IMC Prep Camp – Day 3

Sunday…that would be last Sunday…was the third and final day of my little IMC prep camp.  The plan was to ride all the major highlights of the bike course:Ally and I planned to start riding around Vaseaux Lake, just outside of Oliver.  We would ride to Osoyoos, up Richter Pass, over the 7 rollers, perhaps cover the out and back between Keremeos and Cawston, then ride the final big climb up to Yellow Lake.  About 100-120 km depending on what we decided on doing.  Given that my longest ride to date had been about 2 hours I did not feel that riding the entire course would be a good idea.  Even this plan would be about 5 hours, so that is a pretty big jump.  To pull off a point to point ride we also needed to have a support vehicle.  That’s where the boyfriend came in.  He had volunteered to come out to the Okanagan that weekend to man our official Subaru SAG wagon.  He’d drop us off, keep a cooler of drinks in the car along with snacks (candy, orange slices, fig newtons) and take our gear for us if need be, then pick us up whenever we were ready.  He also doubled as official cameraman for the day.  It wouldn’t have been possible to hit all of these major points on the ride without his help and it was much appreciated!

Unfortunately the weather was not fantastic.  The temperatures had cooled off a bit to about 12C and there were threatening clouds in the sky.  As we drove to our drop off point we passed groups of cyclists and they were all wearing a lot of clothing.  Hopefully we wouldn’t be underdressed!  I went out with shorts, a short sleeve t-shirt, a short sleeve jersey, arm warmers and a jacket.  From Oliver to Osoyoos the road is fairly flat so it would serve as a good warm up for the hills to come.

It was hazy in the valley, and as we rode towards Oliver we realized why.  An old hotel in downtown Oliver was on fire and most of Main Street was closed off as fire crews tried to save the buildings around it.  After riding the detour around downtown we continued on to Osoyoos.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful as we rode past vineyards and orchards.  With it being spring everything was still so lovely and green.  After about an hour we made it to Osoyoos where we met up with our SAG wagon to swap out bottles and I had a chance to go to the bathroom and ditch my jacket.  From there the work started.

Almost as soon as we started climbing Richter Ally pulled ahead.  She’s been cycling outside a lot already so I knew that would happen.  Richter is about a 10K long climb where you gain about 370 meters in elevation.  I plugged along, keeping my pace at that Sunday “ride all day” pace.  I got passed, I passed people, I just kept moving.  Part way up Richter there is a little flat spot and if you look to the left you can see Spotted Lake.  Before I knew it, I was at the top of Richter.  Really?  Already?After that there was a long downhill into the Similkameen Valley.  One place I definitely need to gain more confidence are on the downhills.  What is the good in being able to climb up strongly if I am tentative on the down?  It was probably best to play it safe on this day as there were large boulders in the shoulder that you had to be careful about.  The view down into the valley was amazing as everything was such bright green.  From there it was in to the 7 rollers.  Some rollers are bigger than the others but I found them pretty fun.  Not sure how I’ll feel about them on race day though!  Here’s me zipping down a roller… From there it was in to Cawston for a bit of flat reprieve, although it was definitely windy out.  All of a sudden, there was the turn off for the out and back.  Ally was nowhere to be found and I figured she’d be waiting here.  I texted her but no response.  Honestly,  I was hoping to meet up with her and call off riding the out and back.  With no response I took off on the out figuring that I’d see her on the way back.  There was no sign of her though.  Although I was feeling great physically, but this point, being about 3 hours+ in I hit a mental low just from having spent so much of the last bit on my own.  Sigh, I guess everyone has their points on the long rides, eh?  Finally, luckily, we managed to find each other.  By this point in time I was doubting my ability to ride up Yellow Lake and I debated calling it quits at Keremeos.  But I didn’t come all this way to call it quits.  We rode to Keremeos, I stopped in at a bathroom, I had some orange slices and got ready to ride again.  It was only 18K from Keremeos to the top of Yellow Lake.

The clouds were nasty in the direction we were headed, it started drizzling on and off and it was windy.  Angie had promised that there was a great place around Yellow Lake called Bear that had amazing cookies.  We rode forward with the motto that we were “riding for cookies”!  There are km markers on the shoulder of the rode, counting in 0.1K increments the way out of Keremeos.  Only 18K, no problem…

We were climbing, but I was waiting for the real climb to start.  By this point in time we had less than 10K left to go….when would it start?  All of a sudden I had my answer.  We turned a corner and you could see the road going up, up, up…  People around us were flagging so we passed them.  Must ride for cookies!  Finally, we were at the top! We couldn’t quite stop right after a big hill climb though as it would have been bad for the legs!  We dropped all of our gears and spun around the perimeter of the lake just to make sure our legs were flushed out.  And then, we were done…109K of riding in just under 5 hours.

I truly felt great.  I may have had a mental break in the middle of the ride, but physically I felt strong the entire time.  And it was a great confidence booster to see these big points on the course and to know that I can tackle them.  The IMC bike course is beautiful, but it is also tough and I think you have to play they day tactfully.  The initial third of the ride is pretty flat, but you have to be careful and not go all out to make sure you save your legs for the big climbs.  I’ve now seen the majority of the course with the exception of a section between OK Falls and Vaseaux Lake (all flat), and Yellow Lake back to Penticton (mostly downhill).  That can be addressed at our TTL training camp in July though…

After our ride we went into Oliver for lunch, then went off to Tuc-el-Nuit Lake for one last open water swim.  It was cold!!! And then that was it, our IMC prep camp was over and it would be back to Calgary on Monday.  I can’t believe it has taken me a whole week to write up three days of activity in the Okanagan…  This week has been busy though, so I promise to fill you in on it.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

IMC Prep Camp – Day 2

Day 2 dawned on our IMC prep camp.  I hadn’t swum since my race the weekend before so I was keen to hit up the pool.  I also had a 90 minute run on the schedule.  Originally I would have like to run part of the IMC run course.  We had ridden part of the run course on Friday and the shoulders disappear as you run along the lake.  Given that we were getting honked at on our bikes a run didn’t seem like a great idea.

I suggested running along the Mission Creek Greenway instead in Kelowna.It is one of my favourite routes to run there!  We wanted to knock out our swim first though, so our first stop was H2O Aquatics.  H2O is an amazing facility.  It has a 50m pool that is divided into 25m at points in the day, has a hot tub, wave runner, floating river, wave pool and three water slides and gym facilities.  We paid a daily drop in fee and knocked out a swim.  I ran through 2000m while the pool was open for 50m, most of it just with a pull buoy as I didn’t want to tucker my legs out too much.  We showered, changed, then ran to the green way.  My legs were pooped and after the first mile I let Ally go on.  I thought I would run one mile and walk for a minute, then repeat.  At 45 min I prepared to turn around, but I saw this guy: He was pretty big, so I think it may be a beaver?  I also downed my first Jet Blackberry Gu and it was pretty tasty!  When I turned around the legs perked up and my speed started dropping.  I was feeling great!  I wound up running for a total of 9 miles back to the H2O. 

After the run was done we met up with the boyfriend for a little cross training fun at the pool.  Water slides!!  Seriously, I wonder if I can count those hours as cross training?  For a long weekend the facility was fairly quiet and we had a great time testing out the water slides, floating down the river with a noodle and jumping off diving boards.  Afterward?  I was completely zonked!  There were initial talks of driving the rest of the IMC bike course and going for an open water swim but no one was too keen to go anywhere.  Instead we took it easy at my parents’ place, plotting our big ride for tomorrow and getting our nutrition sorted out.  Sunday it would be time to do a little more IMC bike course exploring!

DIY IMC Prep Camp

My plan for the long weekend in the Okanagan was to have a bit of a mini Ironman Canada prep camp.  I left Seattle early Thursday morning to drive to Vancouver to pick up the boyfriend who flew in for the weekend.  We then drove to Kelowna and met up with my friend Ally who would be joining me for some training. On Friday morning we decided to do a short 1-2 hour ride and tackle the front portion of the IMC bike course – from Penticton around the east side of Skaha Lake, McLean Creek Road to Okanagan Falls, and then back along the lake.  It was a beautiful sunny and warm day with plenty of cyclists out.  The route starts out very flat around the lake so it was a nice warm up.  We tried to hug the shoulder or edge of the road as much as possible but a few irate drivers decided to honk at us because they didn’t think we were over far enough.  That was nerve wracking!  We continued riding all the way around Skaha to OK Falls and then we tried to find McLean Creek Road… 

Once we turned on to McLean Creek the road went up and up.  We paused at the top of a hill for a moment and I looked around…we had found a winery! I’ve been teased for wineries being a bit of a magnet for me…  We debated stopping, but decided that it would be better to continue biking.  As we continued riding along McLean Creek Road something seemed wrong as it looked like we were going the wrong way.  I pulled over, pulled up a map of the course on my iPhone.  We had missed the initial turn off for McLean Creek Road along Skaha Lake.  Oops!  We decided to ride to the end of the road (which was downhill), hit the bottom and turn around to ride up for a bit to get an idea of what the uphill would be like.

As Ally and I rode the uphill we wondered why no one ever talks about McLean Creek Road.  The pavement is awful and there is a big hill with a pretty steep grade.  We continued about halfway, then turned around to head back toward Penticton.  On the second time back down we spied a super teeny tiny foal!From there it was a nice, straight forward ride around the lake for a total of just over 26 miles.  We packed the bikes back on to the car, ran around the lake for a quick 15 min brick, then found a picnic table for some lunch.  Mini-IMC prep camp was off to a great start!

Rainy Days in Seattle

I’ve been away from the blog for a few days, having fun and being very busy on a little vacation!  I know I have a ton of people to catch up with and race reports to read…with just a little over 400 unread posts in my Google Reader.  Thanks again for all the congratulations on my race last weekend.  It was a fun one!  After the race I took off on a little road trip to Seattle for a few days.

I stayed at the 11th Avenue Inn, a really great place in Capitol Hill, a mile or two away from downtown.  The rooms were quaint and charming, with an amazing breakfast in the morning.  The hospitality was second to none and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend staying here.  Monday was mostly about driving down to Seattle from Kelowna, popping in for lunch with my grandmother along the way, and then hitting up a few shops.  On Tuesday, May 18th, it was the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mount Saint Helens.  I’ve always wanted to visit, so this seemed like the right time.  I hit the road for a 2+ hour drive each way to see the sights.  Unfortunately it was rainy, cloudy, windy and pretty cold so the views of the volcano were not the best.  There were all kinds of television crews out there for the anniversary. On Wednesday it was time to get back in the swing of things as I had a one hour run to take care of.  I thought about running around Lake Union, but I needed to run fairly early and I wasn’t sure what the route was like.  Instead I opted to drive up to Green Lake.  I’ve run there before, in fact it was the site where I first broke 60 minutes in a 10K at the Iron Girl race a few years back.  There is a 2.8 mile path around the river and it was busy with runners, cyclists, roller bladers and people walking their dogs at 6:30 in the morning.  The run felt great – nice and speedy – and the scenery was beautiful.  Unfortunately I didn’t take my camera with me though!

In the afternoon it was time to explore Seattle a bit and I stopped in at the Columbia Center.  It is an office tower downtown, but they have an observation level on the 73rd floor.  It isn’t a 360 deg view of Seattle, but you do get to see quite a bit.  Plus, is is only $5 and you get to see the Space Needle!  Unfortunately rain was pouring down when I went so I couldn’t see the mountains. From there I hopped in a cab to check out the happy hour at Elliot’s Oyster House.  Starting at 3 pm they have a progressive happy hour.  Oysters start at $0.50 a piece, and every half hour they go up $0.25.  I got there just in time, grabbed a dozen oysters and a beer and hung out to enjoy my last night in Seattle.It was a great few days, but I had to head back to the Okanagan in time for the weekend…  

Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part II

Sorry I left you guys hanging on the race report.  I had to hit the road yesterday morning!

TRANSITION

I tried to be purposeful.  Blot the feet with a towel.  Put on socks, bike shoes, helmet and get out of there.  There were even still bikes on my rack – yay!  I thanked one of the triathlon officials for being there as I ran out and took off!

THE BIKE

I felt great leaving on the bike.  I stayed in an easy gear to spin the legs out and get the heart rate down.  Traffic control was great on the course as the first few intersections we went through were quite busy.  The folks did a great job of making sure we were safe.  Soon after coming out of transition was a big hill.  I pedaled and pushed, the heart rate rising.  I could hear someone behind me but they were obviously waiting for the downhill to make their move.  After the hill I was able to gear down and pedal with a bunch of power.  I passed a few people, a few people passed me.  I downed one gel about 20 minutes in, as per my plan. There were some nasty clouds in the sky that morning and I really hoped we wouldn’t get rained on.  So much for wishful thinking!  It began to rain as I turned the corner on to Highway 97.  This is the part of the course that is perfect for getting in aero and just going.  With the rain I was definitely feeling more cautious.  I was sitting up more.  Perhaps not picking off people ahead like I would have liked.  In Calgary it is either sunny or it snows so I don’t have too much experience riding in the rain.  Shortly before coming into transition the rain stopped.  I downed my second gel about 10 or 15 minutes from transition.  Despite riding more cautiously I still rode a few minutes faster than last year.I like this picture.  My parents were out on the course and found a couple of spots to take pictures at.  My mom spotted me and she was walking towards me to get closer for a picture.  I told her she should hurry up or she’d miss me and this was the picture…  Guess I was riding fast!

Bike – 40 km + T1 +T2 – 1:22:04
Garmin Bike Time – 1:18:27
Overall 84 out of 143

THE RUN

I tried to act quickly in transition.  Unfortunately I have no way to figure out what my T1 and T2 times are though.  I racked the bike, took off the helmet, changed shoes, stuffed a gel in my pocket and took off with my visor and my Garmin in my hand.  This year I used my Garmin Edge on my bike and the Forerunner on the run, where as last year I only used my Forerunner.

Ugh, my legs felt heavy…  I have definitely not done enough bricks yet this year!  Soon after coming out of transition was an aid station and I grabbed a water and a Gatorade.  I tried to dial back the pace a bit because of my plan to even or negative split.  The course is two loops with plenty of rolling hills.  Last year it was so hot and sunny on the run course.  This year it stayed overcast pretty well the entire time which felt great.  I chugged along on the run, debating when to take my last gel.  At the aid station at 2.5 km or at 5 km?  I’m not really sure why I settled on the 5 km mark, but that was the one I picked!  Although I had hoped to run consistently, what I was doing was consistently slowing down, just a little bit.  I kept moving though, only walking at the aid stations to down fluids.  Some folks just blew past me on the run like I was standing still.  I tried to see where the girls in my age group were at.  I knew I was ahead of a few, but I couldn’t tell how many were in front of me.  Oh well, not much I could do about that!

With 1K left to go I felt something loosen around my waist and my race belt fell off.  The elastic end came loose through one of the buckles.  I turned around to pick it up.  Rather than fiddling with it I just crunched it up in my hand and carried it.  Then finally…the finish line was in sight.  I had no idea where my net time was in relation to last year’s until then. I saw that I could squeak in under 2:56 so I took off down the hill to the finish.

Run – 10 km – 58:16
Overall 99 out of 143

Final Time – 2:55:37
Overall 99 out of 143
34 out of 61 Women
Women 30 – 34: 4 out of 9

The number 3 girl in my age group beat me by a solid 11 minutes so there was no contest for an age group prize.  The girl who came in first was also third female overall.  If they separated out top 3 overall from age groupers I had a shot at an award, but it was not to be.  Oh well, I cannot be disappointed in my day at all, swimming, biking and running strong and improving over last year’s time on the same course by 3 minutes.

I changed soon after finishing and grabbed some food.  They were cooking up burgers for us, plus they had some potato and bean salads, cookies, fruit and chips.  A great spread!  Family members could eat too by donation, which is a nice touch.  I stuck around for the door prizes and awards and that was that.  I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from the day!Hey…look at that, I forgot to turn my Garmin off…oops! 

And by the way, thanks so much for all of your great comments on the blog or on Facebook.  You guys are great!!!!!

Wine Capital of Canada Olympic Triathlon – Race Report – Part I

My first triathlon of 2010 is done!  I arrived in Kelowna on Friday afternoon and on Saturday I took off to Oliver to test out the lake (and my wetsuit).  Package pick up and the pre-race meeting was that afternoon.  The meeting was pretty straight forward and similar to last year.  The one big difference was that they were going to have the sprint athletes go off ahead of the Olympic athletes.  Then it was time for dinner and back home to bed in Kelowna.

Sunday morning I was up early….4 or 4:30 am I believe?  I woke up, showered, had some breakfast, packed up the car and took off to Oliver before 6 am.  I got there soon after transition opened and I took my time getting set up.  There was no one else set up on my rack yet so I grabbed the outside spot, lay down my new transition mat and put out bike shoes, socks, helmet, run shoes, visor, Garmins and nutrition.  Once everything was out I ate a banana and hit up the bathrooms.  After getting back to transition and finding a spot to sit they made an announcement that they Olympic athletes were in fact going to start ahead of the sprint athletes and that we had 30 minutes to race start.  Really?  I decided to start putting on my wetsuit as it generally takes about 15 minutes to get it on and adjusted properly.  Many thanks to the girl on my bike rack in the Speed Theory gear from Vancouver who volunteered to help me adjust it in the shoulders!  I looked at the bike rack and there was a girl who arrived last minute and had somehow or other squeezed her bike in at the end of the rack, making it really crowded there.  There was a big gaping hole in the rack with plenty of room for a bike in the center of it, but I guess position was more important to her than room.  Grr…  Oh well, not much I could do about it.  I downed a Strawberry Banana Gu, drank some water, and headed down to the lake to warm up.

THE SWIM

The water was measured at 15C the evening before but it felt pretty nice and warm out. I dunked my head, swam around a bit to get used to the water temperature and made sure to take care of that final nervous pee.  We were all called over to the lake edge for a quick briefing, then it was time to go!  My goal for the swim was to have a happy swim.  I decided to take a chance and start swimming with the pack in the hopes that I may be able to draft off some folks.  People spread out pretty well so apart from a bit of touching there wasn’t a lot of contact.  Every time I would breathe to the left I would see the same person in a green cap next to me.  It felt kind of nice to have people in front and to my left and right as I think it helped me stay on course a bit easier.  My swimming felt effortless and I swam past the four buoys on the way out in what felt like no time.  As we turned around to come back we all dispersed quite a bit more and I was more on my own.  I looked up and was surprised to see the number of people behind me.  Last year I think I was definitely more at the back of the pack.  I completed the first loop, ran out on the beach, around a buoy and back into the water.  Again on the way out I found a few people to hang out with.  I felt great the entire swim.  I didn’t swallow too much water, my chest didn’t tighten up.  Goal achieved!

This picture cracks me up!  Check out that look on my face!  I don’t look very happy, but trust me, I was.  I was trying to unzip my suit and get the arms off in preparation for the wetsuit strippers.  Yes!!  They had wetsuit strippers this year.  Thanks so much guys!  I hit the timing mat and looked up at the clock.  35 minutes and change.  That’s in line with what I’ll swim 1500 m in the pool at, plus it was 3 minutes faster than last year.

Swim – 1500 m – 35:18
107 out of 144

WCOC Teaser

I had a great day out in Oliver today.  I’ve been way to tired to put my thoughts down though, so I’ll leave you with a little teaser.

It was a fun day, I met my goals, set a course PR and came in 4th in my age group!  I’m off to Seattle tomorrow so check in with you later!

Decisions, Decisions

I made it safe and sound to my parents’ place in the Okanagan yesterday afternoon.  It was a long drive, but thanks to some good tunes it sped by. 

This morning I woke up at 4 am..!!  Granted, that is 5 am Calgary time, but that is still pretty early for a Saturday morning.  Rather than trying to go back to sleep I just hung out in bed and watched this week’s episode of the Vampire Diaries.

Now that the sun is shining it is time to tackle a quick clean and lube of the bike.  I raided a closet full of clothes that I’m assuming are the final stop on the way to the give away pile.  I found this sweet outfit to wear…  Those shorts are maybe mine from circa grade 7 or 8?  They still fit in the waist, but I think my hips have grown since then.  I found a couple of Kleenex in the pocket.  Or maybe I should wear one of these?  It may be hard to decipher but there are three shirts there.  They used to belong to my brother.  If skinny jeans can make a comeback, maybe so can obnoxiously loud Body Glove shirts.  You never know!  OK, time to go clean my bike! 

A Plan

So, I’m not really tapering for my race on Sunday which partially explains the 1:15 – 1:30 ride that I had on my schedule.  Last week it was snowing here in Calgary, today it was 20C (68F).  Shorts and short sleeve weather!  I raced home and hopped on my bike for a nice leisurely ride north of my neighbourhood.  I explored some new streets, saw some pretty houses, felt some crazy wind and rode up and down some rollers.

I also had a great chat with Angie regarding my race this weekend.  I think we’ve come up with a good plan for how to approach the day!

• Take a gel just before the start of the race.
• Goal for the swim – swim happy!  If I find feet, great.  If not, I just want to stay calm.  Last year my chest really tightened up on the swim and I’m hoping to avoid that this year.
• The bike…  I’d like to have a faster bike than last year.  Of course that will all depend on wind and the like, but I plan to race strong on the bike.  Plan for fuelling is one gel about 10 minutes into the bike, once the heart rate has settled down.  Another gel with about 15 minutes to go on the ride.
• The run…  I feel like I can have a strong run.  My big goal will be to attempt an even or a negative split on the run.  I don’t want to start out too fast, but I’m not allowed to dog the first 5K in an attempt to get that negative split!  Plan for one gel on the run.
• Ideally if I can equal my bike + run times from last year, then great!  This allows for some leeway in case I go faster on one leg compared to the other.
• Have fun!

I just have to make it through work tomorrow, plus I have a big interval run and a short swim to take care of.  A massage in the afternoon, then the evening will be all about packing!  I’ll hit the road Friday morning with my trusty travelling companion.  Best of luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Interval Loops!

Our indoor Tuesday night spin sessions are officially over.  Luckily the weather gods were cooperative this week and we were able to meet up for a ride tonight!  Angie decided to mix things up a bit and had us meet out around Bearspaw/Rocky Ridge.  This makes me happy as it is a very short drive from my house to the meeting spot.  In fact, I even debated riding my bike over.  I decided not to tonight, but possibly in the future I will.

We rode a 3+ mile loop around Bearspaw Golf Course.  We were riding mostly residential streets so it was nice and quiet for cars.  The plan was to ride the first loop easily together, then after that we were supposed to alternate riding the loops hard and easy.  The majority of the loop was nice and downhill, which meant that there was a big hill right near the end.  Fun!  The best thing about the loop was that it felt like we were pretty sheltered from the wind.  I rode the loop five times, hopped off and did a super quick brick, then home in an attempt to get things ready for my upcoming trip.

That’s right, I’m taking off!  The Wine Capital of Canada Olympic distance triathlon is on Sunday in Oliver, BC.  I’m not going to lie, I feel like the first triathlon of the season has completely snuck up on me.  I feel like I haven’t ridden outdoors as much this year, plus I’m still getting used to some aspects of the bike.  After all, today was the first time I attempted to reach for my bottle and drink while riding.  Yup, its true!  Plus I haven’t swum in the open water for awhile…  Oh well, this is just a chance to get my feet wet this year, so to speak.

Grateful

This has been one busy week!

On Thursday I had 10 x 2:00 intervals on my schedule.  My legs were pretty tired for some reason, so the run was feeling tough.  Very tough.  In fact I think I alternated between wanting to cry and wanting to barf.  Even though my legs were tired my intervals were not too far off the speed I normally get to, so I guess that isn’t too bad.  On my 9th interval I was walking past a couple of overweight louts in sweats and one guy yelled at me, “Swing your arms B*TCH!” 

Hmm…

While I would have loved to say a million things to him I just kept running.  I’m not going to lie though, his statement bothered me and freaked me out.  Thank goodness I was almost done!

Friday was another day at the pool – a 2000m race distance swim.  It went fairly well.  In the afternoons there are some young female synchronized swimmers that use a couple of lanes for practicing.  It is really neat to watch them…and on Friday I even got to listen to some music thanks to them as they had a speaker underwater.

On Saturday I met up with Kelly and a friend of hers for a 2 hour run around Glenmore Reservoir.  We all had to run for 2 hours, but I also had 3 x 2:00 hill repeats + 1:00 of squats at the top of the hill, tacked on at the very end.  Ouch!  Our speeds are all different but we all hung out together.  The chatting and the company was terrific.  It was also a beautiful day out!  It was just that kind of day where you feel lucky to be healthy and able to appreciate the sunshine and beautiful scenery.  We ran out along the south side of the reservoir, just to the base of Weaselhead hill and turned around.  An hour in we hit the biggest hill of our return route.  My friends didn’t have to run the hill repeats with me but they were great sports and joined in on the fun.  Thanks so much ladies!  The two hour run was great.

The plan on Sunday was to meet up for a 3 hour ride, but when we touched base in the morning it looked nasty out.  Grey clouds, cold temperatures and tiny flakes of snow.  Yuck!  We unfortunately put the kibosh on the ride.  The positive thing about no ride was that it opened the way for a last minute opportunity to join my brother, sister-in-law and niece for Mother’s Day brunch.  Yup, my niece is adorable!!  After brunch it was time to head home and knock out a spin workout.  If I couldn’t ride outside then I had a 2 hour power workout to do inside instead.  I’m not sure what I was thinking…I was supposed to do a 2 x 6:00 set, staying in the middle chain ring in the back, and flipping between the big and the small ring in the front.  For some reason I set the workout up as 8 repeats instead of 2!  Oops!  That wound up changing up the workout slightly…and sadly I still had to cut it a bit short as I had to run to the pool.  I had plans to meet Kelly at the Westside Rec Center in the afternoon.  Having company at the pool was great!  Kelly is a great swimmer – she swam competitively in high school.  It was fun attempting to keep up at times.  My legs were pretty tired from the spin so I went with a pull and paddle heavy workout that was a fun change up.  Just as I was finishing up my workout my brother, sister-in-law and niece showed up for some splashing around.  My niece was so excited to see me…it was so cute! 

Westside Rec has a wave pool, a lazy river and a big slide.  It was a lot of fun to play around with my niece and she got the biggest kick out of the water.  I think her favourite thing might just be the big slide!  She’d laugh the entire way down, and then she’d burst into hysterics when she’d see me arrive at the bottom of the slide.  It was a terrific afternoon.  I got to knock out some training, and I got to spend time with the family too.  As my training hours ramp up I’m feeling so grateful for my family and friends that are supporting me on the journey.  Many thanks to all of you!!

And also, congratulations to my Mom on finishing the Santa Barbara half marathon this weekend!! 

Starting Fresh

Last week was busy at work so I didn’t do a very good job of keeping up with my prescribed workouts.  Thank goodness things are different this week!  I had a big presentation to give on Monday, and once that was done I took off for the pool.  I had my first ever 3000 meter swim on the schedule.

I had about 45 minutes before the masters swim group came in and the public swim lanes would drop down to two.  Things were pretty quiet in my lane, but about 5 minutes before the master swim group I hopped into one of the other lanes.  Slowly but surely as the work day came to a close those two lanes got busier and busier.  All of a sudden I found myself in the medium/fast lane with four other people in it.  Things were moving pretty swiftly and I didn’t have too much left in my workout.  I threw the rest intervals out the window and just swam and attempted to hang on to toes.  It wound up being an intense cool down, but it was really fun to push myself and try to hang on.  3000 meters done.  The first of what I’m sure will be many long swim workouts!

Our final spin class at Crestmont was on Tuesday night.  It was one intense, head bobbing hard workout and I was grinning (or at least making a squishy face) the entire time.  I’m excited to ride outdoors but I will definitely miss the slightly more social aspect of indoor riding.  We typically have a pot luck after our final indoor class, so as we were cooling down Angie’s husband started passing beers out for us.   After we finished up 90 minutes of riding we hopped off the bikes, hung out and chowed down on salad, fruit, cookies, brownies, Nanaimo bars….good stuff! 

Sadly while the calendar says spring, the weather in Calgary says winter.  It has been snowing and cold all week.  The average temperature for this time of year is 15C (59F) so we are definitely below seasonal.  Fingers crossed….hopefully….it looks like things should improve by the weekend…