I can pass the swim portion of the qualification test for entry into the Navy Seals, which is a breezy 457.2 Meters sidestroke in under 12 minutes.  This is by means the great feat that it sounds, my 5′11 frame comes with a ton of leg power, and the sidestrokes propulsion is all in the legs.  In my search for online tutorials, I found a great image that helped me so much, that even with my triathlon pending just a mere 2 days away, I’m considering changing my sweet side stroke for the breast stroke (aka The 5th), which according to popular opinion is the faster of the two and would gain me a few extra seconds with each 50 meters.  However, the breast stroke is all upper body, and therefore requires more overall energy expense, and my technique is loose and unpracticed. 

My x girlfriend is a champion swimmer and trained along side her brothers for the Olympics.  She sculls of course, as most well trained swimmers do, and I saw her do the 750 so comfortable and elegantly, I’m not sure her breath was ever elevated.  It’s a beautiful thing, a good freestyle stroke, and for about 100 meters or so feels really good.  After that, I can’t breathe.  Maybe it’s the shortened length of time for the breath on the freestyle, or the bad technique that makes me lose my breath to easily, but for a serious distance swimming I’d need scuba gear to avoid drowning. 

If you are looking to perfect your technique, a real trainer is the solution.  However, if your a self taught non professional hobbyist and are looking for some here ya go: 

Kurt Grote, world champion breast stroker, via Terry Laughlin, gives some really good tips on technique perfecting.  What really helped though was the pictures on form.  I can read all the technique definition in the world, but we say a picture says a thousand words. 

I was way off on the positioning of my elbows, and remember I was saying the breaststroke is all upper body?   Well this photo series really illustrates that.  In all the online tips for the 5th, the kick is strangely ignored, which is unfortunate since that’s where all my swim talent comes form. 

Your hips and torso is where your power comes from.  You hear that a lot in the freestyle, “learn to roll your hips”.  For the breast stroke,  “lean on your chest enough to feel as if you’re gliding “downhill.” This helps cock your hips so they’re ready to rock forward in the short-axis body rotation that generates the power that drives your stroke.” so says Terry.  Another tip I entirely neglected. 

I dont know if I’m going to take it out for a real spin in the race this weekend, but I’ll certainly add it to my collection of swim tips and hope in the end, I just manage to breathe through the whole thing! 

BG gave me my bike, Jack, last year and it is a bright orange Specialized Hardrock Sport with transition tires.  This means it’s a mountain bike with enough flat tread in the middle of the tire that the knobby tread shouldn’t slow me down too much.  It will never reach the speeds a road bike can, but it’s comfortable and will get the job done.  I use baskets not clips, so I suspect in the long run that’s another strike against speed.    My plan this year: ride hard, pay attention to the turns, and only have one earphone on so I can hear the whistles.  Last year I was following a guy in a green windbreaker and went 12 miles out of the way before I realized I followed the wrong guy.  That’s more then a blonde moment.   

I feel sure that the reason the run is the last leg of the race is because it sucks the most.  Of course, I know a gazelle, and its her best leg.  I’m not a very fast runner, and my feet are far more comfortable in hooker heels then in tennis shoes so my 12 minute miles feel more like 12 minute yards. 

Maybe next week I’ll post a picture of me crawling over the finish line spitting out my last breath.   In the meantime, if you have any extra tips send em my way.  If not, just think good thoughts. 

I wonder if they’d let me wear flipper shoes?   

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart

I can no longer maintain my silence, as my life and the lives of many family pets are hanging on by a thread of common sense. If you are not one of the ignorant, please forgive my seemingly rude and antagonistic vent.

PEOPLE OF THE GREENBELT: Like a sidewalk or pathway, the greenbelt is BIDIRECTIONAL. That means there is traffic moving both ways. No really it’s true. I understand that you may not have noticed, because you were paying attention to the tennis ball you bounced towards me with your slobbering Labrador barreling after it, or the cute 2 year old that is walking dangerously down the LEFT side of the path, or you and your friend biking side by side were busy discussing what you were going to wear to the party this weekend. So I thought I would lay out the greenbelt etiquette for you since the common sense part missed you entirely.

The greenbelt is home to cyclists, walkers, runners, skaters, intoxicated indigents, family outings, fit mothers groups, swimmers, pond travelers, and the truly bizarre. I bike and I run, but I make no claim to one taking a priority over the other, we all have a right to use the wonderful path, and I appreciate that. However there are some BASIC RULES that have to be followed so we can all enjoy out time spent there and make it safely to our individual destinations.

1. Here in the US of A, we drive on the right hand side of the road. That works the same exact way on a sidewalk or a pathway…mkay? Got it? Stay on the right.

2. If you are passing someone, peek behind you first, and then say “ON YOUR LEFT” as you approach to pass. This indicates to the person in front of you that are passing them and they shouldn’t swerve over to the left yet to pass the person in front of them. This also reduces the “startle effect” .

3. If you hear “ON THE LEFT”, stay on the right. In fact just always stay on the right, unless passing.

4. Keep your dogs close to you. Your leash is serving as a “low branch” obstacle when the pooch crosses over the path to left. Keep you pet on the right too please. If I have to choose between running over your dog and crashing my bike at 20 miles per hour, I promise you, I will not pay the vet bill.

5. Children: your 2 year old does not know right from left, please, please, please keep them on the right. Hey – why not everyone just stay on the right?

6. Casual bikers, young lovers, best friends, you are so cute. You want to stay side by side and talk or stare until each other’s eyes romantically and I truly encourage that kind of behavior. On the right. Single file when passing or being passed, that’s just the way it is. Separate yourself long enough to get in line when you hear me say on the left so that I can pass you safely, then you can get back to the shoulder rubbing.

7. I respect you homeless drunk man, as a human being with need for fresh air and exercise, however, I would be so grateful if you would stumble to the right to pass out in a stupor.

8. Please pump up your tires off the path.

9. Please don’t stand on the greenbelt taking a picture. Just move over like 3 feet. To the right.

Thank you so much, from myself and all the greenbelt users, we appreciate your willingness to lessen the amount of painful crashes and injured dogs.

Kiss Kiss

Dawngrrl Gametart

ACHD is embarking on the Roadways to Bikeways Bicycle Master Plan for Ada County to guide future investments in the bicycle system on roadways, as well as develop new policies and design guidelines concerning bicycle facilities.

The $250,000 effort began in April 2007 and is expected to be completed in early 2008. Alta Planning & Design, which has developed more than 160 bicycle specific plans in the United States and Canada, is the firm leading the effort on behalf of ACHD.

The public roadways in Ada County serve the cities of Boise, Eagle, Garden City, Kuna, Meridian, Star and the unincorporated areas of Ada County, yet there has never been a full-scale Bicycle Master Plan for the region. Roadways to Bikeways will provide a comprehensive strategy to enhance and expand the bicycle facilities with the goal of creating connectivity to areas of the county where bike lanes, routes and paths (such as the Greenbelt) exist in isolation or are absent. The strategy will bring together the successful past efforts in the planning, design and implementation of bicycle facilities and augment and expand this with new information, analysis and public involvement to create a more comprehensive approach to bikeway system development in Ada County. Roadways to Bikeways will identify necessary standards for use in enhancing the safety of users throughout the county.

Take the survey and help the planners plan! 

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl Gametart

As you all know I have been using the Nike plus sport kit for my iPod Nano for the last couple of weeks and I love it. I am a huge advocate for the Sport kit and I think that Nike should obviously sport me an endorsement deal. I’ve only done 12 runs so far, but found some tricky behavior that will hopefully be useful to you on your Nike Plus journey.

TURN IT UP: If you are using the pouch that attaches to the laces instead of the Nike Plus shoes, make sure that the transmitter pod is face up. By face up, I mean the orange side up. I found that if you have it in upside down your reading will be inconsistent and can be off a great deal. Example: My Nike plus said I ran .75 Mi in 40 minutes. I don’t think I could even crawl that slow. After turning it right side up, it was back to its well behaved self again.

DOCK IT: Dock (or plug in) your Nano after EVERY run. I ran once, then I ran again without docking the Nano, and found that even though the data is saved in your Nano (If you are docked, go to itunes and click on your iPod - you will see the workout history which should give you the correct total of your runs) only one run is sent/uploaded to Nike.com where all the goodies for your goals and measurements are.

CALIBRATE: A sensitive piezoelectric accelerometer (In dumb blonde that means “the little computer that goes in your shoe”) monitors your footstrike when you walk or run and determines the amount of time your foot spent on the ground. This contact time is directly related to your pace. Just keep in this in mind, if you have a long stride your pace will be slowly. Try using a non impact style of running so you dont “bounce” when you run. In other words, just move your legs faster, you dont have to open up your stride and involve your entire technique. Either way, it has a 90 percent degree of accuracy, out of the box. You can calibrate the system to your stride for increased accuracy, just remember to try to maintain the stride for how you calibrated it. Ordinarily, the sensor does not require recalibration. You may want to consider recalibrating if your fitness level changes or if you would like to try to improve the accuracy of your results.

Best of luck to you all!

Kiss Kiss,

Dawngrrl