On Friday I swam 4000m and managed to break 1:20 for the first time. I actually swam the last two 1000m’s in just under 20mins. My goggles are still leaking a bit, even thought I’ve tightened them up. I seem to end up with a couple of drops in the left side and since I breath on that side every time I turn to breath, its like someone flicks water in my eye, sort of a Chinese water torture I guess. All part of the fun. I had a message from the swim director at the Y telling me that I’ve won a pair of movie tickets! Yahoo, will have to wait until after the IM though.
Off on Saturday for another 180k bike ride. I took the same route up to Zepher, over to Udora and then to Port Bolster, Beaverton and up to Brechin. All went well with the exception of my front derailleur cable which frayed and decide to break about halfway home. I dropped the chain onto the small ring and rode home that way, it was a good chance for a long distance spin drill since I rode at 90rpm plus for most of then way home.
After arriving home I made a quick HR monitor change, drank a coke and headed off for a 12k run. The run went well and I was able to keep a 5:30/km pace. All in all, I’m happy with that.
It’s been hot and humid this week and I did a 10k run on Tuesday and a 15k run yesterday trying to get acclimatized to the heat. Both runs went well, with the exception of yesterday’s. The run was good, but I’ve now aggravated my left Achilles tendon. The right seems fine, it was sore after Muskoka, but ok now. I think that I may have to take a week or two break from running. That’s ok, we leave for PEI soon and I can do lot’s of biking in the hills and that shouldn’t bother it too much.
The past weekend saw the completion of three IM events, France, Switzerland, and Coeur D’Alene (on of the seven USA Ironman events). Here’s a clip of the very windy swim start in CDA.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Aches & Pains
Since Sunday's race I’ve had a bit of pain in my right Achilles tendon. Umm…not sure why? It was a tough bike ride and I think that it may have gotten a bit strained. Decided to run on it on Tuesday night and see how it was, definitely wasn’t any better and probably shouldn’t have run on it. Will rest it now until at least Sunday. It was even a bit sore after last nights 40k ride. Rest of the week is as follows, Friday 4000m swim, Saturday 180k ride and 10-12 k run, Sunday 22-25k run. I hope it’s hot. People commented on slowtwitch.com that it was 95 degrees on the IM Louisville bike course last weekend. Can’t wait to see what it’s like in August with the humidity!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Muskoka Long Course Tri
Tim Hardie, before the bike!!
What a great weekend. Beautiful weather, wonderful hospitality and a great weekend of tri and du. Tim Hardie did the long course duathlon, congrats to him on completing a very tough course, not to mention that it was also his first multi-sport event! Way to do Dude!
The swim was good, water temperature was fine. The new 2XU wetsuit was a pleasure to swim in, I only hope is that IM Louisville will be a wetsuit legal swim…please!! With the wave start, I started at about 8:25am and Tim did a 3k run before heading off on to the bike course, which gave him about a 25min head start. I tried to catch him, but never saw him on the course. The course was tough, a couple of climbs were in the 15% plus grade, that’s real steep and it just seemed like hill after hill. I was glad that I had changed to a compact crank and changed the gears on both bikes. It was amazing to see some people absolutely struggling up some of those hills on a 21 gear. On some of the descents I was well over 60kph. There were also a lot of turns, on one fast descent, there was a right angle turn at the bottom of the hill. We had driven the course the night before and I knew it was there. When I came down that hill I was squeezing my brakes for all they were worth and for a few seconds I didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. It was one of those times that time seems to go into slow motion. I was thinking what an idiot you are, Tim had even pointed it out the night before and here I was squeezing the life out of my brakes and wondering where to impact the OPP cruiser to minimize the damage! Thankfully, I just managed to make the corner, I’m sure the people working the corner must have been shaking their heads in amazement and amusement when I went through there.
Tim and I met up at the transition area and we headed out for the run. I told him another 5k on the bike and I would have caught him! I stopped for a quick bathroom break and Tim ran ahead. I caught up at about the 3k mark and he was having some leg cramping issues, yeah no kidding, after that bike ride, it was no wonder! I went ahead and kept running. One of my goals was to have a good run, meaning to keep running all the way. It went well and I managed to keep it going. Saw Tim at the turn around and he looked like he was running well and had put the cramps behind him. Also tried the Coke that they were serving at the aid stations, thought it would be good to try it a few times before the IM.
Finished in 3:58, Tim about 20 mins back. Thanks again to Tim for letting us bunk at his Mom’s house on the Lake. Absolutely beautiful.
What a great weekend. Beautiful weather, wonderful hospitality and a great weekend of tri and du. Tim Hardie did the long course duathlon, congrats to him on completing a very tough course, not to mention that it was also his first multi-sport event! Way to do Dude!
The swim was good, water temperature was fine. The new 2XU wetsuit was a pleasure to swim in, I only hope is that IM Louisville will be a wetsuit legal swim…please!! With the wave start, I started at about 8:25am and Tim did a 3k run before heading off on to the bike course, which gave him about a 25min head start. I tried to catch him, but never saw him on the course. The course was tough, a couple of climbs were in the 15% plus grade, that’s real steep and it just seemed like hill after hill. I was glad that I had changed to a compact crank and changed the gears on both bikes. It was amazing to see some people absolutely struggling up some of those hills on a 21 gear. On some of the descents I was well over 60kph. There were also a lot of turns, on one fast descent, there was a right angle turn at the bottom of the hill. We had driven the course the night before and I knew it was there. When I came down that hill I was squeezing my brakes for all they were worth and for a few seconds I didn’t seem to be slowing down at all. It was one of those times that time seems to go into slow motion. I was thinking what an idiot you are, Tim had even pointed it out the night before and here I was squeezing the life out of my brakes and wondering where to impact the OPP cruiser to minimize the damage! Thankfully, I just managed to make the corner, I’m sure the people working the corner must have been shaking their heads in amazement and amusement when I went through there.
Tim and I met up at the transition area and we headed out for the run. I told him another 5k on the bike and I would have caught him! I stopped for a quick bathroom break and Tim ran ahead. I caught up at about the 3k mark and he was having some leg cramping issues, yeah no kidding, after that bike ride, it was no wonder! I went ahead and kept running. One of my goals was to have a good run, meaning to keep running all the way. It went well and I managed to keep it going. Saw Tim at the turn around and he looked like he was running well and had put the cramps behind him. Also tried the Coke that they were serving at the aid stations, thought it would be good to try it a few times before the IM.
Finished in 3:58, Tim about 20 mins back. Thanks again to Tim for letting us bunk at his Mom’s house on the Lake. Absolutely beautiful.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Muskoka Bound!
I have decided to do the Muskoka Long Course Triathlon on Sunday. It’s a good opportunity to test my fitness and try out the new wetsuit. After doing a 180k ride, 7 k run last weekend, I didn’t want to do another one this soon.
The Muskoka Tri is a 2k swim, 55k bike, 15k run. The Bike is notoriously hilly, with a couple of climbs in the 15% grade. That’s steep. Also have talked my partner/triathlete-to-be, Tim into doing the duathlon, 3krun, 55k bike, 15k run.
Tim’s been out on the bike a few times and did a 50k ride last weekend. I talked him into signing up and then asked him if he was crazy!! He’ll do fine, we put the hill climbing gears on the bikes this week and he’s a great runner. Weather should be good, hopefully not too hot and humid. The event is sold out and will be televised later this summer on TSN.
The Muskoka Tri is a 2k swim, 55k bike, 15k run. The Bike is notoriously hilly, with a couple of climbs in the 15% grade. That’s steep. Also have talked my partner/triathlete-to-be, Tim into doing the duathlon, 3krun, 55k bike, 15k run.
Tim’s been out on the bike a few times and did a 50k ride last weekend. I talked him into signing up and then asked him if he was crazy!! He’ll do fine, we put the hill climbing gears on the bikes this week and he’s a great runner. Weather should be good, hopefully not too hot and humid. The event is sold out and will be televised later this summer on TSN.
Monday, June 11, 2007
I’m a Bad Blogger, but I am training hard!!
Hey folks, got to admit it, I’m a bad blogger. Everyday I think about posting to the blog, but just trying to find the time has been real difficult. Anyway, I’ve dedicated myself to doing a better job and apologies to those that have been checking and not seeing anything new. The good news is that I’ve been training hard!
Last week I took it easy during the week and only spent a few hours on the bike and in the pool. It was a bit of a break from the previous 3 week training cycle. During that cycle I completed 29,000 meters of swimming, 650 k of cycling and 156 k of running. Last weekend’s long brick workout was a 160k ride/7 k run and I wasn’t real happy with the way the run went. It was hot and humid and I just ran out of gas on the run, managed to cover just 7km in a little over 40 minutes, a pace of over 6:00 min/km, not where I’d like to be!
The past weekend was a different and better story. I completed a long ride of 180km, the farthest I’ve ever ridden. I rode up to Beaverton and then had planned to go onto to Brechin but I took a different route and ended up half way to Fenlon Falls. The ride was good, averaged 27km, not including Gatorade stops. Did a run of 8km right after and managed a much better pace of 5:23/km. Sunday was another good day, did a 20km run on tired legs! More later.
Last week I took it easy during the week and only spent a few hours on the bike and in the pool. It was a bit of a break from the previous 3 week training cycle. During that cycle I completed 29,000 meters of swimming, 650 k of cycling and 156 k of running. Last weekend’s long brick workout was a 160k ride/7 k run and I wasn’t real happy with the way the run went. It was hot and humid and I just ran out of gas on the run, managed to cover just 7km in a little over 40 minutes, a pace of over 6:00 min/km, not where I’d like to be!
The past weekend was a different and better story. I completed a long ride of 180km, the farthest I’ve ever ridden. I rode up to Beaverton and then had planned to go onto to Brechin but I took a different route and ended up half way to Fenlon Falls. The ride was good, averaged 27km, not including Gatorade stops. Did a run of 8km right after and managed a much better pace of 5:23/km. Sunday was another good day, did a 20km run on tired legs! More later.
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