the channel. After gale force winds and 30-foot swells disabled the Hokule’a, Aikau left the ship on his rescue paddle board to seek help for his stranded crew mates. His body and board were never found. Paddling has been a part of Hawaiian heritage since early Polynesians navigated thousands of miles of open ocean guided by nothing more than currents, wind and stars. Double-hulled sailing canoes were used to cover longer distances and single-hull outrigger canoes covered shorter, inter-island distances.

I am sure we will be back and if mother nature allows, we will be standing on the Oahu shore.

Affects of Fueling from Sugar or Carbs and Affects on your body

A Long Swim & One Stroke at a Time Teams

"Channel of Bones" Hawaii Charity Swim

July 25-31, 2016

First lets talk about health fueling when you swim - 

Two great video shorts on the affects of fueling your body using sugar based diet or carb based diet in easy and simple to understand terms.

The affects of these fuels, the timing, and amounts can act as a arterial inflammation agent. Review and consider the fuels used for open water and marathon level athletic events. Consider using natural foods as an alternative such as juices, fruits, peanut butter rather than dextrose based gels and Gu pacs.

Keep up the great adventures and remember One Stroke at a Time.

Catch our next adventure kayaking for friend and training partner Doug McConnell and the A Long Swim (ALS) team as we attempt to cross the Channel of Bones from Molokai to Oahu over some 18 hours of truly open ocean swimming. 

Heres the link: http://www.alongswim.com/meet-the-team-don-macdonald/

Eat Well, Live Well

Gel Packs - A Natural Alternative

NATURAL SPORTS GEL
From The Natural Nutritionist

After years of swimming long distance events, ocean races, and open water trainings how you gain fuel is a critical link to your success and recovery from training.  one aspect about how you fuel often overlooked is the negative impact, inflammation sugars and other ingredients may cause to your ARTERIAL system. for those with family medical histories this may be a point to consider.

Sports Gels may widely be considered by medical professionals to be akin to "a blow torch to your veins." alternatives can be high protein, natural foods prepared and pouched similar to this recent article in the natural NUTRITIONIST.

training your stomach and balance of muscles is more IMPORTANT than training your muscles for athletic activity, how you fuel is critical.

We’ve been using Freedom Fuel (FF) with great success for years now here at TNN, so it was about time we dedicated a page of the website to its awesomeness.

The natural carbohydrates from rice malt syrup and raspberries make it extremely low fructose and a great alternative for those who experience gastro-intestinal (GI) distress with conventional sports gels. The medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil provides five grams of fat per serve, contributing to a stable energy supply, satiety and beautifully consistent running or cycling splits. Most importantly, the natural and refined sugar free nature means you stay away from inflammatory ingredients and promote recovery and subsequent performance.

For running, simply carry in a hand held gel flask, which also easily fits into the zip pocket of your running tights or tri suit. For cycling, you can carry flasks in your pockets, or make a multi-hour water bottle and if you wish, dilute to your desired consistency.

Give it a try, and as always, post below as we’d love to hear your success stories.

Freedom Fuel

Ingredients (Serves 1)

• 2 teaspoons Pure Harvest rice malt syrup
• 1 teaspoon medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil*
• ¼ cup raspberries, fresh or frozen, organic
• The juice from ¼ lemon
• A pinch of sea salt
• A dash of hot water

Method

1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.
2. Pour through a strainer to remove pips. Transfer carefully into a gel flask/water bottle and seal well.

Note: One serve is ~20g of carbohydrates, so please start to experiment with FF as per your current fuelling requirements. Over time, especially if you are overhauling your day-today nutrition, you may find that you need less. Sports nutrition is not constant, but an evolution you should adapt race-to-race and year-to-year.

If you are just getting started, we recommend 30g-40g/hour or 1.5-2 serves/hour. For a two hour run, for example, train fasted for the first hour, then sip your 1.5/2 serves over the course of the second hour. Make notes on energy, digestion, performance and recovery so you/we can continue to develop your fuelling strategy. For assistance, please book your Initial Consultation with us at TNN here.

*A brand such as Melrose Health will suffice. Coconut oil can be used in summer, but in the cooler weather it will solidify and clog up the pop-top of your flask or water bottle.

Have you tried Freedom Fuel? Share your successes below!

Images by Sarah Craven Photography.

Barrington Ultra Marathon Swimmer helps others achieve their Dreams

Master Swimmer Don Macdonald knows in his heart that he would be gearing up to swim the English Channel if not for a cardiac arrhythmia that very nearly killed him.

Learning how to "take it easy" after the near-fatal episode, the 52-year Barrington man kayaked 28.5 miles around Manhattan Island on Saturday. Macdonald and his marathon swimming buddy and fellow Barrington resident, Doug McConnell, 56, have completed several similar grueling swims. But for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, Macdonald merely offered support from the kayak as McConnell swam the course to raise money in the fight against ALS.



"Kayaking," Macdonald says dismissively, "is very easy."

With the tide helping propel his kayak, Macdonald says his effort was more emotional than physical.

"There's value in helping other people achieve their dreams," Macdonald says, recalling how he rooted as his investment banker friend swam the English Channel in 2011 just before a storm wiped out Macdonald's scheduled shot at fame. "You want to revel in his success, and at the same time I say, 'Oh, man, I wish that could be me. I know I could do it.'"

A doctor on the medical team that saved Macdonald's life says the environmental engineer appeared to be in shape for that 2011 trek across the choppy, cold water that separates England from France.

"Fortunately, he didn't get to do the English Channel," says Dr. George Christy, a cardiologist with Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington. "Swimming that distance in the cold of water for that long of time, there is a likelihood something adverse would have happened."

The bad weather that scuttled Macdonald's Channel swim gave the swimmer time to discover that a lingering pain in his shoulder blades was not just a training ache but a symptom of coronary disease.

"Here I am, a guy who swims 25 miles in 60-degree open water, and you're telling me I have clogged arteries?" Macdonald asked in disbelief.

Doctors inserted stents to open his narrowed arteries and put Macdonald on medication to regulate his heart.

"I'm fixed. They put the stents in. Let's go. Woo-hoo!" he remembers thinking. After a year of treatment and several stress tests on his heart, Macdonald was cleared to train again for a Channel swim this September.

"Even fit people develop coronary disease," says Christy, who adds that Macdonald developed another problem. "It's a false invulnerability people get, especially when they are endurance athletes. There's an aura of invincibility to some of these guys, and you can't blame them."

Having set swimming records during his high school career in Goshen, Indiana, competed on the swim team at Ball State University, played on the water polo team at Indiana University and enjoyed success as a master swimmer beating younger athletes, a confident Macdonald backed off his medications. "I made the decision to go with the less potent (medication), and it almost cost me my life," he says.

"He goes out for a jog when it's 100 degrees, which I wouldn't recommend for anybody," Christy says. Macdonald ran up to his home in the midst of a block party and "crashed," the doctor says, explaining how the athlete's heart went into ventricular fibrillation, an uncoordinated heart rhythm, which can be fatal.

A retired nurse on the scene performed CPR and a medical emergency team got him to Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital's emergency room within minutes. Knowing Macdonald's tolerance for long swims in cold water, doctors used a device to put him in a hypothermic state that lowered his body temperature.

"Neurological recovery was key," says Christy, noting that hypothermia slows the metabolic process that can cause cognitive damage when the brain goes without oxygen. Tests showed his heart and blood pressure were good. But Macdonald's life was in danger for days.

"Is he or is he not going to wake up? It was all guesswork until we warmed him up," Christy says.

"I wake up three or four days later," Macdonald says. "I don't remember a thing. I don't remember seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing."

Knowing how close he came to dying and leaving behind his daughter, Rachel, 16, and his wife, Jennifer, Macdonald says he wants others to know the value of stress tests and good cardiac care.

"The harsh reality is very scary," say Macdonald, who practices kayaking in Lake Zurich and on Lake Michigan, but misses swimming. "I have been in the swimming pool three times, and just sort of paddled around. I'd be lying to you if I didn't say it was scary."

Long, open-water swims have been part of his life since high school, when he and pal Steve Conder swam 8 miles across Lake Wawasee in Indiana. Macdonald has completed swims from Alcatraz off the coast of San Francisco and lighthouses off the coast of Boston. He and McConnell swam marathon races in Crystal Lake, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"We were beating kids in their 20s and 30s pretty regularly," Macdonald says. "One night at the dinner table, drinking some wine, we said, 'How about the English Channel?'"

McConnell became the 48th person older than 50 to swim the Channel and continues to do well in marathon swims. Macdonald, who has a device implanted in his chest to shock him if his heart gets out of rhythm, stays in the kayak.

"If it goes off when you're facedown in the water, you could drown. After all this, to die drowning, that would be really embarrassing," Macdonald says. "But I just can't sit on a floaty and hang around. It's not me."

When talk turns to his English Channel quest, he repeats the mantra, "Sometimes you have to let that go." Then he pauses.

"I'll tell you," Macdonald says, softening his voice as if he's sharing a secret. "I'm not so sure about that."

Reprinted with modifications from Daily Herald, Burt Constable.

Recovery from an Almost fatal Cardia Arrhythmia - Manhattan Island Marathon Race from the Kayakers Perspective

The 28.5 kayaking trip around the Island of Manhattan will be both grueling and scenic and more importantly bringing awareness to Two important Causes (literally near and dear to my heart) - Cardiac Arrhythmia Prevention and Doug McConnell's ALS charity efforts.

Doug’s swim will be accompanied by an escort boat with two crew members (Susan and Cliff Wilson I believe) as well as the support of a kayak manned by his long-time training partner, Don Macdonald. 

Bob Lee and others will be biking around the Island as well all supporting the cause and friend in the quest for raising money and awareness.

Here is a short video clip of the perspective from the kayaker and support crew for Manhattan Island.

Don's Journey since the English Channel has taken a twisted path.

While starting my training for a second attempt the English Channel that was planned for this fall (2014) I had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia event, collapsed, received life saving help. I was found to have arrhythmia problems perhaps brought on by high intensity exercise, that had gone undetected perhaps for years despite years of grueling training and hours submerged in ice cold water and distances.

Well I survived and now find myself with an implanted ICD to prevent such future events. I was running, which I jokingly say was the problem, instead of swimming. "I think ICD stands for I Can't Die".

However my experience now takes me down a path relatively untraveled since only about 1% of such incidents leave survivor's. So onto the next chapter of my swimming journey just One Stroke At A Time and Advocate Health System, Cardiac Care Services.


I am hopeful to return to the pool in the near future. But until then kayaking for Doug and his cause is great. We been at his for five years and like open water swimming, you have to adapt. As Dori says...just keep swimming, swimming, swimming, or in my case kayaking, kayaking, and kayaking.




Doug's ALS Challenge:

After another long year of training, the A Long Swim Team is planning for the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, a 28.5-mile circumnavigation of the most prominent island that makes up New York City, in June 2014.  In the unique world of marathon swimming, successfully completing swims across the English Channel, The Catalina Channel and around Manhattan Island is considered the “Triple Crown.”  If he completes the third leg of that challenge, Doug will be in a select club of fewer than 100 swimmers with that honor.

The Greatest Gift of All - saving Someone's Life

In the New Year  Learn How to save someones life  Learn How to Perform CPR 2012, Triathlete dies in NY swim. As athletes we rarely consider this will happen to ourselves much less someone we know know or a fellow competitor. I can assure you it does, and when you least expect it and sometimes from the fittest people. Do you know how to perform CPR, use a defibrillator? I did not.  Try this video and see what you think. You may just save a life....  We have all walked by the Red Cross sign in malls, schools and airports indicating where a heart machine is located, learn to use one and maybe pay it forward.  Link: http://www.heartrescuenow.com/

Fatal Arrhythmias in Open Water Swimming

Fatal Arrhythmia's in Open Water Swimming: What's the Mechanism?

Reprinted from Lawrence L. Creswell, M.D.

Introduction by Don Macdonald: I recently had a sudden cardiac event, collapsed, received life saving help immediately and found to have arrhythmia problems perhaps brought on by exercise, Well I survived and now find myself with an implanted ICD to prevent such future events. I was running, which I jokingly say was the problem, instead of swimming. I think ICD stands for "I Can't Die".

However my experience now takes me down a path relatively untraveled since only about 1% of such incidents leave survivor's. So onto the next chapter of my swimming journey just One Stroke At A Time.

Cardiac rehab has me exercising already and I am hopeful to return to the pool in the near future.

We've talked previously here at the blog about the general issue of sports-related sudden cardiac death (SCD).  And we've also talked about the specific issue of swimming fatalities during triathlons and open water swims.

But what triggers a sudden, fatal arrhythmia during open water swimming?

The answer isn't known and perhaps it will never be known with certainty.  But a recent report from a group of scientists in the U.K., though, suggests a very plausible mechanism.  Their idea is worth considering.


What's been learned from studies on runners?

As I've mentioned previously here at the blog, sports-related SCD has been best studied in the setting of long-distance running events.  Last year, Dr. Kim and colleagues in Boston reported on a decade-long study of runners with race-related SCD [1].  These investigators found that fatalities during marathons are not distributed uniformly along the race distance.  Instead, they predominate during the final 3 miles or so.  And interestingly, fatalities during half marathon events also predominate during the closing miles.  But why?

In the running population, we know from autopsy studies that the majority of victims have some sort of (often previously unknown) heart disease.  And something happens during the closing miles of the race.  In the words of the investigators, their "findings suggest that demand ischemia (i.e., ischemia due to an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand) may be operative in exercise-related acute coronary events during long-distance running races."  The leading hypothesis is that this mismatch in blood (or oxygen) supply and demand in the heart occurs when the runner picks up the pace, producing an adrenaline surge and increased physiologic demands on the heart, once the finish line is mentally within sight.

Based on this hypothesis, the International Marathon Medical Directors Association issued an advisory in March, 2010 that recommended, among other things, that athletes "not sprint the last part of the race unless you have practiced this in your training."

The concept here is that a susceptible heart (in a susceptible athlete) is triggered at a particular moment in the race to have a fatal arrhythmia because of a specific trigger.  The surge hypothesis might not explain all running race-related deaths, but is a plausible explanation for the physiology behind the majority of the deaths that occur late in a race.

It's very likely that the same concept is in play in triathlon-related sudden cardiac death.


What's going on in triathlon?

In triathlon, athletes have died at any point during the race--from the first few strokes of the swim through the final strides of the run.  And a couple athletes have collapsed with SCD even a few hours after the finish.  But the majority of deaths have occurred during the swim.  USA Triathlon issued a report last year that summarizes these facts.

What might be the trigger for sudden cardiac arrest during the swim portion of a triathlon?

Recently, two researchers in the U.K.--Michael Shattock and Michael Tipton--have offered a new hypothesis that they have labeled autonomic conflict [2,3]

To understand their hypothesis, we first need to talk for a moment about some features of the heart's physiology.


Sympathetic and Parasympathetic Influences

One component of our nervous system is called the autonomic system.  This portion of the nervous system is involuntary, responding to internal and external stimuli below the level of our consciousness.  The autonomic nervous system has 2 different divisions--the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.  Each of these divisions can operate independently, often with opposite effects on the body's organs, including the heart.

We often think of the sympathetic nervous system as being excitatory--providing the so-called "fight or flight" response.  When activated, the sympathetic nervous system has several effects on the heart:  an increase in heart rate, vasodilation of the coronary arteries (leading to more blood flow), and increased contractility (contraction strength) of the heart muscle.  And importantly for athletes, activation of the sympathetic nervous system also increases the blood flow to the skeletal muscles, decreases blood flow to the abdominal organs, and opens up the airways of the lungs.

In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system has an inhibitory effect on the heart, acting to restore a baseline heart rate after sympathetic activation and by slowing electrical conduction in the specialized areas of the heart's electrical system known as the sino-atrial (SA) node and the atrio-ventricular (AV) node.  In well-trained endurance athletes, the parasympathetic nervous system is often highly developed, and is one cause of a very low resting heart rate.


A Hypothesis

Drs. Shattock and Tipton have proposed a mechanism where sudden activation or sudden increase in activation of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems can produce a fatal arrhythmia.  This idea is supported by studies in isolated hearts as well as in healthy volunteers.

Let's say that an athlete's heart might be predisposed to an arrhythmia because of one or more anatomic or physiologic conditions such as:  congenital or inherited long QT syndrome, coronary artery disease, myocardial hypertrophy, ischemic heart disease, or pathologic hypertrophy (eg, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy).

During an open water swim, an athlete's sympathetic nervous system is activated because of physical exertion, (relatively) cold water temperature, anxiety, or even anxiety or overcompetitiveness.  The parasympathetic nervous system is activated because of facial wetting, water entering the mouth, nose, and pharynx, and extended breath holding--and particularly so, just at the moment of breaking a breath hold.  At that very moment, there can be maximal parasympathetic activation.

These scientists suggest that this autonomic conflict--between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems--is what triggers a sudden, potentially fatal arrhythmia.


It's Plausible

This is a plausible hypothesis.  It fits with the observations that have been made on victims of sudden cardiac death during open water swimming.  And it fits with the general concept of a susceptible heart and an arrhythmia trigger that seems to be in play in victims of SCD in other sports.



References

1.  Kim JH et al.  Cardiac arrest during long-distance running races.  N Engl J Med 2012;366:130-140.

2. Shattock MJ, Tipton MJ.  'Autonomic conflict':  a different way todiedu  ring cold water immersion?  J Physiol 2012;590:3219-3230.

3.  Tipton MJ.  Sudden cardiac death during openwater  swimming.  Br J Sports Med 2013. Online in advance.


Related Posts

1. Sports-relatd sudden cardiac death in the general population

2. Athletes, sudden death, and CPR