Let Your Red Heart Show
Couldn't say it any better...
Cynisism is easy.
So is retreating into historic grudges.
So is looking at a world in which what were once borders are now dotted lines at best
and believing it doesn't really matter what you call yourself or where you live.It does matter.
Or at least it can.
It is important to have a shared history.
There is power in the collective experience.And admit it: it feels good, it feels good to let your heart show.
- Stephen Brunt
So don't let your red heart go cold.
The Way I See It
“It’s not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or when the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worth cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
Olympic Break – Day 6
Training
6.5 km recovery run
LETC spin with 2 x 5 min tempo and 12 min build
Olympic Highlights
Where to start? Seeing Stephen Colbert tape the Colbert Report in the morning. Going to the Finland vs. Belarus hockey game with Dad and somehow sitting right beside an old friend (good to see you Indy). A generally beautiful day in Vancouver.
Olympic Break – Day 5
Training
14 km run with 35 min in Zone 2
27 km bike with 15 min tempo
Olympic Highlight
Men's hockey getting underway and then watching the Ignite the Dream fire and light show at Robson Square. Still can't believe how crazy it is on Robson at night.
Olympic Break – Day 4
Training
3.6 km swim
79 km ride with 1.5 hours in Zone 2
Olympic Highlight
Watching Alexandre Bilodeau get his gold medal with Brian at LiveCity Downtown.
Olympic Break – Day 3
Training
2.5 km technique swim
Olympic Highlight
Watching Kristina Groves win bronze at Heineken House amongst the Dutch speed skating fans and then Alexandre Bilodeau breaking the curse.
Olympic Break – Day 2
Training
1 hour hill run (ouch)
32 km bike with 20 min and drills
Olympic Highlight
Obviously Jen Heil winning silver but also seeing Wilco at LiveCity Yaletown
Olympic Break – Day 1
Training
4.1 km swim
7 km recovery run with 4 20 s accelerations and drills
Olympic Highlight
Opening ceremonies obviously but specifically the slam poem "We Are More" by Shane Koyczan.
Define Canada
You might say the home of the Rocket
Or The Great One
Who inspired little No. 9s and little No. 99s
But we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
Off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
And some say what defines us
Is something as simple as 'please' and 'thank you'
And as for 'your welcome,' well, we say that, too
But we are more than genteel or civilized
We are an idea in the process of being realized
We are young, we are cultures strung together then woven into a tapestry
And the design is what makes us more than the sum totals of our history
We are an experiment going right for a change
With influences that range from A to Zed
And yes, we say 'Zed' instead of 'Zee'
We are the brightness of Chinatown and the laughter of Little Italy
We dream so big that there are those would call our ambition an industry
We reforest what we clear
Because we believe in generations beyond our own
Knowing now that so many of us
Have grown past what we used to be
We can stand here today
Filled with all the hope people have
When they say things like 'someday'
Because we are more
Than a laundry list of things to do and places to see
More than hills to ski
Or countryside ponds to skate
We are the abandoned hesitation of all those who can't wait
We are first-rate greasy spoon diners and healthy living cafes
A country that is all the ways you choose to live
A nation that can give you variety
Because we are choices
We are millions upon millions of voices
Shouting, keep exploring
We are more
We are the surprise the world has in store for you, it's true
Canada is the 'what' in 'what's new'
So don't let your luggage define your travels
Each life unravels differently
And experiences are what make up
The colours of our tapestry
We are the true North
Strong and free
And what's more
Is that we didn't just say it
We made it be
Training Update
It's finally here.
I don't what I'm more excited about, the Olympics themselves or the two week break from school. Either way it's going to be two weeks full of training, interspersed with watching events on TV and even a couple live (thanks Dad).
The original plan for these two weeks was to be in Maui, training in the sun but that fell through so instead I'll be slogging out my own training camp in the less comfortable climes of Vancouver. But before I get there, how about an update on where I'm at right now.
The past four months of training have been solid. Nothing spectacular, just consistently putting in the hours each week and seeing incremental improvements.
In the pool, I have yet to see a big improvement in speed but I know I'm much stronger than I was last year. I'm regularly putting in 15-16 km in the pool (which is more than I ever did in one week before this year) and can still swim strong at the end of our 4 km swims at Dolphins. So with my endurance at a new level, spring time will be the time to bring up the speed.
The bike has been coming along with what I feel like are some big improvements in technique from the spin sessions with Larry. With spin sessions now on Wednesdays with LETC it has become Sunday rides with Barb Zimich's group the past three weeks that are the notorious bonk fests for me (in a good way). The hour or so of moderate intensity followed by filling out the ride with some aerobic threshold riding to hit 3-3.5 hours has done me in. The kind of rides where you just want to get off the bike and walk home by the end. So good.
As for running, I'm going to declare myself back after a solid benchmark run last week. Ran a couple of 1 mile repeats on short rest in 6 minutes. It wasn't so much the time that I ran as much as the comfort with which I ran them. Being my first track workout since the foot injury I decided not to push myself and so to hit 3:45 / km pace so easily was a big confidence boost.
So now the next two weeks will be BIG volume to really solidify the base before I start picking up . After all, Spring Series bike races, a couple of 5ks I've got my eye on and the Delta Sprint are just around the corner. Bring on the racing.
Recent Tweets
- If this isn't a picture of Canadian unity, I don't know what is...http://is.gd/9YllT [#]
- RT @nhlrulebook: Any player who dons a top hat and plays an awesome guitar solo shall be assessed a minor penalty for slashing. [#]
- Last night's weak 5k time trial performance is still eating at me. Need to get past it and move on somehow. [#]
Calendar
Leading Edge
- LETC this week March 8, 2010Nice work LETC! The 5000 m run times from last week were some of the best we’ve seen! Your hard work is paying off! Results will be posted soon if they are not up already. And what can we say about the combined functional movement and swim session Sunday- definitely saw a few green faces [...] […]
Martina Wan
- S4 Week 22 – the other stuff. March 10, 2010So, here’s the thing I thought this was going to be simple. Train hard and race fast, that’s all I need to know right? I wish that was it, but sometimes it feels like that is the easiest part especially training for triathlons, its 3 sports to take care of! When I am not training or [...] […]
Engineered Athletes
- Rough Day At Work? You Won’t Feel Like Exercising September 25, 2009The experience of wise coaches and behaviour of World Class athletes supports the importance of controlling your environment to ensure peak performance. Around major games and important events, the need to minimize distractions is often a priority. So what are the implications of this in daily sport or an active healthy lifestyle? It can be as [...] […]
Tri Thinking Pink
- First meeting of CAs of Vancouver March 10, 2010Hello. My name is Amy and I'm a Cheese-aholic.(hello amy)It was all going so well. I avoided cheesy dishes and limited my cheese consumption to tasty morsels from cheese plates at special occations. But then I lost control. I made my own cheese.I know! I took that step. And made cheese. A soft cheese that I can eat without ill effects. Lactose free, soy […]
Alive With Sport
- Seven for Seven February 8, 2010I’m 7/7 in the Feb bike challenge! It’s Monday and I have to admit, my legs are tired. Riding 1hr on your bike isn’t actually that much, but I’m feeling it. With such a busy weekend**, scheduling workouts was a challenge (Sunday included a 6am trainer ride and a 9pm speed endurance [...] […]
Tri’n Fool
- The week in review March 8, 2010"Week in review" sounds much better than "I'm totally behind on posting."I blame drugs and alcohol!Robaxicet on Wednesday, and no photo that day. I put my back out changing my bike brakes the previous Sunday and that threw me off from workouts and life in general for the week. The back is mostly better but I'm still babying it a […]