Rattatatta taattaattaat,

This is where it's at.

Do you ever find yourself thinking, "this here, right now, this is where I am meant to be." That is just what I felt today at the beginning of swim #2. Right now I am meant to be in the water.

The double swim is great. It's not really a heavy load on the body, and I can tell the benefits are huge. Just by spending that extra time swimming, I notice a difference in how my stroke feels in the water. It's almost like you're already warmed up when you jump in. There isn't that need to quickly relearn and remember what it is you are working on. You can make progress from where you left off in the morning, taking further steps than possible in just a couple morning hours.

This afternoon we did an underwater swimming drill where we needed to streamline off the wall for 20m, experimenting with head position. I have been told that head position is important; today I felt why. The difference in resistance is massive. Swimming with your head just a bit above the arms is like throwing out a drag chute. No need to pull one of those around.

In the morning we had a decent 1200m kick set, for a total of 1700 this morning. Strangely enough I generally feel better as kick sets progress. I think it's just a matter of the body becoming more efficient once it realizes it will be kicking for a while. PK told us of an epic 4 x 800m descending kick set, where the last 800 needed to be faster than the first three, otherwise you get to make it an even 4k. Sweetness. I hope we get to rock that one this year, only the penalty for not descending will be 10 x the observatory. I'm serious. Then we can go do 10x the observatory anyways.

400TT tomorrow. wickedness. It's been written, now make it so.

Today I busted out more of "The Arsenal." One full head of garlic, roasted with olive oil of course. Fortunately I don't think anybody noticed.

Tonight I will break out a needle and thread for the speedo. That hole is getting a little out of hand.

Windy.

Short post this evening because it's almost time to catch a little shut eye.

Great day today swimming, and running. I also spent some more time getting to know Papaya.

On Tuesday evenings I work in the gym with a visually impaired lady. We generally start with the Treadmill, move on to Elliptical, sometimes a little Rowing, and then weights. These sessions are really enjoyable. There is so much to learn from everything and everyone around us.

I was starting to fatigue towards the end of my shift as it was the end of a fun filled day. Then I ran into a friend I have known since Grade 2. Some people just exude energy. Something about being around them just fills you with energy no matter where you are, or what you are doing.

Amazing.

Today smelt good.

I woke up this morning to some nice fog which smelt like the sea. The good sea smell: kinda salty, a little bit like those long seaweed tube things, some old waterlogged cedar driftwood smell, slight wet dog smell, and of course the distinct smell of seagulls.

That's got to be one of the best ways to start the day. A good wiff of sea air.

Swimming this morning was a decent 5k technical. It is amazing how after just one day off swimming it takes much longer to get the feel back. However, it's really almost 48 hours out of the water from Saturday morning to Monday morning.

The training lesson today was this: It doesn't really matter if you don't feel great in the water right now, because you are going to feel great soon enough, probably within the next km or so. In the mean time, ENJOY the fact that you are paving those swimming neural pathways so they can handle the winter traffic and weather. Soon they will be super highways with magnetic trains and flying cars. Sweet.
"It's all about this stroke, now it's about this stroke, make this one even better, and this one better still."

I met with a new PT client today. I have a feeling there's going to be some solid progressions made by December.

I finished the day with a short walk which smelt like Halloween. I guess it wasn't really the true Halloween smell; it was more just the late October smell. The Halloween smell would have to include pumpkin guts with salted roasted seeds (tasty), melted cheap milk chocolate(nasty), zippo fuel, and gunpowder from the fire crackers.

This evening's smell was that of leaves decomposing, fallen apples, mixed with a crispy air.

That's got to be one of the best ways to finish the day. A good wiff of fall air.

Cyclocross is wicked cool.

Saturday AM.
Swim short course. This was a great swim for me, mainly because I got worked over. The lead up set was 50 back, 75 free x 10 on one minute. No problem there. Then, the next bit of work was 75 bk/fr/bk on 1:15, 100fr on 1:15 x 7. The first couple were decent. I think I even got a little bit of rest. Luxury indeed. Then as the set progressed it turned into a continuous swim. Just hang in there.
I could have done the set on 1:20 and it would have been good work. I would have made the time no problem, had some rest, and in some views "done it properly." (side note here... thanks to my bro scotty for swimming around me.)

I think it's important to do things you think are out of your comfort zone. Beyond that too, even above your present ability. Because really, one of two things will happen. You will either surprise yourself and do it. Great, good for you, now you need a bigger envelope.... Or, you will not do it. But, in the process you will learn what it means to perform at that level. You are teaching your physical body what it means to do it. You are preparing your mental body to do it. You are coaching your emotional body to have the courage. Your spiritual body just gets stronger.

I'm going to skip a bit and talk about today's cyclocross race because it fits in here. One of the expert riders was telling me that he finds no matter what group he rides with in a cross race, it feels hard. That is, whether he is riding fast with the leaders, or slower with another group. Basically the moral is your body will rise to the occasion. It will do what you ask of it. Speed, Time... these things are irrelevant.

I found the same thing this morning. Starting out at the back of the pack, "ok this is kinda hard, but I'm going to ride with the group up ahead." Then once you're with that pack it's exactly the same thing, "ok this is kinda hard, but I'm going to ride with the group up ahead." Eventually here you are with the leaders, then you've reached the plateau. Remember rule #1: A plateau is not a limit, it's just a plateau. There are no limits, only plateaus. This is where you need to be conscious of yourSelf, and in this case: ride.

Here's a brief summary of the race:
It was a blast. I raced the intermediate division, came third and was named the most aggressive rider.

We started in a couple lines. I was at the back to begin with because of not having raced before. No biggie. I just got a feel for the race for the 1st two or so laps. After that I started moving up from one group to the next. I think I went from 14th, to 10th, to 6th, to 3rd. I was reeling in 1st and 2nd place and got within 7 or 8 seconds of second. Then the race was over, so I'll settle for 3rd this time.

Technically the race was pretty cool. There were a couple sections where we needed to get off the bike to run up a steep sandy hill and through some gravel. Then a single step which I needed to dismount for, but others were able to easily hop it. A little more practice and I'll have that down. There were also 2 decent sized mud pits we went through on each lap. The bike has officially been broken in.

I almost ate it on one a couple corners and some downhills a couple times, but managed to stay on the bike. You definitely learn pretty quickly to shift the weight around and take corners in the drops!

Now, back to Saturday afternoon where we had a sweet cross ride at Beacon Hill. There are lots of lessons learned these days. Maybe not all new lessons, but definitely more examples of the same thing happening again, and again... or maybe now I am just noticing things more clearly....let's call these "lessons" positive reinforcements.

Just be conscious of these things, and stay in the moment. Stay on YOUR path, Focus and Enjoy.

My new bike's name is Papaya.

Great day. There's still a little bit of this cough lingering around, but it's no biggie. Just taking it's time to make sure all the pipes are clean and ready for some good fall training.

100TT today in the pool. I went out in a 31, back in 34 to make a 1:05:1. All that needs to be said is next 100TT will be 1:02:02. Maktub! The rest of the swim was decent: 4 x 500swim, 100kick and a cool down. Feel the flow.

Scotty and I made some a more progress with the Run/Walk for the Homeless and got some ideas down for what will be a solid training camp this November.

Time for base run ... 56 minutes. Running workouts are really going by fast these days. Today was short, but still, it seemed over before it started.

Back at home I saw the cross bike staring at me. It said, "Come on just a short ride." So, I caved and took Papaya for a tour of the rocks at Cattle Point through Uplands Park. This is going to be a FUN Winter of riding.

I like this quote:

"Dream the Dreams that have never been Dreamt." - David Bower

The universe is an amazing place that will provide all. Be your dream.

Dummied! x 2

Great day today. I've got a couple funny stories too.

Let's begin with the pre-swim core session led by PK. Solid core session, I'll be feeling it tomorrow. I felt a little sloppy at the beginning of the swim as the abs were a little tired. Just a little more focus in that direction and all is good. Catch and Rotate!

Now apres swim stretch and I will make a long story short. The Waveside Cafe above the pool has the best muffins in town, bar none. Basically I was fooled by Bill (one of the dudes who works at the pool) into eating a muffin that PK had bought for himself while PK was on the phone. Good laugh, and with all the commotion plates are dropping, the till register doesn't work and everything is happening at once. The essence of funnyness. You kinda had to be there. Dummied x1

Then we checked out what could be new team coats from Frontrunners. I thought the Craft ones look pretty sweet. Definitely warm too.

Then Personal Training at OBRec. I put today's client through a fairly challenging lower body workout. I think it was thoroughly enjoyed. Time for meetings with 2 more clients and then lunch.

Nap time. (cut short due to construction next door, but it's all good 'cause I felt rested)

Stop by Oak Bay Bikes... New Cyclocross Bike! Norco CCX2, or something like that. The most important things are #1: it's orange, and #2: It's going to be a wicked winter bike which will allow me to hit up some trails. Maybe race this weekend up in Duncan! Time to get strong! We're also looking into new race bikes for next year. Right now I'm toying with the idea of the new Specialized Transition. No details yet, as we're definitely in the preliminary stages here...

Run practice where we nailed some hard tempo at Cedar Hill. One loop w/u. 15 minutes as 5Tempo, 5Hard Tempo, 5 Harder Tempo. 6 x 75 m strides. 5 x 1:15 Hill Repeats Fartlek style. Drills. Cool Down Loop. Stretch. MAN, IT FEELS GOOD TO BE DOING SOME REAL RUNNING AGAIN!!

Now to make an even longer story even shorter:

Apres Run...
"Where are my keys?" .... after careful inspection in and around the car... "Not here."
"Can I please get a ride home?"
"Can I please borrow your car pick up the spare set from my Gran's house?"
"Can you please drive with me out to Gran's house and drive back the other car once I get the keys?"
"Can I please borrow the spare set of keys?"

Now, back at Cedar Hill...
Another look for the keys and there they are sitting in the suspension system of the front driver side wheel..... Don't ask. Dummied x 2

Now I sleep.

Scientific Method ... Nuts to that.

Yesterday I decided to stop at nothing to put an end to the bug. So, I basically threw every herbal / food remedy I could think of on a list and tried them all together in one day.

The result: Success! However, I have no idea what it was that made the difference. It could have simply been just one more days rest and the extra sleep. Or, maybe it was all that garlic. I imagine it was a combination of things. Either way I'm feeling much better and had 2 good swim practices today.

Thankfully there was no TT today as I'm getting back into it after two days in bed. The morning swim was all about kick, and the afternoon was all about catching good water and holding good form.

Now that we're back in business, I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off with all the exciting progressions.

It's list time...