This is my house! Not really, but its the pool I go to.
Anyone who spends any decent amount of time at the swimming pool is bound to find some little pet peeves and grievances with their fellow swimmers and gym goers. I generally wouldn't be one to air a list of complaints, but after some deliberation I thought maybe I should mention some of these pet peeves on my blog in the interests of making pools everywhere a better place. So here it goes.
Wringing your wet swimsuit out in the middle of the change room- Some guy did this last week and that is what inspired this post. I couldn't believe my eyes when he took his swimming trunks and rung all the water out of them on the side of the changeroom opposite the showers, in basically the dryest part of the room furthest from a drain. What on earth was he thinking? Does he think he's doing everyone a favor by making sure everyone's socks get wet as they get changed?
Wearing basketball shorts and underwear in to the hot tub- This is pretty gross. I just don't get how some people think its okay to go straight from the weight room or gym floor to the hot tub and assume that other people are okay with sitting an a warm tub of water with their bacteria infested underwear and shorts. Ugh. Gym shorts and underarmor boxers are not the same as board shorts or swimwear.
Completely ignoring the lanes- There are leisure center pools, and there are lane pools. I don't mind if people just want to wade around in the pool and not swim lap after lap like us mindless drones, but if you're going to just laze around and socialize at least do it in the lane usually closest to the wall where people are a little more casual about the swim.
Not returning flutter board/pull buoys at the end of the lane- This is more for the staff who are waiting around to save your life if you start to drown. Lifeguards are not housekeepers there to pick up after you because you can't be bothered to return equipment from the bin where you got it. You know who you are, would it hurt you to pick up after yourself?
Canoodling- I'm not sure which is worse, the wearing of sweaty undergarments post workout in the hot tub, or affectionate partners looking like they're getting ready to do the no pants dance in the pool. Gross. Just Gross. Get a room kids.
Talking on your phone in the changeroom- Its just sort of creepy. I don't really care if someone quickly picks up to say they'll call back in a minute, because we all lead busy lives, I get it. But prolonged phone conversations in the changeroom is very poor etiquette. Plus, with the widespread availability of camera phones, you have to remember, you're standing there with a camera pointed at a bunch of naked people of all ages which is a serious invasion of privacy and its grounds for having your membership revoked at a lot of facilities.
Anyways, those are my two cents for the week. What about you? Is there anything that drives you up the wall at the pool?
We're hopefully in the last few weeks of winter and many of the earliest spring races are just a little over a month away. With that in mind, if you've been slugging away through the winter months on the treadmill, or are looking to sharpen your running skills and start picking up some speed, getting on the track might be just what you're looking for. I personally have a love/hate relationship with track workouts. On the one hand they're mentally and physically demanding and uncomfortable. On the other hand, if you want to become a faster runner, then run fast, and one of the best ways to do that is on the track. The balance between speed and the physical and mental stress of running track leads to one of it's greatest benefits; track work really provides you with a sense of how your body feels at different stress levels, providing you with valuable experience for your next race. Over the past two years I've really noticed that track work has improved my running economy and helped me move towards a more mid foot strike. On my longer runs this has translated into quicker leg turnover and greater physiological efficiency. In terms of the aerobic benefits intervals and track offer, work done at or slightly above your functional threshold heart rate pays dividends. Track work and intervals allow improved running economy which translates into decreased oxygen extraction at sub maximal pace, increased maximal oxygen consumption at maximal pace, and improved lactate tolerance, which delays fatigue. So what do you need to know to hit the track? I've personally found the research and insight provided by Greg McMillan to be a great resource. Probably one of the best kept secrets on the internet for runners is the McMillan Run Calculator. This tool, which is also available in an excel spreadsheet if you're a real run geek, is an exceptional predictor or run performance. Input your best or most recent race result, and it provides some pretty decent numbers around what your performance should be for different race distances, as well as what you should be targeting for training and track paces.
As always, ask your coach for their thoughts on getting on the track, but if you're keen to get going, here are a couple other resources with some good track workouts;
I've never really blogged about what I listen to when I'm running, but I'm often looking for good run songs so I figured I'd write a quick post on some awesome runs that I use to amp me up for a tempo run, or calm me down for a long slow run.
So here's what's on my "HTFU" playlist (thats actually what its called, and if you don't know what HTFU means, Google it).
Bulletproof - La Roux (high tempo song that gets me started)
Coming Home - Diddy (there's something triumphant about the opening song that I just love)
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor (this is a staple)
Gives You Hell - The All American Rejects (Need I say more?)
I'm Shopping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys (This is a GREAT song for short fast intervals)
Icky Thump - The White Stripes (Try having this song in your ear and not feel bad ass)
Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas (Kind of a "what are you made of?" song for me)
Stronger - Kanye West (Probably a cliche workout song by now, but still good)
Rooftops - Lostphophets (This song is all about giving it your all, used to be the Flames opener song)
Rolling In the Deep - Adele (Its the opener to this song thats the most motivating, great song)
Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars (Great song, really motivational)
Not Afraid - Eminem (What would a HTFU soundtrack be without some Eminem?)
Time - Hans Zimmer (This is one of the songs from Inception, and was at the end of the 2010 Kona broadcast when Macca was on his last couple miles on his way to the win, listen to this song at the most mentally challenging point of a workout and visualize the finish line at your big race in slow motion, so powerful)
Now that you know what I use to push me up a hill or crush a tempo or interval run, here's my playlist that I use to slow myself down for a Sunday morning LSD run.
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon (Such a chill song)
Stop and Stare - One Republic (A cool song that you can visualize your whole season to)
Airplanes - B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams (preparing for Ironman Canada I listened to this so many times wishing and hoping I'd finish the swim!)
Dog Days are Over - Florence + The Machine (You can totally run on a Sunday morning and be perfectly content listening to thise)
Edmonton - The Rural Alberta Advantage (I can't say enough awesome things about this band, just download their album Hometowns, its awesome and the whole album should be on this list)
Unwritten - Natasha Beddingfield (Girlie music at its best)
Lighters - Bad Meets Evil (A song about struggle and triumph, also with Eminem)
I Love this Road - Emerson Drive (Showing some love for country music here, pick your fave run route and listen to this song)
I Believe - Nikki Yanofsky (The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Theme! Listen to this, watch this montage, and just be inspired by our Canadian athletes)
All These Things That I've Done - The Killers (See the video below, enough said)
Lastly there are two videos that I use to amp me up and get me ready for a run or a workout. Just watch them.
And this next one gives me chills, you don't even need to watch it, just listen to it
This past Sunday Lance Armstrong marked his return to triathlon with a remarkable second place finish at Panama 70.3 against a strong field of competitors including one of triathlon's strongest cyclists, Chris Lieto. Going into the race predictions for his results were all across the board if you looked at the Slowtwitch forums, or at the response Tri It Multisport had to it's #LanceTris twitter contest. Few people predicted he would finish as strong as he did, and if one thing is for certain, triathlon's top athletes have been put on notice that there is a new contender in the ring.
I honestly do believe that Lance Armstrong returning to triathlon is a good thing. I know that there's been some debate on this around the web but the Livestrong marketing machine brings the sport a level of attention and appeal that few organizations can rival. Even marginally more media coverage and general public interest is sure to appeal to equipment manufacturers and sponsors alike, which in turn means more funding for races, greater selection of equipment brands, and hopefully bigger purses for pros. I don't think that Lance can do for triathlon what he did for cycling in the US, but at the very least he participation in the sport lends credence to its legitimacy as a mainstream sport. Lets not forget, that triathlon has only been an Olympic sport since 2000, which is very recent when you consider that the bar is set pretty low for what's considered a sport in the summer Olympics.
With Lance comes the controversy associated with the doping allegations that have followed him around since his earliest Tour de France days. I don't want to weigh in on whether he did or didn't dope. The way I see it, if he doped, he was a doper who beat all the other dopers, if he didn't dope, he was clean and beat all the dopers. Don't get me wrong, any sport at any level has to be clean, but I think that the USADA and WADA should concern itself with ensuring sport is clean today rather than digging up graves to see who wasn't clean in the past. Its an embarrassment to see that there are still so many elite athletes using PEDs today while the USADA and WADA are busy carrying out what seems to be a personal vendetta against Lance Armstrong. Rather than spending millions of dollars pursuing Lance, anti doping agencies should be spending resources on increased random testing for athletes and more mandatory testing at events. Similarly, to quell any controversy that Lance brings to the sport, the WTC should redouble its efforts to test its athletes and do so in the most transparent and thorough manner possible.
Lance's performance at Panama 70.3 was truly exceptional, the guy is 40. Some people are going to see that in and of itself reason for suspicion. What a lot of people don't know is that when Lance Armstrong was 15 he was racing against Mark Allen and Dave Scott, arguably triathlon's two greatest living legends. Simply put, he's a machine, he's been racing and winning at sport's highest levels since long before anyone could reasonably accuse him of doping.
If anything is certain, I think we can all look forward to one of the most exciting years for triathlon in quite some time.
Today is Let's Talk day which is being promoted by Bell with spokesperson and Canadian Olympic hero Clara Hughes. I didn't wake up this morning planning on writing a blog post on mental health issues, but its a topic well worth some discussion. As someone who has been personally impacted by an important person in my life going through a battle depression a few years ago, I know its an issue that we too often look past.
One of the greatest impediments to people seeking help when they face challenges around depression is the stigma and social perceptions associated with mental health issues. As a society depression is a seldom talked about issue that impacts more people than we than we realize. In fact, according to the Canadian Association Mental Health, depression will affect 1 in 5 Canadians, and the other four will know someone impacted by it. Here are a few more surprising facts on mental illness and depression.
The problem with depression being such a closed, not talked about issue is that it leaves those facing these challenges feeling alone and isolated. A person going through depression may think that what they're feeling is "crazy", or just a part of life, or something that is their own fault, and that admitting it to yourself and others is just a sign of "weakness". Because of these stigmas, people battling depression are often reluctant and unwilling to take that first important step towards getting through that fight, the simple act of telling someone.
Lets be clear on one thing, depression has got nothing to do with weakness. People battling depression aren't in that fight because they are weak. Lets look at an example.
Clara Hughes is one of my heroes. I love what she has done for sport in Canada, and I think she's one of the greatest athletes that ever lived, the perfect combination of grace and grit. She's one of five athletes in history who has medals in both the winter and summer Olympics, more people have walked on the moon. People who have met her and competed against her say she is the toughest person they've ever met. Clara Hughes also battled with depression. So if a person like that can be brought down by depression, how has it got anything to do with personal weakness?
Simply talking about depression is a step forward in breaking down stigmas and barriers for those battling with it.
Please, I urge you to take a five minutes right now to learn a little bit more about depression through some of the great resources Bell has put together on their webpage here- Let's Talk About It.
