10 Degrees Latitude » neal

Great things are done when men and mountains meet

neal — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 23:31:13 +0000

Recovery is as Important as the Workout [part 2]

neal — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 23:24:10 +0000

Part 1 showed a single workout. Part 2 shows the affects of repeated workouts.

According to Mens Journal [link], supercompensation is the secret to getting more from each workout in less time. On the one hand, if you workout too much your muscles will not recover instead becoming continually weaker. On the other hand if you workout too infrequently your body will regress back to baseline, and you will never improve.

Recovery is as Important as the Workout [part 1]

neal — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 23:22:20 +0000

Part 1 shows a single workout. Part 2 will show the affects of repeated workouts.

Sports Medicine in Open Water Swimming

neal — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 06:13:54 +0000

Wanted to share this presentation with all of you. It is a useful guide to warm and cold open water swimming, written from a medical point of view.

5 Reasons Not to Wear a Wetsuit

neal — Thu, 26 May 2011 00:50:19 +0000

It’s only natural that people should ask why we swim without wetsuits. The water in the San Francisco Bay varies is normally in the 50F range. That is cold compared to an 80F swimming pool or a 95F bath.

212F Water Boils
95F Hot Bath/Shower
80F Swimming Pool
63F San Francisco Bay Water Temperature (Summer)
47F San Francisco Bay Water Temperature (Winter)
32F Water Freezes

When folks ask me why I swim in cold water without a wetsuit I answer like this.

5 Reasons Not to Wear a Wetsuit

Because we can’t… Swim competitions and Official channel crossings forbid wetsuits because they add buoyancy and give an unfair advantage compared to swimmers who swam prior to the existance of wetsuit technology.
Because we don’t want to… Wetsuits are constricting and uncomfortable to wear.
Wetsuits are a drag to put on a take off.
Sauna feels better the colder we get.
When you gotta go, you gotta go, but not in a wetsuit.

A shout-out to my high school friend Michelle Macy who posted a similar post on her blog.

Open Water Swimming History

neal — Wed, 04 May 2011 09:06:04 +0000

Our friend Steven Munatones at the 10kswimmer blog compiled a list of historical moments in open water swimming. These swims are interesting to us since most of the 10DL challenges involve long distance open water swims, and the swims provide us with inspiration/ideas for our future 10DL challenges! To compile the list, he asked a panel of experts to select 35 moments in open water swimming history that they hoped were representative of all that is heroic, impressive and memorable in the opean water swimming sport.

So according to the experts, the greatest moements in open water swimming history, in chronological, are:

1875: Matthew Webb (English Channel)
1896: Alfred Hajos (Athens Olympics)
1916: La Jolla Rough Water Swim (USA)
1926: Gertrude Ederle (English Channel)
1927: Channel Swimming Association
1927: George Young (Catalina Channel)
1927: Ernst Vierkotter (Canada)
1928: Mercedes Gleitze (Gibraltar Strait)
1947: Tom Blower (Irish Channel)
1950: Vansbrosimningen (Sweden)
1954: Traversata dello Stretto (Italy)
1956: Rottnest Channel Swim
1961: Antonio Abertondo (Channel)
1961: Keo Nakama (Molokai Channel)
1962: Barry Devonport (Cook Strait)
1963: Abo-Heif (Lake Michigan)
1967: Stewart Evan (Farallons)
1974: John Kinsella (WPMSF)
1978: Penny Dean (English Channel)
1985: FINA Long Distance Commission
1987: Lynne Cox (Bering Strait)
1991: Shelley Taylor-Smith (IMSA)
1986: Claudio Plit (Lac St-Jean)
2004: Midmar Mile (South Africa)
2005: IOC (Beijing Olympic 10K)
2006: Agua (Santa Fe-Coronda)
2007: Lewis Pugh (North Pole)
2007: Petar Stoychev (English Channel)
2008: Natalie du Toit (Olympic 10K)
2008: Grant Hackett & David Davies
2008: Larisa Ilchenko (Olympic 10K)
2008: Maarten van der Weijden
2008: Britain’s Olympic 10K Team
2008: Hong Kong Clean Half

Nature is Beautiful

neal — Mon, 02 May 2011 01:10:11 +0000

Photo taken at 8AM in San Francisco, the best city in the world for nature-lovers.

Explorer’s Club Dinner Speech

neal — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:47:04 +0000

I’m speaking tonight at the Explorer’s Club dinner about Adam’s and my swim across the English Channel. Should be a fun dinner. I think it’s open the public.

http://www.diggles.com/ec
6-9PM
University Club of San Francisco

Why Cycle North to South?

neal — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 07:21:09 +0000

I’m a big fan of making every mistake, but only once. During 10DL Europe we mistakenly cycled north to south. We didn’t know that this was the wrong way to cycle the UK. We had a 10 mph headwind most of the way.

According to the book, “Bicycle The Pacific Coast“, if we cycle north to south–we’ll have a 10 mph tailwind most of the way. That sounds exhilarating, fast and fun.

Panorama of San Francisco Bay Training Ground

neal — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 06:27:03 +0000

As I prepare for 10DL my training grounds in San Francisco. This panorama in full screen will blow you away. This is the water that I swim and row in every weekend (although Adam is encouraging me to put in more miles on the bike in preparation for our mountain ride). Props to the photographer Michael Schrengohst

Which 10DL will be the hardest?

neal — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 02:49:17 +0000

I’ve always thought that Antarctica will be the most physically difficult expedition of all our 7 10DL expeditions. Until now I never had a structured way of thinking about how to measure “difficulty”. From a energy expenditure perspective, Antarctica will be the hardest. Here’s how I performed my calculations.

1. The first step is to breakdown the activities of 10DL. The 10 Degrees Latitude is an expedition series that consists of 5 sports. Those being:

Cycling
Open water swimming
Kite assisted skiing cross country
Hiking cross country
Kayaking

2. The second step is to assume that calorie count is a proxy for “effort”. It’s possible to make a caloric estimate for each expedition assuming the athlete is 190 pounds and that each activity consumes a predictable amount of calories per hour at high exertion. Using this method we can figure out which of the 10DL expeditions is “hardest”, by virtue of the caloric expenditure required to complete it. The source for the calorie count information is here.

3. The third and last step is to type all this into Excel. The results show that the caloric expenditure ranges from the lowest of 57,500 calories in 10DL Australia to 138,000 calories in 10DL Antarctica. It’s not surprising that Antarctica is one of the hardest, and that calorie estimate doesn’t even take into the account the cold temperature, which will consume even more calories as our bodies try to keep warm. Below is the model I used.

The mental side of the “difficulty” equation is much more difficult to measure. I don’t have a measure for that.

Training: Biking the highest auto road in the US

neal — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:35:51 +0000

A training flashback… As preparations begin for 10DL North America in 2011, I began pulling out some of the toughest training days of the past few years. Mt. Evans is certainly a highlight. We cycled to the summit of Mount Evans at 14,264 feet. Mount Evans has the “highest auto road in the US”. We did it in winter becuase it’s harder that way, and because it’s the last weekend before it opens up for automotive traffic. We had the entire road to ourselves. Having the road alone was awesome. Biking through foot-deep snow at the summit was challenging. Especially on road tires with frozen cycling pedals. Coming down at 50mph was amazing! We highly recommend it.

Stats:

14,264 evelevation at the summit. 4,000 feet vertical gain
8 mph on the way up. 50 mph on the way down.
40F at the base. 0F at the summit
Team: Adam, Adam, Neal

Here are a couple web links from others on the ride that we did:

Pictures and Videos from our ride:

Swimming in the Schuylkill River

neal — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 19:48:55 +0000

I’ve been getting two or three email a week about my previous blog post on swimming the Schuylkill River. People are wondering where to jump. Here’s a map. My previous post has information on water quality (it’s good).

When Adam and I swam here we jumped in at the parking lot, swam upstream 1 or 2 hours, then turned around and swam back with the current. Swimming downstream you travel at 4x the speed, so it’s a quick trip.

View Schuylkill swimming spot in a larger map

5 Reasons To Train in the San Francisco Bay

neal — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 23:17:31 +0000

It’s only natural that people should ask why we love to swim in the San Francisco Bay. Swimming in the ocean sounds perilous and dirty to the unintiated. My answer to this common question is below.

5 Reasons To Train in the San Francisco Bay

The Bay is clean and has less chemicals than the pool.
Swimming allows me the feel the strength of my body.
Time with the people at the Dolphin Club makes me a better person.
Being among the ocean creatures puts me in touch with nature.
The colder the water the better the sauna feels at the end.

5 Reasons to Train

neal — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:29:19 +0000

It’s only natural that people should ask why we train. We consistantly do stuff that others avoid, and for hours every day. It is only natural that people should ask. My answer to their question breaks down into 5 reasons.

5 Reasons to Train

Test of my body and mind.
Feeling of tangible accomplishment.
Body feels better when I do.
Quality time with friends before and after.
Puts hardship and ego in proper perspective.

How to: Start a Campfire with Your Cell Phone

neal — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:53:25 +0000

Next time you’re stuck in the wilderness with no cell phone reception, at least you can do something useful with that cellphone. Like start a campfire to cook and warm yourself.

Training: Tomorrow we cycle up Mount Evans

neal — Sat, 16 May 2009 07:44:14 +0000

Training: Rowing the San Francisco Bay

neal — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 06:44:27 +0000

More adventurous training. Last week I completed two important rows (for myself). I rowed 4-miles to Alcatraz from Ghirardelli Square and 8-miles to the Golden Gate Bridge from Ghirardelli Square. Both rows are done frequently by other members of the Dolphin Club, but they are new to me and therein lies the adventure.

Oh, how quickly I leave the protection of the city. Just a few miles off shore and I am totally cutoff. I see the sky scrapers and houses, but could not scream to them if I capsize. No one can help me out here, I am self-reliant. This feeling of self-reliance is really healthy, I think, to put life into perspective. So much of life has safety nets, it’s nice to feel the pressure of pure objective danger. And it’s nice when I dock the boat and that danger vanishes. If only life were as simple as rowing.

The riding season has begun

neal — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:40:03 +0000

For those of us in California the riding season started on January 1, and for others the riding season is just starting. No matter where you are the season for riding has arrived. Riders start your engines.

Suunto X10 In The Wild

neal — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:35:17 +0000

Lately Adam and I have been kind of obsessing over the new X10 GPS watch. Here is another example from an X10 fan site of what we can do with this watch. Below see how Suunto Ambassador Manuelo Bustelo mashed-up the X10 and Google Earth to track and share his first day of Costa Rica’s Guanaride, one of the world’s toughest and most beautiful mountain bike races. The video clip has me itching for the weekend! 2 more days… tick tock.

Oh heck yah! Nike Wants 10DL to Stress Test Their Newest Hiking Boot

neal — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 06:28:51 +0000

Nike presented us with a fun opportunity and asked us (in a casual sort of “see what you think of them” kind of way) to test out some of their new ACG outdoor gear. We’re stoked! The shoe comes in bright orange too!

Technically speaking the shoe is an innovation. The new fabric, named Flywire, has high-tensile Vectran threads (stronger than Kevlar) which cut down on weight and add stability. The technique also adds an original graphic look to the shoe.

We are going to test for vapor breathability, insulative ability, and wear. We’re going to climb stuff, get sweaty feet and hope these kicks look and feel great after thousands of feet of vertical gain and 50 pound packs. We’ll be putting the kicks through the paces on a few of Colorado’s 14ers in the near future. We’ll report back, stay tuned.

10DL is at Outdoor Retail Conference in Salt Lake City this week!

neal — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 04:59:31 +0000

Join us for 10DL North America

neal — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:31:22 +0000

In the past week we’ve had lots of people fill out our online form saying they want to join us on 10DL North America. Keep them coming! New Year’s Resolutions might be the cause of the recent influx of interest to 10DL. Resolutions are all about making a tangible and permanent change. 10DL is a vessel to make that change become a reality. It’s is a tangible goal that is one-part eco-tourism , one-part adventure travel, and one-part quest. We applaud those who have already expressed their interest. We encourage you to do the same by clicking this link here.

Training with Mr. Spectacular

neal — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 22:07:39 +0000

As we are busy training for 10DL North America we remember that one of the most important parts of training is keeping your regimine fresh and new. Simple workouts are often the best! Here is one we like…

The video is from my friends in Jackson Hole at Mountain Athlete. Thanks to Pere for sending this video our way. Keep it up guys!

How Far is 1 Degree Latitude?

neal — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:32:38 +0000

The first question that people ask us when they find out we’re training to traverse 10 Degrees Latitude is, “how far is 10 degrees latitude”?

Quick answer:

1 degree latitude = approximately 69 miles (111 kilometers) of north-south distance.
10 degrees latitude = approximately 690 miles (1110 kilometers).

Complete answer:

The distance varies (due to the earth’s slightly ellipsoid shape) from 68.7 miles at the equator to 69.4 at the poles. This is convenient since each minute (1/60th of a degree) is approximately one mile (source). Here is a neat graphic to show the variation in distance from the poles to the equater. As you can see the distance at the equater is shorter by 0.7 mile.

10DL Enjoys Our Second New Years

neal — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 19:28:03 +0000

Adam and I came up with the 10 Degrees Latitude idea in the Fall of 2007, which makes this New Years our second New Years. We are very excited about how far 10DL has come so far: 1 successful expedition done, 1 expedition planned, many more to come!

Below is are a couple of fun and innovative things you can do with your champagne corks tonight. This idea is in the category of “Recycling is good, reuse is better!”.

New 10DL Map Mashup – The Medium is the Message

neal — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:47:29 +0000

Happy Holidays! We have a present for you. Adam and I have been working on a new expedition map mashup for you. We took the information from other 10DL maps and put it on Google Maps.

We think this mashup i’s a great example of how “pictures speak a thousand words”. Or if you prefer… “the medium is the medium”.

Below is a miniature version. The larger version is on the Expeditions page.

Hulk Hogan encourages 10 Degrees Latitude

neal — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:02:51 +0000

So this video definitely needs an introduction. We asked Hulk Hogan to say some encouraging words for our 10 Degrees Latitude team and he did! Check it out. I laugh every time I watch it.

Hulk Hogan encourages 10 Degrees Latitude from Neal Mueller on Vimeo.

Piloting Open Water Swimmers

neal — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:07:36 +0000

In mountain climbing the unsung heroes are the sherpas/porters. In open water swimming the unsung heroes are the pilot boats.

Typically I’m a swimmer, and pilot boats protect me. Today I had the opportunity to switch roles. I piloted a swim with 25 swimmers. There were 5 other pilot boats including me.

Role of the pilot boat during an open water swim:

Protect swimmer from boaters and wildlife

Guide the swim path

Feed and motivate the swimmer during swims lasting more than 1 hour

What I learned. First of all I learned what a pilot boat does (see above). I also learned what a powerful affect the tidal current has on a swimmer. From the vantage point of our pilot boat Reuben and I saw several swimmers get swept by a swift tidal current. The current was faster than they were and caused them to literally swim in place. A good pilot can help a swimmers navigate currents and win the race!

Pilots from the Dolphin Club use plastic kayaks, motorized zodiacs, fiberglass paddle boards, and wooden Whitehall rowboats. The Whitehall rowboats at the Dolphin Club are pretty awesome, and most of over 100 years old. During the swim walkie-talkies are used to coordinate maneuvers. Two or more pilot boats lead the front swimmer and sweep the rear swimmer. Other pilot boats serve as course markers and guide points for the swimmers along the course.

Some stats about today’s swim.

52F … water temp
1:3 … ratio of swimmers to pilot boats
1.5 miles … course distance
1897 … year that my wooden rowboat was built
3 … donuts/bagels consumed pre & post (yummy!)

And of course, photography from today.

Swimming across the Atlantic Ocean

neal — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:48:24 +0000

In July Adam and I swam the 20-mile English Channel. Next August we plan to lead the 10DL Team to swim 10-miles from San Quentin to Alcatraz. We feel these are pretty burly swims. But check out this burly lady.

Jennifer Figge, a 56-year-old endurance athlete from Aspen, Colorado, plans to swim 2,100 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa to Barbados, between Puerto Rico and Venezuela. She will swim behind a sailboat in a giant shark cage for 6-8 hours per day, hoping to finish in 60 days. She swim will begin December 1st.