PWCOFFSHORE Team Rider: Shawn Alladio - Ten
Q's
> 09/17/2008
PWCOFFSHORE Team Rider: Shawn Alladio -
Ten Q's
Shawn Alladio is known to many as a water safety specialist working
with personal watercraft with her company K38 Water Safety. Alladio
is also the IJSBA Water Safety Director, with a pedigree of PWC related
experiences that compliment the endurance race scene and those who enjoy
the wildness of an open ocean at full throttle.
Shawn is partnered with the American Watercraft Association (AWA) for
promoting boating education and training, but her passion is and always
will be true to her core PWC roots, competition! Alladio was recently
included on the PWCoffshore race team, a position she is honored to
embrace. Racing for Shawn is personal, it is derived from endurance,
the long haul, looking towards the horizon to the future, safety and
enjoying the time underway.
Endurance racing is gaining popularity, PWCoffshore team riders have
known that for a long time, logging more nautical miles than any other
crew, keep your eye on this team! Let's kick out 10 questions and see
what motivates a 47 year old middle aged mother to continue to cross
heavy waters on a Kawasaki Jet Ski.
1. Race Goals for 2009 Nationally
"First: To promote endurance racing to those who 'go' and to bring
up the level of women in competition. Women are encouraged to get off
the beach and into action, in fact I am demanding it from my sistahs.
Procrastination is not sexy, and the Sistahs need to get going and get
some action, invest in the future because it's here! Don't waste life,
live it by design, by pushing yourself in areas you have fear, find
the block and remove it, tomorrow is too late. This is the platform,
this is the way, this is the right choice. Being female is no excuse,
let's get some! Stop talking and star doing.
Second: Getting to know my race PWCoffshore team members better, share
time on the water with them and their incredible race boats, and primarily
promote the goodwill of endurance racing and what it does to our team
and how it brings us together in a spirit of community. Due to work
scheduling I'm limited to the Mark Hahn 300 and the LB2CAT events. I've
got my sights on Singapore in '09 for the JETRAID."
2. Race Goals for 2009 Internationally
"I've got my sights on Singapore in '09 for the JETRAID. This race
has been a dream of mine when it was first held in Africa. It ran through
3 countries, Mali, Maurtania and Senegal, 1200 miles through navigable
rivers and out the ocean. This was the equivalent of the Paris to Dakaar
offroad race. I think the format has changed a lot from it's original
inception and includes more buoy type racing, which isn't really my
gig anymore, but I love the theme!
I'll be watching the OLERON, the European Crown of endurance events:
http://www.oleronjet.com/
I believe this competition is the level equivalent to adrenaline junkies
running on high octane! I have a lot of respect for this race and European
tenacity in general."
3. Describe to your best ability your winter training program?
"I'm usually teaching classes in the water and do not get to ride
often enough, as far as training, if I have an extra day after a class,
I usually invite a few students to go on offshore training rides. I
will ride out in front and circle back, so I just get a few short blasts
of an adrenaline flush, as safety is foremost on my mind. Sometimes
the big waves will kick up and we'll do some offshore transit runs in
our team, but usually at safe speeds, so as far as WOT (wide open throttle)
riding, it has to wait until the LB2CAT comes alive. In other words
I really don't have a training program."
4. List your sponsors
"Kawasaki Motors Corporation, Liquid Militia Clothing, K38 GEAR,
OTB Boots, Solarez, Mustang Survival"
5. Describe your most challenging race?
"The next one! Years back BP Promotions had an endurance race in
San Felipe, a 100 miler. I was racing on a standup and the ocean came
fully alive. It was the most challenging race I had ever rode for distance
with the swell up to that point besides the 50 miler held in '89 at
Lake Mead. The best endurance races are the ones where its not all about
the boat you race, but your skill. That will only be engaged when the
water and weather conditions are altered significant enough to where
throttle alone will not give you any added competitive advantage. In
these situations, it comes down to timing, knowledge of craft capability,
your physical endurance, your overall mindset, and a very tenacious
and competitive spirit.
I remember the hardest psychological challenge in a race was when I
competed on a sit down for the very first time. I had such a profound
level of pride invested in stand up racing, that I felt like a sell
out, or a cheater for that first LB2CAT event. Stand ups were no longer
allowed to compete for safety reasons, so I made the switch. It just
seemed so easy. I wasn't suffering like I was used to! The overall ride
on a sit down is exceptionally challenging due to the fact the difference
isn't how well you trim your boat on a standup, but how well you can
stay in step with the increased speeds on a sit down. That was the most
significant difference I had to adjust to. I race stock training Jet
Skis so I don't have the rush that the men are dealing with, my speed
is slower so my responses and decision making coincide with that. I
can only imagine what it is like to try to manage a full on modified
endurance race boat? Pretty groovy I imagine."
6. Describe your best race and why, what happened?
"My best race was the Salton Sea 400. It was a team event for 3
pilots on one race boat. I rode it solo, and my final laps were still
as good as my beginning laps, so I stayed consistent to the speed limits
on my stock Yamaha for the entire race. I am really proud of that, because
along with this I had a baby I was still breastfeeding and recovering
from her birth, and enjoying the race. It was personal for me, because
I just enjoy endurance riding so much, I can't explain to anyone else
what a boost it is to push myself through barriers in spirit, body and
fatigue. Also, my daughter Kyla and her boyfriend were there, so the
4 of us were our little team and we weren't prepared for the event very
well, it meant so much to me just to 'be' there, racers helped us out
true to spirit. That is what I enjoy about being on a team, the camaraderie.
For me it's not just racing, its being at an 'happening event', the
entire scene I enjoy. I like seeing what new people are coming up from
the next generation, look at all the amazing race boats and set ups."
7. What kind of water conditions do you best perform under with your
race boat?
"Storms. I love storms. I love small craft advisories. Since I'm
on a stock race boat, placing isn't a priority for me, fun is. I'm into
this kind of racing because I enjoy it. I love the feeling I get before
it begins, knowing I'm getting to do something so special that out of
the entire world, right there at that moment, I am only one in a few
who are getting to do this right now! Out of billions of people, I'm
doing something so incredible and amazing. How can I describe that to
someone else? I can't! So come and figure it out for yourself and discover
the un ridden realm inside your heart and soul."
8. Words of advice for others who want to race:
"PULL THROTTLE, HOLD ON, ENJOY! Give yourself permission and let
the boat run ahead of you, don't hold the boat back, let it do what
it is best at, and figure out how you can compliment it's nature. Compliment
the water you are riding on and 'stay in step.' Tune into the boat,
yourself and forward moment, repeat 2,863 times in one hour, start all
over again...."
9. How do you deal with problems on the race course or practice sessions?
(such as breakdowns/fatigue)
"I channel my energy into thankfulness and acceptance. There will
be another day, but right now at that exact moment, I keep hopeful and
persevere, there are more ways to win than to win. Sometimes a win is
solving a really bad problem and coming out ahead. There's a lot of
wisdom in that. Sometimes the challenges I've been handed haven't been
the ones I planned on and because the adopted challenge overrode the
goal, I won because of a magnanimous decision to keep moving and keep
thinking. Sometimes a grievous failure is the best result."
10. Favorite race of all time?
"Well, racing is true to life, it's not fair and you never know
what will happen. My favorite will be the event that has 20 women in
the lineup pushing the limits of 'No gender, No matter!' This type of
riding is designed for women and should be supported by women en masse.
Why not? It's all about you and no one else, what better medium to open
up self discovery and have a great time with horsepower applied? I challenge
parents, husbands, and friends to get your women to the line, better
yet, women get yourself to the line! If a middle aged mother can do
it, there is no excuse except death. And death can be the metaphor of
laziness and mediocrity. Do what you are afraid to do and know what
it is to be fully alive and engaged in your life, find passion, you'll
meet it on any endurance ride, because its 'personal'.
Mae West had a saying: "A woman is like a tea bag. You can't tell
how strong she is till you put her in hot water". Give me a throttle
and a wild ocean and you will know what I'm all about."
Kudos: Thanks Pohaku, Mother Ocean and the whispers of God's army, my
PWC-O Team, Liquid Militia, The Sistahs, 'The Hellwoman Inner(net) Circle,
my daughters and Kawasaki of course!
**************************
Want to get into Offshore PWC Endurance racing?
Check out http://www.PWCOFFSHORE.com for more information
About PWCOFFSHORE:
Our Core Group Of Endurance, Offshore and Catalina Ridersare athletes
with years of experience in endurance racing and offshore PWC riding.
A few of us have also completed marathons and Iron Man races. But we
are not limited to a finite group of riders! We solicit feedback from
all offshore riders and consolidate their feedback on our site. Have
you differentiated yourself in offshore or endurance riding? If so,
then we want your tips, input and feedback! We have learned a great
deal through multiple 60-mile round trip Long Beach to Catalina Island
PWC rides in varying types of Southern California offshore weather.
This experience has made our group of aggressive offshore riders extremely
knowledgeable on what it takes to effectively ride endurance. It has
also resulted in our getting to Catalina Island and back 100's of times
reliably, safely and faster than anybody else. One of our contributing
riders, Iron Man Triathlete and 6 time National Champion Kim Bushong
has done Long Beach to Catalina and back in excess of 170 times. Our
location in Southern California enables us to ride year round. The gear
we use needs to be the best, fastest and most reliable PWC's and accessories
currently on the market. We run our gear in the harshest ocean conditions
requiring a completely different approach to maintenance, racing and
endurance riding & offshore racing. If our riding methodology and
gear makes it in this environment, it will likely do well in standard
riding conditions. Welcome to our site! We want to hear from you!
