Yanti & Salty Mad Manatees PART 3: FULL POD (Page 76)

Got in to Calgary today.  Went by the swim site--couldn't get right to the site, cause it is a gated area, but got close enough to see what was what.  It was good to note that although the wind was up a bit, the water was relatively calm.  The start is just off to the right of the photo, turns under the overpass, then is a rectangle back to the start.  The 'lake' is actually a reservoir for hydroelectricity--the other photo is on the other side of the gravel road I was on.

Drove most of the bike course too--eek!  There are a couple tough hills!!  But mostly easy rollers.  The one awesome thing is that a lot of the course is through farmland--lots of cattle, horses, llamas.  Saw quite a few birds of prey hunting as well--hopefully there are no vultures out there, as they may have to snack on the side of the road!!!  I have made a plan of where I am going to 'take it easy' to, and then where I will start to push a little harder. 

Went for a short run with strides last night, and got in a swim this am--just 15min easy, a couple fast 50's then cool down.  I'm feeling ok about the race, hopefully it is that I am prepared and not overconfidence!!

(Swim site.jpg)

(dam.jpg)

That's a nice looking race site! It reminds me of Folsom Lake here (site of quite a few races)---I am sure you are well prepared---HAVE FUN! Honestly, I can't reiterate, I seem to do better at races that I just let go and compete, but really just go with the flow and have fun with it---When I have started worrying about how I was doing, I tended to slow down and freak out....Just my two cents...

As for me tonight, I joined a couple of people from my tri club (have I ever mentioned how nice and welcoming this group is? Truly, nowhere else have I felt so much good vibes from people!) and swam in the Nimbus Flats area of Lake Natoma (the offshoot from Folsom Lake; the Folsom Dam allows flow into Lake Natoma which then goes to the Nimbus dam which sets the flow into the American River...The Nimbus Dam is at the edge of the lake, it sort of creeps me out swimming near it!) Anyway, we decided to swim as far as I wanted to go---along the their normal route---we ended up going to the second dock on the right side of the lake and back...I swam 1.08 miles tonight!!! Longest swim so far! In about 50 minutes! And then I ran a bit over 3 miles on the nearby park trail...Great workout tonight! I think its safe to say that the plan of doing the Spartan Beast has really inspired me!

I'm friggin' crying now. For real. I love you guys. You give him a big {MELON PRESS} and kiss for me. Dagnabbit. Sniff sniff allergies ...

They do have an IM shuttle going down from Perth; I'll send you the info. Me, I'm arriving Thursday and very likely renting a car to go down.

Volunteering really is exhausting. I've found it's usually harder to sherpa or volunteer (if it's for the whole race) than to just do the race itself!

Damn straight, sez the nekkid rider here.

My friend calls me an IM Wh*re coz all I love doing is floozing around Ironman and triathlon and I know so many people!  Can't wait, should be a blast!  Can't wait to see you finish that sucker!

This is true even for fairly temperate distance swims, of course especially so for the Channel and other frigid ones.

See ... I'm not chunky, I'm just a MARATHON SWIMMER! :D

Truth, even the "short" distance open water swimmers (5K, 10K) have a significantly higher ave % bodyfat than other endurance athletes. They have to. I'll actually see if I can dig up stats and pics for inspiration.

Please send cheers, congrats and the Manatees' best to Grant and tell him what an inspiration he is.

We are all cheering for Paul too!

News from Paul - he has done 15km 3hrs 10mins, maintaining a pace of 1.14 per 100m, 60 strokes per min.  Pilot says he is 1/4 of the way through and should complete in 12 hours if all goes well.  He is feeding well etc. Paul is a big guy I think he should do it.  There's a bit of a chop in the Channel today but he loves that, he's South African so not afraid of the surf!

No Pilates for me today, cough, cough cough thought that might get a bit wearing on that reformer bed!!!  Swimming tonight though we won't swim much, all talk will be of Grant and Paul and our two others going off next week, Robbie and Rich! 

I may go for a short run before my swim, it's a maybe at this stage coz i'm having a coughing fit as I type this!!!! 

And happier.

Thanks for the update! 1:14/100, woof, enough to make me want to puke! You are so lucky to swim with those guys.

And you take it easy with that cough, missy!

Strangely enough water pressure on the chest has always made coughs of mine feel better, so maybe a swim (especially a gossipy one) might be all right.

I find the same with swimming, the humidity of the pool seems to ease the breathing whereas running in the cold night air not so much!

Nearly home time for me!  Yay! - done a lot of boat tracking and BT today - now I should do some work probably....

Mess? Mess?

Most marathon swims or crossings go by what's actually officially known as Channel rules. They are stringent. The Catalina swim in Southern California has what's known as Catalina rules, slightly different, but only in that you may have pacing swimmers (strict rules about how long, often, many and positioning, though, as not to incur any advantage). You cannot have them for the whole swim. Gear rules and no touching anyone or anything are the same. No touching wildlife, either.

great swim Kate.

2.5km at swim squad, now coughing up half a lung!

On the downside looks like Paul Hoffman's boat has turned around after a little over half way through, and is headed back to Dover - conditions got windy and choppy, not got any concrete news yet but it could be another bad day at the Channel office....

YOU DIDN'T MENTION HE WAS SINGLE BEFORE!!!

Yanti is on her way!

Sometimes a lot is just a lot ... and you've both had and made a lot of major changes lately. All either inevitable or necessary, and all shall be well, but a lot is a lot.

Good on ya for the runny. They will definitely help.

Good thing there's only 24 hours in a craptastic day.  And if you go to bed early, you can start making your way towards (hopefully) a better day .  Hang in there.

Hiya Manatees!!  I am on vacation - visiting family and introducing them to E.

We (E, A, and I) all went for a run this morning.  I'm starting half marathon training!!  Have a 5k on Saturday that is part of A's family reunion.  Not a race, but it is pretty fun.  

Awesome that the family reunion includes a 5K!!!! Also, a great way to kick of HM training! When is the race?

Welp, you can tell when I am attempting to type on my phone with it's lovely little auto-correct. I think mess works though...hawtmess.  Both of you. 

November 10th.  It's the Richmond Half Marathon.  They have a full, half, and an 8k all that day.

I do like the 5k.  Some of the family members get really competitive, but that's not my plan.  It'll just be another training run for me.

We are having an opening ceremonies party at our house tomorrow and my SO and our friend B came up with these drinking game rules: 

I have to get up really early Saturday morning (to leave for a bachelorette party of all things) so I think I will just be casually observing....thank goodness.