So what many of you don't know is that I've started my own coaching business! It's been in the works for a while now and I was going to wait until I had an official certification before putting it up here, but after reading Mary's blog about certification/schmertification, I figured what the heck!?! So there it is. Coach Michelle. Has a nice ring to it, no?
Anyway, like Mary and Ange, I tried to get into a USAT course. My problem was that I logged on 20 minutes after the registration opened and it was, um, closed already. Wow. I had no idea these things were so popular. I did find out that USAT is offering a course in Kona right before Ironman next October, and I am registered for that. I was actually surprised that that one isn't more popular- seems like maybe a lot of people who are interested in coaching would also be interested in being in Kona during race week for all the festivities, though I understand that it's quite an expensive trip and let's face it, those of us who are just starting out our coaching careers probably are not rolling in the dough. Anyway, my understanding is that the course in Kona is still open to anyone who wants to register. ;)
So that being what it is, I wanted to find another route to get my certification sooner. A little google searching and I came up with the ITCA course. I signed up and got started on the course maybe 6 weeks ago. Here are my thoughts:
~It's a 16 week course but you can totally do it faster if you're motivated and have the time. There are 16 modules and it's expected that you do one per week, but you could get more than that done if you have the time. Each chapter consists of reading 20-25 pages of info, watching a video online, answering some reflection questions, and then responding to a couple more questions on the ITCA blog (which is not a public blog- you get access once you're in the course). So a positive aspect of the program is that you can do it at home on your own computer on your own time.
~It costs $450 which seems like a lot, but it's cheaper than the USAT course at $525. If you sign up, do not get suckered into buying the Polar RS800CX HR monitor that they offer at a 'special' price. It's an additional $350 (normally retails for $400ish). It's advertised as a "complete running system" showing you your speed, distance, cadence, gps, etc... but what they don't tell you is that to get all that info you have to purchase a couple of extra sensors (the gps sensor and the stride sensor) which are about $150 each. I'm sorry, but I think $350 for a heart rate monitor is INSANE. I don't care how fancy the computer software is. If it doesn't even tell me speed and distance, it is NOT worth $350. Lucky for me, I did my share of complaining about this (Hello?? False advertising on the website!) and supposedly a free stride sensor is on it's way to me, though that is yet to be seen.
~I am disappointed in the complexity of the material that is unrelated to triathlon training. While there is some decent info toward the end of the course about actual triathlon training, the bulk of the course consists of physiology stuff, biomechanics, kinesiology, etc. I suppose this is not surprising since ITCA is a part of NESTA which focuses primarily on personal training. If I were a betting woman, I would say that a bunch of this course is the same or very similar to what is involved in a personal trainer certification course. I'm sorry, but I just don't see how lever arms and moment arms are related to the triathlon training we do. I have been a triathlete for 15+ years now, have completed 9 Ironmans including the World Championships twice, and prior to this course I had never heard of a moment arm. And after this course, I still don't feel like I have a good grasp of it, though there were three questions on the test about these physics concepts. I guess I'm just sayin' that the relevance wasn't always there for me.
~Speaking of the test, holy moly ridiculous. 150 questions, 98% of which I had to look up the answers to, 15% of which after 10 hours of researching answers in both the 321 page triathlon coaching manual AND other google searches online, I am still unable to confidently answer. A few of those are because the wording of the question/answers make it very tricky, but some of them are questions about material that is simply not addressed in the manual. I'm sorry, but knowing 'What molecule is connected to the Z-line of the sarcomere' just isn't something I'm going to be using as a triathlon coach. But if you're going to test me on it, put it in the manual!!!
All that said, I think I may be close to finding enough correct answers to actually pass this course. IF I fail the test (which has never happened- I have never failed a test!) I won't bother taking it again because nothing will change between now and a re-take. If google didn't tell me the answer the first time after checking and rechecking, it's not going to do anything different on try #2... In that case, I will continue my business as an uncertified coach for this year, which hasn't seemed to bother my clients so far. I casually mentioned to a couple people here that I was starting up a business as a coach and one by one I started getting calls... Within a week I had 6 athletes signed up! Wow! That felt good to me because 5 of them are local athletes who know me already, so it wasn't even like I had to trick a bunch of you out there in cyberspace to commit your season to me... Lol. Seriously though, to hear from these athletes that they trust me and feel confident that I can help them is a real confidence booster. It makes me believe even more that this is the right path for me. Though in all honesty, it probably helped that since I'm new and just now building my business, my prices are quite reasonable in the world of triathlon coaching.
So anyway, I just spent the last hour writing programs for a few of my athletes for next week... and you know what? I LOVE THIS STUFF. I'm in my third week as 'Coach' and it just feels right, even though I'm still not sure if the reason why you can't produce as tight of a fist when your wrist is flexed is due to passive or active insufficiency.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Eddie... Mama Would Go
I got home from my run this morning and found Scott feeding Moana breakfast while watching the Eddie live online. Here's a little clip of what we were seeing:
I was captivated. So cool- this sport that I really don't know much about, but wow. Those guys are amazing.
I found out that the competition was also being played live on a local cable station here, so I turned on the TV and watched on the bigger screen. The commentators were good and helped me learn a lot, and they showed the best waves and wipeouts on replay. Eddie's brother, Clyde, was competing today. He's 60. Yes, 60. Riding these huge waves!! In fact, seems like quite a few of the guys were a bit older... in their 40's at least. More evidence that as we get old er we just get better, especially at extreme sports like these. That said, there was an 18 year old competing today as well.
Anyway, I was undecided about whether or not Moana and I would actually go up to Waimea Bay today... I was getting good coverage watching in the comfort of my living room. I wasn't sure that I really wanted to battle the traffic and the crowds and how would Moana be at the beach with all those people?
But Moana took a good long nap this morning and we didn't have anything else to do this afternoon and seriously, how could I not go up there and see just a little bit of this epic event in person?
I dressed Moana in her little 'surf's up' outfit, packed our lunches, and headed north. I went the longer way around the perimeter of the island in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic. And it worked! I suppose the traffic would have been worse first thing in the morning, but by the time we arrived at 1:40 it really wasn't so bad. We parked about 2 miles away, I strapped Moana into the BOB, and jogged the rest of the way in. Once we got close though there were too many people and I couldn't actually run anymore. Here's a view of the ocean during the jog to the bay. Seriously- this is the coast we swim along during the summer. Clearly not swimable now!
Here's our first look at the scene at Waimea Bay.
Being there in person was incredible. Those waves are so much scarier live than they appear on film. It's funny, because last night Scott and I were watching some videos online and while I thought the waves were daunting, there was a part of me that was curious about whether or not I could navigate my way through big ocean swells like that. I mean, I'm a good swimmer, and not generally afraid of the ocean. I asked Scott what he thought- he knows me as a swimmer and he knows the ocean when it's big and angry., He said he didn't think I could safely do it. I scoffed at him, more convinced than ever that I could. Well guess what? After seeing that water in person today, I decided that not for a million dollars would I attempt to go in. Nope. I do not want to die.
Anyway, back to the surf! Moana and I settled into a spot in the sand that was actually right near where the surfers were entering and exiting the water for their competition heats! We were thisclose to some of those pro guys! Here are some shots from my camera.
These guys were just about to get in the water for the final heat.
So while it was cool to get to see the surfers up close (and I recognized some of them b/c I'd been watching the live coverage on TV earlier and lots of them had been interviewed already), it was really hard to watch the guys actually surf. The big waves break about a 1/3 of a mile out in the bay, so from the beach, it was hard to actually see. But occasionally we would hear the crowd go 'oooooh' and then you'd see a teeny tiny little guy way off in the distance take off down the face of a huge wave. Sometimes we heard a more urgent 'AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!' and that likely meant the guy took a hard digger. I saw a couple of broken boards- snapped right in half from the force of the heavy water. That's what the lifeguards on jet skis were for- rescuing the guys who were stranded out there after their boards broke. I know there were at least 4 broken boards today. Maybe more.
Anyway, Kelly Slater was winning the whole thing until right at the end when a guy named Greg Long caught a perfect wave and scored really well, leapfrogging himself into 1st place. There was also an award for the biggest 'Monster Drop'. $10,000 for the guy who didn't crash while flying down the face of the biggest wave. This guy from Chile won that prize (picture stolen from quiksilver website).
So in the end, I'm really glad I made the attempt to get up there today! And so was Moana.
I was captivated. So cool- this sport that I really don't know much about, but wow. Those guys are amazing.
I found out that the competition was also being played live on a local cable station here, so I turned on the TV and watched on the bigger screen. The commentators were good and helped me learn a lot, and they showed the best waves and wipeouts on replay. Eddie's brother, Clyde, was competing today. He's 60. Yes, 60. Riding these huge waves!! In fact, seems like quite a few of the guys were a bit older... in their 40's at least. More evidence that as we get old er we just get better, especially at extreme sports like these. That said, there was an 18 year old competing today as well.
Anyway, I was undecided about whether or not Moana and I would actually go up to Waimea Bay today... I was getting good coverage watching in the comfort of my living room. I wasn't sure that I really wanted to battle the traffic and the crowds and how would Moana be at the beach with all those people?
But Moana took a good long nap this morning and we didn't have anything else to do this afternoon and seriously, how could I not go up there and see just a little bit of this epic event in person?
I dressed Moana in her little 'surf's up' outfit, packed our lunches, and headed north. I went the longer way around the perimeter of the island in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic. And it worked! I suppose the traffic would have been worse first thing in the morning, but by the time we arrived at 1:40 it really wasn't so bad. We parked about 2 miles away, I strapped Moana into the BOB, and jogged the rest of the way in. Once we got close though there were too many people and I couldn't actually run anymore. Here's a view of the ocean during the jog to the bay. Seriously- this is the coast we swim along during the summer. Clearly not swimable now!
Here's our first look at the scene at Waimea Bay.
Being there in person was incredible. Those waves are so much scarier live than they appear on film. It's funny, because last night Scott and I were watching some videos online and while I thought the waves were daunting, there was a part of me that was curious about whether or not I could navigate my way through big ocean swells like that. I mean, I'm a good swimmer, and not generally afraid of the ocean. I asked Scott what he thought- he knows me as a swimmer and he knows the ocean when it's big and angry., He said he didn't think I could safely do it. I scoffed at him, more convinced than ever that I could. Well guess what? After seeing that water in person today, I decided that not for a million dollars would I attempt to go in. Nope. I do not want to die.
Anyway, back to the surf! Moana and I settled into a spot in the sand that was actually right near where the surfers were entering and exiting the water for their competition heats! We were thisclose to some of those pro guys! Here are some shots from my camera.
These guys were just about to get in the water for the final heat.
So while it was cool to get to see the surfers up close (and I recognized some of them b/c I'd been watching the live coverage on TV earlier and lots of them had been interviewed already), it was really hard to watch the guys actually surf. The big waves break about a 1/3 of a mile out in the bay, so from the beach, it was hard to actually see. But occasionally we would hear the crowd go 'oooooh' and then you'd see a teeny tiny little guy way off in the distance take off down the face of a huge wave. Sometimes we heard a more urgent 'AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!' and that likely meant the guy took a hard digger. I saw a couple of broken boards- snapped right in half from the force of the heavy water. That's what the lifeguards on jet skis were for- rescuing the guys who were stranded out there after their boards broke. I know there were at least 4 broken boards today. Maybe more.
Anyway, Kelly Slater was winning the whole thing until right at the end when a guy named Greg Long caught a perfect wave and scored really well, leapfrogging himself into 1st place. There was also an award for the biggest 'Monster Drop'. $10,000 for the guy who didn't crash while flying down the face of the biggest wave. This guy from Chile won that prize (picture stolen from quiksilver website).
So in the end, I'm really glad I made the attempt to get up there today! And so was Moana.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Caution: High Surf Warning
The waves are huge right now on the North Shore. Winter is North Shore surf season... funny to see these massive waves up here when all summer long Waimea Bay is like a gorgeous calm blue lake that is an ideal place for swimming. Here's a video of the waves today that I stole off YouTube. You can see that the waves are breaking way far out so they don't look as big in this video as they do in person, but if you look closely you can see a couple very teeny tiny little guys trying to ride the waves, unsuccessfully for the most part.
Here's another one I found on You Tube... this is from 2007 but probably a better look at the waves in better conditions. Those surfers still didn't appear to be too successful.
I think I'm going to take Moana up to check out the surf tomorrow. They say it will be even bigger tomorrow than it was today... something like 50 foot faces. That's just Nuts. Scott told me to check the traffic report on the way up because it's possible the road may get washed out with waves that big. I'll have to be prepared for crazy traffic- it's just a little two lane road up there (where we ride our bikes most of the year) and apparently there were thousands of people there today trying to get a peek at the waves. Clearly there will not be a place to park the car, but I'm thinking I'll take the BOB up and park a few miles away and run the rest of the way to Waimea to check it out.
The Eddie Aikau surf competition may happen tomorrow. It hasn't been held since 2004- they only have it if/when waves heights reach 30+ feet and the wind conditions allow for it. Clearly tomorrow will be big enough but if the wind doesn't cooperate then the waves will just be too messy and dangerous to send even the best in the world out. Scott has told me a lot about this competition over the last couple of days... apparently Eddie died a while back (lost at sea) and this competition is in his memory. You've probably heard the quote (or seen the bumper sticker), "Eddie would go." Anyway, it's an invitation only event... only the best pro and big wave surfers can participate... they can't use jet skis or anything to get to the waves... they have to paddle out themselves. Crazy. Anyway, Scott said all the best surfers in the world are hanging out on the North Shore right now just itching to go try to catch those waves.
Here's a live video feed of the waves at Waimea. Check it out if you're bored at work. That's what all the local surfers here will be doing instead of working tomorrow. That is, if they don't call in sick.
Here's another one I found on You Tube... this is from 2007 but probably a better look at the waves in better conditions. Those surfers still didn't appear to be too successful.
I think I'm going to take Moana up to check out the surf tomorrow. They say it will be even bigger tomorrow than it was today... something like 50 foot faces. That's just Nuts. Scott told me to check the traffic report on the way up because it's possible the road may get washed out with waves that big. I'll have to be prepared for crazy traffic- it's just a little two lane road up there (where we ride our bikes most of the year) and apparently there were thousands of people there today trying to get a peek at the waves. Clearly there will not be a place to park the car, but I'm thinking I'll take the BOB up and park a few miles away and run the rest of the way to Waimea to check it out.
The Eddie Aikau surf competition may happen tomorrow. It hasn't been held since 2004- they only have it if/when waves heights reach 30+ feet and the wind conditions allow for it. Clearly tomorrow will be big enough but if the wind doesn't cooperate then the waves will just be too messy and dangerous to send even the best in the world out. Scott has told me a lot about this competition over the last couple of days... apparently Eddie died a while back (lost at sea) and this competition is in his memory. You've probably heard the quote (or seen the bumper sticker), "Eddie would go." Anyway, it's an invitation only event... only the best pro and big wave surfers can participate... they can't use jet skis or anything to get to the waves... they have to paddle out themselves. Crazy. Anyway, Scott said all the best surfers in the world are hanging out on the North Shore right now just itching to go try to catch those waves.
Here's a live video feed of the waves at Waimea. Check it out if you're bored at work. That's what all the local surfers here will be doing instead of working tomorrow. That is, if they don't call in sick.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
They Should Have Called It The SmoothWater Swim
You know, for weeks we've been out suffering in the craziest ocean conditions... training for 90+ minutes every Saturday through the rough chop caused by high winds... the kind of swimming where you can hardly actually even get a full stroke in because your arms constantly get cut off by the water slapping you in the face when you're trying to breathe...
Not that I should ever complain about perfect ocean conditions... it just seems like since we trained for the RoughWater swim, we should have had the RoughWater swim. Instead, today we did the 28th Possibly Annual Double SmoothWater Invitational Swim.
Seriously, the water was almost perfect today. It was as clear as I've ever seen it in 5 years and with no wind at all, it was like swimming in a lake. A really really deep lake with clear blue water and turtles. :) I said almost perfect because it really could have been 4-5 degrees warmer. Then it would have been perfect. Then it would have been like swimming in Kona.
Anyway, I brought my wetsuit down with me but in the end chose not to wear it. I knew I would be cold, but didn't think I would die. And honestly, I just couldn't pull myself out of the competition. I thought it would be pretty cool to win my age group, though when I saw Jana's name on the start list I immediately assumed I would not. If you followed any of my blog posts about the North Shore swims this past summer, you may remember me talking about her- we've raced swimming for all the years I've lived here. She used to beat me by just a little bit every time, but starting last year at this race, I've got a clean 100% win record against her. Funny that I had a baby and came back stronger. :) That said, though I figured she'd beat me today, I wondered by how much, and I knew a wetsuit would not give me any real answers to that question.
Here's Nalani and me before the start. I know nobody ever actually believes us when we say it is cold here... and ok, it is not as cold as you guys get on the mainland (obviously)... but cold is relative and when your body is adjusted and used to 80+ degrees all the time, high 60's/low 70's before the sun comes out is cold.
I gave Moana away to my friend Andrea before the swim start. Moana is getting smarter these days and knew that we were leaving her as we said goodbye... and she cried and cried and cried... oh it broke my heart! And I was sad for Andrea who had to deal with this upset child... though she better get used to it b/c she is due with her first (a girl!) at the end of April. Andrea watched Moana last year at this race when she was just 6 weeks old. It was easier then and Andrea said she just read a book the whole time while Moana slept. Ha! This time was different, as you might guess! In good news, Andrea said Moana calmed down as soon as she walked her away and out of our sight. I worried about her during the whole swim but found out later that she had a blast flirting with all the old men at the Elks Club.
Andrea was in constant motion chasing Moana around... and trying to keep her from climbing up on the bar.
Meanwhile, back at the beach, the race started as we were all standing on the beach chit chatting* and all of a sudden a whistle blew and we were like, "Is that it?" So we put our goggles on and ran into the water. There were only maybe 40 people doing the swim today, so it wasn't a crazy start at all. I saw Jana off to my right early on- we were side my side and I did not feel like I was swimming hard. Hmmm. Maybe she hasn't been training much? This is the kind of event where you can't really fake it so if you haven't been training, you're not going to do really well... hmmmm. I hopped on Nalani's feet and she pulled me out to the first turn buoy which was maybe 800 meters off shore. There were no more buoys until the turn-around buoy which was 2+ miles downshore... funny story about that... as I was putting on my caps (yes, I wore 2!) a woman on the beach (who was not swimming) asked me where the second turn buoy was. She said, "I see the first one way out there but don't see the second one. Where is it?" I laughed and told her she couldn't see it because it was that far away.
Anyway, at the first buoy was where we were to meet up with our escorts. Each swimmer in this race is mandated to have an individual escort. Mine was Scott on his surfboard. He was equipped with a water bottle and two GU's for me. The plan was for him to stop me at 45 minutes and 90 minutes for GU and water. In the past, I've done this race on just one GU, but since I'm pregnant this time, I wanted to be sure my blood sugar didn't go low so I planned on taking two. Anyway, at the first 45 minute stop I exclaimed to Scott that I just couldn't believe how nice this was! Perfect glassy conditions. He agreed. Took my GU, swig of water, and back to swimming. I could barely see Nalani's escort up ahead in the distance. She was having a great swim! I figured beforehand based on our time in the pool the last 2 weeks that if we both had good swims, she would get me by about 6 minutes... I was guessing she would put just under a minute on me per thousand meters... that's what she does now in the pool anyway.
Blah blah blah. The race went on and on and on and on. And on and on and on and on. Perfect swimming in perfect conditions. I saw a huge turtle like 40 feet beneath me. It was that clear. Finally at the 90 minute GU stop I asked Scott where everyone was?? There was no one around me at all! He said there was a small pack way ahead and everyone else was a good bit behind. Hmmm. I wondered where Jana was. I hadn't seen her at all since the very beginning.
Kept swimming... caught some waves in at the end... ran up the beach... heard 1:58 flat(!!!!!)... a 4 minute PR! I then immediately started shivering out of control. Blue hands, blue face, blue arms... I ran over to the sunny part of the beach and took my suit off and replaced it with fleece. Shiver shiver shiver shiver... I saw Nalani and was so proud of her for her 1:52! And just what I had guessed... 6 minutes. Another friend/training partner of mine was sent from heaven and gave me a thermos full of warm ginger honey tea. Let me tell you, that hit the spot! Within about 10 minutes my teeth stopped chattering and I felt okay.
Andrea brought Moana over and she gave me this HUGE smile so that was really nice to see. Moana was a super champ today... 5+ hours awake with no nap (she set a new record today with that!) before she finally succumbed to sleep while waiting for lunch/awards.
They served us an awesome catered lunch! And the awards at this race are good too. Turns out, I won my age group! I think I was 5th female? Jana came in at 2:03 and the others were further back than that. I got a pair of Blue Seventy goggles, though I don't think I can wear them b/c #1 they're pink, #2 they're not tinted and I swim outside all the time, and #3 I haven't worn goggles other than the swedish ones since I was 13. Anyone want them? First person to email me with their address gets them. :) I also got a bottle of champagne... exciting, except that I can't drink it... yet. We decided that we will take it to the hospital with us and drink it after Scrappy is born in July.
* I did not tell Jana that I am pregnant. She'll figure it out when I start showing up to swim races next spring/early summer with what looks like a basketball under my suit.
Not that I should ever complain about perfect ocean conditions... it just seems like since we trained for the RoughWater swim, we should have had the RoughWater swim. Instead, today we did the 28th Possibly Annual Double SmoothWater Invitational Swim.
Seriously, the water was almost perfect today. It was as clear as I've ever seen it in 5 years and with no wind at all, it was like swimming in a lake. A really really deep lake with clear blue water and turtles. :) I said almost perfect because it really could have been 4-5 degrees warmer. Then it would have been perfect. Then it would have been like swimming in Kona.
Anyway, I brought my wetsuit down with me but in the end chose not to wear it. I knew I would be cold, but didn't think I would die. And honestly, I just couldn't pull myself out of the competition. I thought it would be pretty cool to win my age group, though when I saw Jana's name on the start list I immediately assumed I would not. If you followed any of my blog posts about the North Shore swims this past summer, you may remember me talking about her- we've raced swimming for all the years I've lived here. She used to beat me by just a little bit every time, but starting last year at this race, I've got a clean 100% win record against her. Funny that I had a baby and came back stronger. :) That said, though I figured she'd beat me today, I wondered by how much, and I knew a wetsuit would not give me any real answers to that question.
Here's Nalani and me before the start. I know nobody ever actually believes us when we say it is cold here... and ok, it is not as cold as you guys get on the mainland (obviously)... but cold is relative and when your body is adjusted and used to 80+ degrees all the time, high 60's/low 70's before the sun comes out is cold.
I gave Moana away to my friend Andrea before the swim start. Moana is getting smarter these days and knew that we were leaving her as we said goodbye... and she cried and cried and cried... oh it broke my heart! And I was sad for Andrea who had to deal with this upset child... though she better get used to it b/c she is due with her first (a girl!) at the end of April. Andrea watched Moana last year at this race when she was just 6 weeks old. It was easier then and Andrea said she just read a book the whole time while Moana slept. Ha! This time was different, as you might guess! In good news, Andrea said Moana calmed down as soon as she walked her away and out of our sight. I worried about her during the whole swim but found out later that she had a blast flirting with all the old men at the Elks Club.
Andrea was in constant motion chasing Moana around... and trying to keep her from climbing up on the bar.
Meanwhile, back at the beach, the race started as we were all standing on the beach chit chatting* and all of a sudden a whistle blew and we were like, "Is that it?" So we put our goggles on and ran into the water. There were only maybe 40 people doing the swim today, so it wasn't a crazy start at all. I saw Jana off to my right early on- we were side my side and I did not feel like I was swimming hard. Hmmm. Maybe she hasn't been training much? This is the kind of event where you can't really fake it so if you haven't been training, you're not going to do really well... hmmmm. I hopped on Nalani's feet and she pulled me out to the first turn buoy which was maybe 800 meters off shore. There were no more buoys until the turn-around buoy which was 2+ miles downshore... funny story about that... as I was putting on my caps (yes, I wore 2!) a woman on the beach (who was not swimming) asked me where the second turn buoy was. She said, "I see the first one way out there but don't see the second one. Where is it?" I laughed and told her she couldn't see it because it was that far away.
Anyway, at the first buoy was where we were to meet up with our escorts. Each swimmer in this race is mandated to have an individual escort. Mine was Scott on his surfboard. He was equipped with a water bottle and two GU's for me. The plan was for him to stop me at 45 minutes and 90 minutes for GU and water. In the past, I've done this race on just one GU, but since I'm pregnant this time, I wanted to be sure my blood sugar didn't go low so I planned on taking two. Anyway, at the first 45 minute stop I exclaimed to Scott that I just couldn't believe how nice this was! Perfect glassy conditions. He agreed. Took my GU, swig of water, and back to swimming. I could barely see Nalani's escort up ahead in the distance. She was having a great swim! I figured beforehand based on our time in the pool the last 2 weeks that if we both had good swims, she would get me by about 6 minutes... I was guessing she would put just under a minute on me per thousand meters... that's what she does now in the pool anyway.
Blah blah blah. The race went on and on and on and on. And on and on and on and on. Perfect swimming in perfect conditions. I saw a huge turtle like 40 feet beneath me. It was that clear. Finally at the 90 minute GU stop I asked Scott where everyone was?? There was no one around me at all! He said there was a small pack way ahead and everyone else was a good bit behind. Hmmm. I wondered where Jana was. I hadn't seen her at all since the very beginning.
Kept swimming... caught some waves in at the end... ran up the beach... heard 1:58 flat(!!!!!)... a 4 minute PR! I then immediately started shivering out of control. Blue hands, blue face, blue arms... I ran over to the sunny part of the beach and took my suit off and replaced it with fleece. Shiver shiver shiver shiver... I saw Nalani and was so proud of her for her 1:52! And just what I had guessed... 6 minutes. Another friend/training partner of mine was sent from heaven and gave me a thermos full of warm ginger honey tea. Let me tell you, that hit the spot! Within about 10 minutes my teeth stopped chattering and I felt okay.
Andrea brought Moana over and she gave me this HUGE smile so that was really nice to see. Moana was a super champ today... 5+ hours awake with no nap (she set a new record today with that!) before she finally succumbed to sleep while waiting for lunch/awards.
They served us an awesome catered lunch! And the awards at this race are good too. Turns out, I won my age group! I think I was 5th female? Jana came in at 2:03 and the others were further back than that. I got a pair of Blue Seventy goggles, though I don't think I can wear them b/c #1 they're pink, #2 they're not tinted and I swim outside all the time, and #3 I haven't worn goggles other than the swedish ones since I was 13. Anyone want them? First person to email me with their address gets them. :) I also got a bottle of champagne... exciting, except that I can't drink it... yet. We decided that we will take it to the hospital with us and drink it after Scrappy is born in July.
* I did not tell Jana that I am pregnant. She'll figure it out when I start showing up to swim races next spring/early summer with what looks like a basketball under my suit.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Saturday
This is a picture of the sunrise this morning. Scott took it as he was on his way to the north shore to go surfing. I thought those of you who are enjoying snow right now might like to see it. Waves are huge right now on the north shore... they may hold the Eddie Aikau surf competition on Monday which is only held if/when wave heights reach like 40 feet. Yep. That big.
Luckily on the south shore the waves should not be quite so big. The Double RoughWater swim is tomorrow morning on the south shore. A couple years ago on the day of the race there were white water crashing waves that we had to duck dive through on the way out. That made it way harder for our kayakers than it was for us. Lots of kayakers that year got dumped over. I don't mind swimming through waves. I kind of like it actually.
Anyway, I'm not afraid of the ~7000M ocean swim tomorrow. Well, I'm not afraid of the distance anyway. I AM afraid of the cold though. The water is in the low 70's which I suppose is fine for some people but for me right now, it's cold. My arms go numb after like 30 minutes in that water and this swim typically takes me just over 2 hours. That's a long time to have numb arms. Wetsuits are not allowed because it's a swim race, but I'm going to bring mine anyway and may ask the race director if I can wear it (which will obviously DQ me from any awards). Might be a smart thing to DQ myself from the beginning so I don't get some crazy urge to actually race the thing half way through... Anyway, I'll make the decision in the morning.
I capped off another decent running week today with a 10 mile run. I have fallen into a steady 9:05ish pace for all my runs these days... whether its 2 miles or 10... I'm obviously not trying to run fast and while normally I wouldn't be so thrilled with 9:05 pace, cruising through 30+ miles for the last 3 weeks in a row at that pace is just fine with me since I'm pregnant and all. I keep reminding myself of this HUGE base I'm building for myself by logging all these easy miles. That said, it did occur to me today that if I would have been able to keep it together to run this same 'easy' pace in Kona, I would have gone 10:50 and been top 10 in my age group. I guess 'easy' all relative. ;)
We took Moana to a birthday party today... a friend's First. Let me just say that I AM SO GLAD we did not go to this party before throwing Moana's. I would have been so freakin' intimidated. This was one of those real local style first birthday parties... I'm telling you... people here go all out throwing these things. There must have been 150 people there. It was like a wedding. Except they had a bouncy house.
Moana had fun in there. She did her best to get up and walk around but kept falling down and (most of the time) laughing about it.
And it turns out she's not afraid of balloons anymore. Obsessed may actually be a better word.
Ok. I have to go pack for the morning. Gonna go dig out that wetsuit...
Friday, December 4, 2009
Gone Fruit Pickin'
So if you've been following my facebook posts, you know that I discovered a huge avocado tree on some vacant land across the street this week. But the avos are up high, and not easily accessible. I sent Scott a text and told him we needed a fruit picker.
My resourceful husband got right on it and stopped at the hardware store and came home with a fruit picker. $8. Avocados at the store are like $2 each here, so I figured if we pick 4 of them, we break even. After that, they're free!
Moana was ready to pick fruit.
You might see the problem we still had though- no long pole. Hmmm. I posted this pic on facebook and mentioned that we needed a pole. I love facebook. Ask, and you shall receive. My awesome neighbor Christina wrote and said that they have the long pole, but no fruit picker. A HA! We will combine our resources and each come home with bountiful fruit!
Christina brought her pole over (which was an extending painting pole) and I led her to the tree. Can you see the avocados? You can only see a few in this picture. There must actually be 100+ big ones on this tree. It's like a gold mine in the sky.
Christina did the hard labor.
Score! Avocado in the basket! She got good at it after just a little practice.
Moana enjoyed watching.
She doesn't have a whole lot of patience though so she started eating them right away.
Christina got about 10 avocados today, so we each brought home 5. It'll take them about a week to ripen up, so we agreed that next week we'd go pick more and that way we'll have a batch of ripe ones and a batch waiting to ripen. LOVE IT.
So we brought our fruit home and then Christina decided that she could get some of the star fruit that is on the tree right outside our door. The starfruit is not quite as plentiful this year, and the tree is really HUGE and the fruit is up quite a bit higher than the length of our picker. Christina was undeterred. She threw her shoes off and started climbing the tree, pole in hand.
I was nervous for her, but she's a rock star. Check this out.
That star fruit is super juicy and sweet. YUM YUM. Moana liked it too. You know, there's nothing like having an afternoon snack that you just picked from the tree.
My resourceful husband got right on it and stopped at the hardware store and came home with a fruit picker. $8. Avocados at the store are like $2 each here, so I figured if we pick 4 of them, we break even. After that, they're free!
Moana was ready to pick fruit.
You might see the problem we still had though- no long pole. Hmmm. I posted this pic on facebook and mentioned that we needed a pole. I love facebook. Ask, and you shall receive. My awesome neighbor Christina wrote and said that they have the long pole, but no fruit picker. A HA! We will combine our resources and each come home with bountiful fruit!
Christina brought her pole over (which was an extending painting pole) and I led her to the tree. Can you see the avocados? You can only see a few in this picture. There must actually be 100+ big ones on this tree. It's like a gold mine in the sky.
Christina did the hard labor.
Score! Avocado in the basket! She got good at it after just a little practice.
Moana enjoyed watching.
She doesn't have a whole lot of patience though so she started eating them right away.
Christina got about 10 avocados today, so we each brought home 5. It'll take them about a week to ripen up, so we agreed that next week we'd go pick more and that way we'll have a batch of ripe ones and a batch waiting to ripen. LOVE IT.
So we brought our fruit home and then Christina decided that she could get some of the star fruit that is on the tree right outside our door. The starfruit is not quite as plentiful this year, and the tree is really HUGE and the fruit is up quite a bit higher than the length of our picker. Christina was undeterred. She threw her shoes off and started climbing the tree, pole in hand.
I was nervous for her, but she's a rock star. Check this out.
That star fruit is super juicy and sweet. YUM YUM. Moana liked it too. You know, there's nothing like having an afternoon snack that you just picked from the tree.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Do Pregnant Women Look Good In Bright Green?
So a couple weeks ago, while I was right in the midst of the "I wonder of this baby is growing or maybe I'm going to miscarry or is that some nausea I'm feeling but I don't feel tired enough to really be pregnant" mindset, I got an email from Carole Sharpless that said, Congratulations! You have been selected to be a part of Team Trakkers 2010!
Awesome. Add to my stress, why don't you? I wondered if they keep you on board if it turns out you're pregnant?
Apparently, they do keep you on the team, or at least at this point, it appears so! It does make me a little more bummed out about the fact that I'm not going to be racing next year though. Although, I'll let you in on a little secret, which of course will no longer be a secret once I type it here, and since we all know that I can't possibly actually keep a secret from my blog readers*, I'm going to spill it right here right now...
Trakkers owns the Rev3 Races, so they are encouraging their athletes to do as many of the series as they can**... which of course is a challenge for me living here in Hawaii. But the attraction for me is that the Cedar Point Rev3 race is in Ohio, which is where my family lives. And it's Sept 12, which is like almost two full months after I give birth. Hmmm. I wonder if I could do a half iron race less than two months after I give birth? Hmmm. I wonder. It's in my head, y'all. If my delivery is just a tad early and is as easy as it was with Moana, I'll be back running and swimming 10 days later... ok ok I know it might be crazy, but the good news is that I don't have to enter early. I can wait and make a decision right before race day if I want. Shoot, I think the biggest challenge wouldn't be completing the race- it would be flying an almost two year old to Ohio. (The two month old would be easy because he/she will sleep the whole time.)
So there it is. My 2010 goal. I think. It depends. But maybe.
*Oh, but I can keep a secret. I've got a secret. But don't worry. I'll share it soon.
**IF you're thinking about entering a Rev3 race for 2010, hold off for a few weeks on entering because I'll have a discount code for you to save $10 off the entry fee. :)
Awesome. Add to my stress, why don't you? I wondered if they keep you on board if it turns out you're pregnant?Apparently, they do keep you on the team, or at least at this point, it appears so! It does make me a little more bummed out about the fact that I'm not going to be racing next year though. Although, I'll let you in on a little secret, which of course will no longer be a secret once I type it here, and since we all know that I can't possibly actually keep a secret from my blog readers*, I'm going to spill it right here right now...
Trakkers owns the Rev3 Races, so they are encouraging their athletes to do as many of the series as they can**... which of course is a challenge for me living here in Hawaii. But the attraction for me is that the Cedar Point Rev3 race is in Ohio, which is where my family lives. And it's Sept 12, which is like almost two full months after I give birth. Hmmm. I wonder if I could do a half iron race less than two months after I give birth? Hmmm. I wonder. It's in my head, y'all. If my delivery is just a tad early and is as easy as it was with Moana, I'll be back running and swimming 10 days later... ok ok I know it might be crazy, but the good news is that I don't have to enter early. I can wait and make a decision right before race day if I want. Shoot, I think the biggest challenge wouldn't be completing the race- it would be flying an almost two year old to Ohio. (The two month old would be easy because he/she will sleep the whole time.)
So there it is. My 2010 goal. I think. It depends. But maybe.*Oh, but I can keep a secret. I've got a secret. But don't worry. I'll share it soon.
**IF you're thinking about entering a Rev3 race for 2010, hold off for a few weeks on entering because I'll have a discount code for you to save $10 off the entry fee. :)
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