Come ride with me...

Up at 6:30am this morning to do my long swim of the week - 3900m continous. Started conservatively and slowly eased into it although I didn't really feel like I had gained much speed. I lost count at least 7-8 times and went back to last known number - I really need a lap counter for these long continous swims.

Home for a hearty breakfast and then out on the road for a ride - my legs are TOAST. It will be a good exercise in humility tomorrow.

Anyways I snapped a bunch of pics of one of my inland routes. Have been staying away from the ocean b/c it is usually too cold and windy for my liking.

Swim: 3900m - 1hr10mins

Bike: 4hr

Start of the ride...

The road ahead...somewhere near Enfield...

Side view...prolly shouldn't be doing this will riding...

Just before the turnaround at the Irving in Enfield...

A little lake I discovered on some side road

The road ahead...shitty pavement.

Pheasant Run - these noisy birds run rampart all over the country

Old farm

Part of Waverly Lake - there is a road on to the left which runs parallel to the lake...nice ride.

The girls come out to greet me after my ride

Mabel and me

Weekend Forecast

Kicked out a solid 2hr45min run on Wednesday night including a 25 minute walk immediately afterwards with Melinda and the girls. Overall the run went really well - much better then my last long run. If you recall, I ran a 5km race in the AM and tried to run 2hrs10mins later in the day. When I got home from that run Mel looked at me and said "Wow! You don't look so well". Probably not the best idea to do a long run after a race...even if its a short one.

The run started out a little rocky as my digestive system would not settle down. I had a medium coffee on the way home to inject some life into this corpse (about an hour before the run). After several pitstops into the bushes I was feeling much better by the turnaround point in the run. Ran a lot smoother & faster on the way home and finished up feeling strong, refreshed, and wanting more. It was 9:20pm by the time I got home - other then the fact it was creeping up on my bed time and we had to get the girls out, I would have made it a 3hr endeavour.

Sent my Garmin off on Monday for repair so I am without my beloved GPS. Although, I did get my Polar heart rate monitor back Wednesday from the Watch Repair Shop. They shipped it off to Polar to get fixed/replaced free of charge - it works fine with the exception of part of the screen is cut off (essentially the second digit in the seconds is cut in half.. Apparently they could not replace that part of the watch. HOWEVER, they also sent me a brand new and recent model heart rate monitor! My old one is is about 3-4 years old so they don't make em anymore I guess. I thought that was pretty good on their part - I guess the 8 week wait was worth it.

Because I have been that long without my HRM, I took the new one out for a spin during my LSD run on Wednesday evening. I ran on perceived effort but kept looking at the monitor to see my heart rate. I was glad to see my heart rate has dropped significantly compared to 8 weeks ago on my long runs. Good sign of improvement.

Thursday morning I slept in to get some extra rest. The plan was to do an aerobic 2hr ride during the evening, however, when I got home I realized my bike was full crap from getting caught in the rain on Tuesday night. 2hrs later I had a nice shiny & clean bike again - thx in part to the pressure washer I recently purchased. (Just be sure to use the spray option and not the direct spray - otherwise you'll strip the paint. I didn't do that to my bike, but my deck when I first

I really need to learn how to strip the complete bike down for a proper cleaning. My buddy Kevin, aka K-Bes the hardcore cyclist, is going to take a look at my bike next week so maybe I'll get him to show me how to take off the chain and the rear cog apart at least.

By the time I finished cleaning/wiping my bike down it was time for bed.

Up at 5:30am this morning for a speed session in the pool. Made sure to down an Ensure before leaving this house so I had some calories to run on during my practice. 3000m in total and I was cooked by the end:

400m w/u
300m drill
6x 100m @ hard intensity w/ 5 secs rest
6x 150m @ VO2 max intensity (one notch down from full out sprint) w/ 45secs to 1 min rest
6x 50m @ sprint intensity w/ 10 secs rest
50m kick
450m cool down.

On the menu tonight, 1hr50min hill climbing session. I think I will ride down to Fall River and do my repeats there as the hill is fairly long.

Tomorrow AM is a 3.8km swim followed by a 3.5-4hr ride. We'll see how I feel to determine my riding time.

Sunday morning I race over in Shearwater - Sprint distance. Its a pool swim, done in heats and mine is not until 12:50pm. Lots of fast gals & guys this year so it should be a fun race. The plan is have some level of fatigue heading into Sunday and just going out balls-to-the-wall.

Have a great weekend.

15 & Sunny

Up at 5:30am this morning for a swim workout. Shoulders felt tired & tight in the pool - but gave it whatever I had to make it count. 3100m in total. Nothing exciting happening in the pool this morning although there seemed to be a lot more people then usual. They all clear out within 20 - 30minutes of me getting there...mmm, I wonder why that is???

I have a big 2hr40min run this evening. By the time I get home and out the door it will be 6:30pm so I expect to be running in the dark towards the end. Note to self, bring some extra clothing as the temp drops drastically when the sun goes down.

My goal tonight is to have a solid run and practice my race nutrition. I am hell bent on consuming gels during the IM run this year. The last two IM's I gave up gels and went with liquids which clearly wasn't enough to sustain a decent energy level for me.

Not much else going at the moment, outside of training my/our focus is our a little Mabel who is starting to show signs of her cancer now. She has been tired and sleeping a lot as of late - as much as I push it away, deep down I think the inevitable is coming within the month. Sometimes I am at peace with what is going to happen, but then other times I lose my breath just thinking about her not being with us anymore. Who would thought a little dog would become such a large part of our lives for the past 10 years. Like Midas & Blue, who have sinced passed on, she is one of the best friends I've ever had.

If that little brown fart could read my blog, she would tell me to suck it up and focus on the "now". (Thanks to Greg N for that perspective).

Swim: 3100m
- 350m
- 300 drill
- 7x 200m on 15 secs rest
- 7x 100m on 10 secs rest
- 350m cool down

Run: 2hr45mins

Make it count

Mel and I got up early this morning to workout. She hopped on the trainer while I was next to her doing my core routine.

Lunch time I ran for about 45 minutes with an ex-coworker/hardcore cyclist during lunch. It was a conversational pace as I have a 2hr40min run on Wednesday evening to kick out.

This evening I got out for an hour and 40 minutes. 45mins into the ride the sun disappeared and storm clouds rolled in. It was as if someone flicked a switch - that is how fast it changed. With the clouds came a torrential downpour. I said "ah f$ck it" I'm not calling for a ride home as I am soaked to the bone now. Luckily I took my cycling rain jacket which kept my core body temp pretty warm.

Ripped out 2x 18min at tempo intensity with 10 mins easy spinning in between. Both sets involved either end of Fall River hill which made it interesting. You can't get better without hopping aboard the Pain Train.

Stuck out the ride in the rain/partial darkness - happy to get the job done.

My legs are still feeling a little residual fatigue from Sundays ride and I'm glad. I want to be nice and tired come Sunday morning for the race.

Every workout counts here on in.

Apres mes ride...(sorry about the focus)




Core: 1hr
Run: 45mins
Bike: 1hr40mins

Week 17 - Beginning of Peak Phase

As I sit typing away, with a tennis ball stuck under my left arse cheek, (more on that later) it dawns on me that I have 8 weeks left to the Big Show. Last night I was working on my schedule and hit a dilemma - Do I do a 3 week taper or a 4 week taper for IMLP? The man "Mark Allen" says 4 week taper is needed for an Ironman whilst in the past, I have followed a 3 week taper. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Three weeks have worked well for me in my last two IM's...but on the other hand, Mark Allen was won 6 World titles so he might be onto something?

Anyone have any thoughts/opinions/experiences on their IM taper time/plan?

Today is rest day to get some chores around the house done. Specifically - some weeding out on the front lawn. The neighbours lawn is full of em which is starting to spill over onto ours. Because pesticides are now banned out here I have a nifty little gadget which will pull out the weed manaully w/o having to get on your hands and knees and dig them out. The trick is to catch the weeds earlier when there are only a few of em to pluck. Otherwise your lawn will turn into a forest of weeds, at which point, you might has well torch it and start over.

Its sunny and 20 degrees here in the HRM so it should be a great evening for yard work - with the exception of all the flies out now. But that is part of country living I guess - note to self to pick up a head fly net on the way home this evening.

Back to the tennis ball - I saw my massage therapist on saturday for a treatment. She says I have the "biggest" knots she has ever seen in one's hips. I told her, "You know I'm married but thanks for the complement nonetheless". LOL, actually no - I didn't say that and she does know Mel as Mel visits her as well.

Anyways she suggested I sit on a tennis ball to find the knot(s) and release them. I'm at a desk all day and work in a cubicle environment. I am sure my co-workers find it amusing as I slide up/down and side-to-side in my seat grunting and grimacing as I find & apply pressure to some painful knots. Such is the way of a triathlete.

Pushing through it

Saturday was a speed swim session in the AM followed by a 2hr20min trainer ride. It was nice enough to ride outside but Mel wanted to take Jessie out for a long walk and we didn't want to leave Mabel home by herself - so I opted to ride indoors, just up the gearing and intensity to make it a sufferfest.

Saturday evening we took out Mel's sister Barb for her birtday to Jack Astor's for a few beverages and some food.

This morning I slept in a little before getting up and getting prepared for my bike ride. Truth-be-told, I wasn't looking forward to biking 150km on my own. Out of everything that comes with training for an Ironman, I find doing the long bike workouts solo the most difficult. Not so much in terms of the physical component but rather the mental one.

Todays ride was a "dig deep and remind yourself why you are doing this" kind of workout. First 40km went well - I was riding at my goal pace and loving it. Made the turn at Enfield to ride the 214 highway and thats when things are difficult. The next 30km were into nasty headwind which cut my speed down to 20km/h - and that was hard to maintain. I felt like I was pedalling through cold molasses. I kept thinking, "This is going to be a loooong day".

The last 5km were not too bad as I made another turn which then the wind became a cross wind. I was counting the km's down to my turnaround (75km). Once I hit my mark, I turned around and ripped it back to Enfield. Once I had the wind at my back it was easy to sit and pedal at 40km/h without feeling like you were doing too much work.

I made stop at the Irving in Enfield to refuel. Once I was finished eating I was about to pull out of the parking lot when I *thought* this biker wanted to go ahead of me. I paused for a second but then lost momentum. Down I went clipped into my bike in front of the Irving store and a parking lot full of cars, truckers, and bikes. I would like to thank everyone who witnessed my wipeout and came over to ask if I was OK - as I was lying there for 10 seconds on the ground trying to unclip myself out. Think of a fish out of water flopping around and that is pretty much what I was doing. I fell in awkward way and couldn't get unclipped right away. I can laugh now but at the time I was embarassed and pissed b/c no one offered to help me out.

Luckily I brought my multi-tool with me as my handle bars twisted out of position. Once fixed it was back on the road for a 35km grind into the wind.

The wheels came off with 25km to go. As soon as they did, the laughing started. I do this all the time when I hit the wall. Anyways, I made it home and told Mel thank god I only have to do another handful of these long rides before Ironman. The next time I sign up for an Ironman, I am making sure I have a riding buddy.

Overall a great training week with lots of bike rides. Next week I start up'ing the volume more and switching workouts and the days they fall on to shake up my system a bit. I should be nice and tired for the sprint race next Sunday.

TGIF

The rain held off last night so I was able to get outside for a 90 minute steady state ride. My goal was to ride at the same level of effort from start-to-finish - hills and flats. So I made sure to switch into easier gears on the hills and hard ones on the flats while maintaining the same level of effort. The route I took was a nice mixture of hills and flats. I was even able to get into my aerobars for an extended period of time. It felt terrific - up until the point where a lady in a black volkswagon came within 2 inches of my elbow while I was on Waverly road. I decided at that point to sit up until I came upon a wider stretch of road.

Once home it was a quick switch up into my running gear for a 20 minute tempo run. Running off the bike during training has been going well this year for me. While it takes about 10 minutes for me to get into the groove, I find it helps to start off with a high cadence and build into what feels naturally for you.

This morning it was a 55minute swim in the pool...other then feeling tired, nothing exciting to report. I decided to skip my pre-workout nutrition which is why I felt like I had no energy this morning in the water. That, and I haven't been in the water for a whole week due to scheduling conflicts.

I wrote an email to my favourite triathlon author a couple of days ago - Matt Fitzgerald. I really like his writing style, but more importantly, what he has to say. From time-to-time he will look at training/coaching from a different angle which makes me think about what I am doing and/or coaching.

Anyways, for the longest while I have wanted to pick his brain regarding some articles of his I have read in Triathlete magazines - specificially, the idea of switching weekends between doing a long bike/long run vs doing a long brick and long bike. Also, I wanted to get his take on heart-rate training zones and perceived effort. Do we sometimes limit ourselves with a HRM when really we should be using perceived effort? Or vice-versa?

I wasn't expecting a response but was pleasantly surprised when the next day I got a response from him. He passed along a lot of information which I hope to share on my blog at some point. I've must have read his responses about 8 times since yesterday - I am still trying to assess the full spectrum of this point of view...interesting to say the least.

The weekend forecast keeps changing but I hope to get out both days for some cycling...otherwise I'll be indoors on my trainer pedalling no where fast.

Have a good one.

It has been a month and 7 days since I've last seen my Polar heart-rate monitor watch. Checked in with the guy at the watch shop (the guy who wrecked it in the first place) and he gave me the response he gave me two weeks ago "I expect it to be here in a couple of days". He had to send it to Polar to get it replaced - the cost he is going to suck up. Anyways, not much else I can do - although I think I will call Polar directly and ask them why it is taking so long.

My Garmin Forerunner 201 died the other night - rather the charger won't work. I think its a combination of the metal contacts on the GPS unit itself and the charger contacts which is the problem. Research through the web uncovered similar issues by other Garmin Forerunner owners. I have to send it to Quebec for repair but need a copy of the receipt which is long gone. Contacted the Coventry Running Room in Calgary and they have a record of it in their system but no way to print it and/or email it. It now has to go through head office - another wait. I will have to call them back again today to expedite this.

Ran yesterday at lunch in the cold rain...didn't care though as it was just nice to get out of the office and away from a computer for a while. Legs are still sore from this past weekend so I didn't do any interval sets. Rather I threw in 8x fartleks to keep things honest.

Last night had a trip to the dentist for a cleaning. When I finished, it was around 8:20am and I was hoping to get over and into the pool for my swim workout. But the lifeguards would not let me into the pool until 9pm when the lane swim started. I pleaded my case to them to no avail. Not wanting to sit and wait in the change room for 30 minutes I went on home.

Got home and pulled out my NCCP case study and started planning the various components I need to get completed along with a timeline. I have got so much work to do for this, that honestly, I am not looking forward to it at the moment with everything else I have to get completed.

On a brigther note, been reading the blogs of fellow triathletes and their Penticton training camp this weekend. A great weekend was had by all and I am totally envious! Penticton and surrounding area is such a beautiful place - I hope to retire there someday.

Up early this AM for another core workout - my abs are hating me at the moment.

Tonight is a 90minute ride followed by a 30 minute trot. It is sunny at the moment but the rain is suppose to move in this evening...hopefully the Weather Network are wrong.

Week 16 - Recovery Week

I woke up on Monday feeling tired and sore - opted to ride my bike on the trainer for an easy ride to flush the legs. Followed up with some quality time in the inversion table to lengthen/stretch my lower back and work on shoulder stretching. Overall, it was a very non-productive day as I was completely wiped.

Spent the rest of the day trying to motivate myself off the couch and get some work done. Managed to mow the front lawn, do a bit of weeding, and get half of the back deck coated with Thompson's water seal.

Tuesday started with an hour and 10 minute core workout. After this week, the next 8 weeks focus on peaking for Ironman Lake Placid on July 8th. This is where I stop doing weights and focus solely on core exercises. My reasoning for this is that my last 8 weeks focus on big volume, and longer sessions at or slightly above my projected Ironman paces.

I find that doing weight training during this phase leads to a lot of fatigue which detracts from key workouts in the swim, bike, run. Core work does not tax the legs, or overall body, as much as weights. (Some may argue that point though.)

Tuesday lunch hour was a 45 minute run building into a tempo pace during the middle portions.

Tuesday PM was a 90 minute on the trainer. Mel is away for the next couple of days in Antigonish for work so I decided to ride indoors to be with the girls. Mabel has not been herself the past couple of days so I felt bad having to head the door for a ride where I have been gone all day at work.

Trainer work included a decent warmup at 90 - 100rpm then 2x 14minutes at tempo with 10 minutes of easy spinning in between each. My gears/pace last night were what I was using back in Feb/March for my 20 minute trainer time trials. It feels pretty comfortable now - good sign of improvment.

This weekends plans include back-to-back big rides on Sat/Sun - provided the weather cooperates. Next week is going to be a huge volume week with a 6hr ride on Saturday ending with a sprint race on Sunday. It will be interesting to see how the legs are feeling for the race.

Ouch!

The company that I am currently employed by put a team into the Halifax Bluenose Marathon Relay. I asked for the first leg of the day because I had to bring my Mom out to the airport to catch her flight to the Island (NL) early in the afternoon.

This past week has been a hodge-podge of workouts. I have been able to keep about 90% of my workouts through creative shuffling. I took Friday off from work and training to bring my Mom around Halifax for some shopping and a visit to the Casino. I've never been to a Casino before so was looking forward to dropping some money into one of those slot machines where you pull the big arm down. Unfortunately, there was no such machine at the Casino with a working slot arm so I got bored pretty quickly. Overall I am glad I experienced the "Casino Life" - although I will be the first to admit I don't have the patience to sit down and play them for any length of time.

Saturday it was raining so I opted to ride on the trainer...cranked out a two hour solid ride before having to pull the plug and run out for some errands with Mel and Mom. That was pretty much it for training that day.

Woke up this morning feeling completely out of shape and not looking forward to my run. My leg was 5.2km. Got to downtown Halifax and to the race site with about 15 minutes before the bag pipe dude walked us down to the start. Warmed up for 7 minutes with some pickups and A's and B's.

It was mass start so we had the marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay, and 10km in the mix. I had no idea if/where the course deviated for the marathon relay so I figured I would hope for the best.

Tried to situate myself near the beginning to avoid the mass of marathon and 1/2 marathon runners.

Gun goes off and I start at a pretty quick pace. I try to pass as many people before the first hill to get some open space. I looking down at my Garmin and I'm running a 3:36/km pace which I think is well out of my level so I slow it down a bit.

I'm making my way to the front of the pack and look around wondering how many of these people are running the relay and how many are running the other distances. If they are running the other distances then they are moving a fast clip.

About 2km into the race, there is a two signs up ahead - one to go straight for the marathon/half marathon and another to turn left for the 10km/Relay. I turn left and head down the road. Looking ahead I see two other people but figure there are probably loads of other people ahead.

The guy immediately in front of me turns around and asks if this is the marathon. I tell him "no dude, its back up on top of the hill - just follow the signs".

So that leaves just the one guy I can see in front of me and I put on a surge to try and catch him. I can hear some feet behind me and look into the window of a passing car to see two guys trailing me. Looking down at my garmin I am running a 3:36/km again. I think to myself, "What is wrong with me, you know you can't run that fast".

I gain on the guy in front and are about 20ft behind him. I don't hear any footsteps behind me.

3.4km into the race and I am really starting to hurt. By this time, I don't care what I am running, I am going to continue until the wheels drop off.

Nearing the downtown we have another hill to go up and I have to slow down because there is way too much lactate in my legs. I still can't close the 20ft gap to the guy in front of me.

We run by the Halifax metro centre and up the hill again towards the relay hand-off. The guy in front slips ahead by about another 10 feet and I can hear some footsteps behind me coming fast. By this time we have about 250m left to run and my legs/lungs are just screaming.

I am hoping the guy behind me doesn't surge but he doesn't listen to what I am thinking. I manage a surge on my own to hold him off for another 50m. He kicks it into another gear but I am unable to answer. We have reeled in the guy in front and by now its just a mad dash to the finish line.

5.2km - 19:13

Good enough for the 3rd fastest time of the leg and a new PR for me at a 5km distance!

Later in the day, I got geared up again and kicked out a 2hr10min LSD run. First half went well, second half I was a hurtin unit.

Good day of training.

Get'er done

I woke up at 4:15am this morning - hit the washroom then went back to bed. I layed there for a bit comptemplating about pulling a Keith and getting up to workout but soon the feeling passed and I fell back to sleep - sorta. [Aside: Keith is a fellow blogger/triathlete who gets up at 4am to train...can you say hardcore!]

Eventually I was able to pry the mattress off my back. I got up thinking maybe I'll go back to bed...I am going to be tired later in the day at work. Then I thought about my goals for the season and how if I miss this particuliar workout they will all slip away. It all made sense at that moment of being sleep deprived.

So I got dressed and drove down to the track to do my interval workout I did not get done last night. It was cold this morning so I wore three layers on top plus hat and gloves during my warmup.

I don't do so well running first then in the morning without having done both #1 & #2. Unfortunately, I was only able to complete half that formula before leaving the house - some things you just can't force. [Yes Mel, I did just say #1 & #2 on my blog for the world to see - triathletes can be vulgar like that and get away with it - its all about context :) ]

Warm-up went well, and I got about 3 interval sets in when the cramps came - and OH BOY, did they EVER drop in with a bang. I had to walk in between sets instead of jogging to settle down the ole system. I thought about quitting and peeling it home but then thought, "I can't quit now...suck it up princess". So then I started setting mini-goals like "OK, lets do the next one and we'll call it a day."

Eventually I got all 10 done and even ran a 2:45/km for a whole 40 seconds before the wheels fell off - along with it came laughter at the whole situation. Who in their right mind would get up at 5:30am, run intervals on a track in cold weather with shorts, mitts, and a cap on, and be on the verge of crapping their pants the entire hour?

I would be such a person - and I think a lot of you who read my trials and tribulations would be too!

Mel often reminds me "You choose to do this" - when she catches me start to complain about some aspect of training. I have been thinking about that a lot lately and its true - I choose to do this. I choose to put myself out there almost everyday - rain or shine, in the dark, with friends, alone, through sickness and injury, early mornings/late nights, etc. And for what?

Because I have goals.

Someone once said to me (and this person does not train), "Don't you feel like your life is on hold because all you do is train and race".

I said to them "My life is not on hold, I am just following a different path then yours".

In some ways, I thought that person's life was "on hold" for they are not able to appreciate differences in how people lead their lives. You don't have to agree with how someone lives their life, but at least be open to the differences.

As I was finishing up my workout this morning, I thought to myself "I have hope I have great race this year - I hope we all have great seasons".

Train like a rock-star - race from the heart.

Run: 1hr - 10x 1min intervals on 3mins AR
Brick Workout: 1hr23min bike / 30min tempo run

Thinking ahead...

Once-in-a-while I'll visit the Slowtwich.com forum to read up on the latest gossip in the triathlon community. Came across a post by one gentleman who mentioned it is about 10 weeks from Ironman Lake Placid.

Panic button almost pressed.

Wow, just 10 weeks from my goal race of the season and I feel like I have so much more prep. Within that 10 weeks the last 4 are really focused on taper - so essentially, 6 weeks of dedicated improvment training.

Time has certainly flown by - looking through my schedule I have written for this go around, I started training back on Nov 12, 2007 with my transitional training program. Then in Feb, I switched to IM training. I remember the first week swimming 1500m and thinking "Wow, that feels soo long". This morning I churned out 3100m and thought "Gosh, I feel good...wish I had more time to swim an extra 900m".

It is interesting to look at the transformation over the course of training up to your goal race(s). The good, the bad, and the ugly - the highs, the lows.

I love all aspects of the journey.

-----


My Mom is here until Sunday so I had to shuffle around workouts this week and cut some non-critical ones (if such a thing exists). It is great coming home to meals already prepared and not having to cook - Yeah for Moms everywhere!


Early rise this AM to swim - same workout as last week except this week I reduced the rest intervals. Another great swim workout. I feel stronger in the water and able to maintain my form better during longer sets.

Not sure what this evening will bring - suppose to do some running intervals on the track but we'll see what Mom wants to do first.

-----

Sunday is the Bluenose Marathon here in Halifax. The company I work for have placed a team in the corporate relay - I'll be running the first segment (5.2km) afterwhich I'll be jetting back home to grab Mom and bring her to the airport. Saturday is suppose to be a 150km ride but I don't think it will happen so I might swap my 2.5hr from Sunday to that day instead. We'll play it by ear and see what happens.

Swim: 3100m
- 350m w/u
- 350 drill (200 with bands)
- 7x 200m on 10 seconds rest
- 7x 100m on 5 seconds rest
- 300m cool down.

Bike: 90mins (32min effort at 40km time trial effort)
Run: 45mins

The Sperminator!

Had some fun on my trainer ride this past weekend. Mel saw the pics yesterday and said " Why are you wearing your helmet, and sunglasses indoors on your trainer? Wait, don't answer that...you're a dork."

My response...

"You married it"

Week 15

Friday evening I was late getting out the door for my bike ride. Mel had gotten back from Houston the night before so when I got home from work we ate supper and chatted for a bit to catch up and see how her trip went.

So when I did get out the door, the clouds had already moved in, along with a temperature drop and a nice strong wind. I warmed up for 20 minutes throughout Beaver Bank/Lower Sackville before returning to BB and hitting up the Majestic Ave for some hill repeats. Solid workout.

Saturday I decided to do my long swim in the morning instead of Sunday b/c the plan was to race the 8-miler in Wolfville on Sunday. Had a great swim and just took my time easing into a comfortable pace. Lost count a few times so I went back to my last known lap. Finished 3500m in an hour and 4 minutes. So there is hope yet I might beat my swim time from IMC 2005 this summer at IMLP.

After that it was a run to Timmy's, then home for some a light breakfast. Hopped on my bike afterwards and rode the trainer for 2 mind-numbing hours. It was cold and raining outside so I decided to stick indoors. Luckily, Mel came down to run the treadmill for my second hour which broke up the ride a bit.

Was suppose to do a run after that but ran out of time and had to get to my massage appointment with Melissa. Had her work on my hips and legs - she is so knowledgeable and great what she does. After that I drove home and did some chores around the house with Mel.


We decided to go get a pizza for supper. While we were out, I get a call on my cell from a family friend. She had just arrived in the area (drove in from Lab City) to visit her daughter and had a "package" from my parents. Apparently, she was up in the Beaver Bank Tim Hortons and was hoping I could meet her there. I thought it was weird she would drive out from her daughter's place in Lawrencetown without calling to see if I was home first.

I told her we were about 5 minutes away and would be there to meet her shortly.


When I arrive there, she is by herself - which again I thought how weird her daughter didn't come with her. So, we are stood up chatting for a minute in Tim Horton's - next to the washrooms. Well, the door to the washroom opens and out comes my Mom!!! I took a double-take before my jaw hit the ground. Completely unexpected but such a pleasant surprise.


Mom drove out with her friend to come visit for a week.

We had a great day of shopping yesterday.

Training is taking bit of a back seat this week unless I pull a Keith and get up at 4am to get'er done.

Congratz to all those who participated in SPG this past weekend - I heard its was crappy weather.

Run: 1hr10mins (treadmill - raining outside)

Swim: 3500m (1hr4mins - I lost count several times so went back to last known number - closer to 3600 - 3700m)

Bike: 2hrs

TGIF

I managed to sneak out for a 45min run yesterday during lunch - I had a pretty strong coffee prior to leaving so I was a little bit alert. Ran the same route - down along the Harbour Walk, up through Dal, over to Point Pleasant Park and back. I ran a little further into the Park so I could get some extra time in. Despite it being overcast and some rain drops falling, it was still a great run.

However come 5pm I was tagged and bagged. It was raining, I was tired, and didn't really want to have to change my back tire to put on the old rubber for a trainer workout. I tried to guilt myself into it - newp. Even a third coffee of the day couldn't pick me up so I resigned myself to the fact that I am better off resting up. Watched a couple of DVR'ed shows before Mel got back from her Houston trip later that evening. I am glad she is home.

Slept like a log last night. Alarm went off at 5:45am - I gave myself an extra 10 minutes of sleep this morning.

Over to the pool for a speed workout. When I got there, the place was jammed packed. Usually, Fridays are pretty light. I had to swim circles with two others - first time in along time that I didn't have my own lane. We were all different abilities so I changed my workout slightly to accomodate my fellow lane mates.

Eventually a lane opened up and I was able to start my speed workout. I got 2500m of 2800m of my planned workout done before I ran out of time. Again, I finished feeling refereshed and full of energy - great feeling.

The weather today is OK for riding outside so I plan on doing a 90 minute ride after work. My schedule calls for hill sprint repeats - 4 mins in duration - I can hear the Pain Train in the distance and I'm so getting a first-class ticket.

Weekend plans:

Sat: Swim/Bike/Run - 3300m in the AM, followed by a 2hr session on the trainer with a 50 minute run afterwards.

Sun: Wolfville 8-miler running race. My goal is to race with tired legs. I suppose I could do the run on my own and save the $20. But racing will push me out of my comfort zone and Wolfville is a nice area to visit - so why not. Otherwise if I am tired and do the run on my own it might end up being an easy run.

Swim: 2500m
- 500m w/u
- 300m drills
- 6x 100m on 2mins
- 8x 75m @ VO2 Max intensity
- 8x 25m @ Speed intensity
- 150m kick
- 150m cool down

Bike: 1hr10mins (Hill Repeats 7x 2min)

Coffee is such a good friend today

Great track workout last night - 9 intervals in total (1 more from last week). Paced myself better this week although I started to slow down the last two intervals. Finished up in the dark but the track has lights which is nice. Upon finishing I felt an "inner calm" - strange, but relaxing feeling. Stretched afterwards before heading home and hitting up the inversion table for 10 minutes of lower back stretching.

I got four hours of sleep last night - too long a story to type in my delusional state. Slept through my alarm this morning - even if it went off I wouldn't have had the strength to get up.

Brought my run gear to work to make it during lunch but it looks like I'm working through it. Deadline tomorrow and an outside agency still has not provided comps I need to build a site from. [They were suppose to be delivered this past Monday.] Chances are I am working tonight as well. I see a career change coming when I finish my NCCP cert.

Tonights plan was to do an aerobic ride for 1hr45mins.

Need more coffee....

yaba daba doo

I had a terrific bike ride last night - weather-wise it was pretty good for the most part. The clouds started to creep in but I swapped out the lenses, in my sunglasses, for the yellow ones which brightens everything up - before the ride.

Rode down Beaver Bank road to Windsor Junction, out to Fall River and up Waverly road and back. Once I hit the bottom of Fall River hill, on the way out, I got into my aerobars and stepped to it for my tempo workout.. Waverly Rd is flat for the most part with relatively minimal traffic so it was somewhat safe to ride down in my aerobars. I averaged 37 km/h out into the headwind with 41 km/h on the way back for a total of 33 mins. Last 4 minutes were spent climbing up the Fall River hill...good way to end a tempo session on the bike.

Still don't have my heart-rate monitor back so I was going on perceived effort. I tried to keep it a smooth and relaxed effort. Bascially when I felt too much lactate acid build up in my legs, I would back it off a notch intensity-wise. I finished the ride feeling refreshed! What a super feeling - normally my legs are shot by the end of these workouts but not so last night. Definitely a confidence builder.

On the way home I was crusing along Fall River in my aerobars - a car passed me on the highway and then slammed on the breaks to turn right off the road. I got up out of my aerobars, slammed on my breaks but was going to hit the back of their car - I was doing 35 km/h at the time. So to avoid that mess, I quickly unclipped my shoes, hopped off my seat, dropped my feet to the road and dug my heels in. LOL...total Fred Flinstone grind to a halt.

The person in the car gave me look and shrugged their shoulders - thanks for that.

I was mad on the outside but laughing inside at my elite stopping skills ;)

Anyways, heads up to all my friends now that outside riding season has begun. There is a lot we have to be aware of on the roads so be careful and ride safely.

Up early this AM for a swim - my goal was to swim my 200's at a faster pace. I was able to take about 5-10 seconds off my previous times without going to anaerobic but paid for it in my 100's afterwards.

Met a hardcore cyclist after my swim who is getting back into triathlons. Seems like a super nice guy - and the dude is a lean, ripped machine. I'm sure my female buds would consider him "man candy". He is has been in the pool around the same times as me so I'll have to introduce myself next time and hopefully hook up with him for some riding. I am sure I'll have my work cut out to hang off the back of his wheel.

Up tonight: 9x1min intervals on the track. No big meals before this one as I don't want to end up tasting my supper again midway through it.

Train hard and have fun!

Swim: 3100m
- 350m w/u
- 300 drill (200m with band)
7x 200m on 3:45 (3:19, 3:15, 3:10, 3:05, 3:10, 3:08)
7x 100m on 5 seconds rest (1:35 - 1:40)
350m cool down.

Run: 60 mins (speed intervals)
- 9x 1min sprints with 3 mins active recovery (avg pace was 3:15/km)

Rock it out baby!!!

Awesome ride tonight...pic says it all...

mmm...rest

I slept in late both the last couple of mornings - barely making it into work on time. It has been so difficult peeling the mattress off my back. I take this as a postive sign that I pushed myself to the limits last week and my body is needing the rest - adaptation.

Debating whether or not I am going to run the Wolfville 8-miler on Sunday morning. This weekend I don't do a long bike/run combo so it would fit perfectly(I alternate weekends for long sat lsd ride/sun lsd run with sat long brick/sun mid distance run)...just not sure if I can convince Mel to get up earlier and drive down to the valley with me. I know there are a couple of antique shops there so maybe if I commit to visiting them with her, she'll get up early and drive down with me.

Ran for 40 minutes today during lunch - I really enjoy running downtown Halifax as its pretty flat (for the most part). It is a nice change up from the hills in Beaver Bank. Effort-wise, I tried to keep it to my half-marathon pace although a few times I caught myself speeding up to catch a person in front of me...its funny how that happens from time-to-time.

On the plate tonight, 90 minute ride with a 32 minute threshold effort in there. If you recall, last week it was 2x 16min at threshold with a 10 minute breather in there. This week its a combined effort - again adaptation. Although, I prefer to call it the "Pain Train" - I am going to have to TM that.

Weather-wise its about 18 degrees outside so it should be relatively decent for riding.

Yesterday I dropped by my LBS to get my bike serviced. I purposely left it till this late to hopefully get it in and out quickly without missing too many workouts. (Hoping to miss the spring rush) I spend about 15 minutes in there with the tech going through the various componments - what they will do and what needs replacement. At the end, he gives me the total and then pulls out the calendar to show me when they will have the bike ready...

May 15

My face drained of colour as I stammered out the words "but...but, I can take it home right and bring it back next week? I mean, I can't miss (and I start doing the math in my head of the number of workouts) 5 bike workouts in preparation for my Ironman."

He looked at me and almost laughed: "Sure man, you can bring it back next week - the day before your scheduled maintenance".

Whew - I was ready to start the water-works.

Enjoy your day!

Run: 40 mins (half-marathon pace)
Bike: 1hr28mins (33 min @ 40km time trial pace)

Week 14

Last Friday I had to work a little late so I didn't get home until closer 7pm. Fed the girls and then quickly changed into my cycling gear to hammer out an interval workout on the trainer. 7x 3mins on 3mins active recovery - tough, but solid workout. My legs are still somewhere on vacation so I was cooked by the last set and glad when the workout was over.

Saturday I got up and ate a huge breakfast and putted around the house doing chores whilst I awaited the weather to warm up. Shortly after Noon, I head out on my bike. I decided the night before to head up Beaver Bank road (Route 354) as far as I could go...basically to hit the ocean. Having never ridden beyond 10km or so north of my house, I wasn't sure what to expect. 40km stretch of highway from my house is the shits. (see previous post). I rode sitting up to try and avoid the mess. The next 15km were pretty good and I was able to get into my aerobars for a couple of minutes. I hit the ocean, then deciced to keep pushing it further as I at least wanted 130km out of this trip. Eventually turned around and made the trek home. The last 40km were a mental battle to stay focused - I really didn't want to have to ride over the crappy part of road again but didn't have any other choice. Mel is away so I had no one else to call to come and get me - blessing in disguise I guess.

Overall I was happy to be done with that ride. Despite the road conditions, this route is quite challenging. There are a lot of hills and rollers - you can't really get aero for more then 5 minutes anywhere on this route. Good in the sense of prep for the hilly course at IMLP but bad in the sense that you can't really practice being in your aerobars for an extended period of time.

Sunday I slept in a little later to avoid some congestion at the pool. When I got there I was able to share a lane with one other swimmer. Unfortunately, it was the last lane in the pool with the ladders that extend out of the pool edge into the water - I rang my elbow off it more then once during the workout.

It was interesting, the woman next to me must have been a hardcore swimmer - she was doing a lot of drills (with various strokes) that I have not seen before. My fav was the one where she was swimming backstroke with a plastic blue cup on her forehead. For some reason, it reminded me of one of the tricks the seals at the Vancouver aquarium would do with a cup...I'll have to keep that one in mind.

Me on the other hand, looked & felt, like person with two left arms trying to swim. I felt really tired heading into the pool (my bike ride the day before must have really taken its toll). Legs went back on vacation, my arms were asleep, and my technique was comparable to sinking rock. I called it quits after 53 mins when I could no longer pull myself through the water. I laughed to myself as I strolled across the pool deck to the washroom - I'm a sucker for punishment & pain.

Went home and fueled up on a solid breakfast. Did a few chores, then took an hour long nap. I eventually forced myself out the door around supper time for my LSD run. Todays goal for the run: Survival - and yes I did say that out loud before and during the run. My pace was about 30 seconds off my normal LSD pace during the first half of the run. By the time I hit the turnaround my nutrition started to kick in and I was able to speed up to within 10 seconds above my lsd pace.

Negative split the run which was nice - stretched when I got home, hopped in an ice bath with my recovery drink, then hit up the inversion table for some lower back/shoulder stretching.

All-in-all, a solid training week despite taking an unscheduled day off on Thursday.

I believe the reason I felt so tired this week is because Week 13 marked the start of interval training across all three disiplines. I consider an adjustment week - hopefully the next two won't be as bad.

Day off today - no training beyond a 30 min walk with the girls tonight.

Road conditions rant

I am still fired up about my ride yesterday. 5hrs and change and I only covered off 130km. If I was doing the full IM 180km distance, I might have finished in 8hrs or so on Nova Scotian roads.

After a really bad winter of snow/rain a lot of the roads in my area are absolutely horrid. Pot holes the size of craters, shoulders have fallen away, upheavals, etc - the road conditions here are disgusting - period! A lot of people are pissed about (rightfully so) so the Government has set up a hotline number for people to call in about problem areas. Well, I have a big problem area its approximately 40km in length and starts from Mayflower Ave, in Beaver Bank, and goes north on highway 354.

I have never been so angry in my entire life when it comes to road conditions as I am after that ride. Honestly, it feels like I live in third world country. Several areas, the lane I was riding in had about a 3 foot drop smack dab down the middle of the lane. A couple of times I rode on the opposites side of the road to avoid falling over. I got off my bike twice to walk it through some patches b/c both sides of the road were impassable. I lost my spare tires over some pothole I hit - those spare tires also had the valve extenders on them for my race wheels - not happy.

Tomorrow, I am contacting my local town council, the HRM hotline, and frankly anyone who will listen because its absolutely shameful conditons.

I am going to find out the cost of my tubes/extenders and ask for a reinbursement from the HRM - watch and see.

Swim: 53mins
Run: 2hr10mins

Bike: 5hr10mins

TGIF

I ended up not doing my brick workout last night. I got home a little later from work, worked from home a bit, ate, watched a little TV, and walked the girls. It was almost 8:30pm before I got my stuff together for my workout. Feeling pretty tired I decided to pull the plug altogether and get some scheduling and some other stuff I have neglected recenty done.

I phoned the man, IG, up in Calgary to chat and place an order for nutrition (Nuun & Carbo Pro 1200). We chatted about racing, friends, and coaching - the dude is super busy coaching this year. I am glad to see thing starting to take off for him b/c he is both a phenominal person and coach and I am glad to call him a friend.

This morning I was up early for a speed workout in the pool:

Swim: 2400m (60mins)
350m w/u
300 (150m drill, 150m with bands)
6x 100m on 1:45 (1:31-1:34)
8x 75m at V02 max (basically a relaxed sprint) w/ 45 secs recovery
8x 25m at speed intensity w/ 20 secs recovery (balls-to-the-wall)
10x 25m kick w/ flutterboard on 20 secs recovery
100m cool down.

Wheels didn't fall off until the very last 25m set. The recovery times I set up seemed to work out pretty good for my first "speed focused" swim workout of the training season. Going forward, I start to decrease the time and/or increase the number of reps per set.

Tonights plan is a 1hr30min trainer ride with 7x 3min sprints w/ 3 mins active recovery - should be a good one.

Mel is off to Houston today until next Thursday, so me and the girls are fending for ourselves for the next little while.

Follow blogger/triathlete-nut, Kelsey posted an entry on Boundless Energy Bars which I am going to give a go over the weekend. They sound delicious.

This weekends plans include a 5:15-5:30hr ride tomorrow followed by an easy 40 minute trot. Sunday is an LSD swim (3300m) followed by a 2hr10minute LSD run.

Have a good one.

S-O-R-E

The ole legs are feeling quite sore today. Yesterday evening I did some running repeats on the track in Lower Sackville and beat them up pretty badly. Overall the workout was solid but a tough one - not so much the repeats - but having eaten supper just over an hour before. I keep telling myself not to eat until after these high intensity workouts but I can't seem to follow my own advice.

As a result, I had GI issues the entire workout - there is nothing worse then having to go during a workout and there is no available washrooms. To add a little bit of spice towards the end, I kept burbing up my supper - you know, the ones that mix what you ate last with vomit...mmm mmm!

I'll be honest, I wanted to pull the plug after the 15 minute warm up. To get through the workout, I kept setting mini-goals:

"Do the first repeat then you can go home".

"Ok, first repeat down, maybe I can kick out another then go home"

and so on until I had completed all 8 I had written out on my schedule plus cool down and stretching. Sometimes the big picture can be overwhelming so it helps to break it down into smaller chunks/goals and focus on that.

It was dark by the time I had finished so I drove home and headed out for another hour with Mel to walk the girls. By this point, I was a Mr. Cranky-Pants having been awake since 4am so there was not much conversation on my end. Once home, it was a quick shower and in bed by 10pm. Slept like a log last night - almost 9hrs which is great for me.

I scheduled nothing for this morning so I could sleep in and rest. Tonight I have brick workout scheduled - 60 minutes on the bike followed by a tempo run.

Have a great day all.