Whose legs are these?

For those of you who are friends on Facebook, you may know that I ran the Thanksgiving 10K this weekend.  That’s right, it was Thanksgiving in Canada here last weekend!

Well, there isn’t too much I can say about the race.  My legs were still super tired.  I ran faster than Melissa’s, but that was mostly thanks to the flat pathway we ran along the river in downtown Calgary.  Post race was fun as my mom ran the race as well along with my friend Pam.  We met at the finish line and grabbed our free mini pizza from Papa John’s and gabbed over food.

I ran for 30 minutes on Tuesday and the legs still felt awful.  Tired and still so far from the paces I was running before Ironman.  Today I had a 45 minute run on tap and it was the first time that my legs actually felt like they were on board!  My pace was still slow but I’ll take it.  Just the fact that my legs felt like they weren’t going to collapse under me was a good start!

First Run Back

I did it, I finally did it!  I had my first run post Ironman!  Truthfully it was my first workout period, but hey…that’s okay, right?  The gloom in the skies cleared for a short period today around the lunch hour and I just happened to have my running gear in the office.  I changed, pulled my Ironman Canada finisher’s hat down on my head and took off to meet Kelly.

She had her Garmin on but I was just wearing my Timex.  I didn’t want to look at any numbers as this was my first run back.  No expectations.  At first my right knee felt a little niggly, just in the muscles around the side of my knee into my quad.  By 12 minutes in those niggles were gone and I was actually feeling pretty good!  We chatted the whole way and 34 minutes flew by.  Not bad for the first run back really! 

My bike is hiding behind a stack of moving boxes in the garage and I’ve put my membership at the YMCA on hold for a short period so I’m not too sure when I’ll be biking or swimming again though…

Three Things Thursday

Apparently I need to resort to lists this week, but what better way is there to string together a bunch of random thoughts? :)

1. Boy oh boy, do I wish I could wear sweat pants and yoga pants to work every day.  They are so comfy!  We do have a dress code at work though, so really…that would be frowned upon.  I firmly looked upon leggings with the same aversion that my thighs I had for skinny jeans.  Until I discovered the leggings and dress combo.  I kind of feel like I am cheating the dress code since it is so comfortable.  Given that I held out on the leggings bandwagon for so long I’m sure they will go out of style soon and I’ll have to wait another 20 years to wear them again.
2. I met up with Kelly today to run hill repeats.  It was 2C, overcast and incredibly windy and I swear that I stared out the window for five minutes trying to figure out what to wear.  I opted for tights, a long sleeve shirt and a vest which worked out to be the right combination.  We warmed up with a 15 minute run towards McHugh Bluff by the Calgary Curling Club, then proceeded to knock out our 5 x 2:00 hill repeats.  If one good thing can be said about the wind, it is that it was pushing us up the hill.  We took turns leading – Kelly really knows how to tackle the hills so I enjoyed chasing her, and it was also motivating to pull her up the hill too.  Company made a tough workout a lot more fun.  We did our cool down run and even ran through a few strength moves – squats, lunges, tricep dips and push ups.  These might not have happened if I was on my own!
3. Yesterday my dad called and asked me what day I was planning on leaving the Okanagan for home after Ironman Canada.  Hard to believe it, but I haven’t done any trip planning so far this year!  By this time last year I had all my hotels booked for my Lake Stevens – Washington road trip.  Guess it is time to start figuring a few things out…a trip to BC for the WCOC Olympic Triathlon plus maybe a DIY training camp, our Team Tri Life July training camp, and of course my IMC trip!

OK, time to get to the pool!

St. Patrick’s Bullet Points

• I swam over lunch on Monday.  Well, it kind of wound up being a “just before” lunch swim.  I was in the pool a minute or two after 11:00 in an attempt to miss some of the major lunch rush.  My swim went fairly well, and it was really nice to have that workout taken care of sooner rather later.  My workout was allowed to vary between 1800 and 2500m, but I had to err on the side of shorter as I had to make it back to work.
• Calgary was forecasted to reach a high of 19C on Tuesday.  That’s 66F, which is on the verge of summer!  What to wear on my lunch run??  I thought about packing a tank top, but I opted for a short sleeve shirt, and the option of shorts or capris.  As lunch neared the sun was still firmly behind clouds.  In fact, it even looked like it was going to rain.  Dare I say it, but a cloudy 10C in capris and short sleeves doesn’t feel nearly as nice as 3C and sunny!!  Oh well, my 30 minute run was a good one regardless.
• Spin class continues to go really well.  Every single workout is a new experience in pushing myself on the trainer.  My legs are absolutely bagged from our power based workout on Tuesday!
• Today called for a 30-45 minute easy spin and a swim.  The only time to get the spin in is after work.  Unfortunately I had some errands to run first – Wal-Mart and Best Buy.  I spent five minutes staring at the various bleaches and stain removers trying to find colour safe bleach.  Then all of a sudden I clued in that the Javex 2 Stain Fighter and Colour Booster really is colour safe bleach…it just doesn’t exactly say it.  Yeah…I felt smart!
• As for Best Buy, I was on a mission to pick up The Princess and the Frog.  I wasn’t sure whether to get the DVD or Blu-Ray version.  Did you know that there is a coupon for $10 off the Blu-Ray and DVD combo pack?  It expires March 21.  Decision made, combo pack purchased.
• I ate dinner, then set up my bike in the garage for my spin and watched the first two episodes of Modern Family.  Have you seen this show at all?  Hilarious!!
• Sadly by the time this was all done there was no time to make swimming.  Seriously…where does the time go?  And how am I going to fit all of this in when IM training gets more intense?  Maybe I’m going to need to work on getting back into my early morning swims.
• Truthfully, I’ve been finding it so hard to get up in the mornings.  When I saw Sun Safety Barbie’s post on her new favourite app, the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock, I knew I needed to download it.  I’m curious to see if and how this works.  Maybe this will be the key to me waking up more rested!

Working Lunches

I feel like I’m in a bit of no man’s land when it comes to finding the time to swim.  Early mornings just aren’t working and I’m still finding nights difficult. 

9:00 pm is definitely the witching hour for me!  In university I had to quit studying at 9 as I just couldn’t comprehend things anymore.  Going to the movies after 9 pm?  I will, without a doubt, fall asleep.  Talk to me on the phone and I feel like I’m having difficulty holding up my end of the conversation. 

So yesterday I gave lunch swimming another go.  It was a great way to break up the day and my swim went really well.  Loved it!  It does take quite a chunk out of the day (15 minute walk each way, plus the one hour workout and the time to shower and get ready).  Thankfully we do have some flexibility in our hours at work, so it is great to know that a lunch swim can be a great backup plan.

In other lunch workout news I met up with Kelly to knock out a 30 minute run today.  I wanted to test out my legs to see if they still knew how to run sub-10 minute miles.  Luckily they responded and the run in the sun was great!  I have my first race of the season on Saturday – the St. Patrick’s Day 10K – so I wanted to push the pace a tiny bit more than I have in the last few weeks.  I’m not expecting a PR on Saturday, but I think I should be able to crank out a half decent time.

Who else is going to be racing with me on Saturday? :)

Enjoying the Sun

It has been an amazing week in Calgary!  With tons of sun and spring like temperatures it hasn’t been too hard to get out and enjoy it.  While I didn’t get off to the best start with my workouts this week I managed to pull up my socks throughout the week.

Wednesday I met up with Kelly for a 30 minute run over lunch.  My legs were pretty tired from my Tuesday night spin class.  I hung with Kelly and we ran a nicely paced loop around the Bow River.  While it wasn’t all that sunny out it really was warm and it felt good to just run and chat.  In the evening I made it out to Cochrane for the first time in a few weeks to swim.  The swim went alright…but boy oh boy am I lacking a serious amount of efficiency in the water!  I did swim golf for the first time and this was a serious eye opener as to just how many strokes I’m taking to get from one end of the pool to the other.  One of my big goals will be to work on that!  I try to not get discouraged in swimming, but it just feels like I have so much to work on.  I think I feel the same way about swimming that I feel about skiing.  Shouldn’t I be picking this up faster?  Why is it so technical?  I know I have slacked off with going to my Wednesday night lessons so I really only have myself to blame for that.  While I know I can do the distance in swimming it would be nice to do it better, ya know?

On Thursday it was time to get reacquainted with hill repeats!  This was my first shot at hills all year.  Kelly also had hill repeats on her schedule, although her workout was slightly different.  We ran our warm up together, arrived at McHugh Bluff for our repeats and got to work.  The hill was crazy busy with bootcamp classes, walkers, lungers, and other runners.  People were really taking advantage of the sun and 12C weather.  I ran 4 x 2 min repeats, and while 2 minutes may not seem like a lot it goes by ever so slowly when you are running up a hill!  I did a great job on running each repeat consistently.  There is something about running hill repeats that really gives you a feeling of accomplishment.  Maybe it is the blood pounding in your head, the burning lungs, or revisiting your maximum heart rate, again and again.  Whatever it was, it was a great workout!!  Kelly and I tried to encourage each other along the way, then we wound up running our cool down run together.  A few tricep dips and push ups later, we were done!  It was great having my friend on the hill for motivation and support.  As our run paces do differ this is one workout that we can accomplish together.

On Friday it was time to make up the swim that I missed on Monday thanks to a massive headache.  I walked over to the YMCA after I finished work…soaking up the sun.  I ran through a great workout with plenty of drills in it to help me improve my efficiency in the water.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that it comes together.

Saturday was long run day!  I wasn’t able to get out until after lunch for my run, so by then it had warmed up to a lovely 11C.  I decided to go out on a limb and run in capris and a tank top.  Initially the wind made it feel a bit brisk, but as I ran on it just felt amazing.  The pathways along the Bow River were quite busy with families on bikes, roller bladers, people out walking their dogs and other runners.  I started at Edworthy Park and ran towards Eau Claire and back for 9 miles.  The run went really well and it was terrific to be out and enjoying this amazing weather that Calgary had.

Starting the week off…

Well, this week did not exactly get off to the best start!  After the gold medal hockey game on Sunday I was downstairs in my basement and noticed a puddle of water off of my hot water tank.  Uh oh.  My house is only 6 years old so I was surprised that I may have a failing piece of equipment.

Cue much frustration with a plumber and my hot water tank manufacturer all day Monday.  Luckily there isn’t a problem with my hot water tank, but with my humidifier.Calgary’s water is really hard, so it caused deposits within the humidifier that affected the water level float.  The float stopped working and the humidifier just kept filling up and up and up.  It then overflowed and started dripping onto the hot water tank.  Luckily the problem is a really easy one to fix (as opposed to the plumber who barely looked at it and told me I needed a new one for $680).  Come on people, don’t assume that you can pull a manoeuvre like that one on me!

By the time the great water leak debacle was sorted out I developed a massive headache that only got worse as I watched Jake the Bachelor pick Vienna, who then slow danced to a live version of “On the Wings of Love.”  I honestly thought I might be ill after that!  (By the way, if you do watch that show I highly recommend the recap that I linked to!)  Anyhow, with that massive headache there was definitely no going to the pool!  Yikes, not getting the week off to the best start…

Today I had a 30 minute run on the schedule.  Considering that the forecasted high was 8C I was pretty excited for this run!  But as I looked out the window before lunch it was foggy, almost like it was snowing.  And it was actually colder at lunch than when I had driven into work in the morning!  I definitely had not packed for that kind of weather!!  Oh well, at least I had spin class to go to tonight!!

The Time Suck

My writing has been sporadic at best lately.  After all, it took me almost a week to write about my skiing experience!  I’d like to blame the Olympics.  The winter Olympics are my favourite and it seems to be sucking most of my time.  After all, they only come around once every four years so I think I can justify this.  So let’s recap the week so far, shall we?

• Monday: I had a 45 minute run on the schedule so I hit the pathways over lunch to knock that out.  Despite having dead legs on the bike on Sunday my run felt pretty good on Monday.  Like my legs were back to normal.  I was going to swim in the evening, but ultimately I decided that watching the women’s semi-final hockey game of Canada versus Finland was a much better use of my time!  Oh, and not to mention the historic gold medal performance by Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir in ice dancing.  This was the first time a North American couple has won gold in ice dancing and their performance was phenomenal.
• Tuesday: Spin class!  The Canadian men’s hockey team had a qualification date with Germany that just happened to be on right in the middle of spin class.  The workout on the bike was insane though, so I spent most of the class with my eyes squeezed shut, grimacing in an attempt to make it to the end of the interval.  This was our last class at Bow Cycle (next week we move elsewhere until the end of April) so we went out for some post-class beers.  I always love the chance to hang out with my teammates and I feel very lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of people.  We chatted, made some cross country ski plans, and watched Joannie Rochette skate her amazing short program.  I don’t think there was a dry eye in the group as we watched her.
• Wednesday: I met up with Kelly for a run over lunch.  I was only planning on running for 30 minutes, but it was a beautiful day out.  Kelly had a 45 minute run on her schedule that she was going to run 4:1 intervals on.  I figured a 45 minute run with company sounded way better than a 30 minute run on my own, so we ran, chatted and enjoyed the warm day (6C!!).  I was then home in time to watch the Canadian men’s hockey team take on Russia in what I thought was going to be a much closer game.  You could tell Canada wanted it and they dominated the game.  During the third period I wound up flipping between hockey, bobsleigh (where Canada took gold and silver!!) and the women’s short track speed skating relay where we also won a silver.  Add that to another long track bronze from earlier in the day and it was one big win day for Canada!
• Thursday: What a day!  I had planned to swim over lunch but I wound up having to go to a business lunch instead.  So…then I was going to swim after work…until I realized the women’s hockey gold medal game started at 4:30 pm.  To make sure I could get my workout in before I got too caught up in the Olympics I figured my best bet would be to spin while watching the game.  Except I don’t want to spin in my living room as I’m worried that it would wreck my flooring.  But…no cable in my garage either.  I found a video cable to hook my computer up to my TV though and streamed the game live on the internet.  Sadly the sound had to be streamed via the computer speakers, but oh well!
  Finlay and I settled in to watch part of the second and third periods while I ran through my workout.  The spin went well, and I got to see the Canadian women win gold.  Yeah!!!  Then the rest of the evening has been spent watching the men’s aerials and women’s figure skating.  Go Joannie, go!!!

Tomorrow is my long run…plus hopefully a swim in there somewhere since I’ve missed that so far this week.  I hope everyone has a great Friday and a great weekend!!

Going Downhill

So…confession time.  I did not swim on Wednesday.  I was mentally prepped to go, but then I started to feel guilty.  My folks left earlier this week and so now Finlay is on his own all day, plus I have to rush off to workouts at night.  I opted to hang out with the puppster and figure out another day that I could swim.

Thursday was one amazing day!  It was 3C and sunny out.  It felt like spring!  I hit the pathways around downtown for a run over lunch.  I have to say, I felt overdressed in capris, a short sleeve and a long sleeve tech shirt.  I should have just opted for the long sleeve shirt.  I went out for 40 minutes and the run went not too badly.  I had a little bit of discomfort in the right shin…one of the tell tale signs that my shoes are nearing retirement.  These Asics Kayano 15s have 330 miles on them and I have had them for awhile.  They took me through Great White North and Lake Stevens 70.3 so we’ve had some good memories.  So…probably time for them to retire.  One other thing…those lululemon Run Swiftly shirts that I’ve been raving about with the silver in them?  I wore my Police Half marathon shirt and another short sleeve shirt instead.  Ahem…they sure were stinky!  My apologies to everyone in my elevator as I went back upstairs to my office!

Thursday evening it was back to Canada Olympic Park for my second cross country ski lesson.  We spent A LOT of time on the bunny slope practicing getting comfortable with going downhill and learning how to turn.  Who knew there was so much downhill in XC skiing?  I thought XC skiing was supposed to be relatively flat? ;)  The good thing about practicing all of that downhill was the opportunity to keep going uphill.  One of the ways to get uphill is to jog up with your skis, which is a great workout!  My turning is still pretty awful, but I am definitely getting more comfortable with going downhill.  I only wiped out once!!  Although I did land on that same right hip again..ow!

So…I’m seriously thinking about picking up some XC ski equipment at some point if I can get a good deal on it.  For those of you who may know those sort of things…when is the best time of year to pick up XC ski equipment on sale?  If you live in Calgary do you have any suggestions on where to go?  I know MEC sells equipment, I’m just wondering where else.  Thanks!!!!

Happy Friday!!  Can you believe the Olympics in Vancouver start today? 

Power Tuesday

As an engineer and a triathlete I definitely fall into the type A category of personalities.  I love to plan!!  When I first started training for endurance races I had an Excel spreadsheet that mapped out my entire training plan for the year.  Workouts were colour coded and I had every workout planned..to the day.  Since I hired Angie and joined Team Tri Life I’ve given up that control.  I actually now really like that I only know what is happening within a 4 week block.  When my new training plan arrives there is so much excitement.  What’s next?  What does Angie think I’m capable of?  Invariably there are little changes here and there too.  It feels a little like Christmas when I get that e-mail in my inbox.

With my new training block I’m now running on Tuesday’s over lunch, then spinning at Bow Cycle in the evenings.  My runs are specifically 30 minute runs with 0:30 strides every 5 minutes.  We’ve had some ice frost in town these last few days (check out Keith’s blog for pictures) that has left our city looking like a winter wonderland.  All of the frost on the trees looks so beautiful!  Finally the sun was set to come out today though…and just as lunch hour approached the temperature started approaching 0C.  I went with capris, a short sleeve tech and a long sleeve tech top.  It was a bit windy out but I still found it really comfortable to be dressed like this out in the sun.  I wasn’t the only crazy person out there dressed like that either!  Granted, most folks were really bundled up but there were a few people out in shorts too.  There was still some ice and snow on the pathway which made the strides fairly interesting…but the run went well.

I stopped in at Bow a bit early to get my squeaky bike looked at.  All I needed was to have a bit of lube on the derailleur and it was good to go!  Class was a good one tonight as we really focussed on power a lot.  Angie explained that she really likes to use our indoor training over the winter to work on our power.  We can work on endurance when we get outside, but this is a perfect opportunity to improve our power.  Trying to work on both endurance and power is tiring and it is easy to burn out quickly.  I love these sessions because every week I wonder how it can get harder and how could Angie possibly push us further…but then she finds a way!

All in all it was 1:40 on the bike, followed by stretching and core.  Wednesday is only a swim out in Cochrane so it is going to be a bit of an easier day!

Dizzy, dizzy…

Wow, it is amazing the difference a few hours can make! Today was a 30 minute run that I knocked out over my lunch break. I will be honest, I had been feeling a little dizzy off and on during the morning (this time not related to food though). I waited a bit before getting going, but once I started running I felt amazing! The tired and heavy legs of yesterday were gone. Running in the sunshine felt terrific!

There is an underpass on the pathway that had been blocked off lately thanks to layers of ice and snow from where the river had risen up at one point. They must have brought one heck of a plough through to clear that pathway! There were massive chunks of ice just off the pathway and it was crazy. I really do need to take my camera out there one of these days…I may have said that before… Anyhow, definitely a great run with no dizziness issues on the run.
*****
Have you ever looked at a workout and felt like throwing up just as you read it? That’s pretty well how I felt when I saw my swim workout for tonight! It involved a whole lot of 6 kick rolls, head lead side kick, arm lead side kick… Just seeing that made me feel dizzy so I found a different workout to do instead that didn’t involve quite so much rolling around, more regular swimming.

I need to develop some kind of habit and I think that is going to be making swimming in the evening during the week a regular thing. Checking out the schedule at the YMCA this evening my best bet was to show up at 8 pm this evening. I slipped into one of the slow lanes. In the medium lane next to me were two guys swimming. One guy was wearing some fancy pants Michael Phelps style full leg swimsuit. He was doing butterfly up and down the pool. Up and down. The other guy was swimming behind him to check out his stroke.

I had a warm up of 200 m swim/200 m kick/200 m swim. I kept losing count on my kick set because I was too busy watching the butterfly guy. It really was a beautiful thing to watch.

The workout wound up being a pretty good one. I had a pretty good feel for the water and it went well. 2000 m done. I think. I did keep losing count after all!

Mind Over Matter

Wednesday night was swim class time.  I mentioned before that my friend Tara and I are splitting this session.  She had e-mailed me to let me know that she couldn’t go this week so this was my night to go swim.  Time to get the mind in gear so it would know that we were swimming at 9 pm and that was that.  No other option!

Last week I grabbed a coffee in the early evening to make sure I’d be awake for that 9 pm swim.  On Wednesday I didn’t even have any caffeine in the afternoon!  (I know this for sure because I started keeping a food log yesterday, but more on that at another time…)  I was really taking a chance by not having had any form of caffeine since…oh…10:30??

I came home, made dinner and sure enough, come 8 pm I started to feel a little sleepy.  Mind over matter though as it was time to push through.  Last just a little longer and I’d have to leave for swimming.  Wouldn’t you know it, I made it out the door and to the pool!  I swam and it was okay.  Not great, but okay.  I couldn’t quite get the feel of the water.  I’m not sure if it was because I had swum Tuesday morning or if it was because the lane I was swimming in felt super narrow.  Somehow or other I still made it through 2000 m so that wasn’t too bad.  I came home and followed what will likely become my new post-evening swim ritual.  Hot chocolate (with Ovaltine actually) with a couple of marshmallows in bed with Ratatouille in the DVD player.  I probably fell asleep within 10 minutes of the light going off.  Ratatouille….works like a charm every time!

Thursday was a 40 minute run.  I threw my gear in a bag to take to work so I could run over lunch, but I was about 15 minutes away from work when I realized my Garmin was at home.  Sitting right by the computer which is a pretty useful place for it!  I’ll admit it, when I had this realization my heart rate went up a notch.  I <3 my Garmin!  Not because I like to look at it all the time during my run, but I love having a map showing where I went…the graphs that show how hard I worked…all catalogued nicely on SportTracks.

Oh well, while I may like this data I sure wasn’t turning around to get the Garmin.  And I wasn’t putting my run off until later in the day since it was going to be so nice out over lunch!  So I kicked it old school and ran 40 minutes with my Timex.  In some ways it was quite liberating to not worry about pace in the slightest.  But that doesn’t mean I intend to leave my Garmin at home intentionally any time soon!!

Working Hard!

Wow, is it really only Tuesday?  Now that January is here I need to be sure I hit my workouts so the game plan at the moment is me getting back in the groove of working out regularly.  I definitely didn’t do enough in December, but its a new year right?  Time to get back on track!

The Run

I had a 30 minute run on the schedule for Monday.  The chinook weather continues here in Calgary so it was another perfect day for a run in capris, a long sleeve and my favourite new jacket.  The legs were a little tired from Sunday’s spin-a-thon but I still managed to crank out a nice 30 minute 5K. 

The Swim

I debated between swimming Monday night and Tuesday morning.  Initially I was pretty keen to swim downtown Monday night just so I can get in the groove of evening swims.  I had to run errands after work though and by the time I made it home I had about half an hour to cook dinner and eat.  Ultimately I didn’t want to be rushed to make it to the pool so I decided to relax and get up at 4:30 am for an early morning swim. 

Can you believe that I just used the words “relax” and “4:30 am” in the same sentence?  Haha!

I tried something new to make sure I wouldn’t sleep through my alarm clock.  I actually have two alarm clocks.  One is a radio that goes off and I wake up to the morning show on the UK’s BBC Radio One thanks to XM Radio.  The second is a really obnoxious and loud Mickey Mouse alarm clock.  I put that alarm clock up on my dresser so that when it went off I would have no choice but to get up and out of bed.  And it worked!  I actually made it to the YMCA five minutes before it even opened.

The swim was a good one.  My workouts involve on focusing on technique a lot.  This would explain the overabundance of one armed drills and 6 kick roll sets.  I sure hope I’m starting to catch on!

The Bike

Spin class tonight was awesome and hard!!  It was a strength night, one of my favourites!  We did some single leg stuff and some super intense pyramids.

• Keep your gearing constant throughout a set of 50 rpm, 60 rpm, 70 rpm and 80 rpm intervals.
• Keep gearing constant and alternate between intervals of 70 rpm and 90 rpm. 

Those things were tough!  All in all I was on the bike for 1:48 and followed it up with 10 minutes of core.  I also tried out a new pair of shorts today, a pair of Cannondale Domestique shorts that I picked up awhile ago.  They were pretty comfy despite the fact that my sit bones were complaining about Sunday’s spin-a-thon…

Preoccupied

Things have been ticking right along this week.  I have no structured training this week, so anything I want to do is up to me.  Or perhaps anything I don’t want to do is up to me…hmmm…

I took Monday as a rest day after the Last Chance Half.  I was actually expecting to hurt a whole lot more on after the race but I think that the swim and putting my feet up on Sunday helped a lot.  I navigated the up and down of stairs with ease.  Good times!

Tuesday I met up with my friend Kelly over lunch.  I was interested in an easy recovery run.  Kelly wanted to work on her technique for race walking.  While we aren’t working out together I love the chat on the way to the pathway and the motivation of just meeting someone for a workout.  I was originally going to head out for 30 minutes, but holy smokes the wind was whipping around!  In fact there wound up being wind warnings issued that day.  I figured 20 minutes would be a good goal for a run in such windy conditions, and the legs felt great on the run.  I was especially keen to get a run in since I couldn’t make it to spin class that night.  A good friend of mine and former coworker from San Antonio is in Calgary on business.  We haven’t seen each other in about 2.5 years, so we got together to catch up.  I was also in charge of finding some good local food for her to try, so I took her to Spur Gastropub.  It is a pretty interesting spot downtown and the bison dry ribs, PEI lobster mac and cheese and the beef sliders were fantastic…

Wednesday I met up with Kelly again for another run.  We both aimed for about a 40 minute workout.  Rather than sticking with a fairly flat route along the river I went with something a little more hilly in the neighbourhoods along the north side of the river.  It was a lot less windy, the sun was out, and it felt great to run.  After Kelly and I were done we ran through some step ups, squats, and dips.

So that has been my week so far!  My mind has been a little preoccupied with something or other this week.  I’ve made a big decision…hopefully I’ll have some interesting news to share with you soon…

Bringing back the lunch run

It has been a good week so far, and a really busy one at that!  I felt like a little old lady on Monday as I was super stiff and sore from Sunday’s hike.  A recovery run ought to do the trick, right?  Reminder to self, do not attempt to gather running clothes together prior to 5:30 am before rushing out the door for work.  I gathered what I thought were running capris, a long sleeve and a short sleeve tech top.  In reality I accidently grabbed winter running tights from the laundry hamper instead of capris.  I realized my error just before leaving on my run so I had two options: wear the tights and be overheated…or I had a pair of blue Adidas soccer shorts that I keep in my filing cabinet for physio.  I opted for the shorts.  And just in case you were wondering, Jergens original scent body lotion is an acceptable substitution for Body Glide on short runs.  Who knew?

I met up with Kelly over lunch for a great 30 minute run.  Our paces are different, but I wanted to take it easy so we wound up running together.  It worked out really well as I got a recovery run and Kelly got a tempo run in, plus the company was great!

Tuesday night was our second spin session out at Bow.  It was high cadence night…not normally my most favourite thing, but I actually really enjoyed the workout.  Being around the team and chatting with friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in ages, really set the stage for a great time on the bike.  This was my second time trying out my cadence sensor indoors on the bike.  I turned off the GPS function so that it would calculate my speed based off of the sensor instead…and I have no idea what went wrong but it figured I was averaging 4.2 mph???  I know my wheel size has been calibrated within the Forerunner so I’m a bit stumped as to why my speed and distance calcs are so off.  Hmmm…. 

Kelly and I met up today for another run over lunch.  We both had 45 minutes on the schedule so we decided to do an out and back so we could start and finish together.  We wished each other good luck and I took off.  My legs were tired from last night’s spin but a little speed was feeling pretty good.  I ran west along the river and almost made it to Tri-It before I had to turn around.  On my way back there was a girl up ahead in a black and white lululemon jacket and I made it my mission to pass her.  Nothing like finding a little incentive out there!  I caught up with Kelly right at the 46 minute mark.  Another excellent run in the books!

On tap for tomorrow is a swim on my own at the Y.  I feel like I’ve been learning a lot from Richelle and Angie at swim class in Cochrane on Monday nights.  I really need to make sure I get my second swim of the week in, otherwise I feel like I take one step forward and two steps back as it takes me awhile to remember all the little tweaks I have to keep in mind.  After all, this is the time to be working on technique, right?

I hope everyone had a great Wednesday!!

A Big Thanks to the Athletic Gods

I owe a huge thanks to the athletic gods for helping to turn my early week slump right around.  In reality though those athletic gods probably go by the names Tara, Kelly and Angie!  Tara got me to spin class smiling on Tuesday and things have gone up from there.

Kelly and I met up for a run over lunch on Wednesday afternoon.  She had a 45 minute run on her schedule and I had 8K with some intervals in the middle.  Although our paces are different we figured we could start together and finish together.  At least we’d have motivation to get the run done if we had to meet!  It looked a bit nasty out when we got started but clouds quickly burned off and I was way overdressed.  The run went well and it was fun to meet up with Kelly.

Since I missed Monday’s swim class I promised Richelle that I would go to Angie’s class on Wednesday.  The focus of the workout was going to be speed…but shortly into the set Angie stopped me to give me some pointers.  She had me do a variation on the finger tip drill.  Hold a board out front with one hand, stroke and finger tip drill with the other hand, then swap hands holding the board.  Make sense?  The idea was to focus on rotation, keeping my arm close to my body, then high elbows on the way back.  To top it all off my hands have been entering the water poorly.  My fingers are pointed upwards and I need to focus on fingers entering in a “spear the fish” kind of motion.  So lots of things to think about, but as I rolled through and the changes felt more natural I was feeling more efficient in the water.

So it has been a good week!  Another race is in store on Saturday…the Halloween Howl!  It looks like it is going to be a fun weekend!!

Thursday Stampede Induced Thoughts

• It is Stampede time here in Calgary!  This is where a large number of Calgarians pull out any cowboy apparel they own.  For me that basically means jeans, a t-shirt and some cowboy boots that I picked up four years ago for $28 at an Aldo outlet in Texas.  Authentic, eh?
• Stampede also means a plethora of pancake breakfasts around downtown.  My first breakfast was Tuesday morning.  Maybe not as impressive on the food front compared to others, but I rather enjoyed the champagne and orange juice…
• Tuesday we did have a recovery group ride out in Cochrane.  We’ve had some crazy, very non-July like weather and it looked like it was going to pour as I was getting ready to leave work.  When a co-worker mentioned that a few folks were going for drinks it didn’t take me very long to decide that a beverage would be more ideal than a ride.
• Of course it was ridiculously sunny out when I left the pub Tuesday night.
• On Wednesday it was time to get my legs moving again.  I went out for a super easy 3 mile run over lunch.  It started off easy (sort of), although it took a good 20 minutes for my legs to not feel heavy. My legs picked the right time to come around because a few minutes later it started to rain.  Big, fat drops of rain.  That made for a sprint kick back to the office!
• Today it was back in the pool for a good workout.  My swim volume is going to pick up with a good focus on building strength.  I had a reasonably short 1600m workout using a pull buoy and paddles.  First time using paddles and it really made for good workout.
• After three days of pancakes I think I may have had enough pancakes for a year.  Well…at least a month.
• For lunch today our social club at work held a Stampede lunch.  It was a good excuse to hang out with some co-workers outside of the office and we chowed down on beef on a bun, chicken legs, baked beans and some salads.  I apologize for the poor quality of the picture, but we may be able to attribute that to one of the other items in the picture.
• Friday promises to be a fun day…  Stay tuned!  I hope everyone has a great weekend!!
• And yes…I know this is just one big nutritional blow up…  Thank goodness Stampede isn’t very long…  And I promise that I don’t eat like this every day!

Splitting Things Up

What a busy day today!!  I had a 15K run on the schedule and the real question was when I was going to fit that in.  It is too long of a run to attempt over the lunch hour, and I had other plans for the evening.  So…could I fit 15K in early in the morning before going to work?

I set my alarm for 4:30 but it was just asking too much to be out of the door by 5:00.  Oops.  Ahem, finally at 5:40 am I was on the road and running.  The great thing is it was really light out so it felt rather surreal that there were barely any cars on the road.  I just ran loopy sidewalks through my neighbourhood and about 3 miles in I realized that I needed to hit a bathroom.  I detoured to Starbucks.  Thanks goodness they are open early!  After I was on my way I was running past an open field and about to cross an intersection.  The car approaching me had a stop sign and they were far enough away that I made the decision to step off the curb.  As I ran in front of her I was staring at the car and realized, “Holy crap, she’s not looking straight ahead at the stop sign, she’s looking to the left to make sure no one is coming so she can roll through the stop sign.”  I’m not sure if she turned her head enough to see me, or if I ran fast enough so I was finally in her view, but all of a sudden she saw I was there and came to a stop.  I gave her a “what the heck were you thinking look” and pointed to the stop sign.  She mouthed “sorry” and I could tell she felt bad.  Yikes though.

As I continued on I was close to my home and just over 5 miles in.  It was 6:45 am and I realized that if I tried to run the full distance that I would be pretty late for work.  So I made the executive decision to split my long run into two and finish the rest up over lunch.  As for the rest of the run?  Pretty uneventful and boring, just 4 miles, out and back along the river.  But it was really warm!!

As for what was happening in the evening?  I think that deserves its own blog post!

Taking the Show on the Road

Well my friends, it is time to take this triathlon show on the road! I'm off to the Okanagan tomorrow to hang out for my birthday and race a little Olympic tri. My friend Janelle is racing as well, and Kelownagirl is racing the sprint. I heard a rumor from Janelle's fiance that the lake we will be swimming in is still pretty cold. The last I heard is that the lake is running 16-17C. Fingers crossed it warms up in the next few days! Just in case I picked up a neoprene cap from Nineteen.

Packing for a little 4.5 day weekend away is a whole other animal when a triathlon is involved. Thanks to this race day checklist site I made a note of everything I would need - racing related or not. Yes it is true, I even need to remind myself to pack underwear.I put everything I needed on my spare bed. Please pardon the checkerboard painting on the wall. I have been wanting to repaint this room since I bought my place, I just haven't exactly gotten around to it...in the 2-1/2 years that I've been here...
Less than a quarter of my bed is clothing to wear this weekend, the rest is racing or training gear. Since I have a trial swim, a quick run and a recovery bike to take care of while I'm out of town I needed all of the gear for that too. Wow... Then all packed up...In workout news I actually had a rest day on the schedule today but it didn't quite work out that way. Since I'm working in the morning then headed out on the road in the afternoon I won't have time to get my scheduled run in. I also took my car in for service this morning. I normally take transit in from the car dealership...but really...I am not a huge fan of that. I threw my bike on the back of my car and then had a quick ride into work once I dropped my car off. Less than three miles one way. Not exactly a fun ride since there a lot of stopping for traffic lights, but it beats the train any day!

Alright, must clean up the kitchen then get to bed...

Don't Rain on My Parade!

I haven't been to my swim clinic at the Y since last Tuesday, and it looks like yesterday was the perfect day to show up. The lanes were down...it was open water swim simulation day! Perfect considering my first open water triathlon is next weekend!! The goal was to swim around in a square for 30 minutes. My plan was to swim evenly and consistently...not worry about pace too much...and to not get stressed out! The swim went beautifully. Richelle's cornering tricks worked like a charm and I felt really comfortable the whole time. I wasn't a speedster which was okay by me. I just wanted to find a pace that I could swim at for the entire 30 minutes without wiping myself out. The swim wound up being a huge confidence builder for next weekend. Good stuff!!!

I had another steady state interval run to take care of over lunch. The sky was looking pretty gray... I hit the first interval with no problems, although I could tell my legs were slightly tired from the bike/brick from the day before. Somewhere in there the skies opened up and rain started to fall. The rain wasn't too bad...but it looked like it had the potential to get worse. I'm not opposed to running in the rain, but when you run over lunch and don't really want to get back to the office looking like a drowned rat...well... I wound up cutting the run short because I really didn't want to get dumped on. My 1:10 min run turned into 40 minutes. Oh well!

Today is a rest day, then we have a long weekend here. Monday is Victoria Day. I have something happening on Saturday that should be very interesting...just so long as I'm not so exhausted afterward to tell you about it! I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!!