Besides Ladder #1 itself, one of the more iconic items out at the swim site is that peculiar structure that looms way out on the horizon. You see it showing up in many of the photos we take. In fact, you can see it on the banner at the top of the website.
That structure is the Harrison-Dever Intake Crib, and it’s actually composed of two interconnected buildings.
The older of these two structures is the Carter Harrison Crib which was built in 1900 and named after the Chicago mayor at the time.
The William E. Dever Crib, also named for a former Chicago mayor, was completed in 1935 to replace the Carter Harrison crib (however, an increased demand for water kept the Carter Harrison Crib fully operational until 1997).
These days, the Harrison-Dever Intake Crib provides water to the city of Chicago by pumping it through a 20 foot diameter tunnel that runs underneath the lake and connects the water crib complex to the James W. Jardine Water Purification Plant, located just north of Chicago’s Navy Pier.
A lot of Chicagoans still refer to the Harrison-Dever Intake Crib as the “Two-Mile Crib” for a couple of reasons. The more obvious one is that it is indeed located two miles off of the Chicago lake shore. However, the historical reason is that the Carter Harrison Crib replaced an even older structure called “Two-Mile Crib” which was originally constructed in 1865.
The Two-Mile Crib was connected to a tunnel built 60 feet below the lake surface, and this tunnel ran all the way back to the Chicago Avenue pumping station – which was part of the historical Water Tower complex still located today on north Michigan Avenue.
It was 68F at 5:30am, so the ride out to L1 was reminiscent of a July morning. For the first time since early November, I was able to swim in my lighter Ironman wetsuit without feeling cold. I also ditched the booties in favor of just wearing the foot covers.
The water was a fiery 50F and a bit choppy given a gusty wind from the southeast. This made things a bit more of a challenge since I had to swim into a current on the way to the beach. But the return leg was, shall we say, a breeze.
What’s most exciting is that the L1 gang is starting to come out of the woodwork again. Chris made it out there, and I ran into Julie and Danny as well. Plus three of the Ochoa brothers stopped by during one of their training runs, with Ezequiel taking the plunge sans wetsuit. Summer is just around the corner, everyone. And once again, if you slept in, you missed out!
A controlled and randomized study has found that drinks sweetened with fructose led to higher blood levels of LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides in overweight test subjects, while drinks sweetened with another sugar, glucose, did not.
While LDL levels have not been conclusively proven as adequate markers for potential heart disease, triglyceride levels certainly have. And what wasn’t mentioned in this article was how HFCS contributes towards overall systemic inflammation – which is most likely the real cause of cardiovascular disease.
Chris was out at L1 this morning. Here’s his report:
Well as you can see it was cloudy with a light rain this morning…temperature was 49 degrees outside 42 1/2 lake temp the water almost mirror flat which goes to show don’t always believe what you read since this morning’s NOAA report said 2′ to 3′ foot wave,s as you can see this is not the case. Which goes to show the only true lake forecast is visual verification!!! Also if you let a little rain scare you then you could miss out on some great lake conditions, plus you’re going to get wet anyway!!!!!!!!
Dave, Chris, and new Lake Monster Carol made it out to Ladder #1 bright and early Saturday morning for a picture perfect Spring swim. The water temperature came in at a brisk 44F with clear skies and no winds. Yet another magical moment out at the lake that most people slept through.
Let’s start off with a sampling of headlines that hit the mainstream media news sources over the last two weeks:
“Can Brown Fat Make You Thin?”
“Can Brown Fat Make You Lose Weight?”
“Activating Brown Fat Could be the Key to Weight Loss”
“A New Diet Plan? Brown Fat and Cold Temperatures”
“Fighting Fat with ‘Brown Fat?’”
“Safely Burn Away Body Fat”
“At Last! Lose Stomach Fat Fast and Get Rid of That Stubborn Belly Fat Quickly!”
The whole hype of brown fat centers around the idea that adult humans have stores of a special kind of adipose tissue known as “brown fat” that can be instrumental in helping them lose weight. In fact, there is a whole cottage industry beginning to form around ways to “trigger” or “grow” brown fat in order to quickly and effortlessly melt away existing stores of your body’s “bad fat.”
Let’s take a look at a few facts.
To begin with, the whole brown fat research findings are not really that new. It was well-documented two years ago that adult humans do indeed retain trace amounts of brown adipose tissue (otherwise known as “baby fat”):
(click to enlarge)
As you can see, these brown fat deposits are minimal. And while there is some evidence that this type of fat is stimulated by exposure to colder temperatures, there is no solid evidence to date that brown fat activation alone can significantly alter one’s metabolism.
So bottom line, if you’re looking to jack up your metabolism and burn your existing fat stores, a much better approach would be to engage in Power Law training and primal eating.
Alternatively, you could always wait for Big Pharma to come up with a drug designed to stimulate the tiny amounts of brown fat in your body. While this may take a few of years (and might include a number of nasty side effects), it would be easier than eating well and being active in the elements as Nature intended.
While Spring has ushered in steadily rising lake temperatures, it has also brought us some pretty hefty winds that have made everything touch-and-go out at the swim site. We had NE gusts of up to 17mph beginning on Friday that continued off and on throughout the weekend – so both mornings were essentially kiboshed.
However, the winds calmed down a bit on late Sunday afternoon, so I figured I’d chance a swim. I almost didn’t make it out to L1 because I snapped the chain on my commuter bike. But fortunately the bike paths were clear, and I was able to take out my road bike for the first time this season.
The lake was still a bit turbulent when I started the swim, but I can definitely tell that it has warmed up considerably. Here’s a short video clip of Sunday’s action (thanks Ann!):
There’s been a rash of news pieces this week pertaining to “brown fat” which is apparently a type of fat that burns calories versus storing them. What I find particularly relevant is this:
In the third study, Dr. Sven Enerback, of the University of Goteborg in Sweden, used PET to examine how cold temperatures affected brown fat activity, this time in five people. Participants spent two hours in a room kept at 63° F to 66° F. During the scan, they submerged one foot in ice water, alternating five minutes in the water and five minutes out. The cold conditions boosted the amount of glucose the study participants’ brown fat consumed by a factor of 15.
Basically, exposure to colder water temperatures (like winter swimming) can accelerate calorie consumption by triggering higher metabolic activity within this brown fat. The article goes on to say:
The tissue [brown fat] could be a target for obesity-fighting drugs or even environmental fat-fighting strategies.
While I would disagree with the focus on developing new drugs, I personally recommend Lake Michigan swimming as an excellent “environmental fat-fighting strategy.”
Dave and Chis were out early at Ladder #1 on Saturday, but the place was crawling with fuzz. Apparently the City of Chicago was giving the Olympics committee a tour of the lakefront. So there were patrol cars and police boats all along the shore making sure no miscreants were up to anything that might “reflect poorly” on the city. So ironically my laziness paid off…
I slept in until 8:30 and opted to ride out to L1 on my bike because the weather was looking mighty agreeable. The lake was a bit choppy and agitated, but nothing like last week. Since I was already suited up, I decided to sneak into the lake for a quick swim. I managed to do a full out-and-back mile, and the water was clearly warmer than my previous swim (I’d estimate the lake temperature was at 40F-41F with the sun out).
The great weather brought out the throngs of runners and lakefront aficionados. As a result, I got more than my fair share of attention for 1) swimming in 40F water, and 2) swimming in tumultuous 40F water. Still, nobody freaked out about it and I was able to do the entire swim without incident. I missed the sunrise, though
