At 3:30 today, it was at least 30oC (close to 40 with the humidex) and the wind was strong (26 to 37km/hr), but I made sure to get on my bike and get in a ride. Ironman is less than a month away and I know that I should be tapering, but I'm not quite ready. Well, maybe I already am, but it's mostly by accident. There are many things going on with me right now and it is inhibiting my training in a major way. However, I still feel ready for the race and can't wait for August 26th to come.
The ride today was hot and hard. I did an out-and-back ride on a route that I use often. It has some hills and it has great scenery and is relatively close to my house. Going out I averaged about 19 km/hr, which sounds more brutal than it was. In my mind, I pretended that I was climbing the huge hills that will be part of the Ironman ride. The wind definitely helped with this and I used my granniest granny gear more than once. It felt weird to use it as I hadn't in so long, but it was good to know that it's there when I need it. That's why I keep my small chain ring. The ride was so hot that I drank two bottles of gatorade and one bottle of water. I had a gel before I went, but it wasn't enough. I'm pretty much obsessed with my glycogen levels while training. It's probably not necessary to be obsessed, but when I was coming back I felt a pang in my stomach and knew that my glycogen was low. As soon as I got home I had a smoothie with tofu, hemp, frozen strawberries (picked by my own hands), and raspberries from my garden. It was great.
While the ride out was super hard, the ride back was awesome! I was anticipating a great ride back, but this one blew my mind. I got up to 66.7 km/hr on my favorite hill to go down (I actually kind of like going up it too), which is the fastest I've ever went on that hill. I could have went faster, but my gears were tapped and my legs were spinning at about 113 rpm. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Such a rush! I was going 34km/hr on the flats and up to 60 km/hr on the smaller hills. It was great, just great. Felt so good.
I even wore my heart-rate monitor today, which I've been trying to use more lately. It's interesting to know where I'm at, but not necessary. I think that I will wear it for Ironman just so that I can keep track of where I'm at.
So in terms of stats, my ride looked like this:
Distance: 42.63 km
Time: 1:46:04
Avg speed: 24.1 km/hr
Max speed: 66.7 km/hr
Average heart rate: 142
Time in zone: 1:44:02
On Friday I went for a 45-minute run in the heat. Basically right now I'm climatizing myself. I am quite afraid of the heat of Penticton and am preparing myself for it to be a hot day and if it's not, I will be just as happy. It was a good run and I was drenched by the end (not really surprising). I forgot to take my stats from my HR monitor before I went for my bike ride, but I would say that I was in the same area for average HR.
I've still be swimming in the outdoor pool Tuesdays and Thursdays and I'm really enjoying it. I think that I'll keep with it just because it's so nice to swim outside. Lately I've been doing some intervals just so that I can remember what it's like to push myself with swimming. I think I'm not really pushing myself because I know that during the race it's just about getting through it. However, it would help the whole race if I felt strong in the swimming, which is why I'm doing the intervals.
My next triathlon is in two weeks and I'm pretty excited for it. This will be my fifth year doing this particular triathlon and it used to be my "A" race. It has an odd bike ride at 63km and a 13km run (usually it's 40km and 10km, respectively) after the 1.5km swim. I'm not really prepared for such a short race, but it'll be fun anyway. I don't really expect to beat my PB that I set last year, but it would be cool to be close. I'll start to taper next week. That's kind of the beauty of putting a race 2 weeks before Ironman: it forces me to taper and recover in the weeks that I need to before the BIG one.
So the countdown begins: Ironman is a mere 4 weeks, as in 28 days, away. Bring it on!
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The Earth will keep Revolving Around the Sun despite my Ironman Time
I had a rough night last night and my anxiety levels were very high. This morning I woke up feeling like I had just been hit by a bus, not unlike what Michael Rasmussen must be feeling today as he watches his fellow cyclists leave him behind. I watched the Tour de France this morning, but was vibrating the whole time. My heart-rate was elevated even though I was not spinning my legs on the bike, pumping my arms up a hill, or slicing my arms through the water. I am working on a post about my anxiety and its effect on my training... or maybe it's on my training affecting my anxiety. Either way, they go hand-in-hand these days.
So I took the day off of work and am glad that I did. I did some meditating, some chilling out, I chirped at the birds, and I went swimming. I did 6 x 200m intervals in the water and was worried that I didn't have a stop watch to see what my time was. Then I had a thought... does time really matter? Does it REALLY matter if I shave off a few seconds off of my 200m time? The reason I do intervals is to be faster for the 4000m swim I have to do in exactly one month. Since I am trying really hard not to have any time goals for Ironman, I really shouldn't be worried about times at all. I should be focusing on getting in my long rides/runs/swims and doing intervals the rest of the time. It doesn't matter how long the intervals take me - what is important is that I do them and push myself. Maybe it matters to a pro or even someone trying to win their age category, but it does not matter for me at this time. Realizing this took tons of pressure off of me. So I just pushed through the 200m intervals and tried to get my heart-rate up as much as possible. I tried hard to make my arms feel mushy and pretty much succeeded.
I think I just need to keep realizing what is important and what isn't. Priorites are important at this point.
So I took the day off of work and am glad that I did. I did some meditating, some chilling out, I chirped at the birds, and I went swimming. I did 6 x 200m intervals in the water and was worried that I didn't have a stop watch to see what my time was. Then I had a thought... does time really matter? Does it REALLY matter if I shave off a few seconds off of my 200m time? The reason I do intervals is to be faster for the 4000m swim I have to do in exactly one month. Since I am trying really hard not to have any time goals for Ironman, I really shouldn't be worried about times at all. I should be focusing on getting in my long rides/runs/swims and doing intervals the rest of the time. It doesn't matter how long the intervals take me - what is important is that I do them and push myself. Maybe it matters to a pro or even someone trying to win their age category, but it does not matter for me at this time. Realizing this took tons of pressure off of me. So I just pushed through the 200m intervals and tried to get my heart-rate up as much as possible. I tried hard to make my arms feel mushy and pretty much succeeded.
I think I just need to keep realizing what is important and what isn't. Priorites are important at this point.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Rest and Inspiration!
I can't believe it's been over a week since my last update! There are a number of reasons for this: a 4-day weekend with no real training, the heat may have gone to my head, and the Tour de France is so controversial that I can hardly concentrate on anything at all!
Last Tuesday I did my first lane swim in an outdoor pool. It felt quite fabulous and now I'm trying to make my two swims during the week be in the outdoor pool. It takes a lot of planning to take my swimming gear to work, the pool, to work, and back home again. That is probably my biggest challenge right now: planning. Especially when I'm trying to find a way to carry all of my gear for bike riding AND swimming in one day, all based around work. Whew! It's tiring!
That being said, I'm growing ever-more confident that I will, indeed, complete my first Ironman. I feel stronger than I ever have before and I've been training in the heat to prepare my body for the hell that will be Penticton in August. Running in 35oC heat always causes me to have thoughts like, "I have to stop. I can't do this." However, I overcome those thoughts with how it is good training and I can most definitely do this! This mental training is just as important as the physical training that I'm doing.
Last weekend I had a 4-day weekend. There is a wonderful music festival in the boreal forest that feeds my soul with music, food, wonderful people, and lots of dancing. It is the one weekend a year that I leave my running shoes at home. Despite it being an inconvenient time of year, it is very important to me to have this weekend of solace from training. It's important so that I can continue my training with vigour and passion. That being said, it is also kind of difficult to get back into the swing of training once a lull has occurred. So I am taking it slowly but surely. This weekend I'm planning a 6-hour bike ride with a 1/2 hour run afterwards.
I have also been trying to fit in time to watch the Tour de France and to tend to my garden, both equally important to me. The garden is mostly weeded and I'm feeling better about it. The Tour, however, is a gong show. Doping and controversy hover over the race like a dark cloud and it's discouraging to watch. Rasmussen, the man in the yellow jersey, has just been kicked out of the race by his team. I imagine that his team found out he has been doping or transfusing his blodd and his team wanted to save their ass. As an athlete and a cyclist, it makes me a bit jaded. I understand that these riders are under a lot of pressure, but it hurts the riders, the sport, and the fans who defend them continuously. Not to mention their sponsors. After so many years of the TdF, will people continue to put up with this bullshit? I am not sure. Every year I watch it as much as I can (although this year has been sparse because of so much training and other stuff going on in my life) and I even get cable just to watch it. Perhaps I won't do that next year, I'll just read the cycling news networks to find out who is doping, transfusing, or getting kicked off of his respective team. Or perhaps I'll be a die-hard and just put up with it. At this point, I have to wonder if anybody in the tour ISN'T doping. Oh well, I'll just keep watching so much and hope that a something good happens.
As for the rest of my training, it's all coming along nicely. I'm incorporating more yoga and meditation, which are treating me right. My body feels so good now. I think I could do Ironman right now. It's a great feeling for sure.
Last Tuesday I did my first lane swim in an outdoor pool. It felt quite fabulous and now I'm trying to make my two swims during the week be in the outdoor pool. It takes a lot of planning to take my swimming gear to work, the pool, to work, and back home again. That is probably my biggest challenge right now: planning. Especially when I'm trying to find a way to carry all of my gear for bike riding AND swimming in one day, all based around work. Whew! It's tiring!
That being said, I'm growing ever-more confident that I will, indeed, complete my first Ironman. I feel stronger than I ever have before and I've been training in the heat to prepare my body for the hell that will be Penticton in August. Running in 35oC heat always causes me to have thoughts like, "I have to stop. I can't do this." However, I overcome those thoughts with how it is good training and I can most definitely do this! This mental training is just as important as the physical training that I'm doing.
Last weekend I had a 4-day weekend. There is a wonderful music festival in the boreal forest that feeds my soul with music, food, wonderful people, and lots of dancing. It is the one weekend a year that I leave my running shoes at home. Despite it being an inconvenient time of year, it is very important to me to have this weekend of solace from training. It's important so that I can continue my training with vigour and passion. That being said, it is also kind of difficult to get back into the swing of training once a lull has occurred. So I am taking it slowly but surely. This weekend I'm planning a 6-hour bike ride with a 1/2 hour run afterwards.
I have also been trying to fit in time to watch the Tour de France and to tend to my garden, both equally important to me. The garden is mostly weeded and I'm feeling better about it. The Tour, however, is a gong show. Doping and controversy hover over the race like a dark cloud and it's discouraging to watch. Rasmussen, the man in the yellow jersey, has just been kicked out of the race by his team. I imagine that his team found out he has been doping or transfusing his blodd and his team wanted to save their ass. As an athlete and a cyclist, it makes me a bit jaded. I understand that these riders are under a lot of pressure, but it hurts the riders, the sport, and the fans who defend them continuously. Not to mention their sponsors. After so many years of the TdF, will people continue to put up with this bullshit? I am not sure. Every year I watch it as much as I can (although this year has been sparse because of so much training and other stuff going on in my life) and I even get cable just to watch it. Perhaps I won't do that next year, I'll just read the cycling news networks to find out who is doping, transfusing, or getting kicked off of his respective team. Or perhaps I'll be a die-hard and just put up with it. At this point, I have to wonder if anybody in the tour ISN'T doping. Oh well, I'll just keep watching so much and hope that a something good happens.
As for the rest of my training, it's all coming along nicely. I'm incorporating more yoga and meditation, which are treating me right. My body feels so good now. I think I could do Ironman right now. It's a great feeling for sure.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Swimming, biking, AND running?!
Last week, I committed to myself to get in a good weekend of training hard. So I did that.
On Saturday, I went swimming in the pool. I think people were surprised I was at the indoor pool rather than the outdoor pool, but the outdoor pools here don't have lane swimming (I think that this is ridiculous and would like to see it change). I didn't push it too hard because I think I've forgotten how to push it while swimming. I'm going to test this theory later this week, but I'm really having a hard time pushing myself to get my heart-rate up while swimming. It may have to do with my anxiety, but I will have to explore that further later. So I did an easy 2100 metres. a 250m warm-up, 3 sets of 500, 100m of kick, and 250m of cool-down. It was refreshing and it felt good. I am going to try to work in some intervals soon, now that I've gotten my swimming rhythm back.
Sunday was the big training day, though. I had a long bike followed by a short run planned. I did two laps of my favorite loop that even has some hills. The first lap I was accompanied by a couple of great triathlon people that let me talk almost non-stop about my personal problems. They were extremely supportive and without them there, I'm not sure I would have been able to continue on the second lap. However, I must have warmed up a lot from the first lap because I picked up the pace a bit (about 1.5 km/hr) and ended up with:
Distance: 115.70km
Time: 4:28:52
Max: 37.1 km/hr (on the flat!)
Average speed: 25.8 km/hr
That pace is a great pace for me and didn't even feel like a race pace. So it was really exciting. My legs just felt really good. Afterwards, I changed into my shoes and put on my hat (it was hot and sunny, not unlike Penticton in August!) and did a nice 35 minute run. I didn't go very far and it kind of hurt, but bricks are so important in training. It felt good to get out there and run... and it started feeling really good at the end, but I didn't want to push it.
All-in-all, a great training weekend!
On Saturday, I went swimming in the pool. I think people were surprised I was at the indoor pool rather than the outdoor pool, but the outdoor pools here don't have lane swimming (I think that this is ridiculous and would like to see it change). I didn't push it too hard because I think I've forgotten how to push it while swimming. I'm going to test this theory later this week, but I'm really having a hard time pushing myself to get my heart-rate up while swimming. It may have to do with my anxiety, but I will have to explore that further later. So I did an easy 2100 metres. a 250m warm-up, 3 sets of 500, 100m of kick, and 250m of cool-down. It was refreshing and it felt good. I am going to try to work in some intervals soon, now that I've gotten my swimming rhythm back.
Sunday was the big training day, though. I had a long bike followed by a short run planned. I did two laps of my favorite loop that even has some hills. The first lap I was accompanied by a couple of great triathlon people that let me talk almost non-stop about my personal problems. They were extremely supportive and without them there, I'm not sure I would have been able to continue on the second lap. However, I must have warmed up a lot from the first lap because I picked up the pace a bit (about 1.5 km/hr) and ended up with:
Distance: 115.70km
Time: 4:28:52
Max: 37.1 km/hr (on the flat!)
Average speed: 25.8 km/hr
That pace is a great pace for me and didn't even feel like a race pace. So it was really exciting. My legs just felt really good. Afterwards, I changed into my shoes and put on my hat (it was hot and sunny, not unlike Penticton in August!) and did a nice 35 minute run. I didn't go very far and it kind of hurt, but bricks are so important in training. It felt good to get out there and run... and it started feeling really good at the end, but I didn't want to push it.
All-in-all, a great training weekend!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Holy Heat, Batman!
Yesterday I went for a grueling long run by the river. It was so hot! It was about 31oC and felt like 36 with the humidity. It was almost unbearable. The first few kms were especially hard. I would run for a few minutes and then stop to walk. I did almost 11km in a little over an hour, which is pretty good for me on an average day, let alone a really hot one. I drank gatorade with my new fuel belt and it worked all right. It wasn't really ideal to have something jiggling up and down while I was running and I was sweating so much that it was uncomfortable. But once it was done, I had a cool shower and it felt so good and I was glad to have done it. I'll have to do more training in the heat from now until Ironman. That's the beauty of doing a race where it is so hot. Here is the map of the run :o)
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Recovering is so much fun!
Last week was my recovery week from the Half IM and I have to admit that I loved every minute of it! I slept in, went for walks, and biked slowly to work. I went to a concert and I watched movies with my family. It was glorious!
At the same time, I feel even more inspired to continue the building period of my training. So this week has been about getting back into the swing of training. It's funny how I miss something only when I haven't done it in a while. I've also changed my schedule to include yoga 2-3 times a week in the morning. This will work because I should be running when it's hot out later in the day. I'm a big believer in training how one races and the run is never the first event.
So on Monday morning I did yoga, but my most favorite DVD will not work anymore! So I was thinking that I might start going out to the back deck to get in my sun salutations. Tuesday morning I went for a run, after skipping my Monday night workout due to family and home stuff. Then last night I went for a stellar bike ride! I held a 25.5 km/hr pace for almost 2 hours. It was a great ride... one of those perfect rides where the sun was out, the wind was low, and my legs were responding the way that I like. In fact, I don't think my legs have really responded to me that way all season... this is my favorite part of training! Feeling the power build and the blood rush, and all the endorphins flow through my body and I feel free from everything, like I could fly! So good.
So today is my day off. I was going to go swimming tonight, but after last night's workout I think it's best to give my legs a break. But it's back to the grind on Thursday with a swim of intervals in the morning and a mountain bike ride with my beloved women's ride. Friday morning is yoga time and I might go for a bike ride at lunch time. Saturday I'm going to do a long-ish run and Sunday I'm going to do a 4-hour bike ride with a short run for the brick workout. I'm excited for a weekend at home!
At the same time, I feel even more inspired to continue the building period of my training. So this week has been about getting back into the swing of training. It's funny how I miss something only when I haven't done it in a while. I've also changed my schedule to include yoga 2-3 times a week in the morning. This will work because I should be running when it's hot out later in the day. I'm a big believer in training how one races and the run is never the first event.
So on Monday morning I did yoga, but my most favorite DVD will not work anymore! So I was thinking that I might start going out to the back deck to get in my sun salutations. Tuesday morning I went for a run, after skipping my Monday night workout due to family and home stuff. Then last night I went for a stellar bike ride! I held a 25.5 km/hr pace for almost 2 hours. It was a great ride... one of those perfect rides where the sun was out, the wind was low, and my legs were responding the way that I like. In fact, I don't think my legs have really responded to me that way all season... this is my favorite part of training! Feeling the power build and the blood rush, and all the endorphins flow through my body and I feel free from everything, like I could fly! So good.
So today is my day off. I was going to go swimming tonight, but after last night's workout I think it's best to give my legs a break. But it's back to the grind on Thursday with a swim of intervals in the morning and a mountain bike ride with my beloved women's ride. Friday morning is yoga time and I might go for a bike ride at lunch time. Saturday I'm going to do a long-ish run and Sunday I'm going to do a 4-hour bike ride with a short run for the brick workout. I'm excited for a weekend at home!
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Race Report: The Great White North Triathlon in Stony Plain on July 1, 2007
Two years ago I embarked on the Half Iron(wo)man in Stony Plain because it was recommended to me by my training partner and friend, Maybel. We did the race and I had a blast. It was my first long-distance triathlon and was by far the hardest triathlon I had ever done. It was at this race that the idea of a full Iron(wo)man popped into my head. Maybel had done Ironman Canada and she is one of those people that liked to push me a little bit towards these crazy goals. Luckily, I am very receptive as a goal-oriented person. So when I did this race 2 years ago, I finished with a time of 6:41. I knew that I would beat this time, but I had no idea by how much. I was hoping to be around the 6 hour mark, but I am quite happy with the 6:32 that I finished with.
But back to the beginning...
The day before the race, my partner had left to go to a concert with the promise that he would be here when I awoke at 5am the next day. So I spent the afternoon reading my new yoga magazine, stretching, mentally preparing, packing my race bag (twice), eating, and hydrating. I went to bed at the ripe time of 8:00 pm. I easily awoke at 5 with Luke just rolling in from the concert. I made and ate the oatmeal that we concocted that is rich with almonds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and soy milk. It is seriously so good! We eat it almost everyday and it felt good to be full. I wasn't very nervous, thanks to all the mental preparation I had done the day before, so it was easy to eat.
We went down to set up my transition from the swim to bike. My bike was already set up from the night before, so it was pretty easy to do. I noted the mud that was right by my bike and tried to count the number of racks to mine, but the whole transition area was an unorganized mess. The organizers had gotten new racks this year so they didn't have enough and I personally hate the A-frame racks. My bike never touches the ground making it difficult to unrack and rack.
I did a quick warm-up in the lake after I ate a Gu gel at around 7:35am, with the race to start at 8:00. With 700 people in the water at one time, I knew that the beginning was going to be pretty crazy and I was right. The gun went off and my most unfavorite part of any triathlon began. I am generally a middle-of-the-pack swimmer and I put myself in that position when lining up for the mass start. However, I think that some people who position themselves don't believe they should be there. That is the only reason that I can understand for people hitting, kicking, and swimming over other people near them. I learned after the race that there were problems with the buoys moving with the swimmers, so maybe people were sighting and not going straight because of that. It still doesn't explain the hitting, kicking, and pulling me under. It was very ridiculous and I wasn't happy with it at all. While I tolerate the swim and I love training for the swim, I dislike the swim portion of the triathlon because of the splashing, crowding, and hitting. It just doesn't seem necessary for age-groupers to do. A friend of mine said that I should start near the front because the fast people will just go around me and because they actually know how to swim, they won't hit me. I may consider this for future races. I came out of the water at 43:49, which is about a minute faster than last time. I was pretty happy about this. I was quickly stripped of my wetsuit thanks to some awesome volunteers and I was off to my transition area.
When I did this race two years ago, I was shell-shocked at the chaos of the huge transition area and of the rest of the race. So this time I was well-prepared thanks to all the time I had to myself the night before and my transition was fairly quick. So I was on the bike before I knew it!
The bike is always home for me in a triathlon and this one was no exception. I was hoping for an average speed of 25 km/hr, but I had an especially good bike ride and ended up with a 27.6 km/hr speed. I don't think I've ever held that speed for so long before. However, the wind was minimal (even though I did hear people complain about it, but I'm from Saskatoon where the wind blows hard) and the conditions were exceptional: not too hot, not too crowded, and my legs were feeling good. There was a bit of drafting going on, which I wasn't keen on (I play by the rules because I like the rules). There was also a sketchy part of the ride where Hearbreak Hill is situated by the river. There was a big pothole at the bottom of the hill and there was a crash of two people there, one of whom I know from Saskatchewan (a race organizer for the Frank Dunn Triathlon, Mark Nagy), and they were pretty scraped up. I don't think they were hurt more than some bad road rash. Hopefully they fix that part for next year! There was quite a bit of traffic on that part of the course, which none of us were excited about. Some big trucks were on the roads and with almost 700 cyclists on the road, it becomes difficult to share the road. Nonetheless, I finished the bike in 3:15:39, which is an 11-minute improvement from last time. I was definitely satisfied with my bike ride!
My transition to the run was smooth. I was very nutritionally ready thanks to the practice I had at Spin Off Spadina (the Saskatoon race two weeks previous). I have been practicing with gels and Clif bars and Gatorade and it seems to work well for me. I didn't have the urge to pee on the bike at all, which can be worrisome, but I know my body and know that I could have went, but wanted to wait until the transition area. I took some time after T2, which was at a different spot than T1, to go to the porta potty, which ended up being my only bathroom break the whole race. Sometimes I really think that my body and mind listen well to each other. I think it is because of the yoga that I do and the awareness that I have of both, and at times I think I can control my body through my mind.
The run was fairly uneventful. I knew what I had to do: slow and steady, walk through the water stations, drink Gatorade at every water station & soak my head with water, and don't push it too much. I prefer to finish a race strong, which is why I don't push it on the run. I lost about 3 minutes on the run with a 2:32 half marathon time. If I was just doing a half marathon, I would be content with this time. So to have this time with minimal running (ie. nothing more than 5-8km since last summer) was amazing to me. It just goes to show what is necessary and what isn't. Sure, my time would have been better with a little more running. However, I know that if I run too much or too often or too hard that I easily get injured. My number one goal of training is to not get injured, which means that the running is last on the priority list and biking is the highest. I met some cool people along the way: Nola from Calgary chatted with me on the bike going up one side of Heartbreak Hill and then we ran together for the first few kilometres until she cramped up, but she passed me later on; Kelly is the mother of two wonderful girls and has done Ironman, who also would love to finish the Half in 6 hours, and she finished a few minutes behind me when she cramped up near the end; then there was #456, a bald guy in a red jersey that leap-frogged me on the bike and the whole way through the run as he ran-walked, but he cramped up near the end and I finished on top. I felt like the tortoise, as I just pushed on slow and steady.
The whole run felt pretty good and I smiled and cheered people on the whole way. I thanked every volunteer for coming out to make the race possible. I gave every Saskatoonian that I knew a high-five and they were all impressed with how chipper I seemed. There is something about races that I just love. The energy of it all and every person there pushing themselves to the limit. There is no other way to know one's bodily limit until they reach it, whether it be a stomach cramp making you fall to your knees with only 4km left to go or whether it be an injury before the race and you having to WALK the entire 21.1km. It is an amazing feeling to know one's limits.
When I was 1km left to go, I felt so great. My stomach was not upset, my quads were a little sore and my Achilles heels were tight, but I got to finish the last kilometre strong. I came around the corner, heard the announcer say my name and announce that I was doing Ironman this year, and I shouted out a big "WOOOOHOOOO!" as I crossed the Finish Line and smiled for the picture. I finished the race with a final time of 6:32, 524th overall out of 622 and 28/33 in my age group. Wade Churchill, the race director, shook my hand and put the finisher's medal over my head. I thanked him and said, "See? Vegans can do it too!" (See here for the details on the food at this race). He laughed and gave me a big hug. Then I saw my partner with the camera taking pictures and he gave me a big hug. I was all emotional, as I always get after a race, and so happy to be done. I have graduated to a whole new level: an experienced triathlete. This one was my 10th triathlon, my second Half IM, and my first full tri this year. So exciting!
I am so glad to have done this race as it is great preparation for IM and it really boosted my confidence in myself at being able to complete my first IM. Not to mention, it is just a great, well-organized race.
Photos:
Setting up the transition area:
I'm read to go!
My camera-man and partner, Luke
Some nervous 700+ swimmers before the gun went off:
Off we go!
A sea of arms and neon swim caps - it must be a triathlon!
This is just the beginning...
Second lap (I'm waving at Luke in this photo)
I just dove in to start the second 1000m lap:
Coming out of the run at 43 minutes:
Transition 1: Utter chaos!
At home on the bike for the next 3 hours:
Transition 2
The end of the run: a half marathon of 2:32
A finishing time of 6:32
Happy to be done!
But back to the beginning...
The day before the race, my partner had left to go to a concert with the promise that he would be here when I awoke at 5am the next day. So I spent the afternoon reading my new yoga magazine, stretching, mentally preparing, packing my race bag (twice), eating, and hydrating. I went to bed at the ripe time of 8:00 pm. I easily awoke at 5 with Luke just rolling in from the concert. I made and ate the oatmeal that we concocted that is rich with almonds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and soy milk. It is seriously so good! We eat it almost everyday and it felt good to be full. I wasn't very nervous, thanks to all the mental preparation I had done the day before, so it was easy to eat.
We went down to set up my transition from the swim to bike. My bike was already set up from the night before, so it was pretty easy to do. I noted the mud that was right by my bike and tried to count the number of racks to mine, but the whole transition area was an unorganized mess. The organizers had gotten new racks this year so they didn't have enough and I personally hate the A-frame racks. My bike never touches the ground making it difficult to unrack and rack.
I did a quick warm-up in the lake after I ate a Gu gel at around 7:35am, with the race to start at 8:00. With 700 people in the water at one time, I knew that the beginning was going to be pretty crazy and I was right. The gun went off and my most unfavorite part of any triathlon began. I am generally a middle-of-the-pack swimmer and I put myself in that position when lining up for the mass start. However, I think that some people who position themselves don't believe they should be there. That is the only reason that I can understand for people hitting, kicking, and swimming over other people near them. I learned after the race that there were problems with the buoys moving with the swimmers, so maybe people were sighting and not going straight because of that. It still doesn't explain the hitting, kicking, and pulling me under. It was very ridiculous and I wasn't happy with it at all. While I tolerate the swim and I love training for the swim, I dislike the swim portion of the triathlon because of the splashing, crowding, and hitting. It just doesn't seem necessary for age-groupers to do. A friend of mine said that I should start near the front because the fast people will just go around me and because they actually know how to swim, they won't hit me. I may consider this for future races. I came out of the water at 43:49, which is about a minute faster than last time. I was pretty happy about this. I was quickly stripped of my wetsuit thanks to some awesome volunteers and I was off to my transition area.
When I did this race two years ago, I was shell-shocked at the chaos of the huge transition area and of the rest of the race. So this time I was well-prepared thanks to all the time I had to myself the night before and my transition was fairly quick. So I was on the bike before I knew it!
The bike is always home for me in a triathlon and this one was no exception. I was hoping for an average speed of 25 km/hr, but I had an especially good bike ride and ended up with a 27.6 km/hr speed. I don't think I've ever held that speed for so long before. However, the wind was minimal (even though I did hear people complain about it, but I'm from Saskatoon where the wind blows hard) and the conditions were exceptional: not too hot, not too crowded, and my legs were feeling good. There was a bit of drafting going on, which I wasn't keen on (I play by the rules because I like the rules). There was also a sketchy part of the ride where Hearbreak Hill is situated by the river. There was a big pothole at the bottom of the hill and there was a crash of two people there, one of whom I know from Saskatchewan (a race organizer for the Frank Dunn Triathlon, Mark Nagy), and they were pretty scraped up. I don't think they were hurt more than some bad road rash. Hopefully they fix that part for next year! There was quite a bit of traffic on that part of the course, which none of us were excited about. Some big trucks were on the roads and with almost 700 cyclists on the road, it becomes difficult to share the road. Nonetheless, I finished the bike in 3:15:39, which is an 11-minute improvement from last time. I was definitely satisfied with my bike ride!
My transition to the run was smooth. I was very nutritionally ready thanks to the practice I had at Spin Off Spadina (the Saskatoon race two weeks previous). I have been practicing with gels and Clif bars and Gatorade and it seems to work well for me. I didn't have the urge to pee on the bike at all, which can be worrisome, but I know my body and know that I could have went, but wanted to wait until the transition area. I took some time after T2, which was at a different spot than T1, to go to the porta potty, which ended up being my only bathroom break the whole race. Sometimes I really think that my body and mind listen well to each other. I think it is because of the yoga that I do and the awareness that I have of both, and at times I think I can control my body through my mind.
The run was fairly uneventful. I knew what I had to do: slow and steady, walk through the water stations, drink Gatorade at every water station & soak my head with water, and don't push it too much. I prefer to finish a race strong, which is why I don't push it on the run. I lost about 3 minutes on the run with a 2:32 half marathon time. If I was just doing a half marathon, I would be content with this time. So to have this time with minimal running (ie. nothing more than 5-8km since last summer) was amazing to me. It just goes to show what is necessary and what isn't. Sure, my time would have been better with a little more running. However, I know that if I run too much or too often or too hard that I easily get injured. My number one goal of training is to not get injured, which means that the running is last on the priority list and biking is the highest. I met some cool people along the way: Nola from Calgary chatted with me on the bike going up one side of Heartbreak Hill and then we ran together for the first few kilometres until she cramped up, but she passed me later on; Kelly is the mother of two wonderful girls and has done Ironman, who also would love to finish the Half in 6 hours, and she finished a few minutes behind me when she cramped up near the end; then there was #456, a bald guy in a red jersey that leap-frogged me on the bike and the whole way through the run as he ran-walked, but he cramped up near the end and I finished on top. I felt like the tortoise, as I just pushed on slow and steady.
The whole run felt pretty good and I smiled and cheered people on the whole way. I thanked every volunteer for coming out to make the race possible. I gave every Saskatoonian that I knew a high-five and they were all impressed with how chipper I seemed. There is something about races that I just love. The energy of it all and every person there pushing themselves to the limit. There is no other way to know one's bodily limit until they reach it, whether it be a stomach cramp making you fall to your knees with only 4km left to go or whether it be an injury before the race and you having to WALK the entire 21.1km. It is an amazing feeling to know one's limits.
When I was 1km left to go, I felt so great. My stomach was not upset, my quads were a little sore and my Achilles heels were tight, but I got to finish the last kilometre strong. I came around the corner, heard the announcer say my name and announce that I was doing Ironman this year, and I shouted out a big "WOOOOHOOOO!" as I crossed the Finish Line and smiled for the picture. I finished the race with a final time of 6:32, 524th overall out of 622 and 28/33 in my age group. Wade Churchill, the race director, shook my hand and put the finisher's medal over my head. I thanked him and said, "See? Vegans can do it too!" (See here for the details on the food at this race). He laughed and gave me a big hug. Then I saw my partner with the camera taking pictures and he gave me a big hug. I was all emotional, as I always get after a race, and so happy to be done. I have graduated to a whole new level: an experienced triathlete. This one was my 10th triathlon, my second Half IM, and my first full tri this year. So exciting!
I am so glad to have done this race as it is great preparation for IM and it really boosted my confidence in myself at being able to complete my first IM. Not to mention, it is just a great, well-organized race.
Photos:
Transition area at 6am:
Setting up the transition area:
I'm read to go!
My camera-man and partner, Luke
Some nervous 700+ swimmers before the gun went off:
Off we go!
A sea of arms and neon swim caps - it must be a triathlon!
This is just the beginning...
Second lap (I'm waving at Luke in this photo)
I just dove in to start the second 1000m lap:
Coming out of the run at 43 minutes:
Transition 1: Utter chaos!
At home on the bike for the next 3 hours:
Transition 2
The end of the run: a half marathon of 2:32
A finishing time of 6:32
Happy to be done!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Balance shmalance
I know it has been almost a month since my last update. There really is no excuse. However, I guess it could be seen as I've been training more than putting time into the internet... and I have. I have been in emotional turmoil about the upcoming Iron(wo)man and considered dropping out. Not because I couldn't do it, but because of the anxiety that I have felt surrounding it. Alas, I decided to suck it up and push on. So that's what I'm doing. I have a whole list of bike ride times that I'll put at the bottom and I did half of one triathlon (it was called after the bike portion because of lightening). However, during that race I was nutritionally superior to any other race I've ever done. I am hoping to continue with that trend for the rest of my races.
In terms of finding a balance, I'm not sure that I have, but I have given up on a lot of things that had been weighing on my mind: First of all, I am not going to have a clean house while I'm training for Ironman and we decided to hire someone to help us with the bathrooms and floors. I think L has accepted this fact and is cool with it, but we both like a level of cleanliness that is mostly obtainable so we're going with that. Also, I'm not volunteering for anything more than I'm already doing (this is a constant battle as I get asked to help out with something almost everyday). Laundry won't always get done, but I will keep my workout gear as clean as possible (not so much a choice as a necessity - especially bike shorts!). And finally, my bikes get priority over my car - this is just a reality in my life and I like it that way.
This weekend is my first long race of the year - the Great White North half Ironman in Stoney Plain, Alberta. I did this race two years ago and had a great time. Well, the whole thing was great except the run, which was a little painful. I don't really feel prepared for the run, but I am pretty prepared for the rest of it, so I figure it'll all be fine. It's such a great race and I'm glad to have this as my "halfway point" for the summer to Ironman.
So I'm just picking away at my training and I'm reading "Going Long," which is an awesome book. It's inspirational and I wish that I had read it 2 or 3 times over the winter instead of hiring a coach. If I ever do Ironman again, I'm going to shop around for a coach that works well with me. I liked my coach on a personal level, but I'm more of a "why" person and need explanations that I didn't get. Also, I felt a little neglected at times and my questions didn't get answered periodically. So I'm on my own until the race, but am going to seek guidance from a couple of friends and my new "bible."
Here is what my training on the bike has been like (mostly):
June 8
Distance: 33.77 km
Time:1:31:45
Max:37.3 km/h
Average speed: 22.1 km/h
June 9
Distance: 65.13 km
Time:2:46:38
Max: 38.9 km/h
Average speed: 23.4 km/h
June 16
Distance: 15.65 km
Time: 38:11
Max: 50.4 km/h
Average speed: 24.6 km/h
June 17 (ie. Spin off Spadina triathlon)
Distance: 39.28 km
Time: 1:28:01
Max: 39.6 km/h
Average speed: 26.8 km/h
June 23
Distance: 63.19 km
Time: 2:35:19
Max: 33.4 km/h
Average speed: 24.4 km/h
In terms of finding a balance, I'm not sure that I have, but I have given up on a lot of things that had been weighing on my mind: First of all, I am not going to have a clean house while I'm training for Ironman and we decided to hire someone to help us with the bathrooms and floors. I think L has accepted this fact and is cool with it, but we both like a level of cleanliness that is mostly obtainable so we're going with that. Also, I'm not volunteering for anything more than I'm already doing (this is a constant battle as I get asked to help out with something almost everyday). Laundry won't always get done, but I will keep my workout gear as clean as possible (not so much a choice as a necessity - especially bike shorts!). And finally, my bikes get priority over my car - this is just a reality in my life and I like it that way.
This weekend is my first long race of the year - the Great White North half Ironman in Stoney Plain, Alberta. I did this race two years ago and had a great time. Well, the whole thing was great except the run, which was a little painful. I don't really feel prepared for the run, but I am pretty prepared for the rest of it, so I figure it'll all be fine. It's such a great race and I'm glad to have this as my "halfway point" for the summer to Ironman.
So I'm just picking away at my training and I'm reading "Going Long," which is an awesome book. It's inspirational and I wish that I had read it 2 or 3 times over the winter instead of hiring a coach. If I ever do Ironman again, I'm going to shop around for a coach that works well with me. I liked my coach on a personal level, but I'm more of a "why" person and need explanations that I didn't get. Also, I felt a little neglected at times and my questions didn't get answered periodically. So I'm on my own until the race, but am going to seek guidance from a couple of friends and my new "bible."
Here is what my training on the bike has been like (mostly):
June 8
Distance: 33.77 km
Time:1:31:45
Max:37.3 km/h
Average speed: 22.1 km/h
June 9
Distance: 65.13 km
Time:2:46:38
Max: 38.9 km/h
Average speed: 23.4 km/h
June 16
Distance: 15.65 km
Time: 38:11
Max: 50.4 km/h
Average speed: 24.6 km/h
June 17 (ie. Spin off Spadina triathlon)
Distance: 39.28 km
Time: 1:28:01
Max: 39.6 km/h
Average speed: 26.8 km/h
June 23
Distance: 63.19 km
Time: 2:35:19
Max: 33.4 km/h
Average speed: 24.4 km/h
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Long rides are great!
Friday night I was lame. All of my friends were out dancing and I was at home sulking at the fact that I was getting up at 6am to go riding. I love it and hate it at the same time. On Saturday morning at 6:30am there is almost no traffic, the sun was shining, the air was a little nippy, but it felt good. I did a good 70km at a good pace:
Distance: 69.65km
Time: 2:46:47
Avg speed: 25.1km/hr
Max: 39.9
We had a head- to cross-wind coming back, but I had a ride back to the city which was nice. I used a PowerGel on the ride and it helped a lot. It felt good to ride for such a long time, even though my left foot keeps cramping up and my butt area was kind of sore after that. Small prices to pay, I suppose.
On Friday I had my first swim in many weeks and it felt pretty good. I'm not very worried about the swim, so I just feel like I'm just maintaining right now. I'm just not motivated in that area.
Last Thursday morning I ran the same 4.8km in 33 minutes, which is 2 minutes faster than Tuesday. On Tuesday I did intervals and on Thursday, I just tried to keep up a faster pace to see how it would pan out. It felt better than the intervals, but I think I need to do faster intervals and maybe some hills. Basically I have to get up earlier to fit it all in. That night I climbed hill intervals with my women mountain bike group, which was uber fun. After the hill climbing, one woman and I did a nice half our, fast-paced ride. I got home completely rejuvenated.
On Sunday I did my first mountain bike race of the season. 1:21 of high-paced single-track, hill-climbing, and stellar down-hills. Fun times!
Last night (ie. Monday) I did about an hour of swimming at a pace. I did some 500m intervals and it felt good, but again I was not motivated to move my butt. In total, I did probably around 1800m.
This morning I went running in the windy cold rain and then biked to work. Tonight I'm going to hit the trainer for about an hour while watching Sex and the City. Should be fun!
Distance: 69.65km
Time: 2:46:47
Avg speed: 25.1km/hr
Max: 39.9
We had a head- to cross-wind coming back, but I had a ride back to the city which was nice. I used a PowerGel on the ride and it helped a lot. It felt good to ride for such a long time, even though my left foot keeps cramping up and my butt area was kind of sore after that. Small prices to pay, I suppose.
On Friday I had my first swim in many weeks and it felt pretty good. I'm not very worried about the swim, so I just feel like I'm just maintaining right now. I'm just not motivated in that area.
Last Thursday morning I ran the same 4.8km in 33 minutes, which is 2 minutes faster than Tuesday. On Tuesday I did intervals and on Thursday, I just tried to keep up a faster pace to see how it would pan out. It felt better than the intervals, but I think I need to do faster intervals and maybe some hills. Basically I have to get up earlier to fit it all in. That night I climbed hill intervals with my women mountain bike group, which was uber fun. After the hill climbing, one woman and I did a nice half our, fast-paced ride. I got home completely rejuvenated.
On Sunday I did my first mountain bike race of the season. 1:21 of high-paced single-track, hill-climbing, and stellar down-hills. Fun times!
Last night (ie. Monday) I did about an hour of swimming at a pace. I did some 500m intervals and it felt good, but again I was not motivated to move my butt. In total, I did probably around 1800m.
This morning I went running in the windy cold rain and then biked to work. Tonight I'm going to hit the trainer for about an hour while watching Sex and the City. Should be fun!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The Wind
In Penticton, the wind is a prairie myth. On the prairies, it can be a cyclists best friend or worst nightmare. Yesterday, it was a little of both. That's what a cross- to head-wind can be. As I cycled out to meet my friend (thank goodness for Heather as my motivator!), I couldn't help but think about how painful it was. After back-to-back runs Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, my thighs were rubbery. They felt like stopping, they begged me to stop. My stomach was growling and wanted actual food instead of the sports drink I was drinking. My mind was reeling from a normal day at work. The only thing I kept thinking was "spin spin spin spin spin." I took solace in the fact that Wednesday was an off-day. Thank goodness! My cardio is really coming back so I don't have to worry as much about my lungs, but my legs were so tired. I knew that if I just spun it out I would make it in "decent" time. Decent was an average speed 18km/hr going out. By the end of the day coming back, with Heather breaking the cross- to tail-wind, it ended up being about 40km at 21km/hr. Brutal. Definitely one of my hardest rides this year, but I'm sure it won't be the last. So while we don't have mountains, we have the relentless, whistle-in-your-ear-until-it-rings wind.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Balance
I find that balancing my home life with my work life with my training life to be the most difficult part of training. It is a kind of training in itself. This weekend was a long weekend and I had big plans of a long road ride and a long run. Well, I guess 1 of 2 is good. It probably just wasn't the right "one." I went for a longish run yesterday (Monday):
9 minutes running:1 minute walking for 8km in 1:02
It felt pretty good, despite the down-pouring rain. I wore headphones for part of it, just to get me going, but I turned off my iPod shuffle halfway through.
On Sunday I went for an easy-ish mountain bike ride along the river with the dudes from my LBS (Local Bike Store), which was pretty fun. We stopped a lot, which I'm not super into, but it was good anyway.
This morning I went for a short run with some short intervals in it. I did 4.8 km in 35 minutes. It felt pretty good as well. It was windy and cold outside, but good anyway. After I got home I did half an hour of yoga, which felt amazing. I'm going to try to make this a regular occurrence after I run. Tonight I'm going to do a short road ride after work, probably around 35km. It is supposed to be cool for the next few days, but I kind of like it. I'm like that. Wednesday is my day off and Thursday I'm going to run some hills and then hopefully ride with the women for a mtb ride.
Somewhere in there, we're trying to plant our garden and do laundry. I might hire someone to clean our house. I don't know how long I can juggle all of this while standing on one leg. Balancing is hard!
9 minutes running:1 minute walking for 8km in 1:02
It felt pretty good, despite the down-pouring rain. I wore headphones for part of it, just to get me going, but I turned off my iPod shuffle halfway through.
On Sunday I went for an easy-ish mountain bike ride along the river with the dudes from my LBS (Local Bike Store), which was pretty fun. We stopped a lot, which I'm not super into, but it was good anyway.
This morning I went for a short run with some short intervals in it. I did 4.8 km in 35 minutes. It felt pretty good as well. It was windy and cold outside, but good anyway. After I got home I did half an hour of yoga, which felt amazing. I'm going to try to make this a regular occurrence after I run. Tonight I'm going to do a short road ride after work, probably around 35km. It is supposed to be cool for the next few days, but I kind of like it. I'm like that. Wednesday is my day off and Thursday I'm going to run some hills and then hopefully ride with the women for a mtb ride.
Somewhere in there, we're trying to plant our garden and do laundry. I might hire someone to clean our house. I don't know how long I can juggle all of this while standing on one leg. Balancing is hard!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Biking is fun!
Training inside on the trainer is like torture to me. I feel lethargic and I don't really care. I find it hard to do intervals because I have no incentive. There's no downhill, there's no wind at my back.
Thank goodness for outdoor training!!! This weekend I hope to get in a good 60 to 80km ride. For the past couple of Tuesdays I've been doing some hills on Highway #5 because it feels so good. I even have a friend to do it with! I quickly jotted down my stats from last week and I did it this week too... I guess just to compare. It's nice to know I'm getting faster... even if it is marginally.
Tuesday, May 8:
Distance: 40.5 km
Time: 1:39:36
Avg: 24.4 km/hr
Max: 41.3 km/hr
Tuesday, May 15:
Distance: 41.12 km
Time: 1:37:51
Avg: 25.3 km/hr
Max: 51.0 km/hr
Tonight is the mountain bike riding with the ladies, but I might skip it. The house is still a disaster from moving and vacationing. Plus it would give my legs a nice break.
Thank goodness for outdoor training!!! This weekend I hope to get in a good 60 to 80km ride. For the past couple of Tuesdays I've been doing some hills on Highway #5 because it feels so good. I even have a friend to do it with! I quickly jotted down my stats from last week and I did it this week too... I guess just to compare. It's nice to know I'm getting faster... even if it is marginally.
Tuesday, May 8:
Distance: 40.5 km
Time: 1:39:36
Avg: 24.4 km/hr
Max: 41.3 km/hr
Tuesday, May 15:
Distance: 41.12 km
Time: 1:37:51
Avg: 25.3 km/hr
Max: 51.0 km/hr
Tonight is the mountain bike riding with the ladies, but I might skip it. The house is still a disaster from moving and vacationing. Plus it would give my legs a nice break.
Monday, May 14, 2007
A quick update
The holidays were great for my mind and soul, but bad for my training. It comes as no surprise, really. So last week I started getting back into it with some walk-runs and short bike rides. This week is building on that and next week I will be in full swing. Here is what it looked like:
Monday: short run-walk, bike to work
Tuesday: 4km run-walk, bike to work + 40km bike ride
Thursday: 5km run-walk, bike to work + mountain bike riding (climbing and descending)
Friday: yoga and bike to work
Sunday: longish run-walk (8km)
I'm hoping to find a way to incorporate my yoga into my training better than before I went on holidays. So far I haven't started swimming yet and am doing the yoga instead. It feels great, but I will start back with the swimming soon. Hopefully the schedule will work itself out. I will be updating more regularly from now on with details of my workouts. Fun stuff!
Monday: short run-walk, bike to work
Tuesday: 4km run-walk, bike to work + 40km bike ride
Thursday: 5km run-walk, bike to work + mountain bike riding (climbing and descending)
Friday: yoga and bike to work
Sunday: longish run-walk (8km)
I'm hoping to find a way to incorporate my yoga into my training better than before I went on holidays. So far I haven't started swimming yet and am doing the yoga instead. It feels great, but I will start back with the swimming soon. Hopefully the schedule will work itself out. I will be updating more regularly from now on with details of my workouts. Fun stuff!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Going Long
I can't believe it has been so long since I updated. Sometimes blogging just slips my mind.
Easter weekend was basically a write-off. Between family, moving, and relaxing, training was minimal. I did do a lot of lifting and reaching - I'm sure that can be counted as weight training. I did go on some long walks with my partner and my family's dog, but it was really cold that weekend and it was Easter. A good time for some time off.
The week after Easter was crazy. I did do some biking on my trainer, but I have been having some back and neck issues. Last Thursday I tried to run on the treadmill, but I had a shooting pain down my right hamstring. I have since learned that it was probably my piriformis muscle pinching my sciatic nerve. Whatever it was, it made me literally stop running on the treadmill, go to the chiro, make an appointment with my massage therapist, and now it is gone with a little bit of muscle soreness in my lower back and butt area from the massage yesterday. So now I'm stretching my butt and my lower back a lot. I must have had a minor issue because I went for a short, slowish run this morning and I felt pretty good, except for the tenderness of my butt.
On Saturday I went for my first outdoor road ride of the season. Yep, April 14th was the day. It was the hottest day of the year so far and it was GORGEOUS! I didn't got far or long and only got in 30km, but it felt good. We are very busy preparing for our trip to California, so I'm trying my best to balance life and training. All I have to say is that I'm very lucky I have good employers that allow me flexibility.
Monday morning saw me hit the pool for a nice 3000m workout with the Masters' swim club. It felt good. And that brings us to today. This afternoon I'm going to head out for a bike ride (again, the good employer thing). I'm excited to hit the road and trails in Oregon, California, Utah, and wherever else the wind takes us.
The other day a triathlete that I know suggested a book to me that I probably should have bought last year when I signed up to do IMC. Better late than never, right?! I've read Gordon Byrn's stuff on the internet, but hadn't heard of Joel Fried. Apparently, he is also renowned in the world of triathlon. So I ordered Going Long off Amazon and it came today! I am so excited to be able to read it on our trip. I hope that it will inspire and educate me on this journey of training for my first Ironman.
Also, I have made another decision lately. I am going to sign up for IMC 2008. I figure that since I will work so hard to get my base for the first one, it would be great if I could build on that for a second one. So that's the tentative plan. It may sound crazy, but I also figure I should make this decision now rather than later because once I do IMC 2007, I may not want to sign up for IMC 2008!
So that's where I'm at. I'm having lots of fun and can't wait to go on holidays. This blog will likely be dormant until after May 7th.
Things to look at:
This is a good image of the piriformis muscle:
The Stretching Instititute has some good stretches to do.
Easter weekend was basically a write-off. Between family, moving, and relaxing, training was minimal. I did do a lot of lifting and reaching - I'm sure that can be counted as weight training. I did go on some long walks with my partner and my family's dog, but it was really cold that weekend and it was Easter. A good time for some time off.
The week after Easter was crazy. I did do some biking on my trainer, but I have been having some back and neck issues. Last Thursday I tried to run on the treadmill, but I had a shooting pain down my right hamstring. I have since learned that it was probably my piriformis muscle pinching my sciatic nerve. Whatever it was, it made me literally stop running on the treadmill, go to the chiro, make an appointment with my massage therapist, and now it is gone with a little bit of muscle soreness in my lower back and butt area from the massage yesterday. So now I'm stretching my butt and my lower back a lot. I must have had a minor issue because I went for a short, slowish run this morning and I felt pretty good, except for the tenderness of my butt.
On Saturday I went for my first outdoor road ride of the season. Yep, April 14th was the day. It was the hottest day of the year so far and it was GORGEOUS! I didn't got far or long and only got in 30km, but it felt good. We are very busy preparing for our trip to California, so I'm trying my best to balance life and training. All I have to say is that I'm very lucky I have good employers that allow me flexibility.
Monday morning saw me hit the pool for a nice 3000m workout with the Masters' swim club. It felt good. And that brings us to today. This afternoon I'm going to head out for a bike ride (again, the good employer thing). I'm excited to hit the road and trails in Oregon, California, Utah, and wherever else the wind takes us.
The other day a triathlete that I know suggested a book to me that I probably should have bought last year when I signed up to do IMC. Better late than never, right?! I've read Gordon Byrn's stuff on the internet, but hadn't heard of Joel Fried. Apparently, he is also renowned in the world of triathlon. So I ordered Going Long off Amazon and it came today! I am so excited to be able to read it on our trip. I hope that it will inspire and educate me on this journey of training for my first Ironman.
Also, I have made another decision lately. I am going to sign up for IMC 2008. I figure that since I will work so hard to get my base for the first one, it would be great if I could build on that for a second one. So that's the tentative plan. It may sound crazy, but I also figure I should make this decision now rather than later because once I do IMC 2007, I may not want to sign up for IMC 2008!
So that's where I'm at. I'm having lots of fun and can't wait to go on holidays. This blog will likely be dormant until after May 7th.
Things to look at:
This is a good image of the piriformis muscle:
The Stretching Instititute has some good stretches to do.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
It's official... marathon #1, here I come!
For the past three or four years, I have wanted to run the Saskatoon marathon. For a mish-mash of reasons, it has not happened. One year I had a stress fracture in my foot, one year I chose mountain biking over running (which I will do most days of the week), and other various reasons. However, I have decided that this is my year. The run of Ironman scares me the most, so I figure why not curb that fear by torturing myself with a marathon first? I mean, so what if it will be my first running race since the 1500m race in grade 8... it'll be fun, right? RIGHT? Whatever. So on May 27th, I will be running 42.2km in Saskatoon. I will be wearing number 107! I love it when I get good numbers; first of all, #7 is my favorite number and second of all, it's my extension number at work! How cool is that?! Well, I am excited.
Last year on marathon day, it was COLD and RAINY. I remember this because I decided to mountain bike in it. While the weather was not ideal for either sport, I would probably have chosen running over mountain biking the sloppy, cold Silverwood race. I remember biking home, almost crying because my hands were frozen, I was covered with mud from head to toe (literally), and I was very hungry because I forgot to bring food and they forgot that I was vegan. I was very happy to be home after that one.
To be honest, I don't feel even close to being prepared. A friend of mine kind of panicked on my the other night when she found out that I wasn't increasing my distances right now. My coach and I have talked about our strategy for training for Ironman and it applies to the marathon as well. We're focusing on doing intervals, zone 4+ training as opposed to training in zone 3. Thus far, I can easily run 10km at a relatively slow pace. Before the marathon, the biggest distance I'm going to run is 20+km (ie. two laps of the Idylwyld-Circle Drive loop). The rest of my training is going to be shorter distance, accumulated over the week, at a higher intensity. Zone 3 is for suckers!
To get back to my training update, last week I did one run while I was in North Battleford for a conference. However, the weekend was a black hole. The only real exercise I did was dancing, helping Luke move, and some extended walking. I wonder if they would let me dance the Ironman?
Monday I was back in the pool and it felt so good! I was a little pouty on Monday morning because I was late and I sat on the deck outside with my bike helmet on, my stuff packed, and looked at Luke like the 3-year-old defiant child I used to be and said, "I don't WANT to go swimming! I want to go back to BED!" Of course, being an adult, I knew that I didn't HAVE to do anything I didn't want to and Luke echoed this sentiment. While I was still quite sour on the whole idea of spending so much energy in the pool so early in the morning, I always love the first push off the wall and feeling like a dolphin as I do the dolphin kick underwater halfway to the other side. The swim turned out to be great. I had the lane to myself (it's paper time for students) and my coach let me use the flippers for the butterfly. "I'm a TRIATHLETE - what do I need to do the butterfly for?" is what I used to think, but I've changed my sentiment to "Swimming is fun and keeping freestyle and swimming fun is to try new things and learn." I find there is so much to learn about swimming. I've been lane swimming for the past 7 years or so and I still feel like I have so much to learn. I get water up my nose when I do flip turns, my pull for freestyle definitely has to be worked on (it would help if I had some biceps), and I always have to work on my breathing.
Life has been settling down a bit and I'm starting to find my training rhythm and I'm biking to work 4 out of 5 days. Last night I wanted to make some phone calls so I got on my trainer and dialed away. I only got in one short call with my brother and one with a friend that I don't talk to enough, but that meant I spent 45 minutes on my trainer. Tonight I'm hoping to get in over an hour because tomorrow is REST DAY!!!! At lunch, I hit the treadmill and did 2.11 miles in 25 minutes and burned 218 calories (like I care how many calories I burned). Life of training is good right now.
Last year on marathon day, it was COLD and RAINY. I remember this because I decided to mountain bike in it. While the weather was not ideal for either sport, I would probably have chosen running over mountain biking the sloppy, cold Silverwood race. I remember biking home, almost crying because my hands were frozen, I was covered with mud from head to toe (literally), and I was very hungry because I forgot to bring food and they forgot that I was vegan. I was very happy to be home after that one.
To be honest, I don't feel even close to being prepared. A friend of mine kind of panicked on my the other night when she found out that I wasn't increasing my distances right now. My coach and I have talked about our strategy for training for Ironman and it applies to the marathon as well. We're focusing on doing intervals, zone 4+ training as opposed to training in zone 3. Thus far, I can easily run 10km at a relatively slow pace. Before the marathon, the biggest distance I'm going to run is 20+km (ie. two laps of the Idylwyld-Circle Drive loop). The rest of my training is going to be shorter distance, accumulated over the week, at a higher intensity. Zone 3 is for suckers!
To get back to my training update, last week I did one run while I was in North Battleford for a conference. However, the weekend was a black hole. The only real exercise I did was dancing, helping Luke move, and some extended walking. I wonder if they would let me dance the Ironman?
Monday I was back in the pool and it felt so good! I was a little pouty on Monday morning because I was late and I sat on the deck outside with my bike helmet on, my stuff packed, and looked at Luke like the 3-year-old defiant child I used to be and said, "I don't WANT to go swimming! I want to go back to BED!" Of course, being an adult, I knew that I didn't HAVE to do anything I didn't want to and Luke echoed this sentiment. While I was still quite sour on the whole idea of spending so much energy in the pool so early in the morning, I always love the first push off the wall and feeling like a dolphin as I do the dolphin kick underwater halfway to the other side. The swim turned out to be great. I had the lane to myself (it's paper time for students) and my coach let me use the flippers for the butterfly. "I'm a TRIATHLETE - what do I need to do the butterfly for?" is what I used to think, but I've changed my sentiment to "Swimming is fun and keeping freestyle and swimming fun is to try new things and learn." I find there is so much to learn about swimming. I've been lane swimming for the past 7 years or so and I still feel like I have so much to learn. I get water up my nose when I do flip turns, my pull for freestyle definitely has to be worked on (it would help if I had some biceps), and I always have to work on my breathing.
Life has been settling down a bit and I'm starting to find my training rhythm and I'm biking to work 4 out of 5 days. Last night I wanted to make some phone calls so I got on my trainer and dialed away. I only got in one short call with my brother and one with a friend that I don't talk to enough, but that meant I spent 45 minutes on my trainer. Tonight I'm hoping to get in over an hour because tomorrow is REST DAY!!!! At lunch, I hit the treadmill and did 2.11 miles in 25 minutes and burned 218 calories (like I care how many calories I burned). Life of training is good right now.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I just felt like running
Tuesday I was out of town for work, so I knew that I had to get a workout in before we left at 7:30am. I woke up at 6:09 and was out the door by 6:15. It wasn't the best for my performance, but I just wanted to get it in. I got in a good 30 minute workout. It felt great to be out in the fresh air and I'm glad I did because the weather has taken a turn to being really wet. Wet rain and snow has been coming down since last night. I didn't get home until 7:00 last night, so I was way too tired and hungry to do a workout before the 10:00 bedtime I've been trying to adhere to.
Today, being Wednesday, is my day off and I'm glad. So I'm enjoying being inside, watching the wet drops come down and I can know that I'm not missing any workouts due to weather. Work is busy and I'm on out of town on Thursday and Friday. I guess my running shoes will be used while I'm away and I might be able to get in a swim on Friday afternoon somewhere. I kind of miss the pool... I never thought I'd say that!
Today, being Wednesday, is my day off and I'm glad. So I'm enjoying being inside, watching the wet drops come down and I can know that I'm not missing any workouts due to weather. Work is busy and I'm on out of town on Thursday and Friday. I guess my running shoes will be used while I'm away and I might be able to get in a swim on Friday afternoon somewhere. I kind of miss the pool... I never thought I'd say that!
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sprinting vs. Long-distance
This Saturday I did a very sprint triathlon. It was a 500m swim in the pool, 8km on the bike, and 3km on the track - no transitions. Overall it was great, but I really noticed how different it feels to do short distances as opposed to long-distance training. It's funny because I felt like I was hitting my stride at about lap 8 of the swim, the last kilometre of the bike, and about lap 11 of the run (although I was getting tired for the last lap because I sprinted trying to keep up with the girl in front of me - thanks for the race, Chantelle!). My times were as follows:
500m swim: 9:07
8km bike: 16:44
3km run: 16:14
However, afterwards my neck was KILLING me. It created a very bad headache. So bad that I actually went and purchased some ibuprofen, which I never do. It helped a lot and the next day was not as bad. I just kept on stretching out my neck in hope that it would go away, which it mostly have. Upon doing some reading, apparently triathletes are more likely to have back and neck pain because they train a lot for this multisport.
On Saturday night, I went curling at L's work social. It was great, but I sure haven't used those muscles very much! So I'm a bit sore in my upper back and my hip flexors. It kind of feels good to be sore, though.
Sunday was kind of a bad day and I kept a low profile. My neck was sore and I had a headache and decided to suffer through the day. It ended not to badly and I just kept stretching it out.
This morning I decided to skip swimming because of my neck and went for a nice 5km run. I have to sign up for the marathon at the end of May, which I'm pretty stoked about. I have never run just a running race (since high school) . It will be a good experience, I think. Either that or it will scare the crap out of me for Ironman. Either way, it will probably be beneficial.
Food Diary for the Week
Monday
* run for 5km
Breakfast: Smoothie
Snack: Clif bar
Lunch: 2c. pasta with tofu and veggies (leftover)
Supper: Tempeh burgers with home fries from regular and sweet potatoes
Tuesday:
* a short 30 minute run
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: leftover pasta (AGAIN)
Supper: a wonderful stirfry made by my parloqual!
Wednesday:
Breakfast: smoothie
Snack: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover stirfry
Supper:
500m swim: 9:07
8km bike: 16:44
3km run: 16:14
However, afterwards my neck was KILLING me. It created a very bad headache. So bad that I actually went and purchased some ibuprofen, which I never do. It helped a lot and the next day was not as bad. I just kept on stretching out my neck in hope that it would go away, which it mostly have. Upon doing some reading, apparently triathletes are more likely to have back and neck pain because they train a lot for this multisport.
On Saturday night, I went curling at L's work social. It was great, but I sure haven't used those muscles very much! So I'm a bit sore in my upper back and my hip flexors. It kind of feels good to be sore, though.
Sunday was kind of a bad day and I kept a low profile. My neck was sore and I had a headache and decided to suffer through the day. It ended not to badly and I just kept stretching it out.
This morning I decided to skip swimming because of my neck and went for a nice 5km run. I have to sign up for the marathon at the end of May, which I'm pretty stoked about. I have never run just a running race (since high school) . It will be a good experience, I think. Either that or it will scare the crap out of me for Ironman. Either way, it will probably be beneficial.
Food Diary for the Week
Monday
* run for 5km
Breakfast: Smoothie
Snack: Clif bar
Lunch: 2c. pasta with tofu and veggies (leftover)
Supper: Tempeh burgers with home fries from regular and sweet potatoes
Tuesday:
* a short 30 minute run
Breakfast: smoothie
Lunch: leftover pasta (AGAIN)
Supper: a wonderful stirfry made by my parloqual!
Wednesday:
Breakfast: smoothie
Snack: oatmeal
Lunch: leftover stirfry
Supper:
Friday, March 23, 2007
Like a dolphin!
Last night I had an event for work, which included supper. The staff did "all right" accommodating for me. However, think of this scenario:
A room full of "the good ol' boys" club of agrologists (ie. fairly conservative farms who all have trucks and absolutely LOVE their Canadian beef) mingling with alcohol and talk of the disappearing family farm. The announcer then asks the TWO people who requested vegan or vegetarian meals to please raise their hands. I am not usually meek about my diet, but I did not want to raise my hand. I'm not sure if lynching is outlawed for herbivores! So I felt a little silly after that, having had everyone judge me based on my choice of diet. However, I went on as if nothing happened and I got my food first.
The staff then brought out this TINY bit of couscous with some tofu on top of it. I have to admit the tofu was very tasty (apparently much more tasty than the salmon that everyone else ate), but there just wasn't enough. I even loaded up on salad and veggies from the buffet. Plain and simply there was not enough protein to fuel my ever-increasing training. However, there was not much I could do about it. I got home after 9:30 from the boring-ass meeting and bedtime these days is 10:00 in order to easily facilitate the 6:00 wake-up time.
So I went to bed hungry and got up hungry. I didn't eat until after swimming, which is probably why I felt so sluggish in the pool. Actually, sluggish doesn't quite describe it. It was more like I felt completely unmotivated to keep up with my lane-mates. So I lagged behind and barely pushed hard enough to breathe hard at the end of a lap. I did slug out about 2900m, but I didn't even feel like I had worked out by the end of it. It could also be that my muscles just aren't where my lungs are, in terms of endurance.
Tomorrow is my first race of the season - a short indoor triathlon. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so I can't help but feel tempted to just skip it and do my own duathlon outside, but I helped to organize it so I can't really bail even if I wanted to. It should be fun anyway. It's always a nice reunion of the triathlon community. I am going to eat so much food tonight! Here I come with carbo-loading and lots of protein!
A room full of "the good ol' boys" club of agrologists (ie. fairly conservative farms who all have trucks and absolutely LOVE their Canadian beef) mingling with alcohol and talk of the disappearing family farm. The announcer then asks the TWO people who requested vegan or vegetarian meals to please raise their hands. I am not usually meek about my diet, but I did not want to raise my hand. I'm not sure if lynching is outlawed for herbivores! So I felt a little silly after that, having had everyone judge me based on my choice of diet. However, I went on as if nothing happened and I got my food first.
The staff then brought out this TINY bit of couscous with some tofu on top of it. I have to admit the tofu was very tasty (apparently much more tasty than the salmon that everyone else ate), but there just wasn't enough. I even loaded up on salad and veggies from the buffet. Plain and simply there was not enough protein to fuel my ever-increasing training. However, there was not much I could do about it. I got home after 9:30 from the boring-ass meeting and bedtime these days is 10:00 in order to easily facilitate the 6:00 wake-up time.
So I went to bed hungry and got up hungry. I didn't eat until after swimming, which is probably why I felt so sluggish in the pool. Actually, sluggish doesn't quite describe it. It was more like I felt completely unmotivated to keep up with my lane-mates. So I lagged behind and barely pushed hard enough to breathe hard at the end of a lap. I did slug out about 2900m, but I didn't even feel like I had worked out by the end of it. It could also be that my muscles just aren't where my lungs are, in terms of endurance.
Tomorrow is my first race of the season - a short indoor triathlon. The weather is supposed to be beautiful so I can't help but feel tempted to just skip it and do my own duathlon outside, but I helped to organize it so I can't really bail even if I wanted to. It should be fun anyway. It's always a nice reunion of the triathlon community. I am going to eat so much food tonight! Here I come with carbo-loading and lots of protein!
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Wilderness in the city
This morning I went for a good half hour run along the river. It felt great, like I hadn't missed 3 weeks! My base must be really great for me to just be able to do 3 km in half an hour. My lungs now feel completely oxygenated and my mind is completely clear. I'm ready to get working!
On my run, I realized how wonderful it is to run in the light. Dawn was just breaking when I headed out and the sun was fully out by the time I got home. How wonderful!!! As I was 3/4 done my run, I saw a little bunny skirt out from the bushes it had been hiding in. It came out, hopped around, and went back in. I stopped in my tracks to watch the animal. She looked at me, I looked at her. We stood there for what felt like an hour, just checking each other out. This is the first time, in all of my years of running by the river that I had ever seen a bunny. I felt lucky. The bunny decided it had had enough of my staring and hopped to a spot where I couldn't see her. So I kept on my way and hoped that I wouldn't forget to write about it. It felt really special. How often do you get to see such a creature in a city? Not often enough!
The roads are clearing up and I biked to work this morning. It was a great ride in the sunshine. I am so happy to be back on the bike! I could feel my lower back protesting this morning as I periodically stretched it out on the ride. The chiropractor will get much use in the next few weeks, I'm sure.
Yesterday I got my road pedals put on my bike. I purchased triathlon shoes, which have road pedals. They're pretty crazy! Very different from SPDs and my touring shoes that I have been using. I'll have to give it a try tonight on my trainer. This weekend is supposed to be very nice, so I would love to get on the highway with my bike. Wow... what a great day! This weekend is also the Indoorman race, which should be a good time. I love this sport!
On my run, I realized how wonderful it is to run in the light. Dawn was just breaking when I headed out and the sun was fully out by the time I got home. How wonderful!!! As I was 3/4 done my run, I saw a little bunny skirt out from the bushes it had been hiding in. It came out, hopped around, and went back in. I stopped in my tracks to watch the animal. She looked at me, I looked at her. We stood there for what felt like an hour, just checking each other out. This is the first time, in all of my years of running by the river that I had ever seen a bunny. I felt lucky. The bunny decided it had had enough of my staring and hopped to a spot where I couldn't see her. So I kept on my way and hoped that I wouldn't forget to write about it. It felt really special. How often do you get to see such a creature in a city? Not often enough!
The roads are clearing up and I biked to work this morning. It was a great ride in the sunshine. I am so happy to be back on the bike! I could feel my lower back protesting this morning as I periodically stretched it out on the ride. The chiropractor will get much use in the next few weeks, I'm sure.
Yesterday I got my road pedals put on my bike. I purchased triathlon shoes, which have road pedals. They're pretty crazy! Very different from SPDs and my touring shoes that I have been using. I'll have to give it a try tonight on my trainer. This weekend is supposed to be very nice, so I would love to get on the highway with my bike. Wow... what a great day! This weekend is also the Indoorman race, which should be a good time. I love this sport!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Days off just feel good.
Getting back into training is really hard on my body. I never really realized it before. I guess it's because I don't usually stop training once I start, but two colds in the last 3 months have really kicked my butt. So I'm really trying to get back into biking to work everyday, training on top of that, working hard at work, and having an active social life. I have come to realize that I may just burn out and that is exactly why it is important that I have days off like today.
Wednesdays are mixed for me. I am up at 5am (or 5:09 after I press snooze on my alarm clock) to do my radio show at 6. It's a lot of work and dedication, but I love it. It energizes me, at least for the morning. I have been driving to my show, which makes the whole thing more enjoyable because then I don't have to worry about clothing to wear while I'm biking, music that I want to play, and anything I need to take to the office. This way I load my car and away I go. It also saves me a lot of energy, which is what Wednesdays are all about for me right now. I get to catch up on my protein and iron.
Yesterday I felt extremely weak after biking home from work and this is what I've been experiencing for the past few days. I was craving greens and made a huge salad. I couldn't help but wonder if I'm getting enough iron these days or if my body is just in a period of adjustment to new schedules and immense, intense exercising. I'm going to give my body until the end of next week and if nothing happens, I'm going to go get my vitamin and mineral levels tested, go to the naturopath, and see if there's something else I can do.
Basically, I'm really happy for my day off today.
Wednesdays are mixed for me. I am up at 5am (or 5:09 after I press snooze on my alarm clock) to do my radio show at 6. It's a lot of work and dedication, but I love it. It energizes me, at least for the morning. I have been driving to my show, which makes the whole thing more enjoyable because then I don't have to worry about clothing to wear while I'm biking, music that I want to play, and anything I need to take to the office. This way I load my car and away I go. It also saves me a lot of energy, which is what Wednesdays are all about for me right now. I get to catch up on my protein and iron.
Yesterday I felt extremely weak after biking home from work and this is what I've been experiencing for the past few days. I was craving greens and made a huge salad. I couldn't help but wonder if I'm getting enough iron these days or if my body is just in a period of adjustment to new schedules and immense, intense exercising. I'm going to give my body until the end of next week and if nothing happens, I'm going to go get my vitamin and mineral levels tested, go to the naturopath, and see if there's something else I can do.
Basically, I'm really happy for my day off today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
