There was a time when, as a competitive triathlete, I did a fair bit of swimming. I wasn't a great swimmer, but give me a wetsuit and I could swim up to 13 kilometers. I was able to do this because I lived next door to one of the most awesome pools in the world: Kitsilano Pool, just outside of downtown Vancouver.
Back around the turn of the last century, I moved to Vancouver's north shore. My new home was a good 12 kilometers from Kits Pool. Given the commute, going for a swim in my favorite pool became something that took a significant commitment. I went far less often. Like riding a bike, it's tough to forget how to swim, but to be a decent swimmer, one needs to train. When I would occasionally sneak into Kits Pool between meetings and see former training parters, they would inevitably kick my ass. It was discouraging.
One fine day, a guy I'd met professionally mentioned that he did a bit of swimming. I asked if he'd be interested in doing a few laps at Kits Pool the next sunny day. "Would I ever!" he emphatically responded. The dude could swim. We had fun. Our workout was followed by beers and much laughter. As the afternoon degenerated into evening, we adopted shark names and concocted an informal competition to celebrate the imminent annual closing of Kits Pool. Voila the history of the "Duel at the Pool".
The summer of 2010 will certainly go down in Vancouver history as one with the best weather of all time. From the start of July to the end of August, we enjoyed sunshine almost every day.
I had an office gig. The Whale Shark took the summer off to train. While I was looking longingly at the beautiful days from over my LCD screen, the Whale Shark was enjoying the views of the same north shore mountains every 6th breath. "Hey Mako," he'd taunt me over Skype when he knew I was heads-down in the office, "just came back from my second set of laps at the pool. Niiiiiice! How's your training for the Duel coming?"
Smartass. What training? I was able to get one day in at Kits Pool before September and he knew it.
The Whale Shark would call this a whine, but I think you can see how this story will end. It was certain death. Yet, as an honorable man, I figured it was my duty to step up to the plank and face my fate. On Thursday 9 September 2010, I hastily packed a wetsuit, a bunch of gel blasts, some electrolyte drink and my goggles and headed off to the pool. Given my 3 days of training and a longest distance of 1.75K, I figured I'd expire and sink at about 3K.
Here's how it went:
- 4+4+4+4+4 laps (that's 2.5K... and a new 2010 distance record for me!)
- pee break (don't know if it was the electrolyte drink or I drank the pool, but something about a long swim...) The Whale shark lends me his waterproof MP3 player, so I do the next sets with tunes!
- 8+6+4+2 = 40 laps
- the Whale prevails. Probably would have lapped me twice had we gone non-stop
- Brown's pub for many hot wings, many fries and a couple of pints to celebrate our sore arms
- go home, clean out the fridge
- do some work on the computer
- eat some more
- sleep soundly
What a blast! Arms actually feel fine today. As I put up the challenge for 2011 in the event calendar, I promise to train more this winter and ambush the Whale next year. 'Hope you can join us!
