Prestige Half-Iron
From the RD of Prestige Half-Iron:
Sign up between now and July 10 and receive a $10 discount off the regular entry fee to the Prestige 1/2 IM Triathlon, set for July 30 and just east of Cranbrook, BC, Canada. It's a spectacular and scenic region of the Canadian Rockies and a great weekend destination.
K100 Relay
K100 was great as always. Team Central Alberta
Runners Den placed 4th overall, and 2nd in the Open category. I had a rough time on my leg. I had some cramping issues, uncommon for me... I think I drank too much coffee in the morning, doh! I think I was 9th in my leg, 5mins slower than last year. I don't know if it was my latest virus (which is almost gone today), or the Victoria half... but my energy levels and legs felt pretty bad, even in the warmup.
I'm trying to take it easy for a couple of days, get my mojo back before my epic ride on Saturday....
Canada Day Weekend
Canada Day weekend is almost here! Woowoo! Normally, I would be doing my annual trip to Edmonton to watch/race the Great White North Half-Ironman. Unfortunately... I've done way too much travelling in June... and I don't really feel like another road trip. So... to all of you racing who read my blog, good luck! I want race reports, pictures! The weather forecast is looking good, almost too hot! And no Rob, I won't cry if you beat my time from last year....
My Canada Day plans are what I really wanted to do this summer.... crazy challenge workouts. Frank and I (and anyone else crazy enough to join) are tentatively going to bike the Highwood Pass in Kananaskis... starting in Calgary.... and then possibly on to Banff. Estimated distance is about 280km? I have a feeling I'm going to be seeing a lot of Franks back wheel.... or a lot of solo time! Should be fun!
Coffee Cups - Environmental Rant #1
How many coffee cups have you used this year? Ever thought about it? I know people who go to Starbucks almost every morning.. so let's say 300 days each year. That's 300 garbage paper cups for the landfill... every year... for one person.
Buy yourself a good coffee mug and use it whenever you go for coffee. Walk or bike to the coffee shop too!
Another virus.. *sigh*
Just when I get healthy from my last nasty bug.... I get another. Now, I'm stuffed up, a scratchy throat.... uggh. Three years without illness and now a month without a break...
I've given up trying to get fit... I just want to be healthy. This latest bug doesn't seem to suck my energy much, so hopefully I'll have a decent day at K100 tomorrow.
Victoria 1/2 Iron Race report
Spent a great weekend in beautiful Victoria for the New Balance half-ironman. This was originally supposed to be one of my A races for the year. It's always good to race a tough field to see how you stack up. Well... I got my butt kicked nicely! However, it was a much better day than Oliver, and I put in a good effort. I was feeling much healthier, but still suffering from some muscular issues, and feeling a little flat from being sick for most of June. I don't have time to write a detailed report, so this short post will have to do for now.
The swim conditions in Elk Lake were almost perfect. 19.6C I think was the temp reading on race morning, winds were almost nil, and an slighlty overcast sky cut out the glare and made for easy sighting. I lined up in the middle of the pack, made sure my goggles were secure (no losing contacts this time!), and waited for the gun. I managed to get a solid draft for most of the swim, spending maybe 10% of the swim alone. I came out of the water in 32:30.
A quick t1, no wetsuit strippers... so an extra 10-15s than usual, and out onto the bike.
Once again, the perfect conditions would make for a fast day.. bike course records were broken. My bike however felt.... not so good. I still couldn't produce any power in my bars. I could tell my lack of preparation too, as the third loop was hurting. I couldn't wait for the run to start, I felt like crap! After the race I think I discovered why I've been feeling so bad in my bars. After my headset was serviced, the mechanic put my stem on upside down. It is not a straight stem, it has a slight rise, so it dropped my position by a couple of centimetres by reversing it. I'm sure as soon as I reverse it again my power will be back to normal. Don't know how I didn't notice for almost three weeks! (later edit: reversing the stem did make a difference)
t2... it was tough to find my gear.. which had been slightly moved and hidden under a wetsuit... wasted about 20s searching. Wasn't feeling too peppy, but off I went. The run around Elk Lake is outstanding hard-packed trails, and mostly shaded, and only 20k, making for fast run times... or so I thought. On the second loop I started to find my rythm and really pick up the pace. I hit the red zone about 1k from the finish, and held off the dude behind me who was trying to outkick me to the line.
Thanks to my aunt Darlene for the accommodation and use of the van while in Victoria, it was much appreciated! I hope to get out there again soon!
See ya....
Mass swim start observations
Contrary to popular belief the far left/right of most swim starts are the roughest area to start... everyone else thinks it's a great place to start too. Find some open water and start there... wherever that may be.
You WILL be hit, GET OVER IT. DO NOT retaliate by trying to break their ribs or smash their goggles. Relax. Let's say it once more. RELAX.
Do NOT whip kick, unless there is noone around you. For those that don't know what a whip kick is.. do breast stoke.. that's a whip kick.
Do not stop and sight at a turn buoy. Keep moving, then sight. KEEP MOVING, then sight.
People will touch your feet, they are trying to draft, everyone does it, be flattered that someone considers you a good draft. Is a few taps on the feet hurting you? No. DO NOT retaliate by trying kick the person drafting you in the head. Once again, RELAX.
If you put your hand forward to take a stroke and your hand lands on a body, do you:
a) use the body as an anchor and pull through, dunking them in the process
b) roll off to the side a bit, find some clear water, then stroke.
If you answered (b) you are correct.
When drafting someone, and your hand touches the ankle of the person you are drafting, do you:
a) grab the ankle firmly and pull hard to gain an advantage
b) let your hand slip off the ankle and find some clear water to stroke
If you answered (b) you are correct.
Let's be respectful to each other... and remember... RELAX.
Wasa Lake Tri
Spent a good weekend in the Kooteneys at the Wasa Lake triathlon, spectating and volunteering. Looked like an excellent race, I think I will put this one on my schedule next year. I could probably use a few more Olympic distance races in my schedule.
Less than a week to go to Victoria now, and I'm still having issues with my back. A good massage on Thursday relieved some of the discomfort, but I still have a serious, deep knot in the middle of my back. I seem to be able to swim/bike for short periods, but running is not fun at all. I think I may have purchase some ibuprofen today... uggh... I hate taking any kind of drug.
Scott Curry, the defending champion at Victoria, was at Wasa this weekend. He seems to have caught the same viral chest infection that I finally recovered from. I hope he gets healthy in time to defend his title...
Oliver 1/2 Iron Race Report
So, I'm back in Calgary after a fantastic weekend of racing in beautiful Oliver, BC. The Oliver 1/2 Iron was my first big race of the year, and was a warmup to my A race, which is the Canadian long-course champs in Victoria in two weeks. Here's how it played out....
The two weeks leading up to Oliver were not so good. If you read my last post about the fiddleheads.. that was the start of a sickness that is still affecting me 16 days later. Food poisoning, training, work, lack of sleep, all compromised my immune system enough that I caught a nasty bug. I didn't feel that bad, just a general sense of fatigue and a terrible cough for the last week, so I tried to keep up my training. My cough seemed to be improving as race day approached and some of my energy was returning, so I figured I had a shot at racing close to my potential.
I woke up race morning feeling a bit groggy after only about 4-5 hours sleep, and my there was a tremendous knot in my back from sleeping funny.. ouch.. it hurt to breathe deep! I gotta get myself an air-mattress for when I'm camping! I hammered back my usual pre-race meal of oatmeal and yoghurt and a good cup of coffee.. It was cool and a bit overcast... forecast was for light rain throughout the day.
I arrived at the race site a bit late, but quickly put on my wetsuit, sorted my gear and did body marking. Managed to get in a quick 200m warmup in the water. Tuc-El-Nuit lake was nice and warm, but the clouds had started to spit. I said a few words to some friends and lined up in the water not far behind the fast swimmer guys. My swim has improved by a fair amount this year, so I was hoping to get clear and hang in with some faster guys for a decent split. A wave start meant that only men 49 and under would be starting at 8am, with the rest of the field 10mins later.
Blam! The gun went off and the melee began, I was positioned pretty well, but still managed to get hammered a few times. At about 150m, my left goggle was knocked loose and it filled up with water. I stopped briefly to adjust it back to my face, and continued before I was swam over... not good to stop in a mass swim start! As I breathed to my left side I notice my vision was blurry and my contact lense was in my goggle. Damn. I spent the remainder of the first lap worrying I would lose my contact and have to spend the remainder of the race with double-vision. The knot in my back was also causing difficulties with my left stroke. I exited the first lap in about 16:xx and quickly set about trying to get my contact back in. Lyndsey's dad happened to be right at the swim turnaround and clicked this funny shot of me fiddling with my contact:
With my lense back in, I jumped back in for lap two. Several times I tried to pick up a set of feet, but noone seemed to be able to swim a straight line (or maybe it was me!). I just couldn't seem to find a rythm and my back continued to feel worse from the knot. I exited the water in 35mins! Later I would learn that all the swim times were slow.. I'm thinking the swim was about 150-200m long?
I'm pretty fast in transition usually, so T1 was smooth. I took some extra time to put on my cycling jacket.... I handle cold weather poorly, so I wanted to be sure I was warm. I forgot my toe warmers in Calgary, which I ALWAYS use unless the race is over 20C. My feet were going to be cold... uggh!
I proceeded onto the first loop of this amazing bike course, which is surpringly challenging, and passes 13 wineries in a big loop around Oliver. The first 20k I took easy... just trying to get the blood flowing in my legs. I didn't feel the usual zip at the start of the bike, but I figured my legs would come around. Unfortunately, they never did. I just couldn't put any power to the pedals on the flats. Strangely though, I was flying up the hills... a complete reversal for me. I hope this newfound hill climbing ability continues in Victoria in two weeks.... as the course there is very hilly. (edit: Victoria turned out to be not so hilly.. but mainly rollers)
About 35k in Rob went flying by me, I was sure I was going to beat him out of the swim, but did not expect him to pass me so early in the bike. I tried to hold his pace, but my legs wouldn't respond, so I just kept cruising as best I could. The knot in my back was making the aero position uncomfortable and causing issues with my neck as well. "Suck it up", I kept saying to myself. Lap 2 I just felt the lingering fatigue from being sick for so long, and I was starting to cough a bit.
When I finally arrived at t2, I felt a bit shelled. I dismounted my bike, but could barely walk.. my feet were completely numb! I thought it was the cold, but I know now it's my new bike shoes, they are cutting off circulation in my feet.. will have to try and figure out why. After racking my bike, I pulled open my plastic transition bag (to keep my shoes/socks dry in the rain), one shoe, two shoes, one sock.... where is my second sock?!?! I started to contemplate the run with bare feet... and the nasty blisters that would form. I went over to the fence where my warmups and swim bag were and started searching there. I found the sock in my swim bag, completely soaked with water... uggh. I put on both socks and exited transition.. my numb feet going clomp, clomp, clomp.
After about 3k my feet started to finally have some feeling return. It was then I noticed that my wet sock had a couple tiny rocks in it. ARRGGH!! I had to stop and remove the shoe and sock to get the rocks out. I ran well the rest of the first lap, and passed about 10 people, but I could feel I was about to run out of gas, despite generous amounts of cola. The last lap was the deepest into my red zone I have ever raced, my body was shutting down, but my mind kept it going, I refused to walk. I crossed the finish line in 5:02, and promptly collapsed with exhaustion.
Overall, I am satisfied with my performance, given the factors of the day. It's time to get some rest, get healthy (finally!), and tweak a few things before Victoria in two weeks. I want to recommend the Oliver half to anyone looking for a GREAT race. The course and organization was outstanding, the volunteers second to none.... and you can pick up some great Okanogan wine too!
