Wednesday, June 25, 2008

I am offically a Half Ironman!


My journey is finally complete...yeaaaa! I did it! my first half Ironman.




It's an amazing feeling looking at the man in the mirror when I get up in the morning knowing how much I have transformed, and how all that hard work paid off....and what a great time I had...and so let me tell you about my day.




Sunday morning came fast with the sound of our alarm at 4:00 am, we stayed at the Cherry tree inn so that we could relax a bit and get a good parking spot by arriving early. I was so full of nervous energy that I did not fall asleep till 10:00pm but awoke feeling ready to go. I ate my regular bowl of cereal had a cup of coffee and then began to prep my gel flask and make sure all my gear was ready; we finished loading the truck by 4:50 am and headed for the race site...we got there by 5:00 am and practically had our choice of parking stalls..that's the way I like it..he he ; I had some time to put my mp3 on and rock out with a few songs and before long body marking was happening, it wasn't to start till 5:30 am but they we're already going by 5:20 so we headed over and got in line to get marked and collect our timing chips as well..this now gave us access to the transition area to set up our gear. I was glad to be there early this kept things flowing smoothly and gave me lots of time to set up..I hate being in a panic mode! First thing we got done was getting tires inflated so that the pump could go back in the truck out of the way..don't want to be tripping on that thing, I soon had my bike all set up along with my towel and all my equipment neatly laid out on it, It was time to do one last dry run through transition from both exit/enter ends and by that time it was about 6:30 am and time to go get my wet suit on, the time was flying by and I knew this day would go fast..the 10 min call for the men's start came and Tam and I started to head over to the beach.




The swim


I thought the lake would be like glass this early in the morning but it was a little choppy and left me wondering what this was going to be like. We ran into Monica and she wished us both well on our day which was nice, I gave Tammy a kiss and we wished each other well as it was time for me to get in the water . I found Gary at the back of the pack and he thought I should be up there with all the fast swimmers...I giggled and said no I'll start back here..I just want to make it through this day. The 1:00 min call came and I made my final adjustments to my goggles...I was ready to go and then there was a loud boom! and we were off, the Canadian armed forces were there with a Howitzer for sounding the start...talk about adding drama for my big day...that was sooo cool. I started off easy and increased my speed as I progressed, by about 400m I was settled into a nice rhythm and was able to navigate around most swimmers..I even had time to take in a moment and thought here I am in the middle of 276 men slugging it out in the water I felt on top of the world! ...the chop on the water wasn't too bad and soon found my self upon the first buoy at 800m, I managed to navigate around it without any problems and was feeling confident , I rounded the second buoy 300m later and was still passing some swimmers , I was on the home stretch now and continued with my pace....at one point I took on some water and had to regain my rhythm and only encountered one little twack on the head, soon the beach was in plain view and could I hear the spectators cheering...I kept on slugging through almost till my hands touched bottom and then began to stand up and make my exit ...I was a bit dizzy but kept moving forward and completed my swim in 37:50 and in 111th position out of 276 men. I had a great swim and felt strong the whole way and learnt a bit more about working my way through other swimmers ...that's a challenge in itself.




The bike


I got to my bike and quickly removed my wet suit , got my helmet on and then that dizzy spell hit me a bit more as I stood after putting on my socks so I crouched down for a moment to let my racing heart settle a bit and then I was fine ...I slipped on my shoes and was headed out of T-1, I had hoped for a faster transition but had to take the time to regain my balance...once again a learning thing which is great and feels good once you make it past that point. I was glad to be on my way with the bike and started of easy to let my legs warm up...and then at about the 4km mark my chain dropped off the inside ring...oh darn not a good start ...I got off the bike and was trying to get the chain back on when the front end rolled of the edge of the pavement causing the large now exposed chain ring to run into the front of my left shin leaving a good gouge and a puncture wound from one of the teeth...it caused some immediate pain and a small stream of blood ran down and I decided at this point I really don't have time for this now...grrrr! I got the chain back on and took off and regained my race focus. from this point the ride was going well I was eating and hydrating and felt great...then at around 15km I some how managed to hit this pothole about 4 inches wide by 2 feet long 3inches deep and it was like thud! thud! both tires right through it ...I swear it was perfectly designed for me alone to hit as it blended well with the road... My first concern was double flats but as I road on the tires seemed fine , I was in the aero position when I hit that rut and it caused my right elbow rest to slip down , try as I might I could not pull it back into its original spot...now I was dealing with my right arm continually sliding outward and had to use some upper body to try and keep my position for aero...this was a pain! and so early into the ride! but I wasn't going to let that wreck my day. At the 20km mark I heard a loud pop! and looked back to see if someone behind me had flatted and then heard a sssssssssssss and realized it was me that had the flat! ...gggrrraaaa! have I not had enough yet? why was this happening? and so I went about the tube change with the just let me finish attitude...many other riders asked if I was OK and I had remarked to one that this was just another day in paradise and I was fine.. and I was ...hey I had one more tube for one more flat right? So I continued on passing riders here and there doing the best I could as I was struggling with aero position and soon found my self starting the second lap and at 55km my chain dropped of the the big ring but this time I was extra careful not to get bitten again! ha ha....that was #5 but I soldered on knowing I would finish....I was at 65km mark and began to have that urge to pee but figured I would make it back to T-2 for that but by the time I hit the airport section I thought maybe I'll go when I get to the last water stop as there was a portable at that station, I should have gone sooner as holding it caused a lot of discomfort not to mention mental focus on riding instead wasted on holding pee !!! ha ha he he ...I finally came upon that portable and got to relive my self and it seemed like an eternity doing so...another learning curve for this dude!I was now on may way for the last leg of the ride and could feel some tiredness in the legs at this point but pushed hard to make up any time I could . The stop line soon appeared and I was happy to be finished my ride and felt high and mighty going into T-2....as I was my own hero out there today on the bike...adversity looked down upon me many times and each time I looked it squarely in the eye and said I don't think so! not on my day! I finished the ride in 3:12:21




The run


I came out of T-2 in 1:38 and went right down to business of settling into my run upon the first water stop I took in a gel and water to make sure I stayed well hydrated and fueled...I was feeling great and at 3km had a manageable pace going and was determined to run this non stop other than fueling up. I was slowing pecking off runners here and there and continued to do so through the first 8km at this point I had caught up to one fellow who was wearing an orange jersey ( I'll call him orange)and had a good pace going so I paced off him right up to the end of the first lap when he stopped for water I kept going till I hit the boat launch and went for a pp break...whew that felt soo good...now I could get back to the task at hand ...I was passed by a 30-34 female before my break and commented on her great pace she had going...she said thanks and flew on by....orange had passed me while I had my break but I soon caught up to him and asked how he was doing? he said he was beginning to suffer and I said come on only 8km to go we're almost home you can pace of me now ...as I was feeling strong, I never looked back after that and I pushed on; at the 13km mark my quads were starting to feel the effects and I remembered Tammy saying this is probably where You'll have to use mental will power to get to the finish line so I just pretended that I was trying to catch this guy named Ivan and I was going to hunt him down ...he he, I continued to pass many others along the way. At the next station I took Gatorade and water then kept on going ...at 5km to go I said to me hey this is just a 5k run bud! And then at 16km I caught up to that blond 30-34 and said to her I thought you were long gone...she still had a good pace going and one that I was hoping I could manage to the finish, I could not believe I caught up to her so I just dug in there and held on as the markers went by 17, 18 and finally the 1km marker...I was so close now and as I entered near the finish I had nothing left to sprint with as the spectators cheered us to the finish line , as I crossed the finish line feelings of a great accomplishment engulfed me as I had now completed my first Half Ironman and endurance event. My run time was 1:51:29 a 5:35 pace woo hooo!




The final note


My final time was 5:45:40 I was hoping to do it in 6 hours so this was the icing on the cake for me, I had the time of my life and am looking forward to doing another one. Great love and admiration goes to my wife Tammy for pulling me through some difficult times during all the training and a special thanks to Gary V. our Ironman and tri bud for all the support and encouragement along the way and many friends and family that wished me well on what was... my journey to my first Half Ironman.








Sunday, June 15, 2008

Peak phase week 19 " One week to go! "

With the 1/2 taper week behind me now I am happy to finally arrive at full taper week...whew what a long haul! but really most of it has become a pretty routine part of life and I am sure there will be a little emptiness soon after, but you know it will be good to get back to doing some regular things around the house and with friends which have both been neglected a bit..he he.

I have no idea where the past week has gone but it has gone in a flash! and this week will be no exception I'm sure; most of the training week was all standard stuff except for my last visit to physio on Friday...my Soleus has come a long way and healed up pretty good, I shouldn't have to go back unless I have problems after the race but overall its done well considering I continued to train through it all and just backed off the running a bit.

On Saturday we headed down to the race site to do a preview of the bike route and most of it seems pretty good other than some narrow sections with no shoulder , and a few busy intersections which I'm sure will be well controlled on race day, this was my first time riding out on West Sanich area and I think its kind of hard to really learn where all the hazards are so I will have to exercise some caution! and not let the full dare devil out of me..ha ha.. I do want to finish the day in one piece right.

Afterwards we went a did one run loop around Elk/Beaver lake...And lots of memories were coming back from when Tammy did here duathlon here in 2005 and of course her ultra marathons 50km in 2003, 2004 and I'll never forget the 50mile in 2005 which was the ACU championship for that distance / year and she took the #2 spot in Canada and placed 1fst in her age group.....these are great memories for me and her as well and now I will finally run the same route ...this so cool I never imagined one day running here ...but there I was running side by side with Tam previewing the route and getting a good feeling that I would be fine on race day.

So this is it my final regular posting and I am kind of sad it has come to an end, but in doing this blog and being faithfull about it I have learnt that perseverance comes in many forms not just physical but mental as well, and by pushing to get blogging done no matter how tired I was from work or training taught me along the way that I would make it through the training program as well...the two combined have been wonderfull companions.

OK I guess that's about it, I'm all fired up and ready to rip as the excitement begins to build now for race day......and I look forward to posting my race report.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Peak phase week 18 " The count down is on! "

Wow I cant believe two weeks left to go!, and today marks the end of peak phase ..this week is 1/2 taper then the following week is full taper and finally Race day on the 22Nd. I have still been dealing with that Soleus injury and going to physio but I 'll manage to do my race just fine in spite of that, this weeks training has really allowed me to see how my fitness level has improved and come to be ready for this endurance event , I can actually feel it even in my runs! its an amazing thing...now that I'm entering the taper I hope I don't get too wound up ..ha ha.

Today I must confess that I skipped my swim and run.. well as far as the run goes I had some aching in my leg so it just needs a good rest for a couple of days...this I know is best for me, and the swim ...well we were up in Nanaimo with our gear and wanted to hit the pool for a change...had shopping to do first and by the time we got done Tam said she had a bit of a headache and my poor tummy just was not right so we mutually agreed not to go at all...the fact is we both pushed hard this week and have had so much other stuff going on in life right now...hey that training plan is not Gospel and meant to be flexible anyway.

The weather has been real crappy for training and we had to use the trainer for one bike session due to rain, and the lake is kind of so so for warming up yet and seems to be pretty cool in the late afternoon...I wonder what the weather will be like on race day...hmmm....probably super hot and it will totally kill me because all my training has been done in cooler temps!..well most of it, but we'll have to wait and see and just make the best of whatever it is.

So other than my injury everything is going great, I got my front rim back from Experience cycling and Dale had to replace a total of 5 spokes due to that little accident I had a couple of weeks back, I am very excited about the taper phase of training .. this is all new to me for an event of this distance and will give me some time to reflect on the last couple of months and to begin to mentally finish preparing for my big day.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Peak phase week 17 " Pain in the Soleus! "

Well I finally made to my physio appointment on Friday and seem to have nailed down the pain in my shin as a aggravated Soleus, it got all flared up two weeks ago from a 20km run and while there can be multiple reasons for this, I do have a plan to treat it so i can get through my half iron and after that I'll probably try some new runners for starters and then go from there.

All week I skipped on the running and concentrated my efforts on the bike and swim as to allow my injury to heal , really all my workouts felt good through the week and pushed hard in the gym, on Friday when I went for my appointment the therapist managed to bring back the pain in a good way and got that muscle lengthened again but it hurt allot and thought I may not run on Sunday but she said to go ahead but to cut the distance and stick to some trails, I will see her on Wednesday again for another treatment and hope the prognosis is good.

I'll jump right to Saturdays ride of 101 km which kind of zig zaged around the valley, we were going to ride out to lake Cowichan and back but soon abandoned that because the main highway was just to rough on the shoulder and we did not want to get rattled apart! ; I hydrated well on the ride and took in a power bar and 2/3 of another one.. also did 3-4 gels so the fueling aspect went good, no flats and managed an average speed of just over 27km on hilly Maple bay and Croften area, it was nice to see some of our old routes for a change and I had a strong ride for the most part.

On Sunday we headed for Fuller lake under gray skies for a timed swim of 2000m I finished with a respectable 42:23 but had lost a minute or more trying to navigate around a fisher.. I could not tell which way he was going and was care full not to get caught in his lines! ...That would make things tough if someone was trying to reel you in hey! he he; once we were done that we then ventured across the lake and back again for a total distance of at least 2800m..my total swim time was 57:43 and I felt pretty good after that...the fitness is definitely there! On the way home we grabbed a snack and did a few errands then headed back to the house to gear up for a run...this was supposed to be a 2 hour run but had to be cut back to 1 hour for me and I felt kind of nervous of doing any distance at all; and off I went to my favorite trail.. at first I had no pain at all and figured it was done giving me grief but at the backside of the trail I was getting some of that dull aching but nothing to severe and I just kept a nice easy pace ; at times the pain was a bit more intense than I liked but as I warmed up it became very manageable and continiued on a easy pace and soon found myself on the home stretch and I was feeling good knowing that I will finish my half iron run portion latter this month, With a few more week to heal up I 'll be in good shape for shure!

I have renewed confidence once again as I was getting worried about this injury but most of my people said I would be fine and me thinks they are right too...and the count down is on ...and then there were three...3 weeks of training left that is....yahoo!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Peak phase week 16 "Shawnigan race report"


What a beautiful setting for a race and we had perfect weather to boot, the bus ride to the race site was not to much of a hassle either, our bikes were dropped off the day before so that things flow smoother in the morning I'm guessing, we arrived at about 6:15am so we had lots of time to set up for T-1 & T-2 and just check out all the awesome race bikes and chat with fellow triathletes. We were doing the sprint today so we got to share the same course as two of Canada's young Olympic hopefuls Paul Tichelaar (Edmonton) and Kirsten Sweetland (Victoria) also did the sprint distance, and of course they each placed first for there respective gender ...wow amazing young athletes! Tammy and I also got a great picture of use in transition zone with good tri bud Gary just before his start of the half iron man.




So now onto my start of the day ... we soon found ourselves down at the water wading in to go for a small warm up swim and sooner than I knew the 1min start call came, and then with a small starting bang we were off...( the half iron start got a military cannon boom! that was so cool!!!) at first I was struggling to find a place to get into a rhythm as everyone was also jostling a little bit to find their place, I managed to stay somewhere in the middle and that seemed to work well for me but I must admit I did not kick as much or push as hard as I could have ...I was trying to take some notes and learn a bit while out there , by the time I was at the first buoy I had settled in pretty good and was passing other swimmers and soon came around the third buoy and was headed down the last leg back to the beach, I did take in a little water and had to slow a bit from a small choking session ...single side breathing for about 9 strokes and then got back to bi breathing ...whew! good recovery... and then very suddenly found my self coming out of the water up the carpet and I could not find my zip and finally got my arms out half way to my bike, I managed a 52 place in the swim out of 96 and was very happy with my first open water wet suit race....swim time was 9:59 yea! sub 10 by 1 second! ha haa.




I think my T=1 went well at 2:00min but I vow to get better, hey this is only the 4th time I 've ever done a T-1, I was now headed up the carpet with the JT and was soon flying down the road like nobodies business, I attacked every hill fairly well passing many others and leaving them in my wake, I pulled out all the stops on the downs and felt strong and comfortable with my performance for the level I'm at, I had 3-4 half iron elites pass me and they were really going man! that was also cool to see. before long the stop line was coming up and could not believe how fast the ride actually went... well no wonder I just had my fastest bike split ever of 40:26 for 22km and averaged 32.6 km per hour on this hilly course, I ranked 33/96 and was stoked with my bike performance.




T-2 went good at 1:19 except that I forgot my race belt! oops....total time spent in transition 3:26 ...my first tri I spent around 4:30 in transition so I am improving and was taking note on this as well. My run went pretty good and I felt strong the whole way, it was somewhere around the 1 km mark I started to settle into the run and continued on my own pace trying not to worry about going any faster as I have been nursing a shin splint ( Medial Tibial stress syndrome) ; there was no real pain just some dull aching today from it as I did not push too hard, I have to save myself for the big day in 4 weeks from now, my run time was 24:53 which was on trail so it was OK and I know this is only a temporary very small set back in the overall big picture. On the way back to the finish line with about 2km to go I passed Tam and we high fived each other and was glad to see she was also having a good day. My finish time was 1:18:41 and I place 40/96 in the overall, 28/55 males and 7/12 in my age group , so I am pleased with my performance as I continue once again to improve and grow into this wonderful world of triathlon.




Today was a fun filled day and I managed to take allot in and am now totally primed for my first half iron man , also got to chat with Jasper blake Ironman Canada champ 2006 at the finish shortly after he came in...he placed 3rd today... nice guy to talk with always giving of advice if you ask, and seems really down to earth... oh yes I also got an personalized autograph from him on a cool magazine ad I had brought with me to the race and thanked him at the end of our chat for the autograph and he said "no thank you for asking". After that Tam and I just hung out with Linda and Julie waiting for our iron man Gary to complete his half iron and cheer him on at the finish line.




I Can't believe only 4 more week of training left.....then its hammer time baby!






Monday, May 19, 2008

Peak phase week 15 " Back on track "


It's been a great week of hard training and I was feeling better just in time for our first week of peak phase, we had shifted some of the workouts around to get the bike rides done on the dry days and this worked fine for me as the routine can become stale and changing things really refreshed it for me.


On Friday we got down to fuller lake for another swim , this time with a bit warmer temp but still a little cold on the hands and feet; we did a loop around the lake and it went pretty good.

We had a planed ride for Saturday to preview the race course at Shawnigan lake, our tri bud Gary decided to join us as well, we left from Duncan and did two loops of the lake... it's going to be a bumpy race, the roads are a little rough but I guess I forgot it's been a while since riding out there; the ride was around 85km and the weather was awesome, hope to have the same on race day.

Sunday morning we did our 20km run at a steady pace of 5:37 and it was getting pretty warm by 10:00 am but this will be good to get some heat conditioning in , yea so if I can do this pace at my half iron man that would put me in at under 2 hours but if not no big deal, I just want to try and take in as much of the day as I can. After lunch we met up with Gary and Linda at Fuller lake, did about 1600m staying close to the edge so we could check out all the plants and logs and stuff...that's always fun, oh and no cold hands or feet.. the warm weather has really brought the lake temp up, once we were done we lounged around the beach for a while soaking up the rays and just enjoyed each others company...what a great end to a terrific week of training.

Next weekend is our Shawnigan sprint on Sunday so I shall have a race report and it will be interesting to see how t-1 goes its my first open water race and I 'll have a wet suit to remove!....yikes!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Build phase week 14 "Here I cold again!"

I was hoping at the end of last week I wasn't coming down with something but I was wrong, (sad) I have had this crappy head cold all week and still have it today with no signs of it going away yet, it has made getting all the workouts in very tough so I have been just doing the ones I feel most important, like the track work I vow not to miss at all! I feel like I have missed too much but when I look at the training log I really have not and in fact I even set two PR's on one of our regular run routes this week, one was after a 76km bike and again I have been amazed by this progress in myself.
Next week is the start of " Peak phase" and we only have 6 weeks of training left! the time has been really flying by I tell you, also we are supposed to get some warmer temps at the end of the week and hopefully it will help cook this awfull head cold out of me..he he. The JT has been great so far but will take a few more weeks to adjust to this aero position, I really seem to feel it in my hamstrings after long rides which saves my quads for the run...hence Sats. PR.?
Swimming I have not done all week..bad bad...but I am not at all worried about it as I have progressed so well in this discipline as well, it would have been nice to get the lake swim in to prepare for the Shawnigan sprint on the 25th but I will try to get in a least two more before that event.
And on that note due to increasing head pressure...oh no it's gonna explode! Ha ha!.. I am going to sign off and kick back with a cup of lemon ginger tea and get some much needed RR.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Build phase week 13 "First open water swim"


Whew! am I ever happy this week has come to an end! its been a really blah time for me in my training, at the beginning of the week I felt a little touch of a bug but couldn't be sure if I was sick or a little over trained and figured its probably a combination of both.

My workouts seemed to be all over the place especially towards the end of the week, I missed a couple workouts , one bike session on Tuesday and the swim workout for Wednesday evening, I still managed to get my 6:00 am track work done on Wed. and am happy about that because I know that I will continue to make a few more leaps with that sport of running. On Thursday Tam and I had a really good ride around the Cedar loop and managed a 2:06 per km pace and averaged 29km per hr, I almost got the JT dialed in and now have a new 80mm stem in the cockpit and a new rear 10spd cassette to go with the 1ospd shifters, having gone back to something I'm more familiar with as far as gearing is concerned has made a huge difference! ; I also got a new saddle and after today's ride seems to me that its going to do the trick. Friday I made it through the am swim fine but the run after work I was really lagging and the gym workout was well .... lets just Skipp that one.. ha ha.

Oh I love the weekends and Tam and I decided to Skipp the 1:40 min run in favor of a nice trail run on Holland creek, it was a bit slippery as Tam went for a ride a couple of times..thank god she did not hurt herself, but other than that it was a really good run for me considering the way I've been feeling all week.

So here we are Sunday morning getting ready ready for our first open water swim, which I set the date for a week and a half ago, 15 degrees sunny how bad could it be?Well off we went down to Fuller lake to meet up with Gary ,he didn't want to miss this! and we suited up into our Orca's... ear plugs, thermal cap, another cap, and one bright yellow cap, we edged toward the water got the feet in and I thought it wont be too bad, so I started to wade in, Tam just behind me ..she was freaking! , Gary laughing, and I finally told Tam lets go! and in I went with a rush of cold water across my face it was a bit shocking; and then we headed out and seemed to stop about every 25m to see if we were OK and then kept going, after a about 250m Tam said shes had enough and wanted to head back and I decided to keep going, I stoped about every 25-35 m to catch my breath.. it was hard to breathe with the water temp that cold; I got to the dock at the far north end and took a min. to get focused again and then headed down the far side of the lake and at the mid point I noticed that my feet were tingling and my right pinky finger was a drift from my other digits and I could not move it tight to the others, at this point I said to myself " yea the lake is cold today dude!" but with the wetsuit overall it was doable. I got about 3/4 of the way down and then decided to head back across the lake and for the shore where Tam and Gary were awaiting my return. I did about 1500m... not bad for the first cold! swim of the season. .. I was glad I stayed the course and just sort of went for it! it felt kind of awesome actually and should help prepare me for the Shawnigan sprint on the 25th, so I should get in two more open water swims before that, the nice thing about the race is its only 500m swim so it will be over with quick .

And I guess that's been my week, hope I don't get any sicker from that swim! and look forward to posting again soon.




Sunday, April 27, 2008

Build phase week 12 "My Jamis Trilogy"


I had a great recovery week, the timing was good for me to allow for some extra rr from last weeks race at Sooke. All my workouts are going really good and I seem to have enough energy to get the job done!

My Jamis tri bike arrived this week and I got it all put together right away in time for a ride to Chemainus and back on Tuesday, it's so different with the pursuit bars and bar end shifting and bullhorns and all that cool tri stuff, the front end is so responsive with the Easton EC90 aero fork, I think I'm gona like this bike allot, I still have more tweaking with adjustments for fit to do on it yet and it will take a bit of time to get used to it, the seat angle is only at 76 degrees compared to the C-dale at 74.5, so it's not a huge difference in that area of the bike, that's actually relaxed for a tri bike. We got out for a nice ride of 72 km on Saturday, I figured this might end up hurting a bit with the new bike but I got it dialed in pretty good so far and I just need more time to get the hang of bar end shifting, I'm not sure if I like the cassette it came with on the rear ...I miss my coveted 15 tooth and now have a 14 and 16 ...takes time to re learn those new gears and if I don't like it fairly quick I'll throw on my old 12-23.... but then I wont have the new 11 cog which is so killer to have on those down hills...anyhow I'll figure out what to do as I go along ha ha. Our ride was 2:41 with an average of 27.5 , we had too much head and cross winds but still managed to pull of a 2:13 per km pace so it was a pretty good first ride on the JT.

I'm gona jump right to the rest of the good stuff that happened today; first was the run this morning a 10:15am slight misty rain but tolerable, we took in the back side of Holland creek trail and headed up to Davis then Via the highway to the tunnel and along the beach and docks , then back up through to the train tunnel and finished up Christie rd, I had the best run since I have started this whole training program and really enjoyed myself today, total distance was about 16 km with a time of 1:33 which wasn't bad considering about 4-5 km of that was trail, with all the hard work that goes into this it sure is nice to have these days it just makes it all the more rewarding.
The swim was in mid afternoon up at Nanaimo, I wasn't sure about the swim because it involved a timed distance today and thought I wouldn't have the energy, but I put on a brave face and decided to take up the challenge; I had a 350m warm up and the main set was 1650m timed and 350m c/d, the main set went pretty well and I completed it with a time of 32:47...not to bad for feeling a bit tired from the run in the morning, I guess my fitness level has just really come a long way now and sometimes I don't expect great things from myself but that's one of the really cool things about this type of training you surprise yourself and at times go beyond your own expectations....no award or monetary thing can ever give you that greatness you feel inside.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Build phase week 11 "Sooke spring sprint race report"


Spring? where? well on Saturday morning it wasn't and had us pretty worried having to go to Victoria and pick up race packets but we could have picked them up race morning anyway but then we would have missed the bike shop and not been able check out all the road and tri bikes...bling bling! he he! . Anyhow the record snow fall for this time of year cleared up in the nick of time leaving us dry roads for the race..whew!


4:00am Sunday morning came fast, I had a somewhat restless sleep but felt good once I had a cup of coffee and some breakfast; by 5:15 we we're out the door and headed down the hi way and of course we arrived with lots of time to spare and a good parking spot. The morning was a little crisp and clear around 3 degrees which is what I was hoping for instead of rain.


So this year I was to start in heat #3 and time went fairly fast and before long they called for our heat to report to the pool deck for a race briefing, then it was time to climb into the pool for a warm up lap and get my goggles adjusted for the swim , I was in position 3 in our lane and felt good about not having the pressure to lead ...and then I was off , I was worried about panicking again ( did the first time here) but by the time I was at 100m I knew it wasn't going to happen again and at 300m I was well settled into a nice rhythm, at about the 400m mark I was passed and shortly after I passed swimmer #4 and had passed her once more with about 100m to go, I think I was passed by swimmer #1 one time maybe two and I know for sure swimmer #2 passed me two times but that was fine with me because our lane functioned flawlessly, I still knew I was having a great swim and then my red kick board was there to signal my final lap and I just pushed through the last 50m to the end and headed for T-1.


I got to my bike and decided to put on a long sleeve jersey as most people were wearing vests and some even pants, I struggled a bit with my top for a few seconds but managed to get out of T-1 pretty fast with no real problems , the new tri shoes were slick and definitely shaved off time. I got messed up coming out to the main road, I was on the wrong side of the cones but did not cause an accident!, unfortunately latter on someone did cause one, it was just to easy to cross over because the cones were spaced to far apart....that was my gripe! . So soon after I was settling into my ride and felt my hamstrings were really cold and the pedals seemed hard to push and knew I had to get those warmed up and figured if I picked it up a bit they would, and well they did.. he he. The whole ride no one passed me and I only passed one rider going up the climb on the backside and soon left that rider in my dust (smile), so it was pretty much a solo ride again for me and soon found myself back at transition getting ready for my run.


T-2 went really well again and I even peeled of that jersey from the ride, I now have elastic laces for my runners and couldn't imagine not having them ever again, it just makes transitions so smooth! I headed out on the run with some minor stitches/cramps in my stomach..I was pushing pretty good but managed to keep things on a steady pace; at about the 800m mark I passed Tam as she was headed for the finish line and we high 5ed each other...I kept on with my current pace and thought at one point...hey I'm doing a pretty good clip here man...are these my legs?? I even had to look down for a second to make sure! ha ha . On the climb of the run I powered up the hills pretty good which seemed to increase my stitch a little so at the turn around I stopped for a second and had some water and powered off again, by the time I got back down to the bottom I was settled into a great pace and was headed for that finish line! I crossed the line sprinting to gain any few seconds I could...with Tam there to cheer me on across the line... that felt great and I knew I had a good race today.


My overall time was 44/125 1:22:10 and I managed to shave off 6:05 from last years time so I was really happy with that but I also had three Pr's, the swim of 13:16 was 2:14 faster, the bike of 45:13 was 0:50 faster and my amazing run of 23:42 was 3:01 faster and gave me a pace of 4:44 per km ...my very best to date! woo hoo! I placed 5/10 in my age and just had one of the best darn days, it was awesome to say the least.


And on that note I must say goodnight cause Monday morning is coming fast!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Build phase week 10 " injuries bite"

So the end of week 10 has arrived and only 10 more to go! , and I feel like I will make it through this training no matter what, unless I break my leg or something stupid, God forbid; finding time to even do this blog seems like a chore lately, we're so busy with tax time here and our first tri coming up on next Sunday at Sooke...all I do is work eat sleep train- work eat sleep train ..ha ha.

I have a new bike on the way, it's a 2006 Jamis Trilogy... alum frame tri specific with the wheel cut out and aero tubes, I'm excited about that but it won't be here in time to do the Sooke tri so I will be using the R500 on that race, sadly the R2000 has been put to rest and will probably become a bike for the trainer; I will however be doing the Shawnigan sprint and my first half ironman on the new bike hopefully! and who knows I may just pick up a bit more speed..(smile)

Well this weeks training went pretty good all in all ; we finally got some of the crinkles straitened out in our training schedule, on Wednesday morning we now do our track work at 6:00am so latter that evening we can do our swim up at the pool and fit in the whole workout, and on Friday at 6:00am we do our swim which is the condensed version ..a little short but hey it's all we can do; then latter after work we do our steady run, it took a few weeks to get this figured out because of the increase in training but are happy to have this working good now.

My fitness level continues to improve on all fronts , I feel strong on the bike even riding the R500 with the added weight of the bike itself..3-4 more pounds but hey I can really fly down hills...yaaaaaa!. My track work is going well and I am managing to complete the workouts lately with no real problems; but some were between Thursday and Friday afternoon I somehow pulled a tendon, It didn't interfere with Saturdays (brick) bike ride too much although I felt it a little on the run portion. I can't seem to figure out which activity I injured it on and have been trying to RICE it as much as possible. On Sunday morning I felt really good as Tammy and I got ready to do our 45min. steady run; so at about the 1.5 km mark I stoped and Tam sent me home, I had a bit more pain than I was willing to tolerate and I was so frustrated on the way home having to miss another run and feeling that I am going to go in reverse with this training instead of forward, I said why me! my soul wants to run! and my leg said no no no....argggg!!!
Latter on that afternoon we headed for fast water in Nanaimo to do our endurance swim, with a distance of 2600m to do I was hoping my tendon would at least let me swim....and well it did....the main set of 2000m I completed in 41:07 with a total swim time of 55:45 for 2600m workout, I was pretty happy about that but then again I did not get much of a run that morning and figured I just had lots of extra energy to burn. he he.

This week toward the end I'll be backing off just a hair on the workouts in preparation for Sundays race, I'm so pumped to get going and hope my tendon is better by then, a week goes too fast when your on the mend. Next week I'll be posting a race report! yippi !

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Build phase week 9 " bump in the road"


I'm glad this week has finally come to an end, it has been difficult to deal with the work load of training ,work and everything else in between; it has tested me physically and mentally and I think it's just wore me out a bit and by Saturday morning it left me wondering why I was even bothering to do this half iron man,; at one point I didn't want anything to do with swimming biking or running, I was feeling it was taking far too much away from everything and I just wanted to quit! , but my Tammy wouldn't let me stop at this point and our good friend and tri buddy Gary came over just in the nick of time to convince me that these lows are all in part of this type of training , and that I've come too far to stop now; so thanks for that Gary, and although today was still a little rough I have decided that I must forge onward and try to put the past behind me and hopefully learn how to better handle these situations.

Next week we are half way through our training program and I hope to have a better week in spite of a few minor set backs; so till then that's all .

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Base phase week 8 "Recovery rules!"




Ahhh, another week of well deserved rest has come to an end today, although the training plan backs off a bit during recovery you still have to stick with all those scheduled workouts.

I pretty much got rid of that cold I had last week, just a few sniffles left now..he he and I hope it doesn't come back!

All this week it was like Christmas around here with new race tires arriving on Tuesday, I thought I'd try out some Continental Grand Prix 4000's, got some for Tammy's bike too, mine in blue and hers in red; then on Wednesday our new triathlon bike shoes showed up , Tam didn't even know I ordered them..I'm such a sneaker! The tri shoes will be nice with just one Velcro strap to do up instead of fumbling with the buckles on our other shoes, who knows it could shave off 10-15 seconds. I have a few more goodies still coming and the shopping never seems to end, thank goodness for eBay it saves me a bit of cash and time which is great.

So we had an interesting start to our day on Friday, we figured that if we switched our 6:00am swim for the run and do the swim after work in Nanaimo it would work better for us;but it was actually starting to snow!, so off we went with icy snow pelting our faces..hard to keep good form...hey wait a minute deja vu this happened to me before!...ha ha; I kind of thought maybe it would be better to be in the pool now instead of running in this spring blizzard, but we toughed it out anyways; You know it snowed most of the morning and we ended up with about 4 inches and by the time we both got home from work we just didn't feel up to our swim and decided to get some extra RR.

And now for today, I did my endurance swim in Nanaimo 2000m in 43:19, although this was not a timed swim and included 500m of warm up /cool down its just nice to keep track of how long your workouts are. Once we got home it was time for our brick and we geared up under partly cloudy skies for a road ride ...no rain..smile....We managed to get in 26.7 km in just over an hour. darn wind again! he he, but the pace was still good at 2:15 per km so we averaged 26.87 km per hour, soon we we're off on the run and did a 4km loop and I felt really good on this run , so much so that I had gas enough to push beyond were I've never ventured to before; on the last km I continued on at my current pace and held it till about the last 800m and then pushed myself up the last little hill and kept on the gas till I reached home, I hit the stop watch and was elated to see a time of 19:52 yes!, a new pr for me and a another milestone to finally do a run in sub 5:00 min. per km, yea so it was only a 4:58 on a short run.. but wait that was after a 26km bike which was after a 2000m swim, wow I've just had one the the most awesome bricks ever!, now I can see the benefits of this recovery stuff!

I had a good week all in all and am now mentally preparing for the beginning of the build phase of our training program, on paper it look a little daunting but hope to do equally as well on this new chapter as I have done on the last 8 weeks, the journey has been great for me so far and I look forward to the up coming challenges with great enthusiasm.



Sunday, March 23, 2008

Base phase week 7 "spring arrives"



At the beginning of this week I came down with a cold/virus that is still with me today, despite that fact I persevered through all aspects of training this week, sometimes a little winded at others just no go go.
On Wednesdays track workout I managed to complete my 13 repeats of 30 sec. hard with two min active recovery and for myself this was a stellar performance, everything just felt right. I was fairly tired for the swim latter that evening but was still beaming about my track session but still finished the swim feeling OK. We seem to keep getting dry roads for our bike and run work which is just fine by me, Tammy says there is always an umbrella over us..or maybe it's just plain luck.. he he.

We both had Friday off from work so we didn't have to do the dreaded 6:00 am swim.. yea!, our pool was closed here so we got to head up to Nanaimo to do our workout of 1700m , mostly drills and a new fartlek 1000m total broken up into 200m of 50 easy 50 hard 20 sec rest after every 200m , and this actually went better than I thought it would, I figured with this cold that I have it would leave me gasping for air but it did not...smile!

Saturdays ride was a great first spring ride we stopped off at one of our favorite spots, ( Jack point ) great on the weekends, a definite no no on week days too many big trucks; I think we had a tail wind up to this time and after that we had some light head wind and a bit of cross wind so I did get blown around a bit and we still managed to pull of 2:28 pace over 61km at a steady pace on tired legs from the extra workload this week.

Today we started with a 10:00 am run which lasted for about 1:10 min, I think we both kind of over dressed for it and I was a little hot at the end . The start was a little tough as I struggled with some pain in the front of my calf and ankle...the blood just wasn't flowing yet but by the time I hit the 3 km mark it seemed to dissipate, whew ! that one hurts allot! ; I covered about 11.80 km at 5:53 pace...no not the fastest but it was non stop and this is where I am noticing that my endurance is slowly building a little bit at a time; it is so exciting to see these small improvements. My swim today was the longest to date of 2400m this was another endurance one with a 300m warm up/cool down; I was some what concerned having this cold but I settled right into a groove and finished the workout in a not to shabby time of 57 min.

So this concludes week 7 and next week is recovery! this will be a treat before the big start of the build phase week 9, until next week that's all for now and I do hope to shake this bug!



Sunday, March 16, 2008

Base phase week 6 "Bruised but not beaten"


Wow another week gone! and I think I'm feeling pretty good about the progress so far; on Tuesday after work it was hill repeats again and the weather was dry and sunny; we did 10x 1:00 min repeats with 2 min active recovery, I held back just enough to make sure I had enough juice in me to finish the set strong, I actually do really like this workout, oh yea I can't forget to mention the fact that after repeat #7 I feel over standing still on the bike, I was clipped in on my left side facing up hill right foot down on the pavement with my wheel turned to the right.. brakes on and I released the brake the bike rolled back a foot and my wheel got turned all the way to left some how and down I went! ouch! I saved my bike from any damage with my body ha ha. After dinner we headed up to the gym for a change of pace, that was nice ,we usually do this workout at home. I am beginning to see a real difference in myself and that is exciting for me and helps to keep me motivated with weight training.

Wednesdays track work went pretty crappy, I think I may have strained my right leg when I fell over on the bike and by the third repeat it didn't feel any better so I took a break and watched Tammy for a while and then headed home to get ready for a swim so that I got some kind of workout in for the day and besides the swim is low impact and made me feel better about the lost track session.

On Thursday we did our bike ride to Chemainus and back, it was threatening to rain most of the way and on the last part of the ride we got drizzled on a bit but not soaked to the bone! Latter on that evening, actually it was 8:00 pm, we got to the gym for a great workout and at the end we both held a plank for 3:00 min ...it feels. so good when you finally finish and collapse on the floor! he he.

Oh gosh the dreaded 6:00 am swim again, this was to be 2000m of which I did 1700m of it, boy I tell you it's so hard to get going on these swims in the am; the run today was tough for me today because on Thursdays gym work we did some step ups and was really feeling it on the run, my butt was totally killing me from this ha ha .. that darn wife of mine always seems to throw something new in at just the right time .

On Saturday we got to do a great brick workout, we headed for Cedar rd one our favorite routes and road out till we hit our 37:30 min turn around time and then headed for home, total ride time was 1:13 and we covered about 31km; once home we doned our run gear and took off for a 20 min loop, we ran 4km in 20:42 which gave me a pace of 5:10, I was so happy to see this I was was like yea! I rock man! for me the running is what I have a hard time seeing that I'm actually improving on because we are always running on tired legs and this was a small milestone for me.

And finally for Sunday we only had a 1700m endurance swim with a twist we did 350m warm up and 350m cool down with the main set being 1000m time trial, I was so pumped for this all week, and the results are.... well I was hoping for a little faster time than my 20:42min swim but the fact is that we had 50m length and I'm not used to time trialing like that, it always seems to be with 25m lengths, and I seemed to have a full feeling in my stomach?... strange hmm ,but really I am happy with my time and have never trialed that distance so now I have a benchmark to beat and look forward to my continual swimming improvements. We finished of our day and week of training with a nice run around Westwood lake, lots of people out there today as signs of spring are everywhere.

My body is adapting well so far with this hectic 6 day a week training program, although at times it takes a good push to get me out the door and other times I'm just ready to rip, next it all ramps up again for week#7 and it'll be a challenge once again which I shall embrace with great fear! no ha ha just kidding cant seem to find the word for it so I'll just leave it at that.

P.S. the pic above is the fist sized bruise I found this morning on the inside of my thigh from when I fell over on my bike, it actually knocked my bike seat 3 inches sideways, and I had to pull out the allen wrench to readjust it.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Base phase week five " Rag dolls"

Well the work load has certainly risen this week , Tues first workout was hill repeats and we decided Christie rd would be a good site for this and boy it sure was other than the 5:00 pm traffic rush of people coming home from work; we did a loop around the diamond to get warmed up and then proceeded with our workout which consisted of 1:00 min hard effort up Christie and 2:00 min recovery, after the first two I thought my lungs were gonna burst! but it did get better at about number 5; it was only 4 degrees in the shade and I wore my short gloves and froze my fingers off, I figured with this type of work I would be sweating buckets...not; when I finally finished at the 9th one I was happy so we could get going home to warm up, I guess with the two min recovery and low temp it was hard to stay warm, we finished up the day with a good workout in the basement.

On Wednesday it was time for our first track workout and I actually did pretty good, we did 11-30 sec repeats wit 2 min active recovery; I was pretty tired after that but we still made it up to the pool for our 7:30pm workout, the work out was supposed to be only 1825m but I miss counted and ended up doing 1900m... oops no big deal.

By the time I got home on Thursday afternoon my body was rebelling! I was totally wiped out with everything being ramped up for the new base phase,( I may have called some of these weeks build phases but they are base phases) and when Tammy got home she felt the same and we decided not to do our spin session or gym and try to get some rest for Friday mornings swim.

6:00 am Friday morn groggy and sleepy eyed we entered the pool for what was going to be a 1900m workout..well or whatever I could do in an hour , and let me tell you it wasn't much, I was like a rag doll ...beat up, tired and just finished! we both managed to muster up 1500m and call it a morning, and figured we did pretty darn good anyways.

On Saturday we rode to Duncan and back for about a 65km ride , longest one this year so far and we averaged about 26-27km per hour at a moderate intensity and I felt good the whole way. While in Duncan we stopped at the cycle shop for a quick adjustment on Tams bike and then headed for home to beat the rain again, we sure have been lucky with most rides but I'm sure we'll end up getting soaked sooner or latter.

Well Sunday proved to be a tough day to finish of the week. Our day started at 2:00 pm for a swim of 2300m with a 250m warm up and 250 cool down, the main set was 1800m which I managed to do in 39:26 and a total swim time of 51:08 for 2300m total; on the last 6 laps of the main set I was really feeling the impact as I was actually starting to get a little shaky, but I still managed to get into a great rhythm right away and once again I'm happy with the swim progress.

When we got home we slipped on our run gear and headed for the Holland creek trail for one of our favorite runs and after about 2km into the run I knew it was gonna be a tough one and I would just have to hang in there; the run lasted for 1:05:00 and we managed to cover about 9.5 km as we also ran some road at the end to get the time in, and and I was sure glad to see our driveway finally come into view.

So this concludes week 5 of training and even though I missed a few workouts the extra rest was warranted and I am managing fairly well so far as I continue on this journey to my ultimate goal...The half Ironman.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Base phase week four "End of week four I made it! "

Wow this past week has just flown by, of course it has because it was recovery week and like all good things they must come to a end ;I am now preparing for phase 2 week 5 and I'm sure things will get tough again so the rest was really nice and I think my body is ready for bout #2.
We had lots of sunshine these past few days which made for great riding and running , we just love those after work road rides and the days are getting longer now so that in itself is great.
Friday mornings swim I still felt a bit sluggish getting going, I don't know if I'll get used to 6:00 am Friday starts at the pool but I have to do what has to be done and always feel good after the fact.
The week was caped off with a wonderful 1.5 hour bike ride under the sun a bit cool in the shade, we headed for a loop ride down the highway through to Chemainus and back home; it was nice to do that route for the first time this year and makes me want to time trial it again but that will have to wait till after our main event.
Today was loaded up pretty good for last day of recovery week; we headed for Nanaimo pool at around 10:00am and had a 1700m endurance swim to do but with our season opener coming in April at Sooke we needed to do our 700m time trial to see where our times are at; so I did a 50m warm up and then set my stop watch and was off, The trial went really well and I only lost focus a couple of times, once to adjust my goggles (leaking) and also choked on some Flem or something? and that messed up my breathing pattern but I became refocused quickly on both incidences, also no panic either which may have to do with more self confidence. I finished with a time of 14:11 a new pr for me ! I was so happy to see the improvement; (note: last years time at Sooke was 15:30) and I can honestly say that I held back knowing we still had a brick (bike/run) to do after the swim; so I'm kind of wallowing in the fruits of my labour..ha ha.... now if I can get that darn running in shape.
We got home and geared up for our brick with cloudy skies hoping it wouldn't start to rain; the ride was for about an hour and our turn around was at Arbutus ridge. I felt pretty good most of the ride and was so happy no rain. Arriving home a little pooped, after all we just did 1700m at the pool and went at a pretty good pace on the bike too; I quickly got my run gear on and was out the door , my legs feeling a bit heavy but not like they did when I started doing bricks last year, for the first couple of kms my pace was good but started to fade at 3km and I ended up walking for a short time from cramping pain in the front of my shins and ankles but soon refocused to finish with a time I was happy with; I think I was just really done for the day and my legs were telling me so. That was a great day though and felt fairly energised for most of it and just had an awesome week overall ; Monday is rest day and then its back to the grind on Tues. and I look forward to the challenges that phase 2 will bring. Well that's about all for now until next post.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Base phase week three "End of week three"

Yea! I made it to the end and am so proud of my self!
This was a hard week with everything being kicked up a notch, and it has pushed me farther than I ever imagined I could go. Having a bit of a burn out at the end of week two I somehow started to feel pretty good again around Wednesday, although tired after most of the workouts I guess that's really par for the course!
Friday morning came way too fast for me man, we were up at 5:00 am to make the pool in town, Our workout consisted of 1800m total 300m warm up, 8x25m mixed drills, the main set was 8x100-25 easy -25 hard, 8x25 kick and 300m cool down; near the end of the main set I was starting to fade a bit, never mind the start, and was relieved once the kick session was done so I could just coast on the last 300m, OK well maybe next Fridays am swim will be better , I think my body was in shock! and not quite awake yet, it was kind like zombie mode or something..he he.
It was a treat to come home after work and just go do our run right away and we put our feet up for the rest of the day afterwards, Tammy and I were both a little sluggish from the early am swim but we pushed through another workout .
On Saturday morning the roads were wet and we thought it would be better to wait until the roads dried up a bit. Well 1:00pm rolled around and I could have went down for a nap, but we kicked our self's out of the house and onto the bikes for an awesome ride around Yellow point and the sun even came out! it was nice; we did about 1:55 min ride it was supposed to be 2 full hours but managed to cover about 49km so overall that was good for us. I felt fairly refreshed throughout the ride, and am starting to get used to my new aero bottle too, also the gel flask is real handy, no more trying to rip open a gel mid ride and squeeze it down and chase with water.
We did our gym workout soon after arriving home, it too went well for me and I just could not figure out why I felt so good! but hey I'm not complaining. My body is responding well with the strength training and I can see a remarkable difference compared to last year in overall fitness level and strength.
O yea last day! and it started with an endurance swim up at Nanaimo's pool. We got there at around 10am and the Riptides had a swim meet going at the far end of the pool so we only had 25m lengths instead of 50m but this was also fine. Today's total was 2100m with a 300m warm up 1500m main set and 300m cool down; I had a tough time getting my goggles adjusted so they wouldn't leak and had a hard time finding any rhythm. Soon after I started my main set I fell into a groove and just paced through it the whole way and stopped once to sip some go juice, and finally the cool down I did 150m using the pull buoy and the last 150m free style. my total time for that workout was 51:25 ya hoo! and I feel many improvements at this point and its hard to see them week to week but looking back to last year at this time I've come a long way and will continue to strive for more.
And last but not least my run, we headed up to Westwood lake under beautiful sunny skies around 12 degrees and did a double loop completing 12 km in total. It was just so nice out there today with lots of people walking the trails and of course running; we settled into a nice steady pace that I felt totally at ease with and again I felt pretty darn amazing and almost fit like! considering the pounding my body has taken over the last three weeks. And now we enter recovery week which is going to be a great treat for our body's, and minds to just sort of take it all in and recount the highs and lows of this wonderful journey to my first half ironman.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Base phase week three "The lunar eclipse"


Well so far this week has been tough! but I think I'm gona make it all right.

Today we both managed to get home early enough with plenty of daylight left for a road ride; it sure was fantastic to get out there instead of being stuck on the trainer again. My sore leg seemed pretty good and I did not really have that over trained feeling in fact I felt Awesome ! our ride lasted 1:10 and we managed to get 31km out of that but it was actually 5 min. short but I was haulin butt because I had to go pee so bad and just wanted to get home!


Wednesdays run went well as I decided to back off a bit because of my leg, yes a wise thing to do and I was happy with the effort I gave; we did about 8.5km 45 min run with 8x30 sec. sprints and I'm starting to like doing these, huh? I must be loosin it or what! ha ha. It was really cool as we did our run at around 6:00pm with the lunar eclipse well under way for us to view as we ran.

Along the way something I realized and was reminded of as I was watching the moon, is that there are powerfull foreces at work in the universe and that I can't controll them all and I have to step back once in awhile let things happen the way they are supossed to, also that I am so fortunate to be able to do what I am in this short space and time and must not take it for granted.

Not sure where that came from totaly but thats how I felt on that run.

Well best get off to bed now I can hear Gary in my head" oh Ivan your sleep is so important when your training" yes your right Gar! he he and besides we have an early morning swim at 6:00 am. I'll post again on Sunday which marks the end of week three.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Base phase week two "End of week two"


The end of week two has arrived today and I'm thankfull for that, I really need that rest day on Monday!

It has been hard these past couple of days, maybe on the verge of over trained, we skipped fridays swim and did weights instead and today I only did the endurance swim and not the run; I have been sore most of the week and it has shown in my running of course my weakest sport, but even on Saturday's brick I was a bit slugish and even ended up walking for a few minutes untill I could refocuss my mind and energy to finish without stopping, which I did. The ride portion I felt that I was also not having a great day, having stayed behind Tammy most of the ride. So not running today was decided at Gary's last night after we watched the 2007 Ironman in Kona, and it felt good not to run today because it just took some pressure off knowing I'll have a few extra much needed days of rest from running.

My endurance swim went very well today we did 2000m ...250m warm up 1500 main set and 250m cool down that took me 53 min. and I felt great about that! I had finished up before Tam and did another 350m of drills . In the main set I only stopped briefly to sip some Gatorade and felt good the whole time and settled into a nice relaxed rhythm and just tried to feel my complete stroke, Tam said I looked like a swan in the water all gracefull ! I think I was just really relaxed and that seems to be the key to find your sweet spot and it feels like you could go on forever.

So now I am preparing for week three and again things are ramped up a little bit more, I know that I jumped in head first on this training program at level 4 out of 10 it is pretty ambitious and hopefully this is doable for me as I am learning that sometimes it takes more than just a I can attitude but I will give it my best and shoot for the stars; and if I have to back things off a little I am ok with that because it will give my body more of a chance to adjust to the workload.


Having said all that I am just still learning what it means and takes to be a triathlete and I am enjoying the highs and lows of the journey so far and I am excited to continuie posting my progress!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Base phase week two

Well so far this week has been going well, tough at times to get going and some of the training seems to catch up with me a bit but I'm hangin in there! We missed todays swim but swaped it for some weights and besides we want a good workout at the pool on Sunday (2000m). My run today was a little slower than I hoped for and cut it a bit short in favor of going up Symonds st , some pain in my leg and groin forced me to hold back and I'm glad I did, I am learning to listen to my body.
On Saturday I get to to my first brick and am looking forward to that, and it will be nice for Tammy she gets to try out her new drive train and road bars and Profile jammers, the bike is almost new again! wow talk about spoiled hey... he he. I guess thats all for now and will probably post on Sun. or Mon. for end of week two.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Base phase week one "End of week one first endurance swim"




Today marks the end of week one and it has been great! I know that week two starts to ramp up the workload a bit more but I am sure I will adjust fine although it is diffucult to train 6 days a week all done after work .

On Saturday we got to hit the road with the bikes and managed to stay pretty dry, my fitness level on the bike is way beyond where I thought it would be, thanks to the fluid trainer we bought in November and coach Troy. We road for a steady 1:45 and felt fine upon finishing; also made sure I hydrated and ate on the bike to help ensure the fuel I'm takeing reacts well with my system.

Later that evening Tam and I did our work out in the basement, I love it down there, it was a bit tough to get going but managed to get warmed up quickley , I have a hard time being motavated in the gym but with Tammy being a certified weight trainer I am in really good hands, wow how lucky is that to have your own personal trainer/wife in house? he he... finished up our weight training with some yoga streching that stuff is something that I plan to do a lot more of as we progress, I thought that I was fairly flexable but with the little bit I've done so far shows me that my right knee needs alot of work...three and half years ago I tore my MCL and it took two years to get it back to the point where I could start to run full time, last year was my fist full year as a runner approxamently 650km.

Well sunday morning came fast and I draged my but out of bed a 8:45 ...I stay up too late and love sleeping! ha. Had a nice bowl Kashi cerial 7 grains of yumminess, actually new to me and after I ate it hoped that it woudn't give me any tummie troubles, most things don't I have ironguts! We had to pick up Gary on the way out his van had a flat and he caught us just in time to give him a ride to his race (cedar 12km) and wished him well. Todays swim was an endurance one of 1800m , 300m warm up 1200m -5-10 second rest every 100 and 300m cool down ,I felt realativly strong the whole swim, maybe a little soreness from last nights weight session, and I was looking forward to it all weekend.

After the swim we headed straight up to Westwood lake for a doubble loop of the lake, on the way up I downed a power gel and water to prepair for the run and again make sure my system reacts well with different fuels. The first lap went verry good I felt strong and energetic, at the 6km mark it was turn around and knew I would have to dig in for the final lap as I was feeling the effects of the past weeks training load. I had to back of a couple of times to make sure I wouldn't fade too much, with Tam there I managed to keep pace with her fairley well and finished feeling like I did when I finished my first half marathon last year (Landsend) . I was surprised to hit the stop watch with a time of 1:05:51 woo hoo for me this was awesome considering the laod of work this week and it was trail!

It has been a great week for me, learning, building, and enjoying my accomplishments....knowing that I must maintain a mental attitude of "I CAN!" to help me through this adventure towards my first half ironman.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Base phase week one "Day three the frozen rain"

Now I'm begining to understand why they call it ironman! , if you make it through the training you should be able to finish the race after all this training.
Today was a test in itself , after dinner Tam and I geared up and headed out for our fartlek with 6x 30 sec. sprints, at first I thought a little bit of rain wont hurt but by the time we finished our 2km warmup I surendered my gloves to Tam cause her hands were frozen; it was much colder than expected and was starting to half freeze rain/ sleet and by the time we got ready to start lap two back by our house the wind picked up and was blowing frozen rain into our faces, needless to say at that point in time my running form was shot! , but we soldiered on with freezing fore arms fingers ect. All I could think about was something like Gary would say on our rainy bike rides was this is to build character ( Gary is one of our tri buddies and mentors ) well I tell you tonight we had to be really crazy or very determend to be out there... I think the latter...ha!

It was sure nice to hit the pool after that run with a 1500m workout with much less traffic in the lane than my last swim so I got much more from this one. Over all I feel pretty good so far and I will post on Monday 11th (rest day) which will mark the end of week one.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Base phase week one "First day training"


Today I began day 1 of a 20 week program desinged to help me fulfill my quest to complete my first half ironman.

Got home from work at about 5:10pm , Tammy my wife said she was going to duck out of the run today but insisted I still go, I am geting used to these little runs by myself now and then anyways; decided to eat a half bar for fuel.. I was starving! and slipped on my run gear and headed out for my run of 6km. I felt really good on the run and managed to keep a good steady pace today. Tam had my dinner ready when I got home.. nice... then after din we got to lounge around before heading of to the pool.

We arrived at the pool side with only one person in the lane, that was nice until about 20 min later there were 8 people in one lane at various speeds, kind of frustrating cause I was in the middle of doing 8x100 25 easy 25 fast, so I did not get the full potential of this workout but made the best of it anyways ; small town Ladysmith pool is fine at times but for our serious workouts we may head to Nanaimo

Overall the training for my first day went well and I'm so excited that it has begun!