Fast in Chicago

 

Erica Rose

Speed? Check: Erica Rose, a 25-year-old from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who now lives in Evanston, swam for Northwestern University for four years and has excelled in open water swimming since trying a 5K in 1996. “The 2008 World Championships last month in Seville, Spain, was my seventh World Championships and this year was my 12th year on the open water national team,” she says. And when she tried the Big Shoulders swim last September for the first time, she finished third overall, with a little more than a minute separating her from the winner.

Endurance? Check: Rose regularly competes on the open water professional circuit at distances of 5K, 10K, 25K and beyond. She trains about six hours each day, breaking it up between morning and afternoon. “I know that in order to do the races I want to do and in order to compete at an elite level, I need to put in the appropriate amount of training,” she says.

Those long hours in the pool to prepare for six to 10 hour races can test anyone’s stamina. Rose admits that she has days when she doesn’t want to swim, but pushing through that gives her confidence at the races. “I need to know when I enter the water for a race, that I have done absolutely everything in my power to prepare myself for that competition,” she says. She also balances pool time with other activities like spending time with family and friends, Spinning and running to cross-train, and taking a day off to splash around. “I love waterskiing and windsurfing and one of my newest goals is to kiteboard,” Rose said. “I am much more coordinated and comfortable underwater than on land.”

Perhaps that’s because Rose has literally spent her entire life in and around the water. She recalls her mother taking her in Lake Michigan the summer she was born so she would be comfortable and safe in the water with her parents who enjoy sailing and scuba diving. By age 11, she was in the pool twice a day and picking the longer distances. “The longer the race, the better,” she says. And now she’s setting her sights on swims that test her mind and body endurance like the Catalina Island swim, the English Channel, open water relay swims or first-attempt crossings.

Getting faster comes from putting in the training hours in the water. She practices balancing efficiency, time and stroke rate as well as doing some workouts that focus on power and speed. “I’m trying to teach my body to be faster and I’m pushing the limits of how long and how far and how fast I can go,” she says.

And why not race a few college-level swimmers to pick up that speed? Typically Rose trains alone, but she’ll occasionally train with her alma mater to race them. “They usually beat me—they’re younger and faster and focused on shorter races—but challenging myself to swim at their level makes me a faster swimmer,” she says.

And while she’s racing against the clock in practice to beat a best time on a set, it’s tough to measure in the open water where conditions and courses can vary. “Instead of looking at my time at the end of a race, I tend to focus on how I placed or how I felt or what I could have done differently in order to have had a better swim,” she says.—KB

Erin Moffett

The standout DePaul runner is hoping to make her debut marathon this fall. This will be Erin Moffett’s third attempt to run the 26.2-mile race, after nagging injuries deferred her training earlier this year.

“It was frustrating to be in the best shape of my life, and then go down hill,” said Moffett, who graduated from DePaul University with the school records in the steeplechase, 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs.

After college, Moffett, now 26, fell victim to several injuries including a fractured femur, herniated disc and most recently, iliotibial band syndrome. She recalled her IT band started to hurt just months before the Austin Marathon in February.

“It got to the point where I could not run even a step or two,” said Moffett.

But now, after a six-week break, Moffett has slowly eased her way back into the Chicago running scene and is looking forward to a fall marathon.

“I’m not sure about Chicago yet, but I keep reminding myself to just have a relaxed approach about it,” she said. After much time spent cross training while nursing her injuries, Moffett has developed a new perspective about running.

“It’s more of an outlet for me than anything—it relieves stress and really just completes my day,” she said.

Recently, Moffett has resumed training with a group of local runners on the Lakefront twice a week. Together, they run speed workouts, which includes anything from mile repeats and tempo runs.

“It’s nice to have someone there to push you,” Moffett said.

Though she enjoys workouts along the Lakefront path, Moffett’s favorite is from her track days at DePaul. For this workout, she runs 2 x 2 miles on the track, alternating between 400-meters at race pace and 400-meters at 75 percent effort. She takes a five-minute break in between sets.

“This really helps simulate a race situation because it tests your endurance and ability not to go out too fast,” she said.

She shares the same philosophy about her favorite race, the 10K.

“It’s long enough where you don’t feel like you’re sprinting the entire time, but short enough where it’s over before you know it,” Moffett explained. Being injured has also helped Moffett to realize there is more to running than just running.

“Taking care of the little details is a huge part of it,” said Moffett, who stressed the importance of getting a good rest and lifting weights.

“I’m listening to my body more, not being afraid to go easy two or three days in a row or backing off early,” she said. “Slowly, I’m becoming more patient.” —AS

Jenny Garrison

With a toddler and newborn at home—plus a husband studying for his Masters degree—juggling the kids with anything else is an impressive feat. But being able to train, turn professional in triathlon, coach at Endure It Sports, and still win races? That’s superhuman.

Superhuman characterizes Jenny Garrison, the swimmer turned amateur triathlete, mom, wife and coach from Naperville. After winning the amateur nationals back to back, in 2006 and 2007, the 29-year-old decided it was time to go pro and focus on the 70.3 distance. “I was teetering on this point where I had to do something—either stop racing or go pro,” she says. “Only because I accomplished what you can accomplish as an amateur—I won nationals twice overall as an amateur—and so there wasn’t much else to do.”

Garrison was pregnant with her second child at the time, and after Molly was born in March, Garrison was out racing by the end of April. Time to prepare for her first 70.3 race as a pro in October. “I started training with my coach and everything just in the last couple of weeks so I’m trying to balance everything out,” she says. “A new challenge.”

It’s the challenge that Garrison thrives on, citing that she has never trained correctly for the half Ironman, concentrating on the Olympic distance. “I’m the kind of person that’s driven by goals,” she says.

While Garrison participated in her first triathlon as a kid and tried the women’s tri in Naperville in 1997, she attributes another local triathlete and coach, Jennifer Harrison, as really getting her into the sport in 1999. “That’s probably where I got into it more seriously,” she says. Garrison qualified for the Ironman World Championships that year, this being during the time she labels the first half of her triathlon life where she started casually, didn’t really train for them and didn’t have a good coach. “I wasn’t really enjoying the sport so I never really did that great,” she says. “I think your heart has to be into it to really do well, you have to have that passion.”

So what are some of her tricks? Having the passion and a coach will help any triathlete get faster—someone to push you out the door, have you work on speedwork , know when to have you push it and when to take a day off. “Before you have a coach, you overtrain.You just go out every day and do the same thing over and over again,” she says.

Putting in the training hours isn’t the only key to finding speed. “Realize that there’s more than one pace to run and train at,” she says. “Realize that you have those different gears and speeds and try to train at the bottom level and top level and do those intervals at those hard, hard levels and have your easy recovery days.”—KB