El Caption

In sport, and in life sometimes we stay put in the measurement game. Measurements sure help us track progress, from one season to the next and from day to day, but sometimes it's the little unmeasurable things that make a difference.

Today we had the privilege of sleeping in. This meant a lot.

Every morning I have a bowl of oatmeal with some yoghurt and a little #2 Amber Canadian Maple Syrup. On usual weekday mornings for the sake of time, I have just been tossing the yoghurt on raw oats and digging in. If it's good enough for a race horse, it's good enough for me. Today with all the extra time, I decided to cook the oatmeal. That was nice.

Another big little thing happens in the pool.

When I began swimming with the Centre I would generally finish the set either exactly on pace time, or just a bit (maybe a lot) behind. I would roll into the wall just as the group was taking off for their next set. This didn't bother me, as I was happy to be in the water with fast swimmers and awesome coaches.

Who knew what our group was doing in between the time when they had finished the 1st set and began number two. Maybe discussing the new guys butterfly stroke? Earlier this year I found out.

Before an important set there's a pump up speech. Either Neil, Patrick have a message for the group, something to keep in mind during the next set, something to inspire.

It would be easy to measure the change in swim speed required for myself to finish the set, leaving time to hear these "pump up" words of wisdom. But until that change occurs, who would know what a difference it could make.

Little things mean a lot, and can be big rewards.

Great day of training.
Durrance swim with a little T2 action to satisfaction,
Base ride with a lot of Snickers action,
and a short run, (I can't think of a caption).

Thanks for the awesome day. Rest well.

Friday night Feast

I find it amazing how the world works. Sometimes things appear to happen very quickly, other times they seem endless. As with the rest, I suppose it comes down to our perspective, and subjective interpretation of experience.

Lately there have been numerous occasions where I think something one day, and find that thought becoming example a few days later.

A few mornings and nights ago I had a conversation about running. "I wonder what it would feel like to run in the body of Hichem El Guerrouj?" Fast, effortless running. "What would it be like running with that perfect light form, even for one workout?"

I bet that one workout would change our running style. We could feel the feeling, feel the rhythm, and feel the speed.

Same experience in the water. "What would it feel like to swim with Thorpe technique?"

This morning we were back to our 6 x 100 set in the water. Today it was challenging for me to find the rhythm. When I'm tired and feel a morning like this, I default back to Plan A: work harder. If I just simply work as hard as I possibly can, I will swim faster and become fitter. That has been Plan A for as long as I can remember.

After finishing 4 of 6 100s I heard, "Stevo, stop. Just wait a minute." Todays message from PK and Neil was to swim the set as it was meant to be swam. In this case, recover when the set prescribes it. And if you're not recovering, do something differently so you can.

OK, Plan B. Work smarter.

Our next set was 6 x 200, drafting. I chose to drop the intensity slightly, and focus on form. Swim like Thorpe. Find the inner Dolphin. Play, be happy, relax, swim well. Like Neil said the other day, "You guys are swimming well, now act like it."

Good swim. Flush ride. Feed the engine a little CHO, Pro-, and FAT. Time for a nap.

Run. Track workout. Great workout with AP. Thanks for some solid running and good pacing dude man. Word on the street has it the rest of our group ripped up the Jack Wallace with lightning fast splits. Nice work guys and gals! You are fitter than fit, faster than fast.

Thanks to PK for sticking around after we confused the schedule.

Thanks to Jazz n' Jude for a sweet Friday night Feast.

Rest well.

Manny

Wednesday's training highlight was definitely our evening ride. We start at 4pm with a Yoga session coached by Elizabeth. Lately I have noticed a change in my riding style. I think it may be attributed to our Hatha practice. It's sort of the same feeling I had with Papaya earlier this year, the feeling of dancing.

In the Fall and Winter, Papaya and I used to dance up a storm along the trails. It was about working together navigating our course, and choosing our path. Now with Sugar Cane I feel as though I am dancing on the pedals. It's a whole body kind of dance, one that starts at the tip of your big toe, goes right up through your legs, hips, torso, down your arms, back onto the bars, and continues right up to the top of your head. The whole body works as one unit, together on the one task. Spin.

There's lots more, but I'm still considering how to describe.

We also enjoyed a split swim practice between SCP and Thetis. I'm still acclimating to the wetsuit, and looking forward to our next open water swim. Sunny run through the Thetis trails, and that's a days training.

Not much happened in between Wednesday and Thursday, but I did wake up at 1am on a PB sandwich mission. (+ 1/2 a tub of yoghurt).

Thursday is the adaptation day, as usual. 7 x 600 in the pool, home to eat (lots), nap, briefly chill with Finn, visit Oak Bay Village Butcher, work, eat, now, bed.

I'm pretty sure Finn has no idea who I am, but today I received a smile. Definitely cool. In the future I may have the title "Manny."

Thanks to Mike Windall at the Village Butcher for some great nourishment: Thai Pork Sausage, Metchosin Lamb, Cowichan Turkey, and Cowichan Bison.

Tomorrow will be a great day.

Rest well.

Abode

Dude, Man, Yo . . . it is great to be back to a full training load.

Worldwide, there are a number of different theories as to what causes bodily illness, whether it be some kind of release, emotional healing crisis, or the western theory. A common theme however, is growth with recovery.

Much of the time there are important lessons learned. The illness in effect leads to a fuller, more complete and healthy body.

Once back on a full training load, I am always excited and fully fired to fly, ambitiously attacking any workout.

There is sometimes a feeling of lost fitness. Naaa, I don't think so. As the Jazz man says, just a loss of tolerance. Let's change that word "lost." Things don't just disappear. Our body does however do a great job of recognizing change, change from it's current state of homeostasis.

We become used to intensity and volume. These become normal, just as we acclimatize to heat, a windy day, or even a loud sound. Eventually our body no longer recognizes these external influences.

So now it's time to re-acclimate.

This morning I woke up feeling great and ready to go. We had a pretty good swim set to test things out. 6 x (100 on 1:10; 100 on 2:00). Today was the first day I have had the opportunity to swim LC 100s on 1:10. Perfect. Lets try it out.

The first two were within the time, and for the last 3 I came in at 10 or 11, finishing the set on a 1:15 pace. Ok, we're back on. Let us build.

PaC SporT ChilLaX, 90 minute spin with A2theP-B-Smith, lunch and a nap,
Run time.

Today's lesson on the run: You can run fast and easy. Does this sound familiar? Good advice from AP: "Just relax dude and your HR will drop by 5bpm. Just chill man, let's work together."

In other news I have relocated to the abode of Jazz man with Finn - machine, and J-rock.

Elaborations tomorrow. In the mean time,

Rest well.

Refuel

The space,
A place for rejuvenation.

On the surface, there are changes,
Moment to moment, year to year.
Still same tide, same water, same stones,
Same place.

The same fire to keep us warm.

The same evening with which we rest.

I'm refueled.

Thank You G-man for the company.
Thanks You fire for keeping us warm.
Thanks You waves for your sound.

It's amazing how we can loose ourselves staring into a fire or the sea.

Thanks to Andrew McCartney. Great work with dinner tonight big guy. You are the Mango Chicken Curry Master!

Now it is late and I must sleep. Know the body is well. Know it! Know the body is healthy. Know it! More than thinking. Know it!

Thank the body for being well and as always,

Rest well.

SOMBRIO!!

HeyO for SombriO. It's sunny, it's summer, it's time for Sombrio. Best of the best to those racing tomorrow and those training as usual. Catch ya on the flip side.

Rest Well.

house

Living in this organism.

Living with our body, as opposed to living against it.

A beautiful, perfect, lifelong gift, given to us on our birthday. It is our very own temple, a place we call home. It's a place we hold our deepest thoughts, and carry every emotion. And even more, it is a place we can go at any time for quiet reflection. It has been a part of the earth from the beginning. It represents much more than ourself. It is a picture, a representation of something much greater.

We are given one. One of which we, and only we, are in absolute control. We respect it. We nurture it. We care for it. We learn to balance. We work together as a team.

Through formal marble institution style education, we learned of various systems, structures, and functions. However, the most meaningful lesson took place during a ceremony held for our classes donor bodies.

It took an entire year of highlighting, colouring, and pure rote style memorization to learn about 84% of the material, but on this day a feeling stuck. This is our temple; and right now, this is my home. For a moment I understood the teamwork.

Just like our dog Kipling, I too have a tendency towards selective hearing. Kipling would be more than successful at ignoring our begging requests to "come" or "sit." But eventually he would become bored or hungry, leaving us annoyed. His strategy worked in the very short term, but good communication is key for long term success.

If we are going to work together perfectly, we kneed to recognize requirements on both sides. That is both our requirements and expectations of the organism, and those of the organism regarding us.

Sometimes the language appears soft, fuzzy, or hazy to us, but crystal clear from an objective stand. This time I think I heard the message.

I will pass on this 1/2, and fortunately there is another 1/2 waiting just one month away.

Breathe, Listen, and as always, Rest Well.