The Clock is Ticking!

10 days and counting down to the start of Ironman Canada 2011!  Now officially into the taper zone with the goal to remain fresh and get rested for the big effort to come.

I hope the last few days of workouts are indicative of how things might go come race day.  The last big bike effort I made this past Saturday went well.  I completed 140 km in 5 hours.  The day had a bit of everything. Headwind going west on the Devon/Calmar loop that Heidi sent me out on.  Big downhill and big uphill.  In the first hour of the workout I also had some difficulties with my right leg - tight quad/groin.  Took a while to work that out but was generally OK until the end.  Towards the end the balls of my feet really started to ache. Believe that had most to do with my ongoing recovery from running on gravel in my flats on the August long weekend. 

This past Monday I had another couple of stellar workouts.  Got in a 3000 metre swim.  This included 2000 metre straight front crawl and another 1000 of warmup/strength work. Overall I was very pleased with the swim and it gave me confidence that I can do the distance in a time that I can be happy with.  As someone said, I just have to survive the washing machine start again!  On Monday night I had what I consider my best run ever!  Not the longest to be sure, but the 10 km was full of energy, good pace, and really give me a good feel and confidence for the race to come - just remember that feeling and replicate on Aug 28!

The next week is going to be filled with some light workouts and the true focus is going to be on getting rested and mentally prepared.  Getting my bike prepared too.  Took it in on Monday for final tune up and getting a new chain, new ball bearings for the crank, new wraps and general tune up.  United Cycle agreed with me that my average bike speed would probably go up by 10 km/h on average :)

More updates to come!

Continuing to ramp things up and learn...

Feels like we are now getting down to the nitty gritty.  Essentially 1 month till the fateful day of experiencing my second Ironman Canada at the end of August!

Also means that the training has been ramping up and along the way I've been learning more about dealing with adversity.  At this point I'm really hopeful that I'm getting all my bad luck and challenges out of the way now so that come race day all will run smoothly.  This past week I got in nearly 15 hours of workouts which included my first ever Tour de Alberta - a scheduled 185 km ride from Morinville to St. Albert to Villeneuve to Westlock to Legal and back to Morinville.  More about that later. 

In the week leading up to that event I'd been doing well with getting my workouts in.  What I was also experiencing was a need to be flexible in my training.  This was most clearly demonstrated on the Thursday before the Tour when I had scheduled 1.5 hours of hill repeats.  30 minutes in on the downhill portion of my ride as a tried to break I skidded while trying to brake/make a turn.  I assume that at that point I must have rolled over on my rear tire enough to pinch the tube.  Well within a few metres of coming out the skid I experienced a tremendous bang followed by the ominous flap flap flap of my rear tire...

For those of you who know me well you do know that I'm not particularly mechanically inclined.  Probably explains the shower door in my home that has yet to be replaced since going dysfunctional in January...So in terms of changing tires I found myself competent enough to get the rear tire off, the tube changed, and tire reinflated.  However, after struggling mightily with trying to get the tire back on the rear of the bike, work with getting the chain in proper position, etc, I gave up and decided a run was a good idea.  It actually turned out to be a good decision.  I put in a 45 minute run which was probably one of the best runs I've had in a while from a standpoint of feeling physically good throughout the run - strong legs, strong lungs, good form.  I was quite happy with it!  I also successfully avoided any rainfall which threatened throughout my entire time down in Cloverdale.

My swims have also continued strong and again I'm content that I should do no worse than last year's performance at Ironman - hoping for another 1 hour 20 minutes in the lake. 

That brings me to the 185 km Tour de Alberta.  In retrospect the entire experience was fraught with adventure.  Even picking up the race package was challenging.  First even getting to Revolution Cycle on Stony Plain Road was interesting with traffic at 5 pm on a Friday being a frustrating experience.  Even having made it on time to the package pickup didn't help however as the race organizers themselves were not there at opening - because of traffic snarls they dealt with in getting to Revolution!  Aargh!  Nevertheless picked up my race package, commerative bike jersey, and Heidi's race package too.

On Sunday morning woke at about 4:30 a.m. in order to get organized and get out to Morinville for the 6:30 a.m. suggested arrival time.  The 185 km ride was scheduled to start at 7:00 a.m.  Heidi had arranged for one of our former nannies to come over at 5:30 a.m. and stay with the kids for the day.  Well 5:30 a.m. came and went.  Phone calls made and text messages sent - no answer, no reply.  So after waiting what seemed an excrutiatingly long time, Heidi made the call that I should head out on my own.  After all, I was the one who needed to get in the miles for Ironman training.  She would hopefully follow later and if she could not make the 185 km ride she would hope to get in on one of the other distances like the 100 km.  Long story short, that never happened as the nanny never did show or respond and I was now on my own.

Got to Morinville in good time.  Was organized/clothed in time for race start with one of the early decisions being made as to what to wear.  The weather in the morning was quite cool - at least for mid-July - at 14 degrees Celsius.  I opted for a long sleeve shirt, bike jersey and a jacket but went only with bike shorts for bottom coverage.  Turned out to be a good decision with the weather progessively improving through the day and no rain. 

Our 185 km journey started late again with the organizers seeming to be trying to put in last minute pieces together at the last moment.  At about 7:15 a.m the first batch of riders took off and me with them.  The pace at the beginning was quite fast and I fell back from the first pack.  About 10 km out of Morinville headed west, and just prior to turning south to St. Albert, you go over a series of rumble strips.  Well as I got over the last set of these I heard the ominous bang of another rear flat tire - one of my personal nightmares come true.  I was fortunate, however, that 3 course marshalls were immediately at hand and worked with me to change the flat.  The bad news was that not only was my rear tube blown but in the process the rear tire itself was gashed and no one really had any proper patch product to make a repair.  A makeshift repair involving remanants of a gel package and some interesting tape was applied but it was highly recommended that I connect with bike service at the first rest stop in St. Albert.  I had a tense 20 km to ride before that happened and hoped throughout that I did not blow out the temp patch before I got there.

Needless to say, I had been passed by the rest of the 300 cyclists on the 185 km journey at this point as we stood by the side of the road getting repaired.  Well at the first rest stop my time behind the rest of the pack was only lengthened by what seemed an extraordinarily long time to effect another more permanent patch.  Even with that the repair dude was not confident that I would make it through the day on my gashed tire.  At the same time, the volunteers at the rest stop were talking about shutting down the rest stop as all riders had already passed which gave me concerns as to what I would find ahead of me for subsequent rest stops! 

Anyway - took off on my journey and lo there were a few stragglers in St. Albert that I could connect with.  Included in this small group was a bike marshall so we proceeded through St. Albert together.  Now I assumed - wrongly it turned out - that the bike marshall knew the course we had to follow to move through the city and get back on a rural road to Villeneuve and the next rest stop.  Wrong!  Unfortunately, we made a right when we should have made a left at a critical juncture.  As a result we took a 15 km detour before I was able to get back on the right course!  So now I'm really wondering what kind of rest stops will be available for me or what should happen if I blow the tire out again with all bikers and support crews way the heck in front of me.  Oh, and in the process of taking my detour through St. Albert, my aero bottle blew off the front of my bike and littered all over the streets of the fine city.  At that point, I said no going back for casualties!  See you later!

A lonely ride then proceeded out to Villeneuve and the turn north to Westlock.  Mercifully I did get to rest stop #2 to find it still operating and to my surprise I had also caught up with another half-dozen riders too.  I recounted my tale of woe, took in some nourishment, and took off on the 50+km north.  The bitch of this particular section was that ended up pushing the entire way north into a very nice headwind!  So speed was down.  However, got to rest stop #3 about half-way up to Westlock in good order and found that I had caught up to a few more riders.  In addition, my fellow victims on the detour in St. Albert had also caught a van ride up to this stop and bypassed a number of kilometres in the process!  Too funny.

Got back on the road for the rest of the trip to Westlock and was so glad to stop in for lunch. Again caught up with a chunk more of the ride at this time - at least a couple of dozen riders - so I began to feel more confident in my abilities and in the fact that I would have access to bike support if I had another malfunction.  Heading out west from Westlock was glorious - got benefit of a tailwind and was able to really blitz the next 15-20 km.  It was so much fun at that point versus the effort I had to make in getting to Westlock.  Unfortunately, then had to turn back east and then south after that for the remainder of the event.  And the wind was again not my friend.  Again had a brief hiatus with an eastward swing into Legal which was nice but not nearly long enough! 

At this point, with late start to the race, bike repair in Morinville, bike repair in St. Albert and 15 km detour though St. Abert it was getting late in the day!  Not only that but by the last rest stop I had already done 190 km of a scheduled 185 km ride!  Outstanding.  What was left for me to do was 10 km into Morinville again against a very strong headwind.  Most of what I had experienced was a very strong crosswind making it south to Morinville - to the point that my bike was "singing" as the wind whistled through my tire spokes and frame.  Well at the last rest stop I determined that I had done what I had set out to do - more than 185 km and I had no further stomach for another 10 km into the headwind.  So I caved and took a sag wagon in.

The final ironies of the day - completed 190 km on a 185 km course without crossing the finish line, got my medal anyway, and picked up Heidi's door prize for an event she never got to participate in.

Learning, learning, learning...

A growth opportunity - again!

So finished up the Great White North Triathlon yesterday.  Unfortunately, it was not a personal best that I was hoping for nor was it a sub-6 hour performance.  As was the case last year I was challenged - even more substantially this time - on the run. 

Things started well enough with the swim.  Weather was quite agreeable and, for a lake swim with the weather we have had this year, I would even call the water warm!  What I noticed this year versus last year is that the chaos of the start did not seem to dissipate as early as it seemed to last year.  I have to believe that was in direct relation to a greater number of participants in the event versus last year.  Ultimately, I didn't feel that I really got into proper swim rhythm until well into the 2nd lap of the swim.  I should have know I was in for a challenging day when I experienced some feelings of pre-cramping in my legs.  Nevertheless finished the 2k swim in 42 minutes - 1 minute faster than last year.

On to transition.  I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but I have found that after a reasonably lengthy swim that my coordination becomes challenged!  In my mind it seemed like I was struggling mightily to do simple tasks like putting on my socks!  Don't know what kind of time I wasted in transition - probably around 8 minutes - but even when I started moving my bike out to the beginning of the bike course I realized I hadn't secured one my bike shoes and then (just like last year) almost fell on my ass as I tried to mount my bike.

The bike gave me some of the same experience as the swim.  In the first number of kilometres on the bike, my legs felt quite tight and I really felt that one wrong move would send me into cramp mode.  So there is likely some nutritional nugget in there that I have yet failed to grasp.  In addition, I'm thinking it's back to getting IMS and leg massage on a more regular basis in the next couple of months before Ironman Canada.  In my pre-race plan I was targetting a 32.5 km average speed which would bring me comfortably under 3 hours on the 90 km course.  I had little wind to contend with throughout the course.  Unfortunately, what little there was seemed to always be a headwind - coming or going!  At the end of the day I was disappointed with the marginal improvement I made over last year's performance, shaving only 3 minutes off of last year's time to get in at just under 3 hours on the bike.

The transition to run went smoothly but from then on it was really painful.  Don't know if my asthma or still lack of conditioning played a factor but within the first kilometre I was experiencing (right side) chest pain which at that point I tried to chalk up to a too tight heart rate strap.  Took it right off at that point but to no avail.  Ultimately I experienced almost continuous pain in upper right chest and lower back which I chalked up to lungs/diaphragm.  Regretably, that helped me to an even worse performance on the run than last year.  And I knew that was where the most hope for improved end time would come.

So marginal improvements on swim and bike in this race taken away by more significant fall off on the run. 

So what does that mean now?  Well as of today 54 days to Ironman Canada.  Less than for real training.  Real concern for my run performance at this point.  Not as much progress on the bike as I would have hoped.  Lingering questions about nutritional intake.  And the irony of all is that my swim - the element I most fear in the triathlon - continues to be my best element!  Ooi!

Great White North 2011 Coming Up!

Well the next big test is this coming Sunday.  The Great White North Triathlon on July 3rd.  Half-Ironman - 2 km swim, 90 km bike and 21 km run.  Last year I finished the race in 6 hours, 8 minutes.  The goal this year is to finish under 6 hours.  I believe it is doable.  I think the real key will be to be stronger on the bike.  I hope for my swim to be at least what it was last year and with any luck a bit better.  But we are talking only a few minutes if there is to be improvement.  Run I do hope to do better on.  Last year finished in 2 hours, 23 minutes whereas in a standalone 1/2 marathon I've done just over 2 hours.  So let's try to get in at 2:15.  Bike - really hoping to be in at less than 3 hours.

So far weather conditions look better than for the race last year.  Some forecasts have even said possible high of 28 degrees.  Seems set for a cold swim regardless with overnight low of 10-12 degrees.  Oh well - cold water and aggressive competitors should keep away my fear of drowning!  Of course the biggest factor is going to be wind during the bike portion.  Hoping for light!

My only other worries at this point are some dizzy spells I've been getting in the last few weeks and some nether region discomfort that has also flared up in the past week.  Good thing it's only a 90 km bike ride!

Watch for an update on Sunday night!

Rain, rain, go away...

I thought a pic of Martin Sheen rising out of a rive/swamp in Apocalypse Now might be appropriate to describe the type of weather and outdoor training opportunities we've had here in Alberta of late.  For a summer that was touted as going to be above average temps by both the Farmer's Alamana and Environment Canada we sure haven't seen much sun, never mind heat.  At this point, I can pretty much count on one hand the number of quality, outdoor bike rides I've been able to take part in.  Couple of hill repeat sessions on a Thursday night and a couple of longer Saturday rides and that's about all. 

At this point, only 2 weeks to go to the next big event - Great White North on July 3, 2011, which is a half-marathon.  I'm feeling pretty confident for that race coming up despite not getting in a lot of outdoor activity.  However, I'm becoming more and more concerned about my readiness for the big event at the end of August - Ironman Canada.  I have visions of an over 7 hour bike ride just like last year and I want to do better than my performance in my 1st event in 2010. 

So to that end going to try to orchestrate two big rides in July/very early August.  Tour de Alberta at 185 km on July 24th is looking like a for sure bet.  Don't know what the terrain is like but the good thing (I've heard) is that it is very well supported.  The other option being contemplated, with Heidi, is the Edson/Hinton and back again route.  Evidently 180 km bike ride as well.  So hoping to instill some pain and confidence in my ride before Penticton. 

Only time will tell!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

So this past week of workouts was a story of the good, the bad and the ugly.  Weather continues to be a bit of hit and miss but I can't really use that as an excuse.  On the Good side, went out with Heidi and Rick and did a strong ride on a good part of the Great White North course.  When we started the temp was relatively low and there was a reasonable breeze.  This was further compounded by a lot of smoke floating in from the wildfires in northern Alberta.  So there was a lot of "discussion" amongst the three of us about how seriously we wanted to undertake the ride but eventually no one had the guts to call off the ride.  At the end of the ride we were all good with the decision to go.

When we first started Rick scared me with the strength of the start.  It made me worried that I was completely behind the 8-ball with my Ironman prep.  Heidi was even more worried having even had less opportunity to train than I have.  As my legs warmed up, however, things got better and I had a really strong ride out to the Genesee power plant.  The only problems that I really had was with my Timex watch which continuously kicked back into regular time mode versus workout mode.  So I'll have to see what I can do to that.  I probably biked in a mostly Zone 3 level, hoping at lower Zone 3. 

On the way back in we really hit up against the headwind, especially when we turned south.  However, I still managed to make about 80 km in 2 hours, 45 minutes.  Heidi did very well for her first outdoor ride in many a year with probably a 60 km ride.

The rest of the weekend and the start of the new week was a bit more challenging with family in town and variety of other excuses. So didn't get in my weekend run as was part of the plan. 

And as for the ugly, not sure if it was my strong outdoor ride in adverse conditions (e.g., cold, smoky) that did it, but later Sunday and into this week I have now developed a head and chest cold that is impacting my aerobic capacity and my ability to sleep!  And, of course, work is a gong show this week with meetings set it seems from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on too many days.  And then again we have a U2 concert on June 1 as well!!

So now only about 8-10 weeks of workouts left before the big day at the end of August!!  Next big test is Great White North at beginning of July!

First Race of the 2011!

Well started to test my mettle in a formal sense yesterday with my first race of the year - the Edmonton Police Service Half Marathon - and did OK.  Heidi and I both raced yesterday in one of the windiest days we have seen in Edmonton in a while. 

At least I can say that it was warmer for this year's half-marathon than last year!  I still wore my winter running pants but quite frankly found myself more than comfortable (and not overheated) and certainly more comfortable than starting with shorts in the cooler start to the day.  I have to say that I felt stronger in the start of this year's race than last year's which I hope is a function of a full year of competition and training.  Heidi and I were able to start out together for the first bit of the run but we did eventually part company and I had to try to find some new pace bunnies in the pack.  I did manage to do that with various people and found it helpful to "tag on" to others to try to push myself along.  Still found the hills of Keillor Road and Laurier Heights to be a challenge.  Note to self - more hill repeats in the next few months are in order!

At about the 17 or 18 km point I did experience some dizzy spells but was able to push through.  Again felt I had good pace for most of the race and was hoping for a good outcome.  Even had one of the docs at the Misericordia who was also entered give me a bit of an inspirational speech at about 18 or 19 km saying that if we pushed it we could end up finishing in under 2 hours.  Unfortunately that didn't happen.  Was able to knock a couple of minutes off last year's time but didn't make my goal of being under 2 hours.  Regretably, neither did the doc who made the speech. 

However, it was good to get a little improvement on last year.  I say that because I don't feel that my training has been as intense or as frequent as I would have liked it to have been so far this year.  In addition, in the week leading up to this race I was in Denver at a conference with Jon Popowich - eating too much and probably exercising too little!  This was probably only the 3rd attempt at this distance so far this year, so good to know that I can actually do it under race conditions.  I also came off the race in good shape - one blister and some sore muscles but otherwise no injuries of note.

Next up is the Great White North Half Ironman slated for July 3rd.  Reasonably confident at this point about a 6 hour time there.  Would like to get in under 6 hours which means perhaps a little better than 43 minutes in the swim, hopefully just under 3 hours on the bike, and try to get in a 2:15 or less run.  Keep training and get the nutrition in on race day!