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I just went for a quick run. Let me just get this out of the way right now... I'm not a strong runner by any means. I've never understood why, but on average, swimmers are not good runners. Now that we have that cleared up, I'm proud of my run tonight. Lately I've been running with an MP3 player. I run for the length of a full song, then walk for 30 seconds. Since my body isn't used to the impact of running I'm trying to ease into it. Tonight I ran twice around my neighborhood which I've clocked at about 3/4 of a mile.

I was contacted by the Editor of USMS Swimmer Magazine a few days ago. I've mentioned him before, his name is Bill Volckening. I ran into him at the Detroit Airport right before the Omaha Swimvitational a few months back. He said the magazine might be interested in writing a small story about my swimming. I'll be gathering some information for him in the next few days. It was flattering that he thought of me for a story, thanks Bill!

I've been in the pool a few times lately but with the Jones Pool at EMU being closed for maintenance I never get a very good workout at the outdoor pool at Fuller. I've been running lately to get up for my yearly 5k run. I do the "Kensington Challenge" each year at the end of September. It's a fun race, I've done it the past three years. The first year was decent because I did a few months of running prior to the race. The second year was a little slower due to less running and this past year was borderline horrible.

I had a great practice at Fuller Pool today, probably one of the last Sunday mornings I'll do. The Sunday morning crew only swims till early September. I've only been in the water a few times in the last two weeks so the 4100 meter practice was a heck of a wake up swim! The people and coaches are always helpful. Although her name slips my mind, the coach this weekend mentioned that I swim with my thumbs out during my stroke. I'm pretty sure I don't swim like this in meets but it was a helpful comment which I'll consciously work on from now on.

Since I'm still seeing Michael Phelps in the news I figured I would make another post about his "I want to change swimming" comment. This is what I think:

He attracted lots of viewers to swimming with the help of NBC
He is the most decorated Olympic Athlete ever
He has shown sponsors that you really can pay a swimmer millions of dollars, in this way, he made swimming more like football, basketball and baseball. I'm not sure if that's a good thing

And Michael Phelps won 8 Gold Medals at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games

Todays practice was brutal after an afternoon of water skiing on my cousins boat yesterday. My whole body is sore but not tired, suggesting I didn't stretch enough beforehand (read: none). Today I did dryland with wheels and due to a slightly strained ankle I didn't do any kicking. I did 5x200's paddle pull fast. The last two I swam freestyle to mix it up. By that second freestyle one my left shoulder was sore. This is a chronic problem I dealt with in college as well. I believe it means I either have an actual problem with my shoulder, that I have bad freestyle form, or both.

After a week and a half off I was back in the pool today. IT FELT GREAT! I could only get in the Jones Natatorium for about a half an hour before they shut down the pool but it was worth it. I've enjoyed my time off but I was ready to get back in. I really missed it! I had made it a part of my life and when I wasn't in the pool every day I felt like my day wasn't complete. I dove in tonight and just got a big smile on my face while I took my first lap, I love swimming...

It was an amazing feeling even watching the event when they touched that wall! After the public trash talking of the French team being quoted as saying they "will smash the USA, that's what we came here to do". The United States 400 Meter Free Relay anchored by Jason Lezak lead the team to a .08 second victory and smashed the previous world record by 4 seconds! The Team of Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak made us all proud! The comeback of Jason Lezak in the last 50 meters splitting 46.06, a world record, was an incredible sight in itself.