The collection of dust has been growing on my blog, and for good reason. Finished one job in one city, moved to another over the weekend, and attempted to start life here... then there was the NYC marathon, followed by a brief trip to the Mayan Riviera... and then back to a harsh cold reality in Calgary.
So... here I am. I have tonnes to catch up on in this blog, but for now, I will spare you a load of detail. Suffice it to say that I AM still alive.
2007 base training started for me this week, but that's been mixed in with a pretty intense after-hours self improvement course that I have been taking, which will end on Sunday evening. So, real training starts on Monday... at which point, normal blogging will resume.
For those that don't know, I had a chance in September to visit the Sutto Squad up in the mountains of Switzerland, specifically in Leysin. It was a trip, and there's lots of information to add in about that, but for now, you know I was there, and trained with the best. The best summary of that trip is this - I spent a week with a group of exceptional people - all great, but mostly just very dedicated to what it is that they do. Just extremely hard working. That's the secret... really!! I could name names, but that's hardly worth doing - they are a collection of the best triathletes on earth, who very kindly let me sit in on their training and even share their lanes (despite my comparatively slow swimming :) What a cool experience.
Ok... off to my evening course, then onto whatever training I can squeeze into my weekend. I am too tired already, but I will see what I can do... I can always catch up on my sleep next week ;)
Hope everyone is well!!
Friday, December 01, 2006
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Four hours and counting...
Well, I have been working on a blockbuster post - not quite there... so here's my interim post.
I am in New York City, and am on my way to the bus here shortly... then onto the start line, where I will apparently fire it up in fewer than four hours.
If you are around and feeling like watching, check things out at:
http://www.nycmarathon.org/home/index.php
Update in about 8-10 hours!!
Clinton
I am in New York City, and am on my way to the bus here shortly... then onto the start line, where I will apparently fire it up in fewer than four hours.
If you are around and feeling like watching, check things out at:
http://www.nycmarathon.org/home/index.php
Update in about 8-10 hours!!
Clinton
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Well that sucked...
A bit.
Sorry for the delays in getting to this post, I suppose I might have been more quick with the post if I had finished the race an hour or two sooner than I did (may have had some extra time to type a blog entry ;)
Meh... the swim was typical, pulling it in just under an hour in the water... lake was clean and smooth, and was able to pull some draft off of a few helpful folk up front. People were clawing at me from behind and my larger concern was losing my timing chip... but it stayed put ;) Once I got out, the strippers stripped me (with some solid effort on their part, and a serious rolling around in the mud on my part) and I headed off to put on my shoes, helmet, and sunglasses... then off to find my bike...
Sorry for the delays in getting to this post, I suppose I might have been more quick with the post if I had finished the race an hour or two sooner than I did (may have had some extra time to type a blog entry ;)
Meh... the swim was typical, pulling it in just under an hour in the water... lake was clean and smooth, and was able to pull some draft off of a few helpful folk up front. People were clawing at me from behind and my larger concern was losing my timing chip... but it stayed put ;) Once I got out, the strippers stripped me (with some solid effort on their part, and a serious rolling around in the mud on my part) and I headed off to put on my shoes, helmet, and sunglasses... then off to find my bike...
The ride started out OK - I was to keep things real on the bike, and leave a bunch for the run. By halfway, I was on target for a 5.5 hour bike (respectable, given the effort) but by the time I reached the end of 180km, six hours had passed. Todd's wife Lee-Ann was out on course (pictures courtesy of her ;) and she told me yesterday that I "did not look well" coming up Yellow Lake... which is where she snapped me (from behind ;)
I don't think I looked so bad from behind, but what can I tell you for sure. I wasn't feeling particularly GREAT heading up that hill...
The move from bike to run was good, things felt solid, and I got into transition and even felt like visiting the washroom, which is a good sign. Did that, carried on my way... and the run started out great. My first step on the run is to drink down a larger than average liquid "meal" and allowing it some time to digest prior to pushing it real hard on the run.
That meal never really digested, at least not for the first half of my walk (run :))
I took it really easy because it didn't feel as though anything was going to be staying down, and I know that I need my fluids in me, not on the road. Well... the theory is good, but it cost me anything resembling a decent run, and by halfway I had given up on achieving anything similar to what I had set out to do... save for finishing that sucker.
As they say in French... c'est la vie :)
Now for the next chapter.
Things are feeling pretty good, and it's only Tuesday morning. I still have a sore neck and a couple of sore feet, but the swelling on my right foot has more or less subsided, and the blisters are nearly half healed.
I think that a renewed focus on the Olympic distance race on Saturday will see some different results, but the results on Saturday are not what I am aiming for... it's the experience.
Thanks for the support everyone, and I will keep you posted as I progress towards my race this weekend. Things are looking positive for that experience!!
over/out
Clinton
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Results, results, results....
Before I even begin, I wanted to say "hello" to Jordan who dropped me a line just the other day. Apparently Jordan has been following along, and was out there on course with me at GWN last weekend. It was a brutal day by all accounts - and despite my best efforts to "avoid" the heat, I was caught in the worst of it on the run, with not enough fluid OR calories in my system to even begin the run. I should have done a 1:40 half marathon, but ended up doing a fair bit of walking, much to the chagrin of my coach. Hmm... have I been there before... according to my mother, I have, many times (in fact, just two weeks prior at K-100 ;)
Well, anyways - things were a bit slow towards the end of the bike, but overall I was pleased with my swim and bike splits - and we just won't talk about that run. Ok, I will talk about it, but just briefly... I managed to sort things out after half-way, but it was a bit too late for me. What do you know, another negative split (yeehaw).
Congratulations to Jordan for finishing that sucker... it was BRUTAL hot for the first time in history, according to those that have done it before (I was also a virgin to this race ;)
Oh yeah - Alli cleaned my clock on the run, and passed me at about 12k in - she didn't look back, and finished solid - just over five hours.
Well, it was a week of relaxed training, including a leisurely 80k ride yesterday... then onto ITU Edmonton for little Sunday morning Olympic distance action.
The swim was OK - I haven't seen all of the results, but I was out of the water first in my age group, which was cool... then onto my (never used) Kestrel for a ride through the hills in the river valley. That was fun, but not exactly speedy. I was about eight minutes shy of where I wanted to be on the bike... my legs didn't have any more speed in them :( Ah well... the run went OK, my recorded split on the run was 44:46, which is also a bit slower than I would have preferred, but given the circumstances, I am content... finished third in my age group which qualified me for the World Championships in Switzerland.
Now - I am nowhere near a contender for ANYTHING in Switzerland (save for the bottom half of the pack) BUT I have signed up to go do it, just for fun. I think it will be cool to hang out with some of the best athletes in Canada and the world... for a few days :))
Well, that's about all that I have for now, but keep an eye out here as training progresses. The next 48 days are all that remains of training opportunity for me pre-Ironman, and I have a few things to sort out in those 48 days ;) Only 54 days remain until the world championships... and ditto :)
If things get a little boring in this blog (I am a wee bit short of time at the moment :) check this out, I am logging all of my training here now:
http://weendure.com/user/cwasylishen
You can see all of my upcoming events, along with everything that I am doing... including weekly and monthly summaries. It is a new (free) service which is wonderful, even if lacking a few small things. Enjoy!!
Well, anyways - things were a bit slow towards the end of the bike, but overall I was pleased with my swim and bike splits - and we just won't talk about that run. Ok, I will talk about it, but just briefly... I managed to sort things out after half-way, but it was a bit too late for me. What do you know, another negative split (yeehaw).
Congratulations to Jordan for finishing that sucker... it was BRUTAL hot for the first time in history, according to those that have done it before (I was also a virgin to this race ;)
Oh yeah - Alli cleaned my clock on the run, and passed me at about 12k in - she didn't look back, and finished solid - just over five hours.
Well, it was a week of relaxed training, including a leisurely 80k ride yesterday... then onto ITU Edmonton for little Sunday morning Olympic distance action.
The swim was OK - I haven't seen all of the results, but I was out of the water first in my age group, which was cool... then onto my (never used) Kestrel for a ride through the hills in the river valley. That was fun, but not exactly speedy. I was about eight minutes shy of where I wanted to be on the bike... my legs didn't have any more speed in them :( Ah well... the run went OK, my recorded split on the run was 44:46, which is also a bit slower than I would have preferred, but given the circumstances, I am content... finished third in my age group which qualified me for the World Championships in Switzerland.
Now - I am nowhere near a contender for ANYTHING in Switzerland (save for the bottom half of the pack) BUT I have signed up to go do it, just for fun. I think it will be cool to hang out with some of the best athletes in Canada and the world... for a few days :))
Well, that's about all that I have for now, but keep an eye out here as training progresses. The next 48 days are all that remains of training opportunity for me pre-Ironman, and I have a few things to sort out in those 48 days ;) Only 54 days remain until the world championships... and ditto :)
If things get a little boring in this blog (I am a wee bit short of time at the moment :) check this out, I am logging all of my training here now:
http://weendure.com/user/cwasylishen
You can see all of my upcoming events, along with everything that I am doing... including weekly and monthly summaries. It is a new (free) service which is wonderful, even if lacking a few small things. Enjoy!!
Saturday, July 01, 2006
The journey isn't anywhere near over...
I started this thing with the intention of keeping people that were interested in knowing what was going on at this end "in the loop" and I have done a real crap job of that since returning from Australia... so here is my first effort at rectifying that :)
We are very much back in Edmonton, with training back on track (more or less for me, absolutely for Alli :) I guess in all reality, training has been less than optimal, but I am more or less back on track. This weekend and next are races, so they are a bit of "a break" then it's back onto the hardcore plan, need to get all things in order - Ironman Canada is in 57 days. I feel that the fitness in the tank, but I need to do some fine tuning over the next 50 days :)
So... this weekend is Great White North - a half ironman distance race held in Stony Plain, just outside of Edmonton. The weather forecast is looking good - says high of 27 degrees, and with the race starting at 8:00 AM I should be well and truly finished prior to the serious arrival of the "serious" heat or the potential thundershowers. Will check the weather prior to departure tomorrow.
Tomorrow's race holds a bit of a story - my buddy Todd and I agreed to race the bike leg of the course... the winner taking a yellow jersey. The idea was that we would both be motivated to train harder than the other on the bike, if nothing else. I really figured Todd would pull it all out in the training, but he seems pretty convinced that I will win tomorrow - only time will tell. Race is from T1 to T2, will report back on who is the big winner post-race.
Great White North is also a big race for Alli - she's shooting for a spot at Ironman Canada, for which GWN is a qualifier. Her age group is larger than normal (61/700 - just under 9% of the field). My age group on the other hand, is 144 large, or about 21% of the total field. All that whining done, I am already signed up for IMC so there's really no pressure for me ;)
Next weekend is ITU in Edmonton, an Olympic distance race that will hold qualifying spots for the ITU age group world championships in Switzerland, which I am going to take a serious shot at - I would really like to visit Switzerland in September, so let's see if I can pull it off!! More on this to follow.
In other news, I am doing a couple of boot camps, and now employed on contract by a company called Fifth Dimension Software - they make blood tracking software, and I am helping them out while they do a massive rollout for a major American customer :)
Ok - time to get out for my pre-race bubble tea. Race report to follow...
We are very much back in Edmonton, with training back on track (more or less for me, absolutely for Alli :) I guess in all reality, training has been less than optimal, but I am more or less back on track. This weekend and next are races, so they are a bit of "a break" then it's back onto the hardcore plan, need to get all things in order - Ironman Canada is in 57 days. I feel that the fitness in the tank, but I need to do some fine tuning over the next 50 days :)
So... this weekend is Great White North - a half ironman distance race held in Stony Plain, just outside of Edmonton. The weather forecast is looking good - says high of 27 degrees, and with the race starting at 8:00 AM I should be well and truly finished prior to the serious arrival of the "serious" heat or the potential thundershowers. Will check the weather prior to departure tomorrow.
Tomorrow's race holds a bit of a story - my buddy Todd and I agreed to race the bike leg of the course... the winner taking a yellow jersey. The idea was that we would both be motivated to train harder than the other on the bike, if nothing else. I really figured Todd would pull it all out in the training, but he seems pretty convinced that I will win tomorrow - only time will tell. Race is from T1 to T2, will report back on who is the big winner post-race.
Great White North is also a big race for Alli - she's shooting for a spot at Ironman Canada, for which GWN is a qualifier. Her age group is larger than normal (61/700 - just under 9% of the field). My age group on the other hand, is 144 large, or about 21% of the total field. All that whining done, I am already signed up for IMC so there's really no pressure for me ;)
Next weekend is ITU in Edmonton, an Olympic distance race that will hold qualifying spots for the ITU age group world championships in Switzerland, which I am going to take a serious shot at - I would really like to visit Switzerland in September, so let's see if I can pull it off!! More on this to follow.
In other news, I am doing a couple of boot camps, and now employed on contract by a company called Fifth Dimension Software - they make blood tracking software, and I am helping them out while they do a massive rollout for a major American customer :)
Ok - time to get out for my pre-race bubble tea. Race report to follow...
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Time is a wastin'
:)
Well, I have been very delinquent in posting, but not without reason (a fancy way of saying "excuse")
Anyways, we travelled the balance of the way back to Melbourne, enjoyed some cold camping out near Gulpa Creek, a couple of hours North of Melbourne, and then headed back to pack our things, and head out. The return trip was not without hassle, from the campervan rental company who refused to drive us to the airport (our taxi cost to us, $120). To those travelling Australia - beware the likes of Calypso Campervan - while I don't mind supporting the little guy, this company is worth avoiding. If you want additional information, drop me a line :)
After dealing with the extraordinarily expensive taxi ride to the airport, we sat and waited for the opportunity to check into our flight. To pass the time, we played "musical luggage" and swapped things from bag to bag, so that no one bag weighed more than 70lbs each... the maximum allowable. Once the check-in opened, we got to endure the second baggage discussion of our trip (first was with Air Canada). They insisted that the per-bag maximum was now 50lbs (like they can change this on you mid-trip) and we would need to pay around $600 for excess baggage... but they decided to give us a deal - instead, they insisted I check my carry-on and pay them $200 for doing so. I agreed, for no reason other than to get it over with... the fight with Singapore Air over that $200 charge continues.
Anyhow... a brief stopover in Singapore (two days) netted us a little bit of a cultural taste (short of an actual experience) and then the long trip home. I managed to confuse the date that we would be returning (damn time/date change) so we were lucky to be greeted at all when we arrived at 1:00 AM at the Edmonton International Airport.
We've been back for two weeks, moved in, moved out, moved in again... and we are hanging out on the South Side for now. Just sort of settling back into life.
That said... the journey continues, so keep watching!!
More to follow... thanks for reading.
Well, I have been very delinquent in posting, but not without reason (a fancy way of saying "excuse")
Anyways, we travelled the balance of the way back to Melbourne, enjoyed some cold camping out near Gulpa Creek, a couple of hours North of Melbourne, and then headed back to pack our things, and head out. The return trip was not without hassle, from the campervan rental company who refused to drive us to the airport (our taxi cost to us, $120). To those travelling Australia - beware the likes of Calypso Campervan - while I don't mind supporting the little guy, this company is worth avoiding. If you want additional information, drop me a line :)
After dealing with the extraordinarily expensive taxi ride to the airport, we sat and waited for the opportunity to check into our flight. To pass the time, we played "musical luggage" and swapped things from bag to bag, so that no one bag weighed more than 70lbs each... the maximum allowable. Once the check-in opened, we got to endure the second baggage discussion of our trip (first was with Air Canada). They insisted that the per-bag maximum was now 50lbs (like they can change this on you mid-trip) and we would need to pay around $600 for excess baggage... but they decided to give us a deal - instead, they insisted I check my carry-on and pay them $200 for doing so. I agreed, for no reason other than to get it over with... the fight with Singapore Air over that $200 charge continues.
Anyhow... a brief stopover in Singapore (two days) netted us a little bit of a cultural taste (short of an actual experience) and then the long trip home. I managed to confuse the date that we would be returning (damn time/date change) so we were lucky to be greeted at all when we arrived at 1:00 AM at the Edmonton International Airport.
We've been back for two weeks, moved in, moved out, moved in again... and we are hanging out on the South Side for now. Just sort of settling back into life.
That said... the journey continues, so keep watching!!
More to follow... thanks for reading.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Brief race report...
The day started early for us - 3:00 AM is when my alarm went off, though Alli was intent on sleeping until 3:45, she dealt well with my interruption to her sleep. The day starts with a brief run, a bunch of eating, and the necessary toilet visits (first of many ;)
The conditions at the time that we retired were not great - the wind was howling, and blowing the campervan around. We were a bit nervous going to sleep... but by the time we arose, the wind had ceased, and all was calm around us. The weather would continue to be perfect throughout the day (high of around 25 degrees is about as good as we could ask for - though a bit cooler would always be better, beggars cannot be choosers ;)
After breakfast, we gathered our swimming gear and headed down to the race village, where we proceeded to finalize all things prior to the start of the race (Alli had to change a tube before she even started the race).
The race start was a deep water start, which looked promising - everyone was seeded by their estimated swim time, which should technically provide a good distance between swimmers. The swim start was to be by canon, though as we were waiting for the canon, an air horn sounded, and the race began (I suspect that this was someone in the crowd, but I may never know - it certainly was no canon). I expect that the canon start was subsequently cancelled - firing the canon AFTER everyone started swimming would have really confused the swimmers :)
As the swim started and progressed, I discovered that a number of the swimmers in the wave in front of me had grossly underestimated their swim times (as I passed them on the swim). I tried desparately to find someone to draft off of, but I couldn't find anyone fast enough to bother with... and every time I found clear water in front of me, the attack came from the rear - I would equate this to beeing a teenaged girl at a prom - I have never been so groped in all my life!!
Well... I won't bore you with the specifics of the swim, but I took it pretty easy and managed to get out of the water just shy of an hour, which was my goal, so the result was sufficient :)
Off to the bike - first transition was smooth and straightforward, and the bike felt good to start... though I quickly learned the difference between driving the course and riding the course - driving is a lot more simple than riding ;) The hills were largely unrelenting - though mostly rolling, there was steep ones in there. It has been said that this is the toughest course on the Ironman circuit (exceeding the difficulty of both Canada and Kona - though I will reserve personal judgement on this until such time as I visit Ironman Canada in August ;)
The bike course was a three loop course, and by sometime in the second lap I had started the dehydration process (though I was largely unaware of this at the time). I figured this out late in the third lap, though it was a bit late to catch up prior to the start of the run - so the run started as more of a walk than a run. By the second lap of the two lap run, I had sorted the hydration bit out, and things picked up considerably. Due to daylight savings time, I ended up running a good part of the second lap was done in the dark, which was not a problem - in fact, the lack of sun was a welcome change indeed.
So... the injury that I sustained last week had very little impact on my race overall, though my lack of hydration certainly did affect my race (which was the simpler of the two to look after on the course, given the many aid stations). I wish I had done it differently, though just starting and finishing is an accomplishment, I have much to gain prior to coming back and doing Canada...
Alli will post her own race report, but the brief summary - she ended up coming in about ten minutes behind me, so we got to sit in the recovery tent together ;) She flatted out on the bike course, and the resulting tire change cost her a good 20 minutes... and she ended up falling just short of third place - so she remains a bit dissapointed on that point, but the accomplishment was still significant.
Both of us are well, just healing the little wounds from yesterday... today I feel fine save for some chafing on the back of my neck (the worst) and two blisters on my left foot... nothing major. Muscle soreness is nearly non-existent.
Thanks everyone for your support pre and post event... will post more later, as I find the time!!
The conditions at the time that we retired were not great - the wind was howling, and blowing the campervan around. We were a bit nervous going to sleep... but by the time we arose, the wind had ceased, and all was calm around us. The weather would continue to be perfect throughout the day (high of around 25 degrees is about as good as we could ask for - though a bit cooler would always be better, beggars cannot be choosers ;)
After breakfast, we gathered our swimming gear and headed down to the race village, where we proceeded to finalize all things prior to the start of the race (Alli had to change a tube before she even started the race).
The race start was a deep water start, which looked promising - everyone was seeded by their estimated swim time, which should technically provide a good distance between swimmers. The swim start was to be by canon, though as we were waiting for the canon, an air horn sounded, and the race began (I suspect that this was someone in the crowd, but I may never know - it certainly was no canon). I expect that the canon start was subsequently cancelled - firing the canon AFTER everyone started swimming would have really confused the swimmers :)
As the swim started and progressed, I discovered that a number of the swimmers in the wave in front of me had grossly underestimated their swim times (as I passed them on the swim). I tried desparately to find someone to draft off of, but I couldn't find anyone fast enough to bother with... and every time I found clear water in front of me, the attack came from the rear - I would equate this to beeing a teenaged girl at a prom - I have never been so groped in all my life!!
Well... I won't bore you with the specifics of the swim, but I took it pretty easy and managed to get out of the water just shy of an hour, which was my goal, so the result was sufficient :)
Off to the bike - first transition was smooth and straightforward, and the bike felt good to start... though I quickly learned the difference between driving the course and riding the course - driving is a lot more simple than riding ;) The hills were largely unrelenting - though mostly rolling, there was steep ones in there. It has been said that this is the toughest course on the Ironman circuit (exceeding the difficulty of both Canada and Kona - though I will reserve personal judgement on this until such time as I visit Ironman Canada in August ;)
The bike course was a three loop course, and by sometime in the second lap I had started the dehydration process (though I was largely unaware of this at the time). I figured this out late in the third lap, though it was a bit late to catch up prior to the start of the run - so the run started as more of a walk than a run. By the second lap of the two lap run, I had sorted the hydration bit out, and things picked up considerably. Due to daylight savings time, I ended up running a good part of the second lap was done in the dark, which was not a problem - in fact, the lack of sun was a welcome change indeed.
So... the injury that I sustained last week had very little impact on my race overall, though my lack of hydration certainly did affect my race (which was the simpler of the two to look after on the course, given the many aid stations). I wish I had done it differently, though just starting and finishing is an accomplishment, I have much to gain prior to coming back and doing Canada...
Alli will post her own race report, but the brief summary - she ended up coming in about ten minutes behind me, so we got to sit in the recovery tent together ;) She flatted out on the bike course, and the resulting tire change cost her a good 20 minutes... and she ended up falling just short of third place - so she remains a bit dissapointed on that point, but the accomplishment was still significant.
Both of us are well, just healing the little wounds from yesterday... today I feel fine save for some chafing on the back of my neck (the worst) and two blisters on my left foot... nothing major. Muscle soreness is nearly non-existent.
Thanks everyone for your support pre and post event... will post more later, as I find the time!!
Friday, March 31, 2006
Last pre-race entry...
Everything is done and set for tomorrow morning. Will be heading down to the start line in about 13 hours - race starts in a little less than 15 hours... both of us are a bit nervous, but that will be far behind us once that gun goes off in the morning.
Everything is clear in our heads now - just the blood sweat and tears left (mostly sweat ;)
Thanks again to everyone for your support leading up to the race - be sure to keep an eye out on the ironmanlive website for our progress as we go.
Race starts at 7:00 AM local or 2:00 PM Mountain. If you live elsewhere, check this link for your local start time.
Post-race report to follow!!
Clinton and Alli
Everything is clear in our heads now - just the blood sweat and tears left (mostly sweat ;)
Thanks again to everyone for your support leading up to the race - be sure to keep an eye out on the ironmanlive website for our progress as we go.
Race starts at 7:00 AM local or 2:00 PM Mountain. If you live elsewhere, check this link for your local start time.
Post-race report to follow!!
Clinton and Alli
The day of reckoning approaches...
Well, it's Friday night (and the post that follows took a very long time to get up).
Did the carb load dinner and listened to all sorts... from the 18 year old who is doing his first Ironman on Sunday (just decided it would be cool to do) to the 71 year old man who will be completing his eleventh Ironman... some crazy and inspiring stories.
Lisa Bentley got up and gave us a chat about her brush with a burst appendix in Kona... what an incredible story. I don't know how she lasted as long as she did (and she was more than willing to finish the race).
Anyways... much inspiration, two more sleeps...
Hope all is well back in Canada!!
G'nite for Friday!!
Did the carb load dinner and listened to all sorts... from the 18 year old who is doing his first Ironman on Sunday (just decided it would be cool to do) to the 71 year old man who will be completing his eleventh Ironman... some crazy and inspiring stories.
Lisa Bentley got up and gave us a chat about her brush with a burst appendix in Kona... what an incredible story. I don't know how she lasted as long as she did (and she was more than willing to finish the race).
Anyways... much inspiration, two more sleeps...
Hope all is well back in Canada!!
G'nite for Friday!!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Hello from Port Macquarie
Hello everyone, it has been a while since I posted – a fact that I can attribute to our almost non-stop travel up the coast (bouncing from town to town) and infrequent access to the internet. We have now landed in Port Macqaurie, home of Ironman Australia and have settled into our campervan site. We have a neat little home here…
So, to bring everyone up to speed, I will skip most of the travel up to the past weekend and give you the goods from there…
On Sunday we went for a ride on the coast, near a small town named Ottsford. Rode off into one of Australia’s many national parks. The ride was great - nice ups and downs, and a little bit of flat in there for good measure. The road was windy and narrow, and as I rode along, I got to thinking again about motorists – I had slagged them in a previous post, but I failed to really speak to the good drivers, of which there are more than plenty. So I had decided early on in the ride that this was what my next post was to be about.
While driving that winding, and often slow road, many motorists (including motorcyclists) would wait patiently behind you until there was a decent flat/open stretch to pass. This is something that we, as cyclists appreciate. Nothing is worse than someone ramming past you on a blind corner, in a rush. In fact, I don’t know if we had a single bad motorist pass us on that ride (at least I certainly did not see one).
After a little more than an hour into the ride (it was a super-easy ride) I stopped to wait for Alli. From where I was stopped, I could see Sydney in the distance. Where I pulled over, I found a dollar coin on the side of the road… I took this to be a sign of good luck. I picked that dollar up, put it into my back jersey pocket and when Alli came up, we turned around for the second part of the journey.
I began to enjoy the ride back… easy on the hills up, hard on the way back down… the bends were a lot of fun (akin to driving a sports car in the mountains – though these were hardly mountainous roads ;) I took a particularly long steep and windy stretch hard, enjoying the curves – gaining speed as I went… and had a motorcycle right behind me doing the same (could hear him, but wasn’t looking back). As I came around the final tight turn of that descent, I was going somewhere around 50-60 km/h – and as I hit that turn, I realized I was pulling it too wide. With a car oncoming, and a motorcycle behind me, I lost my nerve and flinched. I do not even know what happened, but I went down. I missed the car in the far lane and the guy on the motorcycle behind me went down and bumped me from behind (this was an inconsequential “tap” after he had nearly come to a complete stop. I stopped very effectively with my body (and bike unfortunately).
Once I had come to a complete stop, I remember dragging my bike with one foot still attached to a pedal to the far side of the road… like a wounded animal.
Now if I had thought the motorists were good up to this point, you really should have seen the show after I crashed. The fellow on the Ducati behind me was unconcerned about anything but my well-being. This, despite the fact that he had just gotten his motorcycle back from being repaired… and the damage to his motorcycle was not pretty.
The next to stop was a couple in an SUV who helped the guy move his motorcycle off the road (I was in a bit of a state of shock still, and couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he could not easily lift the bike on his own). Once they got his bike off the road, we assessed the damage (no pun intended). I really cannot get a good view of my own ass, save for in the mirror (which was not readily available) so I had to take their word for it when they said it looked pretty bad. It certainly did smart – and my Speedo tri shorts were never to be the same again…
Alli came along, and it was sort of funny – she didn’t even realize what had gone on at first from the other side of the road things looked well – though she could not quite understand why everyone had decided to accumulate right on the bend at the bottom of a relatively steep decline. She was pretty upset when she saw the damage (probably more upset than me).
We exchanged details, and the couple that had stopped in the SUV were extremely generous in offering my bleeding butt a ride back to our van… and then subsequently offered us a place to stay. Did I mention that these people were FANTASTIC?? Wow… such super people. The guy on the bike… his attitude was “don’t worry about the bike, that’s what insurance is for – I am just glad you are all right.” Hmm… could I have had a better guy following me? And I have made no mention of his torn pants and scraped knee (though seemingly inconsequential to my injuries, they were incurred as a result of my poor judgment on that hill/corner).
Once I got back to the van, I surveyed the damage and pulled out the first aid kit. Cleaned off the two worn knuckles (ouch) and put band-aids on where possible.
Then I remembered my lucky dollar – checked in my back pocket, and it was still there.
Now, for the uninitiated, you might not have noticed, but despite all the damage done it was still a very lucky day. The damage done to bike and rider are insignificant to death, and I cheated death that day. If that car had been a couple seconds later, or had there been another car behind the first, I would have been in serious trouble. Ditto for the guy on the motorcycle – he very well could have ridden right overtop of me, and that would not have been a pretty picture.
Ah well – went down to the local lifesaving club and had the lifeguards check and clean my wounds (well, Alli did most of the cleaning actually, and they covered up the damage for me).
The bike had certainly seen better days – I shaved a significant amount of carbon from the front handlebars, but I think it will hold together. A few other scapes, and somehow scratched up the fork a bit, but I think all is well there as far as structural integrity goes.
All of this just seven days out from the race – this was a hard pill to swallow, but training came to a literal screeching halt after that. On Tuesday I visited a doctor’s office in Shoal Bay, where they promptly (minus the two hour wait in the lobby to get in) cleaned my butt up, patched it up, fired a tetanus shot into my left arm (ouch) and sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics to save me from any infection that might crop up.
Things have been sore, but by yesterday (Wednesday here) things have almost returned to good working order. My butt still hurts to sit on, and I am constantly aware of the missing skin, but it is not that big of a deal. Diversity in training is what I call that.
So… that was Sunday, and today is Friday. Just a few short days until race day. You should see this place – triathletes everywhere. At around 6:30 I woke up and went to the washroom, and an older fellow – probably mid sixties was coming out of the “amenities building” wearing dark blue spandex running tights and long white socks over top. Not something you would traditionally see at a caravan park (or at least not something that I would expect to see here when Ironman was not on).
I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but not too sure – the local tourist bureau started up an “adopt an athlete program” where businesses or individuals/families could adopt an out of town athlete to cheer on come Sunday (after all, most out of the athletes competing will be from out of town – out of 1,500 people competing, 24 countries are represented, and there are only 11 locals doing the Ironman – needless to say, those 11 locals will be well represented in the crowd).
Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get adopted by the local visitors center. The visitors center is staffed by a bunch of fantastic ladies, who were all very pleased to learn that they were sponsoring a “professional triathlete”. Oops… now who told them that?? I had to correct them, or else they would only serve to be disappointed, especially with my recent run-in with the road… well, that AND the very competitive nature of Ironman here in Australia. These Aussies are plain nuts… or at least their times have been incredible in years past.
The town has literally come alive with Ironman athletes… the caravan park is nearly full and it is mid-week. I am sure that the net impact on this small town will be substantial… probably the largest single even in the entire year. What is fascinating to watch, however, is the varying craziness of these athletes. It is clearly the time to slow down, yet on an easy jog that Alli and I did last night, this guy goes wizzing past us like he was on the way to a fire… but there is a lot of assuming going on here, so I will stop ;)
Final note – some of you are interested in watching our progress this weekend, and so I though I would share with you how to follow our progress – or at least how I believe that you will be able to follow our progress. You can go to http://www.ironmanlive.com on race day and look for a link to Ironman Australia (it should be pretty big and/or obvious on the day). Once you get the option to track an athlete, you will be able to search us out. Should you require our bib numbers they are: Alli – 318 and I am 1492. I do not think that those are subject to any change, but we don’t have our bibs yet.
Alli has not had much of a chance to access the internet either, and has not posted a blog entry for a while, but she will be on that shortly. Until then, she says HELLO to everyone that might be reading!
Until the next post, from Port Macquarie… Clinton and Alli
So, to bring everyone up to speed, I will skip most of the travel up to the past weekend and give you the goods from there…
On Sunday we went for a ride on the coast, near a small town named Ottsford. Rode off into one of Australia’s many national parks. The ride was great - nice ups and downs, and a little bit of flat in there for good measure. The road was windy and narrow, and as I rode along, I got to thinking again about motorists – I had slagged them in a previous post, but I failed to really speak to the good drivers, of which there are more than plenty. So I had decided early on in the ride that this was what my next post was to be about.
While driving that winding, and often slow road, many motorists (including motorcyclists) would wait patiently behind you until there was a decent flat/open stretch to pass. This is something that we, as cyclists appreciate. Nothing is worse than someone ramming past you on a blind corner, in a rush. In fact, I don’t know if we had a single bad motorist pass us on that ride (at least I certainly did not see one).
After a little more than an hour into the ride (it was a super-easy ride) I stopped to wait for Alli. From where I was stopped, I could see Sydney in the distance. Where I pulled over, I found a dollar coin on the side of the road… I took this to be a sign of good luck. I picked that dollar up, put it into my back jersey pocket and when Alli came up, we turned around for the second part of the journey.
I began to enjoy the ride back… easy on the hills up, hard on the way back down… the bends were a lot of fun (akin to driving a sports car in the mountains – though these were hardly mountainous roads ;) I took a particularly long steep and windy stretch hard, enjoying the curves – gaining speed as I went… and had a motorcycle right behind me doing the same (could hear him, but wasn’t looking back). As I came around the final tight turn of that descent, I was going somewhere around 50-60 km/h – and as I hit that turn, I realized I was pulling it too wide. With a car oncoming, and a motorcycle behind me, I lost my nerve and flinched. I do not even know what happened, but I went down. I missed the car in the far lane and the guy on the motorcycle behind me went down and bumped me from behind (this was an inconsequential “tap” after he had nearly come to a complete stop. I stopped very effectively with my body (and bike unfortunately).
Once I had come to a complete stop, I remember dragging my bike with one foot still attached to a pedal to the far side of the road… like a wounded animal.
Now if I had thought the motorists were good up to this point, you really should have seen the show after I crashed. The fellow on the Ducati behind me was unconcerned about anything but my well-being. This, despite the fact that he had just gotten his motorcycle back from being repaired… and the damage to his motorcycle was not pretty.
The next to stop was a couple in an SUV who helped the guy move his motorcycle off the road (I was in a bit of a state of shock still, and couldn’t quite grasp the fact that he could not easily lift the bike on his own). Once they got his bike off the road, we assessed the damage (no pun intended). I really cannot get a good view of my own ass, save for in the mirror (which was not readily available) so I had to take their word for it when they said it looked pretty bad. It certainly did smart – and my Speedo tri shorts were never to be the same again…
Alli came along, and it was sort of funny – she didn’t even realize what had gone on at first from the other side of the road things looked well – though she could not quite understand why everyone had decided to accumulate right on the bend at the bottom of a relatively steep decline. She was pretty upset when she saw the damage (probably more upset than me).
We exchanged details, and the couple that had stopped in the SUV were extremely generous in offering my bleeding butt a ride back to our van… and then subsequently offered us a place to stay. Did I mention that these people were FANTASTIC?? Wow… such super people. The guy on the bike… his attitude was “don’t worry about the bike, that’s what insurance is for – I am just glad you are all right.” Hmm… could I have had a better guy following me? And I have made no mention of his torn pants and scraped knee (though seemingly inconsequential to my injuries, they were incurred as a result of my poor judgment on that hill/corner).
Once I got back to the van, I surveyed the damage and pulled out the first aid kit. Cleaned off the two worn knuckles (ouch) and put band-aids on where possible.
Then I remembered my lucky dollar – checked in my back pocket, and it was still there.
Now, for the uninitiated, you might not have noticed, but despite all the damage done it was still a very lucky day. The damage done to bike and rider are insignificant to death, and I cheated death that day. If that car had been a couple seconds later, or had there been another car behind the first, I would have been in serious trouble. Ditto for the guy on the motorcycle – he very well could have ridden right overtop of me, and that would not have been a pretty picture.
Ah well – went down to the local lifesaving club and had the lifeguards check and clean my wounds (well, Alli did most of the cleaning actually, and they covered up the damage for me).
The bike had certainly seen better days – I shaved a significant amount of carbon from the front handlebars, but I think it will hold together. A few other scapes, and somehow scratched up the fork a bit, but I think all is well there as far as structural integrity goes.
All of this just seven days out from the race – this was a hard pill to swallow, but training came to a literal screeching halt after that. On Tuesday I visited a doctor’s office in Shoal Bay, where they promptly (minus the two hour wait in the lobby to get in) cleaned my butt up, patched it up, fired a tetanus shot into my left arm (ouch) and sent me on my way with a prescription for antibiotics to save me from any infection that might crop up.
Things have been sore, but by yesterday (Wednesday here) things have almost returned to good working order. My butt still hurts to sit on, and I am constantly aware of the missing skin, but it is not that big of a deal. Diversity in training is what I call that.
So… that was Sunday, and today is Friday. Just a few short days until race day. You should see this place – triathletes everywhere. At around 6:30 I woke up and went to the washroom, and an older fellow – probably mid sixties was coming out of the “amenities building” wearing dark blue spandex running tights and long white socks over top. Not something you would traditionally see at a caravan park (or at least not something that I would expect to see here when Ironman was not on).
I think I mentioned it in a previous post, but not too sure – the local tourist bureau started up an “adopt an athlete program” where businesses or individuals/families could adopt an out of town athlete to cheer on come Sunday (after all, most out of the athletes competing will be from out of town – out of 1,500 people competing, 24 countries are represented, and there are only 11 locals doing the Ironman – needless to say, those 11 locals will be well represented in the crowd).
Anyhow, I was lucky enough to get adopted by the local visitors center. The visitors center is staffed by a bunch of fantastic ladies, who were all very pleased to learn that they were sponsoring a “professional triathlete”. Oops… now who told them that?? I had to correct them, or else they would only serve to be disappointed, especially with my recent run-in with the road… well, that AND the very competitive nature of Ironman here in Australia. These Aussies are plain nuts… or at least their times have been incredible in years past.
The town has literally come alive with Ironman athletes… the caravan park is nearly full and it is mid-week. I am sure that the net impact on this small town will be substantial… probably the largest single even in the entire year. What is fascinating to watch, however, is the varying craziness of these athletes. It is clearly the time to slow down, yet on an easy jog that Alli and I did last night, this guy goes wizzing past us like he was on the way to a fire… but there is a lot of assuming going on here, so I will stop ;)
Final note – some of you are interested in watching our progress this weekend, and so I though I would share with you how to follow our progress – or at least how I believe that you will be able to follow our progress. You can go to http://www.ironmanlive.com on race day and look for a link to Ironman Australia (it should be pretty big and/or obvious on the day). Once you get the option to track an athlete, you will be able to search us out. Should you require our bib numbers they are: Alli – 318 and I am 1492. I do not think that those are subject to any change, but we don’t have our bibs yet.
Alli has not had much of a chance to access the internet either, and has not posted a blog entry for a while, but she will be on that shortly. Until then, she says HELLO to everyone that might be reading!
Until the next post, from Port Macquarie… Clinton and Alli
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Hello from Canberra...
Just a quick note to say hello from Canberra. We are making our way slowly up the coast, enjoying a few of the sights and experiences :)
Training continues, albeit in taper mode... slowly winding down to almost nothing. Today is a day off, then back on again tomorrow.
All is well (and sunny) here.
Hope everyone is well, more as we find time and access.
Clinton and Alli
Training continues, albeit in taper mode... slowly winding down to almost nothing. Today is a day off, then back on again tomorrow.
All is well (and sunny) here.
Hope everyone is well, more as we find time and access.
Clinton and Alli
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
No news is good news :)
Just a very quick note... on the clock here, and time is nearly up!
We are headed up the coast towards the race venue - have moved about 1,000km since we left last Thursday. Currently in a small city called Batemans Bay. Nice little town.
Tomorrow we will be heading into Canberra for a day or two. Canberra is the capital of Australia, and home of the Australian Institute of Sport (Alli is really keen on visiting the AIS so we will be making a stop there).
More soon... maybe even a few pictures at our next stop!!
Oh yeah - we are nowhere near that cyclone, so fear thee not - it is considerably North of us.
Miss you all... more soon!
Clinton & Alli
We are headed up the coast towards the race venue - have moved about 1,000km since we left last Thursday. Currently in a small city called Batemans Bay. Nice little town.
Tomorrow we will be heading into Canberra for a day or two. Canberra is the capital of Australia, and home of the Australian Institute of Sport (Alli is really keen on visiting the AIS so we will be making a stop there).
More soon... maybe even a few pictures at our next stop!!
Oh yeah - we are nowhere near that cyclone, so fear thee not - it is considerably North of us.
Miss you all... more soon!
Clinton & Alli
Monday, March 06, 2006
Fat - the good, the bad and the ugly
Now, we all know that midsection fat is ugly... but that's not what I'm talking about here :)
I ran across an interesting article on ironmanlive.com about fat in the diet. This is an often misunderstood item - over the years many people have been misled about the role of fat in the diet.
This article is not quite complete, but it is good reference... so take a peek.
A bit common sense, but so is eating (in my humble opinion :)
Bottom line - don't forget the fat!!!
I ran across an interesting article on ironmanlive.com about fat in the diet. This is an often misunderstood item - over the years many people have been misled about the role of fat in the diet.
This article is not quite complete, but it is good reference... so take a peek.
A bit common sense, but so is eating (in my humble opinion :)
Bottom line - don't forget the fat!!!
Karma.
We got into a discussion the other day about karma, and Alli and I got to talking about it further (nevermind the fact that my sister mentions the word daily it seems).
The reason that the conversation started was a discussion about why a child, perhaps only just barely born, might end up with a terminal illness. The thought was that perhaps that child was affected by "bad karma".
I tried to discuss karma with Alli then realized that I was well and truly in over my head. It seems that karma is largely misunderstood and incorrectly used by the western world... in that most of us don't even believe in past or future lives, so karma is largely not relevant.
I found a good explanation of karma, for those that are interested, here.
Seems that our interpretation of 'bad karma' is a bit misled.
What does this have to do with Ironman or my adventure? Read it and decide for yourself, essentially everything :)
The reason that the conversation started was a discussion about why a child, perhaps only just barely born, might end up with a terminal illness. The thought was that perhaps that child was affected by "bad karma".
I tried to discuss karma with Alli then realized that I was well and truly in over my head. It seems that karma is largely misunderstood and incorrectly used by the western world... in that most of us don't even believe in past or future lives, so karma is largely not relevant.
I found a good explanation of karma, for those that are interested, here.
Seems that our interpretation of 'bad karma' is a bit misled.
What does this have to do with Ironman or my adventure? Read it and decide for yourself, essentially everything :)
Sunday, March 05, 2006
A truly inspiring video...
The news is full of all sorts of, well, bad news. It sometimes takes a bit of sifting to find a real gem in the news.
So I figured I would save you all some time searching, and let you have a peek at this video.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
So I figured I would save you all some time searching, and let you have a peek at this video.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Roadkill report...
So, time to focus on the training for a minute :)
Yesterday we got out nice and early for our long ride - ok, it wasn't so early at all. Alli was up like clockwork at 7:00, and probably ready to go by 8:00 easily, but it took me until after 9:00 to be rolling out the door (referring back to my Polar heart rate monitor, I left at 9:19 AM - Alli got the 10-15 minute headstart on me.
Anyhow, we cycled out to Phillip Island again - if for no other reason than there is a sum total of about five traffic lights the entire way. Beat that with a stick will ya :) The ride out was good, with a very light headwind - which I was looking forward to returning with at my backside.
By the time that we arrived at Phillip Island (85km - 2:45, average speed 30.7 km/h) the temperature approached or possibly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. I decided after a short break that an ice cold Coke was in order, so we stopped by the store and I bought a 1.5L bottle of Coke (couldn't help it, the 600ml bottle was only a dollar less - it's all about the value ;) Alli and I shared the bottle, meaning that I drank about 1.3L and she drank about 200ml. Teehee... actually, thought it would be too much, and that I would need to stop for a pee five minutes out, but it turned out NOT to be the case.
The ride back began with a vicious headwind - what? Where did my tailwind go? Dammit anyways... the coke kicked in about 15 minutes into the ride, and I was very glad that I drank as much of it as I had. Frankly, I was extremely unimpressed with my hot Ultima (like gatorade, but less garbage) and almost boiling water (note to self - take tea bags next time to make tea in water bottles ;)
Well, despite headwinds most of the way, I kept things on pace, and made it back to the 7-11 with 30 minutes to spare, and so I decided it was time for another treat... this time a Slurpee was in order. I had it half downed by the time that Alli caught up with me (actually wasn't that long at all - I was a thirsty bugger :)
Here was the summary of the food and drink consumption for those interested:
2L plus of Ultima
over 2L of water
1L of staminade
1L of coke at turnaround (paid extra for ice cold coke, full sugar ;)
800ml of slurpee at 7-11 30 minutes from home, before run
Around 8 thermolyte caplets
Misc foodstuffs
Total ride time was 5:40 and total distance was roughly 171km followed by a brief 30 minute run... drank my entire bottle on the run, then litres and litres of water thereafter. Seems that I came up a bit short, despite having drank so much (or seemingly so much) on the bike.
As far as roadkill goes (doesn't seem right using it as a title then not mentioning it :) saw one fox, many birds, a couple of snakes (including one alive) and one dead roo in the ditch (nasty smelly in the heat, ewwww).
So begins my Sunday morning. We are four weeks out from raceday, so it's crunch time now.
Less than two weeks until we depart, and test my driving skills once again (I haven't driven anything, save for a bike, for the last four or more months).
More to follow :)
Yesterday we got out nice and early for our long ride - ok, it wasn't so early at all. Alli was up like clockwork at 7:00, and probably ready to go by 8:00 easily, but it took me until after 9:00 to be rolling out the door (referring back to my Polar heart rate monitor, I left at 9:19 AM - Alli got the 10-15 minute headstart on me.
Anyhow, we cycled out to Phillip Island again - if for no other reason than there is a sum total of about five traffic lights the entire way. Beat that with a stick will ya :) The ride out was good, with a very light headwind - which I was looking forward to returning with at my backside.
By the time that we arrived at Phillip Island (85km - 2:45, average speed 30.7 km/h) the temperature approached or possibly exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. I decided after a short break that an ice cold Coke was in order, so we stopped by the store and I bought a 1.5L bottle of Coke (couldn't help it, the 600ml bottle was only a dollar less - it's all about the value ;) Alli and I shared the bottle, meaning that I drank about 1.3L and she drank about 200ml. Teehee... actually, thought it would be too much, and that I would need to stop for a pee five minutes out, but it turned out NOT to be the case.
The ride back began with a vicious headwind - what? Where did my tailwind go? Dammit anyways... the coke kicked in about 15 minutes into the ride, and I was very glad that I drank as much of it as I had. Frankly, I was extremely unimpressed with my hot Ultima (like gatorade, but less garbage) and almost boiling water (note to self - take tea bags next time to make tea in water bottles ;)
Well, despite headwinds most of the way, I kept things on pace, and made it back to the 7-11 with 30 minutes to spare, and so I decided it was time for another treat... this time a Slurpee was in order. I had it half downed by the time that Alli caught up with me (actually wasn't that long at all - I was a thirsty bugger :)
Here was the summary of the food and drink consumption for those interested:
2L plus of Ultima
over 2L of water
1L of staminade
1L of coke at turnaround (paid extra for ice cold coke, full sugar ;)
800ml of slurpee at 7-11 30 minutes from home, before run
Around 8 thermolyte caplets
Misc foodstuffs
Total ride time was 5:40 and total distance was roughly 171km followed by a brief 30 minute run... drank my entire bottle on the run, then litres and litres of water thereafter. Seems that I came up a bit short, despite having drank so much (or seemingly so much) on the bike.
As far as roadkill goes (doesn't seem right using it as a title then not mentioning it :) saw one fox, many birds, a couple of snakes (including one alive) and one dead roo in the ditch (nasty smelly in the heat, ewwww).
So begins my Sunday morning. We are four weeks out from raceday, so it's crunch time now.
Less than two weeks until we depart, and test my driving skills once again (I haven't driven anything, save for a bike, for the last four or more months).
More to follow :)
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Funny (but true) story...
I forgot about this, but it deserves its own entry anyways.
Alli was chatting with a triathlete the other day, and he quite seriously asked her about wind trainers (for those that aren't quite initiated - these are the devices that we setup in our livingroom to turn our $4,000 road bikes into stationary bikes ;)
He says... "I once heard of a guy from Canada that rode for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT on his wind trainer - could this be true?"
It's funny, but unless you live in a climate where it snows, and gets to be a solid 40 degrees below zero, you would never fathom training that long indoors... in fact, this fellow has only used an indoor trainer a couple of times in his entire life.
Yeah... life is funny.
Alli was chatting with a triathlete the other day, and he quite seriously asked her about wind trainers (for those that aren't quite initiated - these are the devices that we setup in our livingroom to turn our $4,000 road bikes into stationary bikes ;)
He says... "I once heard of a guy from Canada that rode for SIX HOURS STRAIGHT on his wind trainer - could this be true?"
It's funny, but unless you live in a climate where it snows, and gets to be a solid 40 degrees below zero, you would never fathom training that long indoors... in fact, this fellow has only used an indoor trainer a couple of times in his entire life.
Yeah... life is funny.
Along the way...
I called this blog "The Journey to Ironman" and a journey it is... if I look beyond this sidetrip, life is a journey and my friend Bob reminded me of this the other day:
You can win or lose a race, or do better or worse than you wanted or expected; the real value lies in the things you learn along the way, the people you meet and friends you make. They will be the ones remembering you, not your time in a triathlon.
How true.
If you are reading this, you are part of my journey, and very likely a part of my life somehow. Some of you know me, others may not, but let me say this... welcome to the journey, and thank you for being a part of it!!
On training - yesterday was a bittersweet day.
First things first - rode my crap bike to the pool, and the rear tire (or tyre as they call it here) blew out yet again. I had tried to repair the tire the day before, but it seems that while I did an OK job on the tube, the tire just couldn't be salvaged. So this meant a long walk to the bike shop, then a bunch of messing around to fix things up (no quick release on this baby). The guys at the bike store were somewhat amazed that I could actually change my own tire. Little do they know that I blow a tube every other week on average on my road bike ;) With that out of the way... I rode on to the pool.
I got into the pool yesterday morning, and my shoulder has been bugging me again. Thursday's workout is 15 by 200m of pull, with hand paddles on 20s rest. After the first two 200's I figured it wasn't going to happen, was ready to "throw in the towel" for the workout, but instead I dropped the paddles and carried on. It was a good workout, made it through all 3900m of the workout then got out to do my long run for the day.
So... my left ankle has been bothering me for about a week now, and yesterday was no exception. The Thursday long run is two hours easy these days, should be no problem... but between the ankle, the heat, and my lack of water after one hour, I bailed on the run at 1:25. I do not know what the temperature was, but we were running at about 2:00 and I figure it was pushing 40 degrees in the heat, so it wasn't easy (but no-one said it would be easy ;) It certainly was a two-bottle kindof day out there though, and I only had one... and nowhere to fill it up partway. Ah well. At least one more long run to go before we start to taper.
Yes, this old man might just be starting to fall apart, with just FOUR weeks to go ;)
And speaking of tapering, we have a plan!!
Our taper starts on March 16 - two days off. On the 16th we will be picking up a campervan and will begin our journey northward to Sydney, then onto Port Macquarie, where the Ironman will be held. We will be carrying out the balance of our training as we move northward, and then come to rest in Port Macquarie... well, come to rest is an exageration, as we will be tapering things off right up to raceday.
Suffice it to say - the day following Ironman will be our "day of rest".
Following Ironman, we will squeeze a month's worth of touring into one week, then pack our belongings, and head for the airport. Departure date is April 10.
Anyone with bets on spring conditions for when we return? We really want to hit the road running when we get back :)
Ok, that's my update for today... more to come!
You can win or lose a race, or do better or worse than you wanted or expected; the real value lies in the things you learn along the way, the people you meet and friends you make. They will be the ones remembering you, not your time in a triathlon.
How true.
If you are reading this, you are part of my journey, and very likely a part of my life somehow. Some of you know me, others may not, but let me say this... welcome to the journey, and thank you for being a part of it!!
On training - yesterday was a bittersweet day.
First things first - rode my crap bike to the pool, and the rear tire (or tyre as they call it here) blew out yet again. I had tried to repair the tire the day before, but it seems that while I did an OK job on the tube, the tire just couldn't be salvaged. So this meant a long walk to the bike shop, then a bunch of messing around to fix things up (no quick release on this baby). The guys at the bike store were somewhat amazed that I could actually change my own tire. Little do they know that I blow a tube every other week on average on my road bike ;) With that out of the way... I rode on to the pool.
I got into the pool yesterday morning, and my shoulder has been bugging me again. Thursday's workout is 15 by 200m of pull, with hand paddles on 20s rest. After the first two 200's I figured it wasn't going to happen, was ready to "throw in the towel" for the workout, but instead I dropped the paddles and carried on. It was a good workout, made it through all 3900m of the workout then got out to do my long run for the day.
So... my left ankle has been bothering me for about a week now, and yesterday was no exception. The Thursday long run is two hours easy these days, should be no problem... but between the ankle, the heat, and my lack of water after one hour, I bailed on the run at 1:25. I do not know what the temperature was, but we were running at about 2:00 and I figure it was pushing 40 degrees in the heat, so it wasn't easy (but no-one said it would be easy ;) It certainly was a two-bottle kindof day out there though, and I only had one... and nowhere to fill it up partway. Ah well. At least one more long run to go before we start to taper.
Yes, this old man might just be starting to fall apart, with just FOUR weeks to go ;)
And speaking of tapering, we have a plan!!
Our taper starts on March 16 - two days off. On the 16th we will be picking up a campervan and will begin our journey northward to Sydney, then onto Port Macquarie, where the Ironman will be held. We will be carrying out the balance of our training as we move northward, and then come to rest in Port Macquarie... well, come to rest is an exageration, as we will be tapering things off right up to raceday.
Suffice it to say - the day following Ironman will be our "day of rest".
Following Ironman, we will squeeze a month's worth of touring into one week, then pack our belongings, and head for the airport. Departure date is April 10.
Anyone with bets on spring conditions for when we return? We really want to hit the road running when we get back :)
Ok, that's my update for today... more to come!
Monday, February 27, 2006
Carpe Diem
I received the following note by email, and thought it worthy of sharing with everyone out there (thanks to Todd for reminding me to put it up here). It furthers my message from yesterday about not living in the past... takes it a step further into living for the here and now. Take a read through it... you may have already read it once or twice, but maybe you need the reminder!
And before you do... the following is not gospel (for instance, I do not see why eating in has to be less an event than eating out, but that's a North American ritual - in order to celebrate or socialize, we almost have to go out for dinner :) Either way, read on... and take the message to heart!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because [North] Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
And before you do... the following is not gospel (for instance, I do not see why eating in has to be less an event than eating out, but that's a North American ritual - in order to celebrate or socialize, we almost have to go out for dinner :) Either way, read on... and take the message to heart!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because [North] Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches.. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you?" Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
"Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Living in the past...
I was talking today with Todd about this, thought it was a relevant way to start the post :)
Living in the past does not help us move forward, hence it is something that should be avoided if at all possible... this applies especially to us with our past training and racing "mistakes" but this philosphy should be applied to all aspects of life. Regrets are a thing of the past and should be abandoned.
Now I need to take a little of my own advice... and will start by sparing you a pathetic apology about the delay in posting this :)
Alli has been as busy as a bee working on some courses, and has tied up the computer... unfortunately using my sister's computer isn't an option, so I have been without regular access for a week.
With that excuse out of the way, I will continue....
Things here are good, but the time is ticking away - I cannot believe that raceday is just five weeks away, and our taper is set to being in just three weeks!! Wow... who would believe that time would move so quickly?
Something neat for Ironman Australia - they have an "adopt an athlete" program where individuals, businesses or groups can adopt an athlete, and cheer them on during the race (among other things). It sounds like a really neat program, and we are looking forward to finding out more about it shortly.
We are currently working out a plan to move North towards Sydney, and specifically Port MacQuarie where the race will take place. We will probably spend a couple of weeks up in the area, then venture a bit further north after the race - the precise itinerary is still to be worked out (we are open to suggestions, so if you have any, let me know :)
And final thought for the moment... I have downloaded the competitor list for Ironman Australia, and it looks like the age group field is roughly 1535 large, Alli's age group consists of her and eight others. My age group (of course) consists of me and roughly 300 other men. Hmm... seems the place to be is M30-34 if you are looking for competition - though I certainly am NOT complaining, as it could be worse :)
Of interest, the oldest registered competitor is a fellow that comes from the area that we are training in, and he's 71 years old! Keep an eye out for Brian Lynch.
That's about it for me for now... more to come!
Living in the past does not help us move forward, hence it is something that should be avoided if at all possible... this applies especially to us with our past training and racing "mistakes" but this philosphy should be applied to all aspects of life. Regrets are a thing of the past and should be abandoned.
Now I need to take a little of my own advice... and will start by sparing you a pathetic apology about the delay in posting this :)
Alli has been as busy as a bee working on some courses, and has tied up the computer... unfortunately using my sister's computer isn't an option, so I have been without regular access for a week.
With that excuse out of the way, I will continue....
Things here are good, but the time is ticking away - I cannot believe that raceday is just five weeks away, and our taper is set to being in just three weeks!! Wow... who would believe that time would move so quickly?
Something neat for Ironman Australia - they have an "adopt an athlete" program where individuals, businesses or groups can adopt an athlete, and cheer them on during the race (among other things). It sounds like a really neat program, and we are looking forward to finding out more about it shortly.
We are currently working out a plan to move North towards Sydney, and specifically Port MacQuarie where the race will take place. We will probably spend a couple of weeks up in the area, then venture a bit further north after the race - the precise itinerary is still to be worked out (we are open to suggestions, so if you have any, let me know :)
And final thought for the moment... I have downloaded the competitor list for Ironman Australia, and it looks like the age group field is roughly 1535 large, Alli's age group consists of her and eight others. My age group (of course) consists of me and roughly 300 other men. Hmm... seems the place to be is M30-34 if you are looking for competition - though I certainly am NOT complaining, as it could be worse :)
Of interest, the oldest registered competitor is a fellow that comes from the area that we are training in, and he's 71 years old! Keep an eye out for Brian Lynch.
That's about it for me for now... more to come!
Monday, February 20, 2006
Race Results...
Sorry for the delay in getting this out, but we were gone for the weekend, then went out to watch the penguin parade yesterday (more on this in my next post).
So... the swim went well on Saturday, and due to a relatively small field of participants, I was able to place first in my age category. I didn't get a gold, as they had run out of gold medals by the time that they got to me, but they assure me that it will be in the mail shortly :) Anyways - summary there was 1.2km swim in 16:45 according to my watch. Average HR was 147, which is sufficiently high for a swim - roughly 89% of my estimated maximum HR in the swim. Worth noting - the high point for heart rate in the swim is always when I stand up to run into the finish line (hit 171 when I glanced down at the finish). Otherwise in the swim, my max HR was 157, near my estimated maximum of 164 BPM. Too many numbers, I know, but it's worth saying for those that might be interested :) Swimming does not get your HR up like running - basically the more vertical your body, and the larger the muscles used (i.e. legs) the higher your heart rate goes. My max heart rates for the three disciplines (estimated) are as follows:
184 - run
174 - bike
164 - swim
Heart rate is not a precise science, but I have found it to be a relatively decent show of effort in my case during racing. The only times that I ever hit my max HR (or near max) is at the finish line of a running race. Never part-way through (this would be detrimental).
What I could spot from the swim was a "lax bit" in the middle, where I wasn't giving it my all. This is pretty consistent with my running races as well - hard effort to start and finish, with a middle bit that's a bit slower than it should be. Will work that kink out eventually :)
So... the following day we did a half Ironman distance race (well, as I said before, ALMOST half an Ironman - actual distances were 2km swim, 80km bike and a 20km run. Finished the race upright in 4:34:50 according to my watch. This was roughly where I expected to finish, though my run was a bit of a dud - should have been a bit faster. I expected to do the run in about 1:30 but instead finished it in about 1:44 - this was due largely to my inability to eat properly (yet again) on the bike.
For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to cut my powerbars up and place them in my bento box for ease of eating. What I failed to realize is that the many pieces would become one overnight.
Rule number one for everyone out there considering racing in ANY sort of event is to only do in the race that which you have done in training. Training is just that - practice for raceday, so deviation from training on raceday is a BAD idea. How funny it is when I do not follow my own advice.
Either way, the result was respectable, though there is sufficient room for improvement. I feel good, and am looking forward to what training I have left before Ironman Australia... where I will eat properly throughout the race, so that I can run that marathon like I can!!
The truly interesting part about the race was the sheer competitiveness of it - I placed well into the middle of the pack on Sunday, with what I would consider a respectable result. I would expect that a similar result would have netted me a much more respectable placing back home, but time will tell (Great White North in July will be the true test).
You can catch Alli's race commentary in her blog, but I thought I would throw this in - she placed second in her age category, so a medal will be on its way to her shortly. Be sure to send her your congratulations!
I will leave with that... more to come on the penguins.
If you are interested in further analysing the results, look here.
So... the swim went well on Saturday, and due to a relatively small field of participants, I was able to place first in my age category. I didn't get a gold, as they had run out of gold medals by the time that they got to me, but they assure me that it will be in the mail shortly :) Anyways - summary there was 1.2km swim in 16:45 according to my watch. Average HR was 147, which is sufficiently high for a swim - roughly 89% of my estimated maximum HR in the swim. Worth noting - the high point for heart rate in the swim is always when I stand up to run into the finish line (hit 171 when I glanced down at the finish). Otherwise in the swim, my max HR was 157, near my estimated maximum of 164 BPM. Too many numbers, I know, but it's worth saying for those that might be interested :) Swimming does not get your HR up like running - basically the more vertical your body, and the larger the muscles used (i.e. legs) the higher your heart rate goes. My max heart rates for the three disciplines (estimated) are as follows:
184 - run
174 - bike
164 - swim
Heart rate is not a precise science, but I have found it to be a relatively decent show of effort in my case during racing. The only times that I ever hit my max HR (or near max) is at the finish line of a running race. Never part-way through (this would be detrimental).
What I could spot from the swim was a "lax bit" in the middle, where I wasn't giving it my all. This is pretty consistent with my running races as well - hard effort to start and finish, with a middle bit that's a bit slower than it should be. Will work that kink out eventually :)
So... the following day we did a half Ironman distance race (well, as I said before, ALMOST half an Ironman - actual distances were 2km swim, 80km bike and a 20km run. Finished the race upright in 4:34:50 according to my watch. This was roughly where I expected to finish, though my run was a bit of a dud - should have been a bit faster. I expected to do the run in about 1:30 but instead finished it in about 1:44 - this was due largely to my inability to eat properly (yet again) on the bike.
For some reason, I decided it would be a good idea to cut my powerbars up and place them in my bento box for ease of eating. What I failed to realize is that the many pieces would become one overnight.
Rule number one for everyone out there considering racing in ANY sort of event is to only do in the race that which you have done in training. Training is just that - practice for raceday, so deviation from training on raceday is a BAD idea. How funny it is when I do not follow my own advice.
Either way, the result was respectable, though there is sufficient room for improvement. I feel good, and am looking forward to what training I have left before Ironman Australia... where I will eat properly throughout the race, so that I can run that marathon like I can!!
The truly interesting part about the race was the sheer competitiveness of it - I placed well into the middle of the pack on Sunday, with what I would consider a respectable result. I would expect that a similar result would have netted me a much more respectable placing back home, but time will tell (Great White North in July will be the true test).
You can catch Alli's race commentary in her blog, but I thought I would throw this in - she placed second in her age category, so a medal will be on its way to her shortly. Be sure to send her your congratulations!
I will leave with that... more to come on the penguins.
If you are interested in further analysing the results, look here.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Sponsor Update
Well, both Alli and I have some exciting news - we have both been offered sponsorship from a company based out of Japan that goes by the name of Amino Vital.
There is a lot to be said about this, but they have a great lineup of products, all of which can apparently now be purchased from GNC stores (I haven't been to a GNC for a while, so I have not been able to confirm this - and their product is not readily available in Australia unfortunately :)
What this means for us is a supply of the Amino Vital supplement line, sponsor clothing, and depending on how we work things out, possibly a little cash in the bank!
Our sponsorship officially starts on April 1 (day before Ironman Australia) but we won't be seeing any of the goods before then, so you will hear more about this one once we return to Canada!
Just thought I would share the exciting news!!
There is a lot to be said about this, but they have a great lineup of products, all of which can apparently now be purchased from GNC stores (I haven't been to a GNC for a while, so I have not been able to confirm this - and their product is not readily available in Australia unfortunately :)
What this means for us is a supply of the Amino Vital supplement line, sponsor clothing, and depending on how we work things out, possibly a little cash in the bank!
Our sponsorship officially starts on April 1 (day before Ironman Australia) but we won't be seeing any of the goods before then, so you will hear more about this one once we return to Canada!
Just thought I would share the exciting news!!
Day-tight Compartments
So I got to thinking the other day (way too much time for that it seems) and I thought waaaaay back to a Dale Carnegie course that I took back in my days at Spartan Controls.
In his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie talks about living your life in day-tight compartments. Without the book to quote, and with only my poor memory, you will have to deal with my understanding of the concept... and remember, I learned about this a long time ago.
(worth noting - we also discussed many memory improvement techniques - some set in, others did not, apparently ;)
Anyways - all of us have trouble with day-tight compartments, and until recently I had forgotten all about this. The idea here is that there is no sense in carrying forward the bad experience from yesterday into today, or to start worrying about something that you have to do in the morning before you go to sleep at night. More or less - worry about one day at a time, and once it's done, it's over - forget about it (well, still learn from our mistakes, but do not let them haunt you for days/weeks/years/decades to come - there is no point).
It has been my experience that athletes tend to carry a lot of "yesterday's negativity" with them on through eternity. I could have done this different, or should have done that. As I discussed previously in my "measuring performance" rant, you will see that this is a bad idea.
Lamenting over past performances will do you little good going forward. Yes, we can learn from our mistakes, but again - lamenting over them is pointless.
There is a lot more to this topic, in fact so much more that one (including Carnegie) could write a book :) If you are interested in improving your life, buy his book, read through it, and apply his common sense principles to your life where applicable.
The kick that I get out of Carnegie's principles on living life is that he wrote them a very long time ago - and for the most part, nearly all of them are applicable today... that in and of itself is impressive :) I think we could all stand to learn a thing or two from his writings...
In his book, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, Dale Carnegie talks about living your life in day-tight compartments. Without the book to quote, and with only my poor memory, you will have to deal with my understanding of the concept... and remember, I learned about this a long time ago.
(worth noting - we also discussed many memory improvement techniques - some set in, others did not, apparently ;)
Anyways - all of us have trouble with day-tight compartments, and until recently I had forgotten all about this. The idea here is that there is no sense in carrying forward the bad experience from yesterday into today, or to start worrying about something that you have to do in the morning before you go to sleep at night. More or less - worry about one day at a time, and once it's done, it's over - forget about it (well, still learn from our mistakes, but do not let them haunt you for days/weeks/years/decades to come - there is no point).
It has been my experience that athletes tend to carry a lot of "yesterday's negativity" with them on through eternity. I could have done this different, or should have done that. As I discussed previously in my "measuring performance" rant, you will see that this is a bad idea.
Lamenting over past performances will do you little good going forward. Yes, we can learn from our mistakes, but again - lamenting over them is pointless.
There is a lot more to this topic, in fact so much more that one (including Carnegie) could write a book :) If you are interested in improving your life, buy his book, read through it, and apply his common sense principles to your life where applicable.
The kick that I get out of Carnegie's principles on living life is that he wrote them a very long time ago - and for the most part, nearly all of them are applicable today... that in and of itself is impressive :) I think we could all stand to learn a thing or two from his writings...
Race this weekend...
Well, Alli and I will be taking the train out of Melbourne come Friday morning, to a quaint little place called Torquay. It's a bit of a surfing town, with all the surf shops, surfers and waves :)
We are not, however, heading out there to surf, or to shop... but heading out for a bit of a race weekend in the middle of training (so don't expect any great results from this weekend :)
We are doing two races - first a little open water swim to start things off at the Bluff to Beach open water swim. A nice 1.2km open water swim to start things off on Saturday morning - around 11:00. It seems that the starting field is quite small (currently only 34 folks entered in the race, but things could change in the next few days). If things stay that small, they may only have a single wave start... but time will tell on that one. I plan on heading out for my long ride Saturday morning, then heading to the beach for this little swim (not quite the right order, but beggars cannot be choosers - and I have to fit all my training in on the weekend, despite the big race).
Come Sunday, we will be lining up to do a half ironman called the Surf Coast Triathlon. It will be an exciting day, as it is also the Victorian long course qualifier. The distances in this race will be roughly half of the full Ironman, which is now just six weeks away!! Precise distances are 2km swim, 80km bike, and a 20km run (so everything but the swim is a bit short - which is fine by me ;)
We are excited to get things rolling this early in the season - the race should be a good one.
And like I said - six weeks remaining to Ironman Australia!!
We are not, however, heading out there to surf, or to shop... but heading out for a bit of a race weekend in the middle of training (so don't expect any great results from this weekend :)
We are doing two races - first a little open water swim to start things off at the Bluff to Beach open water swim. A nice 1.2km open water swim to start things off on Saturday morning - around 11:00. It seems that the starting field is quite small (currently only 34 folks entered in the race, but things could change in the next few days). If things stay that small, they may only have a single wave start... but time will tell on that one. I plan on heading out for my long ride Saturday morning, then heading to the beach for this little swim (not quite the right order, but beggars cannot be choosers - and I have to fit all my training in on the weekend, despite the big race).
Come Sunday, we will be lining up to do a half ironman called the Surf Coast Triathlon. It will be an exciting day, as it is also the Victorian long course qualifier. The distances in this race will be roughly half of the full Ironman, which is now just six weeks away!! Precise distances are 2km swim, 80km bike, and a 20km run (so everything but the swim is a bit short - which is fine by me ;)
We are excited to get things rolling this early in the season - the race should be a good one.
And like I said - six weeks remaining to Ironman Australia!!
Beckie and Sara capture silver
CBC Edmonton - Scott, Renner capture silver
Well, I missed watching it, but I got the news first thing this morning... what a great day for Beckie and Sara.
Just think if there was no broken pole... well, back to that article on measuring performance :)
Yippeeee...
Well, I missed watching it, but I got the news first thing this morning... what a great day for Beckie and Sara.
Just think if there was no broken pole... well, back to that article on measuring performance :)
Yippeeee...
Monday, February 13, 2006
Dancing naked...
Hey!!
Nobody has given me any GOOD comments about living down below. Where's the "dancing naked in the moonlight" or just "dancing naked"??
Someone has got to have something good... help me live by giving me a little material to work with (well, me and a few of my faithful readers ;)
Go on... post a comment!!
Nobody has given me any GOOD comments about living down below. Where's the "dancing naked in the moonlight" or just "dancing naked"??
Someone has got to have something good... help me live by giving me a little material to work with (well, me and a few of my faithful readers ;)
Go on... post a comment!!
Measuring performance...
I think it's been far too long since I posted anything, so here goes nothing :)
While I live in near luxury here, we do not have cable television and was not afforded the luxury of watching Beckie compete last night. From what I can gather, she did very well and should be proud of her accomplishment... sixth place in the world. Let me see - the approximate population of the world is somewhere around 6.5 billion people - so that makes her a faster skier than basically everyone on the planet. Worth a medal, surely, but I guess not in that race.
Athletics is a difficult endeavor - when you break it down, there is a lot to consider... namely, how do you judge your performance? This seemingly simple problem does not have a simple resolution... a race is simply a snapshot of a moment in time. You have control over some of the conditions leading up to the race, but you are largely out of control of most of the factors affecting the outcome.
So, one must ask themselves - how do we measure ourselves?
The obvious first answer is to judge based on placing. This is a flawed measure of performance, if for no other reason than you cannot control whom you are racing against. Obviously in the case of me versus a world champion triathlete, I would lose, so winning is hardly a reasonable measure. Beyond this, if you are all world champions, there are many other factors that come into play - including health and wellness, mental condition, weather, the alignment of the moon, and so on. The list goes on, and it really boils down to the day - is it the perfect day, or not quite so perfect? If it's not perfect for you, it may well be perfect for the next guy. Should you be content with your performance? Probably so, but we just never are...
Flawed method number two is to judge based on time - otherwise referred to as a personal best (PB) or personal record (PR). Now, the first problem with judging your performance on time alone is that there are no two courses alike, and even if you race on the same course, no two days are the same (see above). Thus, even time is only a rough guauge of performance on a given day. Course variances, including terrain, and ill-measurement are just a couple of examples that can go wrong with comparing two similar distance races. This is a better method than placing, but hardly perfect.
So, how should one reflect on a day of competition? While everyone else is expecting medals, placings, PR's or world records, our focus as athletes should be on feel. Not heart rates, not finish times or placings, but how did we FEEL that race went.
We all know the difference between a "good race" and a "crappy race" are, and if we fight a good battle to the end, we know it. If we came up short in the other areas - so what? We left what we had on the road, and that's truly what matters. I think that this is one of the most important things that I can pass to athletes and non-athletes alike - measuring performance in life cannot be accomplished in classrooms, on exams, with a ruler, a scale or in something as simple as a race.
I am of the opinion that true performance cannot be measured. Not in watts, speed, time, distance or otherwise. Nadda.
We, as individuals, know what we are capable of, and we know - deep down inside - whether we put it all in or not, and subsequently know that we gave it all, or only a little bit.
A little insight from my friend:
So, there it is... if you have put your heart and soul into someting, you come out the other end a champion. Beckie is a true champion, and will always be a champion - in my heart and her own.
She knows that she has put it all in - the rest is all just noise.
Beckie collecting her gold medal in Vancouver, two years late.
While I live in near luxury here, we do not have cable television and was not afforded the luxury of watching Beckie compete last night. From what I can gather, she did very well and should be proud of her accomplishment... sixth place in the world. Let me see - the approximate population of the world is somewhere around 6.5 billion people - so that makes her a faster skier than basically everyone on the planet. Worth a medal, surely, but I guess not in that race.
Athletics is a difficult endeavor - when you break it down, there is a lot to consider... namely, how do you judge your performance? This seemingly simple problem does not have a simple resolution... a race is simply a snapshot of a moment in time. You have control over some of the conditions leading up to the race, but you are largely out of control of most of the factors affecting the outcome.
So, one must ask themselves - how do we measure ourselves?
The obvious first answer is to judge based on placing. This is a flawed measure of performance, if for no other reason than you cannot control whom you are racing against. Obviously in the case of me versus a world champion triathlete, I would lose, so winning is hardly a reasonable measure. Beyond this, if you are all world champions, there are many other factors that come into play - including health and wellness, mental condition, weather, the alignment of the moon, and so on. The list goes on, and it really boils down to the day - is it the perfect day, or not quite so perfect? If it's not perfect for you, it may well be perfect for the next guy. Should you be content with your performance? Probably so, but we just never are...
Flawed method number two is to judge based on time - otherwise referred to as a personal best (PB) or personal record (PR). Now, the first problem with judging your performance on time alone is that there are no two courses alike, and even if you race on the same course, no two days are the same (see above). Thus, even time is only a rough guauge of performance on a given day. Course variances, including terrain, and ill-measurement are just a couple of examples that can go wrong with comparing two similar distance races. This is a better method than placing, but hardly perfect.
So, how should one reflect on a day of competition? While everyone else is expecting medals, placings, PR's or world records, our focus as athletes should be on feel. Not heart rates, not finish times or placings, but how did we FEEL that race went.
We all know the difference between a "good race" and a "crappy race" are, and if we fight a good battle to the end, we know it. If we came up short in the other areas - so what? We left what we had on the road, and that's truly what matters. I think that this is one of the most important things that I can pass to athletes and non-athletes alike - measuring performance in life cannot be accomplished in classrooms, on exams, with a ruler, a scale or in something as simple as a race.
I am of the opinion that true performance cannot be measured. Not in watts, speed, time, distance or otherwise. Nadda.
We, as individuals, know what we are capable of, and we know - deep down inside - whether we put it all in or not, and subsequently know that we gave it all, or only a little bit.
A little insight from my friend:
“When you take on a goal and put your heart and soul into doing everything it takes to accomplish that goal, that is excellence.” Beckie Scott
So, there it is... if you have put your heart and soul into someting, you come out the other end a champion. Beckie is a true champion, and will always be a champion - in my heart and her own.
She knows that she has put it all in - the rest is all just noise.
Beckie collecting her gold medal in Vancouver, two years late.Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Happy Thursday
Race to the top of the Empire State Building
Now, doesn't that look like a trip? Two miles up the stairs. Note that the winner did this in 10:19 - that's just over a five minute mile, if the distance is actually two miles.
Wow.
So... I got an email this morning from a friend back home who is also training for Ironman Canada. I am going to steal a quote from her email (without revealing her identity ;)
"Today I feel really tired and just can't seem to get my act together to go for a swim and then a run later on. Do you ever have those days?"
Well, I may not have said it yet, but BOY OH BOY do I ever have those days... and frankly, some days I don't go for a swim OR a run on those days.
Yes, truth be told, I have been known to take a day off from training, or skip a workout. It happens.
Marc's rule is simple, you go out and give every workout a go - if you give it a solid ten minutes into the workout and it isn't happening, then turn around.
Let's just say that I have not been perfect at doing that.
The training plan does not have a rest day (as in a complete day off) even though there are "easier" days... this can make it quite demanding - both mentally and physically.
That, however, is what I signed up for... and I am getting better!!
Now, doesn't that look like a trip? Two miles up the stairs. Note that the winner did this in 10:19 - that's just over a five minute mile, if the distance is actually two miles.
Wow.
So... I got an email this morning from a friend back home who is also training for Ironman Canada. I am going to steal a quote from her email (without revealing her identity ;)
"Today I feel really tired and just can't seem to get my act together to go for a swim and then a run later on. Do you ever have those days?"
Well, I may not have said it yet, but BOY OH BOY do I ever have those days... and frankly, some days I don't go for a swim OR a run on those days.
Yes, truth be told, I have been known to take a day off from training, or skip a workout. It happens.
Marc's rule is simple, you go out and give every workout a go - if you give it a solid ten minutes into the workout and it isn't happening, then turn around.
Let's just say that I have not been perfect at doing that.
The training plan does not have a rest day (as in a complete day off) even though there are "easier" days... this can make it quite demanding - both mentally and physically.
That, however, is what I signed up for... and I am getting better!!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Bottled water fraud...
I have always found it fascinating that the bottled water manufacturers have been able to command a price higher than that of gasoline for mere water. Think about it - how can it possibly cost more to process water than it does to process crude oil into gasoline?
Not possible.
Add the bottles to the landfills... what a disaster.
But, when you do the math - you can see that this is money all being wasted. The bottled water you buy is little more than filtered tap water - and profit for the big guys.
Clearly there is a better way to do this...
If you're keen on drinking water, and the stuff from the tap isn't good enough, maybe you should invest in a filter for your home - and you can share your love of filtered tap water with your entire family :)
Then, take the money and put it to good use - give it to an organization that might actually help out thirld world countries by providing them with potable water.
The world could be a better place for it.
Not possible.
Add the bottles to the landfills... what a disaster.
But, when you do the math - you can see that this is money all being wasted. The bottled water you buy is little more than filtered tap water - and profit for the big guys.
Clearly there is a better way to do this...
If you're keen on drinking water, and the stuff from the tap isn't good enough, maybe you should invest in a filter for your home - and you can share your love of filtered tap water with your entire family :)
Then, take the money and put it to good use - give it to an organization that might actually help out thirld world countries by providing them with potable water.
The world could be a better place for it.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
New blog layout and features!
I hope you enjoy the new layout and the new features - on the right hand side you will find a few things, including a search (should you care to search my blog at some point for something you thought you saw here) along with an email subscription - if you wish, you may subscribe, and you will get automatic updates from my blog (saves you having to look to see if I have updated anything recently or not ;)
I hope you like the changes - I promise I won't make any other drastic changes for a while now... just felt the need to improve things a bit!!
I hope you like the changes - I promise I won't make any other drastic changes for a while now... just felt the need to improve things a bit!!
How I Landed Here
I realized this morning that not everyone knows how I ended up with this obsession that I have, and I figured it was worth writing a little story... everyone likes a story, don't they? :)
Well - where things REALLY began was way back when I was young. I was pretty active in my teenage years, we did all sorts of things - but the focus was swimming in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter. In those days, Vermilion only had one pool - and it was outdoors, so we were limited to swimming in the summer. Those really where the days - it was a sad day when they filled that old pool in :(
Anyways - triathlon was born in the 80s and I got a bit of a taste of triathlon early on. One of my favorite memories was a little triathlon that I did in northern Saskatchewan as part of a team. I did the swim, Walter Scott was our cyclist and Jan Scott was our runner. Now, Walter is a super athlete, but I don't think he's ever really been what you could call a cyclist :) I got out of the water really early, I think I was second out. That was the best part about being a decent swimmer in those days - most of the people involved in triathlon were cyclists - they couldn't swim to save their life, so we had a bit of an advantage (at least until we got on the bike ;) Either way, we won the team event that day... and I still remember it, not quite like it was yesterday.
Just in case you don't know Jan and Walter Scott, they are the parents of Beckie Scott - the top North American cross country skier (quite possibly the best in the world) and all round super person :) We grew up just across "the field" from each other, and both of her parents were a big part of my life growing up. Walter taught me to cross country ski, and swim. He was my coach for the better part of the first half of my life. I will always remember a cross country ski race in Vermilion, where Walter went blowing by me part-way through that race. I always thought "one day I will catch him" :) I think I may have recently caught him, but that's hardly the point. Both Walter and Jan are a big inspiration to me today, whether they know it or not.
Anyways - one day when I was young, I watched one of the first Ironman races on television, and I thought "I want to do that someday". It has taken me a while, but here I am :)
Now, the middle stuff - once I finished high school, I went to NAIT to take their Computer Systems Technology program. While taking CST, I figured it would be a good idea to work, so that I could afford to live :) I began something which would take a long time to undo - when I wasn't at school, I was working... this included most evenings and generally the entire weekend. Most weeks I put in close to a 40 hour work week outside of school. This didn't do wonderful things for my marks in school, but I have always maintained that your specific marks are not relevant - and in fact, the courses that I took have never really applied to real life, so I will never understand what the big deal was about.
With all of this school and work, there was no time left for physical activity. I joined the NAIT swim team for a season, but I wasn't very good at making the 6:30 AM practices (I was a public transit user, and getting to the pool for 6:30 AM was nearly impossible - note that I said NEARLY impossible, I don't think my will was very strong :) As there was a requirement that we make at least three workouts a week, my involvement on the team faltered over time, and I lost interest, but gained weight :)
Once I finished school, I got a full time job, which ate about 40 hours a week, and I kept my part time gig at London Drugs, because it was extra money, and the perks were cool too (like cheap computer hardware - who doesn't like a discount on toys?? :)
My physical state declined over time... by 1999 I had a new job with TELUS, and in 2000 I was still under some sort of illusion that I was in shape. I entered the "Beat Beethoven" race in Edmonton with my two friends Jeremy and Steve. This race was the turning point for me - I do not remember what exactly my time was, but suffice it to say that 8k took me about one hour to complete. Yikes. I discovered that not only was I not in shape, I was in TERRIBLE SHAPE and I was FAT. I tipped the scales that year at about 250 pounds. I don't have a picture kicking about from that very moment, but this one is from around then...
I know - not pretty for more than one reason (the other obvious reason is that shirt ;) It was a freebie from TELUS :)
So, I decided that things had to change in 2000 - and I began running and trying to eat healthier. You have no idea what healthier meant, but for the most part it was low fat meat and a lot of instant rice (I was way too lazy to bother with anything else). Some vegetables were a part of my diet back then, but generally only if it were easy... a lot of frozen corn as I recall. Hmmm.... healthier indeed.
I figured that I needed to get things back on track, and get to doing an Ironman.
In 2001, I was a volunteer for the opening ceremonies for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which was held in Edmonton. What an eye opener that was. Watching the men's marathon in 30+ heat was unbelievable. Those guys were running faster than I could sprint around a track, and over the entire 42.2 km distance. Wow. I figured that I should run a marathon - why not? So, I signed up with the Canadian Diabetes Association, to run the Rome Marathon in the spring of 2002. I figured if I was going to do A marathon, I might as well do one that was memorable.
I started training for my marathon with the Running Room - I joined the team heading to do the Las Vegas marathon at the end of January (the Rome marathon was in March, but this was the closest that I could get). Well, before the end of January, I got on the treadmill at the gym (didn't want to bother going outside one morning) and I turned the incline up on the treadmill and managed to tear my achilles tendon. This ended my training streak, to the point that I didn't run from January until Rome. Silly, I know, but what's a guy to do?
Worth noting, I was advised to run in the pool, but I was too stubborn to bother with that. In hindsight, it would have been the wise, albeit boring, thing to do.
So, March came, and Steve, Jeremy and I packed up our new backpacks and headed to Rome...
With very little training under my belt, I got ready on race day and headed out...
I discovered on course the importance of a few things... I had heard about nutrition, and how important it was over the marathon distance, but I figured somehow that I would be different. Well, either way, I got very hungry out on that course, and eventually I started eating everything that I could find. In fact, I couldn't wait for the next "refreshment station" - where I would be able to eat as much as I would like :) I also discovered the importance of the long runs... which I had skipped out on since January. Everything was SUPER until about 32km, where everything fell apart. I would learn later on that this is where every marathon that I would ever do would fall apart at roughly this distance.
As much as that marathon was a gruelling experience, it was an experience, and I figured - why not do a few more? So I did just that. Later in 2002, I visited Toronto to do their International marathon, and two weeks later I ran in the New York City marathon. Yup - first year, the year that I said I would do one marathon, I did three.
The following year I did Iceland, then I did Belgium a month later. Both were poor performances - Iceland was a combination of many things, including too much alcohol two nights before the race, and not enough nutrition on course. I fell apart at 32km. The following month in Belgium (to the day) I started falling apart much sooner... I do not know exactly why, but I was lucky to finish in just over 4 hours.
In Belgium I met a fellow - Jim Heil, who I was lucky enough to room with. He's a super runner, and super modest. He told me that he wanted to do the marathon in 2:40, but that he had never run a marathon before. I wanted to tell him the odds on this, but I bit my tongue. Jim finished in about 2:48 - and he was very upset with this time, despite running with an injury.
Ah well, I guess we all have our goals ;) Mine has always been to qualify for Boston, but I have never been able to pull it together to do finish under the required 3:10.
In 2004 I did the Lisbon marathon in Portugal, and the Las Vegas marathon with Alli. I wasn't completely trained up to do Las Vegas, and when the wind hit at about 30km, I was ruined. I pulled off a 3:40 marathon, which is as good as I have done to date... which is sad considering that my half time is 1:28.
Well, all those marathons under my belt, I figured that this Ironman thing would be a cinch... I mean, who can't ride a bike?
Well, I discovered that riding 180km is a really long way to ride a bike :)
I did the Ironman Coeur D'Alene in 2005 with insufficient training under my belt, but I did finish it, and in a relatively respectable time (by most standards, not my own :) That marathon was by far and away the most gruelling yet, but I (once again) learned the value of nutrition. The marathon is peanuts compared to a full Ironman - you have to be on your eating and drinking game, or you might as well forget about finishing the thing in a reasonable amount of time.
So, next up is Ironman Australia, with the focus race in Penticton this August.
I still have time to pull it together for an outstanding performance, and I have it in me.
Now, I haven't included all the details in my little story - there are a LOT of much smaller races that I ran in the 2003 and 2004 which have seen my running improve considerably... but I couldn't possible go into all those details :)
Worth noting - my "Beat Beethoven" time has dropped from around an hour to about 30 minutes flat, which is acceptable, but I can do better :) This is my annual "marker race" that tells me how I am doing. I missed it in 2005 because of work, but I will pick it up again in 2006.
This is a little bit of how I arrived where I am at. Part childhood dream, part obsession to push myself to do well at something that I am probably not well equipped to do :) I have left a LOT of detail out of this story, mainly because my memory is poor, and I am bound to screw something up - that, and you probably aren't interested in reading an entire novel!!
Let's see how it ends up!!
Well - where things REALLY began was way back when I was young. I was pretty active in my teenage years, we did all sorts of things - but the focus was swimming in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter. In those days, Vermilion only had one pool - and it was outdoors, so we were limited to swimming in the summer. Those really where the days - it was a sad day when they filled that old pool in :(
Anyways - triathlon was born in the 80s and I got a bit of a taste of triathlon early on. One of my favorite memories was a little triathlon that I did in northern Saskatchewan as part of a team. I did the swim, Walter Scott was our cyclist and Jan Scott was our runner. Now, Walter is a super athlete, but I don't think he's ever really been what you could call a cyclist :) I got out of the water really early, I think I was second out. That was the best part about being a decent swimmer in those days - most of the people involved in triathlon were cyclists - they couldn't swim to save their life, so we had a bit of an advantage (at least until we got on the bike ;) Either way, we won the team event that day... and I still remember it, not quite like it was yesterday.
Just in case you don't know Jan and Walter Scott, they are the parents of Beckie Scott - the top North American cross country skier (quite possibly the best in the world) and all round super person :) We grew up just across "the field" from each other, and both of her parents were a big part of my life growing up. Walter taught me to cross country ski, and swim. He was my coach for the better part of the first half of my life. I will always remember a cross country ski race in Vermilion, where Walter went blowing by me part-way through that race. I always thought "one day I will catch him" :) I think I may have recently caught him, but that's hardly the point. Both Walter and Jan are a big inspiration to me today, whether they know it or not.
Anyways - one day when I was young, I watched one of the first Ironman races on television, and I thought "I want to do that someday". It has taken me a while, but here I am :)
Now, the middle stuff - once I finished high school, I went to NAIT to take their Computer Systems Technology program. While taking CST, I figured it would be a good idea to work, so that I could afford to live :) I began something which would take a long time to undo - when I wasn't at school, I was working... this included most evenings and generally the entire weekend. Most weeks I put in close to a 40 hour work week outside of school. This didn't do wonderful things for my marks in school, but I have always maintained that your specific marks are not relevant - and in fact, the courses that I took have never really applied to real life, so I will never understand what the big deal was about.
With all of this school and work, there was no time left for physical activity. I joined the NAIT swim team for a season, but I wasn't very good at making the 6:30 AM practices (I was a public transit user, and getting to the pool for 6:30 AM was nearly impossible - note that I said NEARLY impossible, I don't think my will was very strong :) As there was a requirement that we make at least three workouts a week, my involvement on the team faltered over time, and I lost interest, but gained weight :)
Once I finished school, I got a full time job, which ate about 40 hours a week, and I kept my part time gig at London Drugs, because it was extra money, and the perks were cool too (like cheap computer hardware - who doesn't like a discount on toys?? :)
My physical state declined over time... by 1999 I had a new job with TELUS, and in 2000 I was still under some sort of illusion that I was in shape. I entered the "Beat Beethoven" race in Edmonton with my two friends Jeremy and Steve. This race was the turning point for me - I do not remember what exactly my time was, but suffice it to say that 8k took me about one hour to complete. Yikes. I discovered that not only was I not in shape, I was in TERRIBLE SHAPE and I was FAT. I tipped the scales that year at about 250 pounds. I don't have a picture kicking about from that very moment, but this one is from around then...
I know - not pretty for more than one reason (the other obvious reason is that shirt ;) It was a freebie from TELUS :)
So, I decided that things had to change in 2000 - and I began running and trying to eat healthier. You have no idea what healthier meant, but for the most part it was low fat meat and a lot of instant rice (I was way too lazy to bother with anything else). Some vegetables were a part of my diet back then, but generally only if it were easy... a lot of frozen corn as I recall. Hmmm.... healthier indeed.
I figured that I needed to get things back on track, and get to doing an Ironman.
In 2001, I was a volunteer for the opening ceremonies for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, which was held in Edmonton. What an eye opener that was. Watching the men's marathon in 30+ heat was unbelievable. Those guys were running faster than I could sprint around a track, and over the entire 42.2 km distance. Wow. I figured that I should run a marathon - why not? So, I signed up with the Canadian Diabetes Association, to run the Rome Marathon in the spring of 2002. I figured if I was going to do A marathon, I might as well do one that was memorable.
I started training for my marathon with the Running Room - I joined the team heading to do the Las Vegas marathon at the end of January (the Rome marathon was in March, but this was the closest that I could get). Well, before the end of January, I got on the treadmill at the gym (didn't want to bother going outside one morning) and I turned the incline up on the treadmill and managed to tear my achilles tendon. This ended my training streak, to the point that I didn't run from January until Rome. Silly, I know, but what's a guy to do?
Worth noting, I was advised to run in the pool, but I was too stubborn to bother with that. In hindsight, it would have been the wise, albeit boring, thing to do.
So, March came, and Steve, Jeremy and I packed up our new backpacks and headed to Rome...
With very little training under my belt, I got ready on race day and headed out...
I discovered on course the importance of a few things... I had heard about nutrition, and how important it was over the marathon distance, but I figured somehow that I would be different. Well, either way, I got very hungry out on that course, and eventually I started eating everything that I could find. In fact, I couldn't wait for the next "refreshment station" - where I would be able to eat as much as I would like :) I also discovered the importance of the long runs... which I had skipped out on since January. Everything was SUPER until about 32km, where everything fell apart. I would learn later on that this is where every marathon that I would ever do would fall apart at roughly this distance.
As much as that marathon was a gruelling experience, it was an experience, and I figured - why not do a few more? So I did just that. Later in 2002, I visited Toronto to do their International marathon, and two weeks later I ran in the New York City marathon. Yup - first year, the year that I said I would do one marathon, I did three.
The following year I did Iceland, then I did Belgium a month later. Both were poor performances - Iceland was a combination of many things, including too much alcohol two nights before the race, and not enough nutrition on course. I fell apart at 32km. The following month in Belgium (to the day) I started falling apart much sooner... I do not know exactly why, but I was lucky to finish in just over 4 hours.
In Belgium I met a fellow - Jim Heil, who I was lucky enough to room with. He's a super runner, and super modest. He told me that he wanted to do the marathon in 2:40, but that he had never run a marathon before. I wanted to tell him the odds on this, but I bit my tongue. Jim finished in about 2:48 - and he was very upset with this time, despite running with an injury.
Ah well, I guess we all have our goals ;) Mine has always been to qualify for Boston, but I have never been able to pull it together to do finish under the required 3:10.
In 2004 I did the Lisbon marathon in Portugal, and the Las Vegas marathon with Alli. I wasn't completely trained up to do Las Vegas, and when the wind hit at about 30km, I was ruined. I pulled off a 3:40 marathon, which is as good as I have done to date... which is sad considering that my half time is 1:28.
Well, all those marathons under my belt, I figured that this Ironman thing would be a cinch... I mean, who can't ride a bike?
Well, I discovered that riding 180km is a really long way to ride a bike :)
I did the Ironman Coeur D'Alene in 2005 with insufficient training under my belt, but I did finish it, and in a relatively respectable time (by most standards, not my own :) That marathon was by far and away the most gruelling yet, but I (once again) learned the value of nutrition. The marathon is peanuts compared to a full Ironman - you have to be on your eating and drinking game, or you might as well forget about finishing the thing in a reasonable amount of time.
So, next up is Ironman Australia, with the focus race in Penticton this August.
I still have time to pull it together for an outstanding performance, and I have it in me.
Now, I haven't included all the details in my little story - there are a LOT of much smaller races that I ran in the 2003 and 2004 which have seen my running improve considerably... but I couldn't possible go into all those details :)
Worth noting - my "Beat Beethoven" time has dropped from around an hour to about 30 minutes flat, which is acceptable, but I can do better :) This is my annual "marker race" that tells me how I am doing. I missed it in 2005 because of work, but I will pick it up again in 2006.
This is a little bit of how I arrived where I am at. Part childhood dream, part obsession to push myself to do well at something that I am probably not well equipped to do :) I have left a LOT of detail out of this story, mainly because my memory is poor, and I am bound to screw something up - that, and you probably aren't interested in reading an entire novel!!
Let's see how it ends up!!
The difference between living and being alive...
So, I got to thinking about life while I was out on my five hour ride today (there is a LOT of time for thinking while training ;) I got to thinking about LIVING. What is it all about?
Today it was about the warm sun on my skin, the fresh ocean air blowing in from across the water, and the deep blue water. What an experience it is to be living.
I thought... there are so many people driving past me, windows rolled up, air conditioning on, hurrying about life - and little do they know it, but they aren't living. They are merely plodding along in their constant state of unhappiness.
Some of these people holler at me as they drive past, or yell something out the window (who has any clue what they are saying - but I doubt that it's a compliment ;) They are all in some kind of rush to be somewhere or to do something for no particularly good reason. It's a little bit sad when you think about it.
What is living about to you? Hit me back with some comments (click on that comment button below). Is it dancing naked, or maybe just dancing? How about singing in the shower, or basking in the sun? Let me hear some voices!!
Anyways... not too much to report for today. Long ride went off without a problem, and I managed to hop in for a massage this afternoon. The massage therapist is also a naturopath, so it was fun chatting with her. Without a doubt, we are on the same page when it comes to health and nutrition... which is fun :)
The other day I was reading through the "letters to the editor" in the local paper, and read with interest a note about some "idiot cyclist". Now, there's no doubt that the cyclist she was referring to was an idiot, but then so are seemingly 10% or more of the drivers on the road... if I were to write in every time that I encountered an idiot driver, I wouldn't hardly step away from the computer ;)
What is with society today that the drivers think that they reign supreme? Bicycles came before cars, we don't generally contribute to global warming (OK, we do a little bit, but not even close to a car), we don't take up much space (you can easily fit six bicycles into the space of a normal car) and we don't make any noise. Compare this to what you normally find on the road... spewing, belching, roaring cars and motorbikes. Blech.
I guess I just don't know why motorists can't give us some of the respect that we deserve.
Do me a favour - next time you're driving past a cyclist, give them some room and respect... and remember that there are a lot more idiot drivers out there than there are idiot cyclists.
/rant off
Six days to the start of the Olympics... the countdown continues.
Over and out.
Today it was about the warm sun on my skin, the fresh ocean air blowing in from across the water, and the deep blue water. What an experience it is to be living.
I thought... there are so many people driving past me, windows rolled up, air conditioning on, hurrying about life - and little do they know it, but they aren't living. They are merely plodding along in their constant state of unhappiness.
Some of these people holler at me as they drive past, or yell something out the window (who has any clue what they are saying - but I doubt that it's a compliment ;) They are all in some kind of rush to be somewhere or to do something for no particularly good reason. It's a little bit sad when you think about it.
What is living about to you? Hit me back with some comments (click on that comment button below). Is it dancing naked, or maybe just dancing? How about singing in the shower, or basking in the sun? Let me hear some voices!!
Anyways... not too much to report for today. Long ride went off without a problem, and I managed to hop in for a massage this afternoon. The massage therapist is also a naturopath, so it was fun chatting with her. Without a doubt, we are on the same page when it comes to health and nutrition... which is fun :)
The other day I was reading through the "letters to the editor" in the local paper, and read with interest a note about some "idiot cyclist". Now, there's no doubt that the cyclist she was referring to was an idiot, but then so are seemingly 10% or more of the drivers on the road... if I were to write in every time that I encountered an idiot driver, I wouldn't hardly step away from the computer ;)
What is with society today that the drivers think that they reign supreme? Bicycles came before cars, we don't generally contribute to global warming (OK, we do a little bit, but not even close to a car), we don't take up much space (you can easily fit six bicycles into the space of a normal car) and we don't make any noise. Compare this to what you normally find on the road... spewing, belching, roaring cars and motorbikes. Blech.
I guess I just don't know why motorists can't give us some of the respect that we deserve.
Do me a favour - next time you're driving past a cyclist, give them some room and respect... and remember that there are a lot more idiot drivers out there than there are idiot cyclists.
/rant off
Six days to the start of the Olympics... the countdown continues.
Over and out.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Pumpkin is great!
Now - if I have mentioned this in a previous post, I apologize, but I'm gonna mention it again - the pumpkin here is FANTASTIC. It is as simple as chopping it up, clearing out the gooey insides and putting it into the oven. Comes out an hour later SOOOO tasty. Wow... I didn't know it could be so good. That said - I have not entirely decided what their version of a pumpkin is here. It looks a lot like your regular North American pumpkin, it's orange inside with seeds and stringy gooey stuff inside, just like back hom - but it doesn't seem to taste the same. Or have I just never bothered trying to eat the stuff?
Hmm.... now I'm not sure. Anyone an expert on eating pumpkin back home?
Well - not too much new to report here. Alli is gone for the weekend to hook up with Marilyn MacDonald - a professional triathlete from Calgary, who is here training over the winter (yup, just like us ;) She is going to go do a camp up there with a bunch of other triathletes. Sounds like it's a wee bit warmer up there than here, but check back on Monday for Alli's report :)
That leaves me to my own devices for three whole days. Can I manage?
Only time will tell :)
Only one week to the Olympics... I have an eye on my favourite athlete :) Don't forget to cheer her on - she has devoted her entire life to the sport, and basically these Olympics. I truly admire her, and everything she's done for the sport.
Now, with that said, off to the pool. More to close the day later!!
Hmm.... now I'm not sure. Anyone an expert on eating pumpkin back home?
Well - not too much new to report here. Alli is gone for the weekend to hook up with Marilyn MacDonald - a professional triathlete from Calgary, who is here training over the winter (yup, just like us ;) She is going to go do a camp up there with a bunch of other triathletes. Sounds like it's a wee bit warmer up there than here, but check back on Monday for Alli's report :)
That leaves me to my own devices for three whole days. Can I manage?
Only time will tell :)
Only one week to the Olympics... I have an eye on my favourite athlete :) Don't forget to cheer her on - she has devoted her entire life to the sport, and basically these Olympics. I truly admire her, and everything she's done for the sport.
Now, with that said, off to the pool. More to close the day later!!
Monday, January 30, 2006
My non-raw recipe du jour...
Found this one online, and decided to give it a go. Very yummy - and relatively healthy. I give it 4.5 out of 5 on the after-dinner treat scale :) Stolen without shame from Bob's Red Mill website. If you don't know Bob's Red Mill products, you can find them in your local grocery store - lots of good whole grain products - check it out next time you are shopping!
Barley Custard Pudding
Very much like a custard; somewhat like rice pudding and wheat-free.
Barley Custard Pudding
Very much like a custard; somewhat like rice pudding and wheat-free.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cooked barley grains, raisins, almonds, lemon juice and grated lemon peel in a 2 quart baking dish. Mix together honey, vanila extract, eggs, milk and salt; pour over barley and raisins. Stir to mix well.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until pudding is set.
Note: To cook barley grains, place 1 cup pearl barley and 3 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook 45 minutes or until barley is tender and liquid is absorbed. Place any extra cooked barley in an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for use later.
Yield: 6 servings
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saved by the good samaritan...
Yesterday, we decided to head into the city to check out the Chinese New Year celebrations... but me being me, I left things until a little late, and we had run out of tickets, so I grabbed my commuter bike (pictured below) to run to the store, then to the train station... figuring that I would park my bike at the train station while in the city (have done this in past).
(me with our borrowed commuting bikes that we ride daily)
Anyways... we headed into the city to check out the celebrations and did so in the sweltering heat. I would show you all some pictures, but it seems as though the battery in the camera (along with the spare) were both dead. Oops.
Well, after a long day in the city, we hopped the train to head home. As the train pulled up at the station, I noticed that my bike was no longer locked to the rack, but instead a tiny note remained.
The note read "Your lock was smashed, your bike is across the road." I looked across the road and saw my bike sitting next to the house... we walked over and talked with the woman, who had now come out of her house to meet us (apparently she was watching and waiting for us to return).
It seems some of the local hoodlums (these would be teenagers with considerably more time than brains) had broken my lock, thrown the lock on the roof of the train station, and were very likely going to steal and/or trash my commuting bike. This would have made things quite difficult for me from this point on, as riding my road bike to the pool is not an option (it is very difficult to secure, and very likely to be stolen - it is not an easy bike to miss ;)
Anyhow - she witnessed these kids breaking the lock, and came across the street to confront them. She told them that she had their pictures, and if they touched the bike, she would be going to the police with them (a bit of a stretch of the truth).
We thanked the woman profusely and left... and that is more or less how things ended.
It is good to know that there are good people left in the world... who will stand up for someone else, even though they don't know them.
This ends my feel-good story of the day.
Hope your day is going as well as mine!!
(me with our borrowed commuting bikes that we ride daily)Anyways... we headed into the city to check out the celebrations and did so in the sweltering heat. I would show you all some pictures, but it seems as though the battery in the camera (along with the spare) were both dead. Oops.
Well, after a long day in the city, we hopped the train to head home. As the train pulled up at the station, I noticed that my bike was no longer locked to the rack, but instead a tiny note remained.
The note read "Your lock was smashed, your bike is across the road." I looked across the road and saw my bike sitting next to the house... we walked over and talked with the woman, who had now come out of her house to meet us (apparently she was watching and waiting for us to return).
It seems some of the local hoodlums (these would be teenagers with considerably more time than brains) had broken my lock, thrown the lock on the roof of the train station, and were very likely going to steal and/or trash my commuting bike. This would have made things quite difficult for me from this point on, as riding my road bike to the pool is not an option (it is very difficult to secure, and very likely to be stolen - it is not an easy bike to miss ;)
Anyhow - she witnessed these kids breaking the lock, and came across the street to confront them. She told them that she had their pictures, and if they touched the bike, she would be going to the police with them (a bit of a stretch of the truth).
We thanked the woman profusely and left... and that is more or less how things ended.
It is good to know that there are good people left in the world... who will stand up for someone else, even though they don't know them.
This ends my feel-good story of the day.
Hope your day is going as well as mine!!
Birthday Report
This is a little bit late obviously, but I realized that I forgot to report on my birthday... so you're stuck with this late post :)
Last week I celebrated by 32nd year on the planet. Nothing too crazy went on, in fact it was a pretty relaxed day.
I woke up, and my foot was still sore, so I skipped the long run that was planned for the day... Alli, of course, did not.
When she got back from her long run, she made me my favorite breakfast thing - eggs benedict (sans ham of course). After that, we ate some "mud cake" - not sure if that's a local thing or not, but here is the first place that I have seen it. Regardless, the cake was yummy.
My sister apparently is not into celebrating birthdays and things, so she wouldn't even have a slice of cake... ah well :)
After we finished the food fest, we headed down to the beach where we joined the Bayside Triathlon Club for an "aquathon" - a little race involving some swimming and running (normally this would be a relatively short swim followed by a relatively short run but because the temperature was so high, they decided that the format would be a very short swim followed by a very short run, times three). The water was extremely rough, but I endured it, and managed an "in the middle of the bunch finish". Not exceedingly fast, not embarrassingly slow. After the aquathon was over, we ate some great veggie BBQ and pasta salad, then wandered down the beach... on to home.
We had originally planned to head downtown, as this is where the big Australia Day festivities were taking place in Melbourne, but by the time we were done everything else, home and bed were all this old guy needed... the heat sure can take the life out of you.
So - a pretty relaxed 32nd birthday, but basically the perfect day for me... thanks to Alli who pulled it all off :)
Last week I celebrated by 32nd year on the planet. Nothing too crazy went on, in fact it was a pretty relaxed day.
I woke up, and my foot was still sore, so I skipped the long run that was planned for the day... Alli, of course, did not.
When she got back from her long run, she made me my favorite breakfast thing - eggs benedict (sans ham of course). After that, we ate some "mud cake" - not sure if that's a local thing or not, but here is the first place that I have seen it. Regardless, the cake was yummy.
My sister apparently is not into celebrating birthdays and things, so she wouldn't even have a slice of cake... ah well :)
After we finished the food fest, we headed down to the beach where we joined the Bayside Triathlon Club for an "aquathon" - a little race involving some swimming and running (normally this would be a relatively short swim followed by a relatively short run but because the temperature was so high, they decided that the format would be a very short swim followed by a very short run, times three). The water was extremely rough, but I endured it, and managed an "in the middle of the bunch finish". Not exceedingly fast, not embarrassingly slow. After the aquathon was over, we ate some great veggie BBQ and pasta salad, then wandered down the beach... on to home.
We had originally planned to head downtown, as this is where the big Australia Day festivities were taking place in Melbourne, but by the time we were done everything else, home and bed were all this old guy needed... the heat sure can take the life out of you.
So - a pretty relaxed 32nd birthday, but basically the perfect day for me... thanks to Alli who pulled it all off :)
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Sunday long ride
A glimpse into a long ride...
Some of you are curious as to what makes up a long ride (or any workout for that matter) so here is a little glimpse. The summary is as follows:
Total time: 4:40:54 (should have been five hours - oops)
Heart rate: 107 average / 156 max
Speed: 28.1 km/h avg / 57.3 km/h max
Total distance: 123 km
This ride was cut a bit short, and it was a "very easy ride" per coach Marc. Distance would be considerably longer, if there were no stoplights between here and our destination - well, the destination was a turnaround on the street, hardly a destination, but whatever.
Following this ride, we had a 40 minute easy run off the bike. The run off the bike is just to accustom our bodies to running off the bike. There is a lot to be said about this - when you ride a bike for five or six hours, then get off and try to run... it's not easy (in fact, it doesn't even have to be that long of a ride - just ride your bike for an hour, then get off and try to run - any triathlete will tell you this is one of the harder bits :)
Anyways... that's what our Sunday looks like.
Plus a bunch of eating :)
Hope you enjoyed the "glimpse".
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Raw food... more on eating
Is It Time to Go Raw? - The raw food diet is the latest adventure performance fuel
Raw food is nothing new - quite obviously, raw food came before fire ;) If you think way back, long before our memories, this is how our distant ancestors ate. I always hear the argument about how those ancestors of mine didn't live to be very old, but that's not much an argument (when you think about the fact that they were real prey, didn't have any method of sanitation, and didn't have very comfortable sleeping quarters... just to start the article).
Anyways... I have digressed before I have even truly begun this post :)
The link above is a good one - it mentions a professional triathlete by the name of Brendan Brazier, who is a vegan (no meat or animal products whatsoever). Alli and I had the opportunity to chat with Brendan prior to leaving for Australia. He was at a store near the apartment that sells his Vega supplement - talking about healthy eating, and showing off his latest product, Vega bars (all very impressive - all natural, and very tasty for the record).
Talking to Brendan was an eye opening experience. Not only does he eat vegan, but he very nearly eats a completely raw diet (this is a lot easier done when you are a vegetarian or vegan ;) Nevertheless, he said that about 80% of his diet is comprised of raw foods. Very impressive indeed.
He also went on to explain how our bodies require energy to process food, and his goal is to reduce that requirement as much as possible - he would rather use the energy he consumes to be used in training, rather than in digestion. This is not an entirely new view either, but it isn't very mainstream.
Example - you eat a deep fried drumstick from KFC or you eat a large bowl of salad, with all the fixings (and a low to no fat dressing). Fat and animal meat are two of the hardest things to digest, so considerably more energy is consumed processing this food (never mind the tax on the rest of your digestive system). So, obviously Brendan would choose the salad over the drumstick (that's a pretty safe bet, given the fact that he doesn't eat meat - but it's pretty safe to assume that he doesn't much eat deep fried anything either ;)
Well... that's about all that I had to say for today - Vega is a great product, and if you are interested in a meal replacement, or just interested in becoming a healthier person, you should check it out.
Send the love...
Raw food is nothing new - quite obviously, raw food came before fire ;) If you think way back, long before our memories, this is how our distant ancestors ate. I always hear the argument about how those ancestors of mine didn't live to be very old, but that's not much an argument (when you think about the fact that they were real prey, didn't have any method of sanitation, and didn't have very comfortable sleeping quarters... just to start the article).
Anyways... I have digressed before I have even truly begun this post :)
The link above is a good one - it mentions a professional triathlete by the name of Brendan Brazier, who is a vegan (no meat or animal products whatsoever). Alli and I had the opportunity to chat with Brendan prior to leaving for Australia. He was at a store near the apartment that sells his Vega supplement - talking about healthy eating, and showing off his latest product, Vega bars (all very impressive - all natural, and very tasty for the record).
Talking to Brendan was an eye opening experience. Not only does he eat vegan, but he very nearly eats a completely raw diet (this is a lot easier done when you are a vegetarian or vegan ;) Nevertheless, he said that about 80% of his diet is comprised of raw foods. Very impressive indeed.
He also went on to explain how our bodies require energy to process food, and his goal is to reduce that requirement as much as possible - he would rather use the energy he consumes to be used in training, rather than in digestion. This is not an entirely new view either, but it isn't very mainstream.
Example - you eat a deep fried drumstick from KFC or you eat a large bowl of salad, with all the fixings (and a low to no fat dressing). Fat and animal meat are two of the hardest things to digest, so considerably more energy is consumed processing this food (never mind the tax on the rest of your digestive system). So, obviously Brendan would choose the salad over the drumstick (that's a pretty safe bet, given the fact that he doesn't eat meat - but it's pretty safe to assume that he doesn't much eat deep fried anything either ;)
Well... that's about all that I had to say for today - Vega is a great product, and if you are interested in a meal replacement, or just interested in becoming a healthier person, you should check it out.
Send the love...
The spirit of Ironman
Meet Sarah Reinertsen - she is the type of person that I speak about below.
She exemplies what it is to be an Ironman against all odds.
I take my hat off to her - I will think of her when I am thinking of packing it in early in future. If she can do this thing with one good leg, I certainly can do it with two good legs.
She exemplies what it is to be an Ironman against all odds.
I take my hat off to her - I will think of her when I am thinking of packing it in early in future. If she can do this thing with one good leg, I certainly can do it with two good legs.
Monday, January 23, 2006
My second post in two days...
I know that most of you will not have even read the first post, and will be shocked to have to scroll down to read it, but get used to it. I plan on posting a thought a day here ;)
Well, I do have a good reason for posting a second note in two days - I officially have the day off. If you read my post from yesterday, you will note that my shoulder has been bothering me a little.
This pain caused me to skip my swim yesterday morning, and in consultation with coach Marc, I am to take two days off... so what to do with my time?
Catch up on a few things I suppose :)
I will get some pictures up, and get a little relaxation in... perhaps a little reading too.
What else is exciting?
We have signed up to compete in a half-ironman distance triathlon called the Surf Coast International Triathlon. It should be a blast, especially the day after a long ride (we are allowed to race, but we must keep our training up along with our racing - the race is just a solid speed session in the middle of all the training). That said, we do not expect to post extraordinary results, but we will be racing with what we've got.
The exciting bit (at the moment) is that there are only 39 people registered. It is less than a month away, and I suppose that it could just be that Australians are a bit slow to get things done - but the early bird closes on February 8th, so they had better hurry up ;) I am told that some of the fastest people around will be out to compete in this one, so I expect a bit of a push out there!
In other news... two days off my birthday and Australia Day. This means fireworks for my birthday (this will be a first ;) We plan on joining a friend (and fellow co-worker of my sister's) for an aquathon down on the beach, followed by a bbq. Not sure what else we will do that day, but I'm sure it will be a good one.
Oh yeah - I'm now a blonde. If anyone out there thinks it is intentional (i.e. I paid someone to do it, or did it myself) you've got to be kidding :) Seems that between the chlorine and the sun (what little sun my hair actually sees from beneath the helmet or hat) have turned my hair almost platinum blonde. It looks as though it's intentional... so kindof neat. I think I will leave it grow and fade at least until I get home.
Ok, off to start the reading and relaxing - possibly even posting a few pictures.
Well, I do have a good reason for posting a second note in two days - I officially have the day off. If you read my post from yesterday, you will note that my shoulder has been bothering me a little.
This pain caused me to skip my swim yesterday morning, and in consultation with coach Marc, I am to take two days off... so what to do with my time?
Catch up on a few things I suppose :)
I will get some pictures up, and get a little relaxation in... perhaps a little reading too.
What else is exciting?
We have signed up to compete in a half-ironman distance triathlon called the Surf Coast International Triathlon. It should be a blast, especially the day after a long ride (we are allowed to race, but we must keep our training up along with our racing - the race is just a solid speed session in the middle of all the training). That said, we do not expect to post extraordinary results, but we will be racing with what we've got.
The exciting bit (at the moment) is that there are only 39 people registered. It is less than a month away, and I suppose that it could just be that Australians are a bit slow to get things done - but the early bird closes on February 8th, so they had better hurry up ;) I am told that some of the fastest people around will be out to compete in this one, so I expect a bit of a push out there!
In other news... two days off my birthday and Australia Day. This means fireworks for my birthday (this will be a first ;) We plan on joining a friend (and fellow co-worker of my sister's) for an aquathon down on the beach, followed by a bbq. Not sure what else we will do that day, but I'm sure it will be a good one.
Oh yeah - I'm now a blonde. If anyone out there thinks it is intentional (i.e. I paid someone to do it, or did it myself) you've got to be kidding :) Seems that between the chlorine and the sun (what little sun my hair actually sees from beneath the helmet or hat) have turned my hair almost platinum blonde. It looks as though it's intentional... so kindof neat. I think I will leave it grow and fade at least until I get home.
Ok, off to start the reading and relaxing - possibly even posting a few pictures.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Time for a change...
First, I will apologize for both the delay in writing, and then second for having you come somewhere else for my "rant" - I decided that I needed to use a better tool to keep track of my journey, so I have decided to use this - I think that you will find it a worthwhile change, if for no other reason than it should be easier to read.
I am going to start with today, and work my way backwards in time - it has been a while, so I will bring you all up to speed. Apologies abound for the length of this one... I am going to work at doing this daily, I think you will find your visits more rewarding in future. I promise. For real ;)
Today has been a generally good day, bike training went well, swimming notsomuch... it seems that my left shoulder is unhappy with my current training volume, and so I swam about 500m easy today, and then spent some serious time contemplating in the steam room... the steam room is an excellent place to reflect - if you have never tried it, I highly recommend it.
This morning, I ran into Nick (you can read a bit more on Nick below) at the pool - he saw me before I went in, and I ran into him on the way out - he thought I had endured a solid 1.5 hour swim, but I had to confess that the majority of that time was spent soaking up steam.
Yesterday we went down to the beach in Frankston, to do the local 1.2 km open water swim. That was an experience for me, and for Alli - though quite different for each of us! My swim was supposed to start at 11:10, but was delayed until about 11:20 for some reason (giving me a little extra time to burn myself in the hot Australian sun). Things started out relatively well, but as we got out into the deeper water, things got rough - as rough as I have ever experienced (that said, this is only my third ocean race, so my experience is quite limited actually). We swam out and around a pier (they call it something else, but the name escapes me - nothing docks here, I think it was a jetty). Either way... I thought I might get tossed into/under said jetty as I swam around it. I was busy breathing on my left side - the jetty was on my right - so I didn't actually see how close I got. Nevertheless, I got tossed around like a... I don't have an analogy here, but needless to say, it was a rough go. I had a great deal of difficulty sighting the buoys as I went, but eventually made my way around the final buoy, and began heading into shore. I ended up easily 800m off of the finish line (the waves were pushing me to the far right) so I ended up running a LONG ways on the beach to get in - some smart guy on the beach commented "nice beach run buddy" as I ran past. Well, I made it... I thought I would be in last place, but it seems that some other poor souls got lost at sea (so to speak - we were swimming in the bay, hardly in the middle of the sea ;) Regardless - I finished 29th overall and 8th in my age category (out of 174 and 26 respectively). This was decent, considering how much further I actually swam. My total time for this race was 20:21.16 - 4:16.12 off of the winner. Maybe better next time....
Alli was unfortunate in that someone decided to change the start time for her age category, but failed to properly inform the participants. So - she ended up missing the start of her race, and ended up swimming the entire thing by herself. I am sure that she will mention more about this in her rant, so be sure to take a peek there - she was pretty choked. Regardless, her ACTUAL time would have put her in roughly 6th place - very probably better, had she actually had someone to compete against and/or follow. I will leave the rest for her words :)
The swim was good, though the day got VERY hot (around 43 degrees was forecast, but it's hard to say where it ended up). We went from the beach to the gym, where we did our weights (despite our very tired and sore legs) then went home... arriving back at about 9:00 - just in time for bed :) A long day, but good nevertheless.
The day prior to the swim saw us out on the bike at about 7:00 AM - our new Saturday ride has us riding 6 hours or 180 km (whichever comes first ;). I managed only about 150km in the 6 hours that I had - the thermometor rose to about 44 degrees according to my watch, and I ended up running low on water, and probably hadn't eaten enough in hindsight, so the last hour was pretty difficult. Drinking my Ultima on the bike was a lot more like drinking tea than drinking anything refreshing (I do not care how you slice it, hot tea is NOT refreshing in the 40 degree heat on the bike ;) The run off the bike was the tough part, but we managed through it... it was a good training day despite the heat.
So, I will obviously not walk you through the two weeks prior (I could not remember if I tried) but I will summarize a bit.
Last weekend we managed to make it out to do a sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run). This would not have been much of a challenge on its own, but the day before we went for our long ride (five hours). On the way home I took a wrong turn TWICE and lost Alli - I ended up being on the bike for about 7.5 hours and a total of around 180km. This didn't do much for my race on Sunday... but neither did the fact that the trains do not start early on Sunday mornings, and we were forced to ride about 50km to the start of the race. Nevertheless, the race was fun, and I was able to push myself relatively well, considering my tired legs. The run was OK (about 20 minutes off the bike is not too bad, especially with tired legs). The highlights of the day were the free massage afterwards, and the post-race nutrition - a huge bag of nacho chips. Tasty... no nutrition there, but the thought was good (and of course, I ate them up without hesitation :)
The week prior to the race, I ran into a fellow by the name of Nick Conway - he is an up and coming professional triathlete in the area. Top ranked in Australia, in fact. We got chatting in the gym after he noticed the Edmonton ITU triathlon shirt that I was wearing (he actually confused me for an actual elite athlete - that is truly amazing ;) Nick was pretty cool - he took us out to ride with a local group, and we got to chat with him a little on that ride. Learned a little bit about what it is like to be a professional triathlete. Doesn't sound easy (if you were thinking that it might be). We plan on taking Nick out for some grub one night, just to learn a little more about how he got into the sport, and what his experiences have been thus far. He will be visiting Canada this year to compete in the Duathlon World Championships, which are to be held in Cornerbrook Newfoundland. He asked me today if I knew the area... unfortunately I am not much the expert, but I will work on finding him someone familiar with the area - anyone know any newfies from around Cornerbrook? Drop me a line if you do.
Ok - that's the update, now some time for nonsensical ramblings... ready?
Nonsensical Ramblings for Monday, January 23 :)
Today I was thinking about a question that I get asked with relative frequency - why do you do this? That's a good question, one with a complicated answer. Since I was young, and witnessed an Ironman on television, I thought "now there is something that I want to do". As with all things, I figured once would be enough, but as it turns out, once was not enough. I decided that I actually wanted to do this, and do it well, which requires more focus than just "finishing" - not that there is any shame in "just finishing" an Ironman. Let me tell you - it's a lot of training just to get to the start line, nevermind the finish line. Anyone who has done it knows... and most who have done it once, will do it again. It's truly an experience.
So, the experience is one reason - then there is the test of my personal limits. That is a big one. I want to see how far I can take this thing - I know I can do much better than I did in 2005, and if I put in a solid year (or near year) of training, we know that different results will follow. So, why not? I am always up for a challenge, and this seems a reasonable challenge.
Before I left, a friend of mine mentioned that I am selfish. He wasn't specific on why (and I didn't have a good opportunity to ask) and so I am left to guess. Ironman is mostly a one man (or woman) event. You are out there alone on raceday - more or less. Most races will see well beyond 1,000 participants, but in the end, you are on your own. What you need you have to carry, or have waiting for you at one of the two pickup spots on the course. It's a long day - 8.5 hours if you are a professional, or up to 16 hours if you are not. That is a very long time. The journey is not easy, and it can be lonely at times, but then the Ironman becomes a metaphor for life, as this is how life often is. Challenging, lonely - you and your demons. Just compressed. So the question becomes - is this a selfish journey? Largely, I suppose it is. It's hard to say that I am doing this to somehow better the world around me, but I would like to think that by taking a hack at this, I am doing something to enhance the lives of those around me.
What am I talking about?
I have been told more than once that I am an inspiration. This, in and of itself, is inspiring. Life is tough - and there is a lot of negative influence in our world, so if I can have a positive influence, if even just a little bit, then I would like to think that I am doing this for a reason other than just to show people "that I can". Many people have inspired me in life, far too many to appreciate or even begin to acknowledge here, but some of you know who you are, others do not. Some of the people that have had a large influence on me and my life may well be subconcious to me - I couldn't even say... but they have had an impact, and I think that the web that we weave as we waddle on through life is critical. Everyone that touches your life has the potential to affect it, and I would like to touch people positively. This is a bit of why I do this.
Another reason that I can think of, and frequently think of is ridiculously simple. Because I can. Yup, I have two legs, I can run bike and swim, so why not? There are thousands of others out there that look at something like the Ironman who say "I wish I could do that" but cannot. This is NOT the same as the people who say "I wish I could, but my knees would never tolerate it" - these are the people that might say, rather "I wish I could do this, if only I had legs" or whatever physical limitation they might have... I watched a man get out of his wheelchair and into the pool today. He obviously has no use of his legs, but he makes an effort - I see him often. I don't doubt that he has a strong desire to do more than he does, but he is physically limited in what he can do. Others might not have the same obvious physical limitations, but they still cannot get out there to do what I am doing (cancer, arthritis, MS, and the list goes on and on). Either way - I like to think that I am using the ability that I have been given, perhaps not to enhance their lives, but knowing that I can do this, and am using my ability and desire to be a happy healthy guy.
Ok - this has gone on quite long enough, but perhaps it gives you a little insight into why I am doing this thing. Ironman is first on a list of many things to come - the destination this time is Ironman, and that destination may change, but the theme will not!
Until my next post... ciao.
I am going to start with today, and work my way backwards in time - it has been a while, so I will bring you all up to speed. Apologies abound for the length of this one... I am going to work at doing this daily, I think you will find your visits more rewarding in future. I promise. For real ;)
Today has been a generally good day, bike training went well, swimming notsomuch... it seems that my left shoulder is unhappy with my current training volume, and so I swam about 500m easy today, and then spent some serious time contemplating in the steam room... the steam room is an excellent place to reflect - if you have never tried it, I highly recommend it.
This morning, I ran into Nick (you can read a bit more on Nick below) at the pool - he saw me before I went in, and I ran into him on the way out - he thought I had endured a solid 1.5 hour swim, but I had to confess that the majority of that time was spent soaking up steam.
Yesterday we went down to the beach in Frankston, to do the local 1.2 km open water swim. That was an experience for me, and for Alli - though quite different for each of us! My swim was supposed to start at 11:10, but was delayed until about 11:20 for some reason (giving me a little extra time to burn myself in the hot Australian sun). Things started out relatively well, but as we got out into the deeper water, things got rough - as rough as I have ever experienced (that said, this is only my third ocean race, so my experience is quite limited actually). We swam out and around a pier (they call it something else, but the name escapes me - nothing docks here, I think it was a jetty). Either way... I thought I might get tossed into/under said jetty as I swam around it. I was busy breathing on my left side - the jetty was on my right - so I didn't actually see how close I got. Nevertheless, I got tossed around like a... I don't have an analogy here, but needless to say, it was a rough go. I had a great deal of difficulty sighting the buoys as I went, but eventually made my way around the final buoy, and began heading into shore. I ended up easily 800m off of the finish line (the waves were pushing me to the far right) so I ended up running a LONG ways on the beach to get in - some smart guy on the beach commented "nice beach run buddy" as I ran past. Well, I made it... I thought I would be in last place, but it seems that some other poor souls got lost at sea (so to speak - we were swimming in the bay, hardly in the middle of the sea ;) Regardless - I finished 29th overall and 8th in my age category (out of 174 and 26 respectively). This was decent, considering how much further I actually swam. My total time for this race was 20:21.16 - 4:16.12 off of the winner. Maybe better next time....
Alli was unfortunate in that someone decided to change the start time for her age category, but failed to properly inform the participants. So - she ended up missing the start of her race, and ended up swimming the entire thing by herself. I am sure that she will mention more about this in her rant, so be sure to take a peek there - she was pretty choked. Regardless, her ACTUAL time would have put her in roughly 6th place - very probably better, had she actually had someone to compete against and/or follow. I will leave the rest for her words :)
The swim was good, though the day got VERY hot (around 43 degrees was forecast, but it's hard to say where it ended up). We went from the beach to the gym, where we did our weights (despite our very tired and sore legs) then went home... arriving back at about 9:00 - just in time for bed :) A long day, but good nevertheless.
The day prior to the swim saw us out on the bike at about 7:00 AM - our new Saturday ride has us riding 6 hours or 180 km (whichever comes first ;). I managed only about 150km in the 6 hours that I had - the thermometor rose to about 44 degrees according to my watch, and I ended up running low on water, and probably hadn't eaten enough in hindsight, so the last hour was pretty difficult. Drinking my Ultima on the bike was a lot more like drinking tea than drinking anything refreshing (I do not care how you slice it, hot tea is NOT refreshing in the 40 degree heat on the bike ;) The run off the bike was the tough part, but we managed through it... it was a good training day despite the heat.
So, I will obviously not walk you through the two weeks prior (I could not remember if I tried) but I will summarize a bit.
Last weekend we managed to make it out to do a sprint triathlon (750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run). This would not have been much of a challenge on its own, but the day before we went for our long ride (five hours). On the way home I took a wrong turn TWICE and lost Alli - I ended up being on the bike for about 7.5 hours and a total of around 180km. This didn't do much for my race on Sunday... but neither did the fact that the trains do not start early on Sunday mornings, and we were forced to ride about 50km to the start of the race. Nevertheless, the race was fun, and I was able to push myself relatively well, considering my tired legs. The run was OK (about 20 minutes off the bike is not too bad, especially with tired legs). The highlights of the day were the free massage afterwards, and the post-race nutrition - a huge bag of nacho chips. Tasty... no nutrition there, but the thought was good (and of course, I ate them up without hesitation :)
The week prior to the race, I ran into a fellow by the name of Nick Conway - he is an up and coming professional triathlete in the area. Top ranked in Australia, in fact. We got chatting in the gym after he noticed the Edmonton ITU triathlon shirt that I was wearing (he actually confused me for an actual elite athlete - that is truly amazing ;) Nick was pretty cool - he took us out to ride with a local group, and we got to chat with him a little on that ride. Learned a little bit about what it is like to be a professional triathlete. Doesn't sound easy (if you were thinking that it might be). We plan on taking Nick out for some grub one night, just to learn a little more about how he got into the sport, and what his experiences have been thus far. He will be visiting Canada this year to compete in the Duathlon World Championships, which are to be held in Cornerbrook Newfoundland. He asked me today if I knew the area... unfortunately I am not much the expert, but I will work on finding him someone familiar with the area - anyone know any newfies from around Cornerbrook? Drop me a line if you do.
Ok - that's the update, now some time for nonsensical ramblings... ready?
Nonsensical Ramblings for Monday, January 23 :)
Today I was thinking about a question that I get asked with relative frequency - why do you do this? That's a good question, one with a complicated answer. Since I was young, and witnessed an Ironman on television, I thought "now there is something that I want to do". As with all things, I figured once would be enough, but as it turns out, once was not enough. I decided that I actually wanted to do this, and do it well, which requires more focus than just "finishing" - not that there is any shame in "just finishing" an Ironman. Let me tell you - it's a lot of training just to get to the start line, nevermind the finish line. Anyone who has done it knows... and most who have done it once, will do it again. It's truly an experience.
So, the experience is one reason - then there is the test of my personal limits. That is a big one. I want to see how far I can take this thing - I know I can do much better than I did in 2005, and if I put in a solid year (or near year) of training, we know that different results will follow. So, why not? I am always up for a challenge, and this seems a reasonable challenge.
Before I left, a friend of mine mentioned that I am selfish. He wasn't specific on why (and I didn't have a good opportunity to ask) and so I am left to guess. Ironman is mostly a one man (or woman) event. You are out there alone on raceday - more or less. Most races will see well beyond 1,000 participants, but in the end, you are on your own. What you need you have to carry, or have waiting for you at one of the two pickup spots on the course. It's a long day - 8.5 hours if you are a professional, or up to 16 hours if you are not. That is a very long time. The journey is not easy, and it can be lonely at times, but then the Ironman becomes a metaphor for life, as this is how life often is. Challenging, lonely - you and your demons. Just compressed. So the question becomes - is this a selfish journey? Largely, I suppose it is. It's hard to say that I am doing this to somehow better the world around me, but I would like to think that by taking a hack at this, I am doing something to enhance the lives of those around me.
What am I talking about?
I have been told more than once that I am an inspiration. This, in and of itself, is inspiring. Life is tough - and there is a lot of negative influence in our world, so if I can have a positive influence, if even just a little bit, then I would like to think that I am doing this for a reason other than just to show people "that I can". Many people have inspired me in life, far too many to appreciate or even begin to acknowledge here, but some of you know who you are, others do not. Some of the people that have had a large influence on me and my life may well be subconcious to me - I couldn't even say... but they have had an impact, and I think that the web that we weave as we waddle on through life is critical. Everyone that touches your life has the potential to affect it, and I would like to touch people positively. This is a bit of why I do this.
Another reason that I can think of, and frequently think of is ridiculously simple. Because I can. Yup, I have two legs, I can run bike and swim, so why not? There are thousands of others out there that look at something like the Ironman who say "I wish I could do that" but cannot. This is NOT the same as the people who say "I wish I could, but my knees would never tolerate it" - these are the people that might say, rather "I wish I could do this, if only I had legs" or whatever physical limitation they might have... I watched a man get out of his wheelchair and into the pool today. He obviously has no use of his legs, but he makes an effort - I see him often. I don't doubt that he has a strong desire to do more than he does, but he is physically limited in what he can do. Others might not have the same obvious physical limitations, but they still cannot get out there to do what I am doing (cancer, arthritis, MS, and the list goes on and on). Either way - I like to think that I am using the ability that I have been given, perhaps not to enhance their lives, but knowing that I can do this, and am using my ability and desire to be a happy healthy guy.
Ok - this has gone on quite long enough, but perhaps it gives you a little insight into why I am doing this thing. Ironman is first on a list of many things to come - the destination this time is Ironman, and that destination may change, but the theme will not!
Until my next post... ciao.
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