Training du Jour

Here is a recap of this weeks training:

Last weekend the old seniors went up to Kerry Spearings Cabin in whistler for some nordic skiing and kickback action. We got to ski on the olympic trails for 2010, very impressive. The same day there was a BC nordic Cup race going on. After having PK plead our case for a late entry we were denied and had to settle on just watching. One day though we will get into a race, that would make us quadrathletes, yes!

After returning to Victoria, we had tues-thurs as regeneration time. This meant reduced volume and intensity. Swims tues-thur were 4 to 4.5 km of smooth medium effort, runs were short, one roller ride thrown in and a good yoga session. Come Friday it was back to the full menu. Friday was a 5.5km swimm with a tough draft set of 3x(2x300m) in groups of 2-3. I find these sets much tougher than doing it solo because you are forced to go fast, or you look like a fool getting dropped. A good 2h15 ride with stevo in hartland followed by an interval run at UVic.

Patrick has introduced track running to the group this year. We ran a warmup as 15' base, 15' tempo1. Stretching drills and strides and then into the workout of:

2x1km (3:06,2:57)
4x400m (1:12,1:08,1:07,1:04)

The idea is to add a 1km each week.

Today another 5km swim with the main set being a bouy swim of 3x600m. Then the fun began as Brent took steve and I on another epic cx ride basically everywhere and anywhere. We rode 4h30 with a tim hortons break near the end. I survived that was the important thing. 15min run off the bike to loosen the legs and start the bike/run adaptation.

Tomorrow i believe we have a steady state run, weights and maybe a little rowing erg TT to spice things up.

Pursuit for Pleasure

Another great cyclocross ride today with stevo.

The best feeling I get from riding a bike is the feeling or sensation you get from the surface your riding on. From your body to the ground you are connected by your bike, and it is your bike that transmits the feeling of what your riding on.

I find when i'm road riding I become somewhat of a pessimist and a snob. By this i mean that when im road riding i prefer smooth fresh ashphalt at all times and will go out of my way to avoid blemished, bumpy roads. I accept them as part of the ride but deep down I loath that section on Wallace drive that makes my butt hurt. On a route i know i'll sometimes dread the bad sections. "Oh just get it over with" i tell myself and then we (my bike and I ) can get back to our "high society" smooth sections.

With cyclocross though it is a sensory overload of pleasing surfaces. Every ride you'll discover what it feels like to ride on that surface, or that one. You can begin to decipher the slight differences between the surfaces too, like...oh that one feels like it has more pine needles mixed in with it, or...those pebbles are slighty smaller than the ones we rode on two minutes ago. Cornering on different surfaces is the best. You have to handle the bike differently in the corner for each and shift your weight accordingly. The off-road surfaces are also temperature dependent so the same surfaces can feel different from one day to the next. THis morning for instance the usual muddy sections had a slight crust to them, almost like a creme brulee.

Everyones favourite was out today as well.....ice puddles..its gotta stem from our nature as kids to break things that makes this surface so pleasing and fun to ride over.

With the temperature drop making things crisper and crunchier i found you have to be more subtle with handling the bike. This morning, not long into our ride we were riding on a mix of mud and mulch. Coming into a tightish corner i could feel i was on top of the crust so i moved my weight forward on the front wheel. THis combine with the braking however caused me to break thru the crust and then suddenly i was swimming in the mush beneath. With too much pressure on the front wheel and the braking i was sent right over the handlebars as the bike lurched to a hault.



To finish off the day of swim bike running the group met at elk lake for just over an hour of running. Todays workout was one i'm a firm believer in. After doing a shortish race that wasn't too taxing a part from leg stiffness, i find and think it is more beneficial to incorporate some steady effort, not strenuous, but moderate effort on the system instead of just a recovery run. The body is recovering from the race, but you stress it just enough to produce more gains in fitness. This hunch has no research to back it up but its just a gut feeling. This is exactly what PK had planned for us. 20' easy, 20'base, 20' steady state, 15' WD followed by drills and strides. Great run!

Pioneer

What have i been up to?

After getting back from christmas and new year we've had a couple of transition weeks to get ourselves back the fitness that drowned in the gravy over the holidays. Why is it that the hard things in life always remain hard? THe fitness goes in a week and it takes double that to get it back.

THis week was my first real week of running. We ran 5-6 times finishing off on Sunday with our first run race for the year. More to come a little later. Swimming this week i found to be tough, but no doubt beneficial. An introduction to open water swimming had PK set up some bouys in the long course pool. 2km of bouy swimming goes by quick, as your constantly having to think and strategise. One set that killed me this week was 12x200m in draft packs of 3 on 3:00. Our group held 2:25-2:28 but in no major thanks to me. I was cooked after about 4, but had the luxury of scotty and sharkie to pull me thru it. On the last one once i touched the wall all I wanted to do was get out and lay on the deck, so that is what i did.

Mr. McMahon took steve and I on a cross ride earlier this week that was...well...tough. Technically the ride was challenging from the very start. I thought i pulled a tendon in my arm after the first 5mins because i was squeezing the brakes so hard and for so long.

Sunday marked the pioneer 8km in saanichton. Good running weather and a lot of people out for this run. Our group all ran very well for so early in the year. But i think one big shout out has to be made to my man stevo. Being the humble guy he is, he didn't elaborate on his site (see link on right side) how great a run he had. So i will do the honours...

Steve ran thru 5km in a PB, well technically a PB but the previous PB was outdated to "the new" stevo. He then carried on to cruise to a 25:37 for 8km on a rolling course. Pretty fast dude, but what also needs to be mentioned is that Stevo hung in with Olympic Hopefull Steve Osadiuk until the last 400m sticking with him stride for stride. Guess what though, this is just a hint of whats to come. I think, and you heard it hear first, ladies and gents, that Steve Kilshaw will have some healthy results in '08 and by heathly i mean sick. That's right a word and the opposite of that word having the same meaning in this context. That's gotta be a new term for the grammar books.

Another grind week until the weekend and then some recovery to follow.

New Year, New Stuff

This year will be a great year for our squad, If i was a betting man and if you could bet on triathlon (maybe you can?) I have a hunch that i might do alright. Everyone has come back from the holidays with focus for the preparation up to our first race in Mexico.

Many things are happening fast around here:

- Island running series begins next week.

- Possible ITu winter triathlon (run/bike/skate ski) Feb 9th

- Tuscon training camp arrangements

- UVic testing

- Nordic skiing trips

When you get a lot on your it helps the winter months fly by. Winter is a great time, i really enjoy the wet rides and no sunlight, but summer is where it all comes to shine and my skin turns from ghost white to less ghost white.

May check out the trails in and around Royal Roads tomorrow.

GO CANADA!

Revelstoked Pow Turns

Marty skiing yet another Revelstoke gem

Christmas Rip

What a hill! Revelstoke Resort is like all you can eat, sometimes you bite off more than you can chew...