MUSKOKA 70.3...THE RACE!

This was the first time that I didn't get to say bye to Tanya right at the race start. Had to do the tearful goodbye early, and it was hard because normally Tanya waits until I'm out of sight to start crying, but she started early which made me emotional as well. I guess that was when it hit me that I would be doing this great race. Anyways, I was off to the water to start the most important race of my life (to date...many many more to come in this life!)

I must have over hydrated because I was sipping water and immediately peeing. I must have peed 5 times at the swim start alone (sorry Marcus...but I was peeing while talking to you on the beach and in the water!). The horn went off, I wished my friend Marcus Methot good luck, and dove in. I need to learn to seed myself better in the swims, because I kept hitting groups in front of me, and they were very difficult to get around. It was not until the first turn that I got rid of the people blocking me. For some reason, people go slow at the turning buoys. Don't know why, just turn and go. Simple. I was tight to the buoy, and after the turn starting sighting to the next turn, and found myself way to the inside. It scared me because no one was around me. But it helped because I had clean water to swim in. No one to draft off of, but clean water with no blocking. After the next turn, it was the same thing. No one around me. I was swimming the tightest/most direct line, and I've never understood why swimmers go so far around. I made the last turn and saw the finish area. I tried to speed up my pace, but it didn't pay off. This always happens in the last 500m of a long swim. I finished around 41 min, which was okay, but I wanted 39. I blame improper seeding and the people in my way at the start.

I had a decent transition. I didn't have the stripper take my wetsuit off so that I can stay warmer. That saved me time as I ran up the hill to my bike. The bike was okay. I knew the course, and knew that pacing would be key. I laughed at the people that treated the opening to the bike course as though it were a Sprint Distance, as I knew I would see them crushed in about 25KM (I did!!). It was raining, so the bike course, especially the descents, was nerve racking because a crash could happen at any second. There were tonnes of flats and crashes, but luckily I escaped all that. The over-hydration wreaked havoc again. I had to pee so bad along 117. I tried many times to pee while cycling, but had to be out of the saddle and not peddling for the bladder to ease up a little. All that did was make it harder to get back in the saddle and continue pedalling. At one point I just pulled over and peed in a ditch. It felt so good, but all the people that I had worked so hard to pass caught up to me. I figure I had lost about 2 minutes in total (stopping, asking if I could pee without penalty, pee, and restart). I felt comfortable with my hydration, picking up a water in the bottle exchange, so I didn't pick up a second bottle. It was cold out, so the heat wasn't sucking out the hydration I had stored. I had 2 bottles plus the aerobottle on my bike, so I was okay. Until I lost my insulated Camelbak on South Portage Road. Now I was left with a bottle of water (no electrolytes left) for the most technical part of the bike ride. I made it, and having ridden the course twice really helped because I knew the power that was necessary to make it up the hills with some left in the tank. I made it off the bike about 3:04, my best time on that course (but I wanted to do sub 3:00...stupid bladder!) Transition was slow as I struggled getting my socks on, and did not pre-tie my shoelaces (rookie mistake). Plus, I had to hit the port-a-pottie AGAIN. Lastly, I hurt my knee and achilles during the last 30KM of the bike course (the hardest part of the 94KM course btw).

My plan to 'survive' the run was to start at 6:00 pace, and increase by :05 increments every 6KM. That didn't happen. I just sort of stuck at 5:40, and whenever I wanted to walk, I just slowed down my pace with the mantra "6:00 is better than 12:00 (my walking pace)". I had planned to walk every 6KM, which was good because it gave me the opportunity to fix shoelaces, take in gels and pepsi, and settle my heart rate. This was by far the most technical 21.1KM I had ever ran, so that made me very nervous in terms of pacing. I was so afraid of hitting the runner's wall and crashing, thus not letting me achieve my goals. After about 15KM though, I looked at my Garmin, did the quick math, and realized that I was well ahead of my fastest goal time of 5:55. I got to that point where I think 'how much faster can I go?!'. I thought maybe I could get to the 5:40s, but thankfully my body settled my brain that if I push to reach 5:40s, I won't reach 5:55. I was very calm during the run, almost too calm. I could have easily pushed it harder and faster, but not knowing what to expect on the run, I was happy that I left some in the tank. Set the bar low, so that you can crush it next time! When I reached the top of the last hill approaching Deerhurst, and heard/saw the crowd around the corner, I started getting emotional. It might sound cute/sweet, but it really sucked because I couldn't breathe properly! I still had about 1KM left, and I couldn't breathe because I was tearing up! Luckily I snapped out of it because there were people on the road and I don't cry in front of people! I entered the parking lot, and as I ran up the finishing chute, I saw Baydog supporters and Tanya all cheering for me. Tanya was actually jumping up and down like crazy, and it was cute so I went over and gave her a big kiss which freaked her out because I do not like P.D.A.! I ran across the line in 5:51...4 minutes faster than the fastest time I had hoped to achieve if everything went perfect, broke the ribbon, and got my medal. I was now (half of) an Ironman!

Thank you to everyone, from the Baydogs for being a great organization and even better friends, and most importantly, my girlfriend Tanya for being the most important person in my life, the inspiration for why I train, and being so understandable when I would ditch her to train! Love you honey!

MUSKOKA 70.3 PRE-RACE

Sorry it's taken so long to write my race report for Muskoka 70.3 and this seasons' races in general. I'd like to say that I was busy training, but really, I was just lazy. It was a long season with 10 races, and the first time that I did off-season training by incorporating long runs on the weekends, and a lot of swimming exercises (not just trying to build endurance) in the pool. Add some Spinervals to the mix, and I was doing a lot more than I had ever done leading into the season, and then during the season. But, it all converged on one very cold Sunday at the beginning of September at Deerhurst Lodge, Huntsville.

The course is beautiful. Tough, but beautiful. I had gone up to the resort twice during the summer to bike the course, and had done a couple of long swims so that felt good, and I knew that if I just set a casual run pace, that would go fine as well. The Tuesday before the race I rode my Opus for a casual TT, but hurt/injured my achilles in the process. It was not severe enough to deter me from racing, but something that lingered in my mind (and came back on the bike course). Being my first Ironman brand experience, I was very nervous about what to expect in and around the lodge. Add regular Friday night traffic/construction, I was a ball of nerves on the ride up. I knew I wouldn't be settled until I was in my room at Deerhurst at the end of the night. Surprisingly, it wasn't the race that had me nervous...just everything else around the race! But Tanya and I got there okay, I got registered, had my meal, and settled in for the night. Both Tanya and I hardly slept that night, and as what was supposed to be a beautiful resort, we were not that impressed.

We woke up early Saturday morning, and walked around the resort getting a feel for transition, swim entrace/exit, and had a large breakfast. I racked my bike as soon as transition opened because I am very particular about where my bike goes. I prefer my bike at the end of the rack for that extra space during transition and easy spotting when coming out of the water. I got that out of the way, went for a warm up swim, into Huntsville for a bowl of soup and a beer (Guinness), and finished the day off at Kelsey's for dinner with good friends and fellow competitors Lloyd Smith and Kirsten Lowery. Now, it was off to bed for a 'good' night's sleep before the race. As I closed my eyes, I envisioned the entire race from the horn to the medal. Not a stroke, pedal, or step was missed. I knew this course, and I felt very confident that I would achieve the goals that I had set for myself.

Race morning, I was up at 3...but so was Tanya again, so I didn't worry about being too quiet. Funny enough, I was super excited to race. I was dancing around the room, singing to my ipod, and generally pumped to race. No nerves, just sheer excitement. Tanya was baffled, but I just felt great about the race. Going over the race in my head really helped. Knowing every corner, bump, hill on the bike, and the contours of the run make me comfortable. Essentially, I was ready. I put on my comp. tights to loosen up the muscles, had a bunch of coffee and a couple of bagels, and headed to transition to meet friends and get ready to rock!

last 2 sprints of the season

I just finished competing in the Barrie Sprint Tri, and the Orillia Sprint Tri, so I'm going to combine those two races into this post.

Barrie was a disaster, even though I still had PBs in the swim & run, and shaved 3 mins off of last year's time. It was a disaster because I really did not want to race it. All year long I was hyped for this race because I really wanted to perform well, but leading up to this race I got into a funk and didn't want to race. I guess it was overtraining or something...I don't know. But the day before and the morning of, I didnt want anything to do with this race. The weather was horrible with torrential downpour leading up to the race. This didn't help my not wanting to race at all.

My swim was a PB mostly because they moved the race in making it about a 650m race, yet advertising 700m. Not bad for those timid about swimming, but it really skews the stats. I got out of the water okay, but I didn't have a smooth swim at all because right before I had to sprint back to transition to try and get my girlfriend my spare pair of goggles (she was in the wave before me and her's snapped).

My bike was horrible. It was pouring, and I had no interest at all in going as hard as I know I could have. I ended up with the same time as I did last year, despite riding my Cervelo P2 which is about 2 min faster than my Opus Fidellio.

My run was GREAT! It wasn't until I got onto the run that I really felt like racing. I ran as hard as I could and averaged 4:14 pace for the 5K (realistically 4.8K), which is the best I have ever paced in a race.

All in all, I had a better time this year, but worse in my age category. Barrie is tough because they do 9 year age cats, and it seems the top 5 is filled with my age cat. But, I need to use this as motivation to improve my speed. And, I already knew I was a good cyclist so the great run helped my confidence setting me up for Orillia and Muskoka 70.3

I think the main problem with Barrie (2 years in a row with mental issues) is that I have no fear of the course and it is so close that there are literally no nerves at all, therefore it bores me. I'm going to have to use my drive for a podium to get me pumped for next year.

Orillia: Orillia was yet another wet/rainy race. But this time it was cold as well. The swim was rocky as usual, since the swim takes place in a shallow-ish portion of the lake, but I did improve 2 minutes over last year's time, so I felt really good about the work I have put into my weakest parts of triathlons.

The bike was really good until the ride back into town. I was averaging over 35KM/H until I got to the hills, but I knew they were there so I wasn't too worried. What bothered me was that I was unable to get my average back up to 34, on the turny decent back to transition, possibly due to the wet conditions and the narrow roads. I only improved about 40sec over last year, showing that the cervelo doesn't make much of a difference on shorter races.

The run was great. I had just finished watching Jamie's DVD "Endurance Nation", and the one thing they talked about was 'staying in your box' and doing what you should, rather than what you could. I started the run at a jog, and at about the 1KM marker realized I was in the low 4:30s, which was too fast at that point of a 7KM run. I purposely slowed myself down, which was very difficult to do because I've always had a hard time of slowing my legs down despite what my head is saying. But I did, and took advantage of some of the decents/flats to pick up the pace. i took it easy on the ascents, and when I got to the 6KM marker I had Kevin's voice in my head saying 'okay, now we're going to do 1KM of Quality!', and I ran as hard as I could to the finish. It was the best I have ever felt to end a race, and it was the best pace I have ever averaged for that technical of a course and that distance (I know Barrie was faster, but it is not a technical course. Orillia is up, down, flat, humid).

All in all, I shaved 6min off of my Orillia time last year, and I feel really good about Muskoka 70.3. My goals are sub 6:00 hr, which I think I can do depending on the weather and how well I take care of myself on the run. One thing I learned from Endurance Nation is that I have to stay in my box and know what my limits are and not exceed them. By not going ball's out on the run and then letting the inevitable crash even out my pace, I was able to control how I finished, which is what I want to do for Muskoka.

Muskoka Long Course

This year I've really pushed the distance of my training and racing, so I've sacrificed a lot of speed on shorter courses. Thankfully, this was a long course, so I was hoping to do pretty good! After my horrible running display in Gravenhurst, I was really eager to redeem myself. I attended Kevin's speed work the Wednesday before to get myself mentally prepped to run fast, and by Friday, my adrenaline was pumping and I was feeling really really good about the 13KM run in this course. I also mentally prepped for all aspects of the race, where as in other races this year that I didn't perform well in, I was only focussing on 1 maybe 2 aspects of the race.

I had been checking the weather all week because humidity in combination with dehydration lead to my faltering in Gravenhurst. It was looking to be a perfect race day with 23 and sunny and NO HUMIDITY! I woke up early, drove up to Huntsville,, and got myself settled in around 6:45. I was able to do a light 750m, go to the washroom a couple of times, top up the hydration levels, and then head to the swim start.

This was a 2km swim, and if I hadn't done to Baydog Across the bay swim a few weeks earlier, I would have been crapping my pants because it would have been the longest I had continuously swam. But, I did swim from Minets to Johnson's beach, so I was feeling pretty good about the swim. I was in the first wave, the horn sounded, and I was off!

After taking 2 hard hits by the same swimmer to the goggles and the ribs, I opened up some space by picking up my pace and finding some open water. Once I made the first turn, I got off track, and despite my best efforts, could not get straightened out to the next buoy. Thankfully, another swimmer was in the same predicament, and I 'grabbed his toes' until the next turn. All in all, a great swim and about 3 minutes faster than I had expected.

I was feeling really good about the bike, as I always do. I knew that this would be a hilly course, but also some good flats to pick up speed. I was averaging 33km/h to the turn around, and was feeling great because the ride bike would have been predominantly down hill. I went to the small ring up a very steep hill before the t/a and as I was changing to the big ring, the wire snapped and I lost the big ring! I had to ride the last 27km in the small ring, cranking up the cadence to keep the speed over 30. It was disheartening as I felt my race was over and wouldn't meet my goals. However, I had a lot of time left on the bike to think about this situation, and eventually came to the realization that there was nothing I could do about it but suck it up and still do the best that I could. I did, and averaged 31km/h on the bike. Respectable considering.

Onto the run. I had been fooling around with different hydration techniques, and really focussed on how my body was reacting to the hydration techniques that I was using. For instance, too much Gatorade meant severe pain and cramps. Therefore, I predominantly drank water on the bike, and had 6oz water/2oz gatorade in my fuel belt for the run. This seemed to help, as well as drinking water whenever I was thirsty. I didn't push myself too hard on the run, fearing that I might bonk at any step, and there were some steep hills on the 2 loop course. But, I ran continuously and finished with a 5:15 pace (5:22 according to the stats, but I stopped to pee so that doesn't count!). I felt really good about the run, which really helped me in my training and future races. If I had had a bad race here, I don't know what I would do mentally for Muskoka 70.3.

All in all, I didn't "race" this race. I treated it as 3 separate training sessions. This really helped me mentally as it kept me focussed and I didn't over do it. I had a great day, and can't wait to move on to my last 2 sprint races (Barrie and Orillia) before I tackle Muskoka 70.3.

NOTE: did the Muskoka 70.3 bike course over the August long weekend. Great course. First 60KM are good. Smooth, rolling, fast. The last 30KM are killer hills. Thankfully, I am now aware of this as I will adequately prep myself so that I can complete the 21.1KM run after that hilly bike course. Should be fun!

Gravenhurst Olympic

Well, it had been 4 weeks since my last race. I had planned my training accordingly, but the heat wave put some of my running plans into the drain. I swam a lot, got on my new bike when I could, but I had difficulty running in the heat. That would prove prophetic, as you'll read in my race review.

I had heard many great things about the Gravenhurst race. It was voted Ontario's best triathlon last year, so I quickly signed up for it. I mean, how often do you get to jump off a boat to start a race?

They took us out on the Seguin to the race start, and I was pretty nervous/excited. This would be my first full Olympic Distance race, as I only did the Swim/Cycle at Guelph Lakes I. Also, the swim at Guelph was 2 loops, which meant I got a break on the beach between laps. This would be a full 1500m in the water. However, swimming would prove to be the best/easiest part of this race. I jumped off the boat and swam to the race start. The Seguin 'tooted' its horn, and off we were! I started well, swimming the 1st 500m smooth and straight. I was spotting well and got into a good rhythm. The water was REALLY warm, warmer than the Holly Centre pool, which is a very warm pool. By the first (only) turn, the heat of the water had fogged my goggles. I made the turn, spotted the next buoy and couldn't see it. My goggles had fogged too much. So, like everyone else that could not see the next buoy (A LOT of racers had this problem) I spotted off what I thought was Boston Pizza (swim exit). However, I was too far to the right and ended up swimming towards the wrong side of the island. I had to readjust, took the time to clear my goggles so I could see the buoys, and continued swimming. All in all, I swam about 1750m due to this error, and ended up 3 minutes slower than I wanted to be.

The bike course was very rough. I had a hard time keeping control of my bike, and the rolling hills made it difficult for me to stretch out the new Cervelo. I tried to pace myself to take care of my legs, but that just made me more tired. I have learned that I only race well when I go all out on the bike...that saving myself for the run is futile. All in all, I had a good bike, finishing 51st overall at 1:11.

Now the run. This was the worst run of my life. It was very hot, very humid, and absolutely no airflow. I was having trouble breathing, very similar to the problems I had at the Guelph Lakes I sprint earlier this year. I had the triangle of pain with Gastrointestinal cramping, and couldn't adequately hydrate. My legs were very sluggish with no energy, and to top it off, there were no flat sections on the run. It was all up and down, but on the down I didn't have the strength to let gravity be my friend. I stopped 10 different times for an extended period of time (was hoping to do 10:1, but it became more like 4:2). In total, I finished the 10K out/back with a 6:20. Horrible, disgusting, unbearable. I have never felt so bad physically after a race, almost vomiting and having to go back to the lake to cool my body temperature. I also ended up drinking a pitcher and a half of WATER (unheard of for me after a race! Normally it's beer!) . In the end, it was a horrible race for me, and I can't wait to go back next year and exact my revenge.

NOTE: some reasons for my poor race: improper hydration, poor fueling choices leading up to the race, constricting clothing, not mentally prepped.

New Bike/Open Water Swims/Trail Running

It's been 4 long weeks since my last race, but I feel pretty good. I've been doing my best to do at least 45 - 60 minutes a day...and up to 2 hours on weeks not leading up to a race.

A week after Guelph, where I had so many issues with my bike, I decided that it was time to upgrade my bike. I had been researching TT bikes for a while, and was pretty much sold on the Cervelo. After seeing an ad that there would be no taxes for bikes over $2000 at one bike shop, I decided it was time to start seriously looking. I headed up to Velocity Cycle in Orillia, looked at the P2, and 2 days later I was fitted and purchased a Cervelo P2! It is a gorgeous bike and soooo fast! I average 5km/h faster at a casual RPM now than I did on the Opus. My arms have some getting used to when I'm in the aero position, but other than that, it is a magnificent piece of machinery!

Even though I took it easy over the last 4 weeks, I did do a lot of swimming...especially open water swimming down at Kempenfelt Bay. On July 11th, I even swam from Minet's Point to Johnson's Beach, which is a 2KM swim. It was the longest continuous swim I had ever done, and I felt really good during and after the swim. I completed the swim in 42:47, and it probably would have been faster but I lost my rhythm and bearing with about 300m to go. It was a great swim with Ontario's premier tri club...the Barrie TC Baydogs!

I haven't done much speed running, but I have been working on pacing and holding a constant tempo. The weather has been incredibly hot lately, making it difficult to get out and train/run. When I've tried to run in the heat, I haven't been able to complete the run because I've started too fast. I did find one solution to help improve my running without going too fast and escaping the heat. I've ran the Ardagh Bluff trails, and apart from the bugs bouncing off my head, it was a lot of fun. Except for rolling my ankle about 100m from the end of the trail. I'm usually pretty good at avoiding injuries when I roll my ankles, but this one actually hurt as I felt sparklers shooting up my leg and have issues since I did the run. But, I can suck it up as it doesn't hurt too much, and it shouldn't affect me on race day.

Tomorrow I'm off to Gravenhurst for my first Olympic Tri. I've already done the swim and bike of an Olympic distance tri, and felt as though I could have done the run, so I'm pretty confident with the race. I plan on doing the 10:1 method for the run, and really stretching out the Cervelo on the bike. All in all, my goal time is 3:45. I should reach it, but we'll have to see!

Milton Try-a-Tri and Guelph Lakes Weekend

Well, it's been an eventful start to the tri season. I started off easy with the Milton try a tri. Wow was it cold. I had to go into the water to stay warm...that's how windy and cold it was. I was feeling pretty confident, assuming all my training would come in handy...especially in the swim. Well, this is apparently the year of the body check swim portion. This was a very physical swim (easy tho compared to Guelph...more on that later), and apparently my time was slow. However, having the timing mat a fair distance from the water didn't help. Apparently I have lost :10 from last year's swim pace. I'm going to have to fix that. Once I was out of the water, I did my usual 'balls out on the bike' method and moved up into 10th overall after the bike. I had a quick transition, and went out on the run feeling fresh (it was only a try-a-tri). It was a very hilly course, and it was all off-road, and with it being a wet day, it was muddy and slippery.

I finished strong at a 4:44 pace, 9th overall and 2nd in my age group. Felt good...a nice easy start to the season, but I know I have to improve my swim.

On to Guelph. This was going to be a busy weekend with the Sprint scheduled for Saturday afternoon, and the Olympic Swim/Bike scheduled for Sunday morning.

The Sprint...SUCKED! The swim was slower than normal, and again very physical. It was tight and I couldn't get into a bilateral breathing rhythm out of fear that I would get kicked or elbowed. I exited the water slow, but Guelph has a stupid long/uphill run to the tranisition area. I wasn't too distressed tho, because I figured that I'd just put in my usual strong bike, and I had hoped for a 4:45/4:40 pace on the run. Boy, was I WAY OFF! the weather was hot and stale, and, unbeknownst to me, my rear brake was pinned to my tire. I knew something was up because I felt like I was dragging the bike tire...I actually thought that I had a flat at one point. Pulling the whole time killed my legs, and with the dry heat, my breathing and hydration was effed. I finished my bike horribly, averaging about a 2:01 pace. I knew I'd have to do something special on the run, but with the heat, that would prove futile.

The run felt long, it was a dry heat with no wind and the temp definitely reached the 'feels like 36' point. I ran about 4:45 for about 750m, but then crashed. When the air dried up, my chest/stomach clenched and I had trouble breathing. At one point I stopped to control it, but all that did was get me through the run. I ended up averaging 5:14 pace, which I was very disappointed with, but no one ran by me, and it turned out that all runners were having the same difficulties with the run. But, even though everyone else was having the same issues, I was still very disappointed with my results. Specifically the bike, as I had spent all week fixing, re-fixing, the re-re-fixing my brakes.

Finally, the end of a long but productive weekend, the Olympic Swim/Bike. I was nervous because this was the first time that I would ever be swimming 1500m. To add to that, the organizers decided to do a mass-start of ALL PARTICIPANTS!!! They organized the swim caps based on individual prospective swim times, but still, all 670 competitors started at the same time. The noise of the water was louder than Niagara Falls, and there was NEVER any space. I had to breathe every other stroke with my head going straight up to ensure I wasn't in danger. Add to that people stopping at the turning buoy, it was a silly swim. One lap down, I was at at 16:35...:10 faster than the pool time from Tuesday. The second lap loosened up a little, but still quite physical as I caught up to people that didn't seed themselves properly. I exited the water at 34:45, and I was very happy with that considering the physical circumstances, and the fact that it was my first 1500m swim. I exited the water, ran up the hill to transition, and began the bike.

I opened up the rear brakes so that they would be as far from the tire as possible, but still function. This made a HUGE difference as I was able to smoothly pedal into a strong head wind for the first half of the bike course. This made me feel good, yet frustrated because I didn't have this smoothness during the sprint, which probably cost me about 5 minutes on my total race time.

I played cat and mouse with a few people, saw some baydogs on the prowl, and enjoyed racing for the full 40KM, which I had never done either. The bike was very smooth, with an average pace of 1:54 and a total time of 1:15. Nathan Brooks (fellow Baydog) caught up to me near the end, and we chatted for a bit, then went our separate ways...him to the run and me to food tent!

In the end, I finished 8th overall (out of 36), and 3rd in my age group. Very productive day/weekend. I wanted to bump up to the full Olympic tri, but I was worried about my legs (I've had a nagging Quad injury for about 1.5 weeks now), so I stuck with the Swim/Bike, and I'm glad I did. After a crappy race on Saturday, the positive results on Sunday made me feel a lot better.

Now I have 4 weeks off. I'm going to be very light/non-existant training this week, go light next week, hard week 3, and then taper week 4 for Gravenhurst Olympic...my first full Olympic. Should be fun!! I get to jump off a boat!

Mississauga Half Marathon and a new P.B.

Untitled by douce77 at Garmin Connect - Details

First off...this was a great race! Great venue, beautiful course, fantastic weather...if I hadn't ran a P.B., I would have still had a great time. But I did run a P.B.! So that made it even better!

All winter long I had been working on my endurance training, so that I could avoid bonking at the 18KM mark. I spent a couple of months (Feb and March) running 15 - 18 KM per week doing the 10:1 method, and did a route that had a lot of hills and a lot of head wind. This was really helpful mentally more than physically I think...because some of the days I was running felt like the worst possible weather ever. Plus I ran with the Baydogs every Tuesday night for 8KM, which helped me with some speed and endurance.

So I went to Mississauga feeling strong and confident, but I was still afraid that I would not be "as good" as I had hoped, and set myself up for a disappointing season. I didn't want to press myself and go too hard, but I still wanted to improve upon my times from the two half marathons last fall. My ultimate goal for a half marathon is a sub 1:40, but I knew that that would more than likely not happen because I hadn't really worked on my speed, just endurance.

I started well...running just below a 5:00 pace, but knew that I would have to push below 5 to make up for the 1:00 rests. My 2nd 10:00 interval was way too fast...as I caught myself running sub 4:40 and forced myself to slow down, but couldn't get slower than 4:45. I was really afraid that this would burn me out later in the race. The hardest part was watching people run ahead of me, and being worried that I wouldn't catch up to them later.

I felt strong throughout the race, knowing that I would get to walk for a minute after pushing myself hard for 10:00. The hills were good...nothing compared to what I was used to training on. The wind off the water was refreshing as it really started to heat up. All in all, the race progressed smoothly. Except for the fact that I had to go to the washroom, but I didn't want to give up time by pulling over to pee.

I was running strong until I came to my wall that is the 16 - 18KM mark. For some reason, no matter what, I hit the wall at this point. On this day, it was the 19KM marker. The good news was that when I hit it, I knew that I had a minute rest coming soon, so I ran it out, walked my minute, then ran hard for the last 1.1 KM.

So I crossed the line with fists in the air; proud of my accomplishment. I beat my former P.B. (1:49 set at Toronto Half), felt great the whole race (except for a little blip where the wall jumped out at me to say hi), I got to meet up with some good Baydog friends in the finish corral, went out with them to Boston Pizza for a great burger and a beer, and went home tired, but very, very happy. My legs and feet may not be so happy today, but I feel great!

Race Season Quickly Approaching!

This time next week I will be enjoying a cold beverage, eating a barbecued steak, and thinking about how well, or how poor, I did in my first race of the season. I'm starting off with the Mississauga half marathon, and I'm planning for it to be my fasted to date (granted, to date is only the 2 I did last fall). I've done a lot of running this winter, more running then I've ever done, and I'm feeling pretty strong. I don't know about the longevity of my pace, but at training last Tuesday night, I was able to push myself pretty strong, running the last couple KMs in the low 4:00s.

My goal for next Sunday is the same goal I've set for myself at Scotiabank Waterfront, and Toronto half marathon - 1:45. This time, I think I can do it. I almost had it at the Toronto half. I've done a lot of long runs this winter, so I'm sure that I can be strong for the whole course. I plan on using all the appropriate pacing tools: Garmin, wristband, bunnies. I'm also going to try the 10 & 1 method of running.

I haven't done a long run in a while, battling a busy coaching schedule, so-so weather, and a general fatigue that has left me drained of a will to train. I've been running every Tuesday night, but that's about it. I also haven't biked in a while because of brake issues and May snow storms.

So, all that being said, here's to the 2010 schedule! Everything I do this year is to get me ready for Muskoka 70.3. I'm not really resting too much before Mississauga (which could prove FATAL!), running and biking this week. In fact, I'm doing a 40+KM bike on Saturday morning, the day before the race. I figure that I need to train my body to bounce back fast, which is why I want to do a long bike before the half, and I'm planning to do the whole Guelph Lake I weekend (Sprint on Saturday, Olympic on Sunday) so that I can learn how to adjust my body when it's fatigued and still perform to the best of my ability.

Hopefully it pays off!

Nice Riding Weather!

Oh if only Mother Nature would smile for us Canadians!! The weather this past week has been fantastic, getting everyone outdoors and breathing in the fresh air. It's been a rather dry winter, and not really that cold, so I was able to get out and run a lot more than I ever have (actually, if I'd gone out once, I would've been out more than I ever have), and now that the roads are dry and the sun is shining with temps in the teens, it's time to bust out the road bike and go for a ride. It was a great day for that, with some wind but nothing serious. The route I normally take out of Barrie is into Innisfil and that normally has me going into the wind or getting a cross wind. It can be tiring, but it is also nice because I can get a good workout from that. I then rode west on cty rd 21 to 56 with a little head wind. Once I turned onto 56 there was no wind and it was smooth sailing. I made my return turn onto the 25th sideroad where there are a lot of rolling hills (really no clear flat stretch at all on the 25th) and like most bike rides that I do, I turned north on cty rd 27 and turn up Mapleton Ave to ride up the Mapleton Hill (1 km up, 11% grade...nice hill to bike up if you want to work on hills). All in all, it was a great day for my first ride of the year, and I hope that the weather stays somewhat nice so that I can get out more often...oh, and the city gets the sweepers out to clean things up a bit!

It's Been Awhile...

I haven't written on here in awhile...so long so that I forgot my password! Here's a quick update on how the winter training is going:

I'm doing a lot more running this winter than I have ever done in any season. This is good news as my running as been a weak point of my triathlons, and I have always hated running as a part of training, going too hard, too fast to try and get the run over with, which then makes me not want to run. I'm working on pacing at the start so that I can finish strong, rather than starting fast and fading at the end.

My swimming has also been a focus of my winter training, although I find it hard to get in the pool on my own when it is cold out. I know that the pool is inside and will be warm, but for some reason, I hate the cold blast that the showers give, and that ends up scaring me away from swimming. I have, however, shaven about 7 seconds off of my avg 100 m pace (was at 2:10, now at around 2:03). That makes me feel good and when the weather gets warmer, I'll be in a better mood to swim (I know, it's funny that I have no problem running outside in whatever temperature, but will not swim inside). I was told of a really good website that will help me do more swimming on my own. It is www.swimplan.com where you can create personalized swim workouts that are geared to your pace and needs.

My bike, surprisingly, has not been a focus this winter. I love cycling, and when I work out I typically only do exercises that I like, but this winter I'm having difficulty getting on my bike. It's just once I'm at home I'm just too tired or lazy to do anything. I did just get the GSC 10 speed/cadence sensor for my bike so that will help motivate me to get on my bike, and also show me how well I am working out, so that's going to help.

All in all, the winter is going well. I have given up drinking beer because it made me too sluggish and was adding some pounds to my winter weight (although I still drink wine, but only a glass every few days). March will be when I really pick up the pace. I'm going to start doing the speed workouts with Kevin O'Neil, and I'll be adding a Monday night spin class to my workout. My biggest fear was over exercising and burning out this winter, but I think I have paced myself well, ensuring that each workout is beneficial, and not just a workout. I've seen overall improvement, so it should be interesting to see how the times improve this summer (which, I expect, there to be a significant improvement).

Cheers for now!

Garmin Forerunner 310XT

The ultimate Garmin for triathletes! I went to the store looking for the Forerunner 305, figuring that was all I need, but gosh darn it, Running Room sold me the 310XT. Not that I'm complaining. So far, I love it. I went for a quick run today despite feeling really crappy (sore throat, runny nose, the whole head cold thing).

So I love the Garmin. I always wondered why people would need one, but the information that you get from it is invaluable. I know when the weather gets nice and I start getting more into running, it is going to really pay off (I hope so...it's freakin' expensive!!). Plus, I can also measure my cycling cadence and power output which is really what I want because I love to bike.

Here is the information that I can get from my new toy:
Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for
short run