New Shoes - Tis the Season

Alright, so this is a picture of my new shoe, though one I stole from a website. Mine looks just like it, I swear. The New balance 880.

Last year I had a great time getting used to New Balance 759's. They were a great shoe. Moderately light weight for a trainer, with just the right amount of cushion and support I needed. Then I was transitioning from a Brooks Dyad shoe, which is a giant huge clompy beast with tons of support, but was the shoe I needed after injuring my leg.

As any good company does, New Balance changed the name of its shoe from the 759 to the 880. A natural transition, I guess. Luckily the people at Aerobics First in Halifax new the new names (if they didn't they would be very good at selling shoes I guess).

I new it was time to get new shoes as my old ones had seen far too many miles (kilometers) and I was getting some nagging sore spots in my lower legs that hadn't been there before. I am also in that time of year where I am trying to get as many base miles (kilometers) as possible, prior to the sow falling and making outdoor running slippery and less fun. Sure I will still run outside during the winter, but my local routes are severely shortened.

Well into Aerobics 1st I went this past weekend and met up with Luke MacDonald. One look at my old shoes and he knew I was due. We tried on the 880's and I went for a little run outdoors. I was amazed at how different new shoes felt. You get used to the old ones and don't realize just how worn they are. But this run back and forth on the sidewalk didn't hurt a bit. Sold.

But Luke wanted me to try the 890's. Similar shoe but with less of a heel. This is a shoe headed towards the realm of minimalist. Still it offers some support and cushioning. But I was amazed. All of a sudden it hurt to run again. The shoe felt great, until I went out door. With my current aches and pains, this was not going to work. And as I am ramping into heavily mileage (kilomereatage?) season, a mew style of shoe was not going to cut it. Maybe one day, but not now.

Anyway, I can't wait to get these babies out and some decent runs in. Last week I manged a 21 K run, a 5K run, and a 15 K run. It was the last one that showed how worn out my shoes were and I think now I will take a few days off prior to another run. But I look forward to running without the aches in these new guys.

Moral of the story?  Get your old runners checked out and pay attention to  your legs.

2011 Tri NS Awards

Well we had a great awards banquet to close out the season for Triathlon Nova Scotia. Another tasty feast of lasagna, followed by coffee and cake, and a great presentation by sports psychologist Dr Savoy on the use of imagery in helping to reach your goals.

And the photo above? Well that was my Age Group award for being number one in the men aged 35-39 category for duathlons. The top three in each group get a mug, but the jelly beans are the bonus for those of us in the number 1 spot.

There was some great tough competition this past season, and a lot of new faces for duathlon, which is always great. Hopefully next season sees the same growth in the sport.

So what does the off season bring for me? Well a little rest, but right back into training. Cycling usually falls to the level of bike commuting for me come the winter, but running and swimming will be stepping up. Especially swimming, as I make the move to claim a top three age group prize in triathlons next year. Of course the duathlons will still be my favorite.

See you at the races, or maybe running the road. Let me know if you need a running partner on a cold day.

Running for Fun

Well, I typed running for fun into Google images and this picture came up.

I don't know if bees in fact do like to run or not, but this fella sure is happy, and look at that stride.

As this past sporting season was wearing down, so was I. My joints weren't feeling peppy any more, my shoulders were dying, and my love of the run was waning. I ended with great runs at both the Riverport Duathlon and Rum Runners, where I ran PB's that were leaps and bounds above my norm. Afterwards I did a few more runs using this beast:
  

I bought my first Garmin this Fall after having used one for the first time at Rum Runners. It was great at helping me pace through the run, so I knew I had to bite the bullet and buy one (they are quite reasonably priced right now). Of course this meant that even though my competitive season was done, my training runs following this purchase were probably a bit too hard, but who could resist with all that data flashing in my eyes.

Still I finally just lost the urge. As I mentioned, things hurt, sleep wasn't great, and my desire to run was lost. I still enjoyed cycling and swimming was also fun, but running? Meh.

So the other day I ran to work. It wasn't the first time I did that, but it was the first time I didn't care how fast I ran and how quickly I got to work. Turns out it was fun. I even wore the Garmin but didn't look at it until I was done.  A few runs later and I caught the bug again.

No more coming in after a run exhausted. Instead the last few runs I have done have left me happy, exhilarated and peppy. And low an behold, sleep is better and things don't hurt as much.

So it is back to base training for me. Long slow runs will be the norm until next season comes along. This should give me loads of time to reconnect with the spirit of running and not worry about the numbers. Oh of course I will keep using my new toy, the Garmin 305, but more as a way to track what I did, not what I am doing.

See you out there. And watch out next year. A healthy Ian will be a fast one.

2011 Riverport Duathlon

Well here we go. The final race of the Triathlon Nova Scotia 2011 season was upon us last weekend. And the weekend started with a bang by having a huge storm come up the coast and soak us with heavy rain. My wife and I decided to make a little vacation this year instead of the usual, get up super early and drive to Riverport on the Sunday routine. So we decided to go to Lunenburg, drive around, have some good meals and stay in town for the evening. That turned out to be really a great idea as I didn't have more than  20 minute drive to the race that morning, and therefore could sleep in a bit.

Now Riverport is always one of my favorite races. It is the first Duathlon  I ever took part in a few years back. And each year has always brought me a little more success. I remember my first race here and my complete lack of any running ability, coupled with no actual running shoes. Ah the fun.

Well race day morning brought more rain. I arrived early at the community hall where the race would start (a departure from the school it had been at most years). We were old space would be limited so early I didn't want to miss out on a prime bike rack spot.

Well after everyone was signed in and the race meeting took place, we headed out to the wet start to get ready to go. It was at this point where the bike rack my bike was on decided to collapse. It was a little crazy at the time but a temporary solution was made and the race started.

This Duathlon starts with a 4 km run that is dead flat. So I knew I had to hold nothing back on the short trip. I took off with the leaders on what was a hard but comfortable pace. I am horrible with judging distances though and the halfway point always seems to take forever to get to. But finally I got there, made the turn and headed back to the start / T1. At this point I was in 9th place overall and feeling pretty good. I came running into T1 with a time of 15:28 for a 3:52 pace.

Now the great thing about a Duathlon is the relatively fast transition times, since all you really need to do is change your shoes and head gear. But coming into this T1 I was unsure what had happened to the broken bike rack they were fixing when the race started. Well I found my spot, got my helmet and shoes on, grabbed my bike and thanked Ron. Ron was holding the end of the rack up for everyone. It was very kind of him. And thankfully that piece of the rack only had 3 or 4 carbon fiber bikes anyway. Still it was funny to see.

Off I went on the bike. And I was riding quite well, keeping my pace steady and hanging back on one rider ahead of me, just out of the draft zone. I suppose I could have pushed through, but that would have been silly as we were only a couple of kilometers into the race by this point. We both eventually got passed by one rider. Then came the Grimm Rd.

Now this hill seems to terrify people. I like it. The road is a series of smaller climbs and if you hit each just right you can zoom  right up them. I took this as my opportunity to pass the rider ahead of me. And off I went. Now part way down this road another cyclist caught me and started to make a pass, so I did the right thing and lifted for a second and off he went. But right on his wheel was another rider. Man I hate drafting. And I really hate blatant drafting. And this guy drafted for most of the rest of the ride as I watched from a safe distance back. It is really hard to watch though, when the people in question should know better. Anyway, I can't do anything about that now.

I rode my ride and by the end, the road is a slight downhill for the last few kilometers before T2. So I made sure to not lose too much time and I don't think I went below 45km/hr at this point. 

Coming into T2, I was a little confused about the dismount line as there was none (rain and all). I ended up dismounting twice I think. And then I was a little confused to see my rack was missing. But as I crossed the timing Ron was there to take my bike from me.

Thanks again Ron. It felt like I was a Pro at an huge event with all sorts of helpers. Well it at least felt confusing anyway. Time coming into T2 was 48:09 over the 28 (ish) kilometer course including T1 for an average bike speed of 34.9 km/hr. Not bad at all on this wet and windy day.


T2 was really just my shoes, which were un neatly in a pile on the ground mixed with other people's shoes and helmets. But I don't think I wasted too much time getting things sorted out.

Then off I went. Just a simple flat 4 km to go. In fact the same 4 km I already ran not that long ago.  Now between the cold and wet and the just finished bike ride, my feet were oddly slightly numb at the beginning of the run. It was a strange sensation but I pushed through. And my calves were screaming. But I pushed through. I managed to pass one guy who had a great bike ride but was feeling it on the second run. And I skipped the water stop (unusual for me) as I think I was getting plenty of fluid from the sky.

I end of the race was finally around the corner. I picked up the pace and sprinted to the finish (as I usually try to do), crossing toe to toe with another runner. A good run down for sure. Add in T2 time and I managed a 17:33 overall for the last run and a 4:24 pace. Not bad, but I will work on that for next year.

In the end I was scored in 11th place overall and 3rd out of 19 in my age group. Another increase in position from last year where I was scored 14th. My overall time was also better. A 1:21:10 this year versus some 3 minutes slower last year (with an altered course). I look to go south of 1:20 next season. A fine result and still room for improvement. And a fine way to cap off the year.

I think I am done racing this year. Anything else will be spur of the moment. Training will begin for next season after a small break (like this week I think). And I will do a summary of my racing accomplishments in an upcoming blog post. Oh and I have a Garmin 305 on the way. Maybe I will write about that as well. Hmmm. Take care racers and non racers.

Rum Runners 2011 - Here We Go Again

So last year was my first taste of the relay running / long distance style of race. I was an alternate for Runningmania.com. I must say I rather enjoyed last year and Leg 6 of the race where I placed in the top ten and had a personal best time for the distance I ran (10.7 km).

This year I was a full fledged team member due to my running the year before and I was ready. When asked which legs I might want to do, I requested first and foremost Leg 9. I was offered it the year before but was intimidated by he extra distance of 12.6 km, having never really run ore than 10km before. But this year I had already completed a half marathon and numerous training runs well over 13 kms. So I figured I could compete.

My main goal was to beat 1 hour, having run a best practice time of 1 hour and 5 minutes. But that was practice and the excitement of race day always speeds one up. Also Ian McGrath was kind enough to lend me his Garmin 305 for my Leg, which was going to help me with pacing. Side note, that thing was awesome and I now must buy one.

The day had been going very well. Our runners were doing great jobs in their legs, and even though our main goal is fun first, it is nice to give it your all on the day. We had a number of new teammates who all succeeded in conquering their Legs of the relay, even though the weather went from blah to blaher.

The day started with fog and humidity for Ian McGrath in the dark (nice) and right before my Leg was a downpour. I stayed dry inside Mike Milloy's van while waiting for him to finish Leg 8 as I didn't want to be soaked before I ran. And waiting helped. Just as they called us to the start line at 4:15 PM, the rain let up leaving only a thick humid mist.

I said before that I wanted Leg 9 as my first choice this year. Partly I liked the distance, but mostly I liked the fact that you finish coming into Mahone Bay and it is a darn pretty way to finish any run. Also this meant I actually would know the end of the run pretty well, having traveled there numerous times.

So the start came about on time (as usual in this event), I hit start on the Garmin and began signing Don't Stop Believin' in my head (as the beat was just right for me).  I stayed with the first few runners for the first kilometer or so and kept them in site for the first 2 kilometers or so. This was nice as they were impressive runners.

Now normally I go out as fast or faster than the leaders, but then slow down and get caught up, then find a rhythm, then finish the race really fast. So I was happy to have the use of the Garmin to keep me in check. I wanted to keep a pace of 4:30 min/km and this beast would tell me exactly how I was doing. This would get me well under 1 hour for the race at about 58 minutes or so.

About 2-3 minutes into the race as the leaders were pulling away I was stuck behind a guy and our pace was 4:18. I felt good and made the bold move to pass him even though we were well ahead of my goal pace. But then, I am stupid that way. It just felt slow at that point and I wanted to hit a comfortable stride. I stopped looking at the Garmin and ran at a decent pace.

Awhile later I looked down and saw my pace was anywhere from 4:08 to 4:18 and I was still feeling good 20 minutes in. I knew only 5 people were ahead of me as well and one runner was maybe 100 meters ahead. He would end up staying there for almost the entire race.

The run felt great and only once did I look down and see my pace had drifted far from where I wanted to be. So the Garmin really helped and I was able to get back to the low 4's and away from almost a 5 min pace. I must have really put some distance the people behind me as well, as I didn't here anyone being cheered for after I passed the jubilant fans on the the road  side as the water stops. This Leg was also very up and down with little rollers, which I run through very well. This probably helped me put some distance on those behind me.

Finally I rounded a corner on the road and saw those famous churches of Mahone Bay and I knew I was but a couple of kilometers away from the finish. I picked the pace up a bit in this downhill section to try and catch up to the runner ahead of me as well. I had avoided doing this earlier in the race as I was afraid pushing my pace would lead to me running out of steam too early and allow those behind me to pass. I would have rather stayed 6th than end up 10th. But now I knew I had a little reserve.

It would seem though that I was only slightly faster and the gap was not really closing down any. So I kept running, though the on coming cramps in my ribs. But just as I was set to accept a well raced 6th with a great time, I found a little more speed and caught right up with Chris Smith. I paced right in behind him, having to slow myself to do so to see if he had anything left in the tank. He didn't respond, and with a 150 meters or so to go, I took off. I didn't look back but kept running hard and fast and made the finish in a time of 52:39 for an average pace of 4:11 min/km. Thank you Garmin and Ian for the push to get me up there.

Needless to say I was extremely happy with the result and 5th pace overall in the Leg. I had beat my set goal by over 5 minutes, which in itself was probably 7 minutes faster or so that I had done in practice. And I was also extremely impressed with our team placing, coming in 21 overall (out of 60) with an average pace of 4:57 min/km. Way to go team.

Here is looking to next year.

Shubie Doobie Tri 2011

Well here we were, early Sunday, Dartmouth, and tons of fog. Wow, Shubie Park was truly fogged in. I headed to the beach to see the water and I could barely see 10 feet. Needless to say, the Shubie Dooby Triathlon was going to be a little late starting.

Still I arrived at the Tri early to grab a nice spot in transition and have a chance to relax. This was, after all, my second open water swim Triathlon and my first was a few months ago in Ingonish. After setting up my bike, I decided to slip into my wetsuit and go jump in the lake.

Having been here the day before, I knew the water was going to be warm. And it truly was. The previous day it was 22C and I doubt it had cooled much over night. So getting in was rather easy. And it helped me settle the nerves a bit. Also the wetsuit was rather nice to have on me as I was standing in the cold, waiting for my race to start. In fact I probably stood around in that wetsuit for well over 1 1/2 hours. Thanks Xterra for making it so comfy.

Eventually the Olympic Distance people took off. This gave we Sprinters another opportunity to bounce about in the water, I mean do a proper warm up. Finally, almost an hour late (due to fog, not organization) we got our pre race lecture and we set out for the swim.

Okay this isn't actually the Sprint start but it looks pretty close.

Now due to the larger number of participants in the Sprint race, and the fact that the swim start area isn't that large, the RD (Mark Campbell) split it into a wave start of men then women. Less people in the water together made me happy. We took off like rockets into the water and unlike Ingonish, I actually didn't hold back. I jumped right in and started doing a version of the front crawl. I say version, as there were many thrashing bodies around me and I couldn't quite open right up.

Eventually I got a good rhythm going and headed for the first buoy. I didn't panic as I had my head hit a few times, or my legs grabbed or my arms pulled. I pushed through and fought for my ground. It felt rather good.

Finally after what seemed an eternity, I round that farthest buoy and headed to the shore. 15 :22 is what the chip timing people say I did my swim in. And I will take that. Turns out I was 78th fastest out of 127 people. Okay so not really all that fast.

Off to T1, and a leisurely change to my bike shoes, helmet et al. (I was a bit dizzy and therefore in no rush) and away I went. The start of the bike ride was a bit drafty (hint hint), but I was okay with it as the road is busy, and the riders are just getting settled down. Also it allowed me to pass at one point 6 riders in a row. And I think I did so in my 15 second time allowance.

I had never done this event before and didn't really know the course well. People warned me prior about the large amount of hills. I just thought, good. And I pushed hard for the next  39:26 (including T1 time or what must have been over 2 minutes), passing many riders. The drafting got less severe after I finally reached the turn around. Most people seemed to have settled a bit. I knew, though, that I couldn't slow down as I needed to make up some time still and had less than 10 kms to do it in (well maybe more as the course was a bit long according to my bike computer). At one point I apparently hit 62 km per hour in my rush back to the TZ, where I finally arrived with an average speed of 30.4 km/hr and the 6th fastest bike split of the day (33.2 on my bike computer which accounted for the extra biking distance and didn't include my transition time). Bike racked, helmet off, shoe change and away I went on the run to the finish.

5Kms of hilly trails awaited me and I followed David Kilpatrick for all of it.

This is the only official photo of me at the event, check out those calves. 

 We paced each other well, but I had just enough to hang with him. Also I was unaware of the course and was quite surprised as I rounded a corner to see the finish line. Dave was off like a flash and I was as well, taking one runner in the process but not being able to keep up with Dave. In the end I had the 12th fastest run time of the day with a 24:07 (oddly faster than Dave's time due to T2 timing).

So all in all I exited the water in 78th place and clawed my way back to 17th overall and 3rd in the Age Group Men 30-39, with a total time of 1:18:54. Not too shabby.

With a little swim practice, I say, watch out!

Middleton Century Ride 2011 - Third Time Lucky

Well it was the annual Middleton Century ride time again this past weekend. The Spinachers headed up with goals in mind. For many, the 100 km metric century was going to be a first. For a few others, tackling the entire 162 kms was going to be a first. For me, I was glad to have others that were to start with me, finish with me.

From the outset, I stuck with Ian McGrath as a huge number of riders (250 or so) took off from central Middleton, NS. The group very quickly sorts itself out into smaller and smaller packs and by the time of the first rest stop in Bridgetown, things have settled nicely.

This year, like last, the temperature was nice to begin. And while it probably did soar above the 28.5C of last year, I doubt it was much higher than 31 or 32 (the exact number I have no idea about).

Again, well appointed rest stops made the journey very enjoyable. Watermelon, bananas, granola bars, pretzels Gatorade, water and even cookies and ice cream occasionally.

This was Ian McGrath's first century and I wanted to make sure not to go too crazy on the pace. So we accepted being passed early on by groups of riders, especially as many of them would turn out to be riding the metric century. We needed to save the legs for the extra 60km or so.

That extra 60 km of riding in behind Annapolis Royal is rather nice. Yeah, there are some major chunky sections of pavement, but for the most part very little traffic. We rode and chatted and rode some more.

On our way back to Annapolis Royal we were passed by Mark Campbell and friend, who helped us along with taunts and jeers. I didn't want to bite, I really didn't. And I didn't rush after them. After all this was the 90 km mark of the ride. But I knew that this section of the ride was going to be big rollers, nice little climbs that all seemed to lack any real descent. And I knew that the biggest of these hills was coming up. So I picked up the pace a little, just enough. And when I saw the corner that was to be the start of the biggest climb (probably my favourite part of last years ride)   I picked up my speed a bit. And there halfway up the hill was Mark and Mike (?). I began my climb. I had prewarned Ian M. that I may pull a Schleck and go for it near the end of this stage, so I didn't feel too sorry when I took off on him. I blew by Mark by the 2/3rds point of the climb with a little gloat of my own.

At this point I was going to wait at the top for the guys to arrive. But instead I went for it. I rode hard with at least 18 km to go in the stage. And I arrived back at the Annapolis Royal rest stop with minutes to spare.

Ian and I would regroup for the next stage, where Mark would blow by us again, only to have Mike have a mechanical. Now it was almost a challenge to make sure we finished ahead of him. Of course all in fun (ha ha).

A usual the final 25 km of this ride is the toughest. Sure it isn't that hilly, but it is rollers and you have just completed 130 some odd other kms throughout the day.  On the way we met up with the Spinacher ladies who were finishing up their metric century and seemingly still smiling (though Lynn had a tough start to the day). We ha da brief chat with them as we rode by. This allowed the crazy Mark to recatch us again. Ugh.

This time McGrath said, stay with them. So I hurried up and caught their wheels. This was just as the base of a small climb. Figuring to take advantage of the hill, I tore up it. And thinking they would be right after me, I kept that pace until after I rode by a group of other cyclists standing by the side of the rode.

By this time I had gone over a series of 3 or 4 little climbs. I looked back and saw no one. I thought, "should I hold up and wait?" Well the answer was no. I had 10 kms or so to go and figured that Ian would tag along with those guys. So I put my head down and kept riding. I also knew that if I let up my legs, by this time, might not be happy to restart. I watched as my speed rarely dipped below 35 km/hr. I pushed harder. This seemed more time trial like and therefore maybe more Evans than Schleck. Definitely not Schleck like.

I finally rode into Middleton again and finally allowed myself the chance to sit up as I navigated the last kilometer or so of the ride.

I came in at 5:55 of riding time. Sure that was less than the 5:36 or so I did last year, but I had a great time riding with Ian and a few others along the way. Also I was quite able to stand around a chat following the event with no aches or pain. It was great.

I waited a few minutes for Ian M to come in and then another few minutes for Mark. The it was time for BBQ chicken, which was perfect.  After eating we were happy to see Fred and Ross ride in after their gruelling journey. I was impressed especially with Fred, who had taken a tumble earlier this summer during a ride and obviously has made a great recovery. Also, Fred hates hills. And while these were no Alps, they were hilly enough.

Sorry for the lack of photos. I was lax this year in that respect. But my rear jersey pockets were already full of sundry items anyway because I was prepared for about 30 flat tires I think, but instead received no. Perhaps thanks to my new Michelin Lithions. Nice.