8 Sleeps to Ironman Lake Placid

8 more wake ups to hitting the waters at Mirror Lake and starting my 3rd Ironman, the iconic Ironman Lake Placid.  Unlike going into Ironman Cozumel (read that post here), I am not making it to the start line injury free and happily trained.  So let's back up a bit to record what's been going on for the past 6 weeks.

About 6 weeks ago we packed up the truck and headed to Lake Placid for a training weekend.  It was amazing, marvellous and  beyond my wild imagination!  We were lucky enough that Carole and Jared joined us to keep Calli Anna company while Barry I got to train on the course.  We left Jensen home with the grandparents as he had a Lacrosse tournament.

On Friday I rode one loop of the bike with Barry, ran and swam, on Saturday I did 2 loops of the bike course (solo) and ran and on Sunday I ran the Lake Placid Half marathon which, I just realized, I never wrote a race report on (woops!).   At the end of our 4 days training vacation I was on top of the world - feeling strong and ready to finish my last build and be at the top of my game for Ironman Lake Placid.

Heading out for 180k of Lake Placid fun!

Beautiful day

Ready to run the Lake Placid Half Marathon with B!

Nothing like ending a training vacation in the sun with my bestie!

Then, on Friday, June 13th (Ironic eh?), I went out for an easy 30 minute run.  Not 1 km into the run my right calf started to hurt.  By 3 km in I was in tears from the pain, turned around and walked home.  I went into complete panic mode.  The first person to see me was a wonderful Massage Therapist Tracey Elliott.  She confirmed it was an injury to the soleus and sent me home with strict instructions to stay off it and to see a doctor ASAP.  A few fellow athletes recommend seeing Dr. Kris Sheppard at The Runner's Academy and lucky for me they could fit me in on Saturday morning.  I asked him "what causes this?".  His response "running".  It's a repetitive stress injury.

The most reassuring thing was the positivity from everyone.  I had 6 weeks until race day and everyone said that I would get there. And even if I don't run a step between now and then my fitness would carry me through.  I had just run the Boston Marathon and my run fitness was pretty darn good.  I had run the Lake Placid Half Marathon in 1:46 and that was a training run, walking every water station and chatting with volunteers.  I had the run training, perhaps I had over trained on the run training.  But at this point it was not time to figure out why my soleus decided to turn on me, it was time to heal the problem and get to the start line!

I have spent the past 5 weeks slowly rehabbing this mild soleus sprain - which mean basically no real running.  I've water run and I've run on the Alter-g (anti-gravity) treadmill.  But my one and only outdoor run ended in pain and walking home.  And to note, I have also increased my oral intake of Fish Oil and started to take Curcumin - an extract of turmeric which has been found to be an amazing anti-inflammatory. Luckily I could continue my bike training with no issues at all.

The Alter-G at the Runner's Academy

Today I ran an hour on the Alter-G and all feels awesome.  I even ran the last 5 minutes at 90% of my body weight.  I'm feeling confident that my strain is healed.  I won't test that theory for another 8 days.

So here I sit on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Toronto getting ready to leave for Lake Placid on Wednesday with my head full of mental race strategies. It's my third time at the rodeo.  I'm feeling super strong on the bike - it's amazing how much power you can produce when you aren't beating your legs up by running. I'm also feeling good about my swim - I did a 4km swim race two weeks ago where I swam 4.5km (not bad sighting, it was a long course) in 1:23 averaging 1:52/100m which would be amazing for an Ironman swim for me (and 3.8k should feel like a breeze after 4.5k).  Tomorrow I'm going back to the Quarry to swim again and will swim every day in Placid leading up to the race.  

But the fact remains that I have not put in the run training or the bricks.  So on race day I'll be digging deep and relying on my past marathon's to get me through.  At the end of the day, my race will depend on my ability to embrace the pounding and pain and hope my soleus stays happy, or at least not grumpy enough to force me to walk!

I've got goals for this race - I've always got goals. Most of you reading this post will know my goals.  But I have to say, my one and only goal - which is only measurable in my little head - is to race this race as hard and as smart as I can.  To trust my bike training and my power numbers, to be disciplined and patient on the bike, and then to run that marathon like I know I can.  To absorb the pain and mentally conquer all the demons that haunt my past Ironman marathons.

Can I run a sub-4 hour ironman marathon?  I think I can.  And I can tell you - on race day  - what you think, what you know, what your brain tells your body, is what you produce.  So do me a favour (or favor if you are a US friend), if you are thinking about me on July 27th, if you are following me (bib 590) on the IM site or on Facebook via Barry - send me all the mental fortitude you've got!  Because at the end of the day, when I'm putting one foot in front of the other, it's going to come down to my mental strength to stay strong and finish this Ironman like I know I can!

Did I bite off more than I can chew?

Well here it is, officially the end of March is around the corner and the beginning of Spring is here though the weather outside and the forecast would have you thinking it was still deep in February.

Does that look like Spring to you?

I haven't been myself lately and I can list off a million and one excuses why. I pushed too hard at the Ft. Lauderdale Half Marathon and I had to take 2 weeks off to recover, then I had my trip to NYC with my daughter coming up and then I got a head cold right before leaving for NYC ...  in any case, my training schedule was basically non-existent and definitely very little consistency if any!  Not to mention this winter and the Polar Vortex!

And then it sort of hit me - did I bite off too much this year?  Is shifting from end of year Ironman to a mid-season Ironman not giving my body (and mind) enough distance from Ironman training?  Did I really think I could sandwich an Ironman in between the Boston and the NYC Marathons?  How in the heck did I get here anyway??????

But I am here - and I've got entry to and paid for both Boston and NYC - both of which I may never get the opportunity to run again.  Then there is Ironman Lake Placid - my "validation" Ironman.  What's a validation Ironman you ask?  As you know I have done two Ironmans - Ironman Florida 2012 and Ironman Cozumel 2013.  Both of these course are flat and considered "easy".  Well, let's just be clear - there is no such thing an an easy way to propel your body 140.6 miles.  If you take a look at this guy's number crunching you will see that Cozumel is ranked just under Lake Placid, Florida however is a lot further down.

http://www.runtri.com/2010/07/runtri-benchmarks-easiest-ironman.html

In any case, in my head, I was pretty sure I needed to do a "real" Ironman - like Placid, or Penticton, or Whistler, Or Coeur d'Alene or Mont Tremblant, to quell the thought that I only picked the easy Ironmans.  Now of course people have made comments to this effect but honestly this all stems from my own head.  So last July I signed up for Placid.  Yes, at that time I knew I was running Boston and NYC marathons.  Yes, I think I was crazy.

But here I am, 4 weeks out from Boston Marathon and 17 weeks out from Ironman Lake Placid.  It is what it is and I'm doing both, I've just had to shift my goals a little bit.  I always wanted to run my BQ time at Boston but that is just going to have to wait for another lifetime.  I will have to take it easy in Boston because I will not have weeks to recover.  In fact, I won't have any time to recover because I will be 3 weeks into my official training for Placid.  I will be pushing my biking legs to the max.

And, I've decided to take a lot of pressure off myself for IMLP.  When I got into this crazy sport I promised it was for fun.  Then I sort of got fast.  And then the talk and dreams of qualifying for Kona filled my head. And then it didn't seem fun any more.  And then it seemed that I was going to disappoint those closest to me.

And then my husband - the greatest sherpa, my biggest fan, and most amazing sport photographer, Barry sent me the most beautiful email.  I won't share it in it's entirety but one of the many paragraphs that hit home I will:

Go forward bravely and boldly.

You have become a powerhouse of endurance and you have trained brilliantly, religiously and so incredibly for 3 years now!

You are amazing!!

Fear not, as you battle on.

Fear not.

Rest assured that all will be good, no matter what the outcome.

Good, bad or neutral, life will go on and more races will come.

 So I might have bit off more than I can chew but I'm not going to back down from this challenge.  So I'm back on the training program, focusing on IM training with a little marathon training in the background.  I'm running the Around the Bay 30k next Sunday as my longest training run for Boston.  And then I'm going to run Boston, enjoying every moment of it and not once regretting that I'm not running fast enough.  And as for Lake Placid - I can only train, like I have trained in the past - I will push myself to my limits over and over in training and then on race day, I will push myself over my limits as I have done in the Ironmans before.  And at the end will be the next question - Which Ironman next?

Musings post Ironman Cozumel

1.  I have to get faster in the swim.  If I want to be more competitive I cannot give up 10 - 15 minutes on the swim. That's it. I need those minutes.  I need to get to the pool and get it done!

2.  I have to train harder on the bike this winter to develop my riding muscles.  I am new to cycling (3 years on the road) and I know there is untapped potential in my legs. I need to figure out / find / hire someone to help me reach this potential.  I need to learn more about using power and I need to push myself harder here.

3. I have to figure out the mental aspect of the run.  I lost the mental game at Cozumel (read about that here: Ironman Cozumel) on the run.  Just because I couldn't get a gel in me, I basically surrendered to hitting the wall HOURS before it could even happen - I actually remember at 14km, 1/3 into the run, that I was "not going to make it if I couldn't keep nutrition in me"..  I didn't even think I could do it drinking pepsi every 10 minutes!  Why did my brain not let me entertain the idea of just running the marathon on gatorade and pepsi?  I'm sure it could be done.  I thought there would be more variety of food on the run but the aid stations were sparse.

I'm not sure I'll be ready for Lake Placid in 2014, but I'm setting my sights on a race in 2015 which will be all out try for a Kona slot.

Ahhh, Great Build but Ready for Recovery Week!

Wow Ironman Cozumel is just 8 weeks away and Miami 70.3 just 3!  Crazy how fast time flies when you are having fun - and training like an crazy person Ironman!  This three week build session was amazing.  First of all, the weather was pretty darn amazing.  I did have a couple of windy and chilly rides but all of my long rides were deliciously warm!  And, I had company for all my long rides thanks to having not one but two riding partners who can ride mid-week!

Dushan and Duncan on our ride this week!

Duncan is also training for Ironman Cozumel and Dushan - well he became an Ironman in August at Mt. Tremblant and he just loves cycling so much he comes out for the fun of it all!  Like he captioned this photo from Thursday "Another beautiful day at the office".  So nice to get my longest training day done during the week so I don't take too much time away from the family on the weekends!

My body is taking this training so much easier than last year.  I keep waiting for the "Ironman Flu" to set in - you know, where every muscle in your body aches and you just want to sleep for a couple of days.  Last year at this time in training for IMFL I was definitely feeling it!  Now, it's not to say I'm not tired!  I am tucking myself into bed as soon as I get the kiddos to bed and sleeping as much as I can!

Besides slacking a bit on the swim side of things (I am getting to the pool twice a week), I have hit my training marks and I'm smashing my running times.  My Long Run this week was 25k at an average pace of 5:15min/km!  This is really giving me a lot of confidence in my run and making me dream big about goals at Cozumel.  I'm not ready to publicly discuss my goals - besides the first goal is to get to the start time, the second goal is to finish and the third goal is to go sub-12 hours .... but the real goal - I'll share that in about 6 or 7 weeks!

I've started planning out my recovery week and it's so nice to see the training hours drop from 17 hours to 7-8 hours!  My body, while feeling great, definitely needs this recovery week and I'll respect it and take it.  Because after this coming week I enter my final build for IMCOZ with a little half iron training race thrown in for good measures.  AND, I only have a few more long rides up here in the cold North and get to do my final long training ride and run in the Florida heat!  And when you start having big dreams and big goals - that's when training becomes vital!

So here's to a great recovery week and the added bonus of watching KONA next Saturday!

Happy Training!

Feels Like Ironman Training!

And it feels good!  I just wrapped up my first week of the second build session for Ironman Cozumel and it's feeling more like Ironman training after the sick week followed by a recovery week.

This week I logged over 273km on the bike and over 40km on the run.  I missed one of my swim sessions due to poor planning on my part.  The week had me swimming back to back Tuesday and Wednesday but after a long 3,000m continuous swim on Tuesday I wasn't feeling it for swim work out the following day.  So I pushed it off to Friday - which was a stupid idea as that followed my long ride on Thursday (thanks Dushan for joining me) and my long run on Friday morning.  My back and shoulders would have no part of me swimming Friday at lunch time.  But that swim was the only training session I missed all week.

Turn Around Spot on my short 2 hour ride

Dushan and me after our 4 1/2 hour Ride 

I had a bit of extra time on the bike this week because I went out to Burlington to support my neighbour's charity and rode 100k with Spin For Limbs - to raise money to help out the families of kids undergoing limb reconstruction at sick kids.  It was a crisp and cool morning for a ride and it was  long drive out there but it was worth it.  A beautiful place to ride!  Since I was riding with a group (all roadies), I was very good and stayed out of my aero-bars the entire time and obeyed the rules of group road riding.  It was a lot of fun, and very easy for most of the ride enjoying the draft off the strong male cyclists.  The only thing I couldn't stand was breaking and slowing on the downhills when I just wanted to tuck down into aero and fly.

Just want to put a little shout out to my friend Chad.  Yesterday was the inaugural running of Ironman Lake Tahoe and Chad completed his first Ironman on one of the toughest courses in frigid conditions!  Congrats Chad and I can't wait to train and race Lake Placid with you next year!

Looking forward to another great week of training.  I'm going to get to the pool at least twice this week (it's on the plan for Monday and Thursday, optional on Tuesday) and I'm riding long with my buddy Duncan on Friday and I have a sitter lined up for my long run on Saturday!  And to top it off, the weather looks just fabulously sunny for the week!  Here's to another great week of Ironman Training!

End of my run last week!

Ending the First Build with a Wimper

Oh how I wish the title of this blog was Ending the First Build with a Bang!  After a great start to my first build phase of Iroman Cozumel training, the final week went south ...  I came into the forth and final week of my first build excited and ready to nail every work out.  I had made plans for 2 great bike rides with fabulous training partners and was looking forward to a week training hard to earn my upcoming recovery week.

It all started out it great on Tuesday with a good weight lifting session followed by getting my butt back to Main Square pool and pounding out 3000m of solid swimming.  And then it all began to unravel!  Tuesday night I prepared a good dinner in anticipation for a hard 2 hour ride followed by a solid run the following day.  I made sure I was well hydrated and well fed for the next day's workout.  Then as I put myself to bed nice and early, my tummy didn't feel quite right.  I thought nothing of it until just after midnight.

Just after midnight, and for the next 6 hours, I was overcome by a serious case of food poisoning / stomach bug.  Around 4 in the morning I remember thinking, I have to get this out of me so I can ride in the morning. By the time morning came, I was a listless, frail, shell of myself.  I'm still not sure how I got the kids' lunches made and got them to school but I spent the entire day laying bed drifting in and out of consciousness.  I couldn't eat.  I couldn't drink.  Thank goodness for my neighbour Alice who picked the kids up from school and for my in-laws who brought dinner for the kids and took JJ to his last soccer match.  I was completely debilitated.

Little did I know the toll something like this takes on your body.  I had lost 6 pounds in 24 hours so I knew I was severely dehydrated but I couldn't put anything in my body.  By end of day Wednesday I was sure I was not going to be able to do my run or my swim as planned on Thursday and I sent a note off to my riding buddies for Friday - I said I was fully planning on riding the planned 4.5 hour ride, as long as I could get some nutrition in me on Thursday.

Thursday came and while I felt better, it was still hard to get my body to accept much.  I got a banana down and a quarter of an avocado.  I sipped on my NUUN and plain water.  But I was still undernourished and dehydrated and my stomach was still not right.  By Thursday night I made the call that I would shorten my ride on Friday to around 2 hours and I would definitely ride if I felt up to it.

I woke Friday morning feeling better.  Not 100% but closer to 80% which isn't bad.  I choked down half a GF bagel with peanut butter - not even close to enough food but it was all I could do.  While I knew I was definitely undernourished for a ride, I was desperate to get some training in.  Plus it was Duncan's birthday and I had picked up some vegan cupcakes from Tory's Bakeshop (I am not vegan but Duncan is and I have to say - you wouldn't even know these cupcakes were vegan!  SO delish - plus they have great GF treats too - so if you are in the beaches - check them out!).

Happy Birthday Duncan!

I picked up Duncan and Dushan and off we went to Angus Glen for our ride.  Duncan had been fighting a cold so he was happy to shorten the ride to 2 hours - though I did some fuzzy math and instead of doing 50k we did 75k and instead of 2 hours we did 2:40.  It was a beautiful day, cool and breezy.  But it was tough.  My stomach wouldn't even let me try to take a GU and I had trouble taking my carbopro drink.  On a ride where I would normally drink nearly three 750ml bottles, I was able to get down 1 1/4.  Thank goodness Dushan was there to pull Duncan and I home those last 25km!

all smiles after the ride

I still have my long run in store this weekend and I'm planning on a nice easy 1:50 run tomorrow while my little guy is at lacrosse.  So my week will have consisted of 1 weight workout, 1 swim workout, 1 bike and 1 run.  Definitely not what I had in mind but it is what it is!  Next week is my recovery week and I'm going to take it.  I'll focus on my swimming and take it easy with some recovery runs and bikes - gearing up for Build #2!

Ironman Cozumel Training has Commenced!

Last week was the official start of my 16 week Ironman training plan - officially called Build 1, week 1 and I'm happy to say I'm definitely NOT over training at this point!  In a nutshell I biked twice, ran twice and weight trained twice.  Yip, you read that right - I didn't even swim once last week!

First long ride on the schedule - solo to Lake Simco

I changed my saddle and think I like the ISM Adamo racing saddle - I rode 2:15 and a 4 hour ride last week as well as a 2 hour ride this week on it and the comfort is a million times better than my Nineteen saddle.  I've got a BIG ride coming up this weekend so that's going to be my final test before I commit to it.

And speaking of my lovely bike ... it's in the shop right now and when I pick her up on Friday she will be nicely tuned up, the 11-25 cassette will be on my race wheel and my new Garmin Vector pedals will be installed!  Not excited about the bill but very excited about the new toy!  And I'm happy to get back to a 11-25 cassette now that I'm not planning on any more big climb rides.

I've moved nicely into Build 1, week 2 this week hitting my training milestones and getting to the pool twice already!  I've got a long way to go to build up my swim endurance but I'm focusing on good form and know the endurance will come with time.  I want to take advantage of the outdoor 50m pool while it remains open as it is so much better than the indoor 25m pools.

The excitement of Ironman training is already consuming me.  This past weekend I watched while many friends finished Ironman Mt. Tremblant.  I'm so excited to start training with power on the bike and hope it will not only help me get faster but help me remain consistent so my runs off the bike are better.  I already see the change in my diet and sleeping habits as training for such a monumental undertaking requires you to treat your body very well.

However, this weekend I did take a little time off to enjoy a the weekend with Hubby while the kids are at sleep-away camp.

Niagara Falls

Because we all know - this Ironman is brought to you by Barry Richards.  I'm in the market for some gear I can customize to say "sponsored by Barry" and I can never give enough kudos and thanks to him.  I couldn't do this without him!

Ironman Cozumel - just under 15 weeks to go!

Rest and Recovery before Training

Goodness, I cannot remember posting something besides a race report!

 







Right now I'm taking a little break from racing and I'm focusing on a bit of rest and recovery plus some strength and core building before I start a 15 month long journey.  In that time I will race Ironman Cozumel (Dec. 1, 2013), Boston Marathon (April 21, 2014), Ironman Lake Placid (July 27, 2014), Olymipic Distance Worlds in Edmonton (September?), and finally the New York City Marathon (Nov. 2, 2014).

Now I know, there are many out there who think I'm crazy, but I also know there are people out there who do this too!  So how do I see the next year plus of my life playing out?  Here's the plan!

Week of August 14  start a 16 week training plan for IMCOZ
Race IMCOZ Dec. 1
Take the month of December off - yeah Christmas!
Start running again at the end of Dec / Beginning of January
Week of January 26 start 12 week training plan for Boston - brrr cold!
Beginning of April Starting training for IMLP
Race Boston April 21
Keep rolling with IMLP training (13 weeks)
Race IMLP July 27
Take 2 -3 weeks off
End of August start 12 week training plan for NYC
Race Worlds (this is OPTIONAL and I will not be upset if I cannot go)
Run NYC Nov. 2

A lot of people ask me why.  Some people think I have a problem.  And I'm sure there are some people out there that don't think I will be successful in executing this plan.  But for me, this next 15 months will be a defined period of time in my life where I am going to push my body to the limits.  I am going to train smart.  And I'm going to enjoy - I would like to say I am going to enjoy every moment - but there will be times when I'm going to hurt, when I will be tired, when I will feel like giving in.  There will be times of doubt and times when I will question my sanity.  But those times will be overshadowed by the elation I feel after every long ride, the pride from nailing a track workout, the enjoyment of long runs and big meals to celebrate accomplishments.  

I totally understand why 99% of my friends don't fully understand why I do these things,  but I know that 100% of my friends will support me through my journey.  Not to mention I get to spend a week in Mexico, experience the BOSTON Marathon in an epic year, go to Lake Placid with one of the 1% that get it, race WORLDS (though really, Edmonton? - could have been somewhere more exotic), and then wrap up the year running the NEW YORK CITY MARATHON!

Life is definitely good!

My First Training Camp!

I'm very behind on my blogs so this will be short recap of my first Triathon Training Camp (Victoria Day Long Weekend - over 2 weeks ago!).  This is my third season in Triathlon, my second season hanging with the Toronto Triathlon Club, and the first season where I went to the Collingwood Training Camp and now I'm just dying to plan another trip up to Collingwood to ride!

We left the City late Friday morning, with 4 bikes and 4 athletes, we made pretty quick time up north to the Blue Mountains Chalets.

yeah!  All the bikes made it!

We got ourselves unpacked and settled and then ready for ride #1!  It was just an easy 40km with about 140m of elevation gain.  The scenery was breathtaking and I was so excited about 2 more days of riding.

Saturday morning we headed out for a 90k ride and it was amazing.  With over 1,000 meters of elevation gain and topping out at 65kph on the amazing descents!  This was a kind of riding I had never experienced before.  While I felt great on the ride, I did struggle on one of the huge descents as I went into the decent in my aerobars and was unable to get out of them to get my hands on my breaks because I was going so fast and the crosswinds were blowing me around.  I won't lie, there were times I was scared and thinking a crash at this speed would be life altering.

The club heading out on Saturday

I don't have a great way to show you the elevation so here's a screen shot from my strava account.

Saturday afternoon was spent in major recovery mode, eating good food, talking all things triathlon, soaking our legs in the freezing cold pool and a yoga session with my awesome new TTC friend Duncan Parviainen.  BEST YOGA SESSION EVER!

inversion after cold soak

BEST YOGA EVER

Sunday morning Barry and I opted out of the early morning drive to Wasaga Beach where we had a 7am pool time.  It was nice to sleep in and have a quiet morning in the chalet.  The swimmers returned and we headed out for our ride up Pretty River.  I had been anticipating something horrible and was happy to know it wasn't nearly as much climbing as the Saturday Ride.  The last kilometer of the Pretty River climb was a time trial which was being used for our little team triathlon challenge (more on that later).

almost everyone from camp heading out to climb Pretty River

Pretty River Climb and the Amazing Decent on 91

According to my Garmin site I topped out at 73kph, but strava says 71.6kph (so bizarre given they both grab the data from my Garmin 910) ... in any case I was FLYING down that decent and with lessons learned from the day before, I was much more confident and steady on my bike.  

For fun, we had  little team triathlon challenge.  We were randomly (there is some debate here) placed in teams of three.  The best swim (a 100m time trial taken at the Sunday morning swim), bike (the last kilometer of the pretty river climb) and run (the last kilometer of your run off the bike on Sunday) times were taken and  each member had to contribute.  I was on a team with Tara (the leader of the camp) and Dushan.  They had both swam that morning with great times.  Dushan killed the bike time trial and posted the faster time overall.  So that left me with the run - so after the ride on Sunday, even though I hadn't run in weeks and was struggling with a hamstring issues.  I ran 1 km - in 4:20.  So in the end, my team won the challenge!

Sunday night we had a team dinner in the Village of Blue Mountains to celebrate the camp.  That night we packed up and headed home.  We got home in the wee hours of the morning but it was nice to wake up on the holiday Monday morning and spend the day relaxing with the kids.

I loved the training camp and I cannot wait to go again next year and maybe even try to squeeze in a week long camp to Arizona or Mt. Tremblant next year!

Mid May Already?

Where is time flying ?  It's almost half way through May, though the temps outside would make you think we were still stuck in March!  I would hope that by this time in my training schedule I would be happily posting about my awesome swims, rides and runs, but unfortunately I've hit a bit of a bumpy stretch.

I think it all started back a couple weeks ago at the Toronto Younge Street 10k.  I ran my little heart out in that race and felt pretty darn good about it.  That following week I took a little downtime on the running, coming back 4 days after the race and putting in a solid 12k run at 4:40/km pace and according to my notes and recollection, my right leg was feeling fine.

That weekend we had our first outdoor ride and it was glorious   Windy as heck but fun to get out and ride outdoors with Barry.  We left from Angus Glen CC and rode up Warden 35k to the top of Ravenshoe Hill.  We met a nice guy on the way who gave us some great riding pointers.

Then two days later I hit the treadmill for some speed work and this is where the injury story picks up. 5 x 1,200m, each interval taking 5mins with 3 mins recovery in between - it's a work out I really enjoy.  Legs felt pretty good until half way through my forth interval when my right hamstring started pulling.  Instead of bailing on my fifth interval I pushed through.  And ever since I have been having an uncomfortable hamstring.   It originates up near my glute and runs behind the knee into the calf.  My Chiro's assessment is a tight right QL (those pesky lower back muscles that attach to the pelvis).

I took some time off from running and basically pulled back for a few rest and recovery days.  You would think this would be a great time for me to focus on my swimming, but instead I almost dropped swimming completely over the past 13 days.  I've hit the spin bike a couple of times and have put a 100k and 80k in on my bike.   A week ago  I tried to do a long run - by 5 km in I decided to turn it around and cut it short due to the "discomfort" in my leg.  I haven't run since.  It's been a week. I miss running.

So I've been stretching the QLs and trying to get mobility back into my hamstring through heat and stretching.  Aggressively stretched my QLs and legs last night and followed that up this morning with a hot Epsom salts bath and a good long core and stretch workout.  Now I'm currently sitting on 2 ice packs and feeling optimistic.

My training calendar looks pitifully blank for the next 5 days - I'm taking it day by day.  I hope to get to the pool tomorrow and Wednesday as well as do a couple spin classes to keep my fitness up.  We leave on Friday for our Toronto Triathlon Club Training Camp in Collingwood where I hope to ride close to 200km over the 3 days.  I'm really looking forward to getting away from home for a few days, hanging with some of my favourite triathlon friends, talking all things swim, bike, run and doing some seriously climbing on the bike.

Running might just take a back seat until I run the Ottawa Half Marathon in 2 weeks.  I had some high hopes of hitting a HUGE PR by running a sub 1:40.  While I'm optimistic that I will be able to run the race that pace might be out the window.  I need to remind myself that the Ottawa Half is not my "A" race.  I should be happy to run a sub 1:50 for a PR!

Happy Training and swift healing!

2 weeks in: Getting into the swing of Training!

Here we are, 14 weeks out from MTB half iron and 10 weeks out from the Ottawa Half Marathon - Im training for both officially, though I seem to be favouring the Ottawa Half plan over the half-iron plan.

I'm sucking up my dislike of getting wet every Monday and Wednesday night and hitting the pool for my master's swim class.  I find the practices very challenging and I either leave thinking "WOW I really nailed that" or "crap, I'm never going to be any good swimming".  I figure if I just keep at it, it's got to be good for me.  I'm longing for the days of open water swimming and ditching the eau de chlorine.  But the sad reality is I actually need to add another day of swimming into my plan at some point and it will not be warm enough to be in Open Water!

Now, let's talk about running!  I am LOVING the run right now!  After smashing my huge PR and BQ at the Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon, I have decided I like being a fast runner.  I am sort of following my coaches plan - as well as I can that is.  I was supposed to do a LSD (long, slow, distance) run yesterday at a 5:33 min/km pace - and I came in with 19km at a 4:57 min/km pace (hey, it was cold and I wanted to get through it!).  I've sent the good coach an email asking if this is good or bad.  Fingers crossed it is a good thing.  I don't like getting in trouble for going too fast - wait, I've never had that problem before!  I have really embraced the treadmill for my mid-week intensity, steady state and fartlek runs.  I cannot wait until the weather allows be to run freely outdoors!

My first run out the Leslie Spit of 2013!  Cold but beautifully sunny day!

Anyway, running is my highlight right now and I'm even considering applying to be a part of the NUUN Hood to Coast Relay.  I'm sure my blog isn't read enough to qualify, plus I have to get my editing skills going to produce a video to convince them that I would like to spend 24 hours in a van with a bunch of other girls and run down a mountain to the ocean.  AND I'm not even sure they let Canadian's do it (though, you know I'm an American by birth so I'm sure I can figure something around that!).  But one thing is for certain - I do love NUUN and I drink enough of it to put me as a front runner if that's a metric they are using!

And finally, back to talk about training.  I'm not really embracing the bike portion of my training as of yet.  My bike is still not completely together and isn't even close to be put on the trainer or the road for that matter.  I am, however, making great use of the awesome new spin bikes at the gym and I'm hoping that my high intensity, mega power pushing sessions are keeping my cycling legs strong for when I do decide to get my but back into the Cervelo's saddle for the season.

So that's the update on the training, slow and steadily working my way through my plans!

Taper Time - 3 weeks until Ironman Florida

Really?  3 weeks?  It's been 49 weeks since I registered for the biggest race of my lifetime and now only 3 weeks!

This past week was a recovery week in the plan before taper  - seems strange to me but after running the Chicago Marathon (not on the plan) - it seemed like a good idea.  Unfortunately I missed my last big bike ride due to family, weather, and Chicago.  So I'm still striving to put at least 5 hours on the saddle tomorrow.  If it gets put off any longer it will just turn into my 4 hour taper ride on the plan for next weekend.

I'm swimming with the Toronto Triathlon Club's Master's swim on Monday and Wednesday nights and I feel like my stroke and form are improving.  I want to get in the pool this week and complete a 3,800-4,000m continuous swim - aiming for Tuesday at the public pool - always fun.

I got back on the bike trainer for a session this week and lasted 1:22.  I forgot how much I dislike the bike trainer.  I'm going to have to find a way to mix it up and enjoy it for at least one "long" ride a week during the off season but I'm happy to say I won't be on the trainer again before IMFL.  The interval work I get at spin class will suffice!  I'm feeling very ready for the bike.

This week I only ran once, for 30mins on the treadmill after a spin class.  My run has been going great and my performance at the Chicago Marathon has me feeling very prepared for the run.  I'm looking forward to getting back to some running this week especially the long run next weekend.

I started my packing list yesterday while watching Kona on the internet.  It was so awesome to watch Leanda Cave persevere over Caroline Steffen and Miranda Carfrae.  Carfrae left it all out there on the course, collapsing at the finish line; her efforts on the bike took it's toll on the run.  As if it couldn't get any more inspirational, Natascha Badmann finishes 6th at 46 years old!  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

The packing list is work in progress and I hope to have it complete by the end of the week.  I've raced quite a few overnight triathlons so the basic swim-bike-run aspect of packing is there.  But since I'm going for nearly 7 days, I have to bring loads more stuff.  But I remind myself, there will be shopping to be done there too!

So this week I start my 3 week Taper - after my long ride tomorrow of course.  The plan looks quite civilized actually and I'm looking forward to enjoying some shorter rides and runs.  My swim will stay the same with the 2 master's swims plus one session of 3,800 - 4,000m continuous. The taper week ends with a 4 hour bike followed by a 30min run and a long run of 1:30-1:45.  Still a lot of work to be done but I'm feeling good, healthy and strong!  Main goals are to stay injury and accident free!

My first real pool workout ....

Or as Coach Kyle likes to call it - Swim Practice.  Ugh, I've never been a big fan of pool swimming.  And when I do, I just go and I swim.  Plan calls for 2,000m, then I swim 80 lengths, 4,000m, 160 lengths.  You get the picture.

But alas, all those "other" swimmers - with all their fancy equipment (pull buoy, kick board, paddles and fins), doing their sets and stopping to chit chat during their rests - well they just annoyed me.  Sure they could swim circles around me, but really - is there such a need for all the complications.  It's just swimming right?  Seems to me they spend more time resting and chit chatting then swimming.  But darn it, they sure swim fast.

So, as you know, I started working with Coach Kyle in the endless pool at AE.  But now it's time for me to get in the pool (sadly open water swimming might be over for the season), and  get some data for him to see.  So today I'm going to do my first "swim practice" ever.  Here's the plan Coach Kyle sent me.... he calls it a Lactate Threshold Set - I think he gave it a fancy name to make me like it better.  Well, I don't!

Warm up:
100m easy
200m fast/easy by 25
200m drills
4x25m kick all out
100m pull
(I'll probably just swim 500 - 700m)

Set 1 (Lactate Threshold Set)
8x50m with 25s rest after each
6x50m with 20s rest
4x50m with 15s rest
2x50m with 10s rest
(I'm really going to try to nail this to get the metrics for swimming ability)

Set 2
4x100m at goal time, 30s rest
3 minute rest
400m for time
(again, I will try to nail this but I'll be tired by now I'm sure and I really don't know what my goal time is!)

200m warm down (doubtful this will happen)

Ok, so that just seems so complicated - but I'm going to give it a shot!  Truth is I know I can swim the nearly 4,000m for the Ironman.  And I know I can do it in about an hour, twenty.  I also know that no matter how much I practice, I'm probably only going to shave a few minutes off the swim and in the grand scheme of things ... well, what's a few minutes in a 14 hour long race?

Week 5 Training Recap: 11 Weeks until Ironman Florida!

The Numbers - week 5- August 13 - August 19
Swam 2 times (Mon, Wed):3,550m, 1hour and 28 mins
Biked 3 times (Mon, Wed, Thurs): 175.5km, 6 hours and 22 mins
Ran 4 times (Mon, Wed, Thurs, Sat): 42.6 km, 3 hours and 46 mins
Weight training once (Tuesday)


This was the first build week of my second build session.  I was coming off a nice easy week and ready to hit some milestones: A long bike ride of 4:30 - 5 hours and a 30km long run.

Monday started out good with James's hour spin class followed by a 20 min treadmill run.  I hadn't been to James's class in a very long time but I'm happy I can fit it back into my schedule because it is an awesome sweat-fest of high intensity  intervals.  The run on the Mill felt great.  I dragged myself to the Summerville 50m pool that afternoon but I was not feeling much like swimming.  I have to learn that when I am not feeling a swim workout I should just not bother.  It was a total waste of my time and what little energy I had to squeak out 1,500 useless meters.

Tuesday's plan was to get up early and get my hour tempo run done.  My legs were sore from the Toronto 10 Miler and I was so incredibly tired I couldn't get myself out of bed.  It wasn't going to be a hot day so I figured I would get my run in later in the day.  I made my Tuesday morning gym date for weight training but never did get the energy to tackle my run.

Wednesday was better day all around.  I hit David's spin class and then ran to Cherry Beach and back.  Wednesday night OWS clocked in 2,000m with a lot of social interaction with my club members in between laps.  I was getting psyched for my long ride on Thursday.

On Thursday morning I drove up to Elgin Mills and Leslie and embarked on my 130km ride alone.  I am really embracing my lonely long rides.  The mental training is wonderful and I know will go a long way during my Ironman.  You are alone on the bike no mater how you look at it!  I rode up to Lake Simcoe and around the lake a bit and then back.  I was running a little behind schedule so I only got a 15 minute run in after instead of the planned 30 mins.  It is important to note that I felt great on and after this ride. 

Friday was a total rest day that I took full advantage of.  I spent most of the day on my butt!

Saturday night was the Midsummer's Night Run 30k.  I had never run this distance and I was excited to tackle it. I won't go into the gory details, you can check out the race report for that.  I completed it in 2:44:31 which was a good time for me.  It was a hard race and my legs really took a beating.  

Even though I I didn't hit all my training bang on this week, I'm really happy with what I did.  I am still struggling with my swimming but this week I'm finally getting in to see Kyle at Absolute Endurance for my stroke analysis and I'm planning a 4k continuous swim from my end of the Beach to Woodbine Beach and back.  I think that getting that 4k continuous swim under my belt will give me great confidence in the water.

My key training goals for this coming week:

1. Swim stroke analysis with Kyle on Monday
2. Swim a continuous 4km (Wednesday or Thursday)
3. Ride the Muskoka 70.3 bike and Run course, then run 10k of the run course on Saturday
4. Enjoy a SLOW long run of 2:30 - 3 hours

17 weeks until Ironman Florida

I just returned from my annual summer Florida vacation.  It's about as hot as it gets down on the Treasure Coast but we made sure to enjoy it.  I participated in the inaugural Aaron Vaughan Memorial Frogman Swim and I ran 12k, 13.5k, 15k and 5k.  Though my nutrition, sleep and hydration took a vacation, I also enjoyed  my second recovery week post 70.3.  I had a 3 week recovery break between my 70.3 race in Welland and the start of my "official" Ironman training. This week I wanted to focus on running and really enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn to get my miles in before the heat and humidity really gets the best of you.  I've developed a niggle in my right upper calf but I'm very pleased with my running in the Florida conditions.

My "official" Ironman Florida training plan starts next week on July 16.  That's the start of my 16 week plan. While I focused on the run this past week, this week I am going to focus on my bike and get at least 1 open water swim in at Cherry Beach.  I will also get back to the gym this week with strength training at least twice.  I look at my upcoming training and the swims are frightening me.  I want to get into the endless pool at Absolute Endurance and get some help with my stroke.  I'm not a great swimmer and could use all the help I can get.

It's starting to get serious - with only 17 weeks to go.

Half way to the Half, Squirrels, and Bugs

Time is FLYING by!  I am now half way through my 18 week training plan for the Half-iron distance that I'm racing in Welland, Ontario on June 24th.  Which, through wonderful luck and a little planning, is 19 weeks weeks out from Ironman Florida so I will have one week to recover from Welland before I start my 18 week training plan for Florida.

Training is going very well.  Since I'm too cheap to hire a coach (ok, really I spent that money on a new bike and a new wetsuit), I've committed to self-coaching with lots of support.  I have joined the Toronto Triathlon Club which gives me access to NRG's training plans, I've read countless books, I suck as much info from those who have completed the Ironman (thanks Clinton, David and Bobby), I constantly talk things out with my husband (who is a very supportive man - thanks for listening to me go on ... and on... and on...) and I have committed to my training plan that incorporates all of the above.  And it's going great and I know I will be fully prepared for the half-iron in 9 weeks!  I did fall ill for a few days in March and last week I had a bit of a muscle issue in my left Quad, and my hips and glutes are still a  focus but all in all, it's good.  I'm listening to my body and trying to do all things good.  Like eat lots of protein and sit in a bath full of freezing water.

best protein

only the first 10 seconds hurt

what, Stella's not good for me?

Over the past 8 weeks I have:

Run 25 times for a total of 116.48 miles for 17:02:50

Cycled 29 times for a total of 526.74 miles for 36:21:37

Swam 22 times for a total of 18.42 miles for 11:49:22

Thanks Garmin for keeping track of all those numbers!




A couple of shots from some great training!  That's Rachel, my lovely, 23 year old cousin, who has come to live with us for awhile to help with the kids while I train.  I love Rachel, I also love having another adult in the house to help with the kids, cook and tidy.  She's leaving in less than 2 weeks.  Please Rachel, don't go!

Leslie Spit - if only it was open during the week!

Rachel (please don't leave me)

So besides talking about how great my training is going - I have 2 other things to share.

Yesterday, while riding back on a beautiful 45km ride, I ran over a squirrel!  YIKES - I have been very worried about hitting a squirrel (or small dog) and what would happen.  Apparently yesterday the best case senerio happened - stupid squirrel ran in front of me, my front tire whet completely over it, squirrel ran like hell to get away.  I did not wreck.  Apparently if the squirrel was to not go under my tire but instead attempt to jump through the spokes, you get a much different outcome - which I can only imagine is squirrel all up in your break pads and such (ewe!).

Finally, OMG these stupid, nasty, annoying teeny, tiny black flies.  Every spring these little creatures are annoying as heck but this year - I don't know if it is from the warm winter or lack of rain but these are everywhere, in swarms of millions and running or cycling through them is down rigtht gross.  They stick to your cloths, get under your sunglasses and in your mouth and your nose.  The do not bite but they sure do annoy!  I'm ready for these creatures to disappear!

no, that's not a ant, it flies in swarms!

That's it for now, I hope to get on the blog more often but I always say that!

6 days of training

While my training plan runs from Monday - Sunday I sort of like to look at the workouts from Saturday - Thursday as Friday is my rest day.  I know technically the rest day is part of the week of training followed my by two long days on Saturday and Sunday but since I'm not any where near seeing "long" on the weekends I look at my training ending with a day of rest then starting up again.

This past cycle was a bit challenging for me as my kids have come down with this 7 day flu making training a bit of a challenge.  Thanks to my dear Carole who has no problem sitting with my sick kids, I was able to complete all my training except for 2 weight lifting sessions. 

My numbers for this cycle are:

3 swims for a total of 3450meters

3 bike sessions for approximately 68 miles

3 runs for a total of 16.31 miles

1 weight session for 45 minutes

My body is definitely feeling the training and my appetite is certainly on the rise.

Up for the weekend after my day of rest is a 60minute run and a 60km bike ride plus weight session on Sunday if possible.  Next week is a "recover" week though my distances will be close to the same as this week.  I'm looking forward to going longer in the weeks to come!

First Official Week of Training Update

I'm not being very good at this blogging thing. I am, however, being really good at the daily mile thing thanks to my new best training buddy fondly referred to as "MY WATCH" -

My watch, whenever in close proximity to my computer, automatically sends the new data to Garmin Connect which then I sync right into Daily Mile.  Of course this is not without some glitches ... like DM not wanting to sync my swim workouts ... but I'm hoping that is resolved soon enough.  Oh and look ---> I figured out how to put my DM widget on my blog!

So, just a little bit more about my watch - which I love!  I have been religiously wearing my heart rate monitor for my runs and my cycling and I'm trying to get a good understanding of the importance of my heart rate, training within different zones and what zones I need to maintain for racing.  It is a very interesting science and when I have a better understanding myself, I might spend some more time blogging about it.  In addition to the HR monitoring, I love swimming with my watch which does a good job at counting my lengths in the pool (it was only off by 1 length the first time I used it but perfect the other 2times).  It also counts your strokes and gives you an SWOLF (# strokes + time for the length) score to help you understand your efficiency and work towards improving it (lower the score the more efficient).  I haven't even begun to learn the different ways to slice and dice the data that my watch provides!

This week marks my first official week of training.  Last week was supposed to be the first official week but due to the holiday Monday, travelling, illness and lack of sleep I decided to call this my first official week.  I am dividing my training into 2 phases.  The first 17 weeks is training for my first Half Iron distance on June 24th.  I'm not sure if this is going to be the Canada Multisport Half Distance in Welland or the 70.3 in Syracuse.  There are pros and cons to both so it's still up in the air BUT my training is not.  The second phase of my training begins after the Half Distance which happens to be 19 weeks out from IMFL - one week to rest and then BOOM into a 18 week training program for the Full Distance!

My program is basically this:
Monday - swim and bike
Tuesday - weights, swim and run
Wed - bike
Thursday - Swim and Run
Friday - weights and rest
Saturday - Run
Sunday - Weights and Bike

So in one week I weight train 3 times, bike 3 times, run 3 times and swim 3 times.  On a four week cycle I will BUILD for 3 weeks and then recover 1 week.   I'm still tweaking this plan so it may change over the next few weeks.  You can follow me on Daily Mile if you are that interested in my distances.

Where I'm logging my bike miles

But a HUGE realization for me this week was not the importance of the distances or the frequency or even the heart rate.  It was about the NUTRITION and the STRETCHING.

NUTRITION
I have constantly fought with body issues and weight concern.  Eating has always been a struggle for me - eating too much and eating too little.  So knowing that I'm about to put my body through 8 months of intense training, burning huge numbers of calories a day, I have to come to terms with fuelling my body.  I will NOT succeed at this challenge if I do not adequately grasp my nutrition needs, consume healthy foods that will support my training, reduce inflammation, and help me recover.  This week I made a batch of sweet potato and black-bean chilli using this recipe as a base. Not only did it turn out very yummy and very healthy.  It made me realize that I should make something like this every Sunday to keep as my go to side dish, snack or filler.  I also stocked the kitchen with organic mixed greens, blueberries, raspberries, peanut butter, bananas, good cheese and low-fat, nitrate free deli meats.  I start each day with oatmeal and berries. Make sure I grab a piece of fruit as a snack after my workouts. And dinners have been focused on steamed veggies, lean protein and yummy salads.  It's not the easiest thing to do but I'm committed to do it.

STRETCHING
You know you need to do it but there never seems to be enough time right after a work out to adequately stretch.  You know the routine, off the bike, quick calf, hammie, quad and glute stretches all in less than 2 minutes.  That's not enough.  I have decided to schedule in at least a 10 minute stretch at the end of every work out AND every night before bed another 15 - 20 minutes of really working through my legs including foam rolling and stick massaging.  I know that there is no way I will be able to make it through these next 8 months injury free if I do not commit to a good stretching plan.  I'm also adding yoga into my schedule on Wednesday nights and if possible on the weekend as well.

Speaking of injury, Sports Doc Dr. Chan says the tib-fib joint is better but still unstable so I continue to wear the band.  However I'm happy to report the hip pain is nearly non-existent!

Finally, I am going to try to icebath after every work out of more than an hour and a half.  It's only for 10 mins and I've found that a great hot drink in the ice bath is lemon-lime Nuun in hot water.  Replenish those electrolytes while trying to keep warm!

My new bike - she needs a name!

Hey - Look at my new toy!

I took my new bike out for a spin today - which considering it is FEBRUARY 9 in Toronto - that alone is a wonderful thing.  But it was special to take my very first tri-bike out for a spin the day after I got it.

It wasn't all smooth riding though - I actually had a panic attack getting on the darn thing!  I'm not kidding - it's been 5 months since I have clipped into a bike (not counting time on a trainer of course).  That coupled with the fact that I am dealing with a damaged tib/fib joint in my left knee which we can only  assume is the product of my 3 falls on my road bike this past summer.  All that on top of it being my extremely new, expensive, shinny tri bike.  Yip, it took me a good 10 minutes to talk myself onto that bike!  CRAZY!

However, once I got clipped in it all came back to me - just like riding a bike!  I only road 5 miles - on the bike path out to Leslie and back.  I practised getting into and out of my aero position, holding the position, shifting gears and the such.  I am shocked at how much harder to handle this bike is compared to my old trusted
 road bike and completely know why aero position is not welcome in group rides.

I have a lot of learning to do that is for sure.  But I am so very pleased with my new bike!  Thanks to the hubby who is so wonderfully supporting my Ironman year!

Now to name her!

I miss running

It's been nearly 8 weeks since I have run.

I never thought I would love running this much but I can honestly say I miss it and I love it.

I love the way I feel after a long run, after a fast run, after a recovery run.  I love fuelling my body, pushing my legs, my lungs, my heart. I love the taste of salt on my lip mixed with the sweet raspberry hammer gel. I love going far from home knowing I have to return.

 I miss the sunshine and the sweat soaked shirt even when its so cold outside you wonder how you can sweat. I miss the music screaming in my ears.  I miss the hours out of the house and in the fresh air.  I miss being in my own head with no one else.  I miss visualizing my day with Ironman, visualizing the emotions, the feelings, the pain.  I miss running.