Bidding Farewell To Training Block 1

Happy new month!  Since arriving on campus at the end of August, Pioneer swimmers & divers have taken part in two weeks of optional captains practices, scrambled to finish compliance paperwork and athletic training obligations, and jumped headlong into their first training block of the 2015-2016 swimming & diving. Practice and training happened all around us, but this block was marked by a few seminal moments.  The first was a beautiful team run at monument park, where the coach showed the team the top secret trails he and Ruby explore.  The next out of the pool event occurred at Meyers Lake for an open water swim. That swim came off 2 straight weeks of 90 degree weather, and saw Pioneers brave windy, chilly 55 degree air, while swimming through choppy 80 degree water.  Outside practice, Pioneers held a starts & turns clinic, and got to know a swimming community not of their own bubble.  And, the final culminating out of the pool event was today's 5k run on yet again a cold, windy rainy day.  All that said, nothing marked this block the way swimming long course did.  No worries pioneers, the pool is short again....on to the next training block!

 Team Run at Monument Park

 

Pioneer ladies, inspired by the trails, find new ones to explore

Lake Meyers on a much nicer day, earlier in the summer...imagine this picture with no sun, rain, winds, clouds, and very choppy water, and you have our open water swim

The only blurry picture I have from the no sun, rain winds, clouds 5k run

Working out in long course

 

Pioneer swimming clinic

 

Ruby in the back of Brittany's car, and exploring a creek on covered bridge trail

Lifting Program: Training Block 1

With this post, we add functionality to the Malone University Swimming & Diving blog.  Below are lifting programs for the first training block.

MEN'S & WOMEN'S TEAM LIFTING PROGRAMS

Click Here

"Seek the burn; find the burn; sustain the burn. Lifting isn't all about reps. It's about hitting failure, then staying in the hot zone."

Happy Lifting!

Mid July And It Keeps Raining....

For any of you in the Midwest, or the Northeast for that matter, please note that we've had more rain, and days with rain in the last month than the temperate rain forest I recently visited.  Literally, more rain than a rain forest. But, we're a hearty group here in Canton, and when it is nice, we open up the pool doors in the natatorium, let the sunshine in, and when it's raining....well we just keep it closed.  Without much to post, here are few lackadaisical photos, with some actual lunch and competition notes with team team members to be posted in the next couple weeks. Until then, these 3 boring moments!

The 4th of July from a Columbus, Ohio lawn chair

Standing outside on the patio looking in on the pool

A blurry Malone Diver, and a smiling while crying Malone Swimmer working out this summer

Back in Canton

Good afternoon from a breezy sunny Canton, Ohio!  I was just emailing with a team member about how strange it is adjusting back into my usual Canton routine.  It's more than just the time difference.  It was that 100% separation from what you get accustomed to doing, and then re-entering that "normal" world again that has thrown me for a loop.  The loop has brought me back, and I'm happy to be back, as well as to have the pictures and company I embraced in Alaska.  It's healthy to come back refreshed, starting from scratch so to speak, and an important lesson as we grow closer to the start of the academic year.  Rest assured I'm back on the bike in the Malone University wellness center, walking Ruby around Monument Park, and checking in at the pool in the afternoons.  I've included some pictures that were floating around my phone from May, and a couple from the return...

 

 Paper Plate Awards

 

Campus & Monument Park

Lobsters & Early May Training Group

 

Ruby only sleeps on Pillows & a Moose in a Pool

 Of the couple thousand pictures I have from Juneau, I will be sure to pluck a few more in the next few days.  Otherwise, the plan is to spend the weekend in Wooster, Ohio where I'll be watching a long course meet with my heat sheet, on what I hope will be well weathered afternoons in Amish Country.

Mendenhall Glacier

A while back I read, "Into Thin Air," by John Krakauer, about the doomed Mt. Everest expedition. It's impact was lasting, and in my diluted perception of reality, I often reflect on that well chronicled event, and say to myself, "I am an explorer, a conqueror of mountains, a man of elemental curiosity, and adventure; you guessed it, adventure is my middle name."  Not really.  But, I did climb into Mendenhall Glacier yesterday, which included a 7 mile hike through relatively dense forested unmarked trails, up 1500 foot ridges, and along the glacial lake formed by the melt from the massive ice shelf receding into the ice field that blankets the mountain range where Mendenhall was born.  The contrast is sharp between the ridges, and slopes a mile from the glacier's current face, and the ones at its face.  Mendenhall quite literally ripped, ground, an tore through the mountain, and left piles of gravel, rubble and sand in its wake. Just as surprising, was the texture of the glaciers icy surface.  When left exposed to the relentless sun (which shines for 18 hours a day in the summer), little divets were melted into the ice leaving it rough and coarse, and surprisingly easy to navigate. 

The Hike

The Glacier's surface

Ice Caves

One more day in Juneau!

A Down Day

Leaving Gustavus brings a mix of sentiment, in that it serves as a measure of time here in the archipelago of of southeast Alaska, and that the journey is drawing to an end.  Yesterday we spent the late morning sipping on tea, mocha, and smoothies at Sunnyside cafe in Gustavus, purusing the community market that sets up Saturdays, and reflecting on what Park Ranger Dan calls the, "tonic of wilderness."  From there we caught our 25 minute flight back to Juneau, and as we set for landing, we were able to catch today's hike, Mendenhall Glacier ice trail, from the plane's window.  The day wraped up with a round of frisbee golf, in one of the most scenic, challenging courses I've ever played.

Park Ranger Dan

Sunnyside cafe

Mendenhall tucked between the peaks

 Frisbee Golf

Gustavus Day 3

This day was reserved for a trip north through Glacier Bay. Our 7 hour round trip cruise crossed many islands, up the 60 mile long bay that up until 200 years ago was completely covered by glaciers.  We hit a dead end at the Grand Pacific, and Margerie glaciers on the border of Alaska and British Columbia.  The sunbeaten glaciers did their best to put on a show with the engine to our ship stopped.  In the silence of the confluence of valley and ocean you could periodically hear a huge, "pop," reverberating through the ice littered bay, colored a soft translucent blue from the ice itself.  This sound was often followed by crashing ice calving from glacier's face, smashing into the ocean below, and sending a wave rushing towards our boat.  The sheer enormity of these ice rivers was tremendous viewing for an Ohio boy....

                    Margerie Glacier

                  Entering a Ice field

                  Dinner by the fire

Tomorrow we're headed back to Juneau, long after the 3:30am sunrise.  Before long, it's back on campus at Malone...

Gustavus Day 2

Yesterday woke with the persistent drizzle, fog, and rain that permeates this region.  But, like on Mt. Juneau, a fortuitous break in the weather allowed for an incredible day of kayaking in Bartlett Cove, part of Glacier Bay National Park.  The size of the humpback whales from a kayak is humbling. Catching a bear snacking is thrilling.  Sea lions and sea otters are playful, and I could sit and watch a bald eagle for hours.  The day ended with fresh caught, pan seared salmon. Delicious!

               The Eagle is perched

Today on tap...cruise through the glaciers.

Gustavus Day 1

A more typical day waited after my wake up swim with Glacier Swim Club masters in Juneau.  After a walk home from the pool in the rain, we packed up for the trip to Gustavus, the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park.  To get there we depended on a trusty bush pilot, and a five seat plane. I was terrified, but not as much as my sister.  The flight, worth it.  We're currently settled into our lodge, and we're  happy to see the welcome party...

                           The flight

                The Welcome Party

Climbing Mt. Juneau

I was crossing my fingers that we would have a break in the weather at some point during the week that would give us a long enough window to make a push for the summit of Mt. Juneau. Yesterday was that day.  It's a climb that is dangerous to begin with, and nearly impossible to do in wet, rainy conditions.  Thus, with our window open, we pushed hard early, and we're able to summit at a little over 3500 feet in a bit under 3 hours. I sweated my face off, soaked through two shirts, was freezing at the top (38 degrees with snow on the summit), but came across some seldom seen jungle friends and challenging obstacles...

The Summit

Summit Selfie

Can you see the Mountain Goats?

Today we get in a small 6 seater plane, which I'm terrified about, to fly to glacier national bay for the next three days.  I'm crossing my fingers I will be able to find a spot in the tiny town with wifi so I can post. “Memory believes before knowing remembers. Believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders.” -W. Faulkner