The Good News is Everyone is Okay

My sister's house. Luckily no one was inside at the time.

Small World

I posted on Slowtwitch asking for elevation profiles for Cypress and Seymour and someone gave me a link to this, which was created by a fellow club member who works for one of our club sponsors.

Kind of funny to go to an anonymous forum for info I could have easily gotten from a clubmate.

Sasamat Swim

I did the 2km race and went in with several goals. The first, of course, was to beat my time from 2006 (last year I did for 4km swim). The second was to start in the thick of things and deal with my swim start psychosis and my third goal was to actually race the swim rather than do it as a set pace.

I started in the middle of the crowd and had no issues, it helps that I'm familiar with the lake and have so many people I know starting with me so it was a low stress environment. The crowd very quickly split up with a big break forming between the group of swimmers I was with and the group ahead. Most of the way to the first turn I was at the head of my group of swimmers. I couldn't get on anyone's toes as there was no one directly ahead of me, I realized that this must be what it feels like to be Stephanie (except slower!).

Before the first turn I found a pair of toes to draft off, lost them at the turn but found another set. I did have to battle to keep toes, at one point someone pushed me off the toes I was drafting off and I put my years of hockey watching to good use and hip checked her out of the way. There was a swimmer who kept breast stroking (whip kick in the water can be deadly) who I couldn't get in front of or away from which was annoying, especially on the last leg of the swim as a very aggressive group of women were pushing me in her direction. The more I pushed back the more aggressively they pushed me her way, it was a bit ridiculous as there was six of us swimming together with a whole lake to swim in but we were on top of each other for a good 15 minutes.

I was quite enjoying the battle and hopefully swimming well when I started getting out of breath and got a bit panicky. Suddenly my chest constricted and I was hyperventillating and I couldn't keep doing free. I swore loudly and did some breast stroke (shoulder checking first to ensure I didn't kick anyone in the head) to catch my breath and finished slower than my '06 time and, worse by far, well behind the agressive group I'd been battling with.

A disappointing race in some ways but I succeeded in the start and I definitely pushed myself speedwise. Maybe I pushed too hard, but as Sensei Harry used to say (back when I was the worst karate student ever), it's better to over correct than under correct.

Chrissie Wellington is my hero!

She's raced 4 Ironmans and she's won 4. What's more, she's won with a smile on her face. Very, very cool and fun to see a professional with that much joy in being in the event. This was her second chance to break a record (the marathon record at Kona in 2007 and the overall women's IM time today) and instead savoured the final miles of the run. I wonder if she's kicking herself for not going just a bit harder, 31 seconds away!

I'm not breaking any world records but it's been a tough week of training.

Tuesday was the Sasamat Canada Day swim. Wednesday morning was Master swim and I got to feel a bit faster and salve my pride somewhat.

Wednesday night was the second hill climb of the year. I had to miss the Cypress climb last month so I was happy to be able to do Seymour. Seymour is a tougher hill that Cypress, with a nastier starting grade - really tough for the first 5-6km. I was 1:09 and change to the top, I think I was faster last year in my rides with Teresa but I can't find my times so I no idea.

Thursday was up early for some core and strength work then in the evening a tough pace work run in which I was trying to keep up with Marie. I don't know what her 10km pace is but I was definitely going faster than mine. It's fun to have someone to chase (up to the point where she totally dropped me) and nice not to be pace bunny.

I didn't do my Friday ride as I wanted a day off in the week. Saturday was a four hour ride with Mary, Michelle and Christine. As usual we found a club member along the way (Heather this time) and came back with more than we left with. After the ride was a 20min easy run. I skipped the 30min of strength work as I had to make it to dinner.

Today was a somewhat frustrating swim at Kits beach. For the main set we were supposed to be working on drafting but there was no one my speed so I was either slowing down Teresa and Bronwyn or watching them disappear into the distance. I was tired from the week so couldn't swim (or think) straight and sighting was a struggle. After the swim was an easy 1:50 run. It took about 45 min for my legs to stop hurting, I started to feel loose and comfortable just before Spanish Banks hill.

It's been a very, very lazy afternoon! I dozed on the couch then had an official nap. I woke up enough for a Skype call with my nephews (luckily I don't have to work on keeping the conversation going when Marcus is around!) and now I'm watching the US track & field Olympic trials, which will be followed by the US swimming Olympic trials (aka "The Phelps Show"). Next week is an easy week then I'm in Penticton for a visit and a race!

Things I Don’t Miss About Ultimate

• 6 o’clock games starting at 6:40
• Losing to teams that only use one of their women and rely on the huck play
• One negative presence in the game bringing me down
• It’s hard to take anything positive out of a loss

I played my third game of ulti in two years last night. At the end of it I couldn't remember what had had me so hooked for fourteen years.

Near the start of the game I was actually surprised that my check (the woman who was thrown to, btw) got mad at me for moving on a foul call. I was breaking the rules and she was absolutely in the right, somehow I forgot that people actually take the game seriously. Shows you the headspace I was in when I showed up!

Even though I cared less about the ultimate game than today's 2km swim race, losing the game was more of a bummer than not hitting my goal time in the swim.

That said, I do miss the friends that I see so much less of and all the great people I used to play with. That's a big enough point to counter all of the above. Ulti is a great community with some pretty cool folk. Maybe I'll just have to get them all doing tri's!