Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 8 - Men's Pentathlon

Today was the big day. We all got up at 4:30 to head out to the park to make sure we got good seats for the first two events, shooting and fencing, that would be held in one of the pavillions.

We met up with Chad Senior's parent's at the park and tried to find a place with coffee and breakfast snacks. Guess the Olympic organizers hadn't really planned for a competition to start at 6:45 in the morning because nothing was open. We survived without coffee for a while and got some great seats to watch the fencing (not much to watch in shooting that was taking place at one end of the pavilion so we wanted good seats for the fencing).

Chad and Velizar both did pretty well in the shooting, but not spectacular. Chad on the other hand, had an exceptional fencing event and came out in first place. Countries with two athletes start off by fencing each other. What a way to start...fencing your teamate. Velizar won the first bout over Chad. Pentathlon fencing is pretty fun to watch. Since it is one touch fencing, the athletes get pretty psyched when they get their touch. Some of the guys got really into it, jumping up and down and the like. In the end, it was Chad that came out on top.

We did OK in the swimming event, Chad came in second, putting him in 1st place overall going into the show-jumping event. Three events down, two to go.

Next, we were off to the baseball stadium for the last two events. Show jumping and then the run. The athletes start by walking the jump course, pacing off the distance between the fences to figure out how many strides their horse will take. Then, the draw for the horses...one of the wild cards in the pentathlon is that athletes ride unfamiliar horses. All the horses have ridden the course and the riders that rode them provide a summary of the ride as well as their comments on the horse. Chad got a horse named "Riverine". Turns out Riverine wasn't one of the best horses to draw. Chad knocked down four fences, which surprised a lot of the people that know him as he is a pretty good rider. Velizar did pretty well and ended up in the lead in a tie with another athlete, so both of them would start out first in the run.

It became pretty clear that Velizar wouldn't have his best run. We found out after the event that his legs started to spasm about halfway through. Chad didn't have a great run either. According to his family and friends, he did have it in him to get into a medal spot, even though he started off fifth. Well, it didn't happen. I was told later that Chad is one of those athletes that is going for the gold or nothing at all. Once again, to family and friends it was apparent that he wasn't giving the run his all.

It ended up that the Russian, who started the run in 7th place, came in first. It was quite an upset for Chad and the US. He was doing so well early on, only to lose the momentum in the ride.

It was back to New Balance for dinner, where things were pretty somber. We looked forward to the women's event the next day.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 7

This morning I set off early again to watch the men's platform diving preliminaries. Besides athletics, I figured diving is another one of those sports that you don't get a chance to see live very often so this would be a good Olympic viewing choice. The US did OK, but nothing too impressive. The Chinese really did some impressive dives. After diving it was back to New Balance, a little souvenir/gift shopping, then back to the hotel for a change of clothes before going out.

While waiting for the bus a good friend from Seattle, Mike, ran by during his evening jog. I knew Mike was in town, but didn't know how to get ahold of him. Pretty small world to run into him along Coogie. We made plans to catch up later at a bar where a bunch of the swimmers had turned up the night before. It was his brother's birthday, so I was to plan for a long night. Back to New Balance for dinner, then a little stroll around downtown before meeting up with Mike. As usual, Darling Harbour was full of people so I had a good time just people watching.

The bar I ended up catching up with Mike at happened to be one of the hottest drag queen clubs in Sydney. Surprise! Turns out that after the movie "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" that came out several years ago, Australia has become very proud of their drag queens. One of the drag queens in the movie happened to do her thing in this bar, so that's why it was so popular. That night we ran into more swimmers, a bunch of athletes from the French equestrian team and several of the Taekwando (sp?) teams, including the gold medalist. During the show, the drag queens really made a scene with Mike's brother since it was his birthday, as well as the gold medalist. My stomach hurt I was laughing so hard. Turns out, the Aussies are so proud of Priscilla and their drag queens that there will be a whole bunch of them in the closing ceremonies...should be quite a show.

I didn't stay out very late...had to get up at 4:30am to get out to Olympic park to get situated for the men's pentathlon.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 6

I got up extra early this morning to get to Olympic Stadium in time to watch all of the morning athletics. This time I was 26 rows back from where the decathletes were throwing discuss...more great seats. I also got to watch the qualifiers for the the women's high jump, as well as the women's 20k walk. One of the high points was an Aussie almost winning the women's 20k...until she was disqualified just outside of entering the stadium for bad walking form. Another high point...the WAVE around Olympic Stadium. Yes, I got to be part of a wave at the Olympics. I stayed to watch two pools of decathletes (one American was in each) and was then off the the Olympic Superstore. Took almost 45 minutes to get in! Once inside, it was quite a let down...they didn't have any sports specific stuff...well, at least not for pentathlon anyway. But I got some stuff and then headed back over to the New Balance center to update my webpage and have dinner. Planning on watching the fireworks along Darling Harbor tonight.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 5

Eli, Justen and I got up early to head out to Olympic Stadium to watch the morning 'athletics' (we call it track and field). It took us almost two hours to get there! But it was well worth it. This was my first visit out to the Olympic Park (aka Homebush). The entire park is huge and it was pretty breathtaking to walk up to Olympic Stadium after I'd seen so much of it on TV. And the day was beautiful after we had such lousy weather last night. Eli and Justen had seats way up in the bleachers which they had bought on the street the day before. I lucked out...the ticket I bought later the same day for less money was 23 rows up from the field right by the decathlon long jump. Pretty cool, I got some really great pictures of the men's 200, the decathlon long jump and various other events going on.

I had to leave the park early to catch a modern dance matinee at the Opera house. The route back to the trains that go to the city is about a mile walk. I got back to the new balance center just in time to have lunch and find out that we had been moved out of our cozy apartment right on Coogie Beach. I guess someone more important wanted. Bummer, but we're now right across the street in the Holiday Inn.

The matinee at the opera house was incredible. The performance was called "Skin" and included two individual dance pieces, the second included several artists that were in the opening night ceremonies. The first was nice, but didn't engage me. It was a troop of women dancing to half aborigine, half modern jazz music. The seconds was a troop of men and a small boy. It started with a native aborigine hanging himself then shifted in to dance and some singing dealing with some of the issues natives in Australia and New Zealand are dealing with today. The set was only a burned out car shell that was moved to many different positions for different acts. The final scenes were of one of the older performers sitting down and singing songs to his guitar. The last song was about how for a time, native children were taken from their real parents to be raised by white parents in hopes of civilizing them. Once again, I teared up at the end.

Then...back to the New Balance center for dinner. After that, I caught up with the cousins of one of my best friends Peter Barnes in Seattle. We went to the Lord Nelson pub in an area of town called The Rocks, the pub was just under the Sydney Harbor bridge. We had a great time and it was fun to be in a local pub when the Aussies cheer on their team.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 4

Eli and I headed into the city around 9:30 this morning. About half way in we figured out that our bus went right along where the women's bike race was going to be held so we decided to hop off and watch the start. We followed the helicopters and arrived at the start line just in time to see them take off. There was a big screen TV showing the race as they went through the course at the first turn, so we planted ourselves there and stuck around for several of the seven laps in the race. Pretty cool, definitely felt like I was at the Olympics. The riders were so close you could touch them. I'll be off to track and field tomorrow at the Olympic stadium to watch some of the decathlon events. The symphony tonight at the Opera House was fantastic. The arias were fantastic and the Maori dance/singing group that performed with the symphony were amazing. The men's parts were basically made up of a lot of shouting and stomping and it was pretty moving to see and hear this in concert with the symphony. The view from the opera house was spectacular as well, especially as there was a lightening storm as we left the building.

Sean Down Unda - First Sidney swim, first 50m pool...almost

I Stopped in to a pool just on the east side of Hyde Park for a swim that some people had mentioned yesterday when the other pool I tried was closed. Wow...this was a public pool. There were tons of people. There were ten lanes with at least 3-4 people in each doing laps...and this was midday! Unfortunately, they had split the 50m pool into two pools to 'accommodating' all the levels of swimmers that they would have with all the tourists. Bummer. In the other end of the pool they had some crazy show going for kids with a bunch of guys dressed up in the old style bathing suits (the ones with the black and white stripes) doing synchronized swimming. Didn't watch any of it myself. In another adjoining pool there was a big structure for children to play on. Lots of people around...it was kind of fun.

The workout went great with the exception of the hand-paddles. They wouldn't let me use them because the pool was too busy. The water was a little colder that what I'm used to as well so that was a new sensation

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 3

I started the day with a run with Eli, north from Coogee Beach where we're staying to almost Bondi Beach where the Olympic beach volleyball events are being held. The run along the beaches and cliffs lasted about 45 minutes and was incredible. See my pentathlon journal for more details.

Got my postcards down nice and early then headed over the the New Balance Pentathlon Center at the Maritime Museum for lunch. Getting meals free at the center is a great deal, especially since they are really tasty. The lunches have been incredible. After lunch I tried to update this website, but for some reason, I couldn't link up to MSN well. Gave up on that, came back down to meet up with Eli and his brother Justin. Amy showed up to let us know what tickets Heather, the ticket queen at the pentathlon center, had left. I was able to nab tickets to the men's diving prelims and track and field tickets later on in the week during which the decathlon will be starting up. Most of the tickets are really pricy...over $US100 which is out of my range. I also got a cheap ticket to track and field on Wednesday while Eli and Justen were waiting in line to get Equestrian tickets. They didn't get them, but did get some for weightlifting. They went off to weightlifting and I went off to go for a swim at a pool by the Royal Gardens. Along the way, I bought some really cool penthathlon pins (everyone's into trading pins here), a couple Sydney ones and a bunch of Russian ones.

The walk through the Royal Gardens was pretty neat. There are lots of birds mingling around, ibis in particular were pretty interesting. There was also a whole lane filled with flying foxes overhead. Really cool. I got lost for a bit in the succulent garden too, cactus, huge aloe vera plants and the like.

Turned out that the pool was closed. Bummer, no swim today, but I'll try another tomorrow. I then headed over to the opera house to check it out and hopefully buy some tickets. I'm not just satisfied with seeing the opera house...I want to see something in it. Tosca and la Traviata were playing, but I wanted to see something more, well native, Aussi. I ended up with at ticket to the New Zealand Sympathy with a mauri soprano that should be incredible, as well as a ticket to a performance called "skin" done by the same guy who did the aboriginal part of the Olympics opening ceremonies.

Then it was back to the New Balance center to catch up with Eli and Justen and grab dinner. The fish tonight was incredible, still don't know what it was though.

Finally, it was back to our apt. at the Coogie View. Long train and bus ride, it was very busy.

Sean Down Unda - Cliff run with Eli

Got up this morning and decided to head out for a run with Eli. I was a little nervous since he's much farther along in training that I am, but he wanted to just to a jog so it ended up that the rate felt pretty good. We headed north along Coogee Beach for a while, then along the cliffs that lead to Bondi Beach eventually, where the Olympic Beach Volleyball events are being held. The run was incredible...incredible views, incredible workout, incredible guy to run with. Can't really do justice to the views...cliffs, rocks, crashing waves, all of it. Even though it was cloudy, it was beautiful. The trail included pavement, dirt, grass, stairs, uphills, downhills...a little bit of everything. Once again, the run time was right at 45 minutes. Finally, Eli really is great guy. He's given me lots of pointers along the way and gave me many more during the run. I'm pretty lucky to be able to spend some time with him, get to know him and benefit from his pointers. He's only 22, but has a lot of wisdom.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 2

The Bremer boys didn't get in until 11:30pm last night, so I slept in until about 8:00am. Justen woke up first and we decided to go for a run. We eventually made our way into the New Balance/Pentathlon center for lunch and hooked up with Heather, the ticket queen, to figure out what events we would try to get into. I basically just bummed around for the rest of the afternoon before heading back to Coogie Beach to just hang out on the beach. Nice second day to settle in to Sydney.

Sean Down Unda - Beach run with Justen

I met up with Eli Bremer and his brother Justen on Saturday. They will be my roomates here in Sydney. Eli is training for the Pentathlon in Colorado Springs with several other pentathletes and his brother did them when he was younger too. This morning I went out running with Justen south along the cliffs, but since I had walked around Melbourne so much, my plantar fasciatis really started to bug me, so after we turned around to see what what was up north, I opted to stay on the beach and run bare-footed in the cold sand and water. The sand helped stretch out my ankle and the cold helped reduce the inflammation. I ended up running sprints on the beach with put me in for about a 45 minute run overall.

Sean Down Unda - Sydney Day 1

I arrived just fine to Sydney, but it went down hill from there...at least for a little while. I called the hotel for my free pick up to find out that the pentathlon organizers (UIPM) had overbooked. So I called the UIPM contact and was told to come out to the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour where the UIPM and New Balance had a hospitality house, I would get further instructions there. The cab took about half an hour, then there I was...right in the middle of one of the main Sydney action centers, several of the venues are located here...boxing, fencing, volleyball, etc.

I was told that we'd be staying at the Coogie View, which was a ways out of town, but it was on the beach. I was a little nervous, had lunch, then left for my new home. WOW! It was an apartment right on the beach!!! Needless, to say, I was pretty happy. Since Eli (one of our up and coming pentathletes) and his brother - who I would be rooming with - were due to arrive in later, I did have to stay in to wait for their phone call, since as far as they knew, we were still at the original place. So I watched the Olympics...and the sunset. Not a bad way to start my Sidney stay at all.

Sean Down Unda - Melbourne Day 2

I started my day with a run around some of the sites around Melbourne. The Huge MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground), which seats 105,000, along the Yarra River, by the rowing club houses, through Fitzroy Gardens, then back to Sibylle's. Then I had a quick breakfast at the George St. Cafe, just diagonal from Sibylle's place and finally set off for the city. I stopped in to the nearby Holiday Inn to check out tours down to see the penguins along the way. Hmmm, dilemma...the tours takes off at 1:30 and gets back at 11:30pm. It includes a stop at a sheep station and Koala Conservation Center, but I'm not sure if I want to be gone for the whole day and get back so late. After thinking about it in the gardens for a bit then walking around downtown, I met up with Sibylle to catch the view from the Shell building where she works...incredible, you could see all the way to the ocean. Then we had a quick lunch and I was off again. This time to look for some aboriginal artwork...that I could afford! I found a great little shop and bought a 5x7 of "flying ants dreaming". The aborigine style is a kind of large pointillism and the 'dreaming' genre reflect much of their spiritual and cultural heritage. The little painting, done by a 10 year old, is in reds and yellow, the original colors they aborigines used before westerners brought in many more dies and color schemes.

With my artwork purchase finished, I headed up to check out the university, walked through the Carlton district known for its Italian feel and finally back over to Fitzroy to have a spot of tea and cake before heading back to Sibylle's. She was having a dinner party with some friends from work. I took a quick nap and woke up to an incredible seafood paella smell. We ended up watching the Olympics most of the way through the dinner, including a show called "The Dream" which is two comedian-sportscasters that interpret the days Olympic happenings. Pretty funny stuff. I'll try to update on further The Dream shows later, it runs every night.

Sean Down Unda - Melbourne run

I bought this great book on runs in different cities around the world and decided to try the Melbourne one out. It took me around the Cricket Coliseum, which was HUGE, it holds 105,000 people. Then through the tennis center left over from the Melbourne Olympics, along the Yarra River where I saw many of the Rowing clubs (nobody around when I was there though) and finally across Fitzroy Gardens back to Sibylle's place. It took me about 45 minutes or so.

Sean Down Unda - Melbourne Day 1

I had a great flight over the Pacific. I actually slept much of the way so it seemed to go very quickly. The best part: the maps they show of the plains location. On this flight, they had several different GIS views including a very detailed local map so it was need to watch us approach Melbourne.

I arrived earlier than expected so surprised Sibylle, the person I was staying with. I met Sibylle in India three years ago on an Earthwatch study researching snow leopards, so was really looking forward to catching back up with her. She has a great little place near downtown. It reminded me a lot of the places you would find in New Orleans...one story, but lots of lattice work on the outside and very narrow but long living spaces. We had some coffee then I walked with her into the city as she had to work that day. We crossed the beautiful Fitzroy Gardens on the way and she told me the stories of how people pack into the park at night to feed the possums.

My first stop downtown was a bookstore that Sibylle said I'd find on Bourke St. I wanted to pick up a guide book for Melbourne. Well, in Melbourne they have Bourke St. and then Lt Bourke St. which stands for Little Bourke Street. Took me a while to figure out that Lt Bourke wasn't Bourke (they don't make it obviouse) bit I did make it. I walked all over downtown that day. One of the highlights was the Victoria Market. The "Vic" resemble any other open air market in the world, fruits and vegis, meats and of course all of the cheap leather, watches and other miscellanea that you find in places like this. What really made this market different was the overwhelming number of stuffed koalas and kangaroos at some of the booths, overwhelming...really.

After a quick visit back to the bookstore to pick up a book on good places to jog arond the world, I made my way to the Melbourne City Bathes which is really more like a gym in a very historic building. The building was quite beautiful. The swim felt great as well (Details in Pentathlon journal soon). One of the gals at the front desk notice my UW rowing shirt so I chatted with here for a while.

Fitzroy, a neighborhood in Melbourne, was next on the list. Sibylle said this is the Bohemian part of town. That it was. It reminded me a lot of Haight-Ashbury (sp?) in San Francisco. I sat and had cake for a while listening to an aborigine fellow play American standards on his guitar on a street corner. I can't remember his name at all, but I do recall it meant "little black kangaroo". He was a great singer, had a great smile and busted out quite a few jokes as well including "If Adam and Eve would have been aborigines, they would have just eaten the snake and we wouldn't have had any of these problems we do today".

Then had a great dinner with John and Sibylle at a Thai restaurant. John brought his own wine, an Australian red, it was fantastic. Then it was off to coffee (hot chocolate for me) along the Yarra River.

With jet lag, walking around all day, swim and a late night with dinner and coffee, I was really tired and slept really well that night.

Sean Down Unda - Melbourne swim

After touring around Melbourne most of the day, I stopped in to the Melbourne City Bathe for a swim. Its really a complete gym, but the historic building was all pools and spas when it was built in the early 1900's so it retains the name today.

I was a little tired out from the walk around town and jet lag, so I did about 3/4 of my usual swim workout. It felt great. I did get in at the wrong end of the pool that was very deep and had no where to hold on to, so putting on my goggles and later my hand paddles (which I had left at this end) was a little challenging. Remember the one armed runners and bikers from Seattle? Well, I saw a one legged swimmer today. Another good omen. I also ran into a rower a the front desk. She saw me in my UW crew shirt so we had a little chat about rowing in the area.

An acceptable swim

The swim was a bit sluggish today, perhaps because it was an early morning swim, perhaps because I still have the last muscle sluggishness from my cold or perhaps because I didn't get to bed last night until 1:00am after watching more Olympics. But the swim wasn't bad either, it actually felt great and I felt really good with my technique. Even had some nice flip turns at the end. Great workout before I'm off to Oz to be sure.

Long swim, new pool

My regular YMCA is closed for cleaning for through the 25th so I had to find another pool for today's long swim. The downtown Y worked out perfectly as I had a couple errands to run for the big trip. It was refreshing to go to another pool, new people, new sights, sounds, etc. The downtown Y pool also 25m, but not as wide across as the Meredith Mathews Y, the downtown Y only has three lanes. It is a much brighter pool though and a little colder since they don't do as many child and family programs...its more set up for lap swimmers.

The long swim went well. I did ten minutes of hand paddles in the middle just to mix things up a bit. Although I do enjoy the long swim over the long run, the long swim can get monotonous so I try to throw something in to keep me stimulated.

I'm still watching the Olympic swimming pretty intently. I'm a very visual person so its good to watch the swimmers in order to get a good visual image. I'm staying up way too late though, past midnight every night...but its worth it.

The long run, one armed athletes and more bugs

I didn't get my long run in on Friday (I wanted to watch the opening ceremonies), so the next best thing was today...which means I'll do the long swim tomorrow.

Before I start, I'll just say that I had my usual response to what I guess I'll call "triumph" during the Olympic opening ceremonies last night...I teared up on several occasions. The ceremonies were incredible and it was quite a motivator to see all of the athletes come in. I wanted to go out for a run afterward...that would have been a little after midnight. Instead, I went to bed, totally pumped and didn't actually fall asleep until about 1:30am. I'm actually watching the swimming finals while I write this. Yep, a few more "triumph" tears. Feels good though.

After a brief visit down to the parents' in Steilacoom to grab my sisters carry on and say goodbye to everybody, I zoomed home to start my long run in time to get it done and get back to watch the swimming finals.

My distance or "long" run as I call it is up to 90 minutes, which is as the longest I will go for now. Once again, I ran north along the Burke Gilman trail and, for you Seattlites out there, got pretty close to Bothell on this trip. Ninety minutes is about the time it will take me to run an half marathon (which I plan to do in November) and enough to improve my fitness level over time...in a way that the interval workouts wouldn't. The "long" run felt pretty good this time, although the last ten minutes I could really feel it in my knees and feet that I added the extra ten minutes. Along the way, I made a couple of interesting observations. I saw three athletes, two runners and a biker with only one arm. Don't get me wrong, I think its awesome that they are out training, great role models, it was just odd to see three of them. Some people find four-leaf clovers, some win the lottery. I saw three one-armed high level athletes in one day...I'll take this as a good omen.

One of the other things the long run is good for is learning you limits, or more...what your limits arent. You discover what you can push through, both physically and mentally in order to reach your goal. Little pains here, fatique and even mental baggage all CAN be overcome.

You'll also notice the bug counter is back. I swallowed two, got one in my nose and a large something in my ear for about five steps.

A lot of swim, no ride

Had another good swim this afternoon. Felt really strong and with good technique. Flip turns were a little better too. I do think I need to start doing more with my legs in the workout though. I've found recently that my legs tire out before my upperbody. But, as with the rest of my swim, I'm sure I will be working on all this when I get back and start the coaching.

Didn't have a riding lesson tonight as the barn roof was being worked on.

A lesson in priorities and big-picture ground rules

I believe I learned an important lesson in priorities during tonight's run, as well as the value in sticking to my big-picture ground rules. I decided to run around Portage Bay (PB) tonight instead of Greenlake 1. because I wanted to better my time around PB from last time, maybe even break the 20 minute mark and 2. I had a friends BBQ to go to at 7:00pm (I usually try to catch up with family friends before take a long trip such as the one to Australia). I was feeling pretty good at the start and actually probably went off a little too quickly. But...it became very clear to me at about the half way point that my legs just weren't wanting to perform. They were tight, a little wobbly and just wouldn't move as fast as I wanted them to during the interval on times. I am still a little under the weather from a brief cold I had, but not enough to affect my running. Since I was having major thoughts of stopping and just walking the rest of the way, I knew I had to do something to turn this into a positive experience. One of my big-picture ground rules has always been that I have to enjoy this process of training for the pentathlon...I have to push and challenge myself, but it must remain a pleasant experience or I'll dread the workouts rather than look forward to them. So I decided to stop the intervals and just jog it out for the rest of the PB course. Well...I did finish and actually speeded up a little at the end. Although I didn't accomplish the sub 20 minute goal I had, at least I didn't end in a failure either.

I think part of the problem may have been that I changed my priorities over this last week and a half. I was sick for a couple days - and didn't do anything - and then intentionally changed my priorities from training to spending some time with family and friends before I take off for my trip. I haven't fenced at all this month and haven't done as many runs or swims as I usually do either. When you're doing 2-3 workouts a day, its a little easier to stay focused. Its not that I can't or won't be able to spend the time with family and friends, I just have to recognize the effects and manage the time off a little better both physically and mentally.

Sweet swim on smooth water and more flip flops

It felt so good to get back in the water after, gosh, over a week. I did my swim at 7:30 tonight and I was the first on in the pool for the lap swim. Its such an awesome sensation to take the first strokes in smooth water. Everything is crystal clear, calm and it seems like you could swim perfectly...forever. Then you flip to come back and the light is scattered all over place from the waves above, moment over. Had a good swim tonight, a little tuckered out by the end and still can't seem to get the flip turns down. I have a couple good scrapes on my right elbow from hitting the bottom of the pool, my flip is still going too deep. Also got a lot of water up my nose on one turn which, due to the way your muscles react to this, seem to some how make breathing difficult/awkward for a few strokes. The joys of learning flip turns.

I cannot tell a lie

Following in the steps of our first president...I can not tell a lie. My run time last night around Portage Bay was 39 seconds slower than my last run. I'm not too surprised though, I hadn't run in over a week. No more will I take so much "rest time" even if I am a little under the weather...I'll at least take a walk, a bike or something to keep up the activity. Actually, I thought I would be slower by a lot more than 39 seconds, so it wasn't so bad.

More Kenmore

Went up to the Kenmore shooting range again this morning to take in a little more shooting. Met some new people, got some more good advice on weapons and starting shooting and learned a little about scoring. I'm really looking forward to starting up as soon as I return from Sydney. Still haven't decided which air pistol I want, a Walther, Steyr or a Feinwerkbau. It really all depends on whether I want CO2, condensed air or a pump. Hopefully, some time with some other pentathletes in Sydney will help me narrow down what will work best for me.

You always hear athletes, or anybody trying to reach a major goal I guess, say that getting there is as important as meeting the goal. One of the things that I really enjoy is the many people I meet along the way in my training. The horse crowd is very different than the shooting crowd is very different from the running crowd, etc. Diverse, interesting people with so much to offer and a willingness to share their knowledge and skills. I can honestly say, even though my far-out chance at the Olympics is still four years away, that this is the most incredible time of my life. I'm sure it will only get better as the years go on. Stay tuned...

Down for the count and a little more Vesty

Looks like my website was down for a couple days...that's OK because I was too. Seems I got a two day flu or something. Certainly didn't feel like doing any training so there wouldn't have been much to say even if the sight had been up. But, I noticed there were a LOT of hits yesterday when the site finally came back up, so I know there area few fans out there.

Didn't have much energy yesterday to swim due to the quick flu thing, but I did go to riding in the evening. I was also starting to feel a little better by then, getting more of my energy back. I rode Vesty again tonight. We're still working on things, but we're doing much better. I do have a couple bad habits that I bring from polo that aren't helping. First, I tend to lean into the canter transition...helps in polo but not a good habit to develop for my jumping. In addition, in polo I'm used to pushing forward in a canter transition until I get a canter...no big deal on the polo field, but in my riding this shows up in during that transitions as well. When I don't get the canter and Vesty goes into a fast trot I keep asking for the canter rather than bringing him back and getting a good trot for a good canter. I also seem to be squeezing my thighs a little too much, which to Vesty means a half halt. Vesty stops or slows down, I fall forward and our balance gets way off. By the end of the lesson, we had things working well though, Laura was pretty pleased.

The good swim

I really didn't expect to swim today. I got home at 12:00am the night before (from Spokane) and had to get up at 4:00am to go to work. I even skipped my Tuesday ride because I was so tired. But, after a good nap and a lot of waffling back and forth, I decided to go. It turned out to be a great swim. I took another 2 seconds off my 100m time and felt really good through all of the drills. During the warmup, I could tell it had been a while since I last swam, but this feeling went away quickly. I still need a lot of work on those pesky flip turns, but they are coming along slowly.

I didn't make it to yoga tonight. I had every intention of going up to an hour before, but got engrossed in doing something and didn't notice the time until 7:30. I'll try again on Saturday.

Spokane polo

I was Virginia's groom this weekend at the Spokane tournament. It was a great weekend! Met a lot of great people and saw some awesome polo. I warmed up Waco, one of Virg's two horses, on Saturday but that was the only riding I did over the weekend. It was actually really nice just to slow down and enjoy the game. As usual there were some incredible meals and parties in the evenings.

The nine goal polo on Monday was amazing...I've decided that I definitely don't want to play at that level any time soon. Polo at this level is very physical (as in crashing into each other) and I'm not to keen on getting hurt in polo at this point in my pentathlon training. But my how its great to watch! One of the highlights of the weekend was Augustine, one of the Argies that stuck around to play some more polo this summer after the larger group of Argentines went home. At 19 years old, Augustine has servants in his home and several grooms to take care of his polo ponies in Argentina. Well...here he had to stay in a cold, went tent and do his own grooming. But he smiled the whole time, especially when George Dill pulled the tent out of the box and called it Augustine's "Estancia in a box".

Highway running in Spokane

I was in Spokane, WA for a Labor Day weekend polo tournament...grooming and tacking for some friends. On Sunday, we had a long break in the morning schedule, so I slipped away, put on my running shoes and headed out for my long run that I usually do on weekends. This time, I was scheduled to do an 80 minute run. I haven't done much work at any kind of elevation (not that Spokane is that high at 2500 feet), so I wasn't sure how it would go...would I make the whole 80 or settle for an hour? The route was completely flat, so that was one good variable. I ran out along for 40 minutes...no problems. The 40 minutes back were just fine too. Yee Haw, I did the whole 80 minutes...even after a biscuits and gravy breakfast at the Longhorn restaurant just across the road from the polo field. I didn't get a long swim in over the weekend, but it was a holiday anyway, I deserve a break now and then. Back to the regular schedule on Tuesday.