Now That's Gotta Hurt!

In this image provided by the University Medical Center in Tucson, a CT scan shows a pair of pruning shears embedded in the head of an 86-year-old Green Valley, Ariz., man before it was removed by Medical Center surgeons in Tucson on July 30, 2011. Leroy Luetscher was accidentally impaled through his eye socket after falling on the shears while working in his yard, the handle penetrating his eye socket and reaching down into his neck. He is expected to make a full recovery. (AP Photo/University Medical Center, Tucson, Arizona)

Today's workout is 5:00 am 10 km run followed by a 2.5 hour drive (one way) for a round of golf.  Yup summer is coming to an end.

Sign In Front Of A Pub - Only In Australia

Today was a 90 minute long run for 15 km @  6 min\km pace.  I was worried about my shins and knee but things went ok.  My shin is slightly sore but managable and my knee was a little sore but some ice after the run took care of it.  We should be good to go.......famous last words!

Love Thy Trainer...Not

I switched Thursday's run with Friday's ride as my runs are getting longer (90 minutes tomorrow) and I can't make it to 6:00 am swimming unless I start running at 4:15 am, which is just....stupid.  Today's 45 minute trainer ride was nothing short of pathetic.  I knew going in, it was going to be a tough ride after yesterday's 75 minute ride which went better than I thought it would.  I started watching the Bourne Identity movies with Matt Damon.  Ya gotta love all that action.  It makes the trainer ride a little bit easier.  Within the first 15 minutes I was struggling to keep going and around the 25 minute mark, I grounded to a halt.  A short 20 second rest and getting to the good action scenes helped me make it through the sessions but I dreaded to look at the power tap numbers.

I hopped into the car and headed to the pool.  Lisa went to Mount Tremblant for the weekend to check out the course so I decided to just bang out 2,000 meters.  I was counting every 50 meters and stopped when I reached the 20th 50 meters.  I looked at the clock but only 18 minutes had passed and the lifeguards who switch every 30 minutes, had not changed.  It finally dawned on me that 50 meters times 20 laps is only 1,000 meters so I started to swimming again.  The trainer ride had taken a lot of steam out of me but I finished around 39 minutes.  I was satisfied with that time and headed home to get ready for a round of golf at 9:45 am.  Yes, it was a triathlon of a different sort.  Bike, Swim and Golf.  But golf was a disaster because I was tired and by the fourth hole I really began to fall apart however after the ninth hole (and loading up with sandwiches and beers) my game picked up and I finished half decent.  I only get out 5-6 times a year so my game is pretty much what I expect.

On the injury front, my right knee has begun to ache ever since I started riding inside and my right shin is a little sore.  The same spot where I had the stress fracture.  I guess last week's long run was a bit too much as I threw in a couple of hill repeats.  Scobie warned me about too many people that come back too hard which leads to re-injuries.  This could be trouble as I just registered for Muskoka 70.3 on September 11th and we can not cancel our accommodations.  This triathlon season hasn't gone very well.  We'll see how tomorrow's run goes.

Orillia Race Report - KOS & Duathlon

Kids Of Steel - Saturday

On Saturday we headed up to Orillia (90 minutes north of Toronto) for the Kids Of Steel race.  We thought about going up last year but couldn't get organized as I was racing the following day.  This year, Tammy was racing the Du so we decided to go up and stay overnight.  It sounded like a lot of fun as I knew several families going up.  Peter A (childhood friend), Paul and Cathy S (fellow master swimmers), and Doru.  All of us have kids and all were racing.  Heading up to Orillia was a mess as there was a traffic accident and we were stuck in traffic for a good hour.  For once we left early enough to make it to Orillia before registration closed.  It was fun walking the kids through the process, getting them set up in transition and explaining what they were going to do. We were a little worried about not being able to help the kids out during transition but there were tons of volunteers to help them out.  The race was delayed for about an hour because of the thunder and lightening.  Try telling kids to wait for an hour with nothing to do in the pouring rain but finally lightening ended and they were ready to go!

Pre race jitters

Jake was the first one to start.  He was in the 4-5 age category and the race was 25 meter swim (well water running actually as it was shallow), a 500 meter bike ride and a 100 meter run.  It was pretty chaotic as parents were yelling and screaming at their kids and then started running along the beach to follow them (I was guilty as well). 

I have to pee!

Dad, he said I need a timing chip.  What's a timing chip?

Get outta of my way!

 



 The hardest part was Vanessa who was in the second wave right behind Jake so while I was following Jake, Tammy was watching Vanessa and then all hell broke loose. Jake was on the bike course, Vanessa was coming in to T1 . Tammy followed Vanessa out on the bike while Jake had come in to T2 and started to run and I had to take Rebecca to her swim start. By the time Rebeeca was coming in to T1, Vanessa was still on the bike and Jake had finished his run but neither Tammy and I were there at the finish.  I yelled at Tammy go to the finish line and meet Jake.  All this time, other parents were running around and yelling at their kids.  For an observer, it must have looked war had just broken out with everyone yelling and running all over the place.

Although Rebecca was not yet 8 years old, she had to race in the 8-9 age group as its based on the year you are born (DOH!!  I forgot about that).  She was one of the smallest kids and not the strongest swimmers.  Fortunately, she was allowed to use a swim noodle as she had to swim 100 meters (the water was too deep to walk), ride 5 km (I don't think she's ridden more than 500 meters) and then run one km (nope, never done that before).  By the time she finished the swim, the rain was pouring down and she had to ride but she finished with a smile (which is more than I can say I've ever done)

Run Rebecca Run!!

Finish my first triathlon!!

Vanessa heading into T1

Help with transition

Tammy giving Vanessa directions

All in all, it was an excellent day for the kids to finish their first triathlon.  It was a long and exciting day for everyone and I think its a great way to get the kids active.  I looked around and there must have been over 100 kids which is pretty awesome given the crappy weather.

The Duathlon - Sunday

This was Tammy's longest race and it was my turn to watch the kids for over 2.5 hours.  No problem because Paul and Cathy's three kids would be there and they usually play great together.  The skies were overcast but according to the weather channel, the rain should hold off until noon so that means at some point during the race, we were going to get wet.

Mommy, don't leave me with daddy!

Finishing the first run

Who's kids are these?



A long wait

Tammy did the first run two kilometers in good time and headed out onto to the bike.  This was the longest bike she's ever done (including training).  We rode together on Friday (while the kids were in day camp) and I  told her about gearing down when riding up hills (ie high cadence).  I guess most of her training rides are flat and while Orillia is not a hilly course, it was pretty hilly for her.  She rode the bike faster than I thought she would.

Coming in from Tammy's longest bike (30 km)

The third part was a 7 km run and I knew this was going to be the toughest part for Tammy.  The kids were great but I think they were getting hungry as they've been up for 4 hours and wouldn't eat any breakfast.  I didn't bring any food because I thought the snack bar would be open.  Why any one wouldn't want to open a snack bar when there were about 500 people milling around for a couple of hours, is beyond me.

Tammy's run was a little longer than I figured and we moved down to the finish line after hanging out by transition for most of the time.  It was getting darker and darker and I knew we were going to get wet so at least the finish line area had tents and lots of trees.  While we were waiting by the finish line, I saw a runner come in that looked liked Greg, the guy I bought my wetsuit from several years ago.  Greg has done IMLP a couple of times but was done with racing.  He's semi-retired and moved to Mexico part time but recently rode his motorcycle across Canada.  Later on, I did meet up with him and it was Greg.  We chatted for a couple of minutes and it was good to catch up.

Tammy came in just as the rain start pouring down.  What timing and the kids were really beginning to lose it!!  Here over time was 2:28 which is pretty good and was happy to have finished.

Ok seriously, we need a bike rack.

We need a bike rack







City2Surf - Sydney, Australia

This is too funny



Stolen from Jeff Dangle The Carrot

City2Surf is a 14 km race that attracts over 85,000 runners in Sydney, Australia.  Why a distance of 14 km is beyond me?  Read Jess' race report

Today was a 45 minute trainer ride followed by a 2,500 meter swim.  At 5:00 am it is pitch black and too dark to ride outside.  Summer is coming to an end :(

WHOOOAAAA!!!!

Work has been abolutely brutal last week and I've had no time to blog or read blogs.  I just barely have enough time to train, work and sleep but things are going along with Muskoka 70.3 only a month away.  Last year at this time, I was anxious and this year, its like, ho-hum.  Its ONLY a Half Ironman.  What's the big deal?  Hmmm what a difference a year makes especially considering this is my first, and only, triathlon this summer due to all the injuries.

I was pretty happy with my swimming the previous week when I banged out 3,000 meters and 3,500 meters.  Its amazing how much more energy I have when I don't run 9 km at 5:00 am before I go swimming at 6:00 am however, Tuesday's swim was, uhmmm.....interesting.  The fast lane is a double lane wide and was pretty empty.  I generally don't like swimming in circles rather just swim up and down the lane however if more people join then obviously we have to swim in circles.  Things were ok until near the end of my swim.  My buddy Derek showed up and we chatted for a couple of minutes until he went to the far side of the fast lane while I went to the other side.  I forgot my swim workout so I was just doing things to come up with a 2,000 meter workout.  I was almost done and was heading DOWN the lane when some guy came UP the same lane I was swimming in.  We just missed and it scared the crap out of me as I have been swimming by myself for 45 minutes.  I changed to swimming in circles but didn't say anything as I only had six laps to go.  Several times as we passed each other, he seemed to drift pretty close to me and I looked down to see if I was off line but each time, I was always left of the black line.  I was getting pretty pissed but kept telling myself it wasn't worth getting into an argument but as I finished my last lap, he was right behind me and I stood up and ripped off my goggles and swim cap.  I turned to him and snarled "if you're going to jump in my lane, at least let me know."  He looked surprised and said "it was a free pool and he can swim wherever he wanted to.  Well the conversation degenerate into some name calling and I told him to "learn how to swim" and jumped out of the pool.  I was hoping he would follow me into the showers and we could continue our "discussions." Thankfully he didn't, as I had a pretty good idea, how it would end.

Thursday's run (before swimming) was pretty good as I went the full distance without doing the 10 x 1s.  I ran about 10 km in 53 minutes or so which I was pretty happy but left me totally wiped for the swim.  I bailed after a pathetic 1,400 meters.

Friday's ride was only 45 minutes so I opted to ride the trainer.  Without a doubt, riding inside is a thousand times harder than riding outside but it was pouring so I rode inside.  Comparing the power numbers, it was brutal.  By the end, I was totally drenched and all my numbers were lower than outdoor riding but I'm going to ride once a week inside to start building for the winter riding season.

Saturday's ride was another 100 km ride followed by 20 minute run but I had to be at work by 11 am so that meant I had to out the door by 6 am at the latest.  It was cool and a little dark as summer is coming to an end and the sun is rising later and later.  Boo.  It was an okay ride and fairly uneventful except when I was heading back home, I was flying down a short hill in aero position when a lady started to run across the street except she was looking the wrong way and I yelled WWWWHOOOOAAAA!!!!  She was quite startled as it was only around 8 am and I must have scared the crap out of her.  If I didn't say anything she would have ran right into my path and that would have been a painful crash.  I think I'm finally getting the hang of my nutrition but still don't think I'm taking enough calories on the bike.  I had about 1,000 calories and three salt pills but I burned about 2,000 calories.  I have a tough time taking in more calories and also how to carry more calories.  
The run off the bike was tough as it was humid and I'd be hard pressed going any longer than the 20 minutes I ran.  Sunday morning was a right off as I was so tired after the brick and working five hours.

I left the house this morning around 5:20 am and it was still dark.  The ride was pretty ho hum except I need to get used to riding in the dark as once I'm in the country (10 minutes from my house), there are no street lights and I can't see anything.  The run off the bike was pretty good as I ended up running a 4:15 minute\km pace.  The whole run wasn't at that pace but knowing I could finish at that pace felt good.  My shin only ached a little bit.

I also signed up for Muskoko 70.3 for a mere $334.  What a rip off but hardly unexpected with Ironman Tremblant a steal of a deal for $734 or something like that.

Let's hope I don't get hurt in the next four weeks

PS:  Just to clairfy, I was not annoyed with the guy for jumping in my lane unannounced but rather because he changed the direction of the lane without bother telling me and I already had been in swimming for 45 minutes by myself

Dieting - Epic Fail

The dieting front has not been going very well.  This week I ate at McDonalds twice and felt sick afterwards.  I had the Crispy Chicken sandwich and ended up throwing out half of it.  The second time I ate at McDonalds, even the fries tasted like crap and I love their fries.  I've think I drank beers almost every night this week and even swam last Sunday morning hung over.

On the swimming front, Tuesday's swim was a nice 3,000 meters and today's swim was even a better 3,500 meters.  Both are record distances for myself.  Today, I should have kept swimming to make it a nice Ironman swim of 3,800 meters

On the running front, this week I'll have run three times for about 50 minutes.  I've  used the run 10 minutes and walk one minute twice during each run and skipping the last walk session.  So far, my shin is holding up just fine.

On the Ironman front, Scobie sent me an email about Ironman Melbourne for March 2013.  I asked him if he was trying to get me divorced.  He laughed and said this would help me "love" my trainer.  Somehow, riding on my trainer for 6 hours isn't even remotely funny.

Back to the cupcakes