Don Macdonald of the USA and France blogs his aquatic journey swimming, hosting swims around the world, one body of water at a time.
Those who aspire to this life goal please join and share.
#onestrokeatatime
Showing posts with label USMS 10k National Championships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USMS 10k National Championships. Show all posts
Relaxing before a morning swim, Don Macdonald, Isle Royale
“While it is well-known that exercise improves mood, among other benefits, not as much is known about the potency of exercise’s impact on emotional state and whether these positive effects endure when we’re faced with everyday stressors once we leave the gym,” explains J. Carson Smith of University of Maryland School of Public Health.
“We found that exercise helps to buffer the effects of emotional exposure. If you exercise, you’ll not only reduce your anxiety, but you’ll be better able to maintain that reduced anxiety when confronted with emotional events.”
Smith, whose research explores how exercise and physical activity affect brain function, aging, and mental health, compared how moderate intensity cycling versus a period of quiet rest—both for 30 minutes—affected anxiety levels in a group of healthy college students.
As reported in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, he assessed their anxiety state before the period of activity (or rest), 15 minutes after, and finally after exposing them to a variety of intense pleasant and unpleasant photographs, as well as neutral images.
At each point, study participants answered 20 questions from the State-Trait Anxiety inventory, which is designed to assess different symptoms of anxiety. All participants were put through both the exercise and the rest states on different days and tested for anxiety levels pre-exercise, post-exercise, and post-picture viewing.
Smith found that exercise and quiet rest were equally effective at reducing anxiety levels initially. However, after looking at the emotionally charged images for roughly 20 minutes, the anxiety levels of those who had simply rested went back up to their initial levels, whereas those who had exercised maintained their reduced anxiety levels.
“The set of photographic stimuli we used from the IAPS database was designed to simulate the range of emotional events you might experience in daily life,” explains Smith, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology.
“They represent pleasant emotional events, neutral events and unpleasant events or stimuli. These vary from pictures of babies, families, puppies, and appetizing food items, to very neutral things like plates, cups, furniture, and city landscapes, to very unpleasant images of violence, mutilations, and other gruesome things.”
The study findings suggest that exercise may play an important role in helping people to better endure life’s daily anxieties and stressors.
Smith plans to explore if exercise could have the same persistent beneficial effect in patients who regularly experience anxiety and depression symptoms.
In collaboration with the new Maryland Neuroimaging Center, he is also exploring the addition of functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, to measure brain activity during the period of exposure to emotionally stimulating images to see how exercise may alter the brain’s emotion-related neural networks.
Smith also investigates the role of exercise in preventing cognitive decline in older adults. His research has shown that physical activity promotes changes in the brain that may protect those at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
"The nominations are an annual collection of the web’s most inspirational and thought-provoking blogs geared to teaching resilience through the educational systems of our country".
I am fortunate to receive such a nomination, any nomination, for the blog which simply reflects a persons journey to conquer life-long dreams despite everyday obstacles, to perhaps touch someone, somehow to take that next step, just outside their comfort zone by taking "One Stroke at a Time".
This journey is actually a team effort even through I am usually the one in the water. My team and this recognition belongs to my family members, coaches, close friends and training partners that support me to swim in various places around the world, namely the big marathon swims such as the English Channel, Tampa Bay, Catalina, Lake Superior, Hudson River all 20 plus miles each and usually a 10-14 hour event. The real work happens every day in a lake or pool, not the big event. This nomination came as a nice surprise but the article I wrote wasn't. The article nominated was for recalling my post English Channel attempt routine physical stress test where we discovered I had arterial blockage and during the recovery period actually flat lined for 8 seconds. Good news it was likely the post recovery withdrawal of Beta Blockers that were used to suppress my heart rate too quickly and that's it. I guess being a swimmer with a normal resting heart rate of 42 or so plus these drugs doesn't mix well. Since then I have completed a post procedure stress and passed with flying colors and recently re-started strength training and will later in the fall be back to swimming regularly for next season.
This day from near shore at Dover,
the Harbor looks calm
however mid channel it was force 4+ = big waves.
Dear Friends,
Weather plays an important part in open water and marathon swimming contributing to your success and failure. at its most basic level of influence, even to the degree of difficulty.
Some weather situations drive resulting sea state and large lake conditions from hundreds of miles away in ways that befuddle most of us, frustrate the hope swimmer waiting to go. In the end you must consult and work with local captains, seamen, ports to determine and plan well these variables to minimize the risks and increase your chances of success.
This summer, like last for me, has seen significant weather related "no-go's"but like Mount Everest or any other endeavour of similar magnitude its part of the challenge.
Below, you will find excerpts from the English Channel Google Group from July 18-19th. This exchange from the venerable Captain Oram and others who pilot swimmers in the English Channels show just the sheer variability and sometimes confusion messages that come from mother nature to unknowing swimmers that may not be accustom to terminology.
For those of you who are not familiar with sea terminology, I strongly suggest before you plan a big open water swim especially in the ocean or great lakes to spend the time to learn the basics - what force means, sea state, tides and current mapping, etc. Words like "rough", "unsettled" usually are code for really tough swimming in 6-10ft swells, white caps, or worse waves one direction and wind the other copping up the seas. It might just make the difference or at least reduce your safety crew "puke factor" from rolling seas. Once you know the basics trust your pilot/captain and let it go.
In the USA NOAA has great resources for inner coastal areas, lakes and rivers and many web sites exist for shipping and sport fishermen that track similar conditions as well as some national parks that have open water as part of the boundary or lake shore.
July 19th
Actual Weather Forecast from Captain Oram:
Looks like we can go swimming as of tomorrow. (not sure exactly when) All we have to do is wait for the sea to settle. Sandettie 0900BST is showing WSW 22.9 knots with a 1.6 foot sea Water temp is still 59.7°F (15.5°C) Today's forecast is back to Tuesdays with no strong winds on Sunday
High pressure dominant in the Channel, just a small ridge over the French side.
Midday Sunday 22July 1200 UTC
Dover HW 0129 BST 6.5 metres
Dover HW 1351 BST 6.7 metres
High pressure still dominant in the Channel with the deep low moving up and through Scotland.
Need updates on the pressure charts to sort out Monday onwards.
July 18th
Dover Shipping forecast Gale warnings - Issued: 0332 UTC Wed 18 Jul Southwesterly gale force 8 expected soon
Shipping Forecast - Issued: 1625 UTC Wed 18 Jul Wind -- Southwest 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 at first. Sea State -- Moderate or rough. Weather -- Showers. Visibility -- Moderate or good -------------------------------------- North Foreland to Selsey Bill - inshore waters forecast Strong winds are forecast For coastal areas up to 12 miles offshore from 1800 UTC Wed 18 Jul until 1800 UTC Thu 19 Jul 24 hour forecast: Wind -- Southwesterly 5 to 7, occasionally gale 8 in east at first, veering westerly or northwesterly 4 or 5 later. Sea State -- Moderate or rough. Weather -- Showers. Visibility -- Moderate or good.
Outlook for the following 24 hours: 1800 UTC Thursday 19th July to 1800 UTc Fri 20 July Wind -- West or northwest 4 or 5, becoming variable or west, 3 or 4. Sea State -- Moderate or rough, becoming slight. Weather -- Showers. Visibility -- Good -------------------------------------
Dover Western entrance has South Westerly 30 to 35 knots blowing on it at 1600 Sandettie 1600 BST -- SW 24.1knots -- 2.3 foot seas -- 5 sec wave -- 59.7°F (15.4°C)
Sea temperature reached 59.9 °F (15.5°C) this afternoon for a short time. Air temperature around 58°/ 59F (14.5 to 15°C) Wind direction is South West - South South Westerly Short wave pattern of 5 secs most of the time
Start of the Race, those that know my stroke will notice where I am, Ha, Ha!
Swimming with the Big Dogs, what an experience! U.S. Masters National Championship for the 10k marathon race was a solid success for me and a wonderful experience participating with 200 plus total marathon swimmers from 22 states some of them former world record holders, a number that have already done the English Channel and other large marathon events.
I placed 5th in my age group (45 - 49, they break down every 5 years) and 51st overall. It took me just over 2 hours and 50 minutes to complete the 6.2 mile course (2:52.26 to be exact). This is a personal best for me and I dropped 14 minutes from my previous 10k just 3 weeks prior.
Here is the sun rising just before warm-ups! what a beautiful view:
The event was held at Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, Indiana in very warm (hot by my definition these days) of 84f. The water was so warm that dehydration and heat stroke was as reality. The water being so warm of course had algae blooming very thick (...think very diluted split pea soup, I could barely see my hands as they entered the water and pulled beneath my chest). The air temperature was also in the high 80's when the gun went off at 7:00am. So the total thermal heat load was some 160 degrees which is huge almost comparable to the Hawaii Iron man. In the end, everyone was safe but seriously dehydrated. I have probably drank the better part of 1-2 gallons of various fluids since then Saturday after the race until Sunday evening.
The race for me was my first ever national level event so the nerves were a bit rough, didn't sleep very well the night before waking up at 3am two whole hours before I was supposed to wake up. Tried to go back to sleep but found myself, dreaming about big lochness water monsters. So perhaps someone out there can tell me what that meant? Jennifer, my wife was so gracious to follow me on this trip and get up early as well braving the non-Starbucks start of the day. We arrived at the event and lots of folks were already in swim suits chomping at the bit. You could cut the excitement with a knife as folks mulled around preparing themselves with swim caps, Vaseline (we use this where needed to prevent chaffing), goggles, etc. As start time neared, folks were in doing there warm up swims of a couple hundred yards. You could already smell the safety boats engine oil and gas wafting in the air and taste in my mouth. We did the usual national anthem which was really something with the sun coming up and 200 folks standing in their swim gear. I found myself thinking about the movie "Apocalypse Now" and the part where where the Colonel says something along the lines of "I love the smell of Napalm early in the morning...Its, Its, the smell of victory"!
The first wave started at 7am and the second wave, which I was in, at 7:05am. So about 60-80 people per wave went tearing off in a wild frenzy of arms and legs, climbing over each other, bumping, etc. I was pleased to not feel much of this as I usually like to stay away from the fray so as not to expend extra energy but also to mentally allow myself to get into a rhythm. For me it takes somewhere up to a mile or so to begin to settle down into what feels good. But in this hot water, it was very different this time, the heat load came on quick and I could tell by my breathing my body warmed up and it was going to be really important to "listen to my body" and work through the different feelings of stress, pain and aches.
The course is a two lap circuit each three miles (5k) around. The course was very comfortable for me to navigate, I prefer long open stretches rather than circling around buoys. Each way up or down is about 1.5 miles. We started at the bottom of the picture. At each end I stopped for a very quick (10-20 seconds) gulp of water and a GU pack. At the half way point, I gulped down an 8 oz. bottle of my usual Maxim energy drink.
My first laps were pretty consistent time wise ranging anywhere from 40 odd minutes and seconds to 46 on the third lap and then negative splitting back down to 40 minutes on the last lap (this was really tough however). I began to feel either cramping or the cumulative affects of the dehydration in my arms half way down the third lap or it could have been the slug of carbohydrates I had just consumed 20 minutes before at the half way point? (I need to learn from this as it was a challenging period). My stroke shortened and I had to really focus on staying calm and to relax during this segment but as the next several hundred yards passed so did this feeling. After hitting the last turn I knew I was doing well, I felt better and as I pulled away from the turn buoy I felt my longer relaxed stroke come back. As the yards ticked away, I got stronger, I could see people in front me and slowly worked to pass as many as I could. I was a mental rush seeing someone splashing away 100 or 200 yards up and then a few moments later passing them. The last turn buoy before the finish I was in all out sprint, it hurt like hell but I was in the zone. I drove to the finish and popped up just across the line with a cheery Hi, that was fun comment to the race officials as I backstroked over to the beach. Of course moments later the endorphins came crashing down and it was then I realized I was hot and tired. I didn't stay in the water to warm down like usual because it was so hot. Everyone was happily talking and sharing there experiences, young and old.
Everyone finished up and we proceeded to have a lunch and awards. I was astonished to see the age groupings, there was a small group of just out of college kids then very few later 20's to early thirty year old's. The bulk of these talented swimmers really started in the late 30's, then my age grouping but the biggest group was the 50's. there were a number of 60 year old's as well. This was truly remarkable to see.
About the time we finished up with awards for the top eight in each age group, one older guy came in and finished 4 hours and something seconds. Everyone stopped what they were doing and began to cheer with thunderous applause. In that moment I discovered why I love swimming, but more to the point the people that swim with you. This is a very small fraternity of very, very talented and in some cases world class athletes that are caring and engaged with their competitors and their families.
My training partner, Doug McConnell and Coach Marcia cleveland were there as well. Marcia won her age group and yes, she stomped my butt again swimming something like a 2:40 race. Doug had a great swim, he has been coming back from spine surgery earlier in the year and had missed three months of practice. He finished 6th in his age group 50-55 in with some real fast guys around 2:50 minutes.
One fun note for the Goshen, Indiana folks! I Dave Oplinger (swam in the late 1970's with the Gibsons, Neff and company) was there in a relay. I hadn't seen Dave since high school and it was really allot of fun to see him again and share great memories and laughs. He did well in his relay and also swims Masters in Indy, still cranking out the butterfly.
In the end it was a great experience and very different from my larger goal of swimming across a large open water distance like the English Channel. Hey this was the US Nationals!
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