Weekend Tri

It was a great weekend, Amber and I finally had very few plans this past weekend so we took the opportunity to swim Friday (3.0km), bike Saturday (1hr 40mins) while watching IMC, and run a race on Sunday (12km). Tons of fun! The race on Sunday was a three person relay but AD and I decided that 4kms was really not even worth getting out of bed for and did all three laps solo. It was a tough course, but in comparison to other x-country races, it was pretty tame. I completed the 12km course in 40:04, almost under 40! Oh well, next time.

I've been concentrating on two exams on Monday and Tuesday for the "Portfolio Management Techniques" course so haven't kept up with the posts, sorry. The good news is they went well and that means I'll have the "Canadian Investment Manager" designation. A good one to have for my new job.

Good luck to Scott Curry and Kyle Marcotte in Florida November 3rd, AD and I will be cheering you on! We know you'll kick ass! You both kicked my ass in our last workout!

Hunter Tries Hang'in with the Pros

Before




After



Well today was a great day for training, and a great eye opener. I had the opportunity to ride with two professional triathletes, Scott Curry and Kyle Marcotte, and they put me in a world of hurt!!! I had always considered myself somewhat of a good cyclist but after riding with these guys for the morning, my God! I am not even in the same stratosphere as Scott and Kyle. It was a real dream to ride with guys of this caliber and I was definitely giving it everything I had to try to keep up.

I had about 1/2 hour before I met them to warm-up and I thought I'd be fresh and ready to go. I met them at the corner of 101 street and lower springbank rd. which is about 12km from home and I left myself enough time to fool with the seat on Clinton's bike as I've been suffering from a weird knee problem, most likely from using a borrowed bike. After fixing the seat and feeling well warmed-up Scott and Kyle came down 101 street right on time. We started out down lower springbank and I immediately knew I was in a world of trouble; they were talking easily between each other and I was drafting, struggling to keep pace. I didn't want to slow these guys down but I knew that I couldn't keep going for 100km at a 160 heart rate, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try. I hung on as long as I could and I could feel the lactic acid burn in my legs and my mouth was hanging open gasping for air. I did okay until we hit the hills, at that point I knew they were going to drop me very quick, and they did, it didn't help that my gearing system jammed and I couldn't get out of the big ring for a while. Fortunately Scott and Kyle are both great guys and they didn't care that I couldn't ride with them and they doubled back for me at the highway 22 junction.

Once we were over the little hill on highway 22 I felt a little better on the flats and was able to draft for most of the ride, but I think Scott and Kyle slowed quite a bit in order for me to keep up (thanks guys). Scott asked if either of us needed to stop in Bragg Creek and I was thinking to myself, my God, I need to stop and collapse in the next couple kms. I used the excuse that I needed to go to the washroom but really I just wanted to rest! We stopped and chatted for a couple minutes in Bragg and I felt a little better. The nice part was that the way back was flat and I felt more comfortable riding with these guys on the flats. Scott still pushed me quite a bit but I gave everything I could to stay on his wheel and stuck with him until we hit highway 8. At that point my body had taken enough abuse and I said thanks to both of them for a terrific ride and I made my way home.

I don't think I'd ever rode that fast to and from Bragg Creek, I wish I had a speedometer, but doing the ride other times it was about 100kms and I was riding for about 2hrs and 55mins so I know that was a lot faster then I'd ever gone before. I collapsed and needed to rest for the remainder of the day but had an awesome experience, thanks Scott for the invite, hope to do it again, give me some time to recover.

More Bike News

Well I guess my bike is going to take longer than I anticipated. Griffen has to send in a large number of bikes to be heat treated at the same time so it's not going to go for treatment until the middle of next week and will get painted the week of the 22nd. It's taking a lot longer than I anticipated but at least I have a borrowed bike to use in the meantime. I've done a couple trainer rides already and I forgot how difficult they were, it's like constantly riding uphill. The TCR classes start on the 18th and I'm trying to get back into half decent shape before then. If you don't have your cycling legs for those sessions, they will hurt!

Training has been light for the month, just mainly running (no more than an hour) and some easy biking, while mixing in a couple swims and gym workouts. Once the bike classes start up again, I'll be wanting to start up full tilt.

Had a great thanksgiving weekend with Amber's brother and his family, we all ate a lot and enjoyed hanging out with their little girls. I also had a chance to talk with Brock, the "investment specialist" I'll be replacing up in Grande Prairie. The confirmed date for the move is now set, March 10 we'll be up there. It's going to be a great opportunity and I can't wait to start the job (at least we don't have to suffer through this winter, I hear they can be really brutal up there).

Just what I needed

Yesterday I was feeling REALLY sore from the total body weight workout I did on Sunday. Yes I worked-out on Sunday and I was still sore on Wednesday, a sign of getting older I guess. I wasn't sure if I should just take a day off and rest, or try to do something to stretch and recover. I decided for the latter and went to Mount Royal for a light swim work-out. The first km was tough but after a while my body became used to the motion again. I was feeling really comfortable, I decided not to push it, also the band on my paddle broke, so I just kept it to a nice easy pace for the full 50 minutes. After 2.5km I felt really good and the D.O.M.S. had reduced dramatically.


I've been going through bike withdrawals lately, ever since I sent my bike off to be painted, the weather has been really good and I been wanting to get out there. It's probably a good thing I'm not on it, it'll give my body a chance to fully recover and I'll come back feeling ready to ride. However after three weeks I couldn't take it anymore so I called up a friend of mine and asked if I could borrow his road bike for a couple weeks. Thanks Clinton! Besides bike classes at TCR start in two weeks and I don't think I'm going to have the Griffen back by then. Tony called me and said that they are heat treating it this week and painting it next week, it would be like a brand new frame when they're done. I can't wait to see it, I received the new FSR chain ring and seat yesterday and now I'm just waiting for the areobars and frame. I'll keep you updated.