Before Hustling to Finish, Relaxed Is a Good Way to Start

Trainers and coaches say relaxation is crucial to a strong performance, and tension only serves to diminish an athlete's performance.

The link below will take you to a New York Times article By GINA KOLATA -- first published Published in the NYT on October 2, 2008. It includes references to swimmer Michael Phelps, well-known coaches and runners including Michael Johnson. Who knows, maybe you'll pick up a tip that'll help put you in First Place -- if not in the Olympics!

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/health/nutrition/02best.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Born To Be Wild

Can you identify this Huntington Master’s Swimmer?

After an E-Z Friday workout, he traded in his swim cap and kickboard for a helmet and 400 pound, 25 year-old candy-apple red Honda motorcycle!

OK, OK, “Candy-Apple Red” is stretching the description a bit but we are talking about a cycle that took to the roads for the first time in 1983 – a quarter of a century ago! (Though I must admit that it looks pretty "Candy-Apple Red" in this picture.)

So strain your eyes and see if you can figure out exactly who this “Born To Be Wild” mystery cyclist is… hint, it is NOT Bob Miller!

The Sun Hung On The Western Trees At West Neck Beach By Ken Longo

Driving home from work along CSH shore, I couldn't resist the urge for a late swim. The water was like a sheet of glass, not a boat in sight and it was high tide.

Arriving at WNB around 6:30, the Sun hung on the western trees. It was beautiful, but something was missing. Then it hit me, everything was gone. The beach lines, bouy's, life guard stands and even the shower and shower platforms (who's going to steal those). Shut down for the winter. I couldn't take my shower after the swim I thought. I entered the water and swam the 1st leg to the southern buoy.

As I rested and took in the falling Sun against a Center Island background, I realized how lucky we are. I was slightly upset that the end of another OWS season is upon us. I laughed thinking how the new season usually starts with our version of Ground Hog day. Our friendly Canadian samples the water a few times during the winter; a new season is just around the corner.

The real reason for this story is to tell you Huntington has closed West Neck Beach. The gates are still open though!

2008 Brooklyn Bridge Swim Cancelled

As Newsday's front-page headline screamed this morning "Here Comes Hannah" well, there went the 2008 Brooklyn Bridge Swim. The swim was supposed to start at 8:45 am Saturday morning, September 6, 2008 and would have been the third annual Brooklyn Bridge Swim. But Tropical Storm Hannah had other ideas and the swim was cancelled. Rob and I were both disappointed as it would have been the third year of this very "New York City" Swim for both of us. 

On the bright side, the notification process by the Manhattan Island Foundation was just about as good as it could get. I received notification of the cancellation by both phone and email -- two emails and automated calls to both my home and cell phone number. We were also all invited to come down to South Street Seaport at 8am on Saturday to pick up our T-Shirts etc and have a cup of coffee with the crew and other swimmers (not too many entrants were there at 8am -- see photo above). Rob went to CW Post to workout and I went to NYC for coffee! I took a few pictures, said a quick hello and "thanks" for the on-time notices to keep us all in the loop -- then hopped in my questionably parked car and headed back to Huntington. See you all next year! Bad Hannah! Bad Hannah!

Of course, the sun had to make an appearance to make us feel even worse!

But the sun, clouds, bridge and water did make for some dramatic pictures. And, naturally, the East River water looked VERY calm -- though looks can be deceptive! 

Bye Bye Brooklyn Bridge. Bye Bye East River. We hope to swim you again in September 2009.

Open Water Swim: Labor Day, September 1, 2008 at West Neck Beach

As you can see, we had a beautiful blue sky, calm water -- but a really LOW tide!

Jelly Fish even had a cousin sunbathing on the "low tide" rocks. Happy to say, we didn't see any other "cousins" in the water.

The boys are done for the day! Sorry to say that I forgot to bring my camera yesterday (Sunday, August 31, 2008) as we had about a dozen Open Water Swimmers then. Pretty much similar conditions though the tidal current may have been a bit stronger on Sunday.

Rob, Jim and Ken are above. Jim and Rob are pictured below.

Swimming with Seagulls on Labor Day 2008

Tobay Tri and Tri-Relay Individual and Team Results - August 24, 2008

Name Place o/a Place age group Time

Harry Slutter 19 1/93 1:06:39

   Harry was also 3rd in Male Masters Division

Don Bond 52 4/64 1:11:15

Greg Linakis 53 5/115 1:11:21

Rich Young 93 13/93 1:14:54

Lynn Perzeszty 107 1/42 1:15:46

   Lynn was also 1st in Female Masters Division

Karen Farrell 110 2/59 1:16:02

   Karen was also 2nd in Female Masters Division

Steve Uresk 136 18/115 1:17:24

Nancy Aboff 163 4/42 1:18:28

Brett Emsden 165 28/110 1:18:34

Steve Kristel 216 18/64 1:20:45

Dawn Desimone 222 5/59 1:20:54

Joe Conklin 318 46/115 1:24:27

Heather McCormack 369 11/56 1:26:38

Meredith Emsden 386 13/56 1:27:03

Jim Imhof 487 26/64 1:30:10

Michele Kata 511 15/59 1:31:02

Julio Velez 611 22/45 1:34:20

Victor Rivas 542 86/110 1:35:28

Tom Sherman 730 90/115 1:38:21

Joe Pangia 755 93/115 1:39:04

Horst Rhein 779 2/3 1:40:14

Peggy McGill 806 22/31 1:41:33

Yolanda Velez 905 9/19 1:46:18

Dawn Flower 911 41/56 1:46:40

Pat McCourt 1050 34/35 1:55:55

Joan Addabo 1051 26/31 1:55:57

Teams:

Donna DeSousa 4 1/6 1:07:00

Roger Levin 7 3/10 1:08:30

Bob Miller, 10 1/12 1:10:53

Jim Deegan,

Elizabeth Perlstein

Lisa Kristel 16 3/6 1:13:17

Lori Haubrich

Ken Longo 20 4/10 1:14:22

Frank Fiore

Rob Martell

Mike Engel 24 1/1 1:17:57

Don Gavin

Ellie Gavin

Mia Levin 48 7/14 1:31:24

Steve Albright 56 16/22 1:35:40

Mike Edebohls 61 9/9 1:37:23

Jeanine Kata 69 19/22 1:44:42

Thanks to Bob Miller for compiling this information. Bob wrote: "Hopefully, I didn't leave anyone off the list.  Congratulations to all for a great race and another great day! See you all in the pool on the 8th!"

 

Jelly Fish Goes Sailing

Jelly Fish -- after a very disappointing showing in the Tobay Tri (see story and pictures below) -- decides to go sailing and sets his sights on viewing the famous Huntington Lighthouse. To make sure he can find it, he carefully plots his route. No haphazard sailor our Jelly Fish!

"What a grand view of all the boats in Huntington Harbor" declares Jelly "and, its a lot safer up here on deck than down in the water with all those nasty propellers!"


Time to man the tiller and get this sailing adventure on the way!

"Whew" says Jelly, "Sailing is hard work! It must be time for a beer break!"

"Look, there it is! The Huntington Lighthouse which was originally built in 1857 on the tip of Lloyd's Neck to assist ships in finding shelter" exclaims Jelly. And you thought he wouldn't be able to find. Not only did he find it, he knew more about it than you probably did! It just goes to show you -- you can't underestimate Jelly Fish.

 

Well, that was a great trip. Now its time for Jelly to man the ropes and head this sailing ship back home.

"All in all" Jelly says, "it was a really relaxing day. And I needed it after that un-called for DQ in the Tobay Triathlon." 

Jelly Fish Gets DQ’d at the Toby Triathlon. His Un-Sportsman-Like Action Was a BIG Disappointment To All His Fans

At first, it was all smiles when Jelly Fish was invited to join the Runner's Edge Team. It was, you know, a dream of Jelly's to Swim, Bike and Run with the best. Perhaps that was the real problem -- the pressure to be the best, just got to Jelly and he snapped -- at least as much as "Jelly" can "snap". It is probably more correct to say that Jelly "bent" under the pressure and was DQ'd when ...

That's right, believe it or not, and you have to believe it as the photo below clearly shows, our beloved Jelly Fish -- caught red-tentacled attempting to ride a souped-up, green Kawasaki in the Bike portion of the Tobay Tri. Race officials dashed in, stopped the bike and pulled Jelly off his Kawasaki before anyone was injured. One bystander reported hearing Jelly mutter, "I didn't hurt anybody in the Swim did I?"

After the "Bike Mis-Understanding" as Jelly would later call it, he was seen at various spots around the area...

Jelly Fish gazes longingly at the trophy he was no longer eligible for...

Jelly Fish drowns his sorrow and shame in a frosty Blue Point and declares it his new "very favorite beverage!".

Jelly watches, (with anger? with sadness??), as the triathletes on line get their printed results -- results that he'll never see in 2008. The lyrics of Billy Joel's hit song "Pressure" repeating over and over in his mind.
"You have to learn to pace yourself... PRESSURE... You're just like everybody else... (EDITORS NOTE: Jelly, You are NOT like everybody else), PRESSURE... You've only had to run so far, so good... But you will come to a place... Where the only thing you feel... Are loaded guns in your face... And you'll have to deal with... PRESSURE"
And, when the PRESSURE gets too much, what does Jelly Fish do? He waits in the Porta Potty line just like everybody else! Go Jelly Go -- we await your next big adventure.

Pictures from the Tobay Triathlon: Sunday August 24, 2008

Video from Tobay Tri is above -- it can be also found on YouTube. Still pictures are below. Great job by all...

For some people, one award is just NOT enough!

Bully job lads... just Bully! Charge!

Rich, we would have believed you. Honest!

Can you spot Jelly in the picture below? Is he trying to join another team for 2009 or is he just looking to get some more Blue Point beer?

Now that's the look of a happy winner! Way to go Frank!

Jelly Fish Joins Huntington Master's Swimmers For a Pool Workout

If you've been wondering where all the jellyfish have gone, (remember the Jellyfish Invasion just a few weeks back?), we can tell you where one has gone -- meet our newest Huntington Master's Swim Team and Huntington YMCA Pool swimmer -- "Jelly" Fish.

"Hey, these goggles just make everything blurry!"

"Ahhh, that's much better. Now I can do a kick set -- and with all my legs I really need a good, long kick set."

"Whew, that Kick Set tired me out. I think that I'll go rest on the bottom of the pool."

"Hey Buddy stay out of my lane! Didn't you human swimmers learn anything during those open water swims about getting to close to a jelly fish?"

Based on Jelly Fish's attitude towards his fellow swimmers, I hope that this will be the last we see of him in the Huntington Y Pool.

Results of the NYC Triathlon 7-20-08

Name / age group/overall (by sex) / time

Karen Farrell / 12/162 / 2:35:39

Dawn Desimone 34/162 / 2:49:28

Steve Albright 44/155 / 2:49:43

Meredith Emsden 47/188 / 2:52:44

Brett Emsden 181/474 / 2:55:40

Mike Edebohls 258/413 / 3:11:34

Joe Pangia 350/411 / 3:12:50

Team Results:

Ken Longo, Greg Linakis / 6th men's

Tammie & Alan Topel / 11th coed

Montauk Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon results 7-13-08

Name /Overall /Division /Time

Greg Linakis 20 2 1:19:50
Don Bond 23 3 1:20:12
Howard Kohos 321 24 1:49:10
Lynn Perzsezty 71 7(o/a female) 1:27:56
Karen Farrell 72 8(o/a female) 1:28:03
Nancy Aboff 76 9(o/a female) 1:28:37
Dawn Desimone 116 2 1:33:04
Heather McCormick 520 4 1:37:08
Elizabeth Perlstein 255 10 1:44:23
Janette Newell 284 4 1:47:23
Liz Donroe 332 7 1:50:22
Peggy McGill 389 8 1:56:27
Jeanine Kata 394 23 1:57:21
Yolanda Velez 405 10 1:59:31
Joan Motherway 441 26 2:04:53

Lake Placid Ironman results 7-20-08

Name --------------------Time ----Age group --- Overall

Armand D'Amato 16:03:53 --- 25/32 --- 2068

Colleen McManus 14:22:41 --- 83/123 --- 1698

Mike McMorrow 13:37:36 --- 279/398 --- 1493

Doug Partrick 12:12:17 --- 82/268 --- 823

2008 5-K in the Bay Eyewitness Report From Carol Moore

Here's MY take on the 2008 5-K in the Bay...I was a cheerleader this year rather than a swimmer since I wasn't tuned up to swim it...quite happily, as it turned out, once I learned from one of the boaters that there were MONSTER jellyfish out there!

EDITORS NOTE: The 2 Rob's pictured above are NOT the MONSTER jellyfish!

That wasn't the only disaster the swimmers had to contend with, though, as someone evidently forgot to mark the first turn! There was NO BOAT! I watched from the dock as some swimmers took the shortcut and turned at the last orange buoy, but the more dedicated ones just kept swimming, Looking for a turn-around boat that wasn't there! (it apparently had drifted practically to Northport Harbor!) So kudos to thosewho swam a 6-K race that day -- and got mauled by jellyfish in the bargain (Rob Martell and Rob Ripp among them!).

My camera lens locked up so I wasn't able to get a photo of Ken Longo coming in at a pretty quick clip,but I was able to shoot our favorite Canadian Rob Martell and his namesake,Rob Ripp, as they came in together at an impressive 1:40-something, but I can't help but think that "They was Robb-ed"! But there's always next year! Here are pictures of The Robs at the finish line, and above, a long-distance one of the turnaround boat that WAS there, manned by the other Rob, Bob Miller! EDITORS NOTE:See pictures from Bob's boat in story below.