It's not anyone of us...it's all of us!

This past weekend was the New England Masters Short Course Championships at Harvard's Blodgett Pool. It is a huge annual meet and draws swimmers from all over New England.

Despite the dedication of showing up at practice on a regular basis a majority of the morning MIT Masters rarely swim in meets-much to Coach Bill's chagrin. Why do we torture ourselves by getting up when most people are asleep, jump in cold water and swim up and down a monotnous black line if we aren't going to see the fruits of our training by swimming in a meet? This weekend I think I figured part of the answer out.

Thanks (I think) to what started as gentle prodding by Jeff and Josh that morphed into some type of positive peer pressure we decided to enter the meet. We would only do one day (except for Josh) and swim a couple of events. 

We all swam the 200 free, 100IM and the 400 medley relay and 200 free relay. I threw in the 500 free for good measure.  Between the four of us we had some darn good individual swims. 

(Hubbard staring down the pool)

(Jeff 100 IM)

(Josh 100 IM)

I must say I think I had the most fun in the 400 medley relay. The combined age of our relay was 192 years. We led off with a solid backstroke by Hubbard, I followed with a painful breastroke and we hammered it home with strong fly and free performances by Josh and Jeff.  In fact, this motley band of mature swimmers (except Josh-not saying he is immature though) got third in our age group. Not too shabby.

We were in and out of the water multiple times from a warm up before each race, the race and then a post race warm down. By the end I was sick and tired of jumping in cold water.

It was a very long day however I must say it was a fun day too! A couple things came to mind as we sat in the bleachers for nearly 12 hours!!!!!

First, I think what makes masters swimming so inspiring was to see the variety of swimmers at the meet from young to old and people of all different shapes and sizes. Seeing a 75 year old man swim a 500 free and then to back it up with a 200 fly that is pretty damn inspiring. I guess I better start swimming more fly.

And second, speaks to why I get up early in the mornings to jump in a cold pool to stare a dumb black line...it is the people!  I am not sure what it is like at other masters teams but what I do know is the reason I show up at MIT nearly everyday is the people. It sets the tone for and makes my entire day. To steal Coach Bill's phrase-It's not any one of us...it's all of us.

Thank you Jeff, Hubbard and Josh for making it a great Saturday.

500 free 6:00.26-felt good about the swim in particularly the way I paced it.

100 IM 1:08-fun swim. Short and sweet.

200 free 2:12-end of the day felt ok about it. Room for improvement

400 medley relay-100 breast 1:14

200 free relay-50 free sucked

Somewhere over the rainbow...

...dreams do come true! So says Bruddah Iz.

This weeks dream came true...spending my birthday in Maui!  A very short (3 night) business trip also provided for early season open water swimming in some of my favorite spots.

By the time I got to Maui it was late afternoon. I jetted to Kaanapali for a short refreshing swim before sunset. A quick change in the car and I was at the beach within minutes. While the waters around Kaanapali are generally flat today they were anything but due to strong winds. In fact, I was the only one in the water. It was a short choppy swim from Whaler's Village to Black Rock and back. Timed perfectly I was sitting at the Hula Grill Bar having pupus and a mai tai at sunset. When my head hit the pillow at The Ritz Kapalua I was already asleep.

The next morning I was up early as I had to jam a lot of fun in before a work reception that night. First up was a 6:45am raft whale watch in Lahaina. I had never been to Hawaii during whale season. What a treat to see these huge mammals in their natural habitat!

Post whale watch it was off for a solid open water swim. I headed up to North Kanaapali/Airport Beach and went for a long-ish swim down to Black Rock (the other side) and back. The water was calm and felt great.  

Hunger set in so I went back to Lahaina for my birthday lunch of mai tai's and a cheeseburger at Cheeseburger in Paradise on Front Street. En route back to the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua I made a quick stop to Kapalua Bay beach for a short swim and nap on the beach. 

Birthday greetings from family and friends along with a surprise room service gift of champagne and cookies from Shannon and the kids made it a great birthday! They are very good to me.

The next day I was able to get in two swims. The first, was a solid masters workout in pool #56 at the Lahaina Athletic Center. It was good to see Coach Mike again. He is also long time beach lifeguard on the island.

Post a very short business meeting and a very windy and cloudy client lunch I was back in search of open water and some sun. I headed to North Kaanapali next to the Honu Kai where we stayed a few years back for a moderately short refreshing swim.  A short nap a small pupu platter and a mai tai it was the perfect meal to tide me over until a romantic solo sunset dinner at Malo.

Knowing Saturday was my last day in Paradise with a red-eye home I had no time to waste. The goal was to hit three beaches.

First up was back to Kaanapali Beach and Whalers Village with a long swim from Black Rock to the Hyatt and back. Roughly a 2.2 mile swim in calm, clear and warm ocean. Love it!

After that I was off to  Napili Bay for ahi and mai tai lunch and a swim. Napili with its beautiful views is fast becoming one of my most favorite beaches on Maui. Oh yeah-I also had a quick nap!

With one beach left to go I dashed back up to the Ritz and D.T. Fleming Beach.  It was windy and wavy which was fun.  It wasn't a serious swim but a swim nonetheless. After again another short nap I went for walk out to the rocky point looking back at Flemings. That is when I spotted the beautiful rainbow.  It was so fun to see and made for a special memory as I ended my time in Maui.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole song Somewhere Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World is one of my favorites and ends with the following verse~

"Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high

And the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I?"

What a wonderful world! Aloha hui ho!

#75 Aspen Recreation Center...the real workout took place out of the pool

Well, this was my first pool in Colorado and it surely it didn't disappoint. How could it? I was in Aspen.  

Sean and I came to ski for a few days. More on skiing in a bit. The second morning as Sean was sleeping I discovered the Aspen Recreation Center. It's a fabulous rec center with two ice rinks, rock climbing wall, fitness center and a nice 25 yard pool with a lazy river and a two story water slide.

The pool was fairly empty as I was there early. I was struck when I walked in with the beautiful mountain range mural on the wall. The only other place I've seen a mural like this was at pool #15 in Whistler B.C. It must be a mountain thing. It ended up being a leisurely 2300 yard swim as I was going so slow. I wanted to blame it on sore ski legs from the day before but I don't think that was necessarily the case. It was the altitude! I was sucking for air. I now get altitude training.

The entire swim I was eyeballing the two story water slide. It looked so fun! I really wanted to go down it. With slight hesitation I went up to the lifeguard and asked her if I could go down it. Why not? It was closed as it was only 7:30am but they opened it up just for me.  It was so fast and a blast! I went down it twice. I am sure they haven't ever opened the slide that early for a 50 year old speedo clad man. Great way to end a workout!

The real workout was about begin on the slopes a couple hours later.

The true focus of this trip was skiing not swimming. Our friend Lara (of pool #33 fame), that always has great recommendations and knows Aspen well gave us one that was the true highlight of the trip. When we were at Aspen Highlands to make sure to take the time to hike up to the summit of Highland Peak and ski down Highland Bowl.

Looking across the valley from Ajax to Highland Peak the day before I knew I was going to be pushing the ski comfort zone. After a couple of warm up runs it was time to hit Highland Bowl.  The chair lift lets you off at 11,675 feet and the you have to hike about 45+ minutes to the summit at 12,392 feet. 

(Looking across from Ajax. Highland Bowl is the bowl center left)

After a short cat ride that took us up about a quarter of the way up we strapped our skis on our back and began the ascent. The hike was fairly steep and quite narrow in some spots with steep drop offs on either side. Frankly, the narrow bits made me quite nervous. The roughly 4,000 feet in elevation change from the pool in the morning to the top and the steep terrain made it a uhhh-solid workout!

The reward for our efforts were absolutely breathtaking views from the summit. The Maroon Bells, Pyramid Peak and the Rockies laid out before us-you could see for miles. 

We rested for a bit, took some pics, savored the moment and then got down to business. The run we decided upon was Ozone it was recommended by a ski patrol. Ozone was steep and right down the middle of the face. It was certainly steeper than anything I've ever skied. It wasn't necessarily pretty but I made it down. It wasn't really too bad. Sean skied it fast and confidently and looked like a pro.

(Ozone just to the left of the bigger rock outcropping at top)

We had worked up quite an appetite during our little adventure so we quickly headed to the mid-mountain lodge for lunch and a bit of champagne to celebrate.

It was the highlight of the trip (thanks Lara) and fun making memories with Sean and seeing him in his element. He will be a great CU Buff! It was also good to push your non-swimming comfort zone and to find a new pool to boot.