Worthless Lying POS App

So turns out that "Find My iPhone" app is a lying POS.

If you followed along on Facebook the last few days maybe you saw my posts about looking for my phone... was SO BUMMED when I couldn't find it yesterday but then I remembered that I could use that awesomely cool Find My iPhone app so I tried that out. Here's how it went...

Realize I can't find my phone. Check that iCloud thing and have it locate my phone via gps... Oh! Tah Dah! It shows a map of our town and dials in a picture of my iphone and tells me it is at Moana's gymnastics... which makes sense because that was the last time I saw it (Tuesday night at her gym). No problem I'll go pick it up there after I pick up Moana from school.

So yesterday afternoon I show up at the gym and look around and ask around but nobody seems to have seen a phone and we can't find it anywhere. We call it several times from anotehr phone to see if we hear it ringing but don't hear anything. Crap. I wonder if someone already took it from the gym? I go home and check my computer again... It relocates my phone and places it at THE MALL. OMG how the heck would I ever find it at the mall?? Must be some teenager who took it from the gym and is now hanging out at the mall... well I'll just wait til he/she goes home and I'll find him/her there. So I continue tracking the phone and like 20' later I see that it has left and is now showing up at a home a few miles from me. AH HA! I'm going to get this damn thief. Moana in the car with me we drive to the house where my iPhone is showing up on the gps map and while I am a little scared, it looks like a nice enough house so maybe it was all a mistake and I can just ask for it and they'll give it back? So, I leave Moana in the car for a minute and go ring the doorbell. Grandma comes to answer the door looking quite skeptical so I introduce myself and explain to her that Find My iPhone app assures me that my iphone is indeed in her home. She stares at me like I have three heads and assures me that she has been home with her husband all day and that no, they don't have any kids who attend gymnastics. They don't even use those iPhones. Unfortunately she comes across as believable so I put my tail between my legs and drive back home to check that GPS app again.

At home I'm back on the Find My iPhone app and now it's telling me it's been located in another neighborhood down the road... near a boat ramp. I use the feature that allows me to send a message to the phone and give my husband's phone number and ask them to call it to return the lost phone. Then I use the remote lock feature so at least they can't use it in the meantime. Then I put Moana back in the car and we drive down to the boat ramp which is all fenced off and it seems no one is there at all? GAH. CRAP.

Back at home- check the gps map again and see that the phone is on the move and it appears to be in the water?? Would it ping from underwater? It's moving. Must be on a boat. A boat? OMG what are these thieves doing with my phone on their boat?? Eventually it stopped moving and seemed to be stuck here. Did they anchor?

Finally Scott arrives home and I tell him the saga up to this point and he suggests I call the police before I go all vigilante again and swim out to that boat demanding my phone. So I call the police and apparently it must have been a slow night because an officer actually came to my house right away and filed a report for me. I showed him my iPad with a picture of the map (above) and he said he'd go drive by but there wasn't much they could do until the phone came back to land. He did suggest that I report the phone stolen to ATT so that if/when someone went to try to make it work it would come up as a stolen phone... That sounded like a good idea to me so I came inside and googled ATT stores in kaneohe trying to see if the store I knew of was still open at 8PM and wouldn't you know it? A little dot popped up on a map showing there was an ATT kiosk at THE MALL! Ok now I'm in full on detective mode so I grab Scott's iPhone and head off the the mall with my police report number so see what I can find out since obviously the first thing the thieves did with their newly acquired stolen device was to take it to the ATT kiosk at the mall to try to have it reset! Why hadn't I thought of that before??

I asked around in Radio Shack and Verizon stores if anyone has come in asking about having an iPhone reset but once again was greeted like I was crazy so my three heads and I left the mall feeling defeated once again. But this time I was armed with Scott's iPhone so I could be checking the gps map on the fly and wouldn't you know it? The phone was now showing up in the water but much closer to the harbor... they were coming in to the harbor again!?! I called the police back right away and informed them that the thieves were heading toward land and I was sure this was it! I would greet them there with the police as they were docking their boat and we would get those bastards!!!

So I drove back to the boat ramp and waited, in the dark... no police showed up. No boats were coming in. Blah. Check the app again and WHAT?? Phone was now showing up at a house across the street from the one I'd actually gone to earlier... could it be? Probably not but I drove over there anyway. Totally and completely obsessed at this point. Did a drive-by of the house where it said the phone was but it all looked dark and not likely that the phone was actually there... check the map again and WHAT? It was now showing up at the Police Station? OH THANK GOD. Someone was finally being honest about it and turned it in! Sweet.

Next stop Police Station where they knew me already as that crazy lady who had been following her iPhone around town for the last 4 hours since I'd called them several times already. And no- my phone was not there and no one had come by. I was beginning to feel like this Find My iPhone app was indeed a lying POS so I finally gave up and came home. But of course I checked it one more time from my computer and it showed my iPhone back out in the water where it had been located previously?? Argh. I went to bed and thought I'd try again in the morning.

So at 6AM this morning I checked and indeed, phone still appeared to be out to sea. BUT, by 7 AM it was back on land and spent about an hour at what appeared to be a little breakfast joint right near the mall? I wait to see if it stabilizes at someone's home where I figured I would go ask one more time before I just gave up and bought another new iPhone...

La la la this continued on for several hours where I was sort of working but mostly checking that gps map and watching my phone move all around Kaneohe. So weird these thieves would just be driving around our little town like that?? Anyway, at last resort I used that feature on the app that said it would sound an alarm on the phone until it was found and the password was entered correctly... I figured maybe if the thing was just beeping non-stop the thieves would get sick of it and throw it out the window of their car so I could just go retrieve it from the side of the road? Desperate times call for desperate measures... So I activate the alarm and right away hear a BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP. Um, what?? I follow the sound of the BEEP to my hall closet where I open up a backpack and find my phone... battery nearly dead. Are you kidding me?? This thing has been here all along?? Unbelievable.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that the gps mapping on that Find My iPhone is a completely worthless lying POS. But the beeping alarm feature might be one to try before you call the police and go on a witch hunt around town.

Motivated!

I was out riding this afternoon and feeling more motivated than I have in a long time... I think racing this year (so far) has been so good for me... mostly b/c I have walked away from every race feeling partially satisfied... yet not fully satisfied... And that has been so good for me because while I feel like I am on the right track, every time I race it's clear that I have more work to do. And I love that!

So today I rode an easy lap of Tantalus and then my second time I up stepped on the gas a little and went nearly a minute faster than I've ever gone before. So that was cool, except I knew I had one more lap to go and it needed to be the fastest of the day so I gathered myself at the bottom and mentally prepared to really get after it... which I did... so that 2nd lap PR lasted a very short time because I crushed it the 3rd time up. It was awesome and satisfying and further proof of the fitness boost I gained  this last month- all those miles and all that climbing in AZ paying off every time I get on my bike these days. I love that! :)

Anyway, as I was riding down the mountain for the final time today I started thinking about why I push myself so hard and what my goals are, etc. And it was so crystal clear to me... I want to win races! But there are so many fast strong women out there (yes- you!) and I have such tremendous respect for you all and that just motivates me to work my ass off in training... because that's the only way I might even possibly win a race around here. I do not have a huge amount of genetic talent, but I do have an unusually strong work ethic so I'm using the tools I've got. And I find myself viewing it all in such a healthy way this year- way healthier than I ever have before in the past. I think in years past I have put too much of my own ego on the line... like my self-worth was directly linked to how fast I went in a race... I do not feel that way now, which might just be the most refreshing (and healthy!) change an athlete can make. Now I just feel like I want to win- And I'll admit that I want to win (seems women are never supposed to admit that??). And when I don't win, I simply feel a huge amount of respect for those who did, and I feel more motivated than ever to out-train them so hopefully I'll be more of a threat next time. So in conclusion, the reason I train so hard is because you all are so freakin' fast! ;)

So... until next time...

WaterFront Sprint!

So it was a beautiful morning for a little local triathlon action...

This was a fun race this morning- made more fun by the fact that Scott decided to jump in and play too! (Funny aside- yesterday he asked me to go to the pool with him and give him a few swim tips.... He is not a bad swimmer! In fact, I gave him 2 fairly standard tips about what to do with his head and his hands and he swam a 100 right next to me yesterday! He's got some freaky talent. And ~40 years of big wave surfing experience which I guess counts for something.) So cut to the chase- I only beat him by less than 2' in the swim this morning! The swim was advertised as 750M but it was short b/c I came out in like 9' flat but he was out in <11. Solid.

Anyway, I think I was like 4th woman out of the water? We were all really close though... I was swimming right next to my athlete Elizabeth for a good chunk of it and it was so cool to look over and see my logo on her cap every time I took a breath. She pummeled right over me at one point and my instinct was to just knock her out but then I decided to be nice (since she was my athlete and all) so I let it go. Next time though, Elizabeth, I might not be so nice! Ha! J/k of course... ALL IS FAIR in love and triathlon!!

So I got through T1 pretty fast though I did make the rookie mistake of not paying attention to which rack my bike was on. Duh. My little mistakes in this race were all pretty much due to me just taking too much for granted... and it was a rookie move to not be super attentive to where I put my damn bike! Actually, rookies would have actually paid attention to that! Oh well.

My goal on the bike was to rip Rae's legs off (After the race we were jogging down and I told her that and she told me she knew it so it's all fine me posting it here! ;). Rae can swim faster than me and she can run faster than me... and last month she biked a 20K faster than me... so I knew my chances of beating her this morning were slim but also knew that the only chance I might have had was to make her work ridiculously hard on the bike so I just stomped on it and hunted her down... I passed her... She passed me back (good girl showing GRIT)... I passed her back... It was definitely a rather violent effort on the bike but it did not scare me. I think I had maybe 45" on Rae going into T2? The bike was advertised as 13 miles but last minute they cut like 3 miles out of it with a new course- short bike rides are never in my favor so this was disappointing.

Whatever my lead was, it was not enough and Rae caught me fairly early on after we started running. Then maybe the only thing I'm sort of disappointed about was how I sort of settled in on the run and just ran what felt like hard enough... I specifically remember getting to the mile 2 sign and thinking This is not a violent effort I said I was going to put out a violent effort but this is not that... but I wasn't motivated enough to do anything else about it? And make no mistake... I knew there were plenty of girls behind me who were running faster than me but somehow I was missing that SPARK required to really take it to myself. I got passed by Marianne with maybe 1/2 mile left and just sort of watched her go and thought about how efficient she looked... She made it look so effortless and easy... Then my athlete Elizabeth came up on me right before the finish and she was gutting it out and I just sort of cheered her on as she ran by! WEIRD b/c I can show so much GRIT on the bike but then on the run I am just like la la la totally content to just run my own pace instead of RACE. So anyway, that is the next thing for me to work on. :)

Here's Elizabeth running me down for 3rd OA. Good girl!

The best part about local races is chatting with your friends afterward... This is Patrick who is another athlete I coach who put together a good race and came 2nd Military.

All of my athletes actually put together great races out there this morning so that made me happy! And of course my husband finished his first triathlon and we celebrated with beer. :)

So get this... after the race we went to breakfast (where Moana ate more than I did!?! Hungry girl!) and there was Scott... studying his race results and hypothesizing how fast he could have gone with a real bike instead of his old mountain bike... then he said "How long is the Honolulu Triathlon?" Uh oh. I really did create a monster. It's so cute though... He's sleeping on the couch right now wearing his finisher's shirt.

I Hope I Am Not Creating A Monster

So the other night I was chatting with my mom (who is here visiting this week- Moana is in HEAVEN) and she was asking about the triathlon race I am doing this weekend. I explained it something like this:

It is the opposite of Ironman.

The only 2 races mom has watched me do in the last ~5 years were IMCdA and Kona... so I thought it would be fun for her to see something a bit different. You know, like the whole thing is over in just over an hour! (Mom was like REALLY? You swim and bike and run and all done in an hour?? Opposite of Ironman indeed!) Yes. And it is way more exciting for a spectator! Anyway, I told her the distances and she noted that it sounded like a perfect race for a beginner and then made an off the cuff comment about how Scott could do that and I was like YEAH HE COULD and ta-dah. An idea was born.

I wasn't even sure if he would agree to do it, and truth be told, he didn't at first... but then he checked his soccer schedule and sure enough no games this weekend so he sent me a text yesterday and said he was in! Awesome! So I went into town yesterday and got him a race number and a pair of goggles. He rode his old heavy knobby tired mountain bike to work today (~8 miles each way) and said he was going to swim to Flat Island over lunch (~400M each way) so I guess we can't say he didn't train. Lol.

Anyway, I think it will be so much fun to have him out there on Sunday! I will say though, while I hope he has a blast and totally enjoys it, I really hope I am not creating a monster. This house is not actually big enough for 2 triathletes. ;)

Variety In Terrain

I took my race bike to AZ so I could get some training time on it without getting it wet and muddy and nasty dirty. It was actually quite shocking how clean it was when I went to pack it up after riding so much... hardly any dirt on it at all! Refreshing. :) Anyway, I was sort of thinking that I was just going to leave it in it's box for a while and would go back to riding my training bike but then I remembered that I actually have a little race this weekend and it *should* be dry so I went ahead and unpacked the bike tonight.

My mom is here visiting and she watched me assembling my bike and couldn't figure out why I had three.


Are you going to sell one? No.


But you have THREE. Yes. But that one is a road bike. And this is the one I race on. And that is the one I train on.

I'm not sure she got it but it made perfect sense to me! :)

I'm still trying to recover from my two weeks in AZ and seem to be getting better each day. I am finally not looking like a marshmallow. What is that anyway that causes you to swell up like a balloon when you train a lot? Something about ADH I think but I'll admit I don't understand exactly what that's all about. All I know is that we should never weigh ourselves immediately after a big training weekend. Anyway, in good news I have ankles now and even a few veins.

Finally downloaded all my data from my garmin tonight too. It took like an hour! Fun to geek out on all the graphs. There was a good amount of climbing done in both Tucson and Scottsdale... total climbing (riding) ~26,000ft which is a lot for me given that I ride flat most of the time! I think one of the things that has been sort of missing in my training is variety (hello I live on an island) so the different terrain was awesome.

Madera Canyon:

Gates Pass:

Mt Lemmon:

Paradise Valley:

North Scottsdale:

Bartlett Lake:

Fountain Hills/Rio Verde:

Looking at these graphs leaves me feeling even more nostalgic for that awesome riding in AZ!

The Aftermath...

So camp is over and I am back in Hawaii... I got the best hug ever from Moana when she came to get me at the airport yesterday. She is so sweet. Before I left for AZ I kept telling her that I was going away for a little while but that I would come back. Last night before bed she looked at me and said You came back. Indeed. I reminded her that I might go away sometimes but that I would always come back.

What's interesting and what I did not expect (or maybe I just didn't think about it enough?) was how much emotional energy I would spend at camp... and how much I might need to decompress when I got home. But when you're gone for 12 days you actually come home and sort of owe a lot of people a lot of time and energy... but when you just spent all your energy on your athletes it can be fairly tough to manage. I swear all weekend I was 'on'... every training session was more than just a physical test... Training with people all the time (especially when I was in charge and felt responsible) was way more mentally and emotionally draining than simply heading out on my own for a solo session. I was worthless by the time I got home yesterday. Seriously just skipped dinner and curled up in a little ball and went to bed. Luckily Scott totally understood that (he was surprised I was still awake at 7PM). I slept 10 hours last night and woke up today ready to play catch up. :)

Camp was absolutely one of the highlights of my year... totally awesome... so awesome in fact that I am already planning my next one! Though I will tell you, right now I am seriously looking forward to getting back to some of my normal solo training simply to decompress. I'm thinking an easy jog this afternoon is going to start that process!

Scottsdale... Day 3 Smashfest

I don't have a bunch of scenic pictures from our ride today. We were hauling ass for a good bit of it and therefore rather than snapping pictures I was snapping things like, "GET UP THERE!" or "STAY ON MY WHEEL!!"

I do have one shot from today... of some of the athletes fighting over a coke slurpee at the top of 9 mile hill. Perfect.

At dinner tonight we were having a great conversation about how they've all taught themselves that they are capable of so much more than they thought... (mission accomplished! yes!)... We also heard each other's tatoo stories. This has all been so much fun and I am not ready for it to end! One more day tomorrow that consists of a long run and maybe another swim.

I probably won't post tomorrow b/c tomorrow night we are going to par-tay. If Krista has anything to do with it I will be in rare form.