Mooseman Triathlon weekend

I got back from mooseman triathlon last night. it was a fun weekend with Billy MacDonald, Jamie Nickerson and Greg Smith. We had a lot of laughs and it was fun seeing Billy experience his first triathlon. I got a bit of a surprise to find that they had changed the bike course and made it EXTREMELY difficult. It was more difficult than the bike course at Lake Placid. There were very steep pitches on narrow winding roads. It was so dangerous that they had people physically standing to mark the corners of downhills and to tell you when to slow down. They had speed limits on the downhills and if you went over the speedlimit you were DQed. so, the only thing that could make it worse would be pouring rain, so it rained hard for 5 hours. I took it very easy the first time round the course and a got a bit more confidence the second loop. I decided it was more important to me to finish safely than to have a really fast time. I felt good throughout and had a good swim and run. I felt better than last year although my time was 20 minutes slower. The concensus was that everyone's time was about 20 minutes slower. Last year I 202 out of 660 people; this year, I was 305 out of about 1000 people so its pretty much the same placement. I am looking forward to doing the local roadrunner races and local PEI and New Brunswick races for the remainder of the summer.

Red Island Relay

This past weekend I did the Red Island Relay solo and managed a first place finish. I was pleased with that not only for the placing but also with the fact that its been about 5 years since I did it solo (when it was the Red Cross Relay) and I think I was quite a bit better this year. I have alot more experience but I am also 5 years older and at 46, not exactly young to be trying to win these races. If I do it again next year, I definitely will know what to train for- the second bike leg on the mountain bike is the killer for me because I am not used to the constant resistance of riding a bike on the trail. I am going to try and do that once in a while just for general training. my calves were and are a bit sore from the race. I did an hour and half yoga class on Sunday after the race and yoga on Monday after work. I swam this morning about 2000 metres which included doing 20-50's on a minute. I will do yoga tomorrow and swim on Thursday and that may be it until Mooseman. I will try to get one 8 k run in at lunch time this week as well. I am leaving early Friday morning to drive to New Hampshire. I am really looking forward to it and I am not stressed at all about the triathlon. I honestly think I am fitter than I was last year. ( i have done 3 races in the past 3 weeks and done well in them all- none of which i did last year) but i also know anything can happen so i will just hope for the best and try to enjoy the weekend.

good weekend of racing

I went in my first 10 k race in quite a while, this past saturday. (i have done tons of 10 k races but that last few years have mostly been in triathlons) i was a bit hungover which was not great but i generally wanted to see where i was at in terms of speed. At the best of times, I have never been super fast with 42 minutes being a good time for me at my best. I did a little over 43 minutes and was quite pleased with that for my first race in a while. Sunday, I did the china point duathlon and came 3rd out of 12 people and felt pretty strong. My first run was a little over 21 mins for 5 k and my second 5 k run (after biking 20 k) was only about a minute slower. I am thinking that is I keep doing these shorter races my triathlon run times will be faster this year. I am crazy busy at work this week and teaching two nights at UPEI so won't get much training. I swam 2000 metres on tuesday morning and am going to swim thursday morning. I will do hot yoga tonight and the charlottetown rec ride tomorrow night. Saturday, I am doing the red island relay solo and really looking forward to that. I feel like i should do pretty well. I think my speed is getting better and my endurance is quite good.

2 weeks to Mooseman

Since monday, I did a hot yoga class; swam on tuesday and wednesday and felt fairly strong in the pool; did a speed workout at the outdoor UPEI track and felt pretty strong and did the Cycling PEI rec ride last night and didn't feel so strong (relative to other people) Cycling full out with a bunch of people takes me out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I have trained for triathlons for so long that I have really prefected maintaining a low steady heart rate. (which is great for long distance triathlons but not so great for a 50-60 k rides with a bunch of competitive guys.)
this weekend, i am planning on doing a 10 k race to see how my speed is and a duathlon on Sunday. I am looking forward to the duathlon.

Getting Slack about Blogging

I just looked at my blog as was surprised to see that my last post was over a week ago. The time flies by pretty quick. One useful thing about this blog as a record of my training is that it allows me to look back to last year to compare. I recently went back into my blog archive to see how I was doing last year at the same time getting ready for the Mooseman triathlon. I think I am a bit ahead this year mainly because the early spring.

One of the highlights of last week's training was doing some sprinting at the UPEI track on Tuesday. I ran with my friend, Rob. We did a 10 minute warmup and then ran one lap hard and then then two laps easy and repeated that 5 times. It was a great speed workout and something I need to do more often. Otherwise, it was a bit slck for me during the week; I had two solid swims on wednesday and friday mornings; did not yoga Friday night. I had a very good weekend of training and sort of made up for a slack week. I biked for three hours Saturday morning and felt great; I ran for a half hour afterwards and felt like I could have run much further. Sunday I ran for two hours; felt really heavy for the first hour or so and then it got better as I went along. I was a bit slower than I was last weekend when I timed myself with my garmin. Then I did a ninety minute hot yoga class after the run.

Week ending May 10, 2010

This has been a good week of moederate training after my vacation in Cuba. My law practice is getting busier as it usually does in the Spring and Summer. I swam a couple of times last week and each time swam around 2000 metres. I probably should be swimming three times a week but haven't been able to fit that in. I ran once on Tuesday and had a good fast run. I did hot yoga on monday and friday. Saturday I did the mother's day time trial and added some training by biking out to it and back. The time trial was 20 k in windy conditions and I biked about 80 k in total. Today I ran for about 2 hours. I took my garmin with me and was surprised by how slow I was actually running. I ran about 22.5 k which is not that fast. But, I think you tend to run slower by yourself. I have run this route many times and it usually takes me longer. I am a bit sore and my right knee is aching at this moment (the one i think has a bit of arthritis)

It is amazing how your body adjusts to whatever distance you are training for. Last year during my ironman training, 2 hours would not have been a really long run. Now it is. I am planning on doing the China point duathlon in a couple of weeks and maybe the Red Island relay. I am hoping to make this summer about participating and having fun.

back from Cuba

I got back from Cuba on Friday evening. Saturday (may 1) i was going to go for a long run but I took it easy and did hot yoga in the afternoon. Sunday I went for a 3 hour bike ride at a moderate pace and ran 5 k after and felt pretty good (which is encouraging) While i was in cuba, I ran once for 45 minutes and swam about 20minutes to a half hour every day. I also did stretching class and a water aerobics class everyday. monday this week, I did hot yoga again and Tuesday, (today) I plan to run 17 k after work and maybe do some speed work as part of that. Tomorrow morning I will be back to the pool and Thursday night I plan to do the cycle PEI rec ride followed by a run. I am trying to get in as many brick workouts as I can this month.