Yesterday, Matt and I competed in our first ever swim meet. What a blast! We were both nervous as hell walking out on to the pool deck - wondering what we had gotten ourselves into, but once things got underway, it turned out to be a great day.
It was the Nanaimo Ebbtides 26th Annual Masters Swim Meet at the Nanaimo Aquatic Center. The team we swim with is the Navy Masters who is coached by Lieutenant Tony Zezza. We swim Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 6-7:20am at the pool at the base.
Matt's raced in the:
200 meter men's relay (Our team (men 160-199) placed 1st in their age category!!!)
100 meter freestyle
50 meter freestyle (3rd Place in his age category! (25-29)
25 meter freestyle and (2nd Place in his age category!)
200 meter mixed freestyle relay
Amber's Races included:
100 meter freestyle
50 meter freestyle
200 meter freestyle (2nd in my age category (30-34) *What an experience! 200m is definitely painful!
25 meter freestyle and
200 meter mixed freestyle relay
As you can see, Matt is proving to be very talented in the pool! I can't say the same for myself but I'm getting better (or so I think). At the very least, I'm having fun :)
We've really come to like the whole Masters experience and are sure that this is something we will continue to do for the rest of our lives. It was inspiring to see so many elderly men and women out there competing and keeping in shape. If you've ever thought about joining a Masters Club, we would highly recommend it!
From Wikipedia:
"Masters swimming is a special class of competitive swimming for swimmers 25 years or older (Canada and the USA allow adults 18 and over and have an 18-24 age group, while Australia allows adults 20 and over and has a 20-24 age group). They compete within age groups of five years, with a swimmer's age group in a certain year determined by his/her age on the last day of that year:
Age Groups: 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, and so on at 5-year increments, the last group being for any age above 100 years.
The rules and distances are nearly the same as for competitive swimming. However, meet programs include 2 mixed (2 men/2 women) relay events in addition to the all men's and all women's relay events. Mixed relays are swum exclusively in masters' competition. The age groups for the relay events is determined by the sum of the ages of each team component, allowing for swimmers of very different ages to compete together in the same team. Age groups for relays are 100-119, 120-159, 160-199, and so on at 40-year increments.
Masters Swimming is a fast growing leisure activity, particularly in North America and Australia but also in Europe. Most towns or cities now have masters clubs. Typically these are very friendly and welcome newcomers. The minimum requirements to join a Masters club vary widely, anywhere from the ability to swim one length of the pool to the ability to swim a kilometre without stopping. Club members will follow a set of different drills and swims each time typically covering anything from 1.5 km to 3.5 km. Each club will have lanes and so whilst the younger and faster swimmers who are competing nationally and regionally are at one end, the other lanes are for hobbyists who may have taken up swimming quite recently".
A
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
The official results are in...
After much anticipation, Bear Mountain has finally posted the official results for the race on Saturday.
I couldn't be more happy!
Overall Place: 147 out of 305
Division Ranking: 8 out of 42 (Age category: Female 30-39)
Official Time: 56 minutes
Official Pace: 5:36
Hmmmmm.... what should I conquer next.....
A
P.S. Scroll to bottom of blog for new photos from overseas
I couldn't be more happy!
Overall Place: 147 out of 305
Division Ranking: 8 out of 42 (Age category: Female 30-39)
Official Time: 56 minutes
Official Pace: 5:36
Hmmmmm.... what should I conquer next.....
A
P.S. Scroll to bottom of blog for new photos from overseas
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Bear Mountain 10km - Canada's hardest 10km
This afternoon I'm at home recovering from the Bear Mountain 10km race - known as Canada's hardest 10km! The weather was cool with some fog and showers but despite that it was a great morning. I've been trying to go back and re-run the races I ran last year to see how I've progressed over the past year. I can honestly say that my recent interest in running and racing only started last year when I signed up for the Royal Victoria 1/2 Marathon - looking for something that would literally scare me into running. With Matt cheering me on from the sidelines (due to a quad injury), I was ready to go. And go I did. I'm still waiting for the official results which will be posted tomorrow but a quick look at the unofficial results had me finishing 8th in my age group (female 30-39) in approx. 56 minutes, which is amazing considering that it took me 1 hr 1 min to run the same race last year. Amber :)
www.bearmountain10k.ca
On the topic of running, it was only a few weeks ago that Matt and I ran the Royal Victoria 1/2 Marathon. This was Matt's first 1/2 marathon and my second. Take a look at our results - we were so happy!
Amber's Results:
Overall: 1112/4268
M/F: 385/2674
Div: 67/375 (Female 30-34)
Chip Time: 1:51:50 (Pace 5:18/km - 8:32/mi)
(My 2007 Chip Time: 2:00:31)
Matt's Results:
Overall: 876/4268
M/F: 606/1594
Div: 81/187 (Male 25-29)
Chip Time: 1:48:02 (Pace 5:07/km - 8:14/mi)
www.royalvictoriamarathon.com
www.bearmountain10k.ca
On the topic of running, it was only a few weeks ago that Matt and I ran the Royal Victoria 1/2 Marathon. This was Matt's first 1/2 marathon and my second. Take a look at our results - we were so happy!
Amber's Results:
Overall: 1112/4268
M/F: 385/2674
Div: 67/375 (Female 30-34)
Chip Time: 1:51:50 (Pace 5:18/km - 8:32/mi)
(My 2007 Chip Time: 2:00:31)
Matt's Results:
Overall: 876/4268
M/F: 606/1594
Div: 81/187 (Male 25-29)
Chip Time: 1:48:02 (Pace 5:07/km - 8:14/mi)
www.royalvictoriamarathon.com
Sunday, November 9, 2008
What a year!
As everyone knows, we haven't been the best at keeping in touch over the past year... But we thought that if we told you what we've been up to - and why we've been so busy - you'd forgive us and we could start fresh with this new blog :)
January actually had both of us at home but that soon changed in February when Matt went to Halifax for training and Amber went to Sydney, Australia and Hawaii with work.
Not soon after Matt got back in March, he was packing up for a 4 month deployment to the Far East onboard HMCS OTTAWA, stopping in Dutch Harbour, Alaska enroute.
As luck would have it, Amber flew t0 Okinawa, Japan - for work - but also got to meet up with Matt once there. Amber sailed from Okinawa onboard HMCS REGINA for a few weeks, while Matt stayed onboard OTTAWA. After a transfer at sea, Amber ended up onboard OTTAWA with Matt where we sailed into Kagoshima, Japan, a beautiful little town that has an active volcano 'watching' over the city.
From Kagoshima, we sailed to Incheon, South Korea and spent time exploring Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone on the border of North Korea. Both got to step-into North Korea... but only for a second!
From Korea, we sailed into Shanghai, China, just a few weeks after the earthquake had struck. After a short visit, Amber flew back to Canada while Matt continued on to Manilla in the Phillipines.
Matt then headed towards Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and met back up with Amber, who was there for work. While Matt was enjoying the good life on our Canadian ships, Amber sailed onboard the USS KITTY HAWK for 3 weeks - what an 'interesting' experience! Amber then flew home to wait for Matt's return in August.
Now it was finally time for some vacation! We spent a week in the Okanagan enjoying the beautiful scenery and sampling lots of the local wineries. We then flew to Toronto to visit Amber's family and on to Nova Scotia to visit with Matt's family. Matt stayed in Halifax for some more training while Amber got back just in time to leave for India for work.
She flew into Chennai, India and met up with the two Canadian ships that were leaving the Persian Gulf for home and then visited the Indian Eastern Fleet in Vishakapatnam. From there she flew to Phuket, Thailand for a few days and then on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Before Amber had even returned home, Matt went to Penticton, BC for the Mountain Flying Course. November is finally here and looks like we might actually be in the same city for a few months - which is a lifetime in military terms! We have tonnes of great pictures from our adventures described above and promise to post them soon.
January actually had both of us at home but that soon changed in February when Matt went to Halifax for training and Amber went to Sydney, Australia and Hawaii with work.
Not soon after Matt got back in March, he was packing up for a 4 month deployment to the Far East onboard HMCS OTTAWA, stopping in Dutch Harbour, Alaska enroute.
As luck would have it, Amber flew t0 Okinawa, Japan - for work - but also got to meet up with Matt once there. Amber sailed from Okinawa onboard HMCS REGINA for a few weeks, while Matt stayed onboard OTTAWA. After a transfer at sea, Amber ended up onboard OTTAWA with Matt where we sailed into Kagoshima, Japan, a beautiful little town that has an active volcano 'watching' over the city.
From Kagoshima, we sailed to Incheon, South Korea and spent time exploring Seoul and the Demilitarized Zone on the border of North Korea. Both got to step-into North Korea... but only for a second!
From Korea, we sailed into Shanghai, China, just a few weeks after the earthquake had struck. After a short visit, Amber flew back to Canada while Matt continued on to Manilla in the Phillipines.
Matt then headed towards Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) and met back up with Amber, who was there for work. While Matt was enjoying the good life on our Canadian ships, Amber sailed onboard the USS KITTY HAWK for 3 weeks - what an 'interesting' experience! Amber then flew home to wait for Matt's return in August.
Now it was finally time for some vacation! We spent a week in the Okanagan enjoying the beautiful scenery and sampling lots of the local wineries. We then flew to Toronto to visit Amber's family and on to Nova Scotia to visit with Matt's family. Matt stayed in Halifax for some more training while Amber got back just in time to leave for India for work.
She flew into Chennai, India and met up with the two Canadian ships that were leaving the Persian Gulf for home and then visited the Indian Eastern Fleet in Vishakapatnam. From there she flew to Phuket, Thailand for a few days and then on to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Before Amber had even returned home, Matt went to Penticton, BC for the Mountain Flying Course. November is finally here and looks like we might actually be in the same city for a few months - which is a lifetime in military terms! We have tonnes of great pictures from our adventures described above and promise to post them soon.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)