We're Utah-bound later today. Flying out of JFK. Looking forward to seeing everyone and heading to the lake tomorrow (I really can't believe it'll be tomorrow already). I'm looking forward to seeing the vast expanse of lake coming up over the rise from Logan canyon. Such great memories of Bear Lake.
One glitch that's come up. My left wrist has swollen up and hurts when I use it -- I think my swim on Thursday weakened it and then I aggravated it over the last couple days further. This doesn't surprise me as my left arm/wrist has always been weaker than my right and my form suffers as a result, but unfortunately it's happened right now. I'm icing it and taking anti-inflammatories in the meantime and hope it'll heal up a bit before Wednesday. This could of course just be one more binza cop-out leading into a goal, but the fact is I'm excited to do the swim. I just don't want to do any permanent damage. We'll see how the next couple days go.
See everyone soon.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Travel Day
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Mirror Lake Swim
I swam 6 miles up in Lake Placid today, but broke it into two swims: a 3.6 miler then a 2.4 miler with an hour break in between. Total swim time was 3 hours 43 minutes. The water was 67-69. We'll see how I fare in 62-64 Bear Lake next week! Anyhow, today was my last long-ish swim in the open water before Wednesday. I'll just do some tune ups and technical drills over the next few days, and then at Bear Lake do some swims to get acquainted with the water temperature. At this point, I just want to get across the lake and get the experience.
Monday, July 06, 2009
R.I.P. Hamlette (4/2008-7/2009)
Our beloved Hamlette -- or Hammy -- passed away today. She was around 15 months old and we had her for a year. I think this flu I had may have brought about her demise. So, another one in the binza household bites the dust. She joins the never-to-be-forgotten Mango in the great small binza pet graveyard in the sky.
A Hamlette Retrospective.
Homecoming.
Hammy in the Ball.
Hammy Escapes and is Found.
And life goes on.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
US/BRA
Go USA. My expectations are realistic (= low), but who knows? We could always pull off a victory.
In other news, I've been fighting a throat infection for a couple days and have half my voice. Rode 38 miles on Friday and it was too much too soon -- either wore out my immune system or I don't know. Maybe swallowed a bug or something. Or, yesterday we got a health notice to boil all of our water until further notice. Hmmmmmmmm, maybe that's it. Planned to swim at Lake Placid today and then Lake George tomorrow but canceling that.
Go USA.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
RIP MJ
Love him or hate him, the man commanded the world with his music. I can't think of another performer who affected so many people around the world. The Beatles really only affected the western world, whereas Michael Jackson affected everyone. I remember one night in the 80s, in Zaire, we were playing hide and seek or something and I was creeping around a sentinel's shack and out of his old, beat-up, two-bakuta's worth radio I could hear the song We Are The World, and it sounded so good.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
10 miles in 6 hours
I went to the gym today intent on doing a swim of some sort, not sure how long, but it ended up being my longest ever -- 10 miles. First time back in the pool in probably 6 weeks since I much preferred the local lakes, and I have to say sticking with the lakes helped make the experience in the pool that much easier. I have chlorine burn on my face. It feels like a sunburn.
I'm really happy with the result today and my confidence is restored that I can train to swim far. This won't make the width of Bear Lake any easier, of course. The cold temperature and chop will make the 6-7 miles feel like it's longer. But at least I know it's possible.
US Advances to Confed Cup Semis
In a miracle turn of events, the US beats Egypt 3-0 and is helped by Brazil's 3-0 defeat of Italy to advance to the semis of the Confederation Cup. Going into the game, they needed exactly that result to go through, which, in soccer, is a million-to-one shot. But it happened.
Monday, June 22, 2009
John Quackenbush Attempts to Tame the Bear Lake Monster
I've been in touch with some great people over the last eight months since I thought about swimming Bear Lake. Some have swum the width but I haven't found anyone who's swam the length, though there are claims it has been done before -- just not chronicled. One person who's given me a ton of information is John Quackenbush, from Salt Lake City, who will be attempting the length of the lake on August 8. Man, I wish I were there to support and cheer, but will pretty much have to do it from afar. John was going to attempt the swim last year but cold temperatures forced him to pull out last minute. The weather doesn't seem to have changed much and this year, if anything, things are colder. The water temperature's projected to be 60 or maybe low 60s if we're lucky. He's been training in cold water in his backyard pool, and putting in some long swims as well. He's going to start from the north end and head south because the winds should be more favorable. John swam 24 miles in Lake George 20 years ago -- the same lake I swam last week here in NY (though, um, 3.8 miles). He also works at the University of Utah, where I went to school. We have a lot in common.
His swim is in support of No More Homeless Pets in Utah, whose goal is to place rescued animals in homes. If anyone wants to support his swim this way, by all means visit their site and donate.
Here's a brief profile on 10kswimmer.com of John's upcoming attempt.
Look forward to giving updates of his training and the swim itself.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hudson Plane Crash
Great drama. The only criticism (from comments I've seen) is that it condenses into 2 minutes what really took 5 and a half minutes.
Revolution?
I just got off the phone with an Iranian friend (she and her family live in the U.S.) and she's pretty certain a revolution is coming. If not now, then at some point in the future. I don't know much about Iran, except it's run by a religious government, and there are plenty of Iranians who want nothing to do with them. That includes the government police, who aren't doing anything to squash the current protests. In fact, they're a part of the protests, if anything. The current government has resorted to bringing in thousands of Lebanese law enforcement (or goons, or whatever) to fight the protesters.
As far as the U.S. response, she thinks we need to provide support to those protesting the current government -- not physically (which I think means militarily), but diplomatically.
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