Taper Time!?

Well, after a major case of the “I don’t wanna’s” last week…I survived. 

After my trip and fall on Thursday I felt like I’d been hit by a truck on Friday.  My entire upper body was stiff and sore.  Discomfort in my ribs (from where my heart rate monitor strap likely pushed into my body on impact) made it painful to cough and I was unable to sneeze.  A sharp intake of air was uncomfortable enough that it would stop a sneeze in its tracks.  Given all of that I opted not to swim that day as things just hurt too much.

I did survive our final 180K ride though!  The ride started out as a bit of a gong show.  We were planning on riding Highwood Pass, however more than one person told us we were crazy for attempting that route – with so much climbing – on an already hard day.  On Friday night we made the call to ride closer to Calgary instead.  We didn’t have a specific route in mind, just places to go.  We broke the ride up into chunks – a 50 km out and back to Springbank Airport, 30K out to Bragg Creek, another 10K out to Elbow Falls, return to Calgary and ride the 50 km out and back again.  This helped me to not focus on the entire distance and just think of the ride in smaller pieces.  It is the strongest mentally I have felt on a long ride so far this summer.

On Sunday I finally got that 4000 m swim in.  It actually went pretty well.  It was boring…but I survived.

And now we taper!!!!!  (If you can consider that a 14 hour training week versus a 16 hour training week is tapering….)

Rough Weekend, Part II

We made it to Kelly’s house and popped in for a quick bathroom break.  I wanted to break off on my own and ride home but the girls convinced me to keep riding with them.  As we set off from Kelly’s house Ally wobbled and wound up falling, landing sharply on her elbow.  We were concerned something was broken, but Ally wanted to keep riding.  I would have rather called the ride right there…but we forged on.

As soon as we were back on the highway, right away, I got dropped again.  I was ready to turn my attitude around though, so I got comfortable with being in the back.  I figured I’d just ride along and perhaps make a turn later to take me back to Cochrane then back home.  I did want to get my entire 5 hour ride done. 

As I kept riding I realized that my legs were getting shaky and I was seeing spots.  Classic bonk.  I pulled over and started having a bit of a picnic, having some Infinit, some Fig Newtons and a bike to Honey Stinger bar.  Ally and Kelly saw I had stopped, gave me a call and I rode up to meet them.  I don’t know what happened but I just started crying. 

Apparently, bonk = tears.  According to my coach.

Ally was hurting so we turned back around.  The good news for Ally is that nothing is broken, whew!

But wow, this ride was one heck of a roller coaster of emotions.  I wound up heading home, having lunch with the Boyfriend, and we went for a nice ride nearby.  It was easy and it was fun, just what I needed to fall back in love with my bike.

So, lessons learned?

• My ride is my ride.  I need to worry about my speed only, and not worry about keeping up with my riding buddies.  Not if it is going to affect me so negatively.
• Um, welcome to Ironman training…an emotional roller coaster!
• Calories matter, but so do the type of calories.  I needed to have some protein earlier on in the ride.

Anyhow, time to move on and looking forward to a better week of training this week!

As for my hip?  I saw my ART practitioner today and it isn’t my IT band.  It is just off to the side of my IT band.  It will be fixable…hopefully with my session today and one on Wednesday I’ll be good for my long run this week….let’s keep our fingers crossed!  Walking and riding don’t cause a problem luckily. but hopefully things will be good for running!

Rough Weekend

Wow, this weekend was a rough one.  Really…  I met up with Kelly on Friday for a 90 min long run.  My instructions were to run for 90 min and if I was feeling good and thought it was safe I could push it up to 1:45 or 2:00.  But otherwise take it easy and feel good!  It was a warm one out on Friday and it was nice to be enjoying the sunshine.  We were running nice and easily and running 4:1 intervals.  We ran towards Edworthy and even met up with Tara for a bit.  Around 40 or 45 min we started running at the end of a walk break.  I stepped out with my left foot and all of a sudden there was a shooting pain in my left hip.  I thought it might work itself out as I ran along….maybe I just stepped badly?  It actually got worse so I had to stop and walk.  After walking for a bit it felt like things had loosened up, but as I tried running again it immediately started hurting again.  My gait was terrible trying to compensate for the pain.  That was it, I made it back to the office on a walk, feeling dejected over the pain in my hip, something very new for me.  I had a chat with coach Angie after I got back to my office.  I’m pretty sure it is my IT band, so I have instructions to not run until there is no pain, and to stretch, foam roll and go see my ART provider stat this morning.  Because it came on so suddenly that is generally a good sign (not a chronic injury) and I can tell that things are feeling a lot better in there today on Monday morning than they did on Friday afternoon or even Saturday.

Cut to Sunday, the day of our long ride.  The plan was to ride nice and easy for 5 hours, no distance plan at all.  I had asked if we could start at 8 am so we could get done just a bit earlier.  Somewhere along the way I forgot I said 8 and thought we were meeting at 9.  When I asked Kelly what the weather was like out her way at 8 am, no wonder she was surprised that I wasn’t on my way!  I wasn’t ready to go, I still had nutrition to prep.  I told them to ride on, I’d get ready and ride towards Cochrane and we’d meet up somewhere along the way. 

First downfall of the ride – nutrition.  I had used the last of my Infinit bike formula at Great White North and my new order hadn’t arrived in time.  I substituted with three bottles of my Infinit run formula – made with sugars for a shorter duration workout and no protein.  I also decided to pack along a Honey Stinger protein bar and some Fig Newtons.  I wanted to try out a real food option on the ride.

I felt great riding to Cochrane.  The weather was looking iffy, but I was feeling good.  About an hour in I ran into my riding mates.  From here we waffled on where to ride.  One of the guys in our group didn’t want to ride for 5 hours so he was interested in turning back.  We decided to turn back towards Kelly’s house and ride part of the Calgary 70.3 course.  As soon as we rode south out of Cochrane I was dropped like a hot potato.  This was not an easy pace….  We were also riding into a headwind and I just wasn’t able to pick it up enough to catch up.  Cue the demons in my head and the disappointment over not being able to hang on with the group.

We turned off of Highway 22 and rode east along Springbank Road.  It was lovely and flat and this is where my power is.  I flew down this road, all of a sudden feeling great about my ride and enjoying the scenery.  When we then turned south again the hills picked up and I flew of the back of the group.  As I watched them pedal further and further away I got more and more disappointed.  I thought that maybe I should ride to Kelly’s house and turn around to ride home on my own as this race pace of a ride was not helping me mentally.  My emotions were just as hilly as the course we were riding.  Well, when we made it to Kelly’s house, that is where things got even more interesting….  Stay tuned.

Swim/Bike/Run Thoughts for the Week

Swim:

I have not been a good little swimmer for most of June.  I didn’t realize it, but I’ve been averaging one trip to the pool a week this month.  Except for this week!  I got in all three of my swims this week – 2800 m on Wednesday, 3500 m on Friday and another 1800 m on Saturday.  The 3500 m swim was great.  I swam consistently the whole way through.  There were no drills, no pull, no paddles, no kick.  Just swim.  Surprisingly I wasn’t bored, but that may have been because I had to pee so badly I was concentrating more on making sure my bladder didn’t burst!

For Saturday’s swim I got there and the only lane with no one in it was the fast lane.  OK, well I’m not fast, but I decided to go for it anyway.  As the swim went on floaters would come in and jump into the medium speed lanes, then hang out and chat at the edge of the pool.  I guess you don’t have to be fast, but if you show up with a lot of pool toys you look serious!  Unless of course someone who is actually fast shows up…

Bike:

On Thursday I had a two hour ride to take care of.  The weather has been so crazy here in the evenings – warm and sunny during the day, showers and thunderstorms in the evening.  I was really hoping I’d be able to make it for two hours without the weather turning.  In addition some of the team was getting together for a time trial workout later in the evening.  Kelly also volunteered to keep me company for part of my ride.  I did a quick loop through Bearspaw, met up with Kelly and did another quick loop before meeting up with Angie and the team.  Their plan was to ride a time trial out 1A from the edge of Calgary to Cochrane, then coming back along some quieter country roads.  Most of the team was still warming up.  I wanted to do the route, but not the time trial, so we took off ahead of the team and vowed to try and stay ahead of them the entire time.  The winds were getting crazy!!!  We had one heck of a headwind out along 1A so I don’t know how the time trial went for everyone else out there.  If I had pedaled as hard as I could and if I had pedaled any slower I would have been going backwards!  Once we turned off of 1A we got to feel those winds as a crosswind.  Wow, I’ve never had my bike blown around so much before and it was a little scary!  We turned another corner and now we had a tail wind and just booked it!  That was fun.  Luckily I made my 2 hour ride in before the heavens opened up.

Run:

This has been a bit of a cutback week for running in anticipation of the Great White North half Iron distance triathlon next weekend.  Short with lots of intensity.  Half marathon pace intervals on Wednesday, and 1 minute hard intervals on Friday.  My calves were super tight after the Wednesday intervals and the fire drill, but luckily they felt good while running.  The 1 minute intervals went fairly well but my stomach was really acting up.  I made it through the intervals but by the time I made it to the cool down I had to walk as my stomach just couldn’t handle running.  Wow, what is up with my digestive system??  I’m hoping I can really figure this out…

Three Things Thursday

1. Why is it that when you lean forward on your bike to drink from your aero bottle that it is the perfect position for all of the snot to promptly run out of your nose?  Lets just say that I’m getting good at the farmer blow (aka snot rocket)…
2. The weather in Calgary has been conspiring against us lately.  It will be beautiful in the day, with thunderstorms rolling in just as it is time to leave work.  Fingers crossed for some nice weather this afternoon as I have a two hour ride.
3. Yesterday I ran some half marathon pace intervals over lunch.  My legs were zonked and it was so hard to hold pace.  After I was done running I was waiting at an intersection to cross and I actually had to sit down on a nearby ledge it was that hard to stand up.  Then jump to 2:00 pm where we had a fire drill at work.  And I work on the 30th floor.  If my legs weren’t unhappy before that, they sure were unhappy after that.  Very tight calves today!

Banff National Park Long Ride

We are now entering new territory….longest bike rides ever! This weekend called for 140K (87 mi). Phew….that’s a long way! Kelly, Tara and I met up in Harvie Heights, just between Canmore and the border of Banff National Park on Saturday morning. The plan was to ride along Highway 1, past Banff, then out on to the Bow Valley Parkway toward Lake Louise. Then ride back!

It looked liked it would be a gentle climb with some good uphills at points along the way out, then downhill on the way back. The weather has been off most of this week, with plenty of rain. Luckily by the time Saturday rolled around the sun was out. It was warm without a cloud in the sky. The sky was the most amazing blue ever. We were definitely lucking out on the weather!

The ride out from Harvie Heights to the turnoff for the Bow Valley Parkway was gently rolling and I loved the ride. Even though we were riding on Highway 1 the shoulder was definitely generous. I was surprised that it took us 26K to get to the Bow Valley Parkway. Had it really been that long? From there on out the bigger climbs started. Predictably I wasn’t able to keep with the girls on the climbs. Sigh…I know the girls are strong climbers but it started to get to me that I couldn’t keep up.

The original plan was to ride all the way to Lake Louise but it was becoming readily apparent that my calculations were just slightly off. We were about 7K from Lake Louise when we hit 70K on our ride. Somehow or other 140K was enough to wrap our brains around, but 154K seemed like just a bit too long. Plus we had to be back in Calgary by 5:30 pm and the timing was starting to get tight on that. I also expected the ride back to feel a bit easier than it actually did. Wasn’t this supposed to be downhill? On the plus side we got to see some wildlife! We passed a deer, plus some elk!

The last 20K of the ride was tough. I was so ready to be off my bike! I was tensing up between my shoulder blades and my lower back was starting to ache. Were we there yet? I know my legs could go further but the mental aspect is mostly what seems to get to me. I’m really going to have to work on this…

Finally we were at the gates to the park…just a couple more kilometres to go! 5 hours and 142.5K later and we were done! Unfortunately we were out of time though and had to head back to Calgary right away, so no opportunity for a brick run. This bike was a good learning experience though:

• While a ride may take 5 hours of active time, you are actually out there for much longer. Today it took about 6.5 hours including stops!
• While I do like drinking Infinit on my rides I need to bring along some solid food as my stomach starts to get growly. Kelly carries sandwiches of turkey and cheese rolled in a corn tortilla. I think I may try something similar.
• I may not be a fierce climber but I am learning that my power comes on the flats. We all have our strengths and weaknesses!
• Ironman training really is a roller coaster…

Going Long

Thursday was my long run day – 2 hours!  My number one favourite thing to do for long runs is to run from my house into work.  It is about 12.5 miles in and it helps me to get that long run out of the way nice and early.  I dropped a bag of clothes and toiletries off at the office on Wednesday.  In the evening I prepped my nutrition.  I’ve tested out Infinit’s single serving Run formula before and it works pretty well.  I just drink that and don’t worry about hauling gels with me.  I fill up a Camelbak with the Infinit and left it in the fridge.

Thursday morning my alarm rang bright and early.  I hopped out of bed, checked the weather (11C – warm!) and put my run gear on.  My route from home to work is hilly.  244 feet of climbing, 536 feet of descending.  The majority of the climbing seems to happen in the first few miles of the run and it took a good 4 miles before my legs actually realized that we were supposed to be running.  They just weren’t getting into the groove and they were tired.  Then things were good until about 1.5 hours and then my legs were just ready for this run to be over.  The only way for the run to be over was to get to work though, and I wasn’t walking….so trudge, trudge, onwards to work.  Painfully slow.  But the run got done!  I made it into work, grabbed my bag of clothes and a guest pass to the gym in the basement of my office and that was it.  It felt good to have the run done.  Shortly after getting to the office it started to rain, so I was definitely happy that I missed the rain!

On Friday I took the day off of work to meet up with my IMC partners in crime, Tara and Kelly.  Tara was racing a sprint on Saturday and had instructions to ride 120K the day before.  Kelly and I both offered to take the day off of work to keep her company.  We decided to ride from Calgary out west and then south towards Bragg Creek, then on to Elbow Falls.  The route is mostly flat until after Bragg Creek with just the occasional hill.  Every single baby hill my legs were screaming at me.  I felt good on the flats but the hills were just draining.  And apparently my brain wasn’t capable of doing math either.  For some reason or other I kept thinking I was riding 62 miles (100K), but I really needed to go for 74 miles.  I was so wrong on where I thought our turnaround point ought to be. 

Part way through the ride I made a big decision….

I changed my Garmin Edge from miles into kilometres.  All my rides are given in distances and it is getting a little tiring converting back and forth.  So into kilometres we go!  Kelly welcomed me to Canada when I made that little change over. :)

We wanted to avoid the big climb to Elbow Falls so we turned around a bit early, making for a total ride distance of 110K.  We were all pretty knackered so no one had the desire to tack on those extra 10K.  We did trudge through a pretty painful brick run afterward though.

There we go, two more long workouts in the bank for IMC.  Thankfully there were some fun things in store for the weekend!

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!

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!

Best of Banff – Part II

Wow, it turns out that between the running and all the walking I did on Saturday I was sore!!!  Oh well, Sunday arrived, the skies were reasonably clear so it was time to ride.  We headed out to the Bow Valley Parkway, the more scenic highway that connects Banff and Lake Louise. 

I rode this last year with my friend James the weekend before the Lake Stevens 70.3.  The scenery is amazing out here, plus the ride is a lot of fun.  The speed limit is fairly low along here and the ride is a fun one with some hills here and there, plus a net elevation loss on the way back.  Last year I rode the entire parkway and it was about a 3.5 hour ride.  This was a little more than what I and my riding partner were looking to do, so we parked at Johnston Canyon.  Along the way to Johnston Canyon we spied some elk!  Apparently there was a bear out along the way too, but we didn’t spot it.  The road was in pretty good shape – patches of gravel here and there, but definitely rideable.  While there were patches of sunshine here and there, there was also a pretty wicked wind coming out of the west.  It also looked like it was storming around Lake Louise.  After riding for about 40 minutes there were teeny tiny flakes of snow in the air.  We made the decision to turn around rather than risk getting caught in a possible storm.   The net downhill on the way back sure was nice as it only took 28 minutes to get back to the car!  And with that it was time to head back to Calgary…  We did manage to spy some goats on the way, but they were a little camera shy…

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!

Hints of Summer

The weather in Calgary this weekend was absolutely sublime.  Almost like summer as the temperatures got up to around 20C (68F).  How best to take advantage of it?

Saturday looked like the nicest day, so I hit the road for a 2 hour ride.  I picked a route I had ridden once before in July of last year.  It is accessible from my house, takes me over some hilly roads past fancy houses, farms, cows, horses and oil wells.  It ends with a straight shot down highway 1A from Cochrane back to Calgary.  I dressed in capri riding tights, a short sleeve tech top, a short sleeve jersey and arm warmers.  Within a few miles the arm warmers were coming off as it was so warm out.  Warm out does not equal no wind around these parts though and it really felt like the wind was all around.  Oh well, ride on!  The sky was clear and the mountains looked absolutely beautiful as I rode towards the west.  The promise of summer, the promise of long rides outside around my city put a smile on my face.  It felt good to be outside!

I felt strong on the hills and tried to trust myself to not brake so much on the downhills.  I also tried going into aero, just getting the feel for my bike.  Before I knew it I was on the outskirts of Cochrane, ready for the final 10 mile stretch along the highway towards home.  There is a net downhill from Cochrane to Calgary, and despite the fact that you are riding on a highway, the shoulder is very wide so I don’t mind the traffic too much.  It looked as though the shoulder had been swept recently as there wasn’t too much gravel out there.  The wind was wicked along here though.  While I can normally hammer home in my big chain ring I couldn’t get out of my small chain ring.

Then all of a sudden it happened.  4 miles from home and I felt the familiar rumble from my back wheel.  A quick glance down confirmed that my rear tire was without a doubt…very…flat.  I hopped off the bike and moved over into the grass, well away from the road.  I could do this, no problem!  I took my back wheel off (why is it always your back wheel that goes flat??), moved the tire over to one side and took out the tube.  Thankfully I had the presence of mind to check the tire for debris and I found it – a staple that I’d ridden over embedded in my tire.  If I had missed that the next tube would be flat as soon as I attempted to inflate it.  I grabbed a spare tube and attempted to blow some air into the valve but nothing.  Hmm, maybe a squirt from my CO2 cartridge would help?

The Ultraflate Plus from Genuine Innovations rocks by the way.  I don’t ever have to worry about accidentally releasing my CO2 into the atmosphere instead of my tube.

Anyhow, with the CO2 cartridge nothing happened besides the valve stem starting to freeze up.  Upon closer inspection it looked like some of the rubber inside the tube has fused together.  On to my second and final tube.  No pressure….if anything happened to this tube I would be hooped!  No sense thinking who I would call to come rescue me unless it came down to that though…  Just stay calm, inflate a bit of air into the tube, manoeuvre it into place between the rim and the tire.  Check to make sure it isn’t caught under the bead of the tire anywhere and move the tire back into place.  Then inflate.  Whew!

I grabbed all my trash, put the wheel back on the bike and headed for home.  I was worried it wouldn’t hold, but it got me home.  2 hours, just like last year, but this time with a lot more wind than when I rode before.  When I analysed the data compared to last year I was significantly stronger on the hills (where I had more of a crosswind) and the ride home into the wind was the great equalizer between this year and last year. 

On Friday I had been chatting with a friend about getting comfortable changing a flat.  I had suggested that she take her wheel off and practice changing a tube out while sitting in the comfort of her living room.  If you are comfortable with it at home you’ll know what to do when you flat on the road.  Riders around here are super nice and always stop to see if you need a hand, but it is best to not have to rely on someone to come by.  You may blow a few tubes at home, but better at home than to go through your only two tubes while you are still miles away from your end point.  Um, not that I would know anything about that….cough, cough….

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Blustery Days!

One thing about Calgary, the wind sure blows around here!  On Saturday morning I watched the temperature climb a bit and the sun come out from behind the clouds.  Shorts, a short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt and I was set!  Um, or maybe not… 

I had opted to do my 2 hour run around my neighbourhood as I had a last minute vet appointment in the early afternoon to get Finlay too.  Soon after I stepped out the door I realized that maybe it wasn’t quite as nice as I thought.  The wind was blowing and it was chilly!  Oh well, I can persevere, right?  Physically the run was feeling fine.  I was mentally prepared for a 2 hour run, I had my water and I had two Gus – chocolate mint and a blueberry pomegranate Roctane.  An hour in I downed my chocolate mint Gu and opted to make a detour to the neighbourhood Starbucks.  After I got going again the wind really started to get to me.  My legs were turning red from the cold wind hitting them.  Now…I was running around my neighbourhood so I suppose I could have gone home and changed but by this time I was a ways away from home.  About 1 hr 20 min in I broke and decided to call it quits and head home.  So there we go…underdressing for my run caught up to me!!  I wound up being 30 minutes short, but oh well…  It was home for a quick lunch, then Finlay and I were off to the vet.  He’s been suffering from an ear infection lately and the verdict was that he still hasn’t kicked it yet, poor guy!  On the plus side the Scottish vet gave me the thumbs up for my Scottish name for my little Scottish dog.

On Sunday I had a ride to take care of.  It was still pretty windy out…but that is the joy of Calgary.  You just have to get used to it around here at this time of year.  Given the sunshine I had no desire to ride my trainer!  I bundled up, grabbed the Cervelo and hit the road heading north.  The wind wasn’t nearly as cold as Saturday, but it was still pretty strong.  I think it was a cross wind…sometimes it was a head wind…but it rarely seemed to be a tail wind!  My legs were definitely more tired compared to my quick ride on Friday.  As soon as I left home I could tell they didn’t have quite the same zip in them.  Oh well, I made it up and down the hills and all in all it was a pretty good ride.  I came home, put the bike back in the garage, swapped out bike shoes for sneakers and ran a quick 14 minute brick.  Home for some core and done!  It was a pretty good week – three swims, three rides outdoors, four runs.

And now on to this week.  It is going to be a busy one..and I’m a bit scared thinking of how I’m going to fit it all in.  I’m working my butt off in order to arrive at the start of the Glencoe Icebreaker 10K nice and tired.  Should be fun, eh?

A Pyramid of Hills

On Thursday I met up with Kelly for our hill workout.  We both had hill pyramids on our schedule – mine were 1-2-3-3-2-1 minute intervals, Kelly’s were 2-3-4-3-2 minute intervals.  Even though Kelly’s workout involved more minutes of climbing  I wanted to run her workout.  The big question was, could we find a 4 minute hill in downtown Calgary??  That was why I was keen to run her workout! 

We ran a 15 minute warm up around the river and wound up at the base of the Curling Club hill in time for the start of our 2 minute hill.  It was busy out!  We ran up the hill, finishing right at the top as our two minutes were up.  Now where to go for 3 minutes?  We continued on towards Center Street, running down the bridge.  We started near the bottom of the bridge and just about ran out of hill before our three minutes were up.  For four minutes we started on the pathway below the bridge, ran up the bridge and on to a very steep road.  We crested the road at 3.5 minutes so we stopped and the top and did squats for our last 30 seconds.  On our final 2 minute repeat I challenged Kelly to race up the bridge and we pushed ourselves hard!  I love hill workouts.  They are so rewarding and you know that you’ve worked hard when you are done.  Kelly and I really motivate each other too and I know we work harder together than I would do on my own.

Friday was actually supposed to be a rest day…but confession…I had missed a couple of workouts on Wednesday that I wanted to accomplish.  The first was a swim workout, called a swim golf mixer.  I did a 500 m warm up then ran through two 50 m swim golf sets.  I went into the drill set – more arm lead side kicks, head lead side kicks and 6 kick rolls.  These drills seem to show up in a lot of my workouts.  I think Angie is really trying to make sure I’m rolling from side to side during my swim stroke!  I then moved into a 400 m set of moderate and fast paced sets and finished with another two 50 m swim golf sets.  My score only changed by a point or two but I’m beginning to get the feel of things to do to decrease my swim stroke.  Later in the afternoon I went out in the glorious sunshine for a quick and easy 40 minute ride.  I’m getting the feel for my bike and so far the fit is very comfortable.  My way out was primarily uphill but it wasn’t feeling nearly as hard as I remembered.  When I turned around I realized that part of that may have been because I had a tail wind!  The ride was just a simple one through some neighborhoods looking at some fancy houses.  Lots of other cyclists were out there.

And with that, I’ve gotta get going…2 hour long run on tap!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

First Ride

I hope everyone has had a great week!  Things as usual continue to be pretty busy around here.

On Thursday I met up with Kelly as we both had a tempo run on our schedule.  We ran our warm up together for 20 minutes, then it was 15 minutes at tempo pace.  The run went really well and it was no trouble at all to hold the tempo pace.

I opted to knock my long run out on Friday in order to keep my weekend free for other fun stuff.  Being a cut back week my long run was shorter and more intense.  At 11:30 I looked out the window and it was raining!  I have no issues with running in the rain, but given that I had to go back to work afterward it wasn’t ideal.  Instead I ate my lunch and started thinking about how I would rearrange my weekend.  When I looked out the window again at 12:30 there was sun peaking through the clouds.  Time to hurry up and change and get out there!  My run included a 10 minute warm up, 3 x 10:00 intervals at a steady state pace followed by a couple of 3:00 intervals in zone 5.  Unfortunately my lunch hadn’t fully digested by the time I started running…but luckily it wasn’t a burger so I didn’t suffer from the same issues as my Tuesday run.  I had no issues meeting my goals during my intervals and it wound up being a terrific run.  Plus the sun continued to come out, so that was a bonus!

As for Saturday?  That was a truly exciting day.  The weather around here has been fairly nice and I’ve been thinking about taking my Cervelo out on the road.  You see, by the time I got D’s bike back in November the snow rolled in and I’ve only been riding on a trainer.  I really had no idea how the bike would feel once we started rolling on pavement.  I spent Saturday morning cleaning my ride up, lubing the chain, replacing the trainer tire with an outdoor tire, checking my saddle bag that it still had all the required gear in it and got ready to go.  It was out to Horse Creek in Cochrane for a ride!  It was nice and warm at 13C, but the wind was gusting up to 35 km/hr.  Oh well, time to suck it up!  Right away I could notice that I was feeling fit riding out there.  The uphills weren’t feeling nearly as hard…and I didn’t have a tail wind so that couldn’t have been it.  I knew that all of the work I’ve been doing on the trainer at Angie’s spin class has really been paying off.  On the flats I let loose and felt so powerful!  I rode 20 miles out and back and just for fun it seemed like the wind really picked up on the way back.  I just hunkered down and pedaled to get back as quickly as I could.  All in all, a great ride!  I’m really optimistic about riding this year and I definitely feel as though I am coming out of this winter as a stronger cyclist.  And I am super excited about my new ride.  I know it is a great fit and I am grateful every time I get on it that I was able to luck out with getting this bike.  I am really and truly in love with this bike and I’m excited for the upcoming adventures I will have riding it!!

The Charity Spin-a-Thon

Today was Tri-It’s Charity Spin-a-Thon!  Last year’s event was held at the store, but this time the group was large enough that the event was held in the gymnasium of Rundle College.  $65 gave you the chance to ride for 3 or 6 hours, you’d get a swag bag and you’d be helping pro athletes Janelle Morrison and Jordan Bryden.  I had a lot of fun at last year’s event so of course I was in for today’s!  I opted to only ride for three hours in the morning since I had a fair bit I wanted to accomplish later in the day.

After registering and grabbing my swag bag (full of Honey Stinger products, a pack of Ultima lemonade drink mix and a towel) I set my bike up between Tara and Kelly, my partners in crime for Ironman Canada this year.  The set up was really neat – we had a DJ playing tunes for us, plus there was water, Ultima, orange slices, bananas, bagel and cream cheese for us to snack on.  There were several pros out there supporting the event including Scott Curry.  Luke Way was our first instructor and he led us through about 45 minutes of high cadence stuff.  Once Luke’s session was over we spun to the 2007 Ironman World Championship video rather than having another instructed session.  This was terrific!  This gave us a chance to just sit back and spin, catch up with each other and it kind of gave our legs a bit of a break. 

After the video there were giveaways for those folks who paid attention.  I managed to win a pair of socks that say “Save the Ta-Tas” on them for knowing the Chris Lieto won the Timex Bike Bonus that year.  Yay me!

After the video Janelle took us through a 30 minute spin  where we got to work a bit harder.  Unfortunately I left my heart rate monitor at home though, so I don’t have an idea of what I managed to get it up to!  Final ride time was about 2:40.  Once we were done there were Spolumbo’s sandwiches to help us refuel.  All in all a great day!  I had a good workout and managed to catch up with a bunch of friends that I haven’t seen in ages.  I am continually reminded at various triathlon events around town just how great everyone in the community is.  I’ve made some terrific friends through this sport and I am so grateful for that!

**And yes, in response to my last post, the capri running tights come out once we head north of 0C or 32F.  I generally try to under dress for runs and I feel pretty comfortable out there in those temperatures.  I guess in part I just want to make sure that I’m saving my heavy duty winter running gear for those really cold days!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Tri It’s Charity Spin - a - Thon

Just a little FYI for all my Calgary friends.  Tri It is holding a charity Spin-a-Thon on January 10th.  For details go here. 

Where?

Rundel College
4336 16th Street SW

HOW?

Load up the car on Sunday morning with your bike and bike trainer. Come on down and enjoy the day.

Why?

To help support Jordan Bryden and Janelle Morrison in their pursuit of excellence. Additional funds will be given to development athletes in the community.

Cost?

65.00 gives you the chance to ride

FOOD

Spolumbos Sandwiches will be free to all athletes. Bars, gels, chews, drinks and snacks are all included!

How Do I Register?

Email us to register!
Email: triitspin@gmail.com
or come visit us at the Tri It store!

9am - 12 pm: Spin #1
12pm - 1pm: Break!
1pm- 4pm: Spin #2 (athletes from spin # 1 are welcome to stay)

The Barossa – Part II

Tuesday

I started the day off with another run on Tuesday morning.  I decided to turn right outside of the cottage and run in that direction instead.  The run was just as beautiful in this direction, with more vineyards, sheep and hills.  The heat felt a little less oppressive as I started to acclimatize just a bit more.

After the run it was time to explore the wineries around the Barossa just a bit more.  One of my favourite places that we stopped at was Two Hands.  The Barossa is a perfect spot for growing shiraz, and Two Hands have more shirazes than you can shake a stick at.  It was a really neat exercise to sit down and find out about how much shiraz can vary from one area to another as we ran through about ten different wines (although only about seven of those were a shiraz).

Some of the wines were just massive fruit bombs and others were much more refined.  Two Hands also exports quite a bit, so if you happen to see them in your local wine shop I would highly recommend them.  And if you really want to try them and you happen to live in Calgary, give me a shout.  I know a great wine shop were they stock a lot of their stuff at.

Wednesday

There is a really lovely looking outdoor pool in Tanunda (the town that we were close to), and I had really hoped to manage a swim there.  Sadly it was only open for swimming from noon until 6 pm and it just didn’t really work with the schedule.  So instead on Wednesday I rented a mountain bike from the cottage owner and took it out for a spin.

I haven’t ridden a mountain bike for awhile, and this one was definitely a lot heavier than my old road bike.  And…I didn’t exactly bring bike shorts with me either.  Funny how you get used to riding in those things..!!  I was a little worried that I’d forget that I should be riding on the left hand side over here, but luckily I managed to remember that important fact just fine.  I rode down Seppeltsfield Road, a really lovely road lined with palm trees along much of the way.  And, very much like my runs so far, it was hilly.  I went out for about 15 miles, and it was great to see the area from a different perspective.  I even rode past the pool that I had hoped to swim at.

In the afternoon we checked out Peter Lehmann for a tasting.  At the winery you can buy port (or fortified wine) in bulk.  Only $3.70 a litre, unless you are filling a container less than 5L and then it is $3.90/litre.  Interesting, eh?  Apparently people bring in everything from pop bottles to other containers that still have “Caution: Poison” labels on them to fill up with port.  Hmm…hoped they washed that container out well!!

And after that our stay in the Barossa was over!  We flew to Sydney on Thursday (aka Christmas Eve)…

Ready to Ride…

Here she is…ready to go!  I got the good folks at Bow Cycle to put her together for me today, then had a 2D fit done.  We adjusted seat height and position, and added in an extra spacer at the stem.  Without the spacer my aero position was really aggressive and it may not be comfortable on longer rides.  This should be a good start and once I ride more I’ll have an idea as to whether additional tweaks may be needed.  The guy doing my fit confirmed that this bike does indeed fit me really well.

In the evening I put a trainer tire on, moved my Garmin Edge over from my old bike and did a few other things to get it set up.  Wow those trainer tires are tough to put on!!  As the weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow I had initially thought I may have a chance to test her outdoors.  Sadly snow rolled in Friday afternoon and now there is snow, ice and gravel all over the roads.  It may melt later tomorrow, but probably not till quite a bit later in the day.  Oh well, I am sure I can find a good trainer workout to do instead!

It’s Here!!!!

Yesterday morning I got a call from Greyhound that I had a shipment to pick up – my bike had arrived!!!  I was originally going to run over lunch but instead I hopped over to Greyhound to pick up my bike and drop it off at home.  The guy at the courier desk helped me unpack it and load it into my car.  As he took the bike out of the box he asked me, “Is this supposed to make you fast?” 

With any luck! ;)

“What do you do when it rains?  It doesn’t have any fenders on it.”

So now she’s sitting in my garage…somewhat in pieces.  Now to tend to the little matter of getting her put together and fitted!  Oh, and she has red accents on her tires to match the red accent on the bike.  As my two year old niece Avery would say, “Ohhhh, fannnnncyyyyyy!”  (Apparently that is my niece’s favourite phrase!)  And I have to say I was pretty impressed with Greyhound’s shipping.  Just over $50 to ship and it took about 2 days to get here.  I promise a picture of the new addition once she’s put together!  Astoundingly I now have three bikes in my garage.  How did that happen??

Oh, and I didn’t slack off yesterday completely.  I did get to the pool to swim at 5:30 am.  I ran through a great 1800m workout that included some drill work (6 kick roll, fist swim and zipper swim), a 400m steady swim and 4 x 25m hard.  It actually felt really good to be back in the water and the pool was reasonably quiet at that time in the morning.  In the evening I met up with Pam, Tara and my friend Julie for a great dinner out at Milestones and an evening at the theatre.  Murder on the Nile is playing at the Vertigo Theatre.  I think this is the first time Pam and Tara saw me in a skirt and pretty shoes!  Tonight is possibly a spin with Tara…we’ll see!

Happy Friday!!