What I Miss About Hawai'i

Having read Karen's blog and a few others, I have been thinking about what I miss about Hawai'i, and how it compares with living in Kaohsiung in Southern Taiwan. It definitely makes a trip back to Kona in the foreseeable future a possibility.

Besides the occasional stunning sunset, what I miss about Hawai'i is going for a morning swim to the King's Buoy and back far from the concrete commercialism and noise of Alii Drive.

I miss having friends to bike and run with and actually having a road bike.

I miss being able to take my daytime naps on a foldable beach chair outside.

I miss racing in Captain Cook and swimming across Kealakekua Bay.

I miss listening to Pidgin and the occasional Hawai'ian that I hear spoken.

I miss going to the local bank and talking with the local people there.

I miss driving back to Kailua-Kona after taking part in a race at Hapuna.

I miss cycling through Kapa'au near Hawi.

I miss listening to slack-key guitar and watching the hula.

I miss being able to go to Ross and sometimes being able to find training shoes or sandals (all I wear on my feet) that are my size.

I miss being able to enter the Honu Half Ironman race each year with a good chance of qualifying for the Hawai'i Ironman.

I miss having more time to think about the future of Hawai'ian studies or the local economy.

I miss the sashimi occasionally served on the campus where I used to eat.

I miss watching trucks go by the size of single-decker London buses.

I miss seeing a nice house in Hawai'i that I wish I could live in.

However, in Kaohsiung I enjoy the similar weather to Hawai'i even though we are in a fairly big city.

I enjoy listening to and conversing in the Mandarin and Taiwanese dialects.

I enjoy making friends with the local Taiwanese people here.

I enjoy being able to swim each day even if it is only in a pool.

I enjoy being able to sleep and take daytime naps on my own bed.

I enjoy being able to spend a lot less on day-to-day living and hence am able to save for that airfare to Kona.

I enjoy being able to blog with friends in Hawai'i which is the next best thing to actually being there and seeing them face to face.

I enjoy being able to dress just the same as in Hawai'i each day and to live a slow-paced, laid-back life even though I am generally very busy.

I enjoy dreaming about the nice house in Hawai'i that one day I might live in.

Well, that's it for today. Aloha!

Swimming Easy - Don't be Fooled!

During a quick break between sets early in the workout today, another swimmer asked me how I could look so relaxed swimming, yet go fast enough so that he could not keep up with me. Swimming indeed looks deceptive. Often the people who look slow are actually swimming fast.

I remember a friend telling me about watching the Cinco de Mayo swim at Anaeho'omalu Bay in Waikoloa on the Big Island of Hawai'i a few years ago. The swim is a two-lap ocean swim that covers approximately one mile. After the first few fast swimmers had exited the water and finished, he noticed a man swimming very slowly towards the finish and assumed it was someone completing the first lap with one more lap to go. However, the man then stood up and my friend then realized that this man had in fact already completed the two laps. So, the swimmer might have looked slow, but he was actually moving through the water at great speed. It turned out that this was none other than Matt Biondi, the U.S. Olympic swimming sensation during the 1980s. Being at least 6 ft 6 inches tall no doubt helped a little, too.

When I swam Masters in Kona, there were a few swimmers who looked slow but always recorded fast times, like Mike "the Moose" and Sheri L. By contrast, I had to work really hard and was still way, way slower than them.

So today I focused on staying relaxed during my swim, and this helped me to focus on applying effort where needed in the swimming stroke, mostly underwater during the pull which people usually did not see. Yesterday was a public holiday and the pool was closed. So on Thursday, the day before, I decided to go in the afternoon to swim, too. In the morning I swam a fairly lackluster 4,200 meters, feeling a little tired after the elation of the previous two days. In the afternoon, my heart did not really seem to be in it, but I still covered 3,000 meters. The afternoon is better for sleeping than swimming in my opinion.

This morning, Saturday, my workout ended up like this:

1 x 1,000m

1 x 500m

2 x 250m

5 x 100m on 2:00

5 x 100m on 1:55

5 x 100m on 1:50

5 x 100m on 1:45

100m "race" in 1:25

50m "race" in 40 secs

After maintaining a relaxed pace for the first 2,500 meters, I then took the pace up a notch on each of the remaining sets. Hence, when it came to the 100m "race" I felt like a well-oiled machine. I felt I was swimming within myself, and never felt under pressure to make the send offs, even on the last set of 100s. I probably rested about 45 seconds between each set, followed by about 3 minutes before the race.

In reading the article linked to Matt Biondi, I noticed that it mentioned that Matt would make a point of being the slowest swimmer during warm up. Why was that, if he was the fastest sprint swimmer in the world? I don't know his answer for this, but from my own experience going slow first and gradually building up the pace is very good conditioning. I have not felt any discomfort in swimming in weeks and even months, even though I have at times been going as fast as I can.

Such training of course contrasts with doing things where I am out of my depth, the Ironman being an excellent example of this. When I did the Ironman in 2004, from about mile 70 on the bike, I really felt depleted, and I had to rely almost completely on willpower to finish the event before the cut off. It was really hard. I hope I can complete another Ironman in the not-too-distant future. This year, I will just have to follow the race on the Internet, on Ironmanlive.com. I wish everybody a good race and a great experience. The above photograph was taken by Bob Fewell of the Big Island Visitor Bureau. Thanks.

As for predictions for the Ironman race, I don't really know about the men's race. It should be close with a couple of very good bikers versus a few very fast runners. I think ultimately it will be a fast runner who wins, but who can tell? For the women, Chrissie without a doubt, unless something unusual for her happens (like an unresolvable bike problem or sickness). On races like the Hawai'i Ironman, I don't think anyone can guarantee anything.

Spontaneous Structured Workouts

As the sun was shining today (which is not unusual here), I ventured outside to take a few pictures of our home, which as you can see is on a corner of a block and has five stories, even though each floor is quite small (a total of some 1,800 sq. ft. if you add up the areas for each floor together). We only recently finished having the rain covers added for each floor on the front of the house. It does not rain often here, but usually when it does, it pours.

While moving into a new house has been quite an expense (so many things to buy when you move into something that is almost an empty shell), it is nice at least to feel that this is home. After several years living in more cramped rented accommodation in Hawai'i where we were subjected to the whims of landlords, it is nice to sleep on your own bed.

When it comes to training, it is important for things to be running smoothly in several other areas of life and housing is one of them. Swimming has its stresses and it is important not to be stressed out with daily living and work, etc. if we can get the most out of it.

My swim workouts have been going quite well for me these days, so let me share a little about them. First of all, they are not mandatory. I don't set my alarm clock so if I wake up, I wake up, and if I don't, well I could consider going later in the day. In fact I cannot recall not having woken up in time to get down there and swim in the early morning. Secondly, I don't have a typed list of what I am going to do each time. Usually I just have a kind of feeling starting from the day before, like "long slow distance", or medium distance sets followed by some sprints at the end. Whatever. I just tend to listen to my body. If I want to go fast, I try to go fast, and if I don't there is always the next day. Thirdly, instead of thinking, how am I going to through 4,000 meters today?, I get into the pool, push off swim 50 meters and think, look, I just swam 50 meters, isn't it easy, continuing my warm up while paying attention to my technique and whether I feel any pains or discomforts, possibly from something I did the day before.

My approach to swimming these days is quite a lot different from attending masters. When I did that, I often arrived at the pool tired, struggled to stay with the flow at times, and while I did have a lot of great swims and learned all kinds of workouts, I felt I never made the most of them. I think I was just a little overstresed at times. Now, when I am in the pool, I imagine I am swimming with the masters and I visualize the coach telling me to pull through properly at the end of the stroke or keep my head at the right level in the water, etc.

Yesterday's workout, the first of a new swimming week, consisted mostly of fairly relaxed swimming, where I started slowly and gradually built up to a slightly less than moderate pace by the end of the 4,300 meters.

Today's workout (Wednesday) was one that evolved out of a desire to have another day of relaxed by smooth and efficient freestyle swimming. This is what I did:

4 x 500m (just feel relaxed)

4 x 250m on 5 mins

5 x 100m on 2 mins

5 x 100m on 1m 50s

1 x 400m moderate (but not all out) in 6m 30s

1 x 50m "light moderate" in 42s

1 x 50m easy cooldown

All for a total of 4,500 meters in about 1 hr 35 mins. Would that be equivalent to a workout with the Masters? Maybe not, but as I practice like this, I often feel I am getting better at least at something and learning something new. Today it had to do with "hand and foot coordination". This is hard to explain, but I felt that my hands and feet were working together to enable me to do the 400m in 6m 30s without feeling I had to go flat out. Well, it's just a thought and I don't know if there is any scientific evidence for it. It's not often that it feels this good.

As for tomorrow's workout, I will decide that when I actually start swimming. I do want to focus on more speed work tomorrow, with a lot more 100s.

Enjoy your swimming!

P.S. There is more to my life than just swimming, although it may seem like there isn't!

Example of a Current Swim Workout

I continue to swim close to 25,000 meters per week (24,800 meters this last week to be precise) and my times have been slowly improving, which is encouraging, as before I left Hawai'i in 2007 I was getting slower and slower and felt that maybe age was catching up with me.

On Saturday I had a fairly typical swim in fairly typical conditions, with the first hour having to swim with several people in the same lane (several being slow breaststrokers) and the last half hour maybe just one or two swimmers. I covered a total of 4,150 meters, which is not unlike the distances I was doing a few months ago, only now I am incorporating quite a lot more speed work. The focus today, after warming up, was on 100s (even with several other slower swimmers). I think they got a bit tired of my passing them all the time and several just moved to other lanes or quit altogether (although they normally don't swim that long, anyway). So I went: 2 x 500 (focus on form not speed), 10 x 100m on 2:05, 5 x 100m on 2:00, 5 x 100m on 1:55, 5 x 100m on 1:50, 5 x 100m on 1:45, followed by a rest and a "race pace" 100m in 1:27 and a little later to finish off with a 50m which I did in 40 seconds. I often took about a one minute break between sets, figuring that a little more recovery would make me a little fresher, which it did.

On Sunday I did a total of 4,050 meters, which included a lot of 50s, although at the end, while I was sure of the distance, I could not quite remember whether I did more 100s or 50s in the middle. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. I still got the workout. I in fact ended with 20 x 25m. Then I raced over 50 meters which I did in 39 seconds. Going faster takes me a little out of my comfort zone, but hopefully it will make the longer more leisurely swims go a little faster.

I was out much of the day Sunday, and after church I biked a few extra miles to take a look at this trash incinerator, which I can see from our 5th floor balcony at home. When I first moved down to Kaohsiung I was a little horrified at the sight of factory smokestacks, garbage incinerators and morgues, etc., but I guess that is just life, and so far I have not felt under attack by deadly chemicals, apart from those I might come across in my milk powder.

I might add that I felt quite tired around dusk on Sunday and ended up sleeping close to two hours. The "sprint" swims are no doubt using up quite a lot of adrenalin, as I haven't been eating that well. I get tired of constantly peeling potatoes. Fortunately, church served up spaghetti bolognaise for lunch and I went up for a third helping.

I really want to go out and bike more, but I am still about a week behind on my work, and so I will continue to press on with that first. I also ordered stretch cords, but some my card details did not match up on the order and so the items are still somewhere in California. I really hope I can get them soon and also have a little more time so I can start some "real" training.

I've tried telling one or two people I see at the pool each day that they could be fast if they train properly. Some have clearly learned good technique, but have never been introduced to training for something like an age-group race. I think most people here think that if they are not going to make the Olympics, there is nothing else worth aiming for. Maybe things will change with time.

New Age Group, Under 3 Minutes, 18 Secs to USMS Nationals

Yesterday I received a birthday card, a day early, from American Express (pictured). They also sent a few coupons, but unfortunately the ones that I could use expire at the end of October, just before my wife returns. I can't be bothered to go and eat somewhere on my own.

Entering a new age group increases my chances of getting a higher position in a race or of qualifying for something, like the US Masters' Nationals. Today, I very much wanted to accomplish something swimming on an otherwise very uneventful day, and so my swimming practice was a gradual build-up for a crack at the 3 minute barrier for the 200 meter free.

This week had been a typical week swimming: Tuesday, 4,350m, Wednesday, 4,000m, Thursday, 4,200m, and today altogether 4,050m. On Wednesday, I went 3m 04s in the 200m (a little tired from the earlier 8 x 100 on 1:55), and on Thursday I went 3m 01s, despite almost colliding with another swimmer at the wall. Today (Friday), I did 2 x 500 (easy and long efficient strokes), 5 x 200m (each in about 3m 50s), 5 x 100m on 2:05, 5 x 100m on 1:55, 10 x 50m on 1:00, 1 x 200 in 3m 30s, 1 x 100m in 1m 42s (relaxed), the rest room, 1 x 50m very easy. 2 mins rest then "Go!". I had to rely on my ability to watch the clock, but the second hand was definitely before the 12 when I first saw it after I finished. Hence, it is reasonable to say that I did the swim in 2m 59.5secs.

I did not feel particularly excited about the race. While swimming I wondered if I might have rested too long beforehand. There was just me and my friend swimming. Inside of me there was that fear that it was just the "old Bruce" swimming, but I felt at least I had to break the 3 minutes because it was my birthday. I did not feel any fire or burning zeal to storm through the water. It was a fairly well controlled, consistent swim.

Now that barrier is broken, I now I have my sights set on lowering the time by about another 18 seconds, which will probably qualify me to race against a bunch of old fogeys in the USMS nationals. I would much rather race against younger women (at least unofficially), and since their qualifying times are not much different, maybe that would result in a fair race. So the training will continue, but I don't know if in the end I will have anyone to race against!

Earlier this year (April) I set as my main goal breaking 6 minutes for the 400m free within one year. I haven't swum hard at that distance for a long time, but given my style of swimming I am surely getting closer. One of these days I'll try to see where I am at.

This morning the skies (at least until mid-morning) were overcast, and I faced the need to finish one or two of my more tedious "work" jobs (which call for extra discipline and patience). So in a sense I don't feel that happy, but I don't feel much else either. I don't think happiness is something you can turn on and off. Generally speaking, I feel happy doing my swims and being able to work at home, etc. I have read that many people become increasingly unhappy as they reach their 50s and 60s. Certainly, my experience when younger was that older bosses could have lots of money, etc., but they were some of the most miserable people to deal with every day.

I guess it's hard for people in their 50s to have a lot of fun these days, so I will have to schedule some into my morning workouts. A lot of fast 50s should do the trick.

Preparing to Break Another "Record"

Bruce's home office. Although I have been using this 5th-floor room for 8 months now, I still haven't finally sorted everything out, but at least it is now beginning to take shape. The advantages of this room is that it is quiet, breezy, bright (no lights needed during the day), and has all the equipment I need to get my work done. I even have enough room to do push-ups on the floor, etc. Since I don't want to spend all day, every day in this room, I also usually go to a local library mid- or late-afternoon to continue my work there for a few hours. Remaining sane is important.

While by "record" I mean "personal best", I am pleased to say that at least I am already doing better on most pool distances at the moment that I did in Kona over the past several years. This, to me, makes swimming all the more fun, and despite my currently busy work schedule, trying to figure out ways to swim faster makes each day exciting and challenging, not to mention the good feeling I have each morning when I go and swim in the pool.

To swim faster, and to break 3 minutes in the 200 meters free (my best so far s 3m 01s), I have not only been trying focus on techique (head position and movement, body alignment, stroke mechanics, etc.) but also on swimming faster in practice. For the week ended September 21st, I swam a total of 24,900 meters. Each day I had a tendency to start slowly and swim without rests for one or two thousand meters. Then I would do a few 200s, then 150s and 100s, and even 50s and 25s on some days, so that I would end by swimming with a faster turnover.

This last week (Tues Sep 23 to Sat Sep 27 - an approaching typhoon closed the pool Sunday), I swam 4,250 + 4,100 + 4,400 + 4,250 + 4,100 = 21,100 meters. While it may have seemed like a typical week, in a "race" against my friend I did 100m in 1m 23.5s (my fastest so far) on Wed 25 Sep, and the next day I finished with a 50m in 38.3 seconds.

A new development this week is that normally when I did 100m sets, I would have my "send offs" on 2 mins and sometimes longer if I just wasn't really moving. On Sat Sep 27 I did 10 x 100m on 2 mins followed by 10 x100m on 1:55. Yesterday (Tues Sep 30), on which I swam a total of 4,350 meters, I did 8 x 100 on 1m 55s and 4 x 100m on 1m 50s, with no rest between these two sets. Today (Wed Oct 1) I swam a total of 4,000m. The last swim of the day was a 200m that I swam alone, and did 3m 04s, despite not turning well and having to turn on one wall just as another swimmer was trying to do the same.

My plan over the next few days is to continue with these 100m sets, but according to whether I am able, to gradually lower the send offs. I find that I am fairly well focused on these sets, and they not only enhance my stamina, but also increase my speed. One of these days, I want to have another crack at breaking the 3 minute mark for the 200m free. I am also hoping to start some "real" swim training once I am not so busy with work.

Today I was shocked and saddened by news of the passing of "Bob" (those from Kona will probably know who I mean). He had been living in Kona having retired several years earlier and was a strong biker. He certainly did not look like he was in his mid-60s. Sometimes I would try to race him, but I remember more the talks we would have when we decided just to cruise instead. Bob had had a pretty successful life from what I learned from talking to him, and he is one of the people who inspired me (perhaps without realizing it) to carefully plan for my future, which was something I generally tried to escape from before. I also frequently told him about my plans to return to Kona. Little did I realize that, when I did go back, I would no longer be able to see him. Bob died of cancer and was robbed of what should have been many more years of healthful living in Hawai'i. He will be missed by many. The biking/triathlon community in Kona is very close knit.

Finally, I appreciate the comments regarding the Brendan Hansen video I posted. Until I saw it I never really knew much about him except that the famous Japanese breastroker Kitajima had recently been beating him and had lowered the 200m world record. Brendan's video is truly inspiring, not just for his dedication to the sport from a very early age, but because it also shows how much people who encourage can lift us up and help us reach new heights, while at the same time not feeling too overcome by failure. In a world in which it is so often a case of every man for himself or dog-eat-dog, we can see the preciousness of friends and the value of those who are for us rather than against us. For those of you facing a big or not so big race, take courage!

A butterfly at the butterfly sanctuary that I pass on my way to the pool each day. This species seems to be the most common here and the easiest to photograph.

Brendan Hansen Tribute - "We Will Rise"

If the video screen does not appear, the video can be found on YouTube, using the following:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=e4zpLnly_Os

With so many swim practices, I do not have the time to write my blog tonight. So I will just post this YouTube video to inspire you. Think of this as you try to break you own records, let alone beat your buddies or break the world record.
Brendan did not do too good at the Olympics this year, but he is still a great swimmer and champion. Who knows, he may have a great comeback. We must not let failures discourage us. We may fall, but we will rise. Just as Skip-Dawg so elegantly put it in rap.