Courtenay Brown

Am I the cat or are you the cat?

(Life and blogging could be easier for all involved if I would just get a camera! As you can see, I’ve kind of given up. So now all you’re getting is random pet photos from cheezburger.)

On Friday night, Ben, my brother, and I went to the Elite Distance Carnival at the UH Track. They had a women’s 5k followed by a men’s mile race, and they’d flown some elite runners in from the mainland. Even though promotion seemed somewhat last-minute and only through facebook and word-of-mouth, there were a lot of people there and the atmosphere was great. Everyone was really stoked to be watching these high-level athletes! My favorite part was towards the end of the women’s race - the girls were spread all over the track by this point, huffing and puffing and most of them looking like they were going at a fast clip. Then suddenly you would see one girl FLY past the others like a ROCKET, and be really tall, with dreads, and warmup pants? Oh right. It was the men, doing their strides! That is what I wanted to take a picture of. Googling “elite men track warmup strides bla bla” is pointless. Anyhow then the men’s race itself was cool, but not as cool as their warmup .

On Saturday we went to my brother’s lacrosse buddy’s friend’s surprise 30th birthday party, where I met a real live 11-year-old boy who is a swimmer on the age group team coached by John Flanagan. I don’t even know the last time I talked to an 11-year-old boy (perhaps in 6th grade?) but this one was pretty funny and adorable. He said that he swam 7k each practice, but after a little bit we learned that maybe he only does that every once in a while, if at all. (And then I had a funny note-comparing conversation with John during our ride yesterday.) He’s pretty stoked on swimming though, and is looking forward to trying for a swimming scholarship to one of the local private schools in a few years. I’m rooting for him.

Yesterday the excitement started bright and early with the Boca coaches’ ride up to Waipahu and Schofield and some other places. It was a really great ride and, again, I wanted a camera. The ride went to some really beautiful places. I saw a crazy sign at the entrance to the base, touting “26 days since the last fatal accident! Safety is our first priority!” Wow. Someone died in military practice right here on this base just after Christmas? That is sad and scary to think about, and I hope I misunderstood the sign and really it meant 26 days since someone died in all military everything. The safety message must not have stuck with everyone, because by the end of the ride we were subjected to some really reckless riding - sprinting into and out of red lights, on a busy 6-lane road on Superbowl Sunday, jumping into other lanes of traffic to hop in the draft of a passing motorcycle, cutting off cars and other riders, all in the name of “winning” the Sunday morning ride… Napoleon oedipal freudian complexes wherein others’ lives are risked, and the only prizes on the line are bragging rights. Sweet. What was that thing about how exercise makes you and your pet mouse smarter? Is there a subsequent study about the severely counteractive and dumbifying effects of testosterone presence?

Anyhow this is shaping up to be a lazy week - I’m resting, Ben is leaving Honolulu tomorrow (for good this time) , I’ve canceled the job search since I too am leaving in just a couple of weeks, plus the giant thank-you card project is fairly complete. Get ready for some beach time and some extra blogging!

Yesterday I wrote a post and then deleted it. I wrote it to let off steam, but later in the day I decided that I didn’t really want that on my blog. Now I keep getting error emails from my server saying that people keep trying to read it but it’s not there. Sorry. So, here’s something else for y’all to read instead. Yay!

I’m wrapping up a big training block. Just two more days. So is Ben. This morning he got up at 5:30 to go swim with the UH swim team distance squad. I wasn’t planning to get up til 7. But thanks to the snooze button, two necessary instances of overhead-light-switching-on, and “our” general lack of planning skills (particularly in this state of fatigue), I woke was woken up at 5:30 anyway.

“I have to pee but your brother’s in the bathroom, what should I do? Where is my towel? I can’t find my anything.” No sleeping in, thanks to the commotion. Followed by the sharp realization that I was starving. But I have been soo starving all week so what’s the big deal? Now I wish I’d gotten up and had some cereal and then gone back to bed, but instead I just laid there till 7.

Apple Banana next to a regular one

Then I got up and had a granola bar and a banana with peanut butter, grabbed a PowerGel and a water bottle with PowerBar Endurance plus Base Amino, and walked to the UH track. I thought I’d eaten plenty but by the end of the 8 minute walk, I was again soo starving. So I walked to the pool and caught Ben at the end of his swim and he gave me two apple bananas! I ate one and saved the other. Then I started my workout: ~2 miles warm-up and then 4×1200m. Nice and simple, my first track workout since August! How exciting! And I had an audience - the football team was practicing, the women’s soccer team was finishing up a run workout, and some speedy girl was coaching some speedy young guy. I went out gangbusters, I actually felt great, then I thought maybe I should check my first lap split, but maybe my watch was set to show total run time rather than split time so I didn’t bother to look, then I felt my empty stomach just about fall out of my body, I stopped feeling my arms, I realized the watch did have split time, belatedly thought “crap”, and finally finished my first 1200. 4:12. OK actually that’s not bad! Bring on the next! The sooner the better, I want to go home and eat ASAP! I jogged a lap, sipped some precious calories, longingly eyed my gel and banana, and started the second one. One lap, two laps, now I’m really starved, three laps, ugh. 4:24. Crap. I jogged a lap, sipped some precious calories, inhaled my gel, yay!, waved at the football players, and started my third. I could barely move. I just want breakfast! Screw running! But I kept going. 4:30. Crappppp. OK, “last one fast one”… that lasted for maybe half a lap! How am I supposed to run with no stomach? It’s not just EMPTY, it’s GONE! This one was agony. 4:32. Crap! But yay! It’s over! I can eat my second apple banana! And run barefoot on the astroturf!

Still, ugh. For the first time ever, I completely ascended a track workout. Not something to be proud of at all, but not something to beat myself up over unless I repeat the mistakes (not fueling right and not equipping myself to pace well - I wanted to start off running 88″ 400’s, not 84’s, my mistake meant I dwindled to 90.5’s!).

Up next were VO2 intervals on the bike. I ate a big bowl of cereal with nuts and yogurt but I got on my bike and was again instantly starving. I inhaled my bar and rapidly finished both of my water bottles, one with PowerBar Endurance + Base Amino, the other with nuun, but each interval felt like my run workout, my stomach was EMPTY and so hungry! The good news was my heart rate went up just fine, and my legs hurt just fine, so it was still a good training session, but I hustled home to get more food. I should have taken money so I could have stopped at Jamba Juice!

Up next after that was a long-for-me swim workout with a main set of 2x(5×200 descend). I had an hour between my ride and going to the pool, but by the time I got off my bike I was too hungry to eat. Nothing looked good. As a result, fueling took too long. I finally had a glass of juice (sugar! fluid!) and then decided on a snack of yogurt and apple and honey and raisins and walnuts (protein, sugar, etc). It was OK. Then I had some ahi poke (protein! onions! yummm!), which I am going to miss sooooo much when I leave Hawaii. I love poke! Then I realized I took so long hemming and hawing over food that I had run out of time to make coffee before swimming, sigh, so I found a caffeinated gel to take with me to the pool, along with yet another bottle of PowerBar Endurance + Base Amino. I’m convinced this little elixir prevented me from a complete meltdown.

Ahi Poke

The swim actually went OK. I have noticed this recently when I do swim workouts after my other training - I may feel a little tired, but I warm up much faster than I do at 5:30 a.m. and I’ve gotten decent enough at it that my form stays together for the whole workout regardless of what I’ve done beforehand. This is a nice feeling, it used to be that I had to swim first or not at all. Anyhow, unlike my run workout, this time I descended each 200 successfully, although not from the first set to the second. The first set was just barely faster than the second, I think that’s where the day’s fatigue and behind-the-eight-ball fueling came in, but it was still good and the effort was definitely there. Plus, when I did this same set a few times back in the fall, I had to start off doing the 200’s on a 4:00 sendoff. I worked up to a 3:50 sendoff but it was tiring. This time I did a 3:30 sendoff no problem. I’m getting better!!! Even though I’m tired, I’m still getting better!! Next time I’ll try them on 3:20!!

Now I’m home and eating. You name it, I’ve eaten it… papaya with ice cream instead of my usual yogurt. Ahi tuna steak. Quinoa. Half a pineapple. Cereal with whole milk. A fourth banana for the day. nuun nuun and more nuun. Salt n Vinegar Kettle Chips. Now I’m trying to figure out what option is left for dinner.

Last week I had a nightmare that I weighed 144 lbs (but was still only 5′4″). Last night, Ben had a dream that we decided he’s really fat. As long as we keep doing 25 and 30+ hour weeks, I think these fears will remain just fears rather than actualities, but still. So much eating, and sometimes it’s still not enough!

Today I turned to Ben and absent-mindedly asked “so. What kind of nap are you planning to take?”

To me (and him) it’s incredibly obvious that this is a training question infiltrating non-training life. What kind of run are you doing, are you going to the track? What kind of ride? What kind of swim?

What kind of nap? *

Nap intervals? Nap LT? What??

The question, and its obviousness to me, both mean that obviously I am even more boring than the endless stream of WTC announcements. All I think about right now, even subconsciously, is training training training racing training. I’m really hoping I can score a rec center guest pass for when I’m in Boulder.

* Little-known fact: Ben sleeps with his eyes cracked open. It’s really cute. His mom told me that when he was little and was falling asleep, he would sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to himself!

Hey kitty, stop imitating me!

It’s been rainy here in Hawaii for the past week. Which, even though it is indeed the rainy season, and even though I have gotten dumped on during 4 of my past 5 bike rides, I continue to be both surprised and unprepared for the sudden downpours.

Today I started off with my run workout, when it was dry and dark out so I didn’t see the clouds coming. Then I got on my bike for climbing intervals. I’m trying to do my runs before my bikes because I’m planning to go to the Powerman Alabama duathlon and I figure I’d better get used to biking on run-softened legs. So far, this plan has been humbling. Anyway it started poooooouring after my first repeat! Thankfully Ben and John were also pedaling (paddling?) up and down the ridge so it felt like I had some partners in discomfort. An hour and a half later I made it home and stood in the shower for 15 minutes to warm up. (Better than the 20 minute shower last Saturday after a rainy ride followed foolishly by a giant smoothie.) Then I went to the pool and swam in the rain, which was pretty fun. I felt particularly speedy today because Ben was in the lane next to me, but he was aquajogging rather than swimming, so this time I got to be the one lapping him a billion times!

In other news, I seem to have a definite end-date to this heretofore endless Christmas vacation. I’m going to Boulder from Feb. 24 to Mar. 1 for the Political Science Recruitment Weekend, then 24 hours after my Mar. 1 arrival back in Honolulu, I fly to Seattle. I really wanted to change my ticket to a later date, but mileage award seats in March get kind of ruined and hogged by Spring Break. Hmf. Stupid kids.

I want to post a description of the micro-tear I sustained in my Achilles tendon last August, and of the steps I took to recover. I learned some good lessons and I hope they can be useful to other athletes (or, if nothing else, help others avoid the injury in the first place!).

Part 1: What made me susceptible?

Last summer I had a staph infection that forced me off the bike and out of the water for a few weeks. “No big deal, I’ll just run!” I thought. I was very enthusiastic because I love running and I was seeing steady improvement in my training. I started thinking of a late-season marathon and began following the training plan described in Road Racing for Serious Runners. I upped my mileage by 10% each week, and stuck to soft surfaces for over 75% of my miles.

All these things were fine and well. What wasn’t fine and well was that, once I was able to re-introduce cycling and swimming, my strength and flexibility training suffered. I tended to finish my runs and then really quick shower eat get the bus to work. This was a mistake. My second mistake was that I ignored the nagging pain in my calves even though I knew I probably shouldn’t. I also mentioned this on my blog back when the injury first happened: inflexibility, literal and figurative, is really bad for training.

Part 2: How did the injury happen?

The tightness in my calves would generally dissipate after the first couple of miles of each run. My shins were pretty sensitive, and I just figured that I’d get some mild shin splints due to the calf tightness but that it would eventually go away and sort itself out. This went on for probably two weeks, during which time I didn’t adjust my training plan at all. Then I headed out for my 17-mile long run. As usual, for the first two miles, my calves were tight, particularly the right one. Then I started to feel really good and began my tempo segments. Two miles from home on my out-and-back route, I was just finishing up my last tempo segment and I felt a sharp pain in my right Achilles. I had no phone and the shortest way home was the way I was going, so I just jogged it in and hoped for the best.

That day, I iced, massaged, and got a chiropractic adjustment on my foot. I had one week until the Danskin Seattle Triathlon, so I went into minimize-the-damage mode in hopes that I would feel good enough to race. I got two acupuncture treatments, aqua-jogged, and did three short runs on the track that week. Everything felt OK so I decided to race, and I am glad I did! Then I got a little greedy and decided to race in Portland the following weekend. Even though my Achilles didn’t hurt during Danskin, it started bothering me more and more throughout the week, particularly after extended periods of sitting down. I raced Portland anyway (I paid $100 to enter! You bet I was racing!), which was a mistake considering that my Achilles hurt the entire time, every step of the way.

In analyzing events with my doctor, it seems that I sustained a strain on my 17-mile run, and then because I didn’t allow it to heal, I sustained the tear at/around Portland (and for some dumbass reason I did a normal week of run training in the week between Danskin and Portland, including a 10 mile tempo run that Wednesday… I was definitely in denial).

Part 3: Treatment

After Portland I could barely walk because my right foot became so inflexible. I couldn’t point my toe at all, and I could barely move it upwards towards my shin. Here are the treatment steps I took:

-I stopped running all together

-I replaced my run workouts with aqua-jogging sessions because I was still (naively) hoping to race in some late-season triathlons and perhaps even the Seattle Marathon

-I got acupuncture 2x week for nearly a month, as well as a cortisone injection

-I did a lot of massage on my tight calves

-NO stretching because it aggravated the Achilles

After 10 days I tried to run and the pain forced me to stop. I gave it a full mile, just in case, but it didn’t get any better. I was continuing to swim and ride during this time, and I felt the tightness in both of those sports as well (especially kicking and pushing off the wall, and right when I got off the bike). After four weeks of treatment and continued swim-bike-aquajog training, my Achilles was still inflamed and painful. It was looking less and less likely that I’d be able to race again in 2009, so I pulled the plug altogether.

Rest became the name of the game.

Part 4: Recovery

Key therapies have been The Stick, Trigger Point, Foam Roller, and soaking my foot in an ice bath of ~53 degrees for 10 minutes

Ultimately I took two months off from running, from August 23 to October 25. I attempted a couple of runs during that time period but each time my body told me to go back to resting.

When I started up again, my plan was to begin at 1 mile of running at a time, on the track because it’s a soft surface. I would run three days in a row, take a day off, run three days in a row, take a day off, and after 2-3 successful runs I’d up the mileage by a quarter mile. I also did some running drills every other workout: skipping, grapevine, high knees, butt kicks. Then I started working in trail runs instead of the track, because my pool was in a national park that had some super fun, twisty, up-and-down trails.

This plan was BAD. Dumb dumb dumb idea. (Ben likes to say that he told me it was dumb, but really, who listens to their boyfriend?)

The drills strained my Achilles and the almost-daily pattern didn’t give me enough time to recover and adapt, even though the miles were really low. Plus my very incremental increases were mentally painful, and the steep ups and downs of the trails were putting too much stress on my injury so I continued to have nagging pain. It wasn’t like the sharp pain from August, but still. I realized that I needed to amend my plan if I wanted to make a successful return to racing, and I called Matt Russ for advice.

I got onto a more sensible plan of running every other day, increasing my long run by 1 mile each week, and factoring in rest weeks. After a month of successful training on this plan, I started running on consecutive days 1x per week so that I could get in 4 runs each week rather than 3, 4, 3, 4. Then the big test: the Christmas Biathlon on January 4th. Was my Achilles ready to race? Yes! I didn’t experience pain in the race or in the following week, at least, not anything beyond the standard race hurt-so-good pain .

Now, after two successful biathlons and several successful runs of 10 miles or more, I am pretty sure that I am healed. I’m up to 30 miles and 5 runs a week, and this week I am reintroducing track sessions. I still have some periodic tightness in my Achilles but everyone I have talked to and everything I have read has said that is normal for about a year after sustaining the injury. My primary plan to avoid re-injury is to stay vigilant with my strength and flexibility (thank god for netflix, I’m much better about stretching when I can do it in front of the TV), and to listen to my body!

So there you have it. My experience with an Achilles injury, and what worked/didn’t work to help fix it. Finally: a big thanks to Peter Schmidt at Inewmed for all the excellent treatment. This injury could have turned into 6 months off from running, instead it is not even 6 months since my injury and I consider myself recovered!

Last month, I finished my applications to 7 grad school programs in environmental policy/public policy/economics with a focus on environmental issues. Kinda broad, kinda not. Anyhow I was expecting to hear decisions in March, but this morning, as I was hemming and hawing and maximizing my downtime between masters swim practice and my long run, omg, I got an email! From the University of Colorado at Boulder! Saying I was accepted to their M.A. in Public Policy program and would I like to come visit at the end of February! (yes!)

So that was exciting. Maybe I’ll start hearing from my other programs soon. And after falling in love with Hawaii all over again, I’m toying with the idea of applying here. The application isn’t due until March 1! But is there such a thing as too many good options? Probably.

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In sort of similar-ish news, let’s all welcome Kelly to the ranks of “oh my god, what was I thinking, am I seriously standing on a start line next to Mirinda Carfrae”. Congrats on the pro license, Kelly!

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Last night, I drove The Car to the airport to ship my brother off to Park City for skiing, Sundance, and his 30th birthday. Then I drove it home. I was pretty nervous, on the freeway, at night, in the rain, with my brother’s precious baby, which the last time I drove a car was when I accidentally borrowed it over a month ago. But all was fine, especially after I did a 7-point turn in order to park.

I miss Than already! This stay in Hawaii has been the longest stretch of time I have spent with my Little Brother since we were in high school, which was the first time since we were babies that we realized that we each thought the other was cool. This was also around the time when I totally saved his a$$ when my mom thought she smelled pot and I, clueless, was like “Ma! It’s my tea! God.” without realizing that I totally saved his a$$.

Anyway here’s a little summary of my LB in the years when we have liked each other (hence skipping toddlerhood through teenage years). I’m in all but 2 photos so the gallery is totally not boring.

 

I’m watching the Australian Open as I type this, by the time I’m done we’ll probably know whether Roddick or Cilic wins. But, go Roddick! Yesterday my brother and I recorded the Saints-Vikings game to watch in the evening after we’d finished all the day’s activities. In the final minute of the fourth quarter, the score was tied… and then the recorded show stopped. Suddenly all the shouts and yells resounding around the courtyard a few hours prior made sense. We missed the overtime completely, I logged on to Twitter and we were happy with the outcome.

I really like being in Hawaii. Obviously the weather, the beaches, etc., are way better than Seattle this time of year, but the part I am really starting to appreciate is the great community spirit here. Maybe that’s what “ohana” means (other options from my Hawaiian repertoire: mahalo, aloha, nene bird, kokua?). I’ve been here for barely a month, and I have workout partners for every day of the week, 3 offers of a place to stay (even though I already have one!), and tons of people to ask for help and advice. Everywhere I go, I seem to see a friend or make a new one. It’s pretty awesome.

View from the Pali

Yesterday, I joined the Boca Hawaii “coaches ride” for a jaunt over the Pali and loop-de-loop all around the windward side (including stretches of Old Pali!). One thing I SUPER like about this ride is that they go way hard, but then regroup and wait for everyone else. No one is left to fend for themselves, even though people are trying to tear each other’s legs off, it’s not malicious nor a big-you-know-what contest. I had a blast, even after my right shifter broke and left me in the 11 for the last 20-ish miles. There was one guy in the group that I didn’t know, I started babbling away asking questions and being normal. “Are you a triathlete?” “Trying to be…” “Oh you went to Auburn? Is that in Birmingham, Alabama? I’m doing a race there!” “No, it’s in Auburn.” “Wait, you swim 100k a week? What?!” Yes well. Turns out it was John Flanagan. Then I saw him at the pool today and was like “OMG you are the famous John Flanagan! I saw you on TV! I mean, internet TV. You are still famous. From Ironman!” Whatever, it was kind of awkward but the good news was, when I saw him at the pool, I had finished my workout and was no longer wiggling and flailing my way down the pool (i.e. “doing backstroke”) when he walked in.

Aw, Roddick just lost. I am a bit sad about that. Time to go to bed and rest up for tomorrow - day 9 of waking up before 6 a.m.!

So a couple weeks ago I went to the Ala Moana mall (which was the largest mall in america when it was built) to apply for a job at Banana Republic. Today I went in for my “group interview”.

(The only nice thing I have to say about this mall is it’s across the street from the Taigraphx office. Other than that… There are sooo many people zombieing around, and so many places just selling utter shit. I can sort of understand when there are soooo many people walking around a giant mall in, say, southern Minneapolis at the current largest mall in america. No offense to Minnesotans at all, it’s just that spending January outdoors vs. indoors there is no contest. But in Hawaii? There are a jillion things to do outside here. Or you can just lay on the beach and do nothing. Why the mall?) (Oh right, all these people have jobs and money to spend. But still!)

So there were six of us. We all walked in for this group interview, and our interviewer went on about how she has worked for the company for 19 years, it’s just wonderful, they are great to employees and the benefits are excellent.

But, by the way, these positions for which we are interviewing are part time and ineligible for benefits according to company policy. The most you can technically work per week is 19 hours, because in the state of Hawaii if you work four consecutive weeks at 20 or more hours you have to be eligible for health insurance. At BR if you pick up extra shifts and work three 20+ hour weeks in a row, on that fourth week you can’t work more than 19 in order to sidestep state-mandated healthcare provision by the company. Funny to hear this not 30 seconds after hearing about the excellent benefits.

The interview itself was fine. Your standard questions of how have you helped a customer (I teach people how to ride bikes), how do you learn new things (I know how to read), do you take kindly to constructive criticism (unless it’s totally dumb, yes), how have you helped your team or boss succeed (I know how to use craigslist), why do you want to work here (I am good at stuff - or, saying “I don’t” without actually saying “I don’t”). My fellow interviewees were also fine… There was the guy dressed all in black who used to work for Ross and a fish market and who had a cool story about the Department of Justice, the guy dressed all in khaki who worked for Sharper Image (we heard about Sharper Image a lot), the other guy dressed all in black who used to be a flight attendant and who actually seemed not dumb and not boring, the unspectacular cute girl with poor grammar (source of “like those gentlemens”) who was dressed all in blue, and the lone other person besides me who was dressed in more than one color and who also seemed cool and smart.

I’d guess at least half of us get offered a job. But, I cannot afford to get the job at Banana Republic, thanks to the dress policy we also heard about. You aren’t allowed to wear denim or casual shoes or tank tops. Dress code is “elevated”. No word on fancy spandex, the only remaining part of my wardrobe here that isn’t specifically nixed by the dress code, but I can only assume, and then further assume that I would have to go shopping before going working. So instead of an interview I am just filing this experience under “anthropological research”.

I’m not sure how many of you read both our blogs? Anyway yesterday, Ben left Honolulu for Maui. The trip was a distant possibility that turned into a sudden actuality, meaning we had about 24 hours notice that he was leaving and those hours were so packed with organizing and, well, packing, that I didn’t have time to get sad about his departure until after he’d already left. Today I’ve done everything alone - hit snooze at 5 a.m., walked to swim practice in the dark, walked home from swim practice in the dark, made oatmeal, ran, napped, spent forever waking up from napping, tried to put on my own sunscreen (seemed to miss spots), went to the beach, fell asleep on the beach, went to Foodland for ahi poke, and now, sat on my computer. Not a bad day at all, just sort of quiet.

The upside to Ben leaving is I now have half as much crap crammed into one tiny room as I did day before yesterday! As you can see, that hasn’t translated into order yet, but I do have things very carefully organized. Clean stuff, dirty stuff, stuff I don’t wear, sneakers, a fan, and Splish suits. My bike, nuun, and other sneakers live out in the lanai and living room. And to give you more of an idea of where exactly I am: out one window, we see Diamondhead, and out the other, we see into the Manoa Valley and the beautiful ridge behind it. That dome shaped thing in the foreground is part of the UH Athletic complex, and is next to the pool where I swim in the mornings.

(Another downside to his departure is he is the one with the real camera! My phone works OK though.)

The UH track is also close to that dome thing, the whole complex is a very convenient 10 minute walk from here. I run on the track once a week, and on my other runs I head over towards Kapiolani Park and/or over Diamondhead to Kahala. I got a Garmin FR-60 for my birthday in September, and the footpod has been super handy in tracking mileage now that I’m not doing all my runs on the amply-marked Burke Gilman Trail in Seattle! The Garmin Connect maps feature is supposed to return next month so I hope to post route maps for my training, rather than just weakly describing it.

So, Ben will be back here for a couple of days in the beginning of February. That’s only about 10 days away, I have plenty of “work” (namely, my interminable thank you card project and financial aid forms) to do as well as training, the hard parts will be being alone and trying not to be insanely jealous that he gets to go train with the Simon Whitfield entourage and meanwhile I am plugging away trying to fit in more than 3,000 yards of swimming in an hour. I am definitely living a charmed existence these days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t long for 30+ hour weeks with the sport’s elite .

Yesterday I raced the second biathlon in the Waikiki Swim Club’s biathlon series. The Magic Isle Biathlon was on the same course as the Christmas Biathlon a couple of weeks ago, but the conditions were a lot better (less wind and more clouds) and it made for a fun morning.

I succeeded in my goal to improve my times from the last race. I had the usual nervous pre-race thoughts of “oh my god my shin hurts, if I race I’ll get injured, and I am so tired, I just want to go back to bed” without any big-race adrenaline to overpower them. Instead, I got myself fired up by thinking “5k PR! 5k PR!” which, given the small handful of 5k’s I’ve done, seemed achievable while still being a challenge for my current fitness level. I felt much smoother and stronger than I did on the same course two weeks ago, and clocked an 18:29 for the 5k! It was indeed a PR!

The slight problem with having this goal in the biathlon is, oh wow, I accomplished my goal but the race is only half over! I kind of dilly-dallied without even realizing it. I wanted to have a better transition than I did last time, which I did, but honestly that is not saying much at all. Ben was on hand to document the second half of my race, he ran the 5k for fun and then hung out on the shore. Evidence is all in the gallery below… along with comparison shots of one guy in the biathlon who was doing it right, as well as my friend Nathan blasting through a checkpoint on Saturday evening after 60 whole MILES of running. Also doing it right. I think my Splish race suit this year needs to have a great big “HUSTLE!” on the butt .

Anyway despite my distinct lack of urgency on the beach, I still swam well enough to hang on to first place for the women! This time I got a nice whiskey-sour glass to complement my Christmas Biathlon pint glass. The Valentine’s Biathlon is a month away… wonder if I can run under 18 minutes?? And then Ben can do the swim!