The 2010 Sporting Year in Review - Part 2 - Cycling

Okay, looking back on my cycling goals show that I pretty much accomplished what I wanted to do on the bike. I had no real competitions in mind this year, as far as just cycling goes, so it was pretty easy. I got loads of distance in and had some fun as well.

My major goal was to do a century ride this year. I did a proper 100 mile ride this past August in the Valley. The Middleton Century ride is a great event and I suggest anyone who is contemplating such a long ride to go try this one. The only issue is heat. August and the Valley make for a warm day. But with rest stops each 25kms it wasn't too hard to get through. This year was better than last year which itself was really nice. You get a route map and the corners are all well marked with spray paint.

I also managed to get a metric century in thanks to the Heartland Tour. A ride from the Halifax Commons to Peggy's Cove and back for me was 110km or so. Very nice. Yeah, I tried to to push the pace. Yeah it was fun for most of the ride. But the end was killer and I just collapsed. Still a nice day.

I also wanted to get group rides in. I actually got fewer of these than I had hoped. But things come up, people don't get out or get out at times you can't work with. But this is more of a constant goal in life and therefore I will always be looking forward to rides with friends. And now that my wife has found cycling to be enjoyable I see some great trail rides with people as a real possibility.

My injury didn't prevent my cycling very much this year, which is a good thing. Perhaps my cycling didn't help my injury? I don't know but what is passed is past.

Next season? Same old goals. Long endurance rides, group rides, family rides, a century or two. All good fun. Yeah, sure I train hard for my multisport events, but that is a different kettle of fish (and it is hard to get a fish in a kettle).

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.

Movember 2010

This Movember, the month formerly known as November I’ve decided to donate my face to raising awareness about prostate cancer.  My donation and commitment is the growth of a moustache for the entire month of Movember, which I know will generate conversation, controversy and laughter.

I’m doing this because 4,400 men die of prostate cancer in Canada each year and one in six men will be diagnosed during his lifetime.
This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to Prostate Cancer Canada.

To help, you can either:

*  Click this link http://ca.movember.com/mospace/207895/ and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account
* Write a cheque payable to Prostate Cancer Canada, referencing my name or Registration Number 207895 and mailing it to: Prostate Cancer Canada, Suite 306 145 Front Street East, Toronto, ON M5A 1E3, Canada.  

All donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit: http://ca.movemberfoundation.com/research-and-programs.

Thank you in advance for helping me to support men’s health. If you are already my Facebook friend then follow my journey of face hair online http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=243410&id=634161945

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.

Riverport Duathlon - Race Recap - Final Du of 2010

Well the final (at least as far as I know) local Duathlon of 2010 has come and gone. The ever popular Riverport Duathlon occurred this past weekend and saw a record number of entrants. In the classic Du (4K run, 28K bike, 4K run) 92 racers took to the start line.

This was to be my "A" race of the year. The one I really wanted to accomplish big things in. Sure I love the other Du's as well, not to mention the running races and other events I did this year, but Riverport was my first step into Multisports over 2 years ago and thus hold s a little something special for me.

So I had a plan going into this race. And not just my standard go really fast plan. Well, okay, maybe that was my plan. But go really fast and pay attention to what I was doing. The past two years have seen me run the first section in an okay time, then bike really hard, then collapse in a pile of cramping pain on the second run, only to see 20-30 people pass me by. Not this year by golly, I needed to stay focused and run smartly.

So I lined up right at the front this year for Run1. No hiding in the back only to be stuck behind people while I found my legs. No way. The command to start went off and away I ran. I started with a good pace, seriously hoping I could run with a 4:00 minute/K pace. This was just 4K after all and I managed a 4:19 pace last weekend over 10.7K. Well things were looking good. I hit the 2K turn around at about 8:05. So not too far off and with the front runners (well within visual contact anyway). But I slowed a bit after that and came into T1 with a total time of 17:01 for a 4:16 pace. I was sad to see that I was actually 3 seconds slower than last year but way faster than my time 2 years ago of 18:47. Anyway, I donned my helmet, changed my shoes and grabbed my bike and onto the bike course I went.

I came into T1 in 13th place. For me that is a great result. My running, while better this year, still lacks. Now it was time to put the hammer down and gain some ground over those behind me.

Well that worked only so well, as a few racers actually passed me near the beginning of the ride. Still I was focused and began my 28K ride. This ride is coastal, so that means rollers or a series of rolling hills. I don't mind these as you can get some decent speed going. Plus the wind was low this year (and it wasn't a torrential down pour like last year) so I managed a good bit of speed. Then came the Grim Road.

So the Grimm Road is a series of short steepish climbs in succession over 7 or 8k. You can generally spin up the beginning and then hammer near the top of each without too much work. I was starting to tire of these I must say near the end, but made it through without having any other riders come past me (note to self, more hill climbing work next year). Then it was on to the final section of this triangular course. A mere 10K to go (there abouts) on the bike.

The road was rather rough and bumpy. In anticipation, I dropped the tire pressure on my bike down to about 100psi. This seemed to help make the ride less severe, though in the end I wonder if that helped or hindered my overall speed, especially during the climbs. The bumpiness of the road lead to much Gatorade being splashed from my aerodrink bottle onto me and my bike. Yum. But on I pushed, until with about 6K to go another cyclist finally caught and passed me. I let him get to the non drafting distance ahead of me and then paced off of him. Perhaps I had started to mentally drift on the ride? I don't know but I managed to pickup my pace to keep him in sight and not let me pull away too far.

So we entered T2 pretty much together, my new adversary and I. My offcial Bike and T1 combined tiem show as 48:51 for a 34.4 k/hr avg speed. This is down a touch from the 34.7 k/hr of last years event but I was attempting to save a little for the final run.

My T2 went fairly well. I racked the bike, took off my shoes, got my sneakers on, and took off my helmet. Then onto the final run. We were warned about the fact that we needed to cross the street to get to the proper side of the road and that cars could be an issue. Luckily for me it wasn't and I was right behind my new foe, who had a T2 which was a few seconds worse than mine.

And so it began. Remember, I wanted a good second run. The kind were when you look back on the results you can't say, dang if only. My 2 previous years read like that. Poor times, loads of people passing me. Yuck. But now I was on a mission. And I was right behind my nemesis of the day. And my calves started to cramp and scream and yell. Ah memories of the other years already.

In the past I kept running but slowed right down to work things out. I have also taken the time in the past to stretch. But this year I was thinking of one thing only. Jens Voigt and his little video I had seen online. To paraphrase him,"Shut up Body and do what I tell you" (in a nice German accent). I yelled at my legs (though I kept it all nice and inside so as not to give away my pain to my competitor) and they responded with a "we give up." I sped past #1476 and kept going. Speed would be my friend along with a long stride.

(okay so that doesn't really show a nice long stride does it)

I pushed through and it was actually a long time before I finally saw the leaders pass me going back to the finish. I was probably close to 2K in when this happened. And I even saw others in the distance (though not at all close enough to catch). I pushed some more and got to the 2K turn around, grabbed some water and headed back. This was the first time I got to see who was behind me, as I had not even dared look back during previous to this. I now had a sizable lead over the next runner, who was no longer #1476 but a new foe. So I pushed on. This new guy was obviously a fast runner who had come from way back on the bike and was pushing through the field. I couldn't let him pass me.

I ran a little faster and finally go to the 0.5K to go spot (or the turn around for the Do a Du peeps). I didn't look back. I pushed on a bit more and Shawn A. (who was cooling down from having just finished) encouraged me on and said he saw no one behind me. But I needed to have a good time (for series points) and therefore I couldn't slow down. Plus I always finish with a sprint. So I couldn't do less this time. I rounded the last corner and put the power down, blowing through the finish line 14th overall, 4/21 in my age group and with a time of 1:25:37, over 2 minutes faster than last year and 11 places higher. Oh yeah.

Riverport is a great race also as there is a big sit down meal of chili and apple crisp post race. Sure there are prize draws as well, but it is the food I wanted. And it didn't disappoint at all. 

So thanks to the Bridgewater Tri Club for a great event again. Thanks weather fro being nice for a change. And thanks to those that read this silly report for paying attention. I will be doing a season long results post soon, seeing how my expectations for the year actually help up.

Rum Runners Relay - Race Recap

Well it happened this past weekend. I joined up with a relay style running team. No not the baton carrying kind that runs in circles. The kind that races all day over an insane distance, approx. 10K at a time.

The team I joined was Runningmania.com and the race was the historic Nova Scotian Rum Runners Relay.

I was pegged to do Leg 6 for this team of people who just like to run, and whose moto is have fun first. Due to injuries and last minute things, I was asked to join in by a couple of my friends (Mike and Ian) who were already on the team.

Leg 6 starts in Hubbards at the Yacht Club which is down a short but really steep hill (see above). When the starter said go off I went, zipping up that hill like a fool possessed. Luckily all that strength training I have been doing lately paid off and the hill meant nothing to me. While I took the lead of the race early, that lasted for a mere 0.5 kms or so when I was easily passed by Parker V (see guy next to me in above photo as well). This followed a few more people eventually passing me.

But I was smart and kept to my pace. I assumed that was going to be a 4:45 or maybe a 4:30 at best for this distance (oh by the way it was 10.7 K). That seemed like something I could do. But I also wanted to stay within my Team number (#16) as that was a little challenge some of my team mates had. Eventually when the 8th runner passed me I decided not to let him get away. I pushed a little harder and fell in line with him.

See above for how I actually matched this guys footsteps for the longest time to make sure I matched his pace. That seemed to work as I followed him for probably 5 kms before I finally saw the finish line. The finish was down hill. At a certain point my muscles started to yell at my brain that they were very excited and needed to go faster. My brain said, hey wait a minute we need to play this smart and not go charging too soon. Seconds later my brain gave up as I charged ahead into my horrifying downhill sprint. Sadly I seemed to have very little control of my speed as I approached what I assumed was a slight turn off the road. But alas it as a 90 degree turn downhill and a probably 50 meters to the finish line from the turn. I was way out of control, made the turn barely and sped through the finish line for a total time of 46:13 and a pace well above expectations at 4:19. Oh and it turns out the guy behind me never picked up his pace. I practically killed myself, though judging from some pictures I saw I did so with flair and a stunning 8th place finish out of 60 entrants.

The rest of the day was spent watching the other runners take off and finish and cheering them on. Thanks to Mike and his boys we had a blast riding, taking photos and playing the vuvuzela all day.

Congrats to the other runningmania.com team members who all ran wonderfully. We finished the day in 34th place overall out of 60 teams. Great stuff.

Oh and as I like to try new things before any given race, my new socks performed great.

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.