Lisa Graham - Triathlete

Phoenix 26.2 - so that happened

2012-01-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a week now so I should probably write something about my marathon ~~debacle~~ experience. It definitely did not turn out as planned, quite the opposite. I had solid expectations and hopes for my 2nd ever marathon, as my training and lead-up had gone very smoothly. But alas, it was not to be. Instead what happened was an epic crash and burn during the second half of the 26.2 miles. Here's all the [ugly] details:

A friend shared this on FB recently, i like it!

Race start was 7:30am in downtown Phoenix and the temperature was perfect, about 12C at the start, and warming up to 18C. I headed into my corral at just after 7:20, and then at 7:30 it was announced that there would be a 15 min delay to the start. At 7:45, another announcement that the race would start just before 8am (the timers along the course were all messed up). So after a 30min delay of just standing around in the corral, we were off!

I started out really easy, and watched as hoards of people went by. Don't worry, I thought, stick to your plan, which was to go out easy for the first mile, and then pick it up a bit after getting warmed up. I went through the first mile in 8:40, about 30-40 sec off my goal pace. After that I picked up the pace and settled into a 'comfortably uncomfortable' pace for the next 10 or so miles. I was actually feeling great, unlike my first marathon where I didn't really feel good from the start, and my legs felt light and springy. I felt like I was cruising!

This is my only pic of the race, and it was taken prior to the start, when I was warming up in a heated parking garage. There were a bunch of 'official' race photographs, some of which turned out good, but annoyingly the website wouldn't let you copy/save them, so this is all you get for images...

After losing time off my goal pace from the first mile, I worked on making up some time, and was clicking off sub-8min miles for a while, some even sub-7:50. OK, I will be way under sub-3:40, I thought. Little did I know! I went through 10km in 50:43, and 10 miles in 1:21. At around 12 miles, I had to duck into a porta-loo with some tummy trouble, which was to be the first glimpse into what was to come. After that ~1min stop (the first of many), I lost the people I was 'running with', and found some new folks to pace off of.

Things went downhill from there, and fast. My 13.1 mile split was 1:47, still on pace to break 3:40, but shortly before that I started getting stomach cramps and sharp stitches on both sides of my ribs, where my entire ribcage was cramped up in pain. I thought I would be able to run through it, and resolve it with some deep/belly breathing, but the darn cramps would just not go away! My pace started to slow at that point, and not too long after halfway was when I had to start walking a little. Soon after that, I began feeling nauseated and a hint of dizzy. But when your stomach is feeling like that, it is next to impossible to eat anything. And if you are fortunate enough to have never experienced that, it's also really hard to run with your stomach feeling like that.

It was around mile 15 when thoughts that I may have to drop out began crossing my mind. These thoughts continued every mile, as I clicked off the miles (ever so slowly). There was a lot of walking, and a lot more stops to the porta-loo (at least 5-6). Around mile 18 or 19 i remembered something my sister Alice said about doing "10 and 1's", so I decided to give them a try. It didn't work out too well. I made it a whole 3 minutes of running, then had to walk for more than a minute. The miles dragged by soooo slowly, and my stomach/ribs were in such pain I wished I could just stop. But somehow I kept on going. Once I made it to mile 24, I knew for sure that I could make it the last 2.2 miles to the finish.

I was so glad to finally get to the end, but at the same time crushed to have gone a 4:08, literally 30 minutes off what I truly thought I was capable of. However, that time is certainly much better than a DNF beside my name. I have absolutely no idea how I actually went a 3:52 in Vegas two years ago when I had problems in that race as well and had to walk a lot the last 10 miles. Who knows? This time around the meltdown, or whatever you want to call it, was on a much larger scale.

So I think that will be it for me and the marathon distance (this goes for Ironman distance as well). What went wrong? Perhaps sodium depletion, as I didn't think to bring any salt/electrolytes along? And I was sweating a lot, with salt caked on my face by the end. Anyway, at this point, I'm not going to speculate further. There's something physiological/nutritional that I just can't seem to nail down with races of that length. Perhaps this is just my body's way of telling me to stay the hell away from those distances. I'm going to listen to it this time! I'll stick to 1/2 marathon and 1/2 ironman distance (and shorter), at which I know I can do well and be competitive.

So that's my plan for 2012 - to be fast and kick @$$ at 1/2's or shorter! I have more fun at those anyway!

Apart from the harsh arctic freeze in Edmonton that greeted me upon arrival, I was happy to come home, especially to this face:

And this one:

Best of 2011

2011-12-31T10:04:00.001-08:00

Here are a few images from throughout the year, a quick recap of racing/training in pictures. It was a great year, but 2012 will be even better! I'm excited to be racing a 26.2 in a couple of weeks (Jan. 15, 2012), and I can't believe it's almost race day! Where did the time go? After the marathon, I'll probably take a little down time from running to recharge the batteries, and will switch the focus back to swimming and biking for awhile. I'll be back in the pool this week after a couple week's hiatus from swimming, which was just what I needed to rekindle the motivation levels. After a few weeks of easy aerobic workouts in January, I'll start adding in some faster, harder sets so I can build my speed back, as right now it is definitely non-existent!

As for biking, I've been doing one easy trainer ride per week during the past couple months, and I'll focus on more rides per week and more volume after Phoenix. I'm still working on finalizing my race schedule for 2012, but I am planning for some new exciting races this year, as well as some old favorites. More on that to come...

Race morning for the Vancouver First Half 1/2 marathon in February- ran a PB of 1:39!

With mother-in-law Deborah after the Phoenix triathlon in April- we were both age group winners!

Enjoying a glass of red in Arizona

Little bro Donald's graduation from U of Calgary med school - May 2011

June 2011: Big Island trip to Kona for Hawaii 70.3

The last painful 400m!

Happy to be done!

Post-race with hubby - a lil' sunburnt

Deep sea adventure - snorkeling on the Big Island

Akaka Falls, HI

With BFF Bonnie celebrating my birthday on June 17

Ironman Canada trip to Penticton - Aug. 28, 2011

Bonnie and I all the way up in our condo at Apex

Carnage on the marathon course

Barrhead Queen of Hearts triathlon - Sept. 17/11 - as the overall winner, I was Queen of Hearts!

Alice and I at the STARRT X-mas party in December- as you may have noticed, it was a hat party!

Christmas 2011 - with Geoff

Boxing Day puppies with auntie Alice:

How to become a faster swimmer

2011-12-18T19:34:00.001-08:00

For some triathletes, the swim portion of a triathlon can be a source of anxiety and frustration. But it doesn't have to be! I have been swimming for a great number years and was a competitive swimmer in a past life. I've stared at the black line on the bottom of the pool for many hours, swam thousand's of kilometers, and had my fingers turn to prunes on many occasions. I like to think of myself as a strong and experienced swimmer. Here I've come up with a list of guidelines and tips so that you too may become faster, stronger and improve your swim times.

1. Get flexible.

-Improving the flexibility in your shoulders is very important if you want to become a better swimmer. More flexible shoulders equals a bigger range of motion, which directly affects the mechanics of your stroke. With better flexibility, you will be able to reach further, pull deeper, and not drop the elbows on the catch phase. So start stretching your shoulders/chest muscles regularly, while watching t.v., brushing your teeth, or working at the computer. Every bit helps!

2. Get thyself to a pool.

-This one may sound obvious, but if you don't put the time in, you won't see the results. You can maintain fitness on 2 swims a week, but you'll be able to improve your fitness and times on 3 quality swims a week. If you really want to see results, aim for 4 swims a week (doing proper quality sessions, of course). Normally, all my workouts are somewhere between around 2200m and about 2600m (except when I was training for Ironman, then I did one long swim a week between 4000-4500m).

3. Do kick - and lots of it.

-Contrary to many triathlon coaches' beliefs, it is my philosophy that the kick is a very important part of the overall stroke, and therefore time must be spent practicing it. A strong kick allows you to achieve a higher body position in the water and more efficient stroke. I don't buy into the theory that you need to 'save your legs' in the swim portion of a triathlon, so that you will be able to bike and run better. You are using different muscles while kicking in the water compared to on land, and you are non-weight bearing in the water. In most workouts, I include a specific kick set (usually between 400-600m, sometimes with swim mixed in; e.g. 4 x 150 as 50 side kick/50 fly kick/50 swim or 4 x 100 as 25 kick/50 swim/25 kick).

4. Use gadgets properly.

-A lot of triathletes will use a pullboy or fins as a 'crutch', and start to rely on them on when they start getting tired. These types of tools should always be used with a purpose in mind - fin sets should be hard, and specific to working on kick and body position. Pullboys should be used for specific sets as well, including longer aerobic sets, hypoxic breathing sets, pull with paddles, etc. DON'T grab for your pullboys or fins when you are in the middle of a hard set and you are struggling - you certainly can't slap on a pullboy in the middle of a race! Also, if you are pulling, make sure to wear a band around your ankles - you should not be kicking at all when using a pullboy.

5. Ask a coach.

-Find a knowledgeable coach or experienced swimmer and ask them to critique your stroke, in order to learn what you should be focusing on to improve stroke mechanics and efficiency. If you didn't come from a swimming background, it's difficult to know what may be off or what you could change in order to improve your stroke. Getting a pair of trained eyes to check out your stroke can be very beneficial.

6. Socialize!

-If possible, swim with your local Master's or triathlon swim group. Swimming all on your lonesome can be tedious and boring, and it's always more fun with a group. Also, if you are meeting others at the pool at a scheduled time, you become accountable and less likely to skip your session. However, there is such a thing as too much chatting - you still need to put the work in!

7. Embrace IM.

-And by IM, I mean individual medley, not ironman! Many people think that since the swim leg in a triathlon is all freestyle, you should only do freestyle all the time in your workouts. But doing an IM set once in a while can be really beneficial, as you're working other muscle groups in the other strokes, and not to mention it can break up the monotony! Make sure to get some instruction from an experienced swimmer or coach on proper stroke mechanics for fly/breaststroke. Some examples of IM sets I use on a regular basis are: 4 x 100 IM (25 fly/25 back/25 breast/25 free); 6 x 75 as odd: 25 fly/25 back/25 breast, even: 25 back/25 breast/25 free; 8 x 50 IM order.

8. Flip turn.

-Learn how to do a proper flip turn/push off/breakout, and do it at every wall! There may be no flip turns in an open water triathlon, but there are flip turns in a pool swim, and lets face it - many of us Albertans will typically be doing at least one pool swim triathlon a year! Additionally, flip turns allow you to swim more soundly and efficiently, they prevent you from 'resting' at the wall, and they are much faster! A quick, efficient flip turn should take off at least a second per wall compared to a 'touch turn'. If you're doing an 800m time trial, that's 32 seconds off your overall time right there, just from cleaning up the walls! Also, work on your 'breakout'. And by that I mean your push off and streamline off each wall, where you should aim to be taking a stroke before breathing and coming up for your first stroke off the wall right around the flags. This takes time to practice and become a habit, but you'll be more efficient overall if you do so.

9. Work hard in the water.

-Avoid doing all your workouts/sets at the same pace. If you want to get faster, some of your workouts/sets need to be really hard! Typically the total distance of the main set in my workouts is between about 1200m-1800m, comprised of different interval distances depending on what the workout is targeting, and sometimes so hard you feel like you're gonna puke! If you are looking for some hard, focused workouts to try, let me know and I'll be happy to send you some.

So there you have it! Let me know how it goes... Happy swimming!

Puttin' the miles into the bank

2011-12-11T21:00:00.000-08:00

Since my last post, which was now ages ago, things have been busy and the days feel like they're flying by. I've been training hard for the upcoming 26.2, working like crazy, and making sure to fit in lots of essential recovery and filling up with nutritious food (well, for the most part - there may have been a few cheezie/candy binges thrown in there!). There have been a couple of 3 hour runs, some tempo sessions, and a set of mile repeats on the treadmill earlier this week that was so hard it will make the race seem easy! Those 3 hour runs are just killer. I completed one 2 weeks ago (32.5km) and another one yesterday (32km), and they really take a lot out of you!

The first one went a little better than yesterday, perhaps it was just a matter of me not being as tired or fatigued going in. Two weeks ago, I made it through 2.5hr still feeling really great, but then started to struggle a bit the last 30 mins with soreness creeping in in the hips/legs/back. Yesterday I was already hurtin' only 2 hours in, which made the last hour especially challenging. The thing that really got me to the end of it yesterday was knowing that this was going to be my last 3 hour run! [I must say that I've been extremely fortunate thus far, weather-wise, as I've only had to do one long run so far in bitter cold (which got shortened to 90min), and all the others have been in very mild temps for this time of year. Also, there hasn't been an insane amount of snow (yet), so the footing outside has actually been really good.]

Although the 3hr runs ended up being a struggle during the last 30-60min, the important thing is that I made it through those runs and put the work in the bank. Following those sessions, I made sure to spend some time doing some quality stretching and icing, and relaxing on the couch, not really able to do much else for the remainder of the day!

Of course, I can't help but occasionally entertain a slight worry in the back of my mind about the actual marathon distance, just how difficult that last 10k is going to be, and how I'll be able to maintain the same pace when the legs and body start really complaining. BUT, I really just need to push those thoughts out of mind and instead focus on getting through these last few weeks of training and be confident in all the quality training I have already accomplished.

There are only 5 weeks left now until Jan. 15 - race day! This upcoming week will be a drop-back/recovery week, which my legs really need after yesterday's many miles. So the long run next weekend will 'only' be 2 hours - pretty funny that I no longer think 2hrs is not crazy long. Then the following weekend I'll bump the long run back up to about 2.5 hours, and since there will only be two weekends remaining after that, those two remaining long runs will be tapered off in distance/time but likely done at race pace. So in essence there are only two long runs left. I like the sound of that!

In other news, I've attempted to tune into my 'artistic' side, if that even exists! As part of a recent work team building activity, we had the opportunity of getting to try splatter painting, which was a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of mess! I'm not an overly artistic person by any means, but I definitely enjoyed this activity. But it is possible that more paint may have landed on me than on the canvas!

Here's the finished masterpiece:

And this is a really cool piece of artwork that was up on the wall in the store. There's a hidden *something* in the picture. I couldn't see it at first, but when I took a picture on my phone and then looked at it again, I got it! Can you see it? Very cool!

Stay tuned for my tips on how to get faster in the pool! Bye for now!

It makes me tougher

2011-11-20T21:02:00.000-08:00

OK, time to dust the cobwebs off the ol' blog! Seems like it's been awhile...

As much as I wanted to deny it's impending arrival, winter has finally arrived in Edmonton, as of last week. Now, everything here looks like this:

Boo! There was of course a storm on Thursday, the day I had to travel to Calgary for work. That drive was not fun! But I made it there safely and was very excited to see my brothers, who came and met me at the hotel for a gym workout and then dinner afterwards. My drive home Friday night was white-knuckle-free, as the roads were clear! Lots of travel for me lately since the week before last I was in Vancouver several days for another work trip/team building stuff.

My long run last Sunday was 2.5 hours, and it was one of those trying workouts that causes you to really have to dig deep and go to the well, both mentally and physically. It wasn't horribly freezing yet (like it was this weekend!), but I probably should have had an extra layer as the wind was fierce! 25km/hr winds when it's just below zero feels really cold! I started off that run not feeling overly great, but just kept pressing on and ended up on some deserted secondary highways north of St. Albert. There is no shelter from the wind out there, and as soon as I turned back around after reaching the 'out' of my out and back, I was hit with a very strong headwind.

This was an excellent workout for me, as it forced me to work on the mental aspect of training and face the pain and suffering head on! It's pushing through these tough moments and workouts that makes you stronger. If it's easy-breezy conditions in training all the time, then you have no experience to deal with those challenging situations and tough times that are undoubtedly going to arise in the race. The last 30min of the 2.5hr were at marathon pace, so I picked it up at that point despite being freezing and into a headwind, and was able to nail my goal marathon pace for those 30min.

If last Sunday's run was a test in mental training, then today counted as a senior level course in mental toughness! Along with the first major snowfall of the season on Thursday came the arctic temperatures! I was originally planning to do a 30-32km run today, but had to adapt the schedule due to the cold. I was contemplating doing an indoor run on the treadmill, but didn't want to run that long inside, so I waited until it 'warmed up' to -18C (-22 with windchill) early this afternoon, then headed out for a goal of 2 hours. Made it through 90min and called it a day. It was freakin' cold! My fingers were switching between the various stages of freezing, numbness, warming (short lived), and freezing again. The wind, when it was in my face, was cold and vicious. I was so glad to get inside after that to thaw out and warm up! I made myself a hamburger and had a scalding hot shower for 20 minutes, which did the trick.

I'm a firm believer that this kind of $h!t makes you tougher. When things get tough in that marathon, I'll think back to these couple of runs and recall how hard they were, and remind myself that I was able to get through those while still feeling strong. Us Canadians living in these cold prairie provinces have access to free mental training in the form of winter running - might as well take advantage!

Marathon change of plans

2011-10-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

My original plan was to run the Las Vegas marathon (Strip @ Night) on Dec. 4. For the first time ever, this year's race starts at 4pm, which would have been pretty cool! But alas, my plans have changed. The trip was just going to be too pricey, as there have been no good sales on flights, and then add in hotel plus food (and food in Vegas is never cheap!). So Geoff came up with a new idea last week, and I am all in...

Instead I'm going to race the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona marathon on January 15, in Phoenix! This will be a lot cheaper as G and I can stay at his parent's house, so we just have to pay for a flight. Also, I will have 6 more weeks to train and prepare! It will be more relaxed being there for the race as it's familiar surroundings (we've been there lots) and we can sleep in our "own" bed and cook all of our food. The only bummer is that I had already gone and registered myself for the Vegas marathon, and they will not transfer my entry or refund any part of it, even though it's the same company (rules are rules!). Oh well, hopefully part of the entry goes to a charity or something and not all into their deep pockets.

In terms of training, my running has been going well. The long run today was 2.5 hours build, about 28km. It was a gorgeous sunny day and I had a super stellar workout. As usual, I started out really easy and did a build, with the last 60 minutes at close to marathon pace (~5:10-5:15/km). I finished feeling strong, and my legs and hips did not feel like they were breaking down, like they did 2 years ago when I was training for that other marathon. Actually back then, my hips and joints would become extremely sore and tight halfway through those long runs. My legs, hips, and core are so much stronger and healthy now than they were back then :)

The afternoon consisted of refueling and couch time (and a 30min walk with H & W), then I dragged myself to a 90min hot yoga session at 5pm. It was hard to go after that long run, but well worth it. Today's class was the hot yin version, so all stretching compared to the usual strengthening one I go to, which was perfect for my needs!

After that workout, some serious food was in order! Lately I have been exploring my culinary horizons, and actually branching out and cooking some different things in the kitchen. It's not like I'm making anything fancy, but compared to what I previously used to do in the kitchen (i.e. not much) this is a miracle. Tonight I made organic burgers [although I didn't make the patties from scratch tonight], pasta with olive oil and lemon pepper/dill seasoning [sorry Julie I don't think I'll ever be able to give up pasta! Haha!], and greens with olive oil/balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum! And not to mention, a glass of malbec to wash it all down:

Mmm, it was good! Geoff and I have been eating burgers a lot lately, they're so good! Last week I actually made the patties myself with extra lean ground beef, an egg, oats, and some oregano and basil - first time ever! Made a rookie mistake though when freezing the 3 leftover patties - I used tinfoil between the patties! Whoops, didn't realize there was a reason this shouldn't be done. I had a heckuva time prying them apart, and peeling off little tiny pieces of tinfoil that got stuck to the frozen burgers! LOL! Live and learn!

I'll leave you with a cute doggie pic where Wylie thought he would use a sleeping Hugo as a chair...

Re-defining hard

2011-10-22T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a busy past few weeks, including lots of work/overtime, and of course lots of running! I've continued my routine of fitting in one hot yoga workout (90min) and one 60 min strength/power workout every week, for the past 6 weeks or so. These sessions have really been aiding to build the strength in my hips and core muscles, and allowing my joints to absorb the miles without breaking down and becoming sore on longer runs. I wish I had known just how beneficial it is a few years ago when I never used to do any strength training at all!

Lately I've been thinking about my perceived running pace vs. actual pace and for some reason my perceived pace generally seems to be a lot faster than my actual pace! I feel like I'm going faster than I actually am. I'm not sure why this is, but I was talking to Geoff about it and he said 'why don't you just try going a bit harder?'. So on my 70min run on Wednesday, I decided to follow his suggestion and 'up' my hard pace. The last 25-30min were supposed to be a build/marathon pace so I decided to just pick it up a little more than I normally would have thought I could handle. What I noticed was that I felt great, and like I was running at a good clip - faster than usual on that kind of a run - although I have no idea what pace that was. All I know was that my heart rate didn't seem to be out of control, and I don't think I was at lactate threshold as I didn't feel that lactic acidy feeling in my legs (I don't train with HR monitor so never know what my HR is at). But it was certainly manageable.

So maybe I just need to push myself a bit more in some of my running workouts, and surprise myself about what paces I am able to handle. The easy, recovery days will still be done at a super slow pace, but on long runs/interval sessions/tempo, etc, it's time for me to raise the bar. I'm 're-defining' hard.

I'll keep that in mind for the duration of 25k tomorrow morning, with the beautiful fall colors in the background. Can't say it enough - I love fall running!

It's that simple

2011-10-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

I love this little diagram that my boss sent me recently - so simple and so very true! I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm already doing!

Not much going on here, other than working a ton, spending time with hubby/friends/family, and enjoying me some fall running! I really do love running at this time of year - beautiful sights and perfect temperatures. Summer arrived to Edmonton in September, we had a bunch of 30C+ days which was awesome. After those couple of races I did a few weeks ago, my focus has since been on running, strength training, and hot yoga. I've been consistently getting in one hot yoga session (90min), a strength/power session (back to one on one training with Body Architects), and 5 runs a week, with 1-2 easy swims. No cycling! Ha!

It seems every year at the end of the race season I end up taking a few months completely off biking. Only got on my bike once in September, and that was for the sprint triathlon. Maybe not the best idea, but some time off is a definite must for me. I'll probably set my bike up on the trainer very soon and start doing 1-2 easy trainer rides a week as recovery. Before next year's triathlons I really need to focus a bit more on cycling, as there is still loads of room for improvement in that discipline. [and of course there's still tons of room for improvement on my run but that is always a work in progress] So starting in December/January, I will plan to do a bit more volume/intensity/focused rides (on the trainer of course as it's cold and snowy here!), and aim to improve my bike times for next year.

But first, back to the work in progress... I heart fall running!

Queen of Hearts crown

2011-09-20T21:53:00.000-07:00

After IMC, I took a nice break which included a week off training and exercising (okay so I did one hot yoga class the Friday after the race) and started back into some strength training and easy running. I took 2 weeks off swimming and didn't bike for 3 weeks. I had planned for a long time to do the Rotary Run 10km on Sept. 11, more to just participate and support the race than to actually 'race', as I've done this event every year since 2006 (the cause is close to my heart). Even better was that my bestie Bonnie and her sister Becky came out to do the 5km race, which was their first race ever!

The Rotary Run turned out pretty awesome! I ended up running a PB for the 10km, just under 45min (44:59 to be exact), so only a few seconds but a PB is a PB! As I had taken a week off running and hadn't done any speedwork at all, I was definitely happy with that! I was surprised my legs came around and I actually felt really good out there. I ended up placing 3rd female O/A in the 10k and won a Timex watch for that, so that was cool! Also, Bonnie and Becky did great in their 5km and were even talking about a 1/2 marathon next year (Vegas?) - haha!

During the week after the 10km I decided to get back in the pool for a couple easy swims, and did some strength and some easy runs. My mother in law, Deborah, kept pushing me to come and race the women's-only sprint triathlon in Barrhead on Sept. 17, so finally the day before I decided to sign myself up. My bike had been sitting there for 3 weeks since Ironman, unridden, but hey - my race wheels were still on it so it was all ready to go. And I had even done 2 swims that week, so why not jump into the Queen of Hearts triathlon?

Deb and I had a blast at the race! It was super fun doing a women's-only event, and it was a well organized race and great course. The distances were a 750m pool swim, 20km bike, and 6.2km run.

We both ended up having great races, with Deb placing 2nd overall and me taking the overall win! They even had the mayor doing the medal presentations...

On our way back to St. Albert, we stopped at the Hudderite colony and picked up some fresh produce, jams, and baked goods. Yum!

I'm so glad I was able to squeeze in another tri for the season - almost forgot how much I like sprint races! Now it's time to enjoy this second summer we're so fortunate to be having, and get back into a fall run focus. Depending on how things go, I may even do a 1/2 marathon on Thanksgiving weekend.

Happy training!

Ironman Canada 2011 - 'Quitting is not an option'

2011-09-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, so Ironman Canada did not go exactly as I had envisioned. But then again, when does an Ironman ever go as expected? It's such a long crazy distance, anything can happen, and anything is possible.

Race morning started with a 4:20am alarm wake up call, and we were out the door at 5am for our 30min drive into Penticton. It was an absolutely beautiful day, cloudless sky and forecasted high temps in the mid-30's. Geoff and Bonnie dropped me off at the race site and went to find parking, and I did all the usual morning pre-race stuff (body marking, set up transition, etc). I put my wetsuit on early and made my way down to the lake and into the water about 30mins before the 7am start, to ensure I would have a good starting spot. I swam around a bit, chatted with a few people I knew, and watched the pros go off at 6:45am. Then I lined up front and centre and prepared myself for the long day ahead!

I had been a bit worried about the mass start of 2800 people, but it was not as rough as I was expecting, and other than a few guys swimming into me, I was not punched/kicked/pulled under etc! The first 400m or so were chaotic as there were still lots of people around me, but a while later, everyone started to fall off the pace, and I had clear water pretty soon. I kept the swim pretty controlled and was feeling good.

After the 2nd turn buoy on the far end of the course, I was leading a pack of swimmers, and we continued this way all the way to the swim exit (although one guy sprinted ahead of me and exited the water before me).

Me leading this pack in just before the fnish...

Swim: 55:28

The swim was a little slow for me, as I had been expecting to swim about 3 minutes faster. I think I either swam a couple hundred meters extra, or the course may have been a little long (fastest male pro time was 50 min, so it may have been). Either way, it doesn't matter.

I was 2nd female out of the water (some super swimmer chick swam 51 mins!), had a quick transition where the wonderful volunteers slopped some extra sunscreen onto my arms/shoulders, and headed out onto the bike course for a beautiful 180km ride!

Bike: 5:53
To sum up, the bike course was freakin' challenging! Heat, hills, and headwind galore. I was riding really well in the first section, where we had a bit of a tailwind for the first 40 or so km, and passed the lead swimmer about 10-15km in, then was passed by another female shortly after. Another girl passed me around 45-50km in, and i kept her in my sights for a while. I was feeling pretty great for the first 60km of the bike. I had no speed or distance feedback, just time of day, as my computer was not working (and I did not wear a watch), so I had no idea how fast I was going. It was good that there were mile markers in various places so I had an idea of how far along I was.

The first big challenge of the day came just after we rode through Osoyoos and hit the Richter pass climb, which is an 11km climb at around 70km in. That is one tough climb and there are absolutely no hills around where I live that would come even close to preparing you for that. It was really heating up outside at this time and I could feel the heat radiating during this climb and my legs were feeling the climb! I made it up to the top, and saw Wade Church with a big cheering crew at the top so I gave a big smile and wave and continued on my merry way.

After that, we were treated to some lovely headwinds and some more crazy hills (i.e. the section that everyone calls the "Rollers" - however, my definition of rollers before this race was a lot different than these so i wasn't expecting them to be as long/steep/hard as they were!). I felt like I was going nowhere, and kept looking down to see if my brakes were rubbing - that's exactly how it felt. After about 90-100km, I was still riding in 3rd female overall and wondering where the heck everyone was. I felt like I was going soooo slow and then figured perhaps maybe other people were having a tough time too. But a woman went by me shortly after that, and then more kept going by for the remainder of the ride. I started to really struggle from this point on in the bike. The hills, the heat, and the headwind were really getting to me and sucking the life out of me. I kept thinking that we should definitely have a tailwind on the back section and as each bend we rounded brought us to yet more headwind, I became frustrated and discouraged at the conditions - which is not a good thing as they are completely outside of our control. I realized after about 100-120km that I had to throw my time and placing goals out the window and instead just focus on the task at hand: getting through the rest of the bike in one piece and then running a marathon.

Just past 120km, after hearing a mysterious rattling noise on my bike for some time (thinking it was just my water bottle cage), a screw suddenly flew off my bike and bounced on the road behind me. I had no idea what it was or where it came from and had a brief thought that I should maybe stop and go back and get it, but I just kept going. I was a little worried when thinking about the remaining downhill sections in the race, and thoughts of my bike coming apart and me going flying off it while going 70km/hr downhill flashed through my mind. But, nothing happened and everything was fine. And I still don't know where that screw came from (?).

The rest of the bike was extremely tough - I felt like I was going super slow, everything hurt, and the hills kept coming! Yellow Lake (2nd biggest climb) happened around 145km and the crowds cheering there were super awesome! They really helped me get over that hill (mountain?). That climb was actually not quite as hard as I had been anticipating, as I had heard many people talk about how hard it was. Once back in Penticton, the last stretch of the bike along Main street was of course into a headwind, and i just wanted to be off my bike. I dismounted at the line, started running with my bike, and before I knew what was happening, my bike started going the other way and I totally bailed, landing hard on my right knee/ankle, my left calf hitting the big chain ring.

Just before the dismount line - my little spill happened a mere moment after this picture was taken!

I stood up, collected myself and picked my bike up off the ground, and started running again. I think I was more embarrassed than hurt. I handed my bike off to a volunteer and ran to the change tent, where I sat down for a few minutes and tried to get my $h!t together while I was treated to 2 lovely volunteers helping me. The volunteers in the change tent are so incredibly helpful and kind, I just wanted to stay in there all day!

war wounds:

Run (*walk*) - 5:40
As I headed out onto the run course, I didn't feel too bad, but unfortunately this lasted only minutes. I definitely went to some dark places mentally during that run. My legs/back were feeling dead and aching, I was having trouble breathing, and feeling as though I might faint. The stomach cramps started a little later on. I saw Geoff and Bonnie 1 mile in, and just stopped and went over to them. I became emotional and kept saying "I can't do this, I'm feeling so awful. How can I possibly run 25 more miles feeling like this?" I couldn't fathom doing 25 more miles in that state. I was seriously contemplating just dropping out right there. Bonnie was awesome, saying "You're doing so great, you can do it!", and Geoff was practical and said "See if you can just try walking to the next aid station, and then see how you feel and see if you can keep going". So on I went.

And I just kept going and going. Mostly walking, but occasionally running, and feeling oh so terrible the whole time. It was tough. I started chatting with a young age group guy who was also walking around 7km in, he had had a great bike but was having a really tough time on the run as well, but he was very cheerful. Something he said just clicked with me, and helped to change my attitude. He said something like, "We still have all the way until midnight to finish this, so we could walk the whole thing and still finish!" Then I realized that he was completely right, and I resolved to stop being a baby, to stop dwelling on how much pain I was in, and start focusing on getting this thing done, even if I had to walk the whole darn thing. After that thoughts of dropping out didn't cross my mind again, instead I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and getting myself further and further on. The rare times when I was actually running, I was running really well, but unfortunately these stretches were few and far between. I stopped a few times to stretch along the way, my muscles and body completely aching and hurting, and with about 7km to go I stopped at an aid station and had to just sit down on the curb for a few minutes to collect myself. But I got up again and made it through the next few miles, and suddenly I was on that last out and back stretch where you get to run the last mile along the shoreline with cheering crowds on either side of you.

Struggling along during the marathon:

The final stretch - you kinda have to run this part with all those crowds cheering for you, no walking allowed no matter how much pain you're in!

Finally, I saw the finishing chute and was actually pleasantly surprised to see 12:37 on the clock. Without a watch on, i felt like I was going soooo slow on the run (I mean walk) that I anticipated my finishing time was going to be at least an hour slower than it was. I felt like I was out on that run course FOREVER. I stopped caring during the run about how slow my time was going to be and about my placing, I was simply focused on finishing what I started and getting to that finish line. I was incredibly happy to cross the finish line after such a hard day!

So that was my 2nd Ironman. This really is a spectacular event, with an extremely challenging course, awesome volunteers, and fantastic crowd support. While I'm not proud of my time, or my place, what I am proud of is the fact that I made myself keep going and finished it off, when I really just wanted to quit because I was feeling so bad. And that is why I'm not disappointed with my race! I know I can go a lot faster and do a lot better than that, so this experience has lit a fire of motivation within - I've got some unfinished business with this ironman thing!

Geoff, half of my race sherpa extraordinaire team (Bonnie made up the other half!), took care of driving the whole way to Penticton and the whole way home.

Now the off-season is upon me and I'm still in the mood to race! It's now time to focus on strength/hot yoga, and fall running, which I love! Perhaps there will be some fall running races on the schedule for me...

Ready to Race

2011-08-27T16:17:00.000-07:00

So it's less than 24 hours to go now before Ironman Canada starts tomorrow - wow! We arrived in Penticton late Thursday afternoon (Geoff, my bestie Bonnie, and I), then drove 30 minutes up the crazy-steep, winding Green Mountain Road that leads to Apex mountain, where our quaint little condo is. It is so quiet and deserted up here, and very nice to be away from all the chaos and gong show that goes on around the race site! Here is the view from our window:

There's a bunch of cows that seem to just wander around freely up here, kinda funny as we see them walking by every morning, just grazing on grass.

Bonnie and I before heading down to the race site this morning to drop gear/bike off. Bonnie and Geoff have been great support and will be my cheering squad tomorrow!

My race machine, all ready to go (sans working computer - unfortunately my bike computer stopped working the other day and despite changing the batteries and fiddling around a bit, can't seem to get it working. Will have no speed/cadence/distance, but oh well...).

Organizing all the gear bags is like a sport all on its own! Swim to bike bag, bike to run bag, bike special needs bag, etc, etc, etc! Think I got everything...

Anyway, I'm number 2471, and racing in W30-34 category if you are tracking online at http://www.ironman.com/ .
Good luck to all my friends and blog/twitter peeps racing tomorrow!

Feeling great, and ready to tackle the challenge tomorrow of 3.8km swim/180km bike/42.2km run in the heat of the Okanagan. Bring it on!!

Who stole my tailwind?

2011-08-21T21:32:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that IMC is only 1 week away! The time has really flown by since I signed up for the race; of course, it has only been about 7 weeks, but still! Today was my last 'long' ride, which ended up being around 80km, with a short 20 min run off the bike. Funny that 80km is not considered a long ride anymore - but it certainly was before for me!

I didn't want to jinx it by saying something earlier, but now that all the long biking is done I can say it - the weather has been gorgeous for all my long rides on the weekends! There was only 1 day that I had to do a long ride on the trainer (3 hours), and that was the very first weekend of my IM training in July. All the other days have been warm and sunny, and I feel very fortunate and lucky for that, as you never know what you're gonna get here in Alberta in the summer.

Today's ride ended up being on the most beautiful day this summer has seen - we reached 30C today for the first time since May 2010! Today was so spectacular it nearly makes up for all those rainy and mosquito-infested days we have endured this spring/summer! It was not without its wind, though, as the first 40km of my ride ended up being in a wicked tailwind, which meant the whole 40km back was a fierce headwind! It was very challenging with the wind and heat, but another good opportunity to toughen up! All my usual riding buddies were either away or racing today (as well as last weekend) so I was on my own today, just me and my I-pod!

This is one of my favorite roads for cycling: basically a 14km stretch of quiet road, where you normally only see a couple of cars go by. It takes about 30km to get to this road, but it's worth it...

Enjoying the sunshine and heat on my solo ride!

Overall I've been feeling pretty good mentally and physically, but occasionally a thought will creep into my mind, like 'How am I going to get through 180km on the bike and THEN run a marathon', but I just push those thoughts away and be confident in my preparations. Doubt and worry - the party's over, there's no room for you here! It's undoubtedly going to be a long, tough day out there but I plan to enjoy the day and the experience and give it all that I have. Anything can happen on the day so you have to be prepared to adapt to and deal with whatever obstacles arise, and just keep pressing on.

Leaving on Wednesday...will update from Penticton!

What are u gonna do when it starts to get hard?

2011-08-07T20:54:00.000-07:00

In terms of long course racing, the question is not 'What if it gets hard', but rather 'What are you gonna do WHEN it gets hard', because it undoubtedly will at some point. We have to prepare ourselves physically and mentally for that point when the pain really shows up and how best to deal with it. When the pain comes knocking, what are you going to do? I'm going to open the door, shake his hand, and invite him in for a drink. Last weekend, I got a good lesson in dealing with managing pain and fatigue during my brick on Saturday, where I had one really tough workout.

I struggled through the whole 110km bike ride, and was uncomfortable even from the beginning. I was experiencing major discomfort with my saddle, my legs felt like they had nothing, and it was just tough overall. Probably the fact that I swam 4400m that morning before the ride may have also contributed to my fatigued state out on the bike. Luckily, it was a perfectly gorgeous day and I had company for 90km in the form of Larry from my swim group and we rode a beautiful route, which helped a lot! But it was one of those workouts where you struggle to turn over the pedals and the legs feel completely fatigued/lactic acidy, and everything else hurts. It was good practice for the mental game, as I focused on trying to keep a positive mindset and kept telling myself that the race isn't going to be easy and that this will toughen me up. I was supposed to run 40 min off the bike but Geoff was home when I got back and instructed me to just do 20 min. The first 15 were a struggle, but in the last 5 mins my legs magically appeared and I started feeling great! Funny how that can happen.

Those tough training days where you really struggle can challenge you mentally but they serve a really great purpose - they toughen me the F#$K up! There's no place for whining or complaining, and I find it really helps to keep telling myself to 'just deal with it, you will get through it'. There are going to be rough patches and there are going to be good patches, it's all about how you're going to manage those rough patches and not let them get to you mentally.

My 2:15 long run the day after that challenging brick went surprisingly well, as my legs came around and didn't feel fatigued at all. And this past week of training was also good, although as of right now (Sunday evening), I'm pretty smashed! Here were the highlights of the week's training: Wednesday evening I had some hill repeats to do on the bike, 5x up the Villeneuve hill (about 2km long), so my solo ride totalled 60km/2 hrs.

I was able to grab a pic of the sun going down after my last hill interval - it was a perfect evening with a near cloudless sky:

Yesterday was a big training day, consisting of a 152km ride and 30min t-run, which turned out to be about a 5hr20min workout. Here is some of the nutrition that I brought along (in addition to my bottles of fluids):

Larry again provided me company for 100km of that ride, which was great! It was a super windy day yesterday, but the sun came out just before I started my workout, and stayed out for the entire ride/run! I rode out to Morinville (about 20km), where I met Larry, and then we rode the Tour D'Alberta 100km route - which is an awesome route. Who knew there were all these great roads north of St. Albert? I'm totally enjoying discovering new roads by bike this year! We stopped for a bathroom break in Legal (about 70km in for me), which is a cute little French community:

And then we stopped again in Gibbons at the Mac's (about 95km in), where I knocked back a Coke and some peanut butter M&M's, and grabbed a new water into which I threw a Nuun tablet. Maybe that wasn't the best idea (too much Coke for me?), as I went through a bit of a stomach-ache shortly after that and then around 125km I had some weird major stomach cramping issues that lasted for like 10-15km. I probably should have also not added the Nuun to the water, and just drank plain water instead. But it was just a rough patch, as I was able to get through it and make it back home okay and didn't have those kind of problems in the run. In fact, my entire 30min run felt awesome! Somehow my legs felt fresh and light and I was able to finish that run feeling strong.

Which was a bit of a different story from this morning. It was already 5:30pm yesterday by the time I finished my brick, so I probably didn't leave quite enough recovery time in between that and the long run today, which I started at 10am. My legs were really fatigued and my quads/hips were quite sore even at the beginning, and worse by the time Kendall and I made it through 2 hours. And now they're really sore! I was so tired this afternoon that I had to lie down and have a 30min nap (I rarely nap), with a long swim still on the schedule. Alice came with me though and we swam 3800m (long course), nothing fast at all - just easy/steady pace. I am so glad for a recovery day tomorrow (will just do some core/strength), and a drop-down week! The legs and body definitely need that right now.

Only 3 weeks to go till race day!

Tour D'Alberta

2011-07-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a huge training weekend for me, both in terms of volume and my longest ride ever! Saturday morning I recruited Alice to come with me to the pool at 8:30am for a 4km swim. Here's what we did:

-warm up: 2 x {200 swim, 200 drill/sw, 200 pull

-5 x 100 as 25 kick/50 swim/25kick

-2 x 1000 broken: {as: 200 pull on :30rest

4 x 100 IM on :20rest

2 x 200 free ez on 3:15

-300 cooldown

In the afternoon, after some food and dog walking, I headed out for a 2 hour run. It was my first run in brand new shoes (same kind as before - Saucony Kinvara), so it felt fabulous! The first few times I run in new shoes they always feel awesome, and I really noticed the difference between the pair I was previously wearing. My old pair really felt worn out, even though they were brand new at the beginning of May! They have been through 2 half-ironmans, I guess. It does get pricey switching shoes every 2.5-3 months but it's necessary! The lightweight shoes seem to wear down faster, but I won't wear anything but.

I had to be up at 5:45am on Sunday morning as the 185km route for the Tour D'Alberta started at 7am sharp in Morinville, so it was early to bed for me on Saturday night.

I woke up to a beautiful sunny day and as it turned out, we couldn't have asked for better weather! Wow - what a gorgeous day it was. I was so glad as it would have been a lot less fun to ride 185km in rain and/or cold. The route started in Morinville, then went through St. Albert to Villeneuve, then through Westlock, through Legal, and finally back to St. Albert. There were 7 rest stops/aid stations and I ended up skipping about 2 of them, and the stops were mostly about 20-30km apart. The whole event was fantastic! The volunteers were amazing, the route was well marked, the aid stations were stocked with a variety of stuff, including trail mix, chips, gummy candy, fruit, bars, etc. The stop in Westlock was a lunch stop so they had sandwiches/cookies etc in addition to the other stuff.

The ride for me went great and I actually felt strong throughout the day, and the weird thing was that I felt like I was getting stronger as the day progressed and I remember feeling amazing by the time 165-170km rolled around. There were no clouds in the sky, a slight wind, and comfortable temperature of about 23C, and the scenery was beautiful, so I really enjoyed myself out there and was happy with how the ride went. I even had a riding buddy the whole time whom I had just met out there. Chris and I started riding together about 30km in, and we were going much the same pace, so we continued on the rest of the 185km. We had 2 other guys with us through St. Albert and Villeneuve, but they dropped off the pace just before Westlock so our 'team' became just two for the remaining 80 or so km. Didn't get a chance at the end of the event to thank Chris for the company so I will thank him here! Our ride time ended up being around 5:51, so a pretty decent pace, and of course that didn't include the aid station stops, which probably added another 30 mins. The last 10km stretch to Morinville happened to be in a headwind so we just pressed on through it and finished off that monster ride! It was definitely tough but the day was so beautiful and I was in a really positive headspace, so I honestly didn't even notice.

I saw a few peeps from STARRT at the end of the ride (those who had done the 100km route), so it was great to catch up with them and share our experiences. There was also a fabulous lunch provided, and it was one of the best post-race meals I've ever had (not that it was a race). They even had pina colada popsicles!

Can't believe it is Thursday tomorrow already! I was up at the crack of dawn on Monday morning for a 7:40am flight to Vancouver for work and back last night, so Mon/Tues went by fast. This weekend means we're only 4 weeks away from race day - it's creeping up on us!

How to train for an Ironman in 7 weeks

2011-07-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not too sure actually, ask Geoff - he's taking care of all my training plans. And so far, things are going great! Only 6 weeks to go. After GWN, I enjoyed an easy recovery week and ended up with a 3 hour trainer ride to do the following Saturday, due to the miserable weather we were having. To be honest, it wasn't bad at all! I just put on the Sex & the City movie, which is nearly 2.5 hours long, so the time passed quite quickly.

Last week was a focused running week, which meant runs on Tues/Wed/Thurs/Sat/Sun. My legs felt pretty junky during the week but I had a massage on Friday (most painful one ever!), which did wonders for my weekend workouts. It certainly was a big training weekend, and included a 4 hour ride/30 min on Saturday, and a 1:40 run and 3800m swim on Sunday. The bike ride on Saturday actually went pretty awesome. Larry rode with me for the first 100km so I was very grateful for the company! The first half of the ride was grey skies and slightly cooler temperatures, but as soon as we turned around, the skies cleared and we had beautiful hot sun for the remainder of the ride - which was so enjoyable! I made a couple changes to my position last week, which included lowering my seat a notch and tilting the saddle slightly downwards. I felt really strong and powerful on that 120km ride and also much more comfortable. My neck didn't get as sore as it normally gets, and my legs felt great. I know it's a given that there's going to be a lot of discomfort during 180km in the race, but I'm really glad to have experienced those improvements from making just a few small adjustments.

My run yesterday was hot hot hot!! I loved it. However, I was off to quite a late start, having been out super late the night before with my friends and siblings, as BFF Jadeen was visiting and we had a fun night out planned! So I didn't get my lazy @$$ out the door till 1pm, but my legs actually felt really good despite the long workout the day before, and I ended up having a really strong run workout. After stretching, cooling off, and refueling, I headed to the pool around 5pm for a solo 3800m easy swim. I tried to recruit big sis Alice to swim with me but she was tired after winning her age group and getting 3rd overall at the Wetaskiwin triathlon that morning - stellar race! She is going to do my other long swims with me though for the next 4 weeks, on Saturday mornings. Probably not the best idea to jump immediately from doing a maximum of 2200-2400m this entire year all the way up to 3800, but it worked out just fine and I'll continue to do one long swim a week, between 4-5km.

Today was a recovery day! I did a strength/core workout at home for 45 min, caught up on some laundry, and am now watching the Bachelorette with Alice. And I even had time for a self pedicure - you can barely even tell that I am missing nearly 4 toenails on these feet! My apologies that a shot of my feet is the only pic for this post...

Next weekend I'm riding in the Tour D'Alberta, which will be a 185km supported ride on Sunday. It will be a wonderful opportunity to get used to being on the bike for that long and to practice the nutrition piece and hopefully get that dialled in. Looking forward to it, as some of the STARRT members will be riding as well (most in the 100km option). Let's hope for some hot sunny weather!

GWN 2011 - when things don't go as planned

2011-07-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

So, my race on Sunday definitely did not go according to plan! But it's all about adapting and the thing about triathlon racing is that sometimes (mid-race) you have to re-group and adapt to/deal with whatever challenges are thrown your way, all the while making sure to keep your mind and head in a good place. I got some really good practice at this on Sunday!

The week leading up to the race was a good taper, I went into the race feeling like I was in pretty great shape and with high confidence that I was going to race fast! Race morning arrived with a 5:30am wake up call. One of the (many) great things about GWN is the fact that I get to sleep in my own bed! And waking up at 5:30 ain't so bad...

Stephen and I made our way to the lake and arrived with just over an hour until the 8am start. I got everything set up pretty quickly and chatted to a few friends, leaving a bit of time to wander into the water and swim a couple strokes. I was feeling ready and fired up to race by the time we made our way to the start line.

Swim - 27:00 (2nd female)
-The start went pretty well for me and I was lucky not to experience any pushing or shoving from the men around me. I got some clear water right off the start, with several guys just ahead. I tried to sit at their feet/hips to get a draft, while keeping an eye on the yellow caps (females) around me and making sure that none were ahead of me. After the second buoy, I went around the guy I was drafting and swam the next little bit with clear water in front of me - just the way I like it! Second loop was tough, I was redlining all throughout the swim and was aware that there was a yellow cap only about 5-10 seconds behind me, who seemed to be gaining on me. Yikes!! I was swimming scared! With about 200m to go, she caught up and we were swimming neck and neck, and I was basically sprinting (if you can even call what I was doing sprinting at the end of a 2km swim!). As we came toward the beach, we both stood up at the same time....

And then I stumbled as I stood up and she got me at the line by 1 second! D'oh! So I missed the swim prime. And know now that it's time to practice my exit a little bit more! I was still pretty happy with my swim, and thinking to myself that if I had the race I was capable of, there was a chance I could make the top 5 overall in the race. My swim time ended up being 10 seconds off my 2009 PB there.

Bike - 2:58
-I was onto my bike first woman and powered up the little hill right out of transition. Once I turned the first corner, i was powering along pretty good and feeling strong. All of a sudden, and all of 8 minutes into my bike ride, I heard this crunching and crackling noise as I found myself riding through a pile of broken glass, which I regrettably did not see ahead of time, and BOOM! I had a tire puncture. Somehow, I managed to switch into a much lower gear as I was slowing to a stop (I was in the biggest gear possible when I hit the glass), as I was thinking about when I would start biking again, and didn't want to be in my biggest gear. Don't ask me how this came to mind! I guess it's good to be always thinking ahead!

So I got off my bike and discovered it was the rear wheel that was completely flat. I got to work on removing it, and proceeded to remove the tire, and the tube, and changed it in pretty good time (for me!), managing to keep relaxed, composed, and in good spirits. Everything went really smoothly and I had no problems at all with my CO2 cartridge. Yay! However, I did check the tire and to my dismay, I saw a huge gash/hole in it, but was hopeful that maybe there was a chance I can still ride on it and would be okay. When I got back on my bike, I think I had only been on the side of the road for 12 minutes, so I was pretty darn proud of myself for that! As I got rolling, it was only a few seconds before I heard PHEWWWWW, and the wheel was flat again. I got off my bike and checked it, and saw the shredded tire and then knew I was in trouble, as the tire was completely unusable and I had no tubes left. By the way, I should note that this was the FIRST time in all my entire 9 years of racing triathlons that I have EVER had a flat in a race - and now I had two! Well, I guess I got that out of the way now...

I wasn't really sure what to do, so I just started walking with my bike towards the lake, while the whole field whizzed by. A motorcycle eventually went by and I was able to flag them down - they turned around and I asked if there was a tech support vehicle. They were able to call one that was still at the lake, and 5-10 minutes later, the support vehicle arrived and saved the day! I would like to say a shout-out and huge thank you to Tom from Way Past Fast, as he provided a new tire/tube, and helped me to change it. I'm really grateful and lucky to have had the opportunity to be able to get back on my bike and finish the race. I also sent him a thank you/appreciation note.

By the time I was back on my bike, I had been at the side of the road for nearly 30 minutes. I thought to myself, if Mirinda Carfrae can do it [2 flats and losing 20 mins at IM New Zealand and still salvaged a good race], so can I! Once I got going again, I was riding like I was possessed and proceeded to ride through as many people as possible! It is certainly a much different dynamic not starting the bike out at the front. Normally I know exactly where I am in the race, and what place I am in when people pass me on the bike. So this was fun for me - focusing on passing as many people as possible, and not getting passed once after my lengthy stop. My computer didn't work anymore after the multiple flats, and I don't wear a watch, so the rest of the ride was done by feel.

Run - 1:48
The run turned out awesome for me! I didn't feel very good the first couple of km's, but settled into a good rhythm and pace after that, and started feeling great for the rest of the half marathon. I felt like I was flying along, smooth/light/fast, and felt like I was able to keep my pace consistent without slowing down. And I didn't walk at all, apart from an aid station where I walked a few seconds in order to drink a full cup of coke, as I had been continually spilling half of each cup down the front of my jersey! So to sum up, this was the first half ironman in my life where I:
a) didn't feel the need to walk, b) didn't blow up, c) didn't feel like crap, d) was able to pick up the pace the last km and finish strong, and e) passed a lot of people in the run!

Based on how amazing I felt, I was actually quite surprised at my time of 1:48, because although it is a PB by a couple minutes, I honestly felt like I was running way faster than that, like for sure sub-1:45. I don't understand how that works? You're feeling amazing and fast and smooth and don't have to walk, and then your time doesn't reflect it. Maybe I should have worn a watch. Anyway, no use wondering about it; the things to focus on were the positive points a-e that I mentioned above.

Final time: 5:14.02 (17th in age group)

I'm so glad I was able to complete the race despite the tire issues, and feel like I salvaged a decent race. It was so wonderful seeing and cheering for so many friends and new faces out there on the course and at the race dinner. This is what racing is all about. The atmosphere out there was electric as always and huge kudos goes out to Wade for hosting such a spectacular race for 20 amazing years. I was quite saddened to hear he is stepping down as race director but it sounds like his new protege will be able to carry on the legacy that Wade has created.

Onto other news - one of my goals leading into this race was to qualify for Ironman Canada 2011. When I was on the side of the road dealing with the flat tire, the thought crossed my mind that I would likely no longer be able to get my spot. But - I DID get a spot at the awards dinner and so happy to announce that my next race will be IM Canada on Aug. 28! Yes, time is tight for training, but I love a good challenge! I'm excited to do some longer stuff and to get out there and race on the beautiful course next month.

Sorry- no pics whatsoever of GWN race so i will leave you instead with these wonderful words of wisdom:

Gearing up for GWN

2011-07-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Canada Day!

Can't believe it is this time of year again - Great White North is this Sunday! I just arrived home from the pre-race carbo load dinner, and really enjoyed catching up with so many friends and familiar faces. This is hands-down my favorite race, and Sunday will be my 4th time racing here (also raced 2004, 2009, 2010). The organization is always flawless, it's a super competitive race - but at the same time it's got that 'local' feel, and so it's no wonder that 2011 is the 20th anniversary! I love love love this race and I'm so excited to get out there and go as hard as I can on Sunday!

Training the past couple of weeks has been consistent, with some hard run interval sessions, lots of trainer rides, a couple strength workouts, and some solid swims. I made it out to Hubbles lake again on Wednesday evening, and swam just 1 loop of the course, which went well. The water had warmed up even more and wasn't chilly in the least. It looks like it is going to be gorgeous weather for the race, 26C and sunny is the forecast so that means hot! I'm sure the run will be a scorcher but I plan to enjoy it :)

Today Stephen and I did a really easy 20 minute run, and I also took my bike out this morning for an easy 20km to make sure the bike and race wheels are running smoothly. Now it's feet up time, and tomorrow mostly resting and taking care of some last-minute details such as dropping our bikes off at the race site and getting gear/race nutrition organized. And then the 5:30am wake up call on Sunday will be here before we know it!

Here are a few pics taken from the underwater camera during Hawaii trip:

At Waikoloa beach on our last day in Hawaii, playing around; the water was a little cloudy that day:

Giant sea turtles at Waikoloa beach - so close you could touch them (but you're not allowed to touch them, it's the law):

The view at the bottom during the snorkeling adventure :

Waikoloa beach:

Swimming deep on our snorkeling adventure:

We saw this pod of dolphins while on the boat on our way to our snorkeling adventure - such beautiful creatures and fantastic swimmers! They swam along with the boat for quite a while, which was an amazing sight, to say the least.

Back home and back at it

2011-06-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

I've been back from my holiday for over a week now and back to the daily grind. We took the red eye flight home from Hawaii, my first one ever (and last?) - left Kona at 9pm on Friday, arrived in San Fran at 5am (local time), 3 hour layover there, then made it back to Edmonton at 12pm on Saturday. Somehow I managed to sleep sitting upright in the cramped seat for most of the completely full 5 hour flight to SF, which made the time go fast! Same thing for the next flight, which surprises me as I've never been one to sleep on planes.

Not too much exciting going on here. Training this week has been good, although the weather here has been anything but. I did 4 bike workouts this week, none of which were outside, so that meant nearly 6 hours on the trainer - including a 2.5 hour ride yesterday. But it turned out great. I had a strong workout and felt good on my 30 min transition run off the bike. Wednesday I made my way over to Stony Plain with Larry and Dave, for my first lake swim of 2011 in Alberta (I did another lake swim in April which was actually the race in Phoenix), second time in the wetsuit! I was expecting the water to be ridiculously cold, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was quite manageable, I would venture to guess about 18-19C. However, lake swimming in Alberta after swimming in the beautiful waters of Hapuna Bay in Hawaii for 10 days is probably not unlike swimming in a cesspool. Hubbles lake is dark and scary, and whenever I swim in it I try not to look down. It's not like you can see anything past your hands, but still... I can't help but wonder what is down there and sometimes my imagination gets the better of me. Anyway, the swim went well and we did 2 x 1km loops and that was plenty. I'd like to get in at least 2 more lake swims prior to the GWN race on July 3.

Thursday's run workout was extremely tough and I went to the well during that one! It was a 50 min tready run, with warm up then 3 x 8 min tempo with 90 sec easy between. Man those were killer! I kept it at 7 min/mile pace for the whole set and the sweat was just pouring off me. It was a super hard workout and I will be revisiting that one mentally for inspiration when things get tough at GWN!

Here's a few pics of some scenery from the Big Island:

Took this one from the car while driving across a bridge on our way to Akaka Falls, near Hilo - the view's not so bad here!

At Akaka Falls national park - the waterfall is amazing:

Stunningly spectacular...

It's a BIG drop from here:

Driving by the lava fields:

Volcanoes! Very cool place to visit...

If you look closely, you can see the mini-smoke plumes coming out of the surface. Wow!

Beautiful trail that leads all the way down to the bottom:

That's it for now. Another focused week, then taper, then it's race time again! Happy training!

Hawaii 70.3 - the details

2011-06-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

I have been enjoying myself so much on vacation in Hawaii that I haven't even had time to post an update about the race yet. So, here it is!

Race morning arrived quickly with a 4:30am wake up call. I slept really well and wasn't really at all tired in the morning, just fired up and ready to race. I ate my usual breakfast which included a bagel with one side peanut butter/one side jam, a glass of milk/a glass of juice, and poured myself a cup of coffee but sadly only got to drink a few sips before had to hit the road! The traffic wasn't too bad coming into the Hapuna beach entrance, and we arrived at transition with more than enough time to spare, nearly 90 minutes. Geoff dropped off Stephen and I, then went to park the car. Bikes were checked in the night before, so we didn't have to worry about that. I got everything organized on my bike fairly quickly, tires pumped up, and a few moments later had an "OH, $H!T" moment when I realized I had left my tri shorts back at our house! You see, I was wearing my bathing suit, and had planned to swim in that and throw on the tri shorts in T1 for the bike, because let's face it - who the hell in their right mind would do a 1/2 ironman in only a bathing suit. OUCH!

I was preparing myself for a very long and painful 90km ride wearing only a bathing suit when I suddenly saw Geoff, who kindly volunteered to drive back to our resort and pick up my tri shorts. A big Mahalo goes to Geoff, who chauffered us around to the race, helped out with equipment, and spectated on a very hot day, and not to mention drove all the way back to our condo and back to get those damn tri shorts, with enough time for them to be placed on my bike! Phew - disaster averted!

Race start was 7am sharp, so I got in a few minutes early to swim a few strokes, which was the entire extent of my warm up. Stephen and I then swam over to the race start, which looked ridiculously crazy with the 1500 or so athletes assembling themselves for the mass start. It ended up being a disorganized mess, with about 50-100 swimmers well past the start line, and several announcements being made for everyone to 'move the hell back or we're not starting this race'. I moved myself back to the proper start line and assumed the other massive group would as well. I wanted to play it fair and not cheat by starting far forward of the actual start line. Apparently this was my first mistake in the swim. The announcer kept telling everyone to get back or they wouldn't start the race. All of a sudden the cannon blew! Race was underway!

-Swim: 29:06 (3rd age group, 7th female overall)
The swim was pretty rough, and it took me quite a while to get some clear water. I ended up swimming a terrible line to the first buoy, as there was a surprising number of swimmers around me and ahead of me. I'm pretty sure this was partly due to the head start that massive group got. Whatever, I'm not going to dwell on that any longer. Anyway, my swim didn't go very great and I was shocked to see 29 mins on the clock as I really should have been about 2 minutes faster than that, and at least 5-6 female placings higher! I was swimming phenomenally going into the race and expected much more of myself than that. The other annoying thing was that apparently a large number of the field (notably all the women ahead of me in the swim) were wearing swimskins/speedsuits. That's all I'm going to say on that topic... Anyway, I was pretty disappointed overall in my swim and will plan to redeem myself at the GWN!

(Photo credit for some of these pics goes to FinisherPix - thank you for those!)

Have no idea who this guy is, but that's me in the pink cap and that darn bathing suit...

-Bike: 2:38 (not sure of the placing overall, but was off the bike in 8th female overall, 1st age group)
My transition was pretty seamless and I was onto my bike in good time, tri shorts and all! I honestly did not feel great for about the first 5-10 miles. It was cooking out there, there were lots of little hills, and my legs didn't feel like they were showing up to the party. So I focused on being in the moment, told myself to just ride within myself and keep pushing, and kept repeating to myself 'smooth pedal strokes, smooth turnover', and just sipped my drink from my aero water bottle. However, after about 10 miles, I suddenly started feeling powerful, strong, and just great overall. After that, I had a fabulous ride! I really enjoyed the bike course, it was actually quite challenging with lots of rolling terrain and gradual climbs, as well as breathtakingly beautiful, with just a little bit of wind. I had mentally prepared myself for much, much worse, and so was pleasantly surprised at the conditions. Don't get me wrong, it was freaking hot out, but those crazy cross winds that I'd heard so much about just happened to be on the milder side.

I feel like I was able to really race the bike, and kept one or two girls in sight (leapfrogging several times) the entire time. The course is anything but fast, as I had a fantastic ride and my bike split was like 9 minutes slower than my split last year at the GWN. There was some drafting going on during the bike, but I just did my own thing and rode my own race, content with the fact that I was riding well all because of me and not a cheating draft pack! During the ride, I took in 3 cliff shot blocks after an hour, another 3 after 2 hours, about 4-6 endurolyte tabs, and 2 bottles with around 1.5-2 nuun tabs/carbo pro/2 endurolytes in each. At each water station, I grabbed a water bottle and had a few sips each time, and at the last one I filled my aero drink with some Perform electrolyte drink but honestly didn't end up needing it.

-Run: 1:56 (no clue on the placing but there were a lot of girls who ran faster!)
I was really glad to be getting off the bike, but had that long 13.1 mile run in the heat on a HARD course looming over me. My transition was really quick, and off I went! They weren't lying when they said this was a beautiful course through challenging terrain of a golf course! For the first time ever, I spent some time in the several weeks before the race mentally preparing for how difficult this run was going to be, and I had assembled a mental toolbox to draw from when the going got tough. I remember Geoff saying that there was a good chance that we weren't going to feel very good the first mile or two but that we'd settle into a good rhythm after that, and so this came to mind during those first couple miles as sure enough, I wasn't feeling very great! The first mile or so was on the grass of a fairway, which was a lot tougher than I'd anticipated as the grass was soft and spongy.

After a couple miles of just taking in water at the aid stations, I began to drink coke and water at each aid station for the first time ever (I know I know - nothing new on race day; wrong!) and discovered this stuff has magic powers! I started feeling much, much better, and really settled into a good rhythm and pace. It was dreadfully hot out, but I didn't notice the heat too much and just focused on running well and enjoying myself the best I could. I drew on that mental toolbox I had stashed in my mind when things got tough, and that really helped me to get through those 13.1 miles. I walked through the aid stations, drinking coke, ice water, pouring ice water on my head, and pouring a cup of ice down my suit each time. The ice was a life saver! When I came upon a hill (and there were lots of 'em!) I kept repeating to myself 'remember all those hill repeat workouts you did and how much harder they were', and this got me up and over the hill without walking. When I started feeling not so great, I would say to myself 'smooth and controlled, no tension in the upper body, bring your head up and let the oxygen flow into your lungs and muscles, keep the legs light and springy'. For the first time ever for me in a half ironman, Negative Nancy was not invited to the party! I kept my mindset positive and encouraging, and just kept pressing on, and the only time I walked was the aid stations. I have never done a 1/2 ironman where I haven't had to walk - seriously. And walking the aid stations during this race was not a big deal - it was progressive walking. Next time, there won't even be any walking of the aid stations!

The final 2 miles were extremely tough! I thought to myself "that's 8 laps on a track, you can do that, it's basically the amount you warm up when you do a track workout", and then I just kept visualizing getting through the laps around a track. The final mile was painful - I kept saying to myself "less than 10 minutes to go, you can do this, just keep pushing!" and FINALLY the finish line appeared! The final bit was on grass which was hard to run on. I had no idea where I was, time or place-wise, but ended up at 5:08 and sooo happy to be done and even happier to have executed a solid race overall on a super hot day on a super challenging course.

Finish pic with Stephen! Very happy that it's over!

With Geoff later that day, a little sunburnt but happy!

-Final time: 5:08 (6th in age group)
I thought about sticking around and taking a roll-down spot for the 70.3 World championships in Vegas in September (if it even rolled down to 6th), but after learning that they weren't doing roll-down until 4pm, decided against it. We would have had to sit around in the 30C heat for several hours, and it was a bit of a logistic mess to get to the car (a mile or two away), and then to our condo 10 minutes away, then back. And also it would have cost $350 for the race entry, not to mention the trip fees to Vegas and dealing with another overcrowded race. So I will plan to do a race in Alberta instead!

That's it - sorry for the crazy lengthy post and kudos to you if you got this far!!

Pre-race Honu 70.3

2011-06-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post with some pics before race day tomorrow - I can't believe it has finally arrived!. So, we arrived on the Big Island Wednesday evening, and so far I absolutely love this place! We are staying in a 2-bedroom, 2-storey townhouse in the Waikoloa Beach Resort, which could not be more perfect. There were some travel hiccups, as we discovered in the Kona airport that Stephen's bag unfortunately didn't make the plane :( However, after several delays on Thursday, the plane eventually arrived and with it the bag!

Yesterday Geoff, Stephen and I made our way over to Hapuna Beach, which is the where the race starts. The water is fabulous! It was quite windy yesterday, so there was a lot of chop and current in the water. I loved it! The ocean is amazing - if I lived here I think I would be in it every single day! Definitely paradise, with the crystal clear waters, warm temperatures, and all the ocean creatures! Today we did a quick little tune up swim at Waikoloa beach, which is a little rockier than Hapuna, and had the pleasure of seeing 2 giant sea turtles just floating around! It was breathtaking!

Stephen and I did a 20 min jog/build yesterday afternoon - you can really notice the humidity here, and of course the heat! It's going to be a HOT run tomorrow!

Today was spent doing pre-race stuff, including getting the bikes race ready and checked in, and run gear dropped off for the 2nd transition. This race has 2 separate transitions. Geoff's was awesome today and helped with gear stuff and making sure the bikes got dialed in, etc. He's our race sherpa and keeping us organized, and doing a good job of it!

Morning view from our condo:

We had some visitors this morning... so far there have been 4 cats who have wandered over to our patio!

Just after our short swim at Waikoloa beach today. I was planning to wear the one-piece 2XU suit to race in but have changed my mind and am opting for my bathing suit (sports bra underneath), and throwing on some tri shorts in T1. Wetsuits are not permitted as the water is so warm. I think I'll be more comfortable in that!

So, race starts at 7am local time (11am MST), and if you want to track me on www.ironman.com I'm racer #1550, in W30-34 age group! I'm so excited to race - it's going to be hot, humid, windy and hard, but BRING IT ON, I'm ready for the challenge and whatever the day may bring!!

Make.It.Happen

2011-05-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe there's less than 2 weeks now till Hawaii 70.3! Wow. I'm getting sooo excited! My training has been very consistent and I've been getting in some key sessions in the pool, on the bike, and in the run. These last 2 weeks the volume will be decreasing and Geoff has scheduled some higher intensity sessions which will help dial in the fitness. The bulk of the work is done, it's now all about sharpening up and letting the body absorb the training so that it is ready come race day!

Last Saturday I had a 3 hr ride/30 min run to do in possibly some of the strongest winds I have ever biked in! After arriving home from Calgary around 12:30pm [was there for a couple nights for some work meetings and also my brother Donald's convocation/grad from medical school - woot! My dad, Geoff, and brother Mark were all there as well so it was a super fun time], I recruited Larry from our swim group to leave around 2:30pm for a windy 3hrs on the bike. Man was it ever windy - but we took a route where it was either a very strong tailwind or a ridiculous headwind, rather than opting for a route with crosswinds. The winds were 50km/hr, with gusts up to 65km/hr, which I found to be so challenging, as I don't think I've ever biked for that long in winds like that. All I kept thinking was - embrace the challenge and get used to it, as it's probably going to be just like this (or worse) in Hawaii! Good practice! Our ride ended up being 3hr10min due to the slowness coming back through the crazy headwind, where we couldn't have been going much faster than about 10-15km/hr at times! Neither of us had a computer but that's how slow we figured we were going. I got my run off the bike done and the workout was done and done by 6:30 - it was a late one!

This was from an easy ride on my own later in the week, NOT from the windy ride - I was holding on with both hands the whole time during that one!

On Tuesday I had my first track session of the year. I always find track workouts not only incredibly physically challenging, but mentally tough as well, and this was no different on Tuesday! It was a gorgeous day outside, sunny and around 22C, although also extremely windy. After work, I packed up my swim stuff, a recovery drink and some food (sandwich, yogurt) for after, and headed to the track around 6:30pm, which left me plenty of time for the hour workout and to head to the pool right after to coach at 8pm, then do my own swim after. My workout was to be 6 x 1km at 10km pace, with about 90 sec recovery. The first 3 didn't feel very smooth or fast, and the times showed it! The effort level was also very high, and it seemed like I should be going faster than I was. During the first half of the set, I let myself spiral into a negative headspace, and couldn't help but think, 'how could I run a 5km off a bike in a triathlon holding these same splits and can barely go faster for 1km at a time on the track'...

However, during my 4th interval, I consciously decided to work on some mental toughness training and dig myself out of that negative headspace, and it worked! I kept repeating to myself, 'Turn off the brain....race with heart... it's all in your head... push through the pain...' etc, and the 4th interval ended up being 5 sec faster than the first 3, and my last 2 intervals were 4 sec faster. That just illustrates to me how important the mental aspect is. It is definitely something I struggle with, and continually need to improve upon. Hawaii for me is going to be an excellent test in that regard. As Geoff put it, it will be a race of attrition due to the conditions, it's not going to be PB course or a fast course, it's going to be windy, hilly, hot, and humid. My main goal will be to keep pushing through it, no matter how much it hurts or how badly I feel, and to mentally stay strong so I can give my best possible effort to have the best race possible. It's going to take a lot of focus and discipline to push the hurt and pain aside on the run, but I plan to do so and to race with heart!

It's all about confidence: Believe in yourself and your dreams will come true...

BFF Stephen made this sign for me a few years back for a local race I was in (Summerside Triathlon), where he would be spectating and not racing. Back when I was around 14 and still in competitive swimming, for some reason my coach started saying 'Yeehaw, Lisa', and so whenever I was on the starting blocks just about to race, my whole team would chant that out - it always put a smile on my face and got me fired up. Stephen and I started triathlon together many many years ago (2002 was our first race), and we have been through so much together through the years, including leaps and bounds of improvements, lots of mistakes, lots of fun, and of course so many awesome memories. Love it!

This picture was from the convocation...Here's the new med school grad, along with my dad and other brother Mark. So proud of him!

Here's some pics from the grad dinner and banquet. Some of Donald's fellow med school grads (Donald is 3rd from left), my dad, Geoff and I:

Geoff and I at the grad dinner:

That's it for now - will post again soon to update on how the taper etc is going. Less than 2 weeks to go till race day, and only a week and a half till we leave for Kona! Yay!

crunch time

2011-05-08T21:55:00.000-07:00

This week was filled with lots of good training to add to the bank. On Friday after an easy treadmill recovery run in the morning, I drove to Kananaskis for a conference/trade show at the Delta Lodge. The conference was also on Saturday, so an overnight affair. As soon as the last session wrapped up just after 1pm on Saturday, I packed everything up and hightailed it out of there, as I had a long run to do! I parked at the first scenic trail entrance I came across, quickly changed into my running gear, and was ready to start my 90 min run by 1:30!

I ended up running along the very scenic and very hilly highway, enjoying every minute of the mountain views. Early on, I decided to veer off on one of the trail routes, but this lasted only about 10 minutes as the terrain became too rocky, and my imagination began to run wild, eventually getting the better of me. I couldn't help but picture in my mind being attacked by a cougar or grizzly while i was running, and there were like no people around and I didn't have a cellphone on me (who runs with a cellphone), so I decided to turn around and go back to the highway, where it felt safer!

Start of my run in K-Country (yes there was surprisingly still some snow around but it was still warm enough for shorts!)

The run ended up being a good one, although I felt like my throat was burning a bit. Must be from the altitude? I did a quick stretch after my run, changed, and got back in the car for the 4hr jaunt back to St. Albert. Which was not fun. But I must say, chocolate milk always works as a great recovery fuel when there is nothing else available!

I was pretty exhausted when I arrived home last night, and needed a nice lie-in this morning to recharge the batteries! [Also a few cups of coffee didn't hurt either!] Geoff had a pretty big day of training on tap for me, and unfortunately I was all on my own for it as my usual partners in crime had all done their rides on Saturday :( Luckily, the sun was out and there was no chance of rain!

(on a side note, I finally bought a new helmet... my other one was from 2003 and had seen better days, not to mention it probably would not pass inspection at a race and I am not wearing an aero helmet in Hawaii! So it was definitely time for a new one!)

So the workout today was a 3.5 hr ride/30 min run. The ride was challenging, and part of that was due to being all on my own! I had music with me (in one ear only and volume not loud), but the wind was blowing so loudly that I could barely even hear it! The wind kinda sucked, but I kept telling myself "This is great practice for Hawaii, this is great practice for Hawaii", and that helped me to get through it. In reality, it is likely going to be a whole lot worse in Hawaii, but whatever, at least it's windy here most of the time and that is still good training.

I feel like my running and swimming are coming along pretty nicely right now, but I feel like my cycling is not anywhere close to where it needs to be. So this week and next will be more focused cycling weeks, in order to try and boost the biking fitness and hopefully get it where it needs to be! I've been consistently training about 12-13 hrs/week, and perhaps biking hasn't taken up enough of those hours. Oh well, you can only do so much, and I'm not prepared to train more than 15 hours a week right now. Even 15 hours is really pushing it for me, as it makes me so exhausted for my job, and general life activities! I've gotta keep some balance in my life, as I don't want to just eat sleep and breathe triathlon 24/7. Don't get me wrong, I love this sport and the training and the lifestyle, but there are also many other important things where I like to focus my time and energy, including family, friends, and work (I actually love my job)! Triathlon is just a small section of the whole pie; an important piece, but not the biggest one.

Anyway, I'm getting off topic here...back to the long workout - the 3.5hr solo bike workout was tough, not just physically but also mentally! I ended up riding somewhere over 100km, maybe 103-105km (not sure on the exact numbers as I have no working computer, it's all by feel and time until I figure out how to fix it!). Then it was time for a 30 min run, with the first 20 min at tempo pace. After I changed into my run clothes, I had to sit down on the couch for a minute or two to collect myself and get psyched up to get out that door! That ride took a lot out of me... But the run turned out great. I left the i-pod at home and enjoyed the sunshine!

With the 4 hour workout completed, i headed to Geoff's parents house (sans Geoff), for dinner - steak, potatoes, salad, and cake - yum! I wanted nothing more than to head back home after that and park myself on the couch for the rest of the evening, but i still had a swim to do (must.swim.3x.perweek!), so I drove my butt over to the pool and swam an easy 2200m mixer. I was really regretting during my swim the fact that I had 2 pieces of cake at dinner, but I slogged through the swim and got'er done and done, just in time for the pool to close at 8:30pm!

For the rest of May, I have to be in Calgary every single week for work, so it's going to be busy busy busy! I'll be heading there May 12-14 for some meetings and this trip also coincides with Donald's grad from med school!. I will have to shuffle my workouts around these trips and will be aiming not to miss any, as the time is getting near for Hawaii 70.3 - it's less than 4 weeks away!

Wait, not so fast

2011-04-27T22:14:00.000-07:00

This evening I had one of those runs where I fully realized the importance of going slow when you are supposed to. Geoff had on the schedule an easy 50 minute run, and I really forced myself to go slow and easy the entire run, which I find sometimes (most of the time) can be tough. I always seem to want to just run faster and harder for some reason. Starting out easy is something that I have struggled with in running races, and also triathlons, by going out too hard and then dying. I'm slowly learning about this, and have discovered that it takes a lot of willpower to just hold back at the beginning of a race, or to just go slow and easy when I am supposed to! I think I'm getting better at pacing, though, and will continue to improve at this.

After my weekend workouts, there still has been no rest for the legs. Monday I had a strength/power session with Christian that was scheduled before I left for my trip, and it was too late to change it when I discovered Geoff had a run interval workout scheduled on the same day. So strength from 6-7pm (hard freakin' session with lots of plyo work!), came home, rested for about an hour, then hit the tready for a run interval session (50 minutes total including 6 x 2 min hard). After that I could definitely feel that my whole body was going to be sore the next day, and sure enough - it was, and still is!

However, the easy run today (which I figure was slower than about 9min/mile pace) feels like it did wonders for my legs, as they are feeling much better now. See, those easy recovery runs (if done right) can be very useful indeed. Imagine that!

I am now in the midst of a run focus this week and next, which will be followed by a bike focus for a couple weeks. Also, it's about high time i got myself in proper swimming shape, so I'm going to be swimming hard in my swim workouts for at least the next few weeks, which started last night with a good session in the pool. Although I swam frequently in AZ, all the swims I did there were easy, about 2200yards. It really was not possible to do anything fast as the pools were 87F which is like bathwater!

Happy training!

back to the daily grind

2011-04-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

So my AZ trip came to an end on Friday and it will be business as usual tomorrow as I have to return to work. I got in more swimbikerun my last few days there, and ended up logging just over 20 hours during my time there, which is a LOT for me! On Thursday morning we discovered that the Splash n Dash scheduled for that evening at 6pm was cancelled due to water quality (pH in Tempe lake was above 9.0 - yikes), so Deborah and I had to re-group and make up our own workout instead. We decided on a 45 min run at noon, with a warm up and then 2 x 10 min tempo (10k pace), by which time it was already 30C! Tough but great workout - the quote of the day was near the end of the first one when Deb said "If you don't feel like you're going to puke, then you're just not going hard enough!" That evening I did an easy 1500m swim, so the run/swim workouts more than made up for the cancelled Splash n Dash.

Friday morning Deborah and I rode out to the White Tank mountains and right through into the park (they charged $2 per bike!), it was a beautiful ride and we found some hills in there, and kept our eyes peeled for rattlesnakes! Round trip ride time was about 2.5hrs (72km), and I changed into my run gear as soon as we arrived back at the house and headed out for a 30min transition run in the lovely heat. My flight home left phoenix at 7pm that evening so the afternoon was spent eating, organizing, and packing the bike away.

I really enjoyed my holiday/'lisa training camp', but I'm also glad to be home! Hugo and Wylie were also very excited to be picked up at the kennel and come home - and they've been super tired all weekend so they definitely had a lot of exercise and activity there. It was a quiet weekend without Geoff here, but I feel like I got a lot accomplished. I decided to stretch my training camp into a 10-day block of training, with a 1:40 long run yesterday afternoon at a very easy pace during which my legs felt really good, even at the end. Today I decided I would do a ride outside, as it was a beautiful sunny day! Which meant I had to assemble my bike first...

Okay, time to stop procrastinating - that bike ain't gonna build itself!

Surprisingly I was able to build my bike pretty quickly today, as well as change out the rear tube since I had broken the valve stem just before the Friday ride. All on my own! I headed out for a solo 2 hour ride early this afternoon, and had pictures flashing through my mind of screws coming loose or something on the frame falling apart while I was riding down hills, but luckily nothing crazy like that happened and everything seemed to be in order, so it was adequately assembled!

Reality check - Hawaii is now less than 6 weeks away so there is work to be done! I need to get in a lot of riding between now and then, keep up with consistent running workouts, and kick my own @$$ in the pool. Not sure yet if I'll just train right through or sneak in a 10km run race on May 8 or 15, we'll see how things go!

Kick off to my 2011 tri season

2011-04-19T22:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday I raced the Phoenix Triathlon, and it proved to be an extremely challenging, scorcher of a day! Race morning arrived bright (well still dark when we left the house at 5:30am) and early. Deb and I made it to Lake Pleasant by 6:15am, picked up our race packets and organized our transition areas. I was suprised to find out that the race was actually pretty small, as I had anticipated for some reason there would be a big turnout. It had that 'local' feel about it, which is great!

It was incredibly windy, making the lake look very choppy! I got into my wetsuit and made my way on into the lake, which was about 60 degrees or so. I paddled around a bit, getting used to my wetsuit, and got ready for the start - men at 7am, women at 7:01am (why do they do that, separating the waves by a minute?!).

Swim - 2km

It was a floating start, which I like. The swim course was 2 x 1000m loops, and the lake was super wavy, so I got thrown around a bit and swallowed a lot of lake water. Definitely one of the waviest swims I've ever done! I felt pretty good in the water and focused on swimming through as many men as possible. I think I caught most of them, but not all, as they had a 1 minute lead start! My swim was fairly comfortable but after completing the first 1km, my lower back became really sore. That was weird, maybe it's just because I haven't swam in my wetsuit in 7 months? Anyway, I exited the water first female and ran along the sharp/rocky pavement (ouch, my poor feet!) to the transition area. They didn't use chips in this race, which was a little unusual, and I didn't wear a watch, so not sure what my time was.

Bike - 20 miles

As soon as I got on my bike and started pedaling, I realized I'd forgotten my legs back at the house in Surprise. I had that dead legs, fatigued, lactic acid feeling. And the bike course was super hilly, with those long, winding, fairly steep kind of hills. I went as hard as I could with the legs I had with me, going simply by feel (computer not working). It was tough, especially being my second ride outside in >6months, as I forgot it takes a bit of time to 'get used' to your bike after being indoors for that long. Climbing hills, descending, navigating corners, wind, and u-turns is not something that you get to practice inside on the trainer! I think I did alright though, and was passed by 1 girl during the ride. It warmed up a lot while we were out biking, so by the time I finished the bike it was already above 30C!

Run - 8km shuffle

Starting the run, I tried to go out a little easier in hopes of perhaps being able to finish the second half strong. After less than 1km, the hills began. And didn't end! The entire out and back course was either uphill or downhill, and for some strange reason it seemed like there were more uphills than downhills! I wasn't expecting it to be that tough - and coupled with the heat this made it even more challenging! I actually felt good for 1 mile (between mile 1-2), and was hopeful that this feeling would continue and that I could have a decent run, but then the wheels fell completely off. I was in a hurtin' place during that darn run! Two other girls passed me during the run, one just before the finish line, but in the state I was, I was unable to do anything more than watch them go. I think I did the best I could during that run, which wasn't too stellar, but it was overall a perfect race for my training and will prepare me for my other races this season, especially Hawaii as the conditions will be similar.

Finish - so glad to be nearly done!

Deb and I after our races - Deb placed 3rd in her age group!

After the race, Deb and I literally jumped in the lake for a mini-ice bath and to get semi-cleaned up (Deb even had one of those mini travel packets of body wash!), then changed and got ready for some shopping! We headed to the Anthem outlets, first stopping at a Mexican restaurant for some delicious fish tacos and refried beans, then Starbucks for an iced latte, and we shopped for a few hours. That evening we celebrated Donald's birthday with a lovely dinner, some wine, and a movie - 'Hannah' - it was actually a great movie!

Enjoying my glass of wine before dinner...think I deserved it...

Sunday I had a long run planned in the morning, then a swim. The run was supposed to be 90 minutes, but due to Deb causing us to take a wrong turn near the end, it ended up being 100minutes. Definitely you don't want to be taking wrong turns in those temperatures! My legs were sore at the start and it was again incredibly hot already in the morning but I actually felt pretty good during that run. The swim was great and seemed to help stretch out my muscles a bit. Geoff arrived in AZ that evening so it was nice to see him after several days!

Monday was long ride day with the group, and another hot one! I had forgotten to bring Carbo-pro with me on this trip, so Geoff brought it with him when he came, so I mixed that into my bottles and it really made a difference in my ride. The ride ended up being 105km, around 3:40 of ride time (with one stop), and I felt great at the end. I'm really loving this heat! In the afternoon, Geoff went for a run in the sun and Donald and I hit up the gym for 45 minutes of strength work. So a solid day of training overall! This morning I ran the 12km loop with Deb in 1:05 plus a couple extra minutes to run home. My legs were actually quite sore from the gym yesterday but I kept a steady pace the whole run and still felt strong at the end. This afternoon was another easy swim - and there's no other option than to go easy in these outdoor pools, as the water temperature is like 87 degrees!

My feast after finishing the run workout late this morning:

Tomorrow is another long ride day, somewhere between 100-110km and apparently there are some hills involved. Looking forward to it! Unfortunately I only have a few more days here then have to head back north to cold Edmonton on Friday evening. I will still be able to fit in a good ride on Friday morning, possibly with a run off the bike. Thursday's training will be a fun race, the Splash n Dash at Tempe Lake - which is 750m swim and a 4km run. I love those distances!

watch out for Gila monsters...

2011-04-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

The timing for this AZ trip seriously couldn't have been better. In the midst of the April blizzard that descended upon Alberta yesterday, I stepped onto a plane bound for Phoenix. I found myself not even really caring about the snow during the day yesterday, as I knew I would be escaping it as of 4pm (well 5pm as the flight was delayed for an hour due to said snow). It was a lucky day for me as the Westjet lady kindly charged me only the extra bag fee ($21) for my bike box, instead of the usual oversized bike box fee, so I saved some $$. As far as I know, the usual bike fee is now up to about $75 on WJ, and $100-$200 on all other airlines. Sweet!

Deborah (my mother in law) and I flew together and we landed at 7:15pm, and my brother Donald arrived in Phoenix from Calgary at the exact same time as us. Geoff will be arriving on Sunday evening, we sort of staggered our trip so the pups H & W don't have to be in the kennel as long - boy are they pampered! Anyway, Deb and I decided to get dropped off at the pool on the way home from the airport for a little 'shake out' swim. By the time we arrived it was already 9:15pm and the pool closed at 10pm, so I did an easy 1000yard and hit the giant hot tub. It was fabulous to be in an outdoor pool- I tried to do as much backstroke so I could look up at the moon. This was actually quite a late swim as we were still on Alberta time - so technically we were swimming till nearly 11pm!

Everyone was up bright and early this morning for various sporting activities, which included golf and cycling. Deb and I were out the door at 8:30am, and met up with her usual cycling buddies, a group of about 5-6 men in their 50's/60's who are all in great shape. We ended up riding 80km at a leisurely pace, and it felt absolutely amazing to be outside on my bike in the sunshine! It was my first ride outdoors since September. I brought my bike to Element earlier this week for some lovin', and Cam did a fantastic job with the tune-up, which included new tires, new chain, and a good cleaning (and he then took it apart and packed it up all nice in the bike box I rented from them as well). My bike was riding like a dream today! Here it is all ready for my race tomorrow (sans race wheels, as I couldn't bring 2 sets with me!):

We will be leaving the house tomorrow at 5:30am for the trisports.com Phoenix Triathlon - race starts at 7am! A little earlier than I'm used to, but a necessary evil due to the heat. The high tomorrow here is 34C - eek! I love the heat, though - no complaints from me about it being too hot! The race distance is very close to an Olympic with a 2km swim, 20 mile bike, and 8km run. Longer swim and shorter run? Didn't have to ask me twice! I'm just really looking forward to getting out there and racing. I haven't worn my wetsuit since the Banff race in September, so I'm thinking I may be quite sore after a 2km swim in it! And the cycling portion will be my second ride outside in 7 months! Regardless, the race will be great practice and a good hard training day! After the race, Deb and I are planning on hitting the shops, as well as a Mexican restaurant!

I will try and get more pictures for next update - must take camera with me more often. I always forget. But mostly I just don't want to carry anything extra in my jersey pockets on my rides!

View from the patio during dinner - the house backs onto a golf course so you have to be on the lookout for wayward golf balls.

The lovely sunset here in Surprise, at exactly 6:55pm local time! The sun certainly sets really early here...

Here's one of those Gila monsters, the deadliest creature in the desert according to Deb... He doesn't look so deadly to me though...

can't hardly wait

2011-04-03T19:43:00.000-07:00

For spring and warm weather! As I write this I'm watching 'blue crush' and eating a popsicle. How's that for wishful thinking? Well it almost seems like spring has arrived. We had a really nice week here, it was sunny and above zero every day, so the snow has finally started melting! Unfortunately we have a looong way to go here, it will probably be another 3-4 weeks before it's all gone, based on the amount that is still around:

We've definitely made some progress. It may look like a lot but this is nothing compared to what it was before:

But, in less than 2 weeks I will be here:

I'm sooo looking forward to my trip to sunny Arizona... I honestly feel like I've never needed a vacation more than I do right now! I'm going to do a whole lot of swim/bike/run while there and just enjoy my time off work. There's also a race on April 16, a couple days after I arrive (Phoenix Triathlon - at Lake Pleasant), which will be a great season-starter, and also the first time my bike will have been ridden outside since September! Well, second, as I will definitely be going out for a long ride the day before!

This weekend was a superb weekend of training for me. Friday evening after work I got outside for a lovely run in the setting sun, which ended up being about an hour with some hill repeats in the middle. Lots of puddles and melting snow/ice everywhere so my feet got wet but no complaints here as it's much better than dealing with frozen toes from artic temperatures! Yesterday I swam early before coaching, did about 2500m mostly aerobic stuff, and stopped on the way home to pick up Starbucks lattes and breakfast - yum! In the afternoon I had a long brick to do, which consisted of 2:05 trainer ride (with lots of big gear and some standing intervals), then a 30 min run in the sun. It was a good workout, although I felt kind of bonky during the last 5 mins of the run. I haven't had any Carbo-pro for a while, and so I've been doing these long bricks without any... but I think I really need those extra carbohydrates and calories. I ordered some yesterday so hopefully it arrives in the mail before next Saturday's brick.

This morning was the Coyote Run, which is an annual group run STARRT puts on, but really more of a social thing more than a race. Actually it's not a race in the least, it's just a really good long run followed by a potluck where everyone brings a dish. There's a shorter route and a long route, and I opted for the long one, which ended up being around 23 km (about 1:56). I must say I felt great this morning! It's really nice to be able to wear capri's instead of tights! After the run we re-fueled, chatted, and enjoyed a cup of coffee, then I had to bail to get home and ready for my next session - 60min strength session with geoff at Body Architects! Christian worked us hard today - lots of core/strength/balance/some power stuff and a great workout to end my big weekend of training (6.5 hours - which is a lot for me). The focused strength training workouts have really made a difference so far, as i'm feeling stronger than ever and my hips and joints no longer get sore on long runs. Yay! My legs and body felt great the entire nearly 2 hours this morning!

I spent the afternoon/evening working on the computer and wearing zensah calf compression sleeves, necessary after this morning's workouts:

In other news, geoff and I discovered it's probably not a good idea to leave hugo and wylie free to roam in the house when we're not there. I came home from work one day last week and found this:

Destructive little Wylie had decided to tear up some books! He's certainly looking pretty proud of himself isn't he...

Happy training!

I can see a faint light at the end of the tunnel

2011-03-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

It's time to dust the cobwebs off this blog and get it back up and running! This has probably been the longest stretch I've gone without having posted anything, and I don't plan on it happening again. Lately I haven't even had the time to keep up with reading my favorite blogs, let alone writing any of my own. Also there really hasn't been anything overly compelling going on to write about! Unless you want to read about how cold and miserable it's been this winter in Alberta, which I'm sure most don't. And unless you want to see a bunch of pictures of the heaps and piles of snow, or indoor training, I have no cool pictures to post either!

I feel like we have the worst of this horrible winter behind us though, having made it through January and February. YAY! Anyone living in Alberta this year can understand what I am talking about, as it's been the worst winter I can ever recall here. My training has pretty much strictly been contained to the indoors; in fact, the last time I ran outside was during the 1/2 marathon in Vancouver which was nearly 4 weeks ago. i am getting pretty sick of the treadmill and am hoping that today was the LAST cold arctic day for a very long time (like until next winter). i am planning to put my huge thick warm parka away this weekend (had to wear it today as it was close to -30C with the windchill!), and hope not to have to see it until at least December. It is going to warm up this weekend, though, and it better stay above zero!

Training has been consistent but I haven't really been doing anything major or impressive in terms of volume or intensity. Recovering from the race last month was a big process, as I experienced huge muscle soreness for nearly a week after it! That race took a whole heck of a lot out of me and I haven't done any intervals since then! The plan is to start back with some intervals in the run/bike next week. I have been swimming pretty consistently and fairly happy with where I'm at, although I do need to put in a good 2-3 weeks of 3x/week hard swim workouts to get up to where I want to be. I would like to do a 1500m time trial in early April and hope to PB it, and 2 swims a week do not a PB make!

In terms of racing, it looks like I will be doing a triathlon on April 16 in Arizona! I'm heading down there on April 14-22 (Geoff is coming a day or two after me) for a bit of a holiday/training camp, and cannot wait! Actually honestly I have barely been thinking about it at all, as I've had no time to think about that kind of stuff lately. Work-wise I have been extremely busy the past month which has been keeping me outta trouble! The race on April 16 (which I should probably sign up for soon) is an Olympic distance but apparently the swim is 2km - so hellz ya! I like the sound of that! The bike is a bit shorter than normal Olympic as it's 20 miles (36 km), and the run is the usual 10km. I am super excited to get down there and enjoy some warm temperatures (hot?) and just train my butt off. I don't know what kind of shape I'll be in for the race but it will certainly be good training and great to get in an early triathlon. Geoff's parents will be there as well, as it's their house, and my brother Donald will be joining us so that makes it all the more fun! We will have to celebrate a bit while down there as my little bro is gonna be a plastic surgeon - he just found out he was accepted into his Plastics residency program in Calgary for September! So happy for him :)

In other exciting news - the flights and condo for Kona have been booked for the trip June 1-10, so it's all set! Now I just have to train train train and get myself in stellar shape for that race, which I hear is a pretty tough course (the run, anyway)! Looking forward to some sunshine in the next few months and Arizona and Hawaii will be a good place to get it!

That's all for now...SO GLAD it's the weekend! Enjoy everyone!

My "First Half" of 2011

2011-02-14T23:16:00.000-08:00

If today is any indication that the half marathon in Vancouver yesterday went well, my body will certainly tell a story as I have been hobbling around on two very sore legs and my back is also incredibly sore! Every major muscle group is painful, actually even some minor muscle groups as well! Calves, shins, hamstrings, quads, glutes, paraspinals along the back - you name it!

Prior to the race, I visited Victoria for several days and stayed with BFF Jadeen and her wonderful family. We had lots of fun and the visit went by way too fast. Saturday rolled around and i found myself on the ferry to Vancouver - in the rain of course! I took a bus from the ferry and met up with Geoff (who flew to Van from Edm) at the skytrain, and we made our way to the hotel. In the days leading up to the race, I biked on the trainer for an hour on Wed, ran 30 min on Thursday (outside!) and also swam 2500m with Jadeen's masters swim group (super hard quality effort workout which included 4 broken 200's where I averaged 2:26's), ran for 30 min on Friday and took Saturday off completely.

Sunday morning Geoff and i awoke around 6:30am to beautiful weather, which included clear skies and no rain. Yay! We were staying about 5 blocks from the race site, so around 7:30 we started making our way down there.

geoff was looking pretty energized and awake at 7 in the morning...

I decided to try (for the first time ever in a race) wearing my compression leg sleeves. This will be the first and last time that I wear those in a race. They ended up making me really hot and then they didn't stay all the way up exactly where they were supposed to. I could feel them slipping down ever so slightly when I was running but obviously did not stop to fix them, so i had to just put that annoyance out of my mind! I also became incredibly hot and overheated, as I was wearing little gloves (which I threw away in the first mile or two), a headband to cover my ears (which I took off in the first couple miles and wore around my neck), speed shorts from Lulu and a long sleeve top (didn't wear the jacket of course). Man I get so hot in races and just need to suck it up and dress in less and face being a little cooler at the start. I could have just been wearing a t-shirt or sleeveless top yesterday and been fine. Also for the first time ever in a race, I decided to be one of those people and wore my I-pod! Best.Decision.EVER. I wonder why I have never done that before? More on that later.

Race started at 8:30am sharp. At 8:25am, I was still in line for the porta-potty, only a couple people back. AAHH! But I was in and out and trying to make my way through the masses of 2000 people at the start line, when all of a sudden the race started. I was probably about halfway through the crowd, so I spent the first kilometer weaving through all the racers. And I think I went out a bit fast. In my defence, i haven't raced in 5 months and was rusty on the pacing! Anyway, I felt pretty good, not amazing by any means, but decent, and kept chugging along and passing people the first bit. It was fantastic running with music - I kept it loud enough to drown out the sounds of my own breathing, so I wasn't completely aware of how hard I was working. All i know is that my legs felt GREAT, and my lungs felt... just average!

I soon came to a sign that said '3', and I thought, 'Wow, 3km, how many songs have I listened to?". I did wear a watch in this race but kept it hidden under my long sleeve shirt and only ended up looking at it only TWICE - at the 10km and the 10 mile markers, so as not to become negatively preoccupied with time/numbers. So right after I saw that '3' sign, when I saw a sign that said '5km', I was very surprised and not to mention pretty stoked as i assumed the first sign was for 3km, not 3 miles! This music thing was a good idea after all! I kept pressing on and enjoying the spectacular course that this race follows. It goes through Stanley Park and along the seawall, and part of it is on the same course of the Vancouver triathlon Worlds' 2008 course, so I thought about that a bit while running as I had a lot of fun in that race and during that trip.

I worried a bit while running that maybe I was pushing a bit beyond my limits and that I had gone out too hard, as i felt pretty close to redlining. In fact, the whole race was such a hard effort that I wouldn't be surprised if my heart rate was in the 190's the whole time! Crazy! At the 10km marker, I decided to peek at my watch to get an idea of what kind of pace I was running, as I felt like it was ridiculously hard and I was hoping i was doing well. I calculated that I needed to be somewhere under 50 min for the split in order to be able to go a PB, so when I saw 45:43 I was very surprised! That gave me a boost to keep on pushing the hard pace, so that's what I kept doing. I decided to look again at 10 miles, and my split there was 1:14:50, which is actually a PB for me in that distance! My previous 10 miler PB was 1:15 in April of 2010. I was elated but at the same time worry and doubt crept in again, as the effort was so hard and I still had 5km to go.

The last 3 miles were incredibly rough. My hamstrings started to become really sore, and my pace slowed considerably (not even sure how much, all I know is that it did). I made it to Mile 11, then finally to Mile 12 - only 1 mile to go! The last mile was completely painful, as my lungs were on fire and my legs were getting progressively sorer, most likely due to not having run on pavement in 3 months (with the exception of 1 run!), and not having even run outside in weeks. The last KM felt like it was going on forever and was complete torture - it was a huge effort to put one foot in front of the other and to even lift my feet off the ground! I finally rounded the corner to the finish line - and crossed in a chip time of 1:39.55, which was a PB by over 5 minutes. YAHOO! I am super happy with that, considering the training was far from ideal what with the crappy winter we've had the past 3 months. It really was a shock to my system to run a 1/2 marathon at that effort on the hard pavement!

First race of 2011 - done and done! Now I need to recover these sore muscles of mine, refocus, and get back to training! I have 2 more days here in Vancouver (work), then I return to Alberta just in time to miss all the warm weather that's been occurring! Ha! I hope a lot of the snow melted while I have been away :)

getting ready to race

2011-02-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

Only one week to go until my first race of 2011, and also my first race in 5 months! It's going to be tough starting things off with a 1/2 marathon but i'm excited for this distance as it has been at least 2 years since I last ran a stand-alone half. The training prep has been far from ideal, but i think i've done a pretty good job in dealing with the crap Mother Nature has thrown our way so far this winter. But really, what can we expect living in Alberta - the winter can be so unpredictable here. Last year training for this race would have been not bad at all but the amount of snow we've had this year has been insane! If the weather turns out to be miserable next weekend with snow, I won't mind at all, as us Albertans will be prepared for that!

As far as training for this race goes, i have done all that Geoff has scheduled for me. This has included weekly interval sets, ranging from short to long (1 minute to 1 mile), long runs, and easy runs. Generally I ran 4-5 times a week. Consistency is everything, and i have definitely been consistent with my running. I have done a LOT of my running in the past few months on the treadmill. In the past few weeks alone, I have actually not even run outdoors once, because of the ice and tricky footing. I'm just not interested in risking a fall or injury at this point in the season! I'm sure that running the race next week all on pavement will be quite a shock to the body. However, it was either very poor quality runs outside, or good quality runs indoors in a controlled environment and I chose the latter as it made more sense. So we'll see how it turns out!

My other training has also been going well - I've been doing 2 strength sessions a week, biking 1-3 times a week, and have swam 3 times a week the past couple weeks. Last week I did about 11.5 hours of training, this week was definitely less than that as I only ran 3 times. After the race next weekend, I will start biking a lot more and the focus will likely move from running to biking for a bit. I am finally back on track in the pool as well! What it takes for me is a couple weeks of 3 sessions a week with some hard focused sets, and I start to get my groove back in the water. I've typically been doing 2000m-2300m for my workouts, and had a few key sets this past week with an 800m time trial during Thursday's workout. I swam a 10:35 which is not too bad for me at this point of the year. I'll plan to do a 1500m TT in 4 weeks or so and aim to beat my PB from last year. TT's are not super fun but they are key and definitely have a place in training if you want to improve! It's a hard, focused effort, good practice to get used to swimming hard for a sustained period of time, and good for boosting the fitness as well as giving you a benchmark of where you are at certain points in the season. I do them with my group starting in about november, through to April (no TT's necessary when race season starts!).

I'm leaving Wednesday evening for Victoria to visit BFF Jadeen and her beautiful family for a few days. So excited! I'll be there till Saturday, then I'll catch the ferry over to Vancouver where Geoff will meet me. The race is Sunday, then I will be working in Vancouver Monday-Wednesday and flying home Wed. evening. Geoff is flying home Monday morning so the crazy terriers Hugo & Wylie will have to be in a kennel for 2 nights. Hopefully they behave themselves!

Running for joy

2011-01-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

I'm just back today from a week-long business trip to Calgary. Nice to be home, even if it is slightly cooler here than it was there! Happy to report that I was able to get outside yesterday evening for a run, after not having run outside in at least 2 weeks with the massive snowfall and cold temps we've had here in Edmonton. The run yesterday was amazing! It was dark by the time I left the hotel, around 6pm, and beautifully warm. It was super windy on the way out, but just above zero and there was no snow on the pathway. Imagine that - running on pavement! My Kinvara's hadn't touched pavement for many weeks till that moment.

It was one of those runs where you feel like you're running for the sheer joy of running. I happen to do a lot of thinking when I'm out running - not so much during hard interval or tempo sessions where you need to be focused on the task at hand, but more so during those longer aerobic workouts. Having been stuck on the treadmill for all my runs the past couple weeks, I have been missing out on this thinking time as I typically am watching mindless television.

And I nearly forgot how much I missed it! Yesterday's run was a strong reminder of how much I really do love running - the feel of the air rushing against your face, the sound of your breathing and footsteps and/or music, and the sights of the beautiful scenery passing by, including other runners. It's not always about training training training, harder/faster/longer with thoughts of getting faster for that upcoming race at the top of your mind. You really have to LOVE it as well! And I DO! Lately I have been making a point during my runs outside to smile and/or say hello to everyone and anyone who crosses my path, and yesterday was no different. Many smile and say hello back, but a few look away and pretend not to notice. Doesn't matter! I will continue to do this as I am happy being able to run and might as well share that with others! Try it - it's easy and it's fun!

I feel like I was running the whole time with a goofy smile plastered across my face. I had only planned to run for 45 minutes, an out and back route along the river. The way out there was a huge headwind to challenge me but I hardly even noticed. I was enjoying myself so immensely that by the time I first looked at my watch it was already at 25 minutes. So I decided to continue on and turn around at 30, making the run an hour. Also - I realized in the back of my mind that I'd be hauling @$$ home as it would be tailwind city all the way back, so I would enjoy it even more! And I certainly did! I felt like I was flying on the way home - such a great feeling.

Sometimes we lose sight of why we do things, and all it takes is a run wake up call like that to remind me!

I'm off now - I have a hot date with the tready for 4x1 mile repeats! Don't forget to ENJOY your run!

weekend indoor workout fun

2011-01-10T20:34:00.000-08:00

This weekend in Edmonton we were slammed with a lovely winter storm that dropped about 35cm of this on us:

It's actually not even my car - I was too lazy to take pictures so I borrowed this one from a weather site...

Geoff and I were snowed in on Saturday. I tried to get out in the morning in order to get to the pool to coach, but couldn't get past the driveway. The snow was higher than your knees! Our condo complex did not even get cleared until Sunday afternoon. Good thing we have a nice little pain cave situation going on in the basement, including treadmill, bike trainer, Swiss ball, t.v., etc. On Saturday I rode the trainer for 80 mins including some random big gear and standing intervals, then hopped on the tready for a 30 min run (all while watching Dexter re-runs!). After the brick, I did a 45 min core/strength workout, with 9 full body exercises (3 sets of each, 12-15 reps).

On Sunday my running buddy Christina picked me up on the main road (complex still wasn't cleared) and we went to the gym for an indoor long run session. I did 70 min on the tready at a decent pace, then planned to head right to the track to add on another 30 min. The treadmill sesh was not without its drama - with about 15 mins to go I was using my towel to wipe sweat off my face when suddenly my contact lense somehow got lodged behind my eyeball. I couldn't see anything out of that eye (I'm pretty much blind without glasses or contact lenses!) so I kept trying to fiddle with it in order to get it to move back, squinting my eye and closing my eye, all while still running. But it seemed stuck there! I wanted to finish my planned session, so I kept running until 70 minutes were up, then I ran to the change room so I could look in the mirror and figure out what the heck was going on. Christina quickly came to my aid and with her assistance, we eventually got the lense out...only to discover that it had ripped in half and the other half was still stuck behind my eye somewhere! All during this display many women were coming in and out of the change room and offering advice/help and others were simply staring and/or pretending not to notice (probably thinking, who is this weirdo?)!

Finally about 15 minutes later, the second half was found and removed from my eye. Phew! I was a little worried there for a few minutes but it all turned out okay. Crazy, though! I have no idea how that happened. Anyway, after the contact lense drama show it was time to get my butt on the track. I ran another 20 min on the track while being able to see clearly out of only one eye and not at all out of the other (strange experience by the way), making my run a total of 90 min. Luckily I didn't run into anyone on the track :)

Earlier in the week I also had a couple of solid run interval sessions on the treadmill - Wednesday was a 60 min run that included 4 x 1 mile at 1/2 marathon pace with 3 min ez between, which felt comfortably hard until the last bit of #4, which just felt plain old hard! Friday's workout included a main set of 6 x 2 min fast pace with 2 min ez between. Never thought I'd be doing intervals at 9 on the tready, but here I am! Short sprints/strides are done at 10. Yay progress!

That's it for now... can't believe I have a 1/2 marathon coming up on Feb. 13! Time is flying by!

These poor little guys were stuck inside until Sunday evening when I took them to my Dad's to play with Gucci - however, they were happy enough to cuddle in the comfort of the warm indoors!

2010 re-cap

2010-12-31T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is a re-cap of my 2010 - a year that included happenings that were good, great, and some downright ugly. If you've already been reading along, this is old news!

JANUARY...

It was cold, snowy, with a chance of miserable, as January frequently is in Alberta! That month I focused mainly on consistent training, increasing my long runs and also started increasing my biking to 2-3 workouts a week, as well as more intensity in the pool. January is always tough if you live here, as we are in the middle of winter and generally have at least 2 months more of the cold to look forward to. The dogs HATE winter as they have super short coats and get cold very easily, but Geoff and I try to get them out as much as possible...

FEBRUARY...

More consistent training this month, and the highlight of the month was a weekend trip to Vegas! Also an engagement - it was sometime at the end of February that Geoff and I decided to get engaged!

Vegas!

My new friend from Newfoundland:

MARCH...

A month filled with some grim news, lots of swim/bike/run, and my first race of 2010. My dad and I had a trip booked to N. Ireland, but several weeks prior he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. We cancelled our trip as he waited to find out when he would be scheduled for surgery [surgery ended up being booked the following month and was successful, and everything is going just fine now:)]. I don't think I blogged about it as I like to try and keep things as positive as possible on here. Anyways... Earlier in the month Alice and I drove down to Calgary and raced the St. Patrick's Day 10km in mid-March; it was a chilly day and although I felt strong, my time did not show it! I think it was 45-something, which wasn't a PB. I was expecting to run a PB as my training had been going well, but you can't win em all! Sorry, no pics this month :(

APRIL...

This month it warmed up to beautiful temperatures for about one week (mid-20'sC), which happened to be during the weekend that I raced the 10 Miler in St. Albert. I had an excellent race, holding 7:30 pace for every mile, ending with a 1:15 which was a huge PB. Yay progress! It was sort of a 'breakthrough' race where I went completely by feel (no watch), going comfortably hard, maintaining the same pace throughout the whole 10 miles, and was completely happy with my result!

Alice and I at the awards (she volunteered for this one)

MAY...

I think Edmonton had probably the worst May weather on record, as we were hit with a couple blizzards and no warm temperatures. The day before my first triathlon of 2010, it started snowing, and looked like this in the morning:

Pretty hilarious! The triathlon was subsequently turned into a duathlon (1km swim, 8km run) as it was too dangerous to bike in those conditions. Despite the cold and snow, I had a great race and finished 2nd overall, but 1st in my new age group (30-39), although I was still 29 at the time. I had an excellent run as well, which is always encouraging as I am continually working on becoming a better runner.

JUNE...

Summer finally arrived! Or did it? I raced 2 Olympic triathlons this month: the first was in Hinton, a week after Coronation, which included a pool swim (always challenging to do a 1500m pool swim!). The weather was not warm but at least the sun was shining. I had a fantastic time at this race, as it is a 'local' kind of race, with a small number of entrants and lovely volunteers. I ended up 2nd overall (1st in 30-39, again I was still 29) with a 2:20, which included an extremely poor 10km run. I was feeling terrible during this leg and it didn't help that the run course is among the most challenging I have ever seen! Anyway, they had fabulous prizes at the race- a bottle of wine for 1st place - love it when wine is the prize!

My second race in June was the Chinook Olympic triathlon in Calgary, a beautiful race course and I really enjoyed myself here. I was leading the race until the last 500m or so, and couldn't hold on, ending up 2nd overall (again!) by about 20sec. Final time was 2:19, which was a PB for me! My run was okay, but nothing too stellar (47-something). Time to get back to business and put in more work!

JULY...

Only one race this month - Great White North 1/2 Iron at the start of July. This race is always amazing, no matter what happens! So many friends and familiar faces at this race, it is a great atmosphere! I had a superb swim (10-20 seconds slower than 2009 but won the swim prime and was 2nd overall out of the water) and pretty stellar bike (3 minutes faster than 2009), but my run fell by the wayside and I struggled during most of the 1/2 marathon, having to walk quite a bit. I think the problem may have been in part due to too much sodium on the bike - with the cooler temperatures, I didn't adjust my sodium intake. Live and learn. Final time was 4:52, which was actually a PB by about a minute!

BFF Stephen came down from San Francisco to race GWN! We had fun times, as always.

Also in July, another trip to Vegas for BFF Jadeen's wedding! 2 trips to Vegas in one year (actually 3 if you count the marathon in December '09), yes, me likes the Vegas! This time it was HOT, with temperatures in the low 40's C! I actually love the heat! What a freakin' fun trip this was...

AUGUST...

Included a fun little trip to Toronto for work, complete with a Blue Jays' game, a trip to Calgary for Mike K's wedding, and the St. Albert sprint triathlon. The trips were fun and the triathlon was great! I came away with the overall win, in a PB of 1:07 with my fastest 5km run ever! Alice was the race director and the whole thing was incredibly organized and went off without a hitch. Kudos to Alice!

SEPTEMBER...

I raced the Banff Olympic tri near the beginning of the month, and it was FREEZING! The water temp was a balmy 12C, so they shortened the swim to 750m. The day brought pouring rain and temps around 7-10C, so it was a day to put on extra clothes in transition! Despite being completely frozen on the bike and barely being able to put on my run shoes in T2, I ended up having a stellar race with a breakthrough run! I was 4th overall (2nd in my age group), with the top 2 females being elites. Nothing wrong with that! I ran an overall PB for the 10km, even in a stand-alone 10km (45.06) and was stoked about that. Overall time was 2:06, with the shortened swim.

Also in September I participated in a research study at the U of A, which included a VO2 Max, a 10km time trial on the track, and a 10km race simulation on the treadmill, all completed in a week. It was freakin' hard! BTW, I'm STILL waiting for my final results/digital video...

OCTOBER...

This was a fun month, with a trip to Banff/Lake Louise with the family the very first weekend, staying at the Rimrock resort hotel. My lovely aunt Helen from Belfast joined us:

The next weekend was the weekend wedding extravaganza! We kicked it off with the first-ever Beer Mile with some of the swim group I coach. So much fun! Stephen won the whole thing outright - he is a machine! The next night was a big dinner at Geoff's parents for all of the guests. Then the actual wedding on Saturday was fabulous, and I enjoyed myself immensely, dancing up a storm with all my besties and drinking lots of wine. It was so unbelievably amazing to have all my friends and many of my family members together at the same time, and I will treasure those memories always.

Next up in October was Halloween! I actually put some effort this year into a costume! Fun times with BFF Bonnie:

Hugo and Wylie love Halloween! Actually they love any holiday, or any day for that matter!

NOVEMBER...

I really cannot recall anything noteworthy happening this month. All I remember is that it got cold about halfway through, and has been that way ever since! On to December...

DECEMBER...

Great month so far, with the Christmas break and having Alice, Donald and Mark all home. Lots of dinners with the Ulrich's and the Graham's, and lots of wine consumed. But no buffoonery this year! Everyone was surprisingly on their best behavior. I have been training quite a bit and certainly not missing any workouts due to the holidays! Alice and I went for a 45 min run on X-mas day!

Christmas Eve at the Ulrich's:

Christmas Day at the Graham's:

Well that about wraps it up! 2010 has been a good year but I'm very excited for 2011 and all it has to offer. Onwards and upwards! Lot of exciting stuff coming up for 2011...

T'is the season for a fun swim workout

2010-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

Since this morning was the last swim workout for my group until Jan. 4, I had them do a 'fun' Christmas practice. With this one, you still get in a decent workout, with some fun added to the mix as well - can't go wrong with that! Now, we are limited in that we only have an hour for practice, so this set can be modified to be longer/shorter, depending on how much time you have for your workout. This is what my group did this morning:

"12 Days of Christmas"

12 x 50 on :10R (odd: swim, even: drill/swim)

11 x flip turns (from middle of pool)

10 x 75 with fins on :15R (odd: IM, even: 50 side kick/25 swim)

9 x 25 as 1/2 length scull, 1/2 length swim - with pullboy

8 x 50 pull on :15R (as 25 hard/25 easy)

7 x 'High 5's' with your lane mates (or yourself? if you are on your own)

6 x 50 swim (descend 1-3) on :15R

5 x streamline wall push off, with 2-3 strokes

4 x 25 IM on :10R

3 x 100 as 50 kick/50 swim on :15R

2 x 150 - build each 50 on :15R

1 x 100 easy cooldown

This set can easily be modified however you want - the above workout is right around 3km.

Anyway, it's a good way to get in your swim and the time goes by quickly. I'll probably do this workout over Christmas, similar to the one above; actually I will probably cut it down a bit as I haven't done any swims over 2300m lately! I've been getting in 2 swims a week, and the fitness/strength are definitely coming along, but come January I'll be kicking it up a notch with 3 swims per week and a helluva lot more intensity!

Time for me to go, I have to get ready for a 2 hour brick (90min bike, 30 min run in the snow); I will be sweating away on the trainer while watching the Ironman Hawaii broadcast and wishing I was somewhere warmer :)

when's winter over?

2010-12-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

I've been rolling along the past few weeks, getting in some awesome workouts and building up my run fitness, thinking of the 1/2 marathon that's coming up in 2 months. Long runs on Sundays have been going really well, as I've had a great run partner to keep me company (Christina), and I have done every single one of them outside. And it hasn't exactly been warm here! Last weekend I did 1:50, the weekend before was 1:45, and yesterday was only 90 min, as this was a drop-back/recovery week. I was on my own yesterday, though, so I cranked up the tunes on my i-pod and ended up having a great run, despite the -21C windchill.

Last week I ordered a new pair of shoes (Saucony Kinvara), which arrived at my doorstep on Wednesday, just in time for an ez run on the tready. I wore them again for a hard interval set on Friday (10 x 1 min), and then again on Sunday for my long run. They are great shoes! I have not really tried any brands other than Nike in the past 4-5 years, but I must say these are a hit! They are super light shoes ('minimalist') and I felt fast and floaty yesterday, even in the snow.

Other than training, I have really not been up to much (well except for an overnight work trip to Vancouver last week for a Christmas party)... however, that will soon change as I have the entire next week off of work (hells ya!), and my sister and brothers arrive here this Friday and Saturday for a couple weeks! There will be some shopping (on Christmas Eve of course - it's a tradition with my siblings), plenty of dinners, and of course lots of partying! We have been known to be a rowdy bunch at X-mas and New Years! But I do plan to get in lots of quality workout sessions over the holidays! Geoff and I were also toying with the idea of heading to Jasper next Sunday for a couple nights, with a day of skiing on Monday, but I'm not sure if that will actually pan out at this point. We'll see!

And here's some doggy pics for those fellow dog-lovers out there....

2 Boston terriers squeezed into 1 tiny bed on a cold winter's day:

Wylie lying in his toybox, soaking up the last ounce of sunshine left in the day:

Wylie likes to sleep on the very top of a couch, just like a cat:

better late than never

2010-11-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Remember the research study in which I participated in back in September, and promised to write about when I got my results? Well, since I have been waiting for 2 months for my full results from this study (still waitin') and since I seem to have absolutely nothing else interesting to write about these days, I am just going to go ahead and re-cap my experiences, results or no results!

So way back in September, I decided to sign myself up for this research study that was being conducted at the U of A: Effect of Fatigue on Whole Body Mechanics during a Simulated 10 km Race. I thought this would be a great experience to do some epic workouts and get some useful feedback on my running. The first test was a VO2 max test, which is a test to exhaustion that measures aerobic fitness. Turns out all 3 sessions that I was required to complete were to exhaustion! The 2nd session was a 10km race effort on the TRACK, and the 3rd session was a (minimum) 10km on the treadmill, at a race effort determined from your pace on the track. What did i get myself into!

I did the VO2 max test on a Wednesday after work, then I did the track 10km time trial 3 days later, on Saturday, then I did the simulated 10km treadmill run after work on the following Wednesday (so 4 days after that). It was an action-packed week of freakin' hard sessions! The first session also included height/weight measurements, shoulder range of motion, balance tests, and squat test. The VO2 max was hard, but at least it was short. Going in, I was more afraid of the 10km tests than the VO2 max test!

They got me all set up for the test on the treadmill, and you have to wear this mouthpiece that you breathe into which is attached to a hose, which is attached to this sort of headgear thing that you wear on your head so it stays in place. They put a clothespin thingy on your nose, so you are forced to only breathe through your mouth. When the mouthpiece went in (your lips are basically suctioned around it so no air gets in or out), and they put the clothespin on my nose (again so no air gets in or out), I had a brief near-panic moment where I felt almost claustrophobic and had a hard time breathing. I think I just had to get used to the device and breathing only using my mouth, and was okay after about a minute, and then the test started!

The speed got set at a pace that would stay constant throughout the test, and the incline on the treadmill kept getting increased after a certain period of time. I cannot even remember what my speed was, but as the incline went up, it got tough! At this point I cannot even remember how long the test lasted (typically they're not too long, like 12-15 minutes or something). I kept going until finally I could not go anymore. All I know for the VO2 is that my max heart rate was 195 and my VO2 score was 58, which is pretty okay I think and compared well with the other girls in the study. Upon seeing my score for some reason I felt I could have kept going for longer, as I wanted a higher score! But there was no way at that time I could have gone any further.

Several days later I met the grad student at the Foote Field track on a beautiful warm September day (the temperature was 23C, couldn't have asked for better weather!). After a short warm up, it was now or never and I got started on my 10km time trial, around and around and around the track. There were several other athletes training that day, mostly doing sprint stuff and 400's, and I just kept going. If you weren't sure, 10km around the track is 25 laps (each lap is 400m). It was PURE HELL! I was not permitted to wear I-pod or headphones, so all I had were my thoughts. I had to wear a heart rate monitor, and looked at it every so often to check out what my HR was doing, as I never train with one. I didn't feel great from the beginning, so that made the time trial even tougher.

The biggest challenge by far was mentally getting through the distance, going around the same 400m again and again at that kind of effort. Time seemed to stand still. I wasn't sure I was strong enough mentally to keep myself going at that effort for 25 laps. It would be different if I was running 25 laps at an easier pace, but this had to be at a 10km race effort, so as hard as you can go! I struggled and kept counting each lap, and counting each mile every time I finished 4 laps, and watched my heart rate continually increase. It was up to 185 by the last few laps, and I had fallen off my goal pace (can't even remember what that was now!), by about halfway. In the end, I finished right around 45 minutes flat, which was okay for me, considering how crappy I was feeling. I was SO GLAD to be finished! And scared for the final session, the treadmill 10km at race effort! Yikes!

Wednesday came quickly enough and I headed over to the Biomechanics lab after work to endure the torture session. It took forever to get set up for this one, as they had to stick 83 reflective markers all down the side of my body on different anatomical locations and joints, so that my body outline would show up on the digital computer image. This session involved a warm up, then they measured my maximal knee extension force, then the simulated 10km started at a pre-determined pace. After volitional exhaustion was reached (at the end of 10km or just after), maximal knee extension was again measured immediately with no break.

My pre-determined pace was 7.8mph, which started off pretty well, but got harder and harder and harder! I asked before starting how much time I had to be on there, and was told it would be around 48 minutes or so. OMG - I had to run at 7.8 for 48 minutes or so?! I nonestly wasn't sure I could do it. Every kilometer, I had to wear the breathing apparatus/mouthpiece thingy and they used the clothespin thing to plug my nose, and they measured oxygen output for 1 minute. During this simulated 10km treadmill torture session, there was no music allowed, no magazines, no nothing! Again, time seemed to stand still during this session. I basically had to stare at the wall and use my thoughts to push myself. As it got super tough, I just kept saying to myself 'Dig deeper' and imagined those words on the wall in front of me. It was all about using the power of positive self-talk! There was an old research poster on the wall in front and slightly to the right of the tready, which I basically kept reading over and over and over again! The study was about some gymnastics move/jump and the forces required for it or something like that. I should have it memorized by now!

This session was just as hard as the track session, but I'm still not sure which was worse. My HR kept increasing on the tready, again up to about 186-187 by the last part. Near the end, I kept asking how much longer, how much longer, and he kept telling me, 'just a bit more', but no specific numbers! Finally I made it to 10km and was able to make it about 100-200m further than that before I basically hit exhaustion and was able to get off the machine and go right to the leg extension machine. Then I had to do maximal leg extension so they could measure the force when you are exhausted.

Phew! It was over! Good experience, but very challenging! And I'm still waiting for my full results and the digital video! What the grad student was able to tell me was that my form started to suffer a bit as I became exhausted near the end, and that working on building core muscular endurance will aid in maintaining form when you get tired. So that is what I have been working on lately! Once (if) I get the video, I will post it up on here if I am able to, as it will be pretty cool.

Here is a picture of me during the test, with all the markers, etc. I got the grad student take a picture of me so I would have something to document! I must be blurry because I'm running so fast :)

Here's the digital image of me running...

I mentioned before that I was originally planning on racing the Sprint triathlon championships in Phoenix on Nov. 7, but after completing this study and those crazy hard sessions, I decided it was time for a break and I opted out of the race! No more racing until 2011!

back to business

2010-11-13T19:34:00.001-08:00

What's been going on... it's been a busy few weeks. I have been immersed in my work lately, which is a good thing. The busier I am, the better! On the training front, I seem to have gotten myself back into a decent routine and am on my way to being fit again! I've been running 4 times a week, soon to be 5, 1 hardcore strength training session per week with Christian at Body Architects (I'm getting stronger and stronger!), hot yoga once a week or bi-weekly, biking once a week, and I actually swam twice this week!

Got myself and the hubby registered for the First Half (1/2 marathon) in Vancouver on Feb. 13, which will be my first race of 2011. It was ridiculous trying to register for that race - it took me a freakin' hour! The website apparently couldn't handle the amount of traffic and crashed. Luckily I somehow managed to get through and signed up. So the training program is underway and I have 3 months to get fit for a fast half! I have not actually done a 1/2 marathon in a few years, other than in a half ironman. My best time still sits at a 1:45 (from 2007 or 2008?), so I hope to be well under that, barring a catastrophe! In my marathon 'debut' in Vegas last year, my first 13.1 miles was 1:46 (with a porta potty stop), so that should mean I can be way faster (right?).

So far my running has been going well. My long run tomorrow will be 90 mins - I did 80 mins last Sunday, which was a tough day but overall good. It was one of those days during which every direction is uphill and into a headwind. But on those days all you can do is crank up the tunes, put your head down, and just go! You can turn any crappy run around with some good music! That's what I did, I turned it around, finishing the run feeling stronger at the end than I did during the rest. Yahoo! That's all you can ask for...

And better late than never: Here's some fun pics from Halloween!

Went to a house party with this superhero:

The next night, it was all about the 80's - yeah baby! BFF Bonnie was 80's rocker, I was 'Desperately Seeking Susan'. Here we are before hitting up the town:

Hugo was Superman (he got hand-me-downs of Geoff's costume)!

Wylie, the cutest lil' Santa Claus you ever did see:

Bye for now....

More of the usual

2010-10-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Time to dust off the cobwebs and update this thing! My plan to update the blog once a week has apparently NOT been happening! What have I been up to?

Not much... took nearly an entire week off training/any exercise following the wedding, and after that much needed mini-break, I have been doing some hot yoga (maybe this also counts as heat training for Hawaii?), lots of strength sessions, some running but not much, one bike workout (indoor) and one swim. And some of this:

Ha! It is a forgotten past-time and much harder than it looks! A few weeks ago I couldn't even hula-hoop at all but now I seem to have gotten the hang of it again. I know I used to be able to do it as a child. And it is freakin hard! [The reason I even have a hula-hoop right now is because we made guests at the wedding go up and hula-hoop if they wanted the newlyweds to kiss, instead of the standard 'clink the glass' crap. This made for lots of laughs.] When's the last time you hula'ed??

My previous race schedule plan included racing the Sprint Championship triathlon on Nov. 7 in Arizona, but I decided several weeks ago that wasn't happening. And without any imminent goals I was lacking in the motivation department for training/exercising, so I have decided to start training for a 1/2 marathon in February - in Vancouver! Registration starts on Nov. 4 and usually sells out in a couple hours, so it is not guaranteed I will get in, but that's the goal! Geoff is going to do my training plans, and the first workout started today! It was only an easy 40 mins so we're off to a good start :)

The big goal over the fall/winter is to build strength and power. Operation-get-strong! To that end, I have started working with a trainer at a boutique studio for strength/power sessions and hope to continue these workouts once per week. Christian Gannon at Body Architects in St. Albert has been laying down the hammer and making me work! It is going great so far! I'm getting stronger and stronger and hopefully developing those fast-twitch muscle fibers so I can have some speed next season!

A write up on my experience and results from the UofA research study is definitely still coming, I'm just waiting to receive the final results and video, so stay tuned. I didn't think it would take this long to receive everything back but the vivid memories of the pain and epic-ness of the sessions are still with me!

Married!

2010-10-13T19:59:00.001-07:00

The whole weekend was an absolute blast, and I had such an amazing time. I didn't want it to end and I'm sad that it's all over now, but here are a few snapshots of the wedding:

A little drink was needed to calm the nerves

before getting out of the limo:

The bridal party, Greg and Alice:

Time to go! OMG!

My brothers Donald and Mark played the 'wedding song':

Getting all married up:

So happy!

A big hug from BFF Stephen:

Mmm, cake!

The bride danced all night long... the music was so so good!

Curiouser and Curiouser

2010-10-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

Meant to post an update last week but things have just been too busy! Headed to Banff on Friday for a little weekend trip with the family (Dad, my Aunt Helen, and brothers - Geoff stayed home to hold down the fort). Banff was just wonderful. There's always something so majestic about being in the mountains and I absolutely can't get enough of the crisp mountain air and the smell of fresh pine. It's so exhilarating.

A few photos to summarize the trip:

We rode the gondola just up the road from the Rimrock and here is the view from the top:

No stilleto's allowed up here...

The turquoise waters of Lake Louise:

Mark and I enjoying our Eden Room experience (10 courses with plenty of wine to go along):

The view at Lake Louise is breath-taking:

On our way out of Banff on Sunday, this little guy was holding up traffic and ended up making his way over to someone's residence:

Regarding triathlon-related stuff, I am pretty much just doing all unstructured training right now (read: do what u feel like, no plan required). I successfully completed each of the 3 parts of the grueling U of Alberta research study on the effects of whole body mechanics during a simulated 10km race. It was freakin' hard, man! I'm sort of 'recovering' from that, as it all took place over the course of only 1 week (V02 max test on Wednesday, 10km time trial on the track on Saturday, and the simulated 10km race on the tready on Wednesday). My calves were actually still a little sore yesterday!

I will do a full write up on my experiences with those sessions and the results shortly. I'm waiting for my computerized video of the treadmill session as well as the rest of the results from the study. The whole thing was extremely challenging and I'm glad I was able to push myself literally to my maximum (each test was pretty much to exhaustion). The track and treadmill sessions were also a test of mental toughness.

But first, I have a busy week ahead: have to drive to Calgary for work first thing tomorrow for 2 days, Beer Mile on Thursday nite, big dinner at Geoff's house on Friday, then on Saturday I'm getting married! OMG!

My next challenge

2010-09-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

What have I gotten myself into? I recently heard about this research study at the UofA that was underway and decided to sign myself up. The study is titled "The effects of whole body mechanics during a simulated 10km race". The first day includes some testing, including V02 max, squats, balance, range of motion, etc. The second session involves a 10km time trial on a track. The third session includes a minimum of 10km on a treadmill to volitional exhaustion, at your race pace which was determined on the track. Maximal knee extension is also measured before and after the tready test.

Yikes! I'm scared!

At the same time, I am eagerly anticipating this as I love to challenge myself and push my limits to see what the body is capable of. Between the track time trial and the treadmill race pace run to exhaustion, I haven't yet figured out what session is going to be more difficult. I'll report back later with an answer! 10km on a track at a race pace is going to seem loooongg! And no I-pods allowed (yes, I did inquire!). But running that hard on a treadmill for a minimum of 10km is also going to be brutal!

I haven't really been doing a whole lotta training this past week, just recovering a bit from the race(s) last weekend, and fitting in unstructured sessions, which included one swim, one hot yoga session, 3 runs, 1 bike, and one strength session. Oh, and if you count indoor rock climbing, which I got to do during a trip to Vancouver on Friday for work. Wow, that sounds like even less when it's written down! So hopefully this lack of training means I'll be rested going into these testing sessions!

Here's some pics of Wylie after getting a bath last weekend, then being dried with the hair dryer. He doesn't enjoy his baths as much as Hugo does, and starts shivering near the end. Of course, he's also scared of the hair dryer but he let me dry him off this time :)

That's all for now!

The Chilly Banff Tri race report and another 10km

2010-09-12T20:31:00.001-07:00

The inaugural Subaru Banff Triathlon was a hit, although the weather certainly threatened to derail the event! It was a very chilly day in the mountains for a triathlon. In the days leading up to the race, the lake water temperature was a bone-chilling 12-13C. I think they threw in that 13C to boost the athlete's confidence, as race morning it was of course only 12C. BRRR! Add to the mix the air temperature, which was around 7C in the morning, and what do you get - a COLD race! The race director announced the day before that the swim was shortened to 750m, which was a relief to all.

Some of the logistics of this 2-transition race were a little sketchy, as no vehicles or spectators were permitted at the lake/transition 1, which required shuttles to transport athletes back and forth from T1 to T2. Bikes had to be checked in the day before the race, which required parking at the overflow lot (about 5km from the lake and transition) and then biking up. Which was mostly uphill! I must have looked pretty funny cycling up in yoga capri's, a hoody, and an aero helmet! Once I arrived at the transition, I was asked to remove the gel I had taped to my bike, just in case there were bears around overnight! Now that's something you don't hear everyday at a race!

Race morning: when I stepped outside of the condo, it was drizzling. I was hopeful that it wouldn't last long. Geoff dropped me off at the 2nd transition, and then planned to go back to the condo as spectators weren't really allowed at the swim start, and spectating on the bike wasn't feasible either. I dropped my racing flats off in T2, then waited in the shuttle line up for about 20 minutes. Once I arrived at the race site, I still had plenty of time as the women weren't starting until 9:08am.

I made sure to get into the ice-bath water about 15 minutes before the start in order to 'acclimatize' myself to the temperature. If you are ever faced with an extremely cold water swim, I would highly recommend doing this. Also, a neoprene cap is a must in water colder than 13-14C. It definitely helps A LOT. Getting into the water was still a complete shock. My feet and hands were throbbing, and my face was extremely painful. I paddled/walked around in there for about 10 minutes, then stood at the start line, shivering uncontrollably and teeth chattering like crazy but feeling somewhat adjusted to the cold temperature. Right before getting into the water, it began to pour. Ahh, perfect.

I got off to a good start with minimal contact and had clear water [which was very short-lived], with several women very close by. They ended up starting the Olympic women 3 minutes after the Olympic men started. Um. WHY? By the first turn buoy, the lead women had already caught up to the tail end of the men, and it became a washing machine of bodies around the turn, which I am not typically accustomed to! The stretch from the first turn buoy to the 2nd was the same, dodging bodies left right and center, and most people just do not swim straight! The 2nd turn buoy was worse than the first. My entire face and mouth were completely numb while swimming, and I ended up swallowing a lot of water as I just couldn't feel my mouth. It was the weirdest thing ever, and not in a good way! I was REALLY glad when the swim was over and I could run up the huge hill to transition. I was out of the water 2nd female by 2 seconds.

The swim to bike transition was pretty slow! I wore arm warmers under my wetsuit, put on a short sleeve bike jersey, and had borrowed toe covers for my cycling shoes at the last minute (thanks Bo!), but didn't wear socks. I had trouble fastening my helmet as my fingers were numb, difficulty getting my gloves on, and wasted some extra time trying to stuff my wetsuit, goggles, cap into the plastic bag (volunteers were not responsible for doing this). My gloves were absolutely drenched right after I put them on. I was onto my bike in 2nd place (I found out later), behind the eventual winner (pro triathlete Magali Tisseyre), who had a very quick transition as I didn't even notice her.

It was pouring for the entire bike ride. The bike was a 2.5 loop course and somewhat technical, with all the downhills and uphills, and dodging athletes when passing. I was okay for the first loop, then progressively became colder and colder and quite miserable (cause let's face it, who likes to be cold). I rode as hard as I could in order to stay (or get) warm. I was pretty conservative on the huge downhills, though, as the roads were soaked and I didn't want to risk anything. Other than the cold and the rain, the bike was fairly uneventful. I only saw one woman (from the Olympic race) during the bike as we went back and forth a few times, with me eventually gapping her during the last loop and getting into T2 in second place overall with about 20-30 sec lead over 3rd. On the ride back into town toward T2, I was so cold and miserable I actually contemplated not doing the run. Those thoughts were promptly pushed out of my mind as I neared the transition and finish area and heard all the people cheering.

When I got off my bike, it was like I didn't have feet or something. Weirdest sensation. My feet were complete frozen blocks of ice, and it was a very uncomfortable feeling running on them on the pavement to my transition area. My T2 was SUPER slow as I had extreme difficulty getting my shoes on! I removed my gloves, and my fingers were frozen and numb, as were my feet, and I couldn't push my heels into my shoes for the life of me! Finally I was able to stuff my feet in there, and grabbed my race belt and started off on my 10km. I started out in 3rd position due to the slower transition. It felt like my right foot was not completely in my shoe, but when I looked down everything seemed okay. I was pretty frozen for most of the first 5km. I started out really fast in order to attempt to warm up, and somehow was able to hold the pace!

My run was awesome! I was only passed by one woman during the run, in the first few km's. Making progress in the run department! I ended up feeling just great, and was able to push the pace the whole 10km. I never wear a watch anymore, so had no idea of my time, but ran really hard and felt like I didn't slow down. I really liked the run course, 2 x 5km loops, with a few out and back sections and really scenic. Turns out I ran a personal best 10km time by about 30 seconds! And the course was definitely not short judging by the top woman's times :-) Which means I should definitely be able to run faster than that in a 10km running race!

I finished 4th female overall, 1st in 30-34 age group (the top 2 females were in the Elite category), and 20th overall, including men (out of 343). Which I am very pleased with, as this was a competitive race.

Here are the only pics that got taken all weekend....

With the beautiful mountain scenery in the background, running down Banff Ave toward the finish chute (behind the red jacket guy)!

Almost...there...!

I can't help but notice the toques, jackets and long pants all the spectators are wearing!

Finish line!

And for all you 'numbers' people (if there are any - I know I am!):

Swim: 8:37 (which was obviously shorter than 750m!) - 2nd female

T1: 3:44

Bike: 1:07.27 (4th female) - 38km

T2: 1:36

Run: 45:06! (8th female)

Total: 2:06.28 (4th female overall)

Overall results are posted here.

What a great race! I would definitely like to come back again and do this one, even in the cold. It is a beautiful, pristine setting, and it is very rare that you get to participate in a race in a National park!

The weekend of racing did not end there - I raced the Rotary Run 10km this morning (in support of suicide prevention). On tired legs, I actually had an awesome run and felt like I was really cruising and could push the pace the whole 10km. Turns out I ran 46.08, a little slower than yesterday's PB, but I'll take it! I was 5th overall woman today. I had planned to do this race just to participate, knowing that I was racing Banff the day prior, as the cause is very important to me.

And man, are my legs ever going to be sore tomorrow!

Time to stop wasting time

2010-09-06T20:38:00.000-07:00

Long weekends are the best! It's so nice to have that extra day to fit in whatever you need, do some extra training, or just to relax. For some reason this weekend i got to thinking about how I need to be a bit more mindful of how I'm spending my time. There are 168 hours in one week. If I estimate the following:

-Sleep 56 hours
-Work 45-50 hours
-Commute time 5 hours
-Training 10-12 hours

That leaves me about 45 hours a week for everything else, which sounds like quite a lot of time! Yet i always seem to have the perception that i have NO TIME! My goal is to stop wasting time anywhere I can so that i can be more productive. This winter and next spring, i hope to be able to train a little more than I did this year so I can be better prepared for the half iron distance races. Not so much in terms of huge volume, but more biking and more time spent on building strength and power. Cause that's really what I need!

But first, a few races remain for 2010, starting with Banff Tri next weekend. Apparently the water temperature in the lake this week was hovering between 12-14C. Yikes! That is freaking freezing! 14C i can handle (barely), but 12C is ridiculous! The coldest water I ever swam in was around 11.5C in the ocean in San Francisco last year, and I couldn't have even fathomed biking after that! We'll see what happens this week with the weather... although the forecast is looking pretty grim :(

looking ahead

2010-08-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

My next race is coming up soon, in 2 weeks - the inaugural Subaru Banff International Triathlon on Sept. 11. Should be a fun one! I haven't really been training a huge amount, just average, and in the pool it's been much less than average with unfortunately next to no intensity (last week I only swam once!), so I'm a little uncertain on the fitness going in. At least it will be a beautiful venue! I'm sure the air temperature in the mountains in September is going to be quite chilly and the lake temperature is going to be even chillier. I honestly don't mind as I frequently do better when it's cooler. Geoff and I are going to drive up on Thursday, and come home Saturday after the race is over. The dogs will be heading to paradise at the Barker's kennels in St. Albert - they absolutely LOVE it there!

After that, I decided I am going to jump into the Rotary Run For Life (10km), which I have done every year since 2006, and this year it happens to be on Sept. 12. I will be doing this race just to participate and for the cause (suicide prevention), and will certainly not be expecting any amazing performances as it is the day right after Banff!

Geoff and I are getting married on Oct. 9, so plans are well underway and everything is organized. I just recently realized that it is on the same day as Kona - darn! I will try and check in on the updates throughout the day, whenever I can... however, maybe not during the actual wedding! Ha!

Geoff found me a new plan to replace the Soma Half Iron on Oct. 24, which has now been turned into a duathlon (um... no thanks!):

This looks like a really cool race! And I LOVE sprints! It's on November 7, so Geoff and I will fly down to Arizona on Nov. 5 (I can't go any sooner due to work commitments going on that week), and stay with his parents who will also be there - Deborah is doing the race, too. The distance is a 750m swim, 26km bike, and 5km run, so just a little longer than a standard sprint. Geoff likely won't be racing as he is still recovering from his Achilles tendinitis injury and the treatment he underwent 2 weeks ago (PRP injections). Hopefully this will heal it up for good!

Also, I signed up for a race in 2011....

I'm not a fan of the Ironman-brand 'M-dot' races, but in this case I can make an exception as it is Hawaii, after all! Geoff hasn't signed up yet, he's waiting to see how the Achilles turns out. Keeping my fingers crossed he is able to race:) I'm also trying to convince Alice and Stephen to sign up as well - come on you guys, you HAVE to come! This is going to be an awesome race!

That's all my news for now...

Doggone tired

2010-08-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

I am perpetually tired. During the winter, when it was cold and dark in the mornings, I had such a hard time waking up and getting out of bed. I presumed that once the summer rolled around, when it is light out at 4:30am and warm, sunny, weather, it would be so much easier for me to get up.

Not so.

Every morning, I HAVE to press snooze button at least 3 times for 30 minutes (and Geoff hates this). Never am I able to just get up at the sound of the first alarm ring. I feel like I really need those extra 9-10 min sleep intervals to prepare myself for dragging myself out of bed. Yes, I do realize that if I just set my alarm to go off 30 mins later than normal and just got my @$$ right up at that time, I would have a lot more uninterrupted sleep. But most of the time when the alarm goes off for the first time in the a.m., I am only half conscious and so confused that it doesn't even register to me what the noise is. Sometimes the alarm noise becomes part of my dream!

It is rare that I wake up feeling rested, refreshed and ready to jump out of bed to tackle the day. Instead, each morning I awaken feeling like I have been hit by a truck [unless it is the weekend and I don't have to set an alarm and get to sleep in as long as I like, sometimes until 9 or 9:30, which occasionally I have the luxury of doing]. Once I am up and get in the shower, I am fine. It's just that initial waking up and dragging of myself out of the warm comfy bed that is so difficult.

Does anyone else regularly feel this tired in the mornings (or ever)? It's not like I do excessive amounts of training - generally I aim for about 10-12 hours a week of swimbikerun, which - in comparison to some triathletes out there - is not a huge amount. I typically aim for 8 hours of sleep a night, and I probably get about 7.5 hours of sleep a night, which seems reasonable. I am also so NOT an early morning workout person - I literally cringe when I read people's blogs and they talk about getting up at 4:30am for master's swimming workouts. Ugh!

Anyway, enough complaining - tonight I will aim to get to bed 30 mins earlier than my normal time of 11:15/11:30pm. But tomorrow morning I have to get up 45mins earlier than usual in order to be in to work at 8am, so I guess the perceived extra sleep gets cancelled out!

finally!

2010-08-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

After finishing 2nd overall [female] at three of my triathlons this season, yesterday I finally achieved that coveted overall win at the St. Albert sprint tri!! :) This race is at the top of my favorites list. The course is awesome, the atmosphere is FUN, and the people are great! This year was even better, as my lovely sister Alice was the race director! She spent countless hours organizing volunteers and taking care of all of the many details that go into planning and executing a triathlon. And I must say she did a wonderful job! Well done!

My preparation for this race was far from ideal since first of all, on Thursday i flew to Toronto for work and was there for 2 nights. Don't worry, it was not all work - on Friday my company hosted the other directors and i at the Skyline restaurant in the Skydome for the Toronto Bluejays game. I must admit, I'm not much of a baseball person, so most of the time I didn't really even know what was going on! Pretty much all i know is that the Jays won the game. It was a fantastic evening, though! On Saturday morning I flew to calgary (4 hour flight), and attended the wedding of a friend (Mike K. - congrats!). Geoff and i stayed until about 7:30pm (it was an early wedding - 1pm start, early dinner), then drove home to St. Albert, arriving around 11pm, which felt like 1am to me. Whew - long day! So I did no training at all on friday-saturday due to lack of time.

I dragged myself out of bed at 5:45am on Sunday, with a minor incident occurring at home while pumping my tires and snapping my valve extender for my rear Zipp wheel, leaving the end of it stuck inside the wheel! whoops. Wasn't sure if I would be racing after all at that point and i was totally okay with that. Anyway, I arrived at the race by 6:30am (okay, I was about 10 mins late), as I was also a volunteer for the morning. I helped with some body marking, then donned my fluorescent yellow vest and parked myself in the transition, directing swimmers/bikers in and out. It was a fun job and we really lucked out as we could not have ordered better weather!

Around 9:30am I gave up my volunteer position and made my way to the pool to get ready for my race. While I was volunteering, the wonderful bike support from Cranky's had fixed up my rear wheel and salvaged the valve extender (temporary fix - now on my to do list is to get a new one, and also a new chain!), so my bike was good to go!

I didn't have time to do a run warm up, so i hopped in the second (and very hot) pool and swam about 400m as warm up. My heat was supposed to start at 10am but was a little behind schedule. my swim was pretty terrible, and it felt waaayyy harder than it should have. This seems to always happen with the pool swims - I always feel like $h!t and have a crappy swim! Luckily there were just 2 of us in the lane so there were no issues with passing. So the slow time was all me! Perhaps it had something to do with me only swimming 3 times in the past 3 weeks! Ha! My time for 750m was actually much slower than the pace I held for 1500m in the Hinton tri pool swim!

My swim to bike transition was seamless and I got out before anyone else in my heat (of course the heat did not all start together so that is deceiving). My bike computer did not work after I switched my race wheels onto my bike, and I stopped wearing a watch in my races, so it was all done by perceived effort. I went as hard as I possibly could, with worry creeping into my head a few times that I was perhaps going too hard and wouldn't be able to run after - but i pushed those thoughts out and kept pressing on! I was passed by the eventual male winner maybe around 5km, and then several km's later a junior guy went by me, but didn't get far. Those were the only 2 that passed me during the bike. After the turn-around, we were into a slight wind, and I was able to re-pass the junior and stayed in front of him until just prior to the dismount line when he went by me again. At the end of the race when i talked to him, he said he was surprised as he thought i was a guy! Uh.... okay...? Do I really look like a guy? Hahahaha!

Off the bike and my second transition was a little more sloppy. I racked my bike on the other side of the bar than my shoes, so I had to duck under the bar to get to my stuff. Once onto the run, I didn't feel great, but after about 500m I got into a good rhythm and felt like I was doing pretty well and going fast. I was able to find that extra gear for the 5km run and push hard right to the finish! The most important thing was that I gave it my hardest effort possible and left nothing out there on that course. Most of my runs in the triathlons this year have not shown the hard work that I have put in this year in that discipline, until now.

Splits:
swim - 10:54 (1st female, 5th overall)
bike - 34:52 (1st female, 9th overall) - includes both transitions
run - 21:49 (2nd female, 19th overall)
Total time: 1:07.34 (10th overall, 1st female) = a personal best!

The encouraging thing for me is that I was about 1 minute faster than last year's time on this course, and my run time alone was about a 40 sec PB. So all that time focusing on the run has eventually paid off (as it sure hadn't seemed like it during my last 3 races)!

I'm back in Calgary today (for work, again!) just for one night... excited to get home and get back into a routine of hard training... 4 weeks until Banff!

The party's over...now get back to work

2010-07-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

My 5 day Vegas vacation was the first in a very long time that was not a triathlon or race related trip. A true vacay! It was fun! I was lazy, ate well, drank, and didn't really exercise, save for one 27 minute run in the 40C heat, during which I had to actually walk a few times! BFF Jadeen got married at Valley of Fire on Wednesday, in a very small, private ceremony in the desert. As you might have noticed from the pictures in my last post, it was good times!

However, I'm glad to be back to the daily grind, working and training and working some more, and enjoying what's left of the summer. The work tends to pile up when you are not in the office to do it! And for once I (mostly) did not work during my trip, although I have to admit I did check emails on the Blackberry once or twice, much to Geoff's chagrin.

My fall race schedule is now up in the air. I was planning to do the Soma Half Iron in Arizona on Oct. 24, but since this happened I will be opting out, as I have no desire to race a 'Half Iron Duathlon'! But I still REALLY want to do a fall triathlon (i.e. October), so I have no idea which race that will be. I'm not even sure what the options are and will have to look into it further. My next race is the St. Albert sprint tri on Aug. 8, which will be more of a fun race (as after my lazy/lush/party week in Vegas I am certainly not in racing shape), and after that I am racing the Banff Olympic tri on Sept. 11. I'm really motivated to train long and hard again and get back to decent shape by Sept. 11!

Went for a solo ride this evening, didn't leave until after 7:30pm, but still managed to get in 45km. Here's a picture from near the beginning of the ride:

Looks like there is still a lot of sunlight left, but after about 30 minutes the beautiful sun dipped behind a never ending cloud and was not to be seen again. So it became a race against daylight. Turns out I made it home with plenty of daylight to spare :)

Greetings from Vegas

2010-07-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

GWN!

2010-07-07T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Great White North 2010 has come and gone. I love this race, it definitely has to be one of my favorites (if not my favorite overall). This year did not disappoint!

Woke up to sunny skies race morning and only slight winds. By the time we started the swim, the clouds had rolled in and the winds picked up. Darn! Race morning was not without its craziness, as our house guest Bill forgot his helmet at our house. Geoff saved the day and found a spare helmet from another athlete at the race.

Anyway, here is a race recap:

Swim:

I had mentally prepared myself for a REALLY rough and chaotic start, as that was what had happened last year. I lined up on the left side at the water's edge, and there was a group of 4 or 5 people standing in the water several feet in front of all of the other athletes. I assumed they were going to be told to move back and start with the rest of the group, but all of a sudden these people began to start, and others around me began to go, so I went too! Didn't hear the start, though - it must have been really quiet! I was told that the gun wasn't working (?).

I got out fast and immediately had clear water, with one guy near me on the right and another guy a little ahead on my left. I was anticipating being hit and clawed and grabbed (like last year), but surprisingly none of this happened! Luckily I ended up with clear water the rest of the way, even around all the buoys! Just the way I like it. My second loop I relaxed and slowed down a bit... in hindsight should have kept up the same pace as the first loop as my swim could and should have been faster than last year. I thought I would relax a bit and 'save' myself a little for the bike leg :)
Came out of the water 1st female - won the swim prime - and 2nd overall, and based on the results my swim time was 27:08, about 18 seconds slower than last year. I know it could (and should) have been faster by at least 30 secs. I am happy with how my swim has gone this year, based on the amount of swimming I have done - compared to last year I have definitely done less. [Most of my workouts have been around 2000-2200m, and none longer than 2500m.]

My swim to bike transition was less than ideal as I could not pull my zipper down on my wetsuit as I ran to my bike, and as you can see by the picture below, I don't even have my swim cap off nor my wetsuit down to my waist despite the fact that I am already at my transition! Lost a few seconds there, but got onto my bike alright and set off for a hard 90km ride!

Bike:

Overall, the bike leg was tough! I rode pretty hard and felt strong, for the most part. I found the winds to be challenging. Led the women's race until somewhere close to 10km, then tried to keep Kristina S. in my sights, and was able to accomplish this for only a slight while, but a slight while nonetheless! Ended up being passed by about 5 women on the bike, and didn't try to go with anyone, repeatedly telling myself to "stick to your own race and don't worry about anyone else". I managed to pass ONE person on the bike, and that was the lead male swimmer! That is the trouble with finishing at or near the front in the swim - you don't get to pass too many people, if anyone!

My hips, legs, upper back and neck got really sore after about 50km and I worried that maybe I was going too hard? I put that thought out of my mind and kept pressing on. Then just after about 50km as I was going down a hill, my race belt suddenly broke and my number blew away! It was a crappy, old race belt that I'm sure was bound to break sometime, but in the middle of a race? I was concerned as we did not get body marked and there was really no # on our bikes, other than a teeny sticker on the stem. Fortunately there were no issues with this and I just had to call out my number to all the volunteers on the run course who were recording runners at the turn around points.

The next incident occurred at around 55km as I was powering along on a flat section, when all of a sudden my chain fell off! I had to come to a stop, get off my bike, and while I was getting off, my right hamstring/glute cramped up! Deja Vu of the Chinook race! WTF! It's apparently time to get a new chain! Anyway, I was able to fix the chain quickly and get back on the bike and continue on.

My bike split, including transitions, was 2:32. I think it was around 2:29 without the transitions. I was about 3.5 minutes faster on the bike portion this year, and it was windier, so I am very happy with that.

Run:

Onto the run, I started out at a fairly comfortable pace, and made sure to ask myself, "is this a pace that I can hold for 21km or even build on?". The run was NOT GOOD. Unfortunately, my stomach was not feeling good at all, and my legs felt very fatigued. Despite my hopes, these things did not improve over the course of the run, and in fact deteriorated! I had stomach cramps and upset, and I couldn't believe how sore my legs got! I made it to the turn around without having to walk, then the next aid station I walked through, and the next, and the next... Surprisingly I was not passed by any women until about 14 or 15km. At that point, it didn't bother me who passed me or how many went by as I was in too much pain to care. I ended up having to walk when not at an aid station several times in the remaining 6km. Mike K. went by me around 15km and I was unable to stay with him (he ended up only about 40 secs in front of me at the finish :)

When I hit the 20km mark, I told myself "you CANNOT walk, you only have 1km left!" and I did not walk again! And finally I was running up the last little section of road before you turn right and have less than 100m to the finish line:

I did not wear a watch in this race and was completely unaware of my time; I assumed I was much slower than last year, based on how I felt during the run. Then I turned the corner and saw 4:52 on the clock, and was pleasantly surprised! Last year I went 4:53. This year I had a TOUGH day and finished a little faster. So I can't be disappointed with that! My run was 1:52, which was 2 minutes slower than last year. I finished 11th woman overall, and 6th in my age group.

Ouch! I was pretty hurtin' in this picture below. Soon after I finished, I was close to fainting and had to sit down for a while.

My BFF Stephen had a solid race overall, despite some setbacks leading up (stress fracture early 2010, bike crash several weeks ago), and was able to complete the race using a borrowed bike! Way to go Squeeven! And big congrats to Alice, who took 14 minutes off her time from last year! There were many of my swimmers out there doing their first half iron ever, and everyone did amazing and had a fantastic time. I think most of them are definitely going to sign up again next year!

I had a lot of fun out there despite feeling like crap (again) on the run, it really helps to see so many people you know on the race course (racing and spectating), and the volunteers were absolutely wonderful, as usual.

A quick analysis of my splits/placing shows the following:

Swim: 27:08 - 1st female overall [2nd overall including males]

Bike: 2:32 - 6th female overall

Run: 1:52 - 52nd female overall

What is wrong with this picture?!

I was expecting to have a strong and solid run in this race and should have run about 10 minutes faster. Especially with the cooler weather we had. I'm not sure exactly what went wrong, but something sure wasn't right with my body on the day. Fitness was definitely not the problem. I've got some work to do on the bike and probably did not do enough hard, long rides in training. But... instead of being disappointed, I am now more motivated than ever to get fast and have it all come together on the run!

This marks the end of the first half of my season, now I'm taking a little break this week and very excited to train and race the second half of the season! The plan is to do the St. Albert Tri on Aug. 8 (volunteering as well), then the Banff Olympic Tri on Sept. 11, then hopefully Soma Half Iron in AZ at the end of October.

Riding with boys

2010-06-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

Chinook Olympic triathlon was on Saturday. What a great race!

Short version: decent swim; felt strong on the bike/had a minor mechanical issue/got passed by 3 men, no ladies; tough but solid run; ended up 2nd overall female by only 20 seconds, and a PB for Olympic distance.

Long version: read on...

I had to head to Calgary on Wednesday for work stuff so ended up in Calgary 4 nights total. The weather was $h!t leading up to the weekend - pouring rain and 8C on Wed/Thurs, and a little warmer on Friday. Luckily it turned around for the race - it was sunny skies all the way and 21C for the high!

The walk to the race site from the car...
A race is never complete without an 'incident', and this occurred during body marking. They asked me my number, and I told them: 1280. Later when I went to pick up my timing chip, 1280 was missing. So the volunteers asked me if I had the wrong #, and then I realized - 1280 was my hotel room! Whoops! They looked up my actual race #, and it turns out... my number was 1286! Imagine that - so my body marking only required the 0 to be changed into a 6! Hilarious. Geoff pointed out that it was lucky that someone had already taken 1280, or I would have been racing as someone else...

The half ironman wave went off at 8am, and everyone had to be out of transition by that time, so I got my stuff set up and then had 1hr 15 minutes till the Olympic start. Plenty of time! I was able to get in a nice 15 minute jog, then took the time getting my wetsuit on.

Pre-swim warm-up dork picture!

I waded into the water so I could do a quick swim warm up, put my head in, and the water was C-C-C-COLD! Man, it was freezing! My hands and feet were completely numb, and I had the classic ice cream headache. The temp could not have been more than 16C!

RACE:
Swim: The swim start was pretty calm, and I got out fairly well and had some clear water quickly, just the way I like it. This also happened to be my first open water swim in nearly a year (since GWN last year). I would not recommend this! It just didn't work out that I was able to get in any open water swim training before the race.

During the first lap of the swim, I felt very out of shape.I was able to get into a good rhythm during my second lap and stretch it out a bit. The water was pretty chilly, and my feet and hands were numb from the cold. I exited the water in 3rd, behind 2 guys. The times were very slow, and I estimate that it was probably around 150m too long, based on my swim split (22:24).

My first transition was not overly efficient, as I was fumbling with my sunglasses in my helmet and my helmet straps with my cold fingers! Finally I was able to get my helmet on and set off on my 40km ride.

The bike ride was awesome! It was an out and back on a very nice course, with some rolling hills. I had no watch and my bike computer still isn't working, so I wasn't aware of my time or speed. One guy passed me during the first little bit, then I re-passed him, and I didn't see anyone else until sometime after the turn-around, when another guy went past. With approximately 5km to go, I was hammering along in my 2nd biggest gear and tried to switch gears, when I heard this loud noise and couldn't pedal anymore. I looked down and my chain had fallen off! Oops! I had to carefully slow down and come to a stop, and as I got off my bike, my hamstring/glute attachment cramped up. Ouch! It went away quickly, and I was able to put the chain back on, spin the pedals a couple times, then get back on my bike, getting passed by 2 guys during all this. Of course when I started, I was in one of the biggest gears and it was difficult to turn the pedals!

However, I got back into it okay and finished off the last part of the bike strong. My second transition was lightning quick and I was off onto the run! Bike split ended up at 1:09.17 according to results (includes transitions).

They had a cyclist to accompany the lead female runner in this race (like they do with the pro's), which was very cool! I got to enjoy his company throughout the (almost) entire run. The run course was beautiful and followed the trails through Fish Creek park. I felt average but struggled along at times. There was a little out and back around 8km, and I got a chance to see that there was another female creeping up on me, only about 20 seconds back. Yikes! Just after 9km, there was a huge hill to run up which was very challenging. Around 9.5km, I was passed for the lead... tried to stay with her but was hurting too much and ended up 2nd by only 20 seconds. Final time was 2:19.00, which was a personal best.

Someone pointed out later that my stop to fix the chain on the bike cost me the win. D'oh! The chain thing did take me about 45 seconds to deal with, so that is probably true. Oh well. Doing all these races this year gave me a chance to blow out the cobwebs and iron out the kinks prior to Great White North.... which is coming up in just over a week! Time flies!

Mountainview Triathlon race report

2010-06-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

The Hinton race on the weekend was a fun one! I drove up on Saturday afternoon with Maryann from my swim group, and we made it just in time for the pasta dinner at 6pm. I always really appreciate races that include a pre-race dinner for the athletes. Hinton is in a league of its own compared to all the ridiculously overpriced races these days - for just $60 you get a pasta dinner, an extremely well-organized event, and awesome volunteers. I highly recommend it! I did this race many many years ago (wow, this makes me sound old! Ha!), and it was one of my first few Olympic tri's. I must have blocked from my memory how challenging the course is. Despite the difficulty, it also has the most breathtakingly beautiful run course I have done.

Anyway, race morning: Maryann and I arrived around 7:30am, as transition closed at 8am. This race really has an 'old school' feel to me and it was a very laid back atmosphere. As this is a smaller race, there were more than enough transition racks to go around; in fact, I pretty much had a whole rack to myself! There was no jostling for a rack position or bumping into other peoples' bikes/transition contents such as occurs at some of the larger, overcrowded races. I set up my transition in about 5 minutes and was done!

My heat didn't start until about 9:45am, so I had loads of time to go before starting. I met lots of cool people while i was waiting around - everyone at the race was very friendly. I did a short 15 minute run warm up and some light stretching. When it was time for our heat to go, they allowed us a minute or two warm up and I was able to swim an easy 100m before starting. It was nice that they started the entire heat together, rather than start lanes separately as they emptied, which made it more of a "race". Typically in the pool swim triathlons, you really have no idea where anyone is until the results are posted! I kept it fairly comfortable for the 1500m, and actually had a decent pool swim. Being in the end lane, I was able to keep track of where I was by peeking at the pace clock every 100m. I knew I was a little off my standard 'go-to' goal pace of 1:20/100m and I was fine with that as I was feeling smooth and comfortable. I tend to do a lot better in the open water swims rather than pool swims. Including the run across the pool deck and just outside, it turns out my time was 20:55, which is right around what I was expecting based on using the pace clock to gauge where i was (I did not wear a watch to time myself).

My transition was good and I started to push hard as soon as I was on my bike. After only a few km's there is a fairly large hill, which actually didn't end up being as bad as I had anticipated. In the days prior to the race, I had gotten a very mild case of the sniffles, and as I was powering up the hill I was a little concerned as my throat was extremely sore and i thought I might be causing myself to get sick, but luckily this went away a bit later on after I continually coughed up and spat out oodles of phlegm - lovely, I know. One unfortunate incident occurred when I apparently did not spit far enough and ended up with a large blob of phlegm on my right shoulder. That was fun. You can only imagine how gross this is, unless it has also happened to you at some point. I cleared it off to the best of my ability and eventually had to squirt my water bottle of GU drink on my hands to clean them off.

Enough about that - anyway, i tried to power through the hills and stayed in my aerobars pretty much the whole ride. I did not have a working computer on my bike, so I wasn't really too sure how far along i was and where the 20km turnaround was. As I descended a hill, I passed a 'highway worker' guy near the bottom who just stared at me as I rode by. Confused, i yelled out asking if I was supposed to turn left there, and he nodded. Whoops! I had to slow down to a safe speed, then pull a u-turn after letting a couple cars pass, and then take the turn. Unfortunately there were no signs stating this was the 20km turn around. That would be the only thing I would change about the race.

The rest of the bike was uneventful. We had a little headwind coming back which slowed things down a little. I went as hard as I could and my legs felt okay. My bike split was 1:09. Off the bike, the first Km of the run was good. Then it all went downhill. Well, actually it went straight uphill for an entire kilometer. I was okay for the first part of the hill, then as it kept going up and up and up, I really started to struggle. By the time I hit the 2km mark (where there was still a little uphill section to go), I was completely redlining. After that, the course leads into a beautiful trail section, with mostly gravel pathways and some wooden footbridges. Beautiful! I started to feel better around 3km or so, and was able to get into a rhythm until the 5km turn-around. At the 6km mark, I was passed by the eventual winner and was powerless to keep up with her. I began feeling terrible again around 7km, and experienced those stabbing stitches I get on occasion in the left upper trapezius and right ribs, that seem to take my breath away so I can't fill my lungs. I had those on the 1km downhill section, and also during the final flat km so I unfortunately was not able to push myself with any effort to the finish. It was painful! I reeeallly wanted to walk at various points but did not let myself at any point.

Compared to my run the previous weekend at Coronation, the difference was like night and day. I was able to really push myself on that 8km at Coronation and actually "race" the run, but in Hinton I felt so awful on that darn hilly run it was more a matter of just getting to the finish line so the pain could be over. I'm not sure why I felt that way, who knows? Although I really wanted to win, I am happy with the 2nd overall. I did not run to the best of my ability, but i think I did the best that I could on the day. My final time was 2:20.02 (only 2 seconds away from breaking that 2:20!), a personal best on any course by 3 minutes, and a personal best on that same course by 14 minutes.

Thanks Amber for the pictures - I took one or two but mine did not turn out well! Great to see you there!

just before the finish line...

The first and second place of each age group received wine - what an awesome prize! I don't actually turn 30 for another week, but had to race the past 2 races as a 30-39 year old (which incidentally worked out in my favor). I still don't really understand the rationale behind that 'age as of December 2010' rule! It makes you feel older than you are!

There is lots to improve upon for my next race: Chinook Olympic triathlon on June 19! Looking forward to some warm weather here this weekend (finally)!

Coronation Tri (also known as the Winter Aquathlon)

2010-06-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

This was what was going on outside when I woke up Sunday morning for the Coronation triathlon. That was a first! I've seen some crap weather for tri's but never snow! It was 1C and -2 with the windchill. I left my bike exactly where it was on the trainer and left the house at 7:30am with only my swimming and running gear in tow. I decided that no matter what, I was not going to be biking!

When I arrived at the pool, I discovered that the bike leg was cancelled (no brainer), and the race had become a swim-run (1km/8km), which is otherwise known as an Aquathlon. I also noticed that there were a large number of bikes set up on the transition racks outside, which I thought was quite comical. The whole atmosphere was very relaxed and it seems close to half the people who registered were, not surprisingly, no-shows. The race had morphed into a "seed yourself" type of deal, so Alice and I went near the end of the line of women and found a group of 4 other girls to swim with. The race director also allowed us to set up our transition areas inside the pool area, so as to avoid having to run outside in our bathing suits.

There were 6 in my lane and it turned out to be very organized and efficient as we had a good group of swimmers who knew what they were doing and how to pass/be passed. I went off second and was a little behind the first girl (~50m), lapped a few others and in general had a decent swim. I ran to my 'transition' and proceeded to throw on a long-sleeved Lulu shirt, running capri's, socks and toque. I couldn't get the long sleeve pulled on my arms as it kept getting stuck, and the capri's also had a mind of their own, wanting to stay glued to my lower calves! I was definitely in transition for a good chunk of time! The swim times actually include the indoor transition times so I really have no idea what I actually swam. I had a towel there and dried off a bit, but as soon as I had my shirt on it was already soaked, which became even more so outside as it was still sleeting/snowing/raining.

My run went great! I went out pretty hard and felt pretty decent. The run is challenging as most of the whole way out is downhill, which means... you have to come uphill on the way back! I cheered for and encouraged all of the oncoming runners and the ones I was overtaking, and was in a good mood and mindset despite the conditions. All of the other women seemed to be in good spirits as well, and there were some awesome volunteers out there in the miserable weather cheering everyone on at various points. So it ended up being a pretty fun race! I ended up 2nd female overall by less than a minute. And Alice had an awesome swim and run to end up 3rd place in our age group - a podium! WAY TO GO ALICE, you rock!

After Alice finished, we headed inside and went directly into the hot tub for >15 minutes. It was sooo hot and nice, but a bad decision in hindsight after being so freezing at the finish! My lower legs were already starting to feel sore later on in the day, especially my shins. I did a 10 min ice bath in the late afternoon which helped, but even today, my shins are still incredibly sore! Hopefully they recover well in time for Sunday...

Next up, Hinton Olympic Tri on June 6!

Springtime(?) in Alberta

2010-05-29T18:33:00.001-07:00

I am racing a triathlon in this weather tomorrow??

Uhh, okay??

Ha! I'll let you know how it all pans out tomorrow! I'm not even putting the race wheels on my bike - not even sure there is going to be a bike ride! We shall see... this is ludicrous!

long weekend...

2010-05-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

Just home from a lovely dinner out at Moxies with my bestie Bonnie - appetizers, steak, mini mousse for dessert, all washed down with a fabulous glass of Merlot... mmmm and definitely hit the spot after an epic training weekend. HARD swim on Saturday morning with my group followed by a 3 hour trainer ride (cause the weather sucked), 1:50 long run on Sunday with about 40mins of core/strength work after it, and a long ride outside today.

Today was one of those rides where everything seems to just come together. The legs feel powerful and seem to be invincible to fatigue, the tailwind makes you feel like a frickin' rockstar, the headwind doesn't bother you in the least, and you're dropping the boys like it's nobody's business. Good times! Makes you feel like you are looking out at the world through rose-colored sunglasses...

The ride was just under 90km, with a nice tailwind going out. We were all dreading turning around and riding the second half into the wind, but once we did it actually turned out to be much better than I was expecting. I started feeling more and more powerful and came across this extra gear where I was able to just put my head down and push push push, holding 32-35km/h into the wind. I really hope these type of legs show up on race day! I just felt awesome overall, and I didn't really experience the usual discomforts, such as - saddle, SORE neck, legs getting fatigued, etc... Maybe I am finally getting used to my bike and position... I made a slight change to the aerobar angle last week (?). Regardless, the whole thing was really encouraging, and gives me some confidence!

The legs seem to be finally coming around and they have magically rid themselves of the fatigue and burned out feeling that has plagued them the past few weeks. Should be a fun race next weekend!

p.s. On my to-do list... get a new summer picture for my blog! It is no longer winter and I'm sure my 2 readers don't want to see a picture of snow up there!

Meltdown in the heat

2010-05-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

This past week has been another solid week of training for me. Even with taking (a much needed) day off on Thursday, it ended up being 14 hours of training, culminating with a mini meltdown during my 'shorter long run' yesterday. Back to that later.

The previous plan was to do the 1/2 marathon in Red Deer on May 23. But when I proceeded to sign up last Wednesday, the online registration had already closed! I was a little surprised (yeah I know - you snooze, you lose), but perhaps it was actually an omen - letting my tired and battered body know that it was not quite ready for the challenge. At first I thought I would probably just drive up the day before and sign up at package pick-up, as the website indicated this was a possibility. However, as of yesterday this idea was completely out of the question.

..........

After a long brick session on Monday (85km bike, 30 min run), a ride on Tuesday just over 40km - and just before that, a 2 hour run on Sunday, a 75 km ride on Saturday - my legs were burned by Thursday which necessitated a full day off. I even skipped my swim. Friday I dragged Alice to the track, and we did 10x400m, which was an awesome session. Good, but freakin hard. Track = puke hard. My swim on Saturday morning sucked royally, as my body felt very sore and fatigued. Usually I can churn out my best effort swims on Saturday mornings which results in some epic sessions. Not the story this past Saturday. One weird thing I would like to mention about swimming early on Saturday morning (i.e. 8am), is every single workout, my lower back becomes progressively sorer throughout the workout. I can still swim through it okay, but it happens every Saturday. It's very strange. I honestly feel like an 80 year old granny sometimes. The theory amongst my group is that you haven't been up all day, stretching and moving around, and changing position. But the first thing I do on Saturdays is go to the pool and swim. Does anyone else experience this phenomenon? I suppose it only applies if you regularly do your swims at night, and occasionally fit in an early workout.

..............

Anyway... back to Saturday. I went for a ride in the afternoon with a couple guys from the group and Alice, total of 90km for 3 hours. Not a super fast ride, but the reason for that was it was one of those rides that the wind actually switches direction so you never get to experience a tailwind. Challenging and somewhat frustrating! My legs were feeling quite shot and around 60km I was feeling sore nearly everywhere, but I was able to "git 'er done". Sunday morning (okay late morning) rolled around and I was supposed to get out and do a 90 min run. It was gorgeous out, sunny and 26C with a wind. Contrary to being on the bike, when it is hot out and I am running, I actually welcome the wind. I did an out and back, and felt pretty good the first 45 mins, but was kicking myself for not wearing the dorky fluid belt with 2 water bottles. I was able to make a water stop at the turn around. The route back was not fun or pleasant. I wilted like a flower in the hot desert. My legs were tired and fatigued, I was incredibly thirsty (even made one more water stop), and just felt overall crappy. I managed to make it to 1:25, then was forced to walk/shuffle the rest of the way home.

Today Geoff gave me a choice to do whatever I wanted - easy bike, core workout, whatever - and I chose to do nothing. I felt I needed the extra rest day, so hopefully my legs and body can absorb the previous hard training and epic sessions, and regenerate/recover/replenish. I also saw some of the workouts coming up later this week and that made the decision even clearer to take today off! Yikes, later on the week is going to be hard!

................

My Plan B is now to race Coronation Triathlon instead on May 30. This is a 'super sprint' triathlon (1km swim, 26km bike, 8km run), and will be a good tune up race. I also just signed up for Hinton Mountainview triathlon on June 6 (Olympic with a pool swim). These races will be great for 'blowing out the cobwebs' and getting everything dialed in for the GWN on July 4. That was exactly what I wanted to change after last season - race more shorter races before the 1/2 ironmans. Last year I raced an Olympic tri in Mexico in April, then my next triathlon was Oliver half on June 6, then my next one was GWN a month later. While I still did alright at the 1/2's, I think the shorter tune-up races are actually quite important, and not to mention FUN! I love doing the local triathlons - the atmosphere is always very fun and positive and it's a chance to get in a really good speed workout!

Getting it done, sort of

2010-05-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been a real wimp with the weather and my training. At the slightest sign of cooler weather/wind/rain, I have been hiding indoors on the trainer or hitting up the treadmill. Up until Saturday, I had been outside on my bike a total of... uh, once. And that was on a 23C day back in April. That's my kind of weather.

So Saturday morning rolled around and it was time to face the music. Only a couple months remain till GWN so time get my a$$ out there! After swim practice, I rushed home and got dressed for cycling outside - it was only about 8C. Turned out to be not too bad at all! I rode 50km with a couple girls from the swim group, and I wasn't really even cold.

Then Sunday rolled around and I had a 2.5 hour ride/30 min run planned. And I did the ride on the trainer. In my defence it looked like it was going to rain and the winds were really strong! The ride was good, but I ended up feeling really hungry/bonky at the end and as a result I bailed on the run. However, the week overall was pretty good as I ended up with 13 hours of training, which is good for me. Actually the past couple weeks have consistently been at that same amount.

I had a 60 min run planned for Monday and was determined to do it outside, no matter what. It was of course miserable all day. I got myself ready around 6:45pm and stepped outside - and it had just started raining. The winds were STRONG and it was far from warm. I stepped back inside, literally contemplating the tready, and Geoff yelled at me to just get out there and do it. So that I did! The first half of it was miserable, with 50km/hr winds in my face and raining, but despite this I actually didn't feel bad at all. And it was even better when I turned around as there was a tailwind. It turned out to be quite a good run - sometimes those runs in the rain are nothing to fear!

My 'fairweather training' problem reared its ugly head again yesterday causing me to do my ez run on the treadmill, but with good reason:

Ahh... spring in Alberta would not be complete without a May blizzard. I was hoping for some more gorgeous weather like we got several weeks ago but, dream on I guess!

It WILL turn around! I am so looking forward to spring/summer... any day now!

slowly getting faster

2010-04-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

Since the 10km race in March, I have been doing lots of running, including some super hard workouts. Geoff was really confident that in the 10 miler I should be able to hold close to the pace I was able to hold for the 10km. I thought, 'no way, how is that possible to hold a similar pace for 4 more miles on a hilly course?', but proceeded to listen to him anyway. Turns out, he was right!

I race the St. Albert 10 Miler yesterday, which is an awesome race. Organized by our tri club (St. Albert Triathlon & Roadrunners Team), this was the 25th anniversary of the event, and it did not disappoint. The volunteers are awesome and the entire race is so organized it goes off without a hitch. I have the added benefit of having the route literally run by my doorstep, so I was able to train on it whenever I pleased. The course is not easy by any means, as it contains quite a few hills, some short and some long and gradual. But hills by any measure. And I am definitely not a hill person!

Anyway, the weather could not have been better for the race. Sunny and a high of 22C - wow is this April? The day before was actually the first day I took my bike outside and what a beautiful day that was! I did just over 40km and then did a short 20 min run off the bike, during which my legs felt heavy and tired. I was a little worried but shrugged it off. For the race, I did a little warm up and made my way over to the start line. There was no watch allowed again (Geoff's rules), and I was to go completely by feel. After the gun went off, everyone around me immediately began sprinting and I REALLY had to hold myself back and not get caught up in the stupidity of going out too hard. So I went out at a comfortable pace, and the 1 mile clock indicated 7:35 as I went by. Right on target and not feeling too bad!

Just before mile 4 is where my house is on the route. At this point I saw Geoff with the dogs on the sidewalk and began waving and saying hi. My sister was the volunteer at mile 5 with the clock (37:08 split). It was such a fun race as I was able to see so many people I knew at the aid stations and volunteers at intersections.

After mile 5, something weird happened... I didn't fall apart. In fact, I almost felt like I was getting stronger at some points. After mile 6, the second round of the hills started. I kept plugging along, focusing on controlling my breathing. Sometime between mile 8 and 9, I got a terrible stitch in my left rib that took my breath away and as a result my pace slowed slightly. It wasn't the normal cramp that you can run through but the worst kind where you can't get a breath in. I dug my fingers into the area and pushed through it. Luckily it went away as I turned the corner onto the final stretch. I hit the mile 9 clock in 1:08.23, with a lot of the final mile downhill. I went so hard on that final mile, and was so happy to be able to push the effort right through to the end of a longer race, and to be feeling strong at the end (first time this has ever happened in a longer race!). I finished in 1:15.20 or something, with my final mile under 7mins!

The goal was to hold a 7:30 pace, and I ended up sticking to that! I surprised myself in this race, as I didn't entirely believe in myself that I could do that. It's a really good feeling when you prove yourself wrong :) Thanks to Geoff for your coaching, it is definitely helping me!

This was definitely a PB, as the best I've done on that course was a 1:23 several years back. I am very happy with how it went. It is a super competitive and fast race, as 1:15 only put me at 11th place in my age group - man there are some freaking fast people out there! But I'll get there, too, eventually...

At the awards ceremony after with Alice:

For the rest of the day I was exhausted but I had some work to do. Difficult with dogs climbing all over you. Obviously I should pick a better place to set up my computer!

Next up is the Sandy Beach Duathlon on May 2, weather pending. If it's snowing or below 10C, I am going to say no!

Stay up Forever

2010-04-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Time sure flies! I meant to write something sooner but here it is 3 weeks since my last post! From now on, I plan to update this thing once a week, now that we are closing in on the race season. I am very excited that the races are just around the corner!

It's funny, as this winter I planned to go out and buy some new warm running gear (tights, long-sleeved tops, a jacket perhaps) for running in the colder temperatures. It is now April 4 and I bought nothing so far, and it is now no longer needed! I just used my old stuff and all of a sudden we're into spring. I guess it will have to just wait until next year - fine by me! One thing that I really find strange with this LOVELY weather we have been getting, is seeing all kinds of people out running in long tights and jackets! WTF? It's warm out, hello - I take every possible opportunity I can get to wear shorts or capri's. The tights are gone for the year and won't be coming back out. When the temperature is 10C as it has been, why the hell would you be wearing tights and jackets?! It's a mystery to me...

This week has been a very successful week of training with some key workouts, but it's not over yet! I still have a long run to go today, 22km (the Coyote Run), plus 30 minutes of core. I was supposed to do this run with the St. Albert tri group last Sunday at 9am, with a potluck after, but found myself throwing up for half the night Saturday with an apparent case of food poisoning. It was my Saturday morning ritual to stop at Tim's after swimming/coaching and pick up coffee and breakfast sandwiches for Geoff and I. This tradition has now been scrapped as I'm pretty sure the sandwich was the cause of the stomach/digestive woes, which kept me in bed all day Sunday.

I digress. Monday I was able to do an hour of core/strength at home, then by Tuesday I was back to my regular training schedule. On Wednesday I biked on the trainer early and dragged my brother Mark to the Extreme Functional Fitness drop in class at the gym from 7:30-9pm. It was very challenging! There was lots of circuit, plyometrics/calisthenics, stairs, running, you name it! It will be excellent for building strength and power, exactly what I am lacking. We're going to try to make it there every week. My muscles were still sore up until yesterday.

My swimming has gotten back on track, all it takes is some super hard intensity workouts and the speed is slowly returning. I did a set of 10x 50 all out on 1:30 on Thursday with MK, normally supposed to be 2 sets but ran out of time. I was able to hold 35's for all. Saturday morning was another tough set: 5 x 100, 4 x 100, 3 x 100, 2 x 100, 1 x 100, all descending from set to set and on 1:45. I started with 1:19's, then 1:17's for the set of 4, 1:16's for the set of 3, 1:15's for the set of 2, then finished with a 1:13. I was pleased with it and after a few more weeks of killer workouts, should be able to improve on that.

After the swim yesterday, I did a 2 hour trainer ride and a 30 min run off the bike. It was good, although I think I needed a few more calories during the 2.5 hour workout, as I felt somewhat hungry and bonky before starting the run. I'm still trying to get the nutrition dialed in for the longer training/races, and find the 'less is more' approach works best for me. However, yesterday I perhaps was a bit close to the 'less' end of the spectrum with just a bottle of gatorade, some water and 1 gel on the bike. I had to grab half a gel before starting the run and ended up feeling just fine.

And on Friday I went to the track for an hour, the workout Geoff scheduled included 4 x 1 mile (with 2 min ez between). Turned out to be a great workout, hard as the track always is, but my best mile repeats ever. Went 6:55, 6:54, 6:55, 6:52, which is a big improvement over the last time I did this, and quite promising that I was able to get faster throughout the repeats, which NEVER used to happen!

In two weeks I will be racing the 10 Miler in St. Albert. Just a training race. It's pretty awesome as the race goes past our front door, so I can train on the tough, hilly course very easily (by that I mean it's convenient - not that the course is easy:). Geoff likely won't be racing as he had a slight flare-up of Achilles pain that started last week. After that I might do the Sandy Beach duathlon at the beginning of May, some of the Wednesday night cross country races, for sure the Red Deer 1/2 marathon on May 23, possibly Coronation triathlon on May 30, and then Hinton Olympic triathlon on June 6. After that I am going to do the Chinook Olympic distance triathlon in Calgary on June 19 (Alberta provincials), and the big focus will be Great White North 1/2 Iron on July 4.

And just yesterday I signed up for this sweet race in Banff:

There is a brand new Olympic distance triathlon in Banff on Sept. 11, 2010, and I will be racing! It looks really fun. I am sure the water will be quite chilly and there is the potential for the air temp to be cool as well (the mountains in September!), but the sheer beauty of it all will be worth it! I'm not completely sure what the race schedule will be like for the rest of July and August, but after Banff I plan to go down to Arizona to race the Soma 1/2 Iron at the end of October again, as I love that race and missed it in 2009 due to the marathon training. It's looking to be a very exciting year!

A successful race... based not on results, but on process

2010-03-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

The first race of 2010 is now behind me. Alice and I drove up to Calgary on Friday after work to run in the St. Patty's day 10km race on Saturday. The weather was beautiful that evening, and once we arrived in Calgary we ordered some pizza and relaxed for the night in the hotel.

For the race, Geoff instructed me beforehand 'under no circumstances are you wearing a watch'. The idea was to go by feel and perceived effort instead. I was all for the idea as I tend to get really caught up in my splits during a race and typically this does not work in my favor, as I become disheartened if i'm even slightly off pace. So to completely avoid the temptation, I left my watch in the hotel. The plan was to listen to the body. This was the first ever running race where I hadn't worn a watch.

Alice and I were able to jog the couple blocks to the race venue, which was great as we didn't have the added hassle of searching for a parking spot! The race started exactly at 10am, and I was actually chatting to a friend (Chad), whom I hadn't seen in ages, and didn't even hear the start. I went out at a comfortable pace, with tons of people sprinting away from me. But this time, I held myself back and stuck to my plan. I just told myself just do your own race and don't worry about anyone else!' I continually reminded myself of this throughout the race.

I felt strong and stuck to a pace that was comfortably uncomfortable. The only split I knew of in the entire race was the first mile, where an official was standing calling out splits. '7:28' was what I heard as I went by, but I put it out of my mind and didn't think twice about it. Normally if I would have seen that split I would dig myself into a negative headspace, which would more than likely end up derailing my race. So I simply put it behind me and kept pressing on. It turns out my final average pace per mile was faster than that first mile anyway, which is a first for me.

My legs actually felt great, floaty and springy, and I pushed myself as far as I thought I could without falling apart. It was of course still hard, but it wasn't the kind of usual typical pain I get in a running race (when I go out too hard) where I become negative and want to back off and slow down or walk. At no point in the race did the thought of wanting to give up cross my mind. I feel like I went as hard as I possibly could on the day. I didn't blow up or fall apart, my legs felt good, my technique felt strong and efficient, and I kept a positive mindset for the duration of the 10km.

So my heart sank when I saw the clock at the finish line approaching 46 min as I was coming up to the finish. My chip time turned out to be 45:57, about 30 sec above my best time. Based on how the race unfolded and perceived effort and feel, I thought for sure I was running a personal best time, at least a sub 44. Wrong! I couldn't help but feel disappointed.

However, during a lengthy discussion with Geoff after arriving home, he put it all in perspective for me. Do I really want to be doing personal best times right now, in March, or during the summer and early fall where the big races take place? I am a triathlete, not a runner. We have not been doing specific 10km training. And I went out there and executed the race to a 'T', exactly according to plan, based on feel and perceived effort alone. I didn't slow down or positive split; in fact, I may have even negative split the race (which would be an absolute first for me).

All of this is why the race is considered a success. Not based simply on the end result, but the entire process and all factors involved. I am working on moving away from the mindset of being preoccupied and focused on time/placing results and basing the success of a race strictly on these factors, when there is so much more to it than that. This is a work in progress.

Geoff asked me to re-visit some of my 2010 goals to further confirm that I am on the right track. Here were several of the relevant ones:

1. Have fun and enjoy myself in training and at all of my races.

2. Give my best effort possible in every race I do, no matter how much it hurts. NEVER GIVE UP!

3. Compete in more running races of all distances throughout the year, in addition to adding in more frequent and shorter tri's.

4. Perform weekly core/strength/yoga/weights sessions throughout the year to build and maintain strength and prevent injury.

~I am definitely on the right track, as I have been and will continue to follow all of these goals. :)

Trip to Vegas... first race coming up... nuptial planning

2010-03-07T16:58:00.001-08:00

Well - it's been busy, hence the seriously long lag in my blog posts! I need to get back on track, as there have been many exciting things going on here and me having no time to write! Geoff and I were in Vegas a few weeks ago but it now seems so long ago that I'm not even going to write much about it, so here are a couple of pictures instead...

View of the strip:
Day 2 of the big tournament - you can spot Geoff in the blue hoody:

Only in Vegas...

My only Elvis sighting:

It's commonplace to walk down the strip drinking $1 margaritas...

It was a quick, fun trip overall and ever since I've been back things have been crazy-busy at work. I've been getting in pretty much all of the swim-bike-run-strength that I have wanted to in the small amount of spare time I have! Swimming is suffering slightly but my running seems to be where I need it to be, which is a good thing as I just registered for my first race of the year today - the 10km St. Patrick's Day run in Calgary next Saturday. Should be fun! Alice and I are going to drive up on Friday late afternoon. Geoff will stay home and take care of the 2 monster puppies. I'm excited to do a race! I have actually done this exact race twice before, in 2005 and 2006 so there is a benchmark that I can compare my time to, which is always nice.

And finally, the big news:

Geoff and I are now engaged! It happened last weekend. You're probably waiting for some lovey-dovey, romantic proposal story... sorry, folks, we're not that kind of people! Yes, it was obviously a mutual decision after nearly 6 wonderful years together, but Geoff sprung it on me when I was not expecting it! I picked out the ring myself (actually Geoff went on his own first and picked out several he thought I might like, and we then went together and I picked the one I liked best:). It is a sparkly, simple, princess-cut diamond, exactly what I always wanted. Can't seem to get a good picture of it to post as it keeps turning out all blurry with the flash!

Geoff and I have been through a lot together over the years, and it has gone by so fast I can hardly even believe it's been that long! We have an unshakable bond and I am super excited for this next journey we are going to take together. Our families and friends all know now and everyone is happy and no one seems surprised :) We have no absolute plans yet for the nuptials but several ideas have been thrown around...

That's it for now!