Crunchy ‘Nanas

I drove into the parking lot and there it stood before me: uncovered, lane lines in place, waters smooth as glass. Ladies and gentlemen, the outdoor pool is working again! Whee-hoo!

What’s more, the temperature’s not as warm. I hustled from the door to the water (it’s not raining, but it’s not sunny either), expecting the water temperature to welcome me in, like a soothing bath. It didn’t. Which is actually a good thing because I get too hot if the water’s too warm once I get going. It’s perfect now. The water wrapped around me peacefully as I pushed off from the wall, calmly filling in the spaces my body left behind.

It’s been a bit quiet around the Crunchy household lately, so it was nice to have some time in the water to just glide and flow. It wasn’t a hard core day today. The only thing missing was the pirate swim cap my mom gave to me for Christmas. I completely forgot to toss it in the bag. But, I’ll give it a try next time. When I need to get fired up. I realized from my lap times today that I swim breast stroke just as fast and sometimes faster than free. It’s not a surprise to me. It’s always been my favorite, but I am going to have to work on the freestyle if I actually want to get off my booty and do an Olympic distance triathlon this year. I have no excuses since I weaseled Crunchy husband out of his racing bike. Well, none except my slight trepidation at the large water masses around me. (The two shorter tris I did in the past were in placid little lakes.) But, if I’m honest with myself, I’m just using the unknown as an excuse. I’ve never been afraid of water. Sand, yes. Sand has been known to freak the living daylights out of me. But never water, not as far as I know.

I think officially somewhere it says that the August Bank Holiday is the end to summer in England. Well, thank goodness the sun came out for it! Yippee!

Friday afternoon we eco-ran down in Cliff’s End/Pegwell again. We adventured a bit with our return route and came to a dead-end at the disused hover port, but I guess it just meant more training! Yippee!

Without planning it, I did a reverse (mini) triathlon on Saturday. 3k run to calibrate my footpod (finally! When I ordered my heart monitor with footpod, I didn’t realize it would be so hard to find an average American high school with a running track to calibrate the footpod. Silly me. This is England. They don’t have tracks here. Or, if they do they are very well hidden. I needed a room of requirement!) Then a 22k ride to Ramsgate to test my new Italian.

And then I went all out for my open water swim. It was, well, more like an open water float with a paddle and kick or two while relaxing on the inner-tube. (I brought the goggles along for dramatic effect.) I’ve never inner-tubed in the ocean. It was just like Lake Tahoe, only you didn’t have to wait for motor boats to zoom by to get waves. And I don’t believe as cold. It was great. Yippee!

And then Monday we ran from Minnis Bay to Reculver. The sun was shining, but there was a bit of a breeze. Crunchy husband hit a new milestone. He’s never run 7 miles (all at once) before. He did very well. I think it was the cheer from the Ipswich Town fan riding by on his bicycle that kept him going. Or the back wind in the fifth mile. Or the ice cream stand at the finish. Three cheers for Crunchy husband. Yippee!

I am in love with an Italian. It isn’t the first time this has happened. First, there was a pair called Sidi. I took them home and never looked back. Then there was the affair with the borrowed bike called Bianchi. Everything was right about it, it felt perfect and I almost let it into my life completely, except for the issue of its one short-coming. I like to think I am not shallow. But, I was advised (by a Brit), go triple or go home. (Yes, I am a weakling.) So after my second of two tris in the summer of 2003, we parted. I am still a bit heart-broken.

But, today! Today I found a new amore. I took my new sella italia saddle on its inaugural ride. And let me tell you, that puppy knows how to support me and cushion my bony butt in all the right places. I felt a bit guilty leaving my Terry behind on the mountain bike, but I am convinced it was the right thing to do.

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza-pie…

Nothing to look at here. Keep it moving.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Some athletes can haul out the distance with endurance and grace, but would be toast in a sprint. Some can cycle centuries but keep a flotation device next to their bath tubs. Others can pitch a ball with startling accuracy, but can’t run bases to save themselves from the charging bull on their heels. And there are others, the crowd I run with, who can do some things without completely embarrassing themselves (those would be the strengths), but other things need a little coaxing and pep talking from the co-ordination fairy before we’re convinced we are okay to try them (those would be the weaknesses).

Yesterday, I was alone in the pool. No one else in the water. No one on the deck. And the thought occurred to me, “I should really practice the back stroke. The conditions are never going to be any better than this.” When I finished the set I was working on, I took a deep breath of confidence, looked around to make sure there was no one around that I would ram (or be heckled by), and went for it.

That was the slowest, sloppiest length of my life. And who-eee, did it get the heart rate up. (Though it’s debatable whether it was completely from the physical activity, or if my pulse was influenced by the anxiety, “Oh my god, I’m gonna miscount my strokes, not see the color of the lane rope change, whack my head right as people come out onto the pool deck and look like a total idiot.”)

The next lengths got a bit easier as I was able to relax into them a bit more and actually attempt to keep my chin up, my forehead back and do it properly. I’m fairly sure I zigzagged the lane atrociously, but I’m proud to say I finished two sets of 100m. (Split by 100m breast stroke as my reward.) It wasn’t pretty, but I’ll get better. It has been over ten years since I did the back stroke. I think I remember why I never competed in it.

This morning I swam in a pool that is a) outside, b) marked out with TWO separate swimming lanes- one for slow and one for fast swimmers, and c) NOT STAINLESS STEEL!

I recently fired my last gym because my membership expired and it just wasn’t doing it for me. Besides the pool issues, I realized that the gym was a little too LA glamor, a little too Globo-Gym for my liking. Plus, the sign next to the entrance says “Thanets most beautiful indoor pool,” and that just gets me every time. Even if I take a deep breath and try really, really hard not to let it get me. (It’s a hard life, having this hyper-awareness of absent and mis-used apostrophes.)

Last weekend, I discovered that another gym in nearly the same area just put in an outdoor pool. I checked it out, and was pretty enticed, despite its higher membership cost. I like the outdoor pool aspect, especially as I prefer to swim outside even if it’s cold and rainy because it can be too stuffy and steamy inside and the pool temperature is usually a bit warm for me. Plus, if it’s cold and rainy, as it was today*, most people will likely use the indoor pool. (Yes, folks two pools! Wee-hoo!)

On Wednesday the representative I spoke with over the weekend called to ask if I would like to come in for a VIP day. Why yes! If there’s anything I like more than a swim in a pool in which I can see the walls and bottom, it’s a FREE swim in a pool in which I can see the walls and bottom.

So it was a great swim today. Short, because I’ve been slacking and so didn’t want to tear it up too much on my first day back. (We can claim altitude training on the boardwalks of Yellowstone all we want, but my thighs are going to hurt tomorrow. Guaranteed!) The people in the pool were friendly. “Oh no, we don’t use that shower. We use the one inside because that one is never warm.” Thanks! Good to know.

The only issue I had today was that my water bottle kept shooting water up my nose. See how I blame the bottle? And not the user who put sparkling water into it because the Brita was empty? Apparently, carbonation and bite valves don’t mesh. Duly noted, as I sit here at home finishing the water out of the same bottle, using the same bite valve. No really, I think I’ve perfected it!

My hands smell slightly of chlorine. Oh, it is a happy day!

*Don’t worry. The thunder and lightning had stopped by the time I jumped in, so it was safe.

Readers who are not new to the blog, or to me, know the troubles I have with my feet. They are sore, sweaty, curly-toed beasts. They blister and ache, but I have vowed to accept them as they are. But still, they are narrow. So, so hard-to-find-shoes-that-fit-me-correctly long and narrow. Today, however, was a happy day. In my first (yes there was more than one) trip to REI, I had (nearly) one thing in mind: investigate insoles for my new hiking shoes because my feet are, you guessed it, So. Darn. Narrow.

I spoke with Bob. Bob at REI Mountain View. He made the simplest suggestion, but I feel as if a whole new world has opened up. His tip: Not only can I use Superfeet, but I can insert them over the insoles already inside the shoes for extra, extra bulk. Oh. My. God. Why has nobody told me this before? It’s amazing! I feel like dancing! Or singing from the rooftops sickly sweet, wide-eyed Disney tunes.

I tested this trick out up at Russian Ridge this afternoon with one of my best buddies and hiker extraordinaire. I am pretty darn pleased. We’ll see how it fares in the wilds of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, but I am optimistic. Seriously folks, a whole new world.

In case you were wondering what their “friendly-faced” visages actually looked like. (I don’t have a fantastic zoom, and you can’t get too close. Rightly, they are trying to keep these animals as wild as possible. But you get the picture.)

Rewind technology and you get to the here and now. Today. As it could have been thousands of years ago. Or, at least thousands of years ago across the Channel. And without the traffic sounds in the distance and the wire fencing. Or me snapping images with my digital camera while riding my mountain bike along the well-developed National Cycle route 15.

Across the world, McDonald’s is busy with plans to hook up cashless customers with Big Macs and Egg McMuffins paid for through their cell phones. But here, the Konic ponies take me back to the past while preserving biodiversity for my future. Relatives of the now extinct ancient European wild horse, these 21st century equines chew quietly out in the field, munching the way to an environment where native species of plants, animals and insects can thrive. Where the John Deere would sink into the muck, the friendly-faced ponies graze peacefully, unaware of their duties, but performing them well all the same.

Thanks, ponies!

Tuesday’s run

Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 29:47
Pace: 9:18 min/mile

Today’s ride

Time: 1:35:00 give or take some time snapping pictures of the ponies

Bay Area represent, yo! It was a happy afternoon at the gym. The first thing I saw as I entered the cardio area was a 49ers jersey. I don’t know if the guy wearing it is from California, but it made me smile. I like to see pieces of home over here. (I happened to be wearing my old and tatty t-shirt from the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure of 1994. I hold on to my shirts!)

I haven’t always had a smile on in this gym. When I became a member in November, I was very excited. New gym, new equipment, good line-up of classes. Trendy looking pool. I wanted to jump right in. Except, it didn’t have any water in it. And I didn’t have my bathing suit on. So they wouldn’t let me.

When the gym opened for use, I quickly became aware that looks can be very, very deceiving. Stainless steel pools may appear chic, but once I so much as dipped a toe in, I came to realize they aren’t practical for swimming laps. They are dark, so it’s hard to see the walls. When uncertain of distances, I tend to err on the side of caution and flip my turns too soon. This leaves me suspended in the water with nothing to push off from. And looking pretty silly. So flipping’s out. I am okay with that. However, I am not so okay with the fact that the pool had no demarcations for swimming laps, nor any type of posted courtesy rules. At a fitness club, I found this a little bit odd. I have absolutely no problem sharing the pool with people playing and doggie paddling around. I like to do handstands and somersaults in the pool as much as the next water baby. BUT. I pay the same membership fees as them, so it seems there should be an area of the pool where I can swim laps for fitness without zigzagging my way across the pool, hoping I don’t kick someone in the stomach.

When I returned to England after Christmas, I gave the pool another try, to see if the gym had addressed user comments. (I couldn’t have been the only one to offer up suggestions). I was hopeful. They put up a sign asking people on one side of the pool to swim clockwise. So that’s what I tried. Until a very sour lady, not following instructions, insisted that she was there first so basically, I was to step off. I work out to be healthy in mind as well as body, so I removed myself from the situation (and vented my frustration to Crunchy husband later). She wasn’t amenable to the idea that if we both swim as per instructions, we could both use the space.

Within the last couple weeks, I heard rumors that they were putting in lane ropes. And today, the first thing I saw as I entered the pool area was a lane rope. And people within the roped off area paddling clockwise. I nearly busted out a happy dance right then and there. Everyone swimming and splashing in harmony. Oh happy, happy day! (I only had a short time to swim today, but man, was it nice and stress-free, the first positive experience in that pool. I can’t wait for the next swim!)

Today’s run

Distance: 2.0 miles (Treadmills bore me!! I can’t do it!)
Time: 18:36
Pace: 9:18 min/mile

Yesterday’s run

Distance: 3.7 miles
Time: 35:19
Pace: 9:32 min/mile