Debrief From The Coach

I talked to the coach yesterday. He was pretty pleased with my race results but I told him I was unhappy. He didn't quite understand as this was the furthest distance I've ever raced. I told myself I would have been happy if I finished under four hours beating both of my brothers' previous times but..............

I guess my main point of dissatisfaction was my run time. At an average pace of 5.52 min\km, that probably ranks up as one of my slowest run times ever. I know the course was hilly and I never done a 13 km run after riding 55 km and swimming 2 km but it just didn't sit right with me.

During the debrief, I admitted when I saw Lisa approaching the turn around point (27.5 km out) and I had already turned around, I begin to hammer it back in as I didn't want her to catch me. Basically I rode hard for about 20 km and burned up my legs. Coach was very unhappy about that and made some choice comments to me. He also said I'd probably lost about 20-30 seconds per kilometre on the run because of that stunt. If that's the case, as my quads were burning on the run, that would have put my run time down to about what I was expecting.

To make matters worse, Scobie had warned me about burning out on the ride.

Chalk it up to some people just have to learn the hard way.

Muskoka Long Course Race Report

The Muskoka Long Course race is the longest race I've done in my short racing career and easily the hardest. I felt pretty comfortable handling the swim (2 km) but wasn't sure about the bike and the run would probably be the strongest leg. Everybody says how hilly the course is and they have made lots of changes so was a little difficult to gauge.

Tammy decided to make this our summer vacation (part one) and we stayed at Deerhurst Resort (home of the G8 last month). Clearly none of the diplomats stayed in our room as it was a little disappointing for $250 a night. We had a junior suite which allowed for Tammy and the kids to sleep in the bedroom while I took the fold out sofa bed. The kids were sooooo excited that we were going away that Rebecca wanted to know if we were taking an airplane to get there and the others wanted to pack their bags a week before we left. They started packing Thursday and were ready to go Friday except we weren't leaving until Saturday. I also found out that we were staying for two nights instead of one. I emailed Sharon my assistant to cancel my Monday morning meeting I had schedule. I didn't protest that much as they deserved a summer vacation.

The drive was a little longer than I expected but we made it there with no problems. When we arrived in Huntsville around 1 pm, Jake and Vanessa were sleeping so I wanted to check out the course so we drove the course following the map I downloaded from Tri-Sports website. The map was not very detailed and we seemed to drive forever as it definitely seemed longer than 27.5 km out. There were some nasty hills especially coming out of the town. This wasn't going to be fun. We ended up turning around and drove back into town and off to the resort. By this time, everybody was tired and whinny after being in the car for more than four hours so we headed over the the resort.

Check in was for 4 pm but when we got there around 2:30 pm, our room wasn't ready so we ended up hanging around checking out the place. We waited and waited and waited until finally the room was ready at 4:15 pm. Hardly impressed but what could we do? If the room isn't ready, it isn't ready. After getting settled down, we walked over to one of the restaurants at the resort for dinner. The food was ok but slightly overpriced.

Settling down was a harder than expected as the kids went to bed and I tossed and turned for hours. I was drifting off when are phone rang. It was swimming buddy Paul (whose wife I kicked in the head trying to do a flip turn several months ago). They were staying at Deerhurst as well but in a different building. We promised to hook up before the race and he was targeting a 3:33 race time. Ugh

Sunday morning finally came (I was awake around 4 am) and we headed down to the race site. We parked and as we were walking down, we ran into Lisa and her hubby. Getting registered and set up is always a clusterfuck so at least we were there earlier than usual. Once we were ready I saw Paul and Cathy and talked to them for a couple of minutes before we had to head over to the swim. The walk to the swim start was a lot further than I had figured and we had the wagon with the kids and all their backpacks. The website said something about a train running back and forth from the swim start and the main building but I didn't see anything.

Paul was swimming in a different wave so he left before me and I didn't see Lisa but she's way younger so she would have been at least two waves ahead of me. I looked out the course and the markers seemed so far away. Someone must have measured wrong because that looked a lot further than two kilometers!! My wave started and away we went. Because it was such a wide start there wasn't much jostling around and within a couple of minutes, I found a pair of friendly feet to draft off. Throughout most of the swim I managed to draft and it did make a difference. Coming out of the water I took a quick look at my watch and was somewhere around 40 minutes but it was a little hard to see as I stumbled up the steps and was pretty dizzy from swimming so long. I saw Cathy and the kids and they yelled something at me as I stumbled towards transition. I saw Tammy and kids further up. T1 was better than Guelph but it still felt like it took forever to get my wetsuit off and get going.

Riding out of town I knew there was a nasty hill coming up and I was still dizzy from the swim. When I came up to the hill I shifted down and used my "Granny Gear" - a third chain wheel to make hill climbing easier. I figured it was better to use it than struggle up the first of many hills. I continued along and was booting down a hill in aero position when a race official yelled at me to slow down. I wasn't sure why and initially thought the road was too bumpy but as I rounded the corner there was a police SUV with his lights flashing directing everyone turn left. WTF??? This wasn't the route I thought we were travelling. Good thing the guy yelled at me as I was doing at least 50 km/hr and would have blown through the intersection missing the turn.

As we went on, it seemed like the turn around was never going to appear. There were some more nasty hill climbs that I kept thinking how great it would be going down instead of climbing them. Just past the turn around point I saw Lisa. I figured she would hammer it and try and catch me so I picked up the pace. Coming down the hills was a lot more fun than riding up and I easily hit over 60 km/hr. Unfortunately, my speedometer wasn't working correctly and I was only getting a reading some of the times. Coming into T2, I took my feet out of my shoes and rode barefoot. That didn't work to well as my shoes were dragging and one came unclipped. I had to stop while an official picked it up and handed to me. More time wasted.

The fuel belt I brought kept falling off when I ran and I ended up holding my water bottle as I ran until I drank enough water that I could put the bottle back into the holder without it falling off. I'm not sure why this was happening as I've run before with it on. The run course was the hardest I've ever done. It had lots of small rolling hills and within the first couple of hills my right quad begin to throb. It was ok on the flat surface as several times I looked at my watch and saw I was running faster than 5:00 min/km. Eventually the hills began to take their toll as my speed dropped dramatically. The run course was a double loop in around town and had several out and backs. The first time I saw Lisa she was just starting the run and looked fresh but the second time I saw her, she looked gassed and the last time I saw her she looked bagged. I never saw Paul but than I figured he must have finished a while ago.

Usually during the run, I have enough energy left to pick up the pace and finish at a half decent pace but this time, the hills were killing me and the thought of stopping was getting more and more appealing. Lots of people were walking the hills but I kept remember the article that Lisa sent me about quitting. Finally the finish line appeared and I hammered it home (3:31 min/km pace). Tammy and the kids were there to greet me and thankfully my race was over.

That was by far my hardest race. My back was killing me on the ride and my quads were aching on the run. I thought for sure they would seize up. My final time was 3:50. I said I would have been happy to come in under four hours and although I did beat my goal, this course showed me that I have much work to do for Muskoka 70.3.

Note: Hats off to Derek V and Mike D who completed their first Ironman Lake Placid. Kick back and enjoy a beer or two or three or............You're an Ironman and you've deserve it.

Next Up, Muskoka Long Course

This is a taper down week as Muskoka Long Course is this Sunday. Funny, I feel more tired than ever. Partly due to running 11 km starting at 4:30 am followed by swimming at 6 am. The swim was pretty much a write off as my swimming buddy bailed on me and I was totally bagged but interesting enough I walked in with a fellow swimmer and when we went to pay it appears that both of us had a run in with the same lifeguard. This lifeguard is insistent that we swim in a circle (as opposed to lane swimming) even if we're in the lane by our selves. Why? Because its the rules that's why! End of discussion! Never mind that even within the fast lane there are people swimming at significantly different speeds and that causes problems when passing or turning at the wall. I've run into this attitude before in the City of Toronto pools before where I came dangerously close to slugging the fat overweight Pool Supervisor last year.

I can certainly understand why its necessarily to swim in a circle if there are more than three swimmers but why is it necessary if there are less? Simply mind numbing. The only thing I can chalk it up to is power trip. Most of the other lifeguards are ok and don't get involved unless there are obvious problems so why is it always the one or two assholes? I can't wait to go back to swimming with the Mallards but who knows when that will start up (September probably).

Anyways, once I found out the name of the lifeguard in question, I left my business card on the windshield of my fellow swimmer and he later informed me that he discussed this swimming lane problem the pool supervisor. Turns out that the pool supervisor was very understanding and agreed to let the lane swimmers "police" themselves with minimal assistant from the lifeguards. Apparently this change in policy was initiated when a swimmer complained that she felt intimidated and harassed by other swimmers when she couldn't keep up with the pace in the fast lane. Which begs the question, "if she couldn't keep up with the pace then why didn't the lifeguard inform her about lane swimming etiquette?"

Tomorrow is a rest day and Thursday is a swim, ride and run. Seeing that swimming is at a fixed time (either 5:30 am with Serge at Thornlea or 6:00 am at Centennial), I'm not sure getting up a 4:30 to do the ride/run before swimming is such a great idea as I am totally starving and exhausted all day long. In fact, today I had to take a gel shot around 2 pm as I was almost falling asleep at my desk.

I'm not sure what to think of the Muskoka Long Course race. I'm not worried about the distance as I view this as warm up to the big event in September (Muskoka 70.3). I talked to Scobie this afternoon and he gave me some great ideas: 1) drive the bike course when I get there on Saturday seeing that I never got a chance to ride it. 2) take it easy on the bike and hold back saving my strength for the second part of run portion. I figure I can hold a 5:45 min/km pace and drop that to around 5:00 min/km by the end, I think...... It would be great to shoot for a four hour time and I'd be pretty happy. I think it will all depend on hilly this damn course actually is!

We're going up Saturday morning as Tammy booked us overnight at Deerhurst. I guess this is our "summer vacation" so I didn't really say much and quietly gagged at the cost and for 70.3, we're staying there for three days/2 night. Tammy and the kids are getting pretty excited about staying overnight and given all of my crap they have to put up, well they deserve it. This week the "tiredness and irritability" have greatly increased. On Saturday and Sunday, I think I went to sleep before 9 pm both nights. I'm pretty sure all three kids were still up

How I'm ever going to train for an Ironman is beyond me.

Race details to follow..............

Frolicking Through The Sprinkler

This is supposed to be a "down" week and the schedule called for a short 45 minute ride and a 60 minute run. No problemo however what the problemo was the humidity. The weekend was a lot less humid than the week before and when I left the house at 5:30 am, although it was only 23 degrees the humidity must have pushed the temperature over 3o degrees. By the time I came back from the ride the sun had started to come up making it a little hotter. In the past, I've run out of water on the run so I tried using a fuel belt that my brother Don had given me. It holds two flask (6 ozs) and one bottle of water that holds about 18 ozs of water. I really didn't like it as the bigger bottle bounced up and down with every step and then when it was half empty, began to fall out and the little ones were almost useless as two big gulps and they were empty. It was so humid out that within 20 minutes into the run I had drained the bigger bottle and and basically ran with out water in the last 15 minutes but was manageable. I did see one person watering their lawn with a sprinkler so I ran through it but it didn't help and I didn't see anymore. I think a fire hose would have been better. I don't really like running without water as for some reason, I'm always thirsty and if I don't drink enough I begin to bonk very quickly. Hopefully, it won't be as humid on race day or there are a lot of water stations.

This week promises more of the same weather, hot and very humid so there maybe more stupid runs at 4:23 in the morning. Now I know what my brothers meant by Kona North.

Saturday's workout was pretty good as I had to ride 2 hours and 45 minutes (80 km) followed by a 20 minute(4.5 km) transition run. Given that everybody keeps telling me how hilly Muskoka is, I thought I'd better start adding more hills and the route I ride is fairly flat with only two major hills so I incorporated several hill repeats. In fact I did nine hills and I was totally bagged by the time I finished. Thankfully I had a nice tail wind otherwise it would have been a very slow ride home. Ten minutes into the run, I was ready to start walking. I'm not sure how far I could have ran after that ride but something tells me I could be in a rude awakening for the Muskoka Long Course which is two weeks away as I start to taper down and there are no more opportunities for hill work. Interesting enough, due to the G8 meetings they have changed the course as need trails/roads were built so the run course has been reduced by two km to only 13 km. I was originally disappointed when I first heard that they were shortening the course but maybe that isn't such a bad thing after all.

In trying to better my times in T1 and T2, I've been practising mounting and dismounting the bike leaving the shoes clipped on the pedals as its far easier to run in bare feet than in riding shoes. This is far harder than it looks but practise makes perfect....sort of.

This Is A Stupid Sport!

Since the weather is so nice and warm, as in 40+ degrees with the humidity, I decided I'd rather run at 4:23 AM as opposed to running at 4:23 PM. The humidity was like a wall when I stepped outside and I think I started sweating as soon as I got to the end of my driveway (about 20 feet). Thankfully it was only a 45 minute run but by the time I finished I looked like jumped in a river. Oddly enough, I didn't see any one else running at that time.

I had just enough time to refill my water bottles and boot over to swimming by 5:30 am. The water was nice and refreshing as I didn't even need to take a shower......just kidding. That would have been gross.

One of our swimming buddies, Pierre, had returned and was slowly getting back as he had crashed his bike on a training ride up in Muskoka several months ago. I think he had a separated shoulder and can't swim, run or bike. That would suck as needless to say his race season is over. He was going to do Muskoka 70.3. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to talk to him as Serge gave us about 2,000 meters of drills to do and by the time 6:30 rolled around, Pierre had left. I'll catch up with him next week for more details. No chance on finishing the drills.

Driving into work this morning, I was falling asleep at the wheel so I pulled into a McDonalds drive thru to get a diet coke (for the caffeine fix), but forgot my window wouldn't roll down so looking like a retard, I had to open the door to pay and get my drink. And then, it was a Root Beer so I had to go in the store anyways.

Some days, I wonder why I even bother

Ok so maybe this isn't a stupid sport. Maybe its just me for running at 4:23 in the morning

That Was Close!

While playing hockey last night, I was ran into my own player and hurt my left shoulder. It wasn't too bad and I finished the game but it was aching by the time I got home. Thankfully this morning it was OK. Whew! Maybe coach was right in that I shouldn't be playing other sports....yeah whatever. At least I'm not playing Aussies Rules Football anymore

Speaking of this morning, with the lovely temperature we've been having, 40 degrees with the humidity, I wanted to get this morning ride in early so I would be back before it got too hot. It was only a hour ride but I need to start incorporating more hills in my rides as apparently Muskoka is quite hilly and riding on the flats ain't going to help. So when I'm riding up Warden normally I would cut across Bethesda Road avoiding the hill but this morning I decided to add it in for as hard as it is to climb, I love riding down it in the aero position at 65 km/hr.

Tammy wanted to go to the gym for a 6:15 am pump class so if my ride is just over a hour that meant I left the house at 4:45 am. At least it wasn't hot.

All in all, it was a pretty good ride as I averaged 31.3 km\hr including climbing the hill. I think going forward I'll start adding hill repeats into my long rides using that hill on Warden.

Now if I can just figure out what afternoon I'm going to do my 45 minute run when the temperature is around 43 degrees.

A Good Test

This morning's workout was a 2.5 hour ride (72 km) followed by 20 minute (4 km) transition run. I left the house around 5 am as I definitely did not want to ride/run in the hot sun and also because Tammy had to do her run as well.

Overall it was a pretty good workout with only some minor issues:

1) My left shoulder began to ache which was probably caused from swimming on Friday (2,000 meters in 40 minutes). Need to restart shoulder exercises

2) I began to "feel" my right hamstring so need to continue to do the hamstring exercises but not as intense as before.

3) Google maps isn't quite as accurate as I thought or more likely, I simply didn't look closely at the roads I had chosen for my route.

I basically did my regular route going north on Warden Ave but just continued north until I hit Mount Albert Road (north of Davis Drive) and headed east to Kennedy Road and south. I thought I could take it straight down back to Markham but it ended a couple of kilometers south and I turned east to Mccowan Road and headed south but that ended as well. I should have turned right but I went left and continued east but ended up at Hwy 48 which I absolutely hate riding on as the shoulder is literally one foot wide. I've seen people ride on Hwy 48 and can't figure out why they would risk their lives as traffic roars by at 100 km/hr especially since they could ride either on Mccowan or 9th Line. Morons. You don't want to end up like that triathlon

group in Quebec a couple of months ago when a truck plowed into six riders killing three of them. Anyways, I boogied home and actually got back quicker than I anticpated so I rode around up and down 16th Ave to kill some time.

Overall I was ok with the ride as the terrain was much more hillier on the way back which is a good thing for Muskoka. The transition run was fine as I felt good and know I could have ran longer than 20 minutes. I felt great and so I even cleaned by bike and lubed the chain after my workout (quick tell coach).

The only downside to Saturday's workout is that Tammy is coaching Jake's soccer at 10:30 am and by then its usually smoking hot

Oh yea, also after a long workout like today's, I'm totally starving all day and I'm pretty sure I've consumed way more than the 1,900 calories I burned

This Is An Expensive Sport! Part II

I read an article that Triathlons are quickly becoming the new golf. In fact the average income for an Ironman finisher is $160,000. I can see why. Yesterday, Tammy booked some rooms for Muskoka Long Course in July as well as Muskoka 70.3 in September.....six hundred dollars later, and that doesn't include other expenses like food or eating out. Seeing this is my first time up at Muskoka, we figured that it would be better to stay at Deerhurst Resort as that's where 70.3 starts and ends so there would be one less thing to worry about ie the travel to and from the race site with the kids and everything else.

Taking a page out of Scobie's idea of vacationing (go to some exotic place to have a nice vacation and oh while I'm here, I might as well enter an Ironman), I've been toying with the idea of racing Calgary 70.3 next August as Tammy's brother is expecting their first baby in December this year. So, we can combine a visit to see the new baby and a race in Calgary but I'd be a little worried about the expense and logistics of hauling three kids and my bike and gear across the country.

My schedule is ramping up and becoming more interesting. This Saturday is a 2.5 hour bike and a 20 minute transition run. By the end of July it will be up to 3 hour bike and a 30 minute transition run. Definitely will be needing a nap after that workout.
Paul was telling me about the good old days when he and Glen did 5.5 hour bike rides followed by a 90 minute run.......doh!

This morning's ride was freezing as the temperature dipped to nine degrees. I wore my cold weather gear. How depressing and its almost July 1st.

No Shame

What more needs to be said?

Tubes Go Boom

So how is it possible to go through four inner tubes in one day? Quite simple. Over inflate them until they blow up.

Coming in from Thursday's ride my back wheel started to wobble just as I pulled up to my driveway and I had a flat tire. No problemo, I'll just change it downstairs as I always ride with two spare inner tubes. So once I changed the flat (yes I made sure the tire was rotating in the right direction), I started to pump it up when BOOM. The tire exploded. Annoyed, as I made sure that I was pumping them up to the proper pressure (120 psi). So I changed that one, pumped it up and re set the wheel. The next day, I went down to the basement and my rear tire was flat again!! What the fuck????

So I changed it again, and BOOM. That tube blew as well. I couldn't figure what was going on so I called Paul and basically we figured out that I was pinching the inner tube and it was hanging out so when I pumped it up, because it was outside of the tire (which was unnoticeable), the tube would explode.

So, what lessons are to be learned from this debacle? a) ride with more than one inner tube, b) learn how to change a flat because if this happened in a race, I easily wasted 15 minutes changing the tire and c) the importance of making sure the tube is all inside the tire and not pinched especially by the valve.

This week was a down week and on Thursday I had my first outdoor run. It was a short 30 minute run with no problems. Saturday was a 45 minute ride and a 30 minute run. I could "feel" my hamstring after today's workout. Clearly its not 100 percent healed. On both Wednesday and Friday's strength workout, I try to target the hamstring and wonder if I'm over doing it. Hopefully I can stay out of trouble as the mileage starts to ramp up in July with Muskoka Long Course which is a 15 km run.

Guelph Report

It was a great day to race as the temperature called for sunny skies with a slight breeze. I switched my triathlon to a swim and bike as although my hammy had healed, I hadn't run in 3 weeks and running 10 km probably wasn't the greatest idea despite how badly I wanted to run. Does that mean I'm actually learning something?

The swim was two loops of 750 metres with a 100 metre run along the beach. Looking back I think that was easier to swim rather than a straight 1,500 metres. The race was a mass start (not waves based on age) which I didn't like as it was pretty crowded as I got punched and kicked. I came out way too fast and think I finished the first leg in about 12 1/2 minutes as I tried to get away from the mass. By the second leg the pack had thinned out and I swam at a much slower pace....way too slow. If I swam the first leg in 12 minutes then that means I swam the second leg in 21 minutes. Brutal. Part of the problem that this was the first open water swim with a wetsuit and I really laboured getting my rhythm under control. I definitely need to practise more open water swims as its completely different than swimming in a pool. Hopefully I can get up to Van Nostrom's pond for their Monday night swims except Rebecca has soccer that night so I'll have to try and figure something out.

The transition was a disaster as when I racked my bike I entered from one way but the run from the water came in a different entrance and I must have wasted at least 90 seconds looking for my bike. So much for blasting through this race.

The race course wasn't too bad but the wind had picked up and heading out of the park was right into the wind and uphill. It took a little while to get my legs but I kept reminding myself I wasn't running so I could push harder. Riding with the wind I was averaging about 45 km/hr on the flats which was great but riding into the wind was a different story. I felt sorry for those who were riding without aero bars.

Clearly there are lessons to be learned from this race.

1. I need to take things more seriously and not get too cocky

2. My transition was a disaster, never mind not being able to find my bike

3. Even though my average speed was 30.4 km/hr, I need to increase my speed

4. Need to build my speed on the swim portion

5. Need to run faster....oh wait I didn't run but I think I would have been hard pressed to match Wasaga's pace at 5:07 per km

Other than that it was a perfect race. Finally met Mike Dunbar and had a little chat with him. Lisa had a good time (even if they couldn't find her results) as she beat last year's time by a good 20 minutes or so.

All in all, it was a good day as it was nice and sunny but not scorching and the kids had fun playing at the park. Thankfully, my brother Don and Barb were there to help out as it can be tough to watch all three kids for a long time.

Guelph Is On!!!!!!!

More to follow. Clearly I won't be able to run but I will at least do the swim and ride portion

Update

Not much going on as Guelph Olympic is this Sunday and while my hamstring is fine, I don't have the legs to run 10 km so looks like another race bites the dust.Master swimming ended last week so I'm scrambling to find times and places to swim. On Tuesday I swam at my old pool Centennial at 6 am and I forgot how horrible it is to swim there as we were sharing the pool with the Mallards (they moved from Angus Glen) and we were stuck with swimming in one lane. This was a mess as the five swimmers were all swimming at different paces and strokes so it was impossible to build up any rhythm. After 40 minutes of screwing around, we packed it in.
Fortunately Serge was coaching the Mallards and offered us to join them at 5:30 am Tuesdays and Thursdays. We complained that we were directionless as we had no drills to do and felt lost. He promised that he would have some drills to do on Thursday.

So today, Brian joined us (just like old times) and Serge gave us 7 x 75 metres of front crawl with a pull buoy and 25 metres of legs only. This was followed by 7 x 200 metres of front crawl. What a difference from the day before as this was easily accomplished whereas Tuesday, I don't think we even swam 1,000 metres.

In lieu of running, I've been water running, which is unbelievably boring but next Monday, I start running again. I'm no longer worried about my hamstring but more my left foot as a couple of weeks ago I blocked a slap shot and it went off my foot. I did a mini run last Monday and my foot ached. Oh oh

How will I ever do an Ironman and not get injured?

The Mysterious Hammy Problem Solved!

So after no improvements to my hammy, I couldn't figure out what the hell was wrong. I had wiped out my running for the last two weeks and Kevin was very surprised that it hadn't healed.

After a long talk with the coach where we kept asking if I was stretching (yes), was I doing strength training (sort of, most of the time), what the hell was I doing differently?????? NOTHING!!! I kept telling him. The only thing that is different from this year and last year is that last year I didn't put my aero bars on until around end of July and this year I'm in the aero position almost all the time except for hill climbing. Well I've must have installed them wrong. Desperate, I offered to bring my bike up for a fitting and I went up Tuesday night after hockey.

As soon as I got on the bike, coach immediately noticed I wasn't sitting right. Turns out the seat had slipped 3/4 of an inch and the saddle had moved back a full inch. What that did was I was scrunched up and my hip flexor was not being extended which in turn was pulling on my hamstring. Who knew that you were suppose to tighten the nuts and bolts on your bike? Ironically I stopped running and ramped up my riding to compensate and I ended up causing more damage. Well better finding out sooner than later. All the stretching and strength training wouldn't have prevented me from getting hurt.

Since Tuesday, I've ridden twice and noticed that my hammy is getting better and stronger. On Friday, I started to do some strength exercises for my hammy and also started to water run. In the afternoon I borrowed my friend's access pass to his condo and used the condo's pool to water run. It was a torturous 45 minute run in a salt water pool. Note: after swimming in a salt water pool, be sure to take a good shower to rinse off the salt. I didn't and it felt like I was wearing a layer of salt all day and I was very thirsty. Next week is three times of more water running.....oh god. Please let my hammy heal quickly.

This morning I had to do a two hour ride but checking the weather when I woke up, it was just nasty. It was pouring rain and windy so I opt to ride inside on the trainer. I'm sure glad I didn't have to ride in that crap!! Fortunately I rented Avatar and that helped kill the time. It was ok but reminded me of a futuristic "Dances With Wolves." One of those movies that you'd watch once and that is enough. A cheesy and predictable ending.

Next Sunday was supposed to be Guelph Olympic but as good as my hammy feels, it doesn't look like a go as its been over two weeks since I've ran. Another one bites the dust.........

Milton

Ok so maybe I'm not that unhappy.

Its raining, 12 degrees and the wind is 20 km/hr. The water temperature is warmer than the air.

So I don't get another T-shirt...................

Oh and now Guelph is in jeopardy but again another "C" race

Another One Bites The Dust

First there was Around The Bay, then Whitby Half Marathon and now Milton. I have a perfect race record in 2010.

This morning I rode for 90 minutes and everything was ok when I got back. My Hammy was a little sore but nothing major. I decided to go for a very short run just to see how it felt as I haven't been running all week. Well I got about half the distance last week, oh about 200 metres before I felt that familiar stabbing pain. Clearly I'm not built to run and I think I need to work more on strength training and stretching. Some people can get away without doing it, I ain't one of them.

I've toyed with the idea of only doing the swim and ride for Milton (seeing that I've already paid) but with the weather calling for 90% chance of rain, why bother? I'm pretty sure I can swim 75o metres and then ride 30 km so why risk crashing coming down the Sixth Line Hill in the pouring rain? Last year I hit 75 km/hr coming down the hill. Its only a "C" race. The Guelph Olympic race is only 2 weeks away and I'm not even sure if I'll be ok by that time.

Two weeks is a long time and I should be good to go right???? Grrr this hammy thing has been going on for two weeks and nothing has changed.

I am not happy

Not Good

Not Good Part I
I tried running this morning but had to stop after 0.53 km. The tweaked hammy returns. Milton is very much in jeopardy but then its only a C race.

Not Good Part II
My buddy Scobie was trying to qualify for Kona by racing Ironman Brazil yesterday. His swim time was a little off at 1.12 but something happened in T1 where he was down for 15 minutes. He must have been pissed because he came roaring out and completed the first leg of the cycling portion (49 km) for an average speed of 40 km/hr. The cycling portion was completed in 5:01 and his run was a little off at 3:48 for a total time of 10:20. No doubt he's in a very foul mood. I'll catch up with him when he gets back for the lowdown.

Tweak.....There Goes The Hammy

So after a great workout last Saturday consisting of a 45 km bike ride and a 11 km run, I felt pretty good, tired but good. Sunday I worked for 11.5 hours helping Paul build a shed and holiday Monday was gardening around the house. I was exhausted. Good thing this week is a recovery week and everything seemed to be going great for my first race on June 6 in Milton. I've been feeling really good and planned to blast through Milton sprint and Guelph olympic as the races were shorter than my actual workouts. Wednesday's workout was a 45 minute bike ride and then hit the weights. I worked on my legs and abs and everything was ok but I decided to change my Thursday workout and skip Master swim as I had to be on course (the golf course) at 7:48 am Thursday morning so I decided to run instead. But 7 minutes in the run my hamstring started to ache and after another couple of minutes I shut it down and walked back home. I was to tee off in two hours and was worried that I wouldn't be able to walk but after icing it down, my hamstring felt better so I played anyways. While I was golfing I emailed Kevin (gotta love Blackberry) and arranged for him to come over later that night for some treatment.

Wow a home visit. Awesome!!

After some pure torture, he declared it wasn't too bad and I should be able to do Milton after some rest. Whew!

As gratitude, Tammy baked him some Banana Rum cake which I figure has about 500 calories per slice and we washed it down with a cold one.

Hope the coach doesn't see this blog!!!!

I think I figured out why I was sooooo tired early this week. It was probably a result of my body trying to fight off a cold. By Wednesday I had a sore throat, slight fever, sinus congestion and very tired. I went swimming Thursday morning but stayed at the end of the line as I didn't have the energy to swim hard and was quite content to hang at the back. I didn't even finish the last drill (12 x 100 metres front crawl) as once 6:30 am came, I bailed with 500 metres to go. Once I got home I had a diet coke for the caffeine kick and in fact I had several DCs throughout the day to keep awake. Zero chance of doing my 60 minute run Thursday night.

Friday morning was a write off (strength training) as I still felt like crap but by late afternoon was feeling better. I was really unsure if I could do Saturday's workout (90 minute ride and 60 minute run) and it really came down to how I felt Saturday morning. The threat of rain in the morning didn't help either.

I woke up at the usual 4:30 in the morning and felt about 80% and it wasn't raining so I had to go. As mentioned earlier, I'm trying to push harder on the ride and get my average speed up. Today I averaged 28.5 km/hr which is 1 km/hr faster (whoo hooo) than last week's workout. One of these days I'll get it above 30 km/....like when my whole workout is downhill.

The run portion was pretty much uneventful other than the there were lots of garage sales and I stopped and did a quick check for any weights or dumbbells for my strength training. I did go 11.15 km in 60 minutes which is 0.75 km further than last week's run as well.

As soon as I got in, I had to do a quick stretch, shower and eat as I had a massage at 9:00 am. After Rishi killed my for an hour he gave me exercises for my weak ankles. Great, just what I need....more exercises. I definitely need to book more time with him as I'm sure it would be a lot less painful if I got a massage on a regular basis.

Total workout
1,818 calories burned
44.5 km rode
11.15 km run

I'm ready for a nap.....................

Training At 5 AM

One of the problems about training at 5 am every day is that by the time you get to work, you're so tired that you actually don't feel like doing any work and you end up wasting the day watching stupid videos on Youtube

Nutrition and Core!

I think I need to do more core exercises as today was another Brick workout consisting of a good 75 minute ride followed by a 60 minute run. My lower back was sore throughout the run however it could have been the result of my new aero bars that my sister in law was kind enough to let me borrow. I wonder if she even noticed they were gone as Paul took them off her "back up" bike. They are better than the ones that I was using (Paul's old set) as I found I was more stable and not weaving all over the road with every pedal stroke which could be a problem in a race.

I started my run feeling very stiff and sore and hungry. Clearly I didn't eat enough before I started this morning as I had a PBJ (peanut butter and jam - well fake peanut butter as Jake is allergic to nuts) before I headed out at 5:45 am. I drank a bottle of amino vital during the ride while and one gel shot during the run. By the time I finished, I was totally starving and was feeling weak and shaky (did playing ice hockey Friday afternoon have anything to do with it?). According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 1,516 calories but I think I ate a good 900 calories for breakfast. I need to get this nutrition thing down. For my Brick work outs last year (60 minute ride and 35 minute run), I could go out on an empty stomach and take one gel shot but throughout the day I was totally starving. I felt like the Tazmanian Devil and usually wolfed down all my lunch and snacks by 11:30 am and still be hungry. Given this year's Brick workout, I need to eat more before heading out.

Overall, today's work out was ok as I tried to push harder on the bike and keep my heart rate at a consistent zone 3 while my run wasn't as strong as it could be, I'm not too worried as I'm only suppose to be running at a zone 2. Interesting when I started the run, I was going at a painful 6:05 min/km pace but I finished at a easy 5:30 pace. Talk about a negative split. I rode about 35 km and ran 10.5 km in 2 hours and 20 minutes which is pretty much an Olympic distance race.

I cut Thursday's run short as I was supposed to go out for 55 minutes but it started to pour and the wind picked up quite nasty. I was freezing cold and totally drenched so as I ran by my house, I packed it in after only 53 minutes. I felt guilty.

For both Thursday and Saturday's runs, my knee has been ok with just minor aches and pains. No massive sharp, stabbing bouts of pain....yet. Could it be that the exercises prescribed actually work????

Now about my shoulder which has begun to ache after swimming.............again.

The Build Begins (well relativity speaking)

So this is the first week of my build up. Monday was a Brick workout that called for a 60 minute bike followed by a 55 minute run. I usually go on an empty stomach but I knew there was no way I could survive this workout so I actually ate before I hit the bike. In order to get everything completed (including stretching) that meant that I had to get up at 4:30 am to eat and then I started riding at 4:55 am. Wonderful. What else is there to do at 4:55 in the morning?

Somehow our warm spring has seemed to disappear as its gotten pretty chilly at nights and Monday morning there was a frost warning so I decided to ride inside and watch the Bourne Identity...again. Dripping wet, I changed into a dry t-shirt and headed outside for 55 minutes of fun. My knee was ok but started to ache around the 45 minute mark but I pushed on for the last 10 minutes. I was a little tired but felt ok.

All in all, it was a pretty good workout and I managed to burn 1215 calories. Not bad but I must of ate 900 calories for breakfast and then lunch...........well lets just say, I finished lunch by eating seven or eight chocolate chip cookies that had to be worth at least 250 calories each....doh! Dinner was a salad and some dish with beans and broccoli. This morning I was down half a pound. Whoo hoo!

Swimming was ok but pretty uneventful. Not many swimmers and my shoulder began to ache. I wonder why? Oh right, exercise - or there lack of. How did that go again? Must do exercise, must do.......

Ironman Utah

Just found out one of the guys I used to work with completed his first Ironman in Utah. His time? 10:45!! Unreal and according to my brother, his longest outdoor ride was 120 km and he did most of rides at spinning class

Now why can't I train like that? What the hell is wrong with me?

Weed

No not the kind you smoke, the kind you pull. The trouble with living on a ravine is your backyard is over run with weeds. I spent 4 hours pulling weeds.

I wonder how this counts for training? Strength training for my back or mental toughness?

Footy!!

So I was out for my run yesterday afternoon and I was running by a school field when I noticed these two guys kicking a ball around. As I got closer, I realized they were kicking a footy around!! Wow! I stopped and talked to the the guys. One of them was wearing a Hawks jumper (jersey) but it didn't look like any I've ever seen before. I was thinking my old team, the Broadview Hawks, had changed their jumper but when I started talking to the guy, he explained that it was his jumper from back home (Australia) and he was up for a month visiting someone. The other guy was a Canadian and I assume that's who he was visiting. I was dying for a kick, so I took off my water belt, ipod and foot pod and started kicking the ball around. It was great and I really miss playing Aussie Rules Football. I played for 11 years here in Toronto and most don't realize that Ontario has the biggest Footy league outside of Australia.

So what is Aussie Rules Football or otherwise known as Footy?

Footy is to Aussies what ice hockey is to Canadians

Oh how I miss playing (how about you Scobie?) Unfortunately the footy season ends in September and that's when Muskoka 70:3 is. I wonder what coach would say if he saw me playing footy given how he complains about my ice hockey? If you're interested in watching a game TSN shows the games but at 6 am Saturday morning. I would tape it but a) I would never get a chance to watch the game and b) the PVR is full of Hanna Montana and CSI....neither of my shows

On another front, my knee didn't hurt after a 40 minute run (not including the 20 minutes I spent kicking the footy around).

This morning was weight training and I made sure to nail the glutes and hammies. I'm sure they're going to be sore tomorrow

PS: I got beat by a 13 year old at swim practice on Thursday. It was the coach's daughter and she smoked me by 5 seconds in 50 metre free style race.

Must Do Exercises, Must Do Exercises, Must......

So things were looking pretty good as my new shoes and orthotics seem to be working pretty good but last week my right knee started to ache after each run. Usually around the 40 minute mark it started to ache in a couple of different spots. On Monday's run, I was suppose to go for 50 minutes but due to a miscalculation in my route I ended up going about 1:15. My knee was really sore and I knew there was something wrong. I spoke with the coach and he basically reamed me for not doing the exercises. Fortunately Tammy was going to see Kevin the chiropractor today and she arranged for me to see him after her appointment (Jake peed twice in his pants while I was watching him).

Basically Kevin said the problem was not serious but seriously I needed to do the exercises in order to strengthen my glutes and hips which were basically screwing everything else up as other muscles have to work overtime to compensate.

I already signed up for Milton sprint, Guelph Olympic and Muskoka Long Course Sprint so I'd better get this fixed asap. Must remember to do the exercises........

On another note, Tammy ran the Legacy 5K (fund raiser for Markham Souffville Hospital). She ran it last year as her first race and was looking to beat her time of 28:49 but this year they changed the timer and it was gun time and not chip time. Her time was over 32 minutes but she started way back of the pack so no idea what her real time was. What a disaster but I did see one of my old swimming buddies from Centennial pool. Derek wasn't happy with his time as he was hoping to run in under 18 minutes and he ran just over. Sick. We were swimming one time and in the time it took me to swim 50 metres, Derek passed me twice. Sick

The Return Of The One-Leg Drills

Today was a good ride as I went a little longer than scheduled. I'm continuing to do the 60 seconds hard and 60 seconds easy drills up Warden ave. Once I crossed Stouffville Side Road, I started doing the one legged drills and along Bethesda Road which is a great road to do drills as there is hardly any traffic. Once I crossed Kennedy Road, I did the out of the saddle drill until I made it to McCowan Ave (about 2.1 km). Normally I would have turned south to head home but this morning I decided to head north to Bloomington Road as there is a good hill to climb. Once I hit Bloomington I turned around and headed back down the hill but nearly crashed my bike as I was too busy trying to see how fast I was going and not realizing I was drifting over to the shoulder. That would have been a painful crash at 45 km/hr.

By the time I got home I was bagged and starving. I really need to eat more before I head out as well as start taking gel shots. Once I got home I checked my heart rate monitor and found that I burned 911 calories in 1:19 minutes. Not bad as I don't ever remember burning that much in one ride which is probably a good indication of the lack of intensity in my rides.

Swimming is going great as over the last couple of practices, we've been doing 2200 metres and I haven't been as tired as I used to get.

The one thing that I am worried about is my knee. I still feel slight pain after every ride and run so I've been icing and trying to remember to do the exercises. The new shoes and orthotics definitely help but I'm always wondering when my knee will blow up and everything comes to a crashing halt.

Tomorrow is a rest day and Tammy is running in the Markham Stouffville 5 Km race. She hoping to beat last year's time of 28:49. As usual, its suppose to rain

PS: I'm totally starving and been eating like a pig

Wiped Out

I rode this morning outside and it was little chilly to say the least. With my clean and tuned up bike I was ready. With a late start due to poor organizing the night before, when I left when it was almost 6 am. Given about my concerns for a weak cycling, a couple of triathletes have commented that I should be exhausted after my rides. Clearly that's hasn't been happening as whether I ride indoors or outdoors, I haven't been riding very hard.

I decided to try a different tactic. After a 15 minutes warm up, I rode hard for 60 seconds and then easy for 60 seconds. I did this about 5 times and then rode out of the saddle for 2 minutes four times. By the time I got home I was wiped out. Its been a while since I was this tired from only riding.

Its now after lunch and I've eaten everything I brought to work and I'm still starving. Signs of a good workout

This Is An Expensive Sport!

Well today I found out that this sport continues to be expensive even after all the spending last summer to get started. In never seems to end.

I rode for 45 minutes this morning (its a down week) before taking my bike to the coach for its spring tune up but before I did, I found my knees were aching after my rides so one thing the orthotic guy said because of the way I'm built (bowlegged) I should turn the clips of my riding shoe inwards about 10 degrees so before my ride I unloosened the screws and tried to angle my cleats inwards but I think I screwed it up as my knees were aching during the ride. During the ride Tammy came downstairs and let me know she was going out for her 20 minute run so as soon as she got back I'd be finished riding and could take my bike to get it tuned up. Well by the time she got back and I had the bike loaded I was running a little late but as I was about to jump on the 404, coach called me and wanted to know where the hell I was as he had to meet another athlete somewhere else at 8:30 and he couldn't wait around for me. He would be back in an hour. Crap!! I was pissed but it was my fault I was late. I had wanted to go to Price Choppers and buy some more dirt for seeding the lawn. Yesterday I ordered one yard of dirt (about one tonne) and used it all up(does this count as strength training?) and I needed about another 20 bags (about half a tonne) more so I stopped in and got the dirt(ahh the joys of home ownership) and headed up to the coach's place.

As usual he started reaming me up about my bike maintenance (or there lack of) as I don't lube my chain, put the tire on backward etc etc etc. Then I told him about the cleats on my riding shoes, oh that was a mistake as I quickly realize that I shouldn't have changed the positions without consulting with the coach and I think he's right as the way he explained it seems to make sense so in order to realign my cleats I need to do another bike fitting which will cost $125. Crap crap crap crap crap. Chalk it up to inexperience. He also took a quick look at my running shoes with the new orthotics and after 5 steps he said the shoes didn't work with them and I needed new shoes ASAP......great more $$$$$$$$$$. So I arranged to meet him at Running Free at 3 pm and mentioned two friends also needed to be fitted for new shoes as well.

Well turns out it cost about $450 to fix the bike (I also loaded up Amino-Vital and got a free riding shirt that looks really cool) and my new shoes plus some stuff Tammy wanted cost another $200 (I guess I'm lucky that Tammy didn't need new shoes as well) and the swim coach just sent me my bill for half the year of another $230. Not a bad week. Did I mention that our bank account is in an overdraft of $1800 and I just got paid 4 days ago?

I suppose I shouldn't complain as I could be buying some cool Power tap wheels at $1000 a pop.

Tomorrow is a rest day and Tammy was kind enough to let me go golfing with my friend at Deer Creek. Its suppose to be four degrees in the morning. How fun will that be?

The Dog Days of.....April???

Must be something in the water as it seems a couple of fellow triathletes are running out of gas and its only April. I went thru this in February when I working 6 days a week and was just bagged. After one of my numerous injuries in early March, I shut it down for 5 days straight. This helped as I felt refreshed and hit the training schedule again.

Lately over the last week or two I've been having off (blah) days where I just seem to be going through the motions, like today's ride. Fortunately its a down week so I don't need to worry about the intensity but if I'm this tired now, how in the world could I train for an Ironman? Right now, I'm only training about 9 hours a week (including hockey) but for an Ironman I would have to double it to about 20 hours a week. How in the hell do other people (those with kids) do it? I spoke with the coach yesterday and had mentioned that because I've been riding outside since March break, I wasn't doing the riding drills and he wasn't to thrilled. The thought of doing cycling drills outside when its dark really doesn't strike me as the smartest thing to do. I mentioned to him that I am worried about Muskoka especially the cycling as I believe it to be my weakest leg. He basically said the drills are to build me up for Muskoka and I should be doing them...period so I've been riding back inside. Boringggggggggg

I also mentioned that I haven't been able doing the strength training and predictably he was unsympathetic. I like doing the workouts after I have rode or ran but lately it seems they're always trouble upstairs and someone is usually yelling or crying or both. That usually kills my workout. I am a big believer that everything in life is a trade off and while I could just ignore the screaming and yelling upstairs, it would only lead to further problems so something usually gets missed (ie strength training).

Of course my coach has no sympathy. He's single, lives alone and has no kids. As he always tells me, "you're not the only athlete with kids." True but I doubt they are as young as mine (6.5, 4 and 2.5 years old) or they have help ie nanny or in-laws. Which leads back to my original question of how could I possibly train for an Ironman without getting divorced? I guess I already know the answer that its simply not possible (especially if Tammy goes back to work) for at least several more years. That's not a bad thing as even though I've ran 5 half-marathons, I have no desire to run a full marathon unless its part of an Ironman.

Maybe I can put that on my "bucket list" of things to do before I hit 50 years old, which is how far away??????

Ohhhhh My Abs

I really haven't been doing much strength training, abs or the exercises that Kevin prescribed in the last couple of weeks. I've also been worried about my cycling as I believe its the weakest link. I talked to Scobie (IM Germany 10:04) and he said that his workouts are generally heavily weighed towards cycling which my definition is the leg that is the longest of a triathlon. He also mentioned that he does the one-legged drills (which I hate) and riding out of the saddle even when he's riding outside. Since the weather has been warm enough, I've been riding outside and ditching the drills. Well this morning it was about three degrees with a nasty wind chill so I decided to ride inside and concentrate on the drills. I really hate doing the one legged drills (did I mention that?) but did them anyways. Two minutes each leg three times as well as three times out of the saddle for two minutes (they are as bad).

After the ride I decided I needed to start working on the core muscles and strength training so i really nailed the abs and as I sit here watching the crappy Leaf's last game of the season, I can feel my abs so I have a pretty good idea what they are going to feel like tomorrow.

I emailed the coach about my concerns about cycling and he responded that I should be doing the drills inside (for safety reasons) and I also read an interesting article in Cycling Magazine

CyclingMagazine.ca � Preparing for the season: "Jourdain borrows something called 50-50 training from cross-country skiers. The athletes ride hard for 50 seconds then ease off for 50 seconds, repeating it for eight to 10 minutes. They will repeat this after a short recovery break. It's a workout that can be done in an hour.

'You choose a good terrain to do this,' Jourdain says. 'You're not doing this on the hills, you are on flat terrain, without wind if possible and without a big gear. You need to manage your intensity. 'That is the new philosophy. It means you don't have to wait a month doing slow long distances before introducing interval training to increase fitness.'"

This sounds ideal once I resume riding outside as my one hour outdoor rides are pretty tame (ah more like lame) and this sounds like a great way to build up my endurance although I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to hammer it for 50 seconds when I'm riding outside at 5:30 in the morning as I can't see anything let alone my watch.

Tomorrow is my dad's 80th birthday. Happy Birthday Dad!

Hey What Happened To Spring??

Brrrrr literally overnight the temperature had a double digit drop and when I ran this morning at 5:30 am it was only 2 degrees but with the windchill (30 km wind) it was more like minus five degrees. What a change from Wednesday's run when I finished I was dripping wet partly because it was pretty humid.

So Wednesday and today's run were for 40 minutes each but unlike last week (30 minutes), I changed routes and ran around Rammerville as opposed to running around the block (literally). The Rammerville run has some small rolling hills and is generally a lot harder than the "around the block" route. If I haven't been running the Rammerville run for a while, I usually am a little sore the next day.

So far the orthotics seem to be doing their thing. I'm only running a zone two pace (about 6:15 min/km) pace as I build my endurance back up after being off for so long. Some minor aches and pains but nothing serious......yet.

Yesterday's swim was tough as I was just thinking that I would need to start ramping up the yardage. We started with 600 metres of kicking drills and finished off with 3 by 400 metres (48 laps) of front crawl except that we had to time each set of 400 metres and we should be swimming faster each set. The first set was a piece of cake as I was averaging about 3:50 per 200 metres but the second set was a struggle and I accidentally kicked one of the girls in the head when I tried to pass them with a flip turn at the end of the pool. Cathy was not impressed and although I apologized she didn't say anything to me for the rest of the time. Doh. I hammered the last lap to get my time under 4:00 minutes but was bagged. Now it was 6:30 am and no one seemed interested in completing the last 400 metres so I did it alone but forgot to set my watch so I had no idea what pace I swam at but it is safe to say I was no near 4:00 min per 200 metres. This is something that Serge (swim coach) keeps hammering in our heads about maintaining our pace especially in a race.

Nothing New Going On

I rode outside this morning leaving at 6 am just as it was getting light out. The sun doesn't rise until 6:50 am but it usually gets light about 30 minutes before sunrise. Next week the sun will rise by 6:41 am so I can start leaving earlier. Once I ride north of Major Mackenzie, there are no street lights so I can't see if anything is on the road in front of me until its too late. So by riding along Major Mac (which has street lights) and then turning north after 15 minutes it is light enough to see the road.

Today was a great morning to ride as it was cool but humid. I like riding outside of the city and as I was heading back the sun was coming up and someone had started a fire so you could smell the smoke.

One problem about riding in the country is that when you come up to an intersection (I have the right of way), I find drivers going the other direction will roll up to the intersection, looking for on coming traffic and if I'm in the aero position they don't see me so I've learned to sit up as I approach an intersection. Last year I almost got hit my a lady who didn't see me even if it was the middle of the morning.

Run tonight and looks like its going to be pouring rain. Not fun

Oh How Humbling!

Today at Master's swim practise, we were doing kicking drills the coach stopped everybody and announced that Brian (about the same age but not a tri-guy) would race against two of the kids from the Mallards swim team. We would swim 50 metres front crawl and the kids would swim kicking-only either butterfly kick or freestyle kick. I couldn't see who the kids were as they were a couple of lanes over so I asked how old they were and Serge said they were 12 and 15. Great, I was only three times older than one kid and three and half times older than the other kid. This should be a fair race.

So we took off and I was really just trying to keep ahead of Brian who was besides me. I think I breathed once on the way down and three times on the way back. I was neck and neck with Brian but I nailed the flip turn and by the mid point back I had pulled slightly ahead. Looking back, I made the same mistake twice....At the start of the race and after the flip turn I should have glided under water for a longer period of time as its easier to swim under than on top but its been 27 years since I swam competitively. My time for the 50 was about 33 seconds and change but I couldn't hear Serge because I was huffing and puffing. I beat the 12 year old and Brian but the 15 year old beat me. Kicking only. How embarrassing. I think my time from the good old high school swim team would have been roughly the same as this was a water start.

I'll probably run tonight as I'm playing in a charity fund raiser hockey tournament tomorrow morning. I got my new orthotics and normally I just go and run but these feel a little difference so my old ones must have been totally wrecked. I'll wear the new ones over the weekend and just run on my old dress shoes with weren't as bad.

I had a long talk with the orthotic guy (who isn't a Podiatrist but a Certified Pedorthist - what's the difference???). David has run over 200 races and his fastest time for the marathon is 2:40 so I guess we can say he's experienced. I asked about him about the Newton and he said he's never heard of it but will check it out and let me know his thoughts. Clearly he was skeptical and thought it was a fad. This mid-foot versus heel strike is extremely confusing. What to do??

Its going to be a smoking hot next couple of days with the temperature hitting 30 degrees on Saturday. Definitely will be riding outside. Maybe Paul will want to go riding seeing that he's back from his three weeks in Florida

Run Forest Run!

I did my first run outside in about four weeks and it was exhausting. I can't believe how much I've "lost." I did two sessions of 30 minutes of water running last week but I don't really think that made much of a difference.

I went a whopping 3.80 km in 22 minutes for about a 6.00 min/km pace, slightly faster than a turtle. I kept the heartbeat under 139 but it sure didn't take much to get it higher.

I tried to concentrate on "toeing off" rather than heel strike first. Basically that means that the first thing to hit the ground is the back of my heel instead of the middle part of the foot. One thing Kevin pointed out was that when I stand my right foot turns outward about 20 degrees so that would explain the wear pattern on my shoes indicate the right upper outside of my right foot and the right heal hit the ground first. Also toeing off forces the body to lean forward and I know that when I get tired I lean backwards (another indicator of heel strike first).

It felt weird running like that and once I get my new orthotics I'll have to make the decision to change my running style as I will be getting new running shoes. So does that mean Newtons? There is much controversy about these shoes as its suppose to force you to run "naturally" whatever that means.

Initially I was not impressed by these shoes (and they're damn ugly) but perhaps they are worth getting a pair, which will mean changing my running style but given the number of times I've been hurt that's probably a good move. We'll see what the coach recommends.

Kevin was highly skeptical about using orthotics in my skates and in my riding shoes so I rode this morning without them and I think I should use them as I could "feel" my knees when I was riding so I'll try another ride using orthotics however I think for hockey I can do without them as not as much force is exerted on my foot as well as the rigid skate boot makes rolling in less likely.

Oh and another thing, looks like I don't have weak hamstrings but rather a weak butt so Kevin sent a whole bunch of exercises.....wonderful.

Hey, My Back Is Better

Well after a "short" 90 minute session with Kevin (the amazing chiropractor), I feel so much better.

He basically worked/checked on my shoulder, knee, leg, and back. Basically overall I'm in ok shape and should be able to start running again as soon as I get my orthotics. He figured that they should correct much of my foot/knee/leg problems as having flat feet, every step I take, everything rolls inward which in makes other muscles work extra harder to counter act the collapse.

With my shoulder, he said its structurally ok but probably needs some strengthening and in fact he'll be emailing me a whole bunch of exercises to help strengthening my weakness.

With my back he did a little acupuncture, applied some medication (smells like Ben Gay) and a minor back adjustment. Before he did that, he quoted the usual disclaimer how it may break my ribs. I responded Rick would kill him if he broke my ribs as my race season would be over before it started.

He also disagreed about using orthotics in my skates and was very doubtful about using them in my riding shoes as well. Who to listen to?

Ohhhhh My Back

So I was trying to do these hamstring extensions and I'm pretty sure that I did them wrong because after three reps my lower back was in pain.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLNc2ddjDMk

Hopefully Kevin (the chiropracter) will be able to help me out today. I'm meeting him today (on Saturday) to have him check out my runner's knee. One thing I've noticed about the PT is that while he was pretty good at diagnosing my injury, he didn't prescribe any exercises so chances are this problem with happen again and again and again...

I got my new schedule yesterday and it looks pretty much of the same although I'm not sure how the switch over from water running to street running with go over with my foot/knee/leg. I'm sure more pain to come

Thursday's swim class was gruelling but at least we got to use flippers. Funny its so much easier to swim with flippers. I wonder if I can use them in my races?

Friday morning I rode for 60 minutes but didn't do the drills as my knees were a little achy which could have something to do with the fact that I using orthotics in my riding shoes and my knees aren't used to it. I also played hockey at noon. It was the last Friday skate and we only had one player on the bench. I was totally wiped out after the game and I had a meeting in Uxbridge later in the afternoon so I took a gel shot on the way up and it did the trick. Still ended up going to bed at 9:15 pm.

Good thing tomorrow is a rest day

Water Running

Well seeing that I can't run, on land at least, I thought I'd do some water running. I've done it before and found it totally boring and useless. Probably because I wasn't doing it right.

This time I tried it without any floatation aids. Gee what a difference. It was still boring but a lot more tiring and more realistic to land running. I figure I'll do this at least a couple of more times until I get my new orthotics. I used my dress shoes orthotics (as they weren't wrecked as much as my running orthotics) in my every day shoes and ended up hurting my left foot. Probably because my foot wasn't used to the support. I had to take some anti-inflams to get the swelling down for a couple of days.

The weather has turned a lot colder (today's high is only 8 degrees). I'm glad I was able to get in three rides last week but because I "ran" this morning, I'll have to ride tonight in the basement. I'll be watching the rest of Mad Men (season one). Its better than nothing.

I found an interesting website for "at home workouts."

http://www.fitness-training-at-home.com/hamstring-exercises.html#swiss-ball-butt-and-hamstring-busters

The Hamstring Mega Blaster is hard.  This is the only exercises that deserves a name like this and it's really good for strengthening your hamstrings.


Definitely need to work on the hammies as it is a direct cause of some of my knee problems.

Swimming

Well after hurting my shoulder in December, I needed to find a swim coach and fast. Going to Personal Best triathlon clinic at McMaster where they video taped my swim, clearly showed me that I need improvement and my ever aching shoulder proved it.

Well after lots of physio in December and January, I started to look around for a Masters swim club. I chatted briefly with one of the coaches from the Markham Mallards swim club on Sunday mornings at Centennial Pool in Markham, I found out that they swim Tuesdays and Thursdays morning at 5:30 am....perfect time.

After going a couple of weeks I found that this was exactly what I needed and decided to join up.

Today's swim was tough as we did 1600 metres of kicking drills (which I really suck at) and finished up with a short 900 metres of front crawl. Am I getting better? Well I think so as it used to take me 29 strokes to cover one lap and today I was doing about 20 strokes. Time will tell if I improve on my mediorce swim time.

I'll ride outside tomorrow morning. One good thing about being off for March break is I can start my workout a little later ie like when the sun comes up. I hate riding when its pitch black outside and can't see shit in front of me.

Oh yea I gained two pounds last night. WTF???? Yesterday I lost two pounds

First Post

Well this is my first boring post

Not much is going on for training.

Since my last race (Scotia half marathon Sept 27/09) I didn't really take any down time and now I'm paying the price. Since Dec 2009 I have five injuries. Mostly foot/leg injuries but also shoulder (rotator cuff) from swimming like a brick. Thankfully that seems to have healed but the leg/foot injuries are driving me crazy. I'm used to being injured all the time but never this much. Something ain't right.

Finally I went to my brother's podiatrist in Ajax and it was worth the drive. I only went to him because he was cheaper than the podiatrist I've been using for like 10 years and I'm pretty happy with my decision. The guy certainly can talk as my appointment lasted almost two hours but he was certainly knowledgeable as his analysis explained why I'm always getting hurt. Part of the problem is that my right leg is two centimeters longer than my left leg because I'm bow legged and my left hip turns in to compensates and pulls everything out of whack. Oh yea my orthotics are toast so I'm getting a new pair. He also informed me that I should be using orthotics in my cycling shoes and hockey skate. Also explains why my runner's knee injury flares up every once in a while (like now).

Because my knee is still a little sore (of course I played hockey last night), I decided to try a little riding. I could definitely "feel" my knee but it wasn't too bad. It was a little chilly (4 degrees) when I left around 7:45 am but as the sun warmed up I started getting a little warm. I only went out for 41 minutes at a very easy pace of about 24 km. Funny how riding outside for 40 minutes was easy compared to riding indoors for 40 minutes.......painful.

Tomorrow.....masters swim at 5:30 am. Lots of people away because of March break