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!

Toronto Triathlon Festival 2013 Olympic Race Report

Yesterday was the second running of the Toronto Triathlon Festival and the second time I raced the Olympic Event.  This year the race was host to the Canadian National Championships which meant there were 10 World Championship Qualifying Spots per age group.  It also meant the field was much deeper than last year.  At the beginning of the season, this was my "A" race and I was hoping to make the podium and if I fell short of that, to at least make the top 10 to grab a spot on the Canadian National Team for 2014.  As the season wore on, I lost focus of this race and truthfully didn't train nearly enough - so I had adjusted my expectations for this race and dropped the hope of a top 3, but still wanted a top 10 finish and to better my time from last year.

The day started out nice and early with a 4:40am wake up call.  It's so nice to race in your home town because you have all your normal conveniences of home.  I quickly grabbed my coffee, ate a bowl of leaping leamers cereal, threw on my tri kit and we were out the door at 5:30am.  As we were nearing the top of our street Barry starts asking me if I've got everything ... cycling shoes, helmet, runners ... I was a little exasperated with him and then I slammed on the breaks, threw the truck in reverse - crap - I don't remember packing my goggles last night.  A bit of panic sets in as I'm not sure where my goggles were ... but luckily I found a pair quickly and we were back on the road to transition.

We arrived with plenty of time and I was happy to run into my buddy Erin as I was walking to transition.

The morning air was quite fresh which was a welcomed change after a week long heat wave. I think everyone was quite relieved we were racing in this weather!  Things went very smoothly as we got body marked and heading into transition to set up.  This race has assigned bike spots so it doesn't matter how early or late you get to transition - you hang your bike at your number and that is that.

It was so awesome to see so many TTC kits around.  I think we had over 80 athletes racing between the two distances.  I set up my transition and decided to put my wetsuit on to keep me warm.  I tried a new tip for wetsuit removal that I learned at my Friday night Welland Swim Series race - to put baby powder inside the suit before you put it on.  It made a big mess and I'm pretty sure it did not make it any easier!

Nice TTC Kits! Me, Tara, Clare and Erin

I made my way to the swim start when they closed transition around 6:40.  The first wave went off at 6:50.  I was in the next to last wave going at 7:14.  I ran into Leslie, a lady I had met at the kids triathlon back in June and we all made small talk as we awaited our turn for the water.

After the 7:10 wave went off, my wave jumped into the water and while we were told the water temperature on Saturday was 70*f, obviously there had been a turn over in the lake because the water was the coldest I have EVER raced in!  We were all screaming and fusing over the water temp.  And my plan to relieve my bladder was scratched as there was no way I was going to be able to pee in that cold water!  It seemed like forever before we heard "1 minute" then the horn went off and we were off.

and GO!

Amazing that Barry captured this shot of me!

The swim was crowded and competitive.  There were pockets of nice, warm water but mostly the water was cold.  I settled into a nice rhythm and was able to stay on some toes for most of the race. By the time we had turned and were heading along the backside of the harbour, we had caught up to waves ahead of us and the fast swimmers of the final wave behind us had caught up too.  It was very crowded and physical. The swim is in a harbour and the worst part of the swim was right before we made the last 2 turns for the exit.  It was like we were swimming in a forest - seaweed floating everywhere and debris floating in the water.  I hit a large piece of wood with my right wrist and today I have a nice bruise to show for it!

Always happy to be out of the water

I felt like I had a pretty good swim.  Official time was 30:59 (2:04/100m) and while that was almost a two minutes slower than last year, given my lack of time in the pool, I'll take it.  Unfortunately things started to unravel from here.  I made my way to my bike but I couldn't get the velcro undone at the top of my wetsuit.  I was able to unzip it but could release the velcro.

darn sticky velcro!

Once I got the velcro loose I had even more trouble getting the wetsuit off.  I'm not sure if the baby power caused this or if it was a case of frozen fingers and toes from the cold water.  I finally freed myself then went on to struggle with my aerohelmet and finally put my shoes on and started off on the bike.

Do you see my race belt and bib on my aerobars?

As I'm approaching the ramp to get to the mount line I hear "hey, number 840, number 840 you dropped your race belt".  Crap - that's me!  New this year, you are no longer required to wear your bib on the bike.  However, I still, out of habit, put the race belt on my handle bars so I can snap it on.  I obviously completely forgot to do that.  I had to lean my bike up against the fence and run back to get my belt.

I didn't have any trouble running up the ramp this year in my shoes.  I found if I ran on my tippy toes I was fine. I finally made it to the mount line and got on my bike.  It's a slow exit as you ride through the twists and turns of Exhibition Place and I was able to take some water and try to collect myself.  Then we take the on ramp to the Gardner Expressway and the real bike race starts.  We headed directly into a very strong easterly wind and there is a nice climb right out of the gate so I decided to downshift to my small ring and CRAP - my chain dropped!  I tried to shift back up and get it to catch but I was floundering so I stopped and manually put the chain back on.  At this point I was pretty deflated!  I had a terrible T1, I dropped my race belt and then I dropped my chain!  And to make things just a bit more miserable, my feet were numb from the swim!

It took me a couple of minutes to regain my composure and put the mistakes behind and focus on the bike. Heading into the strong headwind was tough and seeing my speed hover between 25 and 28 kph was depressing.  I had hoped to average 33 kph and at this rate, with the dropped race belt and the drop chain, I wan't going to make it.  The course turns North onto the DVP and is generally up hill.  When we made the turn around at Eglington, I think my Garmin said my average speed was 27.9 kph but now it was game time with a mostly downhill with a tail wind return.  I tucked down into my most aero of aero positions and focused.  And I made up a lot of ground and ended up with a bike split of 1:16:31 averaging 31.4kph.  Not what I wanted but given I gave up at least a minute each with the fumbles, I'll take it. I had expected to beat my time from last year by a nice margin, but in the end I was less than a minute faster.

I dismounted and took my shoes off before I ran down the ramp into transition.  When we entered transition they made us go to the left and around to the middle which threw me off and for some reason I forgot my number and my transition location!  I ended up at the 540 spot, confused and then frantically looking for my transition spot.  You would think this was my first triathlon for goodness sakes!  I finally made my way to my spot, racked my bike, helmet off, socks and shoes on, sunglasses and visor and I was off.  I ended up with a disgraceful T2 time of 1:45!

"it's just not my day"

It is so great to have Barry on the course.  I actually felt really great physically heading out for the 10k run but mentally and emotionally I was down on myself because of my blunders.  My feet were still numb but not to the point of being really painful. It was sunny and was getting warm but nothing uncomfortable.  My legs felt good and my heart rate was good and I pulled it together.  I knew I was able to run a sub 50 minute 10k and was hoping for a 47 minute run split.  I gave it my all, I ran as fast as I could, and I'm happy with the outcome.

about 500 meters to go, focusing on breathing, no time to smile

getting ready for the finish - money shot Barry!

Barry captured some great shots as the runners turned into the park area, about 500 meters from the finish.  I knew the end was near and I just put my head down and gave it my final kick.  I remember seeing Chad and I think Michael or maybe it was Trevor as the cheered me on.  It's a long run around the outside of the park then into the finishing shoot - I gave it my all!

I managed my jump across the finish line

and for the very first time, collapsed after crossing 

Luck for me, my club mate and friend Leanne was volunteering at the finish line and was there to help me up and give me my medal.  While not pleased with my performance at the "easy" parts (T1 and T2) of the race, I know I gave it my all and left it all out on the course.

My results barely made my goals!  I finished in 2:38:08, a mere 29 seconds faster than last years 2:38:37!  And while my 2:38:37 finish last year gave me 6/18 in my age group.  My 2:38:08 finish gave me 10/30 in my age group!  I made a PR by the skin of my teeth and I snatched a spot to go race Worlds in 2014 representing team Canada!

I have to say, the race organizers did a good job of listening to feedback from last years race (here's last years race report).  The run course was much improved with the inbound run in the curb lane of Lakeshore, well manned aid stations and less confusion with the signage.  However, they could give us more markers on the run course - they marked 2.5km, 5km and 1km to go only.  The finish line amenities were much better this year with a free Hero Burger to athletes and other food truck options near by.  There was still a lack of adequate port-o-potties at both the transition and the finish line - hopefully they will get that right next year!

I will most likely race this race again next year - only because it is our Club's home race!

post race celebrations!

A HUGE thank you goes out to all the volunteers (especially Leanne and Hector!) who have to get up so early to support the race.  These things can't happen without you!  And as always THANK YOU to my biggest fan and ever helpful, patient and loving sherpa Barry - I hope you know how much having you at my races means to me!

Barry in his bright shirt so I can always find him!

And finally, thanks to the Toronto Triathlon Club for having a post race tent with water and fruit and cookies!  It's a wonderful feeling being a part of such a wonderful organization!  Thank you to all the board members and other members who gave their time to support the efforts at the finish!

2nd Annual Aaron Vaughn Memorial Swim Race Report

This past Friday we made our annual summer trip to my home town of Stuart, Florida.   Saturday I swam the 1k Aaron Vaughn Memorial Frogman Swim.  I swam the event last year and was thrilled to be back to swim this year.

The weather was perfect but the surf was a little on the rough side.  With a cap of 300 swimmers in 3 distances (5k, 1k and 200 meter), it was the perfect number of swimmers to create a good start. I was so excited to try out the new TYR Torque swimskin as IMCOZ is typically a wetsuit illegal race.  Again, the family and friends of Aaron Vaughn put on an excellent event and I hope they raised a lot of money for their Operation 300 camp.

I had a bit of a size  dilemma with this new skin suit. I was convinced I needed a medium, but the local tri shop here only had the small in stock, the medium hadn't arrived yet. After spending the good part of an hour walking around The tri shop, the wonderful owner offered me the opportunity to wear the small for the race to try it out. If you are ever in Stuart check out Riverfront Kayaks Tri- Athletica if you need any gear!

So back to the beach....

It was a beautiful morning. The registration / sign in process was a little disorganized but being a second year event, they still have a learning curve. I finally got signed in, body marked and all and was on the beach with plenty of time to hang out. This year the included a tad pool swim for kids under 10. Both my kids registered, JJ in the 5-7 age group and CA in the 8-10. 

The 73 5k swimmers took off around 9:20, then the 100 1k swimmers started 8 minutes later.

The surf was rough - we swam out to the buoys, turned north, swam forever, turned around and came back. We must have swam with the current to the north and fought the current heading south. Not to mention the waves were breaking on us too. Thank goodness for bilateral breathing. I felt good, keeping good form and even stayed on one ladies feet for quite awhile. It felt like a very long swim and sure enough my garmin said I swam 1.3 km.  I finished with an official time of 27:02, 12th female.  Last year I finished 7th in 22:42. This troubles me just a little bit, but I remember last year being quite calm and this year we did fight the waves, not to mention I'm pretty sure the course was long!

I loved swimming in the swim skin!  Thanks to Tri-Athletica I'm a proud owner of a TYR Torque!

After the 200meter race finished the tadpole swim got under way. Poor little JJ had to swim out about 12 meters to a buoy and back through the break surf. There were 7 brave kids in his group.

He did an awesome job and made it back to the beach in 3rd place resulting in a nice little medal for his collection.

He was exhausted!  Since the surf had really picked up and CA's age group had to swim out and across, she decided not to participate.

All in all it was a great morning.  The organizers do a very good job with plenty of food and drink for the participants. There was even free smoothies for everyone at the end!  I hope we are back in town for the 3rd annual Aaron Vaughn swim next year!

 

Ironman Mount Tremblant 70.3 Race Report

5:58:11
Swim: 41:45
Bike: 2:59:29
Run: 2:09

The day started with a wake up call at 5am.  As usual on race morning I popped out of bed and got the coffee going.  Coffee is a very important part of my morning routine!  Barry was already awake and he quietly and quickly shared his news ... "I'm not racing today".  My heart broke a little for him as I knew he so badly wanted to do this.  But his leg was causing him too much grief, and while he didn't share it at the time when we rode the 18 km out and back on Friday, even the cycling wasn't working too well for him.  I am so proud of him for making the decision and since it was race morning I had to accept it and move on.

The morning went very well.  I had so much time! Transition was open from 5 - 6:30am, first wave went at 7am but my wave didn't go until 7:40.  We were staying at the Residence Inn right at the base of the village, just steps from transition, so I was planning on returning to the room after setting transition.  Of course I had packed up my transion bag the night before so I was ready to do this.

tri kit and transition gear

Perhaps the first error of my day was my breakfast.  While I had brought my normal gluten-free breakfast cereal from home, it was a bit stale and for some reason, the bagels at the hotel's breakfast bar looked better.  For the past month I have been a little lenient with my gluten free diet so I decided to have a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast.  It was super yummy!  Now whether or not this comes back to haunt me after T2 ....

We headed down to transition around 5:45ish and I got marked quickly and was setting up my transition area before I knew it.

body marking

best volunteer around!

easy to stay relaxed when surrounded by friends

getting it all set up

We were back into the room around 6:15 so there was a bit of waiting to do.  I was feeling like I could eat some more so I grab another half a bagel from the breakfast bar.  No, I did not think this was a bad idea at the time!

We decided to head down to the swim start around 7.  The weather was nice and we didn't have anything else to do.  It was a nice 10 minute walk to the beach and we just missed the pros going off at 7am.

We chatted with friends and then I made my way to the water to get a feel for my stroke and check out the temperature.  While everyone who swam on Saturday said the water was perfect - the temp has dropped 3 degrees celcius so it was a bit chilly for my liking but what can you do?  Before I knew it my wave was called and we were entering the start area.  

ready to swim

The swim course is quite nice.  The course is a big U turn!

You swim out 800 or so meters, turn and swim about 300 meters, then turn and swim in the remianing 800 or so meters.  Now to be completely honest, I quit my master's swim class months ago and only got myself to the pool a handful of times this season.  I'm not really a fan of swimming, or really getting wet, so training for the swim has always been a challenge for me.  I came into the race with expectations of swimming a 45 minute 1,900 meters.

that''s me out there - on the left, in a pink cap - see me?

Bang, the fireworks went off and my wave made it's way out for the swim.  I quickly settled into a nice rhythm.  I was toward the front but off to the left.  There were about 130 in my wave so it wasn't bad at all on the swim out to the turn buoy.  The water was cool, clean and clear and I was able to keep good form.  It didn't seem too long before we got to the first turn buoy and like most turn buoys it was a bit congested.  At this point we were catching up to the slower swimmers from the wave in front of us but it wasn't too bad yet.  A few minutes later I hit the second turn buoy and that's when things got really crazy.

My wave had caught up to not only the slower swimmers from the waves in front of us, the fast swimmers from the 3 waves behind us had caught us.  Where the first half of the swim was clear, the swim to shore was a washing machine.  I always feel for the weaker swimmers trying to breast stroke or back stroke while getting ploughed by the super speedy swimmers.  I'm just an average swimmer so I was just hanging in there.  At one point a woman (from my wave in a pink cap) grabbed my shoulder, fully clasped her hand on me and pushed me under.  As a flight or fight response I may have punched her in the face.  I am sorry and it was not a intentional move just a gut reaction from being drowned!

The water had turned colder on the turn as well so it was a mad dash to get to shore - which seemed so much further than the swim out.  I swam until I hit bottom with my hands.  Many started walking out much sooner but I find swimming faster than dredging though water.

 I was so happy to be out of the water - ran to the wetsuit strippers and knowing the drill was completely wetsuit free and up and running very quickly.  I saw Barry and asked him my time - then saw he had no watch so I didn't get any info from him.  He says he was screaming 40 minutes but I didn't hear that.  Officially I swam 41:45 which I'm more than happy with - I was looking for anything less than 45 minutes!

He got MUCH better photos of other TTC members coming out of the swim!

I jogged up the long run up from the swim - many were walking 2 and 3 across so I had to do a little excuse me, pardon me, get the &*%& out of my way.  I made pretty quick time in T1 - official time was 5:12 which included a long run up behind SLOW people!  This is always a favourite part of my race - heading out for a nice long bike ride!

The weather was perfect - just cool enough, not much wind and probably 17 - 18*C, 63-64*F and cloudy! I LOVED this bike course!

It was challenging without being miserably hard.  There were some great climbs and massive decents.  According to my Garmin I topped out at 77.6 kph, elevation gain of 1,734m and averaged 30.2 kph.  I was incredibly happy with my bike split!  I think I stayed on top of my nutrition taking in 200 calorie, 750ml bottle with electrolytes every hour and supplemented with 125 calories of gel blasts.

Barry did much better photographing others today

note to self - picture looks better if you don't look at the camera!

I really enjoyed seeing (or could also say being passed by) so many friends from the club.  Towards the end of the bike and as I was coming back into transition I felt something go a little off in my tummy.  I'm not sure if I was having issues from eating only the power blasts and not mixing it up with a couple of gels or if it was the bagels I had for breakfast, but my stomach was off.  My official bike split was 2:59:29 - didn't leave myself much room in making my sub-3 hour goal!

I got off my bike and my legs felt like they normally would after a hard 90km ride but I found my legs quickly but the stomach was bloated and with every step it was like I was being punched in the abdomen.  To make matters worse, when I racked my bike I some how fell on my butt.  So while I was down there I went ahead and switched up my shoes.  I grabbed my visor and a gel, picked myself up off my butt and headed out. At this point I knew I had to hit a porto-potty but the question was - can I make it to the first aid station or do I take the time and wait in line inside T2.  I made the incorrect choice of running out onto the course. I saw our fearless and magnificent volunteer Leanne and the look of empathy in her eyes - I knew she knew exactly how I felt.

 It was no surprise to me the hill right out of the village but running up that was brutal with my stomach full of gas.  I saw Barry and I wanted to tell him why I looked so miserable - that it wasn't my legs - it was my stomach but before I could he just said "I know baby, I know"

I thought this would be the worst I would feel all day

Luckily the first aid station comes up around 1.6km into the run.  According to my Garmin I was stationary for about 4 or 5 minutes.  And then I was good.  My stomach felt good, my legs cooled down a bit and were stiffening up but I knew a couple kilometres would warm them back up and I could run a decent half marathon.  I had a nasty stitch in my side for a bit and I was happy to chat with my friend Christina and she kindly gave me one of her salt pills.  I knew it was just something I had to run through and within 15 minutes I was doing fine.... for the time.

I didn't mind the run course - it was challenging but nothing to bad - hills at the front and at the end but a nice long stretch of flat in there.  Unfortunately for me, the flat part was along a dirt trail along the river bed.  This is where my run began to seriously unravel.  I had decided to wear my Zoot racing flats, without socks of course.  I have done this before but on paved surfaces only.  Within minutes of running on the trail, the dirt had infiltrated my shoes and blisters were forming - and I still had a long way to go.

smile for the camera - no matter how much it hurts!

About this time I heard Irisz and Annette from behind saying something about finally catching me and my heart sunk a little.  I kept running on, though I have a hard time calling it that.  I was so disappointed I couldn't enjoy my run.  I ran between the aid stations and then I would take a break and walk.  Because the run is an out and back you see everyone and it's quite uplifting to see your friends out there.  My feet were quickly deteriorating and I'm pretty sure my friends could tell I wasn't in great shape.  I tried to tell myself to HTFU, that I was an Ironman, that I loved running and it was my strongest discipline.  I pushed through it the best I could but the pain from open wounds on my feet was horrible.  I ended up with a 2:09 run (6.06/km pace).  This wasn't even close to what I expected to run.  I was hoping for something more like a 1:50 or even better - and I knew I was able to run a better split than I did.

The absolute best part of this course is the last 500 meters or so when you run down through the village.  The course becomes quite narrow and the spectators are amazing.  Everyone is screaming and cheering and high 5-ing you.  And it's quite downhill so you pick up tons of momentum and speed.

this photo doesn't do the crowd justice

final push to the finish line

My feet were killing me but I was so happy see the clock because while I know there was no way I was making my "A" goal of 5:45, the clock read 6:38, and with my 40 minute delay wave, I was coming in under my "B" goal of 6 hours.

impressed with clearance here

So excited to cross the line!

I learned few lessons from this Half-Ironman!  First, always respect the distance!  Second, stick to your diet. And third, make sure your choice of footwear is correct!

I had such an incredible blast at Mt. Tremblant and I will definitely do this race again some day.  I would even consider doing the full distance one day too!  But for now, I am going to focus on getting fast for the TTF Olympic coming up in 4 weeks and then kicking butt at Ironman Conzumel in December!

Pre-race report can be found by clicking here!