Chris Lieto, (3 time Ironman Champion, 7th at Kona last year after leading the race for 6 hours, plus a father of one (soon to be two) – what’s your excuse?) was in Seattle for two days to visit Peter and William at the Institute of New Medicine (inewmed). He stayed with my family for two nights, and I was able to drag him around Seattle with me to a couple of swim workouts. It was a great chance to rack his brain for tips about nutrition and strategy, and to get the scoop on his new product, Base Performance.
He came in pretty late Sunday night, so we decided to skip the 5am practice Monday morning, and instead swam at my old high school pool (Garfield). It’s built like a bomb shelter under mounds of concrete. It’s dark, the pool is hot, and if it weren’t for the pool lights being covered in blue lenses the water would be yellow from all the chemicals.
Still we managed to get in a solid workout before the 85 degree water finally got to us and we 
decided we needed to get out. I was drinking Base Water, a product intended to increase the absorption of the water you drink, and amazingly enough I was able to stay hydrated! (normally after a longer, hot workout I would have to work all night to get enough water in).
After a quick stop at Whole Foods to sampling of face lotions (chlorine is nasty on the skin), we stopped by Herriott Sports Performance to eat and say hello (they made the mistake of telling me to make myself at home, so I spend all my time there.). Todd Herriott was pretty busy, so we headed home, cooked some white king salmon, bok choy, wild rice and carrots.
Chris was hesitant about swimming at 5am with me, and gave me a lecture about how professional athletes should have a more regular sleep schedule. I reminded him the only reason I was up until 11pm the night before was because somebody (a word I emphasized while pointing in his direction) had missed his earlier flight.
Chris unenthusiastically joined me at 5am for what turned out to be a middle distance/sprint workout, not dissimilar to what we had done the day before. The difference was that the pool was in the 81-82 degree range (still too hot, but not as bad), and there were some 15 year old kids giving us competition. Chris is used to doing long course, and like most people that didn’t grow up swimming 12,000+ yards a day, his flip turns are atrocious. (I’ve actually tried to mess up my flip turns so that I carry less momentum through the turns and get more out of each length, but the motion is ingrained.) My guess is that in a long course pool (and certainly in open water) Chris would be whooping on the 15 year olds. Problem is, Seattle’s only 50 meter pool is only open three months a year.
After practice we went home and made a big breakfast. (Oatmeal, blueberries, eggs and toast.) I was supposed to be off until the Club Northwest workout tonight, but Chris convinced me to join him for some hill intervals at Pike Place Market (left) near inewmed. I felt pretty good, despite not having had an easy day in a week. Chris attributes this to this being the first week I’ve been consistent in using Base Amino and Base Water during workouts. Honestly, I’m beginning to think he’s right.
The run was cold, and I wore shorts and a t-shirt. My hands are still thawing, and it was totally worth it. We ran up to the fish market, then down along the waterfront. I’ve never actually done any training downtown, so it was pretty cool. Afterwards Chris went in for a second day of testing / acupuncture, and I headed off to the Seattle Public Library.
Here’s the map off my Garmin Forerunner 305. (Speaking of which, there’s a new Garmin Forerunner 405 out, that is way smaller, less red, and doesn’t require a cable to download to your computer. I’m getting one as soon as possible, so I’ll let you know if it’s as great as the hype.)
So the solid blue line is your run…. does that mean the dotted blue line is your swim???
I’m pretty sure base water = good tasting soap.
Yeah, the blue line is where I race the ferries.
soap, water, I don’t really care what you call it, so far it seems to work.
I’m going to do a blind test, 1 week drinking base water and 1 week drinking regular filtered water. I’ll have my mom fill the bottles so I won’t know which I’m getting which week. A blind test of 1 subject.
Oh so scientific.
I’ve been using Base Water for a short while now. I ran a half marathon and set my fastest time taking only 12 oz of water w/ Base Water and Base Amino added to it. I’m also now 2% higher (60% vs 58%) in my % of body comp as water – even after riding 1.5 hours (which used to take me down to 56 or 57%). I never saw numbers as high as I see now and I definitely don’t drink any more water than I did before – I drink the same amount every single day (except for exercising). I’ll continue to check this data point out.
I’m sold on it.