I have had this last chapter of my blog done up in draft for a long time but just haven't gotten around to posting it yet so here it is almost two months later. My last week 32 of tapering went very well except for the usual of feeling guilty about not doing enough, gaining weight and feeling like I am loosing my fitness and feeling slugish. I know all too well these feelings but it is part of the body healing to it's fullest physically, all the muscles, growing to their fullest capacity and getting loaded up with all the right chemicals to make them work with efficiency. Now if there was only a way to quickly get in that frame of mind where I did not feel that guilt.
A couple of small jaunts and bike rides this week along with a few short swims. My body is responding very well and I have to keep holding myself back. I am becoming like a spring wound up to it's maximum capacity and ready to unwind. Too keep my mind from dwelling too much on the negative this week, I stay busy getting all my gear together using my check list and adding stuff on at the last minute. The van is now fixed and tuned up and ready for the road.
At long last the trip begins. Linda and I are up early trying to catch the first ferry off the island. This way, we can meet up with my friends from Vancouver, Barb and Ger and Julie and Bob. We will be travelling together to Penticton. We have the coordinates plugged into the van's GPS to get us to the the coffee shop where we are suppose to meet. The ferry ride over is quick and I occupy myself with reading magazines. Bob and Julie walked on the ferry and will be getting picked up by Ger and Barb on the other side. I keep having day dreams that my van will not start when we are suppose to be getting off the ferry. But alas we finally arrive in Vancouver and off the ferry we go. Traffic not too bad. The talking GPS we have guided us exactly to the right coffee shop and about 10 minutes later we hooked up with Gerry and Bar and Julie and Bob. Surprize! Gerry is sporting a Mowhack cut and colored red to boot! When Gerry took off his peaked running cap and everyone saw it, we just howled with laughter. That's Ger! Full of surprizes all the time. We have a coffee and on the road we go to Penticton.
The ride over there seemed short. As we were getting nearer to Penticton, we kept seeing bike riders in their Tri suits getting some of their workouts in. This has the effect on us to really start pumping and we are getting exited. We arrive at our house that we rented and Linda and I have the basement suite all to ourselves which is good for privacy and peace and quiet. Linda and I are very axious for our daughter Tam, Rob and our grandchild to show up in a couple of days from now. During this final week, still have to follow our ritual of tapering and not letting the various muscle groups get to tight on us from inactivity. At the same time we absolutely do not want to exert ourselves even a bit too much. It is a fine line that we dare not cross over.
During this week, we go off and explore the Ironman fair where thousands of people are assembling each day and taking in all the products various sports company have to offer for health and fitness and also gear for swimming, biking and running and most of all nutrition stuff. I read an article in Triatlete magazine not too sample too many of these products for fear that it would act up in strange ways on our stomachs. Especially a couple of days prior to the big event. I avoid them like the plague but collect samples for later testing out.
Finally my family arrives from Calgary and we are so happy to see them. Mitchel our grandson has grown up quite a bit since we last saw him and we all hug each other with happiness. They are hauling a big 5'th wheeler and will be staying at a campsite a few miles from where we are. They bring out the t-shirts that Tammy make with cool graphics on the back sporting my Varmint logo and name "Team Varmint" That is so cool! and I am beaming with pride at my family's enthusiasm and pending support for me. Meanwhile we spend a lot of time with each other at their campsite waiting till Ironman day on Sunday. On Friday, I picked up our package and Friday night was spent assembling all of my gear and fine tuning my bike before racking it to transition the next day. I treat it like a baby and make sure that it is sparkling clean, oiled and going through all the gears to make sure everything is working just right. Just to make sure, I take it out for a short test ride. Everything is A-OK!
Saturday, I take off with my Tri friends to register and rack our bikes, while Linda hangs out with my family. I arrive back to the campsite fairly early for a pre-planned pasta dinner that Tammy has cooked for us. I enjoy our meal but try and not too eat too much as I usually do because historically it had not been very pleasant trying to digest all this food during an evening where I try and get as much sleep and rest as possible. Linda and I depart early after supper to make sure that I check all my transition bags, 5 in total for the next day. After that, I go upstairs and gab with my tri buddies for a bit and head off to bed early with the alarm set for 4 am.
I have a somewhat fitfull sleep that night thinking about the next day over and over again and how I will execute my plan. My goal is 12 hours or less but again that depends on how everything pans out. I just want to better my time from 2005 and not end up in the medical tent again with IV's stuck in me. At last the alarm sounds and I spring out of bed anxious to get going. After a hearty breakfast of Oatmeal and a banana and a coffee, I am ready to go. I kiss Linda goodbye and she wishes me the best. Her and the rest of my family will be following my exploits in the van throughout the day. I take off in the pitch black with my friends and arrive at the Ironman transition. I check out my tires and make sure all my gear is ready for the event. I make sure I go to the bathroom and try and get rid of the waste products laying in my stomach. Success! and a big sigh of relief come out of me. I am ready!
The Big Race
The Swim:
I am standing on the beach, in my wet suit with thousands of of other swimmers. The crowds are assembled above the beach also in the 10's of thousands. I futally try and spot my family but it is impossible amongst such a crowd. The adrenaline is building up and I am so axious to get going. I have decided to line up with Julie on the right hand side near the back so I don't get swum over at the start. We play the waiting game and then the Pro's are off. In a couple of minutes the big gun blasts off and it is our turn. I walk slowly in the water letting the crowds of swimmers ahead of us take off so I have a bit of clear water ahead of me. I am finally up to my waist and dive in and begin swimming. Everything goes good for a while. I am following so many swimmers that I lose sight of Julie and just try and concentrate on a smooth efficient stroke trying to draft off the swimmers in front of me. About 10 minutes into the swim, I start feeling very crowded and lift my head out of the water momentarily to realize that I am in the middle of a pack.
There is a lot of jostling around and there is no way of avoiding contact with other swimmers. At one point about 15 minutes into the swim, I get kicked in the head pretty hard by someone's heel and my goggles come off on one side. That kick to the temple sends me into a reel and I start feeling panic. I stop swimming trying to adjust my goggles and as soon as I have them on, swimmers are on top of me sending me underwater. A couple of times I try and surface but by that time the momentum of other swimmers against my stillness keeps me going under. I try not to panick and remain calm but it is becoming very difficult. I finally surface in a bit of clear water and start swimming a bit faster so I will not get swum over again. In the process, I swallow quite a bit of water and start coughing. I have to time my cough just right so that I get breath also at the same time. This goes on for a while and finally find myself strung out better between all the swimmers. My coughing subsides but realize I have lost lots of time. I decide not to let that bother me and just concentrate on finishing my swim with no more mishaps. It seems endless swimming towards buoys and waiting to catch up to the last buoy that would take me inot the beach. Meanwhile the swells plays tricks on my mind and stomach which is making me feel somewhat queasy. I finally see the beach and hotels off in the distance and know that I am almost finished. I swim until my hands start touching bottome and then stand up starting to unzip my wet suit. I am finally out of the water heading for the transition where a group of strippers help me strip my wet suit off my body. They help me up and I am on my way to grab my 1'st transition bag to change into my biking gear. The changing tent is so full of people that I join a few outside the tent and change into my biking stuff. During this process I had my sunglasses on the ground and saw a helper stand on them and break them. Great! I say to myself.....2'nd thing to go wrong. I later find out that it was not my glasses. Meanwhile after donning my helmet and gloves and shoes, I head for my bike which is well positioned in transition.
The Bike:
Grabbing my bike, I head off towards the mounting area and start pedalling. But for some reason I can't get clipped in! What the heck! I keep reapeating to myself trying first one foot then the other. No way I can't get clipped in. For a moment I think that my friends pulled a fast one on me and fooled around with my cleats. No way they would ever do that in such a serious event I say to myself. Meanwhile I am thinking maybe I picked up some mud from the soft wet grass and it stuck in my cleats. I reach down and feel my cleats. OH MY GOD! I forgot to take off my rubber cleat covers! How dumb is that! I pull over to the side get off my bike and dispose of these near the fence. I then mount my bike again lock myself in and breath a sigh of releif. Then I start laughing to myself on that stupid mistake I did. At the time, it's hilarious and I laugh about it to myself for a while longer. Hmmm...Third thing to go wrong. That should be all right? Wrong! Once I get into a groove on the bike, I am controlling my speed and keep it low. I am waiting for my heart rate to go down to start drinking. Meanwhile I check my speed on my odometer and it is not working. I keep fooling around with it but can't get it going. I suddenly notice that my pickup magnet is on the wrong side and it will not work untless I quickly change the front wheel to the other side. I decide ...the heck with it! I don't want to waste anymore time. Besides if I go by feel of exertion, I will know how fast I am going.
My heart rate goes down and I try my first drink. But for some reason I can't seem to drink enough. I keep burping and my gatorade won't stay down. I realize that the lake water I swallowed in the swim is too much and just laying there not allowing to ingest my much needed gatorade. This goes on for about 35-40kms and then I am able to start keeping some gatorade down if I just take small sips more often. Fourth thing to go wrong! I finally get through the steep section of McClean ranch road having controlled my speed throughout. On my way through Ossoyoos, my chain drops and I have to get off my bike to get it back on. That only took a few seconds and I was off. The much dreaded Richter's pass looms ahead of me and I am am ready to start the longest climb of the day. I have not seen my family yet but it should not be too long now. I am starting to have problems near the top of the climb and my inner quads start doing their little dance of quivers. Oh OH! I did not want this too happen as this what happened to me last time and ended up with disastrous results on the run. I try and ingest more gatorade and take in salt tabs at the same time. They seem to help a bit but the cramping is there. I get passed by Barb and Julie by the top of the climb and know that I am in trouble. The heat is getting worse now and I concentrate on drinking more. By now my stomach has settled down and I am able to keep down my liquids a bit better. By the time I reach the summit of Richters Pass, I am breathing hard from the effort but the crowds of people cheering us on wills me ahead. Finally, I reach the top! Now for the downhill section! I love the speed of downhill riding. But the wind starts kicking up and gusts of wind keep trying to force the bike to the side. It is very hard to keep in the areo position in this wind and keep control of the bike at the same time. But I manage to hold on and head off to the out and back portion where the special needs bag would be handed out to us should we need it. This section is very hot with no breeze to cool us off and extremely hilly in short spurts. Somehow Tam and family try and connect up with me but they get diverted off because they are not allowed on that part of the course. However after this section, I soon see them on the side of the road cheering me on with signs and taking pictures. I wave at them and smile. I have to keep telling myself to smile even though I am feeling rough. I yelled at them that I am having problems with cramping and Linda keeps telling me to hydrate which I am doing! I am getting tired of hearing this. I have a watch fixed on my helmet which keeps beeping every 10 minutes which I can help but hear to remind me to drink. That is not the problem.
At last the last climb of the day begins. The steep climb up to Yellow lake. This is fairly short 4-5 km climb but the steepest climb of the day. The trick is to stay in a high gear and keep spinning to lessen the load on the quads and to flush out the lactic acid. I passed a lot of people on that climb and thought that I would catch up to Julie and Barb soon but did not see them. There were thousands of people near the top of the climb willing us and cheering us on. It was quite a spectacular sight to see and really encouraging. As I neared the top, I breathed a site of releif as I saw the peak. From there on it was pretty near downhill all the way. At the top I made sure I hydrated properly and my cramping was lessening. I was starting to feel better. The speeds on the downhill section towards Penticton were something else achieving speeds of 70kms/hr on some sections. The winds were fierce and at times had to get out of aero to get both hands on the handlebars to keep control. Iit was also very hard after all this time having biked without sunglasses and at numerous times my eyes were watering. The skies were now clowding over and dark clouds were looming ahead of us. There was quite a lot of congestion of traffic on this section and I realized that my family would not be able to make it down in time for my next transition. As I neared town I made sure I spinned a lot to flush out the lactic acid left over in my legs and heading into town was cheered by thousands of spectators. I finally reached the transition and got off my bike handing it over to bike handlers to rack our bikes. I then headed over to my second transition bag to change into my running clothes. My transition was quick and on my way out made sure to grabbing watermelon, bananas and pretzels to eat.
The Run:
I finally headed out of transition and began my run. Suprisingly, I was able to get into a quick stride right away without cramping. A couple of kms out, I heard Tam and family cheering me on and spotted them. After acknowledging, smiling and waving at them, at took off at a brisk pace. Low and behold the rain started sprinkling. This was a blessing in disquise at it would keep me cool and prevent me from overheating. As I approached about 3-4 kms, I saw Julie and before I passed her, gave her a big hug and and wished her well. She mentioned that the run was going well and wished me well also. I figured Barb would just be ahead but a km further, she came up behind me. I must have passed her in transition or an aid station. After a few words and a hug and was feeling not to bad so took off ahead of her. As I neared the half way turn around point however, I began to experience cramping. I say my buddy Bob running effortless on his way back from the turn around and he seemed to be feeling good. I knew at that moment that I would not be catching him as he had too much of a lead on me. However he was 12 years younger than me and was having an excellent 1'st time Ironman. I had to get my focus back, dig inwardly for more strength to keep me going. By the time I hit the turn around at OK Falls, my cramps were severe and the camber on the side of the road was making it worse. I was hurting really bad. I decided to run mainly towards the middle of the road to ease the cramping. That helped and could hardly wait to get out of that really hilly section. At that time, I also started consuming a lot of chicken soup and coke. This seemed to help and I was able to walk and run in a fairly quick stride. I knew I was on better pace on this run than 2005, however I had lost 10 minutes on the swim and 20 minutes on the run, so I would have to make that up somehow. I looked at my watch and my 12 hour mark passed by so now it was just holding on, digging deep and try and gain some momentum. I was never so glad to see town approaching. I kept up my stride avoiding the walking now and soon I was in town and saw my family. I quickly stopped and gave Linda, a big hug and said I was feeling much better. Tammy said she would run with me a bit on the way back. I waived to Mitchel and said bye. About 10 minutes later, I had turned around and was heading back towards the finish line. Midway through that kilometer I saw my family , again and waved at them. Tammy then joined me to run towards the finish line. She stayed with me till near the finish line and handed me my cell phone so we could connect amongst the 10's of thousands of people there. As I crossed the finish line, I saw the clock and smiled. I had beaten my last time by about 12 minutes so it was still an improvement and felt good about my performance. As I approached the finish line I was high fiving lots of spectators and then finally crossed the ribbon with arms held high in Victory. I was a happy man. I achieved 3 out of 4 of my goals: To be in the top 10 in my age group which I came in 7'th, I had bettered my time by 12 minutes and I did not end up in the medical tent with an IV in my arm. Yahooo! My final result times for the even were as follows: My Swim - 1:30:26, Bike - 6:41:03 and Run 4:40:29. I came in 7 out of 52 in my age group and 1184 OA out of 2200+ participants. It was such a grand day and the best part was having all my family there to support me. Special thanks to my wife for all the support while spending endless hours away from home training. And thank you Tammy for bringing Team Varmint with you and cheering me on. Thank you Brent for your long distance support by tracking me on line all day. It means a lot that you were there for me too even from afar.
My future goals are now focused for Ironman Wisconsin for 2010. My Time goals are unsure at this time as I am getting a bit older and cannot expect to improve in this sport indefinitely but you know what? You can never tell. The next course will be flatter so maybe a PR time for an Ironman is not out of the question just yet. We shall see! For this next year I will take it easy and spend more quality time with my wife, expecially golfing with her. With final retirement looming just around the corner, life seems rosier as we go on. Rock On!
Monday, October 13, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Week 31 - Finally! The Hard Work is all Done - The Taper begins
This week was a welcome week marking the first of 3 weeks of taper. The reduced mileage started but I still had to keep up a fair amount of intensity to keep everything sharp and finely tuned. The swimming keeps improving all the time and I am so happy about that. I finally had a swim with Julie managing to keep up with her so now this proves that I have improved and made a breakthrough in that discipline. I now went from 1 speed swims to 3. The first was when I was injured so could only go latida speed, losing a lot of time. The second speed is now my cruising speed which is faster and sharper with smoother controlled efficiency. The Third speed which I have just gotten is my racing speed. I can now hold this speed for up to 4000 meter which sets me up just fine for Ironman. Talk about that coming just in the nick of time. I should be able to equal or better my Ironman swim of 2005, I hope.
The biking as always is improving also now being able to maintain 31kph on some of my intermediate rides. I got a tuneup on my bike this week and got new shifter and rear brake cables put on. These are Noki cables of superior quality and gold to match my bike to boot. I also adjusted my seat again as it does not quite feel right but have to get this perfected in the next week or so as time is running out. I am bringing out both my training and race wheels just in case of the high winds.
The running is going great but lately I sort of feel a lump in the sole of my right foot. It does not hurt but somewhat uncomfortable. The new shoes are now broken in, the speed laces in and I am ready to go on this one. Last run was 24 kms and I ran that very well at a 5:15 pace. One more 18km this next week and that will be pretty well it except for a few short ones.
I have started to get my gear ready now as we are leaving in 6 days and don't want to rush at the last minute. I also have been experimenting re-locating my bike equipment such as spare tubes, co2 cylinders and pump and levers without that big pouch. Think I got it down now and more weight savings. I also have my medical this week to confirm how great a shape I am in but really because it has been quite a few years since my last one and might as well get it over with with all the blood test and such. Anyway, things are going so well that I sense too well! I am being so very careful now not to get injured or minimise contact with too many people in case I get a cold or something. Also taking less risks on the bike...aero on the fast rides for example. Will keep my mirror on till the last day. 11 days to go now!
The biking as always is improving also now being able to maintain 31kph on some of my intermediate rides. I got a tuneup on my bike this week and got new shifter and rear brake cables put on. These are Noki cables of superior quality and gold to match my bike to boot. I also adjusted my seat again as it does not quite feel right but have to get this perfected in the next week or so as time is running out. I am bringing out both my training and race wheels just in case of the high winds.
The running is going great but lately I sort of feel a lump in the sole of my right foot. It does not hurt but somewhat uncomfortable. The new shoes are now broken in, the speed laces in and I am ready to go on this one. Last run was 24 kms and I ran that very well at a 5:15 pace. One more 18km this next week and that will be pretty well it except for a few short ones.
I have started to get my gear ready now as we are leaving in 6 days and don't want to rush at the last minute. I also have been experimenting re-locating my bike equipment such as spare tubes, co2 cylinders and pump and levers without that big pouch. Think I got it down now and more weight savings. I also have my medical this week to confirm how great a shape I am in but really because it has been quite a few years since my last one and might as well get it over with with all the blood test and such. Anyway, things are going so well that I sense too well! I am being so very careful now not to get injured or minimise contact with too many people in case I get a cold or something. Also taking less risks on the bike...aero on the fast rides for example. Will keep my mirror on till the last day. 11 days to go now!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Weeks 28-29- and 30 Time is a flying by.
With the increasing distances and intensity in the past couple of weeks, I have not had a chance to blog. Way too little time in a given amount of days I would say. So be it. But to summarize, after the 180K bike ride, I had an easy period in week 28 giving me a chance to rest, recuperate, re-energize and re-focus for the last couple of hard weeks left. I still had a long run of 32K. That run was not so great as I was trying to break in a new pair of shoes that day. Not too smart to start with a long run. The long and short of it was that I finished the run with very tender ankles from the stiffness of the new shoes.
The following week 30, the intensity stepped up again but since I was rested I merged into this hard week with little problems. The biggest news of all was that my shoulder was getting much better and my swims were so much more easier and at long last fun to be in the water. This week I also had a great ride of 120K and a long run of 24K that turned into 28K by mistake but whose counting. Everything is A OK.
The last hard week finally arrived and also completed that one feeling very well indeed. We capped off that week with a Tri relay with friend July and Darrell and myself with the anchor run leg. We all performed excellently that beautiful sunny day and I had a fantastic fast run. Our efforts for our team "The Cougar and Her Sugar Daddies" winning gold. 1 out of 1 in that category but who cares. Looking back at the results, we would have come tops in the mixed and masters category also. So we did ourselves proud. Even though my shoulder is so much better now I will keep my appointment for an ultrasound just to check it out and make sure my rotator cup is ok.
All the long hard work is now over and we now enter the 3 week taper phase. This phase will drop down the mileage drastically but Coach Al says the intensity still has to be there just to keep finally tuned and to keep the fast twitch muscles conditioned. 20 days to go before the big event! Yeaaaaaaahhh.......
The following week 30, the intensity stepped up again but since I was rested I merged into this hard week with little problems. The biggest news of all was that my shoulder was getting much better and my swims were so much more easier and at long last fun to be in the water. This week I also had a great ride of 120K and a long run of 24K that turned into 28K by mistake but whose counting. Everything is A OK.
The last hard week finally arrived and also completed that one feeling very well indeed. We capped off that week with a Tri relay with friend July and Darrell and myself with the anchor run leg. We all performed excellently that beautiful sunny day and I had a fantastic fast run. Our efforts for our team "The Cougar and Her Sugar Daddies" winning gold. 1 out of 1 in that category but who cares. Looking back at the results, we would have come tops in the mixed and masters category also. So we did ourselves proud. Even though my shoulder is so much better now I will keep my appointment for an ultrasound just to check it out and make sure my rotator cup is ok.
All the long hard work is now over and we now enter the 3 week taper phase. This phase will drop down the mileage drastically but Coach Al says the intensity still has to be there just to keep finally tuned and to keep the fast twitch muscles conditioned. 20 days to go before the big event! Yeaaaaaaahhh.......
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Week 27 - Nothing Goes Down Like a Cold Dead Frog After 180K Bike Ride
What a great week I had last week! Despite being a bit tired from the challenge, the week was easy enough to recover but hard enough not to go backwards. I completed all my workouts ok, feeling like I still had something left in me too push harder or do more than what was on the program. But I controlled myself and stuck to the plan. This Ironman fitness, once it kicks in makes you feel like you are invincible and I must watch out for that and not get carried away. At the weeks's end though, I was ansy and ready to go out on the longest bike ride of the year. 180K! However I had to work the night before and was very happy when my boss allowed me to start earlier and leave earlier that night. That allowed me to go straight to Nanaimo to my Coache's place with some friends to spend the night before heading off on the ride the next morning. We arrived there at approx. 9:30 pm and I got my foamy mattress out and set it in the basement. After an hour or so of gabbing with friends, it was time to hit the sack to get an early start. That night I slept like a rock, waking up refreshed and rairing to go. At 6:00am the next morning I had a healthy bowl of oats, banana, and peanut butter sandwich and got my gear ready. We headed off for the starting point near Coombs for an 8:00am start. However BOO BOO! I forgot my gel flasks but managed to find enough and borrow some to get me through the ride. With the help of another P&J sandwich of course.
My friend Bob was feeling on top of the world that day and he was determined to keep up with fellow cyclist and triathlete Graham who would be one of the fastest riders in the group. So be it! I was not there to go into a race so I was going to keep back with July and Gerry and Barb, a couple of triathletes who were more to my pace.
We started off fairly easy then the front group decided to start playing Cat and Mouse. Let them go I told myself but inwardly, felt like taking off with them. But again, self discipline took over my brain and kept the pace down with my other friends. What beautiful countryside we rode in! There was quite a bit of traffic but we managed to stay safe and at a good pace. A couple of hydrating spots where Al, my coach was there with his van with all our nutritional needs in it. The whole ride went well, and I drank and took my gels on time everytime. I ended up leading most of the way but I was ok with that. I had no cramps and ended the ride feeling really good. As a bonus, my and my other gal friend who was also in the 60 year age group decided to do an extra 5 km's just because we wanted to show off for those fast guys. HeHe. We ended up with 186 kms altogether. BOO BOO again! I was going to go for a bit of a brick run but forgot my running shoes at the house. Oh well! I knew I could run very well after a bike ride so that did not bother me. That night we stayed at my Coach's place to celebrate his 50'th Birthday and had a grand time. As soon as we got back from the ride, I downed a couple of Cold Dead Frogs. Sweet! They went straight to my brain and had to stop at two until I ate a shitload full of Hors Douvres and fantastic home made lasagnia. What a feast. When I finally got home that night, I slept so soundly again that a bomb could of gone off and I would not have heard it.
The next day I went for a 12K run on my tired legs and did not feel too bad at all. A bit low on energy but the muscles in the legs felt great! On Monday, I met up with my Tri friends again and we went for a 4k Swim. Disaster! I completed the first loop of the lake and felt exhausted! I decided to let the rest of the group go and just relaxed to catch my breath. I then decided to not kick at all anymore, point my toes and stroke. That seemed to work as all of a sudden my roll was smoother and better, I was more relaxed and efficient and not gasping for breath anymore. I ended up doing the second loop of the lake much faster and felt good about that. That's it! That is the way and style that I would practice swimming from now on. If I can just remember what I did........
Anyway all in all it was a fantastic week and I sure am looking forward to an easy recovery week with reduced mileage this week. The only hard stuff will be my longest run of 32K. Piece of cake! I can handle that. Rock on! Ribbit!
My friend Bob was feeling on top of the world that day and he was determined to keep up with fellow cyclist and triathlete Graham who would be one of the fastest riders in the group. So be it! I was not there to go into a race so I was going to keep back with July and Gerry and Barb, a couple of triathletes who were more to my pace.
We started off fairly easy then the front group decided to start playing Cat and Mouse. Let them go I told myself but inwardly, felt like taking off with them. But again, self discipline took over my brain and kept the pace down with my other friends. What beautiful countryside we rode in! There was quite a bit of traffic but we managed to stay safe and at a good pace. A couple of hydrating spots where Al, my coach was there with his van with all our nutritional needs in it. The whole ride went well, and I drank and took my gels on time everytime. I ended up leading most of the way but I was ok with that. I had no cramps and ended the ride feeling really good. As a bonus, my and my other gal friend who was also in the 60 year age group decided to do an extra 5 km's just because we wanted to show off for those fast guys. HeHe. We ended up with 186 kms altogether. BOO BOO again! I was going to go for a bit of a brick run but forgot my running shoes at the house. Oh well! I knew I could run very well after a bike ride so that did not bother me. That night we stayed at my Coach's place to celebrate his 50'th Birthday and had a grand time. As soon as we got back from the ride, I downed a couple of Cold Dead Frogs. Sweet! They went straight to my brain and had to stop at two until I ate a shitload full of Hors Douvres and fantastic home made lasagnia. What a feast. When I finally got home that night, I slept so soundly again that a bomb could of gone off and I would not have heard it.
The next day I went for a 12K run on my tired legs and did not feel too bad at all. A bit low on energy but the muscles in the legs felt great! On Monday, I met up with my Tri friends again and we went for a 4k Swim. Disaster! I completed the first loop of the lake and felt exhausted! I decided to let the rest of the group go and just relaxed to catch my breath. I then decided to not kick at all anymore, point my toes and stroke. That seemed to work as all of a sudden my roll was smoother and better, I was more relaxed and efficient and not gasping for breath anymore. I ended up doing the second loop of the lake much faster and felt good about that. That's it! That is the way and style that I would practice swimming from now on. If I can just remember what I did........
Anyway all in all it was a fantastic week and I sure am looking forward to an easy recovery week with reduced mileage this week. The only hard stuff will be my longest run of 32K. Piece of cake! I can handle that. Rock on! Ribbit!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Week 26 - Feeling Drained for the Cowichan Challenge!
This past week has been one of my heaviest training weeks yet. My coached warned me that it would be and asked me if I really wanted to do another Tri such as the Cowichan Challenge yesterday. Lots of long distance this week in all 3 disciplines. My shoulder seemed to not bother me so much this week so I pushed it a bit on my swims. My tempo runs went well and I did my really long stuff just 3 days after my previous week's long bike and run. But everthing went well and I lucked out on the weather. This week with the hot weather again and increased humidity, I made sure I practiced with salt tabs which does not seem to bother my stomach at all and gives me the added benefit of retaining water and amazingly prevents any cramping or those smaller muscle spasms that usually came along after the workouts. Those with the addition of L-Glutamine are doing wonders for my post workout and race recoveries.
At the end of this last week however I was feeling very drained of energy and did not feel like doing the Cowichan Challenge on Sunday. But on Saturday when I went to pick up my race package with friends Tam and Ivan, I decided that this was a so not important race for performance but important to me because it was a local race put on by my Club and and would be hanging out and participating with a whole bunch of friends. So I decided to keep this one strictly a fun one. Hence, I did not watch my diet at all and ate 3 plate full of bad bad bad foods such as pizza and fried chicken and calzone etc. and topped it all off with a Dairy Queen chocolate dipped cone. My friend Tam kept shaking her head wondering how I could consume all this and wondering about how it would react on my body the next day. No problem Tam......It will come out......in time I hope. After the meal when I got back home, I downed a couple of beers. Ahhhhh......Nothing goes down, like a couple of Cold Dead Frogs. (the name of my beer). I was definitely going into "Don't Give a Damn Mode" for my Fun Race" But I did go to bed really early that night at 8:30 cause I was so darn tired and immediately fell asleep which lasted till 5am the next morning.
The Fun Race:
Since I had committed to helping out with the final setup and monitor the transition area, I was out there early and the bonus of this was that I was able to get my vehicle in there and also had the pick of my spot on the racks for my bike. Also the timing was great as I was first in the bathroom and was able to expung my dirty deeds from the evening before. OOoohh....That felt good!
The Swim:
The crowd was not very big and there was only about 90 participants in the main event but I decided to take it easy and start at the back again hopefully pick up a draft. The swim was 1000m but seemed much longer from looking at it. You never know the exact location of these buoys year after year. Anyway the swim went fine but the time was again slow but I did not care. I finished the swim in close to 24 minutes. A full 5 minutes slower than previous years. But I did not care at that point. Fun right???
The Bike:
I got out of the water quite far back in the pack, quickly stripped and donned my cycling gear and away I went. The distance for the bike course was 34K. The heart rate was still high and I waited for about 5 minutes before I took my first drink. The adrenaline was starting to kick in and started to possess me and I started to push it! So much for the fun part of it! I had exited out of the water quite far back and was not happy where my position was right now. So I started to do what I usually do and push it more and the more people I passed, the more I felt like pushing. This was a really undulating course and had some pretty steep hills in it that made your legs scream and made you come out of the saddle. At one point I passed my friend Ivan and gave him some friendly encouragement. He had come out of the water ahead of me so I must be doing well on the bike to have caught up with him. This was also confirmed by passing a couple more good cyclists which I didn't normally do in previous races. I also caught up to my good buddy and training partner Julie as we headed up the last steep hill after Bell McKinnon. I yelled encouragement at her also and told her "C'mon Julie you are strong on the hills and can take me" That seemed to help as she passed me and kept it up till the top of the hill. Her and her hubby Bob had just completed 140K the day before and she was performing well but knew she was feeling tired at this point. I waved her good bye and took off for the remaining 6-7k to the transition. About 1km from the transition, I took my feet out of my shoes and when I got it, went to the wrong rack. I noticed my gear was not there and re-racked my bike. It was at this point that I noticed that I had forgotten to take out two of my full bottles of liquids that were in my bottle cages. I had just stored them there and meant to take them out before the race to consume after. No wonder it felt so heavy trying to sprint up those hills. Oh well.....so what? This was good practice with extra load and only a "Fun Race" right? Ya Right! The competitive demon had snuck inside me and was taking control.
The Run:
The 9km two loop run on this course is all trails in the bush and is definitely quite challenging with some good hills in it. As I was about ready to take off on my run, Ivan was coming in ahead of Julie so he had made up a bit of time. However this was my discipline and was now hoping to gain some time and hopefully catch up to some people I knew up ahead. After 1/2 a kilometer on the road you finally enter the trail and it is a good long climb to get up into the woods for the undulating trail run. That definitely takes the wind out of you and sends your heart rate shooting right up. By the time you reach the top there is a water stop but I was too pooped to drink. Awww the heck with it! I will wait till the next water stop. I started to get into a groove on the trail winding it's way through the woods. I love this trail running! Specially the downhills. I get to hop around like a frog. Anyway at the end of the first loop I finally caught up to my good friend Gerry and knew he was having a hard time just by his breathing. A pat on the butt and I took off downhill down the road behind the arena to get ready for my second loop. The climb up to the trail was much easier this time and was able to drink at this one. Then decided to go all out for this last loop. I was doing well but had to slow down a bit on some single track areas of the trail to pass other runners who were courteous enough to let me by. With one kilometer to go, I exited out of the trail downhill towards the road and to make my final sprint to the finish line. I was at the end of my rope as far as energy left in my body was concerned but as I entered the final stretch, all my club members were cheering me on and this gave me my final burst of energy to carry it on through the finish line. But I sure was happy to see the end.
Conclusion:
It was a definitely a Fun Race but as it usually goes when you are in the moment, it is hard to control the adrenaline and the competitiveness in oneself and in the end. No matter what, it boils down to doing the best you can on a given day. What this ended up as was one hell of a hard tempo training workout but throughout, never forgot that it was still a race. As I have done in all my previous races, I had came out of the water way back this time in over 60'th place out of about 90 but managed to make some gains in the bike and run to finish off the race in 20'th place overall with a time of 2:14:12. Not my best but good enough considering the training week.
My swim time was 23:21, my Bike which was outstanding for me that day was 1:09:36 and my run was 41:16. I had come into 16'th place on both the bike and run out of 89 competitors and was really happy with my performance of this really "Fun Race" There's that word again.....FUN! and you know what? It really IS a lot of FUN no matter what we go through! I have one more week of hard trainng to do with my longest 180K ride at the end of the week and then I get a reprieve....An easy week of Rest and Recovery. Rock on!........... Now for some post recovery drink of more cold Dead Frogs..........Lot's of Carbs. Ribbit!
At the end of this last week however I was feeling very drained of energy and did not feel like doing the Cowichan Challenge on Sunday. But on Saturday when I went to pick up my race package with friends Tam and Ivan, I decided that this was a so not important race for performance but important to me because it was a local race put on by my Club and and would be hanging out and participating with a whole bunch of friends. So I decided to keep this one strictly a fun one. Hence, I did not watch my diet at all and ate 3 plate full of bad bad bad foods such as pizza and fried chicken and calzone etc. and topped it all off with a Dairy Queen chocolate dipped cone. My friend Tam kept shaking her head wondering how I could consume all this and wondering about how it would react on my body the next day. No problem Tam......It will come out......in time I hope. After the meal when I got back home, I downed a couple of beers. Ahhhhh......Nothing goes down, like a couple of Cold Dead Frogs. (the name of my beer). I was definitely going into "Don't Give a Damn Mode" for my Fun Race" But I did go to bed really early that night at 8:30 cause I was so darn tired and immediately fell asleep which lasted till 5am the next morning.
The Fun Race:
Since I had committed to helping out with the final setup and monitor the transition area, I was out there early and the bonus of this was that I was able to get my vehicle in there and also had the pick of my spot on the racks for my bike. Also the timing was great as I was first in the bathroom and was able to expung my dirty deeds from the evening before. OOoohh....That felt good!
The Swim:
The crowd was not very big and there was only about 90 participants in the main event but I decided to take it easy and start at the back again hopefully pick up a draft. The swim was 1000m but seemed much longer from looking at it. You never know the exact location of these buoys year after year. Anyway the swim went fine but the time was again slow but I did not care. I finished the swim in close to 24 minutes. A full 5 minutes slower than previous years. But I did not care at that point. Fun right???
The Bike:
I got out of the water quite far back in the pack, quickly stripped and donned my cycling gear and away I went. The distance for the bike course was 34K. The heart rate was still high and I waited for about 5 minutes before I took my first drink. The adrenaline was starting to kick in and started to possess me and I started to push it! So much for the fun part of it! I had exited out of the water quite far back and was not happy where my position was right now. So I started to do what I usually do and push it more and the more people I passed, the more I felt like pushing. This was a really undulating course and had some pretty steep hills in it that made your legs scream and made you come out of the saddle. At one point I passed my friend Ivan and gave him some friendly encouragement. He had come out of the water ahead of me so I must be doing well on the bike to have caught up with him. This was also confirmed by passing a couple more good cyclists which I didn't normally do in previous races. I also caught up to my good buddy and training partner Julie as we headed up the last steep hill after Bell McKinnon. I yelled encouragement at her also and told her "C'mon Julie you are strong on the hills and can take me" That seemed to help as she passed me and kept it up till the top of the hill. Her and her hubby Bob had just completed 140K the day before and she was performing well but knew she was feeling tired at this point. I waved her good bye and took off for the remaining 6-7k to the transition. About 1km from the transition, I took my feet out of my shoes and when I got it, went to the wrong rack. I noticed my gear was not there and re-racked my bike. It was at this point that I noticed that I had forgotten to take out two of my full bottles of liquids that were in my bottle cages. I had just stored them there and meant to take them out before the race to consume after. No wonder it felt so heavy trying to sprint up those hills. Oh well.....so what? This was good practice with extra load and only a "Fun Race" right? Ya Right! The competitive demon had snuck inside me and was taking control.
The Run:
The 9km two loop run on this course is all trails in the bush and is definitely quite challenging with some good hills in it. As I was about ready to take off on my run, Ivan was coming in ahead of Julie so he had made up a bit of time. However this was my discipline and was now hoping to gain some time and hopefully catch up to some people I knew up ahead. After 1/2 a kilometer on the road you finally enter the trail and it is a good long climb to get up into the woods for the undulating trail run. That definitely takes the wind out of you and sends your heart rate shooting right up. By the time you reach the top there is a water stop but I was too pooped to drink. Awww the heck with it! I will wait till the next water stop. I started to get into a groove on the trail winding it's way through the woods. I love this trail running! Specially the downhills. I get to hop around like a frog. Anyway at the end of the first loop I finally caught up to my good friend Gerry and knew he was having a hard time just by his breathing. A pat on the butt and I took off downhill down the road behind the arena to get ready for my second loop. The climb up to the trail was much easier this time and was able to drink at this one. Then decided to go all out for this last loop. I was doing well but had to slow down a bit on some single track areas of the trail to pass other runners who were courteous enough to let me by. With one kilometer to go, I exited out of the trail downhill towards the road and to make my final sprint to the finish line. I was at the end of my rope as far as energy left in my body was concerned but as I entered the final stretch, all my club members were cheering me on and this gave me my final burst of energy to carry it on through the finish line. But I sure was happy to see the end.
Conclusion:
It was a definitely a Fun Race but as it usually goes when you are in the moment, it is hard to control the adrenaline and the competitiveness in oneself and in the end. No matter what, it boils down to doing the best you can on a given day. What this ended up as was one hell of a hard tempo training workout but throughout, never forgot that it was still a race. As I have done in all my previous races, I had came out of the water way back this time in over 60'th place out of about 90 but managed to make some gains in the bike and run to finish off the race in 20'th place overall with a time of 2:14:12. Not my best but good enough considering the training week.
My swim time was 23:21, my Bike which was outstanding for me that day was 1:09:36 and my run was 41:16. I had come into 16'th place on both the bike and run out of 89 competitors and was really happy with my performance of this really "Fun Race" There's that word again.....FUN! and you know what? It really IS a lot of FUN no matter what we go through! I have one more week of hard trainng to do with my longest 180K ride at the end of the week and then I get a reprieve....An easy week of Rest and Recovery. Rock on!........... Now for some post recovery drink of more cold Dead Frogs..........Lot's of Carbs. Ribbit!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Week 25 - Post Race Recovery and Build Up
After taking Monday off, I felt pretty good with not too much stiffness and no soreness in the legs. But it was nice having a day off totally from training anyway. Normally I go for a recovery swim the day after a race with not too much of anything else. However the planned swim for that day did not materialize as I unexpectedly got called in to work. On Tuesday I did a lot of stretching and core work which made me feel really good. I also put in in a 50K Bike ride to Duke Point on a nice Sunny day.
On Wednesday, it was back at the lake for a 2000 M swim, coffee break rest and then off I was on the hills of Ladysmith doing a 12K Tempo run. The legs felt just great. On Thursday it was back for another 40K Tempo ride on the bike and then on to a tempo 10k run. Friday was my longest swim this year with 3000M going across the lake and back 4 times. My shoulder held up and was only a bit sore at the end. Hopefully, I am starting to heal as I gave my arms quite a lot of rest in the past couple of weeks with very little swimming and weights. I cannot make up for lost time and expect too much too reduce my swimming times but just maybe now that the soreness is starting to go away, I can push a bit harder in the water and gain a bit of time.
Saturday was a scorcher of a day and I headed out with a group of friends on a bike ride. They had left from Duncan therefore I was joining them 30K later. We had not ridden more than 40K when 3 of them had flats which slowed down the pace a bit. When they decided to turn around, I continued on as I had to get some extra mileage in. Altogether because of the heat, I consumed almost 8 bottles of gatorade, supplementing with a copious amount of gels and a salt tab every hour. I finished the 140K ride feeling no cramps but really hot. I quickly got home and took in some L-Glutamine and had a ice cold protein shake. Later on I treated myself to a nice juicy steak and a couple of good Belgium beers. Ahhh....So refreshing!
On Sunday I did not know how my legs would feel after the long previous day's ride. I had 24K long run planned and it was already screaming hot by 9:00am when I left. I carried my gatorade bottle and one gel with me. That was soon gulped down because of the heat and thank God there was a gas station convenience store on my route where I could re-fill my bottle. The one thing I forgot however were salt tabs as I was sweating profusely in the humid hot climate. But I survived the run with a good steady pace and had a good nap after to rest myself for work that afternoon.
All in all it was a very good week of post race training, and this coming week is loaded with high mileage. I also have an Olympic distance Tri this weekend but with all this heavy training, I am guessing I will not have too much gas left in the tank for a good performance. If I do not feel up to par, I do not think I will participate in this one. But we shall see and play it by ear for now. 8 Weeks to go to Ironman. Time is swiftly going by and so much training to complete.
On Wednesday, it was back at the lake for a 2000 M swim, coffee break rest and then off I was on the hills of Ladysmith doing a 12K Tempo run. The legs felt just great. On Thursday it was back for another 40K Tempo ride on the bike and then on to a tempo 10k run. Friday was my longest swim this year with 3000M going across the lake and back 4 times. My shoulder held up and was only a bit sore at the end. Hopefully, I am starting to heal as I gave my arms quite a lot of rest in the past couple of weeks with very little swimming and weights. I cannot make up for lost time and expect too much too reduce my swimming times but just maybe now that the soreness is starting to go away, I can push a bit harder in the water and gain a bit of time.
Saturday was a scorcher of a day and I headed out with a group of friends on a bike ride. They had left from Duncan therefore I was joining them 30K later. We had not ridden more than 40K when 3 of them had flats which slowed down the pace a bit. When they decided to turn around, I continued on as I had to get some extra mileage in. Altogether because of the heat, I consumed almost 8 bottles of gatorade, supplementing with a copious amount of gels and a salt tab every hour. I finished the 140K ride feeling no cramps but really hot. I quickly got home and took in some L-Glutamine and had a ice cold protein shake. Later on I treated myself to a nice juicy steak and a couple of good Belgium beers. Ahhh....So refreshing!
On Sunday I did not know how my legs would feel after the long previous day's ride. I had 24K long run planned and it was already screaming hot by 9:00am when I left. I carried my gatorade bottle and one gel with me. That was soon gulped down because of the heat and thank God there was a gas station convenience store on my route where I could re-fill my bottle. The one thing I forgot however were salt tabs as I was sweating profusely in the humid hot climate. But I survived the run with a good steady pace and had a good nap after to rest myself for work that afternoon.
All in all it was a very good week of post race training, and this coming week is loaded with high mileage. I also have an Olympic distance Tri this weekend but with all this heavy training, I am guessing I will not have too much gas left in the tank for a good performance. If I do not feel up to par, I do not think I will participate in this one. But we shall see and play it by ear for now. 8 Weeks to go to Ironman. Time is swiftly going by and so much training to complete.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Week 23 - 24 - Feeling the Pain and Eventual Success!
The increased training in week 23 was having it's effects on my body. I was now starting to feel tired, but that was to be expected. I just had to dig in a bit further, tolerate the pain of exhaustion a bit more and let the training build my fitness even further. What I had to do a bit different this week was to get extra rest and sleep by going to bed much earlier and getting up a bit later. That seemed to work and I was feeling much better for my workouts. The days that I worked, I never used to get home until close to midnight and watch TV for about an hour until going to bed. Now as soon as I got home, I left the TV off and went straight to bed. Hey! Time management is a good tool in training and there are always various ways to increase your training time and rest. It just takes a little prioritizing & a little bit of imagination.
As in previous weeks prior to a 1/2 Ironman event, I decided to get the harder workouts a bit earlier in the week including this week's long 100k bike and 24k run. This would ensure I was a bit more rested going into the race weekend. However I hit a snag at the end of that week. On Sunday, I decided to go swimming with friends instead of going solo as I had been doing. Bad result! These youger friends were much faster in the water than I was and like an idiot, I tried to keep pace with them. With an already bad shoulder, I put too much strain on it and so sore the next couple of days that I could hardly move it and was in mucho of pain. I dedided not to swim for the rest of the week and not even touch any weights even though they were light reps. That and Ibuprofen seemed to help and hoped that I would be alright by the weekend. My running and biking during this past week was a bit reduced for a taper for this race. However, I made another error in judgement. On Wednesday, I had made plans to run to Heart Lake which would be just over an hour and thought that would still be ok. However, we ended up doing the complete Heart Lake/Stocking Lake loop which took us two hours. On top of that, I never expected the very steep climb it would take to reach the top of the mountain and my quads were definitely feeling it from the tempo bike the previous day. After the run, I felt exhausted and felt that I had compromised my chances for a good race. However by Saturday, I was fairly recovered again. . Not the same as a full blown proper taper but good enough to give it a good go anyways.
The Race Report:
Saturday was spent cleaning and adjusting everything on my bike. After a couple of months on the bike with training wheels, I finally put on the deep dish Cane Creek racing wheels with it's own cassette and it's matching chain. I went out for a 4-5K ride just to make sure everything was working fine and shifting right. After a few minor adjustment on the rear de-railler, I got it shifting just right and proceeded assembling the rest of my gear for the next day. I put everything by the door to the garage leaving my gel flasks in the fridge to keep fresh. That evening I went to my work store BBQ where the food was great but not exactly conducive to a pre-race diet and ate fairly light with no alcohol drinks.
I came home around 9:00pm and was in bed by 9:30. I set my clock for 4:00am but was actually up before the alarm. I quicly dressed in my Tri outfit, had my breakfast and was on the road by 4:15am. On the trip down, I going over the race course mentally and almost hit a deer on the road. Close call. A little later I remembered that I had left my nutrition gels in the fridge and cursed myself for my forgetfullness. I would have to go around when I got to the race site to see if I could borrow some from friends. When I got there, I got bodymarked and then went to my bike to organize my gear for transition and inflate my tires. I decide this time to inflate to about 130 psi, 20 pounds over my norm. I figured I needed 7 gels to fuel me for the bike race and after my call out to my friends to help me out, other Triathletes heard my plight and gave me some of their extra gels they carried aside from their race bundle. Triathletes are a great bunch of unselfish people who really care for one another and I was so appreciative of them. I managed to actually get 12 gels through their generosity. In transition I took notice of all my competitors trying to guage their possible fitness shape. One competitor in particular was very muscled and well defined in physique with well pronounced calf muscles. I figured this one I would probably have to pay attention to. I could see everyone else in this group were doing the same thing and checking each other out also. It would have been comical had I been able to hear what they were thinking about in their minds. I figured there were about a dozen people in my age group.
The Swim:
The wind was up and there was a slight chop on the water. I was a bit nervous about that. However on the good side, the water was warmer than what I had been training in at Fuller Lake. That was a good thing. I lined myself up in the middle but at the back to take advantage of the mass draft to pull me a bit. The Army Howithzer blasted off and off we were away. I had decided to take it easy to make sure my shoulder would hold out without straining it again. I had given it a bit of a test run on Friday and everything seemed fine. I got into a rhythm, sighted a lot and kept on course. The chop was a bit difficult but soon found out that by breathing on the opposite side more often, it helped. I just concentrated on relaxing and once in a while finding a swimmer ahead to draft. Finally, I was exiting out of the water and felt pretty good with lots of swimmers still behind me.
The Bike:
I noticed still a lot of bikes in my age group area and felt I was in the first 3 or 4 of these anyway. I transitioned fairly fast omitting the socks inside my cycling shoes. I started biking and relaxed for a while to let my heart rate drop before taking in my first fluids. Soon I was in a rhythm and started doing the hilly section of the course early on in the first of two loops of the course. I held back and decided not to push it too hard yet as it was too early. I drank steady throughout the bike, and passed a couple of people in my age group which I could tell because the age group was marked on the right calf of everyone. After a while I was passing a lot of people and by the end of the first loop, finally caught up with that particular competitor that I had decided to pay attention too with good reason. He was strong and looked relaxed on the bike. I slowly passed him and knew that I would not leave him far behind. Sure enough, 15 minutes later he passed me. We exhanged greetings and kept on passing each other back and forth throughout the whole race. I knew I had it in me to take off and gain some time on him but decided to hold back as I did not want to compromise my run. He was probably thinking the same thing. We were in constant sight of each other and by the end, we came in to transition at the same time. As we were coming in we smiled at each other and I said "I guess in comes down to the run right?" He said "Yes, I hope you are not too good on the run." I said "Ditto Man!" In transition I was changed very quicly and as I was leaving saw him still sitting there putting on his shoes. I had a bit of a head start and on my way out, I wished him good luck. I had a feeling he would not be far behind. I had a bit of a head start but in reality I was at a disadvantage as now, as I would not be able to see him sneak up on me in the winding trails around the heavily treed lake. I started the first of two loops around the lake and was running steadily and conservatively hoping he would not gain on me right away. I soon got into a quick leg turn over right and my legs felt just great. Pretty soon I was in a good stride and was passing person after person. I kept telling myself these were all the people that had gained an advantage on me in the swim and here I was now catching them all in my best discipline. The transition area was coming into sight which marked the end of the 1'st of the two 10K loops and the crowds were there cheering us on. It made me feel so good to get the cheers and support from the crowd of spectators! So far so good, I had held off my competitor for the first half and now if I could just hold on. I felt so good in my legs and my breathing that I decided to try and increase my pace for the second half hoping to gain some time on my competitor. I felt at this time, that I was first and he was second. I had no idea how far behind me he was and that made me a bit nervous. I dared not peek behind me and lose concentration. I just kept up my stride, stopped momentarily at every water station to drink and quickly got going again. With two kilometers to go, I increased my pace yet again and was wondering if he could see me ahead as we were now in a clear section. I resisted the attempt to look behind me and concentrated very hard on keeping my pace hard and steady. Even as I approached the finish line, I put on my hardest sprint and under the finish banner saw the clock and my time of 1:15. I put on a huge smile and lifted up my arms in total elation as this was a Personal Best for me despite the shortened bike course. As I sat down on a chair for one of the volunteers to undo my timing chip, who do I see cross the finish line but my fierce competitor only 15 seconds behind me. Wow! I said to myself. This was the closest competitive race I every had. We had remained within a minute of each other the whole way. We shook hands with respect for each other as we both knew that we had run a hard strategic race and if I had not been that bit faster in the bike to run transition, it very well could have been turned around, and he knew that also.
Conclusion:
I felt the best ever in post race than any Triathlon that I had ever done with no cramping in the legs at all. Just a bit in the feet which is normal. I cooled off my leg muscles in the water just to make sure and was back in time to see my friend Tammy cross the finish line. This was her first Half Ironman which I had talked her into doing and was so damn proud of her accomplishment. I was puzzled however at where her husband Ivan was as I knew he was out of the water way ahead of me and had not seen during the whole course. I concluded that he must have beat me in but later found out he had a lot of bad luck on the bike with flats and derailling the chain and one too many pee stops. I told him as unpleasing as it may sound that he would have learn how to pee on the bike but he laughed and said "Never! I could never do that." As it turned out he had a fantastic race despite despite the few mishaps on his bike. From becoming a non athlete to competing in his first Half in a year was quite formidable. I was so very proud of him for all the gains he had made this past year and the injury he had to deal with. I just hoped that he would keep it up as I think this sport is tailored for him and knew that he could become really good at it. As for me, my results were as follows: Times in each discipline were Swim 1.9Km - 44:04, Bike 87 Km - 2:51:53 and Run 20Km - 1:36:41. I ended up 125 out of 496 Overall, 103/276 OA Men, First of 10 in my age group. I got out of the water in 338'th position, managed to pass 153 athletes by the time the bike portion was finished into 185'th place. Finally in my run I managed to pass another 60 people bring me into 125'th place overall. I might of been weak in my swim but thought I had made up quite a bit of time in my other two disciplines. One of my best friends Barbara Dortch also shared the podium with me in her 1'st place win in the 60 to 64 age group. What a great fantastical day this turned out to be. All that sunshine, the volunteers, the crowds, competitors and to boot, as a prize for my first place win, I won a pair of New Balance running shoes which I needed very badly. My fitness for my goal race of this year's Ironman was increasing and on track for my eventual goal of a sub 12 Ironman race. Barring any injuries or sickness, I was well on my way to achieving this. This was totally my best and happiest day of the year for me so far. On another note, I have been feeling very negative about my swimming lately and my friend Tammy has brought this to my attention. But that doesn't mean that I don't think the swim is just as important even though it is the discipline where you gain the less time. If I can somehow manage to get rid of this shoulder injury which I think is more tendinitious than anything else, I know I could get better and swim faster with the proper training and coaching in this very technical sport. This will be my goal for this next year. Thanks to my Coach Al Shirley, the training plan is definitely working to my advantage so far. I also have my boss Sherry to thank, as she has been very accomodating with regards to my work days and hours so that I could keep up with my arduous training and racing to my eventual goal of Ironman in August. It is creeping up very fast now and I forge ahead to keep improving.
As in previous weeks prior to a 1/2 Ironman event, I decided to get the harder workouts a bit earlier in the week including this week's long 100k bike and 24k run. This would ensure I was a bit more rested going into the race weekend. However I hit a snag at the end of that week. On Sunday, I decided to go swimming with friends instead of going solo as I had been doing. Bad result! These youger friends were much faster in the water than I was and like an idiot, I tried to keep pace with them. With an already bad shoulder, I put too much strain on it and so sore the next couple of days that I could hardly move it and was in mucho of pain. I dedided not to swim for the rest of the week and not even touch any weights even though they were light reps. That and Ibuprofen seemed to help and hoped that I would be alright by the weekend. My running and biking during this past week was a bit reduced for a taper for this race. However, I made another error in judgement. On Wednesday, I had made plans to run to Heart Lake which would be just over an hour and thought that would still be ok. However, we ended up doing the complete Heart Lake/Stocking Lake loop which took us two hours. On top of that, I never expected the very steep climb it would take to reach the top of the mountain and my quads were definitely feeling it from the tempo bike the previous day. After the run, I felt exhausted and felt that I had compromised my chances for a good race. However by Saturday, I was fairly recovered again. . Not the same as a full blown proper taper but good enough to give it a good go anyways.
The Race Report:
Saturday was spent cleaning and adjusting everything on my bike. After a couple of months on the bike with training wheels, I finally put on the deep dish Cane Creek racing wheels with it's own cassette and it's matching chain. I went out for a 4-5K ride just to make sure everything was working fine and shifting right. After a few minor adjustment on the rear de-railler, I got it shifting just right and proceeded assembling the rest of my gear for the next day. I put everything by the door to the garage leaving my gel flasks in the fridge to keep fresh. That evening I went to my work store BBQ where the food was great but not exactly conducive to a pre-race diet and ate fairly light with no alcohol drinks.
I came home around 9:00pm and was in bed by 9:30. I set my clock for 4:00am but was actually up before the alarm. I quicly dressed in my Tri outfit, had my breakfast and was on the road by 4:15am. On the trip down, I going over the race course mentally and almost hit a deer on the road. Close call. A little later I remembered that I had left my nutrition gels in the fridge and cursed myself for my forgetfullness. I would have to go around when I got to the race site to see if I could borrow some from friends. When I got there, I got bodymarked and then went to my bike to organize my gear for transition and inflate my tires. I decide this time to inflate to about 130 psi, 20 pounds over my norm. I figured I needed 7 gels to fuel me for the bike race and after my call out to my friends to help me out, other Triathletes heard my plight and gave me some of their extra gels they carried aside from their race bundle. Triathletes are a great bunch of unselfish people who really care for one another and I was so appreciative of them. I managed to actually get 12 gels through their generosity. In transition I took notice of all my competitors trying to guage their possible fitness shape. One competitor in particular was very muscled and well defined in physique with well pronounced calf muscles. I figured this one I would probably have to pay attention to. I could see everyone else in this group were doing the same thing and checking each other out also. It would have been comical had I been able to hear what they were thinking about in their minds. I figured there were about a dozen people in my age group.
The Swim:
The wind was up and there was a slight chop on the water. I was a bit nervous about that. However on the good side, the water was warmer than what I had been training in at Fuller Lake. That was a good thing. I lined myself up in the middle but at the back to take advantage of the mass draft to pull me a bit. The Army Howithzer blasted off and off we were away. I had decided to take it easy to make sure my shoulder would hold out without straining it again. I had given it a bit of a test run on Friday and everything seemed fine. I got into a rhythm, sighted a lot and kept on course. The chop was a bit difficult but soon found out that by breathing on the opposite side more often, it helped. I just concentrated on relaxing and once in a while finding a swimmer ahead to draft. Finally, I was exiting out of the water and felt pretty good with lots of swimmers still behind me.
The Bike:
I noticed still a lot of bikes in my age group area and felt I was in the first 3 or 4 of these anyway. I transitioned fairly fast omitting the socks inside my cycling shoes. I started biking and relaxed for a while to let my heart rate drop before taking in my first fluids. Soon I was in a rhythm and started doing the hilly section of the course early on in the first of two loops of the course. I held back and decided not to push it too hard yet as it was too early. I drank steady throughout the bike, and passed a couple of people in my age group which I could tell because the age group was marked on the right calf of everyone. After a while I was passing a lot of people and by the end of the first loop, finally caught up with that particular competitor that I had decided to pay attention too with good reason. He was strong and looked relaxed on the bike. I slowly passed him and knew that I would not leave him far behind. Sure enough, 15 minutes later he passed me. We exhanged greetings and kept on passing each other back and forth throughout the whole race. I knew I had it in me to take off and gain some time on him but decided to hold back as I did not want to compromise my run. He was probably thinking the same thing. We were in constant sight of each other and by the end, we came in to transition at the same time. As we were coming in we smiled at each other and I said "I guess in comes down to the run right?" He said "Yes, I hope you are not too good on the run." I said "Ditto Man!" In transition I was changed very quicly and as I was leaving saw him still sitting there putting on his shoes. I had a bit of a head start and on my way out, I wished him good luck. I had a feeling he would not be far behind. I had a bit of a head start but in reality I was at a disadvantage as now, as I would not be able to see him sneak up on me in the winding trails around the heavily treed lake. I started the first of two loops around the lake and was running steadily and conservatively hoping he would not gain on me right away. I soon got into a quick leg turn over right and my legs felt just great. Pretty soon I was in a good stride and was passing person after person. I kept telling myself these were all the people that had gained an advantage on me in the swim and here I was now catching them all in my best discipline. The transition area was coming into sight which marked the end of the 1'st of the two 10K loops and the crowds were there cheering us on. It made me feel so good to get the cheers and support from the crowd of spectators! So far so good, I had held off my competitor for the first half and now if I could just hold on. I felt so good in my legs and my breathing that I decided to try and increase my pace for the second half hoping to gain some time on my competitor. I felt at this time, that I was first and he was second. I had no idea how far behind me he was and that made me a bit nervous. I dared not peek behind me and lose concentration. I just kept up my stride, stopped momentarily at every water station to drink and quickly got going again. With two kilometers to go, I increased my pace yet again and was wondering if he could see me ahead as we were now in a clear section. I resisted the attempt to look behind me and concentrated very hard on keeping my pace hard and steady. Even as I approached the finish line, I put on my hardest sprint and under the finish banner saw the clock and my time of 1:15. I put on a huge smile and lifted up my arms in total elation as this was a Personal Best for me despite the shortened bike course. As I sat down on a chair for one of the volunteers to undo my timing chip, who do I see cross the finish line but my fierce competitor only 15 seconds behind me. Wow! I said to myself. This was the closest competitive race I every had. We had remained within a minute of each other the whole way. We shook hands with respect for each other as we both knew that we had run a hard strategic race and if I had not been that bit faster in the bike to run transition, it very well could have been turned around, and he knew that also.
Conclusion:
I felt the best ever in post race than any Triathlon that I had ever done with no cramping in the legs at all. Just a bit in the feet which is normal. I cooled off my leg muscles in the water just to make sure and was back in time to see my friend Tammy cross the finish line. This was her first Half Ironman which I had talked her into doing and was so damn proud of her accomplishment. I was puzzled however at where her husband Ivan was as I knew he was out of the water way ahead of me and had not seen during the whole course. I concluded that he must have beat me in but later found out he had a lot of bad luck on the bike with flats and derailling the chain and one too many pee stops. I told him as unpleasing as it may sound that he would have learn how to pee on the bike but he laughed and said "Never! I could never do that." As it turned out he had a fantastic race despite despite the few mishaps on his bike. From becoming a non athlete to competing in his first Half in a year was quite formidable. I was so very proud of him for all the gains he had made this past year and the injury he had to deal with. I just hoped that he would keep it up as I think this sport is tailored for him and knew that he could become really good at it. As for me, my results were as follows: Times in each discipline were Swim 1.9Km - 44:04, Bike 87 Km - 2:51:53 and Run 20Km - 1:36:41. I ended up 125 out of 496 Overall, 103/276 OA Men, First of 10 in my age group. I got out of the water in 338'th position, managed to pass 153 athletes by the time the bike portion was finished into 185'th place. Finally in my run I managed to pass another 60 people bring me into 125'th place overall. I might of been weak in my swim but thought I had made up quite a bit of time in my other two disciplines. One of my best friends Barbara Dortch also shared the podium with me in her 1'st place win in the 60 to 64 age group. What a great fantastical day this turned out to be. All that sunshine, the volunteers, the crowds, competitors and to boot, as a prize for my first place win, I won a pair of New Balance running shoes which I needed very badly. My fitness for my goal race of this year's Ironman was increasing and on track for my eventual goal of a sub 12 Ironman race. Barring any injuries or sickness, I was well on my way to achieving this. This was totally my best and happiest day of the year for me so far. On another note, I have been feeling very negative about my swimming lately and my friend Tammy has brought this to my attention. But that doesn't mean that I don't think the swim is just as important even though it is the discipline where you gain the less time. If I can somehow manage to get rid of this shoulder injury which I think is more tendinitious than anything else, I know I could get better and swim faster with the proper training and coaching in this very technical sport. This will be my goal for this next year. Thanks to my Coach Al Shirley, the training plan is definitely working to my advantage so far. I also have my boss Sherry to thank, as she has been very accomodating with regards to my work days and hours so that I could keep up with my arduous training and racing to my eventual goal of Ironman in August. It is creeping up very fast now and I forge ahead to keep improving.
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