Time to be Jealous JR!!!

Here is the 2009 Griffen, thanks so much for selling me this bike JR!!! I'm extremely happy to have the bike of my dreams and I'm soooo glad my buddy JR decided to become a Cervelo rider and sell me his Griffen at a great price. This is the new racing machine for the 2009 season and with this bike I better be FAST!

This weekend I arrived back in GP Friday night after a boring conference in Canmore for two days. It was so frustrating being in the beautiful mountains for two days and to be stuck in a conference room all day. I was really glad to see Amber again and even though the weather was a slap in the face on Saturday morning, it was snowing again, we made the most of it and suffered in the basement on the trainers for 1hr 38mins.

Today I went out with Harley in another snowstorm and we had an easy run for an hour, completing 15kms fairly easy. He was great to run with in the cold weather and I'm a little worried about running with him in the heat of the summer. I think I'm going to have to take him out early in the morning before it gets very hot. I'm sure he'll be fine I just need to pay attention to how he feels.

I'm only a couple weeks away from the first race of the season and three weeks away from the first tri of the season. I'm really excited to see how things are going to play out this year but I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I'll do my best in every race and whatever happens I'll be happy with. After all the hard training all winter I still have a great appreciation for the journey and the race results will take care of themselves. I'm just glad to have a wonderful family who supports my passion and knows how much triathlon adds to my life.

Running with Harley

Today was a great run with Harley he's such a great training partner, except when we run into another dog! He still freaks out whenever he catches the scent or sight of another dog but it teaches me to be firm and not spoil him too much. When I feel fast, he's up for a fast effort and when I feel slow, he's okay with just trotting along beside me. I felt like stretching my legs out today and seeing what I had in me now that the weather has warmed up a bit. It's so nice to feel fast, when it's cold out I always feel slow even though I'm giving it 100%. The warm weather makes me want to go!!!

Harley was really excited and the first 7.5kms flew by in 28:30. However the fast pace and the warm weather was starting to tire him out and by the time we reached 10kms I was dragging him behind me. I let him rest for a while and get a quick drink and he seemed to be okay. We finished up the 15kms in 58:00! Including a couple traffic lights and a poo break (for Harley not me). He panted for about an hour and is now K.O.'ed on the floor.

BONK!

Just when I was really enjoying cycling and being outside I suffered on the group ride this Saturday. Amber and I met a group of GP Triathletes just on the edge of town to head out for what I hope will be a regular Saturday ride with everyone. It started out great and I felt fantastic, I was cruising with a couple other guys doing about 36-38km/hr on the flats. I didn't even really notice that I was doing most of the pulling all the way out.

We hit the turn around at 50kms and all of the sudden 5kms later my heart rate dropped and all the power in my legs was gone! Oh no. I knew what that meant, I was 45kms from nowhere and I had very little water and only a couple granola bars for energy. I downed the two bars and felt a little better but I was seriously in trouble with no water. I took it easy and just spun and fortunately the other two guys I was riding with turned back and gave me a little water. I managed to get to the bottom of the big climb (about 8kms from the end) and struggled up but at the top I was weaving all over the road and I felt almost drunk!

It was the toughest final 5kms I've rode since completing a brutal Valleyview ride last year in preparation for IM but I should have known that the endurance is not going to be there yet. I'll get there, I just need to be a little more disciplined and controlled and the next thing you know I'll be flying along with little to no effort at all. This winter training has really helped increase the power but now it's time to work on the endurance.

Outside Finally!!!

Wow it's been a long winter! I can't believe the first outdoor ride of the season didn't happen until April 7th. Well this is northern Canada, I'm not sure what I expected but it was soooo nice to finally ride outside. Even if I did have to gear up and it took me nearly an hour to get myself and my bike ready. Another couple invited Amber and I for a 40km TT on the secondary highway just outside our place and I was so anxious to get out there all day! I put the new race wheels on and they looked and felt fantastic! Worth every penny. They sliced through the wind and the profile of my bike is a lot narrower without spokes coming out from the centre hub. Very, very sweet I highly recommend the new HED 3s (pictures to follow).

It's definitely a lot harder to ride outside than I remember. My legs were screaming right from the start, I still have some good power but as expected, I have very little endurance. I need a few more long rides in my legs before I can have a solid ITT. There was very little wind (which is surprising for this part of the country) and there wasn't much between my splits. The way out is a little more uphill but I was more fresh so I finished the first half in about 33:00 and the total ride in 1:05.57. The first running race is a month away and the first tri is only 6 weeks so it's time for me to sharpen up!!