tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40201952011-04-21T23:45:14.567-04:00One man's journey towards completing an Ironman triathlon.Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comBlogger881100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2004164032003-06-11T23:32:00.000-04:002003-06-17T11:41:39.350-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2004098812003-06-10T20:29:00.000-04:002003-06-10T20:29:11.200-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003782212003-06-01T19:36:00.000-04:002003-06-03T16:45:05.000-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003265642003-05-21T20:53:00.000-04:002003-05-22T08:53:42.000-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003216602003-05-21T09:56:00.000-04:002003-05-21T09:56:16.543-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003159492003-05-19T22:32:00.000-04:002003-05-20T08:18:51.000-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003083612003-05-18T16:54:00.000-04:002003-05-18T16:54:37.416-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003083312003-05-18T16:44:00.000-04:002003-05-18T16:44:36.176-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2003056112003-05-17T16:22:00.000-04:002003-05-17T16:22:15.880-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002935502003-05-15T00:49:00.000-04:002003-05-15T00:49:58.626-04:00

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?

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002931932003-05-14T23:03:00.000-04:002003-05-14T23:03:25.600-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002908182003-05-14T13:45:00.000-04:002003-05-14T13:46:28.000-04:00

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!

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002870892003-05-13T19:52:00.000-04:002003-05-13T19:52:08.760-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002780062003-05-12T10:00:00.000-04:002003-05-12T10:00:17.490-04:00

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,

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002748882003-05-11T15:24:00.000-04:002003-05-11T15:35:08.000-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2002748622003-05-11T15:14:00.000-04:002003-05-11T15:15:11.000-04:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2000057812003-03-18T14:22:00.000-05:002003-03-18T14:22:13.036-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-2000055712003-03-18T13:43:00.000-05:002003-03-18T14:09:39.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-908642902003-03-16T14:07:00.000-05:002003-03-17T14:08:57.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3908642202003-03-15T14:53:00.000-05:002003-03-17T13:55:39.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-907294432003-03-13T19:30:00.000-05:002003-03-14T18:31:43.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-907293842003-03-12T23:11:00.000-05:002003-03-14T18:32:00.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-907293672003-03-12T14:08:00.000-05:002003-03-14T18:32:25.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-905424692003-03-11T19:47:00.000-05:002003-03-11T19:47:50.446-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-905217792003-03-10T22:30:00.000-05:002003-03-11T10:08:47.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903662652003-02-23T12:53:00.000-05:002003-02-24T10:45:52.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903662042003-02-22T14:39:00.000-05:002003-02-24T08:39:54.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903564982003-02-21T15:35:00.000-05:002003-02-21T15:35:19.760-05:00

Thought for the day: "The most important part of any bicycle is the nut that holds the handlebars."Bob Mina - 20 Feb 2003

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903559202003-02-21T14:04:00.000-05:002003-02-21T14:04:37.350-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903558982003-02-21T13:59:00.000-05:002003-02-21T13:59:32.746-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903558602003-02-20T18:28:00.000-05:002003-02-21T13:51:49.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903471702003-02-19T22:27:00.000-05:002003-02-19T22:27:18.850-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903451782003-02-19T15:14:00.000-05:002003-02-19T15:14:14.610-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903420802003-02-18T22:17:00.000-05:002003-02-18T22:18:50.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903319462003-02-16T18:57:00.000-05:002003-02-18T22:18:25.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903289122003-02-15T20:15:00.000-05:002003-02-15T20:43:05.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903266552003-02-14T23:44:00.000-05:002003-02-14T23:44:54.433-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-903084732003-02-11T13:36:00.000-05:002003-02-11T13:36:35.673-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3903071732003-02-11T09:27:00.000-05:002003-02-11T09:27:28.853-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3902841232003-02-05T22:57:00.000-05:002003-02-05T22:57:16.350-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902787402003-02-04T22:46:00.000-05:002003-02-05T08:17:55.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902787352003-02-04T22:44:00.000-05:002003-02-04T22:47:22.000-05:00

Today is my mother's birthday. I hope you had a great day. I wish I could have been there.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3902679822003-02-02T18:52:00.000-05:002003-02-02T18:52:02.693-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902680122003-02-01T12:02:00.000-05:002003-02-02T19:07:15.000-05:00

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;

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902679902003-01-31T17:54:00.000-05:002003-02-02T18:54:41.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902572222003-01-30T21:42:00.000-05:002003-01-30T21:49:05.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902571992003-01-30T21:35:00.000-05:002003-01-30T21:35:32.340-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902524292003-01-29T22:43:00.000-05:002003-01-29T22:43:12.313-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902500542003-01-29T13:17:00.000-05:002003-01-29T13:17:10.836-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902452162003-01-28T13:00:00.000-05:002003-01-28T13:00:22.750-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3902444292003-01-28T10:49:00.000-05:002003-01-28T12:48:41.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902360882003-01-26T12:42:00.000-05:002003-01-26T12:42:28.613-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3902332652003-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:002003-01-25T12:03:42.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902315612003-01-24T20:46:00.000-05:002003-01-24T20:46:24.640-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902303292003-01-24T15:08:00.000-05:002003-01-24T15:09:30.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902285002003-01-23T21:08:00.000-05:002003-01-24T09:08:55.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902235202003-01-23T09:20:00.000-05:002003-01-23T09:20:50.306-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902234782003-01-22T21:12:00.000-05:002003-01-23T09:13:16.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902106182003-01-20T18:00:00.000-05:002003-01-20T18:01:11.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902105722003-01-19T17:50:00.000-05:002003-01-20T17:51:16.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902105282003-01-18T17:39:00.000-05:002003-01-20T17:41:38.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-902001832003-01-12T16:24:00.000-05:002003-01-20T17:41:17.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901556702003-01-07T21:50:00.000-05:002003-01-08T11:58:40.000-05:00

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...

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901520662003-01-07T07:44:00.000-05:002003-01-07T07:44:16.700-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901446332003-01-05T12:31:00.000-05:002003-01-05T12:35:04.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901423682003-01-04T16:36:00.000-05:002003-01-05T12:32:13.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901358002003-01-02T21:13:00.000-05:002003-01-02T21:13:41.253-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901305592003-01-01T12:51:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:58:40.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-901281672002-12-31T16:21:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:53:54.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-900999352002-12-29T14:31:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:54:14.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-900980922002-12-28T17:44:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:56:19.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3900901552002-12-25T12:05:00.000-05:002002-12-25T12:05:26.480-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3900889672002-12-24T18:35:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:56:47.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-900874702002-12-24T09:33:00.000-05:002002-12-24T09:52:10.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-900825052002-12-22T19:54:00.000-05:002002-12-22T19:54:16.210-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-3900797002002-12-21T14:37:00.000-05:002002-12-21T14:37:45.226-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-862941232002-12-19T19:25:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:57:22.000-05:00

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,

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-862522612002-12-18T22:39:00.000-05:002002-12-20T08:59:18.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-862465082002-12-18T20:30:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:55:53.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-861767522002-12-17T13:30:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:55:23.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-861662152002-12-17T09:23:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:18:04.000-05:00

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:

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-861404552002-12-16T20:27:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:19:34.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-861287992002-12-16T16:15:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:19:50.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-861103012002-12-16T09:34:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:20:10.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-860416052002-12-15T15:55:00.000-05:002003-01-01T12:54:53.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-860038242002-12-14T16:31:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:19:00.000-05:00

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

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-859625302002-12-13T16:15:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:18:43.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020195.post-859574142002-12-13T14:04:00.000-05:002002-12-20T09:18:25.000-05:00

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.

Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07710679523833020897noreply@blogger.com