Monday, April 30, 2007

A Hot Ticket!

. . .finally I got a ride on a Melges 24 at this past weekend's Annapolis Nood event and despite our flooky wind conditions (I did not see much difference between the Chesapeake and Long Island Sound . . .); my time on "Blur" was a hoot! Thank you Steve and crew for a wonderful experience. We had one rippen ride on the last down wind leg, catching a lovely buff which got us from "0-60" and sustained for ~ 2-3min leaving us all quite satisfied . . .(it was a hot ride!).

Am I making the switch from my beloved Mumm30 . . .well; I still have to play on the M32 . . .but not there yet, however; it was amazing the ease and low stress experienced on the M24. It's truly pure fun will little fuss. Yet, the sailing experience is unique from the Mumm in my personal opinion and I did find myself wondering how my fellow Mumm folks were fairing and missed not being apart of the their action. Though . . .I sure would like to play with the Melges again soon (wink).

In truth . . .as long as I am pushing my own sailing abilities; I am happy to sail on pretty much anything but an Ensign (sorry . . . but I was traumatized earlier in my sailing career). In regards to pushing your abilities and staying in the game . . . spring training! My virtual training program is undergoing some major re-evaluation because the current set up is not working ~ stay tune Team SailTrim! However, the weather leaves no excuse for not being active and giving some good thought to summer sailing goals or winter (if you live down under!).

There are those of us who sail year round and those who play seasonally. If we were to think of us as two groups (not to discriminate, it's simply to explain a mental thought process here); when you sail year round it's easier to stay closer to one's "sailing form" vs the folks who switch gears and then feel the crunch come Spring time. I would like to give the Seasonal Sailor a little priority here with hopes to ensure a healthy start to the new season!

It is not healthy to think one can get into "race shape" 2 days before an event, but if they start with 30mins a day today; they'd feel the benefits on the water! I can hear the cringes of 30min/day . . .work is crazy, work to be done on the boat and the kids have soccer, etc! How is one to find 30mins/day . . . easy (please don't get upset with me just yet)!

It's a cumulative effort per day. . . take the stairs, park further away from the office and play with the kids. Hmm . . .while watching the news sit on the floor and stretch for 20mins at the end of the work day vs. just sitting on the sofa . . . want more??? (maybe not, however this is my blog (wink)) . . .work at a computer all day???

Get up! Try standing up and take 30-60sec a few times through the day to relax the hamstrings and ease tension in the lower back. Take a nice deep breath, step back from anything one could hit their head on and slowly exhale while reaching down to touch toes/floor . . . hang out and take a few breathes and on each exhalation mentally and physically relax the legs and see how much closer the floor gets!

The idea is to make a few mini daily changes, encouraging a little bit more activity which engages the mind and the body. It feels good, does not take much time and the end result is feeling both mentally and physically ready to do the things one enjoys.

Fair Winds ~ Jenn

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