Monthy & weekly mileage report.

The last 7 months have gone pretty much according to plan. I wanted to do at least 1 more big bike week in July, but the Peterborough half Ironman ended up taking precedence. This was a tactical decision that actually paid off. It was in Peterborough that I really started to understand the feel of a race, the nutrition and pacing components. So in hindsight, doing that race was probably the best decision I've made all year. Here are the July numbers:
Run: 206.5k
Bike: 1389k
Swim: 41.6k
Dryland 7 hrs
Mileage wise, a pretty good month considering there were 2 easy weeks sandwhiched before and after Peterborough.

Here is the breakdown for last week:
Run: 63k
Bike: 446k
Swim: 5k
Dryland 1.5k
Weight 158
Last week was a hard week. I had to nuke a swim session to get the extra bike time in and I ended up doing those 446k in 4 days. I would have thought my legs were going to be fried, but you know what? They held up pretty good and I was still able to get some decent run mileage in. A good week.

Today is my off day, I went to the pool and did an easy 2.6k and that's it. Slacked off, read my book and listened to tunes for the remainder of the day. I like Mondays.

Float like a butterfly, hard week, T-minus 28 days

I know, I know, I usually update more frequent than this, but I did say that this was going to be tough week and unfortuneately something had to give, so let's get caught up.

I mentioned in Wednesday's post that this was going to be a bike focused week. After playing chicken with the weatherman (and winning!), I was successful in logging some good saddle time. Here's the workout break down for that last few days:
Wed: bike 88k (hills) run 4.5k (brick workout)
Thurs: bike 102k ( mostly flat), run 4.5k (brick)
Fri: bike 70k, run 11k (trails)
Sat: bike 186k
Sun: run 29k

Some good work done in the last few days. Friday's workouts kinda sucked, here's why: During Thursday's ride I was cruising home at a pretty good clip, when all a of sudden it felt like something just punched me in the stomach. I'm like 'what the hell??' I pull over, lift up my shirt and sure enough I have to pull a bee stinger out. Damn thing flew down my shirt and got me good. By Thursday night, the whole left side of my abdomen was swollen, red and itchy as hell. It kinda looked like that scene from Alien. Needless to say I slept like absolute crap on Thursday, which made Friday's workouts a bit of an ordeal. Right now I'm taking quadruple doses of Reactine just to keep the itching at bay and I think my little 'alien friend' is starting to subside.

A good ride on Saturday, pretty much the same ride as last week minus 10k. I met a guy in the last 10k of my ride who is doing Ironman Canada and we are leaving on the same flight out. How cool is that?

Today's long run was suprisingly good. The legs were a little cranky but they got the job done and I felt OK. I just told myself 'hey, this is the last 2.5 hr run you will have to do for awhile, let's just get it done.'

T-minus 28 days. Wow. I have a couple of hard workouts planned this week, then taper officially begins next Saturday. I'm excited.

Eat, work, eat, train, eat, train, eat, eat. Sleep. Repeat.

That title about sums up my life at the moment. A few years ago I would have looked at someone doing that and walked away scratching my head. I suppose I still have the ardour of the newly converted - but I really do find it fulfilling.

I train 98% alone, not necessarily by choice, but it's difficult to get schedules to jive and it's difficult to train with people of similar abilities and attitude. Oh sure, I really enjoy meeting up with Cliff for a long ride, or having Doug share my lane at the pool. But the day to day training is primarily solo - this has both it's good and bad points. It's good from the aspect that you rely on yourself to get the job the done. If you have a tough workout planned and you bail, no one to blame but yourself. But I must admit, there are times when having a training partner or crew would be nice - just to push each other when the going gets tough.

I was talking with Richard Pady of Healthy Results at the pool the other day, (RP is a former pro triathlete ) and he's thinking of putting togethor a sub 10 hr Ironman crew for Lake Placid next year. What an opportunity, I'd be all over that in a heartbeat. I don't quite think I'm at that level yet, but who knows, by next year, maybe.

Ok enough ramblings, here is the workout update:
Tues: swim 5k: 4X400 (descending, last one was 5:15), 2(4X200) first one is pull, then descending, last 200's were ~2:25. 4(4X100) same as the 200's, the last 100's were ~1:10. 200 cool down.
That workout pretty much pooched my energy stores. I went home ate and rested. Then did a 14k run.
Wed: a hilly/windy 88k's on the bike, followed by a short 4.5k run. A good brick workout.

The plan for Thursday is to get 100k done on the bike. I'll throw in another short transition run too. Hopefully the thundershowers won't show. Friday is a short bike/longer run day. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers.

Monday weigh in

I'm starting to get a little nostalgic. The fact that I'm down to my last week and half of hard training got me thinking about just how fast the last 7 months have gone by. I've blogged every training session, the ups, the downs, the good and the bad. It's been a fun ride and I'm really digging the journey. I don't know if it's the endorphin addiction or what, but hard training certainly does seem to open so many doors. Physical, mental and spiritual doors seem to be opening all the time - it's so cool. And it true, YOU really can do anything you set your mind to. Nothing is impossible.

Rumour has it that Ironman Lake Placid for 2007 sold out in 30 minutes today. So you see, there are plenty of us 'crazy folk' out there. Actually when an IM sells out in 30 minutes I'd say it's turning into a phenomenon. Everyday more and more people are waking up to the fact: 'hmm... you know what? I can do this'. A good example is Cliff - he secured his spot this morning. (huge congrats Cliffy!)

And now the weekly mileage report:
Last week was suppose to be a moderate week, well it sort of got kicked up a notch and went to more the moderate/hard side of the scale. Here are the numbers:
Run: 54k
Bike: 366k
Swim: 10.3k
Dryland: 2 hrs
Weight: 159

The plan for this week is to kick it up another notch. Tomorrow is long swim day and a ~14k run. Bike week starts on Wednesday. That's the current plan - always subject to change. Cheers.

Weekend update

I did some quality saddle time on the Spirit of Koo on Saturday. Actually, I figured out that if I started at the CN tower in downtown Toronto and road directly up Younge St (which turns into Hwy 11), I would have ended up 20k short of Huntsville. Zoinks. A 196k ride in total. This was easily my toughest ride of the year, quite hilly with the hardest climbs starting at the 154k mark. (Hockley Valley Ski hill, Forks of the credit switchback and Mississauga road -by the ski hill) The good news is that I felt pretty good for the whole ride. I probably should have rode the extra 4k just to make it an even 200, but I was out of water, sports drink and food. :)
Oh yea, broke a speed record too - I hit 82kph descending down Heart Lake road. I'm still looking for a decent hill where I can break into the triple digit territory.

So the big question for today was how well are the legs going to hold up for the long run. Well they were a little cranky for the first 5k, but once they realized I wasn't going to let them off the hook, they got the job done just fine. Actually, today's 29k long run felt better than fine, I'd say closer to very good.

This concludes my 3rd Ironman-in-a-weekend and it was by far my best. I think a large part was due to the weather, cloudy and not too hot= perfect training/racing weather. The thing that is scaring the crap out of me is that Penticton BC (where IMC is held) is currently in a heatwave - today's temperature is a mere 39C (that's 102F). I really hope it's not that bad come race day - or I'm toast.

Lastly happy anniversary to me! Ironman Lake Placid is going on as I write this update. I can't believe it's already been one year since my first IM and I'm having a hard time believing I'm doing another one in just over a month. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

The weather network, inspiration and more

You would think that the Weather Network with all their dopler radars, satellite imagery and electro-ionsphere scanners could get a frickin four hour forcast correct. Isn't it funny, they'll have predictions for the next 7 days, give you broad generalizations on entire seasons yet they can't even nail down a 4 hour forcast. (sorry for the WN bashing, Mark).
Yea, I'm bitter I got caught in the rain yesterday. I busted my butt to get home so I could log a quick 100k on the bike and maybe get a run in. Instead, at the 40k mark, it started to thunder and lightning. So I had to hightail all the way home and try to outrun the oncoming T-showers. Fun stuff.
Ok, so I managed 80k in total and instead of a run, I did a full body weight routine, so all was not lost.

Today, I did 4k in the pool. They only give us an hour for lane swim and in order to get my whole 4k in I can't really dilly dally around. The main set was the same as Tuesdays.. 10X400m @ 5:45. After the swim I was talking to this older gentlemen (by older, I mean he's 80), he wanted to know about flip turns. (!)
(flip turns are those fancy schmancy turns that swimmers do) So, I explained to him how it was basically a half sommer sault near the wall. What struck me most during our conversation was a number of things 1) his joie do vie (hanging out the pool, being active and asking about flip turns at 80 - yea he has a zest for life) 2) he's 80, looks fitter than most 50 year olds 3) an excellent listener. (such a rare commodity these days) We all could learn a lesson or two from Bill.
In addition to the swim, I did a 14k run.

Lastly I just wanted to mention an inspirational story that happened a couple of days ago. Jenna Lambert completed a 32k swim across lake Ontario. Jenna is 15. Jenna also has cerebral palsy. Talk about heart. You can read the CBC story here.

Sometimes it's tough to 'dial it down'. This is a moderate week, with the idea of building into to the next two weeks, which will be in the 'hard' category. Note to self, stick to the plan.

Yesterday, I did 90k on the bike. This was my hilly ride, 3 tough climbs and multiple rollers. I entertained going for run afterwards, but had to remind myself to reign it in.

Today, I did a 11k trail run. My second workout was a 10 X 400m on 5:45 set at the pool. My swim has come up a notch, each 400m was consistently around the 5:30 mark. By about the 7th one, I was really starting to feel it, but I toughed it out and got it done. This was a harder than Ironman effort and I must remind myself to dial down the intensity at IMC. The goal for the swim at IMC is to get to the bike while expending the least amount calories as possible. I certainly don't want a repeat of what I did last year at IMLP!

Monday weigh in

Last week, being a recovery week, the mileage was cut way back. Here's the stats:
Run: 25k
Bike: 230k
Swim: 10k
Dryland: 2 hrs
Weight: 159
Recovery has gone well and I'm hoping by Thursday or Friday I'll be back to 100%. The plan throughout this week is to up the mileage to the 'moderate' level and hopefully by the weekend I'll be able to go nuts.

Today was slacker Monday, so I just went to the pool and did an easy 2.3k, mostly pull work. Tomorrow I have a long swim planned and either a bike or a run, I haven't decided which.

If you want a quick laugh, check this video. It's true, cheaters never prosper!

Weekend update..

I scored a new wetsuit! I picked up an Orca Pflex through Ebay and it arrived yesterday. It's sweeet. Perhaps I'll model it for you. :) Now I just have to find a local lake to get some open water swimming in..
Yesterday I got a decent 3.8k swim in. I was pretty happy with that because the pool was actually crowded for a change and they only give us an hour. My second workout yesterday was to stack a half bush cord of wood. This took much longer than anticipated and I had to blow off my easy run. It's OK, I'm allowed, after all it is an easy week.

Today was long ride day. Had 100k on the schedule, but did 120k. It was a fairly flat course I road today, about the only item of note was the wind. One of the strongest headwinds I've experienced this year. However on the way back it was also one of the strongest tailwinds I've experienced this year. Grin. The last 50k, I averaged 40kph! Zoom Zoom Zoom. Did the whole ride in sub 3:40, way too fast for an easy day, but I just felt good so I went with it.

Tomorrow is the day that will tell me how well recovered I am from Peterborough. It's long run day. However, I'm only running for 90 minutes tomorrow, so it won't be too bad. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Cheers.

Recovery

Recovery since Peterborough is going quite well. No residual soreness or muscle fatigue. So right now I'm just trying to balance between the mind, which tells me: 'you must take it easy' and the heart, which tells me: 'hey, you feel good, go go go!'

Yesterday I did an easy 8k run and a good 1 hour pool session in which I did a 10X400m set. It's cool that I can up my weekly swim mileage during this recovery week - it makes feel like I'm not slacking. :)

Today I did just over 70k on the bike. Just focused on technique and recovery and chose a flat route. I followed that up with a good 30 minutes of stretching and some upper body weights and core work.

And the recovery continues...

More pics, weekly weigh in & karma

A couple more pics from Peterborough..




Yours truly exiting the water.. I have no idea what I'm looking at.









Yes, this is the chicken dance. Actually I was just hamming with the crowd just before the finish line. (I think they were clearly unimpressed.)


Weekly totals:
The goal last week was to rest the legs for Peterborough, but up the swim mileage. Here's the totals:
Run: 36k
Bike: 167k
Swim: 14k
Dryland: 1.5hrs
Weight: 159

This week, the plan is to 'listen to the legs', if they are feeling tired, I'll pick up an extra swim session, but the over goal is get some quality rest so I can do a couple of hard weeks at the end of the month because when August comes - it's taper time babay!

Yesterday was an easy 2k in the pool - technique and recovery. Today I did 40k on the bike, again focusing on technique and recovery. I also squeezed in a quick upper body workout along with some core work.

A quick karma story. Last week I found a wallet, tracked down the owner and returned it to him. No big deal. At Peterborough, I managed to lose my bike helmet. Kinda of a bummer, it was new this year and cost me 150 bucks. Well, someone was kind enough to give it to an official and when I contacted the race director today, he said he had it and would Fed Ex it to me a.s.a.p. Booya! Karma in action. Hehehe, usually this stuff can take a lifetime or two to come back around, the turn around time for this one was less than a week!
You GET what you GIVE. Cheers.

Peterborough Tin-Man Report

Two years ago this was my first triathlon. (for the time curious, it was a 5:13) So it was kind of cool to come back and do this course again after 2 years. (by the way, I do not recommend doing a half Ironman as your first triathlon)
For those that regularly follow this blog, you'll know that I can suffer from tummy issues. This has been an on-going learning process and I'm happy to say that after my 6th triathlon, I've made some headway in that department. This, more than anything makes me a happy camper. I probably learned more this race than all my previous races put togethor. It was a good day. So without further adieu, here's the low down..

Short version:
Swim 2k: 27:40
Bike: 90k: 2:31:40
Run: 21k: 1:37:36
Total: 4:39:51 (3rd in age group, 10th overall)

Long version:
Nutrition, pacing, increased water consumption. I knew if I could make progress in these 3 things, I'd do ok. What can I say? Mission accomplished. I won't get into too much detail about them (cuz it's boring), but I'll touch upon all 3 within the report.

I'm waking up earlier and getting calories into my gut sooner. The main goal being getting to the start line with as little as possible in the GI tract, but with my energy stores at their max. Thanks to Sheila, for pointing out that I might be a slow digester. (thanks Sheila!)

Sally and I arrive a little later than I would have liked, so I ended up with a very crappy transition spot in an unusually overcrowded bike rack. On the way to registration, I'm lucky enough to run into Cliff, who actually has his own professional photographer. Cliff is doing his first half iron distance race and I have a feeling of what he's going through. However, I'm running late, so I wish him the best and make my way to registration and the swim start.
Swim 2k: Relax, keep heart rate down, focus. The swim is a mass start, which I like. The gun goes off, I let the elites get a 2 second head start and then I dive in and follow their feet. The plan actually worked, I had a nice pair of feet to follow for 3/4 of the swim. Out of the water in 27:40 for a fairly quick pace of 1:23/100m.(7th overall) It felt quite good and my heart rate wasn't too crazy upon exiting the water.

Bike 90k: Relax, keep heart rate down, focus. Stay in easy gears. Spin. At the 10 minute mark on the bike (and every 10 min thereafter), I begin consuming liquids. The first bottle is half strength sports drink, the next 2 bottles are regular strength. For the most part, the bike part is kind of lonely. The first 45k I pass a couple of people and a couple of people pass me. I hit the turn around point at 1:12, a full 3 minutes ahead of shedule. Upon turning around, I realize why I'm ahead of schedule, I had a tailwind. Now that tailwind has magically turned into a headwind. I'm enjoying the ride, it's hilly at times but it's a nice bike course. Every time I feel lactic acid in the legs, I ease off, nice steady biking, lots of liquids and relax - my mantras. I grab a bottle of water at an aid station and by the end of the bike I consumed that too. Four bottles for a 90k ride and the tummy feels good. I'm happy. Total bike time 2:31. Average speed 35.6kph, good for 27th overall.

Run 21k: I hit the run course running side by side with Paolina Allen (the woman's pro winner). Naturally the crowd cheers like crazy for her, so I soak up some of that free spirit. Actually I'm thinking to myself: 'hey she's a 4:40 is half IM'er, if I can stay with her, I'll have a wicked race!' So I shadow her for the first 2 or 3k, but she's seems to be fading... or maybe just correctly pacing, I'm not sure. So I make a bold move and pass her. At the 7k mark, I'm feeling good, actually make that very good. The run is 1/3 done, I'm taking it easy on the hills and maintaining a steady pace. At the turnaround, I see Paolina is less than 500m behind me, I tell her to catch me. She chuckles.
The run is my weakest link, I'm used to people passing me. But this time I'm not getting passed (as often), so I know I'm on track for a solid PB. My pace is good, I'm relaxed - just keep running. The last 7k is gut check time, some minor nausea is creeping in and I'm playing the "just 1 more km game". Just don't walk, keep running, 1 more km, relax, steady pace, good cadence, 1 more km, don't walk... you get the idea. The last 2k I get passed by a guy in my age group, I tell him to giver, because I'm going to be on his ass the rest of the way in. ( a blatant lie) He later waited for me at the finish line and said: "jeez you looked so strong I thought you were going to kick my ass!" The compliment made me feel good (me? a strong runner??), I told him " looks can be decieving!"
I finish the run in 1:37 (35th overall) - and I'm very happy with that split. Total time: 4:39:51 a full 9 seconds under my A+ goal. So in the end I was 10th overall and 3rd in my age group. And yea, I'm happy with the way the day turned out.

Sunday quickie

Ya know, for a 'B' race, I'm pretty damned happy. :) Today was the Peterborough Half Ironman and I had a good race. My pacing was good, my nutrition was pretty good and nailed a solid PB. Can't really ask for more than that. Total time was: 4:39:xx, I'll give you a more detailed report tomorrow. Cheers!

Whoa dude..

It kind of dawned on me: 'jeez guy, you have a half Ironman this weekend, better wake the hell up!' It's like part of me was saying 'hey, it's just half, the distance isn't that bad - it'll be good for training..' and the other half was saying: ' dude, respect the frikin distance and get some extra rest this week - you are gonna need it.'
Fortuneately, I listened to the latter - I did manage to rest the legs this week, while upping the swim mileage. So I'll be going into this race with legs at 80% and arms at 70% - definately a 'B' race.
The main goal for Sunday is to run this as my Ironman simulation. I've got my Saturday diet planned out and my race morning food as well as my strategy for fueling/hydrating on the bike. Try to stay cool, keep the intensity down and up the water intake. Really, it's pretty simple.
As for time, it's totally a secondary goal, hey if I do a good time - great, I'm trying to make that less of a 'goal'. It's all about the journey.
Now that being said, I'm still willing to make an ass myself and try to give you a rough idea on what would be 'nice':
swim 2k: <29:00 Could be iffy, already logged 11k in the pool this week.
bike 90k: ~2:30 Have to maintain 35kph - shouldn't be too much of a problem. But have to remind myself that I'm really not fully rested - so we'll see how it goes.
run 21k: 1:40. The only thing I really want is to nail my nutrition and put in a decent run.

Happy Friday everyone! I'm off to do an hour easy ride and probably won't update to Sunday. Cheers!

Update on the fly..

Hey everyone... just a quickie update. I'm in the midst of computer trouble shooting and progress is slow.

On the training front:
Tuesday: swim: ~5.5k It was a long swim and then it got crowded and I was losing count. I wanted 6k, but with all the distractions, I'm only logging 5.5k. Which is still alot of frikin laps.
Bike: 47k. Hilly and windy were the themes of the day. A good hard effort and still managed just over 32kph. Funny story: During my ride I actually got stuck behind a car. You know the type, nervous, tapping their breaks every 2 seconds and literally having trouble breaking the 30kph barrier. After a few K of this, I pulled up beside the driver and said: 'either speed up or pull over!' I passed the car, glanced back and he pulled over. :) That was a first for me, actually passing a car... on my BIKE.

Today: Run: 10.5k Did 3X1k at race pace, the rest of the run was at a steady pace.
Swim: 3.4k: 4X400m descending. 2X(4X200) descending. Not a bad set considering the arms were pooched from yesterday's swim.

Plan for the rest of the week:
Thurs: bike. Fri: short run and swim. Sat: stretch. Sun: race.

Hopefully I can my computer back to some sort of normalacy, if not, I'll be looking at the dreaded reformat. Grrr...

Zoinks!

Sorry for the lack of updates, between training, getting stuck in computer hell, bike tweaking, company & Canada Day celebrations - the ol'blog took a backseat for a few days. Let's get caught up, shall we?
Friday- an easy day. Did 11k trail run (in the rain) and a 1 hour easy spin session.
Saturday - bike 180k. Felt good for the first 5 hours, the last hour sucked, had some minor nausea and bloating, just enough to tick me off. I'm starting to think that my tummy issues are heat related, it would appear the correlation is heat + sun = nausea. I can defineately say it's not because I'm going too hard because this ride was slower than last week's and I had no problems last week. I'm getting closer to nailing down the culprit..
Sunday: run 28.5k. Legs bounced back from Saturday's ride reasonably well.
Today: OFF! A dogger-day.

Monthy total for June:
Run: 214.5k
Bike: 811k
Spin: 9 hours
Swim: 31k
Dryland: 5 hrs
Not a bad month, there was 2 easy weeks in June, so all things considered, I'm happy with the totals. I equate the spinning time to a 32k/hr road pace, which is probably a little low - but I try to err on the side of caution. So 9 hours of spinning is roughly 288k, for a monthly equivalent of 1100k. I still need more time on the bike- but somehow I think 'I could always be doing more.'

Weekly total and weigh in:
Run:75k
Bike: 180k
Spin: 6 hrs
Swim: 2k
Dryland: 2hrs
Weight: 159
The legs did some good work last week. Met my run goal, came in a little shy on the bike, did the equivalent of 372k, wanted 400k. I blame the constant thundershowers we had last week. Swim was a wash, but there wasn't much I do about that, the pool was closed for the majority of last week.

Hmm.. what else to report.. ahh right, the plan for this week. Hopefully this week I can some decent swim time, give the legs a bit of break and then do the Peterborough Half Ironman on Sunday.
And now.. your are up-to-date. Cheers.