2011 July |

The Midwest Barefoot Regionals

My first tournament experience was such a great one, and I was looking forward to heading back up to the Blue Moo for the Midwest Barefoot Regionals. The back seat was filled with boxes of Popchips, sponsored by Popchips Chicago. The barefooters seemed to enjoy the chips, including the youngest, soon-to-be-a-barefooter, Ryker Meskers:

Holly Buchman was surprised to find out that Popchips are only 100 calories per bag. Even so, she worked for her chips:

And who knew that Keith St. Onge is a sucker for Popchips too:

I was hoping to conquer my tumble turns and one foots at this tournament, but that didn’t happen. I still have a long way to go to master those tricks on the water. Slalom wasn’t so hot either– I couldn’t get a comfortable stance on the water and wobbled all over the place. That’s barefooting for you– one day you’ll have a great run, the next day you’re a beginner all over again.

At the end of the tournament, just as I was getting into my car to head back to the hotel, another barefooter caught my attention and asked, “Are you the one who’s deaf?”

“Ah, yes, that’s me.” Turns out he had tried talking to me earlier and I didn’t respond to him. The story of my life. We ended up chatting and he shared his experience with barefooting. I love talking with the older barefooters– they really inspire me with their dedication to the sport year after year. And to think that almost two years ago, I figured my life on the water was pretty much over with.

At the banquet, I had a moment of panic when I realized that I couldn’t lipread Derek Koch when he started the awards after dinner. I debated moving closer to the stage and plopping myself right in front of him, but I knew that without informing him, he wouldn’t likely know to slow down so that I could understand him. I silently berated myself for not preparing for this beforehand, but it was too late to do anything about it. So I thought of Teri Larson, whom I had just met that day (she has a hard of hearing mom) and I went to sit by her. Teri gracefully summarized what was going on and she let me know when it was my turn to head up front. Teri is a lipreader’s dream– I was able to have a full conversation with her in the water without my hearing aids earlier that day. Thank you, Teri, for being my interpreter!

Since I was the only footer in the Womens 4 division, the medals for slalom, tricks and Overall were handed over to me. They represent the whole experience, not the competition– but the experience– of getting back on the water and meeting all these really neat folks from all over. Priceless.

And of course, it wouldn’t have been possible without the awesome sponsors who made it all happen (thank you!): General Motors, Phonak, ZVRS, Mayor Roger Claar, Oak Cove Resort and Chicago Tribune TribLocal.

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How I Wash My Vibram Five Fingers Shoes

About a year ago, I heard about Vibram Five Fingers shoes from a couple of runners on Twitter. I was curious to see how those shoes would fit because I have extra-wide feet with bunions, and finding shoes is a nightmare for me. I picked up a pair at the Naperville Running Company and they fit– literally–like a glove. I pretty much do everything and anything in my Vibrams. Steven, my youngest kiddo, took to stealing my Vibrams every now and then and he wore them for track during the spring. When I dropped him off at camp today, I saw that he once again claimed my Vibrams on his feet.

The usual procedure for washing Vibram Five Fingers is to simply toss them in the washing machine with some towels and they come out spanking clean again. I took my Vibrams to the river with me last week and found another way to wash ‘em:

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Barefooting on espnW

Barefooting has gone mainstream on espnW. Note, the lakes are not alligator-infested. The alligators are “supposedly” small on the lake. (Having said that, now watch, I’ll get eaten by an alligator next time I’m in Florida.) Enjoy!

Karen Putz Re-ignites Her Water Skiing Passion

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Sponsor Spotlight: Phonak Hearing Aids

Slowly, but surely, we’ve become a Phonak family. The kids all started out with other brands of hearing aids and over time, they’ve been outfitted with Phonak Naidas. So when it came time for me to say goodbye to two broken hearing aids, I went for the Phonaks as well. You can read about my experience here:

Getting New Hearing Aids

Today’s Hearing Aids are Mini-Cadillacs

I’m proud to say that Phonak is one of my sponsors for my barefoot water skiing journey this summer. My journey with Phonak began with Dawn Ruley, who was my kids’ audiologist for several years. Dawn works at Phonak as a Pediatric and Schools Specialist. And because it’s such a small world, Dawn’s sister Megan Pullos, was Lauren’s preschool teacher. She was there for Lauren when she lost her hearing.

Dawn connected me with Mike Orschlen and Mike provided me a glimpse inside the company that provides such a variety of hearing aids. Mike is a 30-year veteran of the health care industry and he came to Phonak nearly four years ago. “I’ve worked in the medical equipment industry a long time, but I never really thought about hearing aids,” said Mike. “Hearing loss is a hidden thing–most don’t think about it nor do they treat their hearing loss.”

Mike speaks from personal experience. He didn’t discover his own hearing loss until two years ago, when he turned his head in bed one morning and discovered he couldn’t hear sounds out of one ear. “I never thought I had a hearing loss before that,” said Mike. “It’s the same for many other people–hearing loss is a bigger problem than most are aware of.” Mike wears a in-the-canal hearing aid, but his process as a patient was an eye-opener for him. He wanted to see what it was like for others to obtain a hearing aid. After waiting a few weeks, he was told that he didn’t need a hearing aid. “The doctor said that I didn’t need a hearing aid, but I know it helps because I wear mine. It allows me to hear the high frequencies that I’m missing.”

Phonak is unique in that in provides “Sound Recover,” a frequency transposition that takes the high sounds and converts them to lower frequency sounds that can be heard. No other hearing aid manufacturer offers this. “We are helping people to hear more, hear better and hear more clearly,” said Mike. “The Zoom feature creates a beam of sound directly in front of the person and suppresses background sounds, allowing people to hear in difficult environments. I love it– and I’m excited that we can help people hear better.

“That’s what motivates me about Phonak,” Mike continues. “The people who work here are driven by something more important than just answering phones–we make a difference in people’s lives. Everyone’s hearing loss is different, we tailor our products to the customer. If we help them, we can make a difference– and that feels good.”

And thank you, Phonak, for your sponsorship and for making a difference in my life and my kid’s life. I really do like that mute feature– for the times when the house is filled with rowdy teenagers.

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Missing My Dad

The tears were streaming down my face when I finally banged the clamp off of the old battery. The boat wouldn’t start and the old battery had somehow overheated last summer and needed to be replaced. I had a feeling that the problem wasn’t the battery– I suspected it was the starter– but I wasn’t sure. And the one person that I always counted on to help me, was no longer here.

The kids looked at me in surprise. ”What’s wrong, Mom?”

“I’m just thinking about Dad,” I explained. ”Every time there was something wrong with the boat, he was the one to fix it or to tell me what was wrong with it. I’m just missing him.”

This week, there’s been one thing after another wrong with the boat. The battery clamp broke off and I had to run to town to buy a new one. The starter was indeed the problem, and I ended up writing a check to the mechanic for that one. “Oh by the way, Mom, the gas gauge doesn’t work,” David informed me just before pulling me for a run earlier in the week. I fixed that. “Mom, the water pump isn’t working and the boat has some water in it,” he told me tonight after another barefoot run. Joe fixed the broken wire and got the pump running again.

Lately, I’ve been missing Dad a lot. The house seems empty without him. If you recall my earlier post about seeing a red-winged blackbird, then you know the story of that connection with my Dad. Last week Friday, I was doing a clinic up at the Blue Moo Lake and I was feeling a little bit anxious about being able to put together a trick run. I had struggled on the water earlier in the week at Cedar Lake and had not yet even practiced a trick run. I was floating in the water, waiting for the boat to return and a lone bird landed on the bank. I turned to take a closer look and saw that it was a…

Red-winged blackbird.

I threw my head back and laughed.

My First Barefoot Tournament

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The Midwest Barefoot Regionals

How I Wash My Vibram Five Fingers Shoes

Barefooting on espnW

Sponsor Spotlight: Phonak Hearing Aids

Missing My Dad

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