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Hey there Newsletter readers,
Welcome back to my tiny part of the world. Lots has been moving and shaking since the last (very long) newsletter. It’s hard to believe we are over halfway through summer here, which means we still have lots of fun to come, so stay tuned. Though admittedly, summer kinda lasts most of the year here in Mallorca.
As always, I’ll give a quick recap of the happenings on the website lately, and then you can scroll on down to my
If you’ve somehow missed it, Ray and Des resurrected the Fit File Podcast, and Ray and I also do a video series, “Shed Talkin’”. Both of those have recently dropped episodes, so be sure to check them out!
In an unprecedented move, Ray published his Annual Gear I Use Post in the summer rather than end of the season. Granted, many of you have ribbed him about this over the years, that posting it in the winter isn’t helpful, and people would have liked the ideas during their regular season of training. So, there you go, all the goods that Ray uses. To my dismay, he in fact posted this without giving me a heads-up. So, you can only see mine from November (The Gear The Girl Uses). Don’t cry for me. It was either updating my list, or getting this newsletter out!
Rouvy acquires BKOOL in what was probably one of only two options for BKOOL. So it will be interesting to see how Rouvy balances this new threesome relationship, as they now have BKOOL, plus their FulGaz acquisition from earlier this year. Stay tuned.
Ray also had the audacity to hit publish on his post about Apple's new Watch OS 26, including Workout Buddy, just as I was scrolling down to write the In-Depth Thoughts section. So if you’re reading this part of the newsletter, I didn’t read his post out of spite. I did however, endure most of the testing for this thing, as Ray ran alongside me with a giant speaker in his pocket, and some Apple lady giving us (sometimes rogue) workout updates. You can also just watch the initial thoughts of the workout buddy on the YouTubes.
FORM Smart Swim 2 Pro Googles have made their rounds in our house, and now finally to the website. I have to say, I’ve always enjoyed swimming in the pool with these goggles. I’m totally that person who likes to look at their watch mid-flip turn on the 100m splits to see my paces, yes, I will stop mid flip, hover at the wall, look at watch, and then finish push off. It drives Ray mad. So these goggles alleviate that poolside commentary as I can just watch my pace the entire time. I find that really motivating during sets, and it tends to bring out better efforts from me. But I tried them open water swimming and just couldn’t get past the (lack of) field of vision. Anyways, I’m sure you’re more interested in the tech, and the subscription side of things, but that’s my 2 cents.
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In-Depth Thoughts of The Girl
Hurray, we are back in the fun section!
Thank you so much to those who actually read that entire race report from last time! That was a long one, and believe it or not, I mulled over that for a few days, trying to cut it down in length. So now that the race is done and dusted, what are we up to?
The summer is always an interesting time. We are juggling summer break with our girls’ summer camps, we are moving the house and moving the office all before heading to Canada, and then, of course, still trying to maintain some sort of work/life/training balance. This is always the time of year I need to ask myself during the juggling act “what balls are made of rubber and what balls are made of glass”, because ultimately, I’m gonna miss catching them all.
I will say summer camp for our kids here has been a huge success, perhaps because the summer in Spain actually feels like summer. Hahaha, I mean that in all kindness, but the Netherlands' “summers” weren’t always kind in the weather department. So the kids are thrilled to be sailing, swimming, beach-going everyday, and even HAPPIER because their Daddy-O got the cargo bike fixed up (again)!
The joy on our kids' faces to get to ride in the cargo bike is genuinely unmatched. A massive kudos to Ray, because the Urban Arrow has honestly struggled here. He’s replaced so many parts on the bike to get it to survive our new terrain here. Unfortunately, I still can’t get it back up our 17+% hill on the way home (empty), and Ray can’t get it home with all the girls in it. So, for now, it’s a single-use bike (Ray), and a one-way trip for the girls. Hopefully we can get that sorted for the new school year, because I, too, really miss the 2-wheel mini van! Stay tuned.
I’ve gone a little rogue on my coach the past two weeks. With so much to do before I make the annual migration with the 3 girls to Newfoundland, I just wanted to run, ride, and swim as I could manage. Sticking to a strict training schedule just added more stress to the mix. So Ray and I have been out running, swimming, and taking on epic cycling climbs at random, and I have to say it’s been so so nice. We even went out for a 4 hour hike to a part of the island I haven’t been to before. Not something I’ll allow the luxury of, come September, but right now it was needed.
Ray and I have even knocked out two of the bigger climbing routes on the island in the past two weeks. The backside loop via Andratx, which I had done one time before, and the classic Soller route, which had been on my Mallorca bucket list for some time now. Both rides were about 4.5 hours and well over 5,000ft/1,500m of climbing. Though I think we both gave ourselves even more credit due to ride completion during Spanish heat waves!
And lastly, I’ve started working with a swim coach. Currently, it’s been preliminary stuff, just stroke analysis, etc. It was a funny realization when some of the initial feedback came siting that some areas for improvement (example: extremely high elbow in the arm recovery phase), were parts of my swim technique that I was very confident in/ doing on purpose. Throughout my swim sessions, I always talk to myself, focusing on the stages of the stroke: Relaxed hand entry, reach, over the barrel, high elbow, hold the water, pull through with fingers drawing straight line on pool floor until thumb hits the hip, then elbow pulls arm out of the water, elbow stays high while leading the hand back into the water, repeat.
I’m sure I missed a few cues there, but you get the point. My goal is always envisioning high elbows. I’ve always focused on the “marionette strings” pulling the elbow up and out of the water, and the higher you could get that elbow the more shoulder you could also get out of the water for “free speed”. Anyways, turns out, that that’s now considered a little old school technique, and not actually the best technique for a long-distance, open water swimmer. Haha Well I guess that’s what I get for not hopping in the pool or asking for help from a swim coach since… cough.. 2011.
I’ve really enjoyed some of the new swim education I’ve gotten so far, but the real work will start in September when I get to hop in the pool/ocean with the new (to me) coach. I’ll try to get lots of comparison pictures for you guys if you’re interested.
As you probably know, I’m really looking forward to Marbella this fall, and improving my is a big goal of mine. I’m kind of tired of getting out of the swim 7-9 minutes behind the rest of my AG and trying to track them all down over the bike and run.
I used to be able to consistently swim a 30-32 minute 70.3 time, and while I don’t know if I can get back down to that again, I’d really love to reliably swim in the 32-34 time frame. Time will tell, and getting some one on one coaching, while doesn’t guarantee anything, I’m hoping will get me closer to that goal.
Lots of cool stuff coming down the pipes in the next 2 months or so, so I’ll be trying my best to make sure the Newsletter juggling ball remains a glass ball and not a rubber one! I’ll see you again in 2 weeks!
As always, thanks for being a DC Rainmaker Newsletter Subscriber. Bobbie |
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