il dolce far niente

As I'm flipping through the channels I came across the film adaptation of Eat Pray Love --- at the exact moment when Julia Roberts' character is taught the meaning of "il dolce far niente" --- the sweetness of doing nothing.

The Italians have it right. There is an art to just being and enjoying the quiet/simple moments...and oh how sweet it is.

il dolce far niente!

Re-entry

It's my first day back at work and I am grateful that it was completely uneventful. As a result I was able to head over to Tidal after work for their Monday night Snapple group strength training class.
It is incredible how long its been since I've been in Tenleytown.

Unfortunately I didn't get there early enough to really get a good run in on the treadmill before class, which was a bummer. I really wanted to get in 3-4 miles.

Overall it was a perfectly fine workout. I wasn't bored and there was some challenge, but definitely not the same challenge as a morning with HipAHA. That's a bit of a bummer. Makes me feel like I should go home and do a bit more to make up for the missing intensity. I'm used to feeling more spent and I'm definitely used to doing 2/3-a-days.

It's a bit of an unfair comparison --- the duration is different and the workout is completely different.
Regardless, J's class is back in the rotation and I'll be back next Monday night.

Go big or go home

[Pix taken with my Blackberry while riding.  Impressive!]

Often I commit to things that are so much better in theory --- and today's ride was exactly that.

Since The Husband had to geek-out at work for a few hours in advance of his trip to Hong Kong I decided to grab the Cannondale for a spin at Hains Point.

That little spin ended in an epic circular adventure --- 42 miles of loops on the 5k and 10k loop. Kinda cool and kinda stupid at the same time. That's how I like to roll.

After a 5k warm-up I started doing six VO2 max intervals on the backside of the 5k loop. It felt good to crush it. I was amazed to max out at 27.6 mphs during the second interval. That is my fasted yet! It was all downhill after that --- maxing at 23/24/25 mph respectively.  Still very happy with those numbers.

I cruised around after that to just get the blood pumping and to get some miles in.

At nearly the three hour mark I was starting to get really hungry and my legs were getting tired. I headed into the club house for some snacks and as luck would have it I struck up a conversation with a couple who live near me! I was impressed with the epic adventure they were on --- riding for 5-6 hrs through MD, DC and VA. Very impressive!

When I finally abandoned Hains Point I headed up and around tourist central (White House, Washington Monument and Smithsonian).

My city is really spectacular...and I was thrilled to finally have an opportunity to use the Pennsylvania Avenue bike lanes. They are awesome! Good job DC!

All good things must eventually end

So Friday has come and gone...which means that I packed up the truck and headed west.

To say that it was a sad day was an understatement. I had such an incredible experience. --- meeting wonderful people, trying new things, training hard and just living a more quiet and selfish life. It was heaven.

It was the last time I would wake up early, gather my things, kick off my flops and walk over the dune at Atlantic Street for daily HipAHA bootcamp. The good news was that the last workout didn't disappoint. Lots of core mixed in with cardio blasts (suicides and dune runs). Good...good times.

After class they made a little announcement about my departure (tear), they gave me a very nice card and we headed over to Perks for our last after workout coffee break and gab-fest.  I am really, really gonna miss this group. They pushed me hard, they were a lot of fun and they are just good people.

Friday was such a gorgeous day at the beach that after class all I wanted to do was grab my bike for One-More-Ride....but I knew that if I did that then I'd never get home and since I hadn't finished packing I knew I had to just stop living in denial and get moving west.

As I jammed all my gear into the truck, I wondered: (1) how did I originally get all this shit here and (2) I sure have a lot of shit --- most of which I never even needed.

On my way out of town I said good bye to my neighbors and as I headed over the Rt 90 bridge I made one last glance over my shoulder at the shore to say "goodbye good friend...I'm gonna miss you." If I didn't admit a tear came to my eye as I thought about the wonderful "summer camp" I've had over the last two months then I would be lying.

T-minus 48 hours before I have to do my hair, make-up, put on real clothes and shoes...and be a grown-up again.

I'll always keep a piece of this time in my heart and a jar of sand from Atlantic Street on my desk.

T-minus 24 hours to reality

[Today's crew showing off the fruit of our labor]

So in just a few short hours I will be packing up and heading west...to reality...my real job...a schedule (that's predetermined by someone else)...and responsibilities.  Though I am really going to miss my life at the beach I do miss home too.

Today I spent time jamming more things in before heading home.

Biking
I knew when my alarm went off at 5:00 am that I shouldn't have gone out last night and that last beer was a bad idea...just as I had thought when I ordered it.  I somehow got up, got organized and out the door with biking and SUP gear because it was a two-fer kinda morning.

We all let at Becka's temporary house on the beach for some interval biking on Coastal Hwy.  The plan was to complete the following:

• high cadence warm-up to North Bethany Beach
• five 5-minute intervals at race pace (90-95%) with 2-minute recovery in between
• high cadence cool-down back to Fenwick

The weather was a bit dreary this morning and as we headed out I was glad that I had a hit of Diet Coke before the ride to help wake everything up.

I'm not sure exactly what was going on, but the moment we started the intervals I was like a rocket.  I had a good feel for the bike and my gears and was launching into the front position very quickly.  Somehow I had the energy and strength to stay in aero while I jammed down and up on those pedals. 

It was incredible.  I was cruising and setting a crushing pace.  It was as if I was possessed.  I think the truth was that I knew this was my last ride with the crew and a good fitness test.  Doc says I passed with flying colors. :)

SUP Bootcamp

[Last time paddling in to Coastal Kayak.  Insert tear.]

After grabbing more caffeine and chit-chatting at the local coffee shop we headed over to Coastal Kayak for SUP bootcamp with the HipAHA crew.  As has been the case all summer, the class was sold out.  Go Lori!

Coastal Kayak was jammed with tons of people since folks were renting stuff and there were two tours getting ready to launch.  All this meant that parking was a bitch and we ended up helping set up the newbies on their boards --- which included hauling the gear out of the storage shed.  Nice.

Overall it was a hard workout.  We paddled out toward Fenwick and did a bunch of resistance exercises using the bands.  My arms are sore, but I actually have the muscle definition to prove that I've done some actual work this summer! 

The wind turned on us and we enjoyed a nice, hard paddle back down the Bay.  It was a little sad knowing that next Thursday morning I will be land-locked at my desk without a paddle.  I do not doubt that I will be inundated/ tormented with regular updates on all the "fun stuff" I'm missing.  With friends like that...

Trying to fit it all in

Unfortunately Michelle can't squeeze in a SUP surf lesson this week.  Oh well.  I'll just have to put that on the list for a future date.

Bootcamp
It was "Instructor Choice" day, which meant more running and maxing out on other strength exercises.  The core workout was a VO2 max set of 16 sprints in the soft sand.  Soft sand...is...so...hard.  You are digging for dear life to just keep moving forward.  Favorite bootcamp phrase --- "You can do anything for [insert period of time]."  I kept thinking that in between each set of sprints.

[Part of today's group wrapping up the second set of soft sand sprints]

We added in a set of wicked 120 push-ups, side lunges up and over the dune and some abs.  Yep...gonna feel those later. 

SUP-ing

[Dragging our gear to the beach]

 After class Jeanne and I launched our SUPs for a little cruising.  The shore break was a bit brutal and took some navigating to get our boards in and out safely.  Overall, another wonderful, zen moment.

[Launching from Atlantic Street]

[Cruising south]

Biking
Unfortunately today's recover ride was cancelled due to poor weather.  Boo!

Flo-Go-SUP-Yoga
Unfortunately the weather just wasn't cooperating and as soon as we got to Fager's and got our boards to the pier the sky opened up and it started to pour.  Damn!  Two events cancelled in one day.  I have too much energy that needs to be burned off and since I have NO desire to focus on packing and my Gold's membership expired a few days ago I am contemplating just going out for the night...BUT I have to be up for a 6:00 am interval ride followed by a SUP fitness class.  On second thought...I better just stay in and start packing and cleaning up.

The good news is that I met another local cool chick.  Dawn is a triathlete, fitness instructor and SUP-lover.  I had her flyer stuck on my fridge for the last few months and this is the first time I made time to check her out.  I suck!  Anyway, Lori introduced her to me and I learned quite a bit about more local SUP stuff.  First, she regularly teaches a yoga-flow-SUP class (the one that we were trying to crash, but for the rain) at What-SUP and she recently hooked up with SUPAnnapolis to participate in their race series.  She plans to organize a SUP race in OC this fall and next summer.  I am ALL about that!   They were also talking about how SUPs are starting to grow on the east coast and a network of groups are working hard to spread the word by hosting events and setting up races up and down the east coast.

Have board...will travel.

It's all about the SUP

[Dragging this through the parking lot and over the dunes = extra credit workout]

For my last week I decided to jam in a few last minute activities that I've been meaning to do --- namely, take my SUP in the ocean. Unfortunately in order to do that we had to rearrange other scheduled events and I had to miss beach yoga.  Kinda bummed about that, but was psyched to SUP.

Running
We were scheduled to complete a 20 minute warm-up, four 1-mile repeats and a 10 minute jog. Since we planned to ocean SUP at 7:30 am-ish we pushed the run to 5:30 am and met at the Park. Seriously --- we are INSANE. The sun wasn't even up when we started our warm-up, but it was beautiful to see the sunrise over the Bay.

The good news is that my splits were very good (for me) again this time --- all in the low 8 min zone with the first one being sub-8!!! That is seriously wicked since I am known for being slow as molasses! My left knee was feeling "a little weird" but I was able to push on through.  I worry that that's gonna be a problem later.

SUP-ing
Lori and I have been talking about christening our boards in the Atlantic and more importantly surfing them.

I talked to Michelle over at Sommers Surf about setting up a private lesson for our first ocean adventure. Unfortunately, due to the bad surf break Michelle doesn't offer surf lessons right now in Fenwick.  Instead she offers lessons at Assateague Island.  After much hemming and hawing, we decided to launch on our own for our first ocean adventure and save our money for a SUP surf lesson later in the summer.

[Here we are getting the leashes attached to the SUPs]

Since in all of the state of Delaware's wisdom they decided August 1st was the perfect date to start tearing up the beach and dredging, we had to launch from Dagsboro vs James Street.  Bonus that the beach was a bit of a mess this morning as a result of the dredging and we arrived to a river of slippy clay that we had to navigate through before getting to the other side of the beach.

In summary, ocean SUP-ing was just awesome. After we got our boards and gear over the dune and through the river of dredged slime we pushed our SUPs into the surf, over the breakers and were up and standing in no time.

[Me & Lori getting ready to launch into the Atlantic for the first time! Notice the river of slime we had to cross before reaching the ocean.]

It is an incredible feeling to be standing on top of the ocean, riding over the baby waves and cruising down the coast.  There were some swells and it was still challenging to keep your balance as the waves pushed toward shore.

[Cruising down the coast toward the Maryland state line]

As we turned to shore we were a bit apprehensive given the bad shore break in Fenwick. The good news was that Lori had some good advice from her ocean kayaking experience.  I paddled toward shore, let the baby waves push me in and then easily dismounted in waist deep water in order to protect our fins/boards from the shore break.

We already are itching to schedule our SUP surf lesson.  I have a message into Michelle to determine if there is any way she can do a lesson before I leave.  I think it's doubtful give her schedule and that the beaches have limited times for surf/SUP, but we are crossing our fingers!

All in all...a successful adventure...and one I plan to repeat many, many times in the future.

The Countdown

 It's 7:00 pm on Monday night and I am sitting on the beach reflecting on what an incredible summer I've had here at the beach.

Here's just a slice of what today's activities included --- all never would have happened if I didn't decide to:

(a) arrive at the beach without a plan or a schedule or a support system

and

(b) spend every day saying, "what's the worst that could happen if I tried to [insert verb]"

Bootcamp
It's Monday and that means I said hasta luego to The Husband as he commuted back to DC for work and I headed to Atlantic Street in Fenwick for Travel Bootcamp with the HipAHA chicks.

Parking my car, taking off my flops, walking over the dune and seeing all those high energy and empowered athletes makes me happy. The fact that the majority are women just reminds me how strong and determine chicks can be --- and that's not just b/c we can set an alarm and get to class.  I have met some really fabulous people and am physically stronger than I probably ever have been.  I even have baby guns now.

It was Coach Lori's first class since coming back from vacation and she brought the hammer down.  We worked our asses off today.  It was all about running today --- alternating timed runs in the packed sand (yay!) and a number in the soft sand (boo!).  I am here to tell you that running in soft sand is incredibly challenging and everyone was huffing and puffing after the sets.  There was no rest for the weary as we integrated in strength training for our lower bodies between the run sets.  That's gonna hurt tomorrow.

Stand-Up Paddle Board
Since I was going to test out the SUP in the ocean the following morning, I headed over to Delmarva to pick up an extra SUP leash.  Janis and Chris were there and as usual were incredibly helpful.  Chris showed me how to attach the leash and we talked about my new paddle.  Did I tell you how much I love it???

I also spent time talking to Janis about the business.  She is such an incredible marketer and you can tell that she and George just love what they do.  Kudos to them!

Janis also gave me some great intel about other SUP-ers west of the Bay Bridge that I can hook up with once I get back to reality.

Oh reality...you are just around the corner.

Mail Bag

I love getting unexpected messages of encouragement from automated sites --- like DailyMile.

I got a nice little note from them complementing me on my "gnarly" training last week.

Glad that someone noticed my efforts.  :)

Living in the dark

Sometimes sticking your head in the sand and being ignorant is perfectly fine.

This afternoon I realized a very critical fact and am floored by this news. For the last two months I've been training with a crew of triathletes who are training for an upcoming half Ironman. While that is incredibly impressive and I have been thrilled to be able to hang with these folks ---- I found out today that they are also training for a fall Ironman!!!

What's the distinction? The distinction is that instead of thinking that I've spent the last two months at a half Ironman pace, I have instead been hanging in a program that is geared for folks who will complete a full Ironman in the fall!!!!! Dare I say OMG?!

I guess I never really asked and no one told me all the details about all this extra credit training I've been doing in conjunction with the daily bootcamp classes.

The good news is that I am incredibly impressed with myself. I bad news is that it is going to be a real challenge to keep up with these multiple workout a days once I get back t work. The initial game plan is to make sure I do one workout a day and Lori plans to send me her training block for the next month so that I can aim to virtually train with the group once I move home.

It's a significant goal, but I'm going to try and go for it. Here's to hoping!

Last Saturday!

[Hanging at Coastal Kayak]

Today is the last Saturday at the beach before I head back to work on August 8th.  I can't believe that I'm almost back to sitting at a desk all day.  It has been a glorious two months.

Today I jammed in a bike ride and another SUP adventure.

Biking
I hooked up with Lori for a 90-minute aerobic ride along Coastal Hwy.  Northbound we were fighting the wind which was a nice resistance workout.  We knocked out 26 miles.  We would have finished up a bit faster if we didn't get trapped in a gated community.

When we got to the Indian River Inlet we decided not to go over the bridge and head to Dewey Beach since the traffic northbound was bumper-to-bumper and we we nervous navigating the bridge with that much traffic.  Instead we headed out to the point to add time and mileage.  Unfortunately as we tried to exit the community's big iron gates were closed and we couldn't get out.  We looked everywhere for the pedestrian button...and couldn't find it.  UGH!  Lori ended up climbing over the gate, while I pushed our bikes over the fence and then climbed over the gate --- all while wearing bike shoes.  Pretty impressive...and embarrassing.  I'm sure there were folks watching us from their fancy balconies and laughing at us try and get out of their community.

The sad part of the ride was we came upon a group of cyclists holding another rider and pouring water over him.  Appeared that he was suffering from heat exhaustion and had fallen over.  Luckily there were a lot of good Samaritans on bikes/motorcycles/cars who stopped to offer assistance and their water bottles.  We were glad to see the emergency vehicles on the scene pretty quickly.  Very scary stuff.  It is easy to under estimate how hot is out there on Coastal because there usually is an offshore wind that masks how hot it is, but without shade biking on the dark pavement can be brutal.  Hope that rider is ok.

SUP-ing
On to better news, I introduced another person to the wonderful world of SUP-ing --- my dad.  Go Dad!  I brought him over to the folks at Coastal, set him up on a Hobie and we were off.  He got up pretty quickly.  He only fell a couple times, but the wind was also stronger today so we had to fight our way home.

Selfishly, I was able to try out my new Oxbox carbon fiber paddle...and let me just say...it is AWESOME.  Very light and kick-ass looking.

Chris cut it taller than I'm used to so that it's a better set up so that I can use it later in the ocean to surf.  Similar to a carbon fiber bike, it is cut to fit the rider.  Chris wanted to check out this set up before adjusting it any shorter.  It took a little getting used to since it is longer, but it felt pretty good.  I'll plan to keep this set up a little longer to see how I feel after a few more outings.

Wrap-Up
I had grand plans to hit the beach with my dad late in the afternoon, but I got wrapped up hanging out with my neighbors on their boat...and that was all she wrote.

Another day in my personal paradise.  I am bottling up each and every one of these moments.  I am so very lucky and I am reminded of that every day.

SUP- SUP

Who doesn't like a board in the back of their pick-up??

Moving makes me happy

Well, that's no surprise. You hear it all the time that a sedentary life blows.

Tonight during yoga I was reminded how much getting the blood pumping and being around other like-minded moving people is such a benefit.

Before class I was chatting up this older woman who religiously attends Thursday night yoga class. She shocked me when she announced that she was 83 years old! 83? I thought she was in her late 60's!

She told me she believes in trying new things and keeping her body as young as possible.

Under the heading of "new things" she told me she took belly-dancing classes for a year and even once took a pole dancing class --- to which her 85 year old husband was quite impressed when she demonstrated part of her routine. Hilarious!

During our poses I would periodically look over at this 83 year old yoga-loving lady and think...she's gotta be doing something right.

Here's to moving and stretching and trying new things!

Sun Salutations

Today it was all about sun and heat and warmth.

I started the morning with Rhonda's beach yoga. Another wonderful combination of strength, balance, stretching and calm. Just as we started our sun salutations, the clouds broke and the sun arrived. Perfect timing.

Rhonda has a great cycle of core and ab work that really knocks you out. I am mega sore.

After class I noticed that Coastal Kayak planned to bring folks over to the wildlife refuge later in the afternoon for an independent exploration of the wetlands. I decided to crash their party with my SUP.

The folks at Coastal gave me directions to Sassafras Landing and after winding around farm and dirt roads I finally arrived at the launch site just after the kayaks were launched. Check it out.

There weren't many people there. Frankly I think it was too hot and folks didn't want to venture out.

I launched my SUP and cruised around the inlet. Only the sound of the marsh birds, my paddle stroking the water and a few kayakers broke the silence. It was just stunning.

Brick-a-mania

[The bike route]

At 4:30 am I was rolling out of bed and grabbing my gear for the BIG BRICK-A-MANIA.  YAY?!

I was interested in testing myself, but also scared by the distance.  Luckily all this was made easier because there was a 6-person crew attacking this workout.

THE BIKE

We headed out at 5:30 am.  Our route was --- starting in Fenwick Island, rolled through Bethany Beach, through Dewey, through Rehoboth Beach, past the Cape May Ferry and ended at the tip of the Cape Henlopen Park.  After circling back and adding miles inland in North Bethany we ended up riding 62.4 miles!!!

Surprisingly the ride was not as hard as I thought it would be.  Though my feet did fall asleep a few times, the time in the saddle was really not that bad, I felt strong --- especially on the hills and I definitely was holding back a bit since I knew that we still had the run afterwards.  Damn running.

[Post ride and in advance of getting my new cleats]

 The only bummer was that my cleats had worn almost completely down to nothing and I had to spend the majority of the ride worried about getting stuck in my peddles.  Check it out.  Luckily, the guys at Fenwick Islander Cycles were able to replace my cleats later that day and I am all set

THE RUN

By the time it was time for our run it was SO HOT --- full sun, limited breeze and some humidity.  Great.  We ended up running from King Street to the fence for a total of four miles.  By mile 2.5 I was so ready to stop.  I was hot, getting dehydrated and just ready to be done...which is wacko because my head was what wanted to stop.  I could still keep putting one foot in front of another...granted it was slow.

Luckily at mile 2.5 we grabbed a hose and soaked ourselves down.  What a wonderful temporary relief.

At mile 3.5 I was cooked and just couldn't keep the pace up.  In the alternate, me and another runner did intervals for the next half mile so that we could keep moving, loosen up our legs, but also get some relief.

The good news is that I DID THIS and I am on track to be a Biking Destroyer.

Warriors!

[Everyone needs proof of their win!]

 Have you ever wanted to revisit your childhood and do Field Day all over again? Maybe even just a little?

On Saturday morning I headed over to Fenwick for the first of three Warrior Day Challenges hosted by hipAHA. I had no idea what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was.
Imagine two teams competing against one another in a series of team-based challenges --- obstacle course, tag-team racing and a final tug-o-war in the ocean.

In a two-to-one final --- Team Hunters (the team I was on) was victorious over Team Titans!!!
After a hard fought and sweaty battle a number of us immediately headed to the ocean and dove in. A welcome relief to the morning's activities.

"Paint The Fence, Danielson"

For the last few months me and The Husband have been painting and cleaning up our new beach condo.

The excitement of the new place and getting ready for the summer season meant that we were energized to get cracking...and then it was June and the last thing I wanted to do was any real physical labor.

With that in mind I've had on my list to paint the two upstairs bathrooms since they both need some freshening up.

With a zeal I didn't realize I had in me I became obsessed with knocking out the master bedroom this week. The truth was that (1) I was sick of looking at the unfinished room and (2) I had already gotten too much sun and exercise this week and needed another activity.

Within a short period of time I had all my materials dragged down from the attic (boy was it HOT up there!) and was attacking the room.

In no time flat I was done! Since it was still early I headed back to the paint store to pick up a quart of paint for the second upstairs bathroom.

By the end of the night I was sore, covered in paint smears and flecks and my nails were destroyed.

On the bright side, my two upstairs bathrooms look cheerier and though my painting skills will not pay the rent they may allow me hold my own at a future karate tournament.
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HipAHA Chicks

What a gorgeous day to hit the beach for a morning workout!!!!

I met some of the HipAHA ladies for a 30 minute run along the beach at 6:30 this morning. The wind was light, the sun was shining and the sound of the waves was nearly mesmerizing.

Again, I am trying hard to love running and the only way to do that is to just keep doing it. I'll find my groove again...soon hopefully.

After the run it was time for beach bootcamp with the HipAHA chicks. The good news for me is that today was all about sprints. Yay...more running.

It was a great workout. After our warm-up we did (12) 45-minute sprints with a recovery in between each set. Next it was time for a circuit of leg and core workouts.

What I learned after this morning's workouts is that my virgin feet are not as tough as I thought. All this running on the sand has left me with the beginnings of blisters on both of my big toes. Yikes! This is not good for my sprint tri this weekend. Blisters and running are not a good combo.

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ISO Love of Running

[Stretching Bay-side post run]

Sounds very dramatic, but I've fallen slightly outta love...with Running.

I'm not sure exactly what happened or when, but the days when I'd bounce out of bed looking forward to putting on my running shoes seems to have slipped away and I am desperately trying to find that feeling again.

It likely all started with injuries and the time I had to take to recover. In my case, time away from running caused me to become smitten with something else --- biking. Oh how I love the black & white Cannondale.

As a result, I have to beg and bribe myself to set aside the Cannondale and instead grab the running shoes.

Yesterday afternoon I went for a run from Fenwick toward Bethany. It was sunny and warm and an all-around fine day for a summer run. The resulting 4.6 miles was ok. Not GREAT or FANTASTIC, but fine and acceptable. These days I'll take FINE and ACCEPTABLE.

Here's to HAPPY running in the future.

Free Day

Usually I'm a morning person, but today when my alarm went off at 7:00 am I was feeling really rough...and by rough I mean like a tractor trailer ran over me in my sleep.

After a week of 1, 2 and some times 3-a-days, this old body was begging for a recovery day.

I was slated to get in my MCM long run, but there seriously was no way I was going to be able to get the miles in today.

After sleeping in and later stretching I spent the day lounging around and watching the air show from our boat.

My one task was to set up a crab pot on our pier. As you can see --- Mission Accomplished. Now...come on little crabbies...aren't you hungry???