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
- This Saints kicker is killing me. #5pointspread
- New blog posting, Quick Updates - http://robeakin.com/dm
- After 2 months of race focus, had forgotten the exhaustion of long bike rides. Two 3 hour rides this weekend. Hope I'm ready for the Fondo.
- Just ate a 900 calorie salad. Can you even call it a salad anymore when it's equivalent to one and a half Big Macs?
- Holy crap. Bettman is such a douche he thinks he can renegotiate the CBA when it suits him. - http://t.co/t9bUgRD
Calendar
Leading Edge
- LETC this week September 8, 2010Only a few races left in 2010! Grande Fondue this Saturday, Cultus Lake tri and Mt Baker hill climb on Sunday… Not sure where a workout is located? Check the MAP and scan the legend for the workout location Wednesday September 8: 6:30 PM @Jericho Sailing Centre Thursday September 9: 6:30 PM run@Jericho East Saturday September 11: 8:00 AM […]
Martina Wan
- S4 Week 48 – It ain’t going to be easy, but anything is possible. September 7, 2010Vancouver Triathlon 2010 race report. First off thank you to the volunteers, friends and family who braved the morning of cold, wet and windyness and cheered and supported along the way. Sadly summer looks to be over! Well, it was a tough day at the ‘office’, but I’ll get into that later…. The last time […]
Engineered Athletes
- You can learn more from failure than success… August 23, 2010You can learn more from failure than success. In failure you’re forced to find out what part did not work. But in success you can believe everything you did was great, when in fact some parts may not have worked at all. Failure forces you to face reality. Fred Brooks I was reading an article […]
Tri Thinking Pink
- Post Game Show September 5, 2010Some final analysis to wrap up my IMC report. As before, you can follow these links to see the previous parts if you haven't read them yet: the Pre-Game Report, the Swim & T1 Report, the Bike Report, and the T2 & Run Report.I've had a week to reflect on the race now and have come to many conclusions. I'll start with the immediate after […]
Alive With Sport
- Getting outdoors August 9, 2010I seem to be immune to the triathlon bug this year. You know the bug – the one hits for weeks or even months after you sign up for some race that scares the pants off you. Not that I’m cured, I do forsee that this bug will hit again in the future. It’s just […]
Tri’n Fool
- Calgary Pre-Race Report August 27, 2010Last year the pre-race logistics were a pain. Staying out of town, and with one car between my Mum and I made it even messier this year. I needed to register and pick up my race package at the Westin downtown then truck all the way out to Ghost Lake (about 90 km out of Calgary) to drop off my bike and my T2 bag, then head all the way back to the hotel.I was […]