July 29, 2009 / by Steve / Make A Comment / Filed under Public Health
According to a blurb in today’s Chicago Tribune:
The top five beaches in Cook County that exceeded the national standard for E. coli levels in water in 2008 were: Winnetka Elder Park Beach, Evanston South Beach, Northwestern University Beach, followed by Montrose Beach and Rainbow Beach, both in Chicago.
The Winnetka and Evanston beaches are more “dog friendly” which might account for some of the higher E. coli levels. But they’re also located near the Wilmette locks which occasionally release contaminated water into the lake.
Something to think about…
July 29, 2009 / by Steve / Make A Comment / Filed under Tips & Techniques
Just a quick note. Cherries are in season right now, and recent studies have indicated that cherries or cherry juice are excellent for post-workout muscle recovery. They taste pretty good, too. But watch out for those pits!
July 28, 2009 / by srhernan / 2 Comments / Filed under Fitness & Training
Great news from the M.D. today regarding my lipid profile:
Triglycerides – 37 (recommended less than 150)
HDL – 73 (recommended greater than 40)
LDL – 126 (recommended less than 130)
Why is this great news? Because my triglycerides-to HDL-ratio is ridiculously low. Basically, anything below 2.0 is considered to be an indicator of excellent heart health. Mine came in at 0.506.
The funny thing is that – despite these rather excellent results – I still received the perfunctory lecture from the doctor’s office cautioning me about my “borderline” LDL cholesterol levels. It was recommended that I eat more fruits and vegetables (which I do already), defer to leaner cuts of meat (ditto), and exercise more to bring the LDL levels down (they obviously do not read this blog).
For the record, I don’t place much stock in LDL levels as effective indicators of cardiovascular disease risk. And I’m not alone in this assessment. According to a recent study highlighted in the journal, Clinics:
The ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) is the single most powerful lipid predictor of extensive coronary disease.
In America, we have this unfortunate obsession with LDL cholesterol levels when we would be much better served by focusing on factors like TG/HDL ratios and the role of systemic inflammation in coronary artery disease.
Remember, there are a lot of advanced heart disease patients who have had very good LDL levels their entire lives – but awfully lousy TG/HDL ratios.
July 26, 2009 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Swim Reports
I don’t see how it can get any better. The sunrise was amazing, the water was fantastic (70F, clean, clear), and everybody was experiencing the full euphoria of high summer. Chris and Laura stopped by for the swim, and Danny arrived a bit later along with the Ochoas. I won’t waste any more time with words – other than to say that you really should have been there!
High summer sunrise
Chris, Laura, and I post-swim
July 25, 2009 / by Steve / Make A Comment / Filed under Swim Reports
Here’s a swim report from the comments section that I received from Luke – a fellow Illinoisan I met on the ferry boat during the Alcatraz Challenge:
So I’m sitting in my PJ bottoms, fleece top and bright orange and yellow skimpy tri suit waiting to be dropped off near Alcatraz a few weeks ago. A boat load of us are a bit nervous and striking up conversations to keep our nerves in check. Met all kinds of people from California, and felt oh so special because I came all the way from Illinois. Wouldn’t you know it, 2 people away from me on the boat is Steve from Open Water Chicago. Small world.
To prep for Alcatraz I swam (sans wet suit) in Lake Michigan in Highland Park. The water was 56-64 degrees in the 6-7 times I swam from late June until early July. The water at Alcatraz Challenge was 60 on 7/12. So temps aren’t the issue. I jumped off the pier in HP to simulate the jump from the ferry at the start of the Alcatraz race. What I underestimated where the currents, waves, and foggy conditions. Oh and how can I forget all the salt water I snorted.
So if a flabby old guy can make the swim (and follow up with the 7-mile run), surely you young whipper snappers in wet suits and neoprene caps can do it.
You gotta swim Alcatraz–at least once.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks Luke!
July 23, 2009 / by Steve / 6 Comments / Filed under Tips & Techniques
If you spend all your time training in a swimming pool, you really miss out on the fun experience of swimming in choppy, wavy water. And yes – you did read that right. It can be a heckuva lot of fun as long as you approach it prudently and armed with the best possible information.
So here are some tips:
1) Relax
Swimming out in the elements means forgoing the static, artificial environment of a swimming pool. It also means leaving a calm and controlled setting for one that can be highly unpredictable and even chaotic. As Dave notes:
Panic sets in once you realize that the surface is not flat, that it’s difficult to spot a point in the distance to aim for, and that the water is not clear. So it’s like swimming in a fog while looking in the water, which can be quite freaky.
The key theme here is control. In a swimming pool, everything’s controlled for you. The water is calm, clear, and temperate. You’re never more than a few feet from the edge of the pool, and you can see and touch the bottom at all times. You are essentially exercising in a very large bathtub.
Out in the lake, there are no such safety nets (or limitations, as we like to call them). You give up external control over your immediate environment in exchange for the (fun) challenge of interacting with the elements as they are. So you need to shift your locus of control internally. Namely, you need to give up trying to manage the water and instead focus on managing your reaction to everything.
2) Find the rhythm of the water
Nature may be whimsical at times, but it tends to defer to rhythms, cycles, and patterns that you can use to your advantage if you can just relax and keep your head during the swim. Even in the most ferociously choppy conditions, there is an ebb an flow pattern that you need to identify and work with – not against. Dave again:
You need to learn how to tell when your body is rising and falling in the waves to determine when it might be best to take a breath without the free mouthful of water. And all of these things will make you change your breathing pattern and stroke sequence in order to swim with the chop.
3) When in nature, mimic nature
Have you ever watched the activity patterns of aquatic mammals and waterfowl? They’re all masters at navigating chaotic water conditions because they instinctively know how to move and act in those circumstances. So do you – but all those hours of pool swimming have dulled your animal instincts.
The key is to act primal in the water. This means to throw out your pre-programmed swim/workout routine and apply short-burst, omni-directional movements that conserve energy by working with the patterns of the water – and not against them.
If you look at a seal or an otter, you’ll notice that they take an indirect, angular approach to currents and waves. If the chop is too large, they’ll time it right and dive underneath it versus expending energy fighting it. And they’re also quite adept at snatching a quick breath at any time and from any direction. You need to do this too.
4) Enjoy the adventure
In a nutshell – stop keeping score. This isn’t the high school state swim championship, and you don’t (hopefully) have a micromanaging coach and helicopter parents screaming at you from the beach. Think of it as just another fun adventure that happens to provide you with intense but manageable physical, mental, and emotional challenges – all of which you can brag about when you get together with your unenlightened pool swim buddies!
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July 20, 2009 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Swim Reports
The water temperature up at Waukegan Municipal Beach came in at a tepid 58F. Since it was only an 800 meter swim, I chose to ditch the wetsuit in favor of my jammers and thermo shirt. I took in a quick practice swim before the event where I ran into Jill who runs the Chicago Triathletes Unite! Meetup Group. One cool thing about Harbor Lights – it’s kind of a “reunion” event for all the people training during the summer. Check it out!
The swim was pretty straightforward – jump in with the rest of the thrashing swimmers and stay clear of the buoys. Actually, the water warmed up considerably after we rounded the first buoy and became quite enjoyable one you got clear of all the other swimmers. I finished the swim in just over 11 minutes before hopping on the bike and speeding off onto the horribly maintained frontage road. I wish I could have just kept swimming instead!
July 20, 2009 / by srhernan / Make A Comment / Filed under Lake Monsters, Swim Reports
The water temperature at the swim site came in at a picture perfect 67F, so I opted to go with just my jammers and thermo shirt. Most of the 6:00am crew went wetsuitless as well. Ladder #1 also welcomed Aaron, a new Lake Monster. Unlike us mere mortals, Aaron is an Ironman veteran!
We had some slow roller waves that looked quite innocent out in the open water but were actually rather vigorous (especially at the beach). The return leg was a bit delayed due to having to escape the inbound waves. But once we all got past the 50 meter mark, it was a textbook swim.
Enough of my ramblings. Below are the shots. BTW, just to hammer it home – you all missed out on a great swim!
Mama duck plus seven
Aaron, Lake Monster #31 (Congrats!)
July 17, 2009 / by srhernan / 1 Comment / Filed under Fitness & Training
My previous post on endurance training sparked a number of questions from many readers and site visitors. Let me clarify a few things. First, you do not have to give up an activity or hobby that you love – and this includes participating in marathons, triathlons, and distance swims. However, you do need to be aware of the trade offs involved with making such life choices.
As I have mentioned several times in this blog, there is a lot of misinformation being propagated by the fitness and medical communities about what constitutes “ideal” diet and exercise patterns. And quite candidly, most of it is counterproductive to achieving optimal human health. But the real frustrating part is that much of this “conventional wisdom” is being popularized by many very well-intentioned and decent individuals who have, unfortunately, adopted a belief system that just isn’t reality-based.
I’ll give you an example.
Last year, I signed up for a “heart health” program conducted by a local hospital. For a very reasonable cost, the medical staff performed an ECG as well as a cholesterol test. When you returned a week later to pick up your results, the hospital provided complimentary health education seminars about nutrition, exercise, and overall heart health.
While I felt the nutrition and heart health sessions were quite good, I was quite taken aback at the exercise recommendations. The presenter, a trained medical professional and “fitness expert,” indicated that an individual needs to engage in at least 40 minutes of cardio exercise at 80% of one’s maximum heart rate for a minimum of six times a week. There was no mention of strength training or interval training – just lots and lots of cardio.
This is a good illustration of how the fitness industry – and by extension the endurance sports industry – has in many instances eschewed science in favor of a much less healthy “conventional wisdom.” Or as Mark Sisson puts it in his piece A Case Against Cardio:
…the popular wisdom of the past 40 years – that we would all be better off doing 45 minutes to an hour a day of intense aerobic activity – has created a generation of overtrained, underfit, immune-compromised exerholics.
The key is, conventional wisdom is not the same as reality-based science. Remember, there were a lot of doctors in the not-so-distant past who felt there were no negative health consequences whatsoever involved with smoking, prefrontal lobotomies, or morphine-based children’s teething syrup.
July 16, 2009 / by Steve / 10 Comments / Filed under Public Health
If you swim at Ohio Street Beach, chances are you have had to postpone some of your recent workouts due to elevated levels of E. coli bacteria. I’ve always thought that this was due to the warmer temperatures and stagnant water conditions at that particular beach. And I was partly right. These factors do contribute towards higher E. coli levels. However, the real causes of E. coli contamination may surprise many of you.
So let’s take a closer look…
What exactly is E. coli?
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common bacterium that lives in the lower intestinal tract of warm-blooded animals such as humans, mammals, and birds. Most of the hundreds of strains of E. coli are harmless. But they can cause mild to moderate illnesses in humans if consumed in exceedingly high numbers.
How does E. coli enter Lake Michigan?
E. coli can enter Lake Michigan instantaneously from organisms (think seagulls, beach dogs) who void their feces directly into the water. It can also enter the lake indirectly through sewage treatment plant effluent and stormwater runoff.
So there is raw sewage being pumped into the lake right now?
Not usually. Although at one time this was quite a common occurrence. To effectively answer this question, a little history lesson is in order.
Prior to 1975, the majority of the municipalities in Cook County had combined sewer systems that carried both both sanitary sewage and stormwater. During heavy storms and wet-weather periods, these combined systems would often exceed capacity due to the increased amounts of stormwater. The result would be a discharge of sewage directly into Lake Michigan (bad), or a discharge of sewage directly into the neighborhood streets via the manholes (worse).
The design and construction of the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (a.k.a. “Deep Tunnel”) brought a reprieve from these unpleasantries. There are now 109 miles of tunnels underneath the Chicago metro area that collect the sewage and stormwater flows and route them to surface reservoirs such as quarries for storage until they can be safely treated and discharged.
So how do Chicago’s beaches get contaminated with E. coli?
As noted previously, E.coli enters the lake from direct animal fecal discharge as well as from sewage/stormwater spillovers. The problem is that both of these sources increase significantly during the summer months. For one thing, there are more wild and domestic animals “releasing their payloads” into the lake during the warmer times of the year. Second, there are more wet-weather periods that, on occasion, will produce precipitation levels that simply overwhelm the current capacity of the Deep Tunnel system.
When this happens, the excess stormwater flows back into the Chicago River which can become so swollen with runoff that its water level exceeds that of the lake. Under these circumstances, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District will open one or more “locks” to prevent flooding. This allows the sewage/stormwater overflow to pour into the lake, thus raising the overall E. coli levels.
What is it about Ohio Street Beach that makes it more prone to higher levels of E. coli?
There are a number of factors that can contribute to elevated E. coli levels at that particular site. First, the area is mostly enclosed by a breakwater that’s designed to keep the water calmer for boats and beach goers. However, it also reduces overall water circulation which can result in more stagnant water conditions.
Second, despite being a smaller beach, Ohio Street Beach gets a lot of visitors of all types. Besides the swimmers and beachgoers, you have the spillover crowds from Navy Pier. Plus you have the masses of anchored boats that hang out in the “Playpen” area not too far offshore. And bigger crowds typically generate more garbage – and more fecal contamination (see comments for yucky details).
Third, Ohio Street Beach is quite isolated compared with other Chicago beaches. Instead of being an open air beach with lots of direct sunlight, it’s mostly surrounded by a number of tall buildings that block out the sunlight for much of the day.
And sunlight is very important for regulating E. coli levels.
In 2003, the American Society for Microbiology conducted a study of Lake Michigan E. coli levels and came up with the following conclusion:
Of these factors, incoming solar radiation (insolation) is arguably the most potent in the inactivation or killing of E. coli and enterococci in water .
And finally, the Chicago Harbor Lock – one of the aforementioned locks that occasionally empties contaminated water into the lake – is located just on the other side of Navy Pier at the mouth of the Chicago River.
See you at Ladder #1!
