Beginner’s Night?

Tonight we had the option to ride indoors at Crestmont or to meet at Edworthy to ride hill repeats.  With highs in the low to mid 20s it is hard to pass up an opportunity to ride outside on a weekday in April.  Off to Edworthy I went!  Tri shorts, a tank and a short sleeve jersey was all that was needed!

Repeat #1 – 6:00

Something was wrong with my bike.  I could hear something rubbing and it felt like I was pedaling through sludge.  What was up with that?  I hadn’t even reached the tough part of the hill yet!  I pulled over at a safe spot and found that the side of my wheel was rubbing.  After that…what a difference!

Repeat #2 – 5:56 and Repeat #3 – 6:51

It started to feel like amateur hour out there!  I was having a lot of trouble clipping in on my left foot.  I started up the hill and I couldn’t shift from my big chain ring to my small ring.  Then I couldn’t shift anywhere in my back ring so I had to get off the bike to do it manually.  Stopping I’d almost fall over to the other side.  What on earth was happening out there??  You’d think I’d never ridden a bike before!  On the third repeat I was pondering that my legs were moving so slowly, but the folks around me were pedaling at a much faster clip.  Were they just that much stronger, or did I just need to turn my legs over faster in an attempt to keep momentum?

Repeat #4 – 5:26

Pedal faster, keep pedaling, don’t slow down, keep going….  I didn’t feel any more fatigued trying to pedal faster than on my previous repeats and I made it up the hill faster.  Woo hoo!

Repeat #5 – 4:57

At the bottom of the hill I ran into Sarah and she told me she was going to ride this final repeat with me.  As we went up she told me to think about focusing on something different every 10 strokes.  10 strokes – focus on pushing down with the pedals.  10 strokes – focus on pulling up and utilizing different muscles.  10 strokes – focus on your left leg.  10 strokes – focus on your right leg.  It paid off and my final repeat was also my fastest!

And what about the road?  The last time I rode repeats at Edworthy there was still quite a bit of gravel on the narrow road in and out of the park that we ride.  Today it was obvious that the road had been swept, so that was nice!

And don’t forget about the brick!  Even though I had already knocked out my 30 minute run earlier in the day Angie still wanted me to do at least a 10 minute brick run.  I packed the bike away in the car and ran with my friend Nola.  We spent so much time chatting that the 10 minutes over before I knew it.  Somehow or I other I made it through one gong show of a workout!  Phew!

Get used to it!

On Sunday I had a 90 minute run on my schedule.  I met up with Tara at Edworthy early in order to knock it out.  Tara was keen for company so I was more than happy to oblige.  As soon as we got going I could tell my legs were flat.  The worst part is, as we headed out we had a tail wind and my legs just weren’t coming around.  Oh well, it has been quite a busy set of training, including some tough hill repeats on Thursday so I guess I’m not surprised.  I told Tara that I’d be perfectly fine with turning around early, so 30 minutes in we headed back and now into the wind. 

What is it with running in the wind?  When you have a tail wind it feels so calm around you.  You run into the wind and you can’t hear anything!  How come it is so different in two different directions?

While I never fully got that jump going in my legs they did start to feel better and I just didn’t want to call it quits one hour in.  We ran to our cars, took a quick bathroom break, then headed out just a bit further to make for a 1:20 run.  We both had places to be soon thereafter so 1:20 was all that was possible.

Angie told me that during Ironman training there will be a lot of workouts where I just don’t feel great.  Welcome to Ironman training!  As I’ll be tired a lot of the time I’ll have to get used to it!  Luckily this week is fairly light in anticipation of the Police Half Marathon this weekend.

Later in the afternoon I hit up the pool for a swim – a 1500m race distance swim, followed by some sprints and a cool down.  I worked to be very mindful of my wrists, keeping them straight throughout my stroke.  As I kept swimming it felt more and more natural.  I did a couple of stroke counts but no real change there, nor on my pace with this technique modification.  I’m sure as I keep it up I’ll start to see some changes soon!

It’s go time!

I just started into a new block of training and you can definitely tell that things are ramping up.  Three swims, three bikes, and four runs.  Things are about to get busy, but I’m excited about the upcoming challenges.  I also feel like a switch has flipped inside me and I am hungry…all…the…time…  Interesting..!!

On Monday I went to the pool over my lunch break to knock out a 2300 m balance swim.  The workout included a lot of drills – head lead kick on my right side, head lead kick on my left side, six kick roll and three kick roll.  On my way to the pool I texted Angie to see if I could use flippers for my drill set and luckily she gave me the go ahead.  I managed to get to the pool before it got really busy and the workout went really well.  Well, up until the very end of it where I started to develop a rather massive headache.  I cut the last 100 m off the workout, and the headache never truly went away for the rest of the day.  Fun times…  But headache aside I felt really positive about my swim and I’m loving this early lunch swim!

Tuesday is normally spin night with Angie, but the community hall that we are spinning at accidentally double booked the building for tonight.  We had the option to spin indoors, or we could meet at Edworthy to ride hill repeats.  I have to admit that I was actually pretty excited about the prospect of hill repeats outside.  Crazy!  Despite it being 7C (45F) it was very windy, quite cold and it looked like the heavens were about to open up.  The beauty of riding at Edworthy is that you are never too far from your car in case the weather changes.  As I started getting prepped in the parking lot I turned on my Garmin Edge 305…and beep…then nothing.  Two weeks in a row of a dead battery for Tuesday rides?  Seriously?  I don’t know if I accidentally left the unit on again or if there is something wrong with my battery.  Hmm, going to have to keep an eye on it…and to test it before leaving the house again!

Oh well, back to the Timex and on to the ride.  Despite the threatening weather there were quite a few folks riding the hill.  For the most part road conditions were good although there was one section on the downhill side with a large patch of gravel.  I set a goal for myself to knock out 6 hill repeats.  I felt good and strong on the hill – I was passed sometimes, and sometimes I passed people.  I’m still a chicken on the downhills though!

Edworthy Park XC Race

When fall arrives, so does the start of the Calgary Road Runners Cross Country series of races.  I’ve been wanting to try one of these races for ages but I always seem to be training for something that prevents it.  With no marathons on the horizon there are no excuses, so I showed up for the Edworthy Park XC race today.

We’ve been fairly lucky with the weather in Calgary as of late (knock on wood).  No snow for awhile and sunny and dry all week.  This made for some fantastic conditions on the trail as it was dry out, no snow, and just one icy patch.  And since it was supposed to be up to 8C (46F) I figured capris, a short sleeve tech shirt with a long sleeve on top would be perfect.  And it did feel nice outside…when the wind wasn’t blowing!  The wind was positively icy, but I figured as soon as the race started things would be okay.

I ran into Dawn and Karen at the race start, chatted with a few other runners and soon enough it was go time!  There are two options for the race, a one loop 4K or a two loop 8K course.  I decided to go for the 8K.  This being my first XC race and all I lined up near the back and vowed to not look at my Garmin.  The course was a whole lot of up and down and it sure was fun!  There was one flat section when we were running along a field and wow…it felt like all energy was being sucked from my legs.  Definitely prefer the up and down trail as opposed to flat.  There was one big hill that we got to hit twice where I didn’t even attempt to run, I figured I was best off just to walk it.  Sure…I came in somewhere near the back of the pack, but no matter.  It was still fun!  I can see how these races are addictive and it would be fun to get better at cross country!

After the race we all head to the nearest community hall for a social.  Bring a bowl, mug and spoon for soup and coffee, plus bring a dessert to share among all the racers.  I had a bowl of black bean and pasta and chatted with friends.  For $10 for race entry you can’t beat this as a way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Garmin Time: 53:00
Gun Time: 53:04
Overall: 97 out of 103
Females 30-39: 7 out of 7

Sleep Deprivation

Wow….I am pushing the sleep deprivation this week!!  Caffeine is my friend!  After going to see Harry Potter I had to find out what happened on the So You Think You Can Dance finale.  I knew it was going to make a late night though…  After somewhere in the neighbourhood of 5 hours or so it was back up and off to the Y to swim.  Wow, it has been awhile since I’ve been to the pool..!!

I somehow or other trudged to the Y and started swimming.  It felt good to be back in the water.  My 2200m pacing workout went really well.  It was so quiet when I got there initially.  It was only myself and one other person swimming and more people didn’t dive in until I was finishing up my workout.  After I got out of the pool I was ready to crash though…except I had to go to work!  Thank goodness for caffeine this morning.  It was really rough.

The weather has not been terrific today, just grey, misting off and on…  I had hill repeats to ride on the bike and luckily by the afternoon the clouds were breaking.  I took off to Edworthy to ride up and down the hill a bunch of times.  I was supposed to go max effort on 6-7 hill repeats.  After riding up the hill once as a warm up I got going.  There were a few other cyclists out there doing the same thing and one lady kept yelling encouragement at me whenever we’d pass each other on the hill.  I was feeling pretty strong on the hills and my splits were all very close to each other.  I wound up getting 6 repeats (plus the warm up hill) done, then called it a night and took off for a 15 minute brick.

Now that I’ve found out who won So You Think You Can Dance I guess I can head to bed.  Pool tomorrow morning!

First Workout of the Week

I wanted to run after work, but I had a few errands I had to run first. I needed to stop by the vet as Maggie was out of food. Ever since Maggie got really ill back in July 2007 she's had to be on special food or else it can really disrupt her stomach. It it somewhat ironic that she can munch on bark mulch or chew on toothbrushes and be just fine though! Yesterday I had to feed her Finlay's food and she wound up getting ill at 2 am this morning...

I figured since I was out and about that I'd head somewhere out of my neighborhood for my run. First I thought about going to Edgemont since I hadn't been there in awhile, but the pathway was completely covered in snow and ice. I guess they don't clear the snow there in the winter? I went with the backup plan and headed over to run the river from Edworthy instead. I actually had a trainer workout on the schedule but I figured I'd take advantage of the nice temperature instead. With no real gameplan I thought I would aim for about three miles.

When I got started I felt about as coordinated as Phoebe from Friends when she runs.

And it sucked. How is it that I had a great run last Thursday? And set a PR at a race on Sunday? I looked down at my Garmin at one point and my average pace was 10:44/mi. WTF?

After I hit one mile I stepped off the pathway and stretched a few things out and thought about what was going on. I was probably being a bit hard on myself... I continued on and I managed to pick up the pace at some points but it still felt like a pretty tough run overall. 3.4 miles done. It wasn't pretty, but at least I got out there!

Shaken, Stirred

Do you ever have a moment where you wonder what on earth you are doing, and what you have gotten yourself into? That moment hit me this morning in the pool. I was running late and was probably a little bit flustered when I got to the Y. We were doing an open water swim simulation. I warmed up for 10 minutes, then we started a 20 minute swim in a circle around the pool. We had two buoys set up that we were supposed to corkscrew turn around. As soon as we started the anxiety hit and I wasn't breathing very well. My breaths were very shallow and it was almost like I was holding my breath, then doing a quick exhale and inhale when I turned my head out of the water for air. I was so frustrated with the situation and with myself. I have never wanted to quit something quite so badly in my life.

All of a sudden I started thinking...I've signed up for all of these triathlons and I've never done an open water swim...what happens if it is disastrous?

What if I can't do it?

Honestly, I wanted to cry. But that wasn't really the solution. I knew I needed to get my breathing under control. Finally about five minutes in I started to calm down, concentrated on exhaling and felt a bit better. But pretty well the damage was done, I was miserable and unhappy with myself that I got so anxious.

I had a good chat with Angie about it. On the plus side...better that this happened in March as opposed to in my first race of the season on May 24th! So at least I know I have something I need to work on.

I wasn't able to get a run in over lunch since I had a lunch and learn to go to today. Instead I hit the pathway at Edworthy after work for my run. I had some intervals on the schedule, which was great since I may have had a little bit of frustration to work out... I ran out for 20 minutes, turned around, then ran 4 x 0:30 hard, 1:30 easy. And then back to my car. I got in 4.1 mi in just over 40 minutes and it felt really good out there. Yay for daylight savings so that I can now run in the evening more!

A First Time for Everything

The prescription for Saturday's run? Zone 3 run intervals. Three times 8 minutes of them. In the comments section of my schedule? These should be quite uncomfortable. Good times!

I wanted to run on flat ground so this meant that I needed to head out from my neighbourhood. I decided to run from Edworthy along the river. It was sunny out, but absolutely crazy windy out. We're talking wind gusts 32 to 63 km/hr (20 - 40 mph). As I headed toward downtown the wind was at my back so it almost felt like it was pushing me along at times. I was supposed to warm up for 10 minutes, then do 4 x 20 second accelerations followed by 40 seconds of easy running. Then the fun started with my 3 x 8 minute zone 3 intervals followed by 5 minutes of easy running. Finally cool down.Looking at a graph of my heart rate I did a pretty good job. I started out on my run, then realized that I'd forgotten something at my car so had to turn back. Then, about 8 minutes along I was running along the pathway approaching a woman out walking her dog. I'm not sure what breed this dog was. It looked like a boxer but the colouring seemed a bit different. Just as I was about level with the woman and her dog he lunged out at me as if he was going to attempt to take a chunk out of my knee. I screamed and jumped off the pathway and was clearly shaken. See the HR spike in to Zone 2? She apologized and chastised her dog but I just wanted to keep going in the opposite direction from them.

I got my HR into Zone 3 pretty quickly on the first interval and it was pretty easy to keep it there. I ran it in an 8:26/mi pace and felt uncomfortable, but still good. On my 5 min of easy running I turned around to run into the wind and up until this point I hadn't quite realized how strong it was. I knew the last interval would be tougher. I ran the second interval with the wind at my back. It was still relatively easy to keep my HR in Zone 3 but my pace had definitely slowed a bit, down to 8:50/mi. The third and final interval was a whole other ball game thanks to the wind. I knew I wasn't going anywhere near as fast and I almost felt like I wasn't going anywhere as I tried to push in to the wind. I slowed down to 9:31/mi on this interval and I creeped up into Zone 4 more than a couple of times. After the interval I walked for a bit, then started an easy jog into the crazy wind. All of a sudden it was like something in my stomach rebelled and I nearly lost all of the water and part of a Luna bar that I consumed on to the side of the path. I didn't wind up throwing up per se, but I definitely had something come up to the back of my throat and ugh...it was the grossest thing ever. I so wanted to be done at this point in time but I chugged some more water to get the vile taste out of my mouth and just kept jogging back to the car. Blech. I've joked about running hard enough to throw up before, but this is the first time I've come that close.

Anyhow, all in all, it wasn't too bad of a run because I definitely accomplished my goal. I kept my HR in the required zones and obviously ran to a point where I felt uncomfortable. All said and done I got in 6.31 miles for the day.

***And, I was able to reschedule date #3 with the guy from Tuesday, so its all good!***