Photo wow day!

I'm not even done editing the photos from this morning yet, and I've seen 2 that would be strong image of the month contenders, even with that red sunset and powerboat shot in the mix, or any of the other dozen or so, like the second red begonia, a back lit dahlia, and a dragonfly are all bubbling to the top of the competition.

Except I think I got image of the year this morning. I'm giving that one time to settle in on me, doing some subtle tweaks to make it the best it can bee. (hint hint)

Here's the other two, for your pleasure, plus a bonus. Keep in mind there are still a bunch of other sunflower macro shots to edit, including a sequence where I want to try focus stacking. And a lily protuberance. And some other etherial lily shots. And some gladiolus that look pretty spiffy in the morning sun after being watered.

All in all, it was an excellent morning for photography.

What's so special about this one, you ask? It's certainly not a macro shot; I was kneeling about 15 feet away. Look closer. Look between the sunflowers. Now embiggen it. This is something I didn't think was going to be possible, getting a bee's wings in focus. That is a genuine holy doodle moment.

This is a shot at about 2x, using all the extension tubes (68 mm total) on the 100 mm macro lens.

This was shot at the same time as the one above, and might even be the same bee. I hadn't noticed the ant when I took the shot. I wonder if they're aware of each other?

Can't wait to get at the other photos, but my social life is calling.

Photo Gallery news

I've been teasing you for a while about the possibility of a photo gallery. Zenfolio was the first suggestion, and to be thorough I looked at a bunch of others, Squarespace, 22slides, Format, Photoshelter, 500Px, 1x, Smugmug, Shutterfly, Photobucket, and probably some more. I'd go from one to the other, trying to keep track of what I actually needed now, what I might need, and what I didn't need.

I had a full scale dither happening! I couldn't make up my mind. Even reading the various 'getting started in x' didn't help encourage me to dive into a free trial. I was almost landed on 22slides, when I had a brain wave.

Why not see if the tool I already had would work? Why not indeed? I spent a happy little while puttering between templates, and thinking about layout, then pushed the button.

Basic and simple is the word. You'll see some tabs with different groups, such as Landscapes, Skyline, Cats, and some others. You'll need to go there to see them all for your self. Don't be afraid to click on the photos to embiggen them, all of them should be worth looking at big.

Go where, you ask? I'm glad you did. Here. I've also linked to it on my blogroll. Just remember Keith Cartmell Photography and it's easy. Check it out, I'll wait till you come back. There's still work to be done, and some more images to find. I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be about keywords and star ratings. Serves me right. Now I'm going to have to scroll through a great many images to find the ones I want.

That blog is going to concentrate on photography. I'll add new photos as good ones arrive. Maybe a year from now I'll wince at seeing the ones in the gallery now, but that just means I've grown. I might blog about photo adventures, or if there's a good story to tell. I'm too lazy to write the same thing twice, or even do copy paste, so I might tease you with the start of the story, and link to the other blog so you get the whole picture. I might add a couple more groups, but I'm limited on how many I can add. There's always limits; you pick the ones you want to live with.

What's going to happen with this blog? I'm not entirely sure. I've liked the idea of putting up a photo a day, and photo of the month. I might still do that. I'm pretty sure I'll continue doing rants once in a while, those seem popular. I'll babble about fitness but won't harp on it. The fitness people reading this know the ins and outs already, and the rest of you don't care that much. There might be a bit more about the writing process, and progress, or the lack of it, or the attempts at it.

Maybe it will turn into the retirement adventures of K&L. We've been good for so long, maybe it's time to cut loose, kick up our heels, and frisk off into a whole new world! Stay tuned.

Here's one of the abstracts that didn't make it into the gallery. I think of this one as a bit of an old fashioned map. Lots of mountain ranges in the darker shades, with some valley in the yellows, and a long skinny lake. Now I'm thinking about the people that could be living there, and what they'd get up to.

A canvas, I'm so excited!

Some of you may know the story. I've been meaning to get some of my photos printed for a while now, and even with this semi-retired life never seemed to have the time. Then I sent a buddy a quick screen shot of a photo that'd I'd tweaked and asked if it was too much. The response was "I want a print!" I guess it wasn't too much.

So that was impetus to get organized and get it done. I picked up the first one today. It's the red combine landscape I've had up several times. Here it is in real life, on an 18x 32 canvas, right where everyone coming in the front door is going to see it. The light is kind of funny, in that the right side of it seems a bit brighter. I did nothing to it in Lightroom, just cropped it slightly.

A photo of a canvas print of a photo. A little self referential, but that's ok. Even after spending a long time looking at it on screen, I'm still seeing detail I hadn't noticed before. Now that it's home, I'm almost wishing I'd printed it bigger.

Next week I should be able to pick up the three other prints. They're on nice paper and getting framed now. This photography stuff is fun!

New skyline from an interchange to be

They are picking up steam on the SW ring road that will pass near here. It seems every time I'm out for a drive I see more stakes, and changes related to the pending construction.

Like this.

This view didn't use to be like this, but they've cut down a small bush and opened things up. Where I'm standing is going to be an interchange, if I understand the drawings correctly. Off to the top left is where the road is going to go, and there's been lots of changes on the Tsuut’ina land in preparation. At least the bottle exchange is open again.

Now you can see skyline from there.

I checked out the view a little further along, even though the light wasn't anything special, and found these. I'll have to visit again when the light is better.

For my photo buddies, dealing with the blue was tough in these two. I had to do considerable tweaking in Lightroom to try to both bring out the detail in the sky, such as it is, and not make it look like the ocean floor.

There was a swim meet at the pool, so we tried to get in and get it done. After racing me with fins (Michelle insisted I put that detail in) last week and keeping up, she want to do a longer race, and try to keep me from lapping her too often. Normally we split a lane, but today we circled. This was fun! I had a great swim, passing her several times, and as expected each time she pushed herself to make it harder for me.

We both ended up with record times! My previous best was 18:04 and today was 17:37, short course. That is about 106 seconds per 100 m,  or 1:46, which is a huge breakthrough for me. I haven't swum that fast since I started swimming again back in the early 2000's. When I was swimming in the mid 80's, I'd routinely do this, and if I worked I'd be under 17 minutes. This is what happens, though. You get stuck on a plateau. At first it's work to be there, then it's the regular thing, and if you let it, that's where you'll stay. When I was trying to break 20 min for a K, the first time I did it, I just barely made it and nearly puked at the end. Two days later I did it in 19:30 and kept on going. Now I know I can do it, I need to keep pushing.

Michelle took a minute and a few seconds off her time for that distance. Yay!

Another buddy came along and worked on some really basic stuff, and exceeded my expectations. We will be seeing front crawl soon.

Follow that car!

Race day.

I haven't done a running race since this time in 2014, when I struggled through a half marathon. Today I only signed up for a 10K. I didn't have any goals for it other than to negative split it, and finish within sight of 1 hour.

My phone thinks the course was 10.3 K, and that my actual 10 K time was 1 hr 3 seconds, and my best 10 K was 59:48. I think that qualifies as within sight of 1 hr. The negative split is pretty good, with all the first 5 K's being 6 and a bit of change, and all the last 5 K's being 5 and lots of change.  Since this is the first 10 K I've done, I'd say that's a PB.

I was on top of my breathing and felt pretty good the entire way. Unlike two other people who regretted their breakfast. It was a perfect day for a run, warm and sunny to start, and not yet hot when I finished. I'm really pleased about the whole thing, though now I think I need to recalculate what I should be running tempo runs and long slow runs at. I could go out right now and do another easy run, but there is wine and snacks to be had.

My buddy Janice was a bit slower than she had hoped, but she trains at sea level. Plus the hills sneak up on you and it was getting hot by the time she finished. Once she blogs about it, I'll update with a link to it. She got a joint selfie with one of Calgary's biggest celebrities!

Janice's sister and brother-in-law were there to see her finish, and they generously offered me a ride home. Along the way we got talking about the Honda Fit, and I pointed out the window, "There's one there! Same colour as ours. In fact, that IS ours, follow that car!"

Plus I got one of Amy and Steve, hard at work calling the race. Plus there were a zillion other volunteers helping to make the race go well.

Battery discharge recharge

A four day weekend can zip by awfully quickly when you are buried deep in your book, and you get a couple visits with friends in. Friday was a lovely coffee with a buddy. Saturday we headed way north to the Symon's Valley Farmer's Market to check it out, and meet up with a work and blog buddy. The market is nice, with very friendly merchants, but given the 40 minute drive we won't become regulars. We really enjoyed getting caught up.

Workouts were a mix. The spin on Friday was excellent! 15 min warmup, 1 hour at 160 to 170 watts at different cadences, then 15 min cool down. Stretching. I didn't think it had taken that much out of me, but it appears so.

The run on saturday started with this.

I was feeling a bit clunky and briskly walked a whole K to warm up. My right quad wasn't feeling the run love. Part way along I got this.

If it had been a 6 K run it would go into the books as good, exactly as planned. Nice and easy about a 7:30/K pace, even though I was feeling heavy on my feet. My quads were not happy at all. At this point I was still running beside the reservoir.

If I'd known it was ending at 7 K I could have gutted it out. But I was still a long way from home, and  the actual pain was starting. No bears were chasing me, so I walked home. I'm not sure why a walk pace sends the purple cadence line all over the place, but it's a pretty good description of how I was feeling. I hope this is the worst run this year. By the time I got home my legs were feeling somewhat better.

I took it easy Sunday, with only some light stretching. On Monday my quads were actually talking to me again, and not swearing. I got on the bike for an easy half hour spin session. There were only a couple minor twinges. First run off the bike since last summer. It was a beautiful warm day and I didn't even have to change. 3K, 18:36! I think this is the fastest 3 K ever. Towards the end I was getting a bit tired. This felt like about a 5 K race pace for me right now. My next race I only have to run 3 K, so this is all good.

The real news this weekend is that I dived into my book, and pounded out 10K words! I'd written myself into a little bit of a corner, and noodled about it for a while. Then I backed up a bit, and rampaged off. Lots happening. I'm up over 58K words now, and I may have gotten into what the book is actually about.

Curtis, the literary cat that he is, supervised. A few times he tried getting his paws on the keyboard to put in his own suggestions. I've told him he can start his own book, and put in whatever words he wants.

There seems to be a bit of an inverse relationship between the number of hours I put in at work, and the number of words that get written. I'm not sure why that is, but I'm enjoying it when the words flow. I'm not sure if any of it is worthy of a snippet here, I'll have to think about that.

And with that, the long long weekend is over, and not another one till May.

The opposite of stillness

So I had my ass run off today. I'm chugging back from a run in new territory, when my run buddy says we can't leave it there, we have to round up to an even number." So we do. I'm so obedient!

It was all good! My run buddy is the best ever. Over the last couple days I switched shoes. Not running shoes, my every day shoes. I got to wondering why my calves and hams and quads have been so tight. Then I realized all that started about the last time I bought shoes, and these don't really have a heel on them. Zero drop. They've been pulling my calves with every step.

I went back to the previous shoes and the first morning I could feel the difference. Two days and it's like I have new legs again. So this morning I was into MEC for new shoes, and my run buddy came along to marvel at the male shoe selection process. The guy brought out 4 pairs based on size and what I said I wanted. The first were ok, but not quite right. The second were good. I walked around a bit, then said they were good to go, didn't need to try the others on.

Let's just say my running buddy was dumbfounded with astonishment. She admitted she'd have tried on the others, and sent the staff person scurrying back for more, just in case. That's a quote, just in case. Not me. Pants shopping, if the first pair don't fit, I abandon shop and go back another week. Shopping is usually an ordeal to be completed as quick as humanly possible.

The wind was howling when we got out of the store. We'd originally thought to run along the Bow near downtown, but that's wide open to the wind. Plus I've run on that before. I will again, but we decided not today. We parked out at Edworthy Park, and ran west. The path got a bit confused and didn't do what I thought it did, but that's ok. I've never run out there before. There's some very classy houses in that little street  in Bowness. I remember that as sort of a run down neighbourhood.

10 K, 1:16 or so. I haven't run 10 K since last September. It felt pretty good overall. My feet felt a bit heavy, but quads and calves were good. No niggles.

We interrupted this irregularly scheduled blog for

for

CAT PHOTOS!

Stupid blogger rearranging them, and me too lazy to fix them. Besides, I know my readers love it when the story goes to cats.

The next diversion is humidity. The bane of runners, and houses in winter. Our house had become so humid. Turning the humidity control thingy down didn't do anything. Then we realized water was still flowing through the humidifier. Sigh. The shut off valve didn't work so I had to disassemble it and jury rig a solution.

Last week the plumber was here, fixed all that, and we determined that the solenoid valve, pictured below, was stuck open. That's ok. We left it a while with the water supply off, to let the house humidity sort itself out.

Then Thursday night we came home to find the furnace going through the startup cycle again and again. Big sigh. We've have this before. Furnace company. They were out on Friday and fixed it, easy and quick. Warm house again. (There's another detour in there that I'll get to.) Mentioned the solenoid valve.

He said the solenoid failed because of high water pressure, and that the solution is to install a pressure reducer and a new solenoid, for $1200. Yikes! Meanwhile the plumber had suggested if the shutoff valve had scaled up, which it had, it was entirely reasonable to assume that the solenoid valve had too. That seems reasonable to me too, especially when that much money is involved.

So this story is still playing out. The valve is soaking in some vinegar right now, and maybe later some CLR. If it's still gucked up, I haven't lost anything and I'll buy a new one and install it myself, saving more than a thousand ever loving dollars! Then do the same thing in a few years if the water pressure or scale gets to it again.

So the other detour was a swim on Friday morning. Water ran briefly with Katie, then settled into a very nice 1K 18:30 relaxed and smooth. Then another 500 m of other stuff, including 100 m in 88 seconds without really trying too hard. Gotta love that.

Back to the run. This morning I was up early and managed to catch another great sunrise. Then off to MEC and Edworthy. Still with me?

My favourite run buddy looking chic in sunglasses and classy jacket.

On the way back I paused and grabbed a quick shot of the sunlight playing off the water of the Bow. Later on the clouds went away and it turned into a beautiful winter day.

We ran past Angela's, then back to round it out to an even 10 K. I'm sure Katie and many of my other even number buddies will approve. Even though we nearly froze our tails off walking that last half K back into the wind.

What's interesting about the graph is my run cadence slowly dropping off (purple line). My pace is all over the place (orange line), which isn't a surprise given being careful with ice on the paths, and paying attention to the route so I could get back. But the elevation! That's the gray line. We ran back to the starting point. This path is pretty darned flat.

The coffee and treats at Angela's were really good. My first time there. Overall a winner of a day, and that's before cleaning some wine bottles. More paths to highlight in on my 2016 map.

We might have run past another run buddies house, and we'd have waved if we knew for sure where. She knows who she is.

Oh, and the reason for the title is the most recent blog. This was active, that wasn't.

Look at that map!

I love today's run map!

It says I did 5.4 k in 45 minutes, but that's not really true. Michelle's phone shows only 4 K (which I kind of believe), and we started and ended with a walk, plus some walks in the middle after some fast bits, and both of us forgot to turn our apps off after the run. In addition, the phone thinks we gained 1073 m in the course of the run, on a perfectly flat track. Yeah. So let's just take all that with a big grain of salt.

What's important to me here is those three fast bits. They are each one lap of the track, done in about 50 seconds. Taking into account the slightly different distances for each lane, and the somewhat erratic timekeeping that might have been a second or two out, I ended up running about a 4:10 per K pace, or about a 6:45 per mile pace.

I've never before timed myself like this, and I'm very impressed. I didn't think I could run that fast, and I wasn't anywhere close to needing a bucket. Maybe all the coaches in the world shrug, and say I didn't run fast enough. Whatever. I wasn't trying for all out, just very strong.

When you do the math, that works out to slightly under a 3 hour marathon. Consider this is what the elite triathlete pro's do. They swim 3.8 Km in under an hour, bike 180 K on a hot windy course in a little over 4 hours and then run a sub 3 hour marathon. I can barely run that pace for 200 m, and I'd need the bucket for sure if I tried for 300. Or an ambulance, which would upset the staff, and Linda. Won't be doing that.

The swim first was a bit of meh, nothing special. I knew I wanted to do an easy swim after the hard bike yesterday, and before the run today. After the run we hung out a bit watching they snynchro swim girls practice. At one point I tried holding my breath when they popped under water and waved their feet around artistically. I could do it, just barely, and I'm just sitting there and they're working hard.

I did another new thing yesterday, binge watching a whole mini-series. Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke was a favourite back in the day, and even then I wondered how they would make a movie out of it. Three episodes later, now I know. Overall I'm pretty pleased, and considering it's $10 for 5 to 6 hours of quality television, quite reasonably priced.

If you're a fan of the book, you'll probably like what they've done. They NAILED Karellen perfectly! The 3rd episode was more than a little leisurely in wrapping up a couple of the sub-plots, and therefore seemed to drag out the ending a bit. I think it's an excellent adaptation of a very cerebral novel. You don't need to have read the book to understand it, and you can enjoy it for what it is.

There is a Facebook thread about cats that sleep on their back. This is yesterday's photo of Curtis doing exactly that.

During the movie I had Celina snoozing hard in my lap. Both cats love this red wool blanket.

First time EVER!

About 10 years ago I changed my life, and started getting more active again. Some of it was taking up activities again, such as swimming. Some of it was old activities with a twist, such as getting on a bike again, but riding for time and distance. Technically, I used to run, back when the rocks were still soft and we were coming out of the crustation era, but generally I consider myself an adult onset runner.

Then there were some entirely new things, such as doing all three one after the other. Running in the winter. Working on the spin trainer in the basement. Doing core work to help build up my pathetic abs. Seriously coaching another person to learn to swim. Writing not just one novel, but 3 of them. Let me just say the editing into a salable property is not going as well as the initial writing.

Then there was today. Some parents I barely know voluntarily turned over their 9 year old boy to me. We went to the Southland leisure centre water slide. A 9 year old, and a water slide, each new things. Somehow in my life I've never been to a water slide. Technically, I suppose, the 9 year old wasn't mine. Really, the parents were turning him over to my buddy, who I think had tried to organize a kid's day out, but the other parents couldn't make it.

Still, there were 4 slides, and we all went down all of them at least once, and down the biggest several times. We all swung off the rope and ball arrangement and dropped into the water. I couldn't help myself and went in cleanly, then hit the bottom. It wasn't as deep as I thought. I even dived into the diving pool. Plus the hot tub, of course. It's pretty nice, even if there were a bazillion kids there. I've got a scrape across my right elbow, but I'm not sure how I did that.

But that isn't the only new thing. I had my way paid into what is called a conditioning swim at Glenmore pool. I've swum there a number of times off and on, and used to know the pool boss there. But the conditioning swim is like Masters light, I think. I told the coach my 100 m cruise speed, and she slotted me into a lane.

There were 3 other guys and 3 women in that lane. All the variants on freestyle were awesome. I was keeping up no problem. It's the other stuff. I can't really do butterfly at all, and my breast stroke is pathetic. Even lying on my back, kicking with fins, one of the women passed me. I hadn't thought I was lollygagging that much!

With 7 in a lane, and similar numbers on each side, the waves and splash is pretty dramatic. I treated it like a polite mass triathlon start, lots of waves but nobody actually touching you, and had fun with it. I can't read the whiteboard with the workout, so I got the other people in the lane to tell me what to do. It was an hour swim, pretty steady. I think I missed out on 50 m of the overall workout. Not sure how long it was, but I'm guessing around 2.5 K. It was a pretty good workout, but I'm not sure I'd go again. I'm pretty good at challenging myself with workouts on my own. Plus, I'm not used to such a murky pool. After Talisman it felt too warm, too murky, and too small. Even divided up into short course, Talisman is 2 lanes wider at least, and twice as deep.

Other workout stuff included a 45 minute spin, with 15 minutes steady at just over 85 rpm, and about 175 to 180 watts output. My heart rate was steady just under 130 beats per minute. I haven't done the formal testing yet, but I think this is somewhere in the top end of the aerobic zone. Certainly I was having no trouble keeping up with my breathing, but my legs were beginning to feel it towards the end. So far so good, working on a gradual build. Next time if I'm feeling good, I'll aim for 20 minutes at 200 watts, and see how that works out.

Since it was nice out we decided to fire up the barbecue, and Linda prepared these kebabs. Delicious with taziki sauce!

The cats, hard at being cats while I'm reading.

Then there was a run this morning that was just lovely. 5 K, 33:30, actually trying to run slower for most of it. The fog had burned off after an interesting sunrise and it turned into perfect running weather. You can't really see it here, but through the fog there was actually lots more red and orange.

When looking at it in real life, the 7-11 was easy to make out, but for some reason the camera has a tougher time.

And another weekend done! I'm still glad I didn't try NaNoWriMo, since I've had no brainwaves on what happens after the opening I've thought of. Maybe my characters are waiting to see if I write down what they've told me so far, to see if I'm serious, before they tell me any more.

A guest blog post by Michelle!

As many of you know, Sunday was Michelle's very first triathlon all by herself! Your first is always special, and I'm so pleased I was a small part of it. I didn't want to write much about it because it's her experience not mine, but mentioned she could be a guest blogger if she wanted. Next morning, this text was in my email. Take it away Michelle!


There aren’t many people on earth who can tell me “where to go” and “how to get there” and have me keep coming back for more directions.  Keith is one of those people.

Keith, thank you very much for the generous gift of your time throughout the winter as my swim coach!  Only months ago I couldn’t swim but I took adult learn to swim lessons and stuck with them because of a long weekend swim with your analysis, drills and encouragement. The Talisman 10-mile Triathlon was perfectly timed the weekend after my last swim lesson and I just swam, biked and ran in my first triathlon.  You were a fabulous personal cheerleader on race day too!  :)

So… how did it go?

The day before > I pumped up my tires and did a short ride and a run in my gear, making sure everything fit and nothing chafed, switching out a piece or two that felt restrictive.  Richelle from Tri It helped me find this outfit that fit. On my test run, I turned my ankle but it seemed fine… until 11 p.m. when the throbbing woke me up.  I searched everywhere but couldn’t find a tensor bandage so pulled on a CEP compression sleeve, tied an ice block to my ankle with a scarf, took an ibuprofen and elevated it on a pillow until the morning.  I often have a restless sleep before a race but I don’t sweat the small stuff, immerse myself in the exciting race day ambiance of the event and carry on.  By morning, the ankle was fine.

Race day setup > I woke up to a sweet good luck email from Amy and had toast & PB.  Keith and I arrived early at Talisman Centre and dropped off my bike.  I got my body markings done and we headed to the pool for a warmup swim.  I only swam for about 20 minutes, then hit the hot tub and changed into my tri outfit (Louis Garneau shorts a 2XU top and a Moving Comfort bra).  Next I headed to walk the route and familiarize myself with the transitions through the swim, bike, and run areas.  For extra peace of mind, I wrote how many swim laps, bike kms, and run laps were needed for the race on my hand with a sharpie.  I was in the last group of racers (heat four) so once heat two had cleared out of the bike area, volunteers helped set up my bike on the Tacx trainer.

It took a bit to get it set for a “2” incline, then I had about 10 minutes to get back to the pool before the race started.  Keith reminded me to leave my bike in a lower gear so I could get spinning faster right off the bat.

Swim > Lucky for me, there was only one other racer (Isabella) in my lane so we wished each other good luck agreed to split the lane so we could each stick to our own side and just swim at our own pace.

I did a quick" re-warmup almost lap" and then it was time to get back to the wall to start.  After the first 25m, I stopped to check my timing chip that was velcroed around my wee ankles.  The strap wrapped twice around my ankles and had slipped but wasn’t coming off so I kept going.  Somewhere on lap two, I sucked back a mouthful of water and had to stop to cough about ten times so I could breathe and carry on.  Isabella called out “you got this!”

I just tried to keep moving and do push turns when I could, stopping for a few breaths from time to time or switching to backstroke a couple of times for extra air.  I kept my cool, felt good and steady, and didn’t feel like I was going anerobic.  It felt like I had a good balance between cardio and strength and couldn’t go any faster without getting out of breath.  I could see Keith standing along the edge of the pool with the other spectators.  The water in this pool is a bit cooler than in the training pool but that’s perfect for race day. With one lap to go, the volunteer called out to me to let me know and I glanced down to the lap counter on my finger to confirm I was on track at 9 laps.  One more to go.  Before I knew it the race was over and it was time to climb out.  I can spring out of the training pool on my own but this one was deeper and a kind volunteer gave me a hand up.

T1 > I ran down the roped-off carpeted transition path through the training room and down the hallway to Gym 1 and quickly spotted my bike thanks to the fluorescent ribbon I tied to the brake cables.  Sitting down felt awkward so I stood up again to pull on my super-cool heat mouldable carbon-fibre Bont bike shoes (from Kijiji). I tried to do a quick blot of the most soaking wet parts but it made no difference.  It would have been good to have one towel under the bike to catch drips and another to step on to dry my feet off before putting my bike shoes on.

Bike > I clipped in my left foot easily, swung my right foot over the saddle and clipped in on the second try to my Trek Madone women-specific bike (bought second-hand).  A few sips of Ultima electolyte drink from my water bottle and two small squeezes of some salted caramel gu in the box on my crossbar were all I needed. I was happy I stashed a lip balm and something to wipe the sweat from my face in there too.

I had the best cheering crew!  Richelle,  Rose, Maddy, Keith, the volunteers chatted nearby and reminded me to keep up my cadence.  Jordan was there with an enormous lens on his camera. (Making us do this. Making us!) Photo credit Jordan Brydon.

 I was feeling my legs but wasn’t breathing very hard and I knew I had to save energy for the run. As soon as my bike computer displayed 12.5 km I dismounted on the left side of my bike and got myself over to the right side where my running shoes were.  (Note to self: next time organize stuff behind the bike or under the bike and gear down to spin faster so I use more cardio and less leg power.  Figure out how to work harder on the trainer to build leg power.)

T2 > Thanks to the velcro on my bike shoes, they came off quickly but I got a cramp in my left calf pulling on my Altra 3sum running shoes.  I willed myself to relax and it went away.  (Note to self, next time loosen the elastic Yankz laces a bit more.)  Next was a quick run across the Gym to the stairs… (STAIRS!!!) up to the running track above.  Keith had warned me that my legs might feel rubbery coming off the bike and to hang on to the handrail in the stairwell.  I had observed some very stiff, rubbery legs going up those stairs but thankfully my legs felt good enough to run up the stairs.

Run > At the top of the stairs, a volunteer pointed me in the counter-clockwise direction and I stuck to the inside “fast” track passing lots of people.  I held back a bit as I wasn’t really sure about the pacing for all three sports.  A volunteer handed out elastic bands every 5 laps to help us keep track.  My lap counter on my finger came in handy for the run too.

I was feeling good, waved at Keith and picked up the pace in lap 14 and sprinted the final lap.   I heard Richelle yell out “Go Michelle! from below.”  (Note to self.  The run is my strongest area, let it all out here!).  I ended up with a little blood on my left heel, which is weird because I have run sockless in these shoes on my 12 km RUNcommute home with no issues.  The only thing I changed was tightening the laces so next time I will leave the laces loose and wear socks in both my bike and run shoes.

Post race >  We looked at the times and I was very excited to have done my swim ten minutes faster than a month ago!  I was shocked by how fast my run was as I didn’t feel like I was actually running that fast.  Sometimes, ditching the technology and pushing myself by feel gets the best results.  Awards were given for oldest and youngest athletes (11-years old!) as well as for the rubber-band volunteer and best bike and run "pain faces” (LOL).  The staff and volunteers at this event were amazing, organized, encouraging, friendly, helpful and reassuring.

Post-shower In the locker room I chatted with Isabella about her race and told her the story of how I had just learned to swim over the winter.  She was going to tell her sister and try to get her to learn to swim.  She asked if I was feeling proud and I thought about it.  I wasn’t feeling that beat-your-chest-like-a gorilla-pride and I think I was feeling more grateful for all the support I received and to have been able to do this event at all.

I found Keith in the bike area and we brought everything up stairs, enjoyed coffee and a snack, chatted about the race and future plans and chatted with the super rubber-band volunteer about his races too.  I gave Keith a card and a DIY sewing project microfibre towel with sharks (it sort of matches his swim trunks) on it to thank him for being my coach.  He really didn’t have to do that but I’m so grateful he did.  Keith took swim video and when I watch it, it seems like I’m swimming in slow motion.  I can see my head popping up and a funny reach with bent hand.  I will study it more and try to make adjustments… and just swim more.

Inspiration > It’s all around me.  Running with Keith through the winter last year while training for two ultras planted the seed that some day there might be a new and different challenge waiting for me.  Keith’s Ironman finisher’s smile greets us at the top of this blog with every visit.  Obviously some of the triathlon awesomeness around me inspired me.  My friend Maria did her first full Ironman last summer and I stayed up until midnight to watch her cross the finish line on the live video feed.  Another friend Jenn (breast-cancer survivor) finished the 2013 IMYYC 70.3 in spite of having her bib taken from her when she didn’t make the cutoff time.  That’s determination.  She’s back for more this year and she’s going to rock it.  Amy and Leana make triathlon training sound humanly possible.  Sophia (kidney transplant recipient) did a duathlon a couple of years ago and planted that seed.  Last summer I trained for the duathlon part of the 2014 Strathmore Women’s Triathlon.  Instead of the duathlon, I ended up joining my friend Deb in the team triathlon relay where she did the swim and I filled in with the bike & run.  Our team placed first.  I was inspired by the ladies of all abilities in that race and started to dream of learning to swim.  Last summer I volunteered at IMYYC 2014 as a banner girl and learned what it means to be Ironstruck.  Wowza.  I held the banner for the elites as they crossed the finish line, then biked home after my volunteer shift through the age-groupers sweating it out in the hot sun on the run and I started to think that there might be a place for me at the back of the pack if only I could swim.

Determination > In July bought myself a chlorine-resistant suit, swim cap, goggles, nose plug and earplugs.  I took them with me on a summer trip and thought I would try them out at the hotel pool but, sadly in spite of watching YouTube videos on how to put on a swim cap, I felt so dorky, and so intimidated.  I remembered how awkward I felt showing up for my learn to run clinic three years ago and figured I would work past the fear but the water in the outdoor pool felt SO cold and there were too many people around watching for me to attempt flailing around.  I stayed in the pool for less than a minute and then ran into the hot tub to warm up as per my usual performance. Fail.

I knew what I wanted but didn’t know how to approach the fear or get into any kind of a routine. A few weeks later Keith offered to have me tag along on one of his regular Friday morning swims. I think he said we would leave at 4 a.m. and at that point I was willing to go at any time just to get started and get over my fears of feeling awkward.  Keith gently, encouraged me (without laughing… how is that possible?) from being afraid to put my face in the water to working on drills with a flutter board and pull buoy until I had enough confidence to sign up for swim lessons which started in October.  I took Adult Learn To Swim Level 2 lessons and repeated then twice.  Then Level 3, repeated twice.  There were a couple of times I was tempted to throw in the towel when I hit a plateau, or was sore all over and exhausted, or felt like hubby was annoyed with my training schedule, or like it was all too much effort and nobody cared anyway.  Then Keith would text me asking if I was still coming swimming (how could I say no?) and that kept me on track.  (So it's MY fault??? :-) ed)

Rewards > Over the winter, I got stronger and started to see mini lat muscles in my back.  (No not latte muscles!).  Just this week, there was the hint of a bicep on my stringy muppet arms.  Progress.  Arm muscles should definitely help with swimming, oui?  ;)  I have been called short, petite, small, thin, skinny and weak but I prefer the term  “concentrated!"  I can definitely say that this spring, I was thrilled to discover that winter swimming has improved my core strength, cardio and breathing for fast running, and helped keep up my leg strength for biking.

Looking forward > This year Keith and I are doing IMYYC 70.3 as a team relay.  There’s no way I’m ready for a swim like that… but Keith is!  I’ll do the bike and run.  I look forward to continuing to swim, bike and run!  I blame Keith.  Thanks eh. ;) (You are very welcome! KC)

54:45 but no fight. how to swim

This isn't a history lesson, and even if I'd been 5 seconds faster there still wouldn't be a history lesson. I see some blank looks. Google is your friend.

I'm on about swimming again today. Roll your eyes, I don't care. I'm a very happy puppy. The other day I did the fastest K in many many years. During yoga class I was thinking about that and what it meant for my longer swims. I was doing math in my head and ended up with this.

An 18:30 K was a fast swim a short while ago, but I was thinking I should try to maintain that pace. I've been wanting to get in a 3 K swim for a while, but it hasn't worked out for one reason or another. Here's how it turned out.

Distance	Planned	Actual	100 M pace
1K	18:30	18:25	01:50.50
2K	37	37:05	01:51.50
3K	54:30	54:45	01:51.50

So I'd say that was pretty consistent, though at the beginning of the 3rd K I blew a couple of flip turns and had a couple of poor laps. I lost my concentration doing some mental math about timing. Note to self.

What made the difference is keeping my elbows high and recovering with my thumb close to my ears. I tried to keep the kick a little stronger, which helps my body position in the water, which is the main reason I'm going faster with less effort.

And make no mistake, this was the least effortful swim in a long time. I was relaxed, barely breathing hard for most of it. The third K I worked it a bit to make up for the time I lost, but I was never even close to being short of breath. Most of the time I was gliding along, passing the people in the lanes beside me that were working much harder.

My hands were on top of their game, getting a good catch. My roll was coordinated with the pull in a way that I don't often have happen. I could feel my shoulders working in a way I hadn't noticed before, helping me stretch out before the catch. The only thing I missed was that I didn't count strokes at all, so I have no idea about that. I didn't have to worry about anybody else in the lane. This was short course, and it seemed like I was doing a flip turn all the time. It would be fun to try this in the long course pool.

Best of all, I didn't have to stop at 3 K. I could have kept going, but I thought this was a big enough step for one day. Plus, there is this day job thing. They don't really care when I get there, but I have lots of work to do, and a deadline next week. A lot of people are going to be looking at my results.

I can hear you asking, so how do I do this? Easy. Swim lots, thinking about every stroke, trying to make it perfect. Time every lap. Some swims are relaxed and longer. Others are shorter and faster. I think the CSS thing helped. Get a video of your stroke and someone that knows their stuff to critique it. Then apply what they say. Think about the water feel. Look at the bottom of the pool. Relax. Commune with your inner shark or dolphin. The water wants to be your friend.

The lane divider was hungry, but I conquered!

In the pool today. I ended up with two things.

This is a result of the lane divider trying to eat my hand. It looked redder and angrier than that in real life.

The other thing is the best 1000 m swim time in several decades! Back in the day, before some of my readers were born, I'd routinely swim a sub 18 minute km. It's been a long, long time. This is a better swim than anything done since I started training for Ironman.

The number?

17:50

That is 40 seconds better than just a couple weeks ago for the same distance! This is what stroke improvement will do for you.

Even better, I know I can go faster, since my catch sucked the first part of the swim. The improvement is mainly cleaning up my recovery, and kicking a bit harder. This gave me a better roll. At least some of the time I was trying to breathe out during the stroke. No idea if that makes a difference.

So yes, I'm pleased.

I was pretty out of breath at the end but not ready to puke. Another 500 m of drill and kick rounded it out.

Some newness, and the heat gun trick

Much as I'm a staid old stick, liking what is tried, true, and familiar, there are times I venture into newness. New phone. New apps, and trying to figure out how they all work together. Changing habits to take advantage. I've discovered Siri is really good about making appointments for me.

That discovery happened leaving work on Friday. You might remember I had some lab tests last week. The doctor's office called as I was getting out of the elevator, digging out my phone to use the card key in the pocket. It's hard to mentally switch up using the phone to open a gate, to talking to someone. No panic, but as soon as I had a time and date, I was out the gate, and wanting to get it recorded before I forgot. I forget easily. (The peanut gallery can stop snickering any time now!)

I'm trying to leverage other apps that might actually help me be organized, and get more use out of the phone. Such a marvelous technology. The trick is using it for something that is actually useful and helpful to me, and not just a high tech way of doing something for the sake of doing it a high tech way. One of my buddies loves to write with a fountain pen on nice paper. I don't quite get that, but there's lots of times an ordinary pen and some paper is all that's needed.

Here's how Saturday started.

No muss, no fuss, no screams of rage, no broken fingernails or anything else. The secret is to get the tire nice and warm. I got it onto the tire just using my hands. That's how to avoid pinch flats.

I did a bit of easy spin, calibrated the brake unit, and did a bit more easy spin. Mainly to warm up the leg and circulate my blood a bit. Nice stretch session after.

Then the last of the back yard winterizing, and a bit of garage cleaning and organization. Last backyard BBQ of the year, doing chicken then rack of lamb. So yummy! Now the BBQ is tucked into the garage. I'll still use it over the winter, just out at the front of the garage so I'm somewhat sheltered from the cold and wind.

I didn't mention there was wine to go with dinner, and a chocolaty dessert. But you guys guessed that, right?

Sunday started early. Some swim coaching, and a bit of a swim myself. Mainly some intervals. Nice.

Then out for a run. We parked in the East Village near the new bridge. We checked it out then started running east. This was 2 new bridges for me, and it's been a very long time since I've run in this area. Very nice. We took our time, running a little slower than usual, chatting. Michelle did a marathon last weekend, and I was putting her through her paces in the pool, so I wasn't fussed about the pace.

It's also the first time using iSmoothRun, and I'm impressed so far. Let's see if I can get some screen shots. She lent me a Spibelt, and I'm pretty impressed with that too. I think I have to buy one, unless someone local has one they don't use anymore and want someone to take it off their hands. He said hopefully. Hello, anyone?

The Google Earth map of our run from the iSmoothrun file.

Here's the pace and cadence graph. Getting cadence will be interesting, I've often suspected my steps have slowed down, and it seems to be true. The average today was 82, and my count several years ago was closer to 88. Let's find out what the numbers really are!

Cagary's newest bridge. There's some formal name for it, but the popular name is "The Skipping Stone". Three guesses why.

My run buddy pointing out some architectural features.

Another view of where we started the run. This used to be a very sketchy area. Very. I probably wouldn't have walked alone there a decade or two ago.

My other run buddy has a problem with her toe. You might have heard about it. My understanding was that a crack in the pavement took her by surprise. This is it.

Coffee and a nice chocolate treat at Bite after. So nice! All in all a lovely morning. Some errands later in the day.

I'm starting to get it together for NaNoWriMo, plotting things out. It goes like this.
Action intro for Dwen and Les.
She meets some other people. Reference to a larger group of friends.
She has unusual dreams.
She has an unusual occurrence in the waste water plant where she works.
She follows up on that occurrence, meets more new people, and discovers a complication with Les.
She explores, and makes further discoveries, with some knocks along the way.
She learns some startling things.
Some of those startling things make huge changes when they become known.

There, does that interest you? Are you intrigued? Do you want to learn more about Les and Dwen and  find out what the unusual occurrence is? I hope so. (Why are you yawning?) If you aren't yawning, and want to do NaNoWriMo, let me know. We can be writing buddies.

I've been playing with the camera in the new phone. I'm impressed. Cats. Need I say more?