triwithms

Replacement Ride for Rained Out DVP 50km

I had a great week for just getting started back into working out, AND having to fight tooth and nail for any time to workout due to the fact that my 2nd son is only a bit over a month old.

First things first - The Becel Ride for Heart (aka. DVP Bike Ride).

I woke up at about 5:45am to sounds of gusting wind and rain hammering my bedroom windows, not a good omen.  I was prepared to bike in like rain but it was pouring pretty good at this time and the wind was steady at 30km/hr and gusting over 45km/hr.  Needless to say I had to make a decision pretty quick as I had to back up my car and commute into Toronto if I was going to do the event.  

I decided to start a chain of emails asking if my fellow colleagues were thinking was I was, "Forget this- I'm going back to bed".  It turns out that they were, with the exception of a couple brave souls who had the good fortune to live in the city.  It rained and was crazy windy for the first half of their ride before it cleared up.  I think if I had already been in shape I would have gone to tough it out and battle the winds and big hills, but not that day, not in the condition I was it.

I still wanted to get my 50km ride in on Sunday though, so I emailed my buddy Rob (www.twitter.com/robmacewen from www.slowdad.com) and asked if he was up for a ride at 10:30 and luckily he was.  I say luckily because I found out later that the only way I could get my out of shape a$$ around a 50km route in treacherous wind was to have someone pull me the whole way. Thanks again Rob!

The 50km ride felt amazingly good compared to my previous rides, possibly because I wasn't pulling a 50lb trailer behind me with my son Alexander as I did three times earlier this week. It felt so good to be free (and comfy in a slipstream)!

This weekend I'm hoping I can get out for another 50-60km ride, and next week perhaps I can start up my swimming again for the first time since last September. If I go with my old group, I'm sure I'll have some explaining to do about where I've been for the last year, and where this 30 extra pounds came from but I guess I'll deal with that.

Last Monday I went out for a 8km run with my buddy Sean, who, like Rob, was nice enough to come pick me up (gives me a good excuse to go out for some exercise when someone is showing up at my door).  We're going to go again tonight, and I'll try to go a bit slower since I was on my limit the whole time.

Anyway, that's all for now. 

Till next time...

Becel 50km Ride for Heart this Sunday on the DVP in Toronto

I'm having flashbacks to the Sporting Life 10km road race last month where I was grossly out of shape and under prepared resulting in 56 minutes pegged almost the whole time on my max heart rate.  I huge difference over the previous year, to say the least.

My saving grace is that I'm going to meet up with folks from my company to do the ride so hopefully it will be nice casual and fun event.

Slowly getting back into the groove

So today I had to make the most of a rough start to the day, having been up from 1:30 - 3:00 and then again from 4:00 - 5:30am on baby duty. I managed to get Alexander out for a 20k bike ride in his chariot.

It was a gorgeous day outside, the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Just as we were getting started on our ride we bumped into a couple friends, Rob and Craig who were just returning from their 3-4hr ride. I miss being in good enough shape to go out for the long rides.  

On our ride, I was surprised when Alexander actually fell asleep on the way back home since at times the ride was pretty bumpy. He really loves coming along for the rides. I set up a couple cell phones (his on speaker) so we can talk along the way. 

 It feels good to be getting started working out again, even if I have to start slowly and build again. Rob from www.slowdad.com has helped by pushing me to get active again. Taking the first step out the door when you've been off for a while is always the hardest and it's great to have people around to motivate you. 

 I'd like to get out again Monday since it's a holiday and the weather is going to be perfect again. If I don't find someone to watch Alexander I'll be taking him again, otherwise I'll try to get a longer ride in of about 40-50km.

Another Update - Did a 100km Bike Ride

So I thought I should mention that I did my first 100km ride a couple of weeks ago.  Well it was actually a few km’s short of that but I’m going to take the liberty to round up.  The funny thing is that it was unintentional.  I live around the corner from the gears bike shop in Mississauga, and often see the group rides set out on their rides Saturday morning and often thought I’d like to join them.  The website mention that they have two groups that go out, one that goes at about a 26 km/hr speed and go a distance of somewhere around 70km (I can’t recall the exact distances), and then there was a much faster group that goes over 35km/hr and who go ~140km.  Well, I thought that the first group sounded like it would be right up my alley, so I showed up bright eyed, bushy tailed and completely oblivious about what I was about to do.

I was hoping there would be an out and back route so that I could chose my own turn around point.  Well, it turns out that there was construction on the route that originally had been planned so there was a decision that the group leader would think up a route during the first 30min warm-up part of the bike and then we would take it from there.  I was quite shocked during that first 30mins that we were going at an average speed of somewhere around 32km/hr.  I kind of figured the two groups were meeting in the middle and then would break up after into their respective speeds.  I was right accept for the part about meeting in the middle with the speed.  The “Intermediate” group kept going at the 32km/hr which was putting me on the edge of my comfort zone, bordering on blowing up.  Who’s kidding who, I did blow up after going over my lactate threshold many times.  It was my first experience ‘hitting the wall’ on a bike ride and was shocked how I was relegated to meagre speeds well under 20km/hr as my body recovered.

I did manage to recover and eventually caught up to a couple of guys from the group who had stopped for a while on the side of the road.  The three of us decided to keep going to do a major climb then turn around to return home.  Speeds on the way back were fast, often over 40km/hr since we must have mostly been downhill and with the wind.  This was a very nice change compared to the ride out.

Needless to say, I learned some lessons on the bike today.  The most important lesson was the importance of staying within your limits on a long ride.  Once I get my lactic threshold tests done, I will work to keep my heart within those limits even if I have to let the group go on ahead.  I also realised that I don’t have much power in my legs and will have to work on that during the next year.

Even with all the suffering, I felt very good that I had completed the ride.  I’m actually starting to enjoy biking more than running.

That’s all for now...

Really Overdue Post From Triathlon in June - I Did It!

Well, it’s now almost two months after I completed the big event and can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve posted to the blog.  It’s like the old saying goes, better late than never.

 

Let me start by explaining the images above, of the three I’m most proud of the two of my little guy Alexander.  Before the start of the event he had been playing on the podium going up and down the stairs which was just next to the playground.  Needless to say, that during the awards ceremony Alexander decided, to the delight of hundreds of athletes and the rest of the crowd, to climb back up on the podium.  He was welcomed by thunderous applause and the race director proceeded to give him a medal.  He clapped his hands and smiled at all the people laughing and cheering the unexpected disruption to the ceremony.

I’m going to have to dig deep to remember all of my post race thoughts that I’d like to share, here we go.

Here are the main goals that I had wanted to accomplish: 

-Do at least 50% of the swim front crawl (as opposed to 100% breast stroke during my try-a-tri)

-Perhaps go from 4:00/100m in the water to closer to 3:00/100m

-Not have to walk during the run portion of the event.

-Get out of the bottom 20% overall (That would be a big jump up by the way).

Here is how I did, and I really couldn't believe it:

-More than 80% of the swim front crawl!

-Roughly 2:30/100m in the swim... That’s the crazy part, as a beginner swimmer I was shocked.

-I made it to the line before my MS spasticity in my legs really seized up so I didn’t have to walk during the run at all.  It was slow compared to my regular running, but that is probably to be expected after swimming and biking.

-135/309 overall, safely in the top 50% overall.

I did put in a lot of work along the way and I was very proud that I had exceeded my expectations in every category.

I was very thankful that there were free massages at the finish, the therapist mentioned that she hadn’t worked on legs that were in such a state of spasm before.  That massage really saved me for the drive home and for the subsequent couple of days.

Thanks for reading this post if you got this far.  Many of you on twitter probably already heard most of the details that I had posted after the event, but I thought I should get back on the blog band wagon and share my joy over the culmination of quite a bit of hard work.  I won’t update the last couple of months, but will save that for the next few posts.

Till next time...

Reflections on the Three Races - 10 lessons

Picture of my three running medals for completing races this month. 

The Sporting Life 10k (46min),

 Mississauga 1/2 Marathon (1hr56min),

 Ottawa 10k (49min).

Whooohooo!! That’s a VARRY NIICE! 

Even though I haven’t posted for a while to my blog, I thought it would be important to do today because of the lessons I’ve learned from my three races that other beginners potentially can learn from.  I should have learned my lesson after each of the first two races since I said they were things I was going to change.

Here we go...

Lesson #1 - Don’t start too fast (an oldie but a goodie)

For every single race I was out of the starting gate and ran the first 3-5 kilometres WAY too fast.  For future races I will first of all try to be more realistic about my finishing time and then start at a pace that is a bit slower than that.  In the sporting life 10k I had completed the first 5k in 22 min, the first 10k of the 1/2 marathon I was on 1:40 pace, and finally the first 3 km of the Ottawa 10k I was on 41 min pace.  That brings me to my second lesson...

Lesson #2 - Have some way to measure my pace

Don’t wait until you blow up to start comparing your time to what it should be.  I should either use a pace band with the times for each kilometre written on it or get a heart rate monitor that measures pace and distance (like the Polar that I tried out for a couple weeks).  That would be a more ideal solution as I would know my pace continuously.  I think I will wait to get the new Garmin 310 XT that will be out later this summer as it is suppose to be great for triathlons as it is totally water proof and the GPS receiver is built right in the watch.

Lesson #3 - If I’m going to be wearing an iPod have race playlist prepared

You wouldn’t think this was a big deal but it really was a factor this past week for my Ottawa 10k.  I was listening to a running podcast and my friend, although usually very entertaining, was engaged in a litany of depressing, self deprecating comments that really sapped the spring right out of my step.  It became so disturbing that I ripped the earbuds off in a realisation of the state of mind I had let myself slip into.  Sorry, if you’re reading this and you think I may be talking about you...Don’t be hard on yourself, just try to exude more self confidence next episode! ;D  I should say that I had already hit the wall pretty bad wall, after disregarding lessons one and two, but I think if I had an iPod filled with uplifting, energetic music, I feel like the result may have been a bit different.  Perhaps I could have avoided walking every 400m after 6k.

Lesson #4 - Run your own race

I got roped in to believing one of my friends’ comments about where he thought he would probably finish which happened to align with my time goals.  I stayed with him for the first 3k of the Ottawa 10k race until I hit the wall pretty bad, okay REALLY bad.  I was shocked at the finish when I realised that he had completed the 10k in 41 minutes.  CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? He ended up coming ~200th out of 10,000 people, no wonder I blew up!  So everyone out there remember to run your own race or you could get in trouble like I did.

Lesson #5 - Don’t do hard workouts the week of your race

This should be obvious and I followed that for my first race, but I then started getting upset that I was getting behind on my swimming and biking workouts.  These running races required recovery and taper that really would have left me totally unprepared for my triathlon.  I did a hard 30k bike and then a hard 10k run on the Wednesday before the race on Saturday, along with another hard 30k bike on Thursday.  Big mistake!  With all of these mistakes, it’s hard to de-couple them to know which ones contributed the most.  I think it was a true synergy, where the sum total effect was greater than the individual effects would have been on their own.  I’m typing all this with a smile on my face, even though it might not come through that way, because of the absurdity of it all when assessed after the fact.  What’s that saying about hind sight again? :D

Lesson #6 - Don’t over dress or carry too much

Long sleeves, a hat, a fuel belt with 4 bottles and an iPhone was a bit of overkill for a hot 10k race.  Enough said on that.

Lesson #7 - Stick with the game plan you were mentally prepared to execute on race day

I initially had mentally prepared myself to jog this race with a good friend of mine at a pace that would have been somewhere around the 55 minute mark.  He was never one to like to wait for people and I think he didn’t want me to feel like I was waiting for him.  He suggested I run with his other friend as he would probably run closer to my pace.  Hmmm, we all know how that turned out (see above ;D).  So don’t change things up race day unless you are very, very confident the new approach will be more successful than your original plan.

Lesson #8 - Start in your appropriate section for your expected time

All I’m going to say here is that if the people around you only have their names on their bibs and they don’t have numbers, you are probably in the wrong section!  Also, it helps to recognise what the Ethiopian and Kenyan nation team uniforms look like so if you see them around you, turn around and move back at least 3 time corals.

Lesson #9 - Three races with only 1 weekend off between them all is probably a bit too much.

Lesson #10 - Don’t do a half marathon if you only trained for a 10k unless you are prepared to suffer after 16k and at least 10 days after the race.  I don’t know who would do such a thing, but I thought it might be a good piece of advice ;D.

That’s all on the lessons for now, there may have been more but those are the first 10 that came to mind.  I am still proud of how far I have come since I was virtually stapled to the couch unable to walk fast around the block.  It’s been a miracle really and am very thankful to God for all of my good fortune.

That’s all for now, tomorrow is my first swim with the Splash and Dash triathlon swim club so wish me luck.

Till next time...

Video Post - Alexander Biking with Me

Alexander biking with me today at 20 months old.  The next Lance Armstrong? Who knows, but he really liked going on the bike and he loves his new Louis Garneau helmet.

Wow, It's Been a While...

I can’t believe it’s been a month since I’ve updated my blog.

The resort we stayed at in Aruba was home to at least 40 iguanas who roamed freely about the grounds. Aruba Rocks!  Perfect weather and gorgeous beaches. 

A couple weeks ago I was in Aruba for a week with my wife and my 19 month old son Alexander.  We stayed at the Divi resort on the golf course which was just awesome, we were very happy about all parts of our stay there.  I did three 6km runs and one 10km run while I was there, along with a bike ride at the gym, and many trips to the pool to practice my TI drills.

I’ve been averaging about three trips to the pool a week and have been doing three runs a week as well.  I guess I’ve been neglecting the bike portion of my training a little bit and am looking forward to doing more bike rides now as the weather is getting better.

My swimming has been very frustrating for me as I don’t feel like I’ve made much progress, but I know that if I stick with it I’ll eventually start having some successes.

I’ve really been enjoying listening to my triathlon and running podcasts, including:

Kelownagurl Tris, 4 Feet Running, Zen and the Art of Triathlon, The Stay Tuned Report, Endurance Planet, Tri Talk Triathlon Podcast.  Thanks to you guys for putting on great shows that help the runs go by faster.

I’ll have to make sure I do a better job of keeping this blog up to date...Perhaps I’ll switch to weekly updates to be more manageable.

Today I’m suppose to do my 14 km long run, but it is raining pretty hard, very cold and windy so perhaps I’ll do a treadmill run and see how much time I can endure indoors.

That’s all for now, till next time...

My Total Immersion Drills Revisited

Terry Laughlin demonstrating the core balance position drill on the Total Immersion DVD.  There is a link where you can buy it on my TI Swim Drill section of my website [update: Website no longer exists. Go to http://totalimmersion.net).
 

After the disappointment yesterday, I really was hoping today would be much better.  In some ways it was and other ways it was still the same.

Today I did the following drills:

1. Relaxed kicking on my back
2. Rotate from kicking on back to stomach and then again onto my back
3. Fish drill - Kicking on side, then rotating to my back to breathe
4. Sweet spot - each arm
5. Skating - Sweet spot and then bring back arm from ‘pocket’ to face and back
6. Under Skating Switch - Same as skating but then perform a switch of hands rotating body
7. Zipper Drill
8. Zipper Switch

So what was good is that many of the drills were much better than yesterday, the bad part was that I was having trouble rotating to breathe so I ended up just standing most of the time when I needed a breathe.  I think tomorrow I’m going to spend a lot more time on drills number 2, 3 to practice the rotating to breathe and then will do my best to incorporate that into the remaining drills.  I was getting tired unlike last Friday so I’m assuming my body position was not great yet.

Besty Laughlin emailed me today and a couple of other times this week with some great tips.  I will have to try out some of the suggestions tomorrow when I go back to the pool.

Till next time...

Off to Practice My Total Immersion Swimming Drills

Terry Laughlin demonstrating the core balance position drill on the Total Immersion DVD.  There is a link where you can buy it on my TI Swim Drill section of my website [update: Website no longer exists. Go to http://totalimmersion.net).

 

Well I ran into a bit of a surprise when I went to the pool today.  Instead of the 1hr20min I had planned, I was only able to get in about a 20 minute workout since it was March break and the lane swim for the second hour was changed to free swim for the kiddies.

Even though I had absolutely no sleep the night before, I was still disappointed that the drills didn’t feel anything like when I did them with Karin on Friday.  I guess not having the demonstrations and corrections in the water made a big difference.  I was really happy after the lesson on Friday, and hope that I can get that feel back on my own with some more practice.

I just didn’t feel comfortable with the body rotation to breathe on my back.  I was getting water up my nose even though I was breathing in through my mouth and out through my nose.

I might need my second lesson a bit earlier than we were thinking if I don’t get the comfort back.

Let’s see how it goes tomorrow.

Till next time...