Last race of the season in the bag

Last Saturday marked my last tri race of 2010. Looking back it was a good year.... 4 triathlons with the Alberta Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer squished in the middle.


The race was probably the smallest race I've been in, but it was our small town's inaugural triathlon. It was well planned and a great time! They also had a kids tri which was super cute! Love seeing the kids getting excited about triathlon. And I think... wow, one of these kids could be the next olympian in triathlon :)

My race was okay, swim was dreadful, but honestly with all the travel of late, it was to be expected as I didn't make it to the pool near enough leading up to the race.
The ride was nice, although I'd done a big bike ride with my sister up to Fairmont resort (big big big hills) the Tuesday before and I could feel the fatigue in my quads.
times: Swim: 14:58 ?!?!?!?!? Bike (including T1/T2) 51:23 (this is where I'd hoped for more like 45 mins), Run: 25:35.
Overall 1:31 (seriously so close to a sub 1;30)

Generally, I was fine with my race, I tried not to over analyze, but if I am completely honest, I'd have to say I'm disappointed that I didn't see more improvement generally.

I was tempted to do another race, just a small race 15 minutes away from my place, but then where do I stop?!!? I could do another race the next weekend too :)

So when I look back I can say I'm definitey a stronger cyclist (thanks to the Ride to Conquer Cancer). My running has slowly improved, and definitely my ability to go further is vastly better. Prior to 2010, I'd never run a 10k, and now I've completed 3 (2 road races & 1 oly tri).
Swimming, what can I say. I have to learn to push myself, and move out of the survival mode!

What's next? A half marathon in October and I'm hoping to drop about 15 lbs before Christmas. I'm hoping that a lower weight will improve my speed. But, I'm left wondering... "am I even built for speed?" Maybe I should work toward the longer distances?!?!? I loved the Olympic Tri, I mean it hurt, but I really enjoyed it. I volunteered for the Calgary 70.3 and it was really great, and I can see myself doing one in the next few years. But that's one to take up with my family first :)

So I'm back to circuit training, which is nice change...working it hard to burn some fat fat fat. Of course, I may have over done it and am walking a bit slower this week :)

Monday's circuit looked like this...

10 min warm up on treadmill
then the circuit following 3 times
100 skip
15 pushups
20 squats
15 tricep dips
20 walking lunges with with dumbell shoulder press
10/side med ball twists
10 med ball throw downs
10 mountain climbers
10 jump squats
20 fit ball crunches

10 minute cool down on treadmill

I still have some planning to do in order to work in the 1/2 marathon kms, and probably a swim or 2 a week (when I return to work). Sigh I'm tired just thinking about it!! And as I wrap up the end of my 3 week vacation from work...I'm feeling a bit sad :( It was an epic vaca though, Vancouver, Canmore, Fairmont.... so much fun!!!

(picture of the Eamon, Brynn & their cousin Zach at Panorama)

First Olympic Tri Race Report

Leading up to Saturday's race I was extremely nervous! It was going to be my first Olympic Triathlon. I wasn't worried about the individual sports, I knew independently I could do each of them, but together??!?!?! So I tried to remind myself that I had put in the training time so I would be fine (although I missed some workouts leading up to the race with all my travel).

But the trip to Vancouver was AWESOME!!!!! Above photos from our trip :)

Even still, on the morning I was super nervous, more than the usual pre race jitters!!!

I kept telling myself to not panic on the swim, and I was oddly calm when I entered the water… no panic attack!! My swim time wasn’t great (41:09), BUT it was about what I expected and I was really hoping I wasn’t the last one out, and I wasn’t. In future I think I need to re-evaluate my race swim strategy, because my mindset is not, swim fast or even swim hard, it’s usually just “get ‘er done” and don’t panic. I had to pee from the moment I got in the water...but I couldn't pee in my wetsuit... I know others do it, but seriously I tried (ewwww sorry) but I couldn't. One great thing was that there was a timing mat as we entered the water, so although it was a mass start, you could seed yourself without losing time.

My T1 was a bit slower than I’d liked, since my last race had wet suit strippers I hadn’t really practiced getting out of my wetsuit, so it was pretty awkward and I was still in “survival mode” and kind of cotton headed. I still had to pee, and there was a porta potty at T1, but I was wearing my 1 piece tri suit, with a cycling jersey on top... I determined it would take too long to go, a decision I'd have to live with for the rest of the race!

I don’t have any Garmin data because I forgot to upload my previous sets of data, so it was full and kept giving me an error message :( GRRR one day I’ll actually get it to do what I want it to during a race! Plus, my Garmin bike computer still isn't working after it fell apart during the Ride to Conquer Cancer (just needs a tiny screw).

Overall I was pretty happy with my bike time (1:27 it includes both T1 & T2), and at about 14 kms in I had some good competition with another racer, who passed me twice (on hills… figures!) but then I easily passed her on the flat outs, so I hammered down, and was determined to get way ahead so she couldn’t pass me again. I think that really helped me having a push since I am so competitive and I ended up a good few minutes ahead by the end of the bike and even passed a few others along the way.

T2, was average I guess, again I was tempted to visit the porta potty (ummmm nope TOO much time would be wasted, but just in case I asked a volunteer if there were more potties on the run route... they didn't know??!?!!), and the run was interesting. Usually in my brick workouts I have had a bit of calf “stress” but it goes away pretty quick, usually after 2 or 3 minutes. This time I’m pretty sure it lasted well into the 3^rd or 4^th km. But once I was going, I kept at it, and didn’t walk at all :) It was only until between km 8 & 9 that my lower back started to feel somewhat fatigued, but I didn’t really have the hip/back pain like I usually get (run time 1:10). I did a 10k race a few weekends ago, and finished in 1:01:30 (grrrr so close to breaking 60 minutes).

Of course I was happy to cross the finish line. 3:19…. s’okay, I was hoping for around 3:15, but I was happy to finish, and felt like except for the swim, I did what I could, and hey…there’s always next year :) I didn't beat myself up at all. I had a strange peacefulness, a calm knowing I had done it. Proved to myself I could do it. Like I'd acomplished something just for me :) I was tired, but it was a happy tired! Oh yeah and I had to PEE!!!!

I am going to do at least one more Sprint (Raymond is having one on August 7^th and I couldn’t resist!), and already I have a different thought process…because it seems so “short” in comparison. And in theory I could do a Sprint on the 14th and 21st.... I'll resist!

I have even planned myself some structured workouts on my own (think I'll miss the coaching), I felt "lost" without the structure. Plus at the pool, without a planned workout I run the risk of quitting too early.

I'm going to work toward the ½ marathon in October. No doubt I’ll be back at "triathloning" next year, and I think I’ll keep my goal to do a 1/2 IM sometime before I’m 40!

I'm thinking that I'll be excited to get back at some circuit & core training, and I'm going to work hard to knock off those last pesky 10 lbs, hoping that'll make a difference for my runbike times.

My Ride to Conquer Cancer

June 26 & 27, 2010 will be two days of my life that I will not soon forget.
(Warning... it's a bit of a long post)

The morning started off fairly typical for me, early up, and prepping for something new. I headed out to Spruce Meadows, only to be faced with a huge amount of traffic, but guess that's to be expected when 1888 riders are getting ready to head out on a two day, 220km ride. Erin met me at the opening ceremonies and it was great to have her there! There was a lot of excitement in the air and the opening ceremonies were incredibly emotional. I doubt there was a dry eye in the crowd, but there was a lot of cheering too, especially when they announced that collectively we'd raised $7.4 million dollars!!!

With that, we were off! It was odd to me, that even though I was surrounded by 1888 other riders with a common purpose, heading out all together, united as one.... I can't recall the last time in my life I had felt so deeply alone. It must have been that sudden realization that only I could get me and my road bike across those 220kms. It didn't last long, because as soon as we headed out I was focusing on a great big hill to climb.
















(photo above, pitstop at Okotoks)

Before I knew it I was at Okotoks, and then High River, and then Nanton. The pit stops were brilliant, with bike repair service, lots of food and porta potties.
I was lucky to have some family to greet me at lunch which was nice...





























After lunch I hit the road again, as we all headed west toward Chain Lakes Provincial Park. Really all I can say is .... YIKES! Check out the elevation











It was a slog to say the least, and I can't believe I managed a smile when I arrived at camp.
Things going through my mind during the "7 mile climb"

• there's no way on earth I could ever do a Half Ironman
• if I wipe out going down this hill it's going to hurt SO bad
• this hurts, but I won't quit on Heather (oh and I'm too stubborn)
  
• I could walk my bike up this hill, but that looks like too much effort

I can honestly say it was the mental battle of a lifetime!








The camp was a welcome relief, along with my little cheerleading crew that were literally parked at the finish line! Like an automaton, I waited in line for a shower and went to bed in "tent village" with my ear plugs firmly in place, and slept like a LOG.

I'll admit, I didn't have the same gusto behind me when I started out day two, and I seriously expected the day to be horrible. About 15kms into the day I regained my cellular service and heard the chime of text messages coming in (thanks everyone!!!!) that I knew I was going to be fine.

Day two was brilliant!!! I savoured the day and tried to enjoy every second knowing that it was going to go fairly quick. And as I came closer to the end I was overcome by periodic waves of emotion, and I had to choke back the tears. Crossing the finish line was a great moment, not just because I was done, but because it was a great feeling knowing that I was part of something so special, and for such a special purpose. Every person there, had someone they were carrying with them in their minds and hearts, for each and every kilometer. Heather, I can say this without a moments hesitation.... for you, I would do it again and again. It was a weekend I'll remember for FOREVER and I can only hope that it will make a difference.

Generally speaking...I had no mechanical issues which was surprising given the number of flats I had during training. I had a few hurts, mostly my feet because they kept falling asleep :( I've been asked about my backside... but honestly, that great seat I invested in was worth every penny. For the first time in my life, I have a bit of a tan (albeit a crazy form of a farmers tan) and that was with SPF 60 on!!! I had a few moments of "grrrrr" when people decided to pass on the right or ride 4 across up a hill.... I had to quelch my competitive spirit a number of times and remind myself it was a ride not a race :)

I can't begin to thank my donors for their support and of course my family... for being my cheerleaders, for putting up with my crazy training antics and for their general belief in me.

My big weekend approaches

It's true, I'm nervous, but at the same time I'm so excited to be taking on this journey. Saturday June 26 & Sunday June 27.

At the beginning, I was able to focus my energies on doing the fundraising and although I was still training for my triathlons, I wasn't doing anything too special in preparation for the physical part of the ride. However, more recently I've been including some longer rides (Raymond to Lethbridge and back last Sunday!), and since my next triathlon is a longer distance, Shawn's been upping my workouts anyway, with lots of two a day workouts. So yesterday I did a 1:20 ride followed by a 20 min run ;) Today was a ride in the a.m. with a 2000m swim at lunch (had to cut it short to 1800m).

With lots of distractions (see above) I've not really had a chance to get too worked up. I don't have any goals for a finish time, but I know that when it gets hard, and it will, that I will keep all of my donors in mind, and of course Heather (love you!!). As hard as the ride might feel at the time, I know it is only infinitesimal compared to the journey she's on. And I think the collective spirit of all the riders will be an experience of a lifetime, and no doubt very emotional.

I will leave for Calgary tomorrow morning, as I have a few work meetings scheduled for the afternoon. Then to my sister's for the night. Then on Saturday I'll begin my "epic" ride out of Calgary, returning on Sunday. On Sunday, I'll have a tired body, but I expect I'll have a refreshed optimism and hope for humanity and a new respect for cyclists around the world :)

I hope to be able to document this experience via twitter [ @jasminnbert ] and to take some photos along the way.

Wasa Tri 2010

The lead up to this race seems to have been long ;)

Last year's race was so awesome, so I was really hoping that my experience this year would be at least as enjoyable. Of course the weekend started off excellent with Brynn's first ever triathlon, which she really enjoyed :)

After Brynn's race and some hanging out, I decided to take a quick ride over the bike course. It's a 7 km loop that is done 3 times during the race. It is an amazing course, nice and scenic and no major hills. The weather was great, and I thought I'd just take a nice easy ride. It was hard to go easy, I wanted to see how fast I could do it, but I resisted the temptation, which was made even harder because there were other people out just tearing it up :)

After the ride, it was time to head into Cranbrook, where I'd planned to meet up with Stacey and Lilli. Well... the drive in was infuriating to say the least, with road construction making me about 30 minutes late! Oh well... what are you going to do... of course I'd also forgotten my iPod so was stuck listening to CBC1 talk-radio! OY!

Race package pickup/meeting was typical, packed packed packed. Stuck around for the beginning of the meeting, until the swim course was announced. The lake was pretty low, so it was doubtful it'd be on the same course as last year, as we'd have likely been able to run half of it ;) As suspected it was in a different location, but I think it is where it was in previous years. And of course this year the distance would actually be 750 for the sprint (last year's was short, quite a lot shorter.. not sure the exact numbers though).

Headed back to WASA and took Lilli down to transition, and we scoped out the swim course, and then drove the bike course. Came back, had supper (spaghetti and salad).
Eventually got the kids settled down and all my gear packed up. I was worried because I was SO tired!!!!! I did some stretching and foam rolling and went to bed. Luckily sleep came easy and I woke up at about 5:30... only 30 min before the alarm.

I was pretty calm, got up, got ready and headed to transition. Just love where we stayed, because I could walk to transition and didn't have to worry about parking at all. Got my bike racked, checked in, body marking (#720) and timing chip.

Met up with Stacey & Lilli and got transition set up. My nerves weren't too bad, but I was excited. At about 7:45 we started to get our wet suits on, and headed down to the beach for the race start (8:15). Then I got nervous as I always do at the beginning of the swim... was thinking the buoys looked pretty far out!!!

Decided to check out the water temp, it was warmer than the day before, up to 17.5 degrees C.
Lilli is a strong swimmer so she waded out into the middle, I stayed near the back. Then it was go time.

My race was pretty good! I tried not to get all crazy like I did at the last one. My overall time was longer than last year, but that was to be expected since the swim course was actually 750m this year (I’m not sure what it was last year, but looking at my times I’m guessing less than 500m). So I decided for comparison to last year that I would not focus on my overall time or on my swim time.

My swim time, which included 180 m run up the beach, wet suit stripping (very cool feature) and re-doing my timing chip which flew off (grrrr… didn’t like the new system at ALL and then I had to put a new strap on with cold hands), was 22:01. Not bad, since I totally panicked. The first leg of the race I was a wreck and I felt like I was in survival mode, by the time I got to the first buoy though I “sorted” myself out, and concentrated on long strokes. By the time I hit the 2nd buoy and headed back I was horribly surprised that I couldn’t SEE at all. The sun was shining right at us. So I just tried to keep with the yellow swim caps… which eventually worked :) I was happy when I got out and realized I was within the middle of the pack for my age group!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! And, although I was somewhat tired, I wasn’t completely gassed like I usually feel. 36/62 for my age group.

Bike was uneventful, not too much improvement in time from last year. My time this year was 49:27, last year was 50:38 (this includes T1 & T2, actual moving time for 21k was 46 min according to Garmin). I think I really need to work on my bike strategy. The course is 3 loops of 7km, and I don’t think I pushed myself hard enough, and I think I’m always afraid that if I push too hard on the bike I’ll be done for the run. During the last 2/3 of the 3rd loop, I really focused on pulling up and I passed quite a few people :) I think my HR stayed around 147-150, so I could definitely have worked harder….finding a balance on the pacing is hard, so any advice you have there is welcomed :) Because it is a shorter distance, should I just be gunning it the entire time?? I am bigger "thighed" so I really should be doing better at the ride :(

The first part of the run, my calves were pretty annoyed with me…but it didn’t take too long for them to sort out. I felt pretty good but was annoyed that I didn’t have my watch (forgot it on my bike) to monitor my pace or my effort. But my run time was 29:56 this year whereas last year it was 32:07. So some improvement for sure. And when I was finished, I felt much stronger than last year. So I was tired, but it was more like a hard workout than a race, which makes me think I could have pushed more :) My transitions were good, and I had enough energy… so I think I did pretty good there. Now it’s just a matter of knowing how hard to push myself ;) My overall time was 1:41:23 (not what I'd hoped for, but I had to be realistic with the swim).

This pic I'm going in for a "low five" with Eamon ;)

If I could go back, I'd definitely push harder on the bike, and if I'd had my Garmin I would have known I could have gone harder on the run. I wouldn't really change my transitions, was happy to do the dismount where I unstrapped my shoes, and put my feet on the top of the shoes so when I hopped off it was an easy "trot" to the rack.

Of course, I feel like any plan I had for this race will have to be different for Magrath, since it’ll be the Oly distance. *sigh* it's 5 weeks away, but I've got the Ride to Conquer Cancer in just 2 weeks, so I'm thinking after a 200km weekend ride, the 40k of the Olympic distance a few weeks later should feel like a breeze ;)

Photos below, me and Brynn (luv ya baby)
Stacey and I, my training partner in crime ;) She & baby "newt" did great
bottom photo, Lilli & I afterward... we look relieved but happy :)

Brynn's first Triathlon

OK, so we are at WASA Lake, BC for the Gerricks Wasa Lake Tri 2010!
It is SO beautiful here....
We arrived last night and I was so happy to see that it was quite a lot warmer than at home.
Today couldn't have been a more perfect day... weather was great, and Brynn had so much fun at her race.

They really made the kids feel like the adults, so they got body marked, personalized bib numbers, and REAL timing chips, and swim caps :) The swim was hilarious. The water was a chilly 14.5 Celsius. So some of the kids, mine included, opted to run through the water instead of swimming :) hehehe it was more like an aqua duathlon (water run, bike, run).

As the swim was winding down, one of the volunteers cheered Brynn and told her to run, so she took off super speedy to the transition, was up a hill and through some grassy areas :) Got to T1 where she insisted she needed to wear her biking gloves, which took FOREVER to get on ;) oh well it was pretty cute. So she hopped onto her bike, training wheels and all, and went for 5 rides around the transition area. I have to say it was one of the cutest things I've ever witnessed. There were so many cute little ones just burning around like crazy. During one lap, Brynn decided she needed a drink, but didn't take her bottle off, she just bent over and drank while she rode :)

So fun :)
It was great to cheer on the other kids, everytime we'd cheer they'd go faster and smile!

The run was fun, as I got to go along with her for most of it...she was really hoofing it and got tired out...but she did it and ran the whole thing :)
It was super great that they had Steve King (you can see him in the background of the next photo) doing the announcing, so as she went through the finishers shoot he called out her name :) We were so proud of her, and I'm so glad she enjoyed it. Honestly, I was so wrapped up in the fun and excitement, I didn't bother to look at her time. Will have to check out her splits online later :)

So on the way back after the race she said to her Daddy "Daddy, when I get home I want to start training for next year!".

I'm so glad she got to experience it and I hope she will race again next year... just because it is so fun :)

I'm pretty tired.... and tomorrow's my big day. Gear's all ready to go, kids are in bed. So I think I'll do a bit of foam rolling, and then call it a day!!!

Lots of travel lately and a great Easter!

Well, Easter is over, and the kids are just finishing up their Easter Break. They have enjoyed their time off school and they decided to camp out in our home office, needless to say, it's nice to have a laptop for it's portability. (That's my girl, we were baking cookies. Delicious sugar cookies *gulp* If you can see it in the background, that white on the walls is not flour, it's the prep for the touch up painting that is in progress!)

I am pretty sure my last post was from the road, and it has seemed over the last while I've spent SO much time traveling for work. It didn't really cut much into my training, I thought I did good at planning to fit my work outs in. Tried out 3 different pools in one city!!! It wasn't always easy, and I did forget my HRM for one trip, which was highly annoying to me.

Just this last week, I packed up my suitcase for a day flight just so I could drag along my swim and running gear :) That day was TOO long though.

I have missed some training over the last month or so though, but because I was sick (maybe from too much travel?!?!). It was the head cold that would not end! I found that so frustrating, but in between there I did my first 10 km run and it could be that the extra rest I gained from being sick helped me to not be too tired for the race. I was really stoked with the race though, because it felt great :) Really good. I feel as though my goal for a 1/2 marathon in the fall is realistic.

Sadly, the sport that was hit the most from being ill was swimming. It is the one that requires the most planning for me, and usually very early mornings. But I also feel like I may have had a bit of a breakthrough with my swimming. First, Shawn has us doing some swim specific strength training with elastic paddles on the deck. I'm really concentrating on my pull and putting more strength into it instead of just thinking about my recovery and breathing, and I had my best ever 50 m time. It could have been a fluke, but I'm optimistic, and have been "enjoying" my pool time. I find myself calculating how long it'll take me at the various distances.

I've also been pretty diligent in doing my stretching, foam rolling and tennis ball "therapy". Including a few visits to physio, and a couple massages. Of course it's been a few nights now since I've done any stretching ;( I also want to start working in some leg strength and keeping up with core. Sigh...oh time where will I find you!

Now that the weather is getting better I'm anxious to get out on the road, and in particular I'm hoping to ride my bike to work in the next few weeks, since my first race is 4 weeks from tomorrow! Holy cow... just did the math on that!!!! Now I'm a bit freaked out. I know I should be doing it for the fun of it, but I really really really want to place top 5 in my age group.
Hope I didn't jinx myself now! I think my age group includes some pretty serious athletes, likely using this race as a warm up for their 1/2 Ironman races. Double sigh.

This post has dragged on too long and now I will really try to update again soon, so I'm not so far behind.

Really a whole month?!?!?!

Just happened to notice that it's been over a month since I posted. Shame shame.
Life's been pretty busy (bday parties, kids stuff, visitors etc.), and this month has me travelling a fair bit. I'm actually writing this post from my hotel room :) Which I'm happy to say I got upgraded to a King Delux suite :)

I'm getting pretty good at fitting my workouts into my travel schedule. Oddly, this week the workout I missed (Monday) was when I was at home (made it up yesterday). That was just poor planning... had the best intentions, but when I got to the pool at 4:15 p.m. I discovered that lane swim ended at 3:45. What are you going to do?!?!? So I'm trying out all the pools Red Deer has to offer (yesterday Michener Aquatic, today Rec Centre). My last trip here in February I ended up doing lane swim in a wave pool that was marked off with lanes, and I'm not convinced they were 25 m. The hotel has a nice fitness centre, so I can easily do my runs on the treadmill. But, I have to laugh because the treadmills are pre-programmed to stop after 30 minutes. That just won't work for me ;) Especially my 65 minute run scheduled for tomorrow. Sigh.

I am fighting off a cold, so I plan to try and get a nap in later this afternoon as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day, and then a long drive home.

Training has been pretty good, am really enjoying my cycling. I suppose that's a good thing given my plans for this summer! I've been going to physio (also a triathlete) for my left hip, in hopes it doesn't get too crazy, it's so tight and causes me trouble especially during my long runs. Was "ordered" to do a therapeutic massage.... didn't take too much convincing :) I was seriously bruised after! Also have some exercises and was shown a few other purposes for a tennis ball. GENIOUS!

I feel like I'm on "reporting" overload. I've been logging on beginnertriathlete.com then in my triathlete's training diary, and then in my spreadsheet for Shawn, plus uploading to garminconnect.com so I can see the charts etc.. TOO much... have to figure out something a little less redundant.

Anyway, have to get dressed and head out for my next meeting (45 minute drive away).

Just for fun!

So today's run was bound to be fun. I'd programmed my Garmin to indicate to me the different intervals.... so this is what my workout called for...
10min warm up
4 X (4min pick-up/2min easy)
6 X (30 sec fast/1min easy)
5 min warm down

But I'm also supposed to be recovering my HR down to 120, so some of those "easy" were a bit longer until my HR got there. Here are the HR results...
Looks like a roller coaster ;)

So in total it took 51:19
So of course I was disappointed in the distance, but I have to factor in a fair bit of walking, that would be depicted by the "valleys".

Feeling good overall though, even though we've got an extra swim booked in for next week!
Today is "hump" day, and 1/2 of this week's training is done.

I keep going online to check out blogs for work (how cool is that?!), then I get distracted, and want to do a quick entry into my own :) Keeps my mind fresh!

Ride to Conquer Cancer

I'm in a hurry, but if the title of this post doesn't say enough, this image will.... 200km ride in 2 days (June 26/27)!!

I'll be back later tonight to add more :)

OK, so it took me a bit longer to get "back" to this entry. Friday night I seriously could not keep myself awake. But I logged 9 hours sleep! Got up, did my "long" run and then got on with my day. It was an awesome day. We went quading/sledding/tubing! So much fun. Our neighbour, Kelvin is one of the nicest guys I know, and he'd arranged for most of us on our street to meet up over at the little lake in town so we could go out with the quads. It was a blast and perfect day (I think it was only -6). My butt was a bit cold, but we all had so much fun, not to mention the kids. Lar had a good time driving one of the quads (yup he was driving). It was just an all around good time.

Later in the evening we went out to Earls for dinner and for a date night. We finally saw "Avatar". It was really quite good. And I really enjoyed our night out. It was a great weekend, and today (Sunday I'm just catching up on stuff... including my blog).

This past week was a recovery week of training. At the beginning of the week I was kind of bummed about having to take it easy, but clearly by Friday night I needed it. Found myself getting grumpy during my "run" yesterday, as I couldn't go as fast as last week while keeping my heart rate around 125. Today was a rest day.... but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I don't get my next two weeks of training until tonight :)

Oh yeah... the subject of the post...recently I've been hearing about "The Ride to Conquer Cancer" on the radio and TV. It got me to thinking about how there are so many people that don't have the chance to do the types of things I am able to do (albeit I usually struggle through). My sister in law, Heather is currently battling cancer and it makes me sad as I think of her often. And my Mom is a survivor. So of course when I heard about the race, I wanted to find out more.

There's something about it that excites me, a chance to raise money that will stay in Alberta, to help patients in Alberta. The riding part will be challenging, but I would love to do it for Heather. I was only "playing" with the idea, and was even a bit nervous to bring it up with hubby, since it would require me to be away on our anniversary. The day right after I looked up more details, Tuesday, I found out that the Minister that married us in 1993 had suddenly died of acute leukemia. It was pretty much all I needed to push me forward. I was of course worried how it might interfere with my tri training, so I sent an email to Shawn and wondered what he might say :) He didn't scoff at all, and thought it might actually help with my cycling for the Olympic distance tri I'd be doing about 3 weeks after.

I'll be attending an info session on February 11th, before I officially commit, but as it is now, I'm feeling fairly convicted that I want to do it! Call me crazy, won't be the first time...but I am reminded by a song lyric "I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying". To be clear I'm not a country music fan... but those words mean something to me!

When I look back on my life, I don't think it'll be one of those things I look back at and say, "wish I hadn't done that".

So much to learn. (serious stuff)

I think an important part of being human is learning. Hopefully we learn from our mistakes. Mistakes like, not forgetting to charge your ipod before a long hard workout. Like remembering to double check the am/pm settings on your alarm clock. Like learning to trust your coaches instructions. All things I've recently re-learned the importance of. I've also learned that using the word "learnt" can really annoy dear friends :)

I'd like to think that as we learn lessons we grow, and that we'll do our best to improve. This is turning out to be far more deep than I had intended. So let me explain...recently my training instructions have included intervals and some long runs which require me to bring my heart rate quite low to the point where I have to walk, just to bring it back up again. Of course I wasn't happy and did a fair bit of grumbling because I'm from the school of "work hard for good results....work really really hard". If you aren't almost falling over in a pool of your own sweat.... you must not have worked hard enough. Now I'm not saying that I would always work out at that intensity (if I always had, I'd not be in this predicament right?!?!), but I like to push. I've been known to say/think... just one more km (or 3 or 5 more kms, and so on), just one more set, one really hard circuit. I like the feeling of absolutely draining the tank, when I have that feeling, I know I left it all out there and that I worked out hard. I guess I'm a bit "touched".

I understand the principle of interval training, but until today, I didn't really understand (an expert I'm not) the principle of anaerobic thresholds. This is new learning for sure, and tomorrow I have a follow up appointment to go over, in detail (I hope) my fitness testing results, and get the real meaning behind the numbers. I love numbers, I like to "obsess" about the little details, so I still can't quite wrap my head around how I can get better by being slower in my training. Anyone that knows me, would agree I like the numbers.... they totally motivate me. (Can you imagine the day I discovered I could plot out, online, an animated map of my run/ride from my Garmin??!?!?)

I'm pretty sure it is this type of detail that attracts me to multi-sport. I like the challenge, how far can I push. I want to be good. I want to be good "so bad" that I'll even walk a recovery interval on the treadmill, *sigh* if I must.

I'll also be getting some sport nutritional guidance, hopefully I can focus on reducing my % body fat to improve my VO2max score :)

Happy New Year!

Seems fitting to take time at the beginning of the year to set goals. I haven't really thought too much about what goals I'd like to have for 2010, other than my racing goals already set out. More of that later.

Christmas was lovely, and I'm finding myself having to "talk" myself out of feeling sad that the holiday is almost over and that I'll be returning to work! It's been great to just relax and take it easy, and do some fun things. Like get the backyard rink finished! Tried it out today, not too bad. A bit bumpy in areas so it could use a few more "floods", but it is SO windy out today. Also did some bowling (I was sore.... crazy!!!).

As for training, I'm happy to report I didn't miss any workouts over the holidays and even managed to get up early on both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve to go to the pool and get back home before I was barely missed. I also was spoiled by "Santa" as I received my new pedals and got my new cycling shoes as well as a fair bit of athletic wear. Will put in a picture later. Also, thanks to erin337 I heard about a online sale at Sugoi, awesome!!! So I'm patiently waiting for my new purchases :) Swim suit, cycling shorts, visor and arm warmers :) All that from the comfort of my home, I love online shopping!!!!
Stacey got all geared up over xmas, new bike (Kona Dew Drop..... very nice indeedy!) a new indoor trainer, a garmin, and a swim lap counter.

There's a 100km trainer ride going on today started by kelownagurl and other folks I've been following on Twitter. I would have liked to join them, had my bike been ready. But, that's a good goal to set for next year. Hope to get my bike fitting in this next week (hope hope hope), my last few rides have been BRUTAL. I've been super uncomfortable, can't quite get the seat angle right, or it could be that my riding shorts are a bit too bulky these days, and I get hurty in parts that should hurt :( Plus using the pedal cages is impossible for doing drills, and also seems like the pressure on my hands is pretty intense, so I'm guessing my handle bars need to be adjusted too! And of course the infamous Garmin bike computer. I love it!!! I really do, if I could just get it to stay in place. The sensor doesn't seem to want to stay put, and the magnet on the pedal shaft doesn't want to stay either :(

Speaking of my bike, couldn't believe it! The other day when I took it in to the shop to get the pedals put on, the helpful fellow filled up my rear tire as it was low ..... BANG!!!!! he wasn't too impressed, as he had to give me a new tube. Then after putting the tire back on he discovered a large rip in my tire (probably half the size of a dime!). That was very surprising. So I needed to get a new tire, but since I'm only going to be using the indoor trainer I purchased a tire that is specific for trainers and won't wear down. It is pretty blue, and now I won't have bits of black rubber everywhere in the basement :) So, in the spring before I head outdoors, I'll need to get another road tire.

I started using my Triathlon training diary, to record my workouts etc., it'll take a bit of getting used to, since I'm so used to just typing things out. Ah, maybe that's a good goal for 2010, to journal my training!

Haven't received my next set of training plans, but they are expected to arrive on Sunday. Tomorrow is a long "SLOW" run, not sure about that. Supposed to keep my HR in the mid 120's!!!!!!!!!!!!! Going to be boring...have to download some podcasts! Why so slow??? So confusing.

OK, better run and get the roast in the oven, thought I'd do up a nice garlic roast for dinner, with mashed potatoes and carrots. YUM.

It was so yummy! The colour of the gravy was gorgeous!!! But I do feel sluggish now.