Archives for March 2012

Kona, Hawaii

March 2012

Today’s Swim 10,500 meters

 Back into the ocean today, 4 laps to the 1.2 mile Kings Buoy in Kilaua Bay plus a slew of laps  to the Coast Guard Buoy and back to accumulate some additional distance. With plenty of feeds of Maxim packed I set off  at 8:00am for my 2.5 hour session. Today I am feeling very grateful, I have 4 swimmers to swim with me for the first lap.

Me, Evonne, Robyn, Amy and Karlyn, lucky me FUN FAST swimmer chicks to swim with, I am the lucky pengiun today....

The first lap is complete and lucky me Evonne is game for another lap, off we go swimming over all the colorful fish darting around below us, black fish, blue fish, black and blue fish, yellow fish, skinny fish and schools of fish that look like they are a big sunny bed of spring flowers, we soon fall into a comfortable rhythm and before we know it lap 2 is complete, Evonne is off to continue her  training on land and I head off to down some Maxim  and head back out to sea SOLO.

A flower bed of fish

I swim happily off , over the  fish flower bed, past the buoys marking the entrance to the bay, past the boat tours filled with snorkels, fins and wet suit clad swimmers on the hunt to catch a glimpse of spinner dolphins and into the deeper water where I can’t see the bottom, I feel more at ease out here, I like the vastness, it feels peaceful and I get down to getting in my zone and knocking out 2 more good quality laps.

  I stroke and I stroke, the sound of my breath is soothing, ” what’s that?” I ask myself, I listen again, this time the sound is stronger, in fact whatever it is is getting louder by the second…” Squeak, Squeak…..Squeak, Squeak”, as I am pondering the question I see 2 shapes below, dolphin shapes. ” DOLPHINS,  how wonderful to be in such good company, they are doing their deal, I am not going to stop and gawk, I’m going to respect them and continue on my merry way swimming”, I think to myself. 

So that’s how it went the tour boat and their wet suit ladden customers bobbing around in the bay way behind me looking for Dolphins and me futher out at sea, pulling through the water, blowing bubbles as I go, all while taking in the wonderful company below, two athletic dolphins slicing through the water. I swim and swim and they continue to stay right below me, then 2 become 4 Dolphins, then 8 more, now 12 Dolphins below me and to my right, I continue to hold pace as do the Dolphins, I snag a breath to my left and  there I see a mother and baby dolphin, the young dolphin is tucked right  by Mum’s side, memorable indeed.

The Hawaiian Spinner Dolphin

” What a lucky kiwi I am to have such wonderful company today”, I think and with that I take a ” Dolphin Inventory”, 24 Dolphins, they slowly start rising closer to the surface, the Dolphins either side of me snug in tight we are all at the surface together, I breathe air in and out my mouth, they breathe air in and out their  Blowhole on their back, I feel  them breathe and I see the water disperse as their bodies emerge out of the water for air, so close to mine that the spray splatters against the side of my face and my back , there are Dolphins to my left, Dolphons to my right, Dolphins below me and behind me….I am in a Dolphin Pod, I feel honored

Finally  the Dolphins veer off to the right out to the deeper ocean water and I continue on to complete my 10.5 km swim, what a morning!  I head back to Karlyn’s house, through the door I go with a wide mouthed smile, ” How did it go today” Karlyn asks, ” GREAT” I reply, ” I got to swim with 24 dolphins”, I add, ” Ahh, did you swim with the dolphins OR did the Dolphins swim with YOU?” she replies with a sly smile. ” They are probably telling the other Dolphins  Hey Guess what we swam with a human today!”

 I laugh at the thought and head to the shower to clean up, what a day.

Coming up tomorrow: Speed Work and plans to travel to a NEW beach

Will there be BIG FISH there? I’ll keep you posted. 

Closing Thought: A person who is enthusiastic soon has enthusiastic followers.

Kona, Hawaii,  February, 2012

Location: The Pier, Kona, Hawaii

Today’s Swim: 10,500 meters               

Kailua Bay, the Iron Man starts here, they swim 2.4 miles, before starting their 112-mile marathon and top it off with a 26 mile marathon run

How did Iron Man Start?

 It started as a friendly debate, in 1977 a group of naval officers debated which type of athlete was more fit, a swimmer, cyclist or runner, to settle it Commander John Collins combined the 3 major endurance races on the island of Oahu, with rudimentary rules in place, on February 18th, 1978 fifteen athletes completed the very first Ironman, the winning time 11 hours, 46 minutes and 58 seconds. In 1981 the event moved to the Big Island of Hawaii, a course that consists of a battle of endurance, stamina and heat.

So how about the training, the average Ironman athlete trains 18-24 hours a week,  and how about me, a modest 20 hours per week!  As for what’s involved in running an event like the Ironman….200,000 cups, 260,000 gallons of cola, water and soup and 5,500 volunteers, WOW, makes my support crew and supplies seem modest in comparison!

The Swim Course

Nearly 1,800 athletes flood the swim start area every October for  Ironman Hawaii, but not today, today my training is a variation of course laps with a dash up to shore between each lap to fuel up with a drink of Maxim. The start is a sandy beach making for a nice entry and exit point, there are outdoor showers to rinse off after my swim and even outdoor cubbies to store my feeds, perfect….

Girls gotta eat! Inside Maxim and post swim chocolate milk

 Into the water I go, I  head out through the colorful fish to the deeper waters of the bay, I swim 3 out and back laps, plus some trips to and from the coastguard buoy, after each lap I dig into my cooler for a feed of Maxim, then head back back out, 2.5 hours later my swim is complete. Time to rinse off, swallow a turkey sandwich and head to ” The Club” for some strength training……

45 Minutes of lifting and I am ready for a nap!

Green Sea Turlte

 

Green Sea Turltes are vegetarians, they eat sea-grass, algae and are called green because of the layer of green fat under their shell

 The lines on her flippers and head are perfectly placed, she looks like she is dressed in her Sunday best outfit, not a hair out of place, she is beautiful…….

Turtle heads off and so do we time to pump out a good effort swim

 Time to Swim

 Back to the task at hand, finishing off this 10,500 meter day, just 2000 meters to go,  Karlyn says ” I am going to give it a good push, do what you need to”. Karlyn is competing in French Nationals next week, this is her taper time, reduced mileage with a mixture of recovery and speed work, this is clearly going to be some speed work! ” Get Ready Kiwi”, I say to myself, and I do.

 Karlyn barrels out of the bay, she is a powerful and fast swimmer, who has been setting world records since 1986, I am not a world record swimmer…..but a very determined one. We thunder out towards the King Buoy, the 1.2 mile turnaround, I decide to think of the buoy as ” Cap Gris Nez, on the French Coast, I imagine that Karlyn is the tide. We swim hard and fast, Karlyn accelerates, I dig deep to stay with her, painful yet fun, the feeling reminds me of words from a recent read, ” pain is inevietable, suffering is optional”, I choose not to suffer and drive on. ” Where is the buoy, where is the buoy”, I push thoughts of the buoy from my mind, stroke by stroke we pull closer to the buoy, finally it is before me, I am elated and relieved, made it, what a terrific push. ” When I get the beat the tide command from my crew in the Channel, I am going to imagine you right by my side”, I tell Karlyn, she has the knack of making you rise to the occasion and she did just that today.

Pool closed...not a problem, into the ocean for speed work, that's me in the yellow cap

 Back we go on the return leg, Karlyn powers back towards shore, I follow, 100 meters out, I feel a tap on the head, ” look down there”, it’s Karlyn pointing down, ” thats a ” Bait Ball”, I look down not knowing what a ” Bait Ball” is. Below me is a swirling caldren of thousands of small fish, all swimming in a circle, they are tightly packed together and there is a white hole in the middle where we are treading water, WOW, ” 10,000 fish down there”, says Karlyn, she explains that this is a form of protection, coming together as a team gives bigger fish the impression that they are one big scarey fish not to be messed with.

 We swim into shore, rinse off, next up Yoga, food and lights out…….

What’s coming up tomorrow: Another 10,000 meter plus day in Kailua Bay.

Will I see Dolphins? I’ll keep you posted.

Closing thought:      Part of Wisdom is to know the value of today

                                               – John Palmer