As I write this posting we are 8 days and 15 hours and change away from the start of the 2010 Ironman USA in Lake Placid and I'm starting to get excited about it. They have released the Athletes Guide (do’s and don’ts) and the long awaited list of bib numbers. I’m not sure why everyone waits so intently for the race numbers to be issued. I guess at that point you have confirmed your entry and there’s no turning back! My number is 2016.
I’m resting and taking it very easy. I went for a 5 mile run in the heat yesterday and I purposely didn’t text Nick to see if he and Justin were riding last night. I knew they probably would be, but I know that if I went, I’d want to ride hard and that’s what I’m trying to not do. They did pass by on the way home, so Justin could pick up a few odds and ends for his bike. They are both training for Ironman 70.3 Miami in September and are well into their training schedules.
Tomorrow I'll go for a 2hr bike ride and follow up with a 3omin run, just enough to keep the neuro muscular pathways open and firing. Sunday morning swim, maybe 2000m and later a 1hr run. Otherwise I'll be tuning up the bike and gathering up all the assorted gear, clothing and all the other paraphernalia required for an Ironman!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
PEI, Family, Fun, Food & Hills!
Canada's Newest Ironman Trains in PEI!
We are back from our vacation to the Island and we had an abundance of each! What a great time we all had being together and being able to spend some time some time with family and friends.
I was able to fit in my last long ride, a 180k ride basically around the centre of the Island. Scott, a native Islander and Ironman, (Lake Placid 11:39) had scoped out the route for me and he’s ridden it many times I’m sure. He mentioned that there were some hills that are very close in nature to the hills at Lake Placid, he was right! One thing about PEI, there’s always another hill just up ahead, so it was great training. Scott and I did a great 90k ride together just before we left and he gave me a firsthand demonstration of how he is able to ride those hills like they aren’t even there! It was a great ride and a lot of fun.
So, we are getting very close to Lake Placid, the athlete’s guide was published yesterday and we expect the race numbers to be issued any day now. Over the weekend I trained hard. Saturday was a 2500m swim, 125k bike followed by a 12k run, Sunday was a 3000m swim, 75k bike (with Nick and Justin) and a 8k run. For now the hardest training for Lake Placid is over and the taper starts. I’ll gradually reduce training volume over the next 10 days to rest up and get ready for the race on July 25.
We are back from our vacation to the Island and we had an abundance of each! What a great time we all had being together and being able to spend some time some time with family and friends.
I was able to fit in my last long ride, a 180k ride basically around the centre of the Island. Scott, a native Islander and Ironman, (Lake Placid 11:39) had scoped out the route for me and he’s ridden it many times I’m sure. He mentioned that there were some hills that are very close in nature to the hills at Lake Placid, he was right! One thing about PEI, there’s always another hill just up ahead, so it was great training. Scott and I did a great 90k ride together just before we left and he gave me a firsthand demonstration of how he is able to ride those hills like they aren’t even there! It was a great ride and a lot of fun.
So, we are getting very close to Lake Placid, the athlete’s guide was published yesterday and we expect the race numbers to be issued any day now. Over the weekend I trained hard. Saturday was a 2500m swim, 125k bike followed by a 12k run, Sunday was a 3000m swim, 75k bike (with Nick and Justin) and a 8k run. For now the hardest training for Lake Placid is over and the taper starts. I’ll gradually reduce training volume over the next 10 days to rest up and get ready for the race on July 25.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Small World in Lake Placid, Continued!
So yesterday I posted with the title, Small World in Lake Placid and I went on about the training camp and forgot to tell you about meeting Armen. As part of the Fireman Ironman Camp, we all met at the High Peaks Cycle Shop in Lake Placid at 7am on Sat morning. Tom Delaney the owner of the shop gave us a talk on emergency bike repairs and how to deal with different parts of the bike course, especially how to ride down the big decent which terrifies some people!
As we got up to leave for our ride, I notice a really familiar face in the crowd, I couldn’t place him for a minute, but then it hit me, this guy swims at the Stouffville pool! We introduced ourselves and had a good laugh over it. And even more of a coincidence, Armen is raising money for MS, in honour of his uncle who had MS and passed away in 2008. Unbelievable, two guys doing the same Ironman, raising money for the same cause, swimming at the same pool and we meet up in a bike shop 500km away!
Of course we also saw Cathy and Christiane in Lake Placid and out on the bike course. We all had dinner together on Friday night and made a trip to the Ben & Jerry’s, a very important training nutrition regime. If I can just get either Paul or Cathy to enter the race next year, we could make it an annual training weekend and start our own Lake Placid camp to prepare for the race.
As we got up to leave for our ride, I notice a really familiar face in the crowd, I couldn’t place him for a minute, but then it hit me, this guy swims at the Stouffville pool! We introduced ourselves and had a good laugh over it. And even more of a coincidence, Armen is raising money for MS, in honour of his uncle who had MS and passed away in 2008. Unbelievable, two guys doing the same Ironman, raising money for the same cause, swimming at the same pool and we meet up in a bike shop 500km away!
Of course we also saw Cathy and Christiane in Lake Placid and out on the bike course. We all had dinner together on Friday night and made a trip to the Ben & Jerry’s, a very important training nutrition regime. If I can just get either Paul or Cathy to enter the race next year, we could make it an annual training weekend and start our own Lake Placid camp to prepare for the race.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Small World in Lake Placid
So we went down to Lake Placid this weekend to get some 'on the course' training in. It was an absolutely beautiful weekend, hot and sunny, just the way I like it and not the norm in Lake Placid so we really made the best of it. Tim and I participated in the Fireman Ironman Training Camp, a camp founded and operated by a group of Long Island New York Firefighters, including Matt Long. If you've never heard of Matt Long or his story, you should take the time, he's an amazing guy with a story that you won't believe. http://www.iwillfoundation.com/mattstory.html
On Saturday we completed two 90k loops of the bike course. As is typical for many in Lake Placid, the first loop went great. I pushed hard and was trying to finish it in under 3:00hrs, I was 6mins over and just destroyed my legs in the process. The second loop seemed like someone had turned up the gravity and getting up and over all those hills and dealing with the headwinds was something else. It was hot and humid and I was done. The route took us right by our hotel at the point where we turn back toward Lake Placid for the final 20km and the toughest part of the course. I was really close to packing it in and pulling into the parking lot of the hotel and calling it a day. Just before the hotel, the Fireman had set up and aid station for us and I pulled in when I saw Tim there.
I really think that if I had not seen Tim there and taken a break for a few minutes to re-group, I might have ended my day a little further up the highway. Tim joked that he was having the same thoughts and what if we both decide to pack it in? We had parked Tim's van back in LP at the start and we'd have to go back at some point for it!
At then end of the bike, I have to admit, I didn't run, I was out of gas. I think Tim had more in him and could have gone, but he stayed back too. Sunday morning the whole did a 2 loop swim of 4km with a mass start that was intended to give the first timers an idea of what the actual race start will be like. Having been through it last year, I can tell you that it will be much worse with 2800 people instead of 120!
On Saturday we completed two 90k loops of the bike course. As is typical for many in Lake Placid, the first loop went great. I pushed hard and was trying to finish it in under 3:00hrs, I was 6mins over and just destroyed my legs in the process. The second loop seemed like someone had turned up the gravity and getting up and over all those hills and dealing with the headwinds was something else. It was hot and humid and I was done. The route took us right by our hotel at the point where we turn back toward Lake Placid for the final 20km and the toughest part of the course. I was really close to packing it in and pulling into the parking lot of the hotel and calling it a day. Just before the hotel, the Fireman had set up and aid station for us and I pulled in when I saw Tim there.
I really think that if I had not seen Tim there and taken a break for a few minutes to re-group, I might have ended my day a little further up the highway. Tim joked that he was having the same thoughts and what if we both decide to pack it in? We had parked Tim's van back in LP at the start and we'd have to go back at some point for it!
At then end of the bike, I have to admit, I didn't run, I was out of gas. I think Tim had more in him and could have gone, but he stayed back too. Sunday morning the whole did a 2 loop swim of 4km with a mass start that was intended to give the first timers an idea of what the actual race start will be like. Having been through it last year, I can tell you that it will be much worse with 2800 people instead of 120!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Pre-empting MS, Identifying MS a decade before symptoms appear
A breakthrough finding from Israel may lead to earlier diagnosis, more effective intervention, and perhaps even a cure for the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis.
Research from Israel may pave the way for a diagnosis before symptoms appear and debilitation sets in. Earlier diagnosis of the disease will allow earlier medical intervention - and perhaps even lead to a cure.
Prof. Anat Achiron of Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Medicine and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Sheba Medical Center has uncovered a new way of detecting MS biomarkers in the blood. MS attacks the central nervous system and eventually renders most patients disabled. The National MS Society estimates that there are currently about 400,000 cases in the US. In Israel there are an estimated 5,000 cases, according to the Israel Multiple Sclerosis Society.
"We are not yet able to treat people with MS to prevent the onset of the disease but knowledge is power," Achiron says. "Every time we meet a new patient exhibiting symptoms of MS, we must ask ourselves how long this has been going on. We can diagnose MS by brain MRI, but we've never been able to know how 'fresh' the disease is," she says.
Identifying MS a decade before symptoms appear
If doctors can predict the onset of MS early enough, intervention therapies using drugs such as Copaxone) or beta-interferon drugs that stave off MS symptoms might be used.
Examining blood samples of 20 19-year-old Israelis who were inducted into the army as healthy soldiers, and the nine of them who later developed MS, Achiron and her team at Sheba were able to use a "high throughput analysis" with more than 12,000 gene transcripts expressions. The screening compared similarities and differences in the blood of those who developed MS and those who did not, eventually establishing biological markers.
These early genetic markers may now be used to test for MS up to nine years before healthy young adults start developing symptoms. And because MS is thought to have a genetic component and a tendency to be found in siblings, Achiron foresees that the biomarkers will be used as a tool for brothers and sisters of patients.
Why test in advance of a cure? "The idea is that we'll know more about the genetics of MS through this new discovery, with the hope that early intervention therapies may be more effective, and help advance medicine toward a cure," responds Achiron. This new insight into who will develop MS in the future is a first step on the path of finding a cure to the disease.
Research from Israel may pave the way for a diagnosis before symptoms appear and debilitation sets in. Earlier diagnosis of the disease will allow earlier medical intervention - and perhaps even lead to a cure.
Prof. Anat Achiron of Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Medicine and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Sheba Medical Center has uncovered a new way of detecting MS biomarkers in the blood. MS attacks the central nervous system and eventually renders most patients disabled. The National MS Society estimates that there are currently about 400,000 cases in the US. In Israel there are an estimated 5,000 cases, according to the Israel Multiple Sclerosis Society.
"We are not yet able to treat people with MS to prevent the onset of the disease but knowledge is power," Achiron says. "Every time we meet a new patient exhibiting symptoms of MS, we must ask ourselves how long this has been going on. We can diagnose MS by brain MRI, but we've never been able to know how 'fresh' the disease is," she says.
Identifying MS a decade before symptoms appear
If doctors can predict the onset of MS early enough, intervention therapies using drugs such as Copaxone) or beta-interferon drugs that stave off MS symptoms might be used.
Examining blood samples of 20 19-year-old Israelis who were inducted into the army as healthy soldiers, and the nine of them who later developed MS, Achiron and her team at Sheba were able to use a "high throughput analysis" with more than 12,000 gene transcripts expressions. The screening compared similarities and differences in the blood of those who developed MS and those who did not, eventually establishing biological markers.
These early genetic markers may now be used to test for MS up to nine years before healthy young adults start developing symptoms. And because MS is thought to have a genetic component and a tendency to be found in siblings, Achiron foresees that the biomarkers will be used as a tool for brothers and sisters of patients.
Why test in advance of a cure? "The idea is that we'll know more about the genetics of MS through this new discovery, with the hope that early intervention therapies may be more effective, and help advance medicine toward a cure," responds Achiron. This new insight into who will develop MS in the future is a first step on the path of finding a cure to the disease.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Weather and Wind
Another ride last night and another ride in the wind. Riding along with Nick, I asked him if he ever though we'd actually ever ride this year without a strong headwind? At least most of our rides are out and back and we catch the tailwind on the way back home.
Here's a good one about Delta Airlines destroying an athlete's bike.
Double click on it to open up in YouTube...
Here's a good one about Delta Airlines destroying an athlete's bike.
Double click on it to open up in YouTube...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Protein lets brain repair damage from multiple sclerosis
A protein that helps build the brain in infants and children may aid efforts to restore damage from multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative diseases, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found.
In a mouse model of MS, researchers found that the protein, CXCR4, is essential for repairing myelin, a protective sheath that covers nerve cell branches. MS and other disorders damage myelin, and this damage is linked to loss of the branches inside the myelin.
For the study, Klein used a non-inflammatory model that involves giving mice food containing cuprizone, a compound that causes the death of cells that form myelin in the central nervous system. After six weeks, these cells are dead, and the corpus callosum, a structure that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, has lost its myelin. If cuprizone is then removed from the mouse diet, new cells migrate to the area and restore the myelin.
Klein plans to see if she can restore myelin repair in genetically engineered mouse models of MS. She also will work with Washington University colleagues to study the new model with advanced imaging techniques in an attempt to further clarify the relationship between loss of nerve cell branches and myelin damage in MS.
"We do not yet know if this myelin repair pathway is somehow damaged or impaired in MS patients," Klein says. "But I like the idea of turning on something that the brain already knows how to make by itself, allowing it to heal itself with its own molecules."
In a mouse model of MS, researchers found that the protein, CXCR4, is essential for repairing myelin, a protective sheath that covers nerve cell branches. MS and other disorders damage myelin, and this damage is linked to loss of the branches inside the myelin.
For the study, Klein used a non-inflammatory model that involves giving mice food containing cuprizone, a compound that causes the death of cells that form myelin in the central nervous system. After six weeks, these cells are dead, and the corpus callosum, a structure that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, has lost its myelin. If cuprizone is then removed from the mouse diet, new cells migrate to the area and restore the myelin.
Klein plans to see if she can restore myelin repair in genetically engineered mouse models of MS. She also will work with Washington University colleagues to study the new model with advanced imaging techniques in an attempt to further clarify the relationship between loss of nerve cell branches and myelin damage in MS.
"We do not yet know if this myelin repair pathway is somehow damaged or impaired in MS patients," Klein says. "But I like the idea of turning on something that the brain already knows how to make by itself, allowing it to heal itself with its own molecules."
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