Back on the Run

For the past year I have been working on a lot of significant life changes. I had to make a decision whether or not to continue on my career path, I got pregnant with my first child and became a mother to a beautiful baby girl. With that I felt I had to prove I could still do whatever challenege I put in front of myself.

Three months after having the baby was the target point. It was the timing of moving on from the workplace I knew for 6 years and moving into the unknown. It was also the goal I had set to be back to myself again. That entailed fitting into all my pants again and regaining my body shape. To mark the target I signed up to run a half marathon with one of my (former?) co-workers (and friend). I wanted to prove to myself that, after everything, I had the mental fortitude to go the distance and hopefully push my friend to do her best.

On Sunday, February 2nd we battled the crowds to finish the Surf City Huntington Beach Half Marathon. It was my first half marathon and my longest running distance (in one continuous chunk) thus far. I kept pace with my friend and pulled her to a great performance. I was also happy to hear that my spirit and encouragement was very helpful, not annoying. For me it was a relieving experience to know that the result was what I had envisioned. It gave me confidence that my optimistic outlook is acheivable. If I envision it, I can make it happen. The key is to not get hung up on dreaming up potential road blocks, but to keep focused and deal with any adversity only if it pops up.

I am back in the pool, gym and on the running trail. I think I will try out a few more running races this year. Someday I will sign up for a full marathon, hopefully it isn't at the end of a full Ironman Triathlon, but who knows. I am that crazy.

Influences

Before I get too old and the memory gets too fuzzy I want to document some history. There have been many influences that have guided me through my life. It can be interesting to look back on them and see how much of today is shaped by those people, events, etc of yesterday.

My largest influences through the years were those that were closest to me. My brother and some of his friends were an ever present existence. It really began with my brother acquiring a '93 Mazda RX-7 from Peter Farrell Supercars. The funny thing about Mazda RX-7s were of course that they were rotary engine powered. That meant the car was loud and required constant tinkering. I am not so sure whether I would have been as influenced by a vehicle that required less maintenance or that didn't wake me up every time it was idling in the driveway. It required that my brother and his friends spend more time at the house poking around the car rather than out causing a ruckus (however, the still managed plenty of both). I enjoyed tagging along to the drag races at Maryland International Raceway (MIR) where of course more time was spent babying the RX-7 in the pits than waiting in the staging lanes or actually running passes. It helped me learn that racing was not all about developing one's driving skills, but knowing the machine.

As a sort of contradiction to my brother's loud and, at the time, pretty exotic looking RX-7 there was his best friend James Tate's Honda CRX. It was quite, understated and cute, which rather fit my tastes as a 13 year old girl. It is with this car that I learned about Hondas. It wasn't so much what was done with this vehicle either, but the potentials that were discussed ad nauseum. Eventually this CRX was morphed into something more beastly, but the early years of my developing automotive interest, it remained subdued. Although, upon reflection, I'm not certain whether this particular CRX was the base or whether it was wrecked or sold with a different CRX taking its place. Regardless, James always had a CRX. Because of the discussions surrounding it, I learned a lot about engine swaps and information resources before ever actually seeing the work occur. I heard all about Norris Prayoonto and his "hybrid" Civic, the first of its kind around the Washington DC area. I just knew that eventually, I wanted to do that too.

GM Design

I can't help but notice that the folks at GM's Advanced Design Studio like to show their appreciation of forward design by driving vehicles that display such characteristics. Today's example is the Cadillac CTS V Sportwagon. Because you never know when you might need to tackle the Nurburgring while getting groceries or making a trip to Home Depot. And because you have to look good while doing it.

Travel

I have been a terrible blogger for a good number of months. For that I am sorry. I will get better. These months can be summed up by the included image. Travel. I have been zooming around getting married, honeymooning, swimming, taking care of family obligations and working. I had the most amazing wedding in Virginia. Then I stopped by Spain for an FIA GT1 race. I have swum miles along Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. I have experienced the exhilarating launch of a new Chevrolet small car, the Sonic. I have seen a breath taking collection of American art and I have seen some of the amazing things the future holds. Since apparently so much excitement has passed with who knows how much or little to follow, perhaps I will do some revisiting.

I am finding more and more in life that sometimes there come moments where you have to take a little risk to seize an opportunity. So much has happened for me because of those moments. Don't let them pass you by!

Mission Viejo Masters SCM Meet

I like competing in the pool. but I tend to let myself get rusty. Since I have been training short course meters for a few months I decided I needed to try and get at least a couple meets under my belt in the distance this season. The Mission Viejo meet happened to work nicely with my schedule. Since college I have tried to avoid the event combination of 50 free, 100 free and 100 breast, but I decided to forgo that rule for this meet. I wanted to do those events as a good gauge to see what short of shape I am in and because it worked out well in the event order for the day.

The 50 definitely felt rusty, I breathed way too much in my 100 free and I couldn't find my stroke in the 100 breast, but the times weren't too terrible. In the end I earned some national rankings in my age group (25-29), 6th in 50 free, 2nd 100 free and 100 breast. Next up will be the SCM Masters Regional meet right by home at Belmont Shore in Long Beach, CA. I plan on digging down a bit deeper to come out with some top national times and hopefully some world rankings.

Domestic Engineering

Chevy Fuel Cell Equinoxes got new skin

Fixing Up Airstreams

Long Beach Grand Prix - World Challenge

Easter Sand Sculpture

Early Monday morning following Easter NASA scheduled a space shuttle launch. The launch from Cape Canaveral could be nicely viewed from the beach in Vero Beach. A sand sculpture was constructed to capture to the spirit of the two events (Easter and the shuttle launch). I particularly liked the alien in the upper left corner.

71 Degree H2O Temp in Vero Beach, Fl

It is too cold on the West Coast for ocean swimming (without a wetsuit at least). I found the Atlantic Ocean to have perfect conditions though. Since I have to swim alone when I am on the East Coast visiting the parents, I just swim back and forth and do some fast ins and outs in the same general beach area. Boats tend to randomly cruise by fairly close to shore as well. I get nervous about boat encounters.

2010 CalTech Pentathlon

After a 2 year absence due to shoulder problems and subsequent surgery I recently returned to compete at the annual CalTech Masters Pentathlon. It was not a pentathlon in the traditional sense (swimming, running, shooting, fencing and equestrian), but a mix of all strokes and individual medley. I won the overall female award in 2007, so I hoped to get out and have a decent come back. My return did amount in a 3 tenth total improvement, but I ended up 2nd in my age group and 2nd overall.

I was happy with one event, maybe two, but the disappointments were understandable considering my training. In the past couple years my butterfly training has been almost non existent. It possibly took about 3 years for my butterfly to come back from my first shoulder surgery, so I know I still have a ways to go. I am trying to add more fly into my workouts lately, since my shoulder feels very strong, but the turnover rate needed to sprint just doesn't happen. I need to start doing lots and lots of fly drill and work back into more full stroke. I know I can do a much faster 50 fly than I did at CalTech, but I guess I should be happy that despite my training I went a bit faster than 2007.

My real downfall comes with backstroke. I have never been a backstroker. I know my underwater stroke technique is not ideal. It puts a lot of stress on my shoulders and elbows. I hate it. Take that detail combined with training in a pool without backstroke flags or properly marked lane ropes and it makes for disaster. My backstroke turns are horrible! Not to mention my backstroke finishes and IM transitions. I guess my only hope is to supplement my normal training with some backstroke only workouts in a pool with flags! Lets just say that I most likely would have gone much faster in backstoke if I had done my normal routine of looking for the wall instead of pretending that I knew my stroke timing.

My breastroke wasn't completely horrible, but it wasn't great either. I have been pushing myself to add in a lot more breastroke to my workouts, which has paid off, but I still need a lot of work in feeling out the right stroke. In breastroke if you don't fall into your sprint stroke right off the bat, you are lost and your time with suffer. I do great in hitting my sprint stride in 25s off the block in warm up, but then I seem to loose the touch when I hit the water for a race. I'll will get the hang of it again eventually.

Freestyle was my best 50 of the event and it was far from perfect. I was happy with my time afterall the changes I have made over the years in my training (switching pools, coaches, surgeries, etc.). I just wish I had a better flipturn! I need to practice 50s sprint with a dive with my race standard breathing patten.

There was only one thing to say about my 100 IM and that word was backstroke. It killed me. I think I was laughing at myself during the way too long 25. The worst part was that my crappy backstroke killed my breastroke because I had no momentum to carry me into my best stroke. That is why I have the philosphy IM=death.

RESULTS

Chevrolet Volt at GM ATC Torrance, CA

This Volt was at the Los Angeles Auto Show then made the trek up to Canada to haul around Olympians. It stopped by my facility when it returned from Vancouver. I call it Volty.

Steve McQueen

Long Beach State AD and Water Polo Coach kick Shore Aquatics to the Curb

I've got a whole rant stored up that I will spout later. Until then enjoy the Long Beach Post article on the situation:
http://www.lbpost.com/sports/general/8139

Gingerbread House

Drinking in DC

Pumpkins

Formula D Final Round - Sam Hubinette

My Review of H10013 Eco-Friendly Napper

Originally submitted at FetchDog.com

Nothing makes a hard day's work easier than your trusty office dog. And nothing makes him more comfortable than our Eco-Friendly Napper Dog Bed. A FetchDog favorite, the Eco-Napper is lined with recycled IntelliLoft that's sewn to prevent bunching making it as easy on your dog as it is on ...

H10013 Eco-Friendly Napper

Good fit for a picky doggy

By Merritt from Long Beach, CA on 10/15/2009

 

5out of 5

Pros: Attractive Design, Comfortable For Pet, Easy To Clean, Soft

Best Uses: Large Pets, Medium Pet, Travel, Small Pets, Indoors

Describe Yourself: Long-time Pet Owner

I had previously bought my very tall German Shepherd mix a very squishy bed for him to lay on. However, he much preferred to plop down on a rug instead. He didn't like how the bed shifted around when he stepped on it. I got the eco-friendly napper for him try out because of its portability and its rug-like resemblance. After I placed it on the floor he knew right away it was the place for him. He curled up on it and folded his legs in to try and keep every part contained within the mat. I also like how easy it is to clean, just throw it in the wash.

(legalese)