Mixed results

I finished 30th out of about 90 people in the Fredericton triathlon last week. That is about the lowest placing i have had in the last 5 years in a Maritime triathlon. It was not completely a disaster, though. there were a lot of really good triathletes in the race but my biking was definitely weak. My running, on the other hand, was the best its been in a few years. My run time was 4 minutes faster than last year over 10 k and my bike time was 4 minutes slower. I would say there is not much difference in my swim time so i don't think my overall perfomance was much worse than last year when i finished 19th. I have been taking it a bit easy in terms of training but i have also been racing a lot since May. I have done something just about every weekend.

On Monday (day after the triathlon) i went out with a friend who was visiting and did a hard 90 k up around Malpaque and Kensington and back. I like that route and plan to do it again a few times this summer. I swam tuesday morning and did hot yoga Tuesday afternoon. I did hot yoga on Wednesday and, today, I am going to go running at lunch and do the cycle pei rec ride tonight. I am doing the cycle pei duathlon on Saturday.

no time

the past week and a half has been crazy at work and has cut into my workouts and my energy level. i feel like i am being slack despite the fact that i have already done a lot of racing this year:one half ironman, multi-sport relay, 2 duathlons, 2 10 ks, one half marathon and a 5 k race. Last week, i biked twice, did 3 hot yoga classes, swam 3 times and did a half marathon race and i still feel like i am being slack. This week so far i have swam twice and done 2 hot yoga classes. I am thinking i should run today but I don't feel like it and think I will go to hot yoga. tomorrow i am planning to bike out around Cavendish and New Glasgow. I am doing Fredericton triathlon this coming weekend and i will be interested to see how i do. I should be a little quicker on the run but i am not sure about my biking or swimming.

Week ending june 19th, 2010

Last week I did not get alot of training in. I did not ride my bike at all; I did two swims and a couple of hot yoga classes and that was it. I have been doing races almost every weekend since mid may so it won't hurt me to take it a bit easy. I did the 5 k Deltaware race on saturday and may have had my fastest 5 k ever- 19min 50 seconds. I think i have done around 20 mins a few times in the past but i can't recall breaking 20 minutes very many times. It was great although it was definitely a bit out of my comfort zone. On Sunday, I did hot yoga and then today, Monday, I went for an hour bike ride this morning from New Glasgow over to Cavendish and done around North Rustico. This evening, I did hot yoga again. I weighed myself at my doctors office this week when I was there for a checkup and I was 150. He checked my bodyfat and it was 7.5 percent. That is the lightest I have been in my adult life (i would say in about the past 30 years) which is certainly something when I stop and think about it. I am definitely feeling good physically and also mentally. I am happy with my training and doing things that I like to do when I want to do them. (although i am not the only one who i am sure feels that way. i did get passed near the finish of the 5 k race on saturday by a very fit guy who is 3 years older than me.)

Tomorrow, I plan to swim in the am and run after work but we will see how my day goes. Wednesday, i am hoping to bike to and from work from New Glasgow.

weekend of racing

This past weekend I did a 10 k trail race on Saturday in milton. My time was about 43 minutes and a bit. I am reasonably happy with that. This summer is the first time is a few years that I have had a chance to do some shorter races. Between the roadrunners races and the duathlons I have done, i have been getting a lot of speed training for running. I did the second cycle PEI duathlon on sunday and came first. There were not very many experienced racer's there so given the number of races I have done and the amount of training I do, I should have come first. I almost got passed just before the finish as I had had a substantial lead and got a bit complacent and thought i had won the race. I didn't notcie or hear someone catching up. That is a good lesson for me. There are 3 duathlons in the series and I have a first and a third place finish so I have a good shot at winning the series.

This coming weekend I am going to do the Deltaware 5 k race and then i am not sure what else on the weekend. I should go for a bike ride at some point and may do that on Saturday afternoon. I am still doing hot yoga a couple of time per week and trying to swim at least two times per week. another of my goals this summer was to start riding to work on my bike to and from New glasgow perhaps twice a week as a training thing. since I finish at teaching at UPEI this week, I plan to start that next week.

more racing

I looked at the cycle pei website this week and was surprised to see that there is another duathlon on sunday in Ft. Augustus. I am going to try to do it. Mt time trial bike is in the shop getting a spoke fixed and a new tire so I will use my roadbike. I will be interested to see if it feels any slower. How i do in these races depends on which of the other triathletes show up (ie Jamie, Billy, Darcy etc...) The roadbikers (no offence to them) are generally not much of a threat as they are not used to running at all. the exception to that would be Cory Jay because of how good he is at cycling. I am also going to do a ten k on saturday and i am looking forward to that. If I could improve my 10 k times in the Olympic distance triathlons by a couple of minutes, i would do a lot better in terms of placement.

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.