Monday's Swim Report - Asking Why Is Amy Rose Swimming In A Skirt?

Lane 1 - Kotaku asks "Shouldn’t Sonic Always Be Faster than Mario?  Another Olympics, another Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. This time, it's the 2012 London Olympics."

Lane 2 -  From the Oakland Tribune "Janet Evans gets back in the swim at age 39.  Janet Evans, one of the greatest distance swimmers in Olympic history, is making a comeback at age 39.  Evans, a five-time medalist and star of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, will swim in her first meet since the 1996 Olympics on Saturday at the Janet Evans Invitational in her hometown pool in Fullerton.  She isn't the only great Olympian on the comeback trail this summer. Brendan Hansen, a former world-record holder in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke, is scheduled to make his competitive return at Santa Clara International Invitational that begins Thursday."

Lane 3 - In updated news SF Gate reports "Janet Evans sets 2 Masters swimming records.  Janet Evans hasn't lost her touch for breaking world records, setting new Masters marks in the 35-39 age group Saturday, 15 years after her last competitive race."

Lane 4 - The Brisbane Times reports "Two swim gold medals for Aussies in France.  Queenslander James Roberts picked up his first gold medal at an open international meet on Thursday night, winning the 100m freestyle at the Mare Nostrum Swim Series in Canet on the French Riviera.  The 20-year-old, who burst onto the scene at this year's Australian Swimming Championships in April, covered the two laps in an impressive 49.02 seconds and was followed into the wall by Victorian Matt Targett for silver in 49.20."

Lane 5 - The Great Falls Tribune reports on "Senior Olympics athletes inspire one another.  Pat Hastings of Stevensville learned to swim as a young girl, but took up the sport seriously six years ago.  When she started swimming at her local athletic club, the coach of the master's swimming group there invited Hastings to join.  Hastings, now 76, competed in her first Montana Senior Olympics six years ago."

Lane 6 - The Australian reports "Sprinters well on Targett.  IAN Thorpe was on hand yesterday to witness the growing international strength of Australia's freestyle sprinters as Matt Targett downed France's top two 100m men this year to win the blue riband event at the final leg of the Mare Nostrum series in Monte Carlo.  When Thorpe is eligible to compete again in November, he will join a new generation of sprinters who are already flexing their muscles internationally and gaining confidence that they can contend for the 4x100m freestyle gold medal at the London Olympics."

Lane 7 - Newish blog report.  Check out Swimmer's Daily.  I accidently stumbled apon it.

Lane 8 - DieHard GameFan reviews Michael Phelps: Push The Limit and had this to say "…if you are a fan of Michael Phelps or swimming competitions, this game will be for you. For the rest of us, it seemed interesting if you wanted for at least one moment to take off your floaties and feel like a swimming god."  It looks like this game is heading right to the clearance bin at your local Best Buy.

E3 '11: Hands Off: Michael Phelps: Push The Limit

I'm posting this because Wootini is my favorite video game blogger...

So I made a point of stopping by 505 Games' room at E3 this year because they had a playable demo of a game that I've been curious about since it was first announced…You can swim all four strokes, like backstroke, breaststroke, regular and um... butterfly, I think? The demo was just the regular stroke…The initial dive was really weird, because as you see in the video, you have to stand up at the start, and the game shows the dive in slow motion. So there's a bit of a disconnect as you actually get underway. Then it speeds up and you have to time your strokes with the correct rhythm to get your speed up. During more advanced races, you will also have to gesture correctly to do the turn at the end of the pool to turn around." - gaygamer.net

Okay this game looks BAAAAAAAAD!

 

More E3: Adidas miCoach for X-Box Kinect and Playstation Move

Earlier I posted "E3: Adidas miCoach for X-Box Kinect and Playstation Move" but here is more info via Joystiq - "The miCoach Interactive Training System will feature several Adidas athletes to lead users through workouts 'including Dwight Howard, Kaká, Tyson Gay, Jessica Ennis, Ana Ivanovic and Eric Berry.' The game is set to utilize Kinect or PlayStation Move, and will be compatible with the miCoach heart rate monitor for tracking real-time performance. Users will also be able to synchronize a miCoach Pacer or the miCoach Mobile app, 'incorporating workout data gathered while away from the game'."
and this video Trailer featuring Dwight Howard.

Although after watching video it doesn't sound any much better then EA Active.  But only time will tell.

E3: Adidas miCoach for X-Box Kinect and Playstation Move

I've posted a few times about using the Adidas miCoach app while I've been running.  I've used both the Android and iPhone app and liked it.  First of all it's a free app so that is great.  It uses GPS and when synced comes up with some great information and charts on your run.  What I didn't like about it so much was the lack of Facebook and Twitter integration.  I've been told that those will be happening soon.  Lately I've been using my old Nike+ Sportband (no GPS) and RunKeeper on my phone (with GPS) to track my runs.  I'm still using Nike+ because of the Challenges I'm involved with online already, the years of old data of my runs already on Nike+ and the fact that Nike+ syncs with DailyMile.  DailyMile is like Facebook for runners.  I use Runkeeper for more accurate GPS results and the fact I have a few friends who use it also.  I can also have Runkeeper update Twitter and Facebook to post my runs on my feeds. 

Now with all that said I think I may have to give Adidas miCoach another look as at E3:  THQ and Adidas announce miCoach for X-Box 360 Kinect and Play Station 3 Move.  No Wii as of now.  Which really sucks.  According to Destructoid -

THQ and Adidas revealed a new interactive athletic training program for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 called miCoach.

The title brings together training programs developed for sports like basketball, soccer, football, tennis and running with sports stars from each sport. Dwight Howard, Kaka, Tyson Gay, Jessica Ennis, Ana Ivanovic and Eric Berry have all signed on to appear in the fitness title as trainers.

miCoach lets players choose their fitness goals and then takes over to coach them through every step. Players are displayed inside the game via the camera on either Microsoft's Kinect sensor or Sony's PlayStation Move camera. Sports stars exercise alongside the player, while the game keeps track of progress, counts reps and more.

THQ says that both proper training programs and motivation were goals in the development of this game. Players that have Adidas miCoach heart rate montiors will also get real-time feedback on their in-game performance. Beyond this, the miCoach mobile app will synchronize with the game to factor in data gathered away from the living room.

Now that is pretty cool actually.  For the Wii I do have Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, EA Sports Active and a Biggest Loser game but over time they've collected dust.  But if Adidas miCoach does add Facebook and Twitter integration it may just keep me playing the game like it keeps me running.  If I'm able to create challenges with friends like Nike+ but for the game then I'll be hooked.  I guess only time will tell and the THQ's miCoach will be released in early 2012.  But so far I'm intrigued.  Might even start running with miCoach again!

 

Saturday's Swim Report - Ants In Your Pants, errr, Speedo Edition

1. US Masters Swimming tweets some record breaking swims "Rowdy Gaines (52) blazes a 21.36 in the 50 Free…Men's 100 Breast was #Fast! Ed Moses (30) 53.44, Jeff Commings (37) 55.12, Robert Strand (65) 1:07.71 all USMS National age group records…More USMS National Records in Men's 200 Back! Nelson Silva, Chris Stevenson, Tom Barton and Bob Miller! Miller is 81 went 3:03.89, Amazing…Patricia Murphy (60) swims 29.82 in the 50 fly for a NEW USMS Natinoals Record…Congrats Mathew O'Brien and Josh Davis for Breaking USMS National Records in the 50 Fly (22.09 & 22.26!)…Even without the suits, records are going down. Congrats to Carolyn Boak, Charlotte Davis & Lawrence Day in the 400IM!"

2.  From USA Today "USA Swimming partners with child protection firm.  USA Swimming is working with a company that specializes in child protection to produce and distribute educational material about athlete protection to its 300,000 members.  The national governing body has partnered with Praesidium and will offer the education program free to athletes and their parents.  The education program is required for USA Swimming's 30,000 non-athlete members, including coaches and officials."

3.  Michael Phelps via Facebook released "5 new photos to the album Shooting with 505 Games today...my video game comes out in June!"

4.  The Capital reports "Pasadena swimmer sets mark…Nancy Brown of Pasadena set a United States Masters Swimming and FINA world record in the women's 75-79 100-yard backstroke at the Albatross Open in Bethesda recently."

5.  Old news sorta new again.  WBAL 11 reports "Phelps Promotes New Swimming Video Game.  Game Is Controller-Free…The swimmer stopped by the Baltimore Hilton on Thursday to offer a sneak peak of the game called 'Michael Phelps: Push The Limit.'  The game will hit stores in June."

6.  BREAKING HEADLINE HUMOR from SCAQ Blog "Thorpedo arrives at Abbey."  But sorry folks it was only Westminster Abbey and not the WeHo Abbey!

7.  From Gatorzone "Thirty-Three Gator Swimmers and Divers Named to 2010-11 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll…The University of Florida swimming and diving program placed 33 student-athletes on the 2010-11 Southeastern Conference Winter Academic Honor Roll, announced Thursday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. The UF men’s program placed a league-high 19 swimmers and divers on the list, while the Gator women had 14 athletes selected. In all, a total of 395 student-athletes were named to the roll, including 44 from UF, tied for the second-most selections in the conference."

8.  io9 reports "How masses of swimming fire ants capture oxygen bubbles to stay afloat…How masses of swimming fire ants capture oxygen bubbles to stay afloat One ant sinks in water, but a bunch of them? It turns out they can link together and become an unsinkable life raft. New research shows that when fire-ants are dropped in water, they quickly form a pancake-shaped floating mass, which traps air beneath them."

9.  From Go Swim "All Strokes - Math. In a world where we calculate most things (like money) on a 100-based scale, athletics brings the need for a new type of math, the 60-based scale."  Anyone who has swum with me knows some days my math skills are not so great.  Okay my math skills are horrible!

10.  London 2012 Posts "Photos of the week: London 2012 mascots visit Tower Bridge."  Okay with the Beef Eater hats on they look less like walking sperm.

BONUS - Wahoo!  Joystiq reports "Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games headed to Wii and 3DS."  As someone who owns the Bejing and Vancouver editions I can't wait to play the London version.  The games aren't realistic but lots of fun.  I still always seem to come in last during the swimming events!

 

 

 

Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2011 Video Trailer

I'm in The Biggest Loser withdrawal!  So I watched the video for the 3rd edition or a.k.a. Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2011...

 

Scott Herman Fitness: SNEAK PEAK!!! EA Sports ACTIVE 2!!

Being a fan of EA Sports Active on my Wii I am so looking forward to EA Sports Active 2.  Here is a promo vid from Scott Herman with a preview of EA Sports Active 2:

 

Cooking With The Biggest Loser - Michael's Jennie-O Turkey Meatballs

After watching last nights The Biggest Loser I was inspired to use the recipe that Michael used to make turkey meatballs.  I've had The Biggest Loser Cookbook for several months but have yet to cook from it.  Mostly because I never plan ahead when I go food shopping.  I always head to the store and buy what's on sale and what I crave.  So bad!  I need to pick a recipe from the cook book and then buy what I need to make   it.  That is what I did today.  Well I printed the recipe off the internet at jennieo.com and headed to the store on the way home from work.  So now I have the goods to cook right from The Biggest Loser and have my Ziploc containers to freeze the extra food.  That is one lesson I did learn by watching The Biggest Loser.  I would cook pasta with turkey meat sauce or stuffed peppers on Sunday and freeze the rest.  That way at the end of the day I had fast home cooked healthy food.

You can view more The Biggest Loser Jennie-O recipes online at jennieo.com.  I'll be cooking these tonight!  Here is the recipe for The Biggest Loser Jennie-O Turkey Meatballs:

Ingredients

1 – 1.25 lb package of JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE extra lean ground turkey

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1/2 tablespoon pepper

1 cup Garbanzo beans, pureed

1/2 cup egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)

Non-stick cooking spray

1 – 14 oz can low sodium tomato sauce

1 medium fresh tomato, chopped

2 cloves chopped garlic

Additional pepper to taste

3 cups uncooked whole wheat pasta

Directions

Preheat oven to 375. Spray a cookie tray or jelly roll pan lightly with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix by hand or with a spoon the ground turkey, parsley, pepper, pureed garbanzo beans, and egg substitute. Roll the ground turkey mixture into small meatballs and place on prepared pan.

BAKE meatballs in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes or till no longer pink inside. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

While the meatballs are cooking, heat tomato sauce, fresh chopped tomato and garlic in a pot on the stovetop, season with pepper to taste. Once the meatballs are finished cooking in the oven, add them to the sauce.

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain. Divide pasta into six servings and top with the meatballs and sauce.

This recipe is Biggest Loser approved.

I went to my local super market and stuck with store brands.  The extra lean Jeanie-O wasn't on sale while the lean was but I stuck with the extra lean.  Total cost of the meal was $16.54.  The Egg Beaters were on sale and I'll use them in other recipes so gotta keep that in mind.  Same with the pasta.  It's going to feed me for more then one meal so it's pretty cheap.  The bad part is that Jennie-O doesn't give a calorie count on the meatballs.  Hmm...not good!  The Biggest Loser Cookbook has a different recipe that is next up on my list of things to cook.  

Putting it all together.  I wished I read more then just the ingredient list.  Since I came home from work the first thing I did was fire up the DVR to catch up on some tv.  With that said I put all the ingredients together.  Doh!  So it started off as a soupy mess.  Sorry guys, well sorry to me!  Since I had breadcrumbs in the panty I added some in.  After I checked the calorie count.  Holy S*%t!  Who knew bread crumbs were pure evil!  It's all empty useless calories.  

So now I'm done cooking and have started to eat.  Gotta admit even with my f'ing up the recipe they are still yummy!  I'll have to try it again.  Speaking of again I've resolved to cook one recipe a week out of The Biggest Loser Cookbook.  So I'll be posting a weekly Healthy Cooking post.  I figure cooking one recipe once a week will give me several days of meals since I'm cooking for one!  It is so hard to cook for one while trying to eat healthy.  It's easier to buy those precooked calorie busting foods at the market and go home.  But I'm going to start cooking healthy and just do it!

Hit the jump for my step by step photos of me attempting to cook The Biggest Loser Turkey Meatballs and Pasta!

More About Nintendo's Active Play Now

This morning I posted about how Nintendo has teamed up with the American Heart Association to "work together to promote physically active play as part of a healthy lifestyle LINK.  And once again I gotta say that even I who swims, runs and hits the gym still play with Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus.  Not as much as a like but I do use the scale.  Without my Wii Fit I wouldn't have a scale.  When training for the LA Marathon I did use Wii Fit and Wii Fit plus several times as a warm up before heading outside on those cold mornings.  I'm not going to say playing Wii Fit is going to make the average couch potato a marathon runner but it gets people active.  And for millions of people 30 minutes of activity a day even if it's Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus will make a difference in the war on obesity.  And for you active folks who read my blog for swimming news trust me you are not too fit to play the game.  Use it as a stress release game after work or for a warm up.  The Yoga and stretching make for good warm downs after a tough workout.  

Active Play Now: American Heart Association and Nintendo Join Forces to Promote Healthy Living Through Active-Play Video Games

I always keep telling myself I need to get back playing Wii Fit and Wii Fit Plus. If I didn't play so much time playing damn Facebook Games while sitting on my butt I would. This morning I was reminded of my Wii Fit neglect when I got a press release from Nintendo.

Nintendo has teamed up with the American Heart Association to "work together to promote physically active play as part of a healthy lifestyle." Nintendo has launched a new website for this partnership www.activeplaynow.com. Nintendo will be branding the boxes of Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort and Nintendo Wii with the AHA stamp of approval. Nintendo will also be hosting Start! Heart Walk events and showing Wii users the American Heart Association’s My Life Check system.

For more information check out www.activeplaynow.com.

I gotta say that any form of physical activity is better then nothing. Hopefully playing active fun games like Wii Fit will teach youth that exercise can be fun. Studies have been mixed about the actual benefits of active player exercise games but if it keeps the sugar drinks out of the kids hands while the kids shake, run and jump around with the Wii-mote then it's a start!  I'm a huge fan of Wii Fit cuz' I play some of the games as games.  Friends come over and play some of the games.  The downhill skiing is a big contest around my apartment.  

I copied and pasted the full press release from today after the jump