Grande Prairie Tri 2011

What a great race even though I wasn't in this one it was an incredible experience to be out there cheering on everyone. I have to admit I did have a bit of envy of all those racing but I know myself and I know my body and it was definitely a good idea to sit this one out. The day before the race Amber, Robert, Annette and I had a plan to go out and ride the first 180k of the year. Why? I don't know but it sounded like a good idea. Actually all three of them were racing the next day and this ride was supposed to prevent them from going "all-out" during the race. I'm not sure if it worked because they all raced very hard and it looked like they gave it everything they had.

It was so nice to have a race in town where you could sleep in your own bed, wake up and have your normal breakfast and not have to worry about all those little things that you do when you are travelling. Of course I wasn't racing so maybe Amber felt differently. There were only 82 racers and all the triathletes in town are a pretty close knit community so I had a chance to see and talk to almost everyone. The energy before the start was great, a lot of people were anxious racing at home but other than one guy from Fort St. John falling on the bike (and still placing 4th!) everything went off without a hitch.


I could tell Amber was nervous and excited but fortunately she was more excited than nervous for this one. She's done a great job at controlling her energy this year and not allowing her nerves to get the better of her before a race, something she's definitely going to need before IMC this year. I was counting the laps in her lane and it was awesome to be able to watch her swim and see how she managed the first part of her race. She did an excellent job, leading out on the first three laps she realized that someone was just going to draft off her the entire way so she let her pass and then stayed in her draft until she started to die and Amber took over again. She probably did about an 8:45 for the 500m but with the time starting on the pool deck and ending as she left the pool it was clocked at 9:10.


The bike was a very challenging 6 loop course that has a lot of accelerating and decelerating and it just knocks the crap out of your legs. It's like doing a TT with sprinting drills mixed in for 35-40 minutes straight. I went to get Harley out of the car, he got to watch the rest of the race and we picked a good spot to catch all the riders. Robert and Annette were both having a fantastic race considering what we did the day before and Robert said Amber was biking incredibly strong. She looked relaxed and comfortable even though her heart was probably in her throat, she pushed the entire ride and finished with the 2nd best female time and 10th overall in 40:17.


The run is a nice loop around the reservoir and although it said it was 5k, with some of the times out there it was probably more like 4- 4.5k. Harley and I ran down to watch Amber half way through the run and she was grabbing her side like she was getting a bad stitch but to her credit she didn't slow down and she just kept running through it. We ran back to the finish and Robert was coming in looking strong and running fast he ended up clocking a 1:01.05 and placing 2nd overall! Awesome! He wanted to go out and run another hour so Harley and I joined him and it was great to see him in such good spirits, especially after we did a 5 and 1/2 hour bike the day before. Amber also had a terrific race coming in at 1:09.32 and placing 2nd female and 10th overall! Great result on a tough bike course and riding 160k the day before. Annette also finished her first tri winning her age group and placing right behind Amber in 1:11.39, incredible for a first timer. I think my first race I almost finished dead last but I knew after that moment I loved the sport and would continue to do it for as long as I could.


It was a great experience to see everyone out there and now I'm excited to get out there myself and race hard at GWN. I've been training pretty well up until this week when I managed to catch a flu that's been going around but I'm starting to bounce back slowly. This weekend is a couple 100k rides and an hour run and then next week will be a swim focus with some short rides and runs before the race on July 3rd, I can't wait!

Training Trials

I've come to the conclusion that training for an Ironman is HARD! It may not sound like a new discovery to a lot of people but I feel like my body is screaming at me. I love the process of feeling fitter as the summer progresses but dealing with the aches and pains and overwhelming desire to stay in bed after the alarm goes off is really tough. I always seem to slow down at work during this time of year and it's great to have something to focus on like training but I think I forgot how hard it is to get out of bed after a tough day either in the pool on the bike or running.

Yesterday Robert had a 40k TT planned and a bunch of us decided to join in the fun; Paul, Bart, Steve, Bruce, Amber and myself all showed up to suffer with him. It was great to have so many people out there to hurt with but I forgot how bad the aftermath of such a tough bike could be. We warmed up for 5k and started straight into a fairly brisk headwind. I knew the first 20k was going to be brutal (and it was) I was hitting heartrates on the bike that I very rarely see, 150-155bpm and after 10kms of that my legs started to die a little. Robert had opened up a gap on me at the first climb and I had to let him go, I focused on staying in my own effort and shut out those thoughts of 'your not going fast enough' or 'it's just not your day' and kept the effort as high as possible.

I was looking at the time trying my best to get to the 10k mark at 15 minutes and the 20k mark at 30 minutes but it was so tough with the undulating hills and headwind. I hit the 20k turnaround at 31:15, okay I can live with that. The way back was so freeking fast I was having a blast as I crused along at 43-45km/hr and kept my heart rate in the 140s. My legs were really starting to feel the effort and I could tell they wanted to quit but I just kept my eyes on the time and continued to count down the minutes. I was expecting to finish in the 1:02- 1:03 range so you could imagine my surprise when I finished in 59:20!!! Wow, a new PR for that distance, awesome! Robert also set a new PR finishing in the 57 minute range, incredible. Amber set a PR too finishing in 1:10, amazing babe!


All in all it was a fantastic day even though none of us went into it with fresh legs, Amber did a brutal leg workout, Robert and Bart did a VO2 max test, I did a tough 10 mile run the day before and all of us had done our third swim of the week by then. So you could imagine how most of us felt waking up this morning, Amber was a trooper and got up at 5am to teach her class for 6am. I dragged myself out of bed and to the pool to meet Robert and we managed to slug out 5x 500m and I saw Bart on the way out and he looked pretty tired. It's been a tough week so far but that's Ironman training for you, suffer a little now or suffer a lot later.

GP Press Run 2011

Tough day at the GP Press Run yesterday but a very satisfying win in some tough, tough conditions. I woke up on Saturday morning and the air was so full of smoke from the wildfires in Slave Lake that I had trouble seeing down the street. I tried not to let it distract me from the fact that I needed to race but it's hard to ignore an air quality of 'poor' from environment Canada. I also pulled my hamstring on Tuesday so I was nursing my left leg the entire week and I had to wrap it tightly in a tensor bandage. I started out somewhat conservatively feeling like the first three kilometers were well within my pace but I soon felt the effects of running in the heavy smoke filled air. My throat was severely dry and I had to drink at every aid station, my lungs started to feel heavy with every passing kilometer and I could tell I wasn't running my best race.

I reached the turn around at about 38 minutes and change and I thought I could finish in about 1:16 but with the conditions that day I wasn't counting on anything. The way back was very tough and I started to feel myself slow down but I did the best I could to just keep running. When I hit the 16km mark at 1:00 I knew I wasn't going to finish with a PR but it took everything in me just to keep my legs moving, my left leg hurt from start to finish with the tight tensor bandage wrapped around my quad. I didn't want to stop to take it off, I was afraid that my hamstring might start acting up or that I would cause some long term damage but running with it on was getting more painful with each passing mile. With 5k left to go I told myself that it would all be over in 20 minutes or less just hang on. I gave it everything I had left (which wasn't much) but I held on for the win in a time of 1:20.18 a good result on a tough day.


Here's the top ten in the 1/2 marathon;

05/28/2011 11:58:37 2011 Grand Prairie DHT Press Run/Walk
Overall Results
21K Run - 13.05 Miles
O/A Name Bib# Time Pace/K Category Cat/Pl Gender Gen/Pl Chiptime
1/88 HUNTER, DARIN 2025 01:20:19.10 03:49 21KR30-39M 1/11 M 1/32 01:20:18.50
2/88 OOSTRA, PAUL 2057 01:27:17.80 04:09 21KR40-49M 1/7 M 2/32 01:27:15.30
3/88 ST. HILAIRE, PAUL 2079 01:30:11.35 04:17 21KR40-49M 2/7 M 3/32 01:30:10.40
4/88 ROSS, KYLE 2068 01:30:30.65 04:18 21KR20-29M 1/6 M 4/32 01:30:30.55
5/88 SCHARTNER, CORY 2071 01:30:38.65 04:18 21KR30-39M 2/11 M 5/32 01:30:33.00
6/88 SEITZ, ROBERT 2075 01:32:42.70 04:24 21KR30-39M 3/11 M 6/32 01:32:41.50
7/88 MARILLIER, VAUGHN 2099 01:35:24.95 04:32 21KR30-39M 4/11 M 7/32 01:35:19.90
8/88 DAVIDSON, ASHLEY 2011 01:36:56.05 04:36 21KR30-39M 5/11 M 8/32 01:36:54.35
9/88 WATSON, CHRIS 2089 01:39:19.15 04:43 21KR20-29M 2/6 M 9/32 01:39:17.95
10/88 SEITZ, ANNETTE 2074 01:41:27.35 04:49 21KR20-29F 1/19 F 1/56 01:41:25.90

A great race with some terrific volunteers and organizers and I appreciate the fact that there is a wonderful running community in GP that is willing to support each other. I definitely feel a deeper sense of belonging within the running community here and I'm happy to be a part of it. Amber and I finished off the weekend with a great 2500m swim this morning and a 90km bike this afternoon, a great weekend of training and hopefully it's the first of many before Great White North.

Jasper Fun

May long weekend was another epic trip the only downside was that we had to stay in a hotel and weren't able to bring H-doggie. We both really missed him but with the amount of time we spent on our bikes, he wouldn't have had a good time anyway. We arrived Friday afternoon and after getting unpacked we had a chance to go out for a quick spin up to the base of Edith Cavell mountain. The road was closed so we made a plan to definitely come back the next day and ride it. We had plans to turn the weekend into a mini tri-camp but we are both so in love with the cycling in Jasper that we just spent the whole weekend riding. Friday was a 30km ride, Saturday was a 60km major climb and a 70km flatter, faster ride. Sunday was a 100km ride to Maline Lake which is one of our favorite rides and by Monday neither of us had the energy to get out of bed. We went to the hot springs and headed home, we both missed our boy and he was pretty tired from being in the kennel all weekend.

Some pics from the weekend;

100 Days...

That's it, only 100 days until IMC. I looked at the little countdown on my blog for an idea of how much time I have until the main 'goal race' of the year and that's it, 100 days. Factor in tapering, travelling, work and other responsibilities and there is only 3 months of good focused training left until my big race. I remember thinking back to Puerto Rico training, when January hit both Amber and I started thinking, damn we'd better start training. That two and a half months went by so quickly. Well we were ready for that and we'll be ready for IMC.

This weekend we're kicking off our spring/ summer training with a great long weekend plan in Jasper;
Friday; Swim 3000m, travel, Bike Athabasca Falls loop (65-67kms)
Saturday; Swim 3200m, Bike Maline Lake climb (100kms)
Sunday; Trail Run 2- 2 1/2 hours Pyramid Lake loop, Bike Edith Cavell mountain (50-60kms)
Monday; Bike Miette Hot Spings (70kms one way), travel home.

No biking in the 4 hour range yet but we'll get there soon enough I'm not worried about that. June is going to have a lot of 4 and 5 hour rides and I need to start focusing on increasing my run distance as well. I'm taking a more gradual approach to training this year and so far it's working. No major injury or illness to speak of and I'm having a great time training. Let's hope the next 100 days go according to plan and I have the race of my life in Penticton!!

I Miss My Training Partner

It's been tough on Amber starting a new business a lot of her free time; evenings and weekends are spent working while I spend my free time training. I know she's determined to have a successful business and she is creating an incredible future for the both of us so I need to be supportive, I just really miss her.

When we first arrived in Grande Prairie we were both training for the Boston Marathon and then right into training for Ironman Louisville. We both felt really connected and went through the same suffering every weekend and weekday. We went out on the same long rides, the same long runs and the same open water swims and had stories to tell about what happened on this section of the course and what was hurting that day. We spent weekends in Jasper every month and turned them into mini-vacations with Harley. The last year and a half Amber has been doing much of her own training either strength training or Death Race training, and I have been doing my own Tri-training. I can't imagine having a job where I trained people all day and then had enough energy to come home at night and do my own training. She continues to amaze me and I'm looking forward to this spring and summer where we can hopefully get out together and have more stories to tell.

Suffering in training for an Ironman is just not fun if you are doing it all on your own, I know did it alone for my first Ironman back in 2005. I'm happy Amber and I are going back to Jasper for May long weekend, we get to experience a bit of the fun we used to have out there. Riding to Athabasca falls, Maline Lake, running through the beautiful trails and maybe getting in a swim or two. I love long weekends and I'm really looking forward to spending this one with the one I love.

Brian Harms Memorial Race 2011

Yesterday was my traditional season opening race, the Brian Harms memorial 10 miler and it was a fantastic race for all those involved. This year was a little different because Amber and I started training in January for the San Juan 70.3 in March and I had a good base already built into my overall fitness. However I took all of March off after the race and didn't have as much of a focus on my running as I typically do in April. So I was going into it not really knowing what I was capable of, last year I ran a 58:45 and I remember it HURT from start to finish. A college runner went out sprinting for the first 3k and of course, like an idiot, I tried to stay with him and after he faded I was left out there suffering through the remaining 13kms.

This year I went in with a plan, run 4 minute/kms for the first half then pick it up and run 3:30 minute/kms for the last half if I had anything left. That was the plan... well wouldn't you know it as soon as the race started I fell into my natural 'race pace' and I was going a lot faster than I wanted to. 3:31- 3:33 minutes/km for the first 8kms and I didn't feel like I was suffering too badly. By the end of the first lap (8kms) I knew I was going to really hurt on the second half, and sure enough it was tough to keep the legs turning over at that pace for another 8kms. I could tell that I'd done a 110km ride the day before and I could feel myself getting slower as I turned out of the park and up a gentle grade towards the 12km mark. There is a section of gravel road for a little while and I was cursing the fact that it felt like I was pushing extra hard and getting nowhere. I definitely slowed in the second half but I was still very pleased to only be 2 seconds off last year's time and finishing in 58:47! Wow that was a surprise, nice to see the fitness is still there even after a pretty tough week of training.

This is going to be the start of a fantastic year, I can feel it already. I'm not suffering from the flu every second week, I've focused on training hard and recovering hard, taken days off when my body calls for it, stuck to a strict vitamin and mineral regimen, and not trained in 'suspect' weather. I'm also trying to have more of a training- work- family life balance and not to put so much emphasis on results but having fun. Running and triathlon add so much to my life (and Amber's) that I want races and training to be fun and enjoyable not a pressure situation where we both have to have good results to be happy. We are both happy people (and happy together) regardless of the results.