Let's Conclude the Unfinished Story!

Well how many months has it been since I finished my 2nd Ironman Canada competition?  Well clearly too long as I've completely slacked off of any type of training regimen since the end of August 2011!!  And certainly it's been far too long to do a final update on how the 2011 Ironman experience was for me and ensure at least that this one unfinished task in my life is put to bed!

It was quite the different experience leading up to the 2011 version of Ironman than it had been for the 2010 Ironman adventure.  I'm sure most of this was related to knowing more going into 2011 than taking part in my first Ironman in 2010.  Ignorance truly was bliss!  At least at the start of the race.

In the weeks leading up to Ironman 2011 I felt less prepared somehow than in the previous year.  And that feeling was no doubt built off of my challenging experience from the previous year. I knew what awaited me this time around!  I had done some different things in my training for Ironman this year the most notable of which is that I concentrated not at all on weight loss in 2011 and focused all of my energy on training and eating like a normal human being and trying to be energized for my workouts.  It was made clear to me by experience in 2010 that weight loss and training were not mutually compatible objectives.  The result of that decision was that I did come into Ironman 2011 at about 2 pounds heavier than in 2010 - about 195 pounds. 

Aside from that though, or even regardless of that choice of goals for the year, I felt less ready on the swim, bike, run components than I had in 2010. Again, I believe that was better knowledge of what it would take to run a good race coming into play.  So I was actually far more nervous and anxious in the week leading up to the race than I had been in the previous year.

My anxiety was not helped by a feeling that my asthma was acting up. In the couple of days before the race my breathing seemed particularly laboured in the water.  I did some light swims and really did not feel all that comfortable in the water.  Now those who know me already appreciate that lake swims are not my comfort zone.  But this was beyond even my familiar phobia. 

My anxiety was further enhanced in the days leading up to race day when it became evident that we were in for a scorcher!  If I recall correctly, the forecast was for mid to high 30s celsius.  I've never been a hot weather lover.  Much more comfortable in racing - and in life - if the temp is going to stick at low to mid-20s.  What made impending reality all the worse was that Edmonton weather had been particularly bad all summer to the point that there were far too many bikes and runs that had taken place indoors on trainers and treadmills.  In preparation for a much hotter event than I had ever experienced, I proceeded to invest in white arm sleeves and white compression stockings.  Ultimately I'm not sure if that was a pure psychological move but...

Did pretty much the same prep I did in the last couple of nights before race day - carbo loading meals at Villa Ristorante and Hooded Merganser, drop off bike at transition, get race bags ready for drop off the next morning, and then try to relax! 

Race morning is always a bit anxious for me.  Mostly because I have a compulsive need to be excessively early.  I've got to make sure I've got everything ready in transition and bags dropped off early enough to know if I've missed something or not - then I can sit and relax.  So that means Heidi has to get up ultra early as well to get me down to transition/starting point.  She loves that :)  This year we also picked up another competitor who was struggling with all of this gear as he made his way down to the start.  Always nice to help out someone else if you can. 

Met a few members of the Ironteam Cops for Cancer at the security entrance.  The team competes every 2 years and I was one of the few who did sign up for 2011.  It was good to see a few familiar faces.  Then off to drop my race bags off in proper locations, get body marked, and off to prep my bike and get into my wetsuit.  As I was doing this got a chance to bump into Lisa Bentley, Ironman legend!  She was not competing but was there as a coach checking in on her team.  Fun!

Soon enough was making my way down to the beach for the swim start.  This year I had determined to be a bit more logical about how I started out.  In my first year, I decided to place myself right at the front of the start line and as a result I was completely swamped by my fellow competitors at the beginning of the swim!  It was truly a frightening experience, especially for someone who already suffers from a fear of water!  So this year I took a more measured approach to the start and don't think I lost any time in that regard.  However, I did find the swim more challenging this year than in 2010.  As I got further into the swim, probably one-third into the first leg out, I really felt that I was pounding into a lot of waves. I was surprised because before the start the lake had certainly had the look of being pretty calm. At a point in time I actually got mad because I thought there were boats nearby that were kicking up a wake.  Eventually realized that this was not the case and that the lake was truly rougher than the year before.  Damn.  In addition, despite having hung back at the start, it was still a pretty crowded swim.  I guess no surprise given that there were a record number of participants in 2011 - nearly 3,000!  So in the first leg I actually took quite a good slug to the face and as a result inhaled a bit of lake water.  Damn again!  Not sure if that was a fist or a foot that got me, but doesn't really matter.  It was a gooder! 

The next challenge for me in the swim as I started to get ready for the last leg coming back to the beach was that I started to get a cramp in my right leg.  As it progressed I tried at a point to go from front crawl to breastroke to allow me an opportunity to try to stretch out the right calf muscle.  To no avail.  At a point in time I just said screw it and got back on the front crawl and literally let my leg twist in the water behind me.  It was quite the experience!  By the time I got to the beach things seemed to subside - until I tried to stand up!  Nearly hit the ground at that point.  Damn again.  So between the rougher water, the punch in the face and the leg cramp, I fell off my swim time from the previous year by over 8 minutes.

Transitioned to the bike and lowered my transition over last year by about 30 seconds.  Felt kind of laboured starting on the bike, heading out of Penticton and then going up McLean Creek Road.  Thought about this start up experience post race and clearly was related to my right leg cramping in the water.  In training circumstances, I would never have pushed on after a cramp for a 1/2 to a 1/3 of my swim.  Not really an option on race day.  So clearly was still recovering at the beginning of the bike ride. 


Once I made it past McLean Creek Road things became even more interesting.  As I proceeded through to OK Falls I began to see more and more competitors on the side of the road attending to their bikes.  It wasn't until a volunteer yelled at me to stay to the middle of the road that it became evident that tacks had been thrown on to the road!  Unfortunately this has happened at Ironman Canada in the past.  Some of the locals are not as supportive of the race taking over their roadways and communities for a full day and choose to express their displeasure by this act of sabotage.  Mercifully I was able to get through this particular stretch without blowing a tire.  However, as I was heading into some downhill, speedy, curvy sections of the bike ride I was a bit disconcerted by a very loud squealing noise coming from my brakes as I put them to the test on the downhill curves.  Truly at points in time I really wondered how effective my brakes were.  This was despite having had a good tuneup prior to race day.  Damn the torpedoes and full spead ahead.

Between OK Falls and Richter's Pass the temperature started to become more of a factor.  Not that it was tremendously different in that regard from 2010.  At this point in the race I'd have to guess that the race temperatures were reasonably similar.  I think I made it through Richter's Pass in about the same time as last year.  Don't know for sure.  But certainly became more aware of the heat going up and probably did a lot better job of hydrating and getting electrolytes into my system than in 2010.  I was also much more psychologically prepared for the 7 Bitches, the series of rollers between Richter's Pass and Yellow Lake than I was in 2010.  I maintained better pace and effort through this section.  It was also in this section that I started to see some ambulance traffic and people pulling off to the side of the road to gain shelter from the sun/heat.  Very different from last year when more than a few of us got hit by sleet/hail leading up to Yellow Lake.  Probably hit 40 degree at points in the bike ride this year.  I was really appreciative as well of the ice that was available to me on the bike course.  Threw a lot of that into my jersey whenever I got the chance. Sad part about the experience was that for some athletes there was actually a shortage of ice and water as they completed their bike - not good. 

Soooo nice to get beyond Yellow Lake and start some really good downhill (non) work!!  Yay speed without effort!!  However, still one more little glitch in this experience.  As you might know from driving in BC, there are often passing lanes created on uphill/downhill stretches that allow slower vehicles to pull over and allow faster traffic to pass.  Well for Ironman one of these (3) lanes is taken over to permit bike use only.  The exclusion zone is marked with orange pylons.  Well, as I'm proceeding to whip down the hill just ahead of me on my left is a semi-trailer.  While I'm getting up to some real nice speed - 60 km per hour - it's not enough to overtake the semi.  Problem is that his trailer is starting to clip off every 2nd pylon or so with the result is that these start flying off to his right, just in front of me.  With a little bad luck I could be heading to the hospital!  Fortunately I get through this little shooting gallery and continue to make my way into Penticton.  Sad part is that the finish line just never seems to appear!  As I'm was coming down from Yellow Lake I really had hopes of finishing the bike portion of Ironman in 7 hours.  It just never happened!  Certainly did better than last year - 25 minutes better in fact - but still not where I wanted to be. 

So enter Penticton to the cheers of my family and sister-in-law (guess she's family too :)) and proceed to transition.  Take longer to do transition than last year - 2 minutes longer - and I definitely chalk that up to the heat.  More tired physically I think this year than last.  Trying to stay focused at this point and get some more water/nutrition into my body to get out on the marathon.  Always has been tough for me even after a 90 km bike to transition to the run.  Today is no different.  And again the heat of the day on this run is greater than anything I've ever trained in or raced in. 

So start slogging it out there.  I think the picture of me on the run totally tells the story.  Not exactly uplifting!  I had a lot of "stuff" on me early on in the run but quickly shed a lot of the excess material (e.g., water bottle, an overabundance of gels) in favour of runnng lighter and being supported at aide stations.  I did reasonably well - by my standards - in keeping going at a run in the early going.  And I was certainly helped by some great citizens of Penticton along the way.  Lots of encouragement to be sure, but even more importantly given the heat, many of them had set up sprinklers and similar contraptions along the route to allow athletes to get cooled off along the way.  It was a tremendous help! 

As was the case with the bike, I saw a lot of ambulance traffic on course this year.  I also saw a lot of people in physical distress - more so than me.  More than a few people who kept moving forward despite the fact that I wasn't really convinced that they knew where they were going.  I was also "impressed" by the number of athletes - male and female - along the side of the road (or in the middle of the road) that were either throwing up or trying to make themselves throw up.  Outstanding. 

As the run progressed I did come across some fellow team members from Ironteam Cops for Cancer and felt somewhat reassured that these veterans were finding the grind challenging as well.  Not as chipper as in previous years.  Certainly got a lot of encouragement from them! 

As I neared the half-way point of the marathon, walking was becoming more of the norm than the exception.  This fact wasn't helped by a developing blister on the ball of my right foot.  Every step was getting more painful - again, more of the norm for an Ironman!  Unfortunately for me, this meant another after sunset finish.  As I came into town there was again good support from all kinds of friends and families of athletes and then from my own family as I made one of the last turns into the final stretch.  Summoned up one last effort of will to get back into running form and crossed the finish line about 35 minutes ahead of last year.  Still not what I hoped I'd be capable of, but on the other hand had faced up to one of my great fears of the race in the hot conditions this year. 

A very different feeling at the end of this race too versus 2010.  Last year I ended the race in a very disappointed frame of mind.  Didn't have a sense of accomplishment.  This year, even though I still didn't get the time I wanted, I did feel as if I had given better effort and actually run a better race.  I had a very emotional response to the end of this race - literally, only took a few steps away from the finish line and had to sit down to have a bit of a cry.  Had a sense of loss in some respects that this would be my last competition for a while.  Really wanted to have signed up for 2012 and continue to make progress in my health and competitive skill.  So I had more pride in this race finish but also more disappointment too. 

I still hope to be back because I think I learned a lot (again) from another year's worth of training and another Ironman.  I can do better with my training.  I can do better with my nutrition.  I need to come off the bike in better shape for a better run.  I need to harden my feet or take better care of them on the run.  And I need to lose another 30 pounds!  Man, compared to most of the other stick people out there I still make a better linebacker than triathlete and if I'm going to break 14 hours I'll likely need to get under 170 pounds! 

But mentally and emotionally, I'm in a better place than 2010 and I'm looking forward to trying this as a celebration of my 50th birthday in 2014!

P.S. - and if you finish your Ironman, don't be afraid of getting a real kick ass tatoo like me to celebrate :)!  Notice the Ironman logo on Ironman's right thigh.

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!