Kelowna Apple - Quick and Dirty Race Recap

Last time I did the Apple in 2008 my overall time was 2:47:28, and it was a PR that I haven't beaten since.

In 2008 I was determined to set a new run PR and was so disappointed at failing to do that it took me a while to realize I'd set an overall PR (I've put a lot of work into the mental side of things over the last three years because of this meltdown).

This year I again went in with high expectations for my run and was again unimpressed with it, but it did at least turn out to be better than 2008. The bike was on par with what I've done in the past few years but apparently this is the year of the swim!

2011 splits:
Swim: 26:54 (2008 - 31:11, no wetsuit)
Bike: 1:19:26 (2008 - 1:18:56)
Run: 51:48 (2008 - 53:52)

Overall:2:41:33

Now I need to figure out how to get the same improvement for my bike and run.

Iron Mountain Sprint Race Report

Another short triathlon, another small field and another podium finish. I could get used to that last part!

I had been warned the race might not be the best organized but was still surprised that it started half an hour late. My swim warm up went from reasonably long to way, way too long - I was in the water for 55 minutes before the race started. That was plenty of time to get chilled and lose all benefit of my warm up run. I guess I'm not used to doing the "second fiddle" races, like sprints seem to be.

It was a beach start but with only about 70 racers and a wide starting area it wasn't too crazy. From some reason everyone seemed to swim way off to the right. After the initial 100m the swimmers around me all swerved to the right and to get a draft I would have had to swim about 10m off course to get a pair of toes.

I opted to keep my line and try to get a draft at the first turn. Unfortunately the swimmers at my pace took the turn wide, I didn't get jostled but I also didn't get close enough to draft. Same thing at the next turn. Very odd. I spent the return leg just out of draft range from a pack of about 10, never managing to catch up.

Swim time: 15:39

I lost a bit of time in T1 cleaning off my sunglasses, it had been raining all morning and they were too fogged up to see through. The guy next to me on the rack took the time to towel off! Did I mention it was raining?

I spent most of the bike passing people, which was good for my ego. There were lots of beginners, so a lot of yelling "On your left!" so they'd move over. It was pretty spread out though, not s terribly crowded course.

One of my bike goals was to be passed as late in the ride as possible by Natasha. I'm a faster swimmer than her (for the moment!) but she's a very strong cyclist so I knew she was coming. She caught me 2/3s of the way through the third lap, so I was happy with that. I kept her in sight the rest of the ride.

Bike time: 48:20

A bit of a rookie move at the dismount, I got off my bike a too soon and had an extra ten seconds of running.

Quick change to run gear, to the cheers of LETC folk who'd done the Olympic earlier in the day.

I could still see Natasha in front of me but knew from her pace it was unlikely I'd pass. Not that I didn't try!

On the second loop Stephanie, who had her schwag from winning the oly women's race, told me I was probably the 4th woman. This gave me an extra push and as I passed a two women I had the urge to ask which lap they were on. Sadly they were on their first and I never caught Natasha so I finished 4th overall. Also, because the race had ten year age groups, Natasha was in my AG and took first.

Run time : 22:04 (4.6 km course)

Overall time: 1:28:41

I'm no Rocket Surgeon* - My 2011First Half Half Marathon Race Report

Somewhere around the 8 mile mark in today's race I wondered "What was I thinking?" I had decided pre-race that a 1:50 or faster race was doable, and in fact a PR was well within my reach, however 2/3 of the way through the race reality was viciously kicking in.

For your edification, you may not want to aim for a PR half marathon when:
- you did your first full marathon a month ago
- you miscommunicated with your coach, who didn't realize you had the race on your schedule, but still followed your plan and didn't taper or adjust your workouts the week prior in any way
-your longest run in the past three weeks was nowhere near a half marathon time or distance.

Seems somewhat obvious in retrospect, probably not really anything I needed to learn the hard way.

One thing I was experimenting with was running without a fuel belt or water bottle, relying entirely on the on course aid stations. There were four aid stations, one we passed twice, so not a lot of chances to drink on course.

I definitely had issues with fueling, my mile splits got progressively slower up to 6 miles. I had a gel and downed it with water from an aid station then suddenly was able to run my target pace for a mile. After that my pace dropped precipitously, I'm not sure How much of a difference having my own water would have made but the sugar rush and then crash from quickly downing a gel didn't help me much.

My mile splits are telling (I was aiming for 8:23/mile)
1 - 7:57
2 - 8:52
3 - 8:35
4 - 8:50
5 - 8:37
6 - 8:39 (ate a gel)
7 - 9:02
8 - 8:27 (gel kicked in!)
9 - 8:52 (and the gel is gone)
10 - 8:41
11 - 8:56
12 - 9:20
13 - 10:25 (seriously!)

Final time - 1:56:21

* One of the best phrases I found on the interwebs in 2010. I'm also fond of "all intensive purposes."

:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Finish photos are here.

Bahamas Marathon Race Report

It was a pretty basic morning, I walked in circles a fair amount but managed to get everything I needed together in time.  The half marathoners, myself and a couple of support crew headed out for the run.

There turned out to be a number of Canadians in the race and we chatted with them while waiting to start.

The gun went off and we ran through downtown Nassau in the dark, doing our best to avoid potholes and speed bumps.  After that we went over the steep bridge onto Paradise Island, immediately turned right and ran over another steep bridge off the island (seemed totally unnecessary to me). I ran strong over the first bridge and caught a couple of our half runners, John and Kelly, saying hi as I went by.  On the second bridge reason started to show it's head and I tried to let people go and hold a slower pace.

The Bridges of Doom

Off the bridge we ran through a very poor looking neighbourhood.  A number of the residents were up at 6:30 watching us race (some cheering, some bemused) which was cool.

The area seemed to sharply change from poor to hatch sales, then to big banks, then to big, well kept up homes.  Interesting to seem the spread of income as we went.  (And none of the residents of the mansions were out to watch us.)

We did a 180 and headed back through town.  John passed me again and I started catching up with Kelly.

I thought about my predicted time and decided that I felt so good I should definitely go for a 4 hour run.  It was totally possible!

Changing your race plan at mile four in a 26.2 mile race is always a good idea.  Right?

I yelled ahead to Kelly to ask what her pace/goal time was and she told me sub-two.  Uh oh.  I was going way too fast.  I dropped back and tried to let her and John go but had difficulty holding a slower pace.

They eventually disappeared and I caught up with Hank from our group.  He looked like he was having some challenges at that point, I said hi and something encouraging as I passed. 

As I neared the Breezes the half marathon turn around I kept an eye out for returning half marathoners from the group.  First Annie, then Alex then Gustavo went by, all looking strong.

At the hotel Megan, who'd done her first ever running race in the 5km the day before, and some others were out and cheered me on.  Megan took some photos and I told her she needed to get shots of me while I was still smiling.  I wasn't sure I'd be so positive on the return.

Once I was past the half turn around point race narrowed out considerably.  There were about 400 racers in the half and only about 120 in the full.  I lost a my pace bunnies and it was very quiet for the rest of the way, but when I did get to an aid station or group of spectators they were super excited to see a runner.

The weather started to warm up shortly after we split from the half marathoners.  I was worried about overheating wand whenever I was in the shade I took my hat off so my head could stay cool.  I get sunstroke very easily so I kept my hat on in the sun however. And when I saw photographers - didn't want to have hat head!

I also followed Alan's advice for cooling and poured water on my wrists and inner forearms at every opportunity. Some of the volunteers thought I was weird for doing this, but as I never over heated it seemed to have worked.

Aside from the Bridges of Doom at the start and a low bridge about 15 miles in, the course was very flat. It was quite winding and I tried as much as possible to take the shortest cant on every corner as that can considerably cut the overall distance I had to run.

Once we left the resort areas we went past some strip malls then the road hugged the coast and we had a great ocean view. Lots of quiet beauty then every mile an enthusiastic group of volunteers handing out water and Gatorade.

Near the full turn around there started to be traffic on the road and running anywhere other the shoulder of the road became a bit risky.  On the return there were quite a few cars on the road so I shoulder checked any time I got closer to the middle of the road.

Most of the drivers were very considerate and gave me lots of room however I was buzzed by two police cars and a couple of police on motorcycles.  Not only was it rude and frightening, but as it was after 20 miles into the race it was quite dangerous - we were neither steady on our feet nor were we always moving in a predictable direction.

My pace had dropped considerably after I passed the halway mark, I had definitely gone out to fast and I was starting to pay for it.  It was a struggle to keep a 9:20 mile pace, although I'd do the occaissional 9:05 for no particular reason.  As I approached mile 20 I prepared to hit the wall, i was tired and my legs hurt and I was readying for everything to fall apart.  I grabbed a gel from the aid station and downed it so I'd have the energy to push through.  And I kept going on pace and didn't feel much of a change.

I passed the Breezes and saw Deanna, who kindly took my (nasty) Fuel Belt then saw a highly enthusiastic Megan again.  It's always a big lift to see supporters on course!

At about mile 24 I started running out of steam.  My legs hurt and it was an effort to keep running.  I decided that a marathon was a ridiculous distance to run and from now on I'd stick to half marathons.  No way I'd do another full.  "One and done!" I decided.  I may even have said that aloud.

The aid station volunteers were also hitting the wall - the 24 mile crew were mostly napping and the 25 mile crew were a bit out of it. This is NOT a criticism, I think it was awesome that they were out and I know how draining it is to stand around for hours, especially when you have so few runners going by.  It was warm and this part of the course was the most boring, it would have been a long, long day for these guys.

I felt drained and desparately wanted to walk but knew I was very close to the finish so I kept running.  As with the rest of the race, as my energy flagged I told myself "You're in the BAHAMAS!  How could this be anything but good!"  An unweildy but effective mantra.

As I neared the finished I could see half marathoners walking towards me, some cheered me on and even the ones that didn't were heartening as I knew I was so, so close to the finish.

Finally I could see the finish and the yellow shirts of my group.  Wendi and Gustavo yelled and waved and ran with me for most of the last 200m.  This was absolutely phenomenal, I was psyched to be finishing but their support made it so much more special.

After 4 hours, 7 minutes and 22 seconds, I crossed with a smile. Even though I was far off my dream goal of 4 hours, I smashed my goal of finishing happy.

I grabbed some food, said lots of incoherent things to the group members and we jumped on the bus to head back to the Breezes. At the resort we went straight from the bus to the bar for a celebratory glass of champagne and I stood in the ocean sipping it while icing my legs feeling pretty darned good about life.

This would be a great spot to finish the race report but the next day I got an email from my Mum.  She'd checked the results online and informed me I'd finished 22nd overall and had won my age group!  What a way to start my year.  Made a very fun race even better.

Bahamas Marathon - Pre Race Report

Just for Amy and Kathryn I'm working on my race report on my flight home from the race. (Nothing to do with not being able to sleep, nope this is all to keep you happy.  Hope you appreciate my sacrifice!)

Despite being in the travel industry for eight years I've never been on a FAM trip so had little idea of what to expect.  I was nervous about sharing a room with someone I didn't know and in general about the group dynamics.

At the Toronto airport I spied various people who looked like runners.  One of them was handing out shirts so I guessed it would be my group. Right I was. I met a few people, chatted and tried desperately to remember names.

At the resort (Superclubs Breezes) we checked in and I ended up rooming with Wendi, a very nice and very cool agent from Toronto.  She was very experienced both with running and with FAMs so an excellent person to be around.

The view of the Breezes pool 

I was the only person from the group signed up for the full marathon, I was infamous before anyone even met me.  I told people in the group the distance I was racing and they responded "You're the one!"   When people asked what distances we were doing and someone said "She's the full" it sounded remarkably like "She's the fool!"

In the days prior to the race we did a variety of agenty things - site inspections of the Breezes property, the Atlantis resort and the Sandals resort; a Dolphin experience; wandering downtown Nassau.  It was interesting and fun but not necessarily the restful type of things you want to do prior to a marathon (the Atlantis site tour was three hours of walking).

Hanging out with dolphins 

At the aquarium at the Atlantis

View from the Executive Lounge in the Cove tower at the Atlantis resort

Just as difficult as staying off our feet was eating sensibly.  We were faced with tempting buffets for breakfast then uncertain stretches with no food and a couple of seriously unhealthy dinners (but soooo good!).  If you're ever in the Bahamas, go to Twin Brothers at Arawak Cay for the fish fry.  Pretty sure deep fried conch (pronouced "conk") isn't recommended pre-race food but wow it was good. Ooh, and do brunch at the Atlantis and have dinner at the Sandals.  You'll thank me for the recommendations.

Grilled red snapper at Twin Brothers fish fry

So after three days of doing everything wrong we finally came to the marathon.

I picked up a copy of the race program and looked at the race registrants.  There were maybe 120 people signed up for the marathon.  I joked to the other runners and to my parents and coach that I might actually place in this race!

It was good to know in advance that once the half marathoners turned off I'd be pretty much on my own.  Running in a crowd is a very different energy than running alone so it was good to be prepared.

After a pasta dinner at the Breezes buffet, a good portion of which I managed to wear (no pre-race nerves!), we had an early night and tried to have a decent sleep.  We set four alarms and of course I woke up five minutes before any of them went off.

Training, Procrastination and Nuun Slushies

I had two decent workouts today.

This morning's introduced a new swim toy - the sponge.  Imagine giving a 6 year old long strips of sponge and telling them to make an octopus.  The result (less the poster paint, googly eyes and glitter) is then tied to one end of a long piece of string, the other end of the string goes around your waist and you swim with it tagging along behind you.

While it provides some drag the point of our workout was to use it to smooth out our stroke.  It gives tactile feedback, if the string around your waist jerks and pulls unevenly then you aren't keeping a consistent speed.  I discovered my kick is fine but on my stroke I slow down when I breath. I corrected it but it's a lot more work when you don't get a mini break every third breath!

I was dreading my run, the main set of which was two times 5km at my half marathon pace.  I dreaded it enough that I employed as many procrastination techniques as I could manage:

- check my email (I wouldn't want to be late in replying to anyone!)
- wait until the last minute to figure out what my pace should be
- post on Facebook 
- put away clean laundry
- search for my spare key
- check the weather online (cold)

I finally ran out of ways to put off the inevitable and headed to the track.

I haven't done as much track work this year as in the past and it really shows.  I used to be a metronome, I could keep my 400m pace to the second. Now I'm all over the map. 

I was completely off pace for my first 5km, the first km was a disaster and the following four were better but not by much.  I managed to keep closer to pace for the second set, and was fairly consistent, but I was still slower than I wanted to be.  I don't know how much the cold weather affected my speed or if I was having an off day, but the pace I was trying for was the pace I ran at the Fall Classic so it is achievable. Frustrating regardless of the reason but I do know now what my focus needs to be through my taper - nail my marathon pace.

As to the cold, it was definitely not warm this evening.  After my second 5km I tried to take a swig from my water bottle only to find it had frozen. I've never had that happen at a workout before. It turns out, however, that cola flavoured Nuun makes a tasty slushy.

The Long Run

I was thinking back on my training this fall and realized that since the Fall Classic my long runs have been the following:

- a (mildly) hung over half marathon.
- an attempt to run with a cranked up back where I bailed after an hour.
- a poorly planned run route that resulted in me becoming dehydrated enough to be seriously loopy.
- a horrendous run after four days of GI distress where I had eaten very little.  Had I not had company, and great company at that, for the first two hours I likely would have bailed.
- a nasty hangover induced from extending an LMDI (Last Minute Dinner Invite) that unexpectedly involved a significant amount of wine and turned into a late night.

Good thing I'm not going to the Bahamas hoping to set a world record!

Plan Your Race - Race Your Plan

Or Fantasy vs. Reality

My training for the Bahamas marathon is getting close to taper time, one more wickedly long run then I get to back off the volume. I've put in the training and I think I have a good feel for my fitness level so now I need to work on the race plan.

I'm trying to separate what I want to do, to go 4 hours or less, from what I can do.

At my recent half marathon I ran 1:51 in less than ideal conditions so 4 hours may be an achieveable goal however the Fall Classic was my 7th or 8th stand-alone half marathon and the Bahamas will be my first full marathon.

In my half marathons, along with the runs from the 6 half iron triathlons, I've learned how to pace myself over 21.1 km. 42.1km is a whole different beast!

I had a very successful run at Ironman but the run is so far removed from a stand alone marathon I don't think it can compare. I didn't have to deal with a mass start, I came onto a course that was already quite spread out and I was generally amongst people the same speed as me. I didn't have to deal with a crowded run start (never my strong point) or being passed by speedsters taking off at full tilt (again, hard to hold back and be passed).

I also trained in weather close to race day conditions in 2007. I've been running through the fall/winter in Vancouver so I'm acclimatized to cold and wet weather. Apparently this time of year isn't generally super hot in the Bahamas but it will certainly be warmer than Vancouver. If, through some strange circumstance, it is 7 degrees and raining on race day I will so be rocking the course!!!

So, despite the fact that I want to run 4 hours, I'll be super conservative. I'll aim for a 2:05 first half and see how I feel. If I'm doing well I'll pick up the pace a touch. Just a touch, no sprinting or world record 5km pace! 10km later, about where most folks hit the wall, I'll reassess and see if I'm okay to pick it up a bit more.

Random Training Thoughts and Facts

My back seemed to be okay with a long run. Yay!

Hangovers suck. Especially on long training runs.

Public water fountains are turned off in cold weather. This would only be mildly interesting except that my long run hydration plan depended on filling up at these water fountains.

Being dehydrated (while hung over and doing a long run) sucks. It also makes walking straight a bit of a challenge and gets me a little loopy. Oh, and it makes a pre-existing hangover worse.

Chocolate milk rocks.

The worst parts of an ice bath are the anticipation and the first 20 seconds in. After that it's just ten minutes during which I can't use my iPad.

Putting on compression socks when you can't feel your feet is awkward.

The warming up process from an ice bath has weird stage where my skin is warmer than the rest of me and it's chilled not from the air temperature but from blood flow.

Post run naps are awesome.


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Interruptions

Sometimes life gets in the way of training. I wasn't expecting to get in a run this weekend but thought I'd take my runners to Calgary with me just in case. Then I managed to tweak my back bending over to put something (not my runners) into my suitcase. One solution to the "to run or not to run" question.

After a bit of panic, I managed to find someone able to see me on Friday on short notice and I had a quick physio session that made it possible for me to sit for the flight to Calgary. Straight from physio to airport.

The reason for the trip was to attend the memorial service for my Uncle Andy, who passed away the week before last. There was no question of staying home to nurse my back. The ceremony was very casual, as is fitting for a celebration in Andy's honour, with some great stories.

It was definitely a sad reason to visit but was really, really nice to have the Thompsons and Russells all together. We need to meet up more often (perhaps Maui could be the new Shuswap?). We do need to get together at the very least to get into the legendary scotch bottle.

I have a very cool family. We're a small crew and don't really do drama, which is fine by me. I think I'm doing another road trip next summer to see them all.


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The Long Lost Calgary 70.3 Race Report

I found this in my drafts on my blog. It's a bit rough around the edges but it'll do.

I had a great swim - took over two mintues off last year's time. I started way further to the front than last year and had no issues with the washing machine for the first third. Kept ending up behind swimmers who couldn't sight and ran into them when they stopped to look for the bouys, annoying but fun to pass people. It was a bad decision to wear my blue goggles, have had trouble sighting the red bouys all summer with them but in the gloom at 6:30am it was impossible to see them - I looked where the swimmers in front of me were and aimed for the middle of the pack, assuming the swim support would herd the outside stragglers.

After a great swim had a stupid T1 and set out on the bike about the same time as last year - I was a bit spiny after the swim and not moving straight plus it was super muddy and slick after a night of hard rain so hard to move quickly without going down.

Wet roads and a slight headwind made for a slower bike. I raced the first 60 or so km as usual - found a pace group and leap-frogged with a few people. On the second big hill it started to fall apart, I couldn't keep up and suddenly everyone was passing me. The last 10 km was a slog and all I wanted was to get off the bike.

Decent T2 then a horrible run. I had nothing in my legs and my lungs weren't cooperating, I just wanted to quit and finally decided I'd do 10 and 1 and ignore splits as by 4km I was already off my target pace by 5 minutes. I couldn't push the pace as my breathing would get out of control, and halfway in I had nothing in my legs. The upside was that I didn't "catastrophize" and managed to keep positive and adjust my game plan to suit the reality of the day.

Lot of little things I did wrong - didn't adjust sleep patterns in advance (late-ish nights and slept in), not the greatest diet, more alcohol than usual - but I think it was the throat infection that killed me as I've been knocking out long rides for months and while I can see a bad run from the above I don't see why I'd die on the ride. I think my big mistake was not opting for a slower bike pace to account for being sick. I could be deluding myself.

My feedback on the race - the pre-race logistics are a serious pain in the butt. Made for a long Saturday, I was pretty tired and cranky by the time I got to the hotel on Saturday afternoon even though I'd drank lots of water and eaten well. Also the post-race food was nasty - a can of pop, small bag of chips and a subway sandwich. That's it. For $230.00 I expect a bit more. Think this is my last time at this race.

Fall Classic Race Report

Even before the mercury and snow both started falling I had low expectations for the Fall Classic half marathon. I hadn't done any timed runs since the Calgary 70.3, I'd taken a two month break from running and my most recent track workout was a gong show.

On top of this I spent the day before the race on my feet walking around the Circle Craft fair then a good four hours that evening towering over guests at Valencia's wine party in a pair of five inch heels. I only had a little wine though. A little of this wine, a little of that wine, a little of ...

Needless to say I didn't arrive at UBC on Sunday morning expecting to break any world records. The thick ice on the ground around the SRC didn't do anything to inspire me to greatness.

The race start was delayed because the organizers wanted the salt they'd put down to have some effect. They were very clear to let people know the course was slippery and to put caution above speed.

I did a warm up run with Clayton and Chris and got to the start just in time. We were told that today was not the day for a PR but to have good race and to be careful. The guy with the starting gun obviously had had his wheaties - he was wildly hyper then shot the gun at least four times just for fun. It was nice to start the race with a smile.

I took it out super easy, partly because I was worried slipping on ice but mostly because I didn't have a good feel for my pace and didn't want to start too fast then blow up.

There were lots of icy patches but the volunteers were awesome and made sure everyone knew to be careful. I didn't see anyone go down, although I'm sure people must have.

As we neared the turn around on Marine we saw the leaders coming back. Rachel and Amy we're running shoulder to shoulder, it was great to see and to cheer to them both.

I was at about 55 minutes at 10km but missed the hallway mark so I didn't get proper splits.

I finished the first loop just as the 10km race was starting so I got caught up in the chaos of the start. That was annoying but after about a km I got back into my rhythm.

As we saw the leaders of the half coming back at us I saw Rachel and Amy again, this time Rachel had about a 15 metre lead. I yelled like crazy at both of them, which seemed to annoy the runners around me. As we started seeing the 10km runners coming back at us I yelled just as loud for the people I recognized, figuring the runners around me were all 10km'ers and as I was running twice as far as them I had the right to be annoying. Not quite sure on how the logic in that works but it made sense at the time.

I was feeling good with five km to go so picked up the pace a bit and again at four. My hamstring had been tight for a good chunk of the race so I didn't want to push too hard and didn't speed up after that. I was feeing comfortable and was chatty with the other runners, which is a sign I'm in a good head space.

Coach Drew and Clayton, looking quite fresh despite having having just finished the half, were cheering at about 500m from the finish, a good push to pick it up just a bit.

I finished in1:51 according to the official results. My watch has gone on strike after an evening run in the cold, but I timed myself at 1:53. Not sure if my watch was incorrect or if the results are. Either way, I was hoping I could pull off a sub-two so I'm very happy with how I did.

I think this bodes well for the Bahamas marathon.


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All Right Already!

Apparently people do read my blog and a few of them even like it. I always thought it would be great to have adoring fans but it turns out they can also be demanding. So fans, here's a post for you - now leave me alone!

What's happened since my last post?

I did finish the Calgary 70.3 - blew up on the bike (I'd been sick, remember), had a slow run and a long day and came away generally unimpressed with the race. The raison d'etre for the whole trip to Calgary turned into the least fun part, happily the rest of the trip was a blast. Next year I'll do a race first then head out across the rockies.

I then decided to take a break from running to give my foot a rest and I focussed on biking and swimming.

Swimming with Fast Lane at Kits pool was phenomenal and I felt that I made huge gains in the water. I've built on those gains in the fall by signing up for Dolphins and, um, mostly sleeping in. Something about getting up at 4:30am in the off season is just plain wrong. Various people have tried to point out the error of my ways, none have come up with a suitably compelling reason.

I had fun doing long rides with the IMAZ crew, building up distance for the Gran Fondo. I got sick with a horrendous cold the week before the ride and wasn't 100% (not even 75%) on the day of but still did the ride. It was tough grind at the very end, everyone seemed to have issues at about the 100km mark, but fun. I'm not sure it was $250.00 worth of fun, however, so I'm passing on doing it next year.

Apparently riding 120km mostly uphill while suffering from a cold is not a good way to kick said cold. The cold took another week to go away then a cough settled in that lasted for almost two months. The upside was that I discovered you can get cough syrup with codiene without a presciption and that the stuff gets me seriously high!

In late September, after not having run for two months, not having exercised in almost a month and with my plantar faciitis issues unchanged, I decided it would be a good idea to sign up for a marathon. There was a ridiculous travel industry deal for the Bahamas Marathon, I figured even if I crawled the marathon it would be worth the trip.

I went back to phsyio and figured what my issues are. Basically I'm an idiot - a weak core and unstable supporting muscles were causing the problems. This was bad in that the plantar faciitis was caused by neglect but good in that there's a workable solution. A week of doing the plank and various exercises from Janet and I was doing great. I'm not 100% but getting there.

I got back on the bike, riding with Barb Zimich's group. She's a fantastic coach and I'm really enjoying riding with her. Her surgery and the cold weather has put an end to that for now but I'm really looking forward to riding with her in 2011.

So that's where I'm at. I will publish my Fall Classic race report soon. I promise. Really.

Longest Day 10km

One last catch-up post then I'm off to bed.

Longest Day 10km - 48:26 - Mega PR

My goal was to beat my 10km time from 2006 (50:10) and to break 50 minutes.

Natash also wanted to break 50 so we decided to run together. She usually beats me right at the end at track workouts so I knew she might be abe to out-kick me.

The run started on a false flat on East Blvd then quickly turned to a fast downhill on 16th Ave. I let gravity do the work and just tried to turn my legs fast enough to keep upwith my controlled fall downhill. I surpressed the urge to yell "Wheeee!" the entire way down.

We regained the elevation in a small but painful spurts and there was a dead zone just past the Main Library turn around where it was really hard to keep going.

Natasha was pretty much glued to my side for the whole first loop. At the start of the second loop I told her "This is where it starts to hurt" then did my falling-downhill-disguised-as-running trick on 16th again and gained a few meters on her. I was worried that this meant I was going too fast but I felt I wasn't redlining so kept up the higher speed. At some oint I passed Chris Manore, which again worried me as he's generally significantly faster than me (he's training for Ironman so focussing on a totally different pace than me).

The "dead spot" past Main Library hit me again but I really didn't want to give up on a sub 50 run so I kept going.

I got within 10 meters of Joyce but never managed to catch her. After the race she talked about the heavy breather behind her at the end of the race and I had to tell her it was me!

I was super psyched at end, even more so as Natasha broke 50 and hit a PR and Valencia and Kathy smashed their previous best times.

There was a major feast and a beer garden at the end of the race, never a bad way to finish!

My race reports are now up to date, I'm going to bed!

Vancouver Sprint Triathlon

Overall time: 1:32:06
Swim (500m): 10:12
T1: 4:11 (Yikes!)
Bike (26km): 51:27
T2: 1:25
Run (5km): 24:53

The swim was nuts, but everyone was in the same boat (that boat most likely the Titanic). It was a beach start, we lined up about 10m from the water and when the gun went off we ran to the water. It was the craziest swim start I've ever been in, a total washing machine to the first bouy then it got worse!

The current was extremely strong. We watched the half iron swim start and saw how much even the strong swimmers at the front were pushed to the West, most of them undershot the bouy and had to backtrack to get around it. We planned our swim accordingly, start to the right of the beach and aim far to the East of the first turn. Despite aiming wide I got to the first bouy slightly to the left, which wouldn't have been a problem except that most people had missed it by a far greater margin and there was a mass of people almost at a stop trying to get around it. I was boxed in and couldn't swim around or over anyone, it took me about a minute to get past. Apparently one of the men from the earlier wave was clinging to the bouy, which was causing some of the problems.

The second leg of the swim wasn't much better. The swim bouys were small and hard to see and just for fun one of the lifeguard boats was in the line between the bouys and made it impossible to see the bouys anyway.

I made it out of the swim close to my predicted time of 10 minutes and then had to get out of my westuit. I'm happy my A race has wetsuit strippers!

My instructions were to go all out in this race. It was hard to do so in the chaos of the swim so the bike was where I could start doing this. Teresa got out of T1 just ahead of me so I chased her to the hill and caught her there. Then she passed me back, and the trend for the bike was set - she and I leapfrogging the whole way (she won the race to T2). It was fun having her push me on the bike, the idea was to all out the whole time and she kept me honest.

The run was hard to get started and my breathing got a bit out of control but I didn't panic so I'm considering that a victory! I also ran through a stitch (passed two people while doing so) so I think I was reasonably tough!

I figured 25 minutes or less would be good so I certainly hit my goal.

There were a ton of LETC'ers racing (lots of AG podiums; the women took first, second and, as we consider Stephanie's sister an honourary club member, third overall; and RJ came 2nd overall). Actually I knew a lot of the people taking the podium, one of the fun parts of being in the tri community for five years.

There was also a ton of LETC folks volunteering - great to see the club well represented and all of them cheered us on as they went by so that was a big boost.

Final note - chocolate milk as post-race food was the BEST IDEA EVER!!!

Shawnigan Lake Race Report

Yesterday wasn't my greatest showing at 3:07, but it was supposed to be a training race so I'm being philosophical about it. Or trying to be.

Exec Summary: So-so swim in cold water, excruciatingly slow and cold ride on dead legs, decent run with a big negative split.

Take aways: 1) Cold really saps my energy. 2) Not sure if doing the Vancouver Half is a good idea, wondering a fast oly be better than a slow Half IM? I want to do another tri prior to to Calgary, just trying to think what would be best.

Long version:
Ended up without enough time pre-race to do a real warm up for anything other than the swim. Would have liked to have run but that wasn't in the cards.

The water was very cold. I had a neoprene swim cap (purchased last Tuesday - yay!), which likely made a big difference, I definitely didn't suffer as much as most people. I got into the water about 15-20 minutes before race start as 1) my watch was fast, 2) I didn't run so my whole warm up would be in the water (in retrospect I might have had time for a short run but everything after that would have been a panic) and 3) it was very cold so I wanted enough time to acclimatize to the temp. After about five minutes I was comfortable in the water and quite warm, however I totally froze during the 2-3 minute wait at the shore for the race to start.

The swim was unspectacular. I had difficulty drafting as either the people I was drafting off couldn't swim a straight line or I couldn't. I kept losing the toes in front of me so gave up and swam my own line and took the draft when it presented itself. About 30 min for the swim, not great.

T1 was a gong show. I lost the use of my thumbs and the rest of my digits didn't work too well as my hands were numb so getting out of my wetsuit was interesting. I also opted to wear a jacket and gloves, which slowed down T1 but definitely helped on the bike (an Elite racer was taken off the bike course in an ambulance due to hypothermia - it was cold). My legs were totally dead - mostly due to my long rides earlier in the week but also my thighs were frozen from the swim and didn't warm up until halfway in.

I tried to keep a high cadence, especially nearer the end of the ride, to get blood circlating to my feet but that didn't work. I got passed a lot on the bike, didn't like that but managed (mostly) not to get agro and try to re-pass everyone. The course was hilly, wet and full of potholes/uneven pavement so not easy to stay in aerobars.

T2 was faster - less need for opposable thumbs.

The start of the run was tough - uphill on tired legs and numb feet. I got feeling back in my feet at about 2km in, then immediately wished I hadn't as the pins and needles were terrible. I finally felt comfortable at about 3 km.

I was well over my target pace of 5min/km so I stopped taking splits and concentrated on form. I'm still working on headspace for the run portion, keeping positive is currently more helpful to me than killing myself to stay on pace.

At the turn around I felt strong and picked up the pace, repeating my mantra of "Easy", and started to reel people in. I didn't take my split at the half but as I was at 16:50 at 3km and I finished the run in 52 & change I can extrapolate a negative split.

My overall and AG ranking are lower than usual for me. Not thrilled about that but it's a training race.

Happily others in the club had great races: Marie came second in her AG in the Oly, as did Dominic in the Sprint. Not sure how Chris or Jeff did in the half, however Jeff's time was 5:05 and I believe Chris' was under 5:30, so they both had a good chance at the podium.

I have plantar faciitis, it didn't bug me in the race or last night, but my heel hurts a today so I definitely did some damage. I'm off to physio after work to get Janet's assessment.

EEEEWWWWW!

After an unhappy gastrointestinal day (you do not want more details) on Thursday last week I decided I'd de-germ my waterbottles.

I didn't quite get around to it, however, until I saw the gunk on Teresa's Fuel Belt bottle on our run yesterday. I looked at the same spot on my FB water bottle and it too was gunky. A useful training trip, when you are 40 minutes into a 2 hour run on a warm day it is a bad idea to become revolted with your water supply.

At home I filled the sink with hot water & bleach (not at all eco friendly but kills bacteria real good) then disassembled my water bottles and threw them in. I know that gunk likes to hide in the lid so I removed the nipple (yes, I said nipple - grow up!) so everything could soak and be scrubbed. On the water bottle I used on Thursday I found some seriously nasty grime - it was black, slimy and hard to scrub off. In fact I couldn't get some of it off at all. It irks me to toss an otherwise perfectly good water bottle but I think it's off to the recycling bin for this sucker.

Hopefully I've fixed the source of my GI issues from last week. If nothing else I have a whole lot of squeaky clean waterbottles

Quick Update

Since my last post we had time trial week.

Swim: 1500m - 28:17
I've never done a 1500m time trial in the pool so no idea where this puts me in terms of training. I'm usually about 30 minutes in a tri but that's open water so I'm not kicking off the wall every 25m.

We'll just hold onto this number for reference!

Bike:
16km TT - 31:28
Not a good time for me compared to the last year's time I can find - 28:50 from August and 29:41 from April. Something to work on, I guess.

Run:
5km - 24:15 (pace - 4:51/km)
3km - 14:24 (pace - 4:48/km)
This workout was nasty. We showed up expecting a 5km TT, but arrived to find out that would be followed by a 10 minute recovery and a 3km TT. I thought I was going as hard as I could for the 5km but somehow I managed a faster pace for the 3km rather than the 5km.

Alan said we weren't pacing properly. I think I just take a long time to warm up!

This week things are feeling solid. I'm finally feeling in the groove, I'm feeling strong and focussed and fit! It might have something to do with just coming off a recovery week, but I also think I've adjusted to my training schedule. Regardless of the why, I'm happy to be happy!

The week in review

"Week in review" sounds much better than "I'm totally behind on posting."

I blame drugs and alcohol!

Robaxicet on Wednesday, and no photo that day. I put my back out changing my bike brakes the previous Sunday and that threw me off from workouts and life in general for the week. The back is mostly better but I'm still babying it a bit.

I did get in a good ride out to Iona with the crew on Saturday and the back didn't protest until right near the end. I did my first post-bike run of the year regardless of the back.

Vast amounts of Malbec on Saturday night made for a fun evening but I forgot about getting in even a last minute shot. The Malbec also made for a painful start to my Sunday a.m. swim. The upside was that the workout would have been hell regardless (all out sprints interspersed with core work) so I got all the pain out of the way at the same time. By the time we ran I was feeling vaguely human and knocked out 1:20 reasonably easily.

And then the allergies kicked in Sunday afternoon:

Defunct playground equipment by Lord Byng Pool. sort of how I felt during the swim!
Sakura!
Rainbow seen in the a.m.
Cherry trees on the banks of the Fraser. I forgot my camera but the light was so fabulous I took the shot with my phone. It didn't turn out half bad.