Howdy y'all, if you want to help a cool Big Island girl fulfill her dream of racing her home course as a pro, please give what you can to Bree Wee. She has a hard time asking for help when it comes to money stuff, but she has no problem giving what little money she has to others. I know this first-hand because I was on the receiving end when I trained with her on the B.I. As broke as she was, she would still treat me to lunches post training at Island Naturals, or she would buy the ingredients to make me things like granola and energy bars. She would chauffeur my ass everywhere on the B.I. to grocery shop, to and from swim practice, to the beach, and she let me use her truck to run errands, never asking for gas money. I know that there are people asking you for money to cure cancer, and compared to cancer, a dream of racing your home course seems frivolous. I know it is important to give to worthwhile causes like finding a cure for cancer, but I also think we should allocate some money just for fun and frivolity, and for helping dreams come true.
Bree is trying to make her dream of racing the Kona World Championships this year. She is chasing points to be one of 35 female pros who will tow the start line. In order to chase these points, she needs money to travel to the races. Any amount is a good amount. I tried to get her to open a PayPal account but she's old skool, so drop it in the mail to:
Bree Wee
Po Box 1033
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745
If you are in the Bay Area, I can swing by and pick up your donation and mail it to her. I have a PayPal account so if you rather do it all electronically, just hit me up and we can arrange it. Mahalo!
Pre triathlon, Surfer girl. Some barrel racing too, even did one rodeo in Texas. I swam with the sharks (sys) but had to quit when I got surf serious.
Pre-race ritual?
Pre race ritual-put on the music, dance a little and eat a lot, and say a quick prayer.
Strange place you bodyglide?
Body glide under my arms, but I think a lot of girls do because of sports bras rubbing.
What are the two most played songs on your ipod?
Most played at the moment (I change IPOD list monthly) are Sweetest Thing by Clear Conscious and No Other Love by Common Kings.
What do you crave when you are bonking?
I crave spam musubi, jamba juice, burgers, honey and almond butter sandwhiches, pineapple, and papaya at all times of the race.
How many #2's pre-race?
At least one.
What is an obscure website you visit?
Its not obscure but I frequent pro surfers websites, a lot, too much maybe.
What's in your special needs bag?
No special needs bag for me.
Team Macca or Team Crowie?
Team Macca.
What's your ride?
I ride Swift Carbon.
*Bree taking the W at Ironman Louisville last weekend is probably the closest feeling I'll ever have to winning an ironman, I wanted it soooo badly for her. You can read about her struggle this season in her own words by following her blog (http://breeweehawaii.blogspot.com/), but being privy to this info I think made me want it all the more-so for her. I like me a good comeback story.
Unlike Oprah and her favorite things, I won't be able to give you anything other than some advice. Since arriving on the island Wednesday, training is going really swell. Superman is a mere mortal on his home planet of Krypton, but on earth, the sun gives him superpowers. I feel like Superman and Kona is my sun. I don't know why but I always train really well over here. I know some of you will be on the island in a couple of months, for reasons far more bigger than my little training camp. Thus, I've been documenting some of my favorite things: • Hayashi's: It's not the best sushi I've had but it is damn cheap, best eaten post hard and long workout because it will taste a lot better, and it won't empty your wallet.• South Loop Ride: This was one of the first rides that Bree shared with me, and I still have fond memories of the painted church, picking mangos and avocados, and coming across a bunch of free lemons. It's nice to get off the Queen K and if you like climbing, this is the ride for you. Southern Kona is also very different scenery and a must see.• Island Naturals: I think I end up here at least once per day. The hot food and salad bar is great. It ain't cheap but if your philosophy is that your body is your temple, then you'll want to eat and shop here.• Kona Aquatics: Good people, good coach, good facility, and it's free (I think, I've never paid)! But if you swim a masters workout, Coach Steve does not do the paddle and buoy thing, so out of respect, save the equipment for when you swim on your own during rec hours.• Farmer's Market on Alii: Not everything is certified organic and it's geared toward tourists, but great if you are looking to pick up cheap papayas and mangos.• And finally, if you are lucky, anything from Bree's kitchen: I came over to borrow her car to do some shopping, and waiting for me was some homemade granola. This chica is so generous, and I'm so lucky to know her.
My friend Bree is at it again. This time, she and the Kona peeps are not only playing do-good'ers but also race directors. They are organizing a one-mile run race for high schoolers in the Phillippines, and they need your help to equip the runners with shoes and clothing. Here's how you can help:
I've been trying something slightly different with my swim stroke for the past two weeks, and I'm happy to report that the change is netting me faster times, and an improved efficiency. In fact, I felt faster almost immediately but like a good scientist, I wanted a larger sample size before I reported my findings. What is this change? I've been taking a wider pull.
Back in May when I was in Kona, I was doing an open water swim sesh with Bree, and we got to talking a bit about swimming. At some point, she told me that Karlyn (Pipes-Neilsen), an amazingly fast masters swimmer who qualified for the Olympic Trials as a 40 year-old, was preaching a wide pull (where the hands pull down and back along the side of the body rather than underneath). For some reason, two weeks ago, this bit of advice came back to me and I started to try a wider pull. Not only did I feel faster, but I felt more efficient, almost like a delayed onset of muscle fatigue. Now, when I say faster, I mean my pace for distance sets. Last night, I was holding 32's on the 40 second interval, and it felt so much more effortless than in the past. I'm not sure how this wide pull would hold up in the sprints, but I suspect it is less effective because there is less lift in the water with the wide pull. Since I've only been doing the wide pull for two weeks, I have no idea what, if any effects, there will be on biomechanics that may result in shoulder or other injuries. I like the result thus far and I plan to use the wide pull in my olympic distance race tomorrow. Will keep y'all posted.
I was hopping on the trainer at 5:15 AM and thought to myself, two years ago I was on the verge of burnout. I was only doing olympic distance races, my training was riddled with missed workouts due to lack of motivation, and forget about getting up for a 6 AM swim workout (been there, done that...ever since I was a kid). I didn't even race the first half of the year and only came back to racing after some teammates urged me to in order to get some points for a team race. After 17 years in the sport, and doing my first triathlon at 19 years-old, I wasn't sure how much longer I wanted to race. After several failed attempts at the ironman distance, I gave up and decided I would come back when I was 60 and most of my competitors were either playing golf or having reconstructive knee surgeries. Then I stumbled onto the blogosphere.
I can't remember how but I came across Bree Wee's blog and well, it was like a breath of fresh air. Her energy and enthusiasm for the sport was inspiring and contagious. As I followed, I started reading comments on her blog and from there, I was guided to other blogs, like Ian and Charisa. Over a rather short period of time, I was feeling inspired and motivated. As I kept following these blogs, and adding several more, I was stoking the fire within to race, and specifically to race the ironman distance. I had unfinished business. The whole process back was pretty organic and organic is good. Since then, I've armed myself with a gaggle of blogs for motivation and inspiration. Thus, when I'm up at 5 AM, I feel like I have company knowing that Libby was 30 minutes ahead of me (actually 3 hours and 30 minutes since she is in Florida), and several others whose day of training begins well before sunrise. It's funny how I went from burnout to two ironmans in one year, and if I'm lucky, I'll get a bonus ironman in October.
I thought I would close out 2010 with a story to inspire y'all for the upcoming race season. Charisa just completed her debut season as a pro, and she is itching to start her second year racing with the big girls. A major goal Charisa had all season long was to break the one hour barrier for the ironman swim. She was hovering between 1:03-1:06 all season long. How am I qualified to tell Charisa's story? As a swim coach, every now and then I get triathletes who ask me for swim advice. In early October, Charisa came a knockin'. If you look at Charisa's swim stroke, she looks pretty damn good for someone without a swimming background. She rides really high in the water, she has good rotation, great posture, good head position, and her pull is adequately sufficient. Mind you, I'm looking at Charisa's stroke in the context of open water swimming and specifically triathlon swimming. If she wants to be a swimmer only and race in the pool, then yes, we would have to get picky and work on the little things about her stroke, because pool races are won in seconds or less. But because Charisa is a triathlete and most of her swimming is done wearing a wetsuit, we don't have to get picky. Time is better served working on other things.
As triathletes, there is so much out there in the way of training. Between TRX, yoga, dynamic stretching, Pilates, weights, swimming, biking, and running, and so on, we just don't have the time to do everything that is "supposedly" good for us. We need to be critical and choose what we as individual athletes need most to get fast. In the case of Charisa, I advised the following:
• Her stroke is more than adequate for triathlon swimming, don't do stroke work other than during warm-up or warm-down.
• Hit the weight room to gain more swim-specific muscles in the shoulders, back, and hips. Her stroke looks fine, it just isn't strong. She lacks functional swim strength.
• Kick! Real swimmers kick, even when they are not trying to, it's just ingrained in them from all those years of swimming. And if you are female, even more important. If you don't believe me, swim behind Bree Wee or Teresa Nelson, two very strong swimmers. Standing only 5'6", I guess you could say I have the frame of a woman. I learned the value of kicking during my age-group swimming years. All of my guy friends would grow to like six feet tall, big hands and big feet, and then there was me, stuck at 5'5". The cool thing about swimming is that boys and girls can train together. I noticed that the girls always kept up because their kicks were always so much faster than the boys. Thus, I too relied on my kick to keep up with my six feet competition. That and doing events that nobody wanted to do like the 200 fly and the 400 IM (watch a pool meet and notice how short the guys are in these two events). Sorry, tangent, where were we? Oh yea, I told Charisa that the philosophy is not to make her swim all about kicking, but about making her legs strong enough that after 2.4 miles of swimming, her legs and hips are not fatigued and feel fresh.
• Do ironman swim-specific workouts. Such workouts focus on efficiency and maintaining a fast stroke rate, which is very important in open water swimming. I gave Charisa my bread and butter ironman workout and two other workouts meant to improve her efficiency/stroke rate in open water swimming. These sets are not masters swimming friendly, and are usually done solo. The sets average more than 6000 yards/meters and are painfully boring to most...but not to Charisa.
So how does the story end? Charisa cracked the one-hour barrier in her last ironman of the season, in a non-wetsuit swim! As much as I would like to take credit and say it was due to my advice and workouts, it just ain't so. And here is my point: any coach who would take credit, or say do this one thing and I'll make you fast, is not a good coach. Charisa cracked the barrier as a result of years of swimming with her masters team, years of pushing her limits, years of HARD HARD WORK, and combined with the advice I gave her, and a tiny tiny bit of luck, the sum of the all the parts led to success. Thus for 2011, remember, it is the sum of all the the little things you do that lead to success. Happy training!
I'm basically interested in all things funny, health and triathlon related, and sustainable living. This blog used to accompany a website I built to raise awareness about cancer as well as raise money for different causes.
