Bryan Gerson's journey to ironman USA

Around the Bay Roadrace 2011 - Details

2011-03-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Untitled by bpgerson at Garmin Connect - Details - I can't seem to get paragraphs.. Sorry This past weekend, I competed at the Around the Bay roadrace in Hamilton. This was my third try at this race in Four years. It's not so much the distance that's hard, it's the terrain that can be challenging. The race starts at Copps Collesium in Hamilton and then basically goes around the Hamilton Bay into Burlington and then back to Hamilton ending the 30km race. The route on the other hand is not basic. The first 10-15km are relatively flat and most of the time with the wind at your back leading you into a very false sense of security. Upon crossing 17 km and moving onto Burlington's North shore Road, you enter "The hills". This section is very rolling and can diminish what gain that was built in the previous flat section. The Hills end just past the 26km mark and then flattens out until 27 and then there's a downhill shoot to the end. My race was pretty standard. Having done this race before, I knew how important it was going to be to play smart in the first 1/3rd. Both times in the past I had to walk/hobble a large part of the last 3-4km loosing a great deal of time. This time I was determined to run differently. With a great race at the scotia half marathon of 1:38, I knew that this was the year I was going to make that 2:30 mark that I have tried so many times to hit. I'm running better then I ever have and I'm feeling a general feeling of better strength. 2Hr30min meant a 5min/km pace. The race started and off and I went with both Robs. I was happy to run with them as we worked together quite a bit to make sure we were all running smart and eating when necessary. Many times, Rob had reminded me to hold up as my speed was getting faster and the plan was to be smart. We ran together for most of the race, keeping a 4:55pace for the better part of 25km. At around 15km Rob from school dropped off the pace a little and we couldn't wait, the hills were coming. Entering the hills, I felt strong! My hill runs in training had all been on the treadmill forcing me to work hard for 2 full min at speed and then instead of a downhill, my recovery was flattening out at speed. At some point the other Rob was gone, but at the 25km mark I was starting to hurt... I knew the big and final hill was coming and I didn't want to explode. I decided to walk for a portion just to regain composure and stop any potential cramping. I gave away one minute but it was a calculated loss because at the top of the hill (7.5 % up), I was able to resume running.. (interstingly enough, my garmin file didn't show any drop in heart rate during the walk up the hill - I must have been working pretty hard before) A lot of speed was gone but at this point it was "a get'er done" feeling going through my head and just try to limit any damage and cramping. I crossed the line at 2:32:34. In the last 10km I lost close to 3min but I felt that wasn't bad. I ran a good race and bettered 2009 by 10min and 2008 by 6min. All around, what a great day and I was glad to share it with great people.

Epic Orange Grove by bpgerson at Garmin Connect - Details

2011-03-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

Epic Orange Grove by bpgerson at Garmin Connect - Details While away for March Break in Clermont, I was really lucky to be part of a great group and train with Lisa and Dave for the Week. We drove down, (overnight and straight there is the only way to go) and made it just under 24hrs.. The week was spent swimming everyday with a mix of Running and Cycling thrown in. The Clermont area is anything but the classic "Florida Flat" with hills all over the place. I posted a garmin file of what I called the epic Orange grove run. This trail is a single car width lane clay road that stretches through an orange grove for just shy of 10miles (16km). This was a highlight of the trip because it's so increadible to be able to do this stuff and when you get experience the smells and sights of a blooming orange grove, you realize how lucky you are. If you open the file, you should be able select the arial view and see how beautiful the grove is for yourself. Enjoy!

To test or not to test..

2011-03-09T09:13:00.000-08:00

Another week has gone by and it's amazing that before you know it spring will be here and with that hopefully some nicer weather. Today a rain/snow mix is in the forecast and I could really do without both. Just one is more then fine...

Another couple of days and then I'll be off to Cleremont Florida for 6 nights to enjoy some bike riding, outdoor swimming at the NTC's amazing outdoor 5om pool and some great runs along the incredible orange grove trails. Hopefully I'll have the ability to post a few pictures while there so you can see the fun that were having. But first I'll have to get through the drive down. There'll be 4 drivers this time and hopefully it'll be a really easy drive down and back.

So a question that I've been debating recently is to Lactate balance test or lactate threshold test or not. Dave and Lisa have never been big fans of getting tested as they can be barriers to potential improvement. As a result they believe that perceived exertion should be the guideline to follow. In doing this, you would eventually see what numbers are consistiently manageable and which ones are unrealistic.

I guess the question is, are they ultimately doing the same thing? Percieved may get you there slower while getting tested may be unnatural because in any test sitution, you always bring your "A" game and your numbers may be stronger because of the adreneline.

I have found myself questioning this because in the last couple weeks, Dave has been pushing me to do some real hard efforts on the bike. Here's last nights 70min bike work out.

Tuesday-Bike CT 70 min- intensity – warm up 15 min loosen as you go – build to 160-170 watts; 5 x 30 sec hard – take 1:30 recovery – 210-250 watts; take an extra 5 minutes easy if you like then 6 x 3minutes as follows: The first 2 are 1:30 at 240 watts, 1:30 at 250 watts; The next 2 are 1:30 at 245 watts, 1:30 at 255 watts; The next 2 are 1:30 at 250 watts, 1:30 at 260 watts; Take 2 min in between each 3 minutes and option to take an extra 1-2 minutes in between sets; Warm down 15 minutes. Done! (70 minutes)

So basically 6 x 3 min in around 250 watts with a couple minutes rest. Now I can handle short burts of 250 watts (1min- 1:30) but what I'm finding is that getting past 2 min is really tough. Actually anything after 2 or 3 repetitions. Is the issue that I'm working too hard and then burning out? Is it external factors such as sleep, work, life that are preventing me from doing this?

I'm not sure what it is, but I guess that at the end of the day it's important to "go for it" and if you don't, you won't know where your limits are. Am I working too hard? probably... But sooner or later I'll be able to do it, and I'll be happy because I know that I've tried...

-Bryan

Our Lives are forever changed

2011-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

Happy March everyone,

It's amazing how time flys by and before you know it the winter is ending and spring is starting. I've been threatened by Greg that he'll take my link off his site if I don't start posting more frequently. So here goes,

The title today is a real surprising one for me. I guess it's pretty common sense that when you get "into" something, your whole outlook changes. The way you act, the things you read, how you spend your money and the people you spend time with. I had a friend once, who was "into" scrap booking. She had a little part time job over the local craft store, and on her weekends, she would spend time there hanging out with other people who were passionate about those same interests. The sport of triathlon is really no different and fits pretty well with this thought.

This whole thought came about last week when I was honoured to be included in the details about the funeral of Lisa Bentley's father who had been ill for some time. All week leading up to the funeral I was debating whether or not I would attend as funerals can be really personal events and I didn't want to impose my support at a time when perhaps only family and close friends should be around.

You see that's where I was wrong. Although, my relationship with Dave and Lisa is a buisiness one by nature, in many respects it's moved past that. We speak more often than I do to some people who I should be in touch with more often. I found myself sitting in the church, listening and thinking how it starts out as just a thing you get "into" but it becomes much more then that. We, (the people who have changed my life), celebrate, console, gripe, laugh and struggle together. Our lives are forever changed because of the people that you surround yourself with. Because of this I feel like I'm a better person, a better role model for my kids and a more involved husband to my wife.

So, to all of you out there, triathletes and normal people, thank you for being a part of my life and influencing me always for the better.

- B

Sunny Florida

2011-01-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

Over the winter holidays the family and I travel down to a really great place just outside of Sarasota Florida. It's kind of a pilgrimage of sorts as all of Sandra's family go to the same place for some or all of the two week block. It can be kind of crazy with everyone together, but I must say that it's great to have two weeks with just the kids and none of the home stresses to get you preoccupied.

Another reason why floriday is great is because it's a chance to get out of the basement and be outside on the road doing a little running and bike riding. Yes I bring my bike down... It's a great way to get out for a short while just to spin the legs and see the Island. From bridge to bridge it's just over 15km so I had a number of opportunities to get out and see how I've improved from year to year.

Running: Because we've been going to the same place for the last number of years, I've been able to see improvements over time. I don't know why I use florida to measure this but I do... So the distance from our place to one end of the island 6km and change. I remember years ago it taking me close to 36min. Last year I believe it was 32 or 34min. This year I ran it consistently in 31. This means that in nice weather I'm running a consistent low 5 min km and at the same time keeping my body in check..

I was also, for the first time brave enough to run the other way towards the Longboat key club. It was about 9km so in a 100 min run I was able to get 18+ km. Aside from races and the fact that was December, that was a personal best and a feeling to know that it's only December and I'm feeling great!!!

Cycling: I was able to see a lot of similar gains this year as I did with running. I knew that with my compact crank I've been getting stronger and sacrificing a little speed for a more well rounded performance. This year, knowing that the island was 15km each way and 30 round trip, I should have been consistenly in the 1hr range to finish a loop. Many days I felt great out on the bike and saw that the 1hr was more like 55 min for just under 31km.

The island is really funny, because one way is a terrible head wind and the other is a very fast tail. Into the wind I wanted to spin over 90rpm and try to stay over 30kph. With the tail I was consistenly able to see numbers close to 38 if not more.

I need to remember that these speeds may not be terribly reflective of me but the important thing is that the goal of getting stronger is definitely happening.

I was also brave enough to meet up with the boys from Ringling cycle. Anually they have a ride that many call the first race of the season or the last race. Either way these guys go hard and they push.

The day of this ride, it was colder - probably close to 12degrees and the winds were pushing close to 35kmph. Normally the guys had told me that there are usually 200 riders for this ride but today 50-60 - cool none the less. The first 20 min were light and easy. At some point they went from 28 to 36+ with the crazy wind. I got dropped pretty fast but so did a bunch of other riders. We all stuck together and luckily for me I was able to stay with them. The funny thing (or scary) about in land Florida is that it all looks the same. Thankfully I stayed with these guys because I'd probably be still out there had I gotten lost. We ended up with 45 miles (70km ish) in 2:20 keeping to a 30avg. The whole rest of the day I was dizzy.... Wow that was I hard ride.

2010-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

The Egg Nog Jog - Sunday Dec 12 2010

So this race was an interesting one. The distance was 10.8 km and by no means a long race by general long distance standards. It was located in Terra Cotta, which is just north of Caledon Ontario and for those who don't know this area - this is hill country.

A few weeks earlier, I was shut out of this race because it had sold out. Today was different, many people, including people from the group, had chosen last minute to sit out. The roads were bad and it was raining at this point but the conditions were manageable. I managed to get in under someone elses name. As it turned out, many people were not registered, making it really easy to just run without a bib.

The first 2km out of the Terra Cotta conservation area were straight downhill down Winston Churchill towards King. I took off like a bolt hoping to get some time on Rob and Liz, who always seem to put me through the paces. I think I may have even broken eight minutes. Unfortunately that was the were all of the easy running ended. From 2 to 3km, things flattened out and then from 3 to 4 to 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 to 9 were all relentless and very rolling hills. What made it worse was that many roads were icy and semi snow covered making it really tough to get any sort of footing. I remember at one point climbing one of the many hills looking down at my Garmin and seeing my pace at 8:30pkm and thinking - Oh god this is tough. I didn't walk though and kept moving.

Sure enough Rob caught me somewhere around 8km and he was looking fresh and full of legs. We stayed together for most of the rest until he realized that Steve - Another from our group, was just ahead. We charged ahead and he took off.

My official finishing time was 53:11 and I was really pleased with a sub 5 min pace on such a hilly route.

We'll definitely be back on that route later in the year as Lake Placid gets closer.

I know that that route was tough since my legs don't normally get sore have actually been sore for two days now. They're starting to come back today but I can still feel a little rock like in them.

What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger

2010-12-01T06:44:00.000-08:00

December is already here and I'm feeling like training has really begun.

NYAC tri swim has been back for almost 3 weeks now and I keep telling myself that I made a great decision going back to this swim squad. It was super expensive but I now know that keeping with it will only help me in the long run.

"What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger" is a line that I keep repeating to myself. The big thing about the new swim coach Brent is that he is big on technique and even bigger on kicking drills. In the last three weeks, we haven't piled on the meters - in fact it's been quite the opposite. Very few meters, but a tone of kicking drills. Here are a few..

head up, hand over hand just kicking - don't scull
right arm out - just kick
left arm out - just kick
one arm swim - focus on the kick
hold the board and one arm swim - focus on kick
hold the board at bottom face in the water and breath while kicking
hold the board at the top and kick hard
one arm swim with other hand on back - breath on hand on back side - focus on not dropping elbow to breath

As you can see there has been a tremendous amount of kicking. As a "non kicker" there were and still are tough. However, we did 50 yards hard today and I broke a min at 55sec. I even passed people, which I have never done either. I know this will make me a better swimmer getting me closer to that 1:00 -1:05 goal for the swim.

Brent has also been very vocal about the amount of meters we'll be doing in the winter months. He's said the goal will be to improve the swims by 2-4000m in the workouts. On monday we did 9x100 on 2:00 and today we did 12x100 on 2:00. We're getting anywhere between 20-30 sec rest which is great for this point.

Keep going, it'll only make you stronger....

Ding Ding - Round two...

2010-11-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it's been almost 16 months since I accomplished one of the hardest athletic tasks of my life. Five years ago, I was an overweight, frustrated runner who wanted to get faster, but didn't know how. As the story goes, I got a plan, lost the weight, and hired a coach. Lake Placid came and went and I did it! In 12:05 no less.

So 16 months later, on the challenge of Coach Dave and the and the permission of my wonderful wife, I've signed up again.... I swore 5 years... I promissed myself that I wouldn't sign up again, at least until the kids were older.

Oh well... Life is life and it's better to ask forgiveness then to beg permission right? Seriously, I was determinded to do things differently this time. I promissed to keep things in perspective; get up early, get my workouts done when I say I will and do my best at not interfereing with the real world.

It's interesting, there's something addictive about training for this stuff.. Maybe it's the need to be prepared, or maybe it's the desire to do well, I don't know. What I do know is that in the 16 months that have passed, I have made a number of gains in running, cycling and swimming and now I feel that I'm ready for another shot at it...

Last time I set the goal of 12hrs and finished bang on...

This time, I'm going to push the bar and set the goal of 11hrs. I know this is going to be a challenge but if I do what I'm supposed to, then I should get there. Last time I walked at least 45min on the run. I was tired no question, but I know that I can run 4hrs. On the bike, I know that I can shave at least 15-20min and come in under 6hrs. The swim? Well it's the swim, and everything should go well if I don't do anything stupid...

So there you have it. The goal of 11hrs...

I'm ready!!

T-minus one and counting

2009-07-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

And so there you have it.. It's 6:32 and hopefully by this time next week I'll be somewhere on my second lap of the run at Ironman lake placid. All day Like Greg and Simon posting on the emails... At this time next week details...

I too couldn't sleep well last night. I got thinking about the race, getting organized and finally getting there. It's been such an incredible experience and challenging pushing me to limits I never thought I had before. I'm greatful to have a family that allows me the support and opportunity to tri. I know I'm lucky.. I'm also fortunate to have made some incredible friends along the way... I've gotten to know Greg quite well over the last couple years that althought I'm sad to seem him retire, I'm excited to be a part of whatever journey pushes him next. Man this is going to be a great week ahead....

The big workouts are done and it's showtime.

Thursday July 16

2009-07-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

I went back to Habitat for humanity today and we put up the roof of the garage. It was cool to finally understand how to get those angles when putting plywood up.. I do know that I won't be back again until after the race next week, because I woke up this morning and my hamstrings were sore and I was feeling a little tired. It could also be that Tour over in France happening right now and watching it until 11pm can't help...

I rode today for 2.5 hrs and generally didn't feel it... I did it and it went ok but I could have just as easily skipped it... I know the training is done, the count down is on...

One week to leaving for Lake placid

2009-07-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

This time next week, I'll be in Lake placid. Bern wrote this on our email banter a couple of days ago.. I wanted to keep it because it did ring true. I fret, relax, ponder, fit in. Most of all I'm eager.. I look back over the four summers that I've been doing this and must say that it's crazy. This is by far the biggest athletic accomplishment of my life. Regardless of what the day brings, I look forward to it...

Bern wrote,

"Have to admit there's a certain sadness to the last days of training. This is where I find our different personalities shine thru.

We will have some IMLP athlete's sit back and know that the training is in the bank, and are cool and comfortable with the taper.

There will be other's that will have to "fit in" those last few workouts.

For some taper is just that, a comfortable mix of swim, bike, run and time to reflect on the race.

Some will drink beer ( Willem) others will partake in a fine scotch ( Steve/Bern), some will continue with their protein shakes.

Some will say "screw" the bath scales and a few will carefully try and shave off those last few pounds.

Some of you may have even started packing, some may pack the night before.

Most will fret in the days leading up to IMLP, the lucky ones will sit back and let the day unfold.................

Regardless of the who, what, where and when, what I do know is that sharing this journey with each and everyone of you has been so much fun. Whether it's been been vicariously thru emails, in the pool, on the bike, or on the run. I wouldn't trade a moment!

So enjoy the taper, for some may still consider it "training"...................

Enjoy the couch when you can and don't be shy and invite a bag of chips and an ice cold beverage along................

Sleep or snooze when you can...............................

Consider where you'll put that new tattoo!......................

Visualize the race course..................................

And listen for those words that bring a tear to your eye and goose bumps to your skin...........................

.....................YOU ARE AN IRONMAN..............................

12 days and counting............................................."

yes goose bumps....

Wednesday July 15

2009-07-15T17:24:00.001-07:00

So again I was a little crunched for time so I just did my run today and will bike tomorrow.. As things are sort of flexible at this point..

The run was a warm up and 5 x 1 km "punches". Dave suggested that I go at about 5:00per km but I was feeling really good today so I hit it hard. Each km was finished in 4:40 and a full three min recovery in between. I was really happy and now feel that my run is almost there...

Cool down and done...

I had my last strength workout last night and met up with claudia after the workout for a little beer and nachos to celebrate my year of working out with her... She has helped me feel stronger then I could really have imagined.. Heck I'm seeing some definition in my legs...

Anyways, the point was we talked a bunch about nutrition for the race.. I realized that I'm eating too much... I can probably do without 1 of my 1/4 pieces. Without that piece I've still got 350 in calories so I should still be fine...

I also realized that every full bottle that I carry is about 2pounds. Claudia suggested that one bottle (number 7) be without water and just have eload in it.. This way if I get to it, I just fill it up and if I don't need it then I didn't carry it for 6hrs. The reason why I don't think I'll need it was that I was reading that it wasn't good to eat right away and allow your body to equalize to an upright position from being lying down for an hour...

Therefore I won't have to worry about that extra bento box because I'll have less stuff...

any thoughts guys?

Tuesday July 14

2009-07-14T15:04:00.001-07:00

Habitat For humanity

So I joined up with a "build" for habitat for humanity today in Markham - 9th line and Rutherford. It was really cool because I love that stuff and I was hoping to learn a thing or two about building. I did. We framed the garage and I learned some key tips about studs being 16inches on centre - even with a window... I also learned how to tie two walls together (and not with a whole lot of nails) - using a top plate and extending it 3.5 inches.

Overall, a really cool day.... and way cooler then my 40 min run afterwards....I hope, after ironman to get back there for some more help...

Monday July 13

2009-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

AM swim

back to the pool this morning for 23oom. The main set was an 800m swim which I finished in 14:30min. I felt a little tired today - glad that's all that I had to do today..

AM - bike pick up...

Picked up the bike from Rick Choi today. He did an incredible job. Everything was cleaned and waxed. My race wheels were put on and tuned to the bike. It rode like the first day I picked it up.. So exciting.. He also convinced me to get this silicone stuff to put in the tube to seal a puncture. What this means (in theory) is that in the event of a flat, the silicone should re seal the puncture and I just have to inject more air. I couldn't not get it... because murphy's law would say that Flats would come a plenty...

Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday July 10,11,12

2009-07-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Friday - Weights

I always find that I don't get the same workout without Claudia... I just don't sweat the same - but I feel like I work the same. The workouts usually go faster on my own. Maybe having the company is more fun...

Saturday - Swim

Up at the cottage, there tends to be a bit of boat traffic on the water so there needs to be some caution when swimming.. I've swam up the that white boat house but it required swimming arcoss a tiny bay... because I was alone today I opted to skip the bay. Out and back was close to 35min so I was ok on the day...

Sunday - off

Thursday July 9

2009-07-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

AM Swim

So I met up with Scott this morning for an out and back swim at lake wilcox. Scott is a pretty incredible athlete and came in 7th total the other week at Peterborough. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with him but I was hoping to be in the same vacinity...

The swim went pretty well and Scott was long done by the time I got to each end. I was pretty happy about my sighting as I was able to stay fairly on target...

PM - 4hr ride and 30 min run

Because Friday was looking crazy, I decided to shift things around and do this ride today. Tim - my chiropractor had convinced me to try his aero helmet, so todays ride was to test things out on a long ride. I knew 4hrs would get me somewhere around 116km, but I'm convinced that with the aero helmet I was able to move at just under a 30kmph pace for the 4 hrs - completing 119.5 km. My HR was bang on around 145 most of the time. I could have had a tail wind most of time which may have helped but I was satisfied none the less.

The run was great... working hard for the 1st 15min and easy for the rest..

I'm definitely going to keep to the 27-28 kmph range for ironman barring any issues..

Wednesday July 8

2009-07-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

1hr run

I worked all day today and then did this run... It called for 20 min warm up and then 10 times a 30 second hill with 15min at a 5min per km pace.

Needless to say the warmup went well and most of the hills. It was when I got to the pace work that obviously things got tough. What was interesting was that the 5min pace didn't kill as much as I thought.. In fact when I thought I was at speed, I looked at my watch to find that I was going 4:40 or faster most of the time... So easing up felt much better and doable..

I finished tired and my HR was high.. around 175-180, however it was manageable - not for much longer maybe another 5 or so min. But next time I would definitely ease up faster and not drive the red line by staying even at 4:45-4:50.

Tuesday July 7

2009-07-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

Am Swim

So with all the temperature issues seemingly fixed at the pool I went for another swim. I also found a great time to go without having to wake up at the crack of dawn to get in the water...

I dropped Nate off at camp and went for my 3500m swim.

The workout was a whole bunch of warming up and skills which I like and then a series of 100m sets with decreasing amounts of rest. I shot of the blocks expecting to really go and then when the first 100 was done – and 20 second break was over, I knew that I was going to have to slow down if I was going to get another 14 100’s in…

The swim ended and I was glad I pushed when I needed to, but most importantly I was happy that I played it smart and did my best by pacing myself. To often it’s really easy to go hard at the beginning and then stop early because of being too tired…

PM Bike

I met up with my friends Ari and Steve, who had just got road bikes and were getting into riding. I knew that the intensity wasn’t going to be there but sometimes getting together with friends to get out is more important.

We rode 2hrs and covered about 50km +/- and it was just a fun all around ride. The wind was tough today… I really hope there’s some reprieve with wind coming back into Lake Placid from Willmington….

Monday July 6

2009-07-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

2hr bike

Part of the best thing about working with Dave and Lisa is that every once in a while I get to do a workout with them. Today it was just Dave and we met at his house to go for a two hour spin. It was a great ride but we had to ride up HWY 10 for about 5min - note to self - try to stay off of hwy 10. We warmed up for about 30min and then landed at this road and that was going to be the workout - hills. The hill didn't look too bad (mostly because I couldn't see the whole thing). The plan was to ride the hill 6 times.

The first time I barrelled up the hill not knowing what to expect... that was a mistake... The road takes Lisa about 6min to climb - me about 7 - not bad... but that was the first time. I knew that if I was going to last another 5 laps, I was going to have to find a better gear.

All told the next 5 laps went much better and my time didn't slow that much - I just found a better gear and kept my cadence as close to 90 as possible as opposed to 75 on the first time. My HR did climb really as high as 170 each time but the really cool part was watching it fall right to 110 on the descent.

2hrs later and 55km in the bank I was pretty pleased with my pacing efforts...

Friday July 3

2009-07-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

3hr ride and 2 hour run

I didn't really feel like battling the heavy winds today so I threw the bike on the computrainer and dailed it up to 150watts - and rode... I wasn't overly conserned about getting outside for this as Dave had told me the real goal was to figure out all of the nutrition issues and practice them..
I tried using a concentrate bottle - good idea but I have to take the sponge out before pouring..
I added another bento box to carry all of the food I need.. didn't rub and was a good idea - remember to put it all in a zip lock in case of rain from above...

I really don't want to depend on the Special needs bag - just in case I don't get and I don't want to really wait around for it...

2hour run off the bike
This run was also great! 21.25 km in 2hrs. I decided that I wasn't going to use my fuel belt but instead a single bottle and refill it when necessary... Again I carried extra eload and gels, so all I needed was water and no sense in carrying it all for the whole time. Water is water....
It was a great idea and I was happy I did it..

Thursday July 2nd

2009-07-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Swim
This was a crowded swim as I went when the Day camp was using...

The swim was 6 x 400's at various paces - basically getting the start of the ironman swim going and then cruising...

I got 4 of the 400's before the kids bumping into me really started bugging me...

I'll stick to the 6am swims..

Wed July 1

2009-07-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

AM Ride
Because of the strength session last night, I moved my bike ride to Wed morning.. It truned out to be a bad I idea because I bonked about an hour in...

The ride called for 3 times 20 min building every 5 min... I got the first two and bailed on the third.. All this finishing school has really slowed things down for me. I'm catching up on sleep but it's making me generally tired.

PM 45 min form Run
This was a great run - I must have eaten and got right back on the horse as this one worked... and nothing hurt...

Monday June 29 Tuesday June 30

2009-07-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

Recovery swim and strength

Not much to report on these two days... My legs were tight on Monday and was glad to get in the pool to stretch it out...

Catch Up

2009-07-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Well I've decided I'm not very good at keeping this log up to date. However the reality is that I do enjoy updating it and looking back over time to see what's been done and how I've felt along the way...

Saturday June 27 / Sunday June 28

One of the really great thing about working with Dave and Lisa is the ability be around them and train at the same time. They are such a positive pair and even when the going is really tough.. they exude some sort of "but you liked it though didn't you".
This weekend was tough... Saturday was a long ride and the plan was to be up in Muskoka to ride that Blasted 70.3 route twice to really beat myself up as the last long ride...

Sandra decided that she wanted to come up as well so why not - we book a really nice room at deerhurst and away we went for a weekend getaway.. Sandra would sleep and I would train.
When we got up to deerhurst we noticed that the roads were in bad shap with all of that construction. When I talked to Dave, he suggested that I cut out the 8km from Deerhurst to Dwight beach. I couldn't be happier as I believe that to be the hardest part of the course and I guaruntee that I would have convinced myself to stop after one loop and that 16km done.. So I did two loops around the lake of bays which would add up to right around 155. I wasn't unhappy with that - that was tough riding - similar to Lake placid. I did the two loops in 5:20- right on target to hit 6:30. Off I went after the ride for a 30min out and back run.. Felt great...

I've noticed my HR was a little high off the bike but I'm still conversational and the perseived feeling isn't over doing it...

That afternoon I joined Lisa and Dave as part of their camp for a little swim work out.. We did some drills and then I joined a couple other people for an actual swim. We basically did the swim course - I didn't time myself but this group was fast and I was a little tired. Easy does it.. and relaxed - working on rolling and slipping through the water.

Sunday 3 hr run
Today I ran the new run course. It wasn't much different then last years but the golf course was gone and so were those two out and back roads. Basically this route is an out and back - out to hwy 60 and along to fairy view road and then out and up muskoka rd 3 ( big hill here) and back along the fairy vista trail to the resort.
I added here and there to get the three hours in - I may have run 30 but it might have been slightly less.. My achilles flared just a little so right into the ice bath to cool it down.

Wednesday June 24

2009-06-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Am Swim

I went over to the club bath today (another 87 degrees) and did 2500m. The workout was 4 times 4x100 descending.

The first two sets were great! 1:50, 1:47, 1:45, 1:41... Then the 3rd and 4th slowed a little as I started to over heat... although my 4th in each set was 1:46, I was pleased.

PM Strength

I met up with Claudia at the down town studio and we chatted about Peter a little. Man were we both proud of him. RAAM is so hard that even just getting there is such an accomplishment...

The workout itself was great and although I've said it before, I feel like little by little I'm getting stronger.

Tuesday June 23

2009-06-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

90min recovery spin

Today was nice and easy 90 min recovery spin. I know I'm probably supposed to ride outside for recovery stuff but I like challenging things a little so I set the CT to 135watts and spun..

I felt great afterwards!

Monday June 22

2009-06-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

Daniel got his Tonsils out today... up at 4am...

Zilch training...

Sunday June 21

2009-06-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's day...

7hrs bike 30 min run.

I headed out the door at 5:45 this morning to meet up with Kathie and John and Willem for another epic long ride. We met at Angus Glen CC - Can you believe the cops told Kathie not to park at Victoria square any more...

We scooted around a little and then went to meet Simon, Sid, Steve and Bern over at Lake Wilcox as they were finishing their swim. We all then headed east out to 4th conscession (I couldn't find it on a map and I wouldn't know which way to walk if I was dropped off there..) and then up to Zephyr and to Lake simcoe and back. Along the way back Kathie lost a spoke and her wheel came out of true. That really freaked me out because - what if that were to happen on race day - what would I do... ride real slow and hope for the best?

The ride was great, nutrition was bang on and aside from a little neck soreness I felt incredible... Over the 7hrs I covered just under 200km (195 I think). The average speed was helped by speeds of over 40kmph going south..

Over all a great day...

Saturday June 20

2009-06-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Rain Days

So I was supposed to ride for 7 hrs and run for 30min off the bike today... but due to the miserable weather out there, I just couldn't bare the cold wet feeling again. I've done it enough this year and wasn't interested today.

Instead I headed over to the pool for a swim that I slept in on the other day. The swim was 3300m and the main set was 4x 5x100m. Sets 1 and 3 were on 30sec rest and 2 and 4 were on 10 seconds rest. Because of my issues with the pool temp, swims have been tough to keep pace times. Today is was probably close to 85degrees (still too hot for a low ceiling indoor pool). I made it through - no question but paces were tough... Each 100 I was probably leaving the wall at 2:05 on the 10 sec rest and 2:15 on the 30 sec rest.

I'm not sure what to do about swimming... I know as the old saying goes.. what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger.... Swimming in warm water can't be that bad.. I just have to get enough recovery...

Thursday June 18

2009-06-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

PM Run

I was really excited to get back out there and run today. My achilles has been feeling good and I was really happy to get this run in. In the hour I covered just over 10.3km and my HR was right around 150. What a weight off my shoulders...

Wednesday June 17

2009-06-17T07:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Strength and Wed AM Lake Wilcox

I love going to workout with Claudia. Every week I look forward to it and every week she beats me up and then writes the plan out so I can beat myself up again later in the week. It's great because every week we chat about the past weeks events, she did the Ride to conquer cancer and I did the Muskoka race. She informed me that the ride next year will have a 200 mile option... Sounds interesting, maybe something to consider...

I find that week after week I'm getting stronger. Today I graduated to the 25 pound dumbells.

Wed AM at Lake Wilcox

So I met Greg this morning at 6am. I was tired waking up and was hoping in the back of my head that it might be raining or that Greg will have slept in or something. The great thing about Greg is that he's always there... keeping me honest...

Just before getting in Willem showed up. I do hope he gets over this lake thing he has right now. That can be quite frustrating...

So out and back was the plan. When I start the clock, that means go and don't usually puddle around... I just take it easy, taking it slow, getting lots of air and finding my rhythm. I got the the other side in 17min, looked around for Greg and then waited another min or so and then went to meet him.

Coming back had a little bit of a wind to it but I was much happier sighting today at least heading in a general straight direction...

Easy run this eve.... today will be a good test to see how my achilles is doing..

Monday June 15

2009-06-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

PM Swim

It was great getting back in the pool today to do some sort of recovery swim. I wasn't feeling as thrashed as I expected the day after a race - maybe a little sore but nothing else. That's a good sign that meant the race was controlled and probably well executed.

I know I'm going to have another battle on my hands though... The pool at RHCC!

The temperature was a whopping 87 degrees... and the air was killer...I'm no pool guy but I know that 87 is too hot...

My swim was slow - all 2600m probably because of the pool temp and a recovery effort thrown in for good measure... I don't think I'm complaining unnecessarily - with the pool that hot, I can barely breath every 2 strokes, let alone 3, 4, 0r more...

I just got my weekend plan and this weekend is a big one.. thankfully its fathers day so I may be ok...

Muskoka Chase

2009-06-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

This was my first time doing this race and second time doing a long course triathlon. The swim was 2km, bike 56km, run 15km.

Greg and I headed up Saturday after his garage sale. We went straight to the race site to check things out, pick up our kits and check the water. The sun was shining so things were looking good. We saw Lisa and Dave and spent a few minutes chatting with them. It's so great that when I see Lisa, she's so positive and cheery. She was happy to see Greg and I and I thought it was real menchy to ask out my achilles, reminding me to ice and take care of it... Dave was the same way, offering support where ever necessary.

Lisa went off to do a swim so Greg and I went to check out the water. It really wasn't that bad, more refreshing then cold. Lisa also didn't think it was so bad... and she always gets cold.

We headed off to the cottage to meet up with Sandra and the kids. Hopefully they had been behaving as she had been alone with them since lunch and it was now close to 3. We had a nice dinner and got to be nice and early.

Race morning....

Up at 5am had some breakfast and out the door at 5:30. We knew it takes about 45 min to get there and we wanted to get there early to have time for the 101 things to take care of. When we did get there, it was already very busy.... I got into transition and to my surprise I had pole position. My bike was parked right across from the bike in and out sign... now there was no chance of getting lost in Transition.

Time was moving fast now and before I realized it, I had to get down to the water... no warm up today... it was going to have to be in the water once the horn went. I made it to the start with about 4min to spare.... jumped in and moved my arms around a bunch to try and get the blood going. When the horn did go, I was off... I was really excited about my new wetsuit and looking forward to a good swim. About a couple min in I got really "burpy" almost every stroke was with a burp but thankfully no "chuck". I made my way around and came to the end at 38min. It wasn't the 36 I was hoping for but it wasn't bad...

The bike was controlled... I was planning 200 watts +/- I was feeling really good dropping to the easy ring for the tough hills (not doing anything silly) and my nutrition was going perfectly every 15min a little power bar piece. I even went through my two bottles and probably could have used more with the heat... Coming towards the end of the bike I popped a gel and was feeling great. I finished the bike at 1:49 - avg 30km/ph

The run was sort of a different story... I put my old HR strap on for the bike because my SRM reads the original coded polar and not the new WIND ones. So when the run started, I switched transmitters thinking that the new watch would just start working... It didn't... so I didn't have HR for the run. I think for Lake Placid, I'll ride the bike with my new Heart Strap... and that way I won't risk any issues for the run. It was probably a good things since I wanted to run hard get as close to 5min/km as possible to shoot for 1:15. Since I was blind I started taking a lap time every Km to at least get an idea of how I was doing. Pace was good, I remember why I didn't like those Ediscs - chewable eload disc, because I didn't have enough water with me... I liked the feeling of being free of a water belt, however, it wasn't good to get a little bit every km as I really had no gage of how much I was drinking. I did like the gels stuffed in a bottle with a little water, I just have to remember when my next gel time was because I got confused a little... I finished the run at 1:19. I was pleased! Dave told me for Lake Placid, just don't walk... even going so slow running is still fast then a fast walk... I that's what I did, I ran the whole way and was proud of that....

I came across the finish at 1:52 and change and was really happy to see Dave waiting there to congratulate me, getting me to stuff ice on my achilles as soon as possible. I was so happy for Lisa, winning the females race.

I then went to meet up with the gang to wait for Greg. He was started about 30min behind me and I saw him at about 2.5km as I was coming back in.. The gang was all hanging out, and suddenly the gels started going through me, so I hope Greg wasn't upset but I had to get back to transition and "GO"....

All told a great experience... and was really happy with my results today.

It's all coming back to me....

2009-06-15T07:12:00.001-07:00

It's been some time since my last post... I know, I know... life gets busy and before you know it, you're just trying to hang on, get the workouts in and spend time with the family. In the last two weeks, I've layed off the running to allow for my achilles to get back to normal and properly heal.

Bacel Ride for Heart Sunday June 7

This was an incredible event. If you haven't heard of it before, this ride completely closes down the Gardiner expressway and the Don Valley Parkway to allow more then 13000 riders to ride the route up and down.

I was interested in this even for two reasons. One was that, this ride was something different and that I've never done before - as well not to mention the fact that I had a four hour ride to do and was looking for something fun.

The other reason, was that a group that I ride with sometimes out of Young and Sheppard was doing this to support Douglas Stoddard of eload to help promote eload a little. Not that we were going to be able to change the world promoting eload, however, since a little product was thrown our way, it certainly didn't hurt.

I wanted to get 4 hours in just spinning away and so I decided to park about 20 min away from the CNE and ride down. It was cool riding through downtown at 6am - no cars to swerve around and green lights all the way. I knew the ride home was going to be much different.

We started and rode the route down the Gardiner - the wind was at our back and we had a great draft line going..

When we hit the DVP - everything changed. I didn't realize that the way up to York Mills was mostly up hill and add in the head wind, things got tough.

The way the route worked was that when you get to York Mills, you turn around and ride south bound back to Bloor and then back to York Mills and back to the CNE to complete the 75 km loop.

I loved doing the loops because you get this ridiculously fast downhill back to Bloor, so there was a nice break before you had to work again. When I back to Bloor the second time I started getting a little nervous about riding back through downtown again to the car so instead of going back to the CNE, I did another York Mills/Bloor loop. By now the slower riders were making their way up the DVP and things were getting very busy. Now, the 3rd time back to Bloor I decided to duck "off" the DVP and cut out the downtown ride.

4hrs and 115 km later I had a great experience... I would highly recommend this ride to anyone.

Thursday June 3

2009-06-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Am Swim

So today Marks the day of the inagural pigrimage to Lake Wilcox. My Chiropractor Tim has already been going for a couple of weeks and said the water wasn't that bad...

We got in and even though the water was cold my face didn't burn like it did in Lake Placid.. We swam out to the other side and back. Going was great, straight line and all but coming back was horrendous... straight into the sun and I couldn't see a thing! I swam into the tiny cove on the left side and then swam somewhere into the middle of the lake before making it back...

I'll say it again, that wetsuit was increadible.. last year one way would take me about 19/20min and today was 17min one way...

Wednesday Jun 3

2009-06-03T18:47:00.000-07:00

Well I was glad to not have to do anything this past Monday as I was feeling a little tired after that weekend away. My achillies was also acting up a little - as expected after logging over 200km during the weekend...

Tuesday I opted to juggle my swims a little and just go and see Claudia for some strength work...
She beat me up as usual.

Today (Wednesday)
Ride - this was pretty straight forward.. just rpm 90 or plus and ride... so I set my ct at 150 watts (zone 2) and went.. I know it wasn't the free ride that was expected... however, I wanted to work that 150 watts as much and long as possible...

Off to Lake Wilcox in the AM...

Wednesday May 27

2009-06-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

90min Ride
warm up 15 min easy gradually build wattage 150-160; then do 5 x 1 min build wattage on each one as you warm up – 180, 190, 200, 210, 220 watts – take 1 min easy spin in between each one; 5 min easy; 5 x 5 min hard riding – these are very hard – think of each one as an individual workout and go for it – maintain 90 rpm – so if your last 1 min interval was at 220 watts, then aim for 210 watts – but don’t set any limits – challenge yourself on this and push it – you can always ease off the wattage if you need to – take a full 5 min recovery in between; warm down for 10 minutes
So the workout on this day was pretty tough - but the hard parts were only 5min long... So I went for it... 215watts for all 5sets...
I felt really strong and going into the Lake Placid weekend I wanted to know I could push if I needed to.

Lake Placid Weekend

2009-06-03T18:20:00.001-07:00

I was really looking forward to this weekend... It was going to be the determining weekend to break any mental barriers down that would prevent me from thinking that I couldn't do this race.
We Got there on Friday and the weather wasn't great - somewhat chilly and wet the whole weekend..Since we arrived early we drove around on the bike course and then checked in and went down to the lake - thank god for that swim cap because it was COLD. I swam out to the first bouy while the others were deciding to go or not. My face was freezing... Then I just went for it... After about 10min everything was fine and I was happy that I went... We swam for an hour and acording to the GPS it said 4.5km - something didn't seem right. The actual swim course wasn't there - it was modified, so I was able to follow the line and that wet suit was incredible...
Saturday the two loops were good. I had one flat - the roads were really rough and the wind coming back into Lake Placid was really strong so it was tough. Running time on the 180km including the flat was 7:05 (I'd say 635 without) - I might consider going slightly easier next time and the 45min run was really strong - my pace was 5:30kms and my hr was low 150s. I was really proud. The group that did the reverse loop took 1.5hrs to climb 10miles into the wind... Not fun..
Sunday my 2hr run was strong but my legs were a little heavy... I covered the loop in 2:03 with my hr 145-150.
All told it was a great weekend - I'm glad that I went. Now with 6/7 weeks to go, I know that I can do this and that my training is working. I now look forward to it and not feel nervous about it...
I tried a one piece tri -suit that Dave gave me to try for the race. It was a typical trisuit but had a beefed up shammy that you could run with as well. It was great and very comfy - just hard to "pit stop" in....
I'm really glad to have a supportive family to allow me to do this.. it really means a lot....

Tuesday May 26

2009-05-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was feeling really tired this morning and didn’t really want to swim. I ended up convincing myself of about a million different plans to get the swim in, but they all ended with “just get out of bed and get it done”…

I went to Steve’s and still was half assing everything – just wasn’t in the mood… So I did some of his workout and then got out after about 45min… Whatever, I had a good swim on Sunday, Monday so I can have a lazy day on Tuesday…

Monday May 25

2009-05-27T17:31:00.000-07:00

2km TT

I hadn’t been out to NYAC in almost 3months but Greg convinced me to come out and just use the TT as a bench mark to see how things were going. Anyways I did and it was a good swim. I came in at 36:25 and felt really strong…. I’m getting ready…. 2 months to go…

Sunday May 24 - Race Day

2009-05-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Race Day 400m swim 15km bike and 5km run

So because Nathan was doing his first race today I decided to enter this race for adults that started much earlier in the morning. There was something about Milton that I didn’t want to be part of – maybe it was all the P3’s and Aero helmets in the try a try.

The swim was in the local Caledon Public pool – an 18m pool with 4 lanes. Waves were set off in 10 min sets with 8 people per wave. Hans Portan – Yes the same guy from the masters swim meet who was out of the water 6 min ahead of me in the 1500 race, was sharing a lane with me… I asked him not to lap me too many times, he laughed - Too humble…

In effect he only lapped me once in the 400m and I came out of the water with my fastest 400m swim at 6:45. Dave said my first 100 was close to 1:18 – Wow…

The bike was 5 laps of 3km – kind of silly but I’m glad I brought my road bike with all the corners and gears to change. I thought I finished the bike just under 30min – I was having slow transitions today and added a couple min here and there.

The run was strong! I felt great! And my issue with my Achilles was gone with my new shoes in tow… The route was a little up and down so it wasn’t my fastest 5km (Toronto Island 2yrs ago 22:20) and this one was 22:50 at a pace of 4:36. I was pretty pleased.

My finishing time was 1:03 and low and behold an age group win – yes a win – first place in the 30-34 age group! Wow that’s a first ever for me.

Nathan’s race,

I was really excited for Nathan today and so was he. We spent some time the night before and packed his bag. In hind sight – packed too much stuff but it was a fun experience. He loved getting together his favourite t-shirt and socks and making sure his helmet fit and tires were pumped up.

His actual race was about 4min since the swim was one length of that 18m pool and the bike was to the end of the parking lot and then the run was to the finish line…

He loved going to get his race number and go through body marking – he thought it tickled…

We then got changed and went to hang out near the pool to wait for our wave to be called. When we went into the pool, we saw all the kids putting on life jackets. Nathan was smiling because he knew that he was going to be the only kid in his wave without one – because he actually didn’t need one. He has been taking swim lessons for 2 solid years now and he can use big arms and actually do a couple strokes before pausing.

So we both got into the water and waited to start, and then some lady who worked for the race came up to Nathan and asked him if he wanted a jacket because the water was deep – well that spooked him and although he said no she then went and begged me to have a noodle to hold onto. I didn’t want one but she begged and I didn’t want to have an argument in front of Nate.

When the race started, Nate threw his plan out the window and decided that he was going to hang onto me for the length. I could have killed that lady but Nate was having fun and that’s all that mattered.

When we got out of the water he was on cloud nine. He ran down the shoot and was waving and giggling and having a blast. He loved the fact that he was going to ride his bike in a wet bathing suit.

We got his shoes and socks and shirt on and then put his helmet on jumped on his bike. I didn’t realize but the bike ride was to the end of the parking lot down a hill and he flew – I had trouble keeping up with him.

At the end of the parking lot, they re racked the bikes and he took off towards the finish line – another 100m away.

He crossed the finish line smiling – he had a blast! He loved his meddle and was wearing it all day.

Overall a great experience – Something I think he would like to do again. He was also impressed to see the older kids doing it on their own.

Saturday May 23

2009-05-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

A day before my first race I was nervous going into today as Adam had always given me a super, almost why bother workout, today was different. There was no plan to taper for my race Sunday because that race was just a “go” race. I hadn’t done any speed work so it was go and get out there and have fun.

Am Swim

6x50 – 25 fast / 25 easy and then 8 x 100 fast on 2:00 with lots of rest. Each 100 I came right in at 1:43/44 and was super pleased with 16sec rest. The difference today was that I was really trying to over roll or what felt like over rolling. I don’t think I did anything different except for that and I think it really made a big difference time wise.

2-3 hr bike

The plan called for 2/ 3 hrs and was invited out with Larry Optis at Richmond Hill for a group ride. I wasn’t going hard and was looking to enjoy a nice spin ride. The group was sort of mixed so we agreed to stick together.

That worked out really well because along Weston Rd just at the top of that monster hill I blew a flat. I changed it and then upon inserting the CO2 I snapped the stem… With no more spares.. one of the guys lend me another and helped me back together. He had this great tool called a quick lever, that is a single lever that rapidly opens and closes the tire. It was incredible.

I came back in at 2:20 and now needed a trip to silent sports to pick up some stuff and to get a quick lever… I’m ready now…

Thursday May 21

2009-05-27T17:27:00.001-07:00

Am Swim

My Swim that was called for Tuesday couldn’t happen because on Tuesday my legs were done after that 2 .5 hr run Monday so I chose to wait a couple days and do it today.

The workout was 3x 800m broken up – 1 – straight swim, 2 – pull and 3 – paddles and pull. It was a great workout - I don’t remember what the times were but I was pleased to have done it and logged another 3km.

45 min Run

This was straight forward with a little race prep of 6 x 30 sec at 5km pace. A Good run

Thursday May 21

2009-05-27T17:27:00.000-07:00

Am Swim

My Swim that was called for Tuesday couldn’t happen because on Tuesday my legs were done after that 2 .5 hr run Monday so I chose to wait a couple days and do it today.

45 min Run

This was straight forward with a little race prep of 6 x 30 sec at 5km pace. A Good run

Wednesday May 20

2009-05-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

45min Bike and 15min run - Race tune up

Finally my new shoes came.... Thank heavens!!!

Today's bike workout was a fairly straight forward warm up and then 3x5min at race pace. I set my race pace to be 205 watts. All three setts went really well - although I was sweating... It felt good to push.

Then off the bike to a 15 min run that broke down to 5 min hard and 10min choice. My new shoes were great and the achilles didn't do a thing. I did my standard 15min loop and came back to the house at 13min..

All in all a great workout...

Monday May 18

2009-05-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

2.5 hr run

Because I had to me the LTR group I decided to make their run part of my long run. I left the house and ran down Yonge to centre and then looped in there a little to meet the group for 6:30 and we did their 20 min run. I then headed back out to Bathurst and across hilda or York hill - I'm not sure which one and the back out the Yonge and then home. The clock said 2:35 and I know it was probably more like 2:20 but my HR was pretty constant the whole time.

Hopefully those new shoes come in soon, I'm feeling my achilles a little more and could really use them before anything gets worse.

Sunday May 17

2009-05-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

5 hour bike and 30 min run

To start, today was probably the toughest ride that I have ever done. It wasn't that I went too hard because I didn't... that wind was killer today.

I started with 2hrs on the computrainer on the Lake Placid Video and was determined to go easy, keep the cadence at 90 or better and just peddal. After two hour I rode up to Lake Wilcox to meet the gang and go for a two hr ride. So when you add it all up the 2hr plus the 30min each way and the 2hr ride that made 5 hours.

The issue as I said was the wind and we started out and going north was tough. The wind was coming from the west and so we thought south was going to be easy but it turned out to be gusty as going north. I even had my first fall... My wheel hit the back wheel of Steve and I went down. Nothing serious just a scrape....

All of this was nothing until I went west along Aurora rd and thankfully Steve was there to share the work because I think the speed slowed right down to about 20kmph or less.

All told I rolled back into the house at 5:03 and covered 140km. Given the conditions, I was very pleased.

Saturday May 16

2009-05-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

2-3hour ride

I woke up this morning and it was pouring… I mean really pouring. I was supposed to meat Dave at 7 and do 5hrs. I emailed him and said I was not coming because of the rain. Truth – I think I was a little tired from yesterday.

I went back to bed and then woke up again just before 7 and the rain had stopped so I called Dave – he was already on the road but he was planning a loop back to the lot at 9am.

I showed up at 8:45 and stayed around until 9:30 but no Dave. As it turned out Dave’s peddle broke off his crank. So I went out on my own out to the Durham/York line up to Davis and down Warden. It took me about 2:20min and I didn’t get rained on….

I had to take my SRM in for a new Battery today – It needs to be sent to Colorado and La Bicicletta told me about 2weeks. That makes it pretty tight for the trip to Lake Placid in two weeks. However, they did say that they would have a power tap for me to use as well as a crank…

I’ll need to race next week in Caledon on my road bike. Oh well, only 15km.

Friday May 15

2009-05-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

Day off – Not!

So after school I made plans with Steve to go with him to watch the masters championships. He had a couple of his swimmers swimming so I thought it would be a good experience and go watch. I had never been to an adult swim meet before much less to watch 1500m heats.

David – one of Steve’s swimmers and an Ironman as well was swimming at 5:30 and he came to Steve to really work on the swim and he did. Last year his 1500m was 31min and this year he swam 28 and change. Way to go Dave.

After Dave we had a little wait until the next heat that he had swimmers in. But as it turned out one of his swimmers didn’t show. Steve looked at me and said “wanna swim?” Now I didn’t have a suit or goggles and the heat that I was going to be in was for people who could better 23min. Some days are good but I know that I can’t keep 130’s so I was just going to go and do my best. I wanted to swim at least 27:30 which would mean 150’s and anything slower would be disappointing. My final time was 25:52 and I only got lapped by the guy next to me twice. Here is my break down:

100 1:29 800 1:47

200 1:40 900 1:43

300 1:43 1000 1:44

400 1:44 1100 1:46

500 1:45 1200 1:45

600 1:42 1300 1:45

700 1:41 1400 1:47

1500 1:41

It looks like my avg was 1:44/45 which is great. I was tired at the end but I probably could have kept going. Was that an OLY swim pace? No way but I think it could have been close. With no prep and just doing it, I was pretty pleased.

Thanks to Hans – One of Lisa’s Bike guys who was at her training camp last year. He leant me a pair of goggles and gave me a little positive thing just before the swim.

Thursday May 14

2009-05-16T18:47:00.001-07:00

AM swim

The main set today was 5x200 and 5x100 and the 100’s were supposed to be faster then half of the 200’s.

For some reason my legs were tired so I pulled today. The 200’s were finished on avg of 3:30 so that meant I needed 1:45 or better for my 100’s. I was able to finish them on 1:40.

I was pretty pleased today.

Wednesday May 13

2009-05-16T17:21:00.000-07:00

45 min Hill Run

This was a fairly straight forward hill run. Normally I jump on the treadmill and do the hills and done. However today I decided to go outside and run the longbridge hill. Longbridge was considered “the hill” for the old running room so it was nice to go back to it. Thinking way back it took me about 2:50 to run the hill but that was a long time ago before formal coaching / training.

I parked the car ran down 15 min to longbridge. When I got there, the plan was to run up 2min and then down whatever it took. After 15min I had covered five laps. I ran home.

Tuesday May 12

2009-05-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

Monday Swim take two...

Since I felt like I was swimming through mud yesterday... I decided to do it again.

I was glad I did... the 200 was 3:26, 400 was 7:11, 600 was 11:13, and 800 was 14:40. This all means that I'm staying very consistent on 1:50's regardless of the distance. That feels good because I'm not slowing down as the distance gets longer....

Greg posted a funny thought today: It looks like we’ve only got about another 45k swim, 1,800k bike and 280k run left of training to do!

It feels like a lot when you think of it that way...

Weights tonight...

Monday May 11

2009-05-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

Morning Swim

Today nothing worked... I was dragging what felt like through mud... The set called for fairly easy 200 on 4min, 400 on 8min, 600 on 12min and 800 on 16min. I should have been able to get through it no problem... However, half way through the 600m set I bonked... so I got out and went for coffee and called it a "bad swim". I'm going to try this one again tomorrow... I might be thinking that the ventilation at RHCC is poor and thus very humid in the pool which might be why I feel so terrible finishing... However, I don't want to start making excuses... it was probably just a tired morning...

Sunday May 10

2009-05-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

2hr Ride

I was excited to meet up with John this morning. I hadn’t seen him in forever and I really did miss not getting together for rides. John had somewhat of a back issue at the end of the summer last year and was out of commission for close to 4months.

We had agreed to meet at 7:30 this morning and ride for a couple of hours and be home in time for the Mother’s day festivities. Man it was cold this morning… probably close to 3 or 4 degrees. I dressed in my early April attire and I needed all of it. John lent me an extra pair of gloves to shield that wind.

We thought about going North/South but the wind was killer, so we went Elgin Mills to the York – Durham line and back. On the way home we misjudged the wind and found it pretty strong.

In 2hrs and a bit we covered close to 58km. Given that it was cold and the company was good, I had a good ride.

As it turned out I got home and by about 11am the sun was out and the weather was great… Too bad I had to leave at 7:30am.

Saturday May 9

2009-05-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

Morning Swim with Tereza

I signed up for Tereza Macel’s swim clinic today and I was really excited given that Greg had attended 3 of them and said that it was well worth it. The forecast for the day was pretty terrible so I was glad to have worked in a swim day today. Given that I have a somewhat decent stroke I was really looking for that tip to keep me from being flat in the water and roll my body more.

One neat drill she had us do was during the recovery phase when your arms are moving out of the water – instead of making a high elbow and moving the hand along the water, she had us go as straight as possible and as fast as possible. When we did this, we naturally didn’t straighten our arms, but created some sort of flick in our hips to roll the body – helping the arms get higher. It was tiring but it definitely worked. Another was thinking about the hands as they go into the water and how close the legs are together when kicking making sure the back isn’t arching. I reaffirmed my decision to work with Dave because working with the pull at the ankles was already one drill he gives me.

The clinic actually reminded me of Murray Drudges clinic he gave to the NYAC group back in December. It was good, I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I did benefit from it.

Friday May 8

2009-05-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

So… I decided that Thursday was going to be off and Friday after work ride and brick, Saturday Run, Sunday Ride the ride I missed on Thursday.

3+ hour Ride and 30min Run

I now know better then to arbitrarily just change the plan and do what I feel like. I started out my ride feeling great! Food was right on and water was good and my legs were moving. I decided to follow up Bayview as far as I could go and then turn around – hopefully at the 2hr mark. However I’m riding up Bayview and suddenly Bayview wasn’t there anymore.. As it turns out Bayview turns into Propect in Newmarket and to make this adventure better, Propect ends just after Davis Dr. So back I went to Davis Dr. By now the clouds are getting quite dark and not looking so good. I crossed the 404 at Davis and went as far as Warden hoping that the clouds were more central to Leslie to Yonge. No… It started pouring and I wasn’t going to continue going north as the rain clouds were following me. So, if you can’t beat’em, ride through em. I turned south on Warden and figure it would be better to be closer to home if the rain really started and it did. For the better part of the next hour and a bit, I got drenched. I didn’t feel comfortable riding in my aero position because I could barely see but my nutrition kept on going well and I was pleased with that..

Once I entered Richmond Hill, the rain did slow and I was happy about that move south. Along Elgin Mills the Sun actually came out and there was no way I could turn home a) because the clock read 1:45 and B) the sun was out so why not ride on… I turned up Leslie and then turned again at 19^th and followed 19^th to Bathurst and then North to King back to Yonge. I stopped for a quick second to say Hello to Doris but it seemed that she wasn’t home. I then followed North Lake to Bayview and then south to home. The Clock read 2:55 and I covered about 84 km. I was pleased with that… Sometimes riding in the rain – no matter how much we hate it, is good character building to build good training.

Within 10min I was out the door and running back to my school to pick up my car. It was about a 7km trip to school and the run called 15 min strong and then 15 min choice. I felt really good and wanted to beat any further rain. However my HR was on the higher side but the effort felt strong and I was happy to be moving. I got to the car at 34 min and for 7km that was close to 5min pace if not a little faster…. I love it when that happens.

Wednesday May 7

2009-05-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

60min run

I hadn't been out the running room in a really long time for one of their group runs and see the old gang that I started running with. They all knew that I started triathlon and was training for the ironman but it's really funny because all of the old gang just expect you to run with the group, join the clinics or they think that you're not training anymore... That can't be further from the truth - in fact running with the group prevented my training by not allowing me to train MY training because I feel that with the group - you're either not working hard enough so others can keep up or you're working too hard to keep up with others. I've realized that if you're supposed to do a zone 2 but you're doing a zone 4 to keep up with others you're only preventing yourself from getting better and possibly inflicting yourself with an injury from training too hard...

My run this eve went well it was 60min with some hills thrown in for good measure.. I really hate that 10 and 1 meathod - too much stopping and starting and hard to find that rhythm.... but it was fun to see the old group and get out with Chris the manager there... he's got a pretty good running background and we're pretty similar in terms of our thoughts about running...

Monday May 4 / Tuesday May 5

2009-05-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Morning Swim

Monday's swim was good, I guess I'm feeling the need for a recovery week because I was very sleepy getting into the pool this morning. The main set was 6x100m of that GOLF swimming where you add your time plus your stroke count to get your score. On 25m I can't really get anything much better or consistently faster then 16/17 strokes. My time really dogs and what I've realized is that if I go faster I add 2 strokes to make 18/19 an I really go faster. I think I'll take the added strokes and speed. Then I had to do 12x100 on 2:10 going one hard and one easy. I was very comfortable going 1:40-1:45 on the hard sets and easier on the easy ones.

Tuesday's Swim this morning was great! I was still sleepy but I'm really enjoying joining up with the group to get a little swimming atmosphere in....

The main set today called for 5x200m with 30 sec rest and swimming these strong and smooth. I swam them all in the 3:38-3:42 range. I may have dogged a little given that the next set I had 5x100 but swimming it faster then the half mark on the 200m. Steve really pushed me on this because my plan was 1:45 per 100 which would put me faster then the 1:51 of the half of the 200m. He challenged me to 1:40-1:45. The 1st one I came @1:37 and then next were 1:40-1:42. I was pretty pleased today...

Sunday May 3

2009-05-05T06:52:00.001-07:00

90 min run

Given that I beat up my legs yesterday I wasn't sure how this 90 min run would go. I started out and things went very well - the whole time I felt relaxed and my HR was 150ish. I must have covered 15ish km but I've stopped counting because I've realized that 145-150hr produces a 10kmph and anything higher obviously produces more.

2009-05-02T18:27:00.003-07:00

Friday May 8
The plan was to take today off and ride Saturday and run Sunday. However, I noticed that A) the weather was going to stink on Saturday and B) Sunday being Mother’s day wasn’t going to be in my best interest for working out…

So… I decided that Thursday was going to be off and Friday after work ride and brick, Saturday Run, Sunday Ride the ride I missed on Thursday.

3+ hour Ride and 30min Run
I now know better then to arbitrarily just change the plan and do what I feel like. I started out my ride feeling great! Food was right on and water was good and my legs were moving. I decided to follow up Bayview as far as I could go and then turn around – hopefully at the 2hr mark. However I’m riding up Bayview and suddenly Bayview wasn’t there anymore.. As it turns out Bayview turns into Propect in Newmarket and to make this adventure better, Propect ends just after Davis Dr. So back I went to Davis Dr. By now the clouds are getting quite dark and not looking so good. I crossed the 404 at Davis and went as far as Warden hoping that the clouds were more central to Leslie to Yonge. No… It started pouring and I wasn’t going to continue going north as the rain clouds were following me. So, if you can’t beat’em, ride through em. I turned south on Warden and figure it would be better to be closer to home if the rain really started and it did. For the better part of the next hour and a bit, I got drenched. I didn’t feel comfortable riding in my aero position because I could barely see but my nutrition kept on going well and I was pleased with that..

Once I entered Richmond Hill, the rain did slow and I was happy about that move south. Along Elgin Mills the Sun actually came out and there was no way I could turn home a) because the clock read 1:45 and B) the sun was out so why not ride on… I turned up Leslie and then turned again at 19th and followed 19th to Bathurst and then North to King back to Yonge. I stopped for a quick second to say Hello to Doris but it seemed that she wasn’t home. I then followed North Lake to Bayview and then south to home. The Clock read 2:55 and I covered about 84 km. I was pleased with that… Sometimes riding in the rain – no matter how much we hate it, is good character building to build good training.

Within 10min I was out the door and running back to my school to pick up my car. It was about a 7km trip to school and the run called 15 min strong and then 15 min choice. I felt really good and wanted to beat any further rain. However my HR was on the higher side but the effort felt strong and I was happy to be moving. I got to the car at 34 min and for 7km that was close to 5min pace if not a little faster…. I love it when that happens.

Friday May 8

2009-05-02T18:27:00.002-07:00

The plan was to take today off and ride Saturday and run Sunday. However, I noticed that A) the weather was going to stink on Saturday and B) Sunday being Mother’s day wasn’t going to be in my best interest for working out…

So… I decided that Thursday was going to be off and Friday after work ride and brick, Saturday Run, Sunday Ride the ride I missed on Thursday.

3+ hour Ride and 30min Run
I now know better then to arbitrarily just change the plan and do what I feel like. I started out my ride feeling great! Food was right on and water was good and my legs were moving. I decided to follow up Bayview as far as I could go and then turn around – hopefully at the 2hr mark. However I’m riding up Bayview and suddenly Bayview wasn’t there anymore.. As it turns out Bayview turns into Propect in Newmarket and to make this adventure better, Propect ends just after Davis Dr. So back I went to Davis Dr. By now the clouds are getting quite dark and not looking so good. I crossed the 404 at Davis and went as far as Warden hoping that the clouds were more central to Leslie to Yonge. No… It started pouring and I wasn’t going to continue going north as the rain clouds were following me. So, if you can’t beat’em, ride through em. I turned south on Warden and figure it would be better to be closer to home if the rain really started and it did. For the better part of the next hour and a bit, I got drenched. I didn’t feel comfortable riding in my aero position because I could barely see but my nutrition kept on going well and I was pleased with that..

Once I entered Richmond Hill, the rain did slow and I was happy about that move south. Along Elgin Mills the Sun actually came out and there was no way I could turn home a) because the clock read 1:45 and B) the sun was out so why not ride on… I turned up Leslie and then turned again at 19th and followed 19th to Bathurst and then North to King back to Yonge. I stopped for a quick second to say Hello to Doris but it seemed that she wasn’t home. I then followed North Lake to Bayview and then south to home. The Clock read 2:55 and I covered about 84 km. I was pleased with that… Sometimes riding in the rain – no matter how much we hate it, is good character building to build good training.

Within 10min I was out the door and running back to my school to pick up my car. It was about a 7km trip to school and the run called 15 min strong and then 15 min choice. I felt really good and wanted to beat any further rain. However my HR was on the higher side but the effort felt strong and I was happy to be moving. I got to the car at 34 min and for 7km that was close to 5min pace if not a little faster…. I love it when that happens.

Friday May 8th

2009-05-02T18:27:00.001-07:00

3hr bike 30 min run

The plan was to take Friday off and ride

Saturday May 2nd

2009-05-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

5hrs and 1hr run

I was invited up to Ari's and Oren's cottage for the day today. So I left last night and went up and stayed over... They've recently gotten into cycling and it's fun being a part of their adventures... Oren actually did the Ride to conquer cancer last year with me.

When we woke up this morning, man it was COLD! we futsed around for a bit trying to wait for the sun to warm things... The thermometer outside read about 2degress... Man did I pack wrong, I forgot gloves, and a hat. I basically put everything on that I had and we got ready to go. I opted not to put my booties on (another mistake) thinking that I would regret it by around noon. I was supposed to be 13ish degrees today but as it turned out that was only at around 4pm.
We agreed that we would ride to the local Tim Horton's in Gravenhurst and have breakfast, and wait for the sun to heat things a little more.
When we left it was warmer but only a little... The head wind was strong and that really caused much of the frozen feelings on the day.
By about 15km my computer decided that the battery that was charging all night was not going to work... so the rest of the day was on Heart Rate and feel...
I am quite pleased that with little info to go on, I was fairly confidently able to ride at what felt like 90ish rpm and keep the speed in and around 27ish....
We headed from Gravenhurst out to Bracebridge to Windermere and then back to Bracebridge and home. By the time we got back to Bracebridge, Oren's back was killing him and we were both fairly miserable about the cold. So home it was... which turned out to be a good decision because about 10 after we got home it poured so hard that seemed like it was coming down in sheets...

Dave suggested that this be a hilly ride and really I'm not sure I could have found anything more hilly. I'm glad like I said before that I still played it smart and took easy gears up the big hills and pushed by feel watching my HR to be my guide...

Overall a good day but cold...

Friday May 1st

2009-05-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

60 min run
I ran to Nate's Skating lesson today. Sometimes it's the only way to get a workout in and still be part of things... I can see why sometimes that this Ironman training can be stressful... it's a very delicate balance between training and being around...

Thursday April 30

2009-05-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

PM Swim

So I don't usually go swimming at night but for some reason I couldn't get out of bed this morning.

The swim was one of those swims that I love.... 1000m pull, 800 pull/paddles, 400 steady swim plus warm up and cool down. For some reason I like these swims because I can find a rhythm and just go...

The 1000m, I came in at 16:00m, 800 in at 13:00m and the 400 in at 7m. I was pretty pleased with the efforts of this swim totaling 3000m. I may not be getting faster but I definitely feel that I'm getting stronger and swimming the same speeds with less effort.

Wednesday April 29

2009-04-30T12:50:00.000-07:00

1hr bike and 20min run

The workout actually called for 1.5hr bike and 30min run. I had to cut it since I got out of work late and still wanted to make it home to see the kids....

The hour was broken into 20 min building to 140HR/ 20 min in 155-160 HR/ 20 min 145HR. It was pretty uneventful, although I decided to ride up leslie from elgin mills. This rode can be quite hilly in parts so the hard pushes forced my HR to sky rocket....

The Run off the bike was great... 10 hard and 10 easy. I like this feeling to be able run hard. I feel like my biking is smarter and since I'm trying as much as possible to stay around the 90rpm mark, I'm not burning my quads.

Tuesday April 28

2009-04-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

PM Run and strength

This has been a busy day with a little swim in the morning and now a run 30min in the afternoon and then a strength session with Claudia in the evening.

The run was uneventful since I had to get to Chiro. Although I have now started, whenever the run says "pace as you feel", going at a pace of 10.5 kph or better. Since that's my Ironman goal, I want to start getting that feeling of doing it naturally.

The Strength session was tough... We did a lot of core and one legged stuff. I know that I'm improving as I see that standing one legged on the flat of the bosu wasn't so hard as it used to be.

Tuesday April 28

2009-04-28T06:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary to me...

In true (married to my training fashion), I was out bright and early at the pool. My legs were a tad on the achey side (hips and so on) but I was excited to do this swim because in it was an 800m time trial.

The main started with 8x50's on 1min and then 800m TT. I nailed the 50's with about 10 sec rest and then the TT was good - part way through I felt like I was dragging but that was just me. I finished at 14:25 for 800m and 13:45 for 750m. Now I'm not doing short courses this year but it is nice to know that my speeds are improving.

Sunday April 26

2009-04-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

2hr 15min run
I was really glad that I didn't have to wake up super early today to get this run in. We had Annie's first birthday party celebration at 11am and Sandra had decided for me that there was just too much to do to run before the party. That turned out really well since it was pouring this morning when I woke up.
I actually did this run after Nate had a another Birthday party to go to. So I started at 4:50 and out I went. My Heart Rate stayed under or dead on 150-151 for the whole time (except the hills - 155ish) so the whole run was at the low end of zone 2. I covered exactly 22.5km in 2:15. I was very pleased because there was a little head wind and I stayed pretty consistent the whole run.

Day off tomorrow or a tiny pyramid swim...

Saturday April 25th

2009-04-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

4.5 hr ride and 45min run
I think today might have been my longest ride yet. We covered 123km 4:23. We left from Gregs house and basically went out to kettleby and down and around to Hockley Valley. What a nice place. I couldn't tell you how to get there but the scenery was great. Because I didn't have the directions, I had to stop a bunch of times to figure out the next turn but it was nice to stay together since we were a group going out together. Although as the rides go on I'm either going to have to ride on my own or bring a map. I don't mind stopping but I know I'm not going to do it race day so I need to get into the habit.
The way out was a little windy, we thougt the wind was coming from the west and we arrived in Hockley after being on the bike 2hrs. After a quick refuel and bathroom break, we continued on a little to make up a little distance that we needed and turned around for the "wind at your back" ride home. There were some good stretches - I call them "pro" stretches - were you're going so fast you feel like a pro racing down the road. There also seemed to be a wind shift and now the wind was coming from the south. Coming out of Kettleby was brutal - maybe I was getting tired or maybe I just needed that easy gear going up a hill again.

We rolled into the driveway of Gregs and it was almost 1:30pm so unfortunately I knew better then to go for a run when I said I would be home.
Home, showered and ready to clean at 2:15 as promised.

Thursday April 23

2009-04-25T15:55:00.000-07:00

2800m swim - I was determined to figure out why I was swimming so slow on Tuesday, so today I went to the pool with a mission. The main set was 800m pull and then 4 x 200 on 4:00min. I did the 800 in 13:43 which was great because a year ago I did 750m pull in that time. Then I did the 4 - 200m and each one I came in at 3:32. Two days ago I was struggling for 3:50. I took my Heart rate and right around 145ish. Basically either I had a bad day - and that happens or I just wasn't pushing. That sometimes does happen and I need to remember to dig my hand in and push. Overal I was pretty happy with this swim.

PM - Strength
The beauty of getting Claudia to write out the workouts for me is that I've actually been doing them and feeling great. I made myself one of those rope ladders we were using at the gym so I was able to replicated her workout. For the first time I'm really enjoying these strength workouts.

Wednesday April 22

2009-04-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nathan! - Yes all three in April - it is a busy month around here....

2hr Bike - Todays bike was a build session - a couple min on and a couple min off gradually increasing the intensity and then backing off... It ended with another 20 min at 200watts. That took just about everything left out... but it was a good workout...

I set everything up in the garage today just so that I could have a little different scenery. It was cold and rainy today so riding in the garage with the garage door half open caused a few funny looks from the neighbours but whatever!.

Tuesday April 21

2009-04-22T17:19:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Annie! Wow one year old - time flies...

AM - Swim
Today was an interesting swim because I've been debating that thought of is swimming alone or along side a group slowing me down more the old NYAC group. The Main part of the swim was 6 times (4x50 on 1:00min and 1 x 200 on 4 min). I didn't really have trouble with this workout, it's just that I wasn't getting more then 10 sec rest after each one. When I was at NYAC I don't believe we did basically 6x400m on pace times and if we did we were always getting more rest then we were supposed to. I think I'm naturally slowing because mentally I'm telling myself "Hey wait! Don't use up all the matches now, you still have 5 more sets to do..."
In speaking with Dave, he suggested that I probably should have had a little more rest, and therefore may need to go on 4:05 for the 200's.
Overall it was a good swim and it feels good to be pushed.

PM - Form Run and Claudia
45 min form run - nothing really to report about this - it was good and I like to be reminded to think while running - engaging the core, loosen the face and so on...

My session with Claudia is so great! She had me working on balance using the spacer ladder. I've always hated this device but today it inspired me.... I never sweat as much as I do during those strength sessions.

Saturday / Sunday / Monday

2009-04-21T02:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday 2hr run

Because of the boys parties today, I had to juggle around everything in terms of workouts. I did my long ride and run yesterday so that meant I needed to run on tired legs for my long run. The run was pretty straight forward - nothing fancy - just two hours - heart rate at around 150bpm. I covered 20 km give or take a little and I felt pretty happy knowing that I put so much into my legs yesterday that I was still able to go today. Yes it was slow, but that was to be expected.

Sunday (The Ikea session)
I hate Ikea furnature.... This was a workout all in itself. We bought the boys a new unit to put their clothes in from ikea but obviously it had to be put together. It's not that it was hard because it wasn't... it's just that you have to make sure that you're doing certain parts at certain times or else everything else becomes difficult... It took me the better part of the day to get this done. Man I was tired afterwards...

Monday Swim 1800m
Straight forward swim today Warm up and then 10x100 on 2:00min and then cool down. It was easy but I'm starting to notice the effects of swimming solo - mainly being it's harder to go faster and as a result you start to slow down... I'll have to stay on this...

Friday April 17

2009-04-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

Friday - 4hour bike and 1 hour run

This ride was a great one... I intended to go out and ride at 150 watts and ride strong so that I could run strong. I met up with Greg and Simon and we headed out towards the Jackson's point for a hot dog.

Once we were out, there was a strong head wind so the plan was still around 150 watts but I knew that it would have been smarter to have a cadence of 90 or better and if that happenned to show 150 watts then great.

We stopped in Willow beach for a hot dog and a break and then once again at Musslemans lake just to recoup. All told we travelled 4hrs and covered 106 kms - slightly above 26Kmph - which I wasn't disappointed about but the great part came on the run. Greg gave me a 5k route and it turned out to be a nice route - little bit of uphills and a little down. I went out strong, letting my legs do the work. I wasn't sure how they were going to fire given that I wasn't feeling the run "love" lately since Around the Bay. I finished the first loop at 25:48 - wow 5:10 pace - incredible after a 4hour ride. Off I went for the second loop and again felt strong. I finished the second loop with a dead even time split of 51:25. I felt incredible! I could have kept going and that was a great feeling.

I'm glad I kept the bike ride relaxed because I now truly understand that need to ride relaxed to run strong and feel good about it as opposed to that first five minute hobble until your legs start to work. Next time I think I would push a little closer to 27kmph since the goal is 6:30 for the bike.

For the first long ride outside - it was a good one.

Wednesday April 15

2009-04-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Swim
Well another long under the belt. The total today was 4000m and consisted of the main set being 10 x 300m with 20 sec rest in between. It was done as a strength session so it called for paddles to be used for the whole thing with the pull buoy being thrown in for a little recovery every 600m. I was done in 1:20 (including warm up and cool down) so I was very happy with that. I'm glad to be getting in at least one very long swim every couple weeks.

Thursday is off this week - I moved my long ride to Friday - get a little rest in before the long day....

Tuesday April 14

2009-04-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

Run and Strength

I had a fairly easy straight forward 45 min form run today. I like these form runs because they remind me to run properly from the core, light feet, hands and unclench the face. It was a good run but either I did too much riding on the weekend or my legs are still feeling tired from ATB - it was slow that's all. There was a pretty strong wind about so that increased my heart rate. The plus was that I was in shorts finally. Here comes the spring.

I was excited to get back to Claudia again. It had been almost 2months off from her and although I had been doing some work on my own - it wasn't the same. She motivates, pushes and beats strength into me. I never sweat as much and I leave feeling worked... The good thing was that this time I got Claudia to write down the workout for me so that I can do it a second time. Any takers in joining? Greg? Willem?

Sunday / Monday April 12th and 13th

2009-04-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday April 12

90 min run

The problem with this sort of cold / sort of warm weather is that it's tough to figure out what to wear and then finding the motivation to get out wearing the wrong clothes. Because I had two big days the days before, I opted to pass on the run today - partly because I just wasn't feeling right about the run and I think I was tired a little from the hard work before.

I'd better be careful I've missed a couple long runs now and that could add up...

Monday April 13

Easy spin - I was really excited today that I got back out on the bike in the morning for my 3rd 3hour ride of the weekend. I was happy to get out again because on a regular week, I would never get close to 260 kms. The job was to really spin today - not watch the watts, HR and just spin. Make sure that I was between 90-95rpm and go. I saw Peter there and we decided to ride together. It was great to see him again and he looks like he's right on track for RAAM. We were able to chat, catch up and just ride. I'm really happy for him and Adam for getting such a successful business going in these rough economic times.

Because this was around the first outdoor ride of the year, I've built sort of an unofficial tradition of going out with Peter around the beginning of the year. Every year I go out with him and every year he demolishes me. This year was slightly different. He was still stronger and definitely faster but this year he was waiting for me much less and I was staying strong much longer.

What I was really proud of was that I was truly riding by feel but I was able to keep an avg of 29 over 3hrs and stayed very true to my cadence of 90-95rpm. I was also happy that I still felt really strong after.

I'll really be able to tell how things are going this weekend when I have a four hr ride at 150avg watts and then a 1hr run. I should be fresh afterwards.....

Saturday April 11

2009-04-11T17:47:00.000-07:00

Bike and Run

Today was a really cool day! I had been out riding with Lisa Bentley before when I was in Florida over christmas but today was different. The original plan was to meet up with some of their other athletes (I think I was going to be the only other "non pro") and go outside for a a hill workout and run. Well the weather was too cold and Lisa would have frozen so Lisa and Dave invited everyone over to their house to do the bike ride inside. Everyone else cancelled... so it was just me (I really couldn't bare doing three hours in my basement) and Lisa riding together. The really neat part was that we were able to just "Chat" - she asked questions about my family and I was able to pick her brain about a couple of those "I'd been meaning to ask someone, but never got to it questions" - hill riding technique, salt pill useage etc.

The workout was fairly straight forward - 3hrs, with 3x 20min at 200watts with 20min rec in between. The first 2 were good but the third got me... I think my avg watts over the 3hrs was in around that 150-160 range... (I didn't really look but guessed based on the ergo mode of the CT).
Dave joined in after for my 40min run off the bike. He took me onto this great trail near his house that was naturally rolling. My HR was definately in a tempo range but nothing killer. It was manageable and I was still able to want to be part of the conversation.

I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to train with them every once in a while. The tips and encouragement really push me and make me want to be proud of my hard work.

Thursday / Friday April 9/10

2009-04-11T17:35:00.000-07:00

So it's been a busy couple of days with Passover and visiting family and that stuff....

Thursday 3.8 km swim
I was really excited to do an ironman swim today - it wasn't really a straight 3.8 but more like a 400m warm up with 4x800 and 200 cool down. There was 30 sec rest between 800 and when all was said and done I finished at 1hr 13min. With a couple min of rest, that puts me in a great spot now a little less then four months away.

Friday easy ride...
Well this was supposed to be an easy spin with the Yonge and Sheppard group today but it was anything but...
It started out early since the night before Douglas had put out a plea for an extra tire. Luckly I had one so I drove down to his house to help him change it so he could get out with us. I thought I would be out 2 -2.5hrs but that turned into 3 and 1/4 hrs covering 96km. I now remember why I love to hate this group. I love it because they force me to really work but hate it because I feel really "slammed" afterwards. I know for sure that this early into the season, I shouldn't have seen some of the numbers I did. Oh well - that's life....

Wednesday April 8

2009-04-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Dan! Yes he loved the Nascar but was afraid to go on anything but the merry go round. Oh well, he's only 3, there'll be a lifetime ahead of driving fast and doing thing reckless.

90min Bike
I had a 90min bike ride today that consisted of big grear work 15 min at 60rpm and 10min at 70 rpm and 20 min to end things at tempo pase. Again, very interesting and I should remember this... It was much easier to control my heart rate when staying in the small ring. I did the last 2 sets in my small ring and noticed right away that I was able to hold the same wattage for the 70rpm as I did for the 60 rpm and my HR didn't go nuts... For the 20min set I chose 205. Although I didn't stay in the 150HR that Dave suggested, It was manageable at 158-160HR.

Tuesday April 7

2009-04-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

AM - Swim 2100m

I decided to join up with Steve and his masters group today so that I could get a little group dynamic back. I was doing Dave's workout but sometimes it's just nice to be with other people to mentally push you along.

The main part of the workout was 4 times 3x100m with varying degrees of rest. Each 100 was to be swam at the same speed and I chose 1:45 as my time today giving me an opportunity to push with little rest and recover when the rest is a little more abundant. In each 100 I was able to hit my 1:45. What I noticed was sometimes when you're focussing on running as I had been over the past weeks, you sometimes forget some of the little (but important) technique things. I found myself thinking roll, reach, and push. Although I was starting to feel "it" during the 7-9 set with 10 seconds rest, I was happy to know that I could just push a little harder and make it through to 12.

Easy 40 min run this eve... going to have to squeeze this in probably right after work and run home. Tomorrow is Dan's 3rd Birthday so we're going to take him to Nascar speedpark today given that tomorrow is Passover and we're at my parents for the Seder. I think he's really going to like it... I can just remember going to the Monster Truck show a couple months and to see his big eyes go crazy when they came out... I can only imagine what he'll be like when he gets to ride the cars tonight...

Monday April 6

2009-04-06T06:54:00.000-07:00

So I've been bad and not posted for a couple of days... It wasn't that I wasn't doing workouts, it was just that I was feeling really tired from last week. The workouts that I did do were sort of half ass and for some reason I feel like I did more damage trying to push hard during the race and thus as a result my IT and part of my quad felt tight up until Friday. To make matters worse I was also battling one of those "I slept funny and now I have a kink in my neck pains". Over all it wasn't such a great week....

I decided that the weekend was going to be better... I got my act together to get on the bike for a 2hr ride of the IMFlorida course trying to keep 155watts... Maybe my legs were tired or maybe the pace bunny that I set for 150 watts was having a good day... because I was able to keep up for maybe a half hour and then it took off. It was funny because my avg watts were in around 160 but as I continue to learn about power, more consistent is better - less peaks, less valleys - more straight lines... I guess that also means more changing gears to keep that straight line.

I had a 20 min run after and went out for a quick loop around the hood. It did feel good to run again but my legs were definitely still tired even after 20min.

In the afternoon, I went to the pool to get a swim in... my legs didn't fire again, so a little pulling never hurt - the main set consisted of 800m steady pull and paddles so that was ok and as well 8 by 100m on 2:00min - I did a couple without the pull but I found that I was working quite hard for the time that I was coming in at.

SUNDAY

I was supposed to get a 1hr easy run in, but because nothing was working yesterday I opted to skip the run meet Oren for an easy bike ride. I didn't want to go too hard but the wind was coming from the North and Dufferin was all hills going north. So instead of killing my self I staying in my small ring with high cadence and around that 150watts from the day before. It took about 1hr and 20min to get up to kettleby (about 30km). The way home was FAST it took about 55min for the same route just going south with a great tail wind.

What was really funny was my bike compared to Oren's. In my Aero position I was about 6inches lower then his bike when he was in the drops on his road bike. Going down a hill - he was pushing and I was able to tuck in a keep up without peddling. He hated letting my pull because the wind just flew over me and into him. Interesting how aerodynamics work..

Monday

Today is a day off - I considered getting up this morning and getting some exercises in but thought against it in an effort to start a fresh week.

Tuesday March 31 - no more railings

2009-04-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

AM - Strength

I got up this morning at my usual 5:15 to get over to the club for my strength session. I was nervous that my legs just weren't going to fire and that I'd be trying in vain... After a couple min to warm up, my legs were at least moving. I had to eliminate the squat to all exercises - the IT and hamstrings and quads were still too sore... I'm able, even tired, to get that basic plank up to 1:30 without collapse. I was glad in the end that I made it out - it's always good to get moving again.

Getting to school, I was happy to find that I wasn't completely relying on the railings to get me up and down the stairs - which is a good thing since my class is on the second floor and I refuse to take the elevator..

PM 75min bike

First real workout back, and it's really cool that just two days before I hammered my legs for 30km and now was able to get on my bike and not dred the process.

The workout was a lot of really high cadence - I'm sure to flush - of about 110rpm. I kept the resistance to about 120watts so that I could get the cadence up but also keeping in mind that this is still recovery and not a "push".

I'm now feeling much better as a result and looking forward to getting back in the pool on Wed.

Around the Bay road race

2009-03-31T05:53:00.000-07:00

Well now two days after and although I'm still feeling sore, somehow getting up and down stairs is getting easier.

The race: Finished 2:42min

This was possibly the first race where I didn't have a Personal best on time. I knew it would happen at some point, my weight would plateau or my fitness would change. The race itself was good, the rain started long before the race started and with that brings all the clothing questions of wanting to be warm but not over dressed. I chose my base layer, short sleeve over it and then my vest. I was also glad I went for the pants as opposed to shorts because I would have frozen for sure.

The goal was 2:30 and I knew based on last year that hills in the second half are the hardest and the spot most likely to loose time. 2:30 also meant 5min km pace and I knew that if I was going to loose time in the hills, I needed to make some time in the front half. I started out fast and by about 10km I had worked up about a 1min lead on my pace. The difference this year versus last was that I was able to go harder (perceived effort - I ran without my HR monitor) and was really feeling strong until about 22km where my paced completely slowed.... I was using my garmin as well and the one thing I didn't do was mark each km to get an accurate pace per km - so the pace that I had going was an avg... good because that's ultimately what I wanted but bad because I couldn't see where the tough kms where. I did run up that big hill but when I got to the top everything cramped - toes, legs, hands - yes hands.. I've never had that before but evidently it does happen and god was it painful, they couldn't move, I think it was more cold cramp then muscle cramp. I walked a bit to gather myself but by then everything was hurting... I got running but it felt like the old mans hobble and everything was slow...

I finished as I always knew I would and as I look back I'm not unhappy about not achieving my goal - we have to set goals - sometimes we set realistic ones and sometimes we set goals that are just out of reach. If we always set goals that were achievable, I'm sure we would ask our selves if we could have done more, gone faster, pushed harder. Because as humans we need to be agitated - pushed to the point of sometimes believing that we can do something. Do I feel that I can run 30km in 2:30min? Yes, unfortunately it just didn't happen that day.

I am proud of my accomplishments, and sore knowing that I did my best....

Wed March 26

2009-03-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

AM Swim

Today the workout called for a series of 300m (6 of them), using each set to work on those fast twitch skills. 1- 6-50 -25-fast/25 easy, 2 - 12x 25 fast, 3- 6x 50 hard. I think I did pretty well at these... my Hamstrings had been bothering me a little but the swim went ok so I guess all is good.

PM Bike

Because of the Running free meeting this eve, this was a quick workout - 6x4min by 1min build. I love these sets where you push one min building.. because it only hurts for a min and then it changes. As a result the set goes by quickly because the time goes by fast.

I'm really feeling good about the bike, I'm starting to push more and more power and that feels good.

The meeting tonight was really cool - meeting some new people - getting some new stuff - and feeling part of a team. That's an important one.. with everything done for the most part solo - it's good to feel like others are supporting you...

Tuesday March 24

2009-03-25T06:25:00.000-07:00

Back at it...

Now back from Cleveland I had what felt like a much needed day off yesterday. I had a few fairly straight forward runs while in Cleveland but what I didn't realize was that the area was terribly hilly. So I ditched the speed work and just ran hard for the time required. That way I was going to get the strength work and the endurance work in.

Tuesday AM Weights

I'm really enjoying this kenisis wall, and the core work that I've been doing lately, not that I wasn't before with Claudia, just I was so terrible at the balance side of things that everything got frustrating after a while. I did a cool exercise today with my knees on the swiss ball and tossing a med ball. I was surprised that I could do it - or rather couldn't do it without the work from the previous 8months.

PM Run 45min

Straight forward run, nothing really to report... 6x4min push at just over a 5min pace. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Sunday at around the bay but you always have to have a plan "b"....

Thursday March 19

2009-03-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

AM Strength and Swim

Today was a regular strength - focusing on getting my obliques to fire and not turning my hips.. It's tough, but I'm sure it'll come... I'm going to try the workout carmella gave me this weekend.

Swim
500/400/300/200/100/100/200/300/400/500 with 10sec rest per 100
first 100 of each at race pace and rest at 85%
Today was good but I got tired by about halfway so I pulled the rest...Not bad after a hard build week...

Off to Cleveland....

Wed March 18

2009-03-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

AM Swim
I got into the pool today and found a busier crowd on hand... To my surprise there was also an aquafit class going to start... It didn't matter, listening to the "Bar Mitzvah" music every once in a while was good to pass the time today.
The workout consisted of 3 sets of 500m alternating between 100strong and 100DPS (Distance per stroke) I was able to get most of the 25's down to 16 -and 1 or 2 at 15.

PM Bike 90min and 45run easy
I was still quite nervous given that my legs have been quite sore since monday... However it was great today. The workout was 3x15min each five min increasing by 10 watts. I started easier at 190, 200, 210 and that went well so 2nd was 195, 205 and 215 and that went was also. So 3rd was 200, 210, 220 and although I was getting tired I felt good. I probably could have done 2 sets at the 3rd values...
The run was strong - not letting my HR go over 155.

Tuesday March 17

2009-03-19T06:50:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Paddy's day...
I went to the gym this morning for my regular strength workout and indending as well to do a swim. However my legs we still feeling pretty trashed from the 27 km I did the day before. I decided to move this swim to Thursday, when hopefully my legs will go again...

The strength went well, I was able to hold a plank for 2:30 and the second at 1:30. I was pretty pleased...

Monday March 16

2009-03-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Run 2.5 hrs with 30min at 12.4 pace

The run today was great and It's nice to be back outside - it's different then riding - nicer with the sun and tiny chill in the air.

I did my first 1.5hrs at 145 heart rate and was at 15km (ish) when my 30min started. I had been doing a lot of the speed work lately on the treadmill so that I could keep myself honest about my work. The 30 min was tough I wont lie... but did it and got 6.3km in 30min. The last 10min was tough and I think my pace slowed a little.

I ended the run just under 27km at 2:30 and here's to hoping to reach that goal of 2:30 at Around the bay two weeks from now.

I'm sore now, but I know I'll feel better tomorrow.

Saturday March 14

2009-03-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

AM Swim 2200m
The nice thing about being able to use the pool at the club when ever you want is just that... I can use it whenever I want... and it was busy today - four people in the water.. It was great! I had a bunch of drills, which I like and then 3x500m 1(swim) 2 (fins) and 3 (paddles and pull). Everything went well, I just don't do the fins well - something about getting a full kick ( or not getting it..)

Another great thing about the pool is that I went an hour early and then the family met me for a swim with the kids... With all this training, you sometimes feel like your missing some action and whenever I can get some in, I'm happy.

Sunday March 15th

2009-03-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

AM Bike Ride 3.5-4hrs endurance ride at 90 rpm with a 30 min run (15easy / 15 hard)

I got up early this moring to do my bike ride and I decided to try and punish myself by just setting the ergo mode at 160watts and go... Well that lasted about 2hrs before I cracked.. it was just boring my mind started to wander... I got everything together and went outside for another 1.5hrs and my run. I was great to get outside but found it was just a tad on the cold side. I think I'm going to have to wait a couple more weeks before trying to get outside on the bike again...

Friday March 13

2009-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

AM Swim

Off to the club this morning for a 2000m swim. Today was a pyramid swim that was a climbing pyramid 25, 50, 75, 100, 200, 100, 75, 50 25. At each distance, the first time was hard and the second time was easy recovery. I decided that today was a good day to try out my new wetsuit. Man it was great... Felt faster - not sure if it did anything - but its all about the feeling right?

PM Bike Show..

I'm looking forward to getting down to the bike show and have promised sandra I won't buy anything... maybe just a t-shirt...

Thursday March 12

2009-03-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

AM - Weights

I went over to the club this morning for my strength. I'm trying some new things and as a result found it tough this morning. Things like putting the big ball between your legs and doing leg raises were tough and as always the single leg balance stuff. Hopefully over time this will get easier.

PM - 1hr run w/40 min at 4:50pace

I was nervous to do 40 min at a 4:50 pace, however the different sets leading up to today have paid off. I like to do runs like this on the treadmill because it keeps me honest. Treadmills don't lie and if you're not running at speed then you're not doing the proper work. In the past I have always made the elevation at 1%, however today I kept it at 0 and .5 because I knew I would just over heat and not be able to finish. To my surprise for the first 20 min my HR was right around 160bpm - low zone 3. As the second 20min went I ended up doing well and not going over 170 - I would have been somewhere at 177ish with 1% elevation. I was very pleased...

Wed March 11 Swim and Bike

2009-03-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

A.M. Swim

I made it over the club this morning to do my swim and was surprised to find that it was open at 5:50am - Great! in the water at 6 - 2600m with mix of drills and breathing technics. I realized that I really am not good at breathing every 7 and 9 stokes. I can usually get 5 but I find the most comfort and relaxed swimming with 2, 3, and 4 strokes.

PM Ride 90min

Having been using my computrainer now for some time I've now realized a few key items.. todays workout called for a couple 10 min by 2min increases. I had always done the whole ride in my big ring and really found longer sets tough at +210 for more 15-20min. So today I did some experimenting and put the gear into the small ring as I would riding outside for those harder sets. And you know what, it worked... my heart rate was much less - although it's interesting because the load is theoretically the same... any ideas?

Getting Started

2009-03-11T06:28:00.000-07:00

March 11, 2009

So with approximately 130 days to go to Lake Placid, I thought it might be as good a time as ever to start a blog and document the next five and a half months.

Why a blog? Well, I've been inspired by my friend Greg's blog reading it day in and day out now for well over a year and seeing his transformation has been incredible. Much in the same way, I too want to document what is going to be the biggest athletic accomplishment of my life. I want my kids to read this years from now and realize the sacrifices that I have my made to bring a healthy lifestyle to our house. These are not just my sacrifices, my wife, Sandra has stood by me, allowing me to train all morning in the basement on the weekends, taking the kids food shopping (you should see it - three kids hanging off the cart and food over flowing - yes that's her).

Why Ironman? For those of you who have never heard of this, an ironman is a triathlon event that involves swimming, cycling and running right after each other. Ironman is not just any triathlon it's the big one... it involves a 3.8km swim, 180km bike ride and a full marathon (42.2 km). Why Triathlon? Well I've been running for some time and after having completed several half marathons a friend at the local running room put me up to the challenge of taking on a triathlon. I had heard about the sport from a parent at the school that I used to teach at and was incredibly impressed by his constant training and determination. At 185 pounds I knew changes had to be made.

That first race was a high... Orillia 2006 - tons of people and I remember thinking are there really that many people that do this? The real thing I remember about that race was that "man this is tiring". I had done the basic amount of training and it got me through the race. I made it... That month, after the race, I signed up with a local swim club in Newmarket called NTT and outfitted myself my very own triathlon bike - my Yellow rocket as I called it. I was so proud of myself and so excited that I had entered such a hobby. That winter I discovered Peter Oyler's garage - a place where 12 other riders gathered a number of times a week for coached riding. Then, that March Adam took me on as one of his athletes to help me prepare in a more focussed manner for the coming season.

Now, Three seasons later, 30 pounds lighter, a great deal stronger I embark on the Ironman Journey. I've invested myself mentally and financially in this sport. Some would say I've gone over board getting all the toys - the road bike, the tri bike, the power meter etc. However, who doesn't spend money on thing they get excited. At 32, this is a lifetime adventure and I'm excited, somewhat nervous - but then again, who isn't at the prospect of spending 12 odd hours moving - exerting yourself over 140miles.

So read my logs, enjoy, comment if you wish as the coming months bring me closer and closer to my goal.