Christmas week

A week off work is a good time to get some training in.

Like most people, I consumed about a million calories over the two or three days surrounding Christmas this year and figured with Robin and most other friends gone for the week, I would be able to get in a good week of training.

Aside from some marathon sessions of Oblivion, I managed to get out almost every day so far for at least an hour of exercise, alternating a day of cycling with running. I feel good and have decided that now is the time to jump into Base 2 training (my version of it anyways). I've moved from keeping my HR below 135 to aiming between 124-155, as calculated from a formula Mark Allen prescribes on his website (www.markallenonline.com/base.htm I think). This means slightly harder workouts, which I have been craving lately since staying below aerobic threshold means going pretty slow and light.

Viva la aerobic training time!

Not much happening

Well, between late hours at work (1am) and Christmas fast approaching, training time has been pretty scarce. I think I'm going to work my ass off this week starting the 27th and really get back into things. I'm hoping for some dry weather in January so I can start getting outside on my bike. Indoor training really sucks...

Birthday crazies

Best weekend ever!

Robin surprised me with a trip to Whistler for my birthday. It was myself, her, the roommate, and about 6 other friends just drinking and having fun for the weekend. It was only two days but felt like a week. It was probably one of the best times I've had in years.

As for the training, I may have set myself back a few years with all the calories I consumed over the weekend, but it was so worth it. It looks like I won't be able to take any trips this Christmas due to lack of funds, so hopefully I'll be able to work out like a madman for the week or two I have off.

No swim, bike

As the title says, I didn't swim, so I rode.

I must say that I really enjoy having that indoor trainer sometimes. I'm currently in the middle of working late "exam hour" shifts at the library till 1am every night, so getting up early is rather difficult. Mustering up the will to get to the pool on a limited timeframe is also rather difficult, as I found out today. So, instead of tormenting myself with the "oh shouldn't I or should I," I just got on my bike for an hour instead.

Convenient.

Got to watch some Office Space there too, which is always good. I tried playing some Link to the Past but found it hard to kill enemy soldiers whilst maintaining a good cadence. Apparently "DOUCHE" wasn't up to the task...

Remember the light at the end of the tunnel

After this last week of doing nothing, I was feeling pretty lethargic and wasn't sure if I could motivate myself to go out and do any training. However, after todays run and yesterday's bike, I feel like I could go on forever again.

It's important to remember that no matter how down you feel with respect to training, a day or two back in the saddle will cure any ills.

Sick = Teh Sux

Nothing like an illness to derail you.

On Saturday last week I was getting ready to ride my trainer for a while when I looked outside and saw little snowflakes begin to fall. Since it never snows in Vancouver, I thought it would be great to go ride outside and experience it firsthand.

I did a loop around UBC (1 hour) and got pretty cold. It was nice out and totally worth the ride, but the next day I started to feel sick. What followed was one of those somewhat annoying illnesses where you feel weak, warm, and fuzzy, but too lazy to do anything involving exercise.

So, I did nothing all week, and only went to work for two days. I basically stayed at home and played Final Fantasy, hoping that the week off would allow me time to finish the game (it didnt).

Fortunately, that sickness landed on my rest week, so I didn't feel too bad not doing anything, but getting back on the saddle this week has been tough. I did a 1 hour ride today finally and got my mojo back, so to speak. Tomorrow I run and see if I can keep this momentum going until around Christmas.

Another week down

Well, it started snowing today. It never snows here, so that's pretty cool. I was humming and hawing about going out for a ride, but seeing the snow, and realizing that I've never ridden in snow before, motivated me to get outside for a little while at least.

I bundled up as best I could, but after an hour I couldn't feel my feet at all. Actually, thats pretty much all that was cold so I guess my other layers were enough.

Friday I took off because I went for my longest swim yet (1 hr 10mins continuous) and felt pretty wrecked after that. I just had no desire to go out after that so Friday was Christmas shopping and Wii-hunting day (Monday or Tuesday if I really want it).

Hour and 10 minute run on Wednesday was good, but I was pretty sore after it surprisingly. Maybe my body isn't as used to long runs as it was a few months ago?

I've taken some of the seriousness out of my training lately since the cold weather is going to hinder me quite a bit in the coming months. I'm following a more "take it easy and enjoy youself" regimen now, while still trying to follow the exercises I have set in my schedule. I think it will keep me fit and happy until March or so when the real fun can begin.

Long Swim

1 hour of almost non-stop swimming!

Today was a good day. There were one or two down periods during the swim where I thought I was getting too tired to continue, but I wanted to stay in the pool for an hour so I just worked through the shitty time and found that it eventually went away.

Swimming has always been somewhat tough for me mentally. I like it least of the three sports and tend to leave early as soon as I don't feel like going any more. While running and biking, I almost always just work through those down times and come out of them feeling great. I looks like I'll have to start doing that during my swims too.

Ah, the life of an endurance athlete...

November long weekend

No exercise this weekend. 6 month anniversary with the girlfriend, and obviously spending time with her is a lot more fun than pounding out some miles in the cold rain.

Tuesday did a good indoor bike session for 1:30, watching the entire movie Equilibrium. Pretty good workout movie actually. Lots of action and cool music. Ran for 20 mins after. HR was high, but I was feeling light of foot and wanted to go fast for a bit.

Wednesday (today) did a supposed long slow run, but I think I'm getting sick because my chest felt crappy and keeping my HR down was hard at first. I called it quits after about 50 mins. It's hard to do the long runs in the rain because you really aren't going fast enough to truly warm up. It's always just cold...

My baby

I love my Cervelo Dual.

Lighter than my Trek 1200, but with a full Ultegra drivetrain makes it snappy and cool. The yellow colour also makes it go faster (or so I'm told).

Yesterday I got this in the mail:

A brand new Arione Tri saddle.

I've only tried it out for a few minutes, but I can already tell how much more comfortable it is then my stock Cervelo/Selle Italia saddle. Definitely a good purchase. Can't wait to check her out on a long ride!

Gametime (/TheRockfromDoommovie voice)

Training has started up again (finally). Not sure how much fitness has been lost, but swimming still sucks so that will be my big limiter to focus on for the coming months. Something tells me this winter is going to go by pretty fast as my life is in constant motion these days.

In any case, I've decided to separate my training log/diary into two parts, namely a training log (spreadsheet) and a diary (this blog). This way I can document my training online for all to enjoy (all me that is since I don't think anyone knows of this place yet), and I'll have access to it wherever there's internet (everywhere but Siberia, but I think they're getting it on Tuesday).

I'll start next week, with maybe a recap of this week on the weekend.

Downtime

Not a single day of exercise in two and a half weeks.

Fun!

I'm not sure if I really deserve so much time off since, aside from that last marathon, I didn't have a terrible strenuous end-of-season, but sometimes it's nice to just lay around and do nothing at all. I can hang out with friends and the roommate without thinking about training. I can play videogames without feeling guilty for not running. I can lay in bed until 10am with my girlfriend and not feel like I should be at the pool.

Yeah, I could get used to this life.

If only my desire to go out and run 20k, Bike for 5 hours, and swim 4000m wasn't so damn high!

I'm getting to the point now where thinking about going for a workout is making me excited. I can't wait to start training again. I'm hungry for some miles!

Watching Hawaii last weekend was absolutely great. I watched a man people said wouldn't win this race twisce take his second title, defying those who said he couldn't run. Way to go Mr. Stadler!

Next years' training plan is almost complete. Ironman is within my sights now, and when you see the race on paper, only 45 or so weeks out, suddenly it ain't so far away.

Downs and Ups: Okangan International Marathon 2006

I finished my first marathon earlier this year with a time of 3:33, which is (I'm told) totally awesome for a first time marathoner. I'd only been running for about 2 years so I was pretty happy with my success at that point.

After a summer of pretty good, heavy training, I was hoping to do 3:15 in Kelowna. 15 minutes seemed reasonable to me.

By the time raceday had come though, I had dived headfirst into a classic case of goal inflation. I wanted to do 3 hours and qualify for Boston. I figured I could run 2 1:30 half-marathons no problem. Silly silly me...

I had to run back to the car to drop off my jacket and pants right before the race started and got stuck near the back of the pack when the race started. This was cool in a sense because I knew that I would get the mental boost from passing all these people. Unfortunately I didn't think that would actually get stuck in the back, unable to pass the throngs of people running down the street. It took a long time (20 minutes?) to get myself seeded in a better position where the people around me were running more my pace.

Or what I thought was my pace.

I was breathing pretty easily for the most part, breathing on every third step. Unfortunately race nerves had my heart rate up before the race even started, and my HRM was telling me that my heart was going at 160bpm, which I sure didn't feel like I was going. I would have said 145 max based on feel. Anyways, in fear that I would blow up later on in the race, I stayed where I was and tried to enjoy myself.

Kelowna is the town I grew up in (well, not quite, but I was there from Grades 7 to 12, so all of my adolescence was spent there) and the reason I wanted to do this race was to experience my old town from a new viewpoint: running through it. Being there again and running through the various neighbourhoods I used to live in was a great trip through memory lane, bringing up memories I thought I had forgotten about after 7 years in Vancouver. The marathon was completely worth it for that experience alone.

At the southernmost part of the course we got on to a dirt road that was under construction and began a short but steep climb. I had hit the halfway point and realized that it had taken me 2 hours to get there. I couldn't believe that I was going so slow! It was at this point I slowly came up to and passed the 3:45 pace bunny.

Something inside me snapped. There was no way in hell I was going to finish this race in 3:45. The thought of doing worse than my last marathon wasn't comprehensable to me. I decided it was time to start running.

I came down the hill knowing that the rest of the course was pretty much flat and decided to book it. I ran my ass off, starting at about the 23k mark. I wasn't feeling great, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to catch up to the 3:30 pace bunny. I was determined to do better than my last race.

I ran at probably the fastest pace I had ever run (training or otherwise) for a long distance run. I was passing runners like they were standing still. I knew they figured I was going too hard and would soon see me walking on the side of the road, but those thoughts only compelled me to run faster. Failure was not an option. My heartrate was hovering at 175 (90% of my HRmax) the entire time. I had no idea how I would be able to maintain such a hard pace for 20k, but somehow the miles ticked down and I was still going.

At the Vancouver marathon I really hit the wall hard at about 30k into the run. My legs felt like lead at that point. This time I was feeling pretty good until about 35k. All I could think about when the pain started was how happy I was that I managed to get an extra 5k further than I did last time. I was still booking it pretty hard, drinking gatorade and throwing back Powergels any chance I could get.

The last4k was absolutely brutal. I was still moving and passing people, but my legs were shutting down. I was worried I was going to bonk hard and have to stop, but I just kept on putting one foot in front of the other, determined not to stop until I hit the finish line. I walked through the last 2 aid stations just so I could hydrate and give my horrible stomach cramps a chance to lessen.

Getting running again after those stations was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. My legs were putty and walking was brutally painful. Yet just getting that first stride going and re-initiating the run made me feel a little better. Even the slightest bit of gatorade and a splash of water on my head gave me a %100 energy boost (which unfortuately lasted little more than 30 seconds, but it was enough).

With about 200m to go my calves decided it was time to start cramping. I remember laughing at the fact that it happened now, with the finish line in sight. Thank you calves!

I passed an older man on my way in and he joked about how he would draft off of me on the way in. We laughed and joked as we ran down the finishers chute and I shook his hand and thanked him for the laugh once we crossed the line. Sometimes I think the random encounters like that in a race are what make doing this stuff so much fun.

My final time was 3:36, 3 minutes slower than my Vancouver time, but my splits were the real victory here: roughly 2 hours for the first half, and 1:30 for the second.

In Vancouver my lesson learned was that despite the pain, I could keep running and endure any suffering. In Kelowna I learned that I could endure that pain while hammering on my body at a pace I didn't think I could maintain for more than 10 minutes. I may not have met any of my original goals, but I learned some invaluable lessons that I will take with me into the races I do in the future.

I think the racing season is over for me now. Time to rest, eat lots of food, play some videogames, and start planning for next year.

Burnout?

Thinking of upcoming training has me feeling blah.

It's wierd that I'm excited for this upcoming marathon (3 days to go!) but ambivalent about all other training at the moment. Likely this is because I've not really ridden or swam since the Vancouver tri back on Sept 4th.

Another part of me thinks that hearing about Pros needing time off every once in a while (once a year?) to do nothing and relax away from the world of Triathlon might be rubbing off on me in a negative way, as in their need for time off has suddenly become my need for time off.

Well, I'll have next week off for post-marathon recovery, so hopefully that will give me the rest I think I desire.

Still haven't decided if I really want to do the 100k run yet, but that is mostly associated with the cost of it (race entry and fuel for me and the trooper). I imagine I will do it in the end, if for no other reason than to say that I tried...

100K?? Are you nuts!?

I'm "considering" (read: pretty much firmly decided) doing the Haney to Harrison 100K Ultra run on November 4th. Keep in mind that I've only ever done one marathon before.

Have you ever run 100m? Well, take that number, and multiply it by a thousand.

Yeah.

I want to say that I'll see how I feel after my second marathon on October 9th, but really I think I'm committed already. My only concern is poor Robin, who will have to get up at like 2am and be my support crew until 5pm or so, depending on when I finish. Do I want to put her through that? It doesn't seem like a lot of fun to be driving in a truck all day...

Yesterday, when I decided to do this, my plan was to get to 50k. I can do that with "ease" I'm sure. But over the course of about 13 seconds, that changed to "finish the whole 100K."

In any case it should be fun. Hah!

Lessons Learned

Yesterday was the Vancouver Triathlon, Olympic distance.

My time: 2:29:10, 78/271 in the Oly distance overall, 10/25 in my age group. 5 minutes faster and I would have moved up to 6th.

My time in March at the UBC Triathlon was about 2:36, in a swim where I blew my shoulder in the first lap, and didn't have aerobars on my bike.

The moral: despite the many many hours of training I've put in since March (6 months), my time really hasn't improved much, if at all. My riding leg was good and hard, and my swim was about 5 minutes faster than before thanks to my Ironman Stealth wetsuit. My run was slower than before though due to going a little too hard on the bike, so everything balances out (though I'm not convinced that the run distance was more than 10k...it felt really long compared to other races/training I've done).

In order to get good in this sport, you really have to put in a LOT of hours. Natural talent can only take you so far.

Now, it's possible that I'm simply not as good at shorter distances (my first marathon was 3:32 back in May, a time that was very good compared to the other 3550 racers, and a race in which I placed 442nd) and my times in a half IM and IM will be better, but I think I really need to use this race as a reminder that I need to put in the hours if I want to hit a podium finish (probably less than 2:15 for this age group).

2 weeks of heavy running begins tomorrow or Thursday (if my legs aren't too tired still) so I can try to improve my marathon time by 15 minutes for the Thanksgiving weekend in Kelowna. Thankfully running is my best leg by far (49th out of 271 for the Oly. distance in this race, 4th in my AG) so I think a 15 minute reduction is possible.

Hopefully my legs won't hurt as bad this time...

Addendum

I really like my girlfriend and feel like the two of us have a great connection, despite some of the glaring differences in our lives and past. However, her signing up for Ironman with me changed something within me. I feel so much closer to her now, knowing that she'll hopefully be able to understand the thoughts that go through my head better once she begins the big training for this race. This kind of stuff can only make a relationship stronger...I hope.

For the record, the trip back was great. Despite being tired, I think we both had a great time simply talking and bullshitting with one another.

Traffic sucked at the Port Mann though. I hate that part of the freeway...

Ironman Canada 2k7 signup

All right, time for a change. I had planned to do a blog to record my training and feelings and whatever else I wanted in the year leading up to my Ironman race, so here it is, built upon the ashes of my old blog. Not that many will be reading this anyways, but you never know.

This story begins on Saturday night. We (my girlfriend and I) went out and got pretty drunk for her roommate's birthday at an east-coast bar. Good times, lots of beer. Unfortunately this meant a hangover for the roughly 4-hour journey to Penticton. Not cool, but necessary. I would have felt bad if we were forced to leave Paula alone and sober on her birthday.

Sunday morning was fraught with peril. We were late in getting the car, and when it finally arrived, Robin somehow managed to break off the key in the trunk's lock. It's funny that I wasn't concerned or mad or anything. I had just resolved that if this turned into shit, I would simply hop on a bus and go to Penticton that way. There was no way in hell that I was missing this signup for anything. Fortunately, after an annoying phone call, we picked up another car, packed up our stuff, and were on our way.

The drive was fast and pretty uneventlful. By the time we hit Kelowna I could tell Robin was sick of driving, but that last leg was short and we were both happy to be out of the car by then.

We arrived in Penticton at about 5pm, just as the pro women were coming in actually. Robin and I walked over to Main St. and saw the 3rd Pro woman run past, as well as a bunch of the top men, all finishing their day, while the slower cyclists were either still coming in or just starting their runs. Knowing that they still had a marathon to run made me feel for them, remembering the horrible pain I had during my first marathon earlier this year.

We walked over to the finish chute and got to watch a bunch of extremely fit athletes cross the finish line. My girlfriend had been toying with the idea of signing up for the race, due to both myself and an ultra-distance runner friend of her's at work telling her that a full year of good training could take a new triathlete (her first was about 2 weeks earlier) to Ironman triathlete with relative ease. I think seeing these people crossing the line sealed the deal for her, as it did for me 2 years ago when I saw a recap of the finish on TV.

The we walked behind the finish line to see what happens to the athletes there and her resolve shook a little. Many of the men, once over the line, slumped into the catchers' arms, or collapsed on the ground and had to be picked up. Some ended up on stretchers with IV's in their arms, and the sound of ambulances could be heard until about 1am.

We left the finish line and went to check out the lineup for next year's race and were shocked to already see about 100 people in a line snaking down lakeshore drive, over a bridge, and into a little park by a roundabout. Not wanting to miss a chance at signing up, I decided to get in line then. We put some chairs down with out stuff in line, then figured we could get some food and watch the last finishers between 10pm and midnight.

Watching for those last two hours was an amazing experience. Unlike before when the faster people ran through with less fanfare, now every competitor was cheered on by a ferocious crowd and usually ran through with family and friends. It was quite a thing to watch. The music was blaring YMCA and a surprisingly spry Lisa Bentley came out and was jumping around like crazy, no signs apparent that she had placed second in an Ironman only a few hours before. She was later joined by Belinda Granger, Jasper Black, and Courtney Ogden, all signing autographs and throwing stuff to the crowd. Pretty awesome.

The end of the race came and went, and we were all saddened by Madonna Buder's DNF (she got sick on the run apparently and pulled out), but another man was coming into the finish at about 17:10 and it was decided that, despite being past the cutoff, he would still receive a t-shirt and finishers medal. This was because he stopped twice to help other competitors with flat tires, then stopped again to help out Madonna Buder on the run. Had he not stopped, he likely would have come in under 17 hours. It was a show of sportsmanship the likes of which I don't think I've ever seen before.

After this we headed back to the lineup where our stuff was where we left it. We crawled under a blanket and slept until about 6am when the line started moving for the 9am registration. Why these people were in a rush to get up and stand around for 3 hours when they could be lying on the nice comfy grass I'll never know, but when the line moves, you move with it. I do recall being briefly awaken at about 4am by the sound of people moving, wondering if the line was already moving then, but it turns out that was just a bunch of people who had the misfortune of sleeping next to the sprinkler system being forced to move out of the way. The comments of one man "I was wondering why the grass here was so green!" made us all laugh, then fall back asleep.

The morning was cold, but once the sun hit us it heated everything up pretty fast. The registration started 10 minutes early and we were through in a matter of minutes. Pretty slick. That is how every registration ever should be done for anything. Actually, it was kind of anti-climactic as we didn't even have to pay any money, so it didn't seem quite as real. That gets done online after. Oh well. I'm happy in any case as I met a huge goal in simply signing up for the race.

Prior to this, I was always say that I was "planning on doing Ironman," implying some vague future date, whenever someone asked me, even knowing that this is the year I was planning on doing it. Now I can say with confidence "I'm doing Ironman in 361 days." Wow, I guess I should learn how to swim!