Aloha from Hawaii

Aloha!

Well here I stand on the door step of the racing season. The first race of the season. The Honolulu ITU Triathlon has thus been an amazing experience. Traveling with AP and Dano has been a blast and they were kind enough to share their room with me. The rooms are actually only designed for two people but I have made a very comfortable bed in the corner of the room using the padding from our bike boxes. Works very well. Only down side is waking up with a bit of chain grease on me but nothing a shower can't fix. Could be a lot worse, I could be sleeping in the bath tub.(Not a fond Memory)

Andrew and AP

-More Photo's on Dano's Blog Spot - Click Here

So the bike is back together and running very smooth. With two sleeps away tonight's is the most important. Besides training, there is much to be done before I put my toe on the line. Shave the legs, lube the bike and HYDRATE!! (but don't over hydrate) It is also a time to reflect look back on the key workouts of the past weeks and see all the hard work that has been done. Such as:

Last Tuesday was a solid set on the Galloping Goose:
40min warm up
2km:
6.15
1km's:
1) 3.05
2) 3.08
3) 3.05
4) 3.08
5) 3.02
10min warm down

I have also grown to love the Waddling Dog Loop. We usually do motor-pacing here which is SO much fun!! It also gives you the confidence, I call it the "EYE OPENER FOR CYCLING."

An Eye opener for running would have to be a set we did on the treadmill:

20 mins WU 15km/hr (9.3miles/hr)
20 mins build 16km/hr (9.9miles/hr)
20 mins solid 17km/hr (10.5miles/hr)
10 mins easy
(Thanks Dano for the Conversions from km to Miles)

Now here in Honolulu I had the concern that my body would be quite tight but today's training has been quite encouraging. We began the day with a run along the beautiful beaches! Started out a tad sluggish but built into a comfortable stride. Next was a swim on the race course. We had to do this before noon because I was told by the locals that "Tony the Tiger Shark" comes out after noon. We then did the cycling course which was interesting due to the traffic. WOW. Managed to get some accelerations in and I got a "hang loose" signal from a guy in a truck when I tried to race it. A slight down pour out of the blue and I pinned it home.

I know the quote below has already been posted earlier on my December 10th 2006 post, but it I feel that I need to refresh it. It makes the race very simple if you think about it. So here it is again:

"I think that existentialism can be a great motivator in times like these. I use an existential perspective when ever I feel limitations bearing down on me- we often create invisible barriers when we become nervous, when in fact these are all manifestations of the imagination. Instead, I am completely free in every moment, and with this freedom I am completely free to choose what I do with that moment. Remember that life is only a series of moments, thus each moment dangles in time completely separate from past and future- the feeling that past/future depend on you is just a creation of your mind. Anyways, you've done all your training, right? You’ve put all the hours in? Of course, so all you can do now is live each moment to it's fullest from here on out." -Jenny McCartney

Thanks Jenny I still have this in my most valued e-mails.
Ciao for now,
Andrew McCartney

I was thinking I would stick with the Hawaii topic for today's top 5.

Today's Top 5

Top 5 songs that make me think of Hawaii:

1. Jack Johnson - Better Together (or anything on the "In between dreams" Album)
2. Cut Copy - Saturday's (Reprise is good too)
3. Beat Happening - Bad Seeds
4. Morton Stevens - Hawaii Five-O theme song
5. The Beach Boys - Kokomo
   
   

Also this \/ is what happens when you get bored on a Flight.

Enjoy

Andrew(On the Piano) and Jimmy Stewart