Tomorrow I go down to San Diego to fetch my daughter Pookie who has just finished her frehsman year of college. Go Pooks!
I will be yelling Go Pooks! again on July 4 as she joins me in a local 5K event. For me it means tryng for a PR. For her it will also be a PR because it is her first. When we talked about it she told me she would need some motivation and reminded me of this little girl and asked me to be her own personal monster.
About a week before Sharkfest I heard enough people say it was fun that I was all excited and ready. The night before I realized I stil needed to go get new goggles and when I found myself in the store, surrounded by open goggle packages and getting increasingly upset that NONE of them were right I realized I was nervous. Sigh….. I calmed down, chose a pair, went home and proceeded to freak out because you aren’t suppsed to try something new when you have an event and what if the goggle leaked? – OH NO! So I filled the bathroom sink with water, put the goggles on and tested them – no problem It was a sign of good things to come.
I got to Aquatic Park SO early. 6 AM. The registration went from 6 to 7″30 so I had plenty of time to hang out, try to relax and take some pictures. The water was absolutely flat, the temperature was mild and the sun was peeking in and out of clouds. It was a perfect day.
A cruise ship came through and I hoped the event organizers were aware of that and that it wouldn’t leave port half way through the swim – it was big!
FeLady and company got there and got registered so all we had left to do was hang out and chat and get ready. And ready we were
An announcer explained how the event would work, how to site and what to do after so we all marched en masse, through the tourists on Fisnerman’s wharf and over to the ferry. I wish I had a shot of 800 people, most of whom were in wetsuits meandering along the waterfront.
On the short ride out there I briefly considered just staying on the boat but when the time came I stepped up to the door and when the guy yelled ‘GO!”, I went! 
The water was cold but I used the time honored tradition to warm things up a bit in my wetsuit (shablam! it’s like having your own mobile hot tub!) and my face got used to the cold pretty fast. The biggest shock for me was the salt water. I haven’t been in salt water for years and I forgot how… how salty it tastes. My feet and hands were cold but not unbearably so. Once my face decided that the cold and the salt were okay I was all set.
The swim was so amazing – I can’t really describe the feeling of swimming across something as big as the SF Bay. Initially there are lots of swimmers around you but before long it seems like you are out there all alone. As you get closer to the shore the swimmers coalesce again, giving you yet another sign that you won’t be swimming forever although at that point it really feels like it. I can’t even imagine swimming the 2.4 it takes to do an IM. I guess it’s all relative and if you train for it you can do it but 1.5 was plenty, thank you.
I sited off those 2 white towers toward the right in this picture. The building that looks like a boat is the museum we had to swim back to. The towers were easy to see without having to stop and tread water and worked as a target for much of the way in.
When I got closer I saw the buoy off the back of the lead boat and then finally the opening in the breakwater. The only mistake I made was allowing myself to hook to the left once I got into Aquatic Park so that I ended up coming out of the water to the left of the correct landing zone. I just ran (in a manner of speaking) over there and ran across the mats at 50:17, 15th out of 21 women in my age group. Not bad.
I was so woozy I had to be helped on to the stairs but I think most people were. You can’t be horizontal for that long and not get dizzy when you stand up.
I felt wonderful and strong and accomplished once I got my bearings. Before that I felt like a madwoman. If you watched ‘Dancing with the Star’ you’ll understand when I say I had the voice of Bruno Tonioli in my head yelling “She was like a crazy fish, flopping around the deck of a boat!” Some nice people let me hold on to them to get my wetsuit off and then I went and got a piece of banana and then raided the Lara Bars (I blame DPR for my greedy ways with them – she taught me to plunder the Lara Bars at the Bay to Breakers).
Sharkfest was a very cool event and I got some Shark-a-licious swag, too.
I’d like to thank Cheryl again for turning me on this event and for being my Sharkfest mentor and for inviting me to join her and her husband and friends for a delicious brunch after the swim. She even let me take a shower at her hotel room. I had such a great time and am still enjoying a tremendous sense of wonder and self satisfaction.
Could you tell that is the theme from Jaws? Okay fine -it doesn’t translate to ascii. They did play it just before we headed over to board the ferry to Alcatraz today. I am way too tired to trot out the details but suffice it to say that swimming from Alcatrz to Aquatic Park is an experience like no other and I felt like Superwoman when I got out of the water. A woozy, light headed, dizzy Superwoman but Superwoman none the less.
I had a fabulous time with FeLady, Mr. FeLady and the friends of the FeLadies. Just excellent. I can’t thank FeLady enough for getting me in to this. It is by far my favorite athletic experience of all time.
Results have not been posted yet so I have no idea. I was not last. I did fine. I loved it. Pictures to follow.
I can’t remember where I found this video so if I got it from your blog I’m sorry for being a copycat. I just love it, though. It’s fun and upbeat and makes me smile every time I watch it. Does the Navy have an equivalent to Hoo Ah?
Sunday is the big day
Sharkfest! is here. Thanks to Bigun for his wonderful write up of his ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ I am really excited and not so scared. If you haven’t read it either at raceAthlete or on his own blog, git on over there. It is beyond entertaining.
I’ve been trying to figure out all week what I should or shouldn’t do for workouts. It’s a little hard to think of tapering for a 1.5 mile swim but you really don’t want to cramp up or lose steam when you are in the middle of SF Bay, battling Great Whites so I’ve taken it easy. Monday I ran, Tuesday I swam but we did a lot of drills (I still made my arms sore), Wednesday I spent the entire day in running clothes and never left the house, Thursday I tossed myself out the door mid-day for a run in the heat and today I am not doing anything. Tomorrow I will do a little easy open water swimming with the tri clinic peeps and then Sunday I will meet up with FeLady, pull on a wetsuit, hop on a ferry, hop off said ferry into the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay, scream “OH MY GOD THIS IS COLD!”, put some more water in the wetsuit and yell “REALLY COLD!!!”, swim to the starting line, hear the foghorn go off and start swimming. I expect by then I will be warm and very happy to be following the boat with the big buoy on the back.
And yes – I will be wearing a different pair of goggles than the ones I wore for my funny but not all that successful swim at Wildflower. I will wear clear goggles and if they fog up I will stop and rinse them out.
Funny comment on another topic –One of my guilty pleasures is watching dancing shows. I watched all of “Dancing with the Stars” (go Apolo!) and I’m now watching “So You Think You Can Dance”. I love watching dancers because I know from painful experience that the coordination it takes to do the moves with grace and in rhythm with the music is not that easy to come by. I took a dance class once in college and let’s just leave it at I was not born to dance. Anyhow, last night they were picking the 20 people who will be on the show and one after the other the judges first scared each contestant by hinting that they hadn’t made it and then told them they had. It was sort of irritating but the result was that each contestant got emotionally overwrought fighting back tears of disappointment and then when they got the good news morphed in to an explosion of unbridled ecstasy. Tears were shed and words flew out of mouths and my favorite of all was a girl who clearly wanted to say STFU! but who instead said “Shut The Front Door!” I loved that. It conveyed the same sentiment without being crude.
Sunday is the big day
Sharkfest! is here. Thanks to Bigun for his wonderful write up of his ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ I am really excited and not so scared. If you haven’t read it either at raceAthlete or on his own blog, git on over there. It is beyond entertaining.
I’ve been trying to figure out all week what I should or shouldn’t do for workouts. It’s a little hard to think of tapering for a 1.5 mile swim but you really don’t want to cramp up or lose steam when you are in the middle of SF Bay, battling Great Whites so I’ve taken it easy. Monday I ran, Tuesday I swam but we did a lot of drills (I still made my arms sore), Wednesday I spent the entire day in running clothes and never left the house, Thursday I tossed myself out the door mid-day for a run in the heat and today I am not doing anything. Tomorrow I will do a little easy open water swimming with the tri clinic peeps and then Sunday I will meet up with FeLady, pull on a wetsuit, hop on a ferry, hop off said ferry into the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay, scream “OH MY GOD THIS IS COLD!”, put some more water in the wetsuit and yell “REALLY COLD!!!”, swim to the starting line, hear the foghorn go off and start swimming. I expect by then I will be warm and very happy to be following the boat with the big buoy on the back.
And yes – I will be wearing a different pair of goggles than the ones I wore for my funny but not all that successful swim at Wildflower. I will wear clear goggles and if they fog up I will stop and rinse them out.
Funny comment on another topic –One of my guilty pleasures is watching dancing shows. I watched all of “Dancing with the Stars” (go Apolo!) and I’m now watching “So You Think You Can Dance”. I love watching dancers because I know from painful experience that the coordination it takes to do the moves with grace and in rhythm with the music is not that easy to come by. I took a dance class once in college and let’s just leave it at I was not born to dance. Anyhow, last night they were picking the 20 people who will be on the show and one after the other the judges first scared each contestant by hinting that they hadn’t made it and then told them they had. It was sort of irritating but the result was that each contestant got emotionally overwrought fighting back tears of disappointment and then when they got the good news morphed in to an explosion of unbridled ecstasy. Tears were shed and words flew out of mouths and my favorite of all was a girl who clearly wanted to say STFU! but who instead said “Shut The Front Door!” I loved that. It conveyed the same sentiment without being crude.
I was scheduled yesterday to go cycling in the wine country with my race club. This was a golden opportunity as someone had made the arrangements and matched drivers to riders and there was a whole group going and I LOVE cycling in the wine country – it is fantastically beautiful terrain and the hills are just right. 
As the week wore on I got more and more apprehensive of riding with this group because many of them are training for IM CDA and/or Vineman and this isn’t their first IM and they are fast. They ride at 18-20 mph and I do not. I thought about cancelling. I was pretty sure I had a sore throat coming on – yeah. And you know, my garden really need some work and um… really I’d just be a drag. Then, right on cue my dog came up lame and I thought that was the perfect excuse not to go. After all, I might have to take the dog to the vet. Mustn’t neglect a pet in favor of a ride, right? Of course I had just taken her in Thursday and dropped $95 for nothing but still…. and my son was home and could easily take her in but stilll.. I mean really….. really I should bow out.
And then Momo left me a comment and said “just who cares what speed you are, mom. just have fun out there and go your own pace” and I thought “yes – you are SO right Momo. I will ride my own ride”. I 
Momo – she is so wise and so kind and such an IronStud who was I not to take her advice?
Up at 5:00, dressed and ready to go at 6:00 and I head over to the park and ride where we are all meeting. I met my driver and passengers, put the bike in the rack and hopped in. We chatted on the way up about this and that I just decided to head out with this group and see what happened. What happened was that I got dropped in the first 2 miles. I thought about pounding it out and catching up and just hanging on to someone’s wheel but then I decided not to. I decided that I would go out for about 15 or so miles, call someone and tell them my plan and just head back the way I went out – and that’s what I did. It was brilliant! I rode 34 miles to their 54 (the extra miles are from getting lost, of course) and ended up back at the cars at exactly the same time as most of the Ironpeeps.
Turns out there were some women who I could have kept up with if I had just punched it in the beginning but that’s okay – I really, really, really enjoyed MY ride. 
I had a crazy dream last night that Dick Cheney and his wife met through “Hot or Not” They were both young and attractive in the dream. And then there was a part about me and Ashton Kutcher. 
I was on a round stage and we were throwing ping pong balls at each other and flirting. I detest Ashton Kutcher and his stupid ‘Punked’ show. He was funny on ‘That 70s Show’ and he is very devoted to Demi Moore and that’s about all I think of him. Anyone care to venture an analysis of my dreams? Oh never mind.
I should have been having anxiety dreams. Tomorrow I am going with my race club to ride up in Napa. It is so beautiful that I decided to swallow my pride and just go even though I’m sure I can’t possibly keep up with anyone. That’s okay. I’ll just take a map, take a shortcut so I don’t hold them up too long and enjoy the scenery.
Sunday I have an opportunity to do some open water swimming with said group. If it works with my schedule I’ll do it because we get to go in a really nice, private lake and it sounds way fun.
I almost wore my arms out this week swimming in preparation for Sharkfest! next weekend. We had a Mama and a baby gray whale that got lost in the Bay and swam up the Delta for about a week and I was secretly hoping they might just stay in the bay and Sharkfest would have to be called on account of whales. Then I could just go out to brunch with FeLady and Mr. FeLady and not have to buck the tides. The whales finally found their way back out to the open ocean so the event is still on. I’m ready but maybe just a teeny bit nervous. I have zero experience swimming in salt water swells. I guess I’ll just figure it out on fly – or on the stroke – or something like that. Whatever it takes to get to shore, that’s what I’ll do.
I was going to start this post with a yawn. I was going to tell you how ho-hum I’m feeling; about how I’ve got nothing to say. I was going to talk about how I signed up for 2 more triathlons (both sprint) and how sometimes I get excited but mostly I think, ho hum – big deal. Then I’d move to beating myself up because I’m really good at that. Then I had to think about my motivation for writing like that. Then I had to think about how boring that was. Then I got back to the yawn. Then I started going through my blogroll and I found a video tribute to John Blais over at .1 of 1%, Mal James running blog. Then I got a grip.
So it isn’t really Hump Day Miscellany. It’s Hump Day Inspiration and Tribute Day. Thank you, Mal for posting this video. For those of you who are not Mal, he is a cameraman for Fox over in the Middle East and in addition to going from being a runner and marathoner to signing up for an Ironman (sound familiar??) he sees war from a very different angle than the rest of us. If you’d like a birds eye (or is that a Mal’s eye?) view into conflict in the Middle East please go to his other blog, Unholyland News. and I assure you, you will get quite an eyeful. Not of tragedy and mayhem and limbless bodies but of sorrow and terror and madness.
So here’s to John Blais and to Mal and to Me and here’s to You, too. For all of your efforts, your strength, your bravery, your determination and your contributions to the larger community. Here’s to all of us. I think John would appreciate our efforts to go the distance and seek personal triumph as we run and swim and bike our way through personal demons, through our fears, through our sore muscles and in spite of busy lives until we cross that finish line.
Click here to read more about John Blais and the Blazeman Warriors
“This is where you will win the battle – in the playhouse of your mind”
I was going to start this post with a yawn. I was going to tell you how ho-hum I’m feeling; about how I’ve got nothing to say. I was going to talk about how I signed up for 2 more triathlons (both sprint) and how sometimes I get excited but mostly I think, ho hum – big deal. Then I’d move to beating myself up because I’m really good at that. Then I had to think about my motivation for writing like that. Then I had to think about how boring that was. Then I got back to the yawn. Then I started going through my blogroll and I found a video tribute to John Blais over at .1 of 1%, Mal James running blog. Then I got a grip.
So it isn’t really Hump Day Miscellany. It’s Hump Day Inspiration and Tribute Day. Thank you, Mal for posting this video. For those of you who are not Mal, he is a cameraman for Fox over in the Middle East and in addition to going from being a runner and marathoner to signing up for an Ironman (sound familiar??) he sees war from a very different angle than the rest of us. If you’d like a birds eye (or is that a Mal’s eye?) view into conflict in the Middle East please go to his other blog, Unholyland News. and I assure you, you will get quite an eyeful. Not of tragedy and mayhem and limbless bodies but of sorrow and terror and madness.
So here’s to John Blais and to Mal and to Me and here’s to You, too. For all of your efforts, your strength, your bravery, your determination and your contributions to the larger community. Here’s to all of us. I think John would appreciate our efforts to go the distance and seek personal triumph as we run and swim and bike our way through personal demons, through our fears, through our sore muscles and in spite of busy lives until we cross that finish line.
Click here to read more about John Blais and the Blazeman Warriors
“This is where you will win the battle – in the playhouse of your mind”
21st-century-mom.com 