Monthly mileage report..

September was the month of sloth. I ate, slept and did absolutely nada in the training department. An entire of month of zero's. (well I ran twice, hardly enough to count for anything.) So after a month of laziness and an extra 5 pounds of weight, I decided to slowly get back to the grind. This brings us to October, which was primarily dedicated to what I call 'loose training' -not structured, very slow running and multiple days off throughout the week. I logged maybe 200k as a conservative rough guess, of which about 70% was done on trails. The goal for October is to slowly acclimatize my body to some serious running that will happen later in the year. So now that October is all but finished, what's the plan for November?
More of the same with the addition of a little more structure a few more running K's and some trainer time. Workouts from Tues to Sunday with Monday's off. Nothing too crazy. Here is a basic outline of my current training 'plan'.
Oct, Nov and Dec: running focused. The goal being to increase my tolerance to muscle fatigue, and build a bigger aerobic engine. Spinning time will be kept to a max of 2 hours/week.
Jan, Feb: add spinning time on the bike in increasing volume, still primarily running focused but shifting to more of a balanced approach between spinning and running. Add a few swim sessions.
March, April. First races - a half marathon in early March and a 10k in April. March is a transition month, drop a weekly run or two and add lots of spinning time. The end of March is a big bike week. The beginning of April is marked by a very easy week, followed by a 3 week build. By now, my swim should be 'normal'.
May- another half marathon race and another 3 week build block.
June- rest a week. Three week build block, with one being big bike week number 2. Probable races are Muskoka and/or Milton triathlons.
July - taper for IMLP. I really want to do Peterborough Half IM, but it's only 2 weeks out from IMLP, so I probably won't.
August- rest and ease back into running.
Sept- a 3 week running build.
Oct- Toronto marathon.
So there you have it, the plan for the next 12 months.. now the hard part begins, the 'execution'. :)
*Cheers*

The holy grail, run club inaguaral run

The holy grail of Ironman racing came and went on Saturday. The live web coverage from Kona was fantastic this year. Full screen, picture in picture, decent commentary, all in all it was very well done. I got back from my run and the swim was already about 20 minutes underway, needless to say, with coverage that good, the rest of my day was largely spent in front of the computer. Of the many highlights, I rather enjoyed watching Caledon's Lisa Bentley run her way from 11th to 3rd, damn that girl can run. Good stuff.

The inaguaral run of the Sunday morning 'run club' took place in rather medicore weather. (sidebar: ok, what is with our weather?? - six weeks of crap and counting..) It was a great social run, it really helps to run with other people, try different routes and run for the sake of the enjoyment and not worrying about 'training'. The next run is scheduled for Nov 5.

My own running schedule since the last update looks like this:
Fri: off, Sat: run 1:10, Sun run 1:20, Mon: run 1hr Tues: run 1hr. Nice, easy, slow paced runs.
That's all for now. Cheers.

Random Kona thoughts

So it's Sat a.m. and I'm procrastinating the day's workout and household chores (as per usual). I'm pondering about the Ironman World Championships that are about to get underway in Kona, Hawaii. The best of the best are there, ya I'm talking about those people who have achieved such high degree of fitness and mental discipline that they can actually race an Ironman. Last year there were 368 people who went sub-10 hours! Awesome. Like every Ironman around the world it's filled with inspiring stories and not just from the pro-level athletes. Stories from the 'ordinary' age-groupers and physically challenged are amongst the most inspiring around. Remember Blazeman? If you aren't part of the scene, you probably have no idea who he is, which is a shame.The sad thing is if you can't shoot a puck or throw a fast ball, you get very little coverage in mainstream media. It's too bad because the real action has always been amateur sport - people who love sport for the sake of sport. I have to admit, there is a part of me that is bitter about the masses who sit like a vegetable and would rather get fat and watch a sport being played on the boob tube, which actually contributes to the disasterous current state of pro sports. Personally, I made the choice to boycott them all. Eep, sorry for the tangent.. back on topic..
Would I do Kona?
Dunno. Get back to me in a couple of years. I'd consider it, if I was in the very best shape of my life and in top form. That won't be for another couple years, so I have lots of time. Kona has alot going for it, afterall it is the world championships. The atmosphere, competing with some of the fittest people on the planet. And it's the frikin Ironman World Championship.
However...
It's ridiculasly expensive. I imagine Sally and I would drop an easy 5++ grand. I guess the best way to sell it to her would be to think of it as a vacation and not 'let's drop 5 G's so Darren can do a race.' I don't know - get back to me in a couple of years. I still have to exact retribution in Lake Placid and want to do IMC again.. so Kona is still a long ways off...
Ok, enough procratinating, I have work to do. Cheers!

Going slow to get fast.

I'm slowly but surely re-entering the grind. Since last Friday, the workouts have been: Sat: off Sun: run 1:10 Mon: run 1hr Tues spin 1hr, Wed: run 1:10.

I'm solidly in the "to get fast, I first must go slow phase'. It's humbling at times, to see a monster hill and purposely walk up it instead of tearing up it like a mad man. This engine is going to be a lean mean fat burning machine and in order to do that, I must be disciplined enough to go slow.

I've been doing lots of trail running and have really noticed how much easier it is on body. This is great as it doesn't leave me feeling beat up the next day. The goal over the next few months is to build to 5 one hour, 2 20-30min, and 1 two hour run per week. If I can get my body to adapt to that, it should help my running next season.

Ok, I confess. I'm in the market for a heart rate monitor. You say "what? you don't use a hrm??" Ya, you got me. In the past I've used a strictly old school approach, training by feel and listening/deciphering what my body tells me. I know when I hit my lactate threshold becuase I can feel it. I think I've taken this approach as far as is useful and will now use a HRM as a new tool. Technology, it's a beautiful thing. Cheers.

Re working site & good news.

Hey all, happy Friday. A few things to touch base on. Number 1, I'm starting to re-do the site for 2007. If you haven't noticed yet, '07 will be a charity fundraising year. This year's recipient is POGO -a charity designed for helping children with cancer. Don't worry, I won't hound you, for donations, I really hate doing that... well I may umm.. gently remind you to throw a couple bucks towards the kids. But that's it - I promise. This blog will still be triathlon / triathlon training focused.

I got some good news in regards to fundraising. My boss at work is 100 percent behind the initiative. We did some brainstorming and thought that regular 50/50 draws and the occasional gift basket draw might be a good way to go. I mentioned this to Sally and she said 'hey, I could do one too'. Talk about the snowball effect. I believe most people want to get involved in one way or another - sometimes all it takes is a little spark.

In regards to training. I'm officially in a 'loose training phase'. The primary goal during the next few months is to bring up the running mileage/frequency. The only other 'soft' goal is to spin twice a week during this period. This is not structured, if I feel like taking a couple days off, then so be it.

This week I ran 5 times for a total of ~40k. Distances are approximate because I'm not using my gps and my all running this week was done on trails. See? Nice easy, 'loose' training. Oh yea, I also got on my bike for the first time since IMC. I spun for an hour, which actually felt pretty good. Cheers!

Cancer fundraiser, 4 runs & a swim.

Sure has been quiet around here lately. I noticed the last update was over a week ago, so I figured I better do some catching up. Last week I set the absolutely insane goal of running 3 times this week, well I'm happy to report that I completely overshot that goal. The week isn't even over and I'm already at 4! Four very easy runs for a grand total of ~30k. Good stuff.

On Friday Cliff, made the big trek to Orangeville and we did some stroke work in the pool. It's been a long time since I've taught swimming, abstract phrases like 'the catch phase is critical to your stroke', and 'think smooth' sound fine and dandy, but trying to teach someone these things is a another matter. I'm a big fan of mental visualization, think about somone who can swim really well. Now meditate on it. Slow their stroke down, examine each part, visualize it, emulate it, repeat. Feel the water. Be smooth. So to help facilitate this, Cliff and I took turns examining each others stroke from above the water and from below. We also did some drill work and then called it day.

When Cliff and I were at the pool, we met up with Richard Pady. Rich is a former pro triathlete who has initiated a fundraiser for children with cancer. This hits close to home as Cliff, is a cancer survivor and Richard's own daughter, Elizabeth, is currently under going cancer treatment. She was diagnosed at the age two.
The fundraiser is pretty awesome. Rich managed to secure 40 Ironman Lake Placid spots for which anyone can apply for. In return, over the next 9 months, he asks you raise $2500. ALL proceeds go to POGO. If you are interested in a spot, or want to donate, please check out his fundraising site at:
Race4kids.

The first meeting of the run club takes place in just over two weeks. The weather is gorgeous, so you have no excuse to not run right now. Get out there and log a few miles. Even though these are going to very easy runs, you'll still be expected to log ~10k to start. As it stands, I'm expecting at least four people for our inaugural run, lots of space still available. Drop me an email for details.

Canadian Thanksgiving is today and it's one of the few days I stuff myself stupid. I should probably go for a pre-turkey run, just so I don't feel so guilty. Cheers!