SANTA BARBARA TRAINING WEEKEND RECAP

The encyclopedia defines the word “Barbarian” as:

A “noble savage”, often represented as “lone warriors”. Several characteristics commonly shared:

* Extreme physical prowess

* Unmatched fighting skill

* An appetite for, and the ability to attract women (or men in the case of female barbarians)

* Meat eating

* An appetite for large amounts of alcohol

* A blending of British, Germanic, Slavic, and nomadic Turco-Mongol cultures

* A strong sorcery element that is almost never used by the barbarian character

* A violent temper

* A robust tolerance for pain

The Kain Performance Santa Barbara Training Weekend would have its own version of “Barbarian” and it was not far off the fantasy version. 8 Workouts in 3 days. Coach Kain had set up the challenge to all heading down to SB. Finish all workouts, plus a few push-ups and crunches and be crowned “Santa Barbarian”!

The folks who completed all the workouts showed extreme physical prowess, a very robust tolerance for pain, at times a violent temper when confronted with extreme cold water, meat eating while socializing with attractive men and women at an incredible dinner Saturday night at the Fish House, with large quantities of alcohol. They weren’t confronted, so did not need to show off their fighting skill, but were ready if given a chance. These Santa Barbarians were tough, were not fazed by the hours of brutality they would endure while swimming in frigid water, cycling for hours on end and being forced to run on tired legs! These Barbarians went about their business with smiles and laughter and had an absolute BLAST!

Read below for more on the SB Training Weekend.

List of Santa Barbarians is at the end of this recap! (Sorry if we missed anyone)

We hit Santa Barbara on a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L weekend! The weather was just the start of what was a great weekend of training for the KP members who made the trek to SB!

After Coach Kain’s email with the challenge of becoming a “Santa Barbarian”, the first workout of the weekend on Friday had great attendance, with about 15 “eager and ready” would be Barbarians! We started with a nice 40 minute endurance paced run along the coast. It was a great start to the weekend. We also started our first set of push-ups and crunches! We then went right over to the Los Banos pool and jumped in with the Santa Barbara Masters Swim workout. It’s a great 50 meter pool right on the beach. We swam for just over an hour and got in some good “quality” with some speed sets! We swam between 1,500-3,000 meters. It was an early evening with an ocean swim planned for 8:00am the next morning.

We woke up to a beautiful day, with sunny skies! It made getting in the 58 degree water a bit more bearable. The “Barbarian” group had grown overnight to about 30 strong! I guess a few people had to work on Friday! ALMOST everyone took the plunge into the Pacific and swam out to a buoy about 300 meters offshore. The swim was a counterclockwise rectangle and took about 20 minutes. The “loop” was close to 1,000 meters. A few of the toughest “Barbarians” did the loop twice. A great way to start any day, but it was COLD!

We thawed out and had a great breakfast, then it was on the bikes for our annual 70 mile ride around Lake Casitas. The weather was spectacular and the paceline heading down the coast was a solid 30 strong. We hit the 101 South and things got a bit frantic with 30+ hitting the freeway all at once! Everyone made it through the freeway section in one piece, with NO FLATS!! We stopped in Ventura for a quick drink break, then headed out toward the Lake. This ride is tough, as most of the climbing is during the final 30 miles, not the first 30. The group stayed together until the climbs, then spread out into two groups. Coach Randy “I swam last year” Pufahl led a solid front group which included:

Paul “I don’t swim, or run” Bryant

Tony “The Austrian Sensation” Jager

Greg “Get on my wheel” Roussel

Russell “Just missed Barbarian status” Shaw

Lihan “1^st Time SB Barbarian” Wang

Bill “Crash course for WF Training” Wang

Kim “going to qualify for IM at Honu” Mygatt

Patrick “Ironman Utah or bust” McDonalD

Don “2002 KP Member” Barry

Suzanne “No IM for me this year” Slivkoff

Eric “this KP Team is tough” Walters.

Coach Kain led the second group up the climbs and made them all do Toro Canyon coming back to Santa Barbara. The group hung tough, led by:

Jana “Banana” Crane

Lori “Honu will be cake” Bradford

Carol “give me an epidural” Fredrickson

Laura “1^st Time Barbarian” Coyne

Kristy “1^st Time Barbarian” Cisco

Joanne “racing at Oceanside next week” Wicker

Coach John “Original Barbarian” Magee

Evelyne “Viva La France” Guillouet.

Cristiana “IronWoman” Riedl, came in shortly after with Coach “I love SB” Sharoo, then onto the run. Once off the bike it was onto a flat and as fast as you wanted to run 3-4 miles to Stearns Wharf and back. (Laurie “SB Rocks” Kehl and Laurie “Go Skirts” Boswell both made the ride down the coast to Ventura, then hitched a ride back!)

After a short hot tub and a shower we all headed down to The Fish House on the water just down the street from East Beach. We had a great dinner and lots of fun with everyone. the next morning we woke up to yet another frigid ocean swim at 8:15am. Not quite as big a group for this swim, but still over 15 strong taking the plunge! After the swim it was onto the flat and scenic longer run along the coast. We did about 11 miles, with Coach Kain and Russel Shaw leading the charge along the coast. It was another beautiful day on the beach. Everyone had a great run, then it was onto another “wheat germ pancake” breakfast! The final workout of the weekend was a good spin up the coast and through Hope Ranch up to Goleta Beach and back. The “Santa Barbarian” group was looking a bit tired by now, but still charging ahead!

Thanks to all who made the KP Santa Barbara Training Weekend a success! We got in some great training, met some new people and had a blast! Thank you to Jody Gold for making all the arrangements for a great weekend!

Here is the list of those who completed every workout, our Santa Barbarians!!!

Workouts completed:

Friday, 3/19/09 – Run – 40 minutes – (4-6 miles)

Swim – SB Masters Swim - up to 3,000 meters

Saturday, 3/20/09 – Swim – 20-30 minutes – Ocean swim (very cold!)

Bike - 65 - 80 miles – Lake Casitas loop. Awesome!!

Run – 20-30 minutes (3-4 miles)

Sunday, 3/21/09 – Swim – 20 minute – Ocean swim (Chilly willy!)

Run – 1 hour-1.5 hours (up to 11 miles)

Bike – 28 miles

Each day – Up to 50-100 Push-ups and 50-100 Crunches!!!

Totals (roughly) – Swim – 2 – 3 miles

Bike – 90 - 105 miles

Run – up to 20 miles

- 150-300 Total Push-ups, 150-300 Total Crunches

KP Santa Barbarians: They did it all!!! This group is tough!

Female –

Lori “3-time Barbarian” Bradford

Jana “I did it again” Crane

Carol “Just give me a shot” Fredrickson

Laura “1^st Time Barbarian” Coyne

Kristy “1^st Time Barbarian” Cisco

Coach Sharoo “Skirted it!” Kain

Male –

Tony “The Austrian Barbarian” Jager

Patrick “2-Time Barbarian” McDonald

John “The Original Barbarian” Magee

Don “What’s next?” Barry

Lihan “1^st Time Barbarian” Wang

Bill “1^st Time Barbarian” Wang

Coach “Who’s idea was this anyway” Kain (actually swam one ocean swim, but surf paddled the second!)

***Some were close, missing just one (or two) workout, but alas, that won’t get you Barbarian status, so maybe next year…

Greg “Missed the Sunday Ocean swim” Roussel

Russell “Missed the final bike ride” Shaw

Kim “Just could not swim on Sunday” Mygatt

Joanne “I’m racing Oceanside” Wicker

Christiana “Missed the Saturday ocean swim” Riedl

Evelyne “Viva la Santa Barbara” Guillouet

Eric “Evelyne made me do it” Walters

Randy “Missed the swims + Friday” Pufahl

Suzanne “I hate cold water” Slivkoff

Great job to all who made it to SB! Can’t wait for next year! Put it on your schedule now!

Thanks,

Coach’s Pete + Sharoo

www.kainperformance.com