Remember to Take Your Time

Spring is a wonderful time and for those of us in Northern Alberta it's an incredible time! 6 long and brutal months of winter finally come to an end and all I feel like doing is getting outside on my bike and riding for hours. The problem with being a triathlete is that I start to feel pressure to be as fit as possible as soon as I start riding outside. I know it's not reasonable to go from riding inside for a couple hours to being outside, fighting the unbelievable GP wind and feeling strong and fast. Patience is a virtue that can be difficult when you're excited about something and for me it's being fast on my bike.

I've done a couple of rides with friends and it's difficult to get dropped so easily by others that I should be riding with but I have to keep telling myself that my body absorbs the training in it's own time. I think the triathlete attitide of "I should be in top shape right now!" is difficult to let go of because I always want to have incredible training sessions everytime I go out. How easily I forget that every year I suffer a really bad bonk during a 90 to 100km training ride at some point in April or May. So this year I'm remembering to take my time. I'll still push myself to hard in training and I'm sure Robert will push me to the point of 'blowing up' a few times this year but that's all a part of the process and I'm confident that by July I'll be ready to race again. I just have to remember to not worry about feeling out of race shape right now and work hard to get to where I want to be and things will fall into place.

Time to Start Getting Serious

I love this time of year, when the weather starts to change and the snow slowly (very slowly if you live in GP) begins to melt away. It seems that the winter just does not want to give up this year and we just keep getting hit with cold blast after cold blast. However I always feel that once the Boston Marathon has been run, the training season is officially underway. This year's race was absolutely incredible, Geoffrey Mutai, an unbelievable Kenyan runner stole the show clocking an incredible 2:03.02. It's hard to imagine what it means to run a time like that but to put that into perspective; when I was a University soccer player we had a running test we used to have to do- 400m intervals on a minimum time of 1:20 x 8. If you did all 8 under 80 seconds you could play, if not then forget it. Trying to get the final four intervals under 1:20 was tough, you basically had to sprint to get to the finish in time. As I started get fitter I could get my time down to about 1:15 for all the intervals but it was very, very tough I was wiped out for the rest of the week after that workout. Geoffrey ran 1:10 400m pace for 42.2kms, wow... that's very, very impressive.

There is 19 weeks until Ironman and although I don't think I'll ever be able to run that fast, I'm hoping the Easter training camp weekend Robert and I have planned will kick my butt into some hard training sessions once again. I've been a little slack since coming back from Puerto Rico but now I have to get down to business and start training seriously again. Two weeks until the first running race of the year, the Brian Harms 10 miler and I'm going to treat that as a warm up to the GP press run 1/2 marathon at the end of May. My running hasn't been as good as in previous years but I still think there is time to improve and I'm focusing more on being a well rounded triathlete as opposed to just a runner who does triathlon. Regardless of the results this year I want to have fun and enjoy training with Amber and my friends. I still feel that I have one or two more really good IM races left in me and I want to give it everything I have but more and more I'm starting to feel like being out and enjoying the things I love to do with others is definitely the most important aspect.

Triathlon Has Reached a New Level!

I was watching Man vs. Food last night and I learned of an incredible new triathlon that consists of probably the most difficult combination of events you can imagine. The Doughman!


Who would ever think of eating, running, swimming, biking, eating, biking, eating, running, eating, running, and eating. It's a four person event but still... that's a lot of eating. Yes America you've reached a new low with this one, now you've proven you can't even run 2 miles without stuffing your face with chilli cheese fries. Fortunately it's for a good cause and all in good fun but I think this event has given a new definition to race day nutrition.

Lines and Scars

Lately I've been noticing a lot of advertising about how to eliminate this scar or some magic cream or surgery that will make you look years younger. When Amber and I were in Puerto Rico we noticed an obvious American tourist couple that were sitting near us during dinner and the woman had a face that was stretched so tight that she looked deformed. I'm not saying that this trend is anything new, but more and more people (men and women) are worried about how to eliminate this scar or what they need to do to get rid of this wrinkle on their face. I think there is a lot of pressure on everyone these days to look good and I think that the pendulum has swung too far in the wrong direction. It seems that everyone is afraid to look older; a grey hair, a laugh line, a facial scar is a reason to seek professional help and have it taken care of.

I don't want to die without any lines or scars, they tell the story of my life. Every wrinkle, every scar is an event or memory that never goes away, good and bad. Imagine yourself 40- 50- 60 years from now, whenever you see yourself passing away and you are sitting at a table with all your friends telling stories about your life. Would you want to be telling exciting stories about how you rode a mountain bike so hard that you crashed on a rock down a steep drop and that gave you the scar on your face, or would you want to talk about how you were so afraid to leave your home because the sun gives you wrinkles... LAME. Everyone has a story and that story is written on your face, your hands, your feet, and the rest of your body. Don't be afraid to grow older, I love every wrinkle and scar on Amber and Harley, it tells the story of their lives so far and I hope we all collect a lot more before our time is done. I want to leave with a face like a catcher's mitt and a body full of scars, imagine the stories I'll have! Some of my favorite scars on the people I love-

Thank You Puerto Rico

What an incredible country and great place to have a holiday, it was a long trip but well worth it. Definitely the highlight of the trip for me was the race and all the training leading up to it made experiencing the hot humid conditions bearable. The first couple days Amber and I took in the the expo and after dealing with having our bike boxes ripped through by the stupid US transportation security administration and them not putting it back together properly, we got our bikes in working order. It was great being at the expo, we bought a lot of stuff that is usually hard to get at home this time of year and after swimming in the lagoon and biking the run course we were ready to go.

The race was an age group wave start which is fantastic when you're up against 1600 athletes and it made the swim bearable in the small Condado lagoon. Swimming in salt water is always an adjustment but I told myself that I was going to race smart, not hard. I stuck to someones feet for the first 700m and although I thought I could have been swimming faster I stuck to my strategy and stayed with him until he started to fade. The turn around was at that 700m mark and I found someone else with a similar pace and stuck to his feet for another 700m, he must have been cursing me because I was tapping his toes most of the swim and I was not going to pass. With 500m left to go you swim under a bridge and the waves from the ocean knock you back so I saved my energy until that moment and then I took off. It was a great swim and I finished in 31.24. There was a 400m run to transition and I came out of the water sprinting as hard as I could to the stadium where our bikes were parked. I ended up I missing the bike rack and I was looking for my ride for a little while.

The bike course was fantastic, very fast on the way out and very windy. I was continually passing people and I felt like I was having a great ride. I stayed on top of my nutrition, took 5 gels, 10 salt tabs, when through 4 bottles. I started to fade during the last 20kms but with no outdoor riding leading up to this race I think that was to be expected. I finished the ride in 2:22.23, one of my best times ever for a 90km bike and I still had legs to run (for a little while). I don't normally wear a cap when I run, I find the hat tends to trap the heat on my head and does more harm than good but it was just soooo incredibly hot out there I had no choice. I was either going to suffer some serious heat stroke or find a way to run with the hat.

The run was a lot more hilly than I expected and I was dumping water and ice on myself whenever I had a chance. I started out strong running 6:04 miles but slowly the course and the heat wore me down and I faded to 7:30 miles and finished out-on-my-feet like a boxer that's just gone through a 12 round war. A 4:29.18 is fantastic for me during March and it'll give me something to build on for the rest of the season.

The remainding week Amber and I spent soaking up the sun, eating and drinking too much, recovering from our race and checking out Puerto Rico. It is a very populated country (4 million people on one tiny island) but we had a great time and will look at doing something just as fun next year. We were both kind of eyeing the 70.3 in Oceanside for 2012 but there is a lot of time to decide before we commit to a schedule next year. I'm glad we took a winter break and now we're both re-energized to get back to work and be productive members of society again.

We're Outta Here!

Yes the time has finally come, Amber and I haven't taken a real vacation since we were married in Hawaii, October 2008. We've earned this well deserved break and we both need it, physically I'm exhausted from training very hard for the upcoming San Juan 70.3 and mentally I need to get away from work for a while, as I'm writing the market is down 200 points today... ugh. I'm glad I don't let the market determine my mood, otherwise I'd always be miserable.

Time for a break, not a lot of people (other than my training friends) would consider a 1/2 IM a holiday but I'm really excited not only to test myself but to see how Amber feels out there. She's never ridden her new bike outside and has been away from swimming and biking for quite a while. Her training has gone extremely well I just want her to have a good day and have fun, that's what I'm planning on doing. I think sometimes I work and work and work towards a goal and I tend to put too much emphasis on the result when it's the work leading up to it that is the rewarding part. The race is just the celebration of all the hard effort (and liters of sweat) that brings you towards that goal.

There is going to be wave starts during the swim, which is great and the bike course is a little long (93k) so I'm not expecting a PR but I'd like to still do well. In the end we're not going to make more or less money based on my time so it really doesn't matter, I'm glad I'm not a pro.

The one thing that's always tough when Amber and I fly somewhere is not being able to take our big boy with us. Harley definitely knew something was up last night when I was packing and this morning he was pouting... we'll miss you buddy.

Tired of the Basement

Yes it's been a very long winter all my pictures of Amber and I training are of us spinning or running in the basement because it's too cold outside. I feel sorry for Harley most of all, he is so excited when I get home with the faint hope that I will take him for a run like I used to but when he sees me get my biking gear on he lowers his head and walks off to bed. I wish it was nicer out so I could run with him more than our regular Saturday jog with the boys. He lives for Saturdays now and he knows exactly when it arrives, he's stuck to my butt all morning while I get ready and won't let me leave his sight. He's gained a lot of weight over the winter and I'm afraid that's my fault too, my guilt has manifested with feeding him more treats and now he's a very heavy 91lbs. However spring is just around the corner and I know I'll be out there with him at least three times a week and I'm sure Amber will take him out a couple times a week too. The treats have stopped and now he's just allowed his kibble and maybe one treat a day, we'll whip him into shape in no time.

We have a very nice basement to train in and I can't say that the environment is not motivating but there comes a point when you just need to get outside again. Part of the reason I love this sport is the fact that I can be outside and see a lot of the surrounding country by biking or running. The days are getting longer and I can tell that spring will come it's just a matter of time. Amber and I are feeling good lately, something has shifted for me mentally I think it's just the fact that I know I will be doing a 1/2 IM in a week and I better be in good shape by now. All the time spent in the basement is going to be worth it when I'm out there swimming in the warm San Juan lagoon, biking the beautiful countryside and running along the coastal waters of the Atlantic. The taper has begun it's an easy run tomorrow, and a relaxed Saturday swimming for 40 minutes and biking for only 2 hours. Wow what am I going to do with all the extra time on Sunday?