"Paddle the Shores" 2017

Event
"Paddle the Shores" at Ocean Shores, Washington.
The 6 mile boat race.  Jon and I each in our OC1 canoes.  After the midpoint of the race while paddling next to Jon Harwood, I looked behind us and saw Bob Rhoades in his racing shell gaining ground on us.  I said to Jon, " let's cut him off and keep him from passing."
Jon:  Can we do that?
Me: Sure. it's a race.  We can do anything we want.
Bob began catching up to us on our right.  As we approached the safety boat parked on the right side of the canal, I also steered my boat to the right.  After Jon and I passed the safety boat, I turned around to see that Bob had capsized next to the safety boat.  I said to Jon  "let's go fish him out."  By the time we got to bob he had already made progress getting ready to right and re-enter his boat.  After the race Bob said he was navigating the canal using us as his reference point, and not using his mirror to see his boat was going to crash.
Pure evil?  You can think whatever you want.  We did have fun and Bob was a really good sport!

The 2 mile boat race 

I paddled this one with Vern in his OC2.  Eric Davidson from Tennessee had borrowed a kayak from bob Rhoades.  He had no trouble keeping up with us for about 1/2 mile but began to fade after that.  Vern and I finished in about 00:24:23.

Race timing with Webscorer

Webscorer is an app used with a smartphone or tablet to time races.  We at Soundrowers embraced the technology.  I willingly accepted it without ever having timed a race before.  The Webscorer videos misleadingly showed one person timing the races ("Oh, this is easy!").  In real life timing was a high anxiety task at the 2017 Commencement Bay race, partly related to the boats finishing very far away from the timers on the pier, such that we couldn't discern their Tyvek race numbers, provided by Todd, which I mistakenly assented to use.  We couldn't see those numbers taped flat against the boat hulls. We will never use those numbers again if Sound Rowers' stand up numbers are available.

After a near fiasco in timing the Commencement Bay race, and the Budd Inlet race, I understand timing with Webscorer.  Bev Storb saved the day at Commencement.  Timing on paper with a stopwatch requires two or three people, one to record times, another to note racer numbers and a back-up to help figure out the order in a close finish.  Timing with Webscorer also requires at least two people, one to press the time button to record a finish time as each racer finishes and another to record racer numbers.   The Webscorer advantage is that it has the names pre-attached to the bib numbers and can upload much faster after bib numbers are assigned to finish times.  I open the app, assign bibs as needed and go to the start screen, press start when the horn goes off.  For a small race, I have one other person who will record the finish sequence on paper, disregarding the times.  Larger races may require a third person to provide backup for the finish sequence.  At race end, we tag each finish time with a racer per the paper sequence notes.

The Three count for Rowing and swimming

Two days ago, I went to the sculling class at Olympia Rowing.  Instructors watched pupils on the ergometers (Concept rowing machines) and said that the power phase should take 1/3 of the time for the whole stroke.  The recovery phase should take 2/3 of the stroke time.  Short fast recoveries tend to slow the boat down.  The three count for rowing goes thus:  Count "1" for the power phase and count "2,3" for the recovery phase.

Only yesterday had I ever thought about the ratio of time for kick recovery to the time for the power phase of the flutter kick.  Should I apply the time ratio for rowing recovery:rowing power stroke to the flutter kick for backstroke and freestyle?   I already had a clue that I should slow the leg movement in dolphin kick during recovery phase.

Over the last two weeks in the swimming pool, I did drills that I hoped would improve my butterfly stroke, working on

1. staying low to breathe and 
2. not going deep when not breathing. 
3. keeping my hands close to the surface after they re-entered the water.  
4. using the dolphin kick to more directly improve forward motion rather than to help me get my head high over the water to breathe.  Kicking "back" rather than kicking "down" to the bottom of the pool.
5. using hip flexion after hand entry to "fall" down and forward. 
6. trying to time the kick after hand entry
7. beginning the hand stroke close to the water surface.
8. sucking in a good breath.

 Also, I didn't know if my feet were just going up and down during flutter kick.  They had to be kicking some water back for me to go anywhere during kick drills.  I'd often see women swimmers who'd seemingly "burn rubber" during flutter kick drills.  I had no idea how they did that.  Maybe I'd go faster if I directed more of the kick toward the back rather than to the pool bottom.  Future pool sessions with mindful kick drills will make lap swimming more interesting.

Muscle cramps

The arch of either foot cramps about 25-35 minutes into a pool workout.  Phoebe said to do toe pointing exercises.  Jeff Ernst at Kaiser Permanente said take OJ, Tonic water and magnesium at night.  He also said NUUN might work.  I have been trying the triple threat.

With a slight modification:  I took the juice, tonic water and Mg during the workout.  If the depletion of electrolytes was occurring during the workout, taking the remedy at the dime of workout would be the most effective, assuming effective absorption from the gut.  Taking the dose the night before would allow the body too much time to get rid of the extra electrolyte load.  Result:  I had a hint of a cramp today.  One last week.  Overall, significant improvement. 

The National Center for Biotechnology Information NCBI (a unit of the National Institutes of Health) did a study on bananas and potassium levels in people with and without Exercise Associated Muscle Cramps. 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3499889/ 
The conclusion included some discussion about whether the efficacy of bananas to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of muscle cramping with exercise came from their effect on potassium levels (negligible) or on glucose levels. 

For me the jury is out.  I will continue to suck down my mix of juice, tonic water and magnesium while swimming.  If the cramps only happen once a week, I might call it a win.

Next, getting the timing right for taking the remedy after starting the workout.  15 minutes?  20?  We hope to know soon.

Swim Lather Rinse Repeat

I'm obsessed with the butterfly stroke in swimming.  The challenge:  figure out why some trips to the other end of the pool feel good and others feel like I'm swimming through cold honey:  suffocating, slow and sticky.  Maybe I feel good on the 25 yards out, but on the 25 coming back I fall apart

Sometimes, I suspect a failure to take breathing seriously.  Other times, I just blame bad technique. 

Maybe I had a breakthrough this evening.  For 20 minutes, during my butterfly drills I focused on keeping the amplitude of my up and down excursions to a minimum.  I had to remind myself to really work on blowing out and sucking in my breath.  The stroke has so many parts.  Timing plays a greater role with butterfly than the other three strokes.  I swam some full stroke lengths with my arms skimming the water during the recovery phase.  I wanted to know what I looked like performing drills and full stroke--I hadn't brought a camera and no one told me how I looked.  I asked myself:  Did my hips sink following hand entry?  Do I kick with or after hand entry?  Was my chest too shallow?  Did any of that matter? 

With 15 minutes to go before pool closure, I swam some full stroke 25's, mindfully keeping the amplitude low.  I tried not to climb too much when getting a breath, nor sink following hand entry.

It felt good, but I forgot to breathe well.  Swimming butterfly is like trying to do a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle nine times in 25 yards. 

So far, repeat performances elude me.  It is a work in progress.  No quitting.

Lather. Rinse, repeat.  Breathe, stay small, breathe. 

Snow day.

Today, snow all day until 3 p.m. with 2" accumulation.  The roads, off limits to me with no snow tires on the car. 

What to do on a snow day.  Soak a leather bike seat to advance its break-in.  Ride it mounted on the sport bike for 10 minutes. Ride the touring bike for 10 more minutes.

Take a nap.

Look outside.

Read.

Make chicken, rice, spinach dinner.

Look for clothing to send back to LL Bean. 
Assemble a table cloth hammock.

Oh, Geez, I hear wind and hail again!

Fixing the furnace

As morning > afternoon, the temp in my house fell to 61 F.  I felt no heat from the radiators.  Pumps were running cold water through the system. 
Into the basement to inspect the boiler.  I touched cold pipes that should have been hot.  I flicked the power switch off, then on, the boiler started up and then fizzled.  Recalling a $100 visit by a repairman, I pulled the hose under the firebox of the boiler and began to poke into the hole where it connected, and little bits of hard water deposits fell out.  I though water might come out, so I tried to undo the nut around the hose connector without success.  I turned on the boiler and this time it stayed on. I watched the needle on the thermometer rise to 120° and then to 145°.  Case closed.