Spring Training - The Swim

My job has a built-in holiday at the perfect time of year... exactly the time I'm about to crack from all the rain and need some sunshine, stat.  We always include a lot of training in our spring break, as well as a sunny destination.  This year, spring break took us to SoCal and Nevada, and in addition to some great training we also had some fantastic visits with friends (old and new), a rock concert, live comedy, and an incredible Cirque du Soleil show - MJ One, which I highly recommend!

If you know anything about me, it's that I love outdoor pools.  This trip allowed me to swim in two pools that are in my top-5 of pools I've swam in:  Alga Norte in Carlsbad, CA, and the Multigenerational Centre in Henderson, NV.  (Other top-5 pools include - in no particular order - Kitsilano Beach pool in Vancouver BC, Palm Desert Aquatic Centre in CA, and the Kihei Aquatic Centre in HI).

Alga Norte. The bonus of being on vacation is that
you can hit pools on their non-peak times!

Henderson Multigen. 

We decided we could squeeze in one last
swim before our flight home.

El Nino

It hasn't been cold this winter, but it has been wet.  Capital W Wet.  W-E-T.  One of the all-time largest El Nino systems is to blame... and here in the PNW we are getting soaked.  It seems like the entire island is a swamp right now, and I'm looking forward to escaping to SoCal and Nevada for a couple of weeks of riding in the sun.

Still - at least it's not snow like the rest of the country gets.  "Liquid sunshine".  We have also had some gorgeous days as well, and I try to make a point of getting outside to enjoy them.  Life here on the west coast best coast!

Dry, warm day for a ride last weekend...

... followed the next day but a wet, muddy run!

Rode in a monsoon today, but my team jacket
kept me dry and warm inside - best jacket ever!

Got trapped by heavy rain in the hot tub, but at least I had company!

Float Plane Fun

Every so often, I get the chance to take a float plane over to the mainland.  Usually when I'm going to a meeting on someone else's dime.  It's a great way to travel, and there's a float plane "terminal" (as in a dock) only 10 minutes from our house.  While it can be a bit bumpy in the winter, it's always a great experience and even better when the sun is out.  Here are some pics I took during my most recent trip.

Our local departure spot: the Shipyard Marina in Maple Bay.
Friday's conditions weren't ideal, but we made it over
(lots of rocking & rolling the whole way).

Leaving Richmond ("the river") to fly back home yesterday.

A view from the air of some of the southern Gulf Islands.
Absolutely gorgeous - love where you live!

Back home at the Shipyard.

Winter Blahs

Winter is my 4th favourite season (that sounds more positive than least favourite, doesn't it?).  I am a summer girl and always will be.  This time of year is so blah... it's dark, it's wet, it's cold, it's wet.  Can't wait for summer.

What I feel like doing all day in the winter.

I come out of the pool after swimming in the morning
before work and it's so dark out.  Sigh.

 

Is it just me or are the mornings getting lighter?

At least I can't really complain... I mean, does the rest
of Canada look like this in the middle of winter?

Beat the Clock

Here is a fun swim workout you can do anytime, and it works perfectly as a test of your speed if you do it periodically.  Jason and I call it "Beat the Clock":

First of all, do a good warm up.  Probably at least 800 meters, or over 10 minutes.  The main set is all 50s, and it works best with an old-school pace clock.  You leave on the top (when one of seconds hands hits the 60), and swim a 50.  The next 50 you leave on 1 second after the top, swim a 50... then next you leave on 2 seconds after the top and swim a 50, then 3 seconds after, etc.  You keep doing this, but the catch is that you have to come in on the top every time, and as soon as you come in past the 60 you're out.  Of course you can do it with a digital pace clock, but the analog one is more fun; the suspense builds as the arm sweeps around to the top.

Old-school pace clock.  Pick one colour of the seconds hands,
and you have to get in after each 50 before it hits the top!

You end up getting less and less rest after each 50, so the key is to see how many 50s you can get in before you're out.  One tip - don't sprint the first few as you have lots of time early on.  You're going to need to sprint - hard - later to make the time cut off, so don't burn yourself out.

It's a great speed test to see if every time you do this, you can get at least one more 50 in compared to your last time.   

Have fun, and let me know how many 50s you got in!

Outdoor Pools of 2015

This is the time of year where everyone does "look back" posts on things from 2015.  I'm doing mine on one of my favourite things... you guessed it, outdoor pools.  I don't travel anywhere without scoping out google to see if there is an outdoor pool nearby.  Here's where I swam in the sun (other than open water) in 2015.  Missing: Santa Rosa CA (Finley Aquatic Center) - for some reason I didn't take a picture!

Kona HI: Kona Community Aquatic Center

Also in Kona, getting instruction from Karlyn
aquaticedge.org

Carlsbad CA: Alga Norte

Nanaimo BC: Bowen Park
It's great to have an outdoor pool close to home,
but their length swimming hours suck.

Vancouver BC: Kitsilano Pool
Probably one of the nicest outdoor pools in the world,
not only is it right next to the ocean, overlooking English Bay
and downtown Vancouver, it's also 137.5 metres!

Portland OR: Pier Pool

Edmonds WA: Yost Pool

Chilliwack BC: Rotary Pool

Palm Springs CA: Palm Springs Swim Center

Here's looking forward to more outdoor swimming in 2016!
Cheers!

Sunday's Surprise

It's winter here in the PNW, which of course means rain.   Instead of a soggy road run in the rain I decided to load the dog into the car and head for the hills west of town.  Tiki loves running on the trails, and I appreciate the company while running!  As we got closer to our destination, the roads got slushy.  When we got to the trailhead, it looked like this:

Say what - snow?  Surprise!

And to think I was debating what to wear,
and almost didn't wear tights!

I contemplated turning around and heading back home, then figured I shouldn't be such a wimp.  Tiki had only seen snow a couple of times, and she had a blast!  We passed a few hikers surprised to see someone running in those conditions.  It wasn't my fastest run, but it was pretty fun.  May as well enjoy a curveball when Mother Nature throws you one.

Back home... a 20 minute drive can make a big difference!