November 10, 2008 / by Steve / Make A Comment / Filed under Tips & Techniques
It’s common knowledge that a diver who ascends too quickly from a dive can easily experience decompression sickness (a.k.a. the bends). Without going into a lengthy technical explanation, the basic cause for this is that the diver simply did not allow his or her body to reacclimate slowly and gradually. Instead, the sudden change in the external environment prompted a drastic and unpleasant physiological response.
A similar situation holds true for colder water swimming – as I had the honor of experiencing on Sunday…
Prior to swimming in colder water, one of the most effective things you can do is to “prime” your body in advance through a progressive exposure to colder temperatures. I typically recommend a pre-swim shower that starts out lukewarm and gradually tapers down to much colder levels. This “ramping down” allows your body to acclimate very quickly to colder swim environments because it directs blood flow to your core (i.e. your head and torso). And as long as you are properly geared up, you can swim in very cold waters quite comfortably.
As soon as you exit the water, though, you have to manage things in reverse – with one slight twist. First of all, your most immediate post-swim challenge will be managing the afterdrop. This translates to getting and keeping heat in your head and torso and forgetting about your numb and white-tipped hands and feet for a while. In fact, as the afterdrop lowers your core body temperature, your body will “suck away” even more heat from your extremities in the short term.
What all this means is that you will arrive home with very cold and pale extremities that need to be warmed up in the most effective manner. And just like with decompression sickness, if you make any quick changes in your physiological state you will be punished unmercifully by your own body. So here are the steps:
1. Keep all your swim gear on (wetsuit, diver’s hood, etc.) but remove your gloves and booties.
2. Step into the shower and turn on the cold water (very important!)
3. Spray the colder water on your face, hands, and feet for several minutes (believe it or not, this will actually feel good).
4. Gradually increase the water temperature to warmer levels and then start shedding your thermo gear and warming up the rest of your body.
I goofed big time last Sunday when I jumped in the shower and immediately trained some very warm water onto my hands and feet. Because the blood vessels in my outer extremities were still so constricted at that point, the sudden temperature changes were too much of a shock to my system.
And instead of getting some quick warmth and comfort, I experienced excruciating pain in my hands and feet.
When I finally had the sense to turn down the water temperature to cold, the pain went away immediately. And, as I mentioned above, the sensations of colder water were not at all unpleasant on my extremities.
The key takeway here is to realize that your body does not work like an “on/off” switch. It is wonderfully adaptive, but you need to go by its pace – and not by yours. So make sure you “ramp up” at the tail end of your swim workout in much the same way that you “ramped down” in the hour prior to your swim. Because if you push your body too hard, it will push back!
November 9, 2008 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Swim Reports
I’ll keep this one brief since I’ll be posting a few other blog posts related to today’s events and conditions.
We had a cold front move in late last week that brought sub-40F temperatures this weekend. The air temperature at Ladder #1 came in at 35F this morning with lake temperatures at 50F (48F at a five foot depth). There were some rolling swells that added some challenge to the swim, but nothing really choppy.
I opted to ditch the free diver’s mask in favor of swim goggles and had a much more effective swim. Dave, Chris and I were present, and we did the out-and-back to Oak Street Beach without any difficulties. There were a few curious (and somewhat aghast) spectators, but all in all it was a textbook “miler” – albeit a colder one.
Autumn swim area
November 4, 2008 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Fitness & Training
While there’s so much bad information out there with regards to sports nutrition, one of the most egregious areas involves post-workout “refueling” recommendations. Just take a look at what they dish out after most 5K runs. You see stuff like Gatorade, bagels, bananas, and “energy bars.” In other words, you see carbohydrates – and lots of them.
This practice is based upon the false belief that you have to quickly “replenish your depleted glycogen stores.” In reality, this is one of the worst things you can do for shorter length workouts (i.e. 45 minutes or less).
Bottom line, carbohydrate consumption to replace glycogen stores after an intense workout is usually counterproductive.
First of all, unless you are doing daily and chronic aerobic-level training beyond a 45 minute time period, any post-workout carbohydrates you consume will most likely be stored as fat. So unless you’re a year-round endurance athlete who starts out every day with a 1 hour+ bike ride, you won’t need to “top off” your muscle glycogen with a post-workout sports drink. In fact, the only thing you’ll probably be “topping off” is an existing layer of stored body fat.
Second, carbohydrate loading significantly raises your insulin levels. Not only does this downregulate (i.e. reduce) your growth hormone levels, but it also contributes to low-level inflammation throughout your body. So you end up curtailing your lean muscle mass development and promoting potentially harmful levels of continuous systemic inflammation.
The key is to defer to shorter but higher intensity activities (i.e. Power Law Workouts) and to refuel with proteins (and fats) no sooner than 45 minutes after you finish. So instead of reaching for the carbs, go with a handful of nuts, a small piece of chicken, or a hard boiled egg along with a glass of water. And be sure to supplement your diet with plenty of marine omega-3 fatty acids, too.
November 2, 2008 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Lake Monsters, Swim Reports
This was one brutal swim…
The sun had already risen by 7:00am thanks to the extra hour we gained last night. I caught up with Dave at Ladder #1 who was measuring the temperature of a very tempestuous Lake Michigan. I was wearing my wetsuit when I arrived, so I didn’t mind it as much when the swells crested the edge of the embankment and drenched everything.
The water temperature came in at a crisp 48F, and I was really glad I was wearing my new 7mm diving boots. This was going to be one cold dip in the lake…
While Dave and Chris were retrieving their stuff, new Lake Monster Ashley arrived to partake in the Ladder #1 festivities. Ashley is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, and she has quite a substantial background as an open water swimmer. She wanted to join us for a swim and chronicle the Lake Monsters in a feature story for the school. And given that we’re all pretty much pathological attention-seekers (in a healthy sort of way, of course), we heartily agreed.
The four of us scampered down Ladder #1 and plunged into the drink, and MAN ALIVE was it chaos! The chilly waters were manageable, but the heavy swells just knocked the hell out of everyone right from the start. Proper swim technique pretty much went out the window as we instead switched to “triage” mode – i.e. short quick strokes designed to establish some sort of forward movement. We had to be careful not to swim too far away from the embankment in case we needed to get out quickly. However, we also had to keep a safe distance from the retaining wall or risk getting pounded against it by the heavy swells.
I bailed out about one third of the distance to Oak Street Beach to catch my breath for a bit. I was wearing a new Cressi free divers mask that covered everything but my mouth. And while it worked wonders in protecting my face, it also translated into many unanticipated gulps of cold lake water.
When I jumped back in, I resumed swimming at a much more relaxed pace. I had already decided that this wasn’t going to be an “out-and-back” swim, so my new goal was just to make it to the beach. I swam within 200 yards of Oak Street Beach and noticed some pretty vicious waves breaking against the embankment. So I veered out farther into the lake in order to avoid the heaviest of this surf. I was pretty spent at that point, and visibility was essentially nil in the water. But I knew I had made it when I finally “hit bottom” on my swim stroke.
I made my beach landing and started working my way back to Ladder #1 on foot. I kept a real brisk pace because I was already feeling a fierce afterdrop kick in. The first third of that trot was pretty much spent in a cold-induced fugue state. I remember seeing Julie, an occasional Ladder #1 visitor, who called out to me from the lakefront path. I answered her, but everything was moving in super slo-mo. And I couldn’t talk much because my jaw was cramped shut due to the combination of cold water exposure and the perpetual snarl I had on during the swim. (Sure sounds like fun, huh?)
When I reached the swim area again, the Ochoas had arrived and were taking their ritualistic post-run dips in the lake. I broke out the longjing tea and started slicing up the now-traditional pineapple. My hands were so shaky that Dave commented that it looked like I was using an electric knife. I made sure to lace my slices with fairly ample helpings of Barbancourt 15…
All in all, another high adventure out at Ladder #1. It was still early when we finished up, but everyone would agree that we all accomplished one heck of a lot during that short time in the water.
Below are my shots of the day. Dave and Ashley have some more that I’ll post as soon as I get them.
November sunrise
Ashley, Chris, and Dave in a pre-swim huddle
Ashley, Lake Monster #23, and member of the inaugural “November Club” (Congrats!)
Lake Monster sighting!
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