Duckweed

No, it's not a remake of the Marx Brother's classic film, Duck Soup.

 

Duckweed "are flowering aquatic plants which float on or just beneath the surface of still or slow-moving bodies of fresh water" (Wikipedia). This is what Jan and I swam in on Sunday at Canandaigua Lake.

 

Fortunately all we had to do was wade through a few feet of the duckweed, which near Kershaw Park wasn't quite as thick as seen here. Around 100 feet from shore the weed was gone, otherwise the swim wouldn't have happened. The last thing I wanted to do was swallow a bunch of this stuff while breathing.

I did notice at night, when the glow from the supermoon came out, that Jan and I had a green aura sounding us, but that may have been my imagination.

 

In some cultures duckweed is used for food, containing more protein than soybean! Maybe Jan and I should have brought home a bucket for smoothies? 





Triathlon Showdown!

The FingerLakes Triathlon takes place on Sunday, September 19, with the swim start in Canandaigua Lake.

In the sprint race (.5mile swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run) Mike "Macho Man" Weinpress takes on Eileen "Petite Princess" Weinpress. The bookies are giving EPPW the swim and bike legs, meaning Macho Man has a scant 3 miles to chase her down and keep his honor. This race may be decided in the transitions. If Macho Man can stay away from eating a sub between the bike and run he may pull off a victory.

The Olympic distance (1500m swim, 22.5m bike, 10k run) has Jan "Queenie" McCullough versus Mike "Muffin Top" McCullough. Though Queenie is a much better swimmer, the wetsuit seems to negate her speed advantage. Swim is a tie. Bike will be close, the hill out of Rushville may decide this one, then Muffin Top has to hang on during the run. Transitions, again, could be the ultimate victory decider. Will Muffin Top have to wrestle an octopus getting out of his wetsuit? Let's hope no one has to see that show!

Solo Pool Swimming

An advantage to the semester ending at SUNY Brockport is that the pool is less crowded. Last week I was the only swimmer for about fifteen minutes until 5 or so people straggled in. Having my own lane is nice and a luxury you don't get in most open swim time pools.

A new "season" began yesterday (Monday) so I arrived at the college early to get our swim passes for the summer (May 17-August 27). Jan was still at work, so I was flying solo. At $35 per person (alumnus rate) I think this is a bargain. The lifeguard was in the office and said she would see me at the pool in a few minutes.

It turned out I was the only swimmer, and I use that term loosely. Yes, two years ago I couldn't swim a lap without stopping and 200 yards was a long night for me. Now my longest swim is 2400 yards (still miniscule for real swimmers working out). But, like running, the effort for me to swim a mile is probably the same as a talented swimmer going at least two miles.

The poor lifeguard dutifully sat there watching me slog back and forth, legs dragging behind/below me for 35 minutes while I swam. I apologized a number of times and can only imagine how she felt watching some old, balding, skinny man struggle across the pool. I tried to use imagery and think of myself as Michael Phelps, but it didn't help. After 800 yards I used the pull buoy, which sped me up to being able to do 50 yards in the time a swimmer can do 100. Of course I don't do flip turns, which speeds up laps for some people, but would only cause me to begin drowning.

After 1500 yards I crawled out of the pool, the lifeguard handed me my pass, and I profusely thanked her for letting me swim. I think she mumbled something about needing to go out and have a drink and get the mental image of my hairy, lanky body out of her mind, but I could be mistaken.

I remember my grandfather leaving me in the boat while he swam for awhile in the middle of Canandaigua Lake, or at least at 8 years old it seemed like the middle. He glided effortlessly along while I watched. No life vest, pull buoy, wetsuit, just swim trunks, I'm not even sure if he wore goggles. Grandpa swam in lakes and the Y until his late 70's. It's an example I would like to follow. Maybe someday I won't swim like an upside down V.

Biking Around the Lake

If two numbskulls take a right turn and race down a hill on their bikes, wondering why the rest of the group isn't following, will anyone care? I had a bad feeling something was amiss as we passed the Bristol Harbor golf course, which I had never seen on previous rides near Canandaigua Lake. But Mike and I were having so much fun, riding at 35 mph even with brakes pumping on and off, that we continued.

We reached the bottom and that's when Mike heard his phone. Jan had left a message, they were on the opposite end of Seneca Point Rd, waiting for our return. They had screamed at us to stop, but we couldn't hear with the wind whizzing past our ears. It was my fault, direction guy, even with a highlighted map I chose the wrong way to turn. We began to snake our way up the mountain, yes it was a hill going down, but a 9% grade going up is a mountain. Mike walked for a bit, but I was able to bike, albeit slowly, back and forth across and gradually up the mountain. After I pulled 50 yards ahead, Mike got back on his bike, but pulled an Artie Johnson and fell over. "C'mon, stop playing around Mike", I yelled. "But I'm bleeding!" Mike said. "Don't make me come back down this mountain you baby, get up and ride". Oh yeah, I'm tough.

Eventually Mike got on his bike and powered up the road. Well, pushed the pedals and slowly inched his way along. A few golfers stopped and shook their clubs at us. Evidently our swearing had disturbed their swings. Fifteen or more minutes after taking the wrong turn we finally re-joined our peloton. I think they had lunch while we were gone.

We continued on our way back to Canandaigua and Kershaw Park, ending a beautiful day with a swim in the 66 degree water, two of us opting to end the swim fairly quickly.