The Long Slow - Ride?

Yes, we have all begun our long slow runs. Well maybe some of us have, maybe some haven't and maybe some won't. But to those that swim, ride and run, endurance is often over looked in the quest for speed. I know I was generally guilty of this in the past. I mean the runs were only going to be 5 or 6K max. So why run more. Just practice those faster right? So that is what I did.

But this year I added a half marathon to my goals. So the long slow run was added as a necessity. And what did it do? It surely didn't hurt my speed. In fact it allowed my shorts runs to be faster as I could now hold my higher speeds for just that little extra. So this must work on the bike right?

Again, in the past I road hard as long as I could. It was fun, I got tired, I did pretty well in races, though again, by the end of the ride I was running out of steam. So I decided this year to do the same thing as running. The long slow ride.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have finally incorporated my heart rate monitor into my training. Sure power would be better, but my budget is low and I have a HRM already. So armed with my newly gained knowledge of my heart rate zones (see lactic tests from a few posts back) I have been heading out for 2 plus hour rides, attempting to keep an nice even pace, one that stay aerobic and easy.

Sure you Iron folks out there probably already do this. And I am sure many of you smarter short distance folks do it as well. But for those that aren't doing it, give it a try. I am amazed at how much longer I can now hold a high paced time trial like effort. Or better yet, how my bike during a triathlon style workout can be done at an increased while still easy on my legs like effort.

There is still a little while before the first events start to happen. Well the bike events anyway. Until then I am really starting to enjoy this "off season" training.

2010 Wolfville Tri Festival

Well it happened. I did my first triathlon. This past weekend Wolfville's rec department put on a Try a Tri event for kids and adults. My event was considered to be the Long Course at 400m/10km/4km. While the biking and running were short for me, the swim was just about right. In fact it was to be the furthest I had ever swam in one go. Sure I have spent enough time at the pool practicing that I swam 1km. But that took me 2 hours with lots of rest stops. This was going to be my time to shine with people looking on.

I started in Wave 2 or the 3 Waves which were to happen. This meant that my competition was going to be in different waves than me. Oh well, that just means you have to push yourself and not rely on pacing off of others. So push I did.

Now my swimming is not great (as I mentioned). And what is worse is my attempts at front crawl. Too bad, as this is the most efficient swim stroke for Tri's. But I relied on my tried and true breaststroke to carry me through. I started with a bang and for the first few las of the pool was just as fast as most people doing the front crawl. Sadly though my endurance began to falter and I fell back. I slowed, but carried on as best as I could. Finally I got out of the pool 3rd last and ran to to T1.

T1 was where I found out how hard it was to get dressed while wet. Next time, better jersey choice. Luckily I had already committed to a no socks approach, so that helped. Onto the bike I got and out onto the course.

the course was a very short 2.5km out and back we had to do twice. Luckily there was plenty of volunteer and police presence to keep us safe. It was hard, though, to get a good rhythm with all the turn arounds, but I still managed to do the course in 18 minutes flat at 33.2 km/hr. Did I mention it was bumpy? Oh yeah, it was. I survived though and onto the run.

The run started on the Acadia University track. That was nice as it is a cushioned surface. nice on the feet and legs. Then out a rails to trail, loop back, around the track again repeat and down the finishing chute to grab your numbered Popsicle stick.  The run was pretty easy, though my upper body was starting to cramp, almost surely from the swim (I have never done a brick workout that involved much of a swim). But the cramps went away by the second lap and I picked up the pace. I finished with my standard sprint (see above photo) which was nice to do.

As this was a just for fun event, there were no awards per se. We did get medals for finishing and some great draw prizes. And the food layout was great as well, plus a nice post race massage. Latter on we received our times and I ended up second fastest overall behind Kevin Besner, a mere 30 seconds out of first. It is hard to loose by 30 seconds when you can look back and actually find those 30 seconds you lost, but those are the breaks. And in the end I know I gave it a good go. I ended with a time of 49:18. And I think 20 minutes of that was putting my jersey on while I was wet (lol).

So that was one of my sports goals for the year. Complete a Tri of any distance and prepare for something bigger and better next year. Big thanks goes out to Shannon Read who organized this event, to the Town of Wolfville, to the RCMP officers that kept us safe, to the crazy amount of volunteers as and to the weather for being so nice.

Volunteer Ian McGrath, Constantly telling me I was about to turn on my bike at the wrong spot.

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.

Final Bike Race - Tour de Wentworth

So the final race came and went yesterday. It was a stage race in Wentworth, Nova Scotia. The day started with a 15 km time trial. It began with a nice tail wind and ended with a horrible headwind. My bike isn't really setup for time trials. I have no bars or aero pieces, I have no skinsuit or fancy helmet. So I was just trying to minimize the damage. I think I did respectable though was behind most of the other riders in my catagory.

Then came the road race. 79 km's. It got hotter and the wind stayed, if not picked up. I was doing fine through the first lap, then part way through the second lap an attack came. I tried to follow but my legs cramped up. So I ended up loosing the leaders. I got my legs back, started to ride hard to keep the time gap close and managed to finish the race. I guess the heat, wind and tired legs from the morning got to many riders as I somehow managed a third place finish and third place overall. Needless to say, with all the pain I went through I will take the result.

Many thanks to Elizabeth and Newt for being my support and handing me fresh water during the race. It was needed.