TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 23:32 ----- BODY: Tonight -- according to the schedule given to me by my coach -- was supposed to be speedwork (or 'Speedork' as it's known to the Deads but that's a really long story and not really relevant). Instead, I decided to head up to Waterloo to the Runners' Choice and join in with the regular Wednesday night All Comers run. Against her better judgment, Karen agreed to tag along even though she had already done a 10k run this morning. It's been a while since I've felt that newbie feeling that you get when you are standing around with a group of people all of whom know each other very well but don't know you from Adam. There was one thing that Karen and I could tell right away, however: This was one fast group. After introducing ourselves to one of the staff and signing some waivers -- go figure: Runners' Choice doesn't want to be responsible for killing us. So much for customer service! ;-) -- we were introduced to Wayne, the group leader for the run who in turn introduced us to the rest of the group. A few announcements and some idle chit chat later, we all headed out the door to start the run. Wayne had kindly given me a nice, detailed description of the route we would be following. Of course, being so very new to the Kitchener/Waterloo area, I didn't have a festering clue what he was talking about was was simply hoping to stay with the group. After all, I vaguely remembered him telling me something about how the group always sticks together for the first 3 or 4 kilometres before it becomes every runner for herself. To the symphony of beeps as dozens of watches and heart rate monitors were activated we were off. Within 500 metres I found myself at the back of the pack running with two gentlemen (John and Darryl(?)) both of whom, while not quite old enough to be my father, would certainly be in the kindly older uncle category. We chatted for a bit and they finally got around to asking about my last marathon finishing time. Not bothering to tell them that it was my only marathon finishing time, I proudly proclaimed "3:32" -- I felt safe leaving off the :01. John and Darryl just smiled, nodded, told me that was great and subtly eased off the pace a little bit so I could keep up. Don't get me wrong; the group at Runners' Choice was friendly and welcoming. But suddenly it finally dawned on me that I wasn't in London anymore. I wasn't with my friends at the Running Room who picked a common pace and stuck with it. I was now with a group that was all about speed pure and simple and I had suddenly gone from running at the front of the pack to just barely keeping up with the back. It was a humbling experience and it also pointed out to me just how arrogant I had become in my group running. It's been a long time since I've felt the frustration of not being able to keep up (except with Randy but then he's a running machine). But come next Wednesday, you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be back at Runners' Choice. Perhaps, if I really try hard, by next summer I'll be able to keep up with the slow group. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:29 ----- BODY: 30 min cadence run: 6x20 sec interval w/60 sec normal HR: Avg 131/Max 146 As runs go, this one was pretty easy. The goal for this one was to work on keeping my running cadence over 90 paces/minute. After a 10 minute warm up I proceeded to knock off six 20 second repeats hitting a stride count of 32 for every rep. All the while I had to stay conscious of keeping my heart rate under 145. Thank goodness for modern technology. If I didn't have a programmable HRM to keep track of all of this for me I'd be so overwhelmed that I'd probably forget how to run and just fall down a lot. -------- TITLE: Trial Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:36 ----- BODY: OK. Now it's time to panic! As most of you know I've been looking forward to the Lakeside triathlon with a sense of eager anticipation. That all changed today. Today I went to Lakeside to conduct a trial run. You see, I haven't done any open water swimming and I also needed to test out a wetsuit that was kindly given to me. So bright and early this morning I loaded up the car and -- after dropping Karen off at work -- I made the trek. It was clear and sunny but the early morning temperature was a scant 4 degrees C with a lovely wind out of the north at what felt like 93.6 km/hr but I'm sure wasn't a gust over 60. I arrived at the resort and said hello to some people in the Running Room Triathlon Clinic that I know and proceeded to set up my gear down by the water. Once I had my cycling and running gear laid out I proceeded to change into my tri top, strap on the heart rate monitor and squiggle and squirm my way into the wetsuit all the while nodding politely as those around me asked if a) I really intended to go into the water and b) had I considered seeking professional psychiatric help and/or c) did I forget to take my meds this morning. Taking one last quick look around to see if all of my gear was good to go, I started down towards the water. On the way, I activated the heart rate monitor: 85 bpm and I hadn't even started to work out yet. Now Lake Sunova is a lovely, small, man-made lake but you'd have thought that the makers of this lake would have thought to put in some heating elements when they were building it. But they didn't. According to Multisport Canada's website, the water temperature at the shore was 72 degrees F. I can only surmise that whoever took that reading did so at the very edge where the water is about 1 cm deep. Out where you can actually swim it was significantly colder than that. As I stepped into the water my heart rate instantly shot up to around 140 and stayed there. As I waded out into deeper water I began to notice that either the wetsuit was doing it's job or I had simply lost all feeling in my legs. Either way, the cold water was becoming a little more bearable. As I stood in the now waist deep water, I went over in my head all of the Total Immersion drills and concepts that I needed to be aware of in order to swim smoothly and efficiently. "Press the buoy, " I chanted. "Swim down hill. Smooth and relaxed." This wasn't going to get any easier if I waited any longer so with a quick breath I dove forward. Heart rate hits somewhere in the mid-160's. Suddenly, I was gasping for air in short, staccato breaths while my HR monitor strap slowly constricted around my chest like a boa with every attempt at an inhale. A couple of short, choppy strokes was all I could manage before giving up and switching to breast stroke in the hopes that my breathing would calm down a bit. Too late I realise that the wind is blowing directly into my face and I'm trying to swim straight into the waves. I turn hard a' starboard -- this is a sea story after all so I figure I should use nautical terminology -- and swim perpendicular to the waves and make another attempt at something resembling a front crawl. "Press the buoy. Swim downhill. Smooth strokes, breathing every 3," I tell myself. "Fuck that! Flail like a drowning man and breathe whenever you can!". So much for Total Immersion. Eventually I get into a bit of a rhythm and manage to swim along for a bit before turning around and heading back the way I came. When I figured I was back to where I started I turned towards the shore and started to head back in. Before long I was back to the knee deep water and stood up. Exhausted from a cold, miserable swim that seemed to go on forever, I stumbled in to shore and jogged over to my gear. I pressed the split button on my heart rate monitor and looked down: including the time wasted wading out to the waist deep water and the time spend wading back in, I had been in the water for a total of 5 minutes and 31 seconds. There's no way that I came even close to covering 750m in that swim. I did, however, learn a few things: 1) Whoever posted the water temperature on Multisport Canada's website should be fired -- or better yet, they should be made to go swim in Lake Sunova. 2) I'm very glad I have a wetsuit but I really need one with sleeves. And maybe a hood. And a face mask. And gloves. Maybe some booties. Some kind of self-contained, water-proof heating system would be good too. 3) You can't have too many clothes to put on after a cold water swim. I seriously considered leaving the wetsuit on for the bike ride but I was afraid I'd chafe my unmentionables. I did, however have my tri shorts, tri top, long sleeve shirt, socks on. It crossed my mind that I could rip the lining out of the interior of the car and fashion it into a crude jacket but I discarded that idea too. After all, even though this was just a practice run, I wanted a reasonable transition time. The bike and the run were, by comparison to the swim, uneventful. By halfway through the bike ride I had started to get some feeling back into my legs and feet -- just in time for the hills to start. Once off the bike and on to the run, the weather had begun to warm up quite nicely and the run was as pleasant as a run can be after a 30k bike ride. Over all, I'm still looking forward to next Sunday but now there's that little vein of panic running through me that wasn't there before. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:53 ----- BODY: Distance: 33.7 km Time: 1:03:56 Speed: Avg 31.7/Max 50.1 km/hr Cadence: Avg 87/Max 103 HR: Avg 147/Max 156 Straight up Adelaide to Highway 7 and back. With the wind out of the northeast it was just at the perfect angle to make the outbound leg slow and painful but not help much on the inbound leg. I still wasn't able to keep my average cadence over 90. I was certainly trying but I just didn't seem to have the energy today. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:56 ----- BODY: Distance: 2000 m I used Karen's emergency summons into work coupled with the somewhat crappy weather as an excuse to bag my ride yesterday, hence no workout to report for Tuesday. This morning -- after dropping Karen off at work (Man! I'll be glad when we've moved and I can stop these 2 hour drive Karen to work sessions) -- it was off to the pool. The workout board hadn't been changed from Monday's workout so I figured I'd just repeat the same set of drills that I did two days ago. Unfortunately, be it from fatigue or ambivalence, my form was sloppy and my interest minimal so I ended up dropping the last set of drills and ended up with 2000 metres instead of the indicated 2450. I usually do a run on Wednesdays but since I missed a ride yesterday I'm considering changing things around and getting on the bike instead. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:32 ----- BODY: Distance: 2450 m Today I tried a little bit of Lesson 2 from Total Immersion but either my heart wasn't in it or I'm not ready to move on from Lesson 1 yet. I followed that up with the swim set that Brian had written out for us (I really do have to start writing those down. By the time I get home I've completely forgotten what we did). In keeping with the spirit of the holiday, I followed up the swim sesson by taking Karen to not one but two movies. First we went to see X2 -- which I quite enjoyed. When that was over, we decided to turn around and go see The Matrix Reloaded. Did I mention that I liked X2? -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:54 ----- BODY: Distance: 54.9 km Time: 1:46:13 Speed: Avg 31/Max 55 km/hr Cadence: Avg 86/Max 105 HR: Avg 145/Max 161 Today's ride was pretty good. With the wind coming out of the east, I got to explore the roads to the east of the city this time and rode out well past Thorndale before heading south down to Highway 2 and back into London. For most of the last half of the ride, I could feel my calves threatening to cramp from all of the work I've made them do today. I've really got to stop leaving my long bike ride to fall on the same day as my long run. Not only is it killing me but it goes against all the training rules. From now on, I resolve to go out on my long rides on Saturday. I also notice that my average cadence for the last two rides is still below 90. I'll have to pay more attention to that. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:44 ----- BODY: Distance: 19.5 km Time: 1:37:51 HR: Avg 161/Max 177 Shoes: Saucony Grid Hurricane V If it's Sunday it must be a loop around Springbank Park. I had every intention to take this run slow and easy but within the first kilometre that plan went out the window and I pushed the pace for most of the run. I'm not quite sure why I did it but it really felt good. Finished off the morning with the decadent Big Breakfast at the Bagel Deli. I'm really going to miss the Bagel Deli when we move to Kitchener at the end of the month. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:22 ----- BODY: Distance: 9.5 km Time: 46:30 HR: Avg 150/Max 179 Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline One of my last Saturday morning runs with the Big Dogs. This was one of those runs where you forget all about distances and pace and just have fun chatting with everyone around you. I hardly noticed that I was running as we all listened to Tim tell us of his latest marathon effort at the Forest City Road Races. He didn't quite get the result he was looking for but Tim was still too modest to let everyone know that his 3:02:33 finishing time -- impressive in it's own right -- was good enough to put him 11th overall and 3rd in his age group so I'll take it upon myself to trumpet his achievement for him. We also got to hear the tale of how Greg ran in the same race as part of a relay team. OK, actually, Greg ran 22 miles and the rest of the team split the remaining 4.2 miles. Of course, it was just a training run for Greg anyway as he's off to run the Sunburst Marathon in Indiana in three weeks. Good luck, Greg! And of course, Steve was there just being a Steve as only Steve can. On the final stretch down Waterloo, as Randy loped into the lead -- me with a heart rate that had gone tachycardic blocks earlier and he with his usual "Hey! Are you guys gonna start running soon?" look on his face -- I got it into my little pea-brain that I would try to keep up with Randy back to the Running Room. Hence my Max HR reading of 179. I hasten to point out that I did, indeed, keep up with him. In fact, I actually beat him back to the store. Of course, it probably had more to do with the train that went by and blocked our route than any kind of running skill on my part. -------- TITLE: Happy Birthday, Karen AUTHOR: John DATE: 00:49 ----- BODY: To show you how much I love you, I proceeded to make you The Most Pathetic Birthday Cake Ever(tm). It's in the fridge. It looked a lot better in my head. Oh well. It's the thought that counts. Right? -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 23:03 ----- BODY: Distance: 2650 m I went to the Y a little early tonight and tried out the drills in Lesson 1 of the Total Immersion book I'm reading. Amazingly, when I did a 25m swim after the "Pushing the Bouy" drill I was able to get my stroke count for 25m down to 16-17 strokes. That's amazing considering I tend to average about 19-21 strokes per 25m. The drills for the actual masters session were pretty straight forward although Brian had us doing 150s this time to help build up a little stamina. All things considered, I think this was one of my more productive swim practices. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:45 ----- BODY: Distance: 8.2 km Time: 44:29 HR: Avg 140/Max 154 Shoes: New Balance 763 Per my soon to be new coach's instructions, I set out on an easy run with the intent to keep my heart rate below 140. Now I always thought I was being good by keeping my heart rate below 160 so 140 proved to be excruciatingly hard to maintain (as evidenced by my max reading of 154 -- it was on an uphill portion, honest!) So today's run was a slow, easy plod around my extended neighbourhood enjoying the sunshine and absence of rain while I can. Tonight, it's a swim practice with the novice masters group at the Y. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the drills that I've been reading about in Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster, and Easier by Terry Laughlin. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:52 ----- BODY: Distance: 28.8 km Time: 57:03 Speed: Avg 30.2/Max 55.6 km/hr Cadence: Avg 87/Max 103 HR: Avg 151/Max 162 So with a little help from a number of Tri-Deads, I was finally able to get the speed/distance sensor and the cadence sensor working with the S710 heart rate monitor all at the same time. Oh the graphs I can produce now! I'm in gadget geek heaven. Today's ride was a straight shot north on Adelaide. I wanted to get about an hour's worth of riding so I just continued heading north (into the wind) until I hit about 35 minutes of riding. I figured that with the wind at my back on the way home my return leg would be much shorter (timewise). Man was that a good call. A ride that took me 36:36 on the outbound leg only took 20:26 to get home. I suppose that structuring my rides to always have the tailwind for the last half is cheating, training-wise, but I'll just wave my newbie status card and claim ignorance. I didn't quite hit my record speed but I still find it astounding that I was able to move at 55.6 km/hr without any sort of assistance from exploding gases [insert your own crude Taco Bell related jokes here]. Now if I could just find a good alternative to the Profile Kage water bottle holders I'm using so that I wouldn't throw a water bottle every time I hit a big bump things would be perfect. Of course, I suppose I could just stop hitting so many bumps! -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 10:00 ----- BODY: Today is a Drive Karen To Work In Kitchener day so I won't be back in time to go to Masters at the Y tonight. So, it was off to the pool this morning when I got back into town for 2300 metres of drills. I've noticed in the last few sessions that Coach Brian has started to sneakily reduce the amount of time we have for each set and as a result, these drills are getting harder. Overall, though, it's doing wonders for my swim skills. -------- TITLE: Ride AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:24 ----- BODY: Distance: 40.2 km Time: 1:22:36 Speed: Avg 29.1/ Max 58.4 km/hr HR: Avg 149/Max 164 Yes; that does, indeed, read '58.4 km/hr'! Holy F@$#ing Sh!t! After spending quite a bit of time at the Bagel Deli catching up with the Flying Pig group and eating an oh so fattening Bacon 'n Egger, Karen and I headed home. Since the weather had cleared up I decided that I'd go for a training ride this afternoon since I still haven't been getting in as much cycling as I should. So off I rode up Adelaide to 9 Mile Road and then turned west (into the most vicious head wind I've ever encountered in my admittedly short riding career). I struggled my way out to the end of 9 Mile Rd where I turned around and had the wind (almost) at my back. You want to talk about cycling nirvana! I was climbing most of the hills in my hardest gear combo and still maintaining a cadence of above 90! At one point in the ride I hit a wind-assisted 58.4 km/hr. Just imagine; I was only 1.6 km/hr away from breaking the speed limit! What a blast! All too soon, however, I hit Highbury Ave where it was a turn south back into a strong crosswind followed by a hard ride into the wind to get back home. All in all, however, a very satisfying ride. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:14 ----- BODY: Distance: 19.5 km Time: 1:44:03 HR: Avg 152/Max 173 Shoes: Saucony Grid Hurricane V Just a slow, easy jaunt in the rain from the Running Room down around the tip of Springbank Park and back. I spent most of the last half of the run giving encouragement and moral support to the racers running in the local marathon that was held today. As part of the same event, there was a 10 km race where our good friend Cathymac set a new 10km PB. Way to go, Cathy! That sub-60 is coming and soon. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:22 ----- BODY: 
I was too tired and it was too early to remember to write down the drills
approximately 1300 m + some drill instruction

Rolled out of bed at 0500 hrs and hauled my sorry, dragging butt down to the UWO Rec. Centre for a session with the Western Triathlon Club so that my new coach could see me swim (or more correctly "not drown"). So now I have to do more drills and re-calibrate my brain so that I don't have a swim stroke that resembles and attempt to paddle a kayak. After a crash course in a few drills that I'd never heard of before -- all of which involve keeping my head under water until i feel like my lungs are going to explode -- I joined the rest of the group to finish off the morning drills. Fortunately by that point they were already half finished so I only had to put in about 1000m worth of effort before I could call it a morning. Even so, I'm spent. Post-swim, Gabbi and I had a good, long discussion about my athletic background and plans for the year as well as which races I should target for my 'A' races and which races I should not do at all. Now I just have to find the motivation and energy to do 45-60 mins of spinning on the bike this afternoon/evening. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:43 ----- BODY: 

1. 4x (75m - dr (10 bt k), dr (10 bt k), sw fr @1:45)
      (2x 50m sw @1:10)
2. 6x 50m fr - 3x @1:20 o2 - 5
             - 3x @1:10 o2 - 3
3. 8x 25m k, sw, k @1:00
4. 4x 100m (25m dr (zipper), 50m sw, 25m dr (zipper) @2:20)
5. 8x 50m - 2x 25m bk, 25m fr @1:20
          - 2x 25m br, 25m fr @1:30
          - 4x 25m fr - 2x @1:10
                      - 2x @1:25
=======
2000m

My second week of training with the Masters group at the Y. I felt pretty strong throughout the workout but doing the fifties while breathing every five strokes -- a ploy to go slightly hypoxic and improve your breath control -- just about killed me. Tomorrow morning at 0600 (ugh!) I get to finally meet Coach Gabbi and get started on a proper training plan. Of course, now that I think of it, she's going to have me swim so I probably shouldn't have done such a strenuous (for me) workout tonight. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:07 ----- BODY: Distance: 29.1 km Time: 2:35:09 HR: Avg 150/Max 169 Shoes: Saucony Grid Hurricane V Ta-ra-ra-boom-deay! I ran in shorts today! Forgot my BodyGlide(tm)! That's why I walk this way! My last long run before the taper for Around the Bay starts. I couldn't ask for more glorious weather. In fact, with the lack of wind, this run felt warmer and more comfortable than the conditions in Florida for Disney. A pretty good run and I'm pleased with the effort. The only problem reared it's ugly head at the corner of Hyde Park and Gainsboro Roads when I realised that I neglected to make use of the BodyGlide and that some rather significant chaffing had begun. Oh well; lesson learned. At least until next spring. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:53 ----- BODY: Distance: 10 km Time: 49:35 HR: Avg 148/Max 168 Shoes: New Balance 763 Glorious weather. Just a bit on the cool side but still warm enough to run without a jacket. Tomorrow I think shorts will be the order of the day. Today was my turn to pick out the route so I decided (at the last minute) on a slightly modified version of our usual Saturday route that avoided the hill in the University and took us to a different set of side streets. All in all it was a great run although I had a hard time keeping my heart rate down. Strange. Finished off the day with a yoga mini-practice to stretch out the legs. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:30 ----- BODY: Distance: 7.2 km - 11 x 200m hill repeats Time: 37:00 HR: Avg 156/Max 182 Shoes: Asics DS Trainer VII If it's Thursday it must be hill training night. I'm still slower up the hill than I was pre-Disney (1:02 avg vs. 0:56 avg) and they certainly aren't getting any easier. Fortunately, that was my last hill session until after Around The Bay. On another note, I've selected a coach to help me take my training to the next level. I meet with her next Tuesday morning when she'll assess my swimming abilities, talk about my training and racing history and go over my goals for the year. I can hardly wait! Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I put a down payment on a bike today. I shouldn't have to do very many more rides on that stationary bike. My thanks to Andrew over at All Seasons Sport who spent more time with me than is healthy for any human to have to endure while I repeatedly asked the dumbest questions heretofore unknown to the cycling world. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 23:11 ----- BODY: 

6 x 50 3 fr @ 1:20
       3 fr @ 1:10
6 x 50 (dr fr - swfr (6k switch 2)@ 1:30)
6 x 50 3xbk fr
       3xbr fr @ 1:30
6 x 50 catchup fr
4 x 100 25 kick 50 fr 25 kick
8 x 25 3 bk 3br 2 fr
====
1800m total

My second Masters session at the Y. I can't prove it and I haven't been able to get him to admit it but I swear that Coach Brian learned some of these swim drills from the interrogation squad at CSIS. The one arm drills in particular really highlight just how close I am to drowning most of the time. Having said that, I do think that I've noticed a tiny improvement in my swimming already but I'm sure that's just wishful thinking. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:08 ----- BODY: Distance: 11.3 km Time: 56:10 HR: Avg 150/Max 167 Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline I managed to slip a lunch time run in just before the snowstorm. All in all a pretty good effort and I felt like I'm slowly getting back to the speed and form I had before the Disney marathon. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:47 ----- BODY: Distance: 32.5 km Time: 1:00:03 HR: Avg 133/Max 149 A nice, easy spinning session. My legs felt a little dead (perhaps from all the kicking drills at last night's swim session) for the first half of the ride but they loosened up towards the end. I'd like to say that I'm getting more disciplined in my riding and that's why my max heart rate is staying down but the truth is I just took it very easy today. Followed up the session with little bit of yoga to stretch. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:30 ----- BODY: 

4 x (4 x 25m fkick side, front, side)
    (2 x 50m free)
8 x 50m (alternate 25m three stroke front, 25m free)
8 x 25m (alternate 25m three stroke back, 25m back)
8 x 25m (something brutal that I can't remember)
8 x 25m w/flutterboard between thighs (alternate 25m free , 25m back)
2 x (4 x 25m - cycle 25m bkick,  25m back, 25 breast, 25 front)
====
2000m total

10 mins flip turn practice

First of all, let me apologise profusely for marsmaning my blog over the last few weeks. I got a new toy (that came with software) and have been busy playing with that to the detriment of all of my other logs. But I'm back now so both of my regular readers can rest easy now. Tonight I attended my first session of Masters swim training at the Central YMCA. All I can say is "Sweet mother of Bob am I tired!". I'm not sure if the workout listed above is exactly what we did as I didn't think to write it down before my traumatised mind and body started blocking it all out. I will say that it made for a much more interesting training session that the usual grind-fests where I just churn out length after length. I learned two very valuable things last night: 1) I really suck at backstroke; and 2) I really hate backstroke. There might be some sort of cause and effect relationship between those two but I'm not sure. My thanks to Coach Brian and all of the gang for making me feel welcome. And for the sake of completeness: (Swim, Bike), Run, Run, Bike, Run, Run, Bike, Run, Run, Swim, Run, Run There. Now you're up to date. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:53 ----- BODY: Distance: 17.8 km Time: 1:43:49 HR: Avg 150/Max 171 Shoes: New Balance 763 I knew I should have done my long run yesterday and my long bike today. Yesterday was and almost perfect day to run (at least in the morning). Today was about as good a day as you can get to stay inside and ride a stationary bike. Most of the roads I ran on were not horrible footing-wise and I managed to stay sheltered from the wind for about half of the run. There was one stretch when I was heading northbound on Richmond, however, where the wind was right in my face and forward movement felt all but impossible. But it made the turn south onto Western road all that much more satisfying. Flying down Western road with the wind at my back is just about as good as winter running gets. At least until I got nailed by the wall of slush thrown up by a car. I swear the driver veered closer to the curb so that he wouldn't miss the slush pile I was running past. I was hoping to go somewhere between 19 and 23 km this morning but with the conditions as they were and this being my first long run in a few weeks I decided to cut it a little shorter than planned. Having said all of that, today still goes in the books as one of my best winter runs of the year. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:39 ----- BODY: Distance: 80.0 km Time: 2:15:18 HR: Avg 133/Max 156 Unlike running where I have a hard time keeping my HR below 160, when I cycle I seem to have a hard time keeping my HR above 135. Perhaps this will all change when I finally get on an actual bike outside and ride over actual roads. For now, though, I guess I'll have to crank up the resistance level on the stationary bike another level or two. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:35 ----- BODY: Thought for the day:

"The most important part of any bicycle is the nut that holds the handlebars."

Bob Mina - 20 Feb 2003

-------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:04 ----- BODY: Distance: 9.3 km Time: 48:04 HR: Avg 155/Max 173 Since I took yesterday off from running and my ankle has been feeling alright (I've been doing lots of Yoga) I decided to try a short run at lunch. Just like last time, I found it difficult to keep my heart rate under 160 but this time I had no ankle problems whatsoever. At the risk of jinxing myself I'm inclined to say that I could finally be past this particular injury. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:59 ----- BODY: Distance: 2100 m Time: 43:18 HR: Avg 145/Max 162 Location: Carling Heights Optimist Community Centre I was finally successful at getting to bed early last night and hauling my lazy butt out of bed at 0500hrs this morning so that I could get to the CGAC in time to use the pool while it was still configured for 50 metres. So of course I get there only to discover that the pool is closed to the public because there's some kind of a swim tournament going on. Figures. Rather than give up a swim I decided to check out Carling Heights instead. Man, do they keep that water warm! It certainly makes swimming lengths a bit more challenging. Perhaps that's why I found my 250 metre repeats so taxing this morning. At least that's the story I'm sticking to. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 18:28 ----- BODY: Distance: 34.5 km Time: 1:00:07 HR: Avg 140/Max 159 Just some easy spinning on the old stationary bike tonight. Normally I'd have been out running hill repeats but since last night's run still had a bit of ankle pain I decided to skip a day of running to play it safe. It worked out alright because it gave me a chance to watch another episode of the Season 1 Babylon 5 box set that I'm trying to finish up before Season 2 comes out (which, by the way, can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.ca). -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:27 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.5 km Time: 32:37 HR: Avg 151/Max 165 Shoes: Saucony Grid Hurricane My ankle has been feeling better of late so I decided to try a run this evening. I went out with two rules: 1) I would keep my heartrate under 155 and; 2) if my ankle started to bother me I would cut the run short. With that in mind I headed out with the Flying Pig Training Group (FPTG) -- formerly the Disney World Training Group -- for a loop around the usual Wednesday night 10k route. I very quickly discovered that keeping my heartrate under 155 is tougher than I thought. Every time I settled into my normal training pace my heartrate would shoot back up into the 160s. It took a conscious effort to slow down a bit and stay aerobic. What this tells me is that either a) I'm training way too hard on my "easy" days or; b) I don't have my heartrate zones calculated properly. As for my ankle, it held up fairly well but did start to hurt a bit as I hit the 4 km mark. Deciding to play it safe, I cut the run short and headed back to the Running Room to stretch and wait for the FPTG to finish their run. It's frustrating but I know it was the right thing to do in the long run. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:14 ----- BODY: Sometimes things show up in your inbox right at the best time. As you know, I've been struggling in my running over the last couple of weeks. Oh who are we kidding? I haven't been able to run at all. It's been frustrating as all get out and it's been getting me down. But then this link showed up in my inbox. It's dumb; it's silly; it's Java. But it made me feel better anyway. Thanks, Uncle Art. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:17 ----- BODY: Distance: 34.4 km Time: 1:00:03 HR: Avg 127/Max 155 Based on my heart rate data, I took the session pretty easy but it sure didn't feel that way. Spent an hour doing intervals whilst fondly recalling the days when I could go out an run. But I console myself with the knowledge that every day my ankle feels better. I'm hoping to try a short run tomorrow night. On a different note, I bought a couple of Yoga DVDs recently and I did the full practice on Yoga Conditioning for Athletes first thing this morning when I got up. I also did the cycling and running specific mini-practices as part of my post-ride stretching. I hope that by getting back to a regular Yoga practice I can get back some of the flexibility that I seem to have lost after the marathon. Perhaps someday I'll even be able to hold the asanas half as well as Rodney Yee. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 18:57 ----- BODY: Distance: 2000 m Time: 39:37.4 Location: Canada Games Aquatic Centre HR: Avg 150/Max 169 This morning started out with a bang! Literally. At 0625 hrs we were rudely awakened by a loud bang followed by the sound of a waterfall. Rushing out to the living room, I was delighted to see water cascading down the sliding glass door that lead out on to our balcony. Turns out that a water pipe in the building's heating system burst in the apartment above us. Needless to say, that put the kibosh on going for our usual Sunday morning run. So, instead, it was off to the pool for a Sunday afternoon swim. I learned a few things today: 1. You can't push off the wall in the pool of you're wearing a heart rate monitor if you don't want the transmitter strap to be around your waist. 2. I can cover 2000m faster in 250m spurts than I can by swimming 2000m straight through. 3. If the altitude sensor of my HRM is correct then holy sh!t! I'm tall! I took a split at the end of every 250m repeat. At that time, I would stand at the end of the lane and recover. Now when I look at the altitude graph for this particular workout, the average altitude while I'm swimming is 52m (which according to this or this is wrong, by the way). But at the split point my altitude shoots up to around 100m (which is also wrong but closer) which would leave me to believe that I'm one tall sonofabitch (which, if you haven't spotted the trend yet, is -- once again -- wrong)! -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:15 ----- BODY: Distance: 70 km Time: 2:01:29 HR: Avg 145/Max 165 Since I can't run I figured I'd try out a "long ride" on the bike. I realise that to a cyclist, 2 hours and 70 km does not a long ride make but it breaks both time and distance records for me. All in all things went well and I had no ankle pain during the ride and virtually none while I stretched post-ride. With the new heart rate monitor I was better able to monitor my efforts and back off when I was overdoing things a bit. On an amusing note, the HRM also tracks things like temperature and altitude and is able to plot your elevation change throughout your workout. Now as you know I am currently confined to doing my cycling workouts on a stationary bike and yet the HRM reports that I actually climbed 10 metres at some point during my ride. That might help to explain a couple of those heart rate spikes that show up in the graph. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 23:44 ----- BODY: Distance: 34.5 km Time: 1:00:03 HR: Avg 139/Max 187 After another half-week of forced rest I decided to try an easy spinning session on the stationary bike to test out my ankle. Surprisingly, the biking didn't bother my ankle much. Even still, I kept the session down to one hour and didn't push the cadence up as high as usual. As you may have also deduced buy the inclusion of the heart-rate information above, I got a new toy today. Once I get this puppy figured out, I should be able to take my training to a higher level -- not to mention the fact that I'll have a whole new slew of pretty graphs to keep me happy. Perhaps I'll even put them here on the blog if I can figure out an elegant way to do it. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:36 ----- BODY: Distance: 10.5 km Time: 59:46 Shoe: Saucony Grid Hurricane Well so much for being back to training. If anything, my ankle hurt more during and after this run than it did last week. I had hoped that a week off combined with new shoes would get me back on track for Around The Bay but it's beginning to look like I'm going to be forced into yet another extended break. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:27 ----- BODY: Distance: 1500 m Time: 33:37 Location: London Aquatic Centre I'm finally back to training after almost a week off due to that aggravated ankle. I had planned to just give up running for the week but the advise I got from the Tri-Deads was to avoid swimming and cycling too and for once I listened. I hated not being able to do anything but I listened. But this morning it was back into the pool. With no coach yet (still waiting for them to call me back for my setup interview!) I still don't really have any structured swim workouts so it was just 1500 metres in 500 metre spurts done in a mix of breast stroke and crawl -- with a couple of lengths of back stroke thrown in for humiliation purposes. Sometime during the second 500 metres, just for the briefest of moments, everything seemed to come together. My breathing was controlled. My head was down; looking at the bottom of the pool. My kick was strong and steady. My body felt like it was horizontal in the water. My arms were extending to their fullest and I was moving water by the bucket full on every pull. Yes, indeed; I knew what it felt like to be fast. Of course, 10 metres later it was over and I was back to flailing about like an overheated salmon in a spawning pool but just for that short, glorious moment I heard that sweet roar of water rushing past my ears and felt my body glide through the water like a torpedo on a mission. And in case you're wondering, my ankle is still bugging me but I just can't take the inactivity any more. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:57 ----- BODY: Distance: 12.6 km Time: 57:47 Tonight's run was back at my normal pace and what seemed like my normal effort - although without a heart rate monitor it's really hard to tell. Unfortunately, I think I'm also back on the injured list. It would seem that the extra day away from running didn't do my ankle as much good as I'd hoped so it looks like it's time to lay off the running for an extended period. I'm still planning to swim tomorrow morning but everything else is currently up in the air at the moment until I can figure out what will and won't aggravate my ankle even more. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:46 ----- BODY: Distance: 35.8 km Time: 1:00:00 Because of a hectic work schedule I had to skip the morning swim training and the lunchtime run that I usually have scheduled for Tuesdays. To make up for it I decided to do an hour of spinning on the stationary bike. It's probably just as well since I seem to have aggravated the tendons in my right ankle sometime during last Sunday's run. Perhaps this extra day of not running will help them recover a little quicker. On another note, I think I'm one step closer to actually hiring a coach. I've received a couple of replies from the ones I contacted. Now it just comes down to whose training philosophy and personality matches most closely with my own and -- more importantly for me -- which one I can afford. -------- TITLE: Happy Birthday, Mom AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:44 ----- BODY: Today is my mother's birthday. I hope you had a great day. I wish I could have been there. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 18:52 ----- BODY: Distance: 19 km Time: 1:41:33 Shoes: New Balance 763 Another fantastic long run. This time the route was an old favourite: out along the Thames River Parkway to the tip of Springbank Park and back. For the second time I decided to try the run without walk breaks. While I'm not back to my pre-marathon long run pace I was able to maintain an acceptable pace and finish quite comfortably. Now I'm looking forward to Around The Bay even more. I would be remiss if I ended this post without wishing Cathymac a happy and healthy birthday. I know we let your secret out at run club this morning but just keep in mind that we did it out of love and not malice. And I do hope you followed my instructions and went out and got yourself a really cool toy if no-one gave you one by noon. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:02 ----- BODY: Distance: 10 km Time: 48:29 Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline If it's Saturday morning it must be a 10 km run with the Big Dogs(tm). Nothing like a run with Steve, Greg, Tim and Jason to show me that while I may be feeling better I'm still not fully recovered from the marathon. In fact, with Jason peaking for his jaunt to Tahiti, it's interesting to see the runs from the other side of the table; Instead of it being Randy and me who are blazing ahead of the pack whilst others curse our names it's now me who lags just slightly behind and just slightly out of breath and curses the names of others. Of course, that doesn't stop the others from cursing my name. They just don't use my speed as a reason anymore. However, all was not good today. I was deeply saddened to return to The Running Room at the end of the run only to learn of the tragic accident that befell the space shuttle Columbia. I'll not go into any more detail as others can and will cover the horrible events far more sensitively and professionally than I could ever do. I'll just end by offering my heartfelt condolences to the astronauts and their families. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 17:54 ----- BODY: Distance: 55.3 km Time: 1:30:00 One of my fastest sustained "rides" to date. I know it's just a stationary bike but I really do think I'm improving and I can't wait until I have a real bike to ride. Considering the weather, I suppose it's just as well that I don't have a bike yet. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:42 ----- BODY: Distance: 7x200m hill repeats w/1 km warmup and cooldown Time: 28:55 Shoe: New Balance 763 After a much needed break from them, it was back to the hill repeats for the first time since mid-December. With Around the Bay -- a notoriously hilly race -- looming in the near future these sessions take on added importance in the training cycle. Tonight's repeats were pretty tough but then the first ones after a break always are... Not that it ever gets any easier. While not directly related to this training session, I'd just like to mention that I finally got to try on the new Asics DS Trainer VIIIs tonight prior to my workout. I like. I like very much. I'd also like to send out a big "Thank you!" to Janice for letting me pick her brain about a potential coach, workout schedules and swimming, weight and spin training at the Y. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:35 ----- BODY: Distance: 2000 m Time: 42:34 Location: London Aquatic Centre Another early morning swim to help build my endurance. Based on how tough the last few laps always feel I've still got a lot more endurance building to do. Either that or I'm starting too hard. Knowing me it's probably both. I'm on the verge of hiring a coach so with any luck my swim training reports will start to be a little less boring and predictable than "2000 m, 40ish mins". -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:43 ----- BODY: Distance: 11.6 km Time: 58:55 Shoes: Asics DS Trainer VII I was feeling spry and speedy after this morning's bike session so I opted for the fast shoes! Started out feeling pretty cold but once I got going I warmed up pretty quickly. I did find, however, that the lightweight trainers definitely let the cold in more than any of my others shoes. Overall I was pleased with how the run went. With each run I can feel my legs returning to their old selves. With the extra training time I have now that I work at home I'll have to be careful that I don't overdo things or the resurgent bounce in my stride won't last very long. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:17 ----- BODY: Distance: 35.2 km Time: 60:00 Just a standard spin session on the stationary bike set to 'Progressive Hills' level 7 to loosen up the legs and work a bit more on my pedaling technique. The ride felt pretty good; hard without crossing over into gut-busting territory. Not much else to say really. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:00 ----- BODY: Distance: 11.1 km Time: 59:29 Shoes: New Balance 763 An easy yet hilly jaunt to Arva and back (which somehow sounds so much more impressive than just saying 11 kilometres). The roads were mostly clear of snow and slush and the most treacherous part of the run was actually the sidewalks around Loblaws at Fanshawe and Richmond. Shame on you, Loblaws, for not doing a better job of clearing your sidewalks. I'm still a little slower than I was pre-marathon but I think the recovery is well and truly on it's way. Just a quick afterthought: As of today, Karen and I are officially registered for Around the Bay with bib numbers of 1561 and 1560 respectively as reported in this list. I've held off on registering for the Retina Run as I'm still not convinced that I can do a half marathon just two weeks after a 30 km race. We'll see. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 10:49 ----- BODY: Distance: 2000 m Time: 45:24 Location: London Aquatic Centre It's really tough to keep track of how far you have gone when they keep moving the walls on you! I really must stop going for my swim right at the time when they are reconfiguring the pool. I end up doing half of my laps in a 25 m pool and the other half in a pool that is anywhere from 12.5 m to 37.5 m long. It's hard enough to keep track of how far I've gone let alone having to do math involving fractions so early in the morning. As to the actual swim, I felt pretty strong throughout the session even if I am still incredibly slow. Maybe once I get a coach things will improve. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:42 ----- BODY: Distance: 16 km Time: 1:30:27 Shoe: Brooks Adrenaline What a fantastic run. The conditions were horrible with snow covered streets and sidewalks but the run itself felt fantastic nonetheless. Apart from the water in my Camelbak freezing I couldn't have asked for a better run. I even decided to forego walk breaks with no ill effects. I'm thinking it might be time to take my training to the next level and run without walk breaks for Around the Bay. We'll see how the next few long runs go as I ramp up from 16 km to 21. If all goes well, I'll go for it and if not I'll go back to 15 and 1. I also can't close this entry without updating the "Why John is a moron" file with reason number 78. I won't get into details but let's just say that I was very impressed to find out that Randy can actually push a car that still has the parking brake set. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:00 ----- BODY: Distance: 8.6 km Time: 42:49 Shoe: New Balance 763 Things are getting better. It was moderately warmer and I was (barely) able to keep up with the Big Dogs again although while they extended down to Dufferin to go for a full 10 km I opted to bow out at Hyman. Even so it was by far the best run I've had since I got back from Disney. It truly is amazing the difference a couple of days can make. On Wednesday and Thursday I was in a really negative head space and didn't want to run (or even speak) with anyone. Today was a complete turnaround and I was happy to once again be running with a group of guys who have all been there before me. I was able to tell them about my experiences and received assurances that it is all perfectly normal and expected (in as much as anything associated with running 42.2 kilometres can be considered normal). It was also interesting to see the run from the other side of the equation: Prior to Disney it was me with the fresh legs and the speedy pace. Now I'm the one with the dead legs and Jason is the one who is almost honed to that razor's edge of race readiness dragging my sorry butt around the wintry London streets. Soon he'll be jetting off to Tahiti -- yes, Tahiti -- to run the Tahiti Nui Sunrise marathon. I wish him well. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:46 ----- BODY: Distance: 53.2 km Time: 1:30:00 Now that's what I'm talking about! At an average speed of 35.5 km/h tonight's ride is the fastest ride I've done since August -- and the ride in August was 40 mins and 23 km shorter. I think my legs are coming back and maybe even my motivation is starting to return. Finished off the night with a good stretch -- are my quads ever tight! -- and a session with The Stick(tm). Now I just need to figure out how I can run Around the Bay on 30 March and then turn around and race the Retina Research Half Marathon a scant two weeks later. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:08 ----- BODY: Thought for the day:

"Not only did I get a nice little runners high but saw a hawk - which you rarely ever see in a glass front dryer."

Joe Hellenbrand - 24 Jan 2003

When it comes down to a debate over whether to run outside in freezing temperatures or run on a treadmill in the basement this comment pretty well summed it up for me. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:08 ----- BODY: Distance: 6 km Time: 33:36 Shoes: New Balance 763 Another night of cold, miserable weather; another run cut short. I went out with the intention of running 10 km but the precarious footing -- not to mention my still flagging motivation -- led me to cut the run short. On the upside my legs are feeling better. Training for Disney occupied almost a year of my running life and served as a great impetus to get out and put in the kilometres. Now that's over and I don't seem to have the same drive that I did just two weeks ago. In order to break out of this slump I really think I need to pick a race. I need something short term to focus on. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:20 ----- BODY: Distance: 1500 m Time: 32:58 Location: Canada Games Aquatic Centre So in an attempt to break out of the doldrums I got up early and hauled my arse down to the pool with the intention of putting in 2000m or so before starting work. I didn't quite make it to 2000m before running out of gas but all in all it wasn't a horrible swim. I'm supposed to go for a run tonight but it's frickin' cold out there. I wussed out yesterday so I'm not confident about tonight. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:12 ----- BODY: Distance: 32.45 km Time: 60:00 I seem to have become somewhat of a cold weather wuss this year. I ran about 250 m with Karen and Kevin tonight and immediately came to the decision that there was no damn way I was doing a 10 km run. I don't know if this is just another symptom that I'm not fully recovered from Disney or that I need to pick a race so that I have something to focus my training on. I just know that the motivation and drive to run that I had prior to the marathon just isn't there anymore. All of that is just a long-winded, boring way of saying that I opted to have a nice, warm spin session on the stationary bike tonight whilst watching Ed. I didn't even do abs. -------- TITLE: Aftermath AUTHOR: John DATE: 18:00 ----- BODY: For those who still might be interested, I've finally finished and posted my Disney Marathon race report. To read it you can either click here or click on the link to the right in the Race Report section. If you want a bit of a giggle, you can see pictures of me and Karen taken at various stages throughout the course. For me, click here and for Karen here. I'm not normally a big fan of pictures of myself but I rather like this one. BTW, this image is not a picture of Karen and in fact was taken 2 hours after she had already finished. Methinks the photo interpreter goofed. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 17:50 ----- BODY: Distance: 9 km Time: 59:50 Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline A cold, slow run through the north end of the park trail system. My hamstrings, while still sore, felt a little better than yesterday but I still forced myself to stick to an easy pace to make this more of an active recovery run. To help keep myself under control, I latched on to Brian's Half Marathon clinic and stuck with them throughout most of the run. I even took a bit of break in the middle to act as a sort of traffic cop to steer the back half of the group clear of the deep snow drift in Broughdale Park that Brian saw fit to lead the front half through. He claims it was unintentional but I have my suspicions. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 17:39 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.4 km Time: 38:56 Route - without the hill repeat Shoes: New Balance 763 Back in Canada after a pretty decent week in Florida (although the weather was a trifle on the cool side). Karen and I spent a week touring through the various theme parks that make up Disney World, riding the rides and just reconnecting with each other. This morning was just a chance to test out legs that were still pretty trashed from last Sunday's event. As expected, the run was slow and painful. Most sources dictate a three week recovery phase and after this run I fully understand why. -------- TITLE: WTF was I thinking!?... er... Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:24 ----- BODY: Distance: 42.2 km Time (Official): 3:32:52 Time (Chip): 3:32:01 Shoes: Asics DS Trainer VII Well that was interesting. I came. I ran. I walked funny for the rest of the week. Marathon number one is officially a war story now. I'm still assembling the race report. Watch for it soon. -------- TITLE: Two more sleeps AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:50 ----- BODY: So it's only two more sleeps until Karen and I jet off to Florida to run the marathon. Contrary to the opinions of Barry, Bryan, Cathy, Janice and Bill the taper is going just fine. I haven't run at all this week. Not even once. Of course, there's always tomorrow... -------- TITLE: Excuses AUTHOR: John DATE: 07:44 ----- BODY: I was planning on a few thousand metres in the pool this morning but this muscle spasm between my shoulder blades that I started whining about last Thursday is still lingering so I decided that swimming probably wasn't the best thing to do right now. Of course, I'm probably wrong. A good long swim is probably just what I needed to work out this sore spot but I've always been pretty good at picking exactly the wrong thing to do. Hopefully the massage I have scheduled for later today will help. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:31 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.4 km Time: 38:30 Route - without the hill repeat Shoes: New Balance 763 Well, I keep saying that I've run my last run before the marathon and then I keep going out and running another run. This tapering thing is hard! In my defense, this is the last Sunday to run with everyone from the run club before we head off to Florida. And unlike Laura, I'd feel guilty if I just showed up for the post run coffee without having actually run. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:36 ----- BODY: Distance: 16 km Time: 1:22:15 Route Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline That's it. The last significant run before the marathon. Rather fitting that it would once again be run on sidewalks and streets covered in freshly fallen snow. There are still a couple of 6 km and a 10 km run on the schedule but I may just skip them all together in favour of a week of complete rest. I do plan on a 5 km run on Saturday morning just to wake up my legs and give them an idea of what I expect from them on Sunday but other than that they've earned a vacation of their own. Karen has started laying out the clothes she's planning to take to Florida with her. If there are any items of clothing left in London with "Canada" or a maple leaf on it that she doesn't own then it's only because the store has done a damn fine job in hiding it. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 21:13 ----- BODY: Distance: 25 km Time: 45:15 Don't you just hate it when you wake up with the stabbing pain of a muscle spasm right between your shoulder blades? I've been fighting on of those all day. With that and the weather being as it is (-9C and snowing quite heavily) tonight, I opted for some easy spinning on the stationary bike rather than a run. I'm grumpy and my back is killing me. But tomorrow is Friday and that's always a good thing. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:51 ----- BODY: Distance: 7.9 km Time: 40:54 Route Shoes: New Balance 763 The now traditional New Years morning loop around Springbank Park. An unexpected warm spell yesterday followed by a rapid cold snap ensured that all of the snow was gone but there were just enough patches of ice along the trail to keep us on alert. Most of the regular gang was there to greet the new year with a casual run prefaced with a visit to The Worlds Most Disgusting Porta-Potty(tm). And just to remind us all of the foolhardy exuberance of youth, while the rest of us shivered in all of the latest cold weather technical running gear, Pat's son, Evan, showed up and ran in shorts. Post-run found us all at Pat and Kevin's for coffee and home-made bacon 'n eggers that put anything the Bagel Deli produces to shame. Thanks again for opening your home to a bunch of raucous, sweaty runners. I an effort to start the new year off right, I'll do an ab workout later on this afternoon (after a nice little siesta). 8 more sleeps until Karen and I fly to Orlando! 10 more sleeps (well 9 and a night of tossing and turning) until I finally finish a marathon. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:21 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.8 km Time: 31:47 Route Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline The last run of 2002. Rather fitting that I ran it with the gang from the Running Room Run Club. Of course, because it was the last run of the year the thought of tapering went out the window and I ran it a bit harder than I should have but such is life as a Type A runner. Speaking of Type A behaviour, after making the last entry in my log, I finish the year with the following stats: Swimming Total distance covered (this year): 38.44 km Total distance covered (lifetime): 38.44 km Most distance in one month: 12.9 km (July) Avg number of swims/week: 0.86 Avg distance/swim: 1830.48 m Longest distance in one swim: 2800 m Cycling Total distance covered (this year): 561.45 km Total distance covered (lifetime): 561.45 km Most distance in one month: 160.6 km (July) Avg number of rides/week: 0.62 Avg distance/ride: 37.43 km Longest distance in one ride: 50.1 km Running Total distance covered (this year): 2436.91 km Total distance covered (lifetime): 3983.9 km Most distance in one month: 270 km (November) Avg number of runs/week: 4.96 Avg distance/run: 9.52 km Longest distance in one run: 35.6 km Tomorrow morning Karen and I will start the new year off right with a nice, easy 8 km loop around Springbank Park with some of the usual gang of runners just like we did last year. I guess that makes it a tradition now. Happy new year everyone. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:31 ----- BODY: Distance: 24 km Time: 2:10:19 Route Shoes: New Balance 763 Slow, slow, slow! I don't know if it was all of the snow on the sidewalks, all of the hills along the route or just the fact that I'm tired but this was by and far the least enjoyable run I've had in a long time. I'm told by others who've been here ahead of me that this is all part of the taper and is to be expected but it still makes the confidence waver just a little bit. Now it's time to kick back with some hot chocolate and a book on SQL Server OLAP development. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 17:44 ----- BODY: Distance: 10 km Time: 50:01 Route Shoes: New Balance 763 Just an easy but hilly run to recover from all of the turkey, dressing and gravy that I've been eating for the last few days. It actually felt good to hit the road again and log a few kilometres. I'm constantly amazed at all of the clothing I see laying around on the ground during my runs. I can understand how someone might drop a glove or a hat but how on earth does someone lose a shoe without noticing? Even worse; their underwear. Try as I might, I just can't figure it out. -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 12:05 ----- BODY: Distance: 50 km Time: 1:30:00 While Karen decided to greet Christmas with a 10 km run, I opted for 90 minutes on the stationary bike with the latest issue of Inside Triathlon and watching The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on DVD. After all, nothing says Christmas like sweating, breathing heavy and laughing to insane British humour. My parents arrival is imminent and then, for the first time in 13 years, Karen, my Parents and I will sit down to a Christmas dinner in our own apartment. So this is what it's like to be home for Christmas. My best wishes for a happy holiday to everyone who reads this (all three of you). -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 18:35 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.4 km Time: 31:21 Route - without the hill repeat Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline A short, easy group run starting and finishing at The Running Room followed by a round of drinks at The Ceeps. Kept to a pretty sedate pace for the first half of the run and just chatted with the gang about anything and everything under the sun. Picked up the pace somewhat for the second half of the run as I was starting to get a little too chilled. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:33 ----- BODY: Distance: 2000m Time: 42:07 Location: Canada Games Aquatic Centre I know I'm not getting any faster but these swims are getting a little easier each time. Imagine how much more improvement I'd see if I actually went more than once a week, hired a coach or read a book or two. My excuse for the lack of speed this week will be... hmm... let's see... Ah yes! I'm tapering! That'll work. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:54 ----- BODY: Distance: 35.6 km Time: 3:03:50 Route coming soon Shoes: New Balance 763 The subtitle for this one should be something like "Holy Crap! I Ran 22 miles!" We started the first lap of our 17.8 km loop under mostly sunny skies with temps hovering right around 0 degrees C. Just a slight wind out of the south that would occasionally pick up enough to remind us that it's winter. It's quite remarkable just how suddenly how we feel can change. While I had a pretty good run overall, I now understand a little better why it's referred to as "The Wall" and not some other term. Once minute you're fine and the next your not. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. While I didn't crash and burn, I did have to constantly talk myself out of cutting a corner here or a block there. Turning left onto Baseline instead of heading straight up Wellington was one of the toughest decisions I've had to make in a very long time. I am now most decidedly ready to taper. In fact, I'm still trying to decide whether or not I really need to do that 23 km run that's on the schedule for next weekend. All I know is that based on how I felt at the end of today's run those last 7 kms are going to be a bitch! As a reward for a run well done, Karen and I decided to take ourselves out to see Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers. Wow! By the time the movie was over my legs had stiffened to the point that I could barely make it down the stairs but it was so worth it. -------- TITLE: Run. No... er... Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:37 ----- BODY: Distance: 47.75 km Time: 90:00 When Karen woke me up this morning to get ready to go down to the Running Room, I took one look outside, saw the snowy, windy conditions and for the first time ever, wussed out of a run. For some reason, I just didn't have it in me today to get on the gear and go run in the snow. So a 10 km run turned into 90 minutes on the stationary bike while watching Vanilla Sky followed by a... wait for it... an ab workout. I must say, considering the amount of ab workouts I seem to be doing, I must not be doing them right or long enough because I still don't have any abs. Thinking about going for a swim later this afternoon. I don't want to do too much, though. We've got our last really long run tomorrow. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 19:25 ----- BODY: Distance: 6.8 km Time: 36:29 Route Shoes: New Balance 763 Who'd have thought I'd be running in shorts in late December? Granted it was raining pretty steadily and we spent quite a bit of energy dodging the sheets of water thrown up by passing buses and cars (some accidental and some intentional) but it was fun anyway. Last week was the final week for hill repeats so it was a simple, short and easy run just to loosen up the legs. Most of the Disney group stayed home so it was just my wife Karen and I running together which is always nice. It gives us a chance to chat and catch up on what's going on without any other distractions -- other than the aforementioned sheets of water, of course. Tonight is the Survivor grand finale but I'll still have to figure out a way to do the ubiquitous ab workout anyway. But the taper is just around the corner and boy am I ready! -------- TITLE: Congrats AUTHOR: John DATE: 22:39 ----- BODY: A break from the usual content to send my congratulations and best wishes to Stephen and Wendy on the birth of their baby boy, Michael Jefferey (or Jeffery... the spelling is still under negotiation) on 16 Dec 2002. May your son grow up happy and healthy. I've got to say, Steve; with all the high tech gadgets you usually have hanging off your belt at any given time, I'm a little disappointed that the announcement took two days. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:30 ----- BODY: Distance: 12.6 km Time: 57:53 Route Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline I was a little worried about this run for three reasons: 1) I went a little too far on yesterday's run; 2) I forgot my Camelbak so I had no water with me (not that I need it but it serves as a bit of a security blanket for me on my runs); and most importantly 3) my asthma inhaler is tucked conveniently into the outer pocket of my Camelbak so that I'll always have it with me on a run because I never forget my Camelbak. As my friend Peter, who can relate absolutely anything to a Simpsons reference, would say, "D'oh!" So, I headed out on my usual Wednesday night route with the plan of keeping the pace easy. All of the usual suspects from the Disney gang were there along with Amy who always manages to crank the pace of the group up a notch. About halfway through the run, as I was waiting for a light to change at a rather busy intersection, I caught a whiff of that distinctive aroma of beef frying on a grill which prompted me to reflect on the fact that my decision last January to clean up my diet and start eating right has had consequences far more significant than the shrinking of my waistline and the lowering of my blood pressure. Sorry guys. Mea culpa. Worries aside, the run went quite well with nary a dry throat nor a wheezy lung throughout. And Amy even made the mistake of volunteering to set up an aid station at her house which just happens to be right on our route for this Sunday's 35 km long run. Thanks, Amy! As an added bonus, I came home to discover that Karen has made a lovely batch of shortbread. There goes the nutrition plan for today. The West Wing is a repeat tonight so I suppose I have no good excuse for skipping my ab workout. Sigh. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 13:30 ----- BODY: Distance: 13.6 km Time: 1:06:30 Route Shoes: New Balance 763

Contrary to my whining yesterday, today turned out to be one of those cold, crisp and clear days that makes winter running all worthwhile. I was in the mood for something different so instead of my usual Tuesday lunch route I decided to head north. For once my estimate was short rather than long and I ended up doing 13 kms instead of my usual 11. Things felt pretty good for most of the run although I could have done without the t-shirt under my longsleeve shirt. Today's highlight: For the first time in as long as I can remember, I had a noticeable tailwind pushing me up the hill on Fanshawe. Sometimes it's the little things that bring a smile to your face. -------- TITLE: Swim AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:23 ----- BODY: Distance: 2250m Time: 45:28 Location: Canada Games Aquatic Centre

Up at 0 dark thirty to head over to the pool. It is freakin' cold out this morning. Thankfully, the pool water was nice and warm. Still just plugging away putting in distance on the swims to build up my endurance. At some point, however, I'm going to have to start doing some drills if I'm ever going to get any better (read: faster). -------- TITLE: Bike AUTHOR: John DATE: 20:27 ----- BODY: Distance: 30.15 km Time: 60:00

Well, so much for rest days! I suddenly got it into my little pea brain that since I didn't bike last Friday I was up a rest day so I spent an hour doing some fairly easy spinning on the stationary bike while reading the latest issue of Triathlete and watching Jeopardy during the last half hour. I tried to maintain a 90 rpm cadence but a slight twinge in my left knee caused me to drop down to about 75-80 rpm for the last 20 mins. Followed up with a short ab workout. -------- TITLE: Whining AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:15 ----- BODY: It's a rest day with no run scheduled so of course it's been clear and sunny and near(ish) 0 degrees C all day. Tomorrow, with a 12 km run scheduled, I'm sure we'll be back to cloudy and cold. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 09:34 ----- BODY: Thought for the day:

"Train hard, and think about that race before it swallows you whole."

Nigel Sanderson - 16 Dec 2002

Nigel just posted a great race report on the Tri-Deads mailing list for the Taupo Half Ironman. Way to gut it out, Nige. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 15:55 ----- BODY: Distance: 29.2 km Time: 2:35:28 Route Shoes: New Balance 763 This was the second last long run before I start my taper leading up to the Disney marathon. A pretty good effort and I even had company on this one as I was joined by a visiting runner from Calgary who is training to run the Las Vegas Marathon in February 2003. 'Twas nice to have some company on the run and I got to show him the highlights of the city like the Esso station at Highbury and Cheapside, the cemetery at the top of Riverside and the Petro Canada at Richmond and Fanshawe Park. I'm sure he'll go back to Calgary and let everyone know what a great city this is. Weather-wise, things were fairly mild but overcast with a bit of a wind that seemed to pick up in intensity as the run wore on (or perhaps I was just getting more tired). I did get to try out a new technical shirt from New Balance that has fold away mittens integrated into the shirt sleeves. It really made things easy. As I started the run and was cool I had the mittens down over my hands keeping them warm but once I warmed up it was a simple matter to flip the mitts up and out of the way without having to break stride or try to fumble around putting my gloves into my Camelbak pouch. A pretty cool shirt really and definitely warmer than the Nike ones I have with the thumb holes through the extra long sleeves. By the time the run was done my hamstrings were pretty tight so it's lots of stretching and roller sessions for me tonight. A quick trip to the Bagel Deli for coffee, a Bacon 'n Egger and a chance to tell lies about our latest races with the rest of the Disney Group made it all worthwhile, though. Nothing left now but an ab workout later this evening. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day. -------- TITLE: Run AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:31 ----- BODY: Distance: 10 km Time: 51:06 Shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Moderate paced run with Jason and Steve starting and finishing at The Running Room downtown. The original plan was to head west along the trails to Saturn Park but the ice and snow buildup prompted us to change our minds and head north around the university instead. All in all a pretty decent morning for a run. The weather was pretty mild and Steve, as always, kept us engaged with wonderful conversation as only he can do. One last note. A belated congratulations to Greg who completed his 20th marathon last Sunday with a 3:34:00 finishing time at the Tucson Marathon. You are a marathoning machine, man! Tomorrow it's back to the grind with a 30 km LSD run as part of the Disney build up. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 16:15 ----- BODY: By the way. For those of you who might still be wondering what you could give me as a gift (because I know you desperately want to), one of these babies will do just fine. Thanks. Update: 17-Dec-2002 It'll be even better if it has some of these on it. -------- TITLE: Misc AUTHOR: John DATE: 14:04 ----- BODY: No training scheduled for today. In fact, today is "fat and lazy" day when Karen and I go to a movie and eat all the junk that we (are supposed to) deny ourselves all week. We'll probably end up going to see Star Trek: Nemesis even though I learned long ago that it's not really a good idea to go see Star Trek movies on opening night because that is when all of the really crazy ST fans show up. --------