Survival is not enough!

Sorry, that is just hell freezing over....no wait that is the ice on my knee

2011-11-25T14:30:00.000-08:00

Maybe you thought it was the weather I was talking about but you would be wrong. I am writing a blog post!! And as always I always mean to do this long ago but never get the chance. But as of late...I just haven't wanted to. I have been dealing with an injury and that had taken a toll on my mental drive. I wanted to train so bad but was being smart and taking it easy. Last thing I really wanted to do at the time was sit and talk about it. Not that I think the injury was something to hide but I tended to get frustrated.

this all came about when I was doing a bootcamp. I love these bootcamps!! The day the injury occurred, we were doing lots of spinning and running. I am a triathlete, you would think this would be my happy day. I was on the spin bike and noticed my knee didn't feel quite right, not major, just not right. Throughout the 90 min class I ignored it and finished the class.

Soon after the class, my knee felt tight and I knew something was not right. It wasn't painful at this point and there was no swelling. Later that night it started to feel unstable and was locking and popping. And then eventually I developed an area that hurt when pressed. I did the usual RICE treatments and took a day off work. After 2 weeks it felt better, slightly. I could swim and bike but running was another story. The first day I ran I made it 2 or 3 steps and knew I wasn't going to be able to. I had some definite pain after the first heel strike on the affected knee.

The good thing about working in a Trauma ICU is the abundance of orthopedic surgeons we see. I was able to grab one and say "hey what do you think". He very quick answer was "your meniscus". Obviously I would need a proper workup to be sure. He advice was to take it easy and see how it felt (and come see him if things didn't get any better).

Soooo fast forward a week and the knee did start to feel better. I could no longer induce any pain and their was much less popping in the knee. So I got on the treadmill and did a whopping 5 mins, lol. It felt good but I knew not to push it. Next day I did 10 mins!!! Day after that it was 20!! I took a few days off and now I am up to 40 but it is a hard 40 now.The last 2 kms of my run I was able to hold down some 4:45 Km's and felt good.

There is still some occasional knee locking but I have had that before this injury. Well, not exactly the same issue, I had some cracking when I walked. I did have issues from previous sports injuries. But I am just happy that I can train again. I know you will read this Keith, so thanks for the support and info that you passed along, it helped.

I am back and I feel really good right now. I am starting to push it but I am going to be smart. Any pain and I will back off. I don't want this to be a nagging long term thing. I am just glad the hunger is still there and is showing no signs of going away.

Learning to hurt all over again.....

2011-10-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

When I made the decision to get healthy I knew that I wanted to be able to run. Why you may ask..simply because I could not. I was never a runner and it showed. The ability to run represented fitness to me. After I started I quickly learned to like it. I started off with a 10km race and followed it up with a second. I then set my sights on the half marathon distance.

My first goal for the half distance was to simply finish, even though in the back of my mind I wanted to be sub 2hrs. On my first half I didn't make it under 2 hours. On the occasion I ran the first 10km in 51 minutes and then suffered for the next 11!! I was 2:06 but I was happy with that...very happy.

It wasn't much longer that I had my second chance. I did make it under 2 hours this time...barely but still under (1:59:15). But I wanted to get faster...and I did. I eventually ran a 1:53! But then I started to get slower and I hated it. Why you ask...triathlon is the answer.

When I was a single sport person I could devote more time and make bigger gains in that area. But the reality was that I needed to learn to swim and throw some cycling in there too. So that meant a little less time for running.

I remember when I was "just" a runner how I could push through the hurt much easier. I think seeing the reduction in my race times got me a bit discouraged. I was losing the mental game in my head. I think I forgot what it was like to hurt when running.

I was making gains in my swimming and cycling but the running was slipping. Throw in lots of endurance training and then I had little time for much speed work for the run. But now that IM training is done with, for now, I have a little more flexibility with this.

Since I resumed activity post IM, I have been focusing on strength and speed. I have been consistent in weight training and building up the muscle groups that I have ignored. But one of the big things has been the speed work in a bootcamp that I do. It is put on 3 days a week and is an hour long class. I am learning to hurt all over again. One of the benefits of this class is the group environment. It is great motivation to keep going when you want to slow down. I push myself into the hurt zone each day I am there.

We do lots of running and that is fine, I can do running. But when you throw push ups, burpees, sit ups, and squat jumps in there it makes it a bit more difficult....just a bit ;). Now you have to learn to run tired and hurting. Much more so than in a triathlon. My first day back at bootcamp hurt more than Ironman...and that is not joking.

I haven't been doing a whole lot of endurance training as of late but I am going to get back into it real soon. But I am hoping that feeling the hurt again will help me when I need it the most. I am going to work on getting faster this year. I am going to hurt and I will love it.

Ironman Canada

2011-09-05T18:38:00.000-07:00

As usual it has been a long time since my last post. The last few months has basically been IMC training and then the actual race. I now feel like i actually have the time to sit down at write a blog entry.

Leading up to IMC I was lucky in the fact that I had no injuries or colds. Sure I had some minor aches and such but nothing that really affected me. It seemed like earlier on in the year I was getting cold after cold but luckily I stayed healthy.

My wife, son, mother in law and I had made the drive out to Penticton on the Wednesday before the race. The weather was just awesome, quite a change from the year before. The drive was a nice and relaxing. I went for a 20 minute run after we arrived at the motel. Wow it was hot!! Didn't take long and I was sweating my ass off. I was glad it was only 20 minutes.

On the Thursday I went and did a quick swim to get out some of the long drive stiffness. I was surprised at how warm the water was...almost too warm. I had to break the seal on my wetsuit to let some cool water in. Right after the swim I headed on over to the expo and registered for the race. Felt very weird when they put my athlete bracelet on.

Friday was an optional bike ride or a rest day. My son did want to sleep the night before and was up crying for a large portion of it...I opted to rest ;). Friday really was a non eventful day.

Saturday was set to be one last "training day". I was meeting up with my coach and 2 other of his athletes for a 10 minute swim, bike, run. We swam out for a little bit and then talked about some last minute tip and headed back on in. After a relaxing transition we headed out on the bikes.

Once we got out on the highway we started to do some short pick ups and I felt so good! We were just approaching our time turnaround when I heard a loud ping and then banging. After a quick WTF I was able to slow down and see that I had blown a spoke on my back tire. Not good when you are planning to check your bike into transition an hour from then. I opened up the rear brakes and made my way back to our vehicles.

I decided that it was best to skip the run and headed over to the Bike Barn to see what they could do. I walked in with my wheel and was immediately helped by one of their staff. I was so impressed that the day before a major race like this they promised it would be done well before check in time. Granted it may not take them long to do but I am sure I was not the only person needing some repairs. Having said all of this my race was not in jeopardy. My coach was clear to point out that I could have used his wheels or use my own race wheels like he wanted me too, lol. Yes I did have my race wheels with me but was reluctant to use them because I was unsure of how I would feel coming down the descents with winds kicking up. Worst case scenario I would have threw them on. But all was good when the Bike Barn texted me about 1pm and told me my wheel was done. I looked at this whole thing as better now than tomorrow.

I popped my wheel on, did a quick test ride and then headed on over to the bike check in. All I can say is I wish I had a portion of the value of all the bikes in T1....wow! It was actually a very quick process, quicker than I thought anyway. I deflated the tires a bit and said good bye to my bike until the morning.

Race day

I woke up at about 4:15 on my own and since I was planning on 4:45 I just got up. Had my usual toast breakfast and a diet coke...mmmm sweet caffeine. One of my friends that was doing the race was staying at the same motel in Summerland. I walked over to his room and we made the short trek into Pentiction about 5:30 am.

Arriving at the transition area was very inspiring. I saw one of my friend just before body marking and she gave me a big hug and well wishes. Turns out I would see her many a bunch of times on the course today! The lines for body marking were quick and the volunteers were so cheerful for that time of morning, lol.

There was a parade of athletes headed into the transitions area. This place was hopping!! Once I got in, I headed over to my bike, dropped off my nutrition and pumped my tires up. Luckily one of the guys I know from indoor spin classes was right bedside me and had a pump. This was good because then I didnt have to waste time.

After dropping off my dry goods bag, I got into my wetsuit. Just as I finished I ran into my coach. It was nice to get a last minute pep talk and advice. I quick zip up and I made my way to the beach. It was was very surreal standing in the water and looking at all the athletes there. I saw a few people I knew but I decided to keep to myself. I wanted to just get in my zone and to enjoy the moment. The pro's were off a few minutes later and then the countdown was on for everyone else. And in what seemed like seconds the horn blew and it was the start of IMC for me.

The Swim - 1:38:58

It seems like everyone has their opinions and thoughts on were to start the swim. Far left, far right, etc... I decided on mid right and quite far back. Once the race was underway I walked until I was mid thigh and then went horizontal. Their was no big cold water shock like in most races I seem to do. Like I said before, the water was almost too warm. I did see one guy doing the race without a wetsuit! Not much contact as the race got under way. I did notice that I was actually running into people, maybe I should have started a few rows further ahead.

Things were relatively calm until the second buoy. It seemed like this is were the full contact sport began. I do think I lost some time trying to navigate around others and fend off "attacks" but that is part of open water swimming. For some reason it seemed like the trip out to the first turn took forever. I did, however, make the turn quite clean. The trip to the second turn came up quick and I was surprised to make that one clean too. The home stretch was nothing but thinking about the rest of the day. I was feeling quite good and was just going from buoy to buoy. Once the buoys went from the color orange to red I had a harder time spotting them for some reason but I just kept looking for my landmarks and that helped. Before I knew it I was scooping up sand in my hands and I knew it was time to pop up and get the legs moving. I exited the water and was happy to see that I was under 1:40 for the swim. I really wanted to be under 1:30 but I was still happy with 1:38 because of how good I felt coming out of the water.

T1

After getting my suit stripped, I grabbed my transition bag and headed to the change tent. I didn't plan on changing clothes but I decided to head in and have a seat while putting on my gear. I seat for a minute and just looked around, it was quite busy and everyone seemed so focused. I put on my helmet and shoes and headed on out to get some sunscreen. Quite the experience getting sunscreen applied but girls with rubber gloves and large pans of sunscreen. I was nothing but white streaks from head to toe, lol. But now it was time to ride.

THE BIKE - 6:48:58

I was feeling awesome as I hopped on my bike and started to peddle out of town. It was quite an experience riding out of town with that many people cheering you on. I passed by my wife and was quickly able to acknowledge her. My plan was to take it fairly easy until I hit Mclean Creek. It was already warm and sunny along Lake Skaha. I started to take in small bit of Perpetuem and began to enjoy they day.

Pretty soon we hit the first climb and up we went. I don't mind Mclean Creek, it is short and steep but really not bad. Once the climb was over we headed onto the flat section and we quickly told to get off the shoulder by a race official. Some douche bag had put tacks on the edge. I saw probably 15 or so people on the side of the road getting tired change, and this was in a very short area. I was lucky to avoid any tacks. The decent was nice and quick, road was in good condition too. As I made the turn by O K Falls I saw Heather in her pink outfit, was nice to see someone I knew!

OK Falls to Osoyoos is so fast. It was nice to just get down into the bars and peddle. It is easy to just hammer through here but that was not my plan and I stuck to it. I did have some nice speed going through here but that wasn't from working hard. I knew that Richters was coming up and I was being smart about the race.

Before I knew it I was turning at the Husky and headed up Richters Pass. I had done training rides through here and I knew what to expect. I really did not have a hard time with the pass. I did however start to get some muscles twinges that let me know that cramps were going to hit me. I stayed mostly in my saddle but would occasionally stand it up just to change position. I passed people, I got passed and I rode with a few people the majority of the way. Had a few short conversations with people as we changed positions. I passed a mother and daughter pair that were very close to each other. The mom was trailing and told me she was gonna catch her daughter. When I passed the daughter I told her that her mom was talking smack about her, she laughed. I was getting close to the crest and I increased my cadence to head right into the descent. Normally I am a chicken shit descender but I was far more aggressive than normal. Like most, I took the road vs the shoulder down. The road was smoother and there was not much traffic. I was actually peddling down hill and passed people!! I made it to the bottom and was ready to hit the rollers.

My goal for the rollers was to use momentum as much as possible and that is what I did. I got as much speed as possible going down and carried myself up as far as possible. I was glad when they were done and we were headed to the "out and back". For those of you who do not know, the "out and back" is just that. You head out away from the course and then back to continue on to the finish. Special needs it located at the turn around point. At this point in the race it is HOT!! I tried to cool myself but dowsing myself with water at every aid station and it helped. I started to get some leg cramps down the out and back and was just trying to keep them at bay. I was changing up my position, taking endurolytes, and increasing my fluid intake. But there was no stopping them :(. Luckily they were not severe so was able to keep peddling. I had no need to get anything from my special needs bag so I bypassed it.

I was so glad when the out and back was over with. I was looking forward to getting to Yellow Lake to be honest, I wanted to get the hard stuff over with. As I approached the start of the climb my legs were really starting to cramp. The good thing was the road was lined with people so it was good motivation to keep the legs moving and suck up the discomfort. I was on my way up when I passed by my coach and got a few words of encouragement. Then it was back to the grinding.

Pretty soon the last part of the climb was approaching and I thought I was in the Tour de France, lol. There was people lining both sides of the road and on the road just cheering and calling out your name. Talk about feeling like a rockstar!!! My legs were cramping but the top was just ahead, no relaxing just yet. Once I did peak, I got my legs spinning and the cramps let up a bit.

Most people were stopping at the aid station but I kept on going. I just wanted to get down to the run at this point. Once I got to the actual descent I tried to lay off the brakes as much as possible but the winds had kicked up a bit. There are a few nice curves thrown in there as well. The over all descent was good but I was glad to be heading back on into town. I pulled up to the dismount line and was lucky to not cramp and fall getting off my bike. Overall I was happy with my time given the cramping issues. I was aiming for 6:15- 6:30 but it wasnt in the cards today.

T2

I had decided to wear actual cycling shorts for the bike and my plan was to change to tri shorts for the run. I knew this would cost me a few minutes in transition but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't going to hurt me. I was sock less for the bike so I put body glide on my feet , threw on a pair of socks and then my shoes. I was so glad to be out of my biking shoes. I had developed a nice hot spot on my right foot and it was pretty uncomfortable. Once I headed out of the tent it was time for my sunscreen, lol. I walked up to the transition timing mat and the started the run.

THE RUN - 6:14:58

I started out feeling pretty good on the run and was holding 5 min km pace. My legs felt ok but a bit tight. Again I ran into my coach and gave him an update and he gave me some advice. I made it to about 4 km and then I started to cramp. I knew this was gonna be a looong run, lol. I started with my run, cramp, walk, run, cramp repeats. A few minutes later one of my good friends pulled up bedside me and was running with me. My friend Detlef has done just a few Ironman races, this years IMC was number 38, lol. I had passed him on the bike but I knew he would catch me on the run. He was the one who actually helped my transition into triathlon. He said that he was having a rough day but I think it was a load of BS. I am pretty sure he sand bagged the bike to run with me. I have a feeling he wanted to make sure I finished. I appreciated the gesture but in a way I wish he had just kept running, I hated the feeling of holding him back (and I did tell him that). I was determined to finish and was going to do it at my pace, so I really didn't need him there. He didn't really pace me, he ran when I ran and walked when I walked.

Along the course I ran into people I knew, competing and spectating. My friend Donna (another multiple Ironman finisher) was watching on the road, yelled my name and came up and gave me a huge hug. Very brave considering it was about 11 hours in at this point, lol. I think it was the 5th time I saw her that day, lol. It was so nice to see friend on the run course making their way back into town. I was so impressed to see how some of them were kicking ass!! One of the cool parts of the day was talking to different people and finding out more about them, so many different stories!!

One of my strategies for the run was to break it down to aid station to aid station. At each aid station I grabbed a sponge and soaked myself, took some electrolytes, took in some gel and then water and then a sponge. By the turn around point I really had my fill of gel. I had carried my gel flask with me but decided at the special needs to leave my second flask in my bag. I grabbed my electrolytes and tossed the rest.

It was nice to be heading back into town!! I had passed one of my team mates as I approached the turnaround and she was heading back into town. It was nice to see her smiling and looking so good. I knew she wasn't far ahead so I was hoping to catch up to her on the way back.

The run/cramp/walk cycle continued. For nutrition I switched to pepsi and the occasional chicken broth when it became available. The kms were counting down one by one. The cramps were manageable but my feet were hurting. Mostly my right foot where that hot spot developed. I could tell there was a large deep blister was developing. I think it was about 9km left when I felt a couple blisters popping...nasty feeling. But I was getting close, I am not sure at what point I knew I was going to finish but I do remember how good it felt.

As I got close to 7km to go, I came upon my team mate. She was cramping bad and was hurting. This girl is ALWAYS smiling and she was now a bit teary. She had been good up until 34 km and then started to cramp. At that point I made a decision, I was gonna stick with her like my friend Detlef stuck with me (he was still with me). I told her that we would walk it in if we had to but we would get there. I still could have did my cycle but I did not want to take off and leave her. I was already past my goal time and it wasnt like I was chasing a Kona spot, lol.

We walked for the next 4 km and talked about what it was gonna be like to finish. We were approaching 2km left when I told her that she was going to run the last 2k or I would make fun of her at the next training camp (really I would not have but she didnt need to know that). Just before the 2k left mark we started running. I was running a bit faster but I was cramping and needed to stop, she was consistent but slower. My friend Detlef knew she needed support so he stuck with her, although I was not far ahead.

We were so close and you could hear the announcers so clearly. People lining the route were just calling out your name and just so encouraging. Once you make the turn and head back toward the finish you see the bright light off in the distance. I cannot explain the feeling. I was rapidly approaching the light and then all of a sudden I was on the blue carpet. I had quite the rush of emotions but didn't cry like I thought I was going to, lol. I crossed the line and I WAS AN IRONMAN!!!

It was so surreal to finish. I really didn't have time to enjoy it before I got the mother of all cramps in my left calf. Very quickly 2 catchers were at my side and helped me take a few steps to walk it off. I told them I was fine and wasn't going to fall but they didn't buy it. I really wasn't going to fall, I just couldn't walk at first due to the cramp. After a few steps the cramp was gone and I was ok. My coach had snagged a VIP bracelet and was at the finish as I was lucky enough to have him place my medal around my neck. After a quick hug, I got my shirt, hat and then photo. I was happy to be done.

OVERALL TIME 14:55:43

My friend Detlef and teammate had crossed the line 12 second behind me and then we all had a celebration. We decided to head on over to the food and then get our family to the meeting area. As we got some yummy pizza, my coach was busy contacting our family members and bringing them to us. I was happy that I was able to eat...in fact I was starving.

Not long after I was hugging my wife and thanking her for all or her support. I really could not have done it without her. While we were standing around and I was eating pizza, I saw a flag from St. Francis Xavier University (the school I graduated with). They funny thing was, the people holding it up were the mother/daughter combo that I had saw on Richters. It was hilarious when I went over and told them I had gone there too. It is a special bond when you graduate from there. Next thing you know we were all getting pics taken and laughing.

After a few more minutes of taking in the post race activities I knew I was done. We headed into transition and picked up all of out gear. I was tired and I wanted to get back to the hotel to see my son. I did see him when I started the run and got to scratch his head when I ran but but I wanted to hold him. We made the drive home and I was so ready to sit down. My wife had picked up some food for me to eat just in case and I was so thankful. After a brief visit I went to bed, happy to be done but more thrilled with the accomplishment.

So...the after math.

My recovery has been good. The first few days I had some bad insomnia, sleep for a few hours and then awake the rest of the night. The expected muscle soreness was absolutely gone by Thursday. The absolute worse part of the recovery was the gastrointestinal cramping that I had. A couple days after the race I woke up in the night with bad cramps and nausea. This went on for almost 2 days and I was so uncomfortable. I was pretty happy when I was over that. I lost a few layers of skin on the bottom of my right foot where I developed a deep blister. Overall I feel back to normal.

No all asepects of the race were perfect. Multple aid stations ran out of water and I heard some actually ran out of all fluids! I was severely disappointed buy the finishers medal. A couple of days ago NA sports sent out a letter of apology. They said the miscalculated the fluid needs. Also, after the design approval of the medal, the dimesions were mistakenly changed by the manufacturers. The water/fluid shortages were not a big deal to me as I was always ahead on my fluid needs. As far as the medal goes I cant really do anything about it but I am not happy with the "we screwed up and all we can do is say we are aorry atitude" I think the company that made the medals should redo them correctly and be offered to any finsher that would like one. Oh well, life will go on.

I remember reading Leana's blog and she has ansswered some common questions that most people seem to get asked so I will follow suit.

Did I sign up for next year.....no I did not.

Will I do it again.....f#*k yeah, 2013 I will for sure. I would be greedy to ask my wife to commit to it so soon again. She wants to have another child I I think I owe her and my son some time. This was not a bucket list checkmark for me.

Am I going to get the tattoo....already did. I will post a pic when I take the bandage off. There are many thoughts and feelings on this. Many people like it while others think it is cheesy. In love it and I dont care what others think.

What am I going to do next year...I will start formal triathlon training in maybe a month or 2. I plan to take some snowboarding lessons this winter. I will do some half mary's, half IMs, short distance tri's, an Xterra tri and the Spartan race. I like to race, what can I say. I am going to focus on some good speed development too.

This was a great experience and was truely EPIC! One of the best parts of the day was sharing it with family, friends and other competitors. It was lots of hard work and dedication but in the end it was so worth it. I didnt get the overall time I had thought of but I am not in any way disappointed!! I am a proud to say I am now an Ironman.

The road to recovery and ass kicking

2011-05-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

Luckily my time being sick is over. It has been a while since I was hit that hard by an illness. But it is now gone and I have been back to training for a week now. I really, really hate losing that training time but not much I can do about it. I am just focusing on the goal now. The first few days back started off pretty slow and now I am pretty much back into a normal routine.

Today's ride turned out to be a day all about ass kicking. I didn't kick any...I got mine kicked. A 3 hour aerobic ride. Usually not a problem but today there was just a little bit of wind. I decided to head out towards Cochrane on the 1A and then planned on heading up Horse Creek Rd.

As I left my house I made a quick U turn to grab my arm warmers..the wind was a bit cooling. I knew right away that the tailwind I was riding was going to kill me on the way back. Know this I decided that I was going to plan for it and turn around earlier than I had planned. Going out I was easily doing 37-45 km/hr. Going down Cochrane hill was a little sketch due to the wind, so hard to keep control.

Not long after I was on Horse Creek Rd. I really enjoy this ride. I have done a few races that have included it in the course. It is usually pretty quiet and the roads are in pretty good shape. There were only a few others riders out here today too. It wasnt long before I hit my turn around and was heading into the wind.

The free ride was over and now it was time to work. I don't think I was in my bid ring at any point of the ride back. I tried going aero a few times but I just could not keep comfortable control. I stayed up and just kept the legs moving. I was not having too much fun at this point, and jokingly thought about calling my wife for a ride home, lol.

When I hit Cochrane hill I had a "you have got to be kidding me" moment. Headwind going up that hill. Can't avoid it so might as well just suck it up. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, again I just kept the legs moving. One I crested the wind just kept coming. The road construction on the 1A has not affected the cycling really but today it made it a bit of a PIA. The machinery was just kicking up lots of dirt/dust and the wind was blowing right at me. Another not so fun moment.

I was pretty glad to roll into my hood. I did 63km in just under 3 hours. That sucked considering at Great White North I did 90km in 2:46. Totally different conditions so it may be comparing apples to oranges. At times I was in my easiest granny gear, trying to keep a cadence of 80-90 and only managing 15 km/hr! As hard as today's ride was I am definitely looking at it as a positive. It was just a hard training day that will help me at Ironman this year. Did I enjoy it...hell no. But I do see the value in getting your ass kicked every now and then.

Next week I am off to Penticton for the May long training camp. I have taken a huge liking to that place and can't wait to get out there. Gonna be lots of training in a short time but that is what I am hoping for. I am praying for lots of sun, no rain and definitely no wind.

Being sick...the good and the bad!

2011-04-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Lets start with the bad. I have missed a week of training...this is killing me. But right now I have no choice...I have to heal and get better. Missing work...good and bad (lol). I have had to take 4 sick days in a row!!! Luckily we accumulate sick time...I have over 500hrs banked. I have some pretty caring coworkers calling and making sure I was ok. I went to take my first sick day and my charge nurse TOLD me I was taking at least 2 shifts (she was was ready to take me off all 4 right there).

Being pretty much confined to my house and having no energy was pretty lame. ONly so much TV you can watch and internet you can surf. At one point the whole family was sick and that is rough. I hate seeing my little boy sick but THANK GOD he did not get as sick as me.

Pretty much the only good thing was the amount of time I got to spend with my son Logan. Between work and training I sometimes feel like I dont get to see him enough. Had he not been sick we probably would have sent him to the day home so I would not have to worry about him. AT one point I had a 41 Degree fever and was trying to give him a nighttime bottle and change him. I felt so weak and I was dripping sweat as I was doing it. As sick as I was his needs come first. I am not saying we played cars right after that but I made sure he was clean and fed. But for the most part we sat on the cough, drinking our fluids (neither of us wanted to eat) and took our tylenol on the same schedule. We started to play a bit as we both felt better. Good when you can laugh even when you dont want to.

A week ago I was doing hill repeats on my bike and today I am on the cough. Feeling a bit better each day. Just need this cough to fade away and get more energy back. I have a training camp coming up May long and I need to be healthy for that. I am pumped!! But I am gonna work on getting me better hour by hour.

Yet again!

2011-04-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Sick....again....frustrated. That is all.

Calgary Police Half, the pre and post.

2011-04-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

The Calgary police half has been one of my favorite races. This year marks my third running this race. The route is nice with a great combination of scenery and difficulty. Lots of reasons to like this race.

This year I have mixed emotions. When I woke up this morning it took everything I had to get out of bed. I seem to have a bit more motivation when it is a triathlon vs a pure running race. But after a few minutes I made it over to the window, parted the blinds and let out a string of bad words. I am so done with winter. But whatever, since I can't change the weather, I just changed my goals.

I had talked to my coach and told him about the forecast (bastard is in Maui ;) ) and we both decided that this would just be a long training run. So I wasn't surprised when I saw the snow that was on the ground this morning. I was hoping for clear paths to try to give it a solid effort and see where my run fitness is.

I got to the start around 7am and just relaxed until it was time to line up. When the gun went off I was ready to go! I felt good as soon as I started running and was full of confidence. I think it was 400-500m into the race and there was a right turn approaching. I saw a bit of ice that was covered by some loose snow and slowed down to go over it, and proceeded to take a nice spill on it. I was lucky that I was able to get my hand down and land mostly on my hip/thigh. I popped back up and was on my way, no ill effects.

The race had it's usually initial congestion and I was weaving in and out making some good time. I was holding a 5:10-5:30 pace and was pretty happy with that, felt good. Once we crossed over Glenmore trail the conditions were a bit worse. There were a couple times I almost bit it again. I learned very quickly to run on the sides. I did see a few others going down here and there. I can say that my shoes were not mean for this!! KSwiss blade light shoes are a poor choice for snow/ice!!! Zero traction! I had though about wearing my old Saucony Triumphs but did not want to blister up like the make me do.

The route had changed up a bit and we stayed on the pathways vs heading out to the road. Not really a big issue, the road has a slight incline and the path is pretty much flat. Later on the path dips down into the Weaselhead and that hill was no so fun. Again I almost bit it here. Had to hold onto the rail for dear life, I was glad to get to the bottom. Here is where it kinda turned into single track. There was a good base of snow and it was easier to stay single file. Although, I was passed her and did some passing, just wasnmt optimal.

Then not much farther it was time to come out of the Weaselhead. For some reason I never let myself walk this hill and today was no different. I don't care how hurting I am I run up this one. It is great to see all the volunteers and supporters at the top, especially on a day like today. Kudos to all those people! Not far up ahead was the next aid station. I had to pull off my glove to get a gel out of my pocket. When I was putting my glove back on, I felt my garmin strap loosen. I looked over and the pin holding the strap and loosened up. It was still in the strap but no longer attached to the body. Kinda pissed my off but I just carried it in my hand from here.

About a km from here I started to get some mild GI cramping, kinda like I had to go. Seems to be a common thing when I do this race. It definitely slowed my pace...alot. I ended up taking walk breaks to let the feeling pass. About 2km left and I was taking alot of walk breaks. I knew I wasn't going to crap my pants but it was still pretty darn uncomfortable.

But I pushed on and was soon at the finish. Nice to see so many people at this finish despite the weather. I was glad to hit that finish and then stop, lol. I got my medal, a bottle of water and then hit the washroom. Whew! I was headed to the food area and ran into one of my friends Mark. He is training for the Canadian Death Race...crazy mofo!! After running the half, he was now getting ready to run home...another 21km, lol.

I grabbed some munchies and then was out of there. My running shoes have these nice drainage holes in the bottom which allow for water drainage in the warmer months. Unfortunately they allow for water intrusion in the colder months. My feet were wet and were going to start getting cold. I quickly drove home after stopping at McD's for a couple of cheeseburgers and a McFlurry. Race days are always "amnesty" days meaning I eat whatever I want. I figure McD's was perfect recovery food. When I got home my wife and son were asleep and I at my meal. My wife had a poor sleep last night because my son had a poor sleep (funny how that happens). So when he woke up I grabbed him and let my wife sleep some more. I brought him down stairs, cuddled up with him and gave him some milk. Not much longer and he was out! He slept in my arms for another 2 hours!! I had wanted to get up and walk around but I just did not want to wake him up. Plus I love when I get to relax with him.

Right now I am feeling pretty good. The quads feel some minor "tiredness" but over all I am good. I have had some time to think about the race and my overall thoughts and here is what I have come up with.

My time was 2:07-2:08 ish I think. Definitely not my fastest time on this course but I am ok with it. I think I could have pulled out a sub 2 is the roads/paths were clear. But that we will never know. My time is just that, my time. The clock doesn't take excuses. And the weather is not something we can change, not even the race directors ;).

This year the race swag included 2 shirts. The first was a black tech T with green writing that said "training 4 Calgary police half" or something like that. Not a bad shirt and I will wear it. The second was a long sleeve tech shirt that we got at race package pick up. When I was on my way to pick up my bib, I saw a woman walking out with a gawd awful green shirt. I was hoping it was for the 5km....nope. The shirts in the past have been a favorite of mine but this one was just bad. I just did not like the colors or the design.

And then there is the medal. I am very disappointed but this years medal. The previous 2 years the medal was not a large one by any means but was still sharp. It was nice having it placed around your neck as you crossed the line. This year the medal was handed to you, covered in a plastic wrap. The medal itself was small and thin!!! And since I did not like the design on the shirt, turns out I did not like the medal for the same reason, they were the same!

I don't do races just for the shirt or the medal but I have to admit they are a nice touch when done right. I will DEFINITELY do this race again! It is still one of my favorites. I think it is well put on overall. The volunteers are great (as usual) and even more so this year for being out in this weather. But I think I will pass along my personal feedback to the event organizers about the shirt/medal. I am not sure how many people feel the same or even care. I don't think I am alone though.

So there it is, my race day. I don't think my next race is until June....the Joe's Team triathlon fundraiser for the fight against cancer. I will include the link if any one wants to donate ;).

http://albertacancer.ca/page.aspx?pid=1079&tab=0&frsid=3141

Joe's Team Triathlon donation page

2011-03-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

I just finished signing up for the Joe's Team Triathlon cancer fundraiser. Please donate if you can. I promise to bust my ass to raise money now and I promise to bust my ass on race day.

http://albertacancer.ca/page.aspx?pid=1079&tab=0&frsid=3141

Life is Beautiful

2011-03-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

You can't quit until you try
You can't live until you die
You can't learn to tell the truth until you learn to lie
You can't breathe until you choke
You gotta laugh when you're the joke
It's nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life that no one will cry at my funeral

I know some things that you don't
I've done things that you won't
It's nothing like a trail of blood to find your way back home
I was waiting for my hearse
What came next was so much worse
It took a funeral to make me feel alive

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life that no one will cry at my funeral

Alive
Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life that no one will cry at my funeral

Just open your eyes
Just open your eyes
And see that life is beautiful
Will you swear on your life that no one will cry at my funeral

Nikki Sixx

I guess it is somewhat unusual to start a blog post with words to a rock song. But there is a reason behind it. Sometimes it does take being at your worst to make you be happy for what you have. Right now it is not "me" that is at my worst, it is my cousin.

Over a year ago he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. A young male, prime target for that particular cancer. After a "minor" surgery he was thought to have a relatively good chance at being cancer free. I just got a call from my Mom that it is back and this time it has spread. He now has lymph node involvement with metastasis to his stomach and lung. My experience as a nurse put a knot in my stomach, I know how bad this diagnosis is and what he is going to go through. No one is giving up but the treatment is going to be brutal. I have seen what it will do to him and what complications can develop. I am by no means religious but I am praying it works. He is 30 years old! He should be worrying about what kind of grades his children will get, not if he is going to live or die.

Things like this make me super thankful for what I have...my health, my family, my job and so many other things. So many times we let stupid things drive us crazy with worry when in the grand scheme of things, they really aren't that important. When I was playing with my son before his bedtime, I could not help but think of my aunt and uncle and what they must be going through.

If I could cure one disease, cancer would be it. Since I cant do that I am going to do what I can. I am going to sign up for the Joe's Team triathlon in June. After you pay your registration fee you must raise $500 in order to participate. All the proceeds go to the Tom Baker Cancer Center. I had actually been thinking about doing this for a while but hearing about my cousin is just more motivation. This triathlon is not about the race itself. This one is all about the cause.

I generally try to keep a positive tone to my blog but this is something that I feel is very important to express. It can always be worse and we need to remember that. Good luck Shawn and I love you! Stay positive and beat it for good this time!

Commitment

2011-03-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Today is another day closer to Ironman Canada. Lately there has been no stress when I think about it...right now I am too motivated to be stressed. I actually can't believe how motivated I am. I have gotten into a pretty slick routine and it is working great. I do admit that training on work days is not so fun but I still do it.

It just seems like at this point everything is progressing so well. When I am swimming I just seem to feel the water better. I am aware of how it is flowing by my body and how my position changes that. My cycling is doing well but I am looking forward to getting out on the road!! My running had been a source of disappointment for a while but I am making some big gains here and am much happier! I had a 2 hour run the other day and felt great!

Last year at this time I did blow off the occasional workout. Winter training is no fun (well for me anyway). But this year I have been pretty consistent and have been putting in the effort. Any rare time I have had to miss a workout I have felt huge guilt. Maybe I should not , because real life is more important, but I still do. But like I said that is rare. My coach gives me a time range for the duration of each individual session. I always do the longer option nowadays. I have said it once and I will say it again....I don't want to just survive the race, I want to do well. Skipping workouts wont help me do that...maybe guilt is a good thing ;).

Things that have helped......
1) Early workouts - Getting them in early has helped alot! Although there is still the rare day that I am on the bike trainer at midnight.

2) Music - Revising playlists, finding new music, having my alarm waking me up to motivation music etc... I find it hard to stay unmotivated when "lose Yourself" is playing.

3) Mental imaging - Thinking what it is going to feel like when I cross the finish line at IMC (I WILL FINISH!!!)

4) Routine - Get up with my son, take him to dayhome, eat, spend a few minutes on the computer, workout # 1, eat, errands if needed, workout#2, pick up son, play time with son, make dinner, do house work and then relax, repeat.

5) Get adequate sleep - Not always possible being a shift worker. When I work nights I really only get about 4-5 hours during the day. I try to make sure every day shift or day off I do get a proper sleep. I have incorporated the occasional short nap.

6) Keeping track of progress- I am much better at keeping track of my actual workout volume. Nice to see the progression. Never thought running a half marathon would be just another training day.

So there it is. I know there will be some dark days thrown in there at some point. But right now I am living in the moment and doing everything I can to keep my head in the game and my eye on the prize. It will be worth it.

Running out of movies to watch.

2011-02-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

Today I had a 2:45 ride to get done on the trainer and a 30 min transition run. I usually watch a movie and/or listen to music while training in the basement. But I am finding out that you can only watch movies so many times before they no longer help pass the time. The training sessions are getting longer and therefore the need for stimulation is greater. We have a pretty good selection of DVD's but apparently not enough, lol. Just makes me want to get outside even more.

The bike was not too bad overall, the legs felt a bit tired on the longer sets but I just kept the legs turning. The surprising part was how good I felt on the transition run. I hopped off the bike, hit the treadmill and immediately felt good. I was able to pick up the pace very quickly. The pace I did settle into was quicker than what I normally have been running. I felt like I could keep running forever! I really feel like my running is coming back.

The only bad thing about today happened after the workout was done. I was sitting down in a chair holding my son and then they hit....cramps. My quads just seized up and the pain was rather uncomfortable...to the point of inducing nausea. I have has issues with cramping during races but cant remember having them after training. I dount it was due to electrolyes or dehyration. I had 2 bottle of HEED and one Perpetuem. Luckily they only lasted a couple of minutes. I had stretched after the worout but did another round to see if it would help. No more cramps and no abnormal feelings in the legs.

Tomorrow is a swim day so the legs will get a bit of a rest. I am actually really looking forward to the swim...who would have thought. After that I have to head to Ikea to pick up a mirror and a duvet cover. Not super looking forward to that but I promised my wife I would get it done. But for now I am going to have a shower and then enjoy some well deserved time on the couch.

Missing....one blue/white pull buoy!

2011-02-26T21:36:00.000-08:00

I was getting ready to head out to the pool and when I grabbed my swim bag I noticed my pull buoy missing!! I use that think every swim as part of my warm up. Although in the grand scheme of things it is not a bit deal, I could always use one of the pool's. But I just could not understand what happened to mine. I KNEW I had brought it home with me from my last swim. So what the hell happened to it?

It didn't take long to get a suspect. Description of the suspect is white male, approximately thigh high, with blue eyes and short sandy blond hair, approximately 15 months old. No tattoo's, scars or diaper rash. Sadly I think I was the victim of a crime committed by my own son!! After a brief interrogation, he admitted to nothing and was totally defiant. A few minutes of tickle torture did nothing except make him laugh. I knew I had to find it on my own.

One thing this guy is, is predictable. He is often found hanging out in the same location, near the toy box. I made my way over to this overcrowded area. After obtaining a warrant from my wife I conducted a intense search of the area. My suspicion was bang on. The little thief had tried to take away my precious pull buoy.

Given that this was his first offence, his sentence was light...curfew and lights out at 7pm. I was a bit concerned about his lack of remorse however. I will have to monitor this closely once he is paroled. Once again, justice is served.

Pump up the volume, pump up the volume!!

2011-02-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

I am not talking about the song. I am talking about my training volume. Just finished a solid week of training...wahooo! My coach bumped up the volume a bit and I loved every bit of it. For the first time in a while it seemed like everything worked out great to help me. No one is sick, work was good (did pick up an OT shift) and things are otherwise normal at home.

This week included 3 swims, 4 rides and 4 runs (2 run only and 2 bricks) for a total of 14 hours. I have to admit that I am totally looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. I put in some good effort this week and my body was letting me know, lol. I am feeling tired but in a good way...I know that I have done something.

Unfortunately I go back to work tomorrow....booourns. Four days of work and then off for another 5. But as per usual lately I will probably try and pick up an OT shift. This year is going to be expensive with the triathlon plans and training and we are finally paying off the credit card debt we built while my wife was on maternity leave. An OT shift here and there makes a huge difference!

But as I said before, I am going to enjoy my training day off tomorrow. Nothing special planned, just come home and relax. My son will already be in bed so I will get to talk to my wife for a bit and then hit the hay. I am truly getting old, lol. But having said that I don't think I have hit my prime ;).

Winter....you suck!

2011-02-18T19:09:00.000-08:00

I really really dislike winter. I can't wait for the return of sun and warmth and longer days. Minus 20 weather just does not do anything for me. I often question why I moved back to Canada after living in Florida for 7 years. WTF was I thinking???? The snow was nice for xmas but I want it all to die a horrible death and melt away! Ok...rant over, lol.

Today I had a run and a swim on the schedule. I planned on getting the run in first and then heading to the pool for noon. My run was pretty good today. I got in 10km in 56mins but I was happy with the percieved effort. Lately it seems like my 10km runs have been just over an hour and felt like they required more effort. Today's run included strides and I felt so good! My form did not fall into the crapper which was a plus. A 56 min 10k is far from a personal best but I feel like I am getting back to where I want to be with my running.

The swimming is still progressing. But I have to admit that the arms were feeling tired today. I don't look at that as being a bad thing, it tells me that I worked them. But I am glad that they are going to get a few days rest now.

So far this week has been awesome. No one is sick in the house, at the moment, which is a big plus. Work has been good (managed to sneak in an OT shift too) and the training has been great. The next 2 days involves plenty of time on the trainer...I think 4.5 hours over the weekend and a transition run. Let the good times role!!

Git R Done!

2011-02-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been going through a bit of a change on how I look at swimming. It is still not my favorite and I doubt it will ever be. But as things progress I find myself actaully looking forward to swim days on my schedule. So what has changed to make me come about?

The swim camp that I took a couple of weeks ago has helped. More tweaking of my technique was welcomed and helpful. My coach is now putting in the pool a little more and increasind the sets in the workouts. Better technique + more practice = results. I definitely think that seeing some good results and pulling it all together is helping mentally. I can feel the difference in the water, it almost feels smooth now.

I havent been worried about swim cutoff in a long long long time. Not since I first started swimming and even then it went away fast. I know I will make the swim cut off at Ironman Canada. But I would like it have a somewhat acceptable time and be feeling ok to get on the bike. Having said that, how much time do I invest in my swim?

Well that I will leave up to my coach. I would definitely not want to pull from the othe 2 disciplines. Given how much the swim portion accounts for in the whole day, I cant justify taking away from the other two. I will have to put in the effort that I need to when I am swimming.

This brings me to the title of this entry. For yesterday's swim I decided to head down to the Talisman to check it out. Other than the locker room, I didnt see too much change. I didnt explore much though. If it werent so much more expensive and far away I would swim here more often. They always seem to have plenty of open lanes so crowding is not a problem.

The sets for the day were warm up, the 10 X 100, 10 X 75, 10 X 50, 10 X 25, cool down. I had had a good swim a couple of days before and my shoulders were still feeling it a bit. But despite that I felt good in the warm up and then into the first set. Midway through I started to feel a bit tired. I think some of it was from getting up with my son at the crack o' dawn. what ever the reason I was just wanting to be done. There have been times where I called it a day and would just go home. But I decided to stick with it and "Git R Done". I have less than 200 days until IMC now!

In the end I was pretty tired but felt good about finishing the workout. I fueled up a bit, picked up my son from the dayhome, met my wife at our house and we did a family trip to costco. Then later on in the evening I got my run for the day in. I just ended up doing 40 mins on the treadmill. My left knee for some reason is giving me grief going up the stairs today, didnt hurt on the treadmill yesterday. Something I will watch.

Tomorrow is another swim/run day. My shoulders feel pretty good today so I am hoping for some good time in the water. But right now my bike is calling in I am going to go answer.

Sick....again.

2011-01-31T10:08:00.000-08:00

Last week my little boy was fighting a cold. My wife and I both said if we could take his cold to make him get over it we would. Well maybe that happened, lol. I woke up with a sore throat yesterday and that is usually how my colds start. Sure enough by bedtime I was stuffed up and had a bit of a cough. Today (well through the night) I woke up to more of the same. Luckily his cold was short lived so I am hoping for the same.

I did have a pretty good ride on the trainer last night despite the start of this cold. I did get a good sweat going. I can always tell I am working hard when the sweat is running down the peak of my visor. I was busy during the day and wanted to spend some time with the family so it wasnt until 9pm that I got on the bike. I was shaking my head when I was finishing up after 11pm. I usually much prefer to get my workouts done in the morning but sometimes you have to get them in when you can.

I think today I might lie low and try to get some extra sleep in. I took my boy to his day home so it will be nice a quiet. I will pick him up at 4:30 and then will come home and make something for dinner. My wife gets home from work at 6:00 so I have plenty of time to come up with something. But in the meantime, bed it is!

Swim Camp....how it went.

2011-01-30T15:34:00.001-08:00

Being that swimming is by far my weak point I am always looking for a chance to improve. I decided to take a short evening swim camp with Jordan Bryden. If you don't know him, he is a local pro triathlete on the ITU and Xterra circuits and is quite the swimmer. I wasnt sure how much I could take in during one evening but I was willing to try.

The night started off with just some easy warm up laps and figuring out lane speeds. After that we started out with drills. Jordan did a good job connecting the drills with various parts of the stroke. We did do alot of fin work which I have not done in the past. One thing the drills clearly proved is just how bad I am breathing to the left. I knew I wasnt good at it but it was magnified on some of the drills. Definitly one thig to work on.

We got out of the pool for some dry land exercises. The exercises themselves helped pull a few concepts together for me. I will definitely be incorporating these into my workouts. It was nice getting feed back out of the water as well as in.

Then it was back into the water for some laps and analysis. It was kind of funny swimming over top of someone looking up at you from the bottom of the pool. The feedback that Jordan gave me from this point of view was that my head was all over the place. I needed to be breathing or looking down. Another bad habit that I was pretty much aware of.

The swim portion was done at this point and we all hopped in the hot tub and watched a couple very short videos on swim technique. Once we were all warmed up and after a quick change we reviewed our individual swim videos. I had never seen my technique before so it was good to see from that vantage point. Aside from the previously mentioned flaws, the only other thing that Jordan suggested was to shorten my reach about 1 inch. I should get more power in each pull if I do this. My catch was a little lacking but I had improved alot during the course of the session. I thought my analysis was going to be a bit painful and a hit to the ego but overall he said it was actually pretty good.

Overall I did get pick up some good info from this. It will help me build on what my coach has already taught me. I have been feeling better and better about being in the pool lately. It is crazy how when you work at something you can actually see results and maybe even enjoy it a bit ;) .

Swim camp

2011-01-29T22:07:00.001-08:00

Learned lots, lots of fun....more to follow, need sleep.

You know you had a good bike training session when....

2011-01-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

If you have read my blog, you would probably know that I love my bike. I always love the schedule days when it says BIKE. Today was one of those days. It wasn't a long work out but had some intensity.

After a warm up it was 5 mins of 15/15's followed by 5 mins of ez spin. Then the main set started, 90 seconds of big ring and holding 90 cadence. Followed up by 2 1/2 mins rest. In the beginning the 90 seconds seems short and then rest seems to be forever! By the end of the workout it is a much different story. It might not seem like much but do it enough and it is an ass kicker.

My leg strength is definately improved over last year. Doing these intervals I am pushing all the gears the bike has and keeping the cadence. I am excited to see how I feel on the roads in the spring. The plan was for 8 work/rest reps but I miscounted and added on another one. Better one more than one less right?!

In other training news, I signed up for a swim camp. Next Sat Jordan Bryden is putting on a 1 day camp with video analysis. I think this will help lots. My swimming is comming along but there is always room for improvement...and I have lots of room, lol.

In non training news....it was my 2 year wedding anniversary today. Hard to believe that we have been married for 2 years already! We had some good laughs talking about things today. Alot have things have changed since we were married but all for the better! We all had a great lunch at Salt and Pepper...mmmmm mexican. And then we god some shopping done that we needed to get out of the way.

Ohh and to finish off the title...you know you had a good bike training session when you barely keep you lunch down, when it takes you much longer to walk up that basement stairs than it should and when you seriously consider using the hand rail ;).

Loving my pain cave right now....

2011-01-10T20:29:00.000-08:00

There is nothing I love more than getting outside for a run or bike. But right now there isn't much motivation to get outside for either. I am fortunate to have a nice large basement that I can turn into a winter haven for training...a pain cave (I can't take credit for the name, I stole it off the slowtwich forums).

When my wife sold her condo and we moved in together, she told me that she wanted a treadmill. I teased her about it because I didn't think that she would actually use it. Turns out I was right, lol. But as fate would have it I would eventually be the one using it. I have to say that it is VERY convenient. On days that I work it is great that I can just come home, change and then hop right on the treadmill for a run. But now with this less than stellar weather it has been a good alternative to running outside. While I have run in colder weather, right now I don't feel the need to, lol.

And for any Canadian triathlete, a bike trainer is an essential tool. I am by no means a huge fan of it but it is what it is.....something to keep the legs going over those cold winter months. I have the trainer set up in front of the TV and usually pop in a movie. I purposely don't have a fan on me during my training. I guess I want to get used to the heat as much as possible. And besides, it is already pretty cool down in the dungeon.

I have some various weights, kettle bells, and resistance bands that I use for strength exercises for when I don't want to hit the gym. Although I do prefer to go to an actual gym it is all about the convenience sometimes.

An endless pool would be a great addition to the pain cave but that is sooooo not in the budget. I have never tried one but would love to just to see how it feels. I am sure my wife would divorce me if I even suggested getting one. Haha, who is kidding who...I am not that into swimming. I have said it once and I will say it again...the only reason I swim is to get to my bike.

Sitting here, typing and looking out the window I am looking forward to the warmth of summer and extra light that it brings. I miss shorts and t shirt weather. But for now I am going to have to continue my love/hate relationship with the pain cave.

Cue the "Jaws" theme....

2011-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

Nothing makes me smile more than a nice empty pool. Yesterday was a swim day and I was actually looking forward to it. I usually hit the shouldice pool because it is reasonably close to home, cheap and usually not that busy. However I when I pulled into the parking lot I knew it wasn't going to be a "nice empty pool". I get inside and sure enough it is packed. All lanes are marked by speed...slow, med and fast (each has 2 lanes). But why bother, they all have slow people in them. As I keep saying, I am no Phelps or Potts but seriously people, judge your speed correctly!!

I jumped in the med lane because that is where I usually go. I was sharing the one lane with 3 other people and it was going ok until one woman broke out the kick board to do drills. Sure enough it ends up turning into a traffic jam. But as luck would have it, 2 people leave from the lane next to me. I decided to hop on over into that one since it only has one person. At this point the inner shark is coming out...thanks Keith for introducing me to that term!

Very quickly I realize that the person in that lane is slower than me. Whatever, I just assume that she will let me go by at the end....wrong. I am right behind her and she hits the wall, does an awful flip turn, heads towards the bottom of the pool and then just floats up to the surface. Super frustrating!!! I don't care if you are slow, just be considerate. But after 20 mins she left and I was able to get some good time in.

Enough of a mini rant! Training is going well otherwise. I had a bit of ankle pain on my left that seems to be resolving. Not super painful but enough to make sure I was aware of it. It did make running a bit annoying.

Unfortunately I go back to work tomorrow but al least it is a rest day. My mom flies back to Nova Scotia the next day so it is good timing. It will be nice to spend one more evening with her before she goes back. We had a great visit and it was so much fun seeing her get to know my son. She is going to miss him for sure!

It is time to hit the hay, need to get up early to save lives and stamp out disease.

Today's run is optional...did I do it or opt out?

2010-12-25T18:46:00.000-08:00

I did not do it....yet. Just waiting for some turkey to digest and then I am heading down to the basement to get on the treadmill. It is only an easy 30-40 min run so its not a big deal. I had a great day with my family so I can feel better about not ignoring them on the holiday. Logan, at 13 months, just is not into the whole present opening just yet. The best part of the day was watching him running around the house with the new boxes and wrapping paper he got...forget the toys. Later in the day my wife cooked an awesome turkey dinner....I wished she cooked more she is great at it! And then lots of calls from both sides of the family, nice to hear from everyone!

We just put Logan to bed so I have some time to kill before I run. So why not try put a entry into my poor, neglected blog. Things on the training front have been awesome!!! I am feeling very strong and quite healthy. I have to admit that I am feeling good about running again. Its coming back, I really did need to tell myself to HTFU.

I am rocking what is essentially a new bike now. My old bike had a bit of an accident (its ok it was the bike and not me). It is amazing how carbon fiber splinters under pressure (insert sad face here). The only damage was the frame so all of my components were moved to teh new frame. I got a 2010 Kuota Kfactor racing edition. Luckily, Roy at Eurotech cycle, was able to get a portion covered under the crash replacement policy (even though it wasnt a crash). If anyone ever wants to know what happened I will tell you if I see you in person...I need to see the reaction when I tell you. But the good news it was only a few days until I was back in the saddle again...wheeewwww. I was going through withdrawal already.

My swim is coming along. I am just need to keep plugging away at it. I am feeling better about it everyday. Still swim just to get to my bike though, lol.

I am looking forward to my next race at this point. I am doing the Hypothermic Half in Feb. It will be my third time doing this one. I wish it was still at the Eau Claire start vs the Fort Calgary location but I will still run it. Races help keep me focused and the helps break up the winter.

Anyway I think it is time to get on the treadmill. I need to burn off some stuffing. And there are only 246 days until Ironman Canada ;).

I think I missed a few months....

2010-11-19T19:00:00.000-08:00

Well I have been a little neglectful of this blog to sat the least. Keith made a comment a few weeks ago about my blog being lonely. Life is my only feeble excuse. It is still busy as ever trying to manage a family, work and get my training in. I don't think I need more hours in a day rather more days in a week.

In order to save some time and typing here is what I have been up to........

August - Volunteered at IMC in the medical tent. Lots of fun to see the race from that point of view.

Sept - Raced the Banff olympic distance tri....cold. Nothing like 11 deg water to almost stop your heart. Also ran the Melissa's 22km road race...not sure why it is so popular, kind of an average race. Went for broke and paid for it in the end...walked the majority for the last 2km. I knew it was a possibility that would happen but I wanted to go hard just to see.

Oct - Kind of took a little break after Melissa's for a couple or weeks. Mid month I started to get back into training and then got a nasty cold.....sidelined. Near the end of the month got news that my father in law had a chest xray and CT that was very suspicious of lung cancer. Lots of stress in the whole family meant lots of stress for me. Good news, first biopsy is non cancerous...bad news still do not know what it is. But I am convinced that my father in law taught Chuck Norris everything he knows.

Nov- My son's first birthday!!! I loved this little guy more and more each day. I smile just watching him sleep. One of the highlights of the day is when he is just about ready for bed and I get to sit down in the chair with him until he falls asleep.....awesome. Bad news.....hurt my back at work last week. I was walking around my patients bed and then had instant and severe pain in my lower back/butt/hip. Had to take a couple days off work and stop training for about 5 days. Good news....I am back to training and the back is about 95% better. It feel sore at times but no pain. I think today it might actually be "normal" now that I think of it. Funny how antsy I get when I cannot train.

But right now I am getting into a good routine. Hopefully things will be smooth sailing. Work is busy as always. I work 2 days, work 2 nights and then I am off for 5 days. My family time is pretty limited during my work stretch, my son is in bed when I get home from days, he is at the day home when I am sleeping when I work nights. I do manage to get some training in during my work stretch but the majority comes on my days off.

Here is a typical "day off"

04:00 - Feed my son a night bottle when he wakes up (usually around this time)
07:30 - Logan is up for the morning and so am I. Get him ready to take him to the day home
08:30 - Drop Logan off at the day home
08:45 - Breakfast
09:15 - Head to the gym for strength training
11:00 - Head home
11:30 - walk dogs
12:00 - Lunch, laundry, clean
13:00 - swim/bike/run depending on schedule
16:30 - pick up Logan from day home
17:00 - fed son, make dinner for wife, clean house
18:00 - eat dinner, play with Logan
19:00 - bath Logan
19:30 - Time for bedtime (Logan, not me)
20:00 - spend time with wife
21:00 - get Logan's things ready for the day home
22:00 - A little web surfing, reading or music to wind down
23:00 - bed time (for me)

Of course this is not set in stone and there are lots of other little things in there. But that is an average day. I have sat down many times to write blog update but just didnt have the energy at the end of the day. Maybe my time management will improve and in turn my blogging will?

For now I am doing what I can to keep this juggling act going. My next race is the hypothermic half marathon in Feb. For some reason I really like this one, it is a good off season run to keep me motivated. Other than that I am signed up for the Great White North half ironman and small race called Ironman Canada ;). Yeah....the next year is going to be just a bit crazy!

Tripolar disorder

2010-08-07T16:04:00.000-07:00

No its not a mental disorder but it really is all in my head....I think. My personal view on triathletes is that we are "jack of all trades" individuals. We are good at all but master of none. If you put the best athlete of each individual discipline against the best in triathlon, chances are the triathlete would not come out on top. Put them all together and then the triathlete shines.

We all have our favorite/best area in the sport. My desire to swim is largely just to get to my bike. While I like swimming more now than ever, still so much to work on. The bike has become my love. I have so much fun when I get to hammer and just go. I still have so much to learn about cycling however. Descents tend to make my stomach knot...its the speed you see. I am sure in time that will change...or I hope it will. But what of the run?

I guess in a way I started out as a runner. I credit it as being a huge factor in my weight loss. I remember running my first continuous 5km...wow. I wanted to be able to run because I was never able to before. It also seemed to be a great example of endurance. I also remember the first time I ran a half marathon without stopping. But right now that is just a memory.

At this point I know I would have to stop/walk on a long run. I have really made big gains on the swim and bike. Maybe at a cost of a bit of the run. Here is where the Tripolar disorder comes into play. Trying to find time for 3 sports and not focusing on one. It does become a bit of a task to manage all three. The good part of having a coach is having someone to largely take care of that. But he one thing your coach can't do is make you like them all.

I am just not feeling the run love right now. I seem to go in cycles with this. Right now my running just seems so much harder than ever before. I did an 8km run yesterday and it felt horrible. I know that I am not even a week out from the Calgary 70.3 but I still didn't like the feeling. Running used to seem effortless.

But right now I can't tell if its some degree or running deconditioning or if its all in my head. Am I just giving up when I think I am having trouble or am I really not running well. I am having hard time selling myself that its deconditioning. I seem to be doing really well (for me) in the other areas.

So what am I going to do about it?!?!? Talked to my coach and we are going to add another run into my schedule. I am planning on doing some 10km/half marathon races in the fall/winter to work on some speed and to keep me racing while in the tri off season. And just a small more immediate thing....new playlist. Music usually is a good motivator for me. One of my new favorite songs is Debonaire by Dope. Definitely not a song for everyone but I like really like the sound.

Anyway...enough whining...I have a kick a@@ playlist to finish.

Calgary 70.3

2010-08-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to race this one due to work but I managed to get a shift trade that helped me out. I worked the day before the race and was home by 8pm and in bed by 9:30. I almost had to literally drag my behind out of bed at 3:30am to make it to the Dalhousie bus at 4:15. When I got up and looked outside it was dry...get out of the shower....rain. The 60% chance of rain is now 100% I guess, lol. The bus ride out to the start was nice and quiet, but I didn't nap, lol.

It's still lightly raining as we arrive at Ghost lake. T1 is dark and muddy...awesome. I get set up and then run into a few friends and it seems like its go time, well, after the pro's are off. I can't believe how fast it seemed that countdown went! But now its time to get going.

THE SWIM

Right off the bat there is lots of contact in the water. Doesn't really bother me now, I actually think I am getting used to it and really expect it. I know right away that I made a mistake but grabbing my tinted goggles. What the hell was I thinking??? Had the sun been out and not so cloudy I think it would have been ok but that was not the case. And to top it all off the lenses were fogging big time. I had to stop a couple of time to defog them. Overall it definitely affected my sighting. I did find it hard to navigate around the boats in the water. Lesson learned for next time.

Swim time - 45:30

T1 - 4:50

Everything was wet and if it was previously dry it was now wet. My dry socks and bike shoes were soaked even before I made it out of transition. Wet grass and mud...damn you mother nature. The only "dryish" area is the carpets leading in/out of T1. As we are coming out of T1 to the mount line one not so considerate guy stops right in the middle of the carpet to turn on and adjust his bike computer and block everyone behind him..seriously dude, you could not wait?? Anyway now its time to ride.

THE BIKE

The plan was again to start off relatively easy and then ramp it up. Slick roads make me pretty nervous. Although cycling is my best discipline I am no Lance Armstrong. I am not super confident in my bike handling yet. I basically did what my comfort zone allowed me to do. I know that I was holding back on the bike. But I kept saying to myself...finish the race, don't let it finish you.

The course itself is not that hard. All the hills are fairly gentle and not really that long. On areas that were flat or dry I tried to hammer through those areas and it helped. At one point, I was pretty much hating the ride...I was getting wet, cold from the rain and then it really got enjoyable when we had some small stinging hail. I could barely see out of my sunglasses at times but I hate not riding with eye protection.

Throughout the bike I was feeling ok physically. My breathing was good and the legs were turning. No cramps so I was happy. Mentally I was not happy. I hated the weather and was severely disappointed by the last of drafting officials and the number of drafters/blockers. In a way I kind of expected it because it seems to be a common complaint with WTC/Ironman races. Not like the GWN where I swear there were more draft Marshall's than riders, lol.

One case that made me ticked was when I was passed by what was a pace line of 4 riders. They pulled ahead of me and then dropped in line about a wheel length ahead of me. I dropped back to the 7m distance so I was drafting and then they slowed down so I decided to pass. This went on 3 f'ing times. Finally I had enough I hammered down and called them out and asked how that drafting was working for them....no reply.

A few minutes later we were turning onto Glenmore so I slowed down to make the turn and take a quick last drink. Sure enough the draft pack passes me and one of the girls says...hey Dan how is your race going?? My reply was "I am having fun enjoying my race and not someone else's". If you want to cheat fine...just annoying when they are affecting your race....don't pass and then slow down(repeatedly). I was ok with my bike time at the course is a little long and I was not 100% with the conditions.

Bike Time - 2:59:31

T2 - 2:00

Kinda like at T1 everything was wet but not muddy here. I had actually put an extra pair of socks into my T2 bag but decided to to change socks as I thought the would just get wet during the change. I could have been a few seconds faster if I had not pondered the sock issue.

THE RUN

Unlike my last Half IM, I felt pretty good off the bike...and luckily no cramps! At about KM 1 I ended up talking to this one guy and that lasted 20 more Km's. We were both running at the same pace and it was good company. We were basically joking around and motivating each other. About 15km into the run he was hurting and told me to go ahead but I chose to stay and walk his issue out. It wasn't a long break and I welcomed it anyway. We both agreed that there was no way we were running the hills in Weaselhead, lol.

We made it back into North Glenmore and I was so happy to see my wife and son on the side of the run course. I ran up and gave my little boy a big kiss when brought out a big "AWWWWWWW" from all the ladies in the area. I told my wife later I was going to say she was my sister and ask for phone numbers...she laughed but boy did I get an eye roll from her, lol. Seeing them was a huge boost for me.

I was still feeling ok but then as Dexter says "my dark passenger" came out. I started to cramp in my hamstrings...usually its my quads but whatever, it hurt. It brought me to a walk a few times and I told Nathan (the guy I was running with) to keep going but he said there was no way he was going on without me. I totally wish this guy lived in Calgary (live in Saskatoon), I think he would be an awesome training partner.

Not long after we were back to running and the finish line was in sight. Just before the finishers shoot I told him I had another cramp and to keep going. I totally didn't and just wanted to give him a chance to cross the line and grab the banner alone. It was his first Half and the extra few seconds would not kill me, lol. The few seconds later that I crossed was some hand shakes and congrats. One of the girls at the finish was a trainer who works at the gym I used to go to. She bravely gave sweaty me a big hug and then took my chip.

Even though I found the run to be a hard one I enjoyed it. It was great seeing people I know racing and getting motivation from it. So many people on the run were telling each other , good run, looking great, keep going, we are almost done, etc... With names being on the bibs, alot of people were calling each other by name. Lots of love on the run today, lol.

Run Time - 2:22:31

FINAL TIME 6:14:22

Overall thoughts....

I definitely made a mistake with the goggles but it was a lesson learned. I am otherwise happy with the swim. The bike was frustrating to say the least. I wish I had more confidence to push as hard as I would like to. The weather conditions aren't something that you can order up for race day and you have to deal with what you are given. I just have to get better at doing that. Maybe I need to ride more in the rain, lol. The drafters will always be there and I have to accept that. The run was neutral I am not thrilled or unhappy. But I do think I need to get my run back to where I want it to be.

I am glad I got the chance to do this race. As for next year, I am not sure I will do it again. I enjoyed it more after the finish then I did during the race itself. Not sure why I feel this way, could be a combination of things I geuss. I am not disappointed in my time despite it being 25 mins slower than my GWN time. It's a different course under different conditions. Next year will be focused on IMC so my race schedule is going to be alot slower.

I am looking forward to ramping up the training again and voluntering at IMC. Hopefully I will ever get a few good training days in while out there. Still debating if I am going to race next weekend at Lake Chaparral, we will see how the recovery goes. I am feeling pretty good today (tuesday) and should be normal by tomorrow. No time to rest...IMC signup is less than a month away ;).

Great White North Race Report

2010-07-05T10:47:00.001-07:00

It's funny how waiting for a certain event to happen it seems like forever and then before you know it, bamn its here. Thats what I felt like with the GWN half iron. I was glad when the day to race was finally here. I tried to get a good night sleep the night before, I think I managed 5-6 hrs but I felt fairly rested. I arrived at the transition area right at 6am and was very quickly set up and ready to go. I bumped into my friend Dave and then Dusty and Adrian who also train with my coach. Dave and I had been trash talking for months about this race and it was continuing on before the start, lol. I hopped in the water for a quick warmup and then it we were herded into the start area.

THE SWIM (46:51 512/627)

I seeded myself at the back of the first half. Right off the bat there was lots of contact. Triathlon swim can definately be a contact sport, lol. I can't say that it really bothered me, I am getting more used to it now. I did manage to get a nice kick in the ribs as I was passing someone but it was not something that affected me. The turn around the first bouy was what I expected...congested. People just doggy paddling around it. I made it through there fairly quickly on the outside. After the turn there was still a fair bit of contact but it was starting to thin out a bit. The rest of the swim was pretty uneventful. I was feeling good coming out of the water and was looking forward to getting on my bike. Exiting was pretty smooth, I had my wetsuit down to my hips as I crossed the mat and was stripped and on my way in quick order.

T1

I thought that my transition was on the slower side but my wife said I was in and out very quickly. I decided to put socks on here versus before the run to save some time later. I took a few extra seconds to towel my feet off and then get into my shoes. It did feel smooth but I felt slow.

THE BIKE (2:45:37 173/627)

I was soooo happy to get on my bike. The plan was to stay in the small chain ring for a little bit to give the legs a warm up. I did this for about 10 mins and then it was time to hammer. My legs were feeling warm and ready to go. Once I turned off highway 16 and headed towards Stoney Plain all I saw was a line of riders. I started to pass people left and right. It was easy to get a nice pace going considering how flat the course is. I had driven the course the day before and I knew what to expect. Heading out I could see some dark clouds in the distance. I was just hoping that we didnt get rained on and thankfully we didnt.

The little valley we had to cross over was nothing compared to what I have been doing on my training rides. I stood up a couple of times on the way up but that was more to stretch out the legs than out of necessity. I was 2km from the turn around when I saw my friend Dave..4km on me...I can make that up, lol. One not so fun moment was on the way back I was flying downhill and catching up to another rider. As I approached they moved over, for what I thought was to let me pass. Turns out they moved to avoid the rumble strips that I hit about 55km/h. I had a brief wobble but managed to keep it together. I hate those damn things.

I was still feeling pretty good so I decided to step it up a bit. With a bit of a tailwind and a slight down grade I was able to cruise at 40+ km/hr for a nice bit of time. Once we made the last turn back into town I had to turn it down a notch because of the crosswind and the road condition. I was leaning into the wind just to keep a straight course. But not much longer I was turning into the residential area and headed towards transition. I dropped into my small chain ring to spin my legs out.

T2

As I approached the transition area they volunteers were all ready to take me to my run gear. The voluteer took me to my bike and then asked me if I needed help. I was fine but talk about great volunteers. I felt like this transition was one of my best..nice and quick. I am not sure what my time was I forgot to hit my lap button.

THE RUN (2:17:02 470/627)

I was feeling quite good when I initially started the run. My coach was there to give some encouragement and to let me know my friend Dave was just ahead ;). I quickly caught up to my friend and we started some trash talk. But it wasnt long before I could feel some not so good feeling in my legs. My quads were feeling a little tight and that rapidly progressed to full on stop all forward motion cramps. I stopped to massage them out and was joined by a woman who was doing the same. The only thought that was going through my mind was "this is going to be a long 21k". I would have crawled if I had to but I was going to finish.

I started to run despite the cramps still being there and eventually they faded out a bit. Not much later I caught back up to my friend Dave. We joked that we should just run this together and I suggested that we don't try to out sprint each other near the finish (this is how I beat him last race). But as it turned out, we did run most of the 21k together. I must have been in my own little world because I missed seeing so many people on the run. I did manage to spot Keith on the run but his height stands out. Leana saw me on the run and I managed to get out a hi as she went by me. I had looked for her out there but there were quite a few TriLife jerseys out there! A few girls that I know and had passed on the bike (don't remember seeing them) passed me on the run course. They were smoking the run! I was so happy for them. My friend/coworker Daniel who trains with TriLife looked so good..I knew she would pass me on the run, lol.

I was feeling ok for most of the run, felt like I had lots of fuel in the tank but the legs were often on the verge of cramping again. Once we got to about 17km my friend Dave was hurting and told me to push it if I could. Well I did so I started to pick up the pace a bit. But around 19km the quads started to cramp again. I had to stop a few times and let them pass. But I knew I was almost home. I managed to get under my goal time of 6hrs and I beat my friend Dave by 2mins, lol.

Final Time 5:49:29 (359/627)

Overall thoughts...

I am quite happy with my time for my first half Ironman. Was it a perfect race??...hell no. My swim time was a touch longer than I had hoped for. I wanted to get closer to the 40min mark but I am not that disappointed. My bike I was quite pleased with...I wanted to be under 3 hours and I did that. I felt strong and didnt feel like I had pushed beyond what I wanted to do. My run was a bit slower than I wanted. My last 2 half marathons have been just about 2 hours on fresh legs so I expected a little bit longer. But I did hope to be a bit faster. Given the cramping issues I was ok with my run time.

The cramping issues have been ongoing for me. I am still trying to get to the root of them. I have tried longer warm ups, more eletrolytes different nutrition, etc... Very frustrating to say the least. I will one day conquer them!! I was fine after about an hour and to my wife's surprise I wanted to drive home, lol. The drive was nice but it was nice to get home and relax.

I am looking forward to the Calgary 70.3 at the end of the month. I am not expecting to best my GWN time as I think Calgary might be a bit of a tougher course. Regardless it will be a little more long course experience. It's now thursday and I feel pretty much back to normal. The first couple of days after the race were daytime walks and working nights. Yesterday was an easy swim and today was just 90 mins of biking. Loving the nice weather and looking forward to some good training days!!

Cold my @ss....bring on the race.

2010-06-28T16:04:00.000-07:00

Getting a cold a 1 1/2 weeks before my first Half Iron was not exactly in the playbook. I was worried that I would be unable to race the Great White North on July 4th. But luckily I have been on the mend and each day I have been feeling a bit better. I may not be 100% on race day but I am hoping to be close. Given how much I was looking forward to this race I decided to not let this cold get me. I coughed until I hurt to the secretions out of my airways. I just keep thinking I had to keep it out of my chest. with some luck that was pretty much the case.

The past few days have been relatively good training/taper. Friday was my first day back at it and was an easy 1 hour bike ride. Lots of coughing and snot rockets and a high heart rate but at the end I felt OK. Sat was a 50 min run with sun race pace intervals with lots of coughing and snot rockets. Sunday was a brick with no coughing on the bike, some coughing on the run and snot rockets on both. Today was a swim and no coughing and lots of sno...haha you thought I was going to say snot rockets. No, no snot rockets in the pool.

So yeah, overall I am feeling much better. Still a bit of pressure in my head but my breathing is coming along. No rattle in my airways, easy breathing and somewhat clear nasal passages. And now I am looking forward to race day again.

On friday I will be heading up to Edmonton with my wife and son to stay at my sis/bro in law's house in Edmonton. I am oping to get out to Hubbles Lake to get an open water swim in. I am debating driving the bike course just for the hell of it. We'll see what time allows.

On another note I would like to say congrats to the guys from the may long training camp that raced IM CDA this weekend. From the sounds of it there were a few rough days in there but everyone finished (with some awesome times too). I spent a good portion of the day watching the feed and following peeps on the tracker. Its a good feeling cheering on guys that helped make my training weekend so great. I don't know how I would have done that weekend without them. So congrats to Darryl, Curtis, Trevor and Mark!

Looking forward to seeing some of you bloggers at GWN this weekend!

Seriously bad timing..

2010-06-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last week my wife and son went to visit some family in Dawson Creek, BC. Shortly after arriving home my little boy started coughing and had a open tap for a nose. His "voice" was barely there. Yup he got a full on cold...his first one. Very shortly after his Dad got his not so first cold. Normally its not a problem but I am 2 weeks out from my first Half Iron.

Good thing is I have almost 2 weeks to kick it. Right now its mostly in my head, just really stuffed up and a bit of pressure. I get up in the morning, cough up some nastiness and then feel ok from a breathing perspective. I started taking Cold FX to see if that would help...I never take it but am willing to try anything.

Despite the cold I managed to get in a 100k ride and a 3km transition run yesterday. Besides being the king of snot rockets I felt ok yesterday. I really have to get used to running in the heat again...I was sweating tuns but felt ok. Later that night I felt pretty tired. But I was happy to get my brick done.

I am gonna just keep up some level of activty, get as much rest as possible and drink lots of fluids. My son is doing much better so thats some stress off my mind. My wife has unfortunately become the third victim of this cold in out household. Just hoping to feel better by July 4th!

Lake Summerside Olympic Tri race report.....finally.

2010-06-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

This race was totally one of convenience. My brother and sister in law live in the Lake Summerside Community in Edmonton. And to top it all off, they are about 300m from the start! It was a no brainer...roll out of bed and do a tri, lol.

My wide and I drove up to Edmonton on Saturday and as soon as we made it our family's place I took off to go get my race package. Luckily, United Cycle was not far from where we were staying and was easy to find. After getting my package I decided to check the store out and I walked into a friend that was also competing in the LS tri.

My friend Dave and I used to work together at the Foothills in Calgary until he and his wife moved to Edmonton. Dave and I have been talking smack to each other leading up to this tri. We both have said we are going to kick each others asses..yada yada yada...but all in good fun. He has been in to all aspects of triathlon much longer than me bit I keep telling him I have youth on my side (like 4 years max, lol). After catching up for a bit we decided to head on over to LS and check out the transition walk through they were having.

The biggest reason for me going to was to find out about the status of the swim. Earlier in the week we had received an email from the race organizer that the water temp was concern and that the swim may have to be shortened or cancelled. AT the briefing one of the first things discussed was the swim and the news did not appear encouraging. The water temp needed to be 13 deg Celsius to have a swim at all and at that point it would be 1/2 the planned distance....it was at 11 that AM.

When I heard that the swim was "in jeopardy" I was quite bummed. Swimming is by far my worst discipline but I have been working hard to improve it. I also want every chance I can to gauge my improvement and to work on better open water swimming. But alas the final decision was going to be made in the AM. I went home and enjoyed a BBQ with the family and tried not to think about it.

The next morning I woke up a bit earlier than I had planned. I planned on getting up at 7 am when transition opened up but at 6 am I was wide awake. My son was in a crib in the same room we were staying in and was wide awake and staring at me when I looked at him. I got up and enjoyed a few minutes with him and then he went to sleep again. I grabbed my things and headed on down to the transition area at 7am.

Being that I was one of the first people there I pretty much had the choice of where I wanted to set up. I got the exact spot that I had scoped out the day before! I never place too much importance one the location but it is nice when you have the spot that is easy to find and easy to get to/exit. After setting up my gear I took my bike over to the United Cycle tent to have them do a quick look at it. After putting on my rear race wheel, the day before we left for Edmonton, I noticed a grinding noise coming from my rear derailleur. I took it to Eurotech cycle the day before and very quickly they were able to correct the noise. But when I took it off our vehicle's roof rack when we arrived in Edmonton and when for a test ride the noise was back. Luckily the On site tech from United Cycle had the problem corrected within seconds and I was good to go.

I saw the race director as I was setting up and asked him about the swim....and the news was awesome! Full distance swim today! The temp had come up 14.8 degrees. I do find it hard to believe that the lake temp would rise from 11 to 14.8 in one day...I am thinking there was some inaccurate measurements in there somewhere. Regardless I was not going to complain. Better run back and grab my wetsuit!

I had run into Darryl and he set up next to me and then my friend Dave came along later. Always nice to have a few people you know around and that you can pass the time talking to. We had a bit of time to head to the lake and get a warm up swim in. The water wasn't exactly warm but very tolerable. Then it was on to the pre race briefing and then it was time to race!

THE SWIM

I decided prior to the start to just relax and do my own thing. I used to get a bit freaked out by contact in the water. I was not afraid of getting hurt but more of getting in others peoples way. This time I didn't care, I was going to swim and if contact was made so be it. I had just as much "right" to be in that space as anyone else. Given that the race numbers were small, just under 100 for the Oly, I didn't worry much about were to start. As soon as the signal went I headed in and went for it. The first turn buoy was fairly close to the start so it didn't take long to get there. I made the turn pretty clean and without hesitation. The next turn buoy was the longest distance away. I just swam and made sure to sight frequently. Eventually it was time to turn and I made the turn clean again. Now time to head to the beach and do lap #2.

During the Legend training camp in Penticton we did some open water drills on exiting and re-entering the water during a lap swim course. They came in quite handy!!! I swam up until the point of scooping sand and then headed onto the beach for the turn. I headed back into the water and then remembered...your heart is going to be up, you need to relax. I took it a bit easy until I felt the HR was coming down and then was making the turn on the first buoy. I felt mildly tired at this point but not exhausted. I also thought I was swimming just a bit slower on this lap. Later my wife said that on the first lap I was probably in the first 40% but for the second I was in the last 40%. I was happy to see that the beach exit was approaching and would soon be on my bike!

Swim time 31:27 (69/93)

T1

Exiting the water I felt "ok" and by "ok" I mean my usual feeling of bunk. I ran into the bike rack and had my wetsuit down to the waist. Once I reached my bike I stopped and took a couple of deep breaths. Not sure of my actual time but it was probably about average.

THE BIKE

The bike course was a flat, 2 lap route. After winding out of the Lake Summerside community it then went onto a secondary road for the majority. The pavement on the secondary road was bumpy to say the least. I hate getting shaken around like that but just had to roll with it. My goals for the bike was to keep aero as much as possible, don't kill my legs and be a bit more confident on my turns.

I felt ok coming out of T1 and it wasn't long before I found my cycling legs. The first lap was passing a fair number of people that had been ahead of me on the swim. Even though I am becoming a better swimmer I am still not that fast. I passed Darryl when he was heading back to finish. I didn't say hi because he looked really focused and he was motoring!

The turn around to start the second lap was right next to the transition area so as heading towards it there were athletes from the spring race just getting on their bikes. I was just coming out of the turn around when I noticed another rider swerving towards me from the other side of the road. I look over and this moron was trying to get his feet in the shoes he already had clipped into the pedal. I started yelling at him to watch out and he is coming closer and closer. I have to admit at this point I started letting out some rather non family friendly words. This guy had not business trying to put his feet in his shoes in this location. And it was obvious he was not good at doing it either. Just before he hit me he managed to turn away and avoid colliding with me. Anyway...rant over.

The second lap was pretty uneventful. I was feeling pretty good and was a bit disappointed to be getting off the bike. I was happy with the speed I was maintaining and the time I was going to have. But alas it was now time to run.

Bike Time 1:15:17 (32/93)

T2

AS I was rolling into transition my friend Dave, the one that I had been talking smack with, was just heading out on the run course. He yells out something like "Hey Dan I am beating you". Ohh not what you want to yell at me, lol. I racked my bike, threw on my shoes and visor and was heading out of transition. I was happy with my exit time.

THE RUN

I was determined to catch up to my friend Dave. I knew I would do it too. I wasn't going to go all out but I picked up the pace a bit just to narrow the gap. I think it was about 700m into the run and I caught up with Dave and promptly gave him a slap on the ass as I passed him, lol. But I decided at this point just to ease up a bit and to run with him. The pace turned out to be comfortable and we ran very consistent. Darryl ran by us a couple of times and no surprise he was smoking the run.

The course was a 4 lap route for the Oly distance athletes. I had run it before while visiting my family so I knew what it was like. No bike hills, just a minor false flat. I took in some gel and fluids at each turn around, it was my first time using a gel flask to do this rather than taking a full gel packet. I will definitely do it this way in the future. I like the idea of spreading out the fuel.

I was still feeling ok at lap #4. I had some muscle "twinges" that I though were going to turn into cramps at the begging of the lap #1 but the faded away. I could tell that my friend Dave was a bit tired. As we headed toward the finish we had 2 turns...a right and then a left. Dave had the inside but as we entered the turn I started my sprint and "closed the door" as he called it. I sprinted ahead of him and didn't look back. After I crossed the finish I turned around and waited for Dave to give him a big high five...and to taunt him, lol.

Run time 59:18 (62/93)

OVERALL

I am pretty happy with a 25min personal best but more important I felt I had a solid race. I was very happy that I took about 10 mins off my Oly swim time. It was good to race with a few people that I know. Talking to Darryl just before the race start helped keep my mind off things. Running with my friend Dave and our friendly trash talk made the race even more fun. This race has helped with my race confidence. I am really looking forward to GWN!

Overall time 2:46:00

So ....IV team it is!

2010-05-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight I got a call from the Medical Tent Captain for Ironman Canada 2010. I had submitted my name to volunteer there since I was going to be there signing up for 2011. I knew the general idea behind a medical tent but got a few more details about the roles/expectations.

At IMC there are 3 areas of the tent. Number 1 is triage...you do a quick assessment to see who needs what and goes where. Number 2 is the chairs...
"I have some blisters". And number 3 is the cots....I need a ton of IV fluids and give me some medications while you are at it". As for personel, for every 6 athletes there is one Dr, one "bedside" nurse and one "IV" nurse.

Not to toot my own horn but there are very few people that can start an IV as well as me. So I am going to be assigned to the IV team. My role will be to start the IV, give fluids and I may have to administer medications. Intersting enough, some of the nursing personel may be nursing students. Given their limited scope of practise this will be one of the instances where I would be administering meds.

I am pretty excited to do this. I think it will be lots of fun and a way to give back to the triathlon community (and yes, easier sign up is a good perk). I don't wish a trip to med tent on anyone but it happens and I don't mind being there. Hope I don't see anyone I know there!!

On a personal training note, I am pretty much recovered from training camp. I am doing the Calgary Half in the morning. I can't say that I am too excited about running tomorrow. This weather is bringing me down!! I remember how great the weather was last year! I just want to run in shorts and a t shirt, no more jackets or tights. Anyway, I am sure I will be more postive tomorrow night after I am done,lol. I will keep you updated!

Legend training camp weekend!

2010-05-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

My long term goal right now is Ironman Canada 2011. It's something I decided that I wanted to do and I am pretty good at doing what I put my mind to. My coach's may long training camp would be the perfect chance to see exactly what I was getting myself into. I knew that going into this it would be a bit of a test for me. My longest ride ever has been 100km and that was last summer. This year's longest has been 60km...inside and on the trainer. The plan for the camp was two 150-160km rides and a true hill climb. Just a little more than I am used to, lol. My coach said "you can tell me if you still want to do an Ironman at the end of the weekend". So how did it go....

Day #1 Friday

The plan for the day was the IMC course but in reverse. By doing it in reverse you get a hill climb early in the ride and the "rollers" are a bit more work. We started the ride early in the morning (not too early). At this point it was nice to be out on the bike. Very quickly into the ride I learned that I was not a climber, lol. I have usually done ok on "hills" but know when I think about it they were just rollers. I was very quickly getting my first taste of true hills out here. Going up Yellow lake was a grind but it was still early so I felt ok. Going down Yellow was FREEZING, still somewhat early in the morning and in the shade of the mountains. We stopped at the "The Bear" and got some refills on the fluids.

We bypassed the out and back, didnt sound like I was missing much. For the next while it was nice and flat and were had a nice pace line going. I took the lead for a brief period and that was the end of that. Definately a skill I need to work on. I thought I needed to pick it up to overcome the drag at the front but I ended up breaking up the line. Next time I will be more aware.

And then came on the rollers. Up down, up down...a couple near the end were nasty. I remember being a bit tired going up the last one, lol. Not too long after the rollers we were heading up the backside of Richter's pass. It was just another climb at this point. I admit that I was often in the easiest granny gear...I got no shame, lol. Coach Greg came back to check on me and give me some motivation....thanks. And then finally we were at the top...hell ya. Lots of people heading up Richter that day. And then the decent....brrrrr. I thought my thigh was cramping at one point, but no, it was just that cold.

So at the bottom we stopped at the Husky and refueled. Aint gonna lie...I am tired at this point, lol. But still 60m to go at this point. Quick break and its back on the bike. No big hill sclimbs left but just feels like a long way to go. I really was happy that we were getting close to home. We stopped at Tickleberry's (awesome ice cream place) but we didnt get ice cream, lol.

We decided to take the "run course" route home. It was nice to get to see this part. I have pretty much decided that this part of of the run when I do IMC will suck. The turn around for the run is in this area and it is a little bit hilly, lol. But then it turns into nice flat road. Very nice to roll back into town on. I started to pick it up a bit and hurry my ass back into town. I had a feeling that the rest of the group would be waiting ahead. My quads were a bit on fire and I was afraid they were going to cramp up. I hit a small up swing in the road and decided to stand it up...big mistake. My quads, especially my right, started to cramp. I streched them out for a second and then kept my legs moving.

I wasnt sure how my transition run would go but I decided to give it a shot anyway. I did a quick change and started to run. My legs are pretty dead at this point. I made it about 1km and the cramps came back in the quads. I gave them a brief massage and then started back to the hotel. The cramps were getting progressively worse to the point of reducing me to a standstill on arrival at the hotel.

I hobbled back to the room and started to take in any food I could get. I was so hungry. My wife later confessed that she really thought I looked bad when I arrived and could not believe that I even attempted a run, lol. Day one over time to sleep.

Day #2 Saturday

The morning was an open water swim in Oliver. I was feeling surprisingly ok by morning, the quads were a little tender but functional. I was excited to try out the new Xterra wetsuit I have bought. The water was cool to say the least, lol. We did a little work on sighting to start things off and get warmed up. After that we did a few exits and entrance drills. It was nice to get out of the pool for a change. I ended up being quite pleased with the new suit....much more comfortable on the shoulders!

Next on the plan was a 20 km warm up ride from Oliver to Anarchist to start the hill climb. I wasnt sure how it would go....15km up. My plan was to start the climb and to just keep my legs moving. For the most part I did the climb in my easiest gear with brief perios in some harder gears. About 1hr and 15 mins of un upward grind and I made it. The rest of the crew were there waiting for me...they did that alot this weekend, lol. Decending is another area I have to work on. I need to gain confidence that I wont die on the decent. I get a bit freaked out by the speed on some of the hills. The ride back to Oliver was pretty uneventful..with the exception of having to call Greg andget directions back to the lake, lol.

Day #3 Sunday

Last biking day of the camp....IMC bike course in the normal direction. The weather looked like it had the potential to turn nasty..it was cool, cloudy and some wind going on. We threw on some extra layers and headed on out of town. As we were on our way out we came upon a half marathon that was being run that day. Not exactly great weather for that either. We made our way through Mclean and headed towards Richter. Along the way, one of the other riders and I (Curtis) rode together and had a good talk. Always nice to meet new people and it surely helped pass the time.

We hit the Husky and again we refueled. Greg told me to head out when I was ready. Pretty soon after I was back on the road heading up Richter. Not much after that they group was passing me on the way up. Some fast riders in out group...I dont feel bad getting passed by guys like Greg, Darryl and Trevor. It was good to have seen what the part of the course was like even though in reverse. I just kept telling myself...keep the legs moving. It was nice to get to the top and to see the group waiting there.

We started to get a few sprinkles of rain and the roads were a little wet. Not cool for someone that hate decending at the best of times. But I keep a little tension on the brakes and used some techniques that Greg had told me about. Obviously I made it down ok, lol.

And then came the rollers! Definately much easier this way! I decided to keep pace with another group of riders ahead and just to keep them in my sights. It wasnt long before the we were out of the rollers and on some flat surface again. I caught up to this other group and then decided to draft with them for a while. I thought about passing them for a short period and then though...why? Its not a race and I still have alot of riding to go. I stuck with them until Greg and Darryl came back got me and Curtis.

We hit "the bear' to get more fluids. Unlike friday, we had a hill climb near then end of the ride....not looking forward to it at this point. Keep the legs moving, just keeping telling myself that. I was happy that at this point I was not having any muscle cramping and actually felt better than I had on friday at the same distance in the ride. One thing that I had changed was my nutrition. A sponsor for the camp was Hammer nutrition. I decided to use Hammer gel, HEED and Perpeteum on Sat and Sun. I had been using Gu and Nuun before this. I really think this switch helped me....no cramps, GI issues and I felt stronger!

So after a little while I was at Yellow lake and getting ready to decend. Always good to see your coach come back down to check on you and the goup waiting at the top, lol. Pretty much all downhill from here!! We got a little sprinkle going down ....again, not cool. I was glad to see the flats again. As we were coming into town I realised that I was feeling ok. I was hoping for a good transition run.

Getting back to the hotel was a good feeling. A quick drop off of the bike and a change and I was out the door. I felt tons better than on Friday!! The legs felt pretty good, tired but still good. I was actually running at close to half marathon race pace. Not sure how I would feel later if I had to keep running but for now I was ok. I did 2.75km in just over 15 mins....not bad after 155km on the bike. And then to top it off was a nice cold water immersion of the legs in the lake sipping on a recovery drink, lol.

Day #4 - Monday

The goal for today was a longer run. I decided to shorten the run up a bit to 1 hour just to get on the road a bit earlier. I knew it was a long drive back home and wanted to get my wife and son back at a reasonable time. I did 10km in 1:05 which I was ok with considering the volume I had put in over the weekend.

Overall it was a great weekend. By far it was the most volume I have put in that short amount of time. Got a bunch of confidence in my riding skills too. On the flip side I have realized how much more I need to do for next year. It was awesome riding with some really great guys as well. Over the weekend I would my totals look like 1km of swimming, 400km cycling and 15km running. Would I do it again...hell ya.
And to answer your question Greg....I still want to do an Ironman.

UCTC super sprint

2010-05-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

The tri season has officially kicked off for me in a rather gentle way. I figured the UCTC super sprint would be a nice and easy race to get back into the swing of things. Being that it was only a 300m pool swim, 12km bike and 3km run I expected it to be a quick one too.

I had no plans to get there super early as I knew where I was going and didn't really care about my transition spot. I decided that the extra sleep would be better for me. I made it there at about 6:45 and was quickly set up and ready to get the show on the road. But like all tri's you get set up and then its time to wait.

After what seemed like forever the race began. I was in the second heat which started at 8:30 and was happy to get in the water. During registration we had to provide out approximate 300 m swim time, I had figured my out to be 6:30. Each heat started 15mins after the first, four swimmers per lane and each swimmer began 10 seconds after the person ahead of them.

I can't say that I really enjoyed the pool swim. I think there might have been a combination of me swimming faster than the time I gave them and the person ahead of me swimming way slower than she told them. A 25m pool and 300m distance equals 12 lengths and I was on the heals of the person ahead of me on length #2. I could not pass because of the narrow lane and I would have had a head on with the other swimmer. I basically had to stop swimming at one point and wait. I was pretty frustrated with that. My swim time was 6:45 which included a walk from the pool area. Not happy with that time since I felt like I was held up. Not going to cry about it, it is what it is. Regardless I was glad to be heading out to the bike!

The bike course was 4 loops of a 3km route. It ended up being a bit technical and fun in that sense. Lots of turns and short sprints. It was hard to keep speed due to the short distance and turns but it was not a big issue. My time was 25:02 for the 12km.

The run was a simple, flat out and back. I think I could have pushed it a bit more here but that doesn't really help me now does it, lol. My time was 15:45 for the 3km. Not much to say about this one.

Overall my time was 47:38, good enough for 26th/102 people. It was a fun season opener for me and to get the race drive going. Looking forward to the next race!!

At the time I am hitting the publish button here I am back from the Legend Training camp in Penticton. I will hopefully writing my blog about that later tonight but until then, in one word.....EPIC.

OMG...your legs are getting big!!

2010-05-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

The other night I was getting into bed and my wife blurts out "OMG...your legs are getting big!" I kinda chuckled...they were always "big" but then she clarified by big she meant muscular, lol. I still chuckled when she cleared that up, lol. I don't really notice the look but I am definitely noticing some performance.

This weeks training has been awesome. I feel unstoppable on the bike right now. One work out was 7min time trials x9. I felt better and better as the workout went on. Today was 8 x 4min big gear hills, I was able to push and keep a 80+ cadence and still feel good. Loving the bike!

My swim has felt great too. Although yesterday it was rough getting up at 6:45 to head to the pool. I had just been up at 5:00 to 5:30 feeding my son. It took all I had to get out of bed. But I just reminded myself that GWN is only a couple months away. I am not worried about the swim cut off, I know I will make it. But I don't want to just survive it..I want to kick its ass ;). It was a good swim but I was getting tired at the end. I think that was due to sleep and not the exertion.

After that swim I went home and we got our son ready to go "swimming" for the first time. We went to Cardel Place and I was not surprised at how many families were there! It was great being in the water with my wife and son. Normally in the bathtub he is splashing around like crazy but in pool he was not as active. I think it was just a different experience that he wasn't used to. He didn't cry or seem unhappy by any means. It was fun and I we will probably try to take him weekly.

Later that day it was time to get my run in. I debated to do a treadmill run or to venture outside. With the weather being so crappy as of late, I have had very little desire to run outside, despite my usual disdain for the treadmill. But I decided to suck it up and run outside. I started at the shouldice pool and headed east along the bow pathway. Ended up doing a good 8km run at not quite race pace but faster than I normally run in training. It was a good run with the only exception that I was starving by the last 2km. My stomach was growling so loud! I didn't bring any calories to eat so I headed on over to a grocery store and grabbed some chocolate mile...totally hit the spot.

I am really feeling good about training right now. I am feeling pretty strong and my toe is feeling much better now! I am looking forward to this month too. I have the UCTC super sprint on the 16th ( 300m pool swim, 10km bike and 3km run)...this will be a balls to the wall race! May long is the Legend training camp in Penticton. Having never been to Pentiction I am very excited to go there. I think its going to be a hard few days of training but I will love it! And then at the end of the month I have the Calgary Half marathon. Had lots of fun with this one last year and I think I will enjoy it again...just another training day!

Hmm what else...ordered a new wetsuit yesterday. With the Legend team partnership with Xterra wetsuits it was an easy choice to try one of these. Only bad part is buying a wetsuit without being able to try it on. I have a good idea of my size but I can always exchange it if need be. I will let you know how it works out!

OK antibiotics....do your thing!

2010-04-30T19:34:00.001-07:00

So I have this on going issue with a toe of mine. It started out with clipping my toe nails and has ended up somewhat (definitely) infected. Initially it was just red and swollen and then it was starting to get better. Well it then started getting worse. To the point where it was hurting when I would kick in the pool. Despite being a nurse, I hate going to the Dr's office. But enough was enough, I gave it some time. It was obviously infected and needed more care than I could give.

I got up early this am and went to the local walk in clinic. I would have gone to my family doc but that would have most likely been a few days wait. By chance I got there just as the clinic was opening was put on the walk in list. Only a woman and her child were ahead of me and then it started. People just started to pour in right after I got there. Within minutes there was 10 people waiting...ohh and the Dr. was late!

A few minutes later I was called into a room. To my surprise the Dr. was only seconds behind. After a brief hello and "so what brings you here today", I tell him my diagnosis and he agrees, lol. A scribble on the prescription pad and I am out the door. Ten minutes later my antibiotic prescription is filled and I am now on a 10 day course of therapy. One Kelfex tab and Bactroban cream 4 times a day.

I am awaiting the drugs to do their thing and I can be done with it. Its more of a pain in the ass at this point. Lets see what happens over the next few days.

Police Half Marathon race report

2010-04-25T18:51:00.001-07:00

I really enjoyed running the Police Half last year so it was very easy choice to sign up again this year. I like the course and there seems to be a fair bit of crowd support and volunteers. And I think I have mentioned before that I like running races that I have perviously run to judge where I am with my running, lol. Sooo here is how it went.....

I wasnt sure how the weather was going to be today but I was hoping for no rain/snow at the least. Luckily it did neither...just no sun. I was at Mount Royal relatively early at 7am and walked around looking for my friends but no dice. I decided to race with my ipod last minute, walked back to my vehicle and grabbed it. At the time it was helping with the boredom, lol. Before I knew it they were annoucing that it was 5 mins until start! By the time I got ouside I had been in the start line for 30 seconds mad and it was go time.

Right off the bat I felt pretty good and fell into a nice pace (about 5:05/km). The crowd wasnt too bad right off the start. I find that normally its horrible and claustophobic (and I am not claustaphobic). I thought I had recognized someone in the crowd a little farther up and it was a fellow blogger Leana. We had never met but I recognized her from her blog. It was nice to meet you Leana and I am sorry for misspronoucing your name. I have a friend that has the same name but different pronounciation. Hope you had a good race!

So back to the race...I felt really good at 10k. My time was about 50 mins and my pace was steady. But I decided to back off very slightly for the next 5km. I felt it was a harder section and didnt want to kill myself for the rest of the run. I took a gel and some water and contiued on.

At km 14.5 ish was the hill in Weaselhead which I didnt find that bad. I still felt pretty good at this point. No walk up the hill for me! I was glad that this part of the race was done. Pretty much flat from here on in.

I started back into my 5:05 ish pace and things were going well. But then at 16.5 km I noticed a bit of tightness in my left calf...and then a few minutes later my right. F&$#!!!! After a few minutes they went into cramp mode. I had to stop and walk them out. As the race went on I was able to stave off full on cramps but I was very close. Each time I stopped and walked briefly which helped. It was a bit frustrating but not much I could do.

The last couple of Km's were a bit better and not as tight. The last km I just ran and had no plans of stopping for the tightness. I could see that it was going to be close for my sub 2 hour goal. I gave it a good go down the chute and crossed the line at 2:00:04 by chip. I was almost 4.5 mins faster last year but I was ok with the result. I am already looking forward to the Calgary Half.

After the race I came home for some daddy/son time and let my wife have some alone time. I had planned on having a nap with Logan but he had other plans. So I ened up just playing with him for a while. Later when Shelly got home I headed on down to the basement to do an easy hour on the trainer. And I did just that...an easy hour, followed up with some stretching. Feeling pretty good tonight....we wull see how I feel in the morning!

But I thought I already ran the Hypothermic Half...??

2010-04-24T18:27:00.000-07:00

Quite the difference a year makes! Last year I remember the weather being quite nice for the Police Half Marathon and this year...not so much. Its not really that hard to believe that it is snowing in Calgary in April. But given the weather we had be experiencing it is disappointing that this weekend it is snowing. I enjoy the Hypothermic half for what it is...a winter half marathon. I would actually like it if was -20C on that day....might as well live up to the name. Ultimately I would prefer to run in "nice" weather and nice being not snowing and above 15C.

Not much I can do to change the weather ;). I will run in anything anyway and I am sure I will have fun. Like the hypo half I am not sure how I will do. I know bike swim and bike are way better than last year but not about the run. I am going with the goal to get under 2 hours...its been a while since I was over and I want to keep it that way.

I am debating whether or not to bring my ipod. Last year I had my friend Detlef to talk to during the race. Its not that I need the motivation to run but sometimes I get bored during the runs. Races are usually much better in that repect. I am leaning towards not bring it but we shall see. I personally don't see it as a safety issue. I run with it at a low level and I feel I am safer than most people out walking without one. I remember a few weeks ago running down the side walk by my house and I could see a guy texting on his phone. Could he see me....hell no, his face was buried in the phone. And the guy he was walking with who I know saw me didn't even try to warm up. I wasn't moving, they were walking side by side taking up the side walk. I run up as far as I could then I just stopped in front of him...he almost walked into me. I just shook my head. So when people talk about it being a safety issue...I don't drink that koolaid.

With bigger goals comes bigger preparation. It used to be that I would run my marathon and then come home and relax. That's how my schedule used to be ;). After tomorrow's half I am to do a 45 min ex ride (most likely indoors now) later in the day. I was first thinking that Greg made a typo but quickly remembered our talk about how things will get longer, lol. Definitely time to HTFU.

I totally deserved this one....

2010-04-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

At the start of the week, Greg asked me what I would like for the weekend. I learned that "whatever you want to dish out" is not the correct reply, lol. I looked at my schedule when the email arrived and new I was going to be a bit sore by Sunday. So here is how it went...

Friday....Started off with a 1 hour-ish swim which felt pretty good. And then it was a 70-80 min run with some faster than goal half pace intervals. I decided to start from my house in Tuscany and to run to Edworthy Park. I was thinking its pretty much downhill and then flat...not so much. It was downhill in the beginning and then it turned into up, up, up and then down and then up...etc... Finally I hit some flats and got my intervals in...took a bit out of me since I was already tired from the hills. The run was 16km and a little longer than planned but not much.

Sat....Planned for 2-3 hours with some tempo pace on the second half. I had put my bike in the shop for a spring tune up and I wasnt able to pick it up until after 2pm. Despite being right there at 2pm I didnt get out on the road until 3:30 ish. Lots of head/tail winds going on. ON the way out west I was averaging 37km/hr and on the way back east I was about 20-23 km/hr. Not much for tempo coming back so I did it when I turned around for a return trip. All in all a beautiful day to be out on the roads!

Sun....Today was my hard day...a 2hour bike with hill repeats and then a 30-40 min transition run. I headed out the 1A for a 45 min warm up and then it was down to the Tuscany home depot for hills. I punched out the 8 hills that were called for and then headed on home...pretty much all uphill, lol. After a quick transition it was back out on the road. My legs were feeling dead!! Not long after I started I was getting into some ...oh...yeah...hills. But the legs were starting to come back. About 3km into the run the legs were starting to feel OK and I was able to pick the pace up a bit. The way back was more downhill so that helped as well ;). I did 6.5 km in the 40 mins..not as fast as I like but considering how the legs felt I was happy, lol.

The legs feel surpisingly good tonight. Very mildly sore but overall ok....won't even need any advil, lol. I am geussing that this week will be somewhat "easy" since I have the police half coming up on the weekend? Not sure how I will do there...I doubt I will beat last years time. We shall see what happens!!

What's your motivation....a play list deconstructed...

2010-04-14T21:13:00.000-07:00

We all have our own reasons to participate in the great sport we call triathlon. Whatever our reason is I think we all need a bit of motivation to keep up the training. But where do we get that motivation? I get mine through emotions, both good and bad. I find there is no better way to produce emotion during exercise than with music. But I was making up a new play list and started thinking about my choices. I don't always pick the particular song because of the music it self. Sometimes its the lyrics, sometimes the memories associated and sometimes it is just raw emotion provoking. I thought for this blog entry I would deconstruct my play list...so here goes....

1) Stricken- Disturbed...This one is all about the anger. Lots of guitar and loud drums.

2) Eyes Wired Shut - Edgewater....making change and becoming a more confident person.

3) Lose yourself - Eminem....I think if you have ever listened to this one you know why its on the list.

4) Kickstart My Heart - Motley Crue...The title says it all, adrenaline producing lyrics combined with fast music.

5) Poker face - Lady GaGa... A nice tempo for an easy run, nice when I am supposed to be running easy.

6) Dreams - Van Halen... One song that reminds you to keep looking forward and if you do you will get what you are looking for.

7) HeadStrong - Trapt...Totally about the lyrics..."back off...I'll take you on...head strong to take on anyone"

8) It's not my Time - 3 Doors Down....So this song is about a relationship but I substitute my triathlon goals. "There's a fear in me...it's not showing"

9) Little Bird - Annie Lennox...Maybe a surprise to be on my list but a nice beat to warm up to on the bike.

10) Technologic - Daft Punk... A great tune to hill climb on the bike, not too fast and consistent.

11) Addicted - Danny Fernandes...I have no idea, lol. I just like the song.

12) You don't Belong - Daughtry... Last year I was running late for the Canmore Triathlon and I was a bit panicked heading out the door. I forgot to grab my ipod to listen to on the way and when I got in the car this song started to play. It pumped me up and calmed me down at the same time.

13) Down with the Sickness - Disturbed...see #1

14) Hold On - Korn...see #1 (again)

15) Walk this earth alone - Lauren Christy...Reminds me of a relationship that went bad that I never got over until I met my wife. It brings back a place in my lfe I will never be again. Don't worry, its ok I am over it, lol.

16) Hot Dog - Limp Bizkit...not many songs drop the F bomb as much as this one. Despite that it is a "slow me down" song, great when I need to be kept in check.

17) What I want - Daughtry featuring Slash...Lots of great guitar, enough said.

18) Faint - Linkin Park....see #1 (yet again)

19) Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson...As much as I think this guy is a freak, see #1

20) Reach up for the Sunrise - Duran Duran... A great song to transition for a slow run to a quicker pace, its all about the beat here baby.

21) Last - Nine Inch Nails... Not sure if anyone has more anger than Trent Reznor..see #1

22) Not Over - Paul Oakenfold feat, Ryan Tedder- This song makes my legs want to move! Love the lyrics too " Time to say goodbye..its time to make a move..nothing left to hide...everything to lose".

23) Ready Steady Go - Paul Oakenfold...One of my favorite intro's to a song. Gets my legs pumping on the bike.

24) Nothing but a good time - Poison...Yup, this one is totally cheesy but it makes me laugh when I am running.

25) Face Down - The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus...Great beat pretty simple on the one.

26) Dragula - Rob Zombie...Lots of loud drums and guitar. Seen him in concert and he puts on a great show.

27) Rock DJ - Robbie Williams...Another song that gets the feet moving but keeps them in check.

28) Hypnotised - Paul Oakenfold...Oakenfold is one of my favorites...this one is a great beat to get me moving.

29) No easy way out - Robert Tepper...A favorite from the "Rocky" soundtrack. Reminds me that if I want something I have to work for it, you don't get things handed to you.

30) No limits - 2 Unlimited... Simple techno that makes you move. I remember warming up for hockey games with this song.

31) Kryptonite - 3 Doors Down...This one reminds me that despite how good we feels at times we will have bad days. We just need to get past them.

32) life is beautiful - Sixx AM... It's funny how after you experience the bad times how much more you appreciate the good times. My health didn't hit rock bottom by any means but it was headed there. Losing 90lbs has helped me become who I want to be...I am 37 years old and in the best shape of my life...doesn't that sound like a bowflex commercial?

33) Training montage - Vince DiCola...one of the best hill climb songs ever! The beginning just reminds me of a heart beat that is getting stronger.

34) Ghost of me - Daughtry ... Just love the song, plain and simple.

35) Just because - Jane's Addicton...All about the guitar!

36) Down - Jay Sean...Another keep me in check song

37) Closer - Nine Inch Nails....A sick beat great for long slow hills.

38) Vertigo - U2...easily one of my favorite bands, yup that's about it.

39) Guilty - Gravity Kills...yup, you guessed it see #1.

40) More Human than Human - Nine Inch Nails version...Reminds me of indoor cycling this year...totally stole this one from Coach Greg.

41) Blue Monday - Orgy...A great cover that has just enough more anger than the original, are you picking up the theme yet, lol?

So there it is...why I chose these particular songs for that playlist. I am excited to get out and rock it out on the bike tomorrow! Anyone have any music suggestions?

Work is putting a serious cramp on my training.

2010-04-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

When I work a day shift, I find there is really not much time for anything else. Usually my weekly day off is the first day shift in my set of shifts and then a relatively easy day on the second day shift. Tonight was a 45-60 min run that nothing special, just aerobic. I have to admit that I wasn't really thrilled with the thought of running tonight...dark, cold and windy. However I dragged my tired behind out the door.

Usually I get into the groove after a few minutes but not tonight. I admit that I was pretty tired to start and the weather wasn't helping. I ended up doing a 42 min 6km run, definitely slower for me but I ok with it. Considering how tired I was to start, the effort matched it.

I am looking forward to tomorrows swim. I get to sleep in, wake up, go swim, have a nap and then work nights. Its all good except the whole working part, lol. Just keep telling myself...only 2 more nights.

Really....snow??

2010-04-08T21:39:00.000-07:00

Today was set to be a busy day after my missed swim workout from last night. The plan was to try to get both my swim and bike in and then the training karma would be restored. I finally had a good sleep last night so I was ready for the extra workout. It was nice to get into the pool again. I am liking it more and more....funny how when you get better at something you tend to not hate it, lol. All in all it was a good swim today. The other day I had a 1000m timed swim as one of my sets. I was quite pleased to see when I was reviewing some data from my garmin that I was about 5mins faster than I had thought. I am geussing that I will probably take 10mins or so off my Oly distance swim....that will be sweeet.

I headed on home to grab a bite to eat and relax for a bit. We are expecting some family this weekend so I ended up helping my wife get the rooms ready and do some general cleaning that we had been meaning to get to. So I didnt get to "relax" like I had hoped, lol. But it was time to get out on the bike and work the legs! And on the schedule for today.....hills.

I did a short warmup and then headed on down to the Tuscany Home Depot and got right to business. The wind was starting to pick up and I was getting cooold. As I started up the hill I could tell right away that I felt stronger than last year. I remember last year huffing up the hill and then needing to rest. This year my rest was just the trip down the hill. Once I hit the bottom it was straight back into the climbing and repeat X 10.

I was glad when it was time to head back home as I was getting very cold (despite the hard work). I made it in the door and not long after it was starting to gently rain. Next thing I look out the window and its a blizzard. Seriously....I was just out cycling! I was happy regardless...it was a good training day. Only bad part is that I don't think tomorrow's ride is gonna be outside ;).

Sorry but the pool is closed!

2010-04-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

SO I went in for my OT shift today and luckily it was a day I really didnt have to think. Having said this, its all relative. While I do have someone's life in my hands, its somewhat routine. Some illness is pretty straight forward. After a poor sleep last night this "easy day" was ok with me. I didnt need a challenge today.

But the plan was to do my shift, run home, grab my swim gear and get back to the pool for a swim. I hussled out of work, drove home, said hello/good bye to the family and headed to the pool with about 15 mins to spare. Me and another fellow ended up walking into the lobby at the same time to be greeted by a "sorry but the pool is closed"....WTF???

Turns out that a circulation pump was on the fritz so the pool was shut down. I said a few choice words in my head. I was dissapointed but its no one's fault so I cant be mad. But damn I wanted to get that workout in! I really hate missing swims because I know how far I have to go to be where I want to be. After talking to Greg tonight I will just add it on tomorrow! It will be a busy day but I am ok with that!

But instead of a swim I ended up coming home and getting some bonding time in with my son. He is 5 months old today...very hard to believe. Lots of change in my life that still amazes me. I just put hime down for the night and I think I am going to follow suit. There is a hill repeat workout waiting for me tomorrow...and my mother in law is coming into town. This means a date night for me and my wife tomorrow...mmmm sushi.

A run through the hills of Tuscany....

2010-04-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Really its not what you think. I wish it were Italy but sadly it is in my community, lol. There is not much flat in my community. Its very easy to run hills here. My scheduled run was a hill day and there happens to be a great one for doing any kind of hill repeats. My house is, for all intensive purposes, on the other side of the hill I like to run. So its about a 20min run to get to the hill...perfect warmup....and its all downhill.

After I ran down to the bottom of the "Home Depot hill" it was time to start on the repeats. Only 90 seconds of work up hill and then a walk down for recovery times 8. It was the first time in a while I have done my hills here. I was very pleased that my distance in 90sec was almost what my 2min distance was last year. I have to admit the recovery starts off boring but near the end of it repeats it was pretty welcome.

Around #6 its starting to get a but dark and the temp is dropping. My hands are freezing! But I know that I am almost done! On my last run I just kept going instead of heading back down. Its all up hill from here! It ended up being 11km in just over and hour...not bad considering the hills and recovery walks.

Yesterday was a late night indoor spin. I hopped on the bike at 10pm. Not ideal or what I had planned but I wanted to get that workout in. After a good warm up, it was time to get on with teh main set. Four minute time trials with 2 mins rest, times 10. I cannot remember the last time I sweat this much!! It felt so good! Near the end my legs were starting to feel it a bit but I was able to hold the same intensity.

Tomorrow was to be bike hill repeats but I picked up an OT shift at work...I am awaiting the coaches response to see what I should do. Maybe move it to the next day? I hate altering my schedule but can't say no to the OT when they call. Its ridiculous what I get paid to work OT...although I am NOT complaining at all. I look at it as extra cash to pay for race fees ;).

On a non training thought...I saw a preview for a new "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie. I think the original was a "classic". Sure it was cheesy and a typical kill the naked teenager movie but it was the creating of a horror icon. I think good ol Freddy Kruger has become a easily recognized "monster" . I am very curious how this one will be seeing how it is a remake not a sequel. They should have stopped after the first one here...how many times can yoy kill and bring a villian back to life. I am not expecting an Oscar winning film here but I wonder if it will be some enterainment value. I doubt I will see it in the theaters...video release for sure.

Time to hit the hay...6am comes early!

tha tha that don't kill me..can only make me stronger

2010-03-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Cue the Kanye West (even though I think he is a douche bag). Kinda does say how I feel lately. Not that training is the problem, it's everything else right now. I didnt really think that having a child would be as much of a change and stress as it has been....well I did , but you know.

Money....I love my son more than life itself and would NEVER trade him for my "other" life. But every once in a while the stress creeps up on you. Money is definately an issue...I am not broke by any means but my expendible income is pretty darn low right now. The EI system is great on one hand, my wife gets to stay at home and raise our child for the first year. However the amount is somewhat a kick to the junk. Definately have to be more frugal and boy does it suck when those not so cheap and very sudden extra expenses pop up.

Time.....Not enough time in the day/week/month. Between work, training, housework and spending time with my family (note..these are not in order of importance) I feel like i dont have much time to myself to wind down. Training is probably the closest thing I have to downtime. It is definately my "ME" time. I struggle to fit everything in some days. I know that I am not the only person that experiences this.

Work....This has been weighing on my mind alot lately. I am not sure how much longer I want to stay in ICU. I do enjoy my schedule...work 2 days, 2 nights then 5 off. But the frustrating part is getting time off. As of now I am scheduled to work both half IM's that I am signed up for and the weekend of IMC (which I need to be there to sign up for next year). Hopefully I will get my time off requests granted. But besides those issues, I am feeling more and more ethical/moral distress at work. I can't really elaborate because of confidentiality but it sucks. Just because we can do things doesnt mean we should. Not sure what will be the final straw but we shall see.

Family....I have a great wife and you know how I feel about my boy. I love just holding him and talking to him and watching him smile...and now laugh. I love it when I get to sit down with my wife and have a nice meal. I think we have our best talks on our worst days. I do hate the guilt I sometimes feel when I am out training. I probably shouldnt because they are perfectly fine with it. And I worry sometimes because I know whats ahead for the next year and a half or so. I will get through it though.

We all have stress and we all deal with it in our own way. Despite all of these items that cause stress they also are my biggest enjoyments. The trick it to find the right balance of them all. I will let you know the year that happens ;).

Wahooo free time!

2010-03-10T19:15:00.000-08:00

Not really sure what free time is anymore. My wife and son are gone for a few days to visit her family and I am home alone! Truth is I miss them alot, lol. But while they are gone I am taking advantage of it.....training and relaxing.

Training was a bit off for a couple of days...I had a bit of an infection in one of my toes. Putting on my shoe was painful to say the least. Luckily after a couple of days the toe is just mildly inflamed at this point. Despite the toe issue, my training days yesterday and today have been really good.

Yesterday started off meeting Greg at the pool for some swim coaching. Its been a while since we had made it too the pool. I was anxious to get some feedback since I have been working pretty hard at it lately. After some observation it was good to hear that my progress is noticeable. My stroke was not perfect, still room for improvement and that's what we worked on. After some corrections I noticed a huge difference...where the hell did that glide come from, lol. I can feel it in my shoulders today but its the soreness that is welcomed.

After the swim it was off time indoor cycling that night. I am feeling really good about my cycling too. I can't wait to get outside this year. My legs feel much stronger than at this time last year. I am always curious at to what surprises Greg has in store for us!

Today was a long run that was to be all about the form and low heart rate. I started in Edworthy park and headed east along the north side of the bow until I hit Crowchild and then went over to the southside. I love running along the pathway when its sunny out. I kept a nice slower than race pace the whole time. Not a huge amount of people on the paths so it was nice. I had crossed the Center street bridge and stopped for a drink and gel. It was nice to walk for a minute and just relax.

It was just as nice on the way back. A nice easy run, listening to tunes and not pushing things. I love my tempo runs but this was a nice change. I think my form held up pretty good. I made sure I kept it going. In the end it was 15.5km in 1:35. I think my next long run I will do the Glenmore reservoir. I will be running the police half so I want to get a bit more elevation change in my runs.

The family comes back tomorrow and so will my "bachelor" time, lol. I have another swim and cycling day on the schedule and I am looking forward to it. But I have to admit that I am looking forward to seeing my wife and son more, lol. I am finding a better balance of everything as of late. I think now its time to play some Xbox and get some of that relaxation in.

Hypothermic Half

2010-02-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday was my second time running the Hypothermic Half in Calgary. There is something about the potentially adverse conditions that appeals to me. You can't get much easier of a run, the pathway along the Bow is pretty much the flattest run you will get here in Calgary. It is also nice to have an "off season" half marathon to break things up in the winter. Sooo...how did it go....

The venue had changed this year from Eau Claire to Fort Calgary. During race package pickup they said to get there early because parking was limited. I decided to heed this and arrived just after 8am (9am start). Not sure if this was totally necessary and turned out to be a P.I.T.A . The Fort Calgary building was not open so it was either stand in the cold or sit and wait in my Jeep.....I chose the latter.

Around 8:40 am I decided to head on over to the start and pee before the race start. I was a bit surprised to see the line up for the port-a-potty. Seriously.....2 of them for 200 registered runners in my wave. One thing that always annoys me...the lack of facilities. I was in line up before the start of the race but they delayed the start a few minutes because of the number of people waiting for the john. No problem...I will just stand here and freeze my ass off ( I dress for the running conditions not the waiting conditions)

Anyway....a few minutes later and we are off. I always try to "seed" myself where I think I should be in the line up....obviously many others don't. Pet peeve here....if you are slow stay near the back!!! I spent the first km getting around people. I find it frustrating when I am getting held up because slower runners are running 3 or 4 across. I am not trying to be an A-hole or making myself out to be a "contender" for the win but come on. Even bigger pet peeve....if you are running with a dog (and not talking about a aid dog) get to the very back. Sorry, rant over.

I should mention that my goals for the race was just to go sub 2hrs again and to not take any walk breaks. My running is just starting to feel good again so I was looking forward to the longer distance. I decided just to run the pace I needed to get sub 2 and enjoy the day.

The pathways were a bit sketchy for the first 1.5km or so. Some ice patches covered with light snow. The rest of the run was fairly clear with the exception being the under passes. The first 10k went pretty uneventful. Once I hit the turn around I took in a gel and some water. I was feeling pretty good!!

I hit 14km and then my stomach started to grumble. Ohh yeah, I forgot to mention, I ran out of the house this morning and didn't eat breakfast. Total oversight on my part. I just ate some sharkies before the start. After a few minutes the stomach grumbling went away and all was good.

Now at 17.5km my legs started to feel a bit heavy although my lungs felt great. I thought my pace was going downhill in a big way but after looking at the data from my garmin I actually stayed pretty consistent ( I knew I was going to be around 2 hours so I didn't really care to look at my pace at the time). I love the auto lap feature on the garmin 310xt...I really like the vibration feature telling when i hit each km and the pace...sweet.

At km 19 I started to feel good again and picked up the pace again (I am guessing because I knew the finish was coming up). As I came around the turn up to the finish I saw that the clock was getting close to 2 hrs. Even though I knew my chip time was under 2 hours I still wanted to be sub 2 on the clock, hence my sprint to the finish. I made it with 5 seconds to spare, lol. My time was 1:59:23, not my fastest by far, but I was happy with that time.

Overall I enjoyed the race. I was not a fan of the venue this year. Being in the first wave was crappy as there was not place to keep warm and the limited "washroom" access. I didn't think the finish was very spectator friendly. But as always you have to give thanks to the volunteers that give up their time to help out your race, even more so on a cold winter morning. I am already looking forward to my next race!

HTFU!!!

2010-02-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it....Ferris Bueller

Wow, it has been a while since I blogged. Between my family, work and training there isn't much time left to do anything else. I have sat down and started new posts and then have to go feed the boy. My wife is great about letting me get my workouts in but I really try to let her get some free time. I absolutely love my time with my son, but it is nice to get some alone time in there.

The beginning of the new year marked my return to a formal training schedule. I took a couple months off after my son was born and I am glad I did. Quite a change in lifestyle! But with a big race season coming up I knew it was time to get back into the swing of things. Luckily Greg started me out fairly easy and the workouts are slowly getting back up to speed.

Swimming is slowly getting better. It is still my least favorite discipline and I am sure it will remain there. But it is progressing....slowly, lol. Did I mention that it is slowly progressing? I am impatient and want to be way ahead of where I am...eventually I will get there.

Cycling is coming along quite nicely despite not having been on a road in what seems like forever! The indoor classes have been awesome. I am feeling pretty strong on the trainer and don't feel like my cycling will suffer over the winter months. My mantra for the season...pass everyone and be passed by no one. Usually that is the case anyway...they were already ahead of me coming out of the water, lol. Bottom line is I want to excel on the bike.

Running has suffered a bit but that is my own doing. My running volume had declined over the last 6 months. Part is due to the new family addition but it seems lately I have not been a fan of running in the colder weather nor running on the treadmill. I miss running in shorts and a tshirt in the SUN! I have noticed my run times slipping a bit too. Totally my own fault. However, in the last few weeks I have been getting back into the running mood. I decided to HTFU! I want my running to get back to where I want it! Going out and giving a half assed attempt won't help. I will not be a person that complains about a race result when I didn't put in the training effort.

Hmmm what else....I picked up a garmin 310 xt and so far I love it. I like the fact that it has a vibration feature. During my intervals today I was about to run and not worry about looking at my watch, the garmin vibrates and I knew it was time to switch (although I could hear the beep over my music). Big thing is not having to deal with the touch bezel of my garmin 405. I might write a review of the garmin 310 after more use.

Merry Christmas Errrbody.....

2009-12-25T19:26:00.001-08:00

H2O Audio Interval product review

2009-11-28T11:42:00.001-08:00

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that swimming is not my favorite discipline....therefore it is by far, my worst. I often get bored in in the pool and lose focus. After a quick Internet search, I found the H20 Audio Interval. It is a water proof case/headphone system for the ipod shuffle. It is available for the 2nd and 3rd generation models. I was super excited to get an Interval for an early Xmas gift!

The Interval is a very basic system. It consists of a water proof case with attached earbuds. Also included are various ear buds ranging from small to XL. A 30 min test submersion without an ipod in place is done to ensure the compartment is properly sealed.

Before my first use of the the system I watched a video on the H2O audio web page that gave hints to getting the best results from the product. The major complaint that I had read in reviews was getting the earbuds to stay in the ear and poor sound quality related to this. The first suggestion is to choose the best fitting earbuds for your ears (rather obvious). The second suggestion is to use a swim cap over the ears to help keep the buds in.

The system attaches to the strap of your goggles. Controls are very simple, 2 buttons to control volume and 1 button to control song selection. Depressing the button once will start/stop playback. Depressing the button twice will forward to the next song and 3 times with go back one song.

Trial #1

I donned the Interval and did a quick head dunk to test the sound. It did actually sound pretty good but obviously the real test is during the swim. I tried first without a swim cap and quickly found the earbuds falling out. I did take the advice of the video and brought a swim cap to hold in the earbuds. But I made the mistake of using a Lycra cap that wasn't tight enough to keep the earbuds in. The ear buds wound not stay in place. I didn't bring the additional earbuds to try for a different fit. I have to admit that it was a bit of a disappointment. Good points were that the controls worked flawlessly and it was absolutely waterproof!

Trial #2

This time I brought a latex cap to keep the buds in place. I had done a re-fit at home with the other earbud size but in the end I felt like I had correctly chosen the right size already. After placing the buds in a tucking them under my swim cap I definitely felt they were more secure. During the swim session I had a few periods of reduced sound and one episode of the buds falling out. But overall a much better experience with the system!

Overall Impression

The H2O interval can be a bit challenging to use, it involves some trial and error (getting the proper ear bud size and technique to keep them in the ears). Although it is not a perfect system it does provide some a good source of entertainment during swims! It is simple to use and is pretty much idiot proof. I give it a 7/10.

Last Chance Half Marathon

2009-11-15T16:07:00.000-08:00

The LC half was my first half marathon that I had ever run. I really like running races that I had previously run to see how I have progressed. I like seeing time improvements and my next running goal is to get under 1:50 for a half. But going to this run I was pretty sure that I would not meet that goal. My running lately has been...well....shit. I have done one "long" run in the past 2 months I think and it was only 14km. My weekly run totals have been abysmal.

I had signed up for this one almost as soon as it opened up, I know that it always sells out. My wife's original due date was Nov 24th. I figured that even if she was a week early it would be no problem. I wasn't counting on almost 3 weeks early, lol. I have been trying to help Shelly out as much as possible. She pumps milk while I feed Logan and usually change him. I encourage her to nap and sacrifice a bit of sleep to let her rest. My sleep is definitely not great this past week.

For the last week I debated even racing due to the circumstances. Luckily I have a very supporting wife. Last night she let me sleep the whole night and get a good sleep before the race. I had decided that I would make a final decision in the morning. When I woke up this morning I was still pretty bagged. For a few minutes I was thinking...I could just go back to bed and get more needed sleep. But then I had a talk with myself. "Shut the F*#& up and run". OK so I probably would not get the time I wanted but run it anyway. I can sleep later and tough the distance out of I had to. I am running today!

Met up with a few people I know for work and the gym and chatted for a while. I was actually feeling pretty good and was ready to get going. The race started and I pretty quickly got settled in. There was a bit of a head wind as we headed out, I decided to not push hard for the first 10km, last thing I wanted to do was to blow up on the second half. I was getting passed by a fair number of people which normally doesn't happen to the degree it was. I very quickly got over it ;).

I made it to the first first turn around which was manned by Chad from team legend and our coach Greg. Kinda funny getting water from your coach during a race. After a brief stop to drink I was off again. A nice flat path and a bit of a tail wind...wahooo. I really didn't notice the tailwind but I did notice the lack of headwind. Things were pretty uneventful until after the last turn around. I felt pretty good until about 17km. I was feeling good from a cardio perspective but my legs were feeling pretty heavy. But that comes with not running as much as I should be.

I decided to take it relatively easy until km 19 and then give it everything after that. Wellll that didn't really pan out. I just stayed the course for the last 4 km and ran a steady pace. Less than 1k left and we had to run up the ramp to get over to Prince's Island. I did run it, no walking lol. I picked up the pace at the top of the ramp and was going to finish strong.

I decided that sub 2hrs and I would be happy. I saw the clock and saw that I would indeed be sub 2. I had barely looked at my garmin through out the whole race. I actually felt good as a crossed the line...just tired. My finish time was 1:58:45 ish.

I am so glad I talked myself into running today, it felt really good to get out. I came home and got to spend some time with my son and let me wife have a nap. I now have a pair of last chance medals, lol. I laughed when I saw that they were the exact same medals. I would have liked to see something unique from last year, lol. Next up....Hypothermic Half in feb...and I will get below 1:50 ;).

I am a DAD!!!

2009-11-09T21:51:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: the following blog will contain little regarding triathlon training ;)

On Nov 7th at 10:39 PM, my wife and I became parents to a beautiful baby boy, Logan Rhys (pronounced Reese). He came out a little sooner than expected but both mom and baby are doing quite well. Here is how it all played out.....

My wife had a scheduled Dr's appointment on Sat. Sure enough at her appointment her blood pressure was a little high so they sent her off to the hospital to get it checked out. It usually is high initially and then trends back down, but this time it didn't. I was on my way to get my hair cut when my wife called my to tell me. But she thought it would be a quick visit and not to bother to come. We made a deal that I would meet her that after my appointment if she was still there.

So I get my hair cut and head over to the Hospital. Sure enough she is still there and her blood pressure is not coming down...weird. She feels fine other than a bit of a headache she woke up with...but that is a sign of elevated blood pressure. The nurse contacts the Doc on call and she comes over to visit...and we hear the unexpected....."I think we should do a C section tonight". WTF?? She says that she has to run it by the OB doc that would be doing it, but felt it was the best thing. And then the OB resident comes..."yup we should do it tonight but I will run it by my boss". Then the Attending OB Doc comes " Well you guys are going to be parents tonight".

Very soon after my wife starts crying and says "But we arent ready". I told her "Shelly, we are ready, you know we are" I know what she meant though. She had just stopped working the day before and had planned on taking a couple of weeks to get the house "ready" and to relax. We didnt have time to go home and get her suitcase, diaper bag and camera....so we thought.

It was about 4pm when we were told that we would be going to the OR for a C section. But they said it would happen before 8pm but not to leave. Shelly's blood pressure was not elevated to the point of being a crisis but they decided that the baby was term and breech to might as well do the surgery "electively". Well 8PM came and went and there was no OR. The Dr's had switched over at 8pm, so we then saw another Dr. He came by to introduce himself and said he hoped to have it done by midnight. I was a but frustrated because I could have ran home quickly and grabbed all of our things.

At about 10 they came and walked us over to the OR suite. I waited outside as Shelly got her spinal anesthetic and then was able to go into the room. I could tell she was nervous but she was a trooper, I am so proud of her. They had some music playing in the room and I just sang to her as she was getting prepped. And the it was time to start!!

On of the nurse in the room had done a bit of time in my ICU as a student and she remembered me. She was great about giving me info and keeping me updated while I talked to my wife. She then asked me if I wanted to watch....Hell ya! So I stood up and looked over the drape and saw the legs come out! My heart was beating harder and faster than any triathlon or running race ever! Next thing I say was the bum come out... I see the frank and beans, lol. I immediately tell my wife that we are having a boy! We had not found out the sex before hand, we wanted a surprise. Everyone knows that I was hoping for a boy and now he was coming out!

They get to the head and are pulling and twisting him to get him out and then finally he pops out. Not surprising but he was not pink and not crying. They quickly clamped/cut the cord and handed him over to the peds team. They quickly started stimulating him and rubbing him and then he starts to pink up and bit and take more breaths. I got close to him and talked to him.. "come on Logan, cry for Poppa" . I know he doesn't understand but it made me feel better, lol. Then I head the best sound ever, my baby making his first cries.

Not long after they handed him to me and I was able to let Shelly see him for the first time. I didn't cry but I will admit that I really welled up, lol. We had a nice few intial moments together as they closed Shelly up. I snapped a couple of pics with my iPhone and just stared at my son.

Since then things have been going well. Shelly's BP is slowly coming down but she is otherwise feeling great. Logan is a perfect little boy so far (except the 2 times he pee'd on me, lol) . Breastfeeding is not perfect but coming along....so proud of my wife being so patient and keeping at it. I have changed my share of diapers and have fed him every chance I get.

If all goes well I will be bringing my family home tomorrow. My mother in law is here helping out thank god! I haven't been to the gym/running/biking/swimming since Thursday and I am lost, lol. I am planning to go to the indoor ride tomorrow night to get out and do something. My wife has given her blessing for this. I am looking forward to it!

By far this is the best thing that has ever happened. I can sit there and stare at my son and I shake my head, I can't believe that he is a part of me. I am proud of my wife for being the trooper that she has been! I think it's time for me to hit the hay. I am beat and I think this will be my last good night sleep for a while, lol. I will post some pics when I am more awake.!

Everything I need to know about life I learned in ICU

2009-10-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Don't drink.
Don't drink and drive.
Don't drink and drive a motorbike.
Don't drive a motorbike.
If you drive a motorbike, please sign your organ donor card.
And wear a helmet.

Don't smoke.
Don't do street drugs.
Don't street fight.
Don't play with bombs.
Wear a helmet.

If you have asthma, don't have a cat.

Drive carefully.
Avoid trees.
Avoid livestock.
Avoid wild animals.
Avoid oncoming traffic.
Cycle cautiously.
Avoid cliffs and sharp rocks.
And always wear a helmet.

Pay attention, never assume anyone else is.
Pay particular attention to your family.
Tell you love them
Tell them often.

And always wear a helmet.

Lana Lovo Aug 21st/2000

I saw this posted on a board at work and it made me laugh, but it is so true. Words to live by to keep you safe and out of ICU!

Yesterday was a welcomed day off training. Still feels weird on those days that I don't do anything. I watched a little TV, got my lunch ready for work and did some web surfing. Tonight was back to "normal", lol. My wife had gone to meet some of her friends for dinner so I was home alone for a bit. I threw a blanket down on the floor in the living room and put my trainer in front of the TV. I did a short warm up and then some cadence work. The one legged drills are getting a bit smoother, lol. I did about 45 mins tonight, probably would have stayed on longer but Shelly came home then.

Tomorrow I will try to get a swim and a run in before work tomorrow night. I am gonna hate missing the indoor night on Tuesday. But with the upcoming Last Chance Half I will probably try to get another run in between night shifts. Can't wait for days off again! Time for bed folks, adios.

Well that sucked....

2009-10-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

After getting a few errands done I headed out for the run I had planned. I planned on 15-18 km and figured I would decide during the run. Based on this I chose to run from Edworthy since I know this distances from each turn around point. Can't complain about the weather, mostly cloudy but 11 Deg out. Threw on my headphones and off I went!

The run started off good, felt pretty comfortable. I decided to throw some intervals in there to mix it up a bit. There were a couple of runners I could see up ahead so I thought why not use them as carrots. Eventually by Eau Claire I had passed them but I was not feeling good anymore. I was tired and shaky, maybe the blood glucose was dropping. I stopped a walked while I took a Gu gel. A couple drinks of water and I was on my way again.

After a few minutes I was feeling fairly good again and running at my normal pace. I decided to keep to it and hold off on any more intervals at this point. At about the 12km mark I started to feel the same as I did earlier (about 7.5 km at that time) . But now I didn't have another gel with me. I am not sure it was all blood sugar crash...it was only 5km since my last gel. But at any rate I had to walk. Then I would run....and then walk. About the last km I walked the whole thing. I was feeling pretty crappy. I finished the 15km at 1:36....a usual time for me.

I don't think that I pushed excessively, I ran my usual pace with a few intervals. I didn't take any Gatorade with me on this run. I normally do and alternate it with water. And I have top admit that I was sore to start the run off. I had 6 days off this week so I figured I would get a fair bit of training in....and I did. Maybe I over did it this week. But for today's run I will just consider it an off day. Tomorrow will be a well earned rest day...well from training anyway....I go back to work tomorrow.

In home life news...Shelly is heading to a Dr's appointment tomorrow and will probably find out if she is going to have a C section of not. I am getting more excited each day! The baby's room is 100% complete. I am quite proud of my wife and how well she does despite feeling tired/crappy all the time. She is a trooper! Well I am off to grab some advil and a diet coke. Happy training!

Wow....that is not so bad afterall....

2009-10-22T16:01:00.001-07:00

I used to really hate my bike trainer. When it came time to get on it I cursed and tried to find excuses not to. But oddly enough, the more time I spend on it, the more I like it. Last week was the start of Coach Greg's spin classes. It is turning out to be fun and good motivation. I think that it will really help during the winter months. In just a couple of classes I have noticed an improvement in my technique.....its good for picking out flaws and then changing them!

I had signed up for the Last Chance half marathon in Nov. I need to get a few longer runs in so I am thinking tomorrow I will do a 15-18km run. The LC half was my first...I think I will try to get under 1:50 for this one and best my time from last year. Hopefully the paths will be clear and we get some good weather......last year it was beautiful and sunny!

It's a little over a month until my wife is due. Strangely enough I think I am the one nesting. I am cleaning like a mad man. I did the 3 bathrooms (and I did a hospital clean) and the kitchen today. I am going to do all the floors and the bedrooms tomorrow and hang more shelves (after my run of course). I think I am trying to get everything done now because the family addition might come sooner than expected. The baby is positioned frank breech....meaning its ass is down and head / legs to the sky. I really doubt the baby will turn...ain't much room in there. Shelly said that she was told they will do a C - section early if that is the case. I think we are ready though, lol.

Time to finish making dinner for my wife and then spin! Adios!

A Thanksgiving ride in the snow!

2009-10-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

First off, no I didn't go for an outside ride in the snow today, that is just batshit crazy. But as I was driving home from the gym today I saw 2 guys out on their road bikes ride along the 1A. Minus 8 is just a wee bit cold for me, not to mention the snow on the roads. I was glad to be driving in my nice warm jeep but kudos to them.

My day consisted of a 45 min ride on the spin bike with a 30 min run and shoulder/bicep workout. The weight training is going well, making some big gains in my strength. Tomorrow I am planning to go for a 16km or so run. I figure I need to get some longer runs in as I have the Last Chance half coming up. I wish it was a bit warmer out, at least +10, lol.

Spent a while on the trainer yesterday watching the action in Kona. Great performances by Alexander and Wellington!! I had made plans to take my wife out to dinner that night so I had to leave during the run. My wife was not thrilled that I was checking the updates on my iphone, lol. Who knows, maybe someday I will be there. I doubt I will ever qualify, but who knows, maybe I will try my luck in the lottery when I am ready, lol. Better odds than lotto 6/49, lol.

Tomorrow is going to be chicken day...no turkey :(. It will only be the wife and I so it would not make sense to bake a big turkey. Shelly picked up a chicken that she will roast (but I am sure it will be just as yummy!). Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow and gets lots of good eats!

I just want to listen to my music....

2009-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged. It's seems like I sit down to get at it and then I am instantly tired. Last night at the team season ender there was some blog talk, I decided I needed to get back at it. Things have been really good as of late on the training side of things. I got my desire to train back stronger than ever. I have done some cross training, lots of weight training and more running.

I decided to do the Ambulance Chasers run on Friday night. I didn't set any firm time goals but I thought about getting below 50min or at least the same as my last 10km race (51:27). I didn't know anyone doing this race and thought why not run with with some tunes. The course was all on pathways so safety would not be an issue. So before the race I put 55mins of music on my ipod shuffle and off I went.

We got the 2min warning for the race start and then I started the tunes...."Lose yourself" to start. I was hating the first 20mins of the run....I always do. There were a few of us that were "leap frogging" each other and kept things interesting. AT about 5k I one of the girls that I was going back and forth with caught up to me. I heard her talk to me and then I shut off my music. We chatted a bit and then I thought we were done.....until she started talking again, lol. I was thinking "I just want to listen to my music" but I gave in. In the end it turned out to be a good distraction and fun. But it was just that...a distraction....I forgot about my loose time goal. About the last km I said, "ok, lets finish strong" and we both picked it up a bit. I pulled away soon after and crossed the line first. We exchanged a quick high five and parted ways.

I finished about 51:30 so I was happy with that. More importantly I had fun. I wasn't in a bad mood at the start but I wasn't in a good mood either....lets call it neutral. By the end of the race I was in a great mood. Not even sure what my "friend's" name was, lol.

I really enjoy listening to music when I train. I am always looking for new tunes. Lately I have been on a bit of a techno/rock mix kick. I like just zoning out and getting my workout in. The music has been a big factor in getting my motivation back. I have a big year ahead of me!!

I signed up for my second half IM! I will be racing Calgary 70.3 baby!! It's one month after GWN but I am confident I can get them both done. Its going to be a lot of work because I don't want to "survive" them...I want to kick ass.

Taking the plunge....

2009-09-16T21:25:00.001-07:00

Well tonight I did it....I signed up for my first Half Ironman. I have heard alots of good things about the GWN half I decided to make it my first. I am feeling excited already, I think its going to be a good training boost! More on this later....my bed is calling!

So, here is how my anniversary race went....

2009-09-14T17:27:00.000-07:00

So here is how my anniversary race went.

I had a surprisingly good sleep the night before the race. I woke up in the morning to find my wife not in bed. I went down stairs and found her asleep on the couch. I woke her up and asked why she was there and not in bed. She told me that she was restless and thought she would keep me up and that I needed a good night sleep before the run. God love her but that made me feel like shite. I would rather be sleepless than have my very pregnant wife sleeping on the couch. I gave her a hug and a kiss and then sent her back to bed (not the couch).

I hopped in the car and cranked the music. I was feeling pretty good this morning, better than I had in a while. I really do love the drive out to the mountains. I can say that I wasn't nervous or even as excited as normal.....I would describe my mood as neutral.

I got to Canmore and bumped into a few friends. We chatted for a while until they had to start (doing the half not the 10km I was doing). Then I bumped into more friends that were doing the 10km. I was getting a bit excited at this point! Finally it was time to line up and start!! The horn blew the usual walk to the start line progressed. It still annoys me that people who should not be anywhere near the front put themselves right at the start. The first 1km I spent getting around people....grrrrr.

Things started to thin out and I was feeling comfortable. Like I had said previously, I didn't set any real goals (other than definitely be under an hour...but this is a standing order for me). I looked at my garmin a few times but for the most part just ran by how I felt. I remembered clearly why I liked running this race. The scenery in Canmore is awesome! I lived there for a short period after my university graduation. Loved it then but I do hate how touristy it has become.

Back to the race...it was perfect running weather. Sun was shining but not too hot! Before I knew it we were on the last 2km! We came off the river pathway and onto the final stretch....a 750m straight shot the the finish. I didn't really pick it up much at this point, I kept my steady pace. I crossed the line at 51:27 by chip. I was pretty content with this, it was 4 1/2 minutes faster than last year with not as much effort. It was a good day and I was smiling.

After meeting up with some friend afterwards for the race food, I headed home for some cycling. Greg had said to do an hour of easy cycling.....and for the most part I did ;). I headed out west on 1A and fell into a nice cadence and speed. I noticed that I could hear my music nice and clear.....that usually means a nice headwind on the way back.

Sure enough I turned around and there was the wind. I just put my head down and kept the legs moving (the felt surprisingly good). About half way back a guy passes me quick fast. I was thinking "wow that's some speed, nice work"! But as we kept riding I was getting closer...and then he would take off. This happened a couple of times after that. I don't know why but that drives me nuts...absolutely F'ing bonkers. All right the easy ride has ended.....shift gears and get aero. Very quickly after that he was behind me. I can have some degree of speed when I want too, lol. I came home and did a few laps around the neighbourhood to cool down. I felt awesome!!! Then there was today.....

I decided to go to Bootcamp at the gym for a change. The class is basically an hour of hell but you do it in a group setting and feel great for having done it. I had to stop going when my program was getting bumped up...I didn't have the time to do everything. So I go back today and what a rude awakening. The class started with 3 laps of a track....sweet easy. Then a short high kick warm up. Next wast the stop and go sprints with push ups and squat jumps. Next was push ups, squat jumps, and v sits reps. Ohhh can't forget the crab walk!!! Then its bent over rows with resistance bands and running. Finally it's time to run and do stairs (thank god now I can rest, lol). I would been happy if we had done that the whole time, lol. I am so freaking tired right now. My upper body strength has suffered over the summer (much like I am now). It was a good reminder that I need to work on my core!

On a personal noted, its crazy how life can change in a heart beat (and lack of ). One of the girls at work was supposed to be getting married one month from now. Last week he fiance died suddenly from a cardiac arrest. I had never met him but I don't think he was that old. I was just reading her facebook post about trying on her wedding dress. I can't imagine her pain. Anytime things like this happen it makes me appreciate life that much more. The last year has been very good for me. I got a great lifestyle change (thank you triathlon), got married and am awaiting the birth of my first child.

I am pretty excited to see this little guy ( I don't know for sure on this one...we aren't finding out the sex but I am hoping for a boy, lol). I think he/she will be the best thing I have ever had a hand in. I am planning to be in Hawaii when he wins in Kona ;). Bye for now!

D.

My anniversary!

2009-09-11T21:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday marks the anniversary of my first year or racing! It's hard to believe that a year has passed since my first running race. I remember the feeling when I crossed the finish line so clearly. I had never imagined myself running in any kind of race so it was a big thing for me. The past year has been awesome. I have raced one 5km, five 10km, 5 Half marathons, 1 duathlon, 2 sprint Tri's and one olympic Tri.

How am I celebrating my anniversary? I am running the Canmore CAUSE 10km run, the first race that I ever did. I had hoped to go to Montreal to do another Tri but decided that I needed be a bit more tight with the wallet. With an impending birth of my child its kind of a priority. The next best thing was this race. So I went an did an almost last minute registration today. I am looking forward to it now! I am going to just run this one solely for fun and not worry about time.

The last couple of days have been good on the training front. On Friday I had a really good ride in the evening. As the summer comes to an end I am realizing how much I am going to miss riding outside. I have developed a love for cycling! But on the good side I think my running will pick up a bit more. I will run in any weather and will continue to do that this winter. My swimming will hopefully continue to get better and better.

I am quite happy with the past year. I am pretty much where I had hoped to be. Next year I really want to make some big gains. I realize that this will require big commitment and effort but I will find a way. I have been fortunate to meet some really cool people in the whole process. Here is to a fun year past and exciting future!

Hey.....I am over here......your mojo.....remember me??

2009-09-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

For a little while now I can't say that I was thrilled with training. It seemed like training was becoming a chore.....I just didn't have my heart into it. I don't know 100% why this was happening. I had planned on going to Penticton to volunteer and sign up for IMC 2010 and this was stressing me out a bit. I was able to get the time off except for one stinkin' day...the sat before the race. I had planned to get off work, fly out there that night, drive out to Penticton in the AM, volunteer from 8-midnight, drive back to Kelowna, then back to Penticton to sign up. Wheeww busy time it would have been! But it didn't happen....

I had been having some doubts about being ready for it. I think my last race (Oly distance) "scared" me a bit. I had some cramping issues that really affected me. It made me think about my plans for next year. Then on a group ride, I was talking to Greg (my coach) and told him about my plans. Greg gave me some really helpful advice and basically said what I was thinking. In the end I decided to not sign up for IMC 2010. In a way this was hard choice...I really had hoped to be there racing. But in the end I feel very OK with it. I felt alot of pressure off my shoulders. My new goals......next summer I will try to get in 2 half IM distances and as many other races as possible. I will have 2 years of build to the big race now instead of 1. I am thinking GWN and Calgary 70.3 for my big races.

Since I wasn't going to sign up, I decided to stay in Calgary and volunteer next year. I just could not justify the expense to go out to volunteer, I would not have even gotten a "vacation" out of it. I was glued to my computer and iPhone for updates on race day. I did go out for a ride/run that day and I was motivated more than I had been in a while. It felt so good to be out training that day.....I missed that feeling.

A few days have passed and my mojo seems to be coming back quite strong. I am actually looking forward to getting out there each day. I am not sure if the "what should I do" stress was affecting me.....I think it did. Unfortunately my tri season is done. I had considered going to Montreal but I decided to skip that too. With a baby on the way, I want to get rid of the credit card debt. Looks like its running races for now!

I know IMC 2009 was hard for some this year (my one friend with 26 IM races said it was by far his hardest). But congrats to those that pushed on despite the rough race. It was fun watching the updates!

Lake Chaparral Olympic Tri Report

2009-08-16T21:08:00.000-07:00

As per usual lately, I had a hard time sleeping before this race. This time, I had no trouble getting to sleep but could not stay there. I should have just got up but I stayed in bed until the alarm went off. A quick "wake up" shower and then I packed the car up and left. Later I realized I forgot breakfast....F#%K! Luckily the traffic was light so the drive was quick.

I went straight to get my chip and body marked to avoid the line up. I started to set up my transition and realized I forgot the strap to hold my aero bottle in place....F&#k! It's not essential but I find it encourages me to drink when its right there. I had an extra timing chip strap so I used my raw boy scout talent to fashion it into a makeshift solution. Then I looked at my garmin...32% battery??? WTF.....I charged it last night!! Again not essential but a convience.....oh well. Finished setting up and then it was time to wait.

I met up with one of the Doc's at work that was doing the Men's Oly as well. It was nice to have someone to talk to wait for the Women's wave to go by. We get the 15min warning and then we hop in the water for a short warm up. And then its showtime.....

THE SWIM

I stayed off to the side and back-ish for the beginning. I felt pretty good in the water and again more comfortable than previous races. My sighting has improved as well...I was swimming more straight then back and forth this time, lol. My 2 laps went quick and then it was a straight shot to the finish. Other than for balance I barely used my legs so I started kicking a bit after the last buoy to get some blood flowing to them. But as I took my first step on the boat ramp I felt instant cramps in my quads......F#$K!! I took a quick look back and realized that my swim time wasn't quite what I felt I was doing. I was one of the last coming out of the water. I ran to my bike, cramps and all.

Swim time 40:31 Pace 2:43 (177th/192)

THE BIKE

Running up to the mount like I was cursing the cramps in my quads. I was able to hop on my bike and start the legs moving. The bike course was five laps of a 8km "ish" loop. The first lap was rough with the cramps but I was not going to stop. I was just finishing my first lap and passing transition when one of the race officials yelled out "WAIT...STOP". WTF....why am I stopping? You're helmet is on backwards"......F&$k! I think I just came out of the water stupid....I must have placed it on the aerobars facing the wrong way setting up. Strange thing was that it didn't feel weird.

So back to the race...thankfully the cramps went away on the second lap. I was actually starting to feel pretty good even! The course was mostly flat except one hill located close to mid loop. For comparison I would say it was close to that of the "Tuscany Home Depot" hill. It wasn't too bad but I can't say that I was loving it by the 4th time (definitely not the fifth). I have found that I tend to pass a fair number of people on hills....not the case today. Not my best ride but not my worst either.

Bike time- 1:24:26 Avg Speed 28.4km/hr (85th/192)

THE RUN

I had a fairly quick transition from the bike and headed out on the course. But within a very short time the cramps in my quads were back with a vengeance. This time they were not alone....GI cramps as well. I was feeling a bit tired and it was starting to get hot out. My plan was to drink the Ultima at the aid stations and hopefully replace some lytes but I found out there was none! I am not sure if they had it prior and ran out or didn't have it at all but either way I was not happy. I would have brought my fuel belt and carried my own Gatorade had I known this was the case. In hind sight I train with Gatorade I should carry Gatorade.

The quad cramping was getting worse but thankfully the stomach cramps went away. I took a couple of walk breaks to see if I could massage them out a bit. It didn't help and at that point I figured I might as well run and deal with the pain. I will admit it seemed like the longest 9.6km of my life. I should have smoked this essentially flat course but I didn't. Very frustrating run for me.

Run Time- 1:05;40 Pace 6:34 (152nd/192)

Nutrition

One power bar before the swim (make up for the missed breakfast), 2L Gatorade on the bike, 3 GU chomps and 500ml Water (approx.) on the run.

Overall Time 3:10:36 145th/192

I am a bit disappointed with the day and my place. I am pretty sure that as the distance gets farther the competition gets better. I think if I had not had the cramping issues I would have done a bit better. I am not obsessed with place but I feel like its a general indicator of how you do on that day. I have become competitive and I want to see my name higher up on the list ;). I did have fun overall...don't get me wrong. The was no way I wasn't going to finish so I am happy with that even. I just wish a few things had been a bit different. Now it's time to find another race!

Group ride...flats and intervals (no really ...FLATS)

2009-07-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

So tonight was a group ride and the plan was for flats with interval training. Well we got the flats alright. After a warm up we got into the interval part and it was going well. I look up and Darryl is pulling off to the side, I ask if he is OK and he yells back that he got a flat. I thought I would catch up to Greg and Trevor and let them know (or try to anyway). All of a sudden I hear an noise coming from my tire and then really hear a noise...F&#K me dead...I got a flat too!

SO I pull over and start working on that. Greg and Trevor see me from the other side of the road yell that they will be back. I was thinking...don't worry I will be here, lol. Could not for the life of me find the hole in the tube. (mental note..bring your spare tube next time). Greg made it over to me and starts to inspect my tire and finds some fine metal filaments sticking in the rubber. We get those out and then Greg breaks out a spare tube for me. Not long after the tire is fixed and we are back on the road.

We meet up with Trevor and Darryl and find out that Darryl had gotten a second flat! Not cool when there are 4 riders and 3 flats. We decided to head back to teh church via the 1A (same route we took out there). Greg and I had made the u-turn to come back and he tells me to go ahead and be "the carrot". I laughed to myself but hell why not. I know thew will catch me but it was a matter of when, lol. Good thing is this does push me harder as well. Not long after I see a shadow coming up behind me and Darryl was there....and then Greg zoomed by..... and then Trevor..... and then good bye Darryl, lol.

Despite the flats it was still a good ride. The weather turned out to be not too bad at all. I don't mind being at the back right now, it gives me that incentive to try harder. A good training week thus far!

After the ride, I came home and had a quick bite to eat and then watched some TV with the wife. And then it was back to painting the nursery. My goal is to get the room all done by the time I go back to work this weekend. I am pretty sure I will but its not like I have a looming deadline, Nov 24th is a long time away. I am off to read a bit and then head to bed. Training awaits in the AM.

Canmore Sprint Report

2009-07-19T08:03:00.001-07:00

Six days after my first triathlon I found myself in race mode again. I definately was not as nervous about this one, pretty gald about that. The night before can't say that I slept great ....again. My wife was pretty restless and I couldnt get to sleep. Then I woke up at 4:30 to hear her coughing and vomiting. She was quit miserable and obviously not going to be coming out to Canmore with me. However I did question if I would be going at this point. I made sure that she would be ok before I went and she assured me that she would be. After a quick shower I checked with her and gave me the thumbs up. But damn I am running behind!

I had decided the day before to take my wife's car instead of my Jeep and had already loaded it up. I hopped in and turned on the tunes and thought "gawwww forgot my ipod". I like music to get me motivated and it was going to be a "long" drive. But then the music came on and it was my new "Daughtry" CD that she had bought for me...whew this will do just fine, lol. I am not going to publicly admit to how fast I drove...but I did, as the saying goes, "drive it like I stole it".

T1 setup was quick and then up to the Nordic center for the pre-race meeting and T2 set up. And then after that it was the long wait until my wave started. The race briefing was at 7:15 and I started at 10:15...ughhhh. I went down to the lake to watch the other heats and headed into T1 for one last check of my gear. I looked over and thought I recognized a gentleman a few bikes down. Can't miss that moustache....Keith! I had never met him before and knew him from blogging, but the stache is a give away!

THE SWIM

Fast forward a couple hours and its my time to start. Water felt a bit cold which made me cranky, lol. I was far less nevrvous about the swim this time. It was going to be my longest open water swim to date but I did 750m last week and knew I could do the extra 250. My sighting was much better this time, I didnt have to correct nearly as much. I just kept thinking about my techique and keeping to my plan. I didnt want to try to push the pace but rather do the distance comfortably. Another good thing this time was that I didnt care about contact in the water....its part of open water swimming that WILL happen. I felt better as the swim went on and at the finish thought I could have kept going.

SWIM TIME - Time 26:47 Pace 3:35 (74th/97)

THE BIKE

T1 was a bit faster than my last tri. One thing I might try doing is going sockless. Putting on my socks consumed the most time by far. I was glad to get out on the bike...have I ever said how much I enjoy the bike ;)? Off the bat I was feeling strong and started to pass alot of people. Thie course had much more elevation change than coral springs. On the hills I really put in the effort to get up them quickly and make some gains. I was a bit frustrated when people were riding 2 and sometimes 3 across going up them. I just made sure that no cars were coming and went around them. The volunteers on the bike course were awesome, very vocal! I liked the added challenge of the short hills this time.

BIKE TIME - Time 52:46 Avg Speed 22.7 (25th/97)

THE RUN

T2 was super quick this time and then I headed to the run. I felt surprisingly good off the bike this time but that only lasted a short period, lol. My legs felt tired and I didnt get them back until 3.5km into the run. Unfortunately it was only a 5km run :(. I wonder if the elevation change was a factor, I am geussing it was. One of the voluteers said "you're doing great, keep going!!". I replied "I have to, got no choice" and she said "Sure you do, you can lie down here" The woman next to me says " I sweat to God if you do I will too", lol. I had a good laugh there.

RUN TIME - Time 30:22 Pace 6:05 (41st/97)

Nutrition - 1 Serving GU chomps before the swim with water. On the bike 1L gatorade and some water. The run was GU chomps and water/HEED sports drink.

Overall- Position 35 of 97. I knew I would be a bit longer time due to the longer swim and more challenging course. I had a really fund day. I still would have liked to have had a better run I think but I will take it. I don't think doing 2 sprints in 6 days hurt me, I rather enjoyed it :). I am looking forward to Olympic distance in August!

Coral Springs Tri race report

2009-07-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

So here it is...my first Triathlon race report.

Night before I decided to watch the UFC pay per view, relax and get to bed at a decent hour. Well, I did get to bed at 10:30 but damned if I could actually sleep. At this point, I can't say that I was nervous but I was thinking about everything. I have no idea what time I did fall asleep but it was late. At 6am I dragged my behind out of bed..a mixture of nerves and excitement in my head. A quick shower, some toast and my wife and I are out the door. It was nice on the way over, she sleep and I got to play my motivation music.

I get to the transition area and quickly set up my gear and then head into body marking. I had found out a day before that a girl I used to work with was doing the sprint as well so we waited in line together. I still am not that nervous at this point. After all the pre race business we headed down to the water. I look at the course and I get a bit freaked out...looked kind of far and I had some self doubt....I was nervous.

THE SWIM

First wave was the Tri-it distance racers followed by the Olympic. And before I knew it the 2 minute warning was announced for the Sprint. In all reality it turned out to be more like 30 seconds...someone defiantly was not using a watch. The horn blew and off we went. I planned on staying somewhat back and off to the side being that it was my first open water swim. I remember walking into the water, diving in and then thinking...holy $&it.....I am actually racing. It seemed like this day would never come.

Initially I felt OK. I definitely noticed the buoyancy advantage of the wetsuit...wow. I am a master scuba diver but it is defiantly not the same wet suit feeling. I was heading to the first buoy and did a look and I was off course...F^%k! Corrected and got back on track, no problem. I made the turn around the buoy without getting killed. But at this point I started to feel super tight and tired in my shoulders. I started to panic a bit in my head. I was thinking I have so far to go and I am already tired. But then I thought ok you have no choice you HAVE to do it. I knew I could do the distance. I knew I was safe but I was worried about know being able to continue. Then the drive kicked in....follow your plan and relax.

Things started to go a bit better and I started to feel better. Heading out to the second buoy I went off track again...I need to get better at sighting. Corrected and got back on track, no problem. I am feeling better and motivated. Made the turn and was heading home! I made it a point to concentrate more on sighting on the way back and it helped, definitely more straight this time. I was actually feeling better as the swim went on. My shoulders were still not used to the wetsuit but it was better. Passed the final buoy and headed for shore! I did a quick exit and then didn't look back...literally. I made it through the swim, that's all I cared about. Once I hit the sand I took off running.

SWIM TIME 18:30 (80th/128)

Running to T1

Hint of a smile

THE BIKE

I started stripping my wetsuit on my way through the transition zone and was quickly out of it when I got to my bike. I decided that I would not Rush myself and make any mistakes. All the sand had come off my feet running so I didn't have to use time cleaning them off. I quickly throw on socks, my shoes, jersey, sunglasses, helmet and then grab my bike. Just before I leave I took in a gel, drank some gel and then started heading out of T1. My plan for this leg was to hammer down and have a good ride.

I felt great from the get go! As soon as I was on my bike I was passing people left and right. My legs felt strong and I was loving it! We hit the biggest "hill" of the circuit...an overpass. It was pretty much flat after that. I got into the aero position and kept focusing on people ahead of me. One by one I catching them and passing...wahooo! After the first 5km the road got a bike rougher and the wind was a bit stronger. I didn't feel stable enough to stay down in the aero position so I stayed up and focus on keeping the bike straight and a high cadence. Quickly I came up on the turn around.

At this point there are less people ahead of me and its getting harder to pass. None the less I was still catching people. I was still feeling good and was getting more confident as the race went on. Less than 2km from the bike/run transition I finally got passed by 2 riders..they were flying! Had to happen sometime, lol. I was very sad to see the bike ending but bring on the run.

BIKE TIME 43:46 (23rd/128) Avg speed 27.4km/hr

Heading out to the bike course

THE RUN

The bike/run transition went well, pretty quick and easy. The legs didn't feel too bad initially until late in the first lap. I didn't cramp but just felt tired. The second lap things were back to normal. I wanted to make sure I didn't fall below 10km/h for speed and I was able to do that. I did get a bit of motivation on lap #2 though.

Right off the bat on the run I passed this one guy. On lap #2 he passed me about 1/3 into that lap. I didn't think much of it and kept my pace steady. But then I noticed as I got closer to him and was about to pass he would speed up and get ahead of me. This went on 3 or 4 times and we were getting close to the finish. I decided that there way no way I was letting him finish before me, lol. The finish turned into an all out sprint. I ran my ass off and blew but him in the chute! But we both laughed and high fived each other when we crossed.

Heading out at the start of the run

RUN TIME 28:49 (70th/128) Pace 5:46/km

NUTRITION

Simple for this race...had a few sports beans before the swim. Consumed one Gu gel as I got on the bike with water. On the bike took in approx 1L Gatorade using by aero drink (found this very helpful). On the run stopped approx 1.25km (lap 1) and 3.75km (lap 2) took in small amount of Ultima at the aid station. No GI issues, cramping or low energy.

Crossing the finish.....

OVERALL TIME 1:31:05 (39th/128)

Overall thoughts on the day.....

I need to get better at sighting but I know this will come with practice. I was happy with my swim. My plan was to get through it and hopefully get an "OK" time and I think I did this. It was a huge confidence boost to get thought my first open water swim!

Again the bike went as I thought it would. Given that I only really started cycling in Feb I think I did well. I really thought running was going to be my strong discipline but I am thinking the bike is going to be now. It seems to be getting better and better. Still a long way to go but I am ready!

The run...I would say average. Nothing extra ordinary but again it went as expected. It was pretty steady and consistent and I felt good!

Most importantly I had fun!! I need to thank my wife for being the best cheerleader ever and Coach Greg for helping me meet my first goal (thanks for reminding me to have fun and smile....I think the pics are proof that I did). I hope this all doesn't come off as being high on myself....I am just thrilled with the results. In the end I am happy with the day even if no one else had been there racing. Next race is in 4 days and I am more excited than ever.

D.

I am officially a triathlete!

2009-07-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for now. Did the Coral Springs Sprint tri today...I had a great race for me. I am pleased to say that it pretty much went how I planned it. Oh yeah...I am definitely hooked! I will post a race report when I get my times. Wahoooooooooo!

Cue "lose yourself" and go.....

2009-07-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Kind of a weird feeling right now. My first triathlon is in less than 24 hrs. No physical training is going to help me at this point. I know right now its all in my head. I can't lie and say that I am not nervous, my stomach is already doing some flips in waves. I know I really shouldnt be nervous....I know I can do this distance, I am not going to win anything. I do however want to place as high as I can. I want to enjoy it as my number one goal...I know I will though.

A little later I am going to head over to Coral Srpings just to drive the routes and see the transition area. After that I am going to look at cribs, lol. Right now I am more nervous about the tri than the birth, lol.

Interstingly enough, I wasnt listening to Lose Yourself as I typed this...it was "no easy way out" and "momma said knock you out". Until tommrow....

I never really liked the taste of chlorine anyway....

2009-07-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

Man, am I tired. I worked the last 2 nights and I figure in have had 6-7 hour sleep in the last 72 hours. Night shift kills me nowadays and given how busy it was it made it a bit more of a chore. My first night I took care of a burn patient and the second night I was the ICU charge nurse. Despite the foothills having a burn unit, we (ICU) take care of the critically ill ones that are too sick to go to that unit. These patients are often quite busy to take care of....and this was the case for me, lol. And being in charge is never my favorite role. By the end of the night I hate hearing my name. But having said that I am on days off now!

My training the last couple of days has been "adequate". Kinda hard to give it your all when you are dragging you ass. My wife had a good chuckle when she caught me nodding off watching some tv. I was switching channels and would pause to "rest my eyes' and then pick up where I left off. I am, however, still very happy with how my swimming is coming along. You have to remember that its all relative.....I am am making some big gains for me. Still no where near where I eventually want to be but I am none the less pleased. I was doing some 300m repeats yesterday and I realized that I barely swallow any pool water now. When I first started I was thinking the chlorine was going to do me in. Not to mention I can't say that I am ever thrilled with swallowing water that strangers swim in. My repeats are becoming easier but its strange that I judge my progess on how much chlorine I ingest ;).

I plan to get a good night sleep and have a good training day tommorow. My week is pretty easy since I race on Sunday but I will make sure I keep the intensity that I want. I took my bike to Bow cycle for the "bike check" today. Not sure why, I knew it was fine to race and they looked it over but there is no record keeping to tell that it had been done. And on Saturday I am going to head over to Coral Springs to do a quick drive of the run and bike course. I know I could get away with not doing it but why not.

Anyway, I short post tonight. I hear a bed calling my name and I am not going to make it wait any longer. Adios muchachos.......

D.

I am doing this for me...

2009-07-03T19:56:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning the desk in my computer room and glanced up and noticed my favorite mug...

A friend game my this mug after Ironman Az last year after I told him that I wanted to train for an Ironman. The one thing he did say to me was "but you have to get your own finisher mug". That's going to be alot of work for a mug, lol. Why do we do this?? What is the motivation that keeps us going on days that we would rather do absolutely nothing?

I have asked myself that many times and I am sure I will ask myself many more times. But each time I come up with the same answer....I am doing this for me. I think I have come a long way but I don't want to stop. Training takes up alot of "free time"!! Life is going to get even more hectic with a baby on the way...and that is an ultrasound image of my future child on the monitor in the mug pic. I know there will be hard times ahead and will require me to dig deep. But I will...I look at it right now as I have no other choice. There are days that I really don't want to get on my bike or hop into the pool. But I feel so damn good when I do.

Right now I feel awesome. With the exception of a healing blister on my toes that I got running the other day, I am injury free. I have no nagging aches or pains (a quick pause to knock on my desk now). I haven't felt this good since I can't remember when. I am sooooo ready for next weeks tri. Who knows I could have the worst race of my life but I can't say that I wasn't "ready". I will be giving it 100% that day.

So on the training front...I put my race wheels on today. A pair of Reynolds strike carbon fiber rims and conti tires. Behold.....

I also raised my seat about 1/2 and inch after Greg suggested it. And then it was time to try it out. Today;s ride was high cadence and about 60-75 mins followed by a 20 min run...also high cadence. Raising the seat was fine, didn't notice it on the short ride, cool. The new wheels I did notice that occasionally a gust or wind would grab the wheel a bit.....not much but enough to notice. Other than that the ride really nice. I tried to keep a cadence of 100 +/- 5 and that seemed to work well. I made it back to the house at 59mins and felt moderately well. My legs were not sore from last nights hills but a but tired I guess. As for the run it was good as well. I am often shocked at how fast I am running off the bike despite feeling like my legs weight 100lbs each, lol. But that is why they call it a brick n'est pas?

Another great day to be out in the sun! I can't believe the tan I am getting...too bad its all on my arms legs and face, lol. I need to get some sun on the rest of me, lol. Tomorrow is a rest day and I am back at work. I can't complain...I go back for one day then I am off again. Speaking of work, I have to get my meals ready for tomorrow. Until next time....

D.

Finally...Cochrane hill!

2009-07-02T21:44:00.001-07:00

S0 tonight was my first group ride. I had done a few rides with others on mountain bike rides but never on road bikes. And in addition it was hills night! Finally I was going to climb Cochrane hill. Drove up it many times but never rode up it! I was actually almost "nervous" about it...kinda almost like before a race.

I decided to just bike over from my place to the meeting point...other wise that would just be lazy considering its just around the corner, lol. It was good to meet a couple of the other legend athletes (Darryl and Trevor). Greg showed up and then the four of us were off. Easy ride out there thanks to a bit of a tail wind. Since this was my first group ride, Greg gave me a quick drafting lesson. I can see how this helps when riding in a pack....no wonder it's a racing no no.

So we get to the top of the hill and we are off!! I am still getting used to the speed, no doubt about it. My max speed was 60km/hr. And yes I was on the brake levers quite a bit. The unfortunate thing about where I work is that I see what happens to people that crash at high speeds...be it car, motorbike, road bike, etc... I have to almost get this out of my head and get comfortable in my abilities first. Last thing I want to do is end up in the very ICU I work in...and since we are the only Trauma ICU in southern Alberta...I would be going there, lol. My coworkers would have a field day with me, lol. Anyway....back to the ride.

I knew I would be riding the hills solo, I know my speed and I cool with that. The guys were on their first trip up when I got to the bottom. A quick turn around and I was on my way up. I ain't gonna lie...I was dipping into the granny gears. But I did shift out of them for periods to make it a bit harder and would stand it up for a bit a well. I knew my heart was pumping hard, I maxed out at 178. As I was getting to the top, the rest were heading down (thanks for the encouragement guys). A quick drink at the top and I dropped back in.

Second time down was a bit better...a little more comfortable. The second climb wasn't too bad, a little more tired for sure but I was still feeling good. On the way up Greg met me near the top and gave me some climbing pointers. Always good to get a little feedback. I have never really learned proper technique in cycling, swimming or running for that matter. I guess that's why I have a coach now ;). Once at the top we stopped, had a drink and decided to head back down about half way. I didn't look at my timer to see how long it was taking each time. I figured it was close to 20 mins but Greg though more like 13 (looking at my garmin it was about 14)Trevor and Darryl were making their way back up from #3. A quick turn around and we were following...and then finally at the top!

I was surprised that my legs felt as good as they did on the trip back. I think it just shows that my conditioning is getting better. My thighs feel good...I can feel a bit of tiredness in my hips. Funny because Greg suggested bringing my seat up a bit to help prevent this. I am sure that tomorrow I will be feeling it, lol. The group ride turned out to be a good boost. On the way out and back I know I was travelling at a faster speed then my average and I felt great. It really makes me want to push hard during the Coral Springs Tri.

Thanks to Greg, Darryl and Trevor for making my first group ride a fun one.!!

D.

Awesome Canada Day run!

2009-07-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today was a run day. I was actually looking forward to a longer run. It seems that I always hate the first 20 minutes or so but then I get warmed up and into the groove. I had planned on heading down to Glenmore landing and running the reservoir but then figured I might as well do the run from Edworthy to Center street. This way I could check out the Canada events down in Eau Claire. Maybe not the smartest move, lol.

The run down there was pretty uneventful, lots of people out and about. But as I got close to Eau Claire I was mobbed. Sooo many people out!! Luckily I was able to, for the most part, run through them. Things thinned out just before the center street bridge. The weather was perfect today though!! I put my run off (yet again) until the afternoon to let things warm up a bit. The only thing that wasn't good about today was my heart rate. I had an average of 154 which was high for me. I didn't feel that I was that "stressed". I will just keep an eye on that! I did 15km in just under 90 mins. I took it somewhat easy and didn't push it today. Overall a really enjoyable run !

Tomorrow evening is my first group ride.....hills! I am glad to get out with the team. I have a feeling that I will be the slowest but I will do what I can. This will be my first time climbing Cochrane hill....I am pretty sure I am ready, lol. This week had been a good training week and I am glad. Ten days until my first Tri!! It feels like I have been training forever for it (if you consider February forever, lol). I am excited yet nervous at the same time. The bike and run don't bother me. Even though I know I can actually do the distance, the swim still in on my mind. I guess that is normal? I am trying to think positively...those that beat me in the swim, I will hammer them on the bike/run, lol ( or try to anyway ;) ).

On the home front I mowed the back yard and went and picked up a new tree to plant there. Our last tree we planted there died. It was a Crimson Maple...we decided this time NO MAPLES!!! What did we come home with you ask?.....I frickin' Maple. Hopefully this one lives. Tomorrow morning I will get that sucker in the ground and then we shall see what happens.

From the True North strong and free......Dan out!

Hot damn I love the sun.....

2009-06-30T22:21:00.001-07:00

So my plan for the day was to get up for a run and then head down to the pool for a swim. Well when I took the dogs out this morning I quickly decided that the run would not happen until this afternoon. It was about 10 deg and windy! I have become a fan of heat my friends! So I decided to take the morning easy and then start my day this afternoon.

I headed on down to the Talisman Center about 2 pm and the parking lot was packed. Aww crap...I hate it when the place is crazy. And sure enough it was for a swim meet. Luckily the training pool had a bunch of lanes open, 25 m lanes, but open none the less. I ended up having a really good swim again today. Greg had mentioned that at some point things would come together and I think finally it is! Kick ass! Did some lengths and drills for about an hour in total and then it was off for a run!

When I left the pool I was pretty glad to find that it was warming up. I tell ya, since losing 90lbs I always feel cold! I seem to function better when the temp is at least 20deg C. I ended up doing 10.5km in 55 mins with the first 30 mins being easy and then stepped it up for the last half. I was going to do an even hour but I ran into a friend walking her dog. I was essentially back at my Jeep so I called it a day.

It was a great day to be out (once it warmed up). I like running with others but sometimes it is so good just to throw on my earphones, hit the tunes and run. Its is nice to either get lost or do some deep thinking, depending on what you want. I try to do some training with music and some without. I don't want to be a person that is dependant on it. I try to mix up my playlists every couple of weeks or so. Hmmm maybe I will start posting up the weekly playlist.

Tommorow I have a 90min run on the books. I will try to get this one done early so that I can try to get some yardwork done. Getting this yard done is a distant second to Tri training, lol. But I have to get it done...I want it to end this summer! Next summer I want to be able to focus on my family and training and not about flowers beds, lol.

D.

Good training ...bad luck

2009-06-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

Well have been pretty good the last few days on the training front....well kinda...but I will get to that. Saturday was a pretty good brick. Rode out to the top of Cochrane hill and then took 262 back twice. A good ride but damn that headwind was fierce. I have to admit that it was a little unnerving a couple of times, I would get an occasional crosswind that almost sent me off my bike. I struggled to keep 25km/h heading out there but 45km/hr coming back was easy! My run afterwards was short but good.

Sunday...not a great day. My wife had planned for us to meet up with some of her friends from work for lunch downtown. I was going to head to swim right after that so we took separate vehicles. Went and had some awesome dim sum and then it was time to get to the pool. Opened up my Jeep door and saw stuff from my glove box and console spread all over my drivers seat. Instantly I knew someone had been in my Jeep......F&#&^!!!!! On the initial look nothing seemed to have been missing...wow..cool. Then I took another look in my glove box and noticed my ipod was gone. I am more than a little pissed at this point but not much I can do...luckily it was my 3 year old ipod video and not my iphone. But on even closer inspection I see that they cut the connector from my stereo to the ipod. They could have just unplugged it but no they had to cut it.

This really, really pissed me off. To be 100% honest, if given the chance, I would physically hurt the person. Some people may say that this is an over reaction, that it is just an ipod. And to some degree I can understand that. However, given my personality I look at this as more of a threat and I don't deal well with those. I think I would have been perfect for the military, lol. I have a conscience but I would have no problem dishing out "justice", lol. How did I end up being a nurse? At that point my day was shot from a training perspective...I was far too angry to do anything. Went home and did hours of yard work instead. I missed a swim day which I didn't like doing but it was probably the best choice.

Ok now for today!! Another brick day....wahooooo! Did a 2.5 hour ride and then a 25 min run. The ride was good but dang ...windy again. The run was here in Tuscany which means hills no way to avoid them here. And it was my first run with the new shoes. Quite a difference running in the new shoes! Glad I remembered to get a new pair. Overall a good day.

Tomorrow is swim/run day. Looking forward to getting back in the pool after missing the other day! Then its come home and do more yard work, lol....I swear its never ending.

Until next time....Stay classy Calgary.

Wow.....all I can say is wow!

2009-06-26T22:33:00.001-07:00

Wow what a day! I started this one off by going to an ultrasound appointment with my wife. She works at a radiology clinic so she was already being scanned when I got there. All I can say is....wow. Nothing has ever made me feel what I experience when I see my future child moving around in utero. I was always somewhat indifferent about having kids...now I would cut my own teeth out for that child. We are not finding out the sex, why run one of the best surprises in life. Definately the highlight of our day!

On the training front I had a pretty good day as well. Started off with an hour swim. I am so glad my swim is progressing. I am swimming longer distances and not expending anywhere near the energy I used to! Again many thanks to Greg for the help! I used to dread swimming...used to have to sit in my jeep for a few minutes and get myself ready for it, lol. Now I actually like it, lol.

After the swim I went for a 55min run in Tuscany. I was supposed to do 40-50 mins but I decided to run a route I hadn't run prior. My running has become a chore at times. I had been running the same routes and places and that was getting a bit boring. I think since I have been enjoying the swim and cycling more, my desire to run had died a bit. But today helped alot. My schedule has a 90 min run next week..I think I will hit the Glenmore reservior that day. I always enjoy that run!

I managed to find time to pick up some new runners today as well. I have become a big fan of the Saucony Triumphs but I always seem to have a hard time finding my size (8.5). It can be quite a PIA at times. I yesterday realized that my current pair was 7 months old and had alot of km's...it was definately time for a new pair! The tech shop only had 8 or 9 so I hit a running room and luckily they had a pair! I just have to put my Yankz laces in them and I will be good to go! I have decided that I am done with regular laces. They ALWAYS come undone no matter how I tie them. And I really get annoyed with laces flopping around.

This evening, after dinner, I had a fire in out back yard. When I bought my house I put a fire pit in the back yard. Myself and a friend layed about 500 paving stones for a base and then I put a pit in the middle. I absolutely love just sitting around it listening to music. I don't care if anyone else is there, lol. I geuss in a way it reminds me of camping. Great for get togethers too!

So tommorow is a brick workout for me. Two hours on the bike and 20 mins run..sweet. Followed by lots of yardwork, lol. I have to built flower beds, pathways blah blah blah. It seriously bites into my training time, lol.

Until next time.....D.

A rest day....

2009-06-25T21:10:00.001-07:00

So today is a rest day from training but not from work. We all have an idea of what nurses do but not many really know what an ICU nurse does. We tend to be a different breed...on one hand we are type A...if $hi^ needs to get done...we do it! On the other hand it's amazing how low someone's blood pressure can go before we need to care. In general we work in ICU because we like taking care of critcally ill patients...the sicker the better! Don't get me wrong..I don't want people to get sick for my enjoyment...more like if they are sick I don't mind being their nurse!

Today was one of those day though that make me glad when the end of the day was near. My patient was far from "sick" (remember...in ICU sick is a relative term). He was confused and aggitated and really driving me nuts. I can't say that on days when I patient tries to kick me in the head that I love my job.

I almost wish I has some training to do tonight but it was a day of rest. I feel a bit lost on my rest days. Tommorow is only hours away and I am ready to get going. I am pretty sure I will be back in the pool tommrow and a run in there maybe. At 11am I am going to be meeting my wife for her last ultrasound. A bit of history...my wife is 18 weeks pregnant....can't believe I am going to be a dad! So after that I will be going out for a good day of training. And I need to pick up a new pair of runners too!

Not much to say tonight...I think I will relax but playing some video games. I am not really a "gamer" so that is weird for me. Or maybe I will sit on the deck and listen to some tunes. Good training days for everyone!

D.

Ethics and cycling....

2009-06-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today was supposed to be a day off but I had signed up for an ethics workshop for the ICU where I work (I am a Trauma ICU RN for those of you that may not know me). Ethics fascinate me...how do we determine what is "right or wrong". In my job I do many things that I think are just but also many things that makes me think something is not right. Sometimes I give the impression that I don't care but I am learning that I often care too much.

The day consisted of a lecture from a philosopher, an ICU physican and a lawyer. All provided slightly different thoughts for dealing with ethics dilemmas. However they all pretty much agreed that not all law is ethical and not ethics does not always follow law. We did a hypothical case study of a 17 year old boy in a serious car accident that would die without a blood transfusion. Ahhh but he is of the Jehovah's witness faith and does not want a transfusion. He is carrying a witnessed card, signed by him that states this, verbally stated that he does not want it and had a parent present that does not want him to have blood. He is beginning to "crash" and will die iminently without blood....what are you going to do???? Are you going to transfuse him or not...make your mind up quick....you have minutes to decide.

So that was the majority of my day. I skipped out early so I could get my ride in before dinner. Talk about great weather...not too hot and the sun is shining!! Hopped on the bike and headed out the 1A. I am getting more and more comfortable on my bike. I love schedule days that have a long ride! Today I did alot of thinking about the ethics day. I can't help but think that there may be a day when I cannot continue in ICU because of the things I have to do that I don't really agree with.

Nothing particularly exciting about todays ride. I came back on road 262 to add some rolling hills into the mix. That felt quite nice...I used to hate hills and now I don't mind them at all. The wind was playing a bit of havoc with me but it's something I need to get used to. The second loop was even more windy !!The ride was supposed to be 2-3 hours...I felt ok with 2.5 and called it a day ;).

As of now I am about 2 1/2 weeks out from my first Tri....starting off with Sprint. I feel like I am ready. Alot of training and hard work has been leading up to this. I am ready to rock it ( and by rock it, I mean give it all I have). I am confident with my running and cycling for this...lets just hope the swim follows suit.

Dan......out!

PS In the Province of Alberta, legally the 17 year old must recieve that life saving transfusion despite his and his parents objection....this is also the case in 2 other Canadian provinces.

Not a great start....

2009-06-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

OK so its been a bit since I posted. But I figure that no one is reading at this point, lol. None the less I think writing this might be good therapy....help me reflect on things. Life has been good the past couple of weeks. Training has been going well and managed to get a couple of races in there too.

The first race was the Footstock Duathlon in Cochrane. It was my first multisport race and man, was I pumped. The weather turned out to be awesome and I had a good race. The first 5.5 km was an uphill grind for a little bit....good thing I don't mind them, lol. Coming up to the first transition I felt pretty good and was ready to hop on the bike.

The transition went well except fiddling with my helmet strap for a minute. Ran to the mount line and off I went. Things were going well but very quickly I started to get some bad cramps in my calves. I have to admit I was a bit freaked out by this, could not help but wonder how this would affect my race. But very quickly I decided I would not let it stop me. I stretched them out the best I could while still turning my legs. Luckily they went away...for now.

I felt better and better as the bike went on....I was starting to pass people...woot! And strangely enough...passing people on hills. I was keeping a cadence and speed that I normally don't. It's amazing what race adenaline can do. I made it to the turn around and heard them call out my split. I can't remember what they said but I do remember thinking...pick it up!

I am by no means a strong cyclist so the thought of someone drafting off me kinda annoyed me. Very soon after the turn around, a guy tried to kling to me like white on rice. I passed a couple of people and he followed suit...right behind me. He was making no attempt to pass evene after I slowed slightly to see if he would. Enough of that...I stood up and hammered down..that was the end of that. I never saw him again.

I was almost back to transition and I was somewhat sad the bike leg was over. I really enjoyed it (later I learned that I was #44 of 178..kinda of a big thing for me). I was approaching the dismount line and unclipped and started to bring my leg over the seat. That didnt go as I have planned! I must have clipped back in on my left foot...when I was swinging my leg over I delievered a nice round house to my seat mounted water bottle. Luckily my left foot then unclipped and I caught myself. I kinda laughed to myself and shook my head.

After a quick transition I headed back on the run course. My legs felt dead...going back up hills. And those cramping calves came back with a vengence. I run when I could and walked when I had to. Finally the uphill turned flat and then downhill. I felt better the closer I got to the finish.

I was happy with my 2:08 finish. I am now a Duathlete! One more sport to add!

So a week passes and I had signed up for a marathon relay. The fallen 4 relay was to rememeber four RCMP officers that were gunned down in the line of duty. I knew none of my team but I really though this was a good cause. I ended up getting the longest/hardest leg...12.7km with a majority of it being up hill. My calves had just recovered from the Footstock Du and it wa stime to put them back into action.

I woke up early to drive down to the opening ceremonies. My wife informed me that the rain was coming down quite hard...$%#T!!! I am the type of person that will pretty much do whatever in any condition...but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I headed down to the opening and waited for the race to start. It was a staggered start and I headed out to my relay checkpoint to wait.

Geussing that I had at least 2 hours to wait I tried to nap...nope didn't work. After what seemed like enternity I got out of the vehicle and stood waiting for my leg 2 runner. I wasnt sure who was handing off to me...I had not met anyone from my team other than the guy who I replaced (he had to drop out for medical reasons). Lucikly he was at the checkpoint and pointed out the runner as she approached.

So off I go...its raining and 10 deg C. I started off pretty stiff let me tell ya. After a short flat period, the climb started. But in all reality, it wasnt that bad. The rise turned out to be quit gradual and its a nicely paved highway!! After about 5km I was starting to feel good. I wan't cold anymore and was passing people left and right. The hill peaked around 10km and the downhill was awesome!!! I was able to make up some time there! I finished my leg in 1:08! After quick high five to yet another person I didnt know, I was done!

I hopped in the car and headed back to my in laws place to quickly change into dry clothes. Then we all headed over to the finish to meet up with my team. I found the runners from the first 2 legs and we waited for our 4th leg to come in. I could tell she had a rough run but she wanted to finish strong!! As she approached the chute we joined her and ran across the line as a team at 4:35 (I think). Not bad considering no one on my team had ever run a race before except me!

I dont race for the medals themselves but more the memories they represent. But this one seemed to bring me more pride than any of the other ones I had recieved. I am thankful for the law enforcement officers that put their lives on the line to protect us. If me running can help pay tribute to their honour its the least I can do. One of my most rewarding races but one that I really wish I had never had the reason to run.

Ok so back to the present...I have a 3 hour bike ride on the books for tommorow. I am looking forward to it!! I had a great swim today and a "meh" run but that is life. My last swim session with Greg helped tremedously!! I actually think I can do it now, lol. Anyway...I have an early and busy day tommorow...time to call it a day.

Here goes nothing.....

2009-06-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

So how this all started....

Over a year ago I felt like crap. I was 35, overweight (270lbs) and hypertensive. I went to see my new Doctor and wow what a wake up. When you are told that you have a 100% chance of becoming diabetic if you don't lose weight...not cool. Being an ICU nurse made that a hard pill to swallow. I had already decided that I needed to change my lifestyle but this reinforced it. My doctor considered putting me on meds for my blood pressure but decided to give me time to make some changes...here is how it went.

First this I did was sign up for a gym membership. One of the hardest things I initially did. I found it very intimidating at first. I didnt realize how my self esteem had plunged until I started training. Props to my friend Bryan for being there for me 100% . It really helped having a friend push me to not give up!

The next thing I did was join SFL (Simply for Life) and get eating healthy! And somewhat like gym experience...I didnt realize how bad my eating was! This is where I met Leslie, my nutritional consultant and now teammate. Leslie was instrumental teaching me how to eat healthy and always offered encouragement. Althought I was there for nutrition, we always ended up talking about training. I don't know if she knows how much I appreciated this.

After a very short period of time, I noticed that the weight was actually coming off. I was dropping 2-5 lbs a week......wahoooooooo. My training was progressing as well!! When I first started running I would have to run a lap and then walk a lap (A 237 m track) and could only do this twice, lol. I found this very discouraging . So I decided that every day before weight training I would do 20 mins on a stationary bike. Well, one day I decided to try and see how the running would be.....I did 5 freaking laps!! For me, at the time, that was HUGE! Next day I did 10....then 15! I think then my desire to run started.

I started running outside.......weird feeling. I drove myself down to Edworthy park and started to run. Did my first 5km run there....I was beaming. Each day I progressed a little more...wow now I am up to 7km! I knew I wanted more though and thought of ways to keep motivated.

A couple of people at work had mentioned putting together a running group.....seemed interesting to me. One day I approached one of the people...Detlef...an ex German special forces, now nurse and current endurance athlete. A rather intimidating guy until you get to know him! He has done his fair share of IM races (24 at the moment) , Powerman, Marathon des Sables..etc..... You would think running with him he would leave you in the dust and wait for you at the end. Truth is, he was either right beside you or one step behind you making sure you were ok. I ran a number of races with Detlef and can't thank him enough for all the support. He is one of the huge reasons behind my Ironman goal. In case you ever read this D., you always let me finish first, thanks my friend.

So at this point I am at my goal weight and I decided yes! ...I want to train for an Ironman! Leslie gave me the name of her coach.....IronGreg. After more thinking about it I emailed Greg and told him of my goal. Greg offered nothing but encouragement from the start! And then I became a member of the Legend Coaching team!

So fast forwarding a few months and lots of training...here I am. The only thing that has changed is I train more than before, lol. Thats my story so far, I am sure there is more to come.