Ya I know, it's been a long time between posts. I can hardly believe it's been only 2 and half weeks since IMLP. It seems like a lifetime ago. I don't suffer PIDS (a phrase brought to you by Crackhead)- Post Ironman Depression Syndrome. At least I don't think I do. I'm actually relishing my current lazy state -getting fat and playing video games.
I managed 3 runs last week, each of a 40 minute duration. And each run was a short sufferfest due to some crazy tightness in my IT band. So I've backed off on the running. As for swimming and cycling, I currently have no desire to start them back up, especially since the season is almost over. My initial plan was to try to put togethor a decent marathon on October, but with my current IT issues and my dubious mental-end-of-season-state, I'm leaning to taking an early off season and starting back up in the fall. I take the off season very serious - 4 to 8 weeks of chilling out, I relish the thought of it.
It looks like Muskoka is getting an official 70.3 (half Ironman) in September of next year. Tough decision, IMC, or stay local and do Muskoka in '08? Points to ponder..
Ok, you HAVE to see this video. This is the swim start of IMLP '07. My god, if you are a MOP swimmer (middle of the pack), this, is incentive to train your ass off to be a FOP'er! I now get why the swim freaks so many people out! My hats off to you guys.
Video of '07 IMLP swim.
Lastly, just a quick kudos to the guys at the Brampton Post Office. Funds for this years charity drive for POGO now stands at $2625.00. Just awesome.
Cheers!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
IMLP'07 Report
Family, friends, 2200 athletes, 3500+ volunteers(!), countless spectators, beautiful scenery and top notch organization. Just take a sec and try to imagine the type of atmosphere that will generate. It's electric. Even if you have absolutely no desire to do an Ironman, I would highly recommend to spectate one - it really is an experience like no other.
Not much preamble this time, going straight to the main course.
Swim 3.8k:
Estimate: 56 min. Actual: 55:10 Agegroup placing: 7/419. Overall: 35/2208
This is a fast swim course. There is an under water cable that connects the bouys about 5 feet below the water, so everyone tries to get into position so they can see the cable. This saves you from lifting your head and 'sighting'. Basically, just follow the cable and you're set. At the start, I'm positioned very close the front and ask the people around me if they are all around 55 min swimmmers - they are. Cannon goes off and I follow their feet, as it turns out, it's the lead crew. This is just fine with me as I've secured a nice draft within 400m of the start and have settled in really quick. Pretty much a perfect start from my perspective.
The first loop of the swim goes by and as I start the second loop, my goggles literally snapped off. Brand new goggles that I only use for racing - busted. Now I can't see shit. In seconds I lose the draft and lead crew, can't see the cable and start swimming rather crooked. Even though it's fresh water, it's tough to keep my eyes open, so I just shut them and open them to sight and keep on course. I think to myself "if this is the only setback I have today I'll be laughing."
Despite the 2nd loop challenges, I pull off a good swim time. As I exit the water, my vision is very clouded over and I'm blinking alot to try and clear the eyes. My run to the transition tent was at a leisurely pace as my eyes slowly start to refocus.
T1: 5:30 min.
Hehe.. terrible time. Could have gone for a shower and a bite to eat, it was so slow. Cloudy eyes and picking up a bunch of gravel on the bottom of my feet didn't help the situation. But I was on the bike at the 1 hour mark of the race - which was exactly what I wanted. So despite the minor setbacks, I'm happy.
Bike 180k:
Estimate: 5:30 Actual: 5:50 Agegroup placing: 64/415 Overall: 296/2208
This is a tough bike course. 1800 feet of elevation per loop and it's a two loop affair. My bike fitness is better than ever, I train on hills, I've logged many 400+k weeks and even hit a 600k week - so, as usual, I'm expecting alot out of myself. My estimate is sub 5:30 - I did a 5:31 at IMC last year with a 12 minute flat - so taking into consideration my superior bike fitness, plus race wheels and no flat tires, I think doing close to 5:30 is a reasonable /attainable goal.
First loop: ~2:48. Really just concentrated on taking it slow and keeping heartrate down. I knew I was going to get passed alot on the first loop, I wasn't worried. The split was a little slower than I was aiming for as I was looking for a 2:40.
Second loop: ~3:00. Kept effort in check for the first 60min of the 2nd loop and started reeling in guys who went out too fast on the first lap. Perfect. All is going according to plan. With about 90 minutes until the end of the bike, I started to get tummy issues. I have no choice back to back off. I'm bummed beacause I thought I had my nutrition figured out and yet here I was experiencing nausea - again. I'm about halfway through the race and I knew that having stomach issues this early was going to have nasty reprucussions later - and I was right!
I 'slow play', the last 90 min on the bike, losing an additional 12 min over my 1st loop time. I get into T2, happy as clam to be off my bike and knowing all I have to do now is run a marathon. :)
T2: 3:08
Nice T2 time.
Run 42.2k
Estimate: sub 4hrs. Actual: 4:07 Agegroup placing: 76/415 Overall: 354/2208
It's been 2 years since I've last run a standalone marathon. My best guess is that I'm currently about a 3:10 marathoner. (did a 1:25 for a half earlier this year). So I figure add 45 minutes to 3:10 and I'll slide in under the 4hr mark for an IM marathon.
My mantra for the run from the very beginning is simple. "Just run". Do NOT walk, however shitty I feel, just do. not. walk. God I want to walk so bad. My steps are so small, yet I'm still 'running'. The miles go by. I'm half done the marathon with no walking. How the hell am I going to do the last half without walking? I make a deal with myself, run just 3 more miles and walk then. I get to the 15 mile mark without walking. "Ok, run 1 more mile." Still no walking. I play this game to mile 20, when all hell breaks loose. I finally 'lose it' and barf my guts out. See? I told you the nausea I experienced on the bike would have reprucussions later. Hehe - I was right. I walk 100 yards and dry heave for a bit. Brought back memories as this was very near the exact same spot where I barfed on this course 2 years ago. Ahh good times.
After the last round of dry heaves - I run some more. A part of me is happy that I was 'tough' / stupid enough to keep running. I guess that the masochistic part coming out.
So I finish off the last 10k 'running' and as I'm coming into the finishers shoot, I'm sort swearing to myself - mostly because I'm so damned glad to actually have it in sight and be done. Anyway, I think Mr. Announcer guy sees me swearing to myself and says something like: "Give it up for Darren Walton from Alton, it looks like he needs your support!" Then as I cross the line, the 'catchers' grab each side of me and say 'don't worry we got ya'. I say 5 words:
"Thanks guys, med tent please."
Final time: 11 hrs 2 min.
Med Tent
Ahhh, you didn't know of the secret 4th leg of a triathlon. The med tent! Upon entering, they weigh me. I'm down 13 pounds. I say "13?, sheesh that's not so bad, I've been over 20 before!" (The nurse's eyes bug out at this) They hook me up to an IV, I barf, I get some anti nausea meds, blood pressure is low, I fall asleep. About an hour later, I'm good to go. It's like someone flicked a switch, I'm walking, talking, eating and drinking and looking forward to a good nights sleep!
A quick "HI!" to Cliff, Sheila, Shelley, Aaron and Stu - altough our meeting was too short, it was really great meeting with you guys. Please stay in touch!
A BIG congrats to Shelley. Her 7 time Ironman finishers wisdom really shone with her guess of 10:48 for my finishing time. Congrats Shelley! You are now the proud owner of official IMLP running socks! Woo Hoo!!
Not much preamble this time, going straight to the main course.
Swim 3.8k:
Estimate: 56 min. Actual: 55:10 Agegroup placing: 7/419. Overall: 35/2208
This is a fast swim course. There is an under water cable that connects the bouys about 5 feet below the water, so everyone tries to get into position so they can see the cable. This saves you from lifting your head and 'sighting'. Basically, just follow the cable and you're set. At the start, I'm positioned very close the front and ask the people around me if they are all around 55 min swimmmers - they are. Cannon goes off and I follow their feet, as it turns out, it's the lead crew. This is just fine with me as I've secured a nice draft within 400m of the start and have settled in really quick. Pretty much a perfect start from my perspective.
The first loop of the swim goes by and as I start the second loop, my goggles literally snapped off. Brand new goggles that I only use for racing - busted. Now I can't see shit. In seconds I lose the draft and lead crew, can't see the cable and start swimming rather crooked. Even though it's fresh water, it's tough to keep my eyes open, so I just shut them and open them to sight and keep on course. I think to myself "if this is the only setback I have today I'll be laughing."
Despite the 2nd loop challenges, I pull off a good swim time. As I exit the water, my vision is very clouded over and I'm blinking alot to try and clear the eyes. My run to the transition tent was at a leisurely pace as my eyes slowly start to refocus.
T1: 5:30 min.
Hehe.. terrible time. Could have gone for a shower and a bite to eat, it was so slow. Cloudy eyes and picking up a bunch of gravel on the bottom of my feet didn't help the situation. But I was on the bike at the 1 hour mark of the race - which was exactly what I wanted. So despite the minor setbacks, I'm happy.
Bike 180k:
Estimate: 5:30 Actual: 5:50 Agegroup placing: 64/415 Overall: 296/2208
This is a tough bike course. 1800 feet of elevation per loop and it's a two loop affair. My bike fitness is better than ever, I train on hills, I've logged many 400+k weeks and even hit a 600k week - so, as usual, I'm expecting alot out of myself. My estimate is sub 5:30 - I did a 5:31 at IMC last year with a 12 minute flat - so taking into consideration my superior bike fitness, plus race wheels and no flat tires, I think doing close to 5:30 is a reasonable /attainable goal.
First loop: ~2:48. Really just concentrated on taking it slow and keeping heartrate down. I knew I was going to get passed alot on the first loop, I wasn't worried. The split was a little slower than I was aiming for as I was looking for a 2:40.
Second loop: ~3:00. Kept effort in check for the first 60min of the 2nd loop and started reeling in guys who went out too fast on the first lap. Perfect. All is going according to plan. With about 90 minutes until the end of the bike, I started to get tummy issues. I have no choice back to back off. I'm bummed beacause I thought I had my nutrition figured out and yet here I was experiencing nausea - again. I'm about halfway through the race and I knew that having stomach issues this early was going to have nasty reprucussions later - and I was right!
I 'slow play', the last 90 min on the bike, losing an additional 12 min over my 1st loop time. I get into T2, happy as clam to be off my bike and knowing all I have to do now is run a marathon. :)
T2: 3:08
Nice T2 time.
Run 42.2k
Estimate: sub 4hrs. Actual: 4:07 Agegroup placing: 76/415 Overall: 354/2208
It's been 2 years since I've last run a standalone marathon. My best guess is that I'm currently about a 3:10 marathoner. (did a 1:25 for a half earlier this year). So I figure add 45 minutes to 3:10 and I'll slide in under the 4hr mark for an IM marathon.
My mantra for the run from the very beginning is simple. "Just run". Do NOT walk, however shitty I feel, just do. not. walk. God I want to walk so bad. My steps are so small, yet I'm still 'running'. The miles go by. I'm half done the marathon with no walking. How the hell am I going to do the last half without walking? I make a deal with myself, run just 3 more miles and walk then. I get to the 15 mile mark without walking. "Ok, run 1 more mile." Still no walking. I play this game to mile 20, when all hell breaks loose. I finally 'lose it' and barf my guts out. See? I told you the nausea I experienced on the bike would have reprucussions later. Hehe - I was right. I walk 100 yards and dry heave for a bit. Brought back memories as this was very near the exact same spot where I barfed on this course 2 years ago. Ahh good times.
After the last round of dry heaves - I run some more. A part of me is happy that I was 'tough' / stupid enough to keep running. I guess that the masochistic part coming out.
So I finish off the last 10k 'running' and as I'm coming into the finishers shoot, I'm sort swearing to myself - mostly because I'm so damned glad to actually have it in sight and be done. Anyway, I think Mr. Announcer guy sees me swearing to myself and says something like: "Give it up for Darren Walton from Alton, it looks like he needs your support!" Then as I cross the line, the 'catchers' grab each side of me and say 'don't worry we got ya'. I say 5 words:
"Thanks guys, med tent please."
Final time: 11 hrs 2 min.
Med Tent
Ahhh, you didn't know of the secret 4th leg of a triathlon. The med tent! Upon entering, they weigh me. I'm down 13 pounds. I say "13?, sheesh that's not so bad, I've been over 20 before!" (The nurse's eyes bug out at this) They hook me up to an IV, I barf, I get some anti nausea meds, blood pressure is low, I fall asleep. About an hour later, I'm good to go. It's like someone flicked a switch, I'm walking, talking, eating and drinking and looking forward to a good nights sleep!
A quick "HI!" to Cliff, Sheila, Shelley, Aaron and Stu - altough our meeting was too short, it was really great meeting with you guys. Please stay in touch!
A BIG congrats to Shelley. Her 7 time Ironman finishers wisdom really shone with her guess of 10:48 for my finishing time. Congrats Shelley! You are now the proud owner of official IMLP running socks! Woo Hoo!!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Tough day at the office..
Just a quickie!
I'm back. All is good. Here's a really short race report..
swim: highpoint: made goal time. lowpoint: lost my goggles halfway through. Swimming without them was tough on the eyes.
bike: highpoint: 1st loop doing 'Keane descent' at 80kph. lowpoint: really backing off 2nd loop due to nausea.
run: highpoint: I ran the whole thing except for 100 yards.
lowpoint: puking at 20miles, walking 100 yards and puking again.
A great report for those who like em short and sweet, give me a day or two for the full version. Cheers guys!
I'm back. All is good. Here's a really short race report..
swim: highpoint: made goal time. lowpoint: lost my goggles halfway through. Swimming without them was tough on the eyes.
bike: highpoint: 1st loop doing 'Keane descent' at 80kph. lowpoint: really backing off 2nd loop due to nausea.
run: highpoint: I ran the whole thing except for 100 yards.
lowpoint: puking at 20miles, walking 100 yards and puking again.
A great report for those who like em short and sweet, give me a day or two for the full version. Cheers guys!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Lucky Rocketship Underpants
You got yours? I wish I could say I have mine. Rocketship underpants would be *awesome*. Or even cooler - lucky rocketship cycling shorts! Heck, I'd love a lucky rocketship running hat - that'd be cool. If you can find me either one of those, I'd pay large for it.
So, where does the phrase ' lucky rocketship underpants' come from? It's pretty easy, I'm sure someone will post the answer in the comments section.
Taper has gone well. Since the last update I rode for 2 hrs on Sun, swam 1.7k on Monday and went for a 7.5k run today. It was really difficult keeping my effort in check today - the legs were just begging to go. Tomorrow I'll ride for an hour, pack and other than that just concentrate on staying off my feet. Thursday is up bright and early and is travel day.
It's still early, but the weather is looking..umm.. perfect? Cloudy with a high in the 70's. Dare I hope?
Not sure if I'll get to update between now and post race, if not on Sunday goto Ironmanlive
type in my race number (1006), check my progress and send a positive vibe or two. I know at some point I'll need them!
Don't forget to post a finishing time mentioned in the last post. Hey, who knows? You may just score some unbelievable loot! Official IMLP socks - pretty damned sweet.
Cheers!
So, where does the phrase ' lucky rocketship underpants' come from? It's pretty easy, I'm sure someone will post the answer in the comments section.
Taper has gone well. Since the last update I rode for 2 hrs on Sun, swam 1.7k on Monday and went for a 7.5k run today. It was really difficult keeping my effort in check today - the legs were just begging to go. Tomorrow I'll ride for an hour, pack and other than that just concentrate on staying off my feet. Thursday is up bright and early and is travel day.
It's still early, but the weather is looking..umm.. perfect? Cloudy with a high in the 70's. Dare I hope?
Not sure if I'll get to update between now and post race, if not on Sunday goto Ironmanlive
type in my race number (1006), check my progress and send a positive vibe or two. I know at some point I'll need them!
Don't forget to post a finishing time mentioned in the last post. Hey, who knows? You may just score some unbelievable loot! Official IMLP socks - pretty damned sweet.
Cheers!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Slacker Saturday, 10:06??!! Predict my time and WIN!
1006
How did they do that? My number is the same as my finishing time! How cool is that?? 10:06! Oh man that would sweet indeed, but realistically it's not going to happen. For fun, let's crunch the numbers to do a 10:06..
Swim: 56
T1: 4
Bike: 5:20
T2: 4
Run: 3:42
You know, when I write it down like that, it actually seems doable. But if you throw in the obligatory +20 min fudge factor, the projected finishing time weighs in at 10:26. So this is what's floating in the back of mind, however time is of less importance than ever this year. This year the mantras are race smart, finish strong. It should be noted that I've yet to come close to a projected finishing time at the IM distance - the classic overestimating fitness applies here, BUT and this is a big but, I've made huge strides in the 4th discipline of triathlon. Nutrition. I'm not saying I have it nailed, but this will a huge test and I think it's dialed in pretty good.
Here is my overall strategy:
Swim: mantras: "long, easy strokes" Grab a set feet from the 2nd lead pack and take it easy. Time: 56 min.
Bike: mantra: "slow down!" Negative split? Get and keep heartrate < 135 for first loop, add 5 beats for 2nd loop. Start fueling @ 20 minutes and on the 10's thereafter. Eat half a power bar on the 30's followed by H2O. Estimated calorie intake: min:2000 max 2600. Time: 5:25
Run: mantra: "just run." Hold heartrate to 140 and see what happens. Nutrition: 800 cals of dextrose based Infinit. Time: 3:50
The good: my training went really well this year. Spent extra time on the bike to help increase overall endurance. Training started last October, with consistent and more structured training beginning in November - it went well.
The bad: nothing really. Caught 2 bugs, one in Feb and another in April. April was a downer month and missed a bike focus week. Other than that, all is/was good.
The "X" factor: weather. Hot, humid conditions will slow me down. Can't control that, so not worried about it.
In the "What the Hell?" category..
There are 488 in my age category. Yes, that's right, 488. What the hell? In a race where there will be between 2000 and 2200 particpants, there are 488 in the M35-39 division. We are clearly a most troubled demographic and undoubtedly need some sort of professional help.
Taper Udpate:
Mon: swim 2k. Tues: 1 hour message, 1:20 on the Computrainer Zone 2 workout. Wed: swim 3.7k (last long swim), run 7.5k. Thurs: Bike 55 (race setup), run 4k. Fri: run 10.5k (last 'long' run). Sat: open water swim 2.4k (done), pm: run and for tomorrow: ride, max 2 hrs.
Heading to the race?
If you want to meet up, drop me an email, we can exchange cell numbers. My schedule looks like this: Thurs: travel and register. Fri: am swim in Mirror Lake, pm: run. Sat am: ride. pm: bike check in, swim. Sun: all booked up. :)
Predict my time and win a..
Predict my time without going over and win a prize! A sock? A pair of socks? A pair of official IMLP socks? Yes, that's right! Predict my time without going over and I'll send you an official pair of IMLP socks! No emails, you have to post here so all can see.
Cheers!
How did they do that? My number is the same as my finishing time! How cool is that?? 10:06! Oh man that would sweet indeed, but realistically it's not going to happen. For fun, let's crunch the numbers to do a 10:06..
Swim: 56
T1: 4
Bike: 5:20
T2: 4
Run: 3:42
You know, when I write it down like that, it actually seems doable. But if you throw in the obligatory +20 min fudge factor, the projected finishing time weighs in at 10:26. So this is what's floating in the back of mind, however time is of less importance than ever this year. This year the mantras are race smart, finish strong. It should be noted that I've yet to come close to a projected finishing time at the IM distance - the classic overestimating fitness applies here, BUT and this is a big but, I've made huge strides in the 4th discipline of triathlon. Nutrition. I'm not saying I have it nailed, but this will a huge test and I think it's dialed in pretty good.
Here is my overall strategy:
Swim: mantras: "long, easy strokes" Grab a set feet from the 2nd lead pack and take it easy. Time: 56 min.
Bike: mantra: "slow down!" Negative split? Get and keep heartrate < 135 for first loop, add 5 beats for 2nd loop. Start fueling @ 20 minutes and on the 10's thereafter. Eat half a power bar on the 30's followed by H2O. Estimated calorie intake: min:2000 max 2600. Time: 5:25
Run: mantra: "just run." Hold heartrate to 140 and see what happens. Nutrition: 800 cals of dextrose based Infinit. Time: 3:50
The good: my training went really well this year. Spent extra time on the bike to help increase overall endurance. Training started last October, with consistent and more structured training beginning in November - it went well.
The bad: nothing really. Caught 2 bugs, one in Feb and another in April. April was a downer month and missed a bike focus week. Other than that, all is/was good.
The "X" factor: weather. Hot, humid conditions will slow me down. Can't control that, so not worried about it.
In the "What the Hell?" category..
There are 488 in my age category. Yes, that's right, 488. What the hell? In a race where there will be between 2000 and 2200 particpants, there are 488 in the M35-39 division. We are clearly a most troubled demographic and undoubtedly need some sort of professional help.
Taper Udpate:
Mon: swim 2k. Tues: 1 hour message, 1:20 on the Computrainer Zone 2 workout. Wed: swim 3.7k (last long swim), run 7.5k. Thurs: Bike 55 (race setup), run 4k. Fri: run 10.5k (last 'long' run). Sat: open water swim 2.4k (done), pm: run and for tomorrow: ride, max 2 hrs.
Heading to the race?
If you want to meet up, drop me an email, we can exchange cell numbers. My schedule looks like this: Thurs: travel and register. Fri: am swim in Mirror Lake, pm: run. Sat am: ride. pm: bike check in, swim. Sun: all booked up. :)
Predict my time and win a..
Predict my time without going over and win a prize! A sock? A pair of socks? A pair of official IMLP socks? Yes, that's right! Predict my time without going over and I'll send you an official pair of IMLP socks! No emails, you have to post here so all can see.
Cheers!
Monday, July 09, 2007
LB, PB1/2IM, Serious TM engaged.
What an odd title for a post. Starting with LB..
Saturday's workout consisted of: a 3.6k open water swim, 100k bike and a 7.5k run. The highlight: I was out riding on a beautiful day, the kind of day when it's just awesome being out there and riding. I'm passing the cow fields saying Hi to the cows and otherwise just enjoying myself and logging a few K's. Whoa.. what's this? Someone ahead about 700m? Bogey in sight, target aquired. He/she is moving at a decent pace but I'm slowly making gains all the while trying to keep HR in check. It's all a game for me, even though the person ahead has no idea I'm there or that they are even in my little game. For me, it's just fun to try and catch someone ahead of me, hopefully have a little chat and ride some miles togethor.
So I pull within a few meters of the person and say 'hi', just to let them know I'm there. I pull up beside my fellow tri-wienie, do a double take and realize I just reigned in Lisa Bentley. Inside my head I'm going "ohmygodijustreignedinLisaBentely!" On the outside, I'm my usual calm cool collected self. (ya right) Seriously, we just chatted for a bit and soon after went our separate ways, no big deal. But it was damned cool to run a 10X Ironwoman champion a mere 2 weeks away from IMLP!
Fast forward to today. I just got back from an easy 2k swim, (sidebar, I did a couple 'fast' 100m's and was hitting 1:06's -schwing!) and was eating (what else is new) when TSN was showing Ironman Australia 2006. What woman one that race? Yup, you guessed it - Lisa Bentley. Gee, you think I'm in Ironman racing mode yet??
Peterborough 1/2 Ironman was yesterday. I had scheduled to do this race, but backed out, it's just too close too Lake Placid. I probably could have done it and recovered OK, but 'probably' just doesn't cut it, I'm just focusing on the prize and that's a mere 13 days away..
PB1/2IM, gets me nostalgic, three years ago it was my first triathlon, so you know it's a 'must do' for next year!
Taper Mode is pretty much in full swing. Last week I had the luxury of taking 2 days completely off. Pure craziness I know. The mileage looked like this: swim: 7.6k (bailed on a swim) bike 305k and run 35k (bailed on a run). On Friday I wasn't feeling quite 100%, so erred on the side of caution and got some extra zzzz's. All is good now, so no worries.
The plan for this week is to swim ~8k, bike <200k and run about 25k.
Cheers!
Saturday's workout consisted of: a 3.6k open water swim, 100k bike and a 7.5k run. The highlight: I was out riding on a beautiful day, the kind of day when it's just awesome being out there and riding. I'm passing the cow fields saying Hi to the cows and otherwise just enjoying myself and logging a few K's. Whoa.. what's this? Someone ahead about 700m? Bogey in sight, target aquired. He/she is moving at a decent pace but I'm slowly making gains all the while trying to keep HR in check. It's all a game for me, even though the person ahead has no idea I'm there or that they are even in my little game. For me, it's just fun to try and catch someone ahead of me, hopefully have a little chat and ride some miles togethor.
So I pull within a few meters of the person and say 'hi', just to let them know I'm there. I pull up beside my fellow tri-wienie, do a double take and realize I just reigned in Lisa Bentley. Inside my head I'm going "ohmygodijustreignedinLisaBentely!" On the outside, I'm my usual calm cool collected self. (ya right) Seriously, we just chatted for a bit and soon after went our separate ways, no big deal. But it was damned cool to run a 10X Ironwoman champion a mere 2 weeks away from IMLP!
Fast forward to today. I just got back from an easy 2k swim, (sidebar, I did a couple 'fast' 100m's and was hitting 1:06's -schwing!) and was eating (what else is new) when TSN was showing Ironman Australia 2006. What woman one that race? Yup, you guessed it - Lisa Bentley. Gee, you think I'm in Ironman racing mode yet??
Peterborough 1/2 Ironman was yesterday. I had scheduled to do this race, but backed out, it's just too close too Lake Placid. I probably could have done it and recovered OK, but 'probably' just doesn't cut it, I'm just focusing on the prize and that's a mere 13 days away..
PB1/2IM, gets me nostalgic, three years ago it was my first triathlon, so you know it's a 'must do' for next year!
Taper Mode is pretty much in full swing. Last week I had the luxury of taking 2 days completely off. Pure craziness I know. The mileage looked like this: swim: 7.6k (bailed on a swim) bike 305k and run 35k (bailed on a run). On Friday I wasn't feeling quite 100%, so erred on the side of caution and got some extra zzzz's. All is good now, so no worries.
The plan for this week is to swim ~8k, bike <200k and run about 25k.
Cheers!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Headwinds, finally on the list!
Went for a fairly flat 100k ride today. It was an out and back affair with the first 50k against the wind. It took me 1:42 to get to the halfway mark for a paltry 29.3kph. Now the way back, that's another story... zoom zoom zoom. The 2nd 50k was done in 1:16, at 39.0 kph, a mere 26(!) minutes faster on the return leg. Amazing the difference a little wind makes.
During my swim yesterday, I was lucky enough to have some kids from the swim team join me for lane swim. I guess I was more grateful then lucky. The vast majority of my swims have been lonely, boring, just-get-it-done affairs and unfortuneately there is no one around to push me, so I just push my self and log the K's. Having the kids there brought back memories and before you know it I was swimming 400's 10 to 15 sec faster then normal. A solid bonus that they knew the 'rules' to lane swimming too.
The fine folks who are reponsible for putting on IMLP, *finally* added me to the particpants list. I was starting to get worried, as I submitted my app 2.5 weeks ago and processing it is suppose to only take 5 days. But apparently someone was on vacation and it didn't get done until now. Another item that is checked off on my 'to do' list. Phew.
Cheers!
During my swim yesterday, I was lucky enough to have some kids from the swim team join me for lane swim. I guess I was more grateful then lucky. The vast majority of my swims have been lonely, boring, just-get-it-done affairs and unfortuneately there is no one around to push me, so I just push my self and log the K's. Having the kids there brought back memories and before you know it I was swimming 400's 10 to 15 sec faster then normal. A solid bonus that they knew the 'rules' to lane swimming too.
The fine folks who are reponsible for putting on IMLP, *finally* added me to the particpants list. I was starting to get worried, as I submitted my app 2.5 weeks ago and processing it is suppose to only take 5 days. But apparently someone was on vacation and it didn't get done until now. Another item that is checked off on my 'to do' list. Phew.
Cheers!
Monday, July 02, 2007
Happy Canada Day, Taper, Monthy Totals, WTF are the helmuts?
Hi Canada, happy belated to ya! You're lookin damn fine for 140 years young! You're the best - cheers!
Even though I'm in taper mode, it's subtle taper mode. Last week, I was still loggin some decent miles, but there were subtle differences; increased swim mileage, 1 less workout then normal and a slight decrease in run mileage. I also inserted some higher intensity sessions on the bike. The engine is built, now I'm just fine tuning it.
This week the plan is basically the same: 11-12k swimming, ~300k bike and ~45 running K's. After that, it hardcore taper time..
Not a bad month for June, the log shows:
swim:43.7k
bike: 1465k
run: 249k
Very similar to May, but May had a bike focus week, so this month had about 250k less biking K's, but a slight increase in swim and run totals. Probably should have tried to bike more, but nothing I can do about that now, you can't cram for an Ironman!
It's been a bad week for 'adult' cyclists not wearing helmuts in these parts. I've seen families out riding around, the kids are wearing helmuts, but older and 'wiser' Mom and Dad are not. Boggle. I've seen 'real' cyclists, commuters and Joe-average all not wearing noggin protection. I don't get it. Don't give me the freedom of choice argument - that's BS. Your personal freedoms stop when your stupidness induced brain injury intrudes on my/the publics tax dollars. So suck it up, be a dork and wear your helmut!
T-Minus 20 days..
Cheers!
Even though I'm in taper mode, it's subtle taper mode. Last week, I was still loggin some decent miles, but there were subtle differences; increased swim mileage, 1 less workout then normal and a slight decrease in run mileage. I also inserted some higher intensity sessions on the bike. The engine is built, now I'm just fine tuning it.
This week the plan is basically the same: 11-12k swimming, ~300k bike and ~45 running K's. After that, it hardcore taper time..
Not a bad month for June, the log shows:
swim:43.7k
bike: 1465k
run: 249k
Very similar to May, but May had a bike focus week, so this month had about 250k less biking K's, but a slight increase in swim and run totals. Probably should have tried to bike more, but nothing I can do about that now, you can't cram for an Ironman!
It's been a bad week for 'adult' cyclists not wearing helmuts in these parts. I've seen families out riding around, the kids are wearing helmuts, but older and 'wiser' Mom and Dad are not. Boggle. I've seen 'real' cyclists, commuters and Joe-average all not wearing noggin protection. I don't get it. Don't give me the freedom of choice argument - that's BS. Your personal freedoms stop when your stupidness induced brain injury intrudes on my/the publics tax dollars. So suck it up, be a dork and wear your helmut!
T-Minus 20 days..
Cheers!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
T-minus 4 weeks..
Did I cook myself?
Could I have done more?
Should I have done less?
Ahh the questions are starting already. The four week 'reality check' can be tough because I think more often then not we ignore symptoms even though they are staring us in the face. So, to answer question one:
Q:Did I cook myself?
A: I'm typing this after a heavy weekend. Fri: 5k swim, run 7.5k (an 'easy' day.... cough) Sat: bike 180k @IM effort, 14k run afterwards. Sun: run 26k
I don't feel cooked, I'm eating very well and slept great last night. I'm actually in a very content and happy zone, so no, I don't think I fried myself. Hopefully by the end of my taper I'll be 'strong like bull'.
Q: Could I have done more?
A: Such a fine line between doing more, absorbing it and not self destructing. The vast majority of my workouts have been at a heartrate of 142 or lower. I've been able to stack on more miles and effectively recover just due to the fact I've kept the intensity low. The whole goal for this year was just to build a bigger engine. I think too few of us think short term, how many people are willing to take an entire year or two just to build their endurance base? The odd thing is, I have gotten faster without doing any speed work. Why? 10 months ago, when I set my HR ceiling, there were many times I had to walk up a hill just so I wouldn't go over my HR cap. Now, I'm easily running sub 5min K's on long runs, with the same HR cap. The effort was the same, but yet I'm faster.
Building endurance through more time on the bike. I can't believe the difference this had made over the last 7 months. The body can absorb alot of saddle of time. If I knew just how readily it does this, I probably would have done even more on the bike, or at least threw in more bike focused weeks in.
Bottom line, I feel really good on where I'm at and I've learned much about myself over the last 10 months. So to answer the question, should I have done more? No, because I didn't know then what I know now.
Q: Should I have done less?
A: Reality check. I'm 39, can I absorb vasts amount of training like when I was 19? Doubtful. However, with acception of April (sick), I've been injury and sick free - good signs. Every 4 th week, I'd cut mileage in half or more, just to rest up. I think the strategy worked. I'm sure the odd extra day off wouldn't have hurt, but on the other hand since I don't think I fried myself, my rest strategy seems to have worked.
Saturday was an awesome day. Rich Pady organized a group ride/run to help raise money for POGO. (the charity I'm raising $$ for) A great turn out, no big egos to contend with, just a bunch tri wienies training togethor and raising some extra dough for the kids. It was a 2X 90k loop affair designed to be as hard as the IMLP bike loop or harder. My strategy was simple: first loop keep HR to 135. Second loop, keep HR below 142. Try to negative split. Nutrition: 6X bottles of Infinit and 3 Power Bars.
Result: even split, almost to the second.
Notes: It's unbelievable how ridiculasly 'easy' you have to ride the first loop in order to negative split the 2nd loop. Scary. First loop 2:51. Second loop 2:51. Total: 5:42. Add race wheels, no traffic stops etc.. my estimated bike split at IMLP should be 5:25 ish. If possible consume 1 more litre of water and 1 more power bar at LP.
After the bike, did a 14k run. Felt very good, got the running legs within 2k and found my groove, kept HR @ 140.
Notes: drink more water! How much of a difference will swimming 4k before the bike make? Mental note, swim SLOW at LP!
A quick 'Hi!' to Stu and his sexsy P2C, you may not know it, but you will do IMC again and you will rock the course. Think about it for '08, I need more training partners! :) And of course Cliff was there grinning the whole time while grinding up the hills. Isn't it funny seeing someone grinning while you know they are suffering makes your own suffering seem not so bad??!
Gotta go EAT - again!
Cheers!
Could I have done more?
Should I have done less?
Ahh the questions are starting already. The four week 'reality check' can be tough because I think more often then not we ignore symptoms even though they are staring us in the face. So, to answer question one:
Q:Did I cook myself?
A: I'm typing this after a heavy weekend. Fri: 5k swim, run 7.5k (an 'easy' day.... cough) Sat: bike 180k @IM effort, 14k run afterwards. Sun: run 26k
I don't feel cooked, I'm eating very well and slept great last night. I'm actually in a very content and happy zone, so no, I don't think I fried myself. Hopefully by the end of my taper I'll be 'strong like bull'.
Q: Could I have done more?
A: Such a fine line between doing more, absorbing it and not self destructing. The vast majority of my workouts have been at a heartrate of 142 or lower. I've been able to stack on more miles and effectively recover just due to the fact I've kept the intensity low. The whole goal for this year was just to build a bigger engine. I think too few of us think short term, how many people are willing to take an entire year or two just to build their endurance base? The odd thing is, I have gotten faster without doing any speed work. Why? 10 months ago, when I set my HR ceiling, there were many times I had to walk up a hill just so I wouldn't go over my HR cap. Now, I'm easily running sub 5min K's on long runs, with the same HR cap. The effort was the same, but yet I'm faster.
Building endurance through more time on the bike. I can't believe the difference this had made over the last 7 months. The body can absorb alot of saddle of time. If I knew just how readily it does this, I probably would have done even more on the bike, or at least threw in more bike focused weeks in.
Bottom line, I feel really good on where I'm at and I've learned much about myself over the last 10 months. So to answer the question, should I have done more? No, because I didn't know then what I know now.
Q: Should I have done less?
A: Reality check. I'm 39, can I absorb vasts amount of training like when I was 19? Doubtful. However, with acception of April (sick), I've been injury and sick free - good signs. Every 4 th week, I'd cut mileage in half or more, just to rest up. I think the strategy worked. I'm sure the odd extra day off wouldn't have hurt, but on the other hand since I don't think I fried myself, my rest strategy seems to have worked.
Saturday was an awesome day. Rich Pady organized a group ride/run to help raise money for POGO. (the charity I'm raising $$ for) A great turn out, no big egos to contend with, just a bunch tri wienies training togethor and raising some extra dough for the kids. It was a 2X 90k loop affair designed to be as hard as the IMLP bike loop or harder. My strategy was simple: first loop keep HR to 135. Second loop, keep HR below 142. Try to negative split. Nutrition: 6X bottles of Infinit and 3 Power Bars.
Result: even split, almost to the second.
Notes: It's unbelievable how ridiculasly 'easy' you have to ride the first loop in order to negative split the 2nd loop. Scary. First loop 2:51. Second loop 2:51. Total: 5:42. Add race wheels, no traffic stops etc.. my estimated bike split at IMLP should be 5:25 ish. If possible consume 1 more litre of water and 1 more power bar at LP.
After the bike, did a 14k run. Felt very good, got the running legs within 2k and found my groove, kept HR @ 140.
Notes: drink more water! How much of a difference will swimming 4k before the bike make? Mental note, swim SLOW at LP!
A quick 'Hi!' to Stu and his sexsy P2C, you may not know it, but you will do IMC again and you will rock the course. Think about it for '08, I need more training partners! :) And of course Cliff was there grinning the whole time while grinding up the hills. Isn't it funny seeing someone grinning while you know they are suffering makes your own suffering seem not so bad??!
Gotta go EAT - again!
Cheers!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
"You got beat by a girl??"
Muskoka Race Report
"You got beat by a girl?" Actually got beat by two of them. Having the likes of Samantha McGlone or Tereza Macel 'beat' me is actually quite an honour. I often use the pro women as a bit of a bench mark for my own performance. I know when my times start to near their times, I've attained a certain level of performance. I'm just happy I'm healthy enough to even consider hanging on their heals because they can certainly lay the smack down and kick a lot of ass!
Goal: Attain an IMLP spot.
Arrival
I'm a keener. Got to the site nice and early. It takes me awhile to feel completely warmed up and I wanted a good spot in the transition area. So I arrived early enough to take the bike for a spin, go through check in procedure, lightly stretch out, go for a jog and finally do a swim warm up. I had some extra time and met up with Cliff , who was so keen on racing, he got a speeding ticket on the way to the race site! Hmm.. racing to get to a race.. ironic?
After talking to a few people the day before the race and in the transition area, I found out that quite a few were looking for Ironman spots. Silly me, not signing up the year before and leaving it to the last minute to qualify. I just find it so difficult to pay a large chunk of change to IMNA a full year before a race. Too much can happen between then and now. So I take my chances and try to qualify. Hey, sometimes life is gamble.
Swim 2k: Time: 29:06 Age group: 4/95 Overall: 41/792
I'm in the 3rd wave. Not a big fan of wave starts, I'd prefer a mass start, but the format for this race is 'chase', so we do waves. The horn blows and we're off, nice clean start. I breath left, I breath right and appear to be leading the crew in the first 200m or so. I relax and think about doing nice long strokes. I'm sighting the bouys really well and put my head down and swim 20 or 25 strokes without sighting, pop my head up and still maintaining course. All good signs. I feel like I'm swimming about a 1:24 pace. I run into a little traffic during the last half of the swim, just due to catching up the previous waves, but navigation is good and had no problems swimming around them. A little dissapointed in my 1:28/100m pace, I know swimming, and I know I was swimming faster than that!
Out of the water in 4th place in my division. I have NO idea how 3 buggers in my age group managed to pass me - totally didn't see them. We exit within 30 seconds of each other - so it's a close race.
T1: I see one of the guys that exited the water me and compliment him on his swim. I get an odd look, which in turn I find odd.
Bike 55k. Time: 1:33:29 Age group: 14/95 Overall: 76/792
I liked the bike course. I think many people would say it's 'challenging', lots of rolling hills and a few good climbs. I even came out of the saddle once or twice and rarely do that on any climb. I was keeping my effort in check during the bike, wanted to get a few calories down and just gauge my overall feel. I was a little scared that I may experience nausea as I have in the past, but I didn't! Phew! In hindsight, I should have put the hammer down more on the bike - but hindsight is 20/20, right?
Run 15k Time: 1:02 Age group 10/92. Overall: 75/792.
A very solid run for me. I'm very happy with it. I can attribute my decent run performance due to my increased bike endurance. I just got off the bike and immediately ran ~4 minute K's for the duration. I used to envy the guys who could run after the bike.. I'm slowly turning into one of those guys! The hard work is starting to pay off.
I got passed by one guy in my age group and asked him if he was going for a IM spot and he said "No". (phew) So I wasn't sure at this point, I thought I was around 4 th in my age group and after I checked the official results I was suprised that 3 more guys managed to get by me. So I finished 7th. Eep, that's enough to make me sweat on whether or not I'll get a IMLP spot!
After the awards ceremony they give out the Ironman spots. There seem to alot of people here and more than once Sally and I saw the odd tear on someone who wasn't able to qualify. My heart goes out to them, to train all those hours and not get a spot. The competition was that intense. So they call the M35-39 division and a BUNCH of us trod up to the desk. Nerve wracking. (what is it with us mid-life-crisis-guys trying to capture the athletisism of our youth??) We are talking amongst ourselves.. 'what spot are you going for?', what's your time?' etc... I know there is at least 2 spots for IMLP, but the bad news FIVE out of the 6 guys that were faster than me showed up to claim a spot! They start the procedure... 1 guys take IM Florida, the next 2 take IM Canada, the next one take IMLP! I'm next, I got the other IMLP spot! PHEW! Didn't have to wait for roll down. But there were many dissapointed guys in my category and I'm kinda bummed for them. I think the level of competition at this race kinda took everyone by suprise.
Well I didn't want this to turn into a long convuluted report but it sort of ended up that way. :)
Cheers!
"You got beat by a girl?" Actually got beat by two of them. Having the likes of Samantha McGlone or Tereza Macel 'beat' me is actually quite an honour. I often use the pro women as a bit of a bench mark for my own performance. I know when my times start to near their times, I've attained a certain level of performance. I'm just happy I'm healthy enough to even consider hanging on their heals because they can certainly lay the smack down and kick a lot of ass!
Goal: Attain an IMLP spot.
Arrival
I'm a keener. Got to the site nice and early. It takes me awhile to feel completely warmed up and I wanted a good spot in the transition area. So I arrived early enough to take the bike for a spin, go through check in procedure, lightly stretch out, go for a jog and finally do a swim warm up. I had some extra time and met up with Cliff , who was so keen on racing, he got a speeding ticket on the way to the race site! Hmm.. racing to get to a race.. ironic?
After talking to a few people the day before the race and in the transition area, I found out that quite a few were looking for Ironman spots. Silly me, not signing up the year before and leaving it to the last minute to qualify. I just find it so difficult to pay a large chunk of change to IMNA a full year before a race. Too much can happen between then and now. So I take my chances and try to qualify. Hey, sometimes life is gamble.
Swim 2k: Time: 29:06 Age group: 4/95 Overall: 41/792
I'm in the 3rd wave. Not a big fan of wave starts, I'd prefer a mass start, but the format for this race is 'chase', so we do waves. The horn blows and we're off, nice clean start. I breath left, I breath right and appear to be leading the crew in the first 200m or so. I relax and think about doing nice long strokes. I'm sighting the bouys really well and put my head down and swim 20 or 25 strokes without sighting, pop my head up and still maintaining course. All good signs. I feel like I'm swimming about a 1:24 pace. I run into a little traffic during the last half of the swim, just due to catching up the previous waves, but navigation is good and had no problems swimming around them. A little dissapointed in my 1:28/100m pace, I know swimming, and I know I was swimming faster than that!
Out of the water in 4th place in my division. I have NO idea how 3 buggers in my age group managed to pass me - totally didn't see them. We exit within 30 seconds of each other - so it's a close race.
T1: I see one of the guys that exited the water me and compliment him on his swim. I get an odd look, which in turn I find odd.
Bike 55k. Time: 1:33:29 Age group: 14/95 Overall: 76/792
I liked the bike course. I think many people would say it's 'challenging', lots of rolling hills and a few good climbs. I even came out of the saddle once or twice and rarely do that on any climb. I was keeping my effort in check during the bike, wanted to get a few calories down and just gauge my overall feel. I was a little scared that I may experience nausea as I have in the past, but I didn't! Phew! In hindsight, I should have put the hammer down more on the bike - but hindsight is 20/20, right?
Run 15k Time: 1:02 Age group 10/92. Overall: 75/792.
A very solid run for me. I'm very happy with it. I can attribute my decent run performance due to my increased bike endurance. I just got off the bike and immediately ran ~4 minute K's for the duration. I used to envy the guys who could run after the bike.. I'm slowly turning into one of those guys! The hard work is starting to pay off.
I got passed by one guy in my age group and asked him if he was going for a IM spot and he said "No". (phew) So I wasn't sure at this point, I thought I was around 4 th in my age group and after I checked the official results I was suprised that 3 more guys managed to get by me. So I finished 7th. Eep, that's enough to make me sweat on whether or not I'll get a IMLP spot!
After the awards ceremony they give out the Ironman spots. There seem to alot of people here and more than once Sally and I saw the odd tear on someone who wasn't able to qualify. My heart goes out to them, to train all those hours and not get a spot. The competition was that intense. So they call the M35-39 division and a BUNCH of us trod up to the desk. Nerve wracking. (what is it with us mid-life-crisis-guys trying to capture the athletisism of our youth??) We are talking amongst ourselves.. 'what spot are you going for?', what's your time?' etc... I know there is at least 2 spots for IMLP, but the bad news FIVE out of the 6 guys that were faster than me showed up to claim a spot! They start the procedure... 1 guys take IM Florida, the next 2 take IM Canada, the next one take IMLP! I'm next, I got the other IMLP spot! PHEW! Didn't have to wait for roll down. But there were many dissapointed guys in my category and I'm kinda bummed for them. I think the level of competition at this race kinda took everyone by suprise.
Well I didn't want this to turn into a long convuluted report but it sort of ended up that way. :)
Cheers!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Scared?
Nah, not really. More like 'healthy nervous'. Why? Racing this weekend and it's been much too long since I've last raced. I'm ready. I'm fitter. (fitter?). I'm faster (hopefully). I'm excited. I'm nervous. I'm a little more experienced and I'm really looking forward to 'test' myself.
Everynight before I goto sleep, I take the opportunity to focus on breathing and goto my 'happy place'. It's a meditation ritual that usually sets up my sleep rather well. Waaaay back when I swam seriously, I used this time of 'twilight sleep' to visualize my swim technique. It was almost like having a DVD of proper swim technique, I'd put it on slow motion and visualize exactly how I wanted to swim. Program the mind and the technique and more importantly the muscle memory will follow. Hey, it worked for me then, so now I still do it. Only this time I'm running over race strategy, transitions etc... you know.. tri stuff.
Last week's numbers:
Swim: 10k
Bike: 425K
Run: 67K
Pretty much exactly what I wanted. The highlight was the weekend, Sat: an open water swim! (3.3k), a 140K bike followed by a 12.5k run. I felt awesome. Capped it off with a long run of 30k on Sun.
This is an easy week. I have Mon, Wed and Fri scheduled as easy days, Saturday is travel and chill with Sally day. Sunday.. it's off to the races!
Everynight before I goto sleep, I take the opportunity to focus on breathing and goto my 'happy place'. It's a meditation ritual that usually sets up my sleep rather well. Waaaay back when I swam seriously, I used this time of 'twilight sleep' to visualize my swim technique. It was almost like having a DVD of proper swim technique, I'd put it on slow motion and visualize exactly how I wanted to swim. Program the mind and the technique and more importantly the muscle memory will follow. Hey, it worked for me then, so now I still do it. Only this time I'm running over race strategy, transitions etc... you know.. tri stuff.
Last week's numbers:
Swim: 10k
Bike: 425K
Run: 67K
Pretty much exactly what I wanted. The highlight was the weekend, Sat: an open water swim! (3.3k), a 140K bike followed by a 12.5k run. I felt awesome. Capped it off with a long run of 30k on Sun.
This is an easy week. I have Mon, Wed and Fri scheduled as easy days, Saturday is travel and chill with Sally day. Sunday.. it's off to the races!
Saturday, June 09, 2007
The economy... of movement.
Odd, a Saturday blog update. I haven't had the urge to update lately, but tonight I just felt like writing - so here I am. Now the question is what to write about? Lately, my blog has pretty much degenerated to mileage totals etc.. blah blah blah. The main reason is due to lack of time. As regulars know, I try to take training as serious as I can at any given moment, so alot of stuff gets put on the back burner. Can't update, must get to bed. When I focus on training, I train. I use up all my SAPs (spousal approval points) and focus on the task at hand. That means no TV, little internet and I'm usually too tired to read more than a page of my book before off goes the lights. What's even wierder is that I love doing it.
Part of me wonders just how narcissictic a blog is. I guess there is component of that which is bothersome. There is time a factor, I mean I just spent 15 minutes writing a paragraph and half! Even though I don't have many readers, I still feel compelled to update. So why do it? I guess it's sort of like opening a door, take a peak inside and if you like what you see, hang out with me, if not, move along, there's nothing to see here.
So, I was the pool the other day and someome says "how do you make it look so easy?" A simple question that demands a long answer. The easy answer is "practice", which is absolutely true, but it's much more than that. It's about econonmy of movement, being relaxed, thinking about technique, being fluid, looking 'effortless' and of course practice. I'm always thinking of that whenever I swim, bike or run. I'll try to emulate a pro that makes it look 'easy', I'll visualize what he/she does and start to incorporate it into my own technique. When I run, I always try to be fluid, strong, have quick feet, rythmic breathing, good posture, relaxed shoulders, loose fingers etc.. Eventually it becomes habit. Soon everything will 'gel' and you may get that feeling once. Remember it. You'll get it again. Soon enough it will be habit and now you're in the 'zone'. Embrace the zone because that's when the shit really starts to get interesting.
Well it's past my bedtime, so I must be off. Cheers!
Part of me wonders just how narcissictic a blog is. I guess there is component of that which is bothersome. There is time a factor, I mean I just spent 15 minutes writing a paragraph and half! Even though I don't have many readers, I still feel compelled to update. So why do it? I guess it's sort of like opening a door, take a peak inside and if you like what you see, hang out with me, if not, move along, there's nothing to see here.
So, I was the pool the other day and someome says "how do you make it look so easy?" A simple question that demands a long answer. The easy answer is "practice", which is absolutely true, but it's much more than that. It's about econonmy of movement, being relaxed, thinking about technique, being fluid, looking 'effortless' and of course practice. I'm always thinking of that whenever I swim, bike or run. I'll try to emulate a pro that makes it look 'easy', I'll visualize what he/she does and start to incorporate it into my own technique. When I run, I always try to be fluid, strong, have quick feet, rythmic breathing, good posture, relaxed shoulders, loose fingers etc.. Eventually it becomes habit. Soon everything will 'gel' and you may get that feeling once. Remember it. You'll get it again. Soon enough it will be habit and now you're in the 'zone'. Embrace the zone because that's when the shit really starts to get interesting.
Well it's past my bedtime, so I must be off. Cheers!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Anatomy of a 'big' week, monthly totals etc..
Just finished a big week of training. I was on vacation and decided to make training the number one priority. Tried to train like a pro, ok well maybe a pro's easy week. :) Here's the low down:
Monday (easy day): swim 3k (a.m.) run 7.5k trails. (p.m.)
Tuesday: bike 129k, run 7.5k trails. (brick)
Wed: bike 108k, run 10k road. (brick)
Thur: swim 4.8k (a.m.) bike 90k (computrainer)
Fri: swim 2.7k (a.m.) run 10.5k (noon), bike 30k(p.m.) on computrainer. (recovery ride)
Sat: bike 208k (!)
Sun: run 30k
Totals for the week: swim 10.5k, bike: 565k run: 65.5k. Exceded all goals for each sport - good stuff. Things to consider when doing a 30 hour training week:
1) Sleep. I made sure to get to bed early and every night I was logging 8.5 to 10 hours of sleep. If I felt I needed a nap midday, I took one.
2) Nutrition. Had to be hyper aware of getting good quality food into me. Between getting lots of zzzz's and eating well, I was able to recover effectively.
3) Massage. Paying attention to the IT bands and the quads. After every leg workout, I'd message my quads for 5 min. I also felt this made a difference in my recovery.
4) Stretch. 20-25min of stretching after every workout.
Highpoints: I'm swimming faster than I should be. Not sure why as swimming is my best sport and hence trained the least - but I'll take it! Mileage PR on the bike. I'm a firm believer in logging lots of miles on the bike as this is a very effective way of increasing overall endurance. Met up with Cliff on Saturday, he was doing '3rd line climb' hill repeats. Hard man stuff. So a salute goes out to him. Lastly, after a tough week, today's 30k run felt good. Hey anytime a 30k run feels good, it's a highlight.
So in the end, my attempt to train like a pro for a week was a success. I enjoyed every minute of it and suprisingly, don't feel beat up at all. Back to work and the real world tomorrow.
Totals for the month of May:
swim: 36.9k
bike: 1706k
run: 237.5k
The goal for the month was to log bike K's and 1700k is a mileage PR. Not bad in the run department either, alot of short runs (7-8k) does start to add up over time. The other bonus for May was my half marry PR.. so yea, May was a good month. Cheers!
Monday (easy day): swim 3k (a.m.) run 7.5k trails. (p.m.)
Tuesday: bike 129k, run 7.5k trails. (brick)
Wed: bike 108k, run 10k road. (brick)
Thur: swim 4.8k (a.m.) bike 90k (computrainer)
Fri: swim 2.7k (a.m.) run 10.5k (noon), bike 30k(p.m.) on computrainer. (recovery ride)
Sat: bike 208k (!)
Sun: run 30k
Totals for the week: swim 10.5k, bike: 565k run: 65.5k. Exceded all goals for each sport - good stuff. Things to consider when doing a 30 hour training week:
1) Sleep. I made sure to get to bed early and every night I was logging 8.5 to 10 hours of sleep. If I felt I needed a nap midday, I took one.
2) Nutrition. Had to be hyper aware of getting good quality food into me. Between getting lots of zzzz's and eating well, I was able to recover effectively.
3) Massage. Paying attention to the IT bands and the quads. After every leg workout, I'd message my quads for 5 min. I also felt this made a difference in my recovery.
4) Stretch. 20-25min of stretching after every workout.
Highpoints: I'm swimming faster than I should be. Not sure why as swimming is my best sport and hence trained the least - but I'll take it! Mileage PR on the bike. I'm a firm believer in logging lots of miles on the bike as this is a very effective way of increasing overall endurance. Met up with Cliff on Saturday, he was doing '3rd line climb' hill repeats. Hard man stuff. So a salute goes out to him. Lastly, after a tough week, today's 30k run felt good. Hey anytime a 30k run feels good, it's a highlight.
So in the end, my attempt to train like a pro for a week was a success. I enjoyed every minute of it and suprisingly, don't feel beat up at all. Back to work and the real world tomorrow.
Totals for the month of May:
swim: 36.9k
bike: 1706k
run: 237.5k
The goal for the month was to log bike K's and 1700k is a mileage PR. Not bad in the run department either, alot of short runs (7-8k) does start to add up over time. The other bonus for May was my half marry PR.. so yea, May was a good month. Cheers!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tardy Tuesday update..
Sorry for my tardy updates lately. I've been focusing on training, sleeping and eating, as a result, my internet time is way down. Less interent = more training! So without further ado, here are the tardy numbers for last week:
Swim: 8k
Bike: 483k
Run: 56.5k
A good week. Only 2 swims, but each one was 4k. I wanted 450k on the bike, flirted with 500, but I'm happy with 483k. As for the run, was aiming for 60k, but I won't beat myself up for missing it by 3.5k.
Swim stuff. Want to swim slower then IM pace? Breath every 5 strokes. Want to swim at IM pace? Breath every 3 strokes. Here's a good set to experiment with: 2(5X200). First one drill, your choice. #2 breath every 5, #3 breath every 3, #4 at half IM pace, #5 at Oly or faster pace. Repeat.
An interesting footnote on how 2 'hard' days can differ. Thursday's plan was to bike 110-120k and run 7.5. It was hot, humid and we were under a smog advisory. I checked the air quality index and it was at 'moderate' (AQI was 40, today was 'good', AQI 17). Basically I was on the cusp of training outside or riding the Computrainer inside. I trained outside. Got lost on my bike, (exploring new territory), ended up bonking and grinding out 160k. Got home late, much to the chagrin of Sally, went fetal, then proceded to cough my lungs out for 40 mintues. Ok, so now I know I can't train long on 'moderate' air quality days.
Fast forward to Saturday. Good air, good temperature and overcast. I biked 192k and felt great, even did a short 5k transition run afterwards. A 7 hour endurance day and it was awesome. I was amazed at the difference between the 2 days. Lessons learned: dial back the intensity even more in the heat and humidity and train indoors during smoggy days.
Vacation this week. :)) Hoping to do some big numbers. It will be my last 'big' week. Here's the plan for the next 4 weeks: this week: 'big' week. (~bike 550k, run 60k) Week 2: 'moderate' (bike 400, run 60) Week 3: easy. (race on the weekend), Week 4 'moderate' (last hard weekend on June 23/24) Taper begins June 25...
Swim: 8k
Bike: 483k
Run: 56.5k
A good week. Only 2 swims, but each one was 4k. I wanted 450k on the bike, flirted with 500, but I'm happy with 483k. As for the run, was aiming for 60k, but I won't beat myself up for missing it by 3.5k.
Swim stuff. Want to swim slower then IM pace? Breath every 5 strokes. Want to swim at IM pace? Breath every 3 strokes. Here's a good set to experiment with: 2(5X200). First one drill, your choice. #2 breath every 5, #3 breath every 3, #4 at half IM pace, #5 at Oly or faster pace. Repeat.
An interesting footnote on how 2 'hard' days can differ. Thursday's plan was to bike 110-120k and run 7.5. It was hot, humid and we were under a smog advisory. I checked the air quality index and it was at 'moderate' (AQI was 40, today was 'good', AQI 17). Basically I was on the cusp of training outside or riding the Computrainer inside. I trained outside. Got lost on my bike, (exploring new territory), ended up bonking and grinding out 160k. Got home late, much to the chagrin of Sally, went fetal, then proceded to cough my lungs out for 40 mintues. Ok, so now I know I can't train long on 'moderate' air quality days.
Fast forward to Saturday. Good air, good temperature and overcast. I biked 192k and felt great, even did a short 5k transition run afterwards. A 7 hour endurance day and it was awesome. I was amazed at the difference between the 2 days. Lessons learned: dial back the intensity even more in the heat and humidity and train indoors during smoggy days.
Vacation this week. :)) Hoping to do some big numbers. It will be my last 'big' week. Here's the plan for the next 4 weeks: this week: 'big' week. (~bike 550k, run 60k) Week 2: 'moderate' (bike 400, run 60) Week 3: easy. (race on the weekend), Week 4 'moderate' (last hard weekend on June 23/24) Taper begins June 25...
Monday, May 21, 2007
Monday weigh in..
Ya gotta love the easy weeks that have built in long weekends! Here's the stats for the week:
swim: 10.7k
bike: 130k
run: 42k
weight: 158
Picked up an extra swim session and the high point for the week was on Friday when I logged a 5+k swim. I did my favorite long distance set:
4X400m @ 6min
8X 200m @ 3min
16X 100m @ 1:30
Usually I have low energy stores by the 16X100m set, but I made extra sure to have enough food in me before the swim, so all was good. Held 1:25's for the last set for each one - just slightly faster then IM pace. Throw in a cool down and bada bing - 5k done.
Bike: 130k on the Computrainer.
Run: First run since half marry was on Thursday. Did 7.5k+ on the trails for the Thurs and Fri and a early morning Sat and Sun run of 14k each. I was out of town for the weekend, so had to squeak in a run when I could.
That pretty much caps off the week.
The plan for this week. Swim ~6k, bike 450k, run 60k. I've already had a 'recovery ride' today, so maybe if I'm lucky I'll break 500k on the bike. That would be a record methinks. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, I'm starving, off to make dinner. Hope you have a great week - cheers!
swim: 10.7k
bike: 130k
run: 42k
weight: 158
Picked up an extra swim session and the high point for the week was on Friday when I logged a 5+k swim. I did my favorite long distance set:
4X400m @ 6min
8X 200m @ 3min
16X 100m @ 1:30
Usually I have low energy stores by the 16X100m set, but I made extra sure to have enough food in me before the swim, so all was good. Held 1:25's for the last set for each one - just slightly faster then IM pace. Throw in a cool down and bada bing - 5k done.
Bike: 130k on the Computrainer.
Run: First run since half marry was on Thursday. Did 7.5k+ on the trails for the Thurs and Fri and a early morning Sat and Sun run of 14k each. I was out of town for the weekend, so had to squeak in a run when I could.
That pretty much caps off the week.
The plan for this week. Swim ~6k, bike 450k, run 60k. I've already had a 'recovery ride' today, so maybe if I'm lucky I'll break 500k on the bike. That would be a record methinks. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, I'm starving, off to make dinner. Hope you have a great week - cheers!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Sunday Synopsis
By the numbers..
swim: 6.5k
bike: 414k
run: 53k
turtles saved: 1
bike accidents: 1
season high bike mileage: done!
PB's: 1
Wowsers, what a week. Ok, working backwards, starting with the last one. I PB'd at Mississauga half marathon today. I really kinda, sorta have to laugh at this because it was *totally* unexpected. No taper, large time on the bike, including 165 hilly, chilly, windy K's yesterday, I thought running a 'race' today would have basically amounted to a silly experiment. So with my HRM on one wrist and my garmin on the other, my intention was just to gather data, learn and run hard. Basically, I went out at 4:00/k, took note of my heartrate and pace at every kilometer marker. HR was pretty steady @168-170 for the duration, a tad higher towards the end. This is solid 10+ beats below my LT which is ~182. From the 8k mark on, I kept thinking: "ok, the legs are going to give out now" - they didn't. At the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15k mark, I thought the same thing, but they were still holding up. Very cool, thank you legs. Slowed a bit from 15 to 19 and tried to come in strong for the last 2. Total time: 1:25:24. Solid.
Logged over 400k on the bike, this was actually my primary goal for the week. I'm continually amazed at how much faster my recovery is and I think a large part of this is due to my extra cycling time and fitness level.
Bike schedule looked like this: tues: 123k wed: 36k on the computrainer (recovery ride) thurs: 90k on the CT (road a loop of Lake Placid) and Sat: 164k.
Bike accident. Pretty much covered it in the last post. I'm so grateful nothing got hurt too bad.
Turtles saved. My yearly save the turtles drive is officially underway. This one was a big sucker that bascially parked himself in the middle of the road. Damn thing must have been 40 pounds. Silly turtle. Got him safely to the pond on the other side of the road.
Run. Missed one scheduled run. Was suppose to run on Tuesday after the bike - looked after the road rash instead and called it a day.
Swim. All is good. Technique feels solid, endurance is lacking a bit, but there is still time to get some extra pool work done. Not worried. Actually, this will be a good week to get an extra pool session or two in - let the legs recover a bit.
C'est tout for now - cheers!
swim: 6.5k
bike: 414k
run: 53k
turtles saved: 1
bike accidents: 1
season high bike mileage: done!
PB's: 1
Wowsers, what a week. Ok, working backwards, starting with the last one. I PB'd at Mississauga half marathon today. I really kinda, sorta have to laugh at this because it was *totally* unexpected. No taper, large time on the bike, including 165 hilly, chilly, windy K's yesterday, I thought running a 'race' today would have basically amounted to a silly experiment. So with my HRM on one wrist and my garmin on the other, my intention was just to gather data, learn and run hard. Basically, I went out at 4:00/k, took note of my heartrate and pace at every kilometer marker. HR was pretty steady @168-170 for the duration, a tad higher towards the end. This is solid 10+ beats below my LT which is ~182. From the 8k mark on, I kept thinking: "ok, the legs are going to give out now" - they didn't. At the 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15k mark, I thought the same thing, but they were still holding up. Very cool, thank you legs. Slowed a bit from 15 to 19 and tried to come in strong for the last 2. Total time: 1:25:24. Solid.
Logged over 400k on the bike, this was actually my primary goal for the week. I'm continually amazed at how much faster my recovery is and I think a large part of this is due to my extra cycling time and fitness level.
Bike schedule looked like this: tues: 123k wed: 36k on the computrainer (recovery ride) thurs: 90k on the CT (road a loop of Lake Placid) and Sat: 164k.
Bike accident. Pretty much covered it in the last post. I'm so grateful nothing got hurt too bad.
Turtles saved. My yearly save the turtles drive is officially underway. This one was a big sucker that bascially parked himself in the middle of the road. Damn thing must have been 40 pounds. Silly turtle. Got him safely to the pond on the other side of the road.
Run. Missed one scheduled run. Was suppose to run on Tuesday after the bike - looked after the road rash instead and called it a day.
Swim. All is good. Technique feels solid, endurance is lacking a bit, but there is still time to get some extra pool work done. Not worried. Actually, this will be a good week to get an extra pool session or two in - let the legs recover a bit.
C'est tout for now - cheers!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Welcome to the club.. a quandry no more.
There are two types of cyclist, those that have crashed and those that haven't.... yet. I'm now a proud member of the former. :) My induction to the club was so fast, I scarely knew it occured until I was on the pavement. Here's the details: Tuesday I have a long brick scheduled (long ride followed by a run), I'm out on the bike and feeling great, I'm so owning the hills and the wind isn't bothering me at all. Just one of those days everything feels good. So I'm at the 3 hour mark into my ride and figure, damn I feel so good, let's do another hour. An unscheduled extra hour - hell ya!
I'm 10k from home and passing a construction zone where they are doing road work. Guess what they decided to put on the pavement? Some sort of oily petroleum product - nice. My bike slid out from under me so fast and bam I was down. At the time I was only going 20-25kph, so I didn't get too banged up. Just a bit of road rash, some sore wrists and couple of bruises. Perhaps the biggest downer is the SIX cars that zoomed right past me without even asking if I was ok. To them I give a BIG hearty one finger salute. Hehe.. had to get that off my chest. Karma has a way of biting you on the ass and to them I really hope they don't experience that feeling of being totally let down by my fellow man.
Anyway, enough of that. I just know you want to see pics!
Not so bad. The good news is I'm still able to bike and run. (phew)
Earlier this week I had a bit of quandry. I have a half marathon scheduled for this weekend and I was debating about whether to take a couple of easy days and go for a PB or keeping up the volume and just go for a good hard run. Well, between my biking mishap and the fact that I'm pushing pretty good bike/run volume, I've decided to just go for a hard run and see how well the legs hold up. Should be interesting..
Gotta go.. bedtime!
I'm 10k from home and passing a construction zone where they are doing road work. Guess what they decided to put on the pavement? Some sort of oily petroleum product - nice. My bike slid out from under me so fast and bam I was down. At the time I was only going 20-25kph, so I didn't get too banged up. Just a bit of road rash, some sore wrists and couple of bruises. Perhaps the biggest downer is the SIX cars that zoomed right past me without even asking if I was ok. To them I give a BIG hearty one finger salute. Hehe.. had to get that off my chest. Karma has a way of biting you on the ass and to them I really hope they don't experience that feeling of being totally let down by my fellow man.
Anyway, enough of that. I just know you want to see pics!
Not so bad. The good news is I'm still able to bike and run. (phew)
Earlier this week I had a bit of quandry. I have a half marathon scheduled for this weekend and I was debating about whether to take a couple of easy days and go for a PB or keeping up the volume and just go for a good hard run. Well, between my biking mishap and the fact that I'm pushing pretty good bike/run volume, I've decided to just go for a hard run and see how well the legs hold up. Should be interesting..
Gotta go.. bedtime!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Games, wheels and a great week.
I frequently play little games with myself in order to get a job done. A work/ reward type thing. For example, sometimes I'll write a workout down on my calender before I actually do it. Then when I have to do the workout a part of me says 'well it's already written down, you can't change it or wimp out now. Another one is I'm only allowed to eat or drink at the top of the hill. This allows me to focus on the task at hand while knowing there is a carrot (however small) that awaits me when I'm done. Some other 'games', counting strides or exhales, crossing the crack in the pavement at the bottom of my driveway and visualizing that as my Ironman finish.. hey whatever keeps you going, right?
I guess the big news is I now have race wheels. :) I ended up getting the H3C's.. actually a fellow tri-wienie had a pair for sale and he lives an hour away. So after Saturday's long and windy ride I went and checked them out and made a deal for them on the spot. He actually bought them from the fellow I mentioned in my previous post - Speedy. So instead of buying a brand new set, which are not cheap, I saved some coin and got a gently used pair.
Just a quick update on the sponsorship news. Speedy, the Canadian distributer for Hed, is also the rep for Blue Competition bikes. As it turns out, he is in fact looking for athletes to represent the Blue line of bikes. Basically, you get a free frame and obviously in return you have some responsibilities and of course the bike still needs all the components; so this isn't in the cards just yet - but maybe in the future. But if you're in the market, I urge you to get in touch with him - you have nothing to lose.
A good workout week. I can't believe IMLP is closing in so fast, I'll be tapering in what? 6 weeks? Damn! I'm so not ready. Though I guess one is never 100% 'ready'. There is always the feeling I should have done more..
Anyway, here's the numbers for the week:
swim: 6.5k
bike: 385k
run: 66k
I guess the highlight was Saturday's long ride. It was a tad windy, a tough effort and an all around solid workout. Total ride was 163k. I've been tweaking nutrition and it pretty much seems that I can eat anything I want as long as I keep my heartrate below 140. For example, at the 90k mark, I stopped at a convience store, ate 500 cals worth of snickers bars, chugged back some Infinit, hopped on the bike and got the HR up to 140 and suffered no ill effects. More experiments to follow, but this is very good news.
Cheers!
I guess the big news is I now have race wheels. :) I ended up getting the H3C's.. actually a fellow tri-wienie had a pair for sale and he lives an hour away. So after Saturday's long and windy ride I went and checked them out and made a deal for them on the spot. He actually bought them from the fellow I mentioned in my previous post - Speedy. So instead of buying a brand new set, which are not cheap, I saved some coin and got a gently used pair.
Just a quick update on the sponsorship news. Speedy, the Canadian distributer for Hed, is also the rep for Blue Competition bikes. As it turns out, he is in fact looking for athletes to represent the Blue line of bikes. Basically, you get a free frame and obviously in return you have some responsibilities and of course the bike still needs all the components; so this isn't in the cards just yet - but maybe in the future. But if you're in the market, I urge you to get in touch with him - you have nothing to lose.
A good workout week. I can't believe IMLP is closing in so fast, I'll be tapering in what? 6 weeks? Damn! I'm so not ready. Though I guess one is never 100% 'ready'. There is always the feeling I should have done more..
Anyway, here's the numbers for the week:
swim: 6.5k
bike: 385k
run: 66k
I guess the highlight was Saturday's long ride. It was a tad windy, a tough effort and an all around solid workout. Total ride was 163k. I've been tweaking nutrition and it pretty much seems that I can eat anything I want as long as I keep my heartrate below 140. For example, at the 90k mark, I stopped at a convience store, ate 500 cals worth of snickers bars, chugged back some Infinit, hopped on the bike and got the HR up to 140 and suffered no ill effects. More experiments to follow, but this is very good news.
Cheers!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Monday weigh in, April's totals, a new chapter..
Yowie zowie - holy irregular updating of the blog, Batman! A quick recap of last week: jury duty is a drag. This basically sums it up: wait in a large lounge with 150 potential jurors (fortuneately I brought a good book- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini) only to get told that we are not needed today and to come back tomorrow. In the end, I never did get called, but I sure did get some serious reading done!
So between jury duty, work and being away for the weekend, the totals for the week aren't exactly earth shattering. Here the scoop:
swim- 0!
bike: 185k
run: 38k
Hey, sometimes real life messes with my training schedule, just gotta "buck up little soldier" and deal with it.
So April didn't happen exactly as planned. I must remind myself that in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal. I'm only in month 8 of a massive 2 year 'base building' phase, so having the odd bad month is not a big deal.
Here's the numbers for April:
swim: 23.9k
spin: 11hr 30min
bike: 300k
run: 173k
May starts a new chapter. Training wise, I'm going to juggle things up a bit, but my basic week will look like this from now until IMLP. Mon- easy swim (2-2.5k), easy run (optional). Tues: long brick (100k ride, 40 min run) Wed: short brick (30-50k ride, 30 min run). Thurs: long brick. Fri:long swim, short run. Sat: long ride/short run. Sun: long run. Once in May and once in June I want to skip Sunday's long run and do another long ride for some tough back to back long ride action. I was thinking of grabbing a couple of fellow tri wienies and ride to Midland (about 190k), stay the night, then ride back the following day. Might be able to talk Cliff into joining me? :)
Last week I promised I'd talk to Hed about race wheels, I talked to "Speedy" the Canadian distributor for Hed and after picking his brain and discussing my needs etc.. I think we/I decided that the Hed 3 carbon would be a good choice. For the record, I'd recommend anyone in the market for wheels to give Paul a call. He spent over an hour with me on the phone discussing my needs, wheels, aerodynamics, racing and sponsorship opportunities. To me, time is a most valuable commodity and anyone who willingly spends an hour with me without having the need or pressure to 'close a sale' is OK in my book. Get in touch with him, through his website here. I'll let you know if/ when I pull the trigger on those bad boys... hmmm... I do have a birthday coming up... :)
So between jury duty, work and being away for the weekend, the totals for the week aren't exactly earth shattering. Here the scoop:
swim- 0!
bike: 185k
run: 38k
Hey, sometimes real life messes with my training schedule, just gotta "buck up little soldier" and deal with it.
So April didn't happen exactly as planned. I must remind myself that in the grand scheme of things this isn't a big deal. I'm only in month 8 of a massive 2 year 'base building' phase, so having the odd bad month is not a big deal.
Here's the numbers for April:
swim: 23.9k
spin: 11hr 30min
bike: 300k
run: 173k
May starts a new chapter. Training wise, I'm going to juggle things up a bit, but my basic week will look like this from now until IMLP. Mon- easy swim (2-2.5k), easy run (optional). Tues: long brick (100k ride, 40 min run) Wed: short brick (30-50k ride, 30 min run). Thurs: long brick. Fri:long swim, short run. Sat: long ride/short run. Sun: long run. Once in May and once in June I want to skip Sunday's long run and do another long ride for some tough back to back long ride action. I was thinking of grabbing a couple of fellow tri wienies and ride to Midland (about 190k), stay the night, then ride back the following day. Might be able to talk Cliff into joining me? :)
Last week I promised I'd talk to Hed about race wheels, I talked to "Speedy" the Canadian distributor for Hed and after picking his brain and discussing my needs etc.. I think we/I decided that the Hed 3 carbon would be a good choice. For the record, I'd recommend anyone in the market for wheels to give Paul a call. He spent over an hour with me on the phone discussing my needs, wheels, aerodynamics, racing and sponsorship opportunities. To me, time is a most valuable commodity and anyone who willingly spends an hour with me without having the need or pressure to 'close a sale' is OK in my book. Get in touch with him, through his website here. I'll let you know if/ when I pull the trigger on those bad boys... hmmm... I do have a birthday coming up... :)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Worst inaugural ride ever? Sunday weigh in.
Ok so the title is misleading, I'm sure it wasn't the worst inagural ride, but is sure as heck wasn't the best. Let me back track a bit... We had a fantastic weekend in southern Ontario, the weather was pretty much perfect, sunny with highs around the 24C mark. Bascially, perfect riding weather. I'm pumped. Friday was nuts. Work, swim 4.8k, eat, do house chores, run 7.5k, eat some more and prep bike. A very full day. Alot had to accomplished to get a clean slate for Saturday's first ride of the season. Fast forward to Saturday:
On the road at 8:40, want to start the season of with a bang and get 150 to 160k in. 10k into the ride, flat tire. Change tire, but now I dont' have a spare. I figure I'm only 10k from home, I'll zip back and get another. So I head home and figure that while I'm here I'll change the rubber in the backwheel to something a little more newer. Pump up the tires and I'm good to go. Ding Ding. Round 2:
8k into ride number 2, ssssssssss... damn, there goes the air - voila flat number 2. Ok, so obviously I'm having an issue. I take the rubber off the wheel and inspect the wheel - can't find a single thing wrong. No nicks, foriegn objects - nothing. A fellow tri-wienie stops and we shoot the breeze while I get back up and running - we end the conversation with maybe we'll meet up later and do some time trialling work. I think 'great!', I just maybe able to salvage this ride yet. Since I'm only 8k from home, I zip back and grab my last spare tube, refill water bottles and eat a banana.
Ding. Ding. Round 3:
I'm on my last spare, so I decided I better swing by the bike shop and grab some more. Better safe than sorry. So as I'm getting ready to leave the, who drops in? My fellow tri-wienie from round number 2. His workout was done and was about to do an easy ride home. I'm not into that. I came out today to log some K's and damnit that's what I'm going to do. I get 90 minutes into round 3, you guessed it, flat numero 3. Ok now I understand the Normann meltdown of Kona '05. Actually, I didn't go balistic at all, just kinda laughed, sat on the country rode and took my tire apart for upteenth time for the day. Flatted in a different part of the tube and still could find NOTHING causing it. That's the only part that cheeses me off - not being able to find the cause.
Ding Ding Round 4
Uneventful. Made it through the rest of the ride without flatting, had at least 150k on the agenda and in the end only manage to scrape togethor 115k.
Ding Ding Round 5
Got home, finished my chores just in time for the arrival of my M.I.L. Hehe, actually my mother in-law and I get along fine, I agree with everything she says and then Sally straightens her out. Hey, it works. :)
So the weekly weigh in is 24 hours ahead of schedule. Why? Tomorrow I must report of jury duty. Hey, I'm all for doing one's civic duty, but deep down I'll breathe a sigh of relief if I don't get picked. I also plan on re-taping the inside of my offending wheel, with the hope of that will solve my flatting problem.
Last week's numbers:
Swim: 6.8k
Spin: 3 hours
Bike: 115k
Run: 64k
Weight: 157
Once or twice this week I had to remind myself that I'm still recovering from being sick. (I can still feel residual crap in the bottom of my lungs) So overall it was pretty good week.
Stuff to think about this week: run 6 times, fix wheel and contact HED in regards to race wheels. I've been putting that last one off, but I promise, promise, promise to do it this week. Oh yea, must finish off taxes too. Oh joy.
On the road at 8:40, want to start the season of with a bang and get 150 to 160k in. 10k into the ride, flat tire. Change tire, but now I dont' have a spare. I figure I'm only 10k from home, I'll zip back and get another. So I head home and figure that while I'm here I'll change the rubber in the backwheel to something a little more newer. Pump up the tires and I'm good to go. Ding Ding. Round 2:
8k into ride number 2, ssssssssss... damn, there goes the air - voila flat number 2. Ok, so obviously I'm having an issue. I take the rubber off the wheel and inspect the wheel - can't find a single thing wrong. No nicks, foriegn objects - nothing. A fellow tri-wienie stops and we shoot the breeze while I get back up and running - we end the conversation with maybe we'll meet up later and do some time trialling work. I think 'great!', I just maybe able to salvage this ride yet. Since I'm only 8k from home, I zip back and grab my last spare tube, refill water bottles and eat a banana.
Ding. Ding. Round 3:
I'm on my last spare, so I decided I better swing by the bike shop and grab some more. Better safe than sorry. So as I'm getting ready to leave the, who drops in? My fellow tri-wienie from round number 2. His workout was done and was about to do an easy ride home. I'm not into that. I came out today to log some K's and damnit that's what I'm going to do. I get 90 minutes into round 3, you guessed it, flat numero 3. Ok now I understand the Normann meltdown of Kona '05. Actually, I didn't go balistic at all, just kinda laughed, sat on the country rode and took my tire apart for upteenth time for the day. Flatted in a different part of the tube and still could find NOTHING causing it. That's the only part that cheeses me off - not being able to find the cause.
Ding Ding Round 4
Uneventful. Made it through the rest of the ride without flatting, had at least 150k on the agenda and in the end only manage to scrape togethor 115k.
Ding Ding Round 5
Got home, finished my chores just in time for the arrival of my M.I.L. Hehe, actually my mother in-law and I get along fine, I agree with everything she says and then Sally straightens her out. Hey, it works. :)
So the weekly weigh in is 24 hours ahead of schedule. Why? Tomorrow I must report of jury duty. Hey, I'm all for doing one's civic duty, but deep down I'll breathe a sigh of relief if I don't get picked. I also plan on re-taping the inside of my offending wheel, with the hope of that will solve my flatting problem.
Last week's numbers:
Swim: 6.8k
Spin: 3 hours
Bike: 115k
Run: 64k
Weight: 157
Once or twice this week I had to remind myself that I'm still recovering from being sick. (I can still feel residual crap in the bottom of my lungs) So overall it was pretty good week.
Stuff to think about this week: run 6 times, fix wheel and contact HED in regards to race wheels. I've been putting that last one off, but I promise, promise, promise to do it this week. Oh yea, must finish off taxes too. Oh joy.
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