Channel drop out!: January 2010

This week was the USMS 1 hour postal challenge, during which participants swim as many yards as possible in 1 hour. My goal was to swim 5100 yards, and I was very happy to swim just over that, 5120 yards (1:10.3 pace). Kevin Herlihy swam 1 length more than I did, 5145 yards. Heidi Williams and my archnemesis Mark Mendendorp also cranked out the yardage (4850 and 4900 respectively).

::Disclaimer: Mark, if you are reading this, know that I mean archnemesis in the friendliest sense and that I of course harbor no real animosity toward you. But I think it's fun to have an archnemesis and I also really like using the word archnemesis. My only real gripe against you is that your drinking games involve too much thinking::

We had a nice sized group doing the postal, which helped the yards go by quickly. Having my archnemesis there also made things a bit more competitive because, as per usual, we were motivated to beat each other.

This brings me to my new goal for the season. Sources tell me that Mendendorp would like to do a 5:05 on his 500 free at USMS nationals. So my goal is to go under a 5:05! A 5:04.9 would be fine, as it would be under Mendendorp's goal of 5:05, but a 5:03 would be a PR, so I am making that my real goal. This is tough for me because in my world the 500 is a very short sprint. The last time we raced this distance, Mendendorp beat me by 9 seconds, so I have some catching up to do!

Since I like making comparison charts (like Mendendorp likes making nerdy graphs) I thought I would compare Mendendorp to Smurfette's archnemesis, Gargamel. As you can see, the circumstances are very similar. I have not watched the Smurfs in a while, so I did some thorough, very scientific research (Wikipedia) for descriptions of Gargamel.

	Gargamel	Mendendorp
General	“He is an evil wizard though his powers appear very limited... His main goal in life is to destroy the Smurfs and/or capture enough of them to create a potion to turn base matter into gold.”	Not full of evil, a decent fella really. Powers limited to making nerdy graphs (see exhibit A from the 1hr postal) and swimming distances under 1000 yds. Enjoys a more well-balanced life than Gargamel.
Goals	“Sometimes he wants to eat the Smurfs, other times he wants to use them to make gold, and still other times he has even more bizarre uses for them (in one instance he is so enraged by his loss that he yells "I don't want to eat them, I don't want to turn them into gold, all I want now is to DESTROY THEM!")	Not out to destroy me so much as defeat me in all swimming events.
Personal life	“Not much is said of Gargamel's relationships with women, although in one episode an ugly witch named Hogatha turns herself into an attractive woman in order to seduce Gargamel into giving her his secrets.”	Has a nice girlfriend. Seems to have more success with the ladies than Gargamel, perhaps due to his more upright posture.
Sidekicks	His mangy cat Azreal	Karen Fritchie, Keith, and other Davidson swimmers, none of whom have mange