10Kmarathonswim

Passing

Today I had perhaps the most exciting pass in the pool.  Who'd'a thunk I had it in me?

As all of my 2.5 readers know, I've been swimming in Moscow's Olympic pool lately.  Beautiful clean and clear water, and 50m between flip-turns!  Also, babushkas sporting the latest in granny-bikini fashion (unfortunately, Uma is not swimming in my lane) and dedushkas the latest in grape-smugglers.  All doing breast-stroke.  Only thing missing:  the noodle.

So, I've been getting pretty good at passing.  I can't find that the Russians have designated any of the lanes for faster or slower swimmers, at least not in the lanes I'm allowed in.   Basically, I jump in and try to get as many non-passing laps in as I can.  So far, the most I've been able to swim is one. 

The Russians don't seem to mind me passing them.  They pass each other.  But today, during my cool-down of all times, I had to pass what I thought was one swimmer.  However, when I started, I realized there were three guys in front of me, two swimming breast, and one back (in order: breast, back, breast), all right behind each other.  Not only that, once I was committed, here come two breast-strokers on the other side, coming right at me.

I've never swum a 50m faster!  So much for my cool-down.

I finally got it right!

Here in Moscow, at the Olympic pool specifically, if you don't have your ducks in a row, you're setting yourself up for trouble.  But this week, I finally got it right!

My first mistake was going to the pool a couple months ago, thinking I could talk myself in to at least look at the pool.  That didn't go so well.  My purposefully "poor" Russian didn't work its usual magic (normally what happens is the Russian is so impressed that I'm even trying, that they'll be a little more lenient or helpful).  I tried to get past the guard babushka to go look at the pool.  Wasn't gonna happen, not without 240 rubles and a doctor's note. 

Don't even try to enter without these!

The second time, I went to the pool with the spravka in hand, 240 rubles, and all my crap.  Well, I thought it was all my crap.  They don't issue towels.  Not only that, but you better bring a plastic bag to put your dirty disgusting outdoor shoes in or else you're opening up yourself to possible reprisals from guard babushka #2, better known as the locker-room babushka. 

Trip #3 went well...until the lifeguard stopped me to inform me about the critical requirement to have your head covered.  In that case, my fake crappy Russian worked.

On the 27th I had all my ducks in a row.  Everything was going right.  Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into my warm-up, I noticed that the only other swimmers in my lane had been alive during WWII.  I noticed the board on the starting block had an adjective I had not seen before.  I looked a few lanes over, and sure enough, the other signs were the ones I was used to:  Разовые Билеты (Single tickets).  The one in my lane had the additional adjective: Льготные.  I didn't know what that meant, so I asked a Russian guy in the adjacent lane.  Well, turns out I was in the lane for those swimmers given a complimentary ticket, because they are so bloody old.  Whoops.  Another fail.

So, finally, TA-DA, trip #5 on the 28th went perfectly.  I had every requisite piece of equipment with me and successfully swam without interruption from the lifeguards.  Success!

Towel? Check. Bag for 'outdoor' shoes? Check. Swim cap? What? I have no hair! What the hell do I need a swim cap for?

Just got back from Ekaterinburg, Tyumen and Chelyabinsk (Екатеринберг, Тюмень и Челябинск).  Not much to see in the latter two cities.  Ekaterinburg had more to offer, especially the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, a sight to behold.  Beautiful church, and the location where the Tsar and his family were murdered by those despicable communists, may they rot in hell. 

Their bodies were rolled in blankets, then taken out into the woods to Ganina Yama (Ganya's pit).  Currently this location is the home to an orthodox monastery.  There are seven churchs, each dedicated to a member of the last Tsar's family.   Very beautiful.  The Tsar and his family's bodies were thrown in an old disused iron mine shaft.  (The hole in the picture below.)

There was also beer in Ekaterinburg.  Of course, there has been beer in every Russian city I've visited so far.  And sometimes I've got interesting fellow dipsomaniacs.

 

All in all, a fun trip. 

So what is the point of the title?  Well, of course, the entire time I was tooling around the Ural region of Russia, I missed swimming.  I was actually dreaming of it.  (Someone in the USMS forums mentioned that once you start open water swimming, you really count the days between swims, and I sure am doing that now.)  I got back Friday afternoon, took my daughter to eat at TGI Fridays (Ти Джи Ай Фрайдис) for her 11th birthday, and first thing this morning, went back to the Olympic pool.

Today I got up at 6am, still being on Urals time (2 hours ahead).  The pool doesn't open till 7, and I had some emailing to do (to my fellow blogger and vet, Rob), so I tooled around the house til about 7:15, then headed out the door.  Everything followed just like my first day (link), until I finished my 500m warm up.  One of the lifeguards stopped me and I thought he asked me where my hat was.  Dumbfounded, I explained that my Russian was horrible, would he please repeat.  With a little Russian sign language and repeating his question slower, I realized he asked me where my swim cap was.  Apparently they are required in Russian pools.  God forbid some of my long hair fell out (correction: more of my hair fell out) and clogged the pool filters!  I prepared to beg, thinking as fast as I could how to say "pretty please with a cherry on top" in Russian.  (A literal translation might be "довольно пожалуйста, с вишней на вершине."  But I'm sure that wouldn't really translate...where is my idiom dictionary when I need it?)  To my surprise, the lifeguard smiled and said, "Next time is fine."  Happiness!

Knocked out 4000m at a good pace, right along my usual 1000m/20:00 pace.  But this included stopping, slowing down, and passing breast strokers, back strokers, and otherwise recreational fitness swimmers.  Let's just say I got a lot of passing practice today.  Also, right at the end, literally on the last lap, I was tapped on the shoulder by one of the teeny-bopper-esque Russian girls who had commandeered my lane.  Her coach yelled at me that the lane I was in is for training now.  I could kindly move my ass to lane 6.  I apologized in my purposfully horribly-accented Russian, and her frown turned to a smile (as did the bevy of Russian devushki) and she said no problem.  I jumped out, walked down to 6, swam 50m back to the other end, then got out.  Workout finished.  All together, 1:20 of swimming, to include a minute stop after a 500m warm up to get instructed on proper headgear, then another one minute stop at the end of my 3000m set to rest for my 500m cool down.  Not bad.

Moscow Olympic Pool Complex...wow!

Finally swam in Moscow's Olympic pool, the pool in which Team USA would have swum if President Carter hadn't have boycotted the 1980 Olympics.  Wow, what a pool!

I showed up early on a weekday.  The pool opens at 7am, but I knew I better show up early.  The cashier/касса opens at 6:45.  I paid 240 rubles (about 8 bucks) to swim.  Only after I showed them my spravka.  Then I proceeded to another line to again show my spravka, the ticket I had bought at the cashier's, and my documents (документы!).  They kept my ID card and spravka and gave me a numbered tab.  I followed some other guys upstairs and there saw a sign telling me (and all others with tab numbers 900 and up) to go upstairs to the 3rd floor.  There, I noticed two guys stop immediately inside the locker room and start to take off their shoes.  I did the same, then got instructed (some would see it as 'yelling,' but that's just how Russian babushkas talk) to put my dirty outdoor shoes in a bag.  All I had was my mesh bag.  But she still let me in.  She took my numbered tab and gave me a key to a locker.  I changed, showered off and joined the line waiting for the door to open.

(Interesting how locker rooms work here.  The babushka was sitting at the entrance, in full view of 3/4 of the lockers, and the guys changing into their suits.  Didn't bother anyone.  Didn't bother me, either; I got over that in 1988 when a German babushka, or perhaps oma, mopped around my feet as I was standing at a pissoir in East Berlin.  But I wonder how many American men would be okay with this in the states?!)

The door finally opened, precisely at 7am.  What a beautiful, LCM pool awaited me!  The water was pristine and clear.  I couldn't wait to jump in.  I skirted past some lanes that were designated as 'rented' (арендованая организация), and found a lane that was free.  Immediately, a big old fat Russian dude ran up and jumped in, putting his goggles on while he was falling into the pool.  OK, fine.  I jumped in as well and swam on the left side past him all the way down the 50m to the end, then flipped and came back.  By then, I noticed that others were in the lane and we were swimming circles.  Not that I mind, but that told me that this pool must get crowded in the mornings.

Sure enough, within about 15 minutes, we had a sizeable number of swimmers in our lane, up to about eight at one point.  I did a lot of passing.  Again, no problem as in open water swimming you pass a lot (hopefully), so I got some sprints in.

All in all, only 2500m, but this was a test run also for how long it took to get there and back.  I left my house at 6:15, got to the cashier's window at 6:45 and in line to swim at 7:00.  I left around 8:15 and got home at 8:45.  At work by 9:25, and that includes breakfast and the mandatory s³.  Total cost:  288 rubles (240 to swim plus 48 rubles for round-trip metro trip), or about $9.30.  Well worth it to me.

Now, if only I can find, and then (swim fast enough to) join The Black Cuttlefish/Чёрная Каракатица, the local Russian masters team.

2011 Season

OK, 2010 is almost over.  The OW swimming season, that is.  I'm going to try and push it next year, and do some swims of greater distances. 

If I had my druthers (what the hell is a druther, anyway?), the following are the races I'd like to do next year.  Again, I work in a busy field and do not always get to take weekends off for races.  Plus, I'm in Moscow, so even though Europe is "right over there," it is not exactly cheap to fly "right over there."  So I have to take my pick.  What follows are some European and U.S. swims.  (I occasionally get Uncle Sam to pay for a trip back to the states, and in those cases I try and tack on a weekend to race.)

IV Coppa Sicilia, I Tappa Punta Fanfalo - Punta San Nicola, Favignana (TP), Italy.  This is the first of a long series of races around Sicily.  Lengths vary from 3 to just under 10km.  And the races are on Sicily.  Did I mention that already?

Vejle Fjordsvøm, Vejle, Denmark.  This race is only 1300 meters, but it has the attraction of being in the city the wife and I got married in.  A family trip might be in order, to show the kids where their parents started their decades-long life.  Of course, trips like that always sound cool to everyone except your kids.

Rei e Rainha do Mar Europa, Lisbon, Portugal.  King and Queen of the Sea has a nice ring to it.  This is a 5K in the sea off Lisbon.  This would be an early race in my schedule, 1 May.  And, a beautiful location.

Turkish Victory Day--Swim from Europe to Asia (link pdf).  This swim I passed up this year to go to Copenhagen.  The race is a 3-4km crossing from Gallipoli to Canakkale.  The world's most congested shipping lane is closed for 1.5 hours for this swim.  And you're swimming from Europe to Asia.  How cool is that?

Sea of Galilee Swim.  Oh to be independently wealthy and be able to travel leisurely.  This swim would be fun.  A 3.5 km swim across the sea of Galilee.  Talk about sight-seeing!

Now for swims in the States:

Swim around the Rock, Alcatraz Island.  A 3.25 mile race around the island that Alcatraz prison is on in San Francisco Bay.  The water would probably be cold, but what a fun time it would be, swimming around The Rock!

Donner Lake.  Now this looks fun.  2.7 miles at 5933 feet elevation.  For some reason, I've wanted to do this swim.  Sounds like an awesome challenge.

Slam the Dam, 8K race in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Later in the year (October, this year), to avoid the heat.  And a great swim to end the 2011 season!

Fitting swimming into your day...no matter where you are

My current job has me traveling quite a bit.  I love it.  Any day outside the office is a good day.  Not much worse than sitting in a window-less space, breathing recycled air and catching everyone else's germs. 

As long as I get to swim every day.

That's the hard part.  When I'm home, here in Moscow, I can always go to the pool.  And I do, 4-5 days a week.  I workout in the morning, because if I don't, I won't.  It is just too hard to workout after work.  The kids are home, dinner is smelling good, and I'm beat from work.  Who the hell wants to jump in the pool then?

But when I travel, it's hard to get swims in.  I manage it when I travel to the states.  Many hotels have pools, however small.  (I managed 45 minutes straight in a pool only 10m long. That was a lot of flip-turns.)  Then there are nearby gyms and YMCAs.  But in Russia, pools aren't as easy to find.  And those you find, might not let you in, you dirty foreigner!  Oh, and don't forget your spravka.

I've traveled to some obscure places, at least for an American.  Khabarovsk has an indoor pool, but only for Russian military.  There's a great river there, the Amur.  Huge and beautiful.  But apparently not clean, or safe.  St. Petersburg has wonderful canals in which I'd love to do some time.  Of course, the Russians (and some visitors) use the canal to dump trash.  Very sad.

There is no indoor pool in Ulyanovsk, Ufa or Ekaterinburg, but I believe I've been misinformed.  Each of those three cities is the third largest city in Russia, if the taxi drivers are to be believed.  Gelendzhik is on the Black Sea, and the Black Sea is very swim-able.  But not when you're busy the entire one day you're there. 

Yes, that sign warns that swimming is dangerous to your life.

I've written before about Russian work scheduling and why I'm not currently able to swim in my "home" pool. Unfortunately, I've managed to get some damn virus from my kids, which I'm not shaking.  So my plan to swim in the Olympic pools here in Moscow is delayed.  Perhaps next week...if I'm not traveling somewhere!

Decision made...Cyprus here I come

The expedia-quoted price for my round-trip to/from Houston jumped up $200 in one day (33% increase in the price), so the decision was made for me.  Cyprus it is!  (And I got the plane tickets direct from the airline, Aeroflot, $60 cheaper than expedia!)

The race is technically called "The 6th Cyprus International Swimming Marathon (Open Sea) 5km & 10km."  It looks like a fun time.  Additionally, as reported before, if I make hotel reservations through the Cyprus Swimming Federation, they'll pick me up at the Larnaca airport and bus me down to Limassol, where the race is.  They'll find me a hotel room within 5-10 min walk to the race start.  Also, they're providing board.  (What do Cypriots eat?  I hope Greek and Turkish food.)

Course looks nice.  A Cypriot Greek I know here in Moscow told me:  "I hope the race is early in the morning.  The waves get a little rough late morning."  I hope so too. 

This will be my first race in "open sea."  The Denmark swim was in salt water, but there was little current and the only waves were produced by lifeguards in small motor boats.  This swim should be interesting.  I'm hanging out on Sunday to watch the 10K, then heading back to Moscow Monday afternoon.  Hope to get some sight-seeing done in the afternoons.

I am a little bummed about missing out on the Highland Lakes Challenge.  I have family in Texas, whom I could have visited.  And I have long-time friends in Austin, where the races are.  One of these friends even volunteered to be my kayak escort for one of the lakes, and I had hoped to talk her in to swimming one (or more?) of the other lakes with me.  Hopefully next year!

And this will be the third, and last swim of my "season," (a season cut short due to my epic fail in June).  Unless, of course, someone can help me find a swim in the U.S. on 13/14 or 20/21 November!

Decisions...decisions

I've got two races that I'm interested in participating in.  I can get time off from work for either.  The plane tickets to both are about the same.  The only differences are location and the swims.

The Highland Lakes Challenge (link under "Fall Open Water Events") in the Austin area of Texas is a 5-lakes stage race.  It is kind of expensive to enter, but the benefit of this series of races is that I have family (and friends!) in the area, so I can probably find a couch to crash on.  Lodging cost = zero!  Another pro for doing this race is I would get to swim five races in one trip.  +/- 14 miles in one week.  Awesome.

Now, the other swim has the benefit of being on Cyprus!  That is a draw in and of itself.  Additionally, the swim federation hosting the swim will find you a hotel in the area (85 euros per night) and even pick you up from the airport.  Oh, and feed you.  Of course, for a price.  The swim is a 5K in the Med.  Another bennie.  All in all, sounds like fun.  On the downside, the communication with the organizers is lacking.  I got on an email list so I got the initial invite and forms to fill out, but all my questions back to them have gone unanswered. 

Cost comparison:

Highland Lakes Challenge

    $350 entry fee + $680 round-trip = ~$1030

Cyprus 5K

    unknown entry fee + $585 round-trip + $325 lodging + unknown food charge = >$910

   

Russian work scheduling

I've written very little about the weirdo pool I have to swim in here in Moscow.  The embassy's indoor pool (at least it's indoors) is about 16m long, thus I do three laps and call it 100 yards.  Or meters.  Or whatever I feel like calling it that day.

The most disgusting part of the pool is that no one cleans it.  I realized this recently when I noticed a line of green scum at the water level in each of the four lanes.  I don't touch the wall now, except to flip turn.  I keep telling the "lifeguard" (really just a Russian dude paid to zap our badges upon our entry) I'm going to bring in a scrub brush and clean my own lane. 

Well, being new to Moscow, I didn't know that the embassy solves this cleanliness problem with something even worse: they close the pool for (at least) three weeks.  What?  WTF?  Three weeks?  Yes.  They close it to re-tile (every year?!) and clean the pool.  It must be disgusting...gross.

Yes, I will be without my beloved pool from September 13th to roughly 4 October.  The search has begun to find a Russian pool to swim in.  I found the Olympic (1980) pool complex.  It's got a bunch of pools in it.  And I even got my spravka (справка, по-русски) from the doctor.  (Gyms require a note from your doctor stating that you are fit enough to use their facilities.  Without your spravka, you won't get in.)  This coming weekend I will test run the trip to the facility, as it is a few metro stops away.  I'll check out the prices and pools, see if they have lockers, shower facilities, and whatever else I need.  With work, I think I'll be able to maintain my workout schedule during the pool closure.  Crossed fingers!

Going postal!

I've been a masters swimmer for a while, but rarely have been part of a team.  Being in the military, I move a lot.  Some places I've been stationed have no masters team.  Some places kids or work schedule have made it impossible to make regularly scheduled practices.

But I've always liked to compete.  I've only ever competed in two swim meets.  Fun and exciting.  The fastest I've swum a 100 SCM was in a swim meet in Virginia.  (The time is too slow and embarrassing to share with my readers.)

Postal swim meets are a great way to compete when you're unable to attend 'live' swim meets.  Postals are out there for every swimmer, from timed swims to specific distances and strokes.

My favorite last year was the Brute Squad Postal, hosted by Vortex Masters.  The Brute Squad, if you don't know (I didn't), is a squad of swimmers who sign up for the recognized three hardest events in a swim meet:  1650 free, 400 IM and 200 fly.  In order to compete in this postal, you have to swim all three events in one day.  Last year, I swam them all back-to-back (in reverse order from listed).  Holy crap did that ever hurt.  The 200 fly took me forever; I don't remember exactly how long, but six minutes springs to mind. 

Tamalpais Aquatic Masters hosts a pool-mile (1650 yards) postal every year.  The TAM 1650 must be completed anytime between mid-December and the end of February. 

Arizona Masters hosts a few postals every year.  You can swim in the 15-minute postal, pushing yourself to swim as far as you can in so short a time.  Or, there is the Phoenix 500, if you want to try for a PR in your fastest 500.  They also host a TriSwim Postal, which requires you to swim an 800, 1500 and 2000 all on the same day.

USMS organizes five postals every year.  In January you can put all your 'winter yardage' to good use by swimming as far as you can in one hour.  If you have access to a LCM pool, you can compete against 100s of other masters swimmers in USMS's 5K and 10K postal.  Swim one or both events sometime between 15 May and 15 September to get ranked among other swimmers in your age group.  When outdoor pools close and you're back to indoor SCY, you can compete in the 3000 and 6000 yard postals.  Again, you'll get ranked among other swimmers of your age group.  If you swim all five postals in one year, USMS will send you a patch.

And of course, the best part of all these postals is they're cheap.  And the T-shirts!  So, don't just sit there.  Don't let those yards go to waste.  Grab a friend (you need a timer, after all) and get to the pool.  Go postal!