1st Win of 2014

Yesterday was the Grande Prairie Press Run 1/2 Marathon and I was very excited to get the win, especially considering the lack of long run training. It's been a tough few weeks leading up to the race work, family, travel have taken up the majority of my time by I've managed to squeeze in a few runs but only a couple 21k's outside. Most of my training runs were in the 12-14km range and it's a long way to race when you've been training 2/3rd's of the distance you are racing. Needless to say I felt great for the first 10k, heart rate was under control, legs felt really good, and pace was right on track at about 3:45mins/km. When I got to the turn around however I knew it was going to be tough to hold on. There are some small rollers at about 12 & 13k and they just zapped my legs.

I was really struggling when I got to the 14k mark and was just in damage control mode after that. The rest of the race was a real mental battle and I needed to take a couple short walks just to get the heart rate under control but the final 1/3rd meant I wasn't going to meet my goal time of 1:20 or less. I wasn't too worried about my time, I knew I was giving it everything I had and based on my training it's definitely what I knew was going to happen. I just held on the best I could and was glad I opened a 4min gap in the first 10k, the 2nd half I didn't gain any time but didn't lose any either. Finished with a great 1:21.05 and my 4th win at this race.

Balancing Act

Ryder in his new Speed Revolution Tech T

It's really tough being a father and an athlete but I do my best to be good at both. I know sometimes things get out of balance but I make sure I have enough time in my schedule to do the things I love and spend time with my family. I came to a big realization last weekend, maybe I was getting a little too 'into' my training and I wasn't pulling the numbers I was hoping for but I finally had the slap across my face to give my head a shake and just be appreciative of the time I do have to train. I said to myself if this is causing you to be depressed or to have more stress in your life then why are you doing it? The truth is I absolutely love training and racing but I love my family more and if one causes stress on the other then just don't do it. I don't know if I can ever see myself not racing at different points in my life, but there are times when it needs to take a backseat. I do feel like I spend quite a bit of time with Amber and Ryder but it's tough when the day is filled with laundry, cleaning, yard work, repairs and chores. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. I want to keep this year fun and fresh, light and easy and that's why I made the decision to not race IM Calgary 70.3 this year. The truth is that I don't think any IM events are healthy for a relationship unless you can do it with your spouse, at least not for me.

Ryder with the new Speed Revolution bottles

I'm still hoping I can do some local races and get in my training and racing 'fix' but it'll be a lot easier not to have to worry about when I'm going to get in my 3hr ride and 2hr run. I just want to hang out with my family and friends and be active doing it. I put away my Garmin, heart rate monitor, and now I'm just going out and treating every swim, ride or run like it's my first one. Remember when you had no expectations about how your run 'should have' gone and you were happy to do the training and felt excited about getting it done. That's what I'm feeling again, it's nice to just put away my expectations and forget about hitting certain targets before IM and just feel active and healthy again.

Run Focus

It was a fantastic week of run focused training, I managed to tick off 58kms during a week when the wind was averaging 40kms/hr and the snow returned on Friday and Saturday. I had to be a bit flexible with my schedule but Amber and Ryder were away from Wednesday to Sunday so I had quite a bit of free time. I missed them terribly but I fell into a groove of training and taking care of Harley and the time passed really quickly. This was the first time I felt like my run shape was starting to come back and I was really excited to see what fitness gains this would bring.

I started off the week a little conservative a 10k run with Harley in about 40mins, then 5k Tuesday with 2x1kms intervals thrown in there- it was extremely difficult with the wind blasting you in the face and that's why I kept it to 5k. By Wednesday I couldn't handle another fight with the wind so I did a tempo 8k on the treadmill and held 10.5M/hr so I was feeling pretty good about how things were progressing. Thursday I met Robert at his work for some more 1km intervals and he was doing the same run focus but instead of feeling stronger as the week went on he was starting to break down. We managed to bang out 3x1km at about 3:33-3:39 mins/km pace for a total of 7k and I was feeling so good I took Harley out for another 5k with a couple more intervals thrown in there. On Friday I couldn't believe how good I felt and I probably overdid it a little bit, seeing that the week was almost over I decided to do the regular Friday swim 20x50m, bike 40k at a tempo pace, then run 8kms on the treadmill. By the time I was done all of it, I was DONE... I laid around trying to think how I was going to recover for tomorrow's run. I was hoping to do a 13 miler but there was no way feeling like this.

Saturday I woke up still feeling a bit rough but decided to meet Bart at the Multiplex for a treadmill run at 8am. If I was still going to run I would rather get it over with early. I hopped on the treadmill and tried to ease into it but I could tell my legs were absolutely toast. I know it was from the bike the day before and I should have just kept it to running and swimming but my ego got the best of me and I caved to the desire to try to keep doing all 3 sports at once. I managed to slug out 15kms in an hour but it was not pretty and afterwards I felt like death. I laid around for the rest of the day and just recovered.

All in all however I'm really pleased with my week, I'll do one more run focused week at the end of April and hopefully that will get me into race readiness. I'd like to do a couple 'race pace' kms on the actual course so I don't go out too hard like I always seem to do. If I can nail down that 3:43 mins/km pace and hold it I should have an excellent result, if not it'll be another 10 mile sufferfest.

Back in the Groove

Well after the never ending winter, the weather stayed in the -20'c to -25'c for the entire month of March it seems like it's finally broken. It's starting to feel like spring again and the snow is very slowly melting away. Ryder and Amber were very sick for the past week and there wasn't a lot of sleep going on in our house but Amber's recovered and Ryder is just a little stuffy. Training has gone pretty well for me under the circumstances and I've had some solid swims, 1/2 decent indoor rides and some tough runs. The running is the toughest to take because I've been feeling invincible on the treadmill and did a 1:18.03 21k the last week of March but as soon as I got outside WOW, it was tough. True the trails are still icy and the wind has been howling but I thought running 4:00/km would feel a lot easier. It's not that I don't feel like I could do it but when I do have an outdoor run my legs feel like I just finished a marathon. I know I just need more outdoor runs and I'll adapt but it's tough to take mentally when I'm gearing up for a race in 5 weeks. I'll get there I'm very confident of that but I need to put in a couple run focused weeks to jump start it, that will be this week and the last week of April, first week of May. The Brian Harms 10 miler is on May 11th and it's a new course this year so I think I can break my 2010 PR of 58:45 and finish around 58:00. It's a flatter and faster course and I need the confidence for the upcoming race season, this year is shorter faster racing so to get a good start would set me up for a great year. A week later is the Jasper training camp and the following week is the Press run 1/2 marathon so if things go well and I prepare properly I should have an excellent May. I think it would be tough to break 1:16 in the 1/2 but to do a sub-1:20 would be a fantastic result for me, post injury. We'll see how training goes in April and if I can have some solid runs, paced properly then I'll have an excellent season.

March Training

Suffering in the basement still...

Training in March was going so well during the first couple weeks, I was getting in some consistent (but short) workouts in all three disciplines. I had a fantastic brick on the 13th riding 40k on the computrainer in about 1:04 and then knocking off 5k on the treadmill in 17:13, doing 10m/hr for the first mile, 11m/hr for the second, and 12m/hr for the final mile. I was feeling so good about my progress and upcoming season that something had to bring me back to reality. The next day I started to feel that my glands were a little swollen after the swim I was struggling with so I decided to take the weekend off so my body could fight this thing. Unfortunately it was a lot worse than I expected, my throat was raw and sore so I went to the doctor on Monday. She didn't confirm that I had strep throat but Amber and I suspect it so I was put on antibiotics immediately. All this week it has been the worse experience I've ever gone through, I haven't eaten much all week because every time I swallow it feels like an electric shock through my body, if food is involved it's worse. After a few days of not eating much I feel extremely weak and tired and I can't even imagine training again. It's extremely frustrating but it's just something I have to wait out. I have a few races I've signed up for but feeling like this it seems that being on the start line ready to go is about a million steps away. I know I'll get better I just have to wait this one out. With any luck I will get in some solid training in April and be ready for the spring running races in May. I've signed up for the Brian Harms 10 miler, Press Run 1/2 Marathon, Fort St. John Sprint tri, and the GP Olympic tri. That should get me motivated leading into Calgary 70.3 where I hope to have my best race.

Bike Baby Bike

I treated myself to a 41st birthday present and finally got a road bike. Found this baby for $2500 on Pink Bike and it's never been ridden, it was a demo bike for a shop outside of Toronto and it's amazing. 15lbs is under UCI regluation weight so I guess I won't be going pro anytime soon. I just wanted something I could ride in the early spring when it's wet and dirty out that I wouldn't mind getting messed up. Now that I have it I'm not sure I want to get it dirty but I'll have to get over that. I cut the seat post, changed the seat, handlebar tape, put speedplays on it and changed the stem and it's ready to go. It's an incredible ride now I just need the weather to change, one more week of this brutal winter and it should get back to normal for this time of year.

Training in February went surprizingly well, I was pretty consistent except for the week went I was sick. My swimming is feeling really good, I'm not quite ready to 'race' 1500m yet but I'll get there. The biking is coming back I've been consistently doing about 8-9 bikes a month but only for an hour. Yesterday was the first 90 minute bike I've done since September and I felt pretty good, I started to get a little bonky at the end but that is to be expected for this time of year. Running has been fairly good, I haven't been doing as much as I'd like to but a couple runs a week seems to maintain my run fitness and I need to be careful because I did a 10 mile run last weekend and my achillies was hurting again. I'll keep it short for the time being and slowly ramp up the distance again as I move outside.

I'm excited for the season to begin I've signed up for the GP Olympic race already and I heard Calgary is pretty much sold out now. If I can have a great start in June with a couple shorter races I'll work on the endurance I need to have a solid race in Calgary and hopefully qualify for Montreal. There are 5 of us Speed Revolution guys racing in Calgary so it'll be fun to watch. For now I'll watch that I don't get injured and keep building a good base, April and May will be a lot of speed work and June- July more endurance work.

Family Life- One Year Later

Meeting Ryder for the first time

Most of the people I talk to say the biggest change in your life happens after you've had a kid, that is probably the most accurate statement I've ever heard. However I never thought becoming a Dad would fundamentally change who I was, I would still love to train and race, accomplish big goals at work and have time for my family. When Ryder was first born he was very needy, just like any newborn, and there wasn't a lot I could do for him or with him. Amber's life changed immediately and she was now the primary caregiver but I continued to do my thing, all be it with a lot less sleep.

Ryder at 3 months

Me and the Little Man at the end of Calgary 70.3

As the months went by I started to become more fond of the little guy, he was becoming a little less dependent on his Mom and a little more interactive. I loved the fact that he wanted to try to stand up at a very early age and I would try to teach him to walk any chance I could get. Amber would make fun of me because I would show him how to step before he could even crawl. Still I was having a little more fun with him everyday. During this time I was also training for Coeur d'Alene and it was hard on Amber to have to do almost everything. I had a rough Ironman but a very good season of shorter races after that, from there I realized that having a family and Ironman training are not compatible. I enjoyed the rest of the 2013 season, training enough to enjoy racing and racing an excellent 1/2 IM and sprint tri in Peace River.

Now I really enjoy spending time with Ryder and look forward to seeing him everyday, I still see myself training and racing in 2014 but it feels different this year than every other year. I don't really look forward to 6 hour rides like I used to and I'm not planning on doing any. This year I see myself training for 2-3 hours early in the morning and then having the rest of the day with Amber and Ryder. Having a family definitely changes your outlook on what you see as important and although I would still like to race well, having fun seems a lot more important this year.

Happy Family