Training Update
It should be said when things are going well, it's a lot easier to write about than when things are tough. The last couple of weeks have seen me put in some weekly hours beyond what I'm used to and thus have spent some extra time laying around trying to recover for a 2nd or 3rd workout of the day. But I'm writing now...
After a weekend of struggling on the bike (so much so I was convinced there had to be something wrong with my bike) I spent Monday recovering and then Tuesday was an easy morning swim and run. Still not feeling right on the bike I opted out of the Tuesday night crit and relaxed in the sun while watching Martina and Alan duke it out instead.
Wednesday morning we were at the track as usual but for a combo bike-run workout. We even got a few pictures this time around. My only complaint is that it looks more like noon than 5:30 in the morning. We'll have to take some in the winter when it's pitch black out and the sun still isn't up when we're done.
The workout itself went well with three overpace (40 sec) 200's after a bike and then three pace (3:40) km's after a bike. Unlike the bike, the run had been feeling pretty good and the 3:40 pace felt, dare I say it, almost easy.
Then came Wednesday night's 16km bike club time trial. After the weekend I expected very little of myself and simply hoped to beat my time of 25:04 from the spring as I had, at the start of the year, set a goal of 25 minutes by the end of the season (last year my best time was 28 minutes).
Turns out there might not be anything wrong with my bike. I ended up hammering out a time of 23:13, nearly two minutes faster than in the spring and put a bit of fear into Alan that I'm going to catch him soon as I was less than 30 seconds behind him. Overall, a definite confidence booster going into Nationals next weekend.
Yesterday I had a solid morning swim, an easy spin on the bike in the afternoon and then a good track workout in the early evening (to hopefully get used to running in the heat before Kelowna) with five 1 km pieces at pace. Again, at the faster than normal pace (3:40) I felt strong even after the tough workouts the day before. More good news for next weekend.
So today has me doing a swim and then an easy run in afternoon but not before I finish watching the opening ceremonies of the olympics this morning. Yes, nearly three weeks of sports morning, noon, and night (well, mostly night). I don't think it gets much better than that. And thanks to the internet and cbcsports.ca with as many as 9 feeds you can watch pretty much every event from start to finish. What could be better than round of 64 action in badminton or the 10 m pistol finals? But for tonight...
Rob's Event Pick of the Night: Men's Cycling Road Race
Update and Mini Race Report
Spent a little time updating things yesterday and today. Photos from Worlds are up finally up along with some other photos. I've changed my race schedule (for various reasons) and updated past results. Finally, I've added on the Why I Do It to the about me page.
A quick report on the Canada Day Challenge 2k swim yesterday. Was having a great race until, coming around the second to last buoy, we turned into the sun and I couldn't see a thing when trying to sight. Unfortunately, I made the poor decision to follow the swimmer in front of me. Next thing I knew there was a beach in front of me but the wrong one and the buoy I was supposed to be following was almost 200m to my right.
Lesson learned. Should really have thought to myself WWWCD and realized that Steph would tell me not to blindly follow those in front of you. Fairly dejected I cruised back on course and to the finish in a time of 33:13.
Broken record time (yes, pun intended). Should have been faster, probably sub 32 but still was more than 2 minutes faster than last year when I did 35:19. Guess I'll just have to wait for my next tri to prove my faster swim.
Finally, I know it's a day late but a quick homage for Canada Day. I mean is there anything more Canadian than an curling themed love song by an independent Canadian rock band?
Tournament of Hearts - The Weakerthans
Always throwing hack weight,
R
Update
OK, race report is finally done. I've got pictures from people slowly trickling in so I'll add them in as I get them.
Sunday was a great day watching the elite men and women race. Being so close to the action I managed to get some good shots even with my little point and shoot camera.
I'll post the rest on my picasa site.
Driving past the race site the last two mornings, watching as everything gets slowly taken down has been a sobering experience. It really hits you that it's over when you see all the blue carpet rolled up and tents being taken down.
But no time reminising. Was back in the pool yesterday and this morning (along with a light spin on the bike yesterday night) and tonight (weather permitting) will be racing the UBC crit. Then come Friday will be heading east to Cranbrook for provincials on Sunday. Then prep for nationals in August begins.
No, it doesn't ever end...
A Little Motivation Goes A Long Way
1500 m to be exact.
Hit the water at VAC today for my first workout this week. Got about 200 m into my warm up and decided to "suck it up" (see right), keep going, and make up for the short Sunday by doing a 1500 m time trial. 24:48 later I had my best 1500 m time this year even though the first 200 was done at warm up pace. Amazing what essentially two days off (minus one long cryotherapy session in Cultus Lake) will do for the body and mind.
Unfortunately with the rain, no crit race tonight so spent 45 min on the trainer inside instead. Tomorrow morning is bike/run at the track and then Spanish Banks hills in the evening.
Finally, a little shout out to Martina who won overall at Cultus on Sunday. Her artistic skills are the ones on display above. Vividly realistic in its depiction of my long, lean torso and proof of that she is a genetic freak with two biceps on each arm. Nice work and thanks for the motivational art.
About Me Update
Slowly updating the About Me page. Today: the start of How I Got Into Triathlon.
Recent Tweets
- 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
- Pumped about getting on the ice for the first time in years tomorrow. Too long since I played a sport where you have to wear a jock. #odd?
- I think the LETC crew is smashing Ironman so hard that they've crushed the ironman.com servers. Soooooo slow. I blame Savage in particular.
- Hit my first 2010 goal finally today. 40+ kph in a 40k TT. Managed 40.7 kph even with a wind out there. #lateseasonsucess
Calendar
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Leading Edge
- Chris Manore Race Report IMC 2010 September 4, 2010Chris doesn’t listen to himself, but lets humour him and read his race report. Congrats to all, and commiserations to you, Rick–been there and done that, right down to the race revenge plan. My swim went well, although I have to apologize to Brian for being on his feet for the first couple of hundred […]
Martina Wan
- S4 Week 47 – GO IM’ers! August 29, 2010Just want to say best of luck and congrats to all the amazing people doing Ironman this weekend!! You guys are amazing in taking on this feat … and maybe one day I will be there : ) […]
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
- T2 & The Run September 3, 2010As before, if you missed the earlier sections, you should catch up with those first. Here you can find the Pre-Game Report, the Swim & T1 Report, and the Bike Report.Bike to Run TransitionAs I approached T2, all I could think about was getting off the bike and getting my neck back into a comfortable, relaxed position. Well, that and wondering how many mi […]
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 […]