There's a bit of irony in my title today. First, because my itouch died last night so I didn't have any music.
But really I was thinking that I should select a theme song for today. It was a strange day, because at work it felt like a Monday (with the holiday yesterday) but I was super high energy, so I kept thinking of zippy and quick songs. Could it be my mind was playing my workout playlist as a tribute to my fallen itouch?!?!? Whatever the reason I felt GREAT today. My legs were tired from my run yesterday but I just felt overall good. Even though I left my beautifully crafted coffee on the counter this morning, even though my water bottle leaked in my bag, even though it was a swim day. Actually I enjoyed my swim today, right after I get over the shock of plunging into the cool water of the university pool.
On my way home I stopped by Costco to return my itouch, but I'd forgotten the ear buds, silly me. But I'm glad that I'll be able to return it. Drove home, without my podcasts *sigh*, quickly made supper (wraps, nice and easy). Now we're just headed out to AWANA with the kids.
I'm not sure if it's the return to "training" that's got me in a good mood, but I'll take it and I'll even get up tomorrow at 5:50 a.m. to do a circuit. Well that's the plan anyway!
So happy pseudo-Monday, but I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Lest we forget
Today is Remembrance Day, and it was a nice break in the middle of the week, and we took full advantage. Slept in (well until 8:25) took the kids to a movie, hit Starbucks and then I went for a nice 10 km run!!!!
On the way back home from the movie (we live about 40 kms outside of the city) I noticed a road I hadn't really paid much attention to, but it was country paved and looked like a good running route. So, even though it was blustery windy out and cool, I headed out on a new route. Yay, the Garmin was all charged up. I walked the first 5 minutes to warm up my knees because I knew my knee was a bit sore. And off I went....remember it was super windy! I started off to the north and then headed east, which kept me from running straight into the wind. At about 5 km I dropped one of my gloves and had to turn around a bit to fetch it, and HOLY crap the wind was brutal. It was pretty clear that the return portion of my run would suck. Luckily I had my cell phone so I decided that I would run until I reached 8 km then would call Lar to come fetch me :) What a guy . . . . he calls me back and says, are you sure you gave me the right directions because I've driven a long way... hehehehe. It was starting to get a dark and so he flashed his lights and I said I could see him. So by the time I'd gotten in the car I was just shy of 10km.
It was a really good run and I was happy to go as far as I did.
Here's what it looked like . .
9.91 km
1:09:17, not too bad since I walked the first 5 minutes.
Average HR 139 (is that too low???), or is that good for a long run.
Max HR 153
785 calories
Exciting thing on Larry's radar . . . he's thinking of joining a martial arts class. I think it'll be great for him :)
As for me, I'm still wanting to complete at least 4 tris this coming summer, and a 1/2 marathon in the Fall. After today's 10 km run, I'm pretty sure I can do the 1/2 marathon with the right training plan.
Think I'll email Shawn tomorrow ;)
On the way back home from the movie (we live about 40 kms outside of the city) I noticed a road I hadn't really paid much attention to, but it was country paved and looked like a good running route. So, even though it was blustery windy out and cool, I headed out on a new route. Yay, the Garmin was all charged up. I walked the first 5 minutes to warm up my knees because I knew my knee was a bit sore. And off I went....remember it was super windy! I started off to the north and then headed east, which kept me from running straight into the wind. At about 5 km I dropped one of my gloves and had to turn around a bit to fetch it, and HOLY crap the wind was brutal. It was pretty clear that the return portion of my run would suck. Luckily I had my cell phone so I decided that I would run until I reached 8 km then would call Lar to come fetch me :) What a guy . . . . he calls me back and says, are you sure you gave me the right directions because I've driven a long way... hehehehe. It was starting to get a dark and so he flashed his lights and I said I could see him. So by the time I'd gotten in the car I was just shy of 10km.
It was a really good run and I was happy to go as far as I did.
Here's what it looked like . .
9.91 km1:09:17, not too bad since I walked the first 5 minutes.
Average HR 139 (is that too low???), or is that good for a long run.
Max HR 153
785 calories
Exciting thing on Larry's radar . . . he's thinking of joining a martial arts class. I think it'll be great for him :)
As for me, I'm still wanting to complete at least 4 tris this coming summer, and a 1/2 marathon in the Fall. After today's 10 km run, I'm pretty sure I can do the 1/2 marathon with the right training plan.
Think I'll email Shawn tomorrow ;)
Monday, November 9, 2009
From zero to two
From no posts, to two in one day :)
I was super excited to leave work a bit early so I could hit the road and get in a run. It's been a long time, and wow could I tell. I felt pretty good today, just a slight headache and a lot more energy.
It always amazes me how a short hiatus can come back to haunt you. It was super windy and quite a slog, but I made it through and felt good just knowing I'd actually gone out! Started off rough, as the Garmin decided it wasn't going to work (lost all it's battery charge). So I just headed out on my usual 5 km route. I missed having the constant reminder to maintain pace.
Tomorrow is a swim day at noon, and Stacey's not been feeling too well, so I hope she'll join me. I'm not really following a training schedule right now other than trying to get 2 of each (swim, bike, run) per week and maybe a circuit too. I'm hoping to sit down with Shawn soon and set out a training plan :)
Next season's goals . . . .
4 tri's
1/2 marathon (in the Fall)
Off to put my son to bed! Then a bit of R&R.
I was super excited to leave work a bit early so I could hit the road and get in a run. It's been a long time, and wow could I tell. I felt pretty good today, just a slight headache and a lot more energy.
It always amazes me how a short hiatus can come back to haunt you. It was super windy and quite a slog, but I made it through and felt good just knowing I'd actually gone out! Started off rough, as the Garmin decided it wasn't going to work (lost all it's battery charge). So I just headed out on my usual 5 km route. I missed having the constant reminder to maintain pace.
Tomorrow is a swim day at noon, and Stacey's not been feeling too well, so I hope she'll join me. I'm not really following a training schedule right now other than trying to get 2 of each (swim, bike, run) per week and maybe a circuit too. I'm hoping to sit down with Shawn soon and set out a training plan :)
Next season's goals . . . .
4 tri's
1/2 marathon (in the Fall)
Off to put my son to bed! Then a bit of R&R.
Where to begin?
I see my last post was a long long time ago.
Have I given up on Triathlon? Have I completely dropped off the face of the earth?
Nope, but wow I've been busy since my last post, including 3 races :)
Recently I've taken up listening to podcasts during my travel to work (1 hour daily commute) and for work (various trips about)! They're great! I've really taken to "The Age Grouper" and "Erin337" and through this I can definitely see the value in keeping a "log" of how things are going with the training. Plus it's just down right entertaining and inspiring!
Recently, I contacted a local triathlete, an Ironman and owner of a local run shop. I had recently received my "Triathlon Training Diary" by Joe Friel, and am not really certain how to go about setting myself up for next season. He's graciously agreed to help (yipee!!!!!) and has even suggested getting some testing done (such as VO2 max etc.).
As for my training, to be honest it's been a bit "slow". Seems I've been fighting some kind of cold, and my energy level has been pretty low, and I spent most of last week traveling for work (Saskatoon, Calgary and Fort McMurray). That means, during the last 3 weeks I've only fit in 2 swims. I'm going to get in a run today, and I feel motivated and excited to do it!
I'm going to try and "back date" a few posts so I can have a personal record of my 3 races this past season. Will see how that goes!!!
Have I given up on Triathlon? Have I completely dropped off the face of the earth?
Nope, but wow I've been busy since my last post, including 3 races :)
Recently I've taken up listening to podcasts during my travel to work (1 hour daily commute) and for work (various trips about)! They're great! I've really taken to "The Age Grouper" and "Erin337" and through this I can definitely see the value in keeping a "log" of how things are going with the training. Plus it's just down right entertaining and inspiring!
Recently, I contacted a local triathlete, an Ironman and owner of a local run shop. I had recently received my "Triathlon Training Diary" by Joe Friel, and am not really certain how to go about setting myself up for next season. He's graciously agreed to help (yipee!!!!!) and has even suggested getting some testing done (such as VO2 max etc.).
As for my training, to be honest it's been a bit "slow". Seems I've been fighting some kind of cold, and my energy level has been pretty low, and I spent most of last week traveling for work (Saskatoon, Calgary and Fort McMurray). That means, during the last 3 weeks I've only fit in 2 swims. I'm going to get in a run today, and I feel motivated and excited to do it!
I'm going to try and "back date" a few posts so I can have a personal record of my 3 races this past season. Will see how that goes!!!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Swam the Dam 09
I swam the dam . . . July 18, 09. The picture to the left is my daughter proudly wearing my "I swam the Dam" tattoo! So cute.
Up until the night before I wasn't certain I would do the race. I'd signed up in the post race rush of the Wasa Lake Tri, but realistically with my work/travel (race was on a Saturday, we returned from our trip on Thursday) schedule I wasn't getting in the training. That was reason number one. Secondly, our good friends from BC were visiting and staying with us, so I felt a bit bad about ditching everyone to go to the race. However, a few things were in my mind. I'd purchased my wetsuit and I felt like I'd be "quitting" on myself if I didn't do it, and what kind of message would that be sending to my kids. I would be doing this race "solo" as Stacey had proclaimed earlier "I'm out, it's golf season". Totally cool, I was glad to have had her join me in the two earlier races.
I had really loved the open water swim of the Wasa
ooop I'll be back to finish
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Wasa Lake Tri
This was it, my "A" race for the season. It was amazing! Although my performance wasn't stellar, overall the experience was so great that I know I'm hooked!
The race was on Sunday, June 14th (my brother's bday.... happy birthday bro!).
We traveled out to Wasa Lake the Friday before and were able to stay at a beautiful place within walking distance to transition, we'll have to try and stay there again next year :)
So, Larry, the kids and I headed out in our vehicle, and Stacey in hers.
I told my kids, "listen, Stacey doesn't have kids yet, so you be good, you don't want her to change her mind forever!". We stopped in Fernie to grab some dinner and some food at the grocery store.
The weather was gorgeous and Stacey, the kids and I checked out the transition area as well as the beach. On Saturday we watched the kids race, so cute! Later on Stacey and I headed into Cranbrook for our race pack pickup and the mandatory race meeting. Between pickup and the meeting, Stacey and I had a lovely coffee in the cute town of Cranbrook. After the meeting we headed back to Wasa Lake and took a quick ride on the bike course, just a single loop. Then headed back for a nice spaghetti dinner with salad.
When we were checking out the transition area it was pretty clear this race was the "real deal" and that it was going to be very exciting and fun. Real sponsors, really fancy bikes etc.
Headed to bed about 11 p.m., should have gone earlier, but was a bit excited still!
Set alarm for 6, since we were able to walk to transition.
Got
up, had a quick bite and some coffee (oh what a disaster this was, ended up buying a new coffee maker for our hosts!). For breakfast I had a peanut butter "sandwich" with rice cakes and added some raisins. I had planned to also have a gu (chocolate mint, my fave!!!!! only available at xmas time.) right before the swim, and I had some more raisins and pecans while we were waiting around for the start. I also had some gatorade in my bike water bottle and a few packs of gu in my bento bag on the bike (which I planned to take when I was about 3/4 finished the bike).
This picture of me is pretending I was still sleeping :)
I was feeling pretty good, but a healthy nervousness, in particular with the open water swim. We'd done a practice open water swim, which was just "okay" and I was pretty uncertain. But my plan was to stick to the back of the group and draft like crazy :)
So here' s a pic of Stacey and I before the race! It was pretty early, so thanks to Lar for being up to take the picture! She looks so calm :)
We ended up knowing a few other participants that jokingly mocked us as we stretched on our wetsuits, but they called us "triathletes" and that was just cool.
The Sprint group was to head out 15 minutes before the Olympic distance.
So here's a picture of me coming out of the water looking very confused. Have to say though, it wasn't so bad, in fact I have to say that after a few minutes of adjustments, I actually really liked the open water swimming. You can see the Olympic group ready to go. Wait, that means I finished in less than 15 minutes!!! Woot Woot! Oh yeah, found out later the course was 200 m less than was expected. Sigh. Oh well. It was still great.
The bike course was AWESOME and I loved it, mostly flat, one slight hill near the end of the loop (3 loops for the distance). I did have some mechanical issues, as my bike seat loosened up and started to uncomfortably tilt up, way up! :( Good lesson for next time.
Run was pretty good, by then it was starting to warm up, but I kept running the entire distance, even the aid stations. Yippee!
The volunteers were great, some people had sprinklers set up to cool us off and then there were the group of "pirates" with their water guns.
Steve King was the announcer and it was so great to have to run past transition during the latter part of the run, as you could just feel the excitement in the air!!!
With about 200 m to go in the run, I gave it all I had left and sprinted over the line. I was done and it felt GREAT!
The best prize of all, a victory hug from my youngest fan.
So for actual numbers . . . . (I'll try not to be embarrased)
Swim: 13:56
Bike: 50:38
Run: 32:07
Total: 1:36:39
So yes, I'm hooked, already signed up for next year (when post was written in November 09). But I have heftier goals for 2010. Now I know I can do it, now it's how fast!!!
The race was on Sunday, June 14th (my brother's bday.... happy birthday bro!).
We traveled out to Wasa Lake the Friday before and were able to stay at a beautiful place within walking distance to transition, we'll have to try and stay there again next year :)
So, Larry, the kids and I headed out in our vehicle, and Stacey in hers.
I told my kids, "listen, Stacey doesn't have kids yet, so you be good, you don't want her to change her mind forever!". We stopped in Fernie to grab some dinner and some food at the grocery store.
The weather was gorgeous and Stacey, the kids and I checked out the transition area as well as the beach. On Saturday we watched the kids race, so cute! Later on Stacey and I headed into Cranbrook for our race pack pickup and the mandatory race meeting. Between pickup and the meeting, Stacey and I had a lovely coffee in the cute town of Cranbrook. After the meeting we headed back to Wasa Lake and took a quick ride on the bike course, just a single loop. Then headed back for a nice spaghetti dinner with salad.
When we were checking out the transition area it was pretty clear this race was the "real deal" and that it was going to be very exciting and fun. Real sponsors, really fancy bikes etc.
Headed to bed about 11 p.m., should have gone earlier, but was a bit excited still!
Set alarm for 6, since we were able to walk to transition.
Got
up, had a quick bite and some coffee (oh what a disaster this was, ended up buying a new coffee maker for our hosts!). For breakfast I had a peanut butter "sandwich" with rice cakes and added some raisins. I had planned to also have a gu (chocolate mint, my fave!!!!! only available at xmas time.) right before the swim, and I had some more raisins and pecans while we were waiting around for the start. I also had some gatorade in my bike water bottle and a few packs of gu in my bento bag on the bike (which I planned to take when I was about 3/4 finished the bike).This picture of me is pretending I was still sleeping :)
I was feeling pretty good, but a healthy nervousness, in particular with the open water swim. We'd done a practice open water swim, which was just "okay" and I was pretty uncertain. But my plan was to stick to the back of the group and draft like crazy :)
So here' s a pic of Stacey and I before the race! It was pretty early, so thanks to Lar for being up to take the picture! She looks so calm :)We ended up knowing a few other participants that jokingly mocked us as we stretched on our wetsuits, but they called us "triathletes" and that was just cool.
The Sprint group was to head out 15 minutes before the Olympic distance.
So here's a picture of me coming out of the water looking very confused. Have to say though, it wasn't so bad, in fact I have to say that after a few minutes of adjustments, I actually really liked the open water swimming. You can see the Olympic group ready to go. Wait, that means I finished in less than 15 minutes!!! Woot Woot! Oh yeah, found out later the course was 200 m less than was expected. Sigh. Oh well. It was still great.
The bike course was AWESOME and I loved it, mostly flat, one slight hill near the end of the loop (3 loops for the distance). I did have some mechanical issues, as my bike seat loosened up and started to uncomfortably tilt up, way up! :( Good lesson for next time.Run was pretty good, by then it was starting to warm up, but I kept running the entire distance, even the aid stations. Yippee!
The volunteers were great, some people had sprinklers set up to cool us off and then there were the group of "pirates" with their water guns.
Steve King was the announcer and it was so great to have to run past transition during the latter part of the run, as you could just feel the excitement in the air!!!
With about 200 m to go in the run, I gave it all I had left and sprinted over the line. I was done and it felt GREAT!The best prize of all, a victory hug from my youngest fan.
So for actual numbers . . . . (I'll try not to be embarrased)
Swim: 13:56
Bike: 50:38
Run: 32:07
Total: 1:36:39
So yes, I'm hooked, already signed up for next year (when post was written in November 09). But I have heftier goals for 2010. Now I know I can do it, now it's how fast!!!
Monday, May 11, 2009
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