Sunday, July 19, 2009
T-minus one and counting
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.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Thursday July 16
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
One week to leaving for Lake placid
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............................................."
Wednesday July 15
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Tuesday July 14
Monday July 13
Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday July 10,11,12
Thursday July 9
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Wednesday July 8
Tuesday July 7
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
Monday July 6
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Friday July 3
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
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
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
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
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.