Saturday, March 31, 2007

Monsters

I will use the word monster a lot of times in this post. Not to take away from the greatness of the centuries top monsters like wolfman, dracula, frankenstein or that parking ticket officer who watches the parking meters on Douglas street, but i think monster describes this week best cause monsters are usually big and this week was big as in volume

A couple of really monster days this week. Actually in general the whole week was monster, but here are the highlights...

Tuesday was swim and double run day. The second run was quite hard with 4x2km at tempo. These sessions are going to really start hurting Patrick says as we pick up the intensity for race season. He has told us to mentally prepare for the hurt that these tuesdays will bring.

Wednesday.... monster....whoa wednesday. This was the most i've ever done in one day! 6km swim in the early am followed by an immediate 2hr hilly base ride. Then the afternoon ride came which was scheduled for 2hrs but ended up being 3 and a half. The afternoon ride was a lot of climbing with 5x9min hill repeats! I died on the last two and struggled up. We reckon the climbing done that day in total was close to 6000ft. Not expecting that overtime ride I ran out of food and had to stop twice on my way home to refuel. That was very close to an 8 hour day, just like a day at work eh.

Today, Saturday was another monster. We rode up to Shawnigan Lake and back for close to 4 hours followed by a transition run of 30'. This ride was pretty action packed with crashes and very close calls due to debris on the roads. In the end everything came out of it alright and a few of us devoured fish and chips at willows beach to regain all the calories. The weather cooperated enough for me to get out on my race bike today, which felt new again under my butt.

thanks for reading...


Upcoming Races:

Sooke Sprint Triathlon, April 22nd
Times Colonist 10km Run, April 29th
ITU Ixtapa, MEX Continental Cup, May 12

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

cliff bars

Not only is cliff bar a great snack during a workout they have some good humour in the company as well....

I want to ride my Biiiiicycle

Well, feeling somewhat fresher off the recover week and now we are into 2 HARD weeks. This will be the most hours i've ever trained i think. And we are now hitting some solid riding, 10 hours this week.

Today 5km in the pool with a main set of 4x400 (swim/pull). This set felt good..5:17,5:25,5:13,5:19.

Then straight to a bicycle workout. Steady state effort on a great hilly route.

Running this afternoon with 30' of tempo. This will be solid solid day into the books.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Recover me

Recover week...

Less volume with a few efforts but nothing to write home about.

Swimming has a strong technical focus this week with a lot of drill work and some video that is real sweet. Neil (swim coach) has set up a camera on the pool floor just before the wall. Its on a ten second delay so as you rest on the wall you can watch the tv and see yourself 10 seconds ago. very good for feedback.

Cycling will be focus starting next week. And i've noticed i need some miles on the bike. My effort is higher than i would like it on some of the hills.

mmmm just had a lamb burger for dinner delicous.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Beating the Bloc

Today was a great day. I ran very well at the Bazan Bay 5k, but more importantly figured out mentally how to motivate myself during races. Beating the mental bloc as to say

I don't remember how it came to me but I know now that it is what will fuel me for racing this summer. There comes a point in any race, for any sport i would assume, that the mind tells the body to relax and or give in to the stress being inflicted on it. This was a problem for me last year especially during some of the bigger triathlons i did. On the run I would feel so bogged and basically gave in to the stress and ran conservatively so as not to make it worse. As well i would get really deflated after someone passed me and would not make the effort to hang on.

Now though i think i may have discovered my mental motivation. For me it is 4 words...."THIS IS NOT PAIN". I said that to myself about 2/3's of the way thru the 5k today, right around where the legs seem to gain 10lbs and the breathing rate increases. Then flashed before my mind came up REAL scenarios of pain. Like my neighbour who is medically blind and is basically restricted to walking up and down his driveway...up and down. Or losing a loved one due to Cancer. Or in the process of losing a loved one like my mum. THAT is REAL pain! This athletic stuff is nothing compared to that.

As for the race, like i said i ran well. Surprised myself and even my coaches. They didn't even actually see me go by. Off the start one group of 5 or so established a gap and then a second group that i got into (4or5) seperated ourselves from the main group. I sat in with this group until the turnaround where i picked it up along with a couple others. Still feeling strong i picked it up more.. and more.. Coming into the last corner, a runner who on most days is better than I, was about 10 ft ahead. A smile stretched accross my face cause i knew i could take this sucker. On the last stretch I broke into everything i had. As i came by he responded a bit...I then redlined it and put him out for the count.

15:43 for 5km

very good result to build upon in the early season here.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I bet I can make you whistle

With the age of i-pods, mp3 and whatnot the art of whistling I feel is on a rapid decline. Why whistle when you can put on your earbuds and groove. Well whistling is fun and i feel essential to a healthy lifestyle. If you can't whistle...learn! and if you want to sharpen up those rusty whistling skills then check this song out..you'll be back in the whistling prime in no time.

From Wednesday last week to Sunday just past i was up at Mt. Washington coaching a couple of Revelstoke Ski Racers at the K2 Provincial Championships. What a blast, Riley and Alex both skied their hearts out and made me very proud to be their coach. Barb and Barb, thanks for the great cuisine, you kept me full at all times and were great at keeping us all on time. Both Riley and Alex had several top ten finishes and will be most certainly attending the Whistler Cup this april which is a great accomplishment!!! My highlight of the weekend was seeing both of them receive their awards sunday after the combined. Two kids from a small hill (not for long), small town sticking it to the best of clubs and racers from the coast. Great to see!
Now up at Mt.Washington i got some running in. I think they thought i was a bit coo koo running so early in the morning and riding my bike in the living room. I am a little crazy, i think every triathlete is though so i don't feel so bad.

This week is the last full on hard week before a recovery week. Bazan Bay is this sunday where all the big gun will be flying. Very pumped for that race. Just received a new pair of running flats from Brooks and they are light (<6 oz.)

In the pool today we swam 5km with a main set of :

2X ( (8X50 on :45) 100easy, (4x100 on 1:25) 200 easy))

good set, held 35 to 36 on the 50's and 1:11's on the 100's at a high stroke rate.

Two runs followed that and some big meals. Met up with Mhairi (sister) and Tim (fiance) who are in Victoria visting before a dental conference in Vancouver. They are being married in late May in Revelstoke.

I must go, i haven't watched a full canucks game in probable two months, what with living on the boat and being busy. Its like i've had my child taken away from me.