Have I ever mentioned how awesome my brother is? My sister in law, too. This year for my birthday they gifted me with a GoPro Wrist Hero camera. Fully rigged it weighs just under 5 oz. Has a waterproof housing and audio capabilities. I am now forced to learn how to use iMovie on my mac! There are worse things to have to do in life.
I tried to video the outrigger race yesterday but was having some technical difficulties with the media card. I'll have that worked out for the next one. Enjoy these for now and expect to see more in the future.
My very first video, you can see my torso, Jasen, Lisa, and Doug M.
My second video, Stan has the boat with the red deck, and later in the video you can see Doug M and Sabine headed towards me. I still need to work on getting a more level set up on the rear iako or learning how to level the video in post production.
Showing posts with label OC1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label OC1. Show all posts
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
1st Winter Series Race - Almost
I was supposed to be racing tomorrow in Lake Union but the flooding has postponed the race. The folks from south of Seattle will have a very hard time getting into town for the race with I-5 closed in places, covered with flood waters. On the one hand I'm a little dissapointed but on the other I can really use an extra week to get in a little bit more training time. I have been on my OC1 twice since August, I think. Regardless of the number of times I've been out paddling, it's still fewer than I prefer in preparation for racing.
I've been going out mostly in the OC12, the double hull configuration, with SOCC and Wakinikona folks. When the crew is really synced up that double hull can really move and it's far more stable in the windy winter conditions. It's much less likely to huli and with the cold water and wind chill going swimming is strongly discouraged.
I'll let you know how the race goes next weekend. If all goes well this weekend I'll post a number of photos from all the snow we've been having. I really like snow, but gimme a break, are we done yet?
I've been going out mostly in the OC12, the double hull configuration, with SOCC and Wakinikona folks. When the crew is really synced up that double hull can really move and it's far more stable in the windy winter conditions. It's much less likely to huli and with the cold water and wind chill going swimming is strongly discouraged.
I'll let you know how the race goes next weekend. If all goes well this weekend I'll post a number of photos from all the snow we've been having. I really like snow, but gimme a break, are we done yet?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm going a bit stir crazy
Part of the reason I haven't said much lately is that I haven't had too much to say. No amusing paddling anecdotes because I haven't been paddling since the Round Hat Island Race up in Mukilteo on September 13. Turns out I'd over done my shoulder back in July up at Gibson's, then did it some more a week later down at the Gorge. After the Gorge I took a week off to rest my shoulder and then back into it to train for the change out race end of August, and well then the last race of the season is in two weeks, I can muscle it through that and then recover. When it hurts enough that it's effecting your sleep, hmm, that may be a sign that you should have paid attention a little sooner. D'oh!
I went to an acupuncturist who is also a certified massage practitioner. He said that all kinds of stuff was out of alignment, ya, like I couldn't have told him that when I walked in the door. He moved things around some and did a little needle work. Then a few days later I went to my foot torturing massage person, Carmen. Damn, I thought she was brutal when she was working on my feet. Seems my neck and back were all a nasty knotted mess.
I'd hoped to be back on the water for a Sound Rowers race on Oct 11. Good sense, though hard to acknowledge, suggested I pass on that race. Then there was fun relay to be held in Tacoma on Oct 25. I decided to pass on that one as well. My back on the water date was going to be Nov 1, this Sat. I'd planned to go to our regular OC6 practice. Then I got an email that the Tacoma race was being postponed to Nov 1! Wahoo!
I figured I could do one of the four 2.6 mile laps. I've completed a 3 mile time trial in 31 minutes. I figure I can do a leisure 2.6 miles in 45 minutes and call it good. I'd found 3 folks to do the relay with me, Neil, Lise, and Janelle. Janelle has had a family emergency so we'll either do only 3 laps, have Neil or Lise do two laps, or find someone on the beach interested in doing a lap. I realize that I cannot do the first lap, I'd over do it trying to keep up with everyone else. And I cannot do the final lap, I'd try to finish hard since it's the end of the race. So, I am relegated to one of the middle laps. Sigh, at least it's paddling. And the quicker I'm off the water to sooner I can get a bowl of Bren's Chicken Long Rice!!!
To help kill some time before I can paddle again I voted today! I hope you have either filled out and sent in your absentee ballot or have figured out how you plan to vote so you are ready when you go to your polling location.
I went to an acupuncturist who is also a certified massage practitioner. He said that all kinds of stuff was out of alignment, ya, like I couldn't have told him that when I walked in the door. He moved things around some and did a little needle work. Then a few days later I went to my foot torturing massage person, Carmen. Damn, I thought she was brutal when she was working on my feet. Seems my neck and back were all a nasty knotted mess.
I'd hoped to be back on the water for a Sound Rowers race on Oct 11. Good sense, though hard to acknowledge, suggested I pass on that race. Then there was fun relay to be held in Tacoma on Oct 25. I decided to pass on that one as well. My back on the water date was going to be Nov 1, this Sat. I'd planned to go to our regular OC6 practice. Then I got an email that the Tacoma race was being postponed to Nov 1! Wahoo!
I figured I could do one of the four 2.6 mile laps. I've completed a 3 mile time trial in 31 minutes. I figure I can do a leisure 2.6 miles in 45 minutes and call it good. I'd found 3 folks to do the relay with me, Neil, Lise, and Janelle. Janelle has had a family emergency so we'll either do only 3 laps, have Neil or Lise do two laps, or find someone on the beach interested in doing a lap. I realize that I cannot do the first lap, I'd over do it trying to keep up with everyone else. And I cannot do the final lap, I'd try to finish hard since it's the end of the race. So, I am relegated to one of the middle laps. Sigh, at least it's paddling. And the quicker I'm off the water to sooner I can get a bowl of Bren's Chicken Long Rice!!!
To help kill some time before I can paddle again I voted today! I hope you have either filled out and sent in your absentee ballot or have figured out how you plan to vote so you are ready when you go to your polling location.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
And another
Since I'm back I think I need to not beat myself up if I don't post daily. I think a more reasonable goal may be to aim for two posts per week and if I make more than that I'll be pleased. Geez, look at the time (10:55 am) I gotta hit the shower and hit the road, off to visit a pal in the hospital recovering from surgery (he should be going home tomorrow) and then off to a birthday party for the little red-headed girl, she turns three today. Wow, three already! And I still have to wrap her present, a Curious George combo sticker book/coloring book. I hear sticker books are hot items for her age group.
I'd have had more time to write if I hadn't gotten caught up watching this video shot from an OC1 paddling down the Columbia River Gorge. I did a down wind run as well, this guy is a much better paddler than me!
I'd have had more time to write if I hadn't gotten caught up watching this video shot from an OC1 paddling down the Columbia River Gorge. I did a down wind run as well, this guy is a much better paddler than me!
Monday, June 23, 2008
And OC1 on Sunday
As you may remember I was planning to paddle to Red Hook Brewery via the Sammamish River on Sunday. I heard enough negative feedback that I decided to scrap the idea and I believe I've come up with a much better idea. I/we can paddle to Agua Verde in Lake Union via Lake Washington and the Montlake Cut! I am totally down for margaritas and mexican food. I think the only place that has better rice and beans is Wahoo's Fish Taco and the only time I get that is when I'm visiting the Bro in CO (or SoCA, where I travel far less frequently than CO). Anyhoo.. I went to neither Red Hook or Agua Verde, saving it for another time. Anyone want to come along?
I did meet Lianne and her son, Kyle, to go for a nice out and back paddle from SSP. We headed north at a modest pace. We didn't want Kyle to fall too far behind and he wasn't feeling too motivated to paddle. He wanted to surf the wake left by passing boats.
I ultimately decided to paddle hard 10 minutes out and catch up with them on my way back. At my turn around point there were two people in kayaks out having a nice Sunday paddle. The guy decided he wanted to keep even with me. HA! As if my (not so thinly veiled) competitive nature would allow that!?! I dug in and pushed a little harder, but actually not that much more, and completely dropped him. I had brought my camera along in the waterproof housing so I stopped to shoot a couple snaps. As I was finishing he came up alongside me commenting on how my boat really moves. 'Damned right it does', I thought to myself. "Yup", I said to him. We chatted a moment and then I picked up the pace for the remaining 1.5 miles back to the beach, where I finally caught up with Lianne and Kyle. Turns out they headed back straightaway and surfed their way in. I'll post a pic once I get them downloaded.
I did meet Lianne and her son, Kyle, to go for a nice out and back paddle from SSP. We headed north at a modest pace. We didn't want Kyle to fall too far behind and he wasn't feeling too motivated to paddle. He wanted to surf the wake left by passing boats.
I ultimately decided to paddle hard 10 minutes out and catch up with them on my way back. At my turn around point there were two people in kayaks out having a nice Sunday paddle. The guy decided he wanted to keep even with me. HA! As if my (not so thinly veiled) competitive nature would allow that!?! I dug in and pushed a little harder, but actually not that much more, and completely dropped him. I had brought my camera along in the waterproof housing so I stopped to shoot a couple snaps. As I was finishing he came up alongside me commenting on how my boat really moves. 'Damned right it does', I thought to myself. "Yup", I said to him. We chatted a moment and then I picked up the pace for the remaining 1.5 miles back to the beach, where I finally caught up with Lianne and Kyle. Turns out they headed back straightaway and surfed their way in. I'll post a pic once I get them downloaded.
Friday, June 20, 2008
lake is getting warmer, sort of
We had only three people confirm for practice last night so we decided to opt for an OC1 practice. Funny, looking at all the OC1 paddlers we had we could have taken an OC6 out! There was Meilee, Lianne, Tom, Kyle, John, Kevin, me, and Bromley on the surfski.
We have enough women on the team now that we are going to have to do a time trial to select the crew for the Gorge race in July. Our time trial will be from SSP across the lake to Denny Park and back. Meilee, Lianne, and I decided to paddle the time trial course to get a little practice. I got to Denny Park first in just under 15 minutes, Lianne came in just over 16 minutes, and Meilee, who'd said she planned to paddle more leisurely, arrived in just over 17 minutes. As we were regrouping we saw John headed our way, we didn't realize he was planning to paddle the course with us as well so we waited for him to get to Denny Park before we headed back.
We decided to take a more relaxed trip back, paddling and chatting and working on technique. When we got most of the way back to SSP we met up with Tom and Kyle and Kevin and Bromley. There were a few bumps (small waves caused by boat wake) that we paddled and tried to catch! That was lots of fun.
Kyle, at 12, has already got awesome technique. Not surprising with an awesome paddler like Tom for a dad! Lianne has got some mad skillz, too. Tom was giving us some tips on how to fly the ama. I went over in fairly short order! The lake is not as cold as when we huli'd the OC6 a few weeks ago, but it certainly isn't as warm as a late August swim would be either. A little later Lianne was working on flying her ama and went over, but not quite as spectacularly as I did, she slid off her seat and didn't even get her hair wet! Right after that I went over again, too. At that point I decided that I'd probably had enough for the evening, but it was fun and worth it.
Saturday we have a big paddle lined up. We are continuing our training for Gibson's by paddling from SSP down to the I-90 bridge, the western side, and back. It should be about 15 miles! Looks like the weather should be pretty nice, too! I plan to bring my camera along and get a few snaps while we are out.
We have enough women on the team now that we are going to have to do a time trial to select the crew for the Gorge race in July. Our time trial will be from SSP across the lake to Denny Park and back. Meilee, Lianne, and I decided to paddle the time trial course to get a little practice. I got to Denny Park first in just under 15 minutes, Lianne came in just over 16 minutes, and Meilee, who'd said she planned to paddle more leisurely, arrived in just over 17 minutes. As we were regrouping we saw John headed our way, we didn't realize he was planning to paddle the course with us as well so we waited for him to get to Denny Park before we headed back.
We decided to take a more relaxed trip back, paddling and chatting and working on technique. When we got most of the way back to SSP we met up with Tom and Kyle and Kevin and Bromley. There were a few bumps (small waves caused by boat wake) that we paddled and tried to catch! That was lots of fun.
Kyle, at 12, has already got awesome technique. Not surprising with an awesome paddler like Tom for a dad! Lianne has got some mad skillz, too. Tom was giving us some tips on how to fly the ama. I went over in fairly short order! The lake is not as cold as when we huli'd the OC6 a few weeks ago, but it certainly isn't as warm as a late August swim would be either. A little later Lianne was working on flying her ama and went over, but not quite as spectacularly as I did, she slid off her seat and didn't even get her hair wet! Right after that I went over again, too. At that point I decided that I'd probably had enough for the evening, but it was fun and worth it.
Saturday we have a big paddle lined up. We are continuing our training for Gibson's by paddling from SSP down to the I-90 bridge, the western side, and back. It should be about 15 miles! Looks like the weather should be pretty nice, too! I plan to bring my camera along and get a few snaps while we are out.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Adventure Planning
I've been thinking about paddling the Sammmish River from Lake Sammamish 
to Lake Washington. I've learned how to measure distances more accurately in Google Earth. You can zoom way in and then use the arrows to move the map around. By doing this I've calculated that from Lake Sammamish to the boat ramp in Kenmore is 13.6 miles and to go all the way to SSP is a total of 18.7 miles. The river looks wide enough for the whole distance, too. You can faintly see red dots where I mapped out the river and then a while line finishing the route to SSP.
After lunch I showed the course to a co-worker and that opened a whole new can of worms. He pointed out that the river passes very nearby the Red Hook Brewery. We then
spent some time pinpointing the brewery. By zooming in and looking around we located it. Then I measured it and came up with a distance of approximately 7 miles. Why, that's totally do-able! In fact I think I'll do it this Sunday. Have a nice paddle, stop, load the boat,and head in for some lunch. Not sure if you can make out the red dots for the shorter route, but they are there.
I mentioned the long course to a few club members and they seem keen on the idea. I'm trying to work out something with Seattle Raft and Kayak for trailering our boats to the launch point. SRK is located right next to SSP down at Magnuson Park. More details and pictures of the adventure to come.
to Lake Washington. I've learned how to measure distances more accurately in Google Earth. You can zoom way in and then use the arrows to move the map around. By doing this I've calculated that from Lake Sammamish to the boat ramp in Kenmore is 13.6 miles and to go all the way to SSP is a total of 18.7 miles. The river looks wide enough for the whole distance, too. You can faintly see red dots where I mapped out the river and then a while line finishing the route to SSP.After lunch I showed the course to a co-worker and that opened a whole new can of worms. He pointed out that the river passes very nearby the Red Hook Brewery. We then
spent some time pinpointing the brewery. By zooming in and looking around we located it. Then I measured it and came up with a distance of approximately 7 miles. Why, that's totally do-able! In fact I think I'll do it this Sunday. Have a nice paddle, stop, load the boat,and head in for some lunch. Not sure if you can make out the red dots for the shorter route, but they are there.I mentioned the long course to a few club members and they seem keen on the idea. I'm trying to work out something with Seattle Raft and Kayak for trailering our boats to the launch point. SRK is located right next to SSP down at Magnuson Park. More details and pictures of the adventure to come.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sploosh!
We had a good practice yesterday, worked on starts and turns for the race. It was pretty cold, far too cold for late April! I really hope next weekend at the Rusty Iron the weather is more typical of late April. I think we are as ready as we are going to be for next weekend. Following practice Minnie and I went out for a short OC1 paddle since we hadn't gone particularly far during practice.
On our outbound leg I realized I haven't huli'd my new boat yet. I thought it might be a good idea to do that sometime, not on the outbound leg, though. I waited until I was quite near the beach and then I tried to fly the ama (paddle with the ama or outrigger out of the water), got a paddle stroke here and then another. I began to think this was pretty cool ... just as the boat started to go over! Sploosh! It then took me a while longer to climb back aboard than I expected. I was able to get back on and paddle in relatively quickly.
Back on the beach I noticed a pronounced degree of squishing and squelching with each step! I tried to drain out some while I put my boat away. Back in the apartment I managed to leave wet footprints from the entry way into the kitchen and over to the bathroom. But now I can say I've huli'd and gotten right back up again.
On our outbound leg I realized I haven't huli'd my new boat yet. I thought it might be a good idea to do that sometime, not on the outbound leg, though. I waited until I was quite near the beach and then I tried to fly the ama (paddle with the ama or outrigger out of the water), got a paddle stroke here and then another. I began to think this was pretty cool ... just as the boat started to go over! Sploosh! It then took me a while longer to climb back aboard than I expected. I was able to get back on and paddle in relatively quickly.
Back on the beach I noticed a pronounced degree of squishing and squelching with each step! I tried to drain out some while I put my boat away. Back in the apartment I managed to leave wet footprints from the entry way into the kitchen and over to the bathroom. But now I can say I've huli'd and gotten right back up again.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
What a Glorious Day
What perfect weather for the last winter series race. I got down early to help set things up and bring the food and coffee. We had a lot of helping hands so I could 
duck away a little early to rig my boat and make sure I had everything together and situated for the race. I even asked the mother of a club member to take some snaps with my camera. We had our pre-race meeting and then I made my way down to the water for a little bit of warm up. On my way over to the start line I got lots of complements on my new boat. Most of these folks didn't race the Sound Rowers race a couple of weeks ago so they hadn't seen it yet. Ross, from Open Ocean Outriggers, said I looked very comfortable on it. I was feeling pretty comfortable on it as well.
Everybody got lined up for the start of the race, the horn went of and so did we. I tried to paddle hard for that first bit as Doug had taught me a while back, but it just didn't feel right. I settled into my pace and tried to keep up with the back of the pack but realized I was feeling very tight in
the chest, my breathing wasn't coming as easily as it should have. About 1.5 miles in I was really wondering whether I should just turn back, call it a day. Then I saw a boat huli (flip over), I wasn't too far away so I pushed myself to get up to him, he looked like he was having a little trouble getting back on board, the water is still pretty cold. As I got there I saw he'd let go of his paddle, I scooped it up and held his ama (the outrigger) while he climbed on, waited for him to adjust his seat and then passed him his paddle. The chase boat had arrived shortly after I did and since we seemed to have things under control they stayed off a little ways. Then we were off again, I got moving a little quicker than he did but he soon overtook me. That breathing thing was becoming rather problematic, fortunately I'd packed my inhaler in my hydration pack before I left. It occurred to me this was precisely the situation for which it was intended so I stopped and took a couple pulls.
I kept going nice and steady and shortly my breathing came a little easier.
By this time I had fallen so far behind I started to think of the race as just a regular cruising paddle on a bright sunny day. I made it to the turn around and headed back. I was keeping a pace slightly over 5 miles per hour, which, since I wasn't working too hard, seemed pretty respectable. I saw Alice was still heading towards the turn point which made me feel pretty good, it meant I'd meet all three of my minimum goals, don't huli, finish, and don't finish last! I think the goals should be slightly modified for Alice, she paddles in the 70+ category so instead of not finishing last we can call it finishing strong, because she always does. I want to grow up to be just like her, paddling for many, many years to 
come. I finished in 1 hour 21 minutes, not my best time ever but not so bad considering I stopped to help someone and couldn't really breath. Also, I had wanted to go easy to preserve my back, it would be a real drag to tweak that again.
We waited for the season results to be tallied and for the cumulative season I came in third overall in the master women category, the master category is 35 and over. It was a pretty good day over all. I then went home to let the dog boyz out and decided it would be perfect a day to take them out for a swim. Back down to SSP and they did some swimmin' and fetchin'. I think a good time was had by all.
Note: The photo of me with Mt Rainier in the background and of Alice looking strong were taken by club member Ryan Parfait, who rode along in the chase boat.
duck away a little early to rig my boat and make sure I had everything together and situated for the race. I even asked the mother of a club member to take some snaps with my camera. We had our pre-race meeting and then I made my way down to the water for a little bit of warm up. On my way over to the start line I got lots of complements on my new boat. Most of these folks didn't race the Sound Rowers race a couple of weeks ago so they hadn't seen it yet. Ross, from Open Ocean Outriggers, said I looked very comfortable on it. I was feeling pretty comfortable on it as well.Everybody got lined up for the start of the race, the horn went of and so did we. I tried to paddle hard for that first bit as Doug had taught me a while back, but it just didn't feel right. I settled into my pace and tried to keep up with the back of the pack but realized I was feeling very tight in
the chest, my breathing wasn't coming as easily as it should have. About 1.5 miles in I was really wondering whether I should just turn back, call it a day. Then I saw a boat huli (flip over), I wasn't too far away so I pushed myself to get up to him, he looked like he was having a little trouble getting back on board, the water is still pretty cold. As I got there I saw he'd let go of his paddle, I scooped it up and held his ama (the outrigger) while he climbed on, waited for him to adjust his seat and then passed him his paddle. The chase boat had arrived shortly after I did and since we seemed to have things under control they stayed off a little ways. Then we were off again, I got moving a little quicker than he did but he soon overtook me. That breathing thing was becoming rather problematic, fortunately I'd packed my inhaler in my hydration pack before I left. It occurred to me this was precisely the situation for which it was intended so I stopped and took a couple pulls.I kept going nice and steady and shortly my breathing came a little easier.
By this time I had fallen so far behind I started to think of the race as just a regular cruising paddle on a bright sunny day. I made it to the turn around and headed back. I was keeping a pace slightly over 5 miles per hour, which, since I wasn't working too hard, seemed pretty respectable. I saw Alice was still heading towards the turn point which made me feel pretty good, it meant I'd meet all three of my minimum goals, don't huli, finish, and don't finish last! I think the goals should be slightly modified for Alice, she paddles in the 70+ category so instead of not finishing last we can call it finishing strong, because she always does. I want to grow up to be just like her, paddling for many, many years to 
come. I finished in 1 hour 21 minutes, not my best time ever but not so bad considering I stopped to help someone and couldn't really breath. Also, I had wanted to go easy to preserve my back, it would be a real drag to tweak that again.We waited for the season results to be tallied and for the cumulative season I came in third overall in the master women category, the master category is 35 and over. It was a pretty good day over all. I then went home to let the dog boyz out and decided it would be perfect a day to take them out for a swim. Back down to SSP and they did some swimmin' and fetchin'. I think a good time was had by all.
Note: The photo of me with Mt Rainier in the background and of Alice looking strong were taken by club member Ryan Parfait, who rode along in the chase boat.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
What A Pain!
As you may recall I initiated a back tweaking on Saturday the 15th by trying to paddle at too high a stroke rate. Saturday's Sound Rower's race didn't help matters any. I was working pretty hard and I should have taken it a bit easier, ok, a lot easier. After the race a few friends were kind enough to help me empty and properly repack my 5'x15' storage unit. I had enough wits about me to realize it was a project better undertaken with assistance and it should be noted that this is a big evolutionary step for me! Anyhoo, the combination of 10 days ago tweaking, working too hard during the race, and repacking a storage unit, my back is feeling rather fried. I spent 1.5 hours on Carmen's massage table this afternoon. She found all the spots that were unhappy. And then she started working on my feet. On the bright side my right foot is feeling better. On the down side, I suspect I should take a pass on this Saturday's race down in Portland. I'm going to gauge the situation day by day and see how the back is doing. I'd really wanted to participate in all 7 of the winter series races. But better to pass on one race than be a whiny, cripple for weeks afterwards, 'cause you know I'll whine about it, in between icing and liberally applying narcotics, of course!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Oh, The Humanity
My bedroom and living room windows overlook a sidewalk to an exterior door to my apartment building. It can be troublesome during the warmer months when I have all my windows open, the dogs hear anyone walking past and feel the need to let me know there is someone out there, Gus with a low moof, Llelo with a more assertive and higher pitched WOOF! People will go out there to smoke, eww, or are talking loud and drunkenly coming home from a night out. During the colder months it's much less an issue, until Friday night. Someone was knocking on the door and calling out, it was 5 am and I still had a couple of hours before I needed to get up and ready for the race on Lake Sammamish. I get rather testy when people wake me like that, I generally have trouble falling back asleep. I stuck my head outside and politely asked him to keep his voice down. Turns out it was a kid (both in actions and age), under 25 or so, who used to live in the building. Seems he'd had 'entirely too much fun' that night and couldn't remember where he lived. I can only speculate that he was dropped off by a taxi, thankfully. He claimed he'd moved back into the building and since we were acquainted from when he lived here I tossed keys to him. When he brought them up to me I asked how he was getting into his unit only to discover he was so hammered, still, that he didn't know anything and didn't live here, he was whining about how cold he was, it was so cold outside (dufus was wearing shorts and a t-shirt). Since he was obviously no threat, he couldn't stand upright and steady at the same time, and I did kind of know him and I really wanted to get another couple hours of sleep but didn't want him wandering the halls of the building I brought him into my apartment, pointed to the couch and handed him a blanket. I could smell the stale smell of alcohol wafting off him from the other room, gag, I opened my window so as not to be knocked out by the fumes. The dogs thought this was great fun and Llelo kept jumping off my bed to go jump onto him on the couch. I finally closed the baby gate to keep the dogs in my bedroom and was able to go back to sleep. I got up around 7:30, took care of the dogs, had some breakfast and coffee. Around 8:45 I started trying to wake the kid up. It was more challenging that I anticipated and I didn't think it would be that easy. I finally pulled the blanket off him and told the dogs to jump up on him and give kisses, Gus even got into the act. Finally got him up and out of my apartment, kid was still so drunk he had no idea where he lived. I got him outside the building and headed down to SSP to load the boats for the race. I've done my mitzvah for the day.
I headed down to SSP to meet Minnie to load boats for the Lake Sammamish sound rowers race. We were there a little bit late but in plenty of time. This was my first race in the new boat. I made sure to have my protein shake before I left the house as well as my emergen-c drink. They made all the difference. I felt pretty good during the race. It was a little frustrating, they had started the pre-race meeting early so I'd missed the part detailing the course, I knew I'd be far enough behind the race leaders to see where the turns and things were, it just would have been nice to know in advance. Conditions were ideal, sunny, cool, only a hint of breeze, essentially flat water, a perfect day for racing. I started out pretty well, perhaps not as fast as I should have, I did maintain a pace over 5 mph for the entire race except the tight turns. I finished in 1:04:24 and it was 5.8 miles, took first in W OC-1, there were two of us, Minnie was behind me. I crossed the line 38 out of 47. It was neither my best nor my worst race, generally a pretty good race. Sound Rowers races are fun because there are so many different type of boats participating.
Next week I'm off to Portland for another PNW-ORCA winter series race.
I headed down to SSP to meet Minnie to load boats for the Lake Sammamish sound rowers race. We were there a little bit late but in plenty of time. This was my first race in the new boat. I made sure to have my protein shake before I left the house as well as my emergen-c drink. They made all the difference. I felt pretty good during the race. It was a little frustrating, they had started the pre-race meeting early so I'd missed the part detailing the course, I knew I'd be far enough behind the race leaders to see where the turns and things were, it just would have been nice to know in advance. Conditions were ideal, sunny, cool, only a hint of breeze, essentially flat water, a perfect day for racing. I started out pretty well, perhaps not as fast as I should have, I did maintain a pace over 5 mph for the entire race except the tight turns. I finished in 1:04:24 and it was 5.8 miles, took first in W OC-1, there were two of us, Minnie was behind me. I crossed the line 38 out of 47. It was neither my best nor my worst race, generally a pretty good race. Sound Rowers races are fun because there are so many different type of boats participating.
Next week I'm off to Portland for another PNW-ORCA winter series race.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
A new race on the schedule
There is an organization called Sound Rowers, they sponsor races of human powered craft. I did the Mercer-Medina Sausage Pull last October on OC2 with Ed. The conditions were aggressive, windy and got more windy during over the course of the race and there was some chop, too. It was my first small boat race and I was pleased to be able to do it with Ed, who has quite a lot of experience. Since then I've done most of the PNW-ORCA winter series, I've purchased my own OC1, and I have gained a tremendous amount of experience in the small boats.
I just found out they have a race scheduled this Saturday in Lake Sammamish. Guess who's racing this weekend! How could I pass up a race so nearby? And with such a reasonable start time? The short course (6 miles) starts at 11 am, with a pre-race meeting at 10:30 am. I am so there. If you'd like to come out and see what small boat racing is like the weather sounds like it will be cooperative, too.
Then the following weekend is another race in Portland, the next to last winter series race.
I just found out they have a race scheduled this Saturday in Lake Sammamish. Guess who's racing this weekend! How could I pass up a race so nearby? And with such a reasonable start time? The short course (6 miles) starts at 11 am, with a pre-race meeting at 10:30 am. I am so there. If you'd like to come out and see what small boat racing is like the weather sounds like it will be cooperative, too.
Then the following weekend is another race in Portland, the next to last winter series race.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
mid-week post
I'd hoped to post Tuesday night but never quite got to it. We ended up having seven people plan to come down, a little challenging in a six person boat. I used it as a weak excuse to take out my spiffy new boat. I'd planned to take it easy, my back was still acting twingey from last Saturday, it's not always an easy thing to do, either. I still need to get the technique down for assembling the boat, Tuesday was the first time I'd done it completely myself. Soon it will be easier, quicker, and more smooth. I got down to the water just as the OC6 was being put in. I figured I'd have to work to try and keep up with them, but they took their time figuring out what they wanted to do for their workout. I decided not to wait and headed off to the north, thinking they would catch me in fairly short order. I was trying to settle into a nice pace, kept it around 5 mph. Looking at my gps I could see I'd made it about 1.7 miles when the gps pooped out, I think it needs new batteries. I looked back and the OC6 was a bit north of Matthew's Beach. I continued north until I passed around a no wake bouy and headed back towards SSP. I paused for a moment to try hitting the power button on the gps, it came back to life and seemed to work properly the rest of the way back to the beach. Round trip I went about 3.5 miles, maybe a bit further and maintained that 5 mph pace for the bulk of my paddling time. It was good without over taxing my back. I was able to take apart the boat more easily than it went together and came back home for a quick supper and a bit more work I had to finish up. In all a good afternoon/evening.
Tomorrow should be a good paddle. We've got 6 already lined up for practice. I'll go in the OC6 this time. We have gotten some workouts from Kristen so we will have some good training exercises to work on. I'm looking forward to it.
Tomorrow should be a good paddle. We've got 6 already lined up for practice. I'll go in the OC6 this time. We have gotten some workouts from Kristen so we will have some good training exercises to work on. I'm looking forward to it.
Monday, March 17, 2008
I got it, I got it!!
I got up earlier than people should have to on a Sunday morning, but thankfully later than 
I'd have to get up to travel to a race. The dogs and I were on the road before 8:30 and made good travel time up to the border. Going to the race the weekend before we'd gone through the Peace Arch and it was a slow go so I decided to go for the truck crossing, a bit east of the Peace Arch crossing. There was no waiting, hurrah! I made it up to Jericho Sailing Center a little before 11. Ross was still out paddling for his club practice, they'd gone 10 miles on OC1s. He was looking like he'd had a good long workout when he came in. He went to shower and change and I went to change into paddling gear for another test drive.
This Pahoa felt really good, much more
responsive than Steve's Kaimana that I've been paddling all winter. The more I tooled around the more I was feeling like this was a very good decision for me. Ross was very indulgent, took some snapshots with my cell phone and digital camera for me. It took a few tries to get the correct fit on the seat. This model doesn't have an adjustable seat, it's a foam block cut with a butt print with a varied span behind the seat, the broader the span the closer you sit to the steering pedals.
We brought the boat back up to take it apart and bag it up. It came with sturdy bags for the hull and for the ama.
We loaded the boat on top of the car and tucked the ama inside, much to Gus' dismay. An OC1 ama will fit inside my car but it extends from the dashboard all the way back to the rear window and as far as Gus is concerned that's no ok, not the way it's supposed to be. I asked Ross about where I could grab a bite to eat before driving home. We went to Milestone's on 4th. It was rather crowded but nothing too bad. We placed our order and chatted while we waited for our meal to arrive. After 45 minutes or so I asked a staff member, our waiter couldn't be found, when our food might be arriving. Turns our our waiter never placed our order with the kitchen! D'oh! She put a rush on the food and then comped our entire meal. Not a bad deal.
I was finally on my way around 3:30, I think. I got a little turned around trying to get back to 99 south, I missed Oak St, good thing I've got that AAA map, I had gone a few blocks beyond and there is a big construction project that made going back the way I came not an option. I often use 'the force' when driving in an unfamiliar region. It took half an
hour or so to get back to where I wanted to be and I was on my way towards the border. I went back to the truck crossing only this time there was a line, it took me 50 minutes to get up to the agent's window. It took me less than two minutes to get through and continue back to Seattle. I got down to Sail Sand Point around 6-6:30 and then needed to rinse the salt water off the boat before I could put it away. I walked the hull down to the lake and dunked it in the water to clean the salt residue off and then tucked it into it's storage rack inside the container. Then back home for some supper for the dogs and me, and a little relaxation from the long drive. Time to wrap my brain around the idea that I now have my own OC1!
I'd have to get up to travel to a race. The dogs and I were on the road before 8:30 and made good travel time up to the border. Going to the race the weekend before we'd gone through the Peace Arch and it was a slow go so I decided to go for the truck crossing, a bit east of the Peace Arch crossing. There was no waiting, hurrah! I made it up to Jericho Sailing Center a little before 11. Ross was still out paddling for his club practice, they'd gone 10 miles on OC1s. He was looking like he'd had a good long workout when he came in. He went to shower and change and I went to change into paddling gear for another test drive.This Pahoa felt really good, much more
responsive than Steve's Kaimana that I've been paddling all winter. The more I tooled around the more I was feeling like this was a very good decision for me. Ross was very indulgent, took some snapshots with my cell phone and digital camera for me. It took a few tries to get the correct fit on the seat. This model doesn't have an adjustable seat, it's a foam block cut with a butt print with a varied span behind the seat, the broader the span the closer you sit to the steering pedals.We brought the boat back up to take it apart and bag it up. It came with sturdy bags for the hull and for the ama.
We loaded the boat on top of the car and tucked the ama inside, much to Gus' dismay. An OC1 ama will fit inside my car but it extends from the dashboard all the way back to the rear window and as far as Gus is concerned that's no ok, not the way it's supposed to be. I asked Ross about where I could grab a bite to eat before driving home. We went to Milestone's on 4th. It was rather crowded but nothing too bad. We placed our order and chatted while we waited for our meal to arrive. After 45 minutes or so I asked a staff member, our waiter couldn't be found, when our food might be arriving. Turns our our waiter never placed our order with the kitchen! D'oh! She put a rush on the food and then comped our entire meal. Not a bad deal.I was finally on my way around 3:30, I think. I got a little turned around trying to get back to 99 south, I missed Oak St, good thing I've got that AAA map, I had gone a few blocks beyond and there is a big construction project that made going back the way I came not an option. I often use 'the force' when driving in an unfamiliar region. It took half an
hour or so to get back to where I wanted to be and I was on my way towards the border. I went back to the truck crossing only this time there was a line, it took me 50 minutes to get up to the agent's window. It took me less than two minutes to get through and continue back to Seattle. I got down to Sail Sand Point around 6-6:30 and then needed to rinse the salt water off the boat before I could put it away. I walked the hull down to the lake and dunked it in the water to clean the salt residue off and then tucked it into it's storage rack inside the container. Then back home for some supper for the dogs and me, and a little relaxation from the long drive. Time to wrap my brain around the idea that I now have my own OC1!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
It started out well enough
This morning I went down for another team practice for the Rusty Iron, the first OC6 race we plan to do down in Portland on April 26. Our crew will be, in seating order, Minnie, Rives, Nancy, me, Lise, and Kristen steering. We had a nice ten minute warm up, gradually ramping up our intensity and pace, a quick break to adjust clothing and get water before we were off for the big part of the workout. We headed south towards the 520 bridge keeping pretty close to a race pace. Minnie is really coming along as a good stroke person. She is setting a good pace and keeping it very steady. We got all the way to the western high rise, passed under, went along the bridge to the eastern high rise, and back under again in about 45-50 minutes. The water on the south side of the bridge was messy and slowed our pace somewhat. The wind was blowing the water towards the bridge and then it bounced back towards us creating a little bit of chaos.
Once we were back on the north side of the bridge we took another short break and got ready for 3-10 minute pieces, the first was to be at a higher stroke rate, around 62+ per minute, then back down to 58-60, and the final piece back up to 62+ again. Well, 2-3 minutes into the first piece my back up and rebelled. The message was clear, you want to race on 3/29, 4/12, and/or 4/26 you better stop this nonsense right quick! I pulled up and told Kristen that I couldn't do the fast pace so we backed down to the slower pace and my back was still rather pissed off. I asked Kristen if I could steer back. You know things aren't going well if I want to steer, my hind parts don't fit in those seats, I have to sit up on one hip to be back there. Kristen moved up to seat 3 and Nancy moved to 4. I discovered there is enough space behind seat 6 for my legs and feet so I could sit on the tail section of the boat! I didn't have to wedge myself in, huzzah!!! They kept a decent pace and I tried to keep a straight line, I think they did better than I did, but I didn't do too badly. I tried to paddle a couple of times, bad idea on two counts, our course became rather erratic and my back said no. So, I just poked and sat, sat and poked, poked and sat, and got cold, I'd worked up a decent sweat during the first half of the workout and now wasn't really working so hard. I thought I did bring us in rather nicely, right up along the shore followed by a quick turn and a couple of back paddles and there we were.
My neighbor, a nice young woman named Kyle, came down for her first time paddling. She went out with John, Meilee, Marth, Neil, and Judy. Sounds like she really enjoyed it and plans to come out again. Her boyfriend has expressed interest as well. Since her boat came in earlier she was able to let the dog boyz out of the car. By the way, Gus is feeling much better, he started perking up last night. Gus could recognize me in the boat coming in and raced over to the ramp to meet us, or rather me. Llelo followed in short order and I could tell he'd been rolling in goose poop. Dumb dog! I dragged him into the water for a rinse and somehow he managed to roll in more between the rinse and time to go home, got another rinse and then into the car. During the ride home I could make out 'ew de goose poop and made the snap decision to give the both baths! I have a friend with 2 corgis down in California and her boy dog, Redd, has made the connection that if he gets skunked he gets a bath, he HATES baths, he takes pains to not get skunked, the girl dog, Cosmo, ya, not so much. I can only hope that Llelo will make the connection that when he rolls in goose poop he gets a bath, but I think he's going to be more like Cosmo, sigh.
I wanted to extend a big public (as big an audience I my blog has, anyway) mahalo to Steve E for letting me use his Kaimana OC1 this winter! It has been wonderful to have a boat to use for training (wish I'd done more!) and to take to races! I still think he should have sold it to me, but since I actually saw him down at the club going out for a paddle this morning perhaps he really does intend to get back into paddling! ;-) And since I'm getting my own boat tomorrow maybe we can go for paddles together on our OC1s. So, Steve "Mahalo ā nui loa (thanks very, very, very much)". And now it's time to go ice my back.
Once we were back on the north side of the bridge we took another short break and got ready for 3-10 minute pieces, the first was to be at a higher stroke rate, around 62+ per minute, then back down to 58-60, and the final piece back up to 62+ again. Well, 2-3 minutes into the first piece my back up and rebelled. The message was clear, you want to race on 3/29, 4/12, and/or 4/26 you better stop this nonsense right quick! I pulled up and told Kristen that I couldn't do the fast pace so we backed down to the slower pace and my back was still rather pissed off. I asked Kristen if I could steer back. You know things aren't going well if I want to steer, my hind parts don't fit in those seats, I have to sit up on one hip to be back there. Kristen moved up to seat 3 and Nancy moved to 4. I discovered there is enough space behind seat 6 for my legs and feet so I could sit on the tail section of the boat! I didn't have to wedge myself in, huzzah!!! They kept a decent pace and I tried to keep a straight line, I think they did better than I did, but I didn't do too badly. I tried to paddle a couple of times, bad idea on two counts, our course became rather erratic and my back said no. So, I just poked and sat, sat and poked, poked and sat, and got cold, I'd worked up a decent sweat during the first half of the workout and now wasn't really working so hard. I thought I did bring us in rather nicely, right up along the shore followed by a quick turn and a couple of back paddles and there we were.
My neighbor, a nice young woman named Kyle, came down for her first time paddling. She went out with John, Meilee, Marth, Neil, and Judy. Sounds like she really enjoyed it and plans to come out again. Her boyfriend has expressed interest as well. Since her boat came in earlier she was able to let the dog boyz out of the car. By the way, Gus is feeling much better, he started perking up last night. Gus could recognize me in the boat coming in and raced over to the ramp to meet us, or rather me. Llelo followed in short order and I could tell he'd been rolling in goose poop. Dumb dog! I dragged him into the water for a rinse and somehow he managed to roll in more between the rinse and time to go home, got another rinse and then into the car. During the ride home I could make out 'ew de goose poop and made the snap decision to give the both baths! I have a friend with 2 corgis down in California and her boy dog, Redd, has made the connection that if he gets skunked he gets a bath, he HATES baths, he takes pains to not get skunked, the girl dog, Cosmo, ya, not so much. I can only hope that Llelo will make the connection that when he rolls in goose poop he gets a bath, but I think he's going to be more like Cosmo, sigh.
I wanted to extend a big public (as big an audience I my blog has, anyway) mahalo to Steve E for letting me use his Kaimana OC1 this winter! It has been wonderful to have a boat to use for training (wish I'd done more!) and to take to races! I still think he should have sold it to me, but since I actually saw him down at the club going out for a paddle this morning perhaps he really does intend to get back into paddling! ;-) And since I'm getting my own boat tomorrow maybe we can go for paddles together on our OC1s. So, Steve "Mahalo ā nui loa (thanks very, very, very much)". And now it's time to go ice my back.
Friday, March 14, 2008
been a good week, but Gus doesn't think so
It's been a pretty good week. Late Monday night I received an email from Ross at Open Ocean Outriggers wishing 
me happy birthday. Once I moved beyond being a little weirded out (how did he know it was my birthday? ah, from a form I filled out on a demo day in December) we started chatting about the race last weekend, he'd raced OC2 and done much better than I did, for that matter everybody did much better than I did except for that one person behind me! Then I mentioned to him I was on the verge of getting and OC1, a dealer was willing to work out a payment deal for me. I decided to ask if he would consider such a deal,
never hurts to ask, the worst they can do is say no, which is totally ok. You just never know how often they might say yes if you never ask. And from personal experience yes happens a whole lot more often than you'd expect! Anyway, Ross and I chatted, he spoke with his business partner, and came back with terms we were both happy with and much better than the other deal. I'm getting my new boat this Sunday, it's a Hypr Pahoa. I could wait until mid-April when Ross is planning to come down for a race and pick up a boat he's buying, but I am totally down with immediate gratification! I think it may have something to do with being an inaugural member of the MTV/80's generation! Anybody want to drive to Vancouver Canada with me Sunday?
Gus is having a bit of a rough time, though. Last May he got a slab fracture on an upper premolar from chewing on a cow knee cap bone. It took a few months for it be be painful to him. Last October it was effecting his chewing so in we go for extraction and while he was under had
the remaining teeth cleaned. The crater left by the tooth removal took a good long while to heal up. This began our weekly vet visits because shortly thereafter Llelo had his infamous goose poop incident. Around New Year's both guys were finally feeling pretty fit. Then in mid-February I noticed Gus wasn't eating his chewy things I left for him when I went to work. Open up and sure enough there is another chipped tooth, same tooth other side. He went in for that extraction yesterday. It was otherwise a very healthy tooth because it took Dr Reeves 45 minutes to remove it and I hear he was sweating up a storm because he was working so hard. When I went to pick Gus up last night as soon as he saw me he started whining, really pathetic, prolonged whines, too. It was truly heartbreaking. The technician said while back in the kennel he was perfectly fine and this could just be a special for mom performance. Probably true, but still pulls at the heartstrings.
The whole ride home, whiiiiine, whiiiiinnnnne, wwwwhhhinnne! And he was still a bit woozy from the drugs, too. We get home, more whining. Llelo is thrilled to have his big bruddah home again, let's play now, ok, let's play! To his credit Gus didn't even snap at him, I did that! Supper was tough, I had soaked some kibble in hot water to soften it and added extra canned, not interested. Had to go to straight canned food and even that was hard. I got him up on the bed and he made all kinds of cute wookie sounds mixed with the occasional whine. This morning we skipped the softened dry food and went straight to canned only, gave him his pain meds and antibiotics. Watching him eat the canned food was so sad, even that was painful. Fran, misery loves company, when is your next dental appointment? Gus certainly can feel your pain. Llelo was hovering in the background, waiting for his turn to lick out the dish. Gus seems to be napping right now. Hopefully he will heal more quickly this time. We started the antibiotics straight away this time rather than waiting a week like last time. Poor Gus.
me happy birthday. Once I moved beyond being a little weirded out (how did he know it was my birthday? ah, from a form I filled out on a demo day in December) we started chatting about the race last weekend, he'd raced OC2 and done much better than I did, for that matter everybody did much better than I did except for that one person behind me! Then I mentioned to him I was on the verge of getting and OC1, a dealer was willing to work out a payment deal for me. I decided to ask if he would consider such a deal,
never hurts to ask, the worst they can do is say no, which is totally ok. You just never know how often they might say yes if you never ask. And from personal experience yes happens a whole lot more often than you'd expect! Anyway, Ross and I chatted, he spoke with his business partner, and came back with terms we were both happy with and much better than the other deal. I'm getting my new boat this Sunday, it's a Hypr Pahoa. I could wait until mid-April when Ross is planning to come down for a race and pick up a boat he's buying, but I am totally down with immediate gratification! I think it may have something to do with being an inaugural member of the MTV/80's generation! Anybody want to drive to Vancouver Canada with me Sunday?Gus is having a bit of a rough time, though. Last May he got a slab fracture on an upper premolar from chewing on a cow knee cap bone. It took a few months for it be be painful to him. Last October it was effecting his chewing so in we go for extraction and while he was under had
the remaining teeth cleaned. The crater left by the tooth removal took a good long while to heal up. This began our weekly vet visits because shortly thereafter Llelo had his infamous goose poop incident. Around New Year's both guys were finally feeling pretty fit. Then in mid-February I noticed Gus wasn't eating his chewy things I left for him when I went to work. Open up and sure enough there is another chipped tooth, same tooth other side. He went in for that extraction yesterday. It was otherwise a very healthy tooth because it took Dr Reeves 45 minutes to remove it and I hear he was sweating up a storm because he was working so hard. When I went to pick Gus up last night as soon as he saw me he started whining, really pathetic, prolonged whines, too. It was truly heartbreaking. The technician said while back in the kennel he was perfectly fine and this could just be a special for mom performance. Probably true, but still pulls at the heartstrings.The whole ride home, whiiiiine, whiiiiinnnnne, wwwwhhhinnne! And he was still a bit woozy from the drugs, too. We get home, more whining. Llelo is thrilled to have his big bruddah home again, let's play now, ok, let's play! To his credit Gus didn't even snap at him, I did that! Supper was tough, I had soaked some kibble in hot water to soften it and added extra canned, not interested. Had to go to straight canned food and even that was hard. I got him up on the bed and he made all kinds of cute wookie sounds mixed with the occasional whine. This morning we skipped the softened dry food and went straight to canned only, gave him his pain meds and antibiotics. Watching him eat the canned food was so sad, even that was painful. Fran, misery loves company, when is your next dental appointment? Gus certainly can feel your pain. Llelo was hovering in the background, waiting for his turn to lick out the dish. Gus seems to be napping right now. Hopefully he will heal more quickly this time. We started the antibiotics straight away this time rather than waiting a week like last time. Poor Gus.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
By The Hair Of My Chiney Chin Chin
I was up in Vancouver, BC at False Creek for the 5th in the winter race series. Diane and I loaded the boats Friday night, an OC1 for me and the OC2 for her and Minnie. She arrived a few minutes late to my place Saturday morning, then we were off to collect Ed who would paddle on an OC2 with Clem. 
When we were north of Bellingham we passed Minnie and Ernie. We took a chance and went through the Peace Arch crossing, bad idea. The last time we'd gone that way we crossed pretty quickly, figured our luck would hold, ya, not so much actually. Thankfully there was another racer who kindly let us pull in front of him, his line was moving considerably faster. As it turns out that was a saving grace in more ways than one, seems Diane had forgotten her passport, d'oh! The Canadian customs agent was a kindly fellow and accepted Ed and me saying we knew her well and could vouch for her! Off we go, with the fellow who let us in hot on our tail, I guess he was hoping I had good directions and would get us all there in a timely manner. I did and we did.
We arrived, got registered, got rigged, got changed, and went to the pre-race meeting to learn the course. Then into the water for a bit of a warm up and get
to the start. We're off, I tried to sprint at the start hoping to stick with the back of the pack, and I did, sort of. Minnie and Diane were even to slightly behind me. Darcy, my main competition was a ways ahead of me. I tried to settle into a good pace, but I wasn't feeling quite right. It was about 2 miles to the first turn, turn right down to the flag bouy, back to the first bouy, and then back in. The total distance was 6.2 miles. There was very little wind, but there was a fair amount of ground swell which gave me some difficulty. I was able to pull in front of Minnie and Diane, but not as far as I would have liked. I could here Diane calling the changes and giving Minnie steering advice, helping alter their course so the swells wouldn't cause them to huli. There were a number of instances where I was certain I was going over, hand waving, heart pounding moments. Afterwards Diane told me she saw a few of those moments and was on the ready to help me back onto my OC1. I guess they had some of those moments, too. After the second turn I saw there was another paddler behind Minnie and Diane! After the third turn I just didn't have much left in me, Minnie and Diane were able to pull ahead of me. Those last two miles were so hard, the swells, my feet were cramping up, sweat kept dripping into my eyes and burning, and I just didn't have the energy to keep up the pace. As I neared the finish I realized that other woman was gaining some ground on me, f@&k that, I'm not finishing last! I dug in a paddled for all I was worth, I was on the verge of vomiting, I was working so hard. They didn't have a horn so I couldn't be certain that I'd actually stayed in front of her. As I coasted along I could just feel my toes/feet cramping, I felt like I'd been put through the wringer.
Very slowly I carried the OC1 up to the car, I felt just nasty. Hungry, thirsty, crampy, sweaty, damp, generally not so good. First thing I did back at the car was change out of my nasty wet clothes and then started to take apart the boat and load up the car. Rather a bad idea, I was feeling yucky and not able to explain to the others how I wanted things loaded and tied down. I should have found some food before we loaded up. Once we got everything loaded we all wandered over to the registration to see how everyone finished and get some prizes. I took third in Master Women, Darcy took second. I was six seconds away from dfl (dead f@&king last) at 1:09:02, but I wasn't last! They had some nice, hot split pea soup in desperate need of some salt, with crusty rolls. It was good to get something into my tummy, the sodium from the salt would have helped my cramping issues, though.
Loaded up and ready to go Diane, Ed, and I headed out to Costco to get some antihistamines for me on our way home. Even though Zyrtec is now sold over the counter here, it's much cheaper in Canada, they have generic. Ed and I have an on-going banter regarding when we should stop for gas. I start getting nervous when it dips below 1/4 tank, Ed says, 'ah, we'll be fine!' We aim for the Costco at Smokey Point (exit 206). It goes below 1/4 mark and I poke him and point, he gives a p'shaw face, and we keep going. Yesterday we actually began to dip below the E line as we were on the exit ramp. I've never actually run this car out of gas before, so I don't really know how low I can go. If we ever do run out of gas Ed will have a load of ribbing to live down! I have AAA so I'm not too worried if we actually did run out of gas, it would just keep us from our showers and naps that much longer!
In all I had a not so good race. I realized I never had my protein shake in the morning and I didn't have quite enough to eat. I think I need to do a better electrolyte loading before a race as well. I'd run out of my Emergen-C packets, guess I'm off to go buy some today! However, I had excellent company for the travel, loads of laughter and good conversation. In all a good day!
When we were north of Bellingham we passed Minnie and Ernie. We took a chance and went through the Peace Arch crossing, bad idea. The last time we'd gone that way we crossed pretty quickly, figured our luck would hold, ya, not so much actually. Thankfully there was another racer who kindly let us pull in front of him, his line was moving considerably faster. As it turns out that was a saving grace in more ways than one, seems Diane had forgotten her passport, d'oh! The Canadian customs agent was a kindly fellow and accepted Ed and me saying we knew her well and could vouch for her! Off we go, with the fellow who let us in hot on our tail, I guess he was hoping I had good directions and would get us all there in a timely manner. I did and we did.We arrived, got registered, got rigged, got changed, and went to the pre-race meeting to learn the course. Then into the water for a bit of a warm up and get
to the start. We're off, I tried to sprint at the start hoping to stick with the back of the pack, and I did, sort of. Minnie and Diane were even to slightly behind me. Darcy, my main competition was a ways ahead of me. I tried to settle into a good pace, but I wasn't feeling quite right. It was about 2 miles to the first turn, turn right down to the flag bouy, back to the first bouy, and then back in. The total distance was 6.2 miles. There was very little wind, but there was a fair amount of ground swell which gave me some difficulty. I was able to pull in front of Minnie and Diane, but not as far as I would have liked. I could here Diane calling the changes and giving Minnie steering advice, helping alter their course so the swells wouldn't cause them to huli. There were a number of instances where I was certain I was going over, hand waving, heart pounding moments. Afterwards Diane told me she saw a few of those moments and was on the ready to help me back onto my OC1. I guess they had some of those moments, too. After the second turn I saw there was another paddler behind Minnie and Diane! After the third turn I just didn't have much left in me, Minnie and Diane were able to pull ahead of me. Those last two miles were so hard, the swells, my feet were cramping up, sweat kept dripping into my eyes and burning, and I just didn't have the energy to keep up the pace. As I neared the finish I realized that other woman was gaining some ground on me, f@&k that, I'm not finishing last! I dug in a paddled for all I was worth, I was on the verge of vomiting, I was working so hard. They didn't have a horn so I couldn't be certain that I'd actually stayed in front of her. As I coasted along I could just feel my toes/feet cramping, I felt like I'd been put through the wringer.Very slowly I carried the OC1 up to the car, I felt just nasty. Hungry, thirsty, crampy, sweaty, damp, generally not so good. First thing I did back at the car was change out of my nasty wet clothes and then started to take apart the boat and load up the car. Rather a bad idea, I was feeling yucky and not able to explain to the others how I wanted things loaded and tied down. I should have found some food before we loaded up. Once we got everything loaded we all wandered over to the registration to see how everyone finished and get some prizes. I took third in Master Women, Darcy took second. I was six seconds away from dfl (dead f@&king last) at 1:09:02, but I wasn't last! They had some nice, hot split pea soup in desperate need of some salt, with crusty rolls. It was good to get something into my tummy, the sodium from the salt would have helped my cramping issues, though.
Loaded up and ready to go Diane, Ed, and I headed out to Costco to get some antihistamines for me on our way home. Even though Zyrtec is now sold over the counter here, it's much cheaper in Canada, they have generic. Ed and I have an on-going banter regarding when we should stop for gas. I start getting nervous when it dips below 1/4 tank, Ed says, 'ah, we'll be fine!' We aim for the Costco at Smokey Point (exit 206). It goes below 1/4 mark and I poke him and point, he gives a p'shaw face, and we keep going. Yesterday we actually began to dip below the E line as we were on the exit ramp. I've never actually run this car out of gas before, so I don't really know how low I can go. If we ever do run out of gas Ed will have a load of ribbing to live down! I have AAA so I'm not too worried if we actually did run out of gas, it would just keep us from our showers and naps that much longer!
In all I had a not so good race. I realized I never had my protein shake in the morning and I didn't have quite enough to eat. I think I need to do a better electrolyte loading before a race as well. I'd run out of my Emergen-C packets, guess I'm off to go buy some today! However, I had excellent company for the travel, loads of laughter and good conversation. In all a good day!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Vampire Weekend & Other Stuff
I was on my way home today, listening to NPRs All Things Considered where they reviewed the debut album by Vampire Weekend. They've tagged themselves as 'Upper West Side Soweto'. I bought the album from iTunes shortly after I got home. It's fun, infectious, happy sounding music, makes your feet tap. Check them out.
It's been a crazy busy week at work, few weeks actually. I've got something like 230 hours worth of work that I need to complete by the end of the month. Crazy talk, you say, ya well, me too! Just going to try and do the best I can.
Had a great paddle last night. We went out with 5, Minnie, Nancy, me, Judy, and Neil steering. We did a couple of pyramids, one minute fast, one minute easy, 2 fast, 1 easy, and on up to 5 fast and worked our way back to one. Then we did a second one up to 4 fast. We could feel a huge surge whenever Neil started paddling, it was pretty cool. We only went 6 miles, but they were hard miles. We all felt like we'd had an excellent workout.
Saturday I'm heading up to Vancouver, BC for the 5th race in the winter series. It should be pretty fun. I'm hoping it will be less harsh than the last race I paddled in Vancouver. Be sure I'll let you know about it soon.
It's been a crazy busy week at work, few weeks actually. I've got something like 230 hours worth of work that I need to complete by the end of the month. Crazy talk, you say, ya well, me too! Just going to try and do the best I can.
Had a great paddle last night. We went out with 5, Minnie, Nancy, me, Judy, and Neil steering. We did a couple of pyramids, one minute fast, one minute easy, 2 fast, 1 easy, and on up to 5 fast and worked our way back to one. Then we did a second one up to 4 fast. We could feel a huge surge whenever Neil started paddling, it was pretty cool. We only went 6 miles, but they were hard miles. We all felt like we'd had an excellent workout.
Saturday I'm heading up to Vancouver, BC for the 5th race in the winter series. It should be pretty fun. I'm hoping it will be less harsh than the last race I paddled in Vancouver. Be sure I'll let you know about it soon.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I Kicked Ass Today
I had intended to hit the sack early last night, get a good night's rest before the race. Some idiot pulled a fire alarm at 10:30 pm, moments before I was to bed. Sigh. The shrill, piercing alarm was just special. Thankfully, the fire department has a pretty darn good response time, makes me feel better should we ever actually have a fire or some such. Unfortunately, it took them over an hour to get the alarm turned off. Oh well, the race was in Tacoma, so I could sleep a bit later than usual.
Got down to SSP to load the boats at 7:30 am, Diane was to arrive at 7:45 to help and the plan was to be on the road by 8:15. The tricky part was loading the OC2 on, not so much the boat, but the ama (the outrigger part). The OC1 ama fits inside the car and since we couldn't get both amas tied down properly on top we put that one inside. Finally got the OC2 ama tied down and off we went ... to Top Pot Doughnuts. Leaving this late they were open and we could grab a blueberry glazed and coffee for the road. It's 8:45 and we are onto the highway. We were five minutes from the race site when Ed called to give me a hard time for not being there yet. I am notorious for being overcautiously early, ya well, not today. We even missed the pre-race meeting. Didn't feel so bad about that since I've raced this course before.
Got rigged up and on the water and was thinking about my discussion with Doug during the ride home from the last race. He said I needed to sprint off the start for as long as I could before settling into my race pace, that way the pack wouldn't drop me so completely as they had during the last race. I got lined up with everyone else and when the go was sounded hit it as hard as I could for as long as I could. I could see Stan out of the corner of my eye, slightly behind me, gotta stay in front of him, must stay in front of Stan! I just tried to stretch it out and pull hard, my technique was feeling much better, too. On my way to the first turn I passed one or was it two other competitors! Made it to the first turn (it was a two lap course) and headed back towards the start. I could see Darcy a little bit ahead of me, my main competition in the master women's category. I dug in even deeper and tried to close the gap between us. I did creep closer to her and at the turn to finish the first lap I was right on her tail, called out "I'm doggin' you Darcy!" Then I lost a little distance following the turn, maybe 30-40 feet or so. I had to stop watching her, so I just focused on the next bouy turn and hit the zone. Reach, twist, dig, pull, and again. Next thing I know I'm even with her! I kept at it, she made some comment about someone having eaten their Wheaties today, I laugh and then left her behind me! It was so awesome! I couldn't let her catch me again, I just couldn't. I stayed focused and aimed to pass the next guy in front of me. I made it to the last turn, struggling to put more distance between me and Darcy, digging deep and hard, really pushing myself. I came very close to catching the guy in front of me. In the end he was able to stay ahead of me, though. I could hear people cheering me from the cliff, calling my name, then the horn sounded and I could stop. There was a guy behind me and then came Darcy. I did it, I beat her by shear strength!
There were more people behind me in this race than any other so far. That was a huge confidence boost, too. One person behind me is good, many is better. A few minutes later along come Diane and Minnie on the OC2. They were pushing hard to the finish, I hear Diane call the change and then switch sides only Minnie didn't switch sides. Sploosh! Over they went a mere 20 feet from the finish line, the collective gasp could be heard on the shore. A few guys paddled over to help collect paddles and make sure they got over and back up ok and finally made it across the finish line. A wonderful thing about outrigger is the ohana or sense of family, gotta make sure everyone is safe and ok, then worry about the racing. They were both plenty warmed up from the paddling, but the water was quite bracing. Time to head in and get dry.
So, today's finish gave me my third 2nd place finish. Darcy has a 1st and two 3rds. If I can keep her in 3rds and me in 2nds I will be very happy. The next race is March 8 in Vancouver, BC, then March 29 in Portland, and the last race will be April 12 in Lake Washington. I just plan to keep on doing what I'm doing, paddle hard and take names! Maybe pick Doug's brain a little more.
Got down to SSP to load the boats at 7:30 am, Diane was to arrive at 7:45 to help and the plan was to be on the road by 8:15. The tricky part was loading the OC2 on, not so much the boat, but the ama (the outrigger part). The OC1 ama fits inside the car and since we couldn't get both amas tied down properly on top we put that one inside. Finally got the OC2 ama tied down and off we went ... to Top Pot Doughnuts. Leaving this late they were open and we could grab a blueberry glazed and coffee for the road. It's 8:45 and we are onto the highway. We were five minutes from the race site when Ed called to give me a hard time for not being there yet. I am notorious for being overcautiously early, ya well, not today. We even missed the pre-race meeting. Didn't feel so bad about that since I've raced this course before.
Got rigged up and on the water and was thinking about my discussion with Doug during the ride home from the last race. He said I needed to sprint off the start for as long as I could before settling into my race pace, that way the pack wouldn't drop me so completely as they had during the last race. I got lined up with everyone else and when the go was sounded hit it as hard as I could for as long as I could. I could see Stan out of the corner of my eye, slightly behind me, gotta stay in front of him, must stay in front of Stan! I just tried to stretch it out and pull hard, my technique was feeling much better, too. On my way to the first turn I passed one or was it two other competitors! Made it to the first turn (it was a two lap course) and headed back towards the start. I could see Darcy a little bit ahead of me, my main competition in the master women's category. I dug in even deeper and tried to close the gap between us. I did creep closer to her and at the turn to finish the first lap I was right on her tail, called out "I'm doggin' you Darcy!" Then I lost a little distance following the turn, maybe 30-40 feet or so. I had to stop watching her, so I just focused on the next bouy turn and hit the zone. Reach, twist, dig, pull, and again. Next thing I know I'm even with her! I kept at it, she made some comment about someone having eaten their Wheaties today, I laugh and then left her behind me! It was so awesome! I couldn't let her catch me again, I just couldn't. I stayed focused and aimed to pass the next guy in front of me. I made it to the last turn, struggling to put more distance between me and Darcy, digging deep and hard, really pushing myself. I came very close to catching the guy in front of me. In the end he was able to stay ahead of me, though. I could hear people cheering me from the cliff, calling my name, then the horn sounded and I could stop. There was a guy behind me and then came Darcy. I did it, I beat her by shear strength!
There were more people behind me in this race than any other so far. That was a huge confidence boost, too. One person behind me is good, many is better. A few minutes later along come Diane and Minnie on the OC2. They were pushing hard to the finish, I hear Diane call the change and then switch sides only Minnie didn't switch sides. Sploosh! Over they went a mere 20 feet from the finish line, the collective gasp could be heard on the shore. A few guys paddled over to help collect paddles and make sure they got over and back up ok and finally made it across the finish line. A wonderful thing about outrigger is the ohana or sense of family, gotta make sure everyone is safe and ok, then worry about the racing. They were both plenty warmed up from the paddling, but the water was quite bracing. Time to head in and get dry.
So, today's finish gave me my third 2nd place finish. Darcy has a 1st and two 3rds. If I can keep her in 3rds and me in 2nds I will be very happy. The next race is March 8 in Vancouver, BC, then March 29 in Portland, and the last race will be April 12 in Lake Washington. I just plan to keep on doing what I'm doing, paddle hard and take names! Maybe pick Doug's brain a little more.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Cautiously Optimistic
The foot was a bit achy last night, pretty much only when walking or standing, though. And this morning I was able to take the boys out with no limping! It is feeling better. I ran a couple of errands this morning, another round of allergy shots (no reaction this time!) and then to REI to get some new gloves for paddling; having my index finger poke out is proving to be more distracting than the cost of a new pair. While walking around REI foot was reminding me that while it may be feeling better, it's not back to 100% and I should just cool my jets! I think I'll spend the afternoon working, as I intended anyway, and daydream about a bright sunny day for the race down in Tacoma Saturday. How nice to have a race were I don't need to leave town at 6:30 to get there. Planning to leave nearer to 8 am.
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