..January 2015..
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"We're on a road to nowhere..."
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Hello and Welcome to the end of the first month of 2015. Wow, that went quick!
Talking about quick, this is our quick "Run"down of a pretty active month. Some of us more active than others, but let's not dwell on that minor detail too much!
We had an Ironman, Netball games, Swim Meets and running races dominate our weekends in January. Probably a good thing really.
"On your mark...."
Mecuryman
Michelle, fresh from the Half Marathon before Christmas, and after having kept the miles up over the holiday to NZ, decided to take on the "Mecuryman". This is a half-Ironman which includes 1.2 mile (1.95km) sea Swim, a 56 Mile (90km) bike and a 13.1 Mile (21.1km) Run. Yes, all one after the other...
You have to be a special kind of crazy to take this on, and in this climate as well! Last year she did the Aqua bike, which was the swim and the bike portion only and she was very glad when she got to the end of the bike and knew she did not have to do the run - she could barely walk at that stage...so what happened to make her decide to take on the challenge this year? Well, it was a tough decision, and one not made until the last minute, when she'd had the opportunity to do a bike/run practice the weekend before the real thing...the practice one went ok but she knew it would be a real challenge to do the whole thing - she'd done the half marathon in December and she'd managed to keep the swimming and running going, even while on holiday so she thought she'd done enough to get her through...
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| Pretty Good effort in the swim. Came out of the water ahead of the bunch. |
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| Here she comes! |
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| There she goes! |
The swim and the bike ride went pretty well as the conditions were relatively calm - a bit of a swell but no wind to make the bike difficult. The hardest thing was staying on the bike for 3 hours and starting the second lap knowing you have to do it all over again - it's not the most comfortable seat for that period of time! As usual, she came out near the front of the group in the swim but lost quite a few places in the bike, to the real cyclists with the real bikes (it can be a bit daunting to be passed by what you think is a car but is actually a cyclist)! She came into transition after the bike feeling ok and very glad to be able to get off the bike at last...after changing shoes and getting kit up to battle the sun and heat she set off. It didn't take long to realise that it was not going to be easy but she tried to settle her breathing and slip into a steady pace (or plod!). She managed to keep the pace going for a while but eventually the heat got the better of her and she succumbed to walking at each water stop, while having a drink and pouring water over her head, then she'd job off again. It was painful but she managed to keep that going for the rest of the run, with the walking breaks getting slotted in a few extra times as the energy drained. The run was a three lap course, with the last lap being the most difficult, both physically and mentally. She was very glad when she finally finished - she crossed the line and stopped, barely able to walk another step. She hobbled down to the water and flopped in - arrhhh, relief....thank god it's over! The problem came when she tried to get up from the water and back up the beach - she had seized up and couldn't walk! Luckily, Sam, Dave and Jake were there to give her a hand, as she looked pretty funny crawling up the beach!
That was one of the most challenging things she'd ever done...and she's not planning on repeating it in a hurry!
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| It was about 11 am when she started the final leg - a half marathon... |
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| All of the competitors were feeling the heat. |
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"Go Mum! Woohooo!!! Way to go!!! Awesome!!!
The kids' excitement was electric! |
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| Did it! |
Her overall time was pretty reasonable for a first half ironman and she met her goal of being under 6 hours, by completing it in 5 hours 42mins; with the swim and the bike being on target, and the half marathon being a bit slower than hoped but still pretty reasonable at 2 hours 5 mins. She came in 5th woman, 1st local woman and 1st in her age group which she was pretty happy with.
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| Cooling off time |
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| OK, someone help me up... |
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| 1st Place in the Female Over 40! |
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| Meanwhile, between laps, Dave and the kids checked out some of the local scenery. |
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| One of the many wrecks |
Netball
The local netball season has kicked off (or Thrown off?). Michelle and a few mates have a team entered.
They narrowly lost their first game but then came back the next week and cleaned up. This year there are only 9 teams in the total league so no top and social divisions this year - they have to play all the teams...will be interesting go see how they go. Michelle has even been pulled in to umpire some weeks which she hasn't had to do in about 10 years so that is an additional challenge!
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| Still feeling the effects of the mercuryman, Michelle plays Goal Defence. |
Olympic Swimmers
Last weekend the local Swim association organised a couple of Olympic swimmers from the US to come down and spend some time with the Cayman swimming community.
They spent time with the kids from the swim clubs and ran a few clinics with them, as well as providing some time for questions and answers with the kids.
There was a sea swim as well which the kids took part in. They didn't quite beat these guys...
They also held a fundraising brunch which was well attended. Both swimmers took the time to speak and share their experiences and advice with the wider group which was very entertaining and well recieved.
More Swimming!
Speaking of swimming, this last weekend was the annual Pete Ribbons Memorial Swim meet at the Stingray Pool (Stingray, as in Stingray Swim Club, not Stingray, as in Steve Irwin).
It started on Thursday night with the longer distances. Sam did the 800m Free in a decent time.
None of Jake's agegroup were entered in these races. Probably because they had Friday Night, Saturday and Sunday mornings to do plenty of racing.
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| View the next few photos in sequence. The infamous "Sam 'n Ella" do their 'Hi 5' warm down routine where they swim in a slow freestyle, matching their strokes and 'Hi 5' every time their inside arms come out of the water. |
The kids had a busy and reasonably successful meet. Both coming away with PB's and winners medals.
Jake was particularly busy towards the end of the Saturday morning session.
He had a 100m Free, with a break of just one race until his 200m Back. Then he didn't even need to get out of the pool as he was starting the 400m IM relay for his team! Saturday afternoon wasn't the most active of afternoons for him...
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| "OK, help me out of here. I'm done!" |
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| Sam really is ahead of her time when it comes to pool-side fashion... |
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| Sam hits the water |
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| Jake is so unbelieveably pumped for his next event. |
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| Jake heads off down the pool in the 200m Freestyle relay - closely watched by the evil Stroke and Turn Judge. |
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| Sam was too fast for the camera! |
Across Island Relay
Just to keep everyone on their toes, the annual Cross Island relay was held over the weekend. It's a relay run from East End into George Town. Six 4 mile legs make up the run, and you must have six different runners. Some people do a second leg for another team (but not the same leg). And some people do the whole thing (or five legs) - pretty much a marathon. But only one leg counts toward a team.
No sleepins at our house! Up at 4:30 am on a Sunday...awesome.
Michelle was running with a few of her mates in a Girl's team. Dave (yes, he actually does exercise here and there!) was with a few of his mates in a boys team. Dave's team had never beaten the girls team...
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| They're off! Michelle is in there somewhere doing the first leg for her team. |
Michelle started off doing pretty well, with Chris (Dave's team) staying within range. Chris is a Marathon runner and started to apply the pressure when Michelle had a gear failure and had to stop for a second or two. That was enough for Chris to take off and maintain his lead for the handover to Dave with about 32mins on the clock. Michelle came in a minute later at 33mins, which she wasn't that happy with, given that was a similar pace she did in the half marathon in December.
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| Dave manages to stay ahead of the Girls during the second leg, posting a time of 31.46. |
The Boys managed to maintain the lead on the girls for the rest of the race and for the first (and possibly the last time) take the honours.
But Michelle wasn't finished. Off she went and changed into the stip for her other team and ran another leg for them! Being later in the morning with the sun beating down, her 34.38 was another impressive time (taking into account an unscheduled comfort stop!).
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The girls pose for their obligatory picture while the boys enjoy a couple of beers and a caesar or two down on the beach.
Click here for the other January pics!
Well, that's our efforts for January. Be assured that here was a little bit of lounging about over the last few weeks, but that was generally after some sort of activity! |
Next Month:
- Jake heads to Jamaica for a Swim Meet.
- Michelle heads to Jamaica to be an Official in said swim meet.
- Dave and Sam stay home, and Sam might do the 5k Sea swim.
- The Cayman Island National Swim Meet looms....
- We may even get a visitor or two...
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