Bluenose Half Marathon Complete - 2012

Well it has come and gone. My first "A" race of the year. As I mentioned in my previous post about training for this race, my training plans had changed a bit until I settled on 3 times per week with very specific runs and no "junk miles."

After last season I knew that I had a faster half marathon in my from my previous 1:41. I wanted to get to 1:35 this year and do so standing up.To achieve that I need to average a 4:30 min/km pace and my 3 runs a week were based on just that pace.

So how did things end up working for me? Well, wonderfully. Not only did my pace turn out just fine, but my racing strategy also worked out. That is starting off slightly slower and building up to my race pace. This is something I have never been able to do very well as I head off all crazy with the sound of the gun, then wear myself out too soon and struggle to make it home. But thanks to my Garmin I was able to pull this off.

So the race started and off I went. A few hundred meters in and I glanced down at my watch to see a 3:40 pace. Yikes, time to slow down. So I did and people passed me. Normally this is a non no for me, but I allowed it as this was going to be a long race.

Eventually within a few kilometers I started to pass back many of those speedy starters. Sometimes I had to give a little blast of speed to complete a pass and put a little distance on myself and a fellow runner, but I checked that Garmin frequently to make sure I was hanging in at what I hoped would be a 4:30 pace. Sometimes it was faster and sometimes a little slower. It was also around this time that I was passed by Paul Shaw who was looking strong and happy

By 6 kilometers or so I realized that a pace in the 4:20's wasn't too hard for me so I decided it was okay to allow myself a little extra speed at this time, but I still wanted to have a negative split (faster second half than first half of the race). So I made sure this increased speed wasn't too great.

I was taking in calories at each aid stop which was about every 3.5-4 kms. I quickly realized after the first stop that the sequence was water first then Gatorade  int he line of cups. Now when I mix Gatorade at home (my preferred drink) I like it on the weaker side so it doesn't taste like syrup on a hot day. My first cup of this day was like syrup. Ugh. So from the first stop on I grabbed the first cup offered and the last cup in line. Blam, weak Gatorade was created by taking a chug from each cup. Perfect.

It was started to heat up a bit by this time, though nothing too crazy. still large areas of shade were welcomed to prevent any over heating. And the park offered loads of shade buy the time I reached it.

Now the park had too issues for me. First it was well into the second half of the half marathon which meant the hills were just a little more tiring, and second the gels were offered after I drank the offered water and it was an espresso gel which I hate. Still I had planned for this gel so I took it, consumed it and had the worst taste in my mouth for the next 4 kms.

By kilometer 16 I caught and repassed Paul Shaw. This was his premonition when he passed me earlier in the race. I was really starting to pick up the pace by this time.

The day was now noticeably warmer, the water stops were all but done (thankfully there was one at kilometer 18 to rinse my mouth), but the race was close to over. Looking down at my Garmin, I saw that I had really been doing well, my legs felt fine, my heart rate was hanging out in the mid 160's, and with so little race left I wanted to push it to see what I had left. So I upped my pace to around 4:15 and held it (sort of of) for the rest of the race. That is until Cogswell.

This year we finished running down Cogswell Street then a sharp turn onto Brunswick. It was here where I came up a huge group of 10k runners, a giant sea of purple loomed, ha ha. Much avoiding, and zipping through crowds later, I was close enough to the finish line to hit the gas one more time. Balm, I crossed the finish line at 1:32:34, 2 and a 1/2 minutes faster than I had hoped and at a top speed of 20.6 km/hr. Dang that hurt but was well worth it.

So I am extremely happy for my time and I think with some dedicated training this summer a sub 1:30 half is in my near future. And it may be done on minimal shoes, but we will chat more about that later.

And now back to Triathlon / Duathlon training.

Here Comes the Bluenose 2012

Okay so the Bluenose Marathon weekend is very quickly approaching. I have taken part in this event for three years now and this will be my fourth.

Now I have never done the full marathon but I have twice done the 10K run and last year went for the half marathon. This year I am opting once again for the half marathon. There are two reason I want to compete at this distance again. First, I do not have the time to appropriately train for the full marathon and do it and myself justice. Second,  I have unfinished business.

Last year I had really hoped to run the half in under 1 hour 40 minutes. That is until I recalculated my needed pace and found I had done some very poor math and also I ended up having a few pains and aches that were hampering my training in the final month. Still I followed the 1:45 pace bunny for much the race and still managed a respectable 1:41, for which I was really happy. This year I will beat that time and if all goes well get in under 1:36.

How will I achieve this feat? Well starting back in the Autumn of last year I new that this half marathon was going to happen. So I started to formulate plans to help me get my speed and endurance up. Sure there are many plans floating around the internet and many people willing to help on online forums. But each time I have tried this method I have gotten less than satisfactory results. I knew that most of all I had to be fluid and ready to adapt to a new plan if need be.

In an ideal world I would have given up cycling and swimming and concentrated on running. That would be the easiest way to get fitter as a runner. But that wasn't going to happen, as my main goals this year are still multisport events. Still I decided to really go for running and last November I embarked on an ambitious plan to run everyday.

I saw plans on how to do this and sort of followed them. I began by running each day and only a short distance, except for 2 days a week were I would be adding some distance. But my how those kilometers add up. I went from a standard week of about 25 km (off season levels) to immediately 40+ km a week. Oops. After 2 weeks my shins were killing me and I took a few days off.

Then I decided to cut that back and focus on refining my gait. This meant a huge decrease in mileage but ultimately it has been a great helper in keeping my injuries down, as well as keeping my shoes from wearing out so quickly.

Then came my trip to South Africa in the middle of training season. This kind of meant, no training plan, but at least I did run frequently while there.

Finally come April I was ready to begin again with a new plan. I needed the distance under me as it had been awhile since I ran more than 10K, but I also needed speed. And I needed to keep biking and swimming and have recovery time.

So I came up with this plan, and have been sticking to it ever since. Three runs a week.One long run, 2 shorter runs at race pace. That's it. I already have a decent base so that wasn't an issue. So Saturdays I have been running long and slow and Mondays and Wednesdays I have been running fast. So far no injuries and plenty of time to rest up between runs.

I just finished my 21 km run this past weekend and what I considered a slow pace and did it in the same time I ran last years half. So that bodes well.I even did a race pace tempo bit from kilometer 15 to 18 and had no issues.

So will this plan work? Will I be able to accomplish my goal? Well so far I am feeling good about my pace and feeling good about the distance and I have no serious injuries. So I guess we will find out!

Gee Ian, No Pre Season Review?

Yes, I know. The last couple of years I have broken down what sort of sporty things I am planning to do during the year. Along with that I have also been trying to predict results as well. This year not so much.

I mean I know what main events I plan on doing, and I am sure more things will pop up that are unexpected (see my last post on the 1st unexpected race of the year). I also know that by planning things out more meticulously, I may actually achieve greater results. But in the end I have found over the last few seasons that I frankly can't keep up with my plans. Turns out that as an Age Grouper, life just gets in the way of this hobby called sport. And that isn't a bad thing.

So instead of a grand plan that I must follow to a tee, I will be placing minimum goals that I will do my best to follow. Here they are in case you are that inclined to care.

Swimming. I still suck at this sport, I just suck far less than in past years. Here my main goal is still strength and confidence. I think I can swim faster in my triathlons simply by not being afraid at the starts. Still, this is also the sport that takes the most time to give the least returns. At best I get to the pool twice a week, and a 1 hour swim seems to take 2 hours to accomplish. But twice a week, at this point, is where I will be for the next while. Hopefully as the weather gets nicer, one of those will be in the open water.

Running. I still have a lot to gain in this sport as well, and every season I get faster. Or I guess it is better to say, my average pace drops as I am able to hold a higher speed for a longer time. In the past I have tried all sorts of training plans, from multiple long runs, to everyday runs, to everything in between. All have met some level of success and some level of failure. Right now I have a goal of a minimum amount of runs per week, and that number is three. So I have to maximize what those three runs can give me. I might explain this in a post about the upcoming Bluenose Race.

Cycling. I know I have gains to be made here. But as a commuting cycling, with two 50 minute rides 5 days a week, it is hard to come home and want to jump on the bike for an all out crazy bike ride. Instead I have plans for a weekly ride on my race bike and will decide at the time whether that will be a long ride or a hard ride. If time permits I may do more as well, but as I said I will take it as it comes.

I do have a plan for an event latter in the summer and may post about it soon. It will be a solo endeavor (probably) and may be a pipe dream, but we will see.

But next up is the Bluenose and that is where training will be focused, but as I said, that is a new post.

First Race of the Year - 2012

Well I had kind of decided  that my first real race this season was going to be the Bluenose Half Marathon. All the Duathlons and Triathlons were starting later and there wasn`t really a race I felt ready for or excited about.

Then about a week ago I came across a listing for a race being put on by MEC. They had a kids race, a 5K and a 10K. My wife was excited about the 5K and I felt I could give the 10 a go. I wasn`t expecting much due to a huge hole in my training over the last few months. Also the price was great at $15, can`t beat that.

This was going to be a hard race with loads of up and down as the course zig zagged around Citadel Hill in downtown Halifax.  And it wasn`t just the hills. There was running through a rutty grass covered dry ditch section of the fort and a final lap around the ramparts, which included dodging the big guns of the fort and the steps and ruts up there. This was a trail run more than anything.

Check out that Garmin map

Again, I hadn`t really trained for a 10K as my sights were set on the half marathon coming up. But I had been doing some 5K at speed and some moderately fast 7.5K runs as well. And in the end I decided to treat this like a really hard training session with a great view of Halifax.

After we figured out the course, we had a lovely chat with a Soldier about Parks Canada, then a gun was fired and off we went. (By the way a 10 AM start time is lovely).

As we started off I took the lead with an excited burst of energy and held the lead for the first 1/2 km or so. Then I glanced at my Garmin and decided that pace was way too crazy (3:30 or so) and backed it off. Also as this was a "training" run I wore my heart rate monitor. It was screaming at me as I had previously set it up to "warn me" when my HR went too high. Well apparently 204 was a bit on the high side. Eventually by the end of the first lap things had settled to a nice even 177 or so. Yikes!

Eventually I managed to settle into a 4:20's pace and held that for much of the race. Around the fort, up and down hills, through the grass covered ditch, back to the road, into the fort and up on the walls (ramparts), then all over again.

I help 3rd place for almost the entire race (except for my brief flirtation with 1st place). It was on the final trip on the ramparts that the racer behind me finally started to catch up. I was spent and did my best to try and pick up the pace but it was to no avail. He finally caught and passed me with 200 meters to go or so.  I held on and did my best at a sprint, but just couldn't hang in there and settled for 4th place overall. I have no idea ultimately how many 10K runners there were, but I think it was probably around 40 or so.

My end time was 42:13 with an average pace of around 4:18. I was seriously happy with this time and the fact that now as I sit and type a few hours later I am not worn out. This bodes well for my goal of a sub 40 minute 10K run later this year. My only other stand alone 10K runs were Bluenose runs a few years back and the best I did there with an extra month and a bit of training, was a 47 something. So all this base training really is helping.

Next up, the Bluenose. Unless something interesting enough comes along I guess.

Back to the Real World, Work and Running in the Snow

Okay so this post may be a bit late but heck, I was both busy, tired and frankly lazy. I didn't post much over the last month or so because I wasn't at home. I wasn't in the country and, well, I wasn't in the hemisphere.I had a chance to go to South Africa and took it. I could do a post about my trip. It was great. I saw and did so many interesting things as I hung out with friends and family. But I was away for almost 3 weeks so it would take forever to write it all down. If you want to know more email me, or feel free to visit me for a chat. And please feel free to see some of the thousands of photos I took: Google Plus Photos Instead I will stick to what is a usual theme for this blog. Exercising. Now I for sure did not spend the majority of my time in South Africa training for triathlons. But I was away for long enough that I felt the need to keep a base level of fitness going. So I often got up at 6 AM and went for runs. usually short 5 km runs at a moderate pace. This has surely helped me maintain some of my winter fitness. But more importantly it allowed me to grab some great Garmin running maps, like this one:

 

Okay, that was just me bragging a bit about running along a beach near Cape Town watching the sunrise and the waves come crashing in. Is there a bigger purpose to this post? I guess not so much. But when you travel don't forget those running shoes, but make sure to slow things down and watch out for awesome sights. No need for speed work and personal bests in training while escaping our winters.

Oh yeah, that is a picture of me running to the furthest southern point of the African continent at Cape Agulhas. Seriously, I am in there.

Tri the Oval - Race 1 of 2012

Well race 1 of the 2012 season has come and gone. Truthfully it came and went a couple of weeks back and I am just now getting to a review of things.

This was the new Halifax event called Tri the Oval. A winter triathlon that was designed to take place in the confines of Halifax's Commons and take advantage of our new permanent outdoor long tack speed skating oval.

The price for this event was far too good to pass up, even if I am a poor skater and not at all used to mountain bike riding. Still for the fun and the hat, I knew this was one for me.

As I posted previously I needed a mountain bike and some practice. So I borrowed one from my friend at Sportwheels in Sackville, Mike. He lent me a spectacular 26" Devinci racer called the Desperado.  It was more than enough bike for this event. And I took full advantage of the Sportwheels weekly mountain bike rides in preparation. Heck I may want to take up this sport, at least in the winter.

But back to the race. We started with a 12.5 km skate. Sadly I have no photos of me on the ice. But I was on my awesome 1990's CCM hockey skates. As I said I don't skate much. But I had been getting out and skating the oval weekly to get ready.

The wind was blowing fairly strong going one direction, but it did make for an easy other half of the oval. I knew I would place well behind those on speed skates, and I would also be wasting so much more energy pushing myself. But I finished somewhere in the top 20 of the 80 people involved in the event. So that wasn't too bad.

Luckily here we were chip timed and had our laps counted for us. When our names were called we left the ice. I wish that were the case on the bike.

Sadly we had no snow and therefore what could have been a crazy fun bike ride was mostly just paved paths in the Commons. Still, the crew did their best and created a bit of single track and some good bumpy frozen ground. This should have been super easy for me to do well in, but alas problems arose.

First off I was following a rider who was travelling an equal speed to me. I figured that would be fine. But we miscounted our laps and left a lap early and racked our bikes. We did figure out the problem before we got too far into the run and went back to finish the bike ride. It was at this point that my rear wheel fell off, which took me a minute or more to put back on. Ahhhhh. And way, back on the bike and I finished things up

Now onto the run. Three times around the commons (and a bit). I was feeling pretty strong and I wish I could tell you how fast I was going, but my fancy GPS watch messed up somehow and I lost ll of my times. I blame me as the watch is rather dumb and needs to be told what to do. Obviously I didn't tell it the right things.

So I think I ran fast. I know I passed people and I felt good. I also know that by this time I was way over dressed and stripped off my gloves and hats and balaclava. 

I crossed the finish line in 55 minutes (that much I know) and 20th place overall. A good time based on what I had planned prior to the event. But I know I wasted minutes the bike mistake that would have probably moved me to 15th place or so. Alas it was not to be. Also I am sure that incident mentally slowed me down as I probably could have pushed the run a bit more. 

Still it was a fun and well organized event. I look forward to taking part in it next year and who know, maybe by then I will learn to count!

The Benefits of the Video Camera

So I have attended both of our local triathlon training camps here in good ole Halifax (well Dartmouth really) this year. My main reason for going this year was that TriNS had purchased a GoPro camera and was going to do some video analysis of our swimming.

I was of two minds. 1) I didn't want to see how bad I was swimming and 2) I really needed to see why I was swimming so badly. Reason 2 won as I just had to know.

Well the second camp just happened this past weekend and we got to review our videos. Luckily for me I  had been taped twice and we all got to crowd around and critique loads of footage of Ian swimming.

I have learned a few things (I would have posted a video but I don't have it at the moment). I am uneven, and one arms is not too bad, while the other arm is signalling for a taxi or something. My hips sink, so my kick tries to compensate, so that looks bad. I breathe like I am drowning (well I knew that one already). And my flip turn looks like an open turn. Well I don't actually flip turn so that is fine.

Words and ideas were thrown about on how to help me correct these things. Catch, turn, rotate, head down, chest down, hips up!!! So basically, learn to swim you fool!

As my readers know, I just learned how to swim. I am finally comfortable enough in the water that I think I can start to figure out how to do these wonderful things like "catch the water." I am obviously, though, going to have to figure out exactly what all of this means. Normally I see all sorts of pictures of descriptions of the "catch." Or else full speed shots of it from pro swimmers. Great! But I still don't actually get it. What the heck is my arm supposed to be doing? And just when I think I start to figure it out I read something different.

Well I picked up a DVD from the library called "The Swim" the other day. I have watched a grand total of 5 minutes so far, but I have high hopes that it will contain some vital p[piece of info that I am missing. I plan on going through it ASAP, and will fill you in on how good (or bad) it really is. And you will be learning the truth from a mediocre swimmers.

But back to video for a second. Get it done. No matter what image you have in your head of you swimming (or  running or cycling), you really can't know until you see it through someone else's eyes. And preferably in High Def. And when it comes to swimming, below the water line because that is where you are swimming.

I hope to have a video done later this year, after I have time to digest the info given to me, and figure out what it all means. And once I figure out how I should look under the water.

Hey, don't get me wrong here, I am really happy with where I am. I couldn't front crawl at all 2 years ago at my first triathlon. And here I am coming in only slightly behind the group in a training session now. But maybe I can get to the point where I am with the slow people, and no the slow person.