The Active Family Travels: Storming Seattle

Question: How much luggage does it take for one mom and two kids to go to Seattle for five days?

Answer: A LOT!

The problem is this: We stayed with my sister in Seattle for five days, but in that time:

- Asa went to a two-day dance intensive with some of the nation's top choreographers. Result: three bags of dancewear and shoes.

- Mackenzie wanted us to visit the Shudokan Karate dojo in Mercer Island. Result: Two bags of karate gis (those funny white outfits) and belts.

- I wanted to fit in a bike ride and run with my sister, who is also a triathlete. Result: One bike, one bag of biking gear, one suitcase full of cold-weather biking and running clothes.

- We wanted to go visit a Wing Chun Kung Fu school while we were there. Result: more athletic wear.

Oh yeah, and we wanted to go out for dinner and visit friends while we were at it. Result: Pack nice clothing and shoes. And I had to feed my teenage son for five days. Pack lots and lots of food and snacks.

In the end, it's a very lucky thing that we still have a mini-van. You could've mounted an invasion of a small country with less stuff than we packed in that van. I'm just glad my sister was not overwhelmed when we landed in her entryway with our massive amounts of gear. But the upside is this: hubby and I have accomplished one of our goals: we've raised active kids. Kids who are engaged in life, and fit in body. If that takes a little more equipment, cargo space, and planning, not to mention lots of fresh food, so be it.

The Upside of Injury: Getting Faster

Most triathletes will have to deal with an injury at some point in their training and racing lives. It can be demoralizing, debilitating, frustrating, and of course painful. But there can be an upside to injury too: Speed. All too often as Type A triathletes, we fixate on mileage, intensity, heart-rate, wattage, and other easily measurable and trackable outputs, sometimes at the expense of the less-quantifyable but important aspects of sport like technique, flexibility, and core strength.

An injury is a setback, sure. But it can also be a benefit when you use your injured time to focus on these overlooked areas of training to make yourself stronger, more flexible, and more efficient (not to mention more injury-proof for the future, since poor technique, lack of flexibility and low core strength are big contributors to most training injuries)

Unfortunately, I speak from all too much experience with injury, especially in the last few years. But as much as it has upset my training, my injuries have had some unexpectedly positive consequences. Coming back from three years in which I broke my hand, my arm, and my arm again (at the elbow), you would think that my swimming would be far worse than it was, say 5 years ago. But instead, I'm faster now than I've been at any time since college. I used the last few years to work steadily on the things that truly matter to speed in swimming: technique, flexibility, and utilizing my core more in my stroke instead of my arms and shoulders.

 The result was evident the other day when I swam a series of 200s in 2:20, a training time that I haven't hit since my days of swimming two workouts a day, six days a week (I'm only swimming 3x a week currently). I can't pile on the yardage that I used to, but I can make every yard count.

This year with a knee injury from a biking incident, I faced much the same problem with running. From last April, two months before Ironman Coeur d'Alene until now, I haven't been able to run more than a couple miles at a time, and until the last few weeks I've been holding my mileage down to 1 - 3 three mile runs a week, hardly an inspiring amount of mileage. Also, no speed work, no track workouts and no tempo runs. Those are three-mile jogs, not anything with intensity or difficulty.

So how is it that on a run with my sister yesterday, she came to comment "You're a lot faster than you used to be!"? I simply applied the same principle to my running that I have to my swimming over the last few years: work on the things that you can, instead of focusing on what you can't do. With running, this has meant a focus on holding good Chi Running form, working on a light and quick turnover of over 90 per minute, and putting a big emphasis on body composition. I've been tracking calories using an Android app called LoseIt, and have very gradually dropped over 10 pounds in the last year. I figure this makes it easier on my injured knee, as well as making me a little bit faster.

So if you find yourself staring an injury in the face this training season, you might think of it as a bonus, not a drawback. Use the time to work on the things you can: core strength, flexibility, technique, body composition, and see if you just don't come back stronger!

Everyone Should be Incompetent Sometime

That is, I think every adult should try something completely new every few years. If you don't, how would you get to experience that moment when you realize that you know absolutely nothing. Or worse, that everything you know is wrong, all your instincts incorrect, your movements backwards and inside out. Every time you experience this, you gain countless amounts of empathy for every person you have to deal with in your life who you might otherwise be inclined to view as  incompetent themselves. Instead, you realize that we all have varying degrees of knowledge about different subjects, and at any given time in the situation of the moment, you may be the master, or you may be the newborn, helpless and incomplete.

As a black belt in karate, I could be basking in the feeling that I have Achieved Something. Arrived Somewhere. Hold some vast store of knowledge that I didn't hold before. Of course, most anyone who has achieved the rank of black belt knows that it's just the opposite. It's more like holding open a door to the vast yawning abyss of all that you don't know in your martial art. It's a dawning realization that even your entire lifetime would not be enough to master all of the skills encompassed in your study. That you have barely scratched the surface.

On top of that, my son recently convinced me to join him in studying Wing Chun, a form of Kung Fu. Now I should point out that all of my training in Karate prepares me to be absolutely incompetent in Wing Chun. I would probably be better off if I had no martial arts training whatsoever. When I'm punching, my Karate instinct is to bring my hand back into the chamber position and then fire it off using my hips and whole body to throw a big old punch, focusing on a fist that is parallel to the floor with the striking surface being the first two knuckles.

Which of course is absolutely nothing like a Wing Chun punch, which uses a vertical fist, no chamber, no big hips, short and fast, nothing of what I already know. And likewise the other strikes and blocks in Wing Chun are very different from what I have studied, leaving me basically feeling like I did on my first day as a white belt in Karate - a newborn, knowing nothing, an empty vessel. Or worse, not even an empty vessel. I first have to empty myself, which is much harder to do than you'd think.

Still, I'm loving this new focus, this new way to turn myself inside out. A new opportunity to still my mind, to unlearn and to learn anew. And when I take it back to my Karate classes, I find myself better prepared to understand what I am studying there. My focus in preparing for my 2nd degree black belt is a "package" of 10 kata (or forms), and these kata are all influenced by White Crane Kung Fu, which is different than Wing Chun, but shares some similarities. In essence, I'm learning the origins of moves that were folded into Shudokan karate many years ago.

As I study both arts, I find myself wrapping back around, like the tails of the yin yang symbol, into a place of understanding. A hard art, a soft art. An intercepting fist, a redirecting touch. Both effective in their own way, both with a place in my body and mind.

I'm learning to be empty, and I'm learning to be full.

The Ability to Break Through Our Ceiling

The oppressive grey fog that has blanketed us this week could be seen as a metaphor. There are times in life when we can't see a path upwards, when our goals feel obscured, we feel boxed in, pushed down, unable to move. All too often though, the grey matter that stands between us and our visions and dreams is quite literally all in our heads. So how do we find a way to break through, up and out to the sunny vistas that we desire for our life?

A run this weekend with my hubby gave me pause to think about how firmly we see our barriers above us, and how yet they are often the thinnest of layers, easily broken through with a little effort.

We started out in the grayest of gray cloud banks, the forest air literally dense with frozen water. In places, the trail was a skating rink of black ice, in other areas it was blanketed in fallen ice crystals from the trees above. But as we steadily worked our way up the ridgeline, the thick mist began to lighten, then to positively glow with a lovely pastel radiance. The air around us became luminous and the snow reflected the pale light so the ground beneath our feet felt like it was glowing.

All of a sudden above us through the trees, beams of golden light shot out through the mist. Although we hadn't planned on it, I knew we needed to take a detour from the trail and head upwards to the top of the butte. Hubby was not so convinced. The trail was treacherous, and as it got steeper it became increasingly impossible to navigate. But I knew that where there were sunbeams, there must be sun, so up up we went.

Sure enough, once we arrived at the top, we could see that we had broken through the layer of grey and were now on top of an ocean of clouds stretching in all directions across the valley below. What had once seemed like an impenetrable ceiling was now beneath us. Although the frigid air below had chilled us to the bitter bone, we stripped down to t-shirts at the top and basked in the warmth like lizards. Sadly, we were on a timeline, so we had only a few short minutes to enjoy the top. I inhaled deeply, taking in the defrosting earth, the unmistakable smell of green growing things, warm dirt. All the way down into the fogline, I sounded like a yoga practitioner gone bonkers, trying to savor those smells before they were frozen into so many impenetrable crystals.

So, when the grey closes in around you, and the walls above feel too thick, what gets you to break through? For me, it's often my training. It might not feel like it at the time, but every time you push your boundaries, you  in turn become less bounded. When you know that your limits are malleable, you can make yourself work all the harder to move them back.

Even on this run, the fact that we had run before, run many winding trails up and down the ridgeline, enabled us to decide on the spur of the moment to run up the mountain. Running up a mountain is not something everyone can do. Most folks would be gasping and wheezing after a minute or two of such effort. So our prior hard work paid off in allowing us this moment of freedom above the clouds.

When relatives, co-workers, or friends express doubt or dismay over your training, it's nice to remember that there are these wonderful times when it pays off in spades. When the grey ceiling that everyone thinks is immovable can actually be broken. By you.

Fifty Shades of Grey

I think I've seen all fifty shades of grey in the sky this week, but not one ounce of blue. My run today on a trail through the misty, frozen woods was hauntingly beautiful, but brought little but chill to my heart. My mood drops, only picking itself up to little spikes of anger or irritation, then flattening out again to a dull flat sameness.

I admit, my heart is tied to the sunshine. Even with the cold, if those rays are falling on my face, I'm good. Like the rest of my generation, I sang along with John Denver and his "Sunshine on my shoulders". Truer words were never written.

I suppose what makes this week even worse is the feeling of betrayal. Oh sure, I know better. I live in the Pacific Northwest. When the weatherman issues a chart that looks like this, I should know enough not to pin my hopes on it. But is one tiny ray through the clouds too much to ask for? Today was supposed to be that little round yellow globe with the number 52 beside it. Instead, on my run I noticed that the plants alongside the trail were rimed with ice that has not melted once this week. Another runner said his portable thermometer read 33 F, and that was at noon.

Still, I am fortunate to have accumulated over the years an arsenal of cold weather running clothing. I can be completely comfortable, and even become warm, while running in the fog-chilled damp 33 degree air. Without that, I truly would go insane, so I guess it's time to thank God for small blessings. And perhaps beg for a bit of sunshine while I'm at it.

Swimming Technique For The Win

As a swim coach, my greatest satisfaction comes from helping people make swimming easier, faster, and more enjoyable by fixing technique problems that are slowing them down and/or causing injuries.

This week was breakthrough week for many of my swimmers, and nothing makes me happier.

In my Monday Swim Conditioning class, we use a performance metric called the Swim Golf (sometimes abbreviated as SWOLF):

Each Swimmer goes 50 yards, counting their strokes (each arm stroke counts as one). They also keep track of their time for the 50 yards. Their Swim Golf Score is Time (in seconds) plus Strokes. Just like in regular Golf, under 70 is optimal. The idea with swim golf is to swim as efficiently as possible as fast as possible. If you swim fast by churning the water, you may get a faster time, but in the long run the energy hit will be too great to keep up. So a balance of long smooth strokes and stroke turnover is needed to get a good swim golf score.

EVERY ONE of my swimmers improved their Swim Golf scores!!!  My least experienced swimmer came down from 115 to 95, and my most experienced shaved off 7 points from 70 to 63, and everyone in the middle experienced similar improvements. This comes from weekly drills where we focus on improving different elements of the stroke for greater efficiency. And it works!

The next day, two of my Masters swimmers told me they had hit PR's this week. Yeah!

And then in a private swim lesson, a swimmer had a wonderful breakthrough. We were working on hand entry - on angling the hand down for a nice entry and a smooth long glide. As we worked through the drills and integrated it into her stroke, she commented that yeah, this was nice and all but she was swimming so slow, how could she hold this technique and actually get faster?

In answer, I timed her while she was swimming. When I told her how fast she was swimming, she wouldn't believe me until she watched the clock herself: She was six seconds faster per 100 than her normal pace, and all with so much less effort, it felt like she was swimming "slow". Now that's one of those moments where I jump up and down on the deck like a demented cheerleader.

The bottom line people: if you want to get faster in swimming, don't just crank out the yards. And don't get your buddy who used to swim in high school 20+ years ago to look at your stroke and give you a few tips. Find a masters group or a good swim coach and work with them to improve your technique. You'll save yourself some future swimming-related injuries, swim smoother, faster, and have more fun!

The Twelve Blog Posts of Post-Christmas

I think I should get used to doing mini blog posts. It seems like I think I have to have some big involved idea in order to post, and then I never have the time to sit down and write something big and involved. It may be that one paragraph bursts are all I can do for awhile. Since it's now been 12 days since I posted, here are twelve things that happened recently that I didn't manage to write about (in no particular order):

1. My son started college. Wow, can't believe I typed that. One of the benefits/drawbacks of homeschooling is that the kids are ready to move on pretty early. He's currently enrolled at our local community college, pursing a certification in IT, preparatory to continuing on to a computer science degree. Since he's 16, and doesn't have a driver's license yet, this week involved getting him used to the bus schedules he'll need to keep track of, learning his way around campus, buying textbooks and other new things, and most importantly making sure he has enough food packed, and that all the food he needs for a day and evening can actually FIT in a backpack - sheesh, 16 year old boys eat a lot. On the first day, he informed me that the lunch I packed (two sandwiches, a container of yogurt, an apple, a banana, three fruit leathers and a protein bar) had all disappeared by lunchtime and he was hungry by the afternoon.

2. The heater broke on our club's pool. By Wednesday, it was at a chilly 75 degrees, and I had the BEST WORKOUT in forever. I forgot how much I love swimming in cold pools. I came out invigorated, and extremely pleased that in descending sets of 100's, I was able to hold 1:15, 1:12, and 1:08 respectively. Woot! My swimming has been getting stronger and stronger lately, but this was definitely the best I've felt in a very long time.

3. My hubby was home for 4 straight weeks. Now that was weird! Normally he's gone just about every other week, it was nice to have him back with us for awhile. We got some good bike rides and runs in together, and the occasional sneak out to Starbucks for a mocha.

4. I get to  go see my sister and brother-in-law in a few weeks in Seattle. I wish we lived closer!

5. This is unprecedented: Our weather report says 10 straight days of sunshine are coming our way. In January. In Oregon. Yeah baby!

6. Chip Kelly is going to keep coaching the Duck football team.

7. I've managed to lose 15 pounds since last March, and kept it off over the holidays. Better for my (recovering) knee.



8.  There's a heart-shaped lake I see all the time on a local bike ride. Love it.

9.  I CAN RUN. Well, I'm up to 9 miles a week. That's very good news.

10. Immediately after her performance run as Veruca Salt in the musical Willy Wonka, Asa has auditioned for the musical Aladdin. Because we can't have a month or two without shuttling to rehearsals now can we?

11. I saw Les Mis. I loved it. Again. Just like I fell in love with it when I first read it (26 years ago, in French Literature class), first saw it on stage (20 years ago), and last saw it on stage (last year's 25th anniversary touring company). Now I have the CD on endless repeat on my car stereo, can't get the songs out of my head. I'm reading it to the kids (in English this time) as our bedtime story.

12.  I re-wrote my resume for the first time since 1988 and submitted it for a job in the computer field. Not saying just what yet, but cross your fingers for me.

2013, Day 1

Happy New Year Indeed! If this is the way 2013 is going to go, bring it on. I started the day with some of the brave Aquaducks, turning out to swim the "year in 50's". Up this year: 113 x 50 on the :45. Even though I am (obviously!) getting older every year, this workout has actually been getting easier to do. Since this year I've been managing to swim 3 - 4 times a week, it was a piece of cake. I even managed to throw some back, breast, and butterfly in there and still make the interval.

And special bonus: this is the first year my Ironhubby has turned out to do the workout. Wow, this Ironman training has been awesome for him and his swimming has gotten strong in a short amount of time. He's the buff dude, 5th from the left (among a legion of buff dudes and gals. Have to say, we look pretty darned amazing for a group that probably averages around 50 in age!) And yes, that's my festive red shimmery holiday suit, I picked it up from SwimOutlet.com especially for December and New Years, though I may break it out for Valentines Day as well.

Afterwards can only be described as heaven on earth - the absolute best homemade Cinnamon rolls (courtesy of one wonderful Aqua-spouse) and a soak in the hot tub. Then Starbucks with my hubby (our special post-swim time every week).

When we got  home, it was beautiful outside. I got to walk the dogs in the glorious sunshine - a real treat in Oregon's oft-rainy winter.

We've been re-arranging my son's lair...er, den...., er... room, trying to organize all of his games, computers, cables, monitors, game controllers, etc. And today we found this terrific entertainment center at a thrift store and got it moved in and installed. $30 - a real deal! And look - lo, the floor around him is clear! And walkable! It is indeed a miracle. If this keeps up, we may finally get him fully moved into this room, leaving his old room to be repurposed as a guest bedroom and family entertainment room. Suh-weet!

Topping off the evening, my wonderful hubby baked some lasagna, and we had a  nice family dinner together. Best of all, he made two more lasagnas which are residing in the freezer for another cold winter's night when we need some culinary good cheer.  We talked about what a great holiday it's been, and what everyone's plans for the new year are.

So Day 1 of 2013 finds me blessed with family, good food, great friends, good health, and goals to work toward. It just doesn't get better than that.

Wishing you all a wonderfully happy new year!

No Winter Lasts Forever

Today while hubby and I were absolutely freezing our last toenail off on a bike ride, and cursing the weatherman who cheerily predicted high temps of 48 when it was just short of ice crystal formation, we happened to bike by an old farmhouse out in the country. It looked familiar, and in fact it was. Just this summer, we got so overheated on a ride on a 98 degree day that we stopped and soaked our heads in the sprinkler that was going on their lawn.

It's hard to believe we could ever have been that hot. Truth be told, we were probably far too close to heatstroke. But at this moment, in the frigid December air, it was almost impossible to remember what a broiling mid-summer afternoon feels like, and back in July or August I'm sure it was equally hard to remember what it could be like to be so cold.

As the end of the year approaches, and I think back on the year gone by. There were days when it felt like all the earth was spinning my way, and others when I bumped up against one frustration after another. When you're at either extreme, it can be hard to imagine the other. But all of those days together make up a year - the hot ones, the cold ones, the hard ones, and the easy ones.

As we head into the year to come, I can see some scary days ahead of me. I'm writing up a resume, something I haven't done since 1988, applying for some jobs that I may or may not get. My son is going to his first day of college in a little more than a week. My daughter is auditioning for a big role she really wants. My husband will face his first Ironman. I will prepare to test for my 2nd degree black belt. I may face a surgeon's knife if I ever want to run again. And there will be trials and tribulations that I can't even imagine right now.

On those days when it all feels overwhelming, I hope I remember this old farmhouse. How it can be frosted over one day, when not so very long ago it was a cool oasis on a long strip of blistering hot blacktop. I hope I can hold onto the knowing - that even if today is hard and the obstacles seem insurmountable, that just a little while later, the world will look completely different again.

48 Weeks To Iron Hubby: Man on the Road

The two biggest obstacles to training for an Ironman for most people are work, and parenthood. While our days of parenting infants and toddlers are long behind us, parenting teens may just require more work (or is that just more driving them around?), and hubby has the distinct disadvantage of also traveling for his job, usually one week out of every two. Except this month it's been 3 weeks out of 4.

So how do you fit it all in when you have a family, work, and travel to account for?

Fitting in workouts when you're on the road so much makes for a challenging training schedule. Here's what we've figured out for Wayne's workout schedule to maximize his use of time when he's away from home and when he's back in town:

RUNNING: This is the easiest activity to achieve anywhere, so running stays a constant in Wayne's training plan. His longer runs will occur on weekends, since he's almost always home for those. But on the road, he can usually fit in 2 - 3 more runs a week, even during traveling weeks. Most business hotels now have a treadmill or two at a minimum, and he can use these when traveling in the wintertime. Boring, but necessary!

BIKING: Wayne's training plan will alternate between light bike weeks (Friday and Sunday rides only) when he's traveling, and heavier bike weeks (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) when he's home. We're planning on a couple of strategically placed "big bike weeks" where we pump up the bike volume in the spring and summer. Right now he's concentrating on getting as much time in the aerobars as possible, to build up his muscles before we start hitting the longer rides in the spring.

SWIMMING: When he's in town, Wayne's hitting the pool with the Masters, and steadily improving his swim times. When he's out of town, well most hotel pools leave a lot to be desired, so that's hit and miss. Still, swimming is the shortest part of an Ironman, and one that Wayne should be able to make a decent time in, even at his current skill level.

In short, training for triathlons requires a commitment, whether you're in town, out of town, have kids to get places, or whatever your circumstances. While Wayne is busy jetting to some other city and running on a hotel treadmill, I have dropped the kids off at Kung Fu class and play rehearsal respectively, and with the dogs in tow I'm fitting in my 3 mile run, sometimes in the pouring rain. That's what commitment and training is all about - getting it done, no matter where you are and how you have to fit it in. A lot of people are surprised that Wayne signed up for the Ironman, given his work schedule, but like so many Ironmen before him, he's made the commitment to get the workouts done.

The Power To Transform Your Life

Hubby and I were at REI today buying him some cold weather tights so he can ride outdoors in these cold December days, and we ran into some friends we hadn't seen in awhile.

Except that we didn't even recognize one of them. But she knew us. You know how awkward that is when someone knows you and you can't even place them? Well, there was a reason. She has lost 100 pounds and completely transformed her health and her life.

She no longer has diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. She no longer takes a dozen medications just to get by. She's healthy and vital and brimming with energy and glowing with good health! She was there at REI to buy some new hiking boots, she now walks three or more miles a day.

We hear the words so often, they've ceased to make an impact on our ears: diet and exercise. Exercise and diet. It sounds so simple, it couldn't possibly be as simple as that, could it? Isn't there a pill, shake weight, fat-blasting DVD or other quick fix that will do it for me? But it IS that simple. When you take control of your health, the food you eat, the movements that your body does, you can simply transform your life.

I am blessed as a coach to work with people every day who have made this incredible transformation. I hear their stories, I see the tears in their eyes, I know how grateful they are to be able to walk, swim, run, move. I know how tough it's been for them and how hard they've worked, and I know how much it's worth it. If you're waiting for something out there to transform your life, don't. Don't wait, just get started. You have the power.

When 3 Miles Is A Long Run: The Road to Recovery

I shared a great quote on my Facebook page the other day that's worth repeating:

It never gets easier. You just get better.

It's worth repeating because many people think that athletic achievements are somehow easier for people who are athletes than they are for non-athletes. It's just not true. While it might be easier for one person to go faster than another (I will never bike as fast as Lance Armstrong, with our without the doping), it's never easy.

Let me repeat that: It's never easy. Not for any athlete. Not for the couch-to-5k'er, not for the experienced marathoner. Not for Lance Armstrong, even with dope.

And when you haven't run in six months, you come face to face with this inevitable truth because all of a sudden something you could once do without thinking becomes very very hard. A three mile run. Just a 5k. Sure, a 5k race is brutal, but to just go out and run a few miles at an easy pace? I used to be able to do that in my sleep.

Now there is no easy pace.

But. But, but, but.... I can run! 

I started with a trail run two weeks ago, just 20 minutes. Last week it was a post-Thanksgiving run on my hometown trails, and I did 30 minutes without a problem. Today I did 3.5 miles and so far so good, my knee is a little sore but no stabbing pain yet.

My current plan is to work up to 4 miles once a week, with the other two runs of 30 minutes each on the elliptical. Then gradually I'll transition each of those runs back to actual running. When I can run 3 - 4 miles three times a week, then and only then will I start building in some more mileage. If it feels bad at any point, I can back off. That's something I couldn't do for oh, a couple of decades, but I'm trying to be good about training smarter and letting my body heal.

Another thing I'm trying to be good about is to release my expectations. So I did take my watch today, but I told myself I would be fine with whatever it said. 10 minute miles, 11, 12, whatever. I was pleasantly surprised to find them all under 10, with the last one under 9.

As always, the first mile always feels the worst (unless you're in an Ironman or a marathon, in which case miles 22 - 25 always feel the worst. Always.) but it did get better and that last mile felt almost.... dare I say it? Good.

51 Weeks to Iron Hubby: Already Arguing With the Coach

While many triathletes monitor their every last watt, breath, and body fat percentage, my hubby just finally got out the HR monitor/watch I got him for his birthday  (2 months ago!) out of the box.

"Put it on" I say

"I don't know how it works, I'll just go swim" says he

"You press this button here to start it going, and press it again when you want to record a split time. Then you press this button over here to stop it" (this guy can fix or fly a $10 million dollar jet airplane, I know he can work the darned watch already)

"It's too much trouble"

(Sound of me tearing my hair out)

Finally I got him convinced to use the watch. Then it was another argument over the workout - honestly, I do get paid to write up swim workouts and OTHER people actually follow them. Eventually though, I talked him into doing a timed 4000 with a 400 yard warmup, so the total distance is about equal to the Ironman swim. In my experience, the wetsuit gives most men about a 10% bonus in speed, so a 4000 yard pool swim time is roughly what you can expect to swim an Ironman in.

Off he went to the pool, returning with some great splits on the watch and a smile on his face.
1:07!
That's a pretty darned nice swim split for your first timed effort, a year out from your Ironman. Yeah, I don't think he'll have much trouble on the swim.

As long as he stops arguing with his coach, that is.

New Countdown: 52 Weeks to IronHubby

Yep, he did it. For years, he's been Mr. "I'll Never Do an Ironman" (sometimes I think about how wise he is, how sane). But all that changed in a tent in Tempe Arizona today. Last night we volunteered here at the 2012 Ironman Arizona, and he got to see first-hand the zombie-walkers of the evening marathon slog. That, coupled with supporting me through two Ironmans means he absolutely knows what he's getting into.

Well, almost.

No one ever really knows what they're getting into when they sign up for their first Ironman. They may think they do, but they don't. So from here on out, I'll let him tell the story in his own words. Once a week, I'm going to have him do a guest post as he counts down to his first Ironman. He's done one Sprint (10 years ago) and one Olympic (3 years ago) triathlon in his life, so he's really quite new to this sport. His perspective will be totally different than mine in what he brings to the Ironman. However, he's quite a good all-around athlete with great strength and endurance, so I have confidence that he'll do just fine.

So here, in all of his tri-newbie glory, are my husbands first words as he prepares for his 52- week Ironman Countdown:

"What the Heck Have I Done?" (Robin's Note: I'm paraphrasing here, to keep my G rating)

"The journey begins.  I'm excited for the challenges ahead. The combination of turning 50 and taking on this kind of challenge in my life is going to take some extreme commitment. The reason I'm so excited is that I've done much of this stuff on its own. I've swam 2 miles, I've biked 100 miles, and I've run a marathon. But I've never put all three of those things together in one day. I want to see what I can accomplish.

The biggest difficulty for me is going to be training alone. I'm such a social person, and I love to exercise in groups - mountain biking with my friends or swimming with the Masters. Robin is such a loner-type, it's fine for her to go out on her own for a 6-hour bike ride, but for me it's going to be extremely challenging to do some of this training just out there by myself.

Also, I'm the kind of athlete who can train minimally and finish a race. I got by doing a marathon with only one 14 mile run. It sucked, but I could finish it. You can't cheat the Ironman. I absolutely have to put in the training time. The reason that I really want to do this is that for one year of my life I will really have to work hard, juggling my training time, my work, and family."

Making the Most of a Hotel Workout

Do you know how hard it is to be down here at Ironman Arizona and not be able to run? I never thought I'd say this, because I was always a "Running Sucks" kinda gal (and I laughed out loud each time the guy wearing the shirt that said exactly that came through my aid station at IMAZ), but it's emotionally difficult to not be able to run. And to not know when or if I'll ever be able to run again. But I'm not one to cry into my morning tea, so I have to count my blessings - I'm down here in the Arizona sunshine and I have a POOL.

I've ranted here before about trying to squeeze in a workout in a hotel pool. They can be short, narrow, kidney-shaped, and full of splashing kids. Somehow, when it's your only resort, you find a way. I got lucky this week, the pool may be oddly shaped, but at least it was almost 20 yards long. I did discover that when you do a flip-turn on a curved wall, you end up heading sideways and if you're very lucky you won't crush your skull on the other wall that you're headed straight towards.

But, since I can't run, I've been swimming over a mile a day in a crescent-shaped bit of sunny water and loving it. My home state is being hammered with 60 mile an hour winds and 5 - 10 inches of rain (and no, that's not even a hurricane, I live in Oregon, that's just a typical winter storm.), so while I'm here, I'm going to love every 18 1/3 yard lap!

Excuses, Excuses

The weather has been unseasonally warm and beautiful outside. Who can resist  bike rides in shorts in November?

I just finished editing and submitting the screenplay my son and I wrote to the BlueCat Screenwriting competition (deadline today! nothing like a deadline to make you work). I think I read the darned thing 20 times or more in the last 3 days.

My daughter is in a play that's 25 miles away and requires 5-night-a-week rehearsals, while my son has 5 nights a week of karate and medieval martial arts here in town (how can a mom be in two places at one time? with way too much driving and some crafty carpooling)

I'm going away with my hubby for the first time in 16 years. Mom has the kids, the kids take care of the dogs, cats, rabbit, mice, and chickens. Hubby and I enjoy the Arizona sunshine, volunteer at Ironman Arizona this Sunday and register him for his first Ironman on Monday. Yes, I'm going to have an Iron Hubby on the year of his 50th birthday.

All these are excuses for why I haven't been blogging lately. Truth be told, by the time I can have some "me" time at 10:30 at night, I'm just done in.  I'm actually writing this from the airport at 4:00 in the morning having gotten up at 3:00 am. But if this is the me time I get, so be it!

All in all though, life is good. Other than the persistent knee problem (still can't run), I'm in good health and the family is awesome, though terribly busy. I've been swimming a lot more than I have in years and am actually getting faster as a result. Turns out that two times a week is barely enough to maintain in swimming, but four times a week kicks ass. I hope to write a post up this week about my recent swimming breakthrough, a technique change that bumped me down to a 1:10 pace for my 100's in yesterdays workout.

I am woefully behind in reading my favorite blogs, so hopefully on this relaxing weekend I will get to catch up somewhat on what you all are doing out there in blogland. But not before I hit the pool with my goggles, a towel, and a paperback.

Can You Run Out of Things to Improve On?

A bunch of Masters swimmers have asked me to coach an extra weekly practice, mostly focused on technique. In swimming, improving technique is where your biggest bang for the buck comes from, since simply grinding away at more weekly yards rarely gives much of a boost to swimming performance. In the process of discussing this weekly addition, one swimmer noted that we might run out of things to work on.

Is that possible? Can you run out of things to work on in swimming? I'm guessing that Missy Franklin and Michael Phelps haven't done so, and therefore neither should we. Swimming is a game of constant thought processes and incremental improvements that add up to big performance gains. At first, when swimmers are starting out with poor technique, each thing they change can make huge differences in their effort level and in their times. Later, as the stroke gets more refined, the changes become tinier and the gains smaller, but there are still gains to be had.

One of my Masters swimmers told me this week that his fastest 50m swim of all time came when he was concentrating on "laying his armpit on the water" - in other words, reaching full extension of his stroke. Sometimes one area of concentration can produce a leap in performance that can't be built through sheer yards alone.

So, all that being said, I've been swimming competitively for 28 years now and there are still new things that I'm working on each and every year. Right now in my stroke, I'm concentrating on a couple of areas:

1) Offside breathing - moving the head turn earlier in the stroke. I realized that I was turning my head too late when I breathed to my "off" side (as opposed to the good side I normally breathe to) and that's part of why I have a more difficult time breathing to the left. I'm working on getting my head to rotate earlier and return to neutral position earlier in the left armstroke recovery.

2) Head Down - This is my perpetual problem, especially as I enter a flip turn, I tend to pick my head up and slow my momentum. But I have remnants of head-up swimming at other times as well, and since it affects body position and I tend to sink, it's important to keep the head down.

3) Turns - I'm working on coming in closer to the wall on my flip turns. I had an epiphany the other day, which is that if I take an extra stroke, even if it's a short one, I get closer to the wall on the turn, have a tighter and faster turn. I used to glide into the wall on my last stroke, thus losing momentum.

These are just a few things that I drill on every week. If you're serious about improving your swim stroke, I recommend picking just a couple of things to work on. Google those problem areas and find drills and technique instruction to help you make the changes that you're looking for. And overall, never forget the concept of Kaizen - constant and never-ending improvement. It's how swimmers get faster, from the cream of the Olympic crop down to the triathletes and Masters swimmers who are just starting out.

One Perfect Day

One Perfect Day. It's not a day when a winning lottery ticket falls out of the sky, or a movie star appears out of nowhere to sweep you away, or you get that big promotion you've been waiting for. It's a day comprised of small moments that you take the time to see clearly, to appreciate as they're happening, to savor in your memory when they're gone. Nothing spectacular has to happen on a perfect day, you just have to notice that everything you usually take for granted is, in fact, amazing.

My life is filled with perfect days, but sometimes I'm too harried to notice them. Sometimes I'm the Busy Person that this blog post addresses so well (I'm somewhat embarassed  to admit that a friend sent me a link to this post and it took me several days to get around to reading it because...you guessed it... I was too busy!). Yesterday I slowed down enough to notice, to appreciate, to savor. And even to document on my cell phone.

First, what's breakfast without some Emoticon Pancakes? These weren't created with any sort of intention, the faces just appeared in the pancakes like magic. There's a flaw in our cast-iron pan that caused my daughter to flip these fun little pancakes, each one cuter than the last.

As the sun peeped out from behind the early morning valley fog, my son and I went out to pick the remaining apples off of our trees to be made into fruit leather and apple sauce. He and I took a moment and sat in the sunshine with a freshly plucked bright red apple in hand. Biting into that crisp fall-flavored fruit, feeling the sun slanting in from the south on our necks, we talked about what it would be like to have been born somewhere without seasons. I know there will come a time when winter's rain will seem endless and I'll yearn for the spring, but I also love the turn of the year here in the northwest when nothing is the same for long. The cold brings on the apples, plums, and fall fruit. The rain brings the greenery that makes this place so beautiful the rest of the year.

So then why not head out on one of fall's last spectacular days along the winding back roads of the south hills of the Willamette Valley. It was a bit chilly here in the forested parts, and I was really grateful for my convertible jacket with the zip-off sleeves. This time of year each bike ride brings another layer of clothing you have to add. First the vest, then the jacket, then tights, earwarmers, and full gloves. Eventually, I retreat into the pain cave with some hardcore biking videos from The Sufferfest and maybe a season or two of Dexter and wait out the chilling rains until spring makes the outdoors palatable again. This time of year, every ride in the sunshine is a blessing.

As I broke out into wine country, I was treated to the golden-hued vines of Sweet Cheeks and Hinman vineyards. I have to admit, I didn't shoot this gorgeous shot with my cell phone (I thought about trying, but decided it wouldn't be a good idea to tromp up the hill in my cycling shoes). This came off of their website. But this is what it looked like out there: fall sunlight on the golden leaves of the grape vines. I've bicycled hundreds of miles in Italy and thousands here and I can tell you that Oregon holds its own with some of the most beautiful scenery on earth.

What could possibly top such a gorgeous day, but an evening spent downing a pint with my mates while watching the Ducks stomp the Sun Devils - the Aquaducks had an informal get together at a local pub with some big screens and a Duck-happy crowd. The final chapter was then taking my son to hear Beethoven's 5th performed by the Eugene Symphony. This iconic music deserves to be heard as it literally is brought to life by the orchestra. The energy of the conductor, the motion of the bows on strings, the tympany rolling from the back of the stage, and that perfect moment in the first movement when all the sound and fury dies down and one lone oboe calls out - my arms erupting in goose bumps.

As I came home to my house, redolent with the smell of the plum/apple fruit leather in the dehydrator and applesauce in the crockpot, I washed my face and climbed under the down comforter, snuggled my pillow-stealing dog next to me and closed my eyes on a perfect day.

My Escape From a Mugger Shows The Value of the Black Belt

I did one thing wrong on that Wednesday afternoon - a sunny day in a parking lot in front of the pool, a non-threatening location where my guard was down - I stood in the door of my car.

I was waiting for my daughter, talking on the phone. The car was hot, I got out and stood there, enjoying a few minutes of warm autumn sunshine. I was distracted, chatting with a person in a ticket office, my credit card held loosely in my other hand as I read off the numbers.

At first, the man approaching me looked like any other young guy walking down the sidewalk. Maybe his pants were hanging a bit low, a chain connecting his wallet or keys draped across his front. The baseball cap on his head turned backwards, the loosey-goosey gangsta walk gave him an aura of trying a bit too hard to be a bad boy. But you see guys like this all the time.

So I didn't pay attention as he came towards me along the sidewalk -  until he veered straight at me. Only then did I realize the vulnerable position I'd put myself in. Trapped against the door of my car. Unable to get in and slam the door in time to shut him out. By the time the second or two had passed between him seeming like another guy walking by, and him being a guy walking towards me looking like trouble, I had nowhere to go. I had forgotten the golden rule of being a woman: never let your guard down.

What happened next probably took less than a minute. It went by so fast that only in retrospect could I analyze what had transpired between us. In the moment, it went something like this:

Thug: You're going to give me that phone and your credit card.
Me (surprised, still chatting on phone): What?
Thug (getting in my face, reaching out) Give me your phone!
Me: (to person on other end of line) Excuse me just a moment
        (to thug): No, I don't think so
Thug (getting angry) You f***ing little b*tch! What, you think I can't take this. You (stream of obscenity I won't reprint)
Me: I think you need to leave me alone now. Move away.
Thug moves away down the sidewalk uttering more curses at me over his shoulder

At first, I was simply shocked that he left me alone. He was probably six feet tall and 190 pounds. He had me trapped in a corner. What the heck happened here? But when I replayed the incident in my mind, I realized what had really occurred - a complex dance of body language and words, a moment in which years of training in martial arts had kicked in, and tipped the direction of the encounter.

When I looked back, moment by moment through the encounter, here's what happened in my mind and body:

Thug: You're going to give me that phone and your credit card.
Me (surprised, still chatting on phone): What?

I look around, realize I'm trapped. Realize I've put myself in a bad situation. Without realizing I did this until later, I slipped off my flip-flops and kicked them back under the car.

Thug (getting in my face, reaching out) Give me your phone!
Me: (to person on other end of line) Excuse me just a moment
        (to thug): No, I don't think so

I examine the thug from head to foot. His eyes look clear - no evidence of drugs or alcohol. I sniff, no scent of alcohol on his breath, and his face is only inches from mine, so I should smell it. No bulges in pockets that could be weapons. Hands are both out in front of him. He could have a weapon in the waistband of his pants but it would take him a moment to retrieve it. He's gesturing with his right hand, probably right-handed then. I have more room to his right side, so if he comes at me with an attack from that direction, I can block, move past him, and probably take out his knee.

Thug (getting angry) You f***ing little b*tch! What, you think I can't take this. You (stream of obscenity I won't reprint)
Me: I think you need to leave me alone now. Move away.

My body language shifts into defensive mode. I come up on the balls of my feet, ready to move, like a fighting stance in karate. My phone can be used as a weapon to strike him on the temple. My other hand is open, I draw in a slow breath, speak calmly, and look him in the eye. I can see this is totally unexpected for him. He expected this woman to back down and give him what he wanted. He's confused, both by my politeness and by my readiness to engage. I literally watch him evaluate, and back down.

Thug moves away down the sidewalk uttering more curses at me over his shoulder.

Now, things might've turned out differently if he'd had a weapon. If he'd been on drugs, or looked like he was mentally unstable. I might've made different decisions based on a thousand factors. But the truth is, the years of training that went into becoming a black belt helped me make all of those decisions on the fly. And ultimately, I knew I had options, I had defenses. Even though I'd originally put myself into a bad position (lesson learned there), I was able to get away from a bad situation.

This is why even on the occasional days when my kids don't want to get up and go to karate, I insist. My kids are both teens now. They bike or take the bus places without me. They're out in a world that's usually wonderful, but can sometimes turn ugly in a heartbeat. I need to know that they will have options too.

The Best New Autumn Breakfast

You probably know by now that my go-to power breakfast is my Banana-Coconut Custard, which fulfills everything I need in a breakfast:

1) Easy to make
2) A good mix of protein, fat, and carbs
3) Easy on digestion
4) Whole-foods ingredients
5) Reasonably paleo or at least no grains
5) Tastes like it could be dessert

But bananas are such a summery fruit. I need something that feels like fall. Something that tastes like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte' without all that sugar and without costing me almost $5.

Enter my new favorite fall breakfast: Pumpkin Custard.

Here's how you make it - super easy! And just see if this doesn't fuel your next early morning swim or afternoon bike ride through the turning leaves to perfection:

- Whisk 3 eggs until frothy
- Add 3 Tbs Milk, Coconut Milk, Almond Milk, or whatever substitute you want
- Add 1/4 cup of Pureed Pumpkin (I used canned, but I'll use some fresh cooked/mashed once I pick some pumpkins)
- Add cinnamon and some pumpkin pie spices to taste (nutmeg, ginger, allspice, etc.)
- Add maple syrup to taste if you want it a bit sweeter and need some extra carbs

Put in microwave for 3 - 5 minutes until it puffs up and cooks all the way through. Serve warm. Enjoy!