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Mercer Island Sausage Pull

Heather — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:34:22 +0000

Some races you go to for the competition, or the beauty of the place… but the Sound Rowers Mercer Island Sausage Pull is all about the post race BBQ sausage feast!

I’ll explain more about the sausages later. We ARE there to race, too. So, a bit about that.

There is a 6-mile short course and a 14.5-mile long course which takes you around Mercer Island in Seattle. I chose the long course, trusting that the short course racers would leave some stuffed links of meat for the rest of us!

The weather agreed with us: slight breeze, heavy skies, but no real wind or rain. The race went smoothly, and I believe everyone entered recieved a ribbon.

When there are classes from pedal craft with ama’s -vs- pedal craft without ama and age divisions from open to masters to veterans to golden masters veterans, or something like that…. EVERYONE goes home with hardware!

Joking aside, it is amazing to see the crew who gathers for a Sound Rowers event like Mercer Island. I could list off all the types of boats and people… but, I will stick to the most impressive: Z Frank Danes, 91 years old, raced a solo kayak. Which course do you think he entered? The 14.5-mile long course! Inspiring!!!

I was first place amongst the surfskiers. Unless you consider the tandem men’s outrigger canoe who paddled with double-bladed wing paddles as a surfski? But, like everyone else, they were in a class of their own!

I am once again so grateful for Brandon who is not only willing to support my races, but who loves crewing and hanging with the kids as “shore crew.” And to Hayden and Jazzy for following us wherever we go! And, to this amazing place we live, and the community that we consider family.

Next on the calendar is the Paddle For Food Relay at Lake Padden, October 15th. For more info on this super fun, relay-style fundraising event, click HERE!

To see the Mercer Island race results, click HERE!

Oh, and the post-race sausage feast? Not a racer or crewperson whent hungry. Everywhere you looked, mouths were being stuffed with hot-off-the-grill kielbasas, bratwursts, and red-hots tastily slathered in sour kraut and mustard! If just the thought of that makes your mouth water, then come out next year and throw down with us!

See you on the water!!!

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PNW ORCA Distance Championships

Heather — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:59:36 +0000

This past year, with the hard work of a few local paddlers, Bellingham’s first outrigger canoe club became a reality. Bellingham Bay Outrigger Paddlers’ first OC6 canoe arrived in April.
Busy with sweet baby Jazzy, racing surfski and SUP, chasing Hayden and all the many joys of life, it wasn’t until three weeks ago that I finally stepped foot into the OC6.
Of course, me being me, I had a goal race in mind: The Pacific Northwest Outrigger Racing Championships. The 14+ mile race would be hosted by the Autumn Rose Canoe Club in the gorgeous and feisty waters between the Lummi Stommish Grounds and Lummi Island on September 17th.
Great, 3 weeks to prepare!
I was put on the women’s team. There was also a mixed team and a men’s team, which Brandon was racing on.
Can I just say, from the first workout, being in a boat with 5 strong, focused and athletic women is just awesome. There is no chit chat, no wasting time… from the moment we sat in the boat I realized these ladies meant business. And what a treat to paddle amongst them.
Within the boat, we had women who had racing backgrounds from Hawaii, California and Seattle. Each had somehow landed in Bellingham and were thrilled that their passion of paddling canoes was once again part of their life.
With three weeks to come together as a team, and for me to be brought up to speed on stroke and timing, we hit the training hard. We went long and hard, working on technique all the while, throwing in race-pace pieces to make sure we were giving it all we got. We practiced starts. We memorized the feel of the exact cadence we wanted to hold on race day. By the final practice before the race we were running like a well-oiled machine!
Race day arrives. The wind is howlin’. Hales passage is nukin’. The race organizers decide on a rectangular course where we go straight across the passage less than 1 mile, then upwind about 2.5 miles, back across the passage, then downwind. We would do the rectangle twice.
At 10:45 AM the women’s and mixed teams were off.
OK… this was fun! We crossed the passage with three foot waves beating us from the south (left), and as we approached the buoy, another OC6 crashing into us on our right.
“So it’s going to be THAT kind of race!” our steers-person, Candace, said with a bit of challenge in her voice.
We turned upwind and were faced with a sea of 3 – 4 foot waves and gusting winds. We powered into the wind together, feeling strong.
When we reached the next turn, we literally had to keep our bow pointed south into the wind as we ferried across, paddling our hearts out to the buoy turn that would then send us north for a glorious downwind surf.
Then downwind leg was worth every ounce of effort it took to get there! We road wave after beautiful wave in conditions that reminded me of the Columbia River Gorge.
Then, we rounded the start/finish buoy and set up to do it all again on lap #2!
As our 2nd lap began, there were two mixed teams ahead of us, and another right at our side.
With a steady stream of empowering cheers from Candace, “You are STRONG, you are BEAUTIFUL, you are AMAZING!” the race flew by. We swapped leads several times with the mixed team. We powered by them crossing the channel, then they past us back as we beat upwind. They increased their lead going back across the channel, then we closed the gap in the final downwind leg.
In the end they got us by less than a boat length. We were the first place women’s crew, and were ecstatic!
The BBOP men’s crew finished second, and the BBOP mixed team was second as well.
There is something incredible about being part of a crew of 6, each of your individual strengths coming together in perfect harmony to propel your boat through the water and to the finish. It is a nice compliment to the solo 6AM practices and surfski races.
Next on the calendar… Lake Samish Salmon Row, where Brandon and I will join forces in our first race in a tandem surfski !

THANK YOU Autumn Rose Canoe Club for a fabulous race event!

Heather, Brandon, Hayden and Jazlyn

What (and why) is Paddle Grand Prix

Heather — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:12:35 +0000

It’s not just for SUP this year! PADDLE GRAND PRIX is open to ALLL paddle-craft.
August 27th, two weeks from this Saturday, at Boulevard Park in Bellingham.
NOW HERE’S THE THING:
Entry fee is $35, and ***every red penny*** of that $35 goes STRAIGHT into Marshall Seaman’s and his family’s hands to help make a small dent in their newly acquired medical bills.
You could walk up to Marshall and just give him $35 cash, and he’d net exactly the same as if you entered the Paddle Grand Prix, but then you’d ALSO…
• Get to throw down oval-track style against hoards of other craft all driven by your closest friends and rivals!
• Get a custom, techy race shirt, with this year’s slogan on the back, which I’ll share in a minute!
• Chow down on the Post Race Feast!
• Raffle entry for world class shwag, from sponsors including Bellingham Kite/Paddle/Surf, Ruby Creek Boat House, Ocean Paddle Sports, Kialoa, Barlean’s, Deep Cove Kayak, Mt. Baker Ski Area, WinTech Racing & Stellar Surf Skis, Northwest Paddle Surfers, Bellingham Bay Outrigger Paddlers… and more.
• Free entry into the post-main-event “Paddle Hand Prix” – a 100-yard dash for a $100 cash – No Paddles Allowed!
• Inclusion in the Race for Your Life points series, of which Paddle Grand Prix is the first of the series!
Marshall Seaman is one of us: a passionate paddler and skier who adheres to the motto, “The one with the biggest smile wins!”
Racing the Paddle Grand Prix helps Marshall and helps get him back on the water sooner!
You can enter HERE:
You can just donate to Marshall (like recent $250 donor Erin Arnold just did) HERE
You can find us on Facebook HERE
And yes, remember that race shirt you get? Last year’s shirts still show up all over town, with the slogan on the back, “Stand Up & Throw Down!”
This year, in honor of Marshall and everyone else who steps up and just GETS IT DONE when life’s challenges rear their ugly heads, on the back of the shirt in big block letters is imprinted the timeless and all-powerful:
SHUT UP & SHOW IT!!!
Now, who’s in?

Top Gun Podcast: 2011 Women’s Mountain Bike Racer Courtenay McFadden

Heather — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:21:07 +0000

Is it possible to achieve Top Gun if you only train for your leg in just over a year? No? Well, you’re wrong! Just ask 2011 Mountain Bike Top Gun Courtenay McFadden.

She’s been doing the Ski to Sea for 6 years now but she started with the dreaded Downhill Run – which she swore never to do again, to Road Bike and then the Mountain Bike Leg for this year.

Listen as Courtenay talks about the work she does in Bellingham Athletic Club, how her Masters Degree have helped her to be the athlete that she is right now to how she became a part of the Cross Fit X team.

She’s one fun gal to talk to and you’d just get drawn to her ‘love of life and love of sport’ attitude.

So let’s get right into it, here we go!

Paddle Grand Prix Race Registration OPEN

Heather — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:22:31 +0000

Attention ALL Paddlers! Registration for 2011 Paddle Grand Prix is open and ready for you to sign up to THROWN DOWN!

You have choices: You can register online by CLICKING HERE! Or, you can print this PDF, fill it out, and mail it in. OR, you can register the day of the race!

The Paddle Grand Prix is open to ALLLL front-facing paddle and pedal craft this year, so whatever your boat of choice, bring it!

And, if you didn’t know already, all proceeds from the 2011 Paddle Grand Prix are going to local paddler and ski patroller Marshall Seaman to help offset medical costs. Marshall was stricken with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and continues his recovery to this day. He and his family incurred massive medical expenses, and this event is a small gesture to help them offset their costs.

Heather & Brandon

Ski to Sea Countdown!!! Are YOU Ready to THROW DOWN?

Heather — Tue, 10 May 2011 05:16:47 +0000

There are three weeks to go until Ski to Sea RACE DAY! Are you ready? Have you gotten your miles in? Pumped iron in the gym or torn it up on the trail for some cross training? Maybe entered a few races this spring? Then you are right where you want to be! Bring it on!

But, there is more! Come race day, if you are racing for 1st or 301st, when you are in a showdown with the racer next to you, you are going to throw down with all you have! And, there are always a few extra things you can do to have the edge you need to have the race of lifetime!

WHAT more could I POSSIBLY do, you ask!? With three weeks to go, this is the time to fine tune every aspect of your race. The kayak leg of the Ski to Sea is not just kayaking. It is a multi-sport endeaver where seconds or even minutes can be lost anywhere along the way.

Your race begins with a challenge that takes every bit of hand-eye coordination and timing you have. Your mountain biker comes in hot! You have your hand out, ready to receive the timing card. They throw, you miss! You are on your hand and knees, crawling to pick up the card. More racers come in. They hand-off cleanly. You fall back 5 spots, and you are still 1/4 mile from your kayak!!!

Talk to your mountain biker ahead of time about the hand-off! Practice, visualize. It really can save you time (and embarrassment!!!).

OK. You have the timing chip. Now, the RUN. Run, you ask??? Yes, now you run 1/4 mile down the walkway at Zuanich to where your boat is waiting on the grass. How do you pace this? The racer who sprints ALLLLL out typically gets in his boat red-faced, out of breath, muscles burning. Not a great way to start a 5-mile paddle!

Practice it. Pace it. Know how fast you can go and still begin the paddle comfortably.

Oh yeah… you have to carry your boat and paddle down a steep ramp, lower it into the water, then get in from a somewhat high dock and THEN you can begin your paddle. Another place to make a plan, practice and look like a champ! Do you want help with your boat? You can have someone carry the stern for you. Find that person before the race. Have them wait by your boat. When they see you running down the path, they should be ready! Or, if you want to carry it alone, practice practice practice!!!

Congratulations!!! You are finally on the water!!!

The kayak leg of the S2S is a zig zag zig of a course. If the winds are coming from the south as they typically do, I like to think of it as an upwind, downwind, upwind leg. This helps me chose my strategy and pace. Power into the winds then relax, recover and try to catch some surf on the downwind.

Chose what strategy works best for you. To do this, you should have an estimate of how long you will be on the water. Times range from 38 minutes for an elite racer to 2 hours for a recreational paddler. What kind of pace can you hold for that length of time? Do you need hydration or calories of some sort while you are out on the course?

OK, you have completed the 5-mile course with flying colors! You passed several kayaks, moving your team up 3 positions in their class! Now, the final leg!! You reach Marine Park. 1000′s of fans are cheering. The crux here, is gracefully exiting your boat and running up the rocky beach with wobbly legs and a numb behind and a heart rate of 180 from that final sprint you did to pass one last racer.

Do you know how to exit your boat? Do you have to pull a sprayskirt? Are your legs going to collapse the minute your feet teach the ground? Definitely practice your dismount!!! You are going to impress your teammates to no end when you gracefully hop out of your boat, glide up the beach and ring the finish line bell!!!

My main point here is, there are so many things you can do to give you that much more of an edge. To get more ideas, no matter what leg you compete in, DOWNLOAD 100 Speed Tips for Ski to Sea NOW! , where we asked about a dozen of the area’s most passionate and high-performance racers to contribute their favorite tips and techniques to help gain that extra mile-an-hour on race day.

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Hope to see you at the Ski to Sea!!!!

Heather, Brandon, Hayden and Jazlyn

Sabrina Harper Podcast: 2-time, 2-different-sport TOP GUN!

Heather — Mon, 02 May 2011 15:58:05 +0000

You read that headline right: Boundary Bay Brewery’s Sabrina Harper was Top Gun in 2009 in the Run leg of the race…

Then she came back in 2010, having traded with teammate Brooke Gosling so this year she’d be doing the Downhill Ski leg, and she’s freaking TOP GUN AGAIN!!!

Meanwhile, her team, Boundary Bay Brewery, puts their 11th notch in the victory belt! UN-BELIEVABLE racing, ladies.

But Sabrina’s no stranger to high level competition and racing, as you’ll hear in the podcast. Kick back… or better yet load this sucker on your iPod and hit the trails for some hardcore effort.

Because it’s a given that Sabrina’s out training, and getting ready to go for Top Gun #3!

Enjoy!

Top Gun Podcast: Max Taam, Downhill Skier

Heather — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:33:24 +0000

We’re proud to release the latest episode in the Top Gun Racer Podcast series.

In this show, Episode #4, we visit with Max Taam of Boss Construction explain how living at altitude and “skinning to work” helped him achieve Top Gun in the 2010 Ski to Sea.

Max is a member of the US Ski Mountaineering Team — a perfect passion for preparing for the “Downhill” ski leg of the Ski to Sea, which he describes as “95% uphill!”

Listen in, and be sure to check out the rest of the Top Gun Racer Podcasts on the Top Gun Podcast page.

Oh, and if you’ve got comments, suggestions or ideas for the podcast, call the voicemail hotline at 360-389-2489.

Enjoy!

Ski to Sea Top Gun Racer Podcast!

Heather — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 04:13:45 +0000

Feeding the insatiable need to keep experimenting with new media and just new ‘things’ in general, we’ve recently launched the new “Ski to Sea Top Gun Racer Podcast!”

The premise is this: Interview as many of the current Ski to Sea Top Guns — that is, the fastest men and women from each leg of the race — get their stories, secrets and tips for going fast on race day, and share them with the world.

So far, so good! We’re 3 podcast episodes into the venture, having already interviewed:

Sarah Konrad, 2010 Women’s XC Ski Top Gun
Robin Secrist, 2010 Women’s Road Bike Top Gun, and…
Bill Torongo, 2010 Men’s Canoe Top Gun
With plenty more on the way!

Initial feedback has been AWESOME, and the project has been super rewarding and just downright FUN!

Check out the podcast, and subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single episode! Lots more good interviews to come!

Fit Pregnancy… Fit Recovery!

Heather — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:15:26 +0000

Tonight was my first ‘Wednesday Nighter’ of the year. This is our informal, once a week, 3.5-mile pick-up paddle race, where we gauge our fitness as we race the clock and about 60 other racers every Wed Night from March through Sept.
When I was pregnant with Hayden I wrote about my Pregnant Athlete Workout, Part I and Part II. My goals then were:
1. To keep our baby healthy and happy;
2. To keep me healthy and happy;
3. To make the post-birth return to athletics as easy as possible on my body;
4. To take advantage of this time to have fun and take the pressure of performing at a certain level off myself for awhile.
Looking back, I realize I was four for four with my goals:
1. and 2. Both Hayden and I were healthy and happy throughout the pregnancy and birth.
3. The return to athletics was smoother than I ever could have dreamed. After the birth of Hayden, I was not only building back into my workout routine after only about a week, but, was back in top race shape in 3 months.
4. And, I did have fun with my pregnancy.
5. As a huge bonus… Hayden loves racing and charging life as much we do. He’s also come to love our paddling community like family… which they are.
Now, to Jazzy…
Tonight, exactly two weeks after Jazlyn was born, I got to race my first ‘Wednesday Nighter’ paddle race. Tell you what… it felt GREAT!!! To know I have been running, lifting, hiking and paddling over the past nine months… maybe not fast, but getting out there and doing it… I felt as fit as anyone out there.
And when a friend calls you “an inspiration” after the race, that just downright makes me glow! And, reminds me to keep sharing my story…
If I can encourage a few pregnant ladies out there… get out and feel great and beautiful and fit when you are pregnant!!! It feels amazing, and the road to getting your body and fitness back is so much shorter! And when you need to chase around a three-year-old while toting your newbie along, you will thank yourself for the energy and endurance you find deep within!
(Do remember, this is just me sharing my story… Be smart, do what feels comfortable for you, and listen to the advice of your midwife or doctor! And, always listen to your body and stay hydrated & fueled!)
See you out there!!!

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Thanks for the pictures Mikyn!!!