My New Gadget

Well I couldn't resist grabbing a new to me, piece of old school technology. I saw a sale recently and had to buy what the runners of 2000 would have thought of as really cool stuff, but the runners of 2015 in the age of GPS would see as mostly useless. I bought a foot pod.

So before GPS watches were taking off, many runners used foot pods to more accurately gauge distance and speed. A foot pod is essentially just a small accelerometer that you wear on your shoe. It sends signals back to your watch via a unique code. Based on calibration, the foot pod will track a variety of metrics such as speed, distance, and most importantly cadence.

So there it is. Light weight and unnoticeable once attached and running. In this case I have a Timex branded foot pod, but because it uses standard ANT+ communication tech, it speaks just fine with my Garmin watch (do check for compatibility though if you try to mix and match brands).

In the winter I do a lot of indoor running and this of course means no GPS signal. I happen to run on an indoor track, but this can also work just fine on a treadmill. While treadmills generally tell you speed and distance anyway, they are notoriously inaccurate and it doesn't allow you to up load your run data to your favorite training log, you have to do it manually.

So after getting this little beauty, I took it to the track yesterday to try it out. 15 minutes in and I realize that my attempt at calibration failed. Maybe next time I will read the instruction (online of course as it doesn't come with any). After the issues were fixed I was back to running. It was great to see my cadence showing up and right where I like it, right around 90 per foot. In the end my average cadence was 176, but that included stopping a few times for a drink and a bit of a cool down at the end.

No more guessing on pace for me for my winter runs, or on dodgy hotel treadmills. My goal of making each run count so that I can focus on a less is more training philosophy has taken a new step.

Also it turns out my indoor runs were at a much faster pace than I realized. That didn't hurt the ego.

2012 Ingonish Sprint Triathlon

First sprint race of the year for me. I didn't do the others that were offered as they conflicted with Duathlons and also were pool swims. I would rather not do pool swims.

So an open water swim in Ingonish. Last year I did this race and the water was a bit cold to get into and I really needed that warm up time offered. This year the water was really quite warm, so I used the warm up time simply to get a little more comfortable in the water in general.

I am not the greatest swimmer, or even a moderate swimmer. I am a weak swimmer, but you all know that. Still I managed to do this race in just shy of 15 minutes last year so I had hoped that I was slightly stronger than during that race and could pull off closer to 14 minutes.

 

So into the water we went. Last year I was caught up in swimmers that were slower than myself, so I thought I would wade out with the stronger swimmers then fall into my proper pace (that's me in the gold coloured cap).

Well the start of the swim went well. I was tucked behind another swimmer. I received a few bumps but nothing too hard or worrisome.

But as I rounded that first buoy I realized I had gone too fast. Well if this were the bike or run, letting up means relaxing a bit but this is hard for me to do in the water. I let up the pace a bit to rest and was promptly paced by a number of swimmers. Still, I just had to finish this thing to get to the bike. So off I went.

 

Just because you have a bad leg of a triathlon doesn't mean you give up for the rest. So I picked up the pace to finish the swim hard then tore out of the water and across the timing mat.  I was 42nd at this point out of 53 people with a swim time of 16:45. Ugh. Now I will say that this year the swim was a bit longer than last year, but I don't know if it was long or correct. Regardless it was the swim everyone else did. But man did it hurt.

So off to T1 I went. For Ingonish that means a 500 meter run on a gravel path. Many people stop and put on shoes before the run. I don't. That means I do get to pass a couple of people at this point. Then a quick change out of my wetsuit and into my cycling gear and off I went.

This is a great ride, rolling hills, 23 kms and this day, cool air. I had stuffed some arm warmers into my tri suit front in case it happened to be too cold on the ride, but never needed them.

I quickly tucked and took off. Here is where I make up most of the time I lost on the swim. I know that I can't make up the 6 minutes or more on the fastest swimmers who are probably darn fast cyclist as well. But I pushed anyway.

In the end I made up a few spots and posted the 8th fastest bike split of the day. This included the run from the water as well (T1). It took me 45:57 to cover the 23 kms of this hilly course. So my 30 km/hr average was good enough to pass 27 people. Phew.

 

I am now getting more comfortable with the flying dismount. though I will admit to having a close call getting my foot out of one of my shoes and almost took a spill. But I survived and dismounted. Soon I will be more comfortable getting up to the line before dismounting. Wow, from this picture it looks like I am 500 meters away. Oh well.

 

I zoomed into T2 and luckily only saw a handful of bikes. That made me happy.

 

A quick change into my shoes and I was off. This was my second race in the New Balance 890v2. But this was my first race in them sockless. I had socks in the TZ but opted to go without to save those few valuable seconds. It turned out to be fine as these shoes are very smooth inside.

I didn't even spare the seconds to don my Garmin 305, but I did take it with me (I had turned it on before the race started). I am sure I can run without it, as I did for years. But I wanted that extra little bit of hurry up from the numbers on the screen.

I quickly caught a runner in front of me. Then I caught a hill. Ouch. It wasn't a big hill, but still, it hurt. My speed dropped from 3:50 to 4:15. Not good. So I kicked it up a notch and took off again.

The run course is nice. A 5km loop, so no laps and it is uphill out and downhill back.

I soon saw another runner in the distance and fought hard to catch him. By the turn around I was there and past. At this point I saw no one else ahead of me but kept my pace as high as I dared to salvage a good time from this event.

But then with 1 km to go I found one more runner. He was doing well enough but I could see the gap closing. I didn't care about saving anything at this point, so I picked  up the pace and passed him at the corner with less than 500 meters to go. I pushed harder and when the finish line was in sight I pushed once again.

 

I crossed the line at a nice 2:37 km/min pace for a grand total run time of 19:52. A sub 20 min 5 km to end a sprint is rather nice. My official time includes T2 and is 20:33, which was the 5th fastest run of the day. And that makes me happy as I have more speed int he run and made a few bobbles in T2.

So it seems I need to work on that swim again. I see part of my mistake as deciding recently to work more on form rather than endurance. And I just don't have the base in me yet to ignore endurance. So to the pool and lake I go before my next event, which will likely be the Bridgetown Tri this August.

Oh and I beat the rain. Whew. For those in the Olympic Distance event I feel for you as the sky opened up.

And thanks to the Sportwheels gang for getting that new chain all nicely setup on my bike. I love Shimano chains for riding, but I hate installing those blasted things.

Run Base Season and Forming Habits

So November came and went and here we are in December. 'Tis the season for base training to begin I guess as all my races are well and done for the year.

Base training was never my forte. I rode or ran as I saw fit, when I was feeling up to it. That suited me at the time, though it did nothing to help me become a better athlete.  Then over the last few seasons I finally gave in.

Last year I learned about long, slow running from Shane MacLeod during a Tri Nova Scotia training camp. For me running slow seemed counter intuitive, but I did it anyway. I began training with runs much slower than race pace and much longer. And I loved it. By the time winter made it too hard for me to continue my long runs I had been up to 17 km. I backed it down to 8 and 10 km runs as I lost my trail and then road side to ice and snow. But as the distance slipped my speed came up. I was actually really happy.

But as usually happens to me, I tend not to like to pull back. So as the snow and ice melted away and I was able to run further again (and I was training at this point for the Bluenose Half Marathon) I started going the distance but with my new found speed.

As one can imagine, I eventually over did it. Leading into the month before the Bluenose, I had to drop my distances back and the speed too, and and also the frequency. And as you can imagine, once you get a little injury and start spending less time running / training and more time on the sofa, the desire to actually head out kinda goes away.

Well a few chiropractor trips and some ART as well as a packed early season of racing cured my desire to stay on the sofa.

So here we are back in the fall and base season. And it is time to try something new. I have loads of time before the Bluenose comes around, and I now know I can make the distance so trying to cram long runs in right now just isn't that appealing to me (darn dark evenings and living outside the city). But I still want to get the sort of distance in that I was before. So my new plan is to try my best to run every day.

Now that seems excessive doesn't it. But my plan is slightly well thought out. Right now I am aiming for light paced runs of varying short distances. Yesterday was in fact my longest run of the week at 12km.

My runs for the last 8 days have been from 4.4 km to 12 km. Some on the trail near my house, some on the road, and one at Dalplex on the inside track (that was not a long one at all). And it is working from many standpoints. I am getting my distance in (actually slightly increased distance) per week, I am enjoying the runs and most of all I am not achy, sore, in pain, hobbling around or waking up stiff. I run just fast enough to give my legs a bit of a workout (around 5 min pace or so) but not enough to cause any need for taking time off. That was a major problem with my long runs in the past. They were long enough that it meant I usually had to rest for a day or 2 in between.

As it stands, I will continue this system until running outdoors just gets too hard / not safe / not convenient. By that point I hope to have formed a good habit. I will slowly increase my mileage at a safe rate and not worry about going particularly long until my body is ready for it, probably by March or so. Of course if I know for soem reason that I won't be able to run the next day, I leave myself the option of going a little harder or a little further that day, knowing I will have a rest.

This all seems smart in my head. We will see if for once I can get into Spring in one piece, with medical need, and still have what it takes for a good hard half marathon, followed by a fast paced Duathlon season.

2011 Greenwood Duathlon - Race 6

So it was up early. Greenwood is a decent 1:45 or so away from my place (depending on traffic and speed) and the race started at 10 with a race briefing at 9:45am. The car was packed the night before to allow myself a leisurely morning of food and coffee. It is also best to just wear your race clothes, well as much as possible, to save any time you can upon arrival. This includes a pre race vintage 7 Eleven hat.

The sites on the way to the race are always fun. Hey look Llamas!

Then after what seems like a long time behind the wheel, Greenwood! (Oh I know the race officials are up even earlier than me, and maybe it is too dark for them to see the fun llamas on the way in. But thanks to them for doing it).

Anyway, that is the end of my pictures for this event, so bear with my rambling while I describe the rest of the day.

9am arrival and the weather is holding. The weatherman had said maybe showers, but so far so good. Overcast, check. Windless, check. Cool, check. All of this seemed great. Not too hot, not too sunny, no winds (at Greenwood?). But then after setting up my bike and stopping for a few chats, it started. Drop, drip, splat. The light sprinkling of rain came down. Not too bad, annoying but okay I said. Then thunder, lightening and the skies opened up. Massive downpour. The temporarily suspended racing and pulled people out of the pool (now I didn't see them actually pull anyone physically pout, but these are triathletes, so I imagine some had to be).  How odd is it to hear, " Shoes and helmets are floating away in Transition." Oh yeah, there was that much rain. Easily ankle deep in 15 minutes. But the rain let up, we got things going and we were all wet.

Thankfully they held the start for a bit while I finished getting my bike shoes and helmet and water bottle set back up in the TZ. Then it was line up, race brief (2 laps, 3 laps, 1 lap) and the horn blasted. Alan Miner told me to chase down the leader right before the start. I think he was just trying to tire me out. Little did he know that I just take off regardless. The leader (I was later told) was pretty unstoppable by anyone on the duathlon and he raced a few ITU events. Oh well, whatever. I still held with him for the first km or so, then found my proper pace and kept running. Eventually after about 3kms Alan passed me, but I stuck with him for the rest of the run a few steps back. He took a wrong turn heading into Transition so officially I beat him in the first run, though just by a second. Another sub 20 minute 5K for me. Big thanks on that go to Shane M. for holding those winter Tri Camps this year. Also I am sure my half marathon training helped a lot. I ended with a time of 19:56.

Then on to the bike. My helmet was all messed up from the rain. It was soaked and the straps were tangled. After try number 2 I got it on, put on my shoes and headed to the mount line. Then off I was for the flattest time trial you will get around here (if it weren't for that first hill at Shearwater it would be a tie). Head down, legs pumping, redline it to the end of 20km. It was great with no wind until the final lap when a bit started to pick up. I kept Alan in my sights the whole way, but he is pretty strong on the bike and I couldn't get any closer to him. It was also good to see no drafting on course. That is great on such a small course. I came into T2 with a time of 32:20 for a avg speed of 37.1km/hr. Like I said flat and windless.

I dropped off the bike, helmet and changed shoes. I was about to grab for my running hat but it was in a puddle 2 inches deep. So I decided against that. Sunglasses would have to do. Though the sun was coming out strong and I am sure it would have helped (I had switched to yellow lenses with the horrible rain and overcast conditions).   

Off I went. I could just see Alan in the distance. My legs felt okay but much slower now. I wasn't cramping like in past year or having ITBS like last year, so I couldn't complain. I just pushed through the tired and went for it. After all the second run was only going to be 2.5km. I kept pace with Alan, but his lead was too much for me. I came across a guy running in the Sprint Triathlon and paced him back to the finish. He looked miserable and needed a boost. So I chatted with him as we picked up his pace a bit. We rounded the corner for the finish and he apologized for trying to out sprint me, though I beat him to the mat. Nice try ( I had told him I was in a different race). A sprint finish is always fun. I raced the last 2.5km (including T2) in a time of 11:25 to take 3rd place overall and first in Age Group. Same as last year so I was pretty happy. I had hoped to break 1 hour, but it was not to be and a time of 1:03:40 is still nice. Still two great runs and a strong ride made me really happy for the last Duathlon until Riverport in October.

Next up? As far as multisport and TNS go, that will be Ingonish in 2 weeks time. My first Sprint distance triathlon and first swimming competition in open water. Should be fun and scary.  

2011 Cyclesmith Duathlon

So the day had come. The big Cyclesmith Duathlon. Sure I had done 2 other Dus this year, but they were short and fast (and fun) events. This was a much longer event (and fun as well - aren't they all?). This one always pushes me to my max to see what I can accomplish. A 5K run that starts out going stright up a huge hill, followed by a hill, then a bike ride of 34K that is full of hills (rollers yes, but some are quite steep), and then an off road 6K run to finish it off (no hills!!). Oh and I like hills, but that is a lot of hills.

 

Well the event (being in Nova Scotia and being held in Lawrencetown) is always weather unpredictable. Rain, fog, wind are all expected. And with the Spring we have been having lately, very expected. But it was sunny. And turns out quite hot as well (the reddish hue to my skin attests to the lovely high UV we experienced). Glad I thought to put a little sunscreen on first. And glad that my wife insists we have SPF 60 or some such silly level thing (didn't Robocop offer SPF 1000).

The field was large. It usually is for Cyclesmith's Du, but I hear there was 100 people entered in the race (There was also a Youth Du and as always the Team Competition). And of those entered, there was some serious fast people. My goal was to try and better last years time and effort. As these fields get bigger and better, a better placing isn't always possible, but I really hoped for a top 20 finish and top half of my Age Group.

In the above photo, taken right after the start horn, you can see a line of really fast guys and me. Well I managed to stay with them for about the first half km up the big first hill. Then I found my rhythm and stuck to that  It meant a few more people passed me, but not too many. After the hilly section heading away from the beach, we head back on a pretty flat trail system to T1. I had my Timex stopwatch going but I guess I forgot to hit the lap feature. Luckily the nice chips on our ankles recorded everything.

As I said I wanted to go faster than last year. And I did. Oddly running a PB 5K time of 19:40 with a pace of 3:56. My old PB 5K time was set on a flat stand alone event in Bedford 2 years ago at 19:56. Needless to say, I was happy with that. It was the 18th fastest time for that leg out of 85 people in the event.

Into T1, off with the running shoes and hat, on with the cycling shoes and helmet (always important), and away I went.

 

The ride was moderately wind free which was nice. But it always seems so extra long. Where is that 17K turn around point? Oh where is it?  I was passed by this point by a few riders and then on the way back by 1 or 2 more. But I managed to pass a few as well, so I was basically staying put in the standings. By the time I returned to the TZ I was still 18th place. I had a time (which included  T1) of 1:02 and a pace of 32.6km/hr. I think my bike computer shows a pace on the bike closer to 2km/hr faster, but it didn't care about me changing my shoes. I was hoping to be a little faster on the bike portion this year, but that first run probably sapped a little juice from my legs and my lower back started to hurt a little. Also I had to let up a bit and make sure I fell out of the draft zone of the guys who were a bit faster than me. I wasn't chancing penalties at this point.

T2 was upon me. A quick shoe change, head gear swap, swig of magic juice and I was off. My legs were spent, but to my amazement, not cramping. Yea! I was passed by one runner who stayed about 7 seconds ahead of me, just out of reach. then one more runner who blazed by me. Turns out he ended up with the fastest second run of the day. No matching that for me.

 

But I managed to hold off all other runners. Usually by this point someone speedy comes blazing by while I am halfway into the second run. This makes me sad. But this day I kept a decent pace. I even managed to track down one runner (she was part of a team, whom I beat on the first run, and was passed by on the bike portion). I ended up with a 6K run time of 28:29 including T2 for a 4:45 pace. A couple of years back I would have been happy with that pace in a stand alone event.

Final time for me was 1:50:32. I was rather close to the 2 runners ahead of me, but had no oompf in the tank to get an extra kick. I bettered last years time by 3 minutes (last years second run was a bit more difficult with a small hill but not 3 minutes more difficult), was 6th out of 20 in my Age Group (1 away from a prize), and still managed a top 20 finish in a really tough field.

Another great event and what turned out to be a rare sunny beautiful day in Lawrencetown.

Next up is Greenwood. But first a rest is in order. Perhaps my new taper system called the Hammock (if the rain lets up).

Oh and to all the animal lovers out there. I managed to avoid a slithering snake that zipped into my path on the bike. Phew. To the snake haters out there, don't read that part.

Bluenose Half Marathon - Race 3, 2011

Well I started training for extra running this winter. I reported on my increased base training, my inclusion of the long slow run and just more running in general. I did this mostly so that I could get to be a fitter runner, so that my running off the bike in duathlons would be stronger, so that I could hold my pace longer. But also I wanted to compete in my first half marathon.

I chose the Bluenose half as it was early in the season, really close to home, and heck it is a reasonably priced race. I had previously run the Bluenose 10K twice but needed a new challenge and a full marathon just wasn't what i wanted (training time ect... being too much for me).

Well training hadn't gone as well as I had hoped up until this point with a few "injuries" setting me back, so my original goal of a 1:40 time was up in the air. By race morning I had decided that following the 1:45 pace bunny would be a good idea, and possibly if I felt good enough I could try to forge out on my own at some point in the race.

Race morning arrived, I had all my race kit ready to go and of course the weather said to me that my choices may not have been a great idea. It was cold, foggy, windy, typical Bluenose I guess. Still I stuck with shorts, a bike jersey (much to Andrew Dacanay's disgust), and removable sleeves. Seriously I like running in bike jerseys. They are snug, have a zipper to open up when it gets hot, and most of all they have rear pockets. So much nicer to hold gels and food. I also chose my tried and true Brooks Dyads shoes. They have been with me for a year and were at the end of their life, but they deserved to see me through my first half. Now they are retired from running.

Well I lined up right with the two 1:45 pace bunnies and we took off right at 9:25. The early pace was erratic as we weaved through a sea of runners, but as we went past the first few km signs the overall pace was dead on 5 min per km. It felt decent so I stayed right with them.

I had 2 gels in my pockets just in case I needed them, and the rest of the plan was to take a drink at every water stop we came across. The first one was a mere 1 km into the race, but I still grabbed a drink. It is funny to jostle through a group of people to get to the right side of the road, but I managed. And I continued this practice right through to the end of the race, only avoiding the final stop (which was only about 1km or so from the end so seemed a bit silly to stop at). I also had a gel at 30 minutes and again at 1 hour. Nutrition wise I was right on.

As usual I didn't really know the course. I rarely like to know these things,it makes the run more interesting. But I had heard there was some sort of great hill in Point Pleasant Park. This would have been just past the half way point, so I was keeping my pace until at least that point. The "hill" came and I was quite disappointed. I love hills. That was a series of bumps with flat spots along the way. If it weren't for the tree branches hanging into the way that needed avoiding, I wouldn't have had much to do going up it. In fact that hardest part of the journey for me was the downhills, which were steep but short. Oh well.

By the 14th km mark (or there about), I found myself constantly pulling ahead of the pace bunnies without much work, so I figured it was time to leave the group. They had done a great job, we were right on a 5 min pace still at 1:10. So I slowly increase my pace and started to pick off a few people in front of me. This continued right until the end. Of course it was a mix of people now, both marathon and half marathon people. It felt great to pick up the pace and my legs and knees felt fine.

The rest of the race was me continually increasing my pace and picking off a few people along the way. I guess that the "easy" first 14Km really helped, as I usually kill myself at the beginning of a race, slow down int he last third, then eventually get a bit of steam back. This time it was all increase for the last third. Kind of fun actually.

The final turn down to Brunswick and the last couple of km's was fast for me. I don't have a fancy Garmin watch or anything but I know my pace was getting below 4 min per km pace. You know that pace where you have the choice to breath or swallow and lactic acid build up just keeps happening. I was there. It was great. I crossed the line at 1:42:24 (chip time or 1:42:36 gun time). I ended up 195th overall out of 1767 (I think) people in the half, and 55 out of 208 in my category. Most important, my knees never hurt, second most important I was pretty darn close to what I hoped to achieve. And I know that with a little more training I can get that time down quite a bit more.

So I awake the next morning to various aches. In the past this would be a real assortment of muscles that hurt and would be really uneven over my body. Thanks to the work down by Dr Jason Gray at Kinetesis Sports, everything hurts all nice and even, and I know helped keep me injury free for the duration. Also thanks to those Pace Bunnies (Charles Paradis and Renee MacDonald) for their great work for the first two 3rds of my half.

And it was also great seeing all the people I have come to know through running and multisport following the race. It is good to see everyone so happy to have finished and competed in these events. Makes finishing even better.

Now it is on to the rest of the multisport season. I have duatlons, and couple of triathlons on the radar this year, and maybe a couple of century rides as well. It is certainly a busy month ahead, a month of fun.

ZX Aquathlon - Race 1

So it has happened. Race 1 of my season has come and gone. this past weekend I took part in the 1st (annual?) ZX Aquathlon in Greenwood. Yes, the same Greenwood that has hosted a great early season Tri and Du for the past few years.

Now what is an Aquathlon you may ask? Much like a Duathlon is a run/bike/run event, the Aquathlon is a swim and run event. Technically run/swim/run, but as that would be hard to do in a pool situation so it was turned into a swim/run event. 750 meter swim followed by a 5K run.

Being early season I was slightly concerned about what to wear and how to get changed in transition. I mean, it is April and the weather over the last week had been as high as 15 C or more and as low as -3. we had seen rain and snow. But in the end I decided to load the car with everything just in case.

By the time I arrived the temp had warmed up to 6C or so. The sun was sort of shining and the wind was picking up. So I decided to run in my Tri top and jammers and throw on a windbreaker and toque. Luckily T1 (or T only) was indoors so that was nice.

We had enough time to do a few warm up laps in the pool. That is always nice as my heart rate starts to sky rockets at the beginning of events and as a novice swimmer that generally leads to breathing issues. A few laps back and forth and a little breathing control and things calmed down. I had a nice lane mate Mallory.

Someone yelled go, or a whistle blew or a horn sounded or something. I can't quite remember that part of the event for some reason. I just remember starting to swim. And swim. And swim. Yeah, I know only 750 meters, but for me that seemed like an all day journey.

I knew I was going to be slow and as shown in the picture above, my widely spread fingers apparently don't make me any faster. Anyway, I eventually saw the board placed in the water to indicate I had 50 meters to go. So I "picked up" the pace a bit and finished. In the end I had a swim time of 18:41, which included transition time as well. So it was actually pretty much where I thought I would be. In the end that would place me 24th out of 30 swimmers for the day. Obviously for a decent result I would have to run fast.

The whole event was pretty flat. Well generally swims are I suppose, but so was the run. Sort of.

I threw on my windbreaker, number belt, toque and sneakers (socks? nah too short of a race).

Now windbreaker is a bit of a funny word. Turns out it may be good for light breezes but this race presented slightly more than breezes. It was darn windy, from what I can tell there were gusts up to 80km/hr throwing us around. That little jackets didn't do much, though at points I think it was more of a parachute.

I ran at what i thought was a comfy 5K pace, not having really ever run after a swim. Slowly I picked off a few other swimmers, then some more, then some more (well that sounds like there may have been tons of people in the swim, but still you get the idea). By the turn around (where I was offered a cup of warm water) I had passed all I was going to an down had to work to get my time down and keep those others behind me. I also thought it may have started to rain at this point, but in fact that was sand getting whipped around by the wind. Later on that would hurt.

Finally after running up hill (okay, it was truly flat but that wind was like a huge hill it seemed), I came to the finishing straight, or wind tunnel. Yes, the wind was harder here, perfect for testing out new aero devices for your bike. Not great for a sprint finish. Still I pushed through and finished. Man that was tough. 21:50 for the 5th fastest run time and only 2 1/2 minutes shy of our speedy Italian friend Gianluca. I was happy, and that wind probably meant I had more speed to give, nice.

So after all was said and done I pulled myself up from 24th to 14th. I thought at best I would be under 42 minutes in total, and I managed a 40:31. Now bring on the open water! (eek). Actually next up, Du-It-For-Shelter. Sign up now for a great race. Again, mostly flat, all fast.

Oh, when I mentioned the sand storm thing hurt later. Well it put lots of nice sand in my shoes, and as I had no socks on, I ended up with many fun abrasions. Today brings painful steps to me. Ouch.

It's March, Ian. How's that Base Training?

Well here are. March is well underway and the race season is upon us (well for some anyway). I personally have no races planned for the next bit (though one can always jump into something if the right opportunity arises) and my main focus right now is prepping for the Bluenose Half Marathon.

Yes, I have signed up for the Bluenose Half and I hope to do well in it. Doing the half (even though I am not a runner, I swear) has been mostly about making sure that my running is truly up to snuff for the Du and Tri season. I mean normally my winter running is at best small 4-5K jaunts. But with most of my running being 5K placeholders before I get on my bike and have some fun, it was easy to justify the small amount of base training in the past. Well no longer as I have to get ready for that half. I have already put close to 200Km of outdoor running in.

But the most exciting thing has happened. Last Fall Shane MacLeod told us at the Provincial Training Center event that doing a lot of long slow running will make you run faster. So I started doing that and kept it up fairly well all winter long. Those 4-5K occasional runs became 8-10 K runs at least 3 times a week. And now that the snow and ice are melting away they will become even longer. And what has this meant? Well I have been running with a Heart Rate Monitor and keeping track of my "Zones" and while my heart rate stays pretty much the same (okay it goes up when I cruise up some hills sometimes) my speed is increasing.

How much Ian? Well I started with a modest 5:15 training pace and now it is easily a 4:30 pace. We are talking my race pace from normal years, in March. This is months before my season will start. And soon my harder training will begin.

Does this mean I may be able to actually break that 40 minute 10K barrier? Maybe. The elusive 20 minute 5K? Well I have done that before but I think I can do that much more easily now, and by more than  a few seconds. But really I hope it means I get off that bike in the Dus and take off with happy fresh legs that i didn't burn out on the first run. Oh how I hope.

The 2010 Sporting Year in Review - Part 1 - Running

Well earlier this year I laid out my goals for the year, at least as far as my sporting life is concerned. I thought by doing so it would help me to plan the year better and also force me not to be too lazy. Well, this didn't go exactly as I planned.

My biggest issue was an unplanned injury. Of course no injuries are planned, but I really didn't see this one coming at all. One day fine, the next down for the count. My left leg went and let me down. My IT Band was tight, my knee was sore and my ankle seized. All the muscles in the leg were working against me, preventing any running from happening. This I already wrote about. Anyway, I stopped running and pretty much stopped cycling for awhile. I swam a bit, but even kicking my leg for the breast stroke hurt.

My first planned race was the 5K Lung Run. Instead I watched it as my wife ran. I was glad to see her do so well. My next was to be the Bluenose. This race I had paid for well in advance and I just decided to run the blasted thing anyway, taking it easy and enjoying it as best I could. I ran slowly and managed to pull off a time a minute faster than the year before. Not the 42 minute time i hoped for but still, an improvement.

Some more rest, some stretching and the Duathlon season was upon me. I'll cover it that in another post, but needless to say I ran through that.

It seems running fast kept the pain at bay. The only time the pain came in was near the end of the runs as I slowed due to fatigue and my form started to fail. Eventually I got a new pair of shoes (thanks Aerobics First for all the help) and some great medical help (thanks Dr Jason Gray) and my leg found some strength.

My next race was the Bedford 5K. Same result as last year, 7th place, with a slightly slower time. But the run felt good. It was really humid day and all the times were slower. So I didn't feel so bad. Finally I was able to run again and train again.

At this point I didn't really have a specific race to look forward to but continued to train for further duathlons. I had hoped (as I mentioned in my goals) to do 3 stand alone running events this year. The opportunity did arise as it turns out.

I was lucky to be invited to join a Rum Runners team, Runningmania.com. My leg was to be Leg 7, a 10.7K hilly route from Hubbards to East Chester. It was my first foray into the world of relay running. And I had a blast. Not only did I have a fun day spent with great friends, but I blazed through my route to a 7th place finish, in a time that would shame my best 10K run but almost a minute. For me this showed that I was back, I could run again. My disappointments from earlier in the year were erased.

What have I learned from 2010? Don't fret when an injury happens. Find a solution to the problem and get it fixed. I learned that proper running footwear is essential and having a knowledgeable person help you get that information is key. A proper strength training and stretching regime is essential, especially as we get older, to help prevent and eliminate injuries.  Oh and have fun, enjoy the run.

I have already started to up my training for next year. It is time to get those base miles in (kilometers I guess). Though I never fancied myself a distance runner, I do plan on training for the Bluenose Half Marathon next year. I figure this will be a great source of run training for my attempt at improving my duathlon and triathlon run times. Some endurance never hurt. I am sure I will talk more about this as the next season starts.

What's Next 2010

So I am sitting in Porter's Lounge at the Toronto Island Airport drinking my 3rd cappuccino in less than 30 minutes (seriously they are pretty darn good) and I thought, might as well update the blog as I haven't written in a few weeks. Part of that is due to the travel I have done (San Fra, Colorado, now Toronto) since finishing my last event (Riverport Du). Part of it is due to me not actually knowing what my next step is on my list of sporting goals.

I know I promised to look back at my proposed goals of 2010 after my events were done and I will. But I don't know yet if the year is over. So that can wait. (Sneak preview, I think I achieved much of what I wanted to, despite my injury).

Well what is next. There is a cyclocross series put on in Halifax starting this weekend. I have really wanted to tackle this sport over the last few years but haven't had the time. This year i seem to have the time but I lack a couple of important things. One is a suitable bike. I bought a new bike and had hoped I could convert my old road bike to a wide tired cyclocross machine. But alas that just isn't a possibility. And my "Mountain" bike has long since been dumbed down to a commuter bike. Even it would require at a minimum new tires to compete. And that means cash.

The second issue is that my leg is still not 100%. Sure the pain while competing is gone, but there is a slight discomfort, which has not been helped by sitting on so many airplanes this past while. And I really fear that cyclocross' demands might just push me back into the realm of pain.

So it looks like another year goes by with cyclocross for me. I will survive though. In fact since taking a runner's strengthening course this fall I have been toying with the idea of finally running further than 10K in races. I think that next year it is time to tackle a half marathon. My reason for this is twofold. One, I want to get faster at short distance races and the extra endurance I will get from longer distance training will hopefully help that. And 2, I can't possibly win short distance races, so I need a new challenge. While winning a half marathon isn't going to happen either at least I can challenge myself to something new.

So that is where my mind is right now. I will continue riding and swimming as often as possible, and increasing my running (slowly this time to avoid injuries). And I will continue to drink cappuccinos while I wait patiently for my airplane to arrive. Two more and I will possibly rethink doing cyclocross, ha ha.

Rum Running - A little something new

Okay, so a pure running race isn't something entirely new to me. I have been entering a few of those the past couple of years. To be accurate, I think I have entered a grand total of 5. So while I am not a "runner" per se, I am not a total newb.

Running is also not my favorite sporting event. That is probably because it isn't my strongest sport. When coupled with cycling though I find it makes for a dandy weekend bit of fun.

But I got the call from my friend Ian M. He said his relay team for the Rum Runners event was down a few members due to injury. So I stepped up and decided to take on a leg. This is my first time in a team style event like this that takes place as an all day event over numerous legs. It certainly does sound like fun and the distances offered for most legs fit within my skill level.

I am by no means a long distance runner. I have never run more than 12K, and that was one day this past winter when I was out for a training run. I am more used to 10K and 5K events. So a distance of 10.2K for Leg 6 of the Rum Runners sounded just about right.

I will be travelling with Mike M and his boys for most of the day (he is running Leg 4) and hanging out with the rest of the team and probably others whom I have met over the past couple of years since taking up running and triathlon / duathlon.

There is a virtual TNS (Tri Nova Scotia) Rum Runners team being put together by Andrew D as a  fun sort of what if scenario. I gotta say that it is this sort of fun that made me not regret leaving the world of pure cycling. Runners just seem to have fun and so many of the TNS members seem to be runners at heart. Who knows maybe I will head towards more running events in the future as well.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves. First things first, get this event out of the way, have fun and sleep in on Sunday.

Ian's 2010 Sporting Goals - Running

Well I never write this stuff down. I always sort of dream stuff up in my head that morphs and changes as the year goes on. But everything I read says, "start with goals," write them down and achieve them. So what the heck, I think I will write these things down and see what I can do to achieve them as the year goes on.

Rather than one really large and annoying to read super post, e I will make this into a multiple posts over the next little while and will start with my running goals for the coming year.

Last year was the first year I actually did any serious running. And I will be the first to admit that my motivation for training in running is rather low as I would so much rather jump on the bike and ride, or even sleep on the sofa. But with little training and a cheap pair of running shoes I managed some (to me) impressive results last year, starting with the Bluenose Marathon's 10K race. I had planned to run that beast in 50 minutes last year and managed 48 minutes having never run 10K in training (I know, I know). This year I have some training under my belt, an 11K training route and a much nicer pair of shoes. Not to mention I have already started training months ahead of last year. So I expect bigger and better things from me. So here we go.

Bluenose 10K. I need a top 100 finish (last year 165th) and a minimum finishing time of 45 minutes (last year 48:43). The ideal result will be a PB, which for me in the 10K is 43:40 (set in Beford on a cold, rainy autumn day). I have already signed up for this event.

I also look to better my 5K PB. I only ran one 5K race last year in Bedford on Bedford Days. I look to do this race again this year and beat my time of 19:30 (ish) and better my 5th place finish.

I want to run in at least 3 stand alone running events this year, more if my time allows. With the sporting season seeming so far away, I will plan on doing The Credit Union Atlantic Lung Run 5K in April. This moves the season up and gets me training and thinking about the season much earlier. And to keep my training and motivation in the world of running at a high, I will look to find events that are in summer and autumn.

Next post: Cycling

2009 Cyclesmith Duathlon

 

Well the first Duathlon is over. What an event. The weather was great (warm, cool breeze, sun shinning), the turn out was great (over a hundred people in the overall standings), and the volunteers and course workers were super helpful.

I pushed through the first run, getting a personal best on a 5 KM run, then flew through the cycling section of the course (34KM), finishing with a cramped filled 6KM run at the end (I pushed through the cramps early and finished strong).

I didn't manage to beat 2 hours like I hoped to, but I got close with 2 hours 3 minutes. I ended 42 overall, 11/20 for my age group. Not a bad start. My cycling, oddly, was the part that let me down the most. I could only manage 30.7 KM/H over the course. I really need to get training on the bike more I guess, though my running is still not as great as it could be either (but getting better all the time).

Anyway, next event is this weekend. Hopefully I have enough recovery time, though this event is shorter which means I will be able to push even harder for a good result.

Bluenose 10K Results Are In

Well what a race. 1903 people registered to run the 10K race at the Bluenose Marathon. I started as close to the front as possible to avoid all the squished slow start that was to befall the other racers. In fact I was one of the first couple of people across the line.

I tried to pace myself for the long run as this was my first real race. So I took it in stride (no pun) when people were passing me. And even though it was wet and cool I always grabbed the water or Gatorade from the feeding stations. The only incident I had was when a racer jumped in front of me to grab some water. I had to push off of him to avoid a pile up. Odd as there was no one else around so he could have easily avoided me.

Anyway the race was great. I hurt most of the way but held in for a pace that was faster than I had been practicing. I hoped to get under 50 minutes and I did with a 48:43.1 and finished 165th overall (pace of 4:53 km/minute). 32/181 in my category (men aged 30-39).

All in all a great weekend at the event, starting with a trade show, pasta village, after race food and friends, plus meeting all sorts of interesting people. Anyone not having been before and who may even think they would like to try the 5K should definitely give it a go.

Oh and congrats to my wife who did her first major sporting event with the 5K run. She bested her projected goal and came in under 35 minutes!!! Plus she only started running less than a year ago. Look out next year for her!

Ian's Switch in Summertime Activities

Okay, so for the past few years I have been all about racing my bike in the local road racing series through Bicycles Nova Scotia. Due to many factors this year I have decided to take on a new challenge. That being Duathlons. So for those that don't know that is a run - bike - run race. Normally hosted by the same people that do triathlons, but without the swimming (which I am horrible at). Anyway, I did one of these last year and fell in love with the sport and the organization that hosted the race ( I think there was an older post about that in the archives).

So that is my plan, along with maybe some running races as well (I did enter the 10K Bluenose Race this May in Halifax). I will keep you updated on results and my impressions of the sport as I go along. Here's hoping for a fun summer of run - bike - run for me.