A Day to Chill

today is a light day - Just a swim in Theitus lake and a massage a little later on. I hitched a ride with coach Paul since the like was a little too far to ride the bike - and I have no sense of direction on this Island apparently! We were the first ones there and as Paul was unloading the kayak, I walked down to the beack to see the other swimmers there and some strange creatue making ripples in the water near the dock. I watched for a few minutes alonside a strange man standing on the beach trying to figure out what on earth was in this water...when suddenly a head popped up - then a scuba diver emerged! Hahaha!! - we had a good laugh about that one. soon enough it was time to get the wetsuits on and hit the water. we started with a warm up and some beach starts (which I am horrible at by the way...ahem, I mean it's a major GROWTH area!) then it was onto some long tempo swimming. I have a new toy now - the tempo trainer - the new voice in my head. beep....beep...stroke...stroke - it's a good thing. I have figured out that all the swimming I do on my own is good in many ways, but i think i am losing sight of the competitive edge i can have in the water. long easy swimming solo puts you in a zone, but i think the zone i have settled into is a little slower than what i am capable of. so with the tempo trainer, i picked up my stroke rate and hung on better than before - comfortable in the wetsuit, feeling good in the water, and swimming along in the pack - i love it. what a great opportunity to train like this! I came out of that swim feeling great - then realizing i need to practice my wetsuit removal tecniques...
After the swim, I got to go home and chill out until my massage. I got some of my stuff ready for tomorrow's run and ride since i knew it would be a long day, then got to take out my homestay's car to got to my massage. yes, i studied the map and knew where i was headed - didnt want to get too lost! i made it around town and got to run a few errands like buy some fruit, send the post cards i bought of places I have yet to see, get a chocolate chip cookie....or two. I made to my awesome massage then it was time to rush home to get picked up to go downtown for dinner. Sam and Bree swung by to pick me up then we took a little detour to Mount Doug - one of the best views around. im not sure if its the highest point on the island, but you could see forever up there.....

then we made it to dinner and walked around the waterfront a bit - finally I got to see some of the things on the post cards I sent out! Dinner was good, although I wasn't too impressed with the Margharita - super weak! but that was probably a good thing considdering the day we have in store for us tomorrow....