Not much is going on, other than work is still very busy. I've begun to taper down for the Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington, Ontario that's next Sunday. Its the first time I've run this race so I have no idea what the course is like or what to expect in terms of performance. Originally, I thought I could smash my PB time from the Scotia Half Marathon in September 2008 but some of my recent long runs have put me of pace of a signficatly worse finish so we'll see.
As per my usual screw ups, I always seem to wreck my shoes right before a race and so earlier this week I went out and got a new pair of shoes which totally breaks the rule of not wearing anything new durning a race. Doh! I'll probably get it about two or three runs before the race but seeing that they are exactly the same shoe as what I've been training in, hopefully it make a difference.
That's pretty much it.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Muskoka Long Course & 70.3
Posted on Team Running Free Forum
by Brandon Habermehl » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:04 pmHere is a newsletter from a group of athletes in Huntsville about the loss of town funding for triathlon which could mean the end of Ironman 70.3 Muskoka. I am originally from the area I would hate to lose that race, and since WTC (owner of the Ironman brand) bought the Trisports race series who knows what that would mean for the chase and sprint. Anyways, there is some good news in that WTC wants to add a full distance race to eastern canada for 2012 so that could turn up somewhere local which would be cool. The newsletter has all the info below in case anyone was interested
Cheers,
Happy February everyone!
This past Wednesday there was a meeting that was held at Partners Hall to discuss whether or not we as a community wanted to keep supporting triathlons in Huntsville. More specifically at this time, the 70.3 race held in September.
For a bit of background, please read the outline of the history of the triathlons in Huntsville after the proposal. I know it is a long email, but please take the time to read through this so you understand were we as a community come from. Then please read the issues and the proposal that follows.
This email list does not by any means contain everyone that does endurance sports or triathlons in Huntsville/Lake of Bays area. If you have received this email, please look through your address list and forward this on to them. I apologize this if you get this email a couple of times with people forwarding it on to you, but we want to make sure it gets to everyone. Also, forward it on to people that might be interested in helping out with this community effort, even if they might not be traithletes.
Issues:
At this meeting there were a couple of issues that were brought forward:
1. Is it worth it to continue to host the Muskoka Triathlon and the 70.3 race?
the thought of the initial committee was that the three triathlons (Sprint, Long Course, and 70.3) provide excellent opportunities for local athletes to participate and encourage those that haven't been involved in this sport before to try the sport without having to travel very far. Local resident participation in these events grow year after year
these races have a positive economic impact on our community.
these races encourage volunteerism which empowers and community self worth. It also provides local residents with the opportunity to see what the sport entails without having to actively participate. The "see one, do one" theory is evident with increased participation in local races, including the Port Sydney Kids Tri.
2. If so, how do we generate the money needed to support the event?
the 70.3 race is a "branded" race. There are several half ironman distance races, but are not internationally recognized or promoted as such. It is like buying "Pepsi" versus no name "Cola" at the grocery store. Pepsi might be a bit more known internationally as opposed to puffed rice because it has a brand
the 70.3 has a licensing fee associated with it, which is several thousand dollars and no matter where the race is held, this licensing fee is paid by the local community
this licensing fee is either cash or services/gifts in kind or in lieu of. So, water at the water stations can be provided by a water company or a water dispensing company. They would just have to donate their services and the water, put a monetary figure to it, and submit it to the local organizing committee. This would be "services and gifts in lieu of cash".
3. Every other event the town hosts has an organizing committee of some consequence supporting the event. Our triathlon events do not. Mitch organizes the whole event and recruits volunteer coordinators to do very specific jobs. Do we have the interest to form such a committee?
on Wednesday we agreed that this would be a worthwhile committee
we are looking for local athletes, endurance and triathlete alike, to help out with this venture ... many hands make light work
individually we don't have the amount of business and personal contacts to help raise this money or enlist the companies that can provide these services
Proposal
A subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce Events Tourism Committee be developed to focus specifically on:
raising awareness of triathlon in our communities
raising funds for local triathlons, and more specifically the 70.3, from the above mentioned means (cash, in kind)
advocating for things to be done by the towns services (ie Roads, Summit Centre, etc) to allow for smooth running of these races.
Eventually, the hope is that this will spawn into a formal triathlon club. We all know that this would benefit us all through organized training sessions with coaches that could help provide feedback to help us trainer better and smarter. It will also allow us to encourage and help each other through collegiality and the sense of community through our sport. It will give our sport a voice in our community that is often dominated by hockey and lacrosse.
Please respond to this email if you are interested in helping out with this, and embarking on this venture to ensure that triathlon does not leave our community.
Please come to a meeting of the minds on Thursday, February 17th at 8pm in Partners Hall at the Algonquin Theatre. If there is a change to the venue, a subsequent email will be sent through this site. Please bring ideas of how to generate funds or if you have contacts that might be able to help out with services for these races. Services in kind can be for any or all of the races (short, long, 70.3) and their monetary voice will be put towards the licensing fee if it qualifies.
History and Background (written by one of our local triathlon advocates)
The first triathlon in Huntsville was held in 1989 or 90 – the Triresorts triathlon. It was held in the Hidden Valley, Deerhurst and Grandview area. At the time I knew of only one local person who did triathlons. Most of us didn’t really know what a triathlon was as it was right at the beginning of the evolution of the sport. A group of local athletes decided to try this event. They went on to become the nucleus of the local triathlon community.
In 1991, the National Championships were held at Deerhurst followed by the World Championships in 1992. A citizens’ wave was held in the World Championships in which about 35 local athletes competed. The World Championships were a huge hit locally. Over 2200 volunteer T-shirts were given out.
Two local triathletes qualified for the national team in 1993 and represented Canada in Manchester, England. There was now a well-established group of local triathletes that were competing in the Subaru Triathlon Series. In 1993, a poorly publicized World Cup race was held that was poorly attended. There was no race in 1994 or 1995.
In 1996 Mitch Fraser, now the owner of Trisport (which he purchased from his brother Graham) brought triathlon back to Huntsville. The 2010 Muskoka Triathlon was the 15th consecutive Muskoka Triathlon. The event eventually became the marquee event of the Subaru Series and attracted Olympic Champion Simon Whitfield, World Ironman record holder Luc van Lierde, two-time world Ironman Champion Craig Alexander, triathlon con Karen Smyers and so on. It was voted one of the best races in North America.
Meanwhile the local triathlon community continued to grow and perform well in the Subaru Series. In 1994, Huntsville placed four local triathletes on the national team, two in 1996 and three in 1997.
In about 2003, councilor George Young, as chair of the Huntsville Economic Development Committee started plumping for the town to proactively start going out to attract other sporting events as a way of supporting the local tourist economy. Since tourism represents over 50% of the local economy, everyone (even those not directly involved in tourism) had a vested interest in this initiative.
The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce presented a proposal to council that it would act as the agent for the town in this initiative. Out of that two committees were formed – one to prepare and execute a marketing plan and the other to actively try to attract events to the community. The town committed $100,000 in each of three years (2008, 2009, 2010) towards this initiative.
In 2007, Mitch Fraser approached the town with the proposal to hold an Ironman 70.3 race in Huntsville and Lake of Bays. Ironman is a very strong and exclusive brand and there was a $50,000 a year licensing fee involved. Would the community contribute $50,000 in cash and services to bring the event to town. Since this was completely consistent with the Chamber’s initiative, an agreement was made to provide this amount of cash and services for a year period.
Ironman 70.3 races were held in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The first was wildly successful, the other two had some competition from other Ironman events and had fewer numbers but were still very successful. Craig Alexander, two-time World Ironman Champion and also World Ironman 70.3 champion felt the Huntsville course should be the World Championship course. The event drew rave notices from the participants.
In 2010, the G8 came to Huntsville and the feds poured money into town infrastructure to support the G8. The town went after all the money it could get in this “one-time opportunity” and was able to build infrastructure that further supported its policy of attracting events to the community. The problem was that the town had to ante up some of its own money to build these facilities. When the dust settled the town now had a debt of about $11 million.
In the 2010 election the electorate, according to mayor Doughty, delivered a clear message, “stop spending and pay down the debt”. The three-year agreement between the Chamber’s Event Tourism Committee and Trisport had expired and it was clear that the grant to Chamber would be greatly reduced. There would not be a $50,000 (cash and/or services) for Trisport.
In the meantime, The World Triathlon Corp. (WTC) – owner of the Ironman brand - was in the process of buying up smaller properties in order to increase its share value for future sale. Trisport sold to WTC with Mitch Fraser being retained as an employee to continue to run the races Trisport had previously run.
At issue is that the Chamber’s Event Tourism Committee will not commit to $50,000 in cash and/or services to WTC for the 70.3 event because its grant is expected to be cut almost in half this year. Other communities have approached WTC wishing to have our event in their community and have committed upfront money and services. It has become a very competitive market as other communities are catching on to its potential to raise the profile of their community in a viciously competitive tourist industry. Will they pull our race from Huntsville/LoB and move it to another community?
Mitch likes the Huntsville venue and would prefer to keep it here but that decision may not be his to make. This year’s race will go ahead but, due to reduced financial support, might have to scaled down (no carbo meal, no TV, etc) making it a less attractive event. What will happen in 2012?
WTC also wishes to have a full Ironman in Eastern Canada in 2012 and the competition for that event will be huge. Should Huntsville be applying? If we lose the 70.3 we will not be in the running for a full Ironman.
Also, since WTC owns the Muskoka Triathlon, will they continue to run that event in Huntsville if they pull the 70.3?
Cheers,
Happy February everyone!
This past Wednesday there was a meeting that was held at Partners Hall to discuss whether or not we as a community wanted to keep supporting triathlons in Huntsville. More specifically at this time, the 70.3 race held in September.
For a bit of background, please read the outline of the history of the triathlons in Huntsville after the proposal. I know it is a long email, but please take the time to read through this so you understand were we as a community come from. Then please read the issues and the proposal that follows.
This email list does not by any means contain everyone that does endurance sports or triathlons in Huntsville/Lake of Bays area. If you have received this email, please look through your address list and forward this on to them. I apologize this if you get this email a couple of times with people forwarding it on to you, but we want to make sure it gets to everyone. Also, forward it on to people that might be interested in helping out with this community effort, even if they might not be traithletes.
Issues:
At this meeting there were a couple of issues that were brought forward:
1. Is it worth it to continue to host the Muskoka Triathlon and the 70.3 race?
the thought of the initial committee was that the three triathlons (Sprint, Long Course, and 70.3) provide excellent opportunities for local athletes to participate and encourage those that haven't been involved in this sport before to try the sport without having to travel very far. Local resident participation in these events grow year after year
these races have a positive economic impact on our community.
these races encourage volunteerism which empowers and community self worth. It also provides local residents with the opportunity to see what the sport entails without having to actively participate. The "see one, do one" theory is evident with increased participation in local races, including the Port Sydney Kids Tri.
2. If so, how do we generate the money needed to support the event?
the 70.3 race is a "branded" race. There are several half ironman distance races, but are not internationally recognized or promoted as such. It is like buying "Pepsi" versus no name "Cola" at the grocery store. Pepsi might be a bit more known internationally as opposed to puffed rice because it has a brand
the 70.3 has a licensing fee associated with it, which is several thousand dollars and no matter where the race is held, this licensing fee is paid by the local community
this licensing fee is either cash or services/gifts in kind or in lieu of. So, water at the water stations can be provided by a water company or a water dispensing company. They would just have to donate their services and the water, put a monetary figure to it, and submit it to the local organizing committee. This would be "services and gifts in lieu of cash".
3. Every other event the town hosts has an organizing committee of some consequence supporting the event. Our triathlon events do not. Mitch organizes the whole event and recruits volunteer coordinators to do very specific jobs. Do we have the interest to form such a committee?
on Wednesday we agreed that this would be a worthwhile committee
we are looking for local athletes, endurance and triathlete alike, to help out with this venture ... many hands make light work
individually we don't have the amount of business and personal contacts to help raise this money or enlist the companies that can provide these services
Proposal
A subcommittee of the Chamber of Commerce Events Tourism Committee be developed to focus specifically on:
raising awareness of triathlon in our communities
raising funds for local triathlons, and more specifically the 70.3, from the above mentioned means (cash, in kind)
advocating for things to be done by the towns services (ie Roads, Summit Centre, etc) to allow for smooth running of these races.
Eventually, the hope is that this will spawn into a formal triathlon club. We all know that this would benefit us all through organized training sessions with coaches that could help provide feedback to help us trainer better and smarter. It will also allow us to encourage and help each other through collegiality and the sense of community through our sport. It will give our sport a voice in our community that is often dominated by hockey and lacrosse.
Please respond to this email if you are interested in helping out with this, and embarking on this venture to ensure that triathlon does not leave our community.
Please come to a meeting of the minds on Thursday, February 17th at 8pm in Partners Hall at the Algonquin Theatre. If there is a change to the venue, a subsequent email will be sent through this site. Please bring ideas of how to generate funds or if you have contacts that might be able to help out with services for these races. Services in kind can be for any or all of the races (short, long, 70.3) and their monetary voice will be put towards the licensing fee if it qualifies.
History and Background (written by one of our local triathlon advocates)
The first triathlon in Huntsville was held in 1989 or 90 – the Triresorts triathlon. It was held in the Hidden Valley, Deerhurst and Grandview area. At the time I knew of only one local person who did triathlons. Most of us didn’t really know what a triathlon was as it was right at the beginning of the evolution of the sport. A group of local athletes decided to try this event. They went on to become the nucleus of the local triathlon community.
In 1991, the National Championships were held at Deerhurst followed by the World Championships in 1992. A citizens’ wave was held in the World Championships in which about 35 local athletes competed. The World Championships were a huge hit locally. Over 2200 volunteer T-shirts were given out.
Two local triathletes qualified for the national team in 1993 and represented Canada in Manchester, England. There was now a well-established group of local triathletes that were competing in the Subaru Triathlon Series. In 1993, a poorly publicized World Cup race was held that was poorly attended. There was no race in 1994 or 1995.
In 1996 Mitch Fraser, now the owner of Trisport (which he purchased from his brother Graham) brought triathlon back to Huntsville. The 2010 Muskoka Triathlon was the 15th consecutive Muskoka Triathlon. The event eventually became the marquee event of the Subaru Series and attracted Olympic Champion Simon Whitfield, World Ironman record holder Luc van Lierde, two-time world Ironman Champion Craig Alexander, triathlon con Karen Smyers and so on. It was voted one of the best races in North America.
Meanwhile the local triathlon community continued to grow and perform well in the Subaru Series. In 1994, Huntsville placed four local triathletes on the national team, two in 1996 and three in 1997.
In about 2003, councilor George Young, as chair of the Huntsville Economic Development Committee started plumping for the town to proactively start going out to attract other sporting events as a way of supporting the local tourist economy. Since tourism represents over 50% of the local economy, everyone (even those not directly involved in tourism) had a vested interest in this initiative.
The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce presented a proposal to council that it would act as the agent for the town in this initiative. Out of that two committees were formed – one to prepare and execute a marketing plan and the other to actively try to attract events to the community. The town committed $100,000 in each of three years (2008, 2009, 2010) towards this initiative.
In 2007, Mitch Fraser approached the town with the proposal to hold an Ironman 70.3 race in Huntsville and Lake of Bays. Ironman is a very strong and exclusive brand and there was a $50,000 a year licensing fee involved. Would the community contribute $50,000 in cash and services to bring the event to town. Since this was completely consistent with the Chamber’s initiative, an agreement was made to provide this amount of cash and services for a year period.
Ironman 70.3 races were held in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The first was wildly successful, the other two had some competition from other Ironman events and had fewer numbers but were still very successful. Craig Alexander, two-time World Ironman Champion and also World Ironman 70.3 champion felt the Huntsville course should be the World Championship course. The event drew rave notices from the participants.
In 2010, the G8 came to Huntsville and the feds poured money into town infrastructure to support the G8. The town went after all the money it could get in this “one-time opportunity” and was able to build infrastructure that further supported its policy of attracting events to the community. The problem was that the town had to ante up some of its own money to build these facilities. When the dust settled the town now had a debt of about $11 million.
In the 2010 election the electorate, according to mayor Doughty, delivered a clear message, “stop spending and pay down the debt”. The three-year agreement between the Chamber’s Event Tourism Committee and Trisport had expired and it was clear that the grant to Chamber would be greatly reduced. There would not be a $50,000 (cash and/or services) for Trisport.
In the meantime, The World Triathlon Corp. (WTC) – owner of the Ironman brand - was in the process of buying up smaller properties in order to increase its share value for future sale. Trisport sold to WTC with Mitch Fraser being retained as an employee to continue to run the races Trisport had previously run.
At issue is that the Chamber’s Event Tourism Committee will not commit to $50,000 in cash and/or services to WTC for the 70.3 event because its grant is expected to be cut almost in half this year. Other communities have approached WTC wishing to have our event in their community and have committed upfront money and services. It has become a very competitive market as other communities are catching on to its potential to raise the profile of their community in a viciously competitive tourist industry. Will they pull our race from Huntsville/LoB and move it to another community?
Mitch likes the Huntsville venue and would prefer to keep it here but that decision may not be his to make. This year’s race will go ahead but, due to reduced financial support, might have to scaled down (no carbo meal, no TV, etc) making it a less attractive event. What will happen in 2012?
WTC also wishes to have a full Ironman in Eastern Canada in 2012 and the competition for that event will be huge. Should Huntsville be applying? If we lose the 70.3 we will not be in the running for a full Ironman.
Also, since WTC owns the Muskoka Triathlon, will they continue to run that event in Huntsville if they pull the 70.3?
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Saturday, February 19, 2011
A Little Windy Run
The change in weather has been amazing. Yesterday I ran in shorts and toyed with the idea of doing a ride outside as it was so warm but by the time I got home at 4 pm, the winds had picked up and was getting worse. I was supposed to ride Friday morning but I changed to running so I still need to get a ride in. I set a meeting for Friday afternoon with the intention of getting home early to get the ride in. The meeting was a disaster as I was very unprepared and had the wrong documents. The lack of sleep is really catching up and by the time I got home, the chances of riding were going down hill very rapidly. It ended with the sound of Pffftttt. The first beer and then the second and the third and that was the end of any chance of a workout. Exhausted I took a nap on the couch (I haven't done that in a long time) and then headed up for a nice hot bath. My hamstrings have been aching the last couple of days and the warm bath loosened them up and after I stretched and rolled with the foam roller. It felt like I was getting knifed but that's just the scar tissue breaking up. Short term pain for long term gain. Best $25 I've spent as its way cheaper than getting a massage.
Last night's sleep was one of the better ones other than getting woken up at 11:30 pm by the alarm going off. It was so windy that it pushed on the front door enough to set off the alarm. After dealing with the alarm company I went back to bed and didn't wake up until 5:50 am. That is very late for me. The winds continued as I was not looking forward to this 90 minute run. I headed outside and ran about 200 meters and then turned around and headed back inside. It was so windy and the temperature had dropped that I went back to put Vaseline on my face to cut down on getting a painful wind burn. The wind was blowing around 43 km\hr and had wind gusts up to 54 km\hr. As a "veteran runner" I opted to run in to the wind first and have a nice tailwind on the way home. As I ran, I checked my Polar and saw at some points I was running at a whopping 8 min per km (note that's per kilometer, not per mile) which is just a little faster than walking. One time, a wind gust almost blew me off the sidewalk. I ran by a couple of farms and the blowing snow cut the visibility down to less than 500 meters. By the end of the run, I was beginning to tire and was very thankful it was only a 90 minute run. I wasn't too worried about pacing or distance or heart rate. Oddly enough, I did get weird stares from many drivers and didn't see any other runners...wimps.
The weight has been good as I'm down to 171, just three pounds above race weight and hopefully I can get the missing ride in this afternoon. I have a massage scheduled for Monday
Last night's sleep was one of the better ones other than getting woken up at 11:30 pm by the alarm going off. It was so windy that it pushed on the front door enough to set off the alarm. After dealing with the alarm company I went back to bed and didn't wake up until 5:50 am. That is very late for me. The winds continued as I was not looking forward to this 90 minute run. I headed outside and ran about 200 meters and then turned around and headed back inside. It was so windy and the temperature had dropped that I went back to put Vaseline on my face to cut down on getting a painful wind burn. The wind was blowing around 43 km\hr and had wind gusts up to 54 km\hr. As a "veteran runner" I opted to run in to the wind first and have a nice tailwind on the way home. As I ran, I checked my Polar and saw at some points I was running at a whopping 8 min per km (note that's per kilometer, not per mile) which is just a little faster than walking. One time, a wind gust almost blew me off the sidewalk. I ran by a couple of farms and the blowing snow cut the visibility down to less than 500 meters. By the end of the run, I was beginning to tire and was very thankful it was only a 90 minute run. I wasn't too worried about pacing or distance or heart rate. Oddly enough, I did get weird stares from many drivers and didn't see any other runners...wimps.
The weight has been good as I'm down to 171, just three pounds above race weight and hopefully I can get the missing ride in this afternoon. I have a massage scheduled for Monday
Friday, February 18, 2011
Running In Shorts In February? WTF!!
I've been running since 1999 and I don't ever remember it ever being warm enough to run in shorts!! At 5:00 am this morning it was a balmy 9 degrees (C) or 48 degrees (F)!! Ya gotta to love global warming. Unfortunately its not going to last as the winds picked up today and the temperature will drop below zero again.
This morning's run was a five hill repeats followed by 3 x 1 minute all out sprints. One thing I'm beginning to learn this winter is its all about the effort. In the past, I would just sort of lolly gag it up the hill but over the last couple of weeks, its been almost a full sprint up the hill with the HR hitting 174, just a two beats below red line. On the last hill repeat, I was bent over almost puking. I think its safe to say, that I put in the effort but the hammy is begin to get sore. Better get out the roller.
At swimming, Serge has us doing time trials after the warm ups. Last week it was a 1,000 meter time trial broken down into 4 x 250 meters tranches that we were supposed to speed up. I started out fast and then slowed down for the next two (but I swear I was swimming faster) and then picked up the pace for the last one. I made the mistake of sprinting the last 25 meters which Serge absolutely did not like. He said I wasn't putting in a consistent effort and I should have that level of energy for the last lap so this week, I did a much better effort of being consistent for the entire 900 meters. This is a very interesting exercise as consistent effort should be maintained throughout all three legs of triathlon. I always tend to hammer it at the end of each leg.
You might have noticed that the blog hasn't been update that often over the last couple of weeks. Work has been incredibly busy with meetings/presentations at night and more meetings on Saturdays. I've barely had time to read fellow bloggers and the insomnia has returned. I wake up around 3 am and lie around in bed until 4:30 and then get out of bed to start working out. By night time, I'm completely exhausted but for whatever reason, I can't stay asleep. Combine this with the extra work load, I'm really bagged. Its going to catch up sooner or later.
On a brighter note, my daughter was in a MacCain's commercial currently on TV. She's the last girl on the left. Let's hope she doesn't turn into Lindsay Lohan !!
This morning's run was a five hill repeats followed by 3 x 1 minute all out sprints. One thing I'm beginning to learn this winter is its all about the effort. In the past, I would just sort of lolly gag it up the hill but over the last couple of weeks, its been almost a full sprint up the hill with the HR hitting 174, just a two beats below red line. On the last hill repeat, I was bent over almost puking. I think its safe to say, that I put in the effort but the hammy is begin to get sore. Better get out the roller.
At swimming, Serge has us doing time trials after the warm ups. Last week it was a 1,000 meter time trial broken down into 4 x 250 meters tranches that we were supposed to speed up. I started out fast and then slowed down for the next two (but I swear I was swimming faster) and then picked up the pace for the last one. I made the mistake of sprinting the last 25 meters which Serge absolutely did not like. He said I wasn't putting in a consistent effort and I should have that level of energy for the last lap so this week, I did a much better effort of being consistent for the entire 900 meters. This is a very interesting exercise as consistent effort should be maintained throughout all three legs of triathlon. I always tend to hammer it at the end of each leg.
You might have noticed that the blog hasn't been update that often over the last couple of weeks. Work has been incredibly busy with meetings/presentations at night and more meetings on Saturdays. I've barely had time to read fellow bloggers and the insomnia has returned. I wake up around 3 am and lie around in bed until 4:30 and then get out of bed to start working out. By night time, I'm completely exhausted but for whatever reason, I can't stay asleep. Combine this with the extra work load, I'm really bagged. Its going to catch up sooner or later.
On a brighter note, my daughter was in a MacCain's commercial currently on TV. She's the last girl on the left. Let's hope she doesn't turn into Lindsay Lohan !!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Now That Was Stupid
Saturday's run was supposed to be a two hour run but I missed last week's long run of 1:45 so I jumped from 1:30 to 2:00. No problem right? Ugh it was a painful run. At least the weather was slightly warmer than the previous days but had a pretty good wind.
The run didn't start out very good as by the time I got out the door it was already 6 am which for me is very late. And not to mention that I haven't been sleeping well. Its been a constant pattern of being exhausted by 9 pm and crashing but wide awake around 1 am for a couple of hours, then back to sleep and finally getting up at 5 am to workout. I think its the return of insomnia.
Anyways, I headed out the door and got about 400 metres when I felt the hot water in my water bottle slosh around and start to run down the back of my shirt, pants and running jacket. WTF??? The water bottle was leaking and every step I took the water spilled out and I was getting wet. Not a good thing as I start out for a two hour run in the middle of winter so I had to head back home and changed all my clothes.
The wind had picked up so I figure the best tactic was to run into the wind for the first part and have the wind at my back on the way home which worked out to be perfect. I was tired when I reached my turn around point after 53 minutes of running but I really begin to run out of gas around the 1:20 mark. Fortunately I had put two gels in my running belt and probably would have been walking back home with out them. My hamstring began to ache and I could feel my glute begin to shut down so a couple of times, I ran backwards for a couple of hundred metres. I look like a dork running backwards but it worked as it helps reactive the glutes and I could feel instant relief.
The last 15 minutes were brutal and I really struggled to finish. I know I missed a couple of runs last week but I was really surprised how tough it was to run for two hours (21.5 km). I was really sore and stiff after the run and popped a couple of aspirins for the aches and pain. I thought running a marathon wouldn't be that tough as I did Muskoka 70.3 last year but I'm beginning to wonder how painful a full would be.
On Thursday at Masters, Serge had us to a 1,000 metre time trial with pull buoys after the warm up. This was very interesting as I learned a lot about pacing and perceived effort. The idea was to break it into four 250 metres tranches which each tranche increasing the speed but Serge wasn't going to call out your times so you had to figure it would yourself. I started out first and didn't bother with the pull buoys as I was worried about the strain on my shoulders as well as the fact that its so much easier to swim with them. I was interested to see what time I could come up with to compare it with my race times.
I'm a horrible counter when swimming laps and can lose count after three laps. I'm not sure why but fortunately I had my sports watch that had a lap counter. I started out slow trying to stretch out each stroke and fought the urge to speed up. By the half way mark, I began to speed up (or I thought). I was annoyed that the lady (who never yields) was right behind me for the whole time. Goes to show how much easier it is to swim when you're using pull buoys and drafting so I began to pick up the pace and by the last 250 metres I began to hammer it and pulled away from her. In fact, I sprinted the last 25 metres.
The results were interesting. My time was 18:41 which works out to be 1:52 per 100 meters. Nothing great but pretty much in line with my normal race pace and I wasn't that tired and could have swam faster. I swam the first 250 metres in 4:41 and then the next two tranches, I actually got slower!! I could swear that the 2nd and 3rd tranches I had picked up the paces but my times show the opposite. Only in the last tranche did my pace pick up faster than the first one (4:21). As Serge said, I was goofing around in the 2nd and 3rd tranches. That is totally weird as I thought I was going faster but actually I was going slower. I think this exercise can easily be translated to riding and especially running as I'm always sprinting at the end when really what I should be doing is maintaining a constant steady pace.
Ok enough blogging. Time for some P90X yoga as I'm sore from yesterday's run.
On Thursday at Masters, Serge had us to a 1,000 metre time trial with pull buoys after the warm up. This was very interesting as I learned a lot about pacing and perceived effort. The idea was to break it into four 250 metres tranches which each tranche increasing the speed but Serge wasn't going to call out your times so you had to figure it would yourself. I started out first and didn't bother with the pull buoys as I was worried about the strain on my shoulders as well as the fact that its so much easier to swim with them. I was interested to see what time I could come up with to compare it with my race times.
I'm a horrible counter when swimming laps and can lose count after three laps. I'm not sure why but fortunately I had my sports watch that had a lap counter. I started out slow trying to stretch out each stroke and fought the urge to speed up. By the half way mark, I began to speed up (or I thought). I was annoyed that the lady (who never yields) was right behind me for the whole time. Goes to show how much easier it is to swim when you're using pull buoys and drafting so I began to pick up the pace and by the last 250 metres I began to hammer it and pulled away from her. In fact, I sprinted the last 25 metres.
The results were interesting. My time was 18:41 which works out to be 1:52 per 100 meters. Nothing great but pretty much in line with my normal race pace and I wasn't that tired and could have swam faster. I swam the first 250 metres in 4:41 and then the next two tranches, I actually got slower!! I could swear that the 2nd and 3rd tranches I had picked up the paces but my times show the opposite. Only in the last tranche did my pace pick up faster than the first one (4:21). As Serge said, I was goofing around in the 2nd and 3rd tranches. That is totally weird as I thought I was going faster but actually I was going slower. I think this exercise can easily be translated to riding and especially running as I'm always sprinting at the end when really what I should be doing is maintaining a constant steady pace.
Ok enough blogging. Time for some P90X yoga as I'm sore from yesterday's run.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
And We're Back!
On Monday morning I woke up with a nasty chill and fact I bailed from another run because I just felt too run down. On Tuesday morning I felt better and was good enough to go swimming. Throughout the workout I felt a little tired but much better than the last couple of days. I felt good but not great so I decided not play hockey Tuesday night so I didn't bother taking my equipment to work but by early afternoon I felt back to normal. I wavered on going home and getting it or saving my energy for Wednesday's bike ride. The sun was out and I felt like playing so I jumped in my car and drove 30 minutes back home, grabbed it and then drove another 30 minutes back to work. Usually I play on an empty stomach but I mixed some Amino Vital and had a light snack. I think that made a difference as I felt pretty good on the ice. Too bad I played like shit and couldn't take a pass or give a pass if my life depended on it but I did score twice at the end of the game so it was worth it. Also more importantly, I burned 707 calories.
Wednesday's bike was not a fun ride as its drills, drills and more drills. After the warm up, its 5 x 2 minute one legged drills followed by 5 x 2 minutes out of the saddle. Strangely I find this fairly easy and then 5 by 1 minute all out sprinting. One trick I've learned on the all out sprints is not use the hardest gear and try and grind it out (which ends up with me running out of gas around 45 seconds) but rather use a slightly easier gear which allows to increase the cadence and last the full minute.
The total workout is only one hour but with the drills, time goes by much quicker and I burned another 700 calories. Interestingly, I made it through this workout as the last time I played hockey the night before, and then rode, it was a really really crappy ride. I think the difference was the fact I had missed a couple of workouts and I ate an egg and toast before riding. Usually I ride on an empty stomach
This morning my weight was 172.2. Only four pounds above race weight. I don't remember being this low this early in the season. This summer I would like to race at 163 but for Ironman 2012 I should be around 158. Yikes!
Wednesday's bike was not a fun ride as its drills, drills and more drills. After the warm up, its 5 x 2 minute one legged drills followed by 5 x 2 minutes out of the saddle. Strangely I find this fairly easy and then 5 by 1 minute all out sprinting. One trick I've learned on the all out sprints is not use the hardest gear and try and grind it out (which ends up with me running out of gas around 45 seconds) but rather use a slightly easier gear which allows to increase the cadence and last the full minute.
The total workout is only one hour but with the drills, time goes by much quicker and I burned another 700 calories. Interestingly, I made it through this workout as the last time I played hockey the night before, and then rode, it was a really really crappy ride. I think the difference was the fact I had missed a couple of workouts and I ate an egg and toast before riding. Usually I ride on an empty stomach
This morning my weight was 172.2. Only four pounds above race weight. I don't remember being this low this early in the season. This summer I would like to race at 163 but for Ironman 2012 I should be around 158. Yikes!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Swimmingly Along
Well I think I'm beginning to get over my cold as I didn't feel as bad this morning when I woke up. My plan was to swim with the Masters and if I didn't feel all that great, just hang back of the pack. Turns out, I was ok but a little tired. We did a whack load of kicking drills which I hate and am a pretty weak kicker but was able to keep up, sort of.
To finish off we did 11 x 150 metres of freestyle. I went first and lead the way but it was only a matter of time before I started to lap the other swimmers (there was only five of us in the lane). Most people are pretty good and move aside at the wall to allow me to pass but their is one lady who absolutely hates being passed and often won't yield. I know the proper etiquette is to touch the feet to let them know you want to pass but I figure when you're making a turn and you see someone right behind you for several laps, common sense tells you to yield and let them pass. For some reason she decided to start doing breast stroke while I was around the 8th set. I tried to pass her a couple of times but someone was coming down the lane. At the wall when she stopped I asked her to let me pass as I was still trying to finish the set. She replied, "oh sorry, I thought we were finished."
So let's think about this: I'm the faster swimmer and I'm only on the 8th set, so how could you be finished? Duh! I mentioned this to Brian and he laughed and said she hates getting passed and usually never yields.
I was determined to finish the set as I was annoyed last week that I stopped swimming even though I hadn't finished the workout. I don't know why but I did and when Serge asked me how I was feeling, I wasn't tired, so this week I made sure to finish.
Although I felt better this morning, I decided to bail from hockey tonight as I have a brutal bike tomorrow morning and I thought I might be pushing it too much. I missed hockey last week and will probably miss it next week as I have to work Wednesday and Thursday night so playing hockey on Tuesday night might be pushing it. Odd, several years ago, I would have never missed hockey for anything but I think I missed more hockey (not due to injury) this year than I have in the last five years. And in fact, given my heavy race schedule, I don't plan to play summer hockey for the first time in over 15 years. Yikes! Good god, am I becoming a dedicated triathlete like coach?
To finish off we did 11 x 150 metres of freestyle. I went first and lead the way but it was only a matter of time before I started to lap the other swimmers (there was only five of us in the lane). Most people are pretty good and move aside at the wall to allow me to pass but their is one lady who absolutely hates being passed and often won't yield. I know the proper etiquette is to touch the feet to let them know you want to pass but I figure when you're making a turn and you see someone right behind you for several laps, common sense tells you to yield and let them pass. For some reason she decided to start doing breast stroke while I was around the 8th set. I tried to pass her a couple of times but someone was coming down the lane. At the wall when she stopped I asked her to let me pass as I was still trying to finish the set. She replied, "oh sorry, I thought we were finished."
So let's think about this: I'm the faster swimmer and I'm only on the 8th set, so how could you be finished? Duh! I mentioned this to Brian and he laughed and said she hates getting passed and usually never yields.
I was determined to finish the set as I was annoyed last week that I stopped swimming even though I hadn't finished the workout. I don't know why but I did and when Serge asked me how I was feeling, I wasn't tired, so this week I made sure to finish.
Although I felt better this morning, I decided to bail from hockey tonight as I have a brutal bike tomorrow morning and I thought I might be pushing it too much. I missed hockey last week and will probably miss it next week as I have to work Wednesday and Thursday night so playing hockey on Tuesday night might be pushing it. Odd, several years ago, I would have never missed hockey for anything but I think I missed more hockey (not due to injury) this year than I have in the last five years. And in fact, given my heavy race schedule, I don't plan to play summer hockey for the first time in over 15 years. Yikes! Good god, am I becoming a dedicated triathlete like coach?
Monday, February 7, 2011
Bail Part Duh
I'm still not feeling great. I woke up this morning at 4:35 am, got dressed, headed downstairs and read a couple of blogs. While I was sitting there, I was freezing. I had checked my temperature and it was normal but I seem to have the chills so its hard to figure that going for a run would be a good idea. Instead, I'm heading back upstairs to be with a cup of hot chocolate and reading Tom Clancy's latest book as there is no way I'd be able to fall asleep.
That's all I got for today, oh at least the weight is drifting back down. 174 pounds this morning.
That's all I got for today, oh at least the weight is drifting back down. 174 pounds this morning.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Bail!
I decided to bail on this morning's run. Its been quite a while since I've bailed on a scheduled run but yesterday afternoon I wasn't feeling all that great. I popped some Advil as my muscles were sore and I was freezing cold and felt tired. It seemed as if my body was trying to fight off another cold like two weeks ago. This week is a recovery week so I'm not worried about skipping a run.
In fact, tomorrow is the Superbowl and we usually go over to my friend's house. Its an all day event where everybody arrives around 1 pm and the guys play a game flag football outside (regardless of the weather) while the ladies and kids stay at the house and eat and talk. After four hours of freezing our balls off we head back to the house and watch the game. Personally I have no interest in watching football but there always is money involved so that makes it worth it. I'm not sure why I don't have a lot of interest in football but I think it has to do with the slow flow of the game. After playing Aussie Rules Football for 11 years, the constant stop and go annoys me. Aussie Rules is constant playing with very little stoppage.
I've been doing this for over 15 years but Billy's two year old daughter is going through Leukemia treatment and has a weaken immune system so anyone who is sick is not allowed in their house. I don't think I'm that sick but I wouldn't want to risk spreading any germs to her.
Oh yea I gained four pounds last night. I went from 172.2 to 176.2. Let's see, 3,500 calories x 4 pounds = 14,000 calories. Wow, that's impressive because I sure don't remember eating 14,000 calories yesterday.
In fact, tomorrow is the Superbowl and we usually go over to my friend's house. Its an all day event where everybody arrives around 1 pm and the guys play a game flag football outside (regardless of the weather) while the ladies and kids stay at the house and eat and talk. After four hours of freezing our balls off we head back to the house and watch the game. Personally I have no interest in watching football but there always is money involved so that makes it worth it. I'm not sure why I don't have a lot of interest in football but I think it has to do with the slow flow of the game. After playing Aussie Rules Football for 11 years, the constant stop and go annoys me. Aussie Rules is constant playing with very little stoppage.
I've been doing this for over 15 years but Billy's two year old daughter is going through Leukemia treatment and has a weaken immune system so anyone who is sick is not allowed in their house. I don't think I'm that sick but I wouldn't want to risk spreading any germs to her.
Oh yea I gained four pounds last night. I went from 172.2 to 176.2. Let's see, 3,500 calories x 4 pounds = 14,000 calories. Wow, that's impressive because I sure don't remember eating 14,000 calories yesterday.
Friday, February 4, 2011
A Run Through The Past
At this time of year, the work volume has doubled. Well not quite but its quite busy in fact I have meetings booked for this Saturday and next as well. Yesterday I had swimming in the morning with Masters. I was kind of annoyed with myself. Usually I keep pace with Brian (non triathlete). Although he's a couple of years older, last year we were pretty much the same speed but this year he seemed to drop off or maybe he's been sick the last couple of weeks. I need someone to push me in order to get faster. We started the last set of workout, 8 x 150 and by 6:30 am we only did three sets. Brian packed it in and stopped swimming. I, like a moron packed it in as well. Looking back, there was no way I was going to finish all 8 sets but I should have finished at least two more as I was not tired at all. On the shoulder front, the coaching has helped as it no longer aches. I've tried to concentrate more on proper technique rather than just hammering it.
On Thursdays, the schedule calls for a swim in the morning and a run in the afternoon. The last couple of weeks, I've been leaving work early and run as soon as I got home (around 4 pm) but yesterday I had a meeting for 3 pm and didn't want to run during rush hour as there are simply too many idiots on the road at that time. Fortunately I work about five minutes from my parents house where I grew up so I went over and changed into my running gear and ran for one hour. It was weird running through my old neighbourhood, by my junior high school and high school, past old friend's houses. The only thing I didn't like was there are a lot of seniors that live there and when I was running into oncoming traffic, they didn't exactly move over to give me room, rather they just stayed in their lane even if there was no traffic coming towards them. Once I finished my run, I showered and changed back into my suit and made it in time for my meeting. Sweet
This morning was a 60 minute ride with no drills as this is a recovery week so I watched a couple of more episodes of Weeds. Man, that show is pretty raunchy for TV
My weight has been dropping. This morning I was down to 172. Not bad, as I've lost about 5 pounds in two weeks. I've cut back on the carbs over the last couple of days, so I'm sure it will move back up once I start eating carbs but it sure feels good.
On Thursdays, the schedule calls for a swim in the morning and a run in the afternoon. The last couple of weeks, I've been leaving work early and run as soon as I got home (around 4 pm) but yesterday I had a meeting for 3 pm and didn't want to run during rush hour as there are simply too many idiots on the road at that time. Fortunately I work about five minutes from my parents house where I grew up so I went over and changed into my running gear and ran for one hour. It was weird running through my old neighbourhood, by my junior high school and high school, past old friend's houses. The only thing I didn't like was there are a lot of seniors that live there and when I was running into oncoming traffic, they didn't exactly move over to give me room, rather they just stayed in their lane even if there was no traffic coming towards them. Once I finished my run, I showered and changed back into my suit and made it in time for my meeting. Sweet
This morning was a 60 minute ride with no drills as this is a recovery week so I watched a couple of more episodes of Weeds. Man, that show is pretty raunchy for TV
My weight has been dropping. This morning I was down to 172. Not bad, as I've lost about 5 pounds in two weeks. I've cut back on the carbs over the last couple of days, so I'm sure it will move back up once I start eating carbs but it sure feels good.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Hard Core Cyclist
Date: Feb 2, 2011
Place: Toronto, Canada
Temperature: - 9 windchill feels like - 16 (C) or 3 degrees F
Wind: 19 km/hr
Place: Toronto, Canada
Temperature: - 9 windchill feels like - 16 (C) or 3 degrees F
Wind: 19 km/hr
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