The Holidays

The Holidays are flying by. I have been doing quite a bit of entertaining this week but I have been getting in some training. On the 24th, last week, I went for run outside around 8 or 9 k. On Christmas Day I went for a 7 k run out in New Glasgow. On the 27th, I ran outside about 11 k and then swam about 2500 m at the pool. On Monday, I swam again for about 45 mins. Yesterday, I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and did some stretching and exercises. Today I did a hot yoga class and tomorrow I plan to at least swim. That's about 7 hours of exercise during Christmas week which is not bad. I am looking forward to January and getting back to a more regular schedule,

New Years Resolutions

I need to think about this over the coming week and think about my resolutions. I did hot yoga this past monday and am still really enjoying it. I am going to go again today. This morning I swam about 2200 m which is a little longer than I have been swimming and I did some longer sets of 400m followed by 100 IM. I did that 3 times plus a 500 m warmup. Then did a 200 m cool down.

The New Years resolutions I can think of so far are as follows:
1. Since I am not doing an ironman in 2010, to do a least 2 half ironmans.
2. If I happen to qualify for Clearwater World Half Iron Championships, to go to that.
3. To do more PEI Roadrunner races in 2010.
4. To do the Cycling PEI Mother's day time trial.
5. To do the Thursday night Cycling PEI rec rides in 2010.
6. To become more flexible (physically)
7. To do the Red Island relay solo again. (I did it solo when it was the red cross relay)
8. To do the Souris Relay again.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A weekend of parties and a little exercise.

I survived my big Christmas party weekend, although I feel like I am coming down with a cold and I feel generally groggy. Friday night I went out to dinner with my friend, Greg Smith who was visiting from Boston. Saturday morning, I was up as usual and headed to the Spa for spin class and some exercises and stretching. I always enjoy having to get up for that, even if I have been out late. We went to the Farmer's market and then went for drive to Cavendish and had lunch at the Pearl Cafe. We also went for a short walk on the beach. It was then back to town for drinks at my house with some more friends and off to Greg and Corena's Christmas party. Sunday morning I went to the gym and ran 4 miles on the treadmill and did some stretching. Sunday afternoon was another Christmas party at Mary and Laura's followed by a party at Chris and Craig's. I got home at about 8 pm last night and went to bed early.

This morning, I swam at 7 am and did about 1800 m. I did a bit of IM and some sets of 300 and 200 metres.

Getting ready for a big weekend

This last weekend before Christmas is going to be crazy with something going on the next 3 nights and a party on the afternoon on Sunday. I hope to get in a bit of exercise. This past week was pretty good for this time of year. I ran on Sunday outside for 45 mins.; monday swam for 45 mins and did hot yoga for 1 hour 15 mins.; Tuesday swam 45 mins and did spin for 45 mins and a half hour of stetching; wednesday swam for an hour and ran 35 mins and about 20 mins of stretching; thursday ran for a half hour and 20 mins of stretching; friday swam for an hour. tomorrow- saturday i have a 45 min spin class and i will do weights and stretching for about 30-45 mins. That's about 10 hours of exercise this week. More swimming than anything else but i like swimming and find it easy in the winter time as opposed to getting geared up to run outside. I weighed myself yesterday. I weigh 154 which is up a couple of pounds from a couple of weeks ago. The past few years, I haven't seen that much of a fluctuation with a range of 150-160; 150 being right before an ironman and 160 being in the dead of winter. Somewhere in the middle would be normal I think.

weekly wrap up

If I forget to post often enough I have a hard time remembering what I did for workouts and that was the original purpose of this blog- to keep track of what I am doing re training. After the last post on Wednesday of last week, I took Thursday off. On Friday morning I did the triathlon swim class again. I recall that we did some speed drills and I was not all that fast. I have very good endurance but there are some weaker swimmers that are faster over short distances. I have been swimming about 4 times a week so my total swim time last week was about 4 hours. I ran on the treadmill on Friday evening for about a half hour. I believe I ran 4 times last week on the treadmill for between 30-40 minutes each time so my total running time may have been 2.5 hours. I did yoga for 1.15 hours and one spinning class for an hour; That is more than 8 hours of exercise which is not bad for the winter.

On Sunday, I ran outside for about 45 mins and then and went to the gym for about a half hour and did some stretching and exercises. I have been stretching alot to try to deal with my tight hamstrings and related issues. My right foot is still bothering me a bit and seems to bother me more when I run outside as opposed to running on a treadmill. I swam this morning (Monday) for 45 minutes. I feel like I have been eating alot as the Christmas season settles in and it is habit forming.

Lots of Stetching

I have been doing more stretching than I have ever done in an attempt to deal with my body alignment issues caused by lack of flexibility. I am enjoying hot yoga on Monday nights for the stretching and also because it is something completely different. This week there was one other guy in the class who did not look any more experienced than me at yoga which was good.

I swam Tuesday morning for about 45 minutes and worked quite a bit on Butterfly stroke. I have finally got the rhythm of the kick twice then butterfly stroke. I had no one show up for spin class yesterday afternoon so I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and did some stretching and pushups (50). This morning (wednesday) I did the triathlon swim class and we worked on all the strokes; kicked 500 metres with fins, swam 500 metres free, did some back stroke and breast stroke drills and then about 500 metres of butterfly drills. Its odd that I am finding the butterfly easier to master than the breaststroke. I can feel the rhythm and mechanics of butterfly but I have a hard time getting the feel of the breaststroke kick, even though I have been working on the breaststroke for a fairly long time.

Better Mood

My moodiness seemed to only last a few days. I took thursday off last week from training. On Friday, I did the triathlon swim class which was a tough workout as usual. Saturday morning I did spin class and then in the afternoon, I went for about an hour long ride on the Confederation Trail on my mountain bike. That is the first time I have used my mountain bike this year. I am going to try to do that more often this winter. Sunday, I went to the gym and ran 4 miles and did some exercises. I gained about 4 pounds last week which is the first significant weight gain I have had since doing ironman canada. I did quite a bit of wining and dining this past weekend as it was my birthday.

Moody

I have been a bit cranky the last couple of days for no apparent reason. It might be the changing seasons. Who knows. Last night when I was going to bed, I decided I couldn't deal with Type A personalities in the morning so I skipped the triathlon swim class this morning. I teach a UPEI class on Wednesday nights and when I get up at 5:15 am to drive in from New Glasgow and go to a swim class, it makes for a long day. Monday evening I did hot yoga again and it was great. I felt like I had never stretched as much. I hope it helps my right leg issues. I swam for about a half hour on Tuesday morning and then did spinning class Tuesday afternoon. Spinning was a good workout and I think these yoga classes will help with my instructing spinning. In yoga, the instructor constantly is talking about how you are breathing and how you feel. Spinning is actually a bit like that in that you can zone out and not think about anything. Today, Wednesday, I am taking the day off.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be warm again and I will go for a run.

Week ending Nov. 28th/09

The rest of the week was not too heavy in terms of training. I didn't do anything Thursday and then on Friday I did the triathlon swim class in the morning. It is a tough workout with a solid hour of fairly intense swimming. Friday after work I went to the gym and ran 4 miles on the treadmill and did some weights and stretching. Saturday morning I did my spin class. Yesterday, (Sunday) I went for a nice steady 9 k run. I am bothered by some issues on the right side of my body that I am told are caused by tight hamstrings and muscle imbalance. I am having foot pain in my right foot. I was thinking it is odd that I am experiencing this now when I have not been training that much compared to the summer. But, I suspect it builds up over time.

I am going to hot yoga again today in my attempt to become more flexible. I am looking forward to that.

My first yoga class

I have been ignoring the problems caused by tight hamstrings for too long. I know I don't stretch enough but it has been getting worse. I am having pain in my knee and foot. I am pronating especially on my right foot and it is causing problems all round. I have been thinking for a while of trying yoga. I know that I will have to go to yoga for a while to see results but I am pretty good at sticking to things when I try something. I did a "hot yoga" class last night and it was great. I was the oldest and least flexible person there. (It seems like it is mostly attended by attractive 23 year old girls) I am going to try and make it a regular thing this winter.

Otherwise, I ran 16 k on sunday and felt great but afterwards it made me aware of the problems with my right leg and body alignment. I swam yesterday and today about 2000 m each time and again felt good. I was videotaped last week and it was pointed out that my right arm is swinging wide under water. I have been working on that and I noticed the difference. This afternoon I will do spin class.

End of week wrap up.

In terms of training since wednesday, I ran on thursday about 8 k at lunch. I did the triathlon swim class on Friday morning which was fun as usual. I went for a brisk 8 or 9 k run with Corena and Greg on Friday afternoon. Today, Saturday, I taught spin class this morning and gave quite a hard workout and followed that with some weights and stretching. I had planned to take my mountain bike out for an hour or so on the trail but had too much stuff to do around home. (I was putting out my Christmas lights and getting ready for Christmas while the weather is good. As usual, I seem to be very "Scheduled" with my activities.)

Tomorrow morning my plan is to run about 16 k as it has ben a month or so since I have done more than 10 k. Otherwise, I plan to go to my house in New Glasgow and put out Christmas lights there; put up the driveway markers and go to the woods and get some branches and small trees for Christmas decorating.

I have been thinking about a winter vacation where I would go somewhere warm and cycle for a week. I haven't had time yet to explore the various possibilities. I have enough airline points to go anywhere in North America but the trouble is to find availability and a time I can go. I am a bit restricted because of my teaching at UPEI. I tried looking at flights briefly to Tuscon, Arizona but they required too many points. I may try again with different times.

5 workouts in 3 days- not bad.

As I have mentioned before on here, I am still strangely motivated to workout these days. I swam each of the last three days with this morning's swim being a triathlete class which is more intense than just a regular swim. I ran Monday at noon and taught spinning yesterday after work. Spinning was a bit more intense than usual as there was a large crowd there (large for spin class) I was going to run at lunch today which would have been my 6th workout in 3 days but I ran out of time. tomorrow I am going to run and friday I have a swim class and hope to run after work. I am planning on taking my mountain bike in from New Glasgow on the weekend and just go for a ride on the trail on Saturday for an hour or so. If I do that, it will be the first time I have been on my mountain bike this year.

I am buying the 3 unit duplex that is attached to my place in charlottetown- 46 Prince (I already own the other half being 48 Prince) 46 Prince has some major repairs needed most notably the roof. I have been in "overdrive" a bit getting things organized and this maybe part of the reason why I am still exercising like crazy (because I am doing everything else like crazy too). I got or am getting the eave of the north side of 46 prince completely rebuilt this week even before the purchase is complete because its needs to be done immediately. I ordered some new windows for the loft to replace the ones that are leaking. I have roofers lined up and I am going to get them to cstart early because the roof is leaking now and it may be a disaster when we get a bunch of snow.

In Halifax

I am in Halifax with my mom for a Christmas shopping weekend, I have done quite a bit of wining and dining this weekend with a little bit of exercise. I went for a nice 8 or 9 k run Saturday morning around Point Pleasant Park. I was going to go for a swim in the pool in the hotel but the pool was so small that I couldn't be bothered. I ran on Thursday this past week about 8 k and I swam Thursday and Friday. I did the triathlon swim class Friday morning which was fun and a good workout. I am going to do that on Wednesday and Friday mornings. I need to get my bike trainer set up. I have been talking to other triathletes who have been on the trainer already. It is something I always put off doing. I have never used the trainer on a regular basis throughout the winter. The only time I have seriously used it was when I was training for ironman lake placid in the spring and couldn't cycle outside.

Not as tough as I think I am

Yesterday (Tuesday) I did 3 workouts for no particular reason. I swam in the morning about 2000m and then ran with my friend, Rob at lunch a fairly fast 6 k or so. I then did my spinning class in the afternoon. I could tell when I was teaching spinning that I was starting to fade and needed something to eat. I had a big supper at my mom's and then went home to New Glasgow and promptly fell asleep on the couch. I was exhausted. On Monday I swam in the morning. On Sunday I ran on the treadmill about 5 miles and did some weights and exercises (50 pushups, ab crunches etc...) I actually enjoyed the treadmill for a change. Today (wednesday) I have the day off but i am not sure if I will do any exercise as I am feeling pressure to get home stuff done before winter (finishing raking leaves and putting stuff away) Mom and I are going to Halifax this weekend so I will take my running stuff and at least go for a run on Saturday. I will also take my swimsuit in case we have a pool in the hotel.

Lots of swimming

I didn't seem to do much exercise other than swimming this week. It is the one thing that I can always get done before work. I swam 4 times this week- monday, tuesday, thursday and friday. I swam about 2000 metres each time. This morning I swam with Tdisc which was fun for a change. I did a spinning class on Tuesday and I ran at lunch on Wednesday. I hope to get out for a run tomorrow afternoon. (saturday).

There is a triathlon swim class starting next week and I hope to start that. Otherwise, work has been busy and I am buying the other side of the duplex where I live on Prince Street so that has kept me a bit busy.

Rest of the week ending Oct 31st

The rest of the week was busy with work, entertaning some friends on Friday night and home maintenance in Charlottetown and New Glasgow on the weekend. In between, I got some exercise. I swam about 1800 m on Thursday morning which has been the usual lately. I ran after work on thursday about 9 k. Friday I ran at lunch time about 8 k and on Saturday morning I did a spin class and some weights. I also went cycling with a bunch of triathletes in the afternoon for about 40 k and it was very windy and a bit difficult. As I mentioned before on here, my spin classes are more intense this year which is great. I seem to have more enthusiasm for giving a hard class. I am debating with myself about trying the occasional new fitness activity this winter (ie hot yoga at Dynamic fitness)?

I am also thinking about next summer's triathlons. I am going to register for Mooseman which is in early June. I am also going to book the same accomodations. I am not sure about doing the Rhode Island half ironman that the rest of the gang is doing. I am not that excited about doing another weekend away mid summer. For the past couple of years I have missed my annual trip to Provincetown the end of August due to traithlons and I am defintely doing that trip in 2010. So, there is a limit to the trips I can take.

On the non-fitness front, I have a tentative deal to buy the other half of my duplex in charlottetown and it require quite a bit of care and maintenance. That will make next year additionally busy.

Weight

I don't know if i have ever mentioned on here that I was a chubby kid and that has left me with permanent issue regarding my weight. Now matter how fit I am I never see myself in the mirror as looking fit. It is still at least part of the reason I am a bit driven regarding fitness. (the other reasons being that I like it and like a structured life) I haven't started my post ironman gradual weight gain which is a bit unusual. I have been weighing myself at the gym the last few weeks and i am still around 152 which is pretty close to my low weight. (my more natural weight would be 160)

I am not sure why that is other than I am still oddly motivated to work out even though I have no upcoming races or goals for the near future. My body seems to be enjoying more intense, shorter workouts after a summer of doing everything over long distances. I have been doing short swims, runs and intense spinning classes. So far this week, I ran after work on Monday; (swam monday morning); swam tuesday morning and did a tough spinning class tuesday evening. ) I did 50 pushups and a bit of abdominal workout after spinning. I am a bit disappointed I have no time for working out on wednesday because I am teaching Summerside right after work and scheduled a haircut for lunch time. Tomorrow I will swim and run

Back to work for another week

Work has been extra busy and a bit stressful lately. This is partly because I have been away alot. I have been quite regular with my fitness regime. I have been swimming and running 3 to 4 times a week. On Friday of last week I went for quite a fast 9 k run after work. I was with a friend and pushed a bit harder than I would have by myself. I did spinning on saturday morning and also had quite an intense workout. I took the rest of the weekend off. I regret not going for a bike ride yesterday as it was warm and it may have been one of the last really nice days before winter. Maybe we will get some nice days in November. Anytime you can go riding this time of year is a bonus. I swam about 1800 metres this morning. It was quiet at the pool from 7am to 8am so I was not as motivated as I could have been. I didn't come to the pool with a planned workout which is always a mistake.

I have been doing some weights and situps and pushups on the days that I am at the gym for spinning. I am enjoying that for a change. I am up to 50 pushups in a row without stopping.

I have not quit blogging.

I have just been busy with work and travelling. I was in Boston and Conn. on the weekend. I did go a couple of runs; once was along the Charles River in Boston which was fun because it is busy. I saw a lot of rowers in the river and there was some sort of running team that flew by me. On the Saturday I went for a nice 45 min run in the backroads of Connecticut. It was snowing there on Sunday which prevented another run. Otherwise, I am trying to get caught up at work; teaching a night course for UPEI and getting ready for winter. I am doing my spin class twice a week and running when I can. I swam about 1800 metres this morning with the main set being 3 sets of 4 -100's getting faster each set. I was thinking if its not raining on the weekend, I may dress warm and go for a road bike ride or a mountain bike ride (on a trail not an obstacle course)
I bought this month's triathlon magazine on the way home yesterday and got a bit motivated just by reading some articles on training in the winter. It mentioned for example with indoor cycling that the key is to set up a pleasant environment- ie a place with a tv, fan or whatever else you want. I have that but i need a dvd player for my old tv that I use. I am going to put that on my list.

Blogging from Ogunquit

I am in Ogunquit, Maine for Thanksgiving weekend with my mom. This past week was busy getting ready to go and busy with work. To update the blog re my workouts: on Tuesday, the 6th, I swam in the morning and taught spinning in the afternoon. My swims have been scaled back to around 1800m which i am enjoying instead of having to swim 3000m. On Wednesday, I ran at lunch with Robert Jenkins who has started running in the past year and is enthusiastic. My running is feeling pretty good. I may actually be a bit faster these days. I left Thursday for this vacation. Today, Saturday, I went for a 40 minute run, part of which was along the ocean and the scenery was spectacular. I was just reading Tdisc's blog where Pye was announcing some of his goals for next year. I haven't had a chance to think about what my fitness goals are. I plan to do the Mooseman Triathlon again in 2010 and maybe do better because I will be able to focus on it. I would like to do a few more multi-sport relays like the Red Island Relay and the Souris relay; I would like to do more 10 k runs to get faster; I would like to go on a cycling vacation this winter instead of going to lie on a beach.

Posting is becoming infrequent

Now that I am not training for an ironman, I don't have as much info to post on here. Last week was a bit hectic with work, teaching and social stuff. I picked up the workouts a bit by the weekend. I swam Friday morning and then ran after work on Friday. I taught spinning Saturday morning and then went for a good 16 k run with tdisc which was fun. Sunday morning I ran about 8 k and then, this morning, Monday, I swam. I am planning on doing a weights workout after work today. I am teaching a course for UPEI in summerside on Wednesday nights until Christmas so that cuts out one night a week for training. I feel like I am eating alot and not training enough but that is probably normal after training for an ironman triathlon. I have been thinking I would like to go somewhere warm this winter for a biking holiday. It is just a thought but it would be fun if you could get some other people to go. That would be the problem.

Back to the grind

Work is busy again and I am getting back to a routine. I swam monday morning and felt pretty good. I did about 1750 metres with some 200s, 100s and drills. I ran after work about 10 k and felt good again. Tuesday morning I swam again about 1700 m and did some drills and backstroke. Today after work I start teaching my spin class. I am not overly enthusiastic about ti because it is still nice outside but it will be a change and is always a good workout. I am thinking of getting back to swimming 4 times per week by adding maybe a swim on Saturday or Sunday. I would like to run 4 times per week with one of those being a long run on the weekend. With a couple of spinning classes and maybe some weights, that would be 10-12 hours a week which I think would be just right for me and my schedule.

A bit lazy

I have been in montreal since wednesday to a legal conference. I planned to go for a long run today in montreal but bailed on that idea this morning. i ran here on thursday afternoon for about about an hour. I swam on Monday and Tuesday mornings before I came here. I think I also ran at home on either Monday or Tuesday. All in all, a pretty light week exercise wise for me. I will get back into my routine on Monday. I want to keep up doing some long runs while the weather is still good and would like to do a longish run (15-20 k) once a week all year.

I suck at road bike racing

As part of my plan to do different things for the fall, I went in a road bike race yesterday and earned the distinction of coming last in my division. (by quite a bit). I am probably not the weakest biker but I lack the skills at the moment to keep up with a pack. I have beaten several of the people who were in the race, in duathlons or triathlons where there is no drafting. But that is neither here nor there. It was good for me and part of the continuing lesson for me that I can't be good at everything.

On a more positive note, I went in a 10 mile running race on Saturday and finished in the middle of the pack with a time that would be normal for me (1hour 15 mins.) It was a fairly active weekend. I declined a couple of social house parties or dinners because I basically didn't feel like being out late drinking and I wanted to do these races. This week I am off to montreal for a legal conference so I will do some running up there. I swam this morning and it was a bit of a struggle. I just didn't really feel like I had much energy and I feel slow in the water. I seem to be having a little difficulty getting back into my swim routime after not being in the pool for the month of August. It is usually one of my favorite things.

Fall

I have been trying to establish a bit of a fall routine this week. I have been swimming 3 times at the pool- monday, tuesday and thursday mornings. I have gone running twice- on Monday at lunch and Wednesday before work. I went to the gym at UPEI and did some weights on Tuesday at lunch and I am going again today. I will hopefully run again tomorrow and I am planning on doing a 10 mile race Saturday morning. I think I will also swim again tomorrow morning. That will be 4 swims, 3 short runs and one long run and a couple of weight workouts which is not a bad week. Work is not that busy at the moment which is nice. Here are a couple of pics from Ironman Canada. I forgot, I am also planning on doing the thursday night rec ride tonight so that will be some cycling as well.

Trying to get back in a routine

Last week I was still a bit lazy. I was laughing to myself that I did less exercise all last week than I did in a lot of single days this summer. I went on the Thursday night rec ride with the cycle PEI group and that is always a great workout. I got to the pool last thursday morning. On Saturday morning i went for a really nice 2 hour ride with Larry and Jim and kept up a pretty steady pace. Today, (Monday) I went back to the pool. I feel very slow in the pool and it seems to be taking a bit out of me. There was an older guy in the lane this morning that i almost had words with. I tried to ask him if he would split the lane because he was quite a bit slower. I couldn't get him to stop so I started to swim around him. I kept catching up to him and he would never stop to let me by him so I had to swim around him. Usually people get the hint but he wasn't stopping for anyone. Note to self to avoid his lane when I see him. I am going to run at lunch and this will be my first run in two weeks. I was thinking this morning that I would like to run about 3 times per week all year plus a long run on the weekends. I would also like to swim about 4 times a week and with my two spinning classes per week, that should be enough. I am thinking about whether or not I want to swim with the Masters group. It would be good for me but would require swimming late in the evening which doesn't suit my schedule very well. I still haven't posted any pics from ironman canada as promised.

Getting back at it.

It is now more than a week since Ironman Canada and I have not done any exercise. I am going to try to go for a run after work today and then hit the pool on Wednesday morning. For the remainder of the fall, I am going to try to do more exercise for the fun of it and to get out with people who I have been meaning to see all summer. This will include some social bike rides, some kayaking and running in some roadrunners races. I always get a bit paranoid about gaining back the weight that I loose while training for ironman. I have a trip planned for thanksgiving weekend to Maine and I will take my road bike with me. I am also going to think about what my goals and plans will be for next year. As of right now, it will not be doing another ironman. I may do a couple of half ironman's which would not require that much training. (beyond what i normally do)

I am also looking forward to swimming in the pool and working a bit on different strokes. My spinning classes start this month and I will start doing some weights at the gym.

Still recovering

Yesterday, I thought I had recovered from Ironman Canada and went on some wine tastings. I had a bit of a relapse and was on the couch most of today. I am learning a bit about how you feel when you are seriously dehydrated. I have run some marathons where I got dehydrated but I have never felt like this. We wre travelling around the Penticton area where there are a ton of wineries. The funny thing is that I cycled the same roads that we are travelling in the race and nothing looks familiar. I felt so miserable during the bike ride that I really didn't look at any of the beautiful scenery. I have some pics from the race and the scenery here that I will post on here tomorrow. During the swim, when I was getting pushed, kicked, punched etc... I said to myself that I was not going to do this again. As of right now, that is how I feel. I have done 3 ironman races and that is enough. I am looking forward to having more time to do running races and getting a little faster over shorter distances.

That was a hard day

I had heard from several people that Ironman Canada was easier than Ironman Lake Placid. Its not. I am not sure if its the heat or the terrain or both. I don't know what the temperature was but it was at least mid nineties and probably hotter. I ran by the thermometer at one point late in the race when it had cooled off alot and it was 89 degrees. The swim was full body contact the whole way- punching, kicking and getting hit it the face. I felt ok in the swim and was happy with my time (1:10). On the bike I did not feel well from the start and had stomach problems; Gatorade was making me sick. I had been drinking it the day before to be hydrated and it was not sitting well in my stomach. When we got to the first hard part of the bike course (Richter Pass), I was feeling sick and didn't know if i was going to be able to finish. I stopped drinking gatorade and switched to water and things got a bit better. By the end of the bike ride, I was feeling better and things started to turn around. When I left the bike to run transition, I was figured I was 9 minutes ahead of my lake plaicd time and I felt good again. My legs felt good and I thought I would have a good run. It was fine for the first hour and I ran 7 miles in the first hour. If I had kept anything close to that pace, I would have had a great marathon and finish time. I should point out that there were a huge number of people walking. There were more walkers than runners by far. Somewhere in the second hour, I began to slow down. It took me 2 hours to get to the half way mark which was still not too bad. I started to have cramps in my legs and in my chest. I kept running and am pleased that I never walked other than to stop at aid stations but it took me 2.5 hours to run the second half of the marathon. I felt strong on the last 5 k which just shows how your mind kicks in when you know you are almost finished. My finish time was 12:03. Not to get too dramatic but I think I had a touch of heat stroke as I felt quite sick afterwards for the rest of the evening. I feel better now the day after.

In Penticton

I arrived in Vanouver late on thursday evening (2 hours late) compliments of air canada. I was meeting Greg and Corena who flew in earlier. Greg decided to book a room at the hotel at the airport. We got up early on Friday and drove to Penticon which took about 4 hours. It is beautiful here and we are staying at a really nice condo. It is also quite hot which is a bit of a concern for the race. We took our bikes to get checked over at the Bike Barn which proved to be a good move. I have a lot of difficulty getting my back wheel on and off and in doing so i bent the derailler a bit. Otherwise, my bike was fine. Corena's bike had a lot of problems which they fixed. Corena and I went to the athletes dinner Friday night. These are fun but pretty much the same at every event. I got a good nights sleep Friday night . Today (Saturday) we are going for a short bike ride and 15 minute run and then we will just try to relax and eat and drink lots. Penticon itself (although it has beautifuk scenery) does not seem to be a particularly interesting town.

Getting ready to head to Penticton

It is a busy week getting things done at work and getting packed to go away for a week. This past weekend i had one of my best results ever in a race coming third in the Sackville Sprint triathlon out of 90 people. I do feel pretty good in terms of my training and don't feel like there is anything else i could have done for this ironman. So, my performance however it goes will not suffer from lack of training. There may be other factors such as heat to contend with. I ran yesterday for a half hour and felt great and today I am going to cycle for an hour. Tomorrow is a short run of 30mins and that's about it.

My goal with every ironman is to try to get as much out of the weekend as possible interms of enjoying the experience- which includes travel, meeting new people, shopping and generally having fun. I want to enjoy the race as much as possible and do as well as I can. I will be happy if I get through the race safely and complete it without any major problems. That is my primary goal; my secondary goal is always to improve my times. Last year, my time was 11:39 with what I thought was a slow bike ride but a good swim and a very good run. I would like to improve the bike time by 10 minutes or so and keep the other times or improve on them slightly. My marathon time last year was slightly over 4 hours so I am sort of shooting for under 4 hours. We will see.

Tapering continues

Wednesday I did my last long run- about and hour and a half out around New Glasgow. I have a bit of a mental block about running in the morning but it was beautiful yesterday (around 7 am) and I was thinking I should have done it more often in the morning. My usual running time is always after work. Tuesday night I swam with the tri group in Rusticoville. We went around 7:30 and by 8:30 it was getting dark and a bit hard to see. Today I am going to swim at the outdoor pool at Simmons and then go for a bike ride with my friend, Tyler R. for about an hour and a half. On the weekend i am doing the sprint triathlon in Sackville. That will be a fun change from always doing Olympic distance races. It will also be a good little speed workout.

August 15th weekend.

I might be tapering a little too much in that i feel like i am taking it pretty easy. This past saturday I played tennis for fun and as a bit of a mental diversion. Sunday, I did do an Olympic triathlon in Parlee Beach. I finished 14th out of about 50 competitors and was reasonably happy with my performance. Both my running and biking are a little slower over shorter distances that they were a couple of years ago but I attribute that to all the ironman training over the past 3 years and not enough short races. I used to compete in a lot of 10 k and 5 k races when I had more time. I have learned that I cannot be good at everything at the same time. I took Monday off and I seem to have a busy schedule this week socially and it will be a matter of sqeezing in workouts here and there. My program calls for an hour and a half run this week which seems long for tapering but I think I will try to do it tomorrow morning. (which is not my favorite time for running but its the only time available) Tonight I am going to try to go for an openwater swim and do around 3000m. Thursday night I am doing a bike ride with a friend for a couple of hours and then my program calls for a short brick on the weekend and then it will be the countdown to heading to Penticton the following week. I think that getting rested and eating well etc... is as important as anything at this point. I know that my ironman strength is not my speed in any of the disciplines but it is being able to keep a constant moderate pace without suffering too much and in particular being able to run a decent marathon after biking for 6 hours. The only unknown variable would be doing it in extreme heat. Hopefully that won't happen. I think that anything up to 30 degrees would be fine.

Enjoying tapering

I have been trying to do a few different things this week and this weekend; Thursday night i did the cycling PEI rec ride which had a bout 20 people of varying fitness levels. I went with some of the faster guys and they go full out for about 45 k. i am not used to the pace at all as there is a lot of speeding up. In triathlon you maintain a constant pace. Its good for me to do this once and a while Friday morning i did some more open water swimming, Saturday, I played tennis in the morning and then went to the beach. Sunday I am doing Parlee Beach olympic distance triathlon which will be about 2.5 hours of an intense workout. This is less than my ironman program calls for but i figure the intensity will make up for it.

Taking it easy

I am enjoying taking it easy this week. I am as fit as I am going to get for this Ironman. I didn't do anything on Monday; Tuesday I did an hour run with 3 minute intervals of fast and slow and actually felt pretty fast; Wednesday I went for an openwater swim and, today, I plan to go for about a 2 hour bike ride with the Thursday night cycling PEI group which is something I have been meaning to do all summer.

The things you think about when you cycle for 7 hours

Since my last post, I did some open water swimming on Friday morning for about an hour and then on Saturday, August 8th, did my last long bike ride in preparation for ironman canada. I had some relatives visiting PEI this weekend and had to balance partying with them and doing a lot of training on the weekend. I managed to do it. I was out late Friday night and so I slept in on Saturday (as opposed to hitting the road at 7 am) I was cycling at about 10 am and went around Queens County- Charlottetown to Stanley Bridge, French River, Park Corner, Malpaque, Kensington, Hunter River, Brookvale, South Melville, Desable, Argyle Shore, Canoe Cove and back to Charlottetown. (about 175 k in 6.5 hours) I had a horrible headwind for about the first half of that to Malpaque and would have done more distance except for that. I was hoping to do more than 180 just so I could say I did it but given the wind I was satisfied with my distance. I stopped a bit more than I should have for pee breaks and for convenience store supplies. I finished around 5 pm and then did a 30 minute run. The one good thing I can say is that I felt pretty good on the run part and for the hell of it, I passed a bunch of other runners on the Victoria Park Boardwalk and was pleased that I had enough speed to pass people who hadn't just biked 175 k.

Sunday morning (after being out late again) I cycled for about 2 hours fairly easy from Charlottetown to Hartsville and then back to town through Emyvale. I slept for about 2 hours Sunday afternoon.

The thing I was thinking about on this trip and on others is that I am struck but how many nice, well kept homes there are on PEI. We are supposed to be a poorer province but when I cycle around PEI, there are beautiful homes and properties everywhere.

A little run down

Last weekend must of had a bit of a negative effect on me. I am a bit sick with a cold in the middle of the summer. I guess it is better now than 3 weeks from now. I am about to force myself to go run for 2 hours in the heat. On the bright side, it is not after cycling for 6 hours so it shouldn't be too bad. I swam 2300 meters this morning and felt ok but not fantastic. I had a nice social ride last night with some old friends, including Ross Palmer who used to live here but now lives in Austrailia. There were 5 of us and I was quite a bit faster than 3 of them and not as fast as one guy (Dan) So, it was fun because I went fast with Dan for a bit and then we circled back for the others and chatted for a bit etc... It reminded me that training for an ironman is a bit of a lonely pursuit because you train so much and alot of the training you do by yourself. (or, at least I do)

I plan on doing some open water swimming in the morning in Rustico and then my last big ride on Saturday. I am going to do slightly more than 180 k so that I can say it is my longest ride ever. (because my longest ride has always been the ironman distance of 180 k) if i am going to do 180 k, i might as well do 182 k.

Not much to report

On Monday this week I was completely wiped out after the weekend so I took the day off. Yesterday, I swam about 2600 m in the pool doing 100s, 200s and some kicking. Last night I went for a short run of about a half an hour just to lossen up my legs. Today I plan to go road biking for a couple of hours and am trying to find someone to go with. Tomorrow is supposed to be about a 2 hour run which shouldn't be too bad.

Not quite recovered from the weekend

This was my second last long training weekend before ironman canada and I am feeling it this morning. Saturday, I was on the road at 7 am. I cycled out from charlottetown toward North Rustico and met up with Corena and Kris Taylor on route. We cycled to Stanley Bridge where Corena left us and Kris and I went up to French River, Darnley, Malpaque and Kensington and then back to Stanley Bridge where Kris left me. Then I continued on to Hunter River, Brookvale and then back to Charlottetown. It was 165 k in total which is the longest ride I have done this year. But, it was the 3 hour run yesterday morning that really did me in. I was slow and sore in multiple places by the end of it. Corena and I did it together and the quote of the morning for me was when we started to run and she said "holy heavy legs!" Yesterday was a good indication of how you feel when you do an ironman triathlon. I think that the people who end up walking the marathon in an ironman haven't done enough of these types of runs where you feel terrible but keep on going. Yesterday afternoon I had to lie down for a couple of hours just to get off my legs.
On another (but related) topic i went out to dinner with friends last night who I get together with every summer and got a rather serious lecture (unsolicited) from this friend that she felt that I was addicted to exercise and that it was not "healthy" and that I needed to stop doing ironman triathlons.
I didn't bother to argue a whole lot but did try to point out that there were worse things to be addicted to and I like the structure of having a a training plan; I enjoy the people I meet and hang with while training; the people I do traithlons with are my friends and we do other things together etc.... I am not sure she listened to my point of view. There is one more big week of training and then a 3 week taper. I am supposed to cycle for an hour today just to loosen the legs but I am not feeling to ambitious as I sit here right now.

Not much time for blogging

It is crazy busy at work as it is the end of the month. I figured out that I will do about 20 hours of training this week. I am doing a 3 hour run this afternoon. My training plan does not call for this but I want to do it for the confidence factor and to know that I have done at least 2- 32 k runs prior to ironman. (this would be standard training for any marathon) In my previous 2 ironmans my run leg (the marathon) was by far my strongest leg. I am hoping to improve my bike time and have been doing more training but I would be happy to keep my run time as it was last year.

This morning, I swam for about an hour and did 3000 m. I did it by doing a 600 warmup and then just sets of 100m. Yesterday, I cycled out around New Glasgow for about 1.5 hours. Tomorrow morning, I plan to do a long openwater swim. Saturday is 6.15 hours of cycling followed by a half hour run. I plan to get a very early start at around 6:30 am.

Quantity v. Quality?

When you are training for ironman, it's hard to know which is best- quantity of workouts or quality. It feels like you do a lot of workouts for the sheer quantity to make your body used to enduring extreme circumstances. The last few workouts I have done, I have felt like I was doing them for "quantity". I cycled yesterday for about an hour and 15 minutes and felt like I was doing it because I had to. (which is true since that is what my training program called for) This morning I was a bit late for the pool and swam about 2300 m again just because i had to. With my swimming, I feel Like i am wasting all the technique work I did all winter and spring but I guess that is normal- I can work on technique again next winter. Today I am going to run for a little over an hour.

It was interesting checking out the times of some friends who did Lake Placid ironman this past weekend. It is always interesting to see how different people define success. One of my friends had a very fast time so obviously he was "successful". Another one did it in a slower time of almost 15 hours but described it on his blog as his "most successful ironman experience." It could have been successful because he may have finished under advserse circumstances. I am trying to decide if I will do an ironman next year and, if so, which one. I really like Lake Placid and the fact that you can drive there. There maybe some people from PEI doing Wisconsin so I may cinsider that one.

Bailed at the Last minute

On Saturday, I was in Stanhope ready to do the triathlon but a combination of factors led me to decide to bail on it at the last moment. (i was body-marked and registered) The weather was terrible and it seemed disorganized and was going to be starting late. I was suppoed to be at my mother's 80th b-day party around noon and when I was standing there and it started to pour, I thought -"I don't really need to do this." Also, I thought it wasn't worth the risk of having an accident this close to Ironman Canada.

In terms of my training since my last post- Corena and I did a long open water swim Friday morning of about and an hour and a half. Saturday was an off day when I skipped the triathlon. Sunday I followed my training program and did an hour and a half of cycling followed by an hour and a half of running. I am supposed to go for a short bike ride today of about an hour.

Running alot this week

This is turning into a bit of a running week. Wednesday, I ran for about an hour and ten minutes. After the 10 minute warmup, I did intervals of running 3 minutes fast, 3 minutes easy and I did this for about an hour. I purchased a new garmin this week and tried it out for the first time. I was a little disturbed to see how slow I was running when i was trying to go fast. Yesterday I did sort of the same workout with Corena only we did the 3 minutes hard by running up Teahill. We did that nine times and in total ran for about an hour and a half. It was quite an intense workout. This morning I swam 2300 m doing sets of 50m and 100 m in various combinations of "easy", "moderate" and "fast". Tomorrow morning I am going to do openwater swimming with the tri group in Rusticoville. I figured with my 3 hour run this past Sunday and with the triathlon this Saturday, I will have run 70 k this week.

I am not anorexic

I looked in the mirror last night and thought "Oh dear...." I think this is the slimmest I have ever been in my adult life. So, to the 3 or 4 people who read this, I figured I better point out that i am not trying to loose weight. Ten pounds (which is about what I have lost) makes a huge difference on my relatively small frame. I weigh a bit less than 150 at the moment and i still have a hard 3 weeks or so of training for ironman canada. The funny thing is that the minute i stop training for an ironman, i will regain the 10 pounds in a matter of weeks.

Training wise, I had a great tempo ride last night with Jared S. where we did about an hour and a half at a fast tempo. My heart rate was way up there and it was great. (I was impressed by Jared's riding). I am noticing some increased strength on my part especially on hills. I swam about 2800 meters this morning of the 32oo I was supposed to do. This past Sunday, I ran for 3 hours which is the longest run I have done this year. It was tough because I had cycled for 5.5 hours on Saturday and my legs felt heavy. I was thinking when I was running that "It would be so easy to run a marathon with fresh legs...." I felt like every person on the trail on Sunday was passing me or running faster. As a mental diversion, I would try and see if I could speed up to catch up with people ahead of me but I did not have much speed. On the positive side though, I was able to keep a steady slow pace for 3 hours.

Finishing week 11

Well, I just finished a 5.5 hour bike ride followed by a half hour transition run. As opposed to last week when I was completely wiped out, I felt great this weekend. I got off to an early start and left home around 7 am. I did my usual route but went a little further by going from Charlottetown to Stanley Bridge instead of Cavendish and then I headed to the south shore- Argyle Shore, Canoe Cove, Rocky Point and then back to town. On the run I had plenty of bounce in my step- my only problem was that I was really hungry. I ate some things along the way but it was not enough, Tomorrow morning I am going to run for three hours straight.

I missed one workout this week which was supposed to be an hour run. I opted for a nap instead.
Friday morning I met some tri people at the bridge in Rusticoville for some open water swimming. It was fun and we swam for about 45 minutes. I figured we did about 2500 metres. I had a better attitude today which helps alot. Starting early seems to be key as well.

Stressed for no good reason

Last night when I was rushing to cut some grass before dark (at my place in New Glasgow where i seldom have time to sit and enjoy the 1.5 acres of manicured lawn and shrubs) I realized I was a bit stressed as usual at trying to fit everything in. I am planning on taking thursday and friday afternoons off but even with that it is tough to get everything done. I even schedule my "fun" things; I bought a ticket to a concert tonight at the Harmoney House theatre in Hunter River which is part of my mindset of being determined to enjoy summer even if it kills me. Tomorrow night I am going to see the Stan Rogers show and Friday night, Sketch 22.

Yesterday morning I did a brisk 2600 m swim with Jamie and Tyler and in the afternoon cycled for an hour and a half. This morning I swam for an hour and a half and did 3800 m with the main sets being 30-100s. This is the longest I have swam this year. This afternoon I am going to do some running drills (speed drills) in Victoria Park for about 45 minutes. Tomorrow I am going to attempt to get to the gym at UPEI at 7am and go running for an hour before work to get it over with. If you knew me that would tell you that I am pressed for time as I hate running in the morning and seldom do it. I like swimming in the morning but not running.

Lots of biking

Well, I can say that I completed all of the workouts in my week 10 ironman program. I am not sure if I did them all with the recommended level of instensity. On Saturday I cycled for 5:15 hours which took me from Charlottetown to Cavendish, New Glasgow, Crapaud, Argyle Shore, Rocky Point and back to Charlottetown. I had hosted a dinner party the night before and had some wine and did not get to bed early. This is not ideal preparation for a day like this but that's the way things go. I did a half hour run after the bike ride so it was pretty much 6 hours of training. I then got cleaned up, immediately ate as much as possible and than tried to sleep for a while so I could join my friends at a BBQ. I woke up at about 8pm and went out with my friends.
The one thing I can say is that I seem to recover fairly quickly from these long workouts. Sunday am (after another late evening) i cycled for a little over two hours and felt relatively strong and wasn't really that exhausted by the day before.

I did oversleep a bit monday morning and was late for work. The next three or four weeks are the peak training period. Looking ahead on my training program, I don't believe there are enough long runs. For me to run a decent marathon, I need to have run a few 3 hour runs prior to the marathon. This somewhat advanced training program that I am doing doesn't seem to have many runs longer than 2 hours 20 minutes. So, I am going to do a 3 hour run this coming sunday and at least one more before the race.

Tough run

I ran for about 2 hours and 20 minutes yesterday and I can honestly say it was one of the toughest runs I have ever done. The combination of all the workouts and races I have been doing has left me fatigued. I spoke with Corena who did the same run on wednesday and she felt the same way. I don't think I felt any worse in either of my two previous ironmans running 4 hour marathons than I felt yesterday. The only thing that makes me think this training might be working is that when I got a bit pissed off at myself, and upped the intensity and speed, I was able to do so and actually felt better. The plan for this run called for upping the intensity into zone 3 for two 12 minutes intervals late in the run and then a final interval in zone 4 at the end of the run. I kind of did this and was surprised that I was able to. The other thing that makes me think I am getting fit is that I am not stiff or sore after and felt fine after I completed the run.

Despite having to do 6 hours of exercise tomorrow, I am having a dinner party tonight and will have a few drinks (in moderation). This is part of my motto of trying to live a normal life while training for ironman triathlons. I hope to be on the road biking by about 8:30 am tomorrow and finish with a run around 3 pm.

Getting it done

Basically, my mindset this week (which is less than perfect) is to get my workouts done. This is the first of about 4 big weeks of training that are essential to successfully completing an ironman triathlon. This morning I swam 3200 m which is a long swim; I did a 1000m warmup, 1000m pull and 20- 50metres fast and a 200m cooldown. Last evening I ran for about 50 minutes and it felt terrible starting out but got better. My legs were tired and heavy and I felt tired. Yesterday morning I swam 2500m and then the previous evening (Tuesday) I cycled for about 2 hours. This afternoon, I am going to run for 2 hours and 20 minutes. I have a route that I have been running regularly that is almost exactly 2 hours for me and I will just run 10 minutes further in one direction. I am taking this afternoon off work and tomorrow afternoon instead of taking all of Friday off which is what I am supposed to be doing. I find it easier to miss half a day of work than a whole day given how many real estate deals we have at work. Tomorrow i am not working out at all and then Saturday is a big day with 5 hours of cycling planned plus a run afterwards of about 45 minutes. (it is supposed to be an hour but i am not doing that)

Lost posting

I did a post about the Fredericton triathlon but must have forgot to post it or did something wrong. I was reasonably happy with my performance on the weekend. I had a solid swim of 26 mins. and a decent bike of 1:13 and an ok run of 48 minutes. I tend to judge my performance a bit by how others did. (I have been doing triathlons long enough to know where I fit in relative to others in the Maritimes.) My placing was 19th out of 80 which might be a fews places lower than usual for me but I didn't feel too bad when I realized that between 15th and 19th there was about a 25 second difference. I had plenty of gas left in the tank and should have pushed a bit harder. I could have run a bit faster but for my first Olympic triathlon of the season, it wasn't bad. It was fun to see the tdisc guys finish their first triathlon and congrats to them for doing it. Regarding my run, I noticed that the guy who came 12th (who is usually a fairly elite triathlete) had a slower run time than me so I didn't feel too bad.

I was going to get right back to my ironman training yesterday but the weather was bad so I took the day off. I swam this morning in a pool that was extremely crowded and people who could barely swim were jumping in lanes with relatively fast swimmers. The pool staff could organize things a bit better with signs (which they have) I plan to cycle for 2 hours after work today. This is the start of the weeks of long training sessions and you can't miss any of them. This Saturday, for example, I am supposed to bike for 5:15 hours and then run an hour. Six hours and 15 minutes of exercise in one day is a lot of exercise. As well, I have all kinds of social things I want to try and fit in. We will see how it goes.

Fredericton triathlon

This was the first time I have done this triathlon since 2005. We were lucky in that it did not rain during the triathlon when it was raining off and on all weekend all around the maritimes. I was reasonably happy with my performance on the weekend. My swim was 26 minutes; bike 1:13 and run 48 Minutes. My run definitely could be a bit faster and that is the one thing I need to work on a bit. The thing is I can run faster but I tend to hold back a bit on the run instead of going for it. I attribute part of that to all the long distance training I have been doing over the past few years where I am always measuring my endurance. I was going to swim this morning but decided to sleep in a bit. I am going to try to get 2 hours of cycling in this evening to keep on track with my ironman program.

End of the Week

Work has been busy this week and I have not been getting all my workouts completed. Last night I went for a 90 minute cycle ride at fairly high intensity throughout. I felt pretty good and seemd to have quite a bit of strength. This morning, I swam 3000 m and again felt quite good. I recognize this feeling from training for previous ironmans which is when you have done weeks and weeks of training, it finally hits you that you are getting quite fit. I don't want to jinx it but I am getting that feeling. Its good because, if anything, I am getting that feeling earlier this year; the next 4 weeks is the really intense ironman training period and then it is tapering. I was going to run 45 minutes after work but I am not sure if I have time for that or feel like doing it. (I have grass to cut in New Glasgow and a mother in the hospital to visit). I am doing an Olympic Triathlon on sunday which does count for some training.

Canada Day

It may have been a holiday but having a day off from work in the midst of training for an Ironman is prime opportunity to do some long training. I did this week's long run which was 2 hours. I felt not too bad and the second hour was better than the first. Last weekend's 4 and a half hour cycle took quite a bit out of me. On June 30th, I swam in the morning and was planning an hour and a half bike ride before going to a friend's house for a BBQ. I lied down for what I thought was a few minutes and woke up an hour late for the BBQ. I am going to cycle for the 90 minutes (that I missed on Tuesday) today.

I am looking forward to the Fredericton Triathlon this weekend. There are a lot of people from PEI going and I am, strangely, not feeling much pressure to achieve any particular result. That being said, at this point in my training, I am starting to feel stronger and should have a good result in an Olympic triathlon. I don't have any new triathlon pics but may post some of the ones I have from previous triathlons.

Busy weekend

Well, my plans of biking to Montague and running the half marathon went slightly astray when I had a flat tire about an hour outside of Charlottetown. That is my second flat this year and a little worrying when you are not supposed to get many flats with tubular tires. Also, when you get a flat, you can't really fix it on the spot because the tires are glued on. I caught a ride to montague and did the half marathon anyway. I had a good race for me and felt pretty strong at the end. My time was a little over 1:39 which is a good time for me at that distance. My best half marathon time is 1:38 on a easier half marathon so I was pleased with that.

Yesterday, the gang (Darcy, Greg, Corena and I) cycled out to Cavendish and then New Glasgow. At my place in New Glasgow, we split up and Corena and I headed to the south shore to complete 4.5 hour ride and the others went back to town. It was good to have the company and I was glad we did the ride. My legs are a bit sore this morning. I swam a little over 2000 m this morning and did some IM and back stroke and breast stroke which was fun for a change. This is a light training week on the Ironman program before a getting into the really heavy training over the next month or so. I forgot to mention on my blog that I did qualify for the USTA half iron distance championships when I did Mooseman. (I wasn't that thrilled with my time but still did pretty well in my age group) I am not going to do it as it is in September right after Ironman canada and another trip would be out of the question. I am going to run for 45 minutes after work.

I'm a "Triathlon" cyclist not a "Road" cyclist

Sometimes I forget that in my need to try to be good at everything. I went out last night with some young guys for a 2 hour cycle and found it challenging enough as it was at a fairly high tempo with accelerations up hills etc... I am not used to that because I train all the time maintaining a fairly steady (albeit reasonably fast) pace. These guys (roadbikers) ride like this all the time and they usually always go for hard 40-50 k rides max. The only time I felt like I might have been gaining ground was near the end of the ride when I was actually getting more comfortable with the pace and could have kept going because of my endurance. Anyway, changing the subject, I know i need to get some pictures on here to make things a bit more interesting. I will see what I can do. Otherwise, I am a bit mixed up this week with training. I am supposed to do 16 hours of training and i might get that done but alot of it is going to be on the weekend.

This blog is mainly a record of my training for myself and anyone who wants to read it. It is also about how you train for a goal (ie an ironman) and try to fit that into a normal life. This week I am feeling a bit like I need to remember that I am also a lawyer with a busy law practice (which pays for all my leisure activities) For better or worse, my law practice is much busier in the summer than the winter. I make a substantail portion of my yearly income in the months of June-October. This makes it tough because a substantial portion of my training and recreational activities happen in that time as well. This next week (end of June) is literally the busiest real estate week of the year. When you throw Canada Day in the middle of it, it can be crazy. I have people buying and selling homes all next week. On top of that I need to train 16 plus hours. It is going to be a bit crazy. (But I have done it the last two years) Tonight i am cycling for about an hour and a half. This morning I swam for almost an hour and did around 2900 meters. My cycling is supposed to be a series of speed drills tonight- 9 minutes fast, followed by the 3 minutes slow done 5 times with a warmup and cooldown. I will probably do that on the Pownal route.

Week 8

This week i am feeling a bit of pressure again trying to fit my workouts into my schedule. Yesterday morning I did a short swim of 1800 m and then did a 45 minute run after work. My legs felt very heavy when I started the run and then it got better as it went along. Last week I was full of enthusiasm and this week I feel a bit tired. I had a great swim this morning with Tyler Read. We did 2600 m fairly hard and Tyler pushed me all the way. I am thinking of doing the Fulton Campbell half marathon this weekend and biking from Charlottetown down to Montague and back. That would be my long run for the week, but would not be quite long enough to qualify for a long cycle. Between now and the weekend, it will be a question of trying to fit in a hour here or a couple of hours there.

The best week so far

This is now the end of week 7 of my 16 week ironman training program. This has been the best week training wise in terms of being able to balance training, work and life. I have completed 15 hours of the 16 hours on this weeks program. (and the day is not over- i have an hour of cycling left to do and i will try to do it this evening. )

I have started taking off Fridays from work and this helps with having enough time. This past Friday was an off day so I went kayaking in New Glasgow for something different. Saturday, I was sure it was going to rain so I was up early and on the road cycling at 7am. I did about 4.5 hours around Queens County and then ran for a half hour after. No matter how fit you are, that is a substantial workout and takes a bit out of you. I love the feeling, though, when i finish and get cleaned up for the rest of the day. I went to the Farmer's Market and had a big lunch. Sunday morning I did a two hour run and it was basically sort of slow and steady. I am still having problems with my toe and right foot. Corena has diagnosed it as being caused by my big toe starting to turn inward, maybe caused by a bit of arthritis. That is entirely possible as my mother has a lot of arthritis and lots of problems with her feet . (we are our parents children) . I have glanced at the schedule for week 8 and it is slightly harder than week 7. (they will get progressively harder till 4 weeks before the race.) I will just have to keep a positive attitude.

A full day

Yesterday was a full day where I got everything done that I set out to do- I had a good swim in the morning with Tyler Read; a busy day at work followed by a solid 2.5 hours of cycling again with Tyler; supper and then about an hour of grass cutting and home chores and then bed. For the first time in a while, I felt like my cycling is getting stronger and I felt a bit like I used to feel when I cycled. It might just be taking me a bit longer to get into shape this year. who knows. I swam again this morning but it is basically chaos at the pool with a lot of people and a few lanes. I was supposed to swim 20 100s but I sort of stopped counting. Today, I am going for a short run after work and then I teach my last UPEI class for the season tonight. thank god! That will free up two evenings per week which will be a big relief.

Keeping on going

Yesterday the "program" just called for a short run so I did that after work. I went for about 40 minutes. I felt terrible at the beginning (sort of stiff with tired legs) and then it got better as I went along. I had a good swim this morning with my friend, Tyler Read, and we did about 2200m. I swim much faster when I have some one to keep up with. Tyler and I are going to do about a 60 k cycle after work probably out around New Glasgow. Work is crazy busy at the moment as it usually is in June. Despite that I am starting to work 4 day weeks for the summer and this is my first Friday off this week. I am going to go Kayaking for something different.

Attitude adjustment

I am in need of a bit of an attitude adjustment. I am been slipping into the mindset of considering my ironman workouts as an obligation (and a time consuming one at that). I have to remind myself that this is something I choose to do and in many ways I am lucky to be able to do it. (to be healthy enough to do; to be able to afford to do it etc....) Nevertheless, I wasn't thinking like that this weekend. I went out Saturday morning with a bad attitude and and sort of ground my way through 4 hours of cycling through Queens county. I felt like i was very slow which made my attitude worse. The entire time I was thinking of all the other things I had to do and how my day was going to be shot by the time I got through this workout. I didn't get started till about 10:30 am which was a mistake because your day is sort of shot by the time you get through. I would normally have gone for a short run after but chose not to. Sunday a.m. was a little better (attitude wise) and I ran for about an hour and a half at a steady pace. I am still having problems with a toe that blisters everytime I run. Part of my attitude problem comes with wanting to do all the other normal summer things like have people over, have a few drinks, go out etc... and still train for an ironman. Having said all that I had a look at the program for this week and it seems manageable although it calls for about 16 hours of training. I am going to try to swim at lunch today and run after work which will be the first 2 hours of that 16 hour week. Tomorrow I am going to cycle for 2.5 hours after work and also try to get a swim done in the morning.

Back to the grind

Yesterday (Wednesday) I got back on my ironman training program more or less. I did a swim in the morning for about 45 minutes. As usual I didn't complete the full workout. The pool is crowded on Wednesdays and is worse now that it doesn't open until 7 am. I may have to switch my days a bit and swim on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After work, I went for a 45 minutes run and did intervals of speed work for 3 minutes (3 minutes fast and 3 minutes regular speed.) Today I was planning a 90 minute bike ride but it looks like it will be raining. This morning I swam again and did a 1000 m time trial. but, I lost track of the number of laps I was doing and didn't get a very accurate time. I am planning a 4 hour ride on saturday followed by a short run and then a longer run on Sunday. I am still having a problem with a blister on my right big toe. I keep getting a blister in the same spot and it has been happening with different sneakers so I don't think it is just my footwear. I am a little concerned because I would not be able to run a marathon at the moment without being in severe pain. I have to get that figured out before my ironman.

Mooseman Triathlon weekend

I drove down to New Hampshire on Friday and met up with some friends from Boston who came up to visit and wish me well. We had a nice dinner and they left in the morning. I was staying at a nice cottage that I have rented the previous times I have done this race. Saturday i went and registered for the race and did some triathlon shopping. This race provides some of the best freebies of any race I have been in (better than Ironman Lake Placid) I got a dry-fit sweatshirt, a dry-fit cap and upon completion of the race, a metal water bottle and a t-shirt. At the pre-race tradeshow, I scored a really nice cycling jacket for $39.00 (probably a $150 jacket) as well as tri top for $22.00. Saturday evening there was a pasta dinner. I always try to go to these as you meet people and it adds to the experience. I sat with a guy from New York state who had done several ironmans and was in his 50's. He was a fit looking guy and he was telling me his goal was to "break 6 hours." That would be a slow time by my standards. It was a good reminder that everyone has their own goals and that you shouldn't be too caught up in trying to be the fastest person out there.

Speaking of goals, I didn't meet my own fairly high goals of always exceeding my previous performance. But that is the interesting thing about triathlons; if you stick at it long enough you are not always going to beat your previous times. As well, there are a lot of other variables like weather, time of year, training etc.... I had a great swim and knew I was doing well in that part of the race. The swim began in waves for the various age groups which each had their own bathing cap colour. The waves started in 4 minute intervals. I caught up with a large portion of the group ahead of me and that was the first time that had ever happened. I am fairly sure I came in the top 10 of the swim for my age group as I couldn't see many yellow bathing caps ahead of me. I was not so hot in the bike and run portions. My speedometer reader got wet or dirty on the walk to the race site and didn't work for most of the race. That was a minor irritation was I usually race by looking at my average speed all the time. For example, for this race, having done it before, my average speed should have been between 33 and 34 k per hour for a decent time.
i am not sure what my speed was but it was lower than that and when I completed my first leg, I looked at my watch and went "holy shit" I am going way too slow. I went harder in the second loop but I know I had lost some time. I wasn't too worried because I thought I would run the half marathon between 1:40 and 1:45. I had been having some good runs the last few weeks. When I started to run, I felt normal but I usually feel better as the race goes on and that did not happen. I was slow and steady but had no kick at the end. I ran a 1:49 half marathon. (I felt a little better about my times this morning when I realized these times include the transitions. In some bigger races, they separate them out. so, that means I probably ran 1:47 with a minute or 2 transition) I ended up with 5:15 total time which is the slowest i have done that race (having done it in 5:14 and 5:04) but overall enjoyed the race and was glad I did it.

Tough swim

This morning's workout was a 2800 metre swim which is not that long but it was fairly intense. There was quite a bit of speed work and my heart rate was elevated for most of the workout. The main part of the workout consisted to 4 sets of 100 metres getting faster with each one; 50 breast stroke and then 150 m pull with a sprint in the middle 50 and then repeating the whole thing 4 times.

Last night, I rode with Tyler Read for a 90 minute bike ride and the last 30 minutes were against a fairly strong wind so it was a tough enough workout. I am going to run after work and my ironman program calls for 800 m sprints followed by 800 metres easy. I think that might be about it for workouts until after my triathlon on Sunday.

Ready to race.

I think I am pretty much ready to do this triathlon this weekend. These races take a lot of planning and expense to get to them. (you have to take time off work; book a place to stay; pay hefty entry fees etc...) You have to tell yourself to remember to enjoy it and set realistic goals. I have a goal for this race but I am not going to publicly express it for fear of jinxing it. (It is good to have plan B and Plan C goals as well. If it is a really hot day; a really windy day or you have equipment problems, your plan A goal goes out the window.) If I achieve my plan A goal, I would do pretty well in my age group.

I plan to leave early Friday morning and get down to New Hampshire early in the evening. I am staying at the same place where I have stayed twice before. Saturday, I will register for the race; maybe do some triathlon shopping at the race site and take part in some pre-race activities like the dinner. Sunday is race day. My friend, Greg Smith is coming up from Boston for part of the weekend.

Yesterday, I swam about 2700 m (out of the 3200 I was supposed to do). After work I did about 40 minutes of speed and running drills in Victoria Park before going to teach at UPEI. My day job as a lawyer has been crazy busy the past few weeks as this is my busy time of year for real estate transactions. Today I am going biking for about 90 minutes.

Busy weekend again

Its Sunday night and I am pretty much exhausted as usual. I had a packed weekend with training, socializing and home maintenance/gardening. Saturday morning I went for a 2 hour run on the trail that I have been doing the last three weeks to get my endurance and distance up to snuff for the Mooseman triathlon. I am feeling pretty confident about my endurance running. The only little issue at the moment is that I have been getting blisters on my feet which is unusual for me. I am wearing the same type of sneakers that I always wear and I have been getting a blister in the same spot off and on for the past few months. (usually, the skin would toughen up after getting a blister once.) I have fancy Zoot running flats that I bought for racing but I am not sure if i will use them in Mooseman. I probably should just stick to what I have been using. I went to the wine show last night and was supposed to meet some friends out in a bar at 11 pm but couldn't do it. I can't stay awake that late these days.

I was up at 6:30 am this morning to go cycling with my friend, Tyler Read, at 8 am. We had a great ride out to Cavendish and then a stop at my place in New Glasgow where we met up with Darcy and Greg. We then went back to town. We didn't push it to hard but kept a good steady pace. The good thing with my biking is that I am starting to get the feeling that I could go quite a bit harder if pushed. In total, I did about 5 hours of training on the weekend which is not too bad. I took my dad, brother and sister out for lunch today for my dad's 82 birthday and then went to my place in New Glasgow and did yard work for about 3 hours. A full weekend as usual. I was just looking at the stats for the Red Island Relay and wishing I had done it. The hardest thing for me to accept sometimes is that I just can't do everything.

This coming week I won't get a huge amount of training in before I leave Friday morning for Mooseman. I plan to do a decent 2 hour ride Tuesday evening and a couple of runs and a couple of swims and that may be it.

one week till mooseman

I am kind of laughing to myself that I am not exactly tapering for my upcoming half ironman next week. I am training for an ironman at the same time so this is kind of a warm up to kick start the season. It will be a good test of my fitness because anything that takes you 5 hours of intense physical activity is not to be taken too lightly.

Yesterday, I did a short brick workout with an hour bike ride followed by about 40 minutes of running. Neither leg was too intense although I did do sprints during the run and felt pretty good. I was a bit late leaving work and I wanted to be done by 7 pm so I could have supper and cut some grass in New Glasgow. This morning, I did one of my week 4 ironman swims which was not too difficult. It was about 2400 m and consisted of 500m, 5- 25 m fast; 400 m, then 4-25m fast, 300 m, then 3-25m fast etc... I don't have anything scheduled for after work today but I am thinking of adding in about 90 minutes of biking. (I really shouldn't be adding stuff) Tomorrow, my plan is to bike 3 hours; run a half hour and then a longish run on Sunday. But, the weather sounds like rain tomorrow fairly definitely and I really don't feel like biking in the rain if I don't have to so I may reverse that and run tomorrow at some point (after the rain) and bike on Sunday.

Eating a Lot

I have noticed that my appetite has really picked up the past few weeks with increased training. I generally eat well but I am just eating a bit more. Yesterday, at both lunch time and supper I was starving. I always eat quite a bit for breakfast - bagel, fruit, yogurt sometimes cereal, sometimes protein shake and usually a combination of two or three of the above. For lunch, I sometimes bring stuff like apples, yogurt and then just buy a sandwich and or salad. My favorite spot at the moment for lunch takeout is the Merchantman deli which is on Water Street around the corner from the Pub. Their sandwiches are fantastic; they are big and you feel like you have gotten your money's worth. I don't go out for a sit down lunch much as I don't have time. I have supper with my mother about three times a week which is great because she makes traditional PEI dinners with meat, vegetables etc.... Training wise, yesterday was a full day; I did running drills in the Park at lunch time for about 40 minutes; I met up with Corena and Greg after work and we cycled out in Pownal and did the Gay Road hill a couple of times as well as Tea Hill. It was between 90 minutes and 2 hours for me by the time I got over there and back home. This morning I didn't realize our swim class was cancelled so I was a bit lost as I didn't come to the pool with a prepared workout. I swam pretty easy for about 40 minutes. This evening I may not doing anything else and take it easy between work and teaching at 7 pm.

Tomorrow's ironman workout calls for a short bike ride followed by an hour run. I am a bit skeptical about running that long after biking as a training exercise. I have always trained with short half hour runs after bike rides and had good success with that in ironman races. I do lots of long runs by themselves for endurance and then the short brick runs just to be used to the feeling of running after biking.

Monday morning

This morning I managed to get to the pool early and did 3400 m. I felt great and it was probably the best I have felt in the water this year. I am not sure why exactly. The main part of this morning's swim workout consisted to doing 200s in zone 4 of my heart rate and then doing 50s in zone 2. This is part of my ironman training program. The program, which is a more advanced one than I have used in previous years, has a lot more variation in speed and intensity and seems to be paying off. This afternoon, after work, I am going to do running drills in the park again.

Getting a bit faster

Today (sunday) I went for another 2 hour run. it was beautiful this morning and I felt great. I did the same route as I did about a week ago and today I ran much faster. In the same time period (2 hours) I ran about 2 k further than I did last week. I was wondering if this speed work I have been doing in my ironman program is helping. Maybe. I ran from 11 am till 1 pm today. I had a big lunch afterwards.

Yesterday, I cycled for about 3 hours 30 mins. with a 10 minute break in the middle at my place in New Glasgow. I ran for a half hour after cycling as usual. Tonight, I will look at week 4 of my ironman program and sort of map out my training for the week in between my work and teaching schedule. It is 4:35 on sunday afternoon and despite being on my second post workout cup of coffee I could easily lie down and take a nap. I am going to swim in the morning and aim to get to the pool a little early around 6:45

Coming together

My training seems to be coming together somewhat in that I am feeling a bit stronger and faster n the various disciplines. Wednesday afterwork I did a run that included a 30 minute time trial and I enjoyed it by the end of it. At first, it took me a while to get used to going all out but after 15 minutes or so I started to feel better. I had my heart rate monitor on for a change (which I should use more) and my heart rate went up from 120 something to 145 when I started the time trial and got up to about 150 at the peak. That is fairly high for me as I have trained a lot at a slow or moderate pace where my heart rate is in the 120's.

Thursday, I was in Halifax for work and took the day off. I did a bunch of gardening in New Glasgow which helps me deal with the guilt of spending so much time training. This morning I forgot my swimsuit again and had to go back to my place in town for another one. I managed to swim 2700 m and the main set was doing 10-100m progressively faster and then doing 5-100m all out. I felt quite strong. Afterwork today, I am going to run and I am supposed to do 5 minute intervals all out followed by 3 minute recovery period. Tomorrow, I am planning a 90 k bike ride followed by a short run and then a long run on Sunday.

time trial week

This seems to be time trial week on my ironman training program. There was a swim time trial of 1000m and yesterday's bike ride included a 30 minute time trial. I did that out in Pownal. Today, the run includes a 30 minute time trial. I am going to do that after work (and before teaching at UPEI) Right now, between teaching at UPEI two nights per week, training, working and trying to do yard work out in New Glasgow, I have very little spare time. This morning we had our swim class. The thing I really noticed today is how high my heart rate goes when I start to do the strokes that I am not as good at. (back stroke and butterfly) I can sprint full out doing the frontcrawl and my heart rate is not as high as when I do backstroke at a moderate pace. Its because your body adapts to what it does alot. Tomorrow I think I will run some hills out in New Glasgow for a change and as a bit of practice for Mooseman. The run in that half ironman is very challenging. There are several steep hills that you have to do a couple of times. It is very much like running out in New Glasgow. Friday, I am going to do a long swim and then Saturday- another long bike ride followed by a short run. Sunday, I am going to do a long run. I am noticing that I am loosing weight. I am not sure that that is entirely a good thing because it is early in my ironman training to be loosing weight.

Week 3

I am now in the third week of my Ironman training program. Yesterday, I swam 2000 m which included a 1000m time trial. This is to give you an idea of a sort of base time for future swim workouts. My time was about 17 and a half minutes for 1000m which I thought was not too bad. I was not going full out. I was also supposed to do 40 minutes of running drills yesterday but it started to rain before I got that done. I am going to try to do that at lunch today if it stops raining. After work today, I am supposed to do a short bike ride. (1hour 15 minutes) that includes a half hour time trial.. The rest of the workouts this week are not particularly long and I will probably do more biking and running than the program calls for because of the Mooseman triathlon which I am doing in 3 weeks.

Bike issues

Yesterday, I headed out biking around 8:30 am after having gotten a bike tune up and new tubular tires installed. The tension on the chain wasn't quite right and it wasn't shifting property. Fancy tri bikes are like fancy cars- they are great when they work perfectly and not so great when they are not. I did about 3 hours or a bit more of cycling out to New Glasgow, Cavendish and back to town. I followed that up with a half hour run. I felt pretty good on the run which is always the indication of how my fitness is going. I was on a tight schedule as usual as I was heading to Halifax for the night. I need to have a look at my ironman program and plan the coming week.

Slight confidence boost

I ran for about 2 hours after work yesterday. That's the longest I have run in a while. I think when I was in New york in March I maybe ran about 2 hours one day around Central Park. I am not sure how far I ran last night but in was in excess of 20 k for sure. I have been a little uptight about my upcoming half ironman because i haven't really run any half marathons since the fall. Sometimes, I have a hard time mentally with getting geared up to go running. I don't really look forward to it. Then when I do it, I have no problems physically and usually feel great. I don't really understand why I don't look forward to it. Last night was like that. Once I got going I enjoyed it and I enjoyed it more as it went along. I let my mind wander and I often think about how I would feel if I were racing at that particular time. I didn't run particularly fast but I felt like I had lots of "gas in the tank" and could have run faster had it been a triathlon. I would like to run 1:45 or less in my upcoming half ironman. The last time I did the Mooseman my half marathon time was 1:45. I am a little stiff this morning from the run last night.

Now my swim this morning was not a confidence boost. I was aiming to swim 3000 m and complete one the ironman swims that I am supposed to do this week. I didn't have enough time this morning and only got through about 2500 of it. And, I didn't feel super strong in the water. I felt a bit heavy and didn't have a lot of energy. I am was pretty much alone at the pool this morning and sometimes that has an effect as well. When there are more people around, my competative instinct kicks in and I tend to have more energy. My plan for tomorrow is to bike for about 3 hours and 30 minutes. I am going to add going to Stanley Bridge onto my normal Charlottetown to Cavendish, New Glasgow back to Cahrlottetown route.I will follow that up with a half hour run.

New road bike

Yesterday, I rushed from work around 4:30 to try and get 2 hours of cycling in. I was heading toward the Hillsborough Bridge when I heard a little "poof" and my rear tire went flat. I have tubular tires on my tri bike and that is the first flat I have ever had. I think the tires are just worn out as they have never been changed. They are actually on the wheels from my previous tri bike. So, I had just purchased a new road bike at Smooth Cycle that I hadn't picked up so I rushed over there to trade bikes. My new road bike is a "Kuota Kebel" and it looks very much like my tri bike which is a "Kuota Kalipur." Same colour and both carbon. I managed to get in about an hour and 15 minutes of cycling. The road bike feels good; a little "stiffer" than my previous bike.

This morning we had our weekly swim lesson. We used fins a bit to work on flutter kicking and butterfly kick. We then did some butterfly with the fins and then without the fins. My butterfly stroke is improving a bit but it is still difficult. Today, I am getting a massage and am not supposed to work out after that. Tomorrow I am hoping to do a long run. I am a little uptight about the fact that I haven't done many 20 k runs lately but in less than a month I am doing a race that has a half marathon after biking 90 k. Although, I try to tell myself that 20 k is not a long run for me and I don't need to worry.

Training for Ironman Canada

I am in week 2 of a 17 week training program for ironman canada which is the end of August. I am also now teaching 2 nights a week at UPEI until the end of June as well as working full time. Luckily, I don't have to punch a time clock at my day job but I do try to keep regular hours. I am thinking, though, of leaving work around 4:30 pm because that extra half hour will make a surprising difference in getting training done by a reasonable time.

I am not as meticulous as some of my friends in exactly following my training program to the letter. I simply can't with everything else I have to do. What I do is scan the week's workouts and then decide how I can fit them in my schedule. I leave the long workouts for the weekend. For example, this week calls for 2 three hour plus bike rides. I did one this past Saturday (which I am counting toward this week) and will do another one this weekend. I don't have much difficulty fitting the swims in because they are usually only an hour or a little more and I can do that before work. Today, I am planning a 2 hour bike ride which is really more than the program calls for.

Yesterday, after work I did some running drills which is a new thing for me. I really enjoyed it because it was different. I ran for about 10 minutes from my place in town to Victoria Park. I found a fairly quiet stretch of roadway and spent about 20 minutes running fast in one direction and then doing various drills on the way back (high kicks, knees up, skipping etc...) Then I ran for about 15 minutes after that making it about a 45 minute workout. The program calls for this workout every week or two. It is a nice change from just straight running. This program that I am doing has very detailed instructions and a lot of variation in intensity. Hopefully, it will improve my ironman time. I would like to finish in around 11 hours or less. Last year my time was a little over 11 and a half hours and I didn't feel like I gave it everything I had.

The Weekend

On Saturday, I opted not to do the Mother's day time trial and got a couple of hours extra sleep. I headed out on the bike about 8:30am and went out through Oyster Bed Bridge, North Rustico, Cavendish and New Glasgow and back to Charlottetown. The weather was great and I felt pretty good. It took me a little less than 3 hours. The good thing is that I don't regard that as a long ride anymore. I did my usual half hour run right after biking. A few years ago when I was training for my first half ironman, I used to bike 90 k and then run 20 k just to prove to myself that I could complete the race. Now, I wouldn't dream of doing that. I find that a short run after biking is pretty much all you need to get the feel of the adjustment from biking to running.
I didn't do any training on Sunday because of the weather. This morning, I swam 2700 m which included a 1000m straight swimming. This is part of my ironman training program. It was supposed to be a longer swim but i am going to have to get up earlier to do more than 3000 m. After work i am going to run. My training program calls for running drills like skipping, high kicks, grapevines etc... which I have never really done before. I might try and find a spot in Victoria park or on the trail where there are not many people around to see me.

Tired

At about 4pm on Wednesday after dealing with a stressful client, I suddenly realized i was exhausted. I got home from Cuba on Saturday, rushed around and started in on some heavy training on Sunday and Monday and then crashed on Wednesday. I slept for 11 hours Wednesday night. Yesterday, the weather was still bad for any outdoor activity so I went to the UPEI gym and ran 40 laps of the track and then did some stretching and an ab workout. I had NO energy during the run and almost quit at about 32 laps. (This blog won't always be about how great my workouts were and how good I feel). Not sure what the problem was yesterday. This morning I tried one of my ironman swim program workouts. This is first one I have done this year and it was ok. I did 3000 m and it took a little over an hour. The only disturbing thing was that I realized that my stroke count lately has gone UP instead of down. When you swim as much as I do, it should not be going up; it should be going down as you get stronger and more powerful. I think its because I haven't been paying much attention to that and have been focusing on other things. As I have said before, I really enjoy swimming but in terms of triathlon, you can spend a lot of time in the pool and not make much or any gains in your race time. I have had some fast times in previous half ironmans when I had very poor technique. My swimming technique has improved a lot but my times haven't improved much at all. What I used to lack in technique, I made up for with fitness and just going for it.

I am still debating about whether to do the Mother's Day time trial tomorrow as part of my bike workout or just going biking for 3 hours and then doing a short run.

weather

Yesterday, I listed what I thought my training would be over the next couple of days. But, of course, it is looking like it might rain for the next 2 or 3 days which can completely change everything. I was going to drive out and do the Mother's Day time trial course after work. If it is raining a bit, I may run instead. If it is raining hard, I will go to the gym for a change. Yesterday, after work I ran about 11 k. As usual, I felt poor starting out and felt better throughout. Maybe its aging or something, but I feel really stiff sometimes when I start to run and then it goes away. I was thinking to myself that if i was doing a 10 k race, I would need to run for 10 or 15 minutes before the start of it. The ironman training program that i am just starting has some running drills (highknees, high kicks, grapevines) so I was sort of fooling around on the trail last night doing that. (when no one was around to see me look foolish)

This morning, I had my swim lesson with Dave, the swim coach, and Darcy and Corena. Its always interesting to see how different people have different strengths and weaknesses in their swimming. We did some drills with paddles; one arm swim, swimming with fist closed, and then for the second half of the class we worked on backstroke and breaststroke. I am really happy to be learning how to do those strokes properly.

I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that I am loosing a little bit of weight; maybe a couple of pounds. I haven't weighed myself but I can tell by how my clothes fit. Over the past few years since I have been doing triathlons my weight has fluctuated between 150-160 and usually right in the middle being the norm. At 150 or less I start to look skinny and not necessarily in a good way. I tend to be around 150 when I get to the day of an ironman race. Last night I had trouble getting to sleep again which is odd because I usually just fall into bed, read for 5 minutes and fall asleep. I am not sure why I am having trouble getting to sleep as I don't think I am particularly uptight about anything.

Oops

I apparently mixed up the number of weeks on my ironman training program and didn't realize yesterday was day one of 119 day training program for ironman Canada. The good news is that the training I had planned for this week exceeds the training on the plan by quite a bit. This is because I am gearing up for the Mooseman half ironman next month. Yesterday, I swam 2500 metres by just putting my head down and swimming 500s. I wanted to do longer sets for a change. I got off to a rough start by forgetting my swimming stuff in New Glasgow. So, I went to my house in town and found another swim suit and goggles and went back to the pool. After work I went riding with Ryan D. out to Pownal and then around China Point. It was a nice ride and a little windy coming back. I think its about 60 k in total. Three hours of training plus work on a Monday is not bad.

Today, I plan to run for an hour after work. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I may try to do the Mother's Day time trial route in case I do that on the weekend. I have my swim lesson tomorrow morning. Thursday, my plan is to do the longest run I have done in a while (about 23 k.) to have that out of the way before the weekend. Saturday morning I plan to go riding for 3 or 4 hours and will maybe do the Mother's Day time trial as part of that. I will get up early and ride out to the time trial. Time trials are the one thing that I am decent at since that is all you do in triathlon. In road racing, you speed up and slow down and I have no experience doing that. The one thing that could change my plans re Saturday would be rain. I have no interest in racing in the rain when I don't have to. Spending over 11 hours during ironman Lake Placid last year in a complete downpour was enough to do me for a long while.

Last night, I was just about falling asleep around 11pm when I started to think about triathlons, my schedule, racing etc... and I woke right up and then couldn't get to sleep for another hour and a half.