Not much is going on. My calf issue is still nagging despite seeing Kevin (chiropractor) last Tuesday where he absolutely tortured my legs. I thought I'd be ok so like a moron on Thursday I ran 15 km. I'm not sure why I did that but within 5 km my calf begin to tighten up and was pretty much sore for the rest of the run. Kevin said running faster would effect my calf and I sort of forgot that as it was super windy that day with wind gusts up to 40 km\hr and when I was running with the wind I was running around a 4:30 km\min pace. Oddly enough, my calf began to ache after that pace....duh. At least it was warm enough to wear shorts but the temperature dropped by the time I finished.
Friday's swim was pretty much uneventful as I just did some laps and then 10 x 50 @ 50 seconds with 10 seconds rest. Swimming is definitely boring. The pool in Stouffville is really nice but just too warm. I'm always sweating by the time I get dressed which I always find odd.....sweating after swimming.
I decided to skip Saturday's two hour run as my calf was still sore and I'm not sure why I have a two hour run one week before the race. So much for tapering. Instead I decided to do strength training on both upper and lower body but concentrating on my legs. Needless to say, both my legs are sore. I wanted to ride outside on Sunday morning but headed up bailing as I was a little hung over from Saturday night Halloween party. Well it wasn't so much as being hung over but rather very sleep deprived as we got home at 12:30 am and Vanessa was sick and crying for most of the night. I wonder how long I'll be able to ride outside as it is way colder than last year at this time. Last year I rode until the last week in November but even with my new riding jacket I might not be able to last that long this year. Today's high was four degrees.
For this week's workout, I'll ride tomorrow morning inside, swim Tuesday, run for about 45 minutes on Wednesday to test the calf. I think I should be ok as I will be running at a slower pace. Which leads to the next problem of what to do with the kids for the race. I was hoping Paul would be able to watch them but he might be tied up so its either dropping them off at my parents on the way to the race at 6:30 am and pick them up around noon, or I don't run and watch them for two and a half hours.
No word on the bike as coach is in Florida racing IMFL and will be back in two weeks and Scobie is jetting off to Vegas for some 10 hours of pain at Silverman.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
WOW!!
Today World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) launches an exclusive athlete membership program called Ironman Access. In addition to other member benefits, the program will offer advance registration for Ironman events worldwide before entries open to the general public. Membership into Ironman Access is on a first-come, first-served basis and will close once it reaches capacity.To register for Ironman Access, click here.
Advance race registration for Ironman Access members will open one week prior to the event’s general entry registration date. Athletes are required to pay the general entry fee to the selected event. Early registration for Ironman Access members for the 2011 Ironman Florida will open on Monday, Nov. 1; athletes interested in registering for this event as an Ironman Access member must join the program by 11:59 p.m. PDT on Sunday, Oct. 31, to be eligible.
Members may choose to register early for one or more of the following 2011 and 2012 Ironman races
The annual membership fee is $1,000 USD.
Access Membership Program Benefits:
• Exclusive advance registration to Ironman events
• Two VIP passes per registered event
• One-year subscription to LAVA Magazine
• 2011 Ironman Lottery entry plus second chance in the Ironman Lottery program
• 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC broadcast DVD
• 20 percent discounts on Ironman partner products at shopironman.com and on-site event retail stores
• Official membership ID card
The above benefits are valid for one year starting from activation date
• Exclusive advance registration to Ironman events
• Two VIP passes per registered event
• One-year subscription to LAVA Magazine
• 2011 Ironman Lottery entry plus second chance in the Ironman Lottery program
• 2010 Ford Ironman World Championship NBC broadcast DVD
• 20 percent discounts on Ironman partner products at shopironman.com and on-site event retail stores
• Official membership ID card
The above benefits are valid for one year starting from activation date
So for only $1,000 US I have the privilege of being first in line to fork out $565 for an Ironman race AND I get two VIP passes!!!! Sweet. Capitalism doesn't get much better than this......
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Triathletes, 40-Somethings, Going for Youth
I'm not quite sure I'd agree with everything in this article (ie spending $22,000 per year) but triathlon is the new golf.
Triathletes, 40-Somethings, Going for Youth
By ANN MARIE GARDNER
HE was 39 and thought he was in decent shape. But when Eric Goodman, an information technologist from Stamford, Conn., tried to run a mile on a treadmill, he could barely make it without feeling as if he were coughing up a lung.
If Mr. Goodman were younger, he might have joined a gym or played soccer, as he did in college. Instead he started doing triathlons. In a year, he lost 17 pounds and added 6 pounds of muscle, and is now able to run one mile in 6 minutes 30 seconds. He says he feels like a 20-year-old again.
“I’m not looking for my fountain of youth, but I am trying to stay as young as I can for as long I can,” said Mr. Goodman, now 40. “I didn’t realize how bad of shape I was in.”
Mr. Goodman is part of a generation of athletic, type-A men who are entering middle age and trying to hold on to their youth through triathlons — a race that combines swimming, biking and running. The sport has exploded by 51 percent since 2007, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, and men in their 40s are one of the fastest growing segments in the sport, accounting for one-third of the 1.2 million triathletes.
The phenomenon is not restricted to Americans. In London, there’s even a term for triathletes pushing middle age: Mamils, which stands for middle-aged men in Lycra.
Skip Gilbert, former executive director of USA Triathlon, the sport’s governing body, said he believes the craze started when the triathlon became part of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Before then, "the perception was that triathlon was only for Ironmen,” he said, referring to the longest and toughest category of triathlons, which involves swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running a 26.2-mile marathon.
“But shorter Olympic distance races at the Games gave more athletes a way to embrace the sport,” Mr. Gilbert said. What used to take 15 hours with Ironman competitions can now be done in as few as 3 hours in an Olympic distance race. A sprint triathlon, the shortest type, typically involves a half-mile swim, a 13-mile bike ride and a 3-mile run. “The sport gained momentum almost instantly,” he said.
In 2000, there were 50 USA Triathlon clubs. Now there are 831 throughout the country. In 2000, there were 229 USA Triathlon-certified coaches; now there are 1,800, according to USA Triathlon.
Some of the growth in the sport comes from aging long-distance runners, who switched over because of injuries, according to Dr. Michael J. Neely, the medical director at NY Sports Medicine and Physical Therapy, based in Manhattan. The shock on joints associated with running gets worse with age.
“Triathlons are much better for the body than long-distance running,” Dr. Neely said. “With triathlons, when you are injured running, you can still swim and bike.”
Ken Katz, 40, a doctor in Pittsburgh, had been running since high school and participated in one marathon and several half-marathons. But he stopped 10 years ago when he developed what he called “knee woes.”
“I got banged up and decided to diversify into triathlons, where you have the combination of the other sports to take a little of that pressure off specific injuries,” he said.
Soon, Dr. Katz was investing in bikes, traveling to races and hiring a coach.
That’s not to mention all the accessories and lifestyle brands that now cater to him and other triathletes. They can now buy TriSwim’s shampoo to remove chlorine, and sports drinks like Hammer Nutrition Heed, which is sold on Web sites like One Tri. There are aerodynamic helmets and sunglasses made for triathlons, as well as wet suits and tri-specific running sneakers made by K-Swiss, Asics, Zoots and Newton.
At Placid Planet, a bicycle and triathlon shop in Lake Placid, N.Y., the new must-have accessories are Zipp wheels and compression tights. “Zipp wheels are an aerodynamic carbon wheel that increase speed by reducing drag on the wheel,” said Kenny Boettger, the owner. Compression tights and socks, he said, help athletes recirculate oxygen and blood. “This is the big thing right now and it works,” he said.
There are also magazines like Lava, which began publishing in August and offers testosterone-fueled articles and profiles that appeal to men who dream about being Ironmen. With page after page of Lycra, equipment reviews and training tips, the magazine is geared for “hardcore triathletes who want to get right inside the fiery molten center of triathlon,” according to its mission statement.
Lava’s macho-man mantra is simple. “Forty is the new 20,” said John Duke, who publishes the monthly magazine in San Diego. “And in triathletes, 40 isn’t old. The median age of the sport is 41.”
Good thing, too, since triathlons don’t come cheap. “Forty-somethings are also the ones who can afford the sport,” said Scott Berlinger, the head coach of Full Throttle, a 120-man triathlon team that is based out of the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan. “I tell my athletes everything costs $100 — shoes, helmets, glasses — and the big purchase is your bike.”
A bicycle — the tri-world equivalent of the red sports car — can cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to more than $10,000. After the bike and the chiropractor bills, the biggest item is individual coaching, which can easily run $100 an hour.
“Triathletes are a discerning group of alpha consumers, with $175,000 average salaries,” said Erik Vervloet, vice president for sports marketing at K-Swiss, which jumped into the tri-market three years ago. “The average Ironman spends $22,000 a year on the sport.”
The high price is an issue, particularly for spouses. “I still argue with the wife about the costs,” said Mr. Goodman, the triathlete from Stamford. His gear includes a $5,000 Cervelo bicycle, a $3,000 Pinarello bicycle, Xterra Vector Pro2 wet suits, Izumi Tri Fly 111 bike shoes and a Lazer Tardiz helmet.
But his wife, Amy, eventually came around. “At first it was a bit hard for me to swallow,” said Ms. Goodman, 32, who is attending graduate school in the field of public health, “but when I saw that the bike wasn’t going to hang on the wall, I thought, in terms of self-indulgences, this is one of the best things he could be doing.”
“Hopefully that will pay off in terms of medical bills we are not paying for down the road,” she added.
Triathlons have other benefits, too. Triathletes often get a confidence boost. “He definitely appreciates the changes in his body,” Ms. Goodman said. “He looks different and he has transformed his profile, his posture.”
Mr. Goodman agreed, though his main concern now isn’t how he looks in the mirror, but making sure that he isn’t “chick-ed” at the next race — slang for being beaten by a woman.
“I’m not going to sit around and say I’m getting old,” he said. “I’m going to find a way to beat this.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 23, 2010
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the location of the 2000 Olympic Games, where the triathlon made its debut. They occured in Sydney, not Atlanta.
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Saturday, October 23, 2010
That's Mister Pace Bunny
Today's run was 1:45 minutes but instead of running at my normal pace, I tried to run at Tammy's perceived pace of 6:00 min\km. It was harder than I thought it would be as I would be running in zone 2 as opposed to zone 3 which meant going slower. Also I was fairly sore from Thursday's leg workout and the first couple of steps were painful but once I got moving it wasn't so bad. All in all, according to my Polar I ran 17.12 at a pace of 6:09 min/km but according to google maps, I ran 16.3 km at a pace of 6:27 min/km. A big difference! I really need to reset my pedometer.
However, just as I was finishing the run, I started to feel my right calf seize up in the exact same spot as last week. I'm not sure how much further I've could have continued, but this could be a problem. Its not a sore as last week but I think I need to contact Kevin this week otherwise, I could end up walking or worse......DNFing.
However, just as I was finishing the run, I started to feel my right calf seize up in the exact same spot as last week. I'm not sure how much further I've could have continued, but this could be a problem. Its not a sore as last week but I think I need to contact Kevin this week otherwise, I could end up walking or worse......DNFing.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Owww You're Hurting Me
My calf was still a little sore so I thought a massage was in order even though I've blasted through my insurance coverage many months ago. I highly recommend Rishi at http://www.therapysource.ca/ . He absolutely kills me every single time but its well worth it. I've found that the "usual" massage just doesn't cut it anymore. The difference is that Rishi offers Osteopathy which goes beyond the usual massage. He tends to be a little "rough" but I think its worth it even if I usually beg for mercy at some point.
One thing I've noticed is that physiotherapy, massage therapy and chiropractic are all merging together where each "specialist" now offer similar treatment.
What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a patient-centred treatment that focuses on the body's innate ability to heal itself. It is an approach to the human body based on the interrelated anatomy and physiology of the body's systems.
Osteopathy uses a manual therapy that is based on a highly developed sense of touch to stimulate the body's natural self-regulating and self-healing capabilities, by locating and correcting the root cause of the disorder.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes Osteopathy as a distinct manual therapy that differs from other health care professions.
Manual Osteopathy is based on 4 basic principles:
Each structure in the body supports the body's functions. If a structure is damaged, out of place or otherwise not working properly, the body will not function at its best.
The natural flow of the body's fluids - lymphatic, vascular, and neurological - must be preserved and maintained.
The human body is the sum of its parts. Its physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive systems don't work independently, they work in harmony.
When the body has no restrictions, it has the inherent ability to heal itself.
Osteopathy recognizes that a person is an integrated whole. When all the body's components are in balance, a person is complete and can achieve optimal health.
Osteopathy is a patient-centred treatment that focuses on the body's innate ability to heal itself. It is an approach to the human body based on the interrelated anatomy and physiology of the body's systems.
Osteopathy uses a manual therapy that is based on a highly developed sense of touch to stimulate the body's natural self-regulating and self-healing capabilities, by locating and correcting the root cause of the disorder.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes Osteopathy as a distinct manual therapy that differs from other health care professions.
Manual Osteopathy is based on 4 basic principles:
Each structure in the body supports the body's functions. If a structure is damaged, out of place or otherwise not working properly, the body will not function at its best.
The natural flow of the body's fluids - lymphatic, vascular, and neurological - must be preserved and maintained.
The human body is the sum of its parts. Its physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and cognitive systems don't work independently, they work in harmony.
When the body has no restrictions, it has the inherent ability to heal itself.
Osteopathy recognizes that a person is an integrated whole. When all the body's components are in balance, a person is complete and can achieve optimal health.
Rishi did point out how weak my glutes were and I've been noticing on my longer runs (ie past 1.5 hours) my right butt seems dead and unresponsive. This has been a chronic problem ever since I've been running over the last ten years as many different therapists have pointed out and I've constantly ignored but since I started racing triathlons I've actually been doing something about it....sort of. This is where the strength training is suppose to help (when I ever do it) because what happens is that my glutes get overworked and eventually shut down. The other muscles, like my hamstring, IT band all begin to work harder to try and compensate and that's where things get out of whack. That's how I know when my knee starts to hurt, I need to work on my butt exercise and so on Thursday morning I decided to start back up with the strength training. I got back to the basics and did lunges, wall squats, calf raises, abs etc and right now (Friday night), its pretty safe to say I had a good work out because my ass is killing me every time I get up and sit down!
Tomorrow's run of 1:45 should be interesting if not painful however instead of running at my prescribed zone 3 which would be about 5:15 min\km pace, I'll try to run at 6:00 min\km which would be more at Tammy's pace, I hope.
Tomorrow's run of 1:45 should be interesting if not painful however instead of running at my prescribed zone 3 which would be about 5:15 min\km pace, I'll try to run at 6:00 min\km which would be more at Tammy's pace, I hope.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Happy Birthday Rebecca
Today is my daughter's seventh birthday. Its hard to believe she seven already. It just seems like yesterday that she was born.
In fact, I was supposed to run the Toronto Half Marathon on Sunday October 19th and while I knew Rebecca was supposed to be born on the 20th, I thought what are the chances of her coming due the day of the race? First born kids are always late right? So I trained for three months and was supposed to run with Tammy's manager. Well wouldn't you know it, Sunday morning at 4 am, Tammy's water broke. We went over to North York General where we found the placed packed with expected mothers. I think I counted over 20 women waiting to have their babies. After hanging out there for a couple of hours, the hospital sent us home so we went to the corner of Yonge and Sheppard at 7:30 am and parked our car. The race started at 8 am so "technically" I could have made the start but that probably wouldn't have gone down too well. We watched the people race by and even saw Tammy's manager running. He put two and two together and figured out why I didn't show up.
We stayed at home until noon and then headed back to the hospital where we waited and waited and waited. In fact by Monday the next morning, Tammy still hadn't wasn't ready and when were doctor saw her, he asked "what are you still doing pregnant?" And so after 31 hours of labour and one missed race, Rebecca was born .
Today was my first run since Saturday's painful and sudden ending. I had skipped Monday's run and so today I took it easy but still ran 1:15. I felt a slight twinge in my calf and some general aches and pains in my right knee but otherwise it was ok.
The coach called last night and we talked a bit about my new bike. Originally he told me that I should move to a tri-bike to increase my speed and run as they are much more aerodynamic. Last week he offered to sell (unload?) his road bike to me. He sort of flipped flopped and now I'm not sure what to buy. He mentioned he has purchased 15 bikes and I should come up and take a look at some of them. Next week he's getting another 30 bikes and we can go over what the best suited for me. He will have both road and tri bikes. With that many bikes, his garage will be full, although he does have a four car garage with only one very dusty and unused Porsche 911.
It seems he's moving into more retail side of this sport.
Oh yea, Tammy wants a bike too...............
In fact, I was supposed to run the Toronto Half Marathon on Sunday October 19th and while I knew Rebecca was supposed to be born on the 20th, I thought what are the chances of her coming due the day of the race? First born kids are always late right? So I trained for three months and was supposed to run with Tammy's manager. Well wouldn't you know it, Sunday morning at 4 am, Tammy's water broke. We went over to North York General where we found the placed packed with expected mothers. I think I counted over 20 women waiting to have their babies. After hanging out there for a couple of hours, the hospital sent us home so we went to the corner of Yonge and Sheppard at 7:30 am and parked our car. The race started at 8 am so "technically" I could have made the start but that probably wouldn't have gone down too well. We watched the people race by and even saw Tammy's manager running. He put two and two together and figured out why I didn't show up.
We stayed at home until noon and then headed back to the hospital where we waited and waited and waited. In fact by Monday the next morning, Tammy still hadn't wasn't ready and when were doctor saw her, he asked "what are you still doing pregnant?" And so after 31 hours of labour and one missed race, Rebecca was born .
Today was my first run since Saturday's painful and sudden ending. I had skipped Monday's run and so today I took it easy but still ran 1:15. I felt a slight twinge in my calf and some general aches and pains in my right knee but otherwise it was ok.
The coach called last night and we talked a bit about my new bike. Originally he told me that I should move to a tri-bike to increase my speed and run as they are much more aerodynamic. Last week he offered to sell (unload?) his road bike to me. He sort of flipped flopped and now I'm not sure what to buy. He mentioned he has purchased 15 bikes and I should come up and take a look at some of them. Next week he's getting another 30 bikes and we can go over what the best suited for me. He will have both road and tri bikes. With that many bikes, his garage will be full, although he does have a four car garage with only one very dusty and unused Porsche 911.
It seems he's moving into more retail side of this sport.
Oh yea, Tammy wants a bike too...............
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Uh-Oh
Coach called me a couple of days ago and the conversation went something like this:
Coach: How are you feeling? Any injuries or anything?
Me: Nope, I'm ok
Coach: Wow, this is the longest you've been injury free (ten months)
Me: Gee thanks
So this morning, I'm on my long run (all 1:30 hours) and I've been running for 1:27 when I feel this incredibly sharp pain in my lower calf. Its so painful, I can't take another step. I've never had an injury in that spot before but after a couple of minutes the pain subsides and I limp home. WTF??? Where did this injury come from? Probably because I haven't been doing any strength training. Unbelievable!!! Better call Kevin
The coach also had another reason for calling. He is selling his Jamis road bike which he built this summer and offered it to me. Apparently another athlete put a $400 deposit on the bike but lost his job and couldn't buy it so coach kept his deposit (nice) and offered to apply it to lower my price. I'm leaning towards getting a tri-bike so I'm not sure why he's offering me another road bike although it is significantly better than my current road bike. I emailed four other triathletes (between them they've completed 14 ironmans) for their opinion and all replied go for the tri-bike especially seeing that I plan to do an ironman (or two, or three, or....)
Now the problem is that I have no idea about bikes and when I walk into a bike store, I feel like I have "CHUMP" stamped on my forehead so Scobie offered to check out some bike stores after he gets back from Silverman http://www.silvermannv.com/ in November. This is probably one of the toughest ironman course in North America and home to the 2011 ITU Long Course World Championship. I asked Scobie what I could get for about $500 and he said something pink with streamers from the handlebar.
Sweet. Now where can I put my water bottle holders?
More to come on the hunt for a new bike to which I swore I would never upgrade
Coach: How are you feeling? Any injuries or anything?
Me: Nope, I'm ok
Coach: Wow, this is the longest you've been injury free (ten months)
Me: Gee thanks
So this morning, I'm on my long run (all 1:30 hours) and I've been running for 1:27 when I feel this incredibly sharp pain in my lower calf. Its so painful, I can't take another step. I've never had an injury in that spot before but after a couple of minutes the pain subsides and I limp home. WTF??? Where did this injury come from? Probably because I haven't been doing any strength training. Unbelievable!!! Better call Kevin
The coach also had another reason for calling. He is selling his Jamis road bike which he built this summer and offered it to me. Apparently another athlete put a $400 deposit on the bike but lost his job and couldn't buy it so coach kept his deposit (nice) and offered to apply it to lower my price. I'm leaning towards getting a tri-bike so I'm not sure why he's offering me another road bike although it is significantly better than my current road bike. I emailed four other triathletes (between them they've completed 14 ironmans) for their opinion and all replied go for the tri-bike especially seeing that I plan to do an ironman (or two, or three, or....)
Now the problem is that I have no idea about bikes and when I walk into a bike store, I feel like I have "CHUMP" stamped on my forehead so Scobie offered to check out some bike stores after he gets back from Silverman http://www.silvermannv.com/ in November. This is probably one of the toughest ironman course in North America and home to the 2011 ITU Long Course World Championship. I asked Scobie what I could get for about $500 and he said something pink with streamers from the handlebar.
Sweet. Now where can I put my water bottle holders?
More to come on the hunt for a new bike to which I swore I would never upgrade
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Thunderstruck meets the Hawaiian Ironman
Check out this great ACDC tune at the Hawaiian Ironman in 2009. Check out the voice of Ironman Mike Riley (cap backwards) as he gees up the crowd to this classic rock anthem. See Chrissie Wellington handing out a few lucky finishers their lei.
Note the time on the race clock and how many people are at the finish line
Note the time on the race clock and how many people are at the finish line
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Brrr
Ok, maybe it wasn't such a great idea to go running just wearing a T-shirt and shorts. The temperature was a "balmy" 11 degrees but I forgot about the 20 km/hr wind. I waited until the sun came up (around 7:15 am). I figured I'd warm up but never really did.
It was the usual ho-hum run for 1:15 at zone 3 which worked out to be about 14.5 km but I struggled at the end. I felt a twinge of a headache and bloated as I weighted the heaviest since beginning of January 2010. I swear it has nothing to do with the four beers I had last night.
Tammy was talking to the coach the other day about her schedule and he mentioned Lake Placid. I haven't really discussed LP with her as I'm not sure what to do for next year.
Typically as y'all know, that most Ironman events sell out very fast and LP is one of the more popular races. In order to gain an entry spot most people go down to the race to register for next year's race. If you volunteer to help the race, you get priority for registration. So the coach rents a four bedroom house and then in turns sub-rents out to other athletics racing LP and he wanted me to take a room. The plan is to ride the course, volunteer/watch the race and then sign up the next day. However, as I mentioned in a previous blog, the volunteers do get priority but they have to line up overnight to register. I'm not sure if I really want to stand in line all night long as once upon a time ago I did that for concerts. So does it really make sense to go down to Lake Placid when I could just try to sign up online and if that doesn't work sign up via the Community Foundation spot which costs about $1,100 US. Feel free to voice your opinion.
I think the other thing that concerned Tammy was that we're talking about doing an Ironman in 2012 and its only October 2010. That means two more summers of training. I think she favors doing an Ironman next year but I pointed out that Jake will be five years old and there is a massive difference between a three year old verses a five year old. A five year old is much more independent and doesn't need the constant attention that a three year needs (demands). Also as another bonus, Rebecca will be almost nine years old (yikes) and can help out much more. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
It was the usual ho-hum run for 1:15 at zone 3 which worked out to be about 14.5 km but I struggled at the end. I felt a twinge of a headache and bloated as I weighted the heaviest since beginning of January 2010. I swear it has nothing to do with the four beers I had last night.
Tammy was talking to the coach the other day about her schedule and he mentioned Lake Placid. I haven't really discussed LP with her as I'm not sure what to do for next year.
Typically as y'all know, that most Ironman events sell out very fast and LP is one of the more popular races. In order to gain an entry spot most people go down to the race to register for next year's race. If you volunteer to help the race, you get priority for registration. So the coach rents a four bedroom house and then in turns sub-rents out to other athletics racing LP and he wanted me to take a room. The plan is to ride the course, volunteer/watch the race and then sign up the next day. However, as I mentioned in a previous blog, the volunteers do get priority but they have to line up overnight to register. I'm not sure if I really want to stand in line all night long as once upon a time ago I did that for concerts. So does it really make sense to go down to Lake Placid when I could just try to sign up online and if that doesn't work sign up via the Community Foundation spot which costs about $1,100 US. Feel free to voice your opinion.
I think the other thing that concerned Tammy was that we're talking about doing an Ironman in 2012 and its only October 2010. That means two more summers of training. I think she favors doing an Ironman next year but I pointed out that Jake will be five years old and there is a massive difference between a three year old verses a five year old. A five year old is much more independent and doesn't need the constant attention that a three year needs (demands). Also as another bonus, Rebecca will be almost nine years old (yikes) and can help out much more. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ditching
Today I'm actually ditching my bike workout. I very rarely skip workouts (unless due to injury) but I was up late last night (wow-10:30 pm) as we went downtown Toronto to watch the move Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. It was a private screening by one of the companies I deal with (sort of) and Tammy had mentioned she wanted to see it, so one baby sitter later we went out. I've had mixed feelings about this movie as the reviews haven't been very good. The original movie is a classic and this one tries too hard to copy it. Also the story line of the 2008/09 stock market crash is tiresome after living through it.
I don't feel all that great this morning as I have a slight headache and feel very tired. In fact yesterday morning, as I was driving into work, I was so tired I pulled into an empty Costco parking lot and had a 10 minute snooze. I think I feel a cold coming on and my body aches so why push through an almost meaningless bike workout?
That said, I'm going golfing this morning at Angus Glen and its suppose to pour for most of the day but seeing that its a free round how can I turn this down? There's mental toughness - golfing in the pouring rain while sick.
A salute to all those who are lucky enough to be heading to Kona for this weekend's race
Bryan Payne is already there getting ready for his return appearance 22 years later.
http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com
I entered the Kona Lottery Draw after some constant badgering. Two hundred lucky athletics throughout the world will have a chance to race against the world's best in Hawaii . I'd be embarrassed if I won. I'd probably be the guy staggering across the finish line at 11:59:59 pm
I don't feel all that great this morning as I have a slight headache and feel very tired. In fact yesterday morning, as I was driving into work, I was so tired I pulled into an empty Costco parking lot and had a 10 minute snooze. I think I feel a cold coming on and my body aches so why push through an almost meaningless bike workout?
That said, I'm going golfing this morning at Angus Glen and its suppose to pour for most of the day but seeing that its a free round how can I turn this down? There's mental toughness - golfing in the pouring rain while sick.
A salute to all those who are lucky enough to be heading to Kona for this weekend's race
Bryan Payne is already there getting ready for his return appearance 22 years later.
http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com
I entered the Kona Lottery Draw after some constant badgering. Two hundred lucky athletics throughout the world will have a chance to race against the world's best in Hawaii . I'd be embarrassed if I won. I'd probably be the guy staggering across the finish line at 11:59:59 pm
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Why Don't You Get Out Of Your Car Tough Guy?
I got my new training schedule and wondered why coach has me do so many tempo runs. I'm supposed to be pacing Tammy for the Hamilton half marathon but she can't run at my pace so why I am pushing it so hard? Its hard to dial down the training as I always feel I should be doing more. Thursday's run was for one hour and I actually ran at my prescribed zone. I ran about 11.5 km for a nice pace of 5:09 min/km assuming my watch is somewhat correct. Trouble was I was totally starving all day and I ate a ton of food and yup you guessed it, I gained weight the next day. Its amazing how much faster I run when I run at my prescribe heart rate. Go figure.
I went swimming Friday morning and had a mediocre 45 minute swim. I really need to get back to swimming with the Masters. I wanted to ride with Peter A Saturday morning so I moved my Saturday run to Friday afternoon. I came home early from work and headed out in the windy afternoon. I ran for about 14.5 km in one hour and 15 minutes. Not bad but my right knee was a little achy.
Tammy went running for 1:45 minutes Saturday morning which was her longest run ever. She covered about 14.5 km.....hey that's what I ran yesterday. After she came back, I went riding with Peter A. I've must have been tired from yesterday's run as I was struggling to keep up. I bought a new winter riding jacket at D'Ornellas on Friday as the temperature is beginning to get cool in the mornings and I look down right stupid riding with my running jacket that's at least one size too big. I bought it about 20 pounds ago. Tammy expressed her displeasure as soon as she saw it not because it cost $140 (half price) but because it was red. Somehow she thinks I look like a clown with a red jacket, yellow helmet, and a blue bike. At least it matches my sunglasses
Keeping it simple, we just rode up Kennedy to Davis Drive and then headed over to Mccowan and headed south. We actually went longer than I anticipated (over two hours) but it was ok. I was a little too warm in my new jacket as I only wore a T-shirt underneath. We were on Mccowan Road near home when a some jackass in a SUV honked his horn just as he was beside me. I nearly crashed and my first instinct was to chase him down. Traffic was fairly heavy but he was weaving in and out of the lanes. I don't know if he was honking at me but I was really pissed. Common sense prevailed and I let him take off but he got stuck at the lights at Mccowan and 16th Ave. I was turning left and he was a couple of cars behind me. Looking over I got his eye and gave him a dirty look and then gave him the finger. He looked surprised and rolled down his window and we exchanged greetings. I yelled at him to get out of his car as I find most people think they're pretty tough when they're sitting in a car. In hind sight, if he did get out of his car, I would have gladly challenged him in the middle of the road but getting into a fight wearing bike shoes probably wouldn't have been a good idea as I wouldn't have been able to stand at all. He took off as the light changed yelling at me and I had to resist the urge to chase him down Mccowan and bash his window in.
Now would that be road rage or bike rage?
I went swimming Friday morning and had a mediocre 45 minute swim. I really need to get back to swimming with the Masters. I wanted to ride with Peter A Saturday morning so I moved my Saturday run to Friday afternoon. I came home early from work and headed out in the windy afternoon. I ran for about 14.5 km in one hour and 15 minutes. Not bad but my right knee was a little achy.
Tammy went running for 1:45 minutes Saturday morning which was her longest run ever. She covered about 14.5 km.....hey that's what I ran yesterday. After she came back, I went riding with Peter A. I've must have been tired from yesterday's run as I was struggling to keep up. I bought a new winter riding jacket at D'Ornellas on Friday as the temperature is beginning to get cool in the mornings and I look down right stupid riding with my running jacket that's at least one size too big. I bought it about 20 pounds ago. Tammy expressed her displeasure as soon as she saw it not because it cost $140 (half price) but because it was red. Somehow she thinks I look like a clown with a red jacket, yellow helmet, and a blue bike. At least it matches my sunglasses
Keeping it simple, we just rode up Kennedy to Davis Drive and then headed over to Mccowan and headed south. We actually went longer than I anticipated (over two hours) but it was ok. I was a little too warm in my new jacket as I only wore a T-shirt underneath. We were on Mccowan Road near home when a some jackass in a SUV honked his horn just as he was beside me. I nearly crashed and my first instinct was to chase him down. Traffic was fairly heavy but he was weaving in and out of the lanes. I don't know if he was honking at me but I was really pissed. Common sense prevailed and I let him take off but he got stuck at the lights at Mccowan and 16th Ave. I was turning left and he was a couple of cars behind me. Looking over I got his eye and gave him a dirty look and then gave him the finger. He looked surprised and rolled down his window and we exchanged greetings. I yelled at him to get out of his car as I find most people think they're pretty tough when they're sitting in a car. In hind sight, if he did get out of his car, I would have gladly challenged him in the middle of the road but getting into a fight wearing bike shoes probably wouldn't have been a good idea as I wouldn't have been able to stand at all. He took off as the light changed yelling at me and I had to resist the urge to chase him down Mccowan and bash his window in.
Now would that be road rage or bike rage?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Insomina Problem Solved
I'm quickly finding out what a small world it is. Recently I stumbled across a guy that grew up down the street from me when we were kids. He moved away around high school but last year I started to see his name pop up in a lot of the triathlon races that I was doing. I haven't seen Peter A in decades and wouldn't recognize him if I tripped over him. Recently, Glen (my bro) sent me an email of all the people racing IM Canada from Markham (yes, he has too much time on this hands) and Peter's name was on it. I also saw his profile on Linkedin so I flipped him an email wishing him good luck. We traded emails and finally got together for lunch yesterday. It turns out he lives less than five minutes away and has two kids that are a couple of years older than mine. I was most interested in how he trained for an Ironman with young kids.
Peter pretty much trains the same way I do, usually very early in the morning and by himself. We even ride the same routes. A couple of things I've learned from our conversations.
1. My insomnia problem is very common in triathletes as the body is too wired to rest
2. Taking salt tablets is critical during longer races (ie HIM or IM) as the body can't digest the nutrients from gels etc once the sodium levels drop which leads to stomach problems. During IMC, Peter took 12 tablets and didn't have any problems. I took two during Muskoka and was ok other than the fact I was very thirsty.
3. He had a friend who volunteered at IM Lake Placid this year hoping to get an entry for 2011. Volunteers get first priority when signing up for next year's race however he had to camp out overnight in the line up.
4 The training for an IM versus a HIM isn't all that different. In fact his mileage really didn't start ramping up until a couple of months before the race and it was only the long bike and long run on the weekends that made the difference. Peter only did three 6 hour rides. That said he's not planning to do another Ironman next year
Interesting information
Peter pretty much trains the same way I do, usually very early in the morning and by himself. We even ride the same routes. A couple of things I've learned from our conversations.
1. My insomnia problem is very common in triathletes as the body is too wired to rest
2. Taking salt tablets is critical during longer races (ie HIM or IM) as the body can't digest the nutrients from gels etc once the sodium levels drop which leads to stomach problems. During IMC, Peter took 12 tablets and didn't have any problems. I took two during Muskoka and was ok other than the fact I was very thirsty.
3. He had a friend who volunteered at IM Lake Placid this year hoping to get an entry for 2011. Volunteers get first priority when signing up for next year's race however he had to camp out overnight in the line up.
4 The training for an IM versus a HIM isn't all that different. In fact his mileage really didn't start ramping up until a couple of months before the race and it was only the long bike and long run on the weekends that made the difference. Peter only did three 6 hour rides. That said he's not planning to do another Ironman next year
Interesting information
Monday, September 27, 2010
Oink Oink Oink Oink
Losing Weight = Exercise + Eating Less. How hard can that be?
Well the numbers don't like. This is my profile from calorie counter http://caloriecount.about.com/ . I log my weight every morning and as you can see, starting in Dec 2008. Pretty good until the off season hit last year and so far this year. Its amazing how fast the weight flies back on as the training intensity drops.
Saturday's workout was suppose to be a 45 minute run and a 30 minute bike but I ended up bailing from the bike but I did try to do the run at a pretty good clip. Something like 8.5 km in 45 minutes but it was hard to keep going. Halfway thru the run, I wanted to stop. Pretty pathetic.
Sunday is supposed to be a rest day but the weather has been half decent. The kids were going to a birthday party in the afternoon and then we were having my family over for my mother's birthday at 4 pm. Well seeing that I bailed from Saturday's ride, I figured I'd go for a ride while the kids were out. However Tammy had an appointment at Home Depot to have some shelves and desk built in the kitchen at 9 am so who was going to clean the house? Turns out me. I really hate cleaning. Maybe that's that's why my bike is always dirty. The sacrifices I make for this sport. I spent the entire two hours cleaning the upstairs and downstairs while getting the kids breakfast and helping Rebecca with her homework. Did I mention I hate cleaning?
Once Tammy got home, she took the kids to the birthday party and I took off riding. This was my first half decent ride since Muskoka. I ended up going 44 km in 1:23 minutes for an average speed of 32 km\hr. I was pretty happy with that but found the hills were a lot tougher. I've seemed to lost something but did manage to burn almost 1,000 calories. When I got home Tammy and the kids were still not home so I quickly did some stretching and then went outside and cut the grass. It only takes 15 minutes to count the front and back but I was bagged by the end.
Everybody started coming over around 4 pm which I wasn't home because I had to run out and get my mom's birthday present. I was starving so I figured I try Payne's recovery drink....beer. I had about 6 beers along with some salty nachos (oh oh), some steak and chicken. After everybody left, I cleaned up and the kids went to bed, immediately followed by me. As usual, I woke up at 12:30 am and was up for 2 hours. At least I got to watch Mad Men. The only TV show I watch. I woke up late (5:20 am) and got ready to go running. I thought I ate ok last night until I stepped on the scale.......oink oink. I think the scale yelled "get off fatso." Nothing like gaining four pounds in four days.
As punishment, I actually tried to run at the prescribed heart rate I'm suppose to run which works out to be about 5 min\km and I had a slight hangover. I ended up going about 11.5 km in one hour. Clearly I'm out of drinking shape. In the good old days, I could run 15 km after drinking 10 beers.
Well the numbers don't like. This is my profile from calorie counter http://caloriecount.about.com/ . I log my weight every morning and as you can see, starting in Dec 2008. Pretty good until the off season hit last year and so far this year. Its amazing how fast the weight flies back on as the training intensity drops.
Saturday's workout was suppose to be a 45 minute run and a 30 minute bike but I ended up bailing from the bike but I did try to do the run at a pretty good clip. Something like 8.5 km in 45 minutes but it was hard to keep going. Halfway thru the run, I wanted to stop. Pretty pathetic.
Sunday is supposed to be a rest day but the weather has been half decent. The kids were going to a birthday party in the afternoon and then we were having my family over for my mother's birthday at 4 pm. Well seeing that I bailed from Saturday's ride, I figured I'd go for a ride while the kids were out. However Tammy had an appointment at Home Depot to have some shelves and desk built in the kitchen at 9 am so who was going to clean the house? Turns out me. I really hate cleaning. Maybe that's that's why my bike is always dirty. The sacrifices I make for this sport. I spent the entire two hours cleaning the upstairs and downstairs while getting the kids breakfast and helping Rebecca with her homework. Did I mention I hate cleaning?
Once Tammy got home, she took the kids to the birthday party and I took off riding. This was my first half decent ride since Muskoka. I ended up going 44 km in 1:23 minutes for an average speed of 32 km\hr. I was pretty happy with that but found the hills were a lot tougher. I've seemed to lost something but did manage to burn almost 1,000 calories. When I got home Tammy and the kids were still not home so I quickly did some stretching and then went outside and cut the grass. It only takes 15 minutes to count the front and back but I was bagged by the end.
Everybody started coming over around 4 pm which I wasn't home because I had to run out and get my mom's birthday present. I was starving so I figured I try Payne's recovery drink....beer. I had about 6 beers along with some salty nachos (oh oh), some steak and chicken. After everybody left, I cleaned up and the kids went to bed, immediately followed by me. As usual, I woke up at 12:30 am and was up for 2 hours. At least I got to watch Mad Men. The only TV show I watch. I woke up late (5:20 am) and got ready to go running. I thought I ate ok last night until I stepped on the scale.......oink oink. I think the scale yelled "get off fatso." Nothing like gaining four pounds in four days.
As punishment, I actually tried to run at the prescribed heart rate I'm suppose to run which works out to be about 5 min\km and I had a slight hangover. I ended up going about 11.5 km in one hour. Clearly I'm out of drinking shape. In the good old days, I could run 15 km after drinking 10 beers.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Insomnia
Its almost 5:30 am and I've been up since 4 am. Prior to Muskoka 70:3, I was having trouble sleeping. By 8 pm I would be exhausted and ready to crash (except I couldn't go to sleep before the three kids) but usually woke up around 2:00 am until 4:00 am, fall asleep and then wake up and train at 5 am. Not a great sleep pattern. I thought it was due to the race and I was worried/excited or whatever. Since Muskoka it has continued (although not as bad) and I'm wondering if its the "taper-down effect" of the season ending. Is this common for other athletes?
Coach emailed me some info on the bike. WOW!! I'll forward the email to see what some of more experienced and knowledgeable friends think. Its a smoking hot bike but given the way I ride (like shit) and my bike maintenance (like shit), it might be too much. Did I also mentioned I like riding when its pitch black outside north of the city and I can't see anything on the road?
Coach emailed me some info on the bike. WOW!! I'll forward the email to see what some of more experienced and knowledgeable friends think. Its a smoking hot bike but given the way I ride (like shit) and my bike maintenance (like shit), it might be too much. Did I also mentioned I like riding when its pitch black outside north of the city and I can't see anything on the road?
Friday, September 24, 2010
Ok, One Oink
It seems my weight is drifting back down to race weight. I'm not quite sure why the spike up seeing that I've tried to be more aware of my consumption (tried is the operative word). Usually when I have a sudden gain of 3-4 pounds its because I ate something salty (like chips). For some reason, I retain water like a chick and my weight jumps but usually settles down after 3 or 4 days however I'm still about my race weight (168 pounds).
Things are prodding along. I went swimming today up in Stouffville. Its a bit of a hike but at least the pool is open at 6 am. The pool I usually go is closed until October 1st for maintenance. I'm not quite sure what kind of maintenance takes 30 days but what do I know about pools?
Speaking of expenses, I was talking to coach a couple of days ago and we talked about upgrading my road bike to a tri bike. He was thinking of getting me an used tri bike but when I told him I might be willing to spend double the price range he was looking for, he got pretty happy. He has a bike in mind but will be more than what I was willing to spend. I'm not sure I'm worthy of such a bike. The last thing I want to do is having a very expensive bike but being a terrible rider. I do believe the term is called "poseur." More details to follow but it could get ugly really quickly. "Sorry kids, we can't go on that Disney Cruise in January because daddy needs a new bike".
When we were at Deerhurst, we met an American named Stan. He had entered to race 70.3 but crashed and broke his arm. Seeing that everything was already booked, he came up anyways to cheer on the other racers. He took this shot as I ran up to transition.
Things are prodding along. I went swimming today up in Stouffville. Its a bit of a hike but at least the pool is open at 6 am. The pool I usually go is closed until October 1st for maintenance. I'm not quite sure what kind of maintenance takes 30 days but what do I know about pools?
The pool in Stouffville is really nice as are the lifeguards. They leave you alone unlike one of the lifeguards in Markham. He was constantly kicking people out of lanes if they are swimming too fast or insisting you swim in a circle even if you're in a lane by yourself. Control freak. Hopefully he won't be back when the pool opens although at some point I'll switch over to Masters swimming with the Markham Mallards. I find swimming lap after lap to be very boring and with the Masters, they offer drills and coaching. That said, its much more expensive than public swimming.
Speaking of expenses, I was talking to coach a couple of days ago and we talked about upgrading my road bike to a tri bike. He was thinking of getting me an used tri bike but when I told him I might be willing to spend double the price range he was looking for, he got pretty happy. He has a bike in mind but will be more than what I was willing to spend. I'm not sure I'm worthy of such a bike. The last thing I want to do is having a very expensive bike but being a terrible rider. I do believe the term is called "poseur." More details to follow but it could get ugly really quickly. "Sorry kids, we can't go on that Disney Cruise in January because daddy needs a new bike".
When we were at Deerhurst, we met an American named Stan. He had entered to race 70.3 but crashed and broke his arm. Seeing that everything was already booked, he came up anyways to cheer on the other racers. He took this shot as I ran up to transition.
Ok I know the camera adds 10 pounds but I think I need to lose 20 pounds. I just came back from a two hour lunch....that didn't help.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Oink Oink
Hmmm I've seemed to have gained 6.5 pounds since Muskoka 70.3 (8 days ago) and I can actually count the number of beers I've had since then (14 or so). Or my scale is broken
I need to train like this guy. Must be the coaching
http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com/
Bryan sets out on a 22 km run, stops half way and has 4 or 5 beers and then finishes the run. Now that's what I call training. Of course, he qualified for Kona this year. He just did Syracuse 70.3 in under 5 hours. That's his taper down race
He even organizes his own annual 5 km race with an unique set of rules
http://www.houseofpaynebeerrun.blogspot.com/
Paul (my bro) is attempting a 6.1 km run today. I warned him about making sure he has enough gel and water. His wife is on standby in case he needs to be picked up. After he successfully completes today's run, he'll only have to go another 15 km for Hamilton half marathon. No problemo
I ran 6.1 km today (first run since Muskoka). My knee hurts. Back to the butt exercises.
Yes my knee pain is connected to my butt.....don't ask.
I need to train like this guy. Must be the coaching
http://trainingpayne.blogspot.com/
Bryan sets out on a 22 km run, stops half way and has 4 or 5 beers and then finishes the run. Now that's what I call training. Of course, he qualified for Kona this year. He just did Syracuse 70.3 in under 5 hours. That's his taper down race
He even organizes his own annual 5 km race with an unique set of rules
http://www.houseofpaynebeerrun.blogspot.com/
Paul (my bro) is attempting a 6.1 km run today. I warned him about making sure he has enough gel and water. His wife is on standby in case he needs to be picked up. After he successfully completes today's run, he'll only have to go another 15 km for Hamilton half marathon. No problemo
I ran 6.1 km today (first run since Muskoka). My knee hurts. Back to the butt exercises.
Yes my knee pain is connected to my butt.....don't ask.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Now What?
Well the glow of Muskoka 70.3 has worn off and it hasn't been a week. I'm still in recovery mode and I'm tired by 9 pm. I played my first hockey game in six weeks and couldn't believe how out of shape I've become. I was out of gas within the first 30 minutes. Some wonder how that's possible given the amount of training over the last nine months but really it comes down to slow twitch verses fast twitch muscles. For triathlons, I trained a specific way but for hockey its a different sport that requires the muscles to act differently and although I probably was the fittest person on the ice, I was out of gas at the end. Also I'm still tired from my race.
The season is winding down, with only one more race to go. I'm going to run the Hamilton half marathon and help pace Tammy. This would be her first half marathon and a big accomplishment. My older brother Don will probably run with us and I'm trying to convince my other brother Paul to join us. I asked how far is long run is up to and he replied "about 4.6 km." Good enough, he'll be ready to run 21 km in 50 days (notice the new countdown clock).
Although I'm still in recovery mode, I've found myself sort of down that the season is over. After last season, I tried to maintain the high level of workouts in the off season and ended up getting hurt. I also gained ten pounds very quickly. I hope to learn from the mistakes and take it easy. After the race on Sunday and Monday, I didn't care what I ate or drank but by Tuesday I was trying to get back into the diet routine. I think I need to lose another ten pounds by next season.
I talked to the coach and we discussed, in general terms, what my goals are for next year and 2012. I told him I was thinking about doing two half ironmans, Calgary 70.3 at the end of July 2011 and maybe Muskoka again. Tammy's younger brother John is expecting their first baby this December, so I figured she'd want to go and visit them at some point. By July the baby would be 8 months old and seeing that they live in Calgary, I might as well take my bike and wetsuit and kill two birds with one trip.
We also talked about 2012 and decided to shoot for an Ironman. If that's the case, then which race? I would like to do Ironman Canada (being a Canadian and all) but coach said it wasn't a good idea because a) you can't ride the course before hand unless I plan to fly to BC and b) with flight and rental of a mini van, this race would cost close to $8,000. Yikes!! If I did Ironman Lake Placid, I could drive in 5.5 hours (oh that would be fun with the three kids) and I could go down next year to register and have a chance to ride the course. Makes sense but I'd have to work out the logistics. Taking three or four days off, leaving Tammy with the kids won't go down well. I'll have to do some fancy footwork, whining and dining to pull this one off. I can't believe I'm starting to plan for a race that's 22 months away.
Oh yea, coach said I should upgrade to a tri-bike. It never ends........
The season is winding down, with only one more race to go. I'm going to run the Hamilton half marathon and help pace Tammy. This would be her first half marathon and a big accomplishment. My older brother Don will probably run with us and I'm trying to convince my other brother Paul to join us. I asked how far is long run is up to and he replied "about 4.6 km." Good enough, he'll be ready to run 21 km in 50 days (notice the new countdown clock).
Although I'm still in recovery mode, I've found myself sort of down that the season is over. After last season, I tried to maintain the high level of workouts in the off season and ended up getting hurt. I also gained ten pounds very quickly. I hope to learn from the mistakes and take it easy. After the race on Sunday and Monday, I didn't care what I ate or drank but by Tuesday I was trying to get back into the diet routine. I think I need to lose another ten pounds by next season.
I talked to the coach and we discussed, in general terms, what my goals are for next year and 2012. I told him I was thinking about doing two half ironmans, Calgary 70.3 at the end of July 2011 and maybe Muskoka again. Tammy's younger brother John is expecting their first baby this December, so I figured she'd want to go and visit them at some point. By July the baby would be 8 months old and seeing that they live in Calgary, I might as well take my bike and wetsuit and kill two birds with one trip.
We also talked about 2012 and decided to shoot for an Ironman. If that's the case, then which race? I would like to do Ironman Canada (being a Canadian and all) but coach said it wasn't a good idea because a) you can't ride the course before hand unless I plan to fly to BC and b) with flight and rental of a mini van, this race would cost close to $8,000. Yikes!! If I did Ironman Lake Placid, I could drive in 5.5 hours (oh that would be fun with the three kids) and I could go down next year to register and have a chance to ride the course. Makes sense but I'd have to work out the logistics. Taking three or four days off, leaving Tammy with the kids won't go down well. I'll have to do some fancy footwork, whining and dining to pull this one off. I can't believe I'm starting to plan for a race that's 22 months away.
Oh yea, coach said I should upgrade to a tri-bike. It never ends........
Monday, September 13, 2010
Muskoka 70.3 Race Report
Well the big day finally arrived. After nine months of training and one quick summer I toed the line (well at least for a Half Ironman). The weather forecast promised it was going to be a wet race. I met with Scobie on Friday afternoon for a quick chat and some last minute advice. The best things he mentioned was 1) take a sleeping pill on Friday night to get a good night sleep as Saturday night won't get much rest and 2) take it easy on the bike (similar to what coach said). With the rain predicted that was important as the last thing I needed was a bike crash.
Deerhurst had a three night package (you had to stay all three nights) so we left around 2 pm and got up to the resort around 5:30 pm. At check-in I called Paul S and he was already at their room. We were to meet at the Athlete Banquet at 6:30 pm. As we were taking the luggage to our room, it turns out that Paul was staying on the same floor as us.
As Tammy got things organized in the room, I went down to pick up our dinner tickets in registration. I ran into Lisa and we went through the process together and then back to our room to collect the kids and head off to dinner. The line up was huge and we had the buffet and it was ok but nothing special. We sat near the front and as luck would have it, Craig Alexander sat at the table in front of us. Man is that guy every small!! He'd be pretty quick on the footy field but if he ever got caught, he'd get crushed. I wondered if he wanted to go for a kick after the race?
After dinner we headed back and got settled for the night. I followed Scobie's advice and took a sleeping pill. Around 12:30 am Jake woke up screaming. I woke up but was too groggy to get up. All in all, Friday's night sleep was the best I've had in months. For some strange reason, I've been waking up around 2 am and can't fall asleep. Well the sleeping pills took care of that problem as I was out like a light.
On Saturday I drove the course. Yikes!! Like the Muskoka Long Course, once again I drove the wrong route but at least had a pretty good idea of what the course was like...it wasn't going to be pretty. Saturday night we went to dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort and who should sit beside us? None other than Craig Alexander, reigning world champion!! I watched him eat and can't believe how much he wolfed down for such a little guy! I guess he would have no problem burning off the calories tomorrow morning.
Saturday night Vanessa woke up screaming at 2:30 am and that was the end of my sleep. I was up for the rest of the night and finally headed down to transition to set up my gear at 6:30 am. It was overcast and gloomy but not rain, yet. This was my first Ironman event and by far the largest. The transition area was massive and it filled the entire parking lot of the resort. There were 1,000 athletes registered for this race. By far the largest race I've ever participated. The excitement was building.
We headed down to the swim start and Lisa and I were in the same wave (five out of six waves). There were about 200 people in our wave. Lisa looked nervous and was very quiet. As we waited, Tammy yelled at me and Don (one of my brothers) and Barb were with her! They drove up for my race! That was a surprise. I wondered if they were coming as I didn't hear from them at all. Don said Paul (another brother) and Sarah were on their way as well. I was very thirsty waiting. Probably not a good sign.
Our wave finally made it to the start. Later on, I found out that Craig Alexander already finished the swim before we even entered the water. The swim was pretty uneventful other than it was a bigger wave than what I'm used to. It was crowded and got bumped around and it took several hundreds of meters before I got my rhythm. There were several times when I had to stop swimming and wait for a path to clear. I drafted off one guy for several hundreds of meters but he was too slow so I swam on my own until I caught onto another swimmer. He was pretty quick and I swam behind him for most of the race. I debated whether to draft off him or blow by him but I decided to play it conservative and save my energy. I only passed him at the end of the swim in the last 50 meters. Once I exited the water they had wetsuit strippers waiting. This is the first race where they had them and it was awesome. I've never gotten out my wetsuit that fast! The only trouble was a long 300 meter run up hill to transition one. After swimming for 37 minutes, it wasn't easy. I caught up to Paul S in T1. He started in the wave before me (6 minutes) but I knew he would crush me on the bike and run. Heading out of T1, my brother Paul and Sarah were there yelling at me. It was great to see them, as I didn't expect to see them. I talked to Paul the night before and was under the impression he had to work the weekend.
Scobie's
Throughout the ride, I was ok up until about the 70 km when we started heading back to the resort. The course was getting much hillier and the slogging got tougher. There were lots of ups and downs as I was constantly using the granny gears which allowed me to pass lots of people with their fancy tri-bikes (opps I might be one of those next year). After one last quad burning climb back into the resort, I was anxious for the bike to end but at the same time not really looking forward for the run to begin.
Pulling into T2, Paul (my bro) was at the entrance. He yelled at me asking how I felt. "Like shit" I replied and he laughed. I was dying to take a leak so I jumped in the port a potty seeing that my spot was only five feet away. It felt like I was in there for about five minutes as T2 was almost three minutes long. I got confused as to the exit to T2 as there was nobody to point the right direction. As I headed out, everybody from my family was by the exit cheering me on. I headed out trying to slow down as I always run too fast from T2. Paul S was earlier complaining about the run course where they had made it harder than necessary by adding extra hills and I quickly realized what he was referring to. By the time the course made it back to the highway it started to pour. I hoped Lisa would be off the bike by then but doubted it as she never passed me while I was dicking around with my tire on the side of the road. It rained for about 20 minutes and I continued at what I thought was an ok pace. I had reset my pedometer before the race but it was obviously incorrect as there was no way I was running at a 5:10 pace. As I passed by other runners, I kept asking if they had a pace on their watch but no one did so I just chugged along. My goal was to finish the run in two hours. At the 6 km mark I saw Paul S. He was coming back in around the 14 km mark and was moving at a good pace. I yelled at him and he just grunted back. The run was going ok as there were more nasty hills. I hit the turn around point and headed back into town. For most of the run back, it doubled back along the same route but around the 14 km mark it veers off into the bush following a path. I kept hoping I'd see Lisa before the route veered off and I finally did see her almost at the same point I saw Paul S. She looked ok but I knew she was going to suffer on the run.
As the route changed to the path, there were more hills until finally just before the 14 km mark there was a short nasty hill. I didn't want to walk it but I just ran out of gas. At the top was a water station so I ended up walking the hill and the station while I sucked back a power gel that they were handing out. Although it tasted like crap, I felt it kick in immediately and started to run again. In defeat, I decided that I would walk the last couple of water stations as we headed back to the resort. The hills were just killers and they became steeper (or so I thought). As I headed the last hill back into Deerhurst, one volunteer yelled "only one more kilometer or one hill." I groaned as I knew exactly what he meant. I was trying to keep up with Sharon from Ajax Running Free who had passed me earlier. She told me she was looking to do it in 7 hours but she looked like she was going to beat her time. I thought she started a wave earlier but later found out she was in the same wave.
Finally Deerhurst came into site! I was looking in vain for the finish line but didn't realize it went around the transition area. I was totally bagged by this time and everything was hurting. As I rounded the last corner, I saw my family yelling at me and I tried to sprint down to the finish line but had nothing left.
My time was 6:12. CRAP!!!! If I didn't have those two mechanical issues I would have beaten my goal of 6 hours. My run time was 2:03. I wanted to run in two hours but if I didn't walk those last aid stations I would have beaten that as well.
Overall, I finished at 6:12:13
Swim 37:43 or 1:54 per 100 metres. My fastest time
Bike 3:23:20 or 27.7 km\hr
Run 2:03:01 or 5:50 min\km
T1 5:12 (as Paul S asked "were you doing your hair?")
T2 2:59 (I had to take a piss)
477 out of 863
Age group: 60 out of 90
Total calories burned: 5,171
I rate my performance 7 out of 10.
I'm disappointed because of the bike issues (nothing I could do about them) and the fact that I had to walk on the run portion.
Would I do this course again next year? That remains to be seen.
Clearly much work to be done in the off season.
FYI: In the Ironman race report, it calls Muskoka a "tough course"
Deerhurst had a three night package (you had to stay all three nights) so we left around 2 pm and got up to the resort around 5:30 pm. At check-in I called Paul S and he was already at their room. We were to meet at the Athlete Banquet at 6:30 pm. As we were taking the luggage to our room, it turns out that Paul was staying on the same floor as us.
As Tammy got things organized in the room, I went down to pick up our dinner tickets in registration. I ran into Lisa and we went through the process together and then back to our room to collect the kids and head off to dinner. The line up was huge and we had the buffet and it was ok but nothing special. We sat near the front and as luck would have it, Craig Alexander sat at the table in front of us. Man is that guy every small!! He'd be pretty quick on the footy field but if he ever got caught, he'd get crushed. I wondered if he wanted to go for a kick after the race?
After dinner we headed back and got settled for the night. I followed Scobie's advice and took a sleeping pill. Around 12:30 am Jake woke up screaming. I woke up but was too groggy to get up. All in all, Friday's night sleep was the best I've had in months. For some strange reason, I've been waking up around 2 am and can't fall asleep. Well the sleeping pills took care of that problem as I was out like a light.
On Saturday I drove the course. Yikes!! Like the Muskoka Long Course, once again I drove the wrong route but at least had a pretty good idea of what the course was like...it wasn't going to be pretty. Saturday night we went to dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort and who should sit beside us? None other than Craig Alexander, reigning world champion!! I watched him eat and can't believe how much he wolfed down for such a little guy! I guess he would have no problem burning off the calories tomorrow morning.
Saturday night Vanessa woke up screaming at 2:30 am and that was the end of my sleep. I was up for the rest of the night and finally headed down to transition to set up my gear at 6:30 am. It was overcast and gloomy but not rain, yet. This was my first Ironman event and by far the largest. The transition area was massive and it filled the entire parking lot of the resort. There were 1,000 athletes registered for this race. By far the largest race I've ever participated. The excitement was building.
We headed down to the swim start and Lisa and I were in the same wave (five out of six waves). There were about 200 people in our wave. Lisa looked nervous and was very quiet. As we waited, Tammy yelled at me and Don (one of my brothers) and Barb were with her! They drove up for my race! That was a surprise. I wondered if they were coming as I didn't hear from them at all. Don said Paul (another brother) and Sarah were on their way as well. I was very thirsty waiting. Probably not a good sign.
Our wave finally made it to the start. Later on, I found out that Craig Alexander already finished the swim before we even entered the water. The swim was pretty uneventful other than it was a bigger wave than what I'm used to. It was crowded and got bumped around and it took several hundreds of meters before I got my rhythm. There were several times when I had to stop swimming and wait for a path to clear. I drafted off one guy for several hundreds of meters but he was too slow so I swam on my own until I caught onto another swimmer. He was pretty quick and I swam behind him for most of the race. I debated whether to draft off him or blow by him but I decided to play it conservative and save my energy. I only passed him at the end of the swim in the last 50 meters. Once I exited the water they had wetsuit strippers waiting. This is the first race where they had them and it was awesome. I've never gotten out my wetsuit that fast! The only trouble was a long 300 meter run up hill to transition one. After swimming for 37 minutes, it wasn't easy. I caught up to Paul S in T1. He started in the wave before me (6 minutes) but I knew he would crush me on the bike and run. Heading out of T1, my brother Paul and Sarah were there yelling at me. It was great to see them, as I didn't expect to see them. I talked to Paul the night before and was under the impression he had to work the weekend.
Scobie's
Throughout the ride, I was ok up until about the 70 km when we started heading back to the resort. The course was getting much hillier and the slogging got tougher. There were lots of ups and downs as I was constantly using the granny gears which allowed me to pass lots of people with their fancy tri-bikes (opps I might be one of those next year). After one last quad burning climb back into the resort, I was anxious for the bike to end but at the same time not really looking forward for the run to begin.
Pulling into T2, Paul (my bro) was at the entrance. He yelled at me asking how I felt. "Like shit" I replied and he laughed. I was dying to take a leak so I jumped in the port a potty seeing that my spot was only five feet away. It felt like I was in there for about five minutes as T2 was almost three minutes long. I got confused as to the exit to T2 as there was nobody to point the right direction. As I headed out, everybody from my family was by the exit cheering me on. I headed out trying to slow down as I always run too fast from T2. Paul S was earlier complaining about the run course where they had made it harder than necessary by adding extra hills and I quickly realized what he was referring to. By the time the course made it back to the highway it started to pour. I hoped Lisa would be off the bike by then but doubted it as she never passed me while I was dicking around with my tire on the side of the road. It rained for about 20 minutes and I continued at what I thought was an ok pace. I had reset my pedometer before the race but it was obviously incorrect as there was no way I was running at a 5:10 pace. As I passed by other runners, I kept asking if they had a pace on their watch but no one did so I just chugged along. My goal was to finish the run in two hours. At the 6 km mark I saw Paul S. He was coming back in around the 14 km mark and was moving at a good pace. I yelled at him and he just grunted back. The run was going ok as there were more nasty hills. I hit the turn around point and headed back into town. For most of the run back, it doubled back along the same route but around the 14 km mark it veers off into the bush following a path. I kept hoping I'd see Lisa before the route veered off and I finally did see her almost at the same point I saw Paul S. She looked ok but I knew she was going to suffer on the run.
As the route changed to the path, there were more hills until finally just before the 14 km mark there was a short nasty hill. I didn't want to walk it but I just ran out of gas. At the top was a water station so I ended up walking the hill and the station while I sucked back a power gel that they were handing out. Although it tasted like crap, I felt it kick in immediately and started to run again. In defeat, I decided that I would walk the last couple of water stations as we headed back to the resort. The hills were just killers and they became steeper (or so I thought). As I headed the last hill back into Deerhurst, one volunteer yelled "only one more kilometer or one hill." I groaned as I knew exactly what he meant. I was trying to keep up with Sharon from Ajax Running Free who had passed me earlier. She told me she was looking to do it in 7 hours but she looked like she was going to beat her time. I thought she started a wave earlier but later found out she was in the same wave.
Finally Deerhurst came into site! I was looking in vain for the finish line but didn't realize it went around the transition area. I was totally bagged by this time and everything was hurting. As I rounded the last corner, I saw my family yelling at me and I tried to sprint down to the finish line but had nothing left.
My time was 6:12. CRAP!!!! If I didn't have those two mechanical issues I would have beaten my goal of 6 hours. My run time was 2:03. I wanted to run in two hours but if I didn't walk those last aid stations I would have beaten that as well.
Overall, I finished at 6:12:13
Swim 37:43 or 1:54 per 100 metres. My fastest time
Bike 3:23:20 or 27.7 km\hr
Run 2:03:01 or 5:50 min\km
T1 5:12 (as Paul S asked "were you doing your hair?")
T2 2:59 (I had to take a piss)
477 out of 863
Age group: 60 out of 90
Total calories burned: 5,171
I rate my performance 7 out of 10.
I'm disappointed because of the bike issues (nothing I could do about them) and the fact that I had to walk on the run portion.
Would I do this course again next year? That remains to be seen.
Clearly much work to be done in the off season.
FYI: In the Ironman race report, it calls Muskoka a "tough course"
Friday, September 10, 2010
We're Going To Get Wet
Two days to go. This afternoon we're heading up to Deerhurst for the weekend. They had a "special deal" for $180 a night, the only trouble is you have to stay three nights. I have an all day meeting downtown which will end at noon. I hope to leave our place around 2 pm and get up there with plenty of time to get settled. The athlete dinner starts at 6:30 pm tonight. I'm not sure I can wait that long to eat
Am I ready? Well at this point its pretty irrelevant. It is what it is.
I met with Scobie yesterday for some pointers and he had two really good ones: 1) Friday night, take a sleeping pill to ensure a good night's sleep as its the sleep two nights before the race that counts. I've heard this before but still don't understand it 2) keep an even pace on the bike. Part of the problem during Muskoka Long Course was that I pushed it too hard on the bike and suffered on the run. By keeping an even pace on the bike both on the flats and hills that would minimize the chances of blowing myself up. However, given the lovely weather we're expecting, I don't think I'll be going as fast as I wanted.
Bags packed, gear packed, bike tuned up and packed. Even went out and bought two new portable DVD players so all three kids would have their own. Who knew triathlons would be such an expensive sport?
Wonderful. As my bro pointed out "it could be worse, you could be out there for 14 hours in the rain"
Long Term Forecast Updated: Friday, September 10, 2010, 5:18 EDT
| Saturday Sep. 11 | Sunday Sep. 12 | Monday Sep. 13 | Tuesday Sep. 14 | Wednesday Sep. 15 | Thursday Sep. 16 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conditions 6am - 6pm |  |  | | | |  |
| Mainly sunny | Cloudy with showers | Cloudy periods | Mainly sunny | Light rain | Isolated showers | |
| P.O.P. | 20% | 70% | 20% | 10% | 80% | 40% |
| High | 20°C | 16°C | 19°C | 17°C | 13°C | 14°C |
| Low | 6°C | 13°C | 12°C | 9°C | 9°C | 6°C |
| Wind | S 5 km/h | SE 10 km/h | SW 10 km/h | NW 10 km/h | N 5 km/h | N 5 km/h |
| 24-Hr Rain | less than 1 mm | close to 5 mm | close to 1 mm | close to 1 mm | 5-10 mm | less than 1 mm |
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