Run, Homer, Run...

Another relatively good week of workouts.  Got in the first outdoor runs of the year with a hill repeat set on Good Friday and a long 20 k run on Easter Sunday.  The weather finally cooperated and getting out in short sleeves and shorts seems a far cry from just a week ago when any type of outdoor exercise still seemed a distant memory.  Legs feel it a bit today and the Monday morning swim lacked a little intensity but looking forward to getting outside on a consistent basis from this point forward. 

The team had it's first outdoor bike this past Saturday as well, but couldn't get out due to family\home obligations so did another indoor spin.  That was fine and the legs certainly felt a lot better than the previous week.  Problem for me is that I hadn't been in for any IMS or massage on my legs that I had become quite tight through the calves, quads, and hamstrings.  Needless to say my first IMS in a while ended up being quite a "jumpy" experience.  Did some massage late last week and back in for IMS this week so hopefully get myself a bit looser. Certainly felt the tightness as a challenge on the bike - could never seem to warm up into the routine which led to some frustrating experiences.

On-call for my work this week starting on Tuesday so that limits outdoor experience yet again.  Not like I want to be an hour out from home, getting a page, and trying to solve a problem by the side of a road with a distinct lack of options to do so!  So another week of indoor work - I'll make it work! 

Then only about another week before I head off to Denver for a conference/presentation so that my final week before my first race is going to be a challenge as well.  Will try to get outdoors for runs but expect that there may be a reasonable amount of hotel workouts going on.  Good thing that the first race is only a half-marathon.  Nevertheless I hope to do better than last by at least 10 minutes.  Hope springs eternal!

A good week!

It was a good week of workouts this past week.  In total, about 12.5 hours of total workouts including a 21 km easy pace run to conclude the week.  The only things I came up short on was one swim and one set of weights due to work obligations - damn work.

As I think I have said before, I feel that I am in a stronger position this time of the year than I was at the same time last year.  I think that can be said with some confidence as it relates to my swim and my run.  On the swim, I'm already pacing at levels that I would be comfortable entering the water for my half-ironman in July.  I think it can get better.  On the run, at this time last year I would not have even done this distance for another month.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that this may be only the 4th time I've run 21 km at one time other than at Ironman, Great White North and the EPS half-marathon.  Hope that truly bodes well and isn't delusional.  My endurance on swim feels good and my endurance and heart rate on the run also look good.

Just my bike that continues to challenge my confidence - and that stretch of road between Richter's Pass and Yellow Lake! 

Hope Springs Eternal

Well warmer weather has finally showed up here in Edmonton, although that's relatively speaking having just gotten back from Mexico.  I still don't feel enthused enough about the change in the weather to get outdoor runs in but I've always been a fair weather athelete. 

Had a pretty strong week back from Mexico getting back into the swing of the workouts.  That was somewhat surprising as was the fact that my slothful days of suntanning and beer drinking didn't put my weight over the top.  On the first full weekend back got in a 2 hour ride and a 2 hour plus run and this week has been more of the same.  Everything feels good so far!  Strong swims with a recent 2350 metre swim and continuing on with good runs and bikes.  What I find interesting is that I don't remember the workouts being as vigorous for the same time last year as what I think there are now.  It's seem more intense at this time (mid-March) than it should be.  Hopefully that bodes well for summer training and Ironman itself. 

I've been starting to pick other people's brains now too to try to get myself over the hump on the bike portion of the Ironman particularly the Richter's Pass to Yellow Lake section.  That killed me last year.  Doing all kinds of mental math in my head - certainly enough to drive me crazy and to drive my wife crazy too!  It just seem all so simple on paper - 1.5 hours at most on the swim, no more than 7 on the bike and 4.5 hours on the run and I should have a finish in the 13 to 14 hour range. 

Oh well, keep slogging through the workouts now, try to extend them where it seems appropriate, build up endurance and start practicing the nutrition plan/experiments now and God willing I do way better than last year!

17 Hours to Glory (but 7 months more to prep!)

It's been a rough January 2011 to be sure.  Tons of snow and ice which has not exactly warmed my heart to vigorous workouts.  However, I'm guessing my core has been helped by the seemingly endless shovelling I've been doing!

To end January and begin February I seem to be plagued by a whole host of physical issues.  Some of this has clearly been related to long standing sports injuries from years past.  Right leg strain (evidently my sartorious muscle??), right shoulder problem (likely from my glorious years in the outfield), and now experiencing a problem for which antibiotics are in order.  So feeling a bit challenged to keep up the workouts. 

However, in some respects, this all seems pretty trivial stuff when compared to the stories I've been reading lately in a new book called 17 Hours to Glory.  The stories in here, so far, are truly astounding.

As you read this and recount just even the injuries sustained during training (broken collarbones, broken scapula, stress fractures, etc.) its a wonder that there are literally thousands that line up every year to take this sport/event on.  And some of the pros put in extraordinary hours on training - 50 hours a week on the bike alone!  And then you hear some stories about how athletes get through a particular tough race - licking the salt off their own bodies to get through to the next aide station or to the finish line.

So my current physical challenges are mild by comparison.  Time to toughen up mentally is probably the biggest challenge when you read these stories. 

Or might be easier to watch the videos of the World Championship in Kona with a bag of chips and a bottle of coke at my side...

2011 Begins!

Well it's been a good start to the New Year.  As of today 234 days until Ironman Canada!  Had a very slack month of December with trip out to DisneyWorld, then Christams parties and prep and then time out in Regina with family.  So when I say slack month I mean no exercise and excessive food consumption.  Not very athletic at all.

However, January (and I know it is only the 5th) has been good to start.  Have been getting in my workouts (up to 10 hours a week at this point).  I'm going to try to particularly focus on core/strength workouts until the end of February.  Not that bike and run will suffer in that regard.  I'll get that stuff in too.  However, at this point I have some alterior motives in trying to buff up. 

My focus on the run for the next little while is going to be to try to ramp up my speed.  I've already noted a difference in that regard in pushing myself harder than at the same time last year.  Hoping that pays off.  First real test is going to be the Edmonton Police Service Half Marathon (May 15, 2011) which I just registered for. 

My focus on the bike between now and the outdoor rides is somewhat similar to the run training in that I want to ramp up the intensity of my workouts.  In particular, I need to work on getting better at hill repeats and endurance.  I found the stretch between Richters and Yellow Lake my biggest challenge (as I'm sure all do) and it therefore bears working on! 

Swimming is a bit on hold for now.  The pool I work out at is under regular maintenance until January 17th.  I'm ok with that.  I'm currently comfortable with my swim.  When I do get back at it I'll have to slowly work myself back up into shape and then again work on my speed.  On the swim, however, I'm only expecting to shave a few minutes off my current times, e.g., if I can swim 2000 metres in less than 40 minutes, or the Ironman swim in less than 1 hour 20 minutes that will be sufficient progress for me.

In all of this I hope my weight will come down.  I'm not as fixated on this as I was last year.  I want to ensure that I'm as strong as possible for my races (both nutrition wise and rest wise) this year and I think a focus on weight loss would be a distraction.  If I lose weight then it will be a bonus!  It would be nice to be in the 170s.  I should have asked Santa for that as my Christmas gift.

Onwards and Upwards!

I've got information man! New shit has come to light!

So a few interesting things to report on.  Had a really good week of workouts and actually hit my goal time for the week - 11 hours of workouts.  Now it certainly didn't happen the way the plan was laid out - swims took a bit of a hit and I compensated with more bike and run work.  Its probably not a bad bit of substitution given my relatively poor performance on the bike and run portions of Ironman Canada and my relatively good performance (by my standards) in the swim. 

The interesting thing for me as well in the couple of months sicne Ironman Canada is how little I've actually got out to team training sessions as compared to last year when I was there religiously.  It's been tough this year to get out there - probably for a variety of reasons including being a father of 2 kids now, work being decidedly more crazy, and a few out of town trips.  I'll have to commit to more consistency of that in the new year.



I did make it out to the November team meeting and was highly motivated to do so.  Was an opportunity to hear a great overview of nutrition requirements for triathlon training, race day and recovery.  The key piece for me was hearing how incongruous the goals of weight loss and intense training are.  So, to some extent, it gives me more freedom to eat more robustly with a view to working out more robustly and hopefully enhancing my race performance next year.

I also did lactate threshold testing with Kevin Masters this past week as well.  It was important to me to see if there was any difference from last year's test - and thankfully there was!  Greater power output at relatively same heart rate zones!  Good news.  In addition, I was pleased with the view on the compu trainer with how my legs were working - relatively even on the up and down strokes.  So there is improvement from my rookie year.

All in all it was a good past couple of weeks.  Onwards and upwards.

Progress is made!

Well hopefully turned a corner this week.  Dropped 4 pounds since last Wednesday.  Now the key is going to be to continue the trend.  I've had to much up and down in the past few weeks so try to sustain momentum on the downward slide.

I'm kind of glad to see October pass.  With Thanksgiving trip to Regina, two out-of-town trips, and numerous evening functions for work my diet and exercise regimen was severely challenged.  I guess I should be relatively grateful that from a weight perspective I'm pretty much back at the October 1st starting point.  At this point I'd like to lose another 8 pounds at least to get into the 170s before Christmas hits.  Pretty much all that stands in my way is a 8 day stay in DisneyWorld at the end of November into December!  It may be the happiest place on earth but it doesn't mean its good for the body (or the pocketbook). 

I've been getting more consistent with the workouts too (I hope).  Got a long run in yesterday as well as an early morning swim.  Even after a bit of a layoff the swim experience was not too bad.  2200 metres with some good strength drills and some sustained leg kicks.  For my run I felt I demonstrated a bit more speed than usual.  So all in all a not bad week.