Trials Of (Travel) Miles

It’s been a bit hectic since I last updated. Monday and Tuesday I did the first FIST workshop of the year with Dan up at the Slowtwitch ranch. It was my first experience using our new Retul system, and when the folks from Retul aren’t around, I will be responsible for teaching that part of the class going forward. Motion capture (which, as Todd Carver pointed out, is different than video capture) is really going to be the way of the future for a lot of sports. With a **relatively** low cost of entry of Retul, I think you will see the system adapted to more sports like golf, tennis, and other “high dollar” sports. For bike fitting, it’s really a wonderful tool in terms of allowing you to measure things in real time, and also helps to explain why, even with practice, what you see on the bike while the person is pedalling is not exactly what is borne out by a goniometer measurement. Dan is fond of calling the Retul a goniometer on steroids, and that is as accurate as any term I’ve heard thrown around. One small pet peeve of Dan and I both is the reference to the Retul fit. The Retul is a tool. Dan likes to ask people if they make “measuring cup apple pie” as an analogy. So while the Retul is indeed a wonderful tool, it is still just a tool, which must be wielded correctly. I am still learning to utilize just the basics, but I am looking forward to mastering it over the course of the year.

Wednesday morning after the workshop I headed to LAX for my third trip to the airport already this year. After getting gouged $150 total in baggage fees, I boarded Hawaiian Airlines flight #1 for Maui, which is where Joel had set up our first training camp of the year. It felt a bit odd to be leaving the 85F and dry weather of Los Angeles for the 85F and humid weather of Maui, but for the folks from Victoria, it was a very welcome change. The welcome change for me is the chance to get back in shape swimming short course yards. That’s a bit of a gentler way to go. On the not-so-gentle front, we’ve had some serious storms blowing through (get it, “front” as in storms; I crack myself up). The wind has been constant and very strong, with gusts up to 50mph, and base winds in the 20 to 30mph range. My first trip up Baldwin Rd., which leads to the top of Haleakala, was rough with the combination of a headwind and the ever changing grade. The trip down was worse though, with the wind threatening to blast you at random intervals.

Immeadiately after the crater climb, though I suspect it started during the ride under the guise of a dry mouth in hot weather, the beginnings of a sore throat appeared. That has since disappated, but a nasty cold has taken its place, courtesy, I think, of one of the FIST workshop participants. Although, honestly, I’ve been around sick people plenty of times before. The real culprit was just a lack of sleep, too much time on airplanes, and probably a bit too much excitement in terms of getting back into training last week. So I will be taking it easy and doing all of the usual things to get back. I think a couple of easy days will have me ready to go on Monday. Beyond all that, it is also a continuing trend that I never get sick when Jill is around, which is apparently supported by literature that says that couples get sick less than single people. No report on couples that are single by virtue of distance, as I sit in Maui while Jill is in Vancouver.

I’ve got my trusty waterproof camera with me, so I’m not afraid to brave the storms for some photos. More to come now that I’m settled in until the beginning of February, when I return to LA (via Tucson; who doesn’t love travel?).