Family Fun Run

This past Sunday was the first race I've done where I ran as a family with Amber and Harley, it was a nice change to the previous years I've competed in the GP Fall Classic. I set my 10k PR at this race in 2009 with a 34:25 and it was the first time I'd ever run a sub 37 minute 10k. I remember the extreme suffering I went through from start to finish to get that time and it was nice to just be a part of the race atmosphere without all the pressure to obtain another PR. I'm still dealing with the achilles injury but I can run, very slowly, which I'm very grateful for. I realize now how much more important it is for me to feel active and healthy than it is to win. I may be a lot slower but being able to be apart of the training and racing environment is a lot more important.

It was also the first time we ran with a new member of our family, Amber is 5 months pregnant and the little guy got a free ride (in utero). Amber has had some really tough times during this pregnancy but I'm really proud of her to go through it all and face it like a trooper, she is creating a life that we're going to love every day of our lives and I can't wait to find out what fatherhood is going to be like. 

Missing It

Steve Suffering at IMC

It's hard to believe that I miss the suffering that you go through at an Ironman but the event itself is just such an incredible celebration and achievement that it outweighs any amount of pain you are going through on the day. Amber and I watched some local triathletes compete at IMC this Sunday, the last IMC in Penticton, and it was a lot of fun to track our friends and follow along as they reached certain points in the race. I remember thinking throughout the day that- "Steve must be hitting the rollers about now" or "he's probably hurting up Yellow Lake at around this time" and it brought me back to those moments for myself in the race. All the sacrifice and training during the entire year culminates in that one day and it doesn't matter if you hit your time goals or you don't when you are out there all you are thinking of is just getting to the finish.

I'm a little excited that WTC isn't apart of the race in Penticton any more, there were getting incredibly greedy and were taking advantage of all the great volunteers and athletes that go to that race every year. The fee was absolutely exacerbating, I think it was up to $675 which okay- in the grand scheme of things isn't huge but heaven forbid you get an injury and can't race- you forfeit all but $150. At that price WTC was making $1,755,000 on entry fees and if you add in race merchandise it's probably around $2.5M per year. All the operations were mainly handled by the great volunteers and the prize purses for the men and women's winners were only $5,000 each, really! $2.5M and you're only going to pay the winner of the race $5,000!! Come on... Well challenge Penticton is promised to be as great of a race with more community involvement it's just a shame that you can't get a Kona spot there anymore. Maybe Coeur D'Alene will start to be the go to spot for most Western Canadian triathletes, which could make qualifing A LOT more difficult.

Well I still enjoy the Ironman atmosphere and it's great to be a part of the race in any capacity, even as a spectator. Amber and I decided to go to Pheonix in November to watch Kevin race and I can't wait, I'm already starting to get the training bug again and watching Kevin is probably going to really make me want to get back into it for my own race IM CDA next June. I've never been to Arizona but it'll be a lot of fun I'm sure, I just have to find someone there that will lend me a bike.

Running at 1km/hr

There hasn't been much to post lately in regards to my training, I really haven't been. After suffering a really bad achillies tear in May it's been tough to go through the summer and not be out there swimming, biking and running. I was swimming and biking consistently after my injury but after taking a full 10 days off for vacation and not doing anything but walking I realized that the kick off the wall swimming and riding hills were not helping me heal properly. I went to Calgary with Amber for a few days and met with an orthodics guy who diagnosed a severe over-pronation in my stride so he said he could help with some custom orothodics. I was always a bit skeptical of these, thinking they were really just a sales pitch but when I initially got them in 2005 while training for my first Ironman they helped the achillies problems back then so I guess I'm sold on them now. The first week in them was aweful, my entire right leg from my calf to my sacrum was in pain but I knew I had to stick with it if I was going to get better. Eventually the tightness started to ease up and now I don't even know I'm wearing them.

I still have a bit of healing to do so I can't swim-bike-run but I've been starting back at the gym lifting weights again, light weights- 20-30 reps at a time and water running. Before I was injured my average after-work go-for-a-run pace was 15km/hr or 4 minute/kms now I'm reduced to running 1km/hr in the pool, 20 laps in one hour. It's tough to get in there and stay motivated but at least now I feel like I'm doing something, I might be starting from scratch again but at least I'm moving forward. I'm going to take the next month really easy, water running, weights, walking and hopefully by September-October I'll be back to normal running again. Amber and I are heading to Pheonix to watch Ironman Arizona in November so that will be a great early winter break and I'd like to do some light running in the warm Pheonix sun.

One Final Kick At The Can

Last weekend was GWN race weekend and it's always a tremendous time to welcome in summer; the first major race of the year, the tour starts, everyone is happy and excited to race and you get a chance to see if all the training has paid off. It was a little bitter sweet because I went into it knowing I wasn't able to run with a torn achillies but I wanted to at least have a solid swim-bike. The weekend started off great hanging out with friends going for a little ride (which of course I got a flat on) and then going to the lake for one loop of the two loop swim course. I was pretty pleased to have finished the loop in 15 minutes, it made me think that perhaps I could pull off a sub 30 minute swim.

Race morning there were dark clouds to the west of us and wouldn't you know it by the time we got to the lake it was raining, not a hard rain but enough to make it annoying. I did all my pre-race prep and lined up a couple rows from the front and hammered the swim right off the start, I kept a solid pace and drafted off as many strong swimmers as possible. I was a little disappointed later to find out I did a 31:05 swim again but I was going as hard as I possibly could and given all the swimming I've done this year that's probably the top end of my time without swimming 5 days a week.

The rain made things on the bike really frustrating, my glasses fogged up and I put them in my pocket where they fell out at some point. So I didn't have them for the downhills which made the stinging rain difficult at 60+kms/hr. The entire ride I kept feeling like I couldn't push the same power that I normally do but I heard that from everyone else too so I'm attributing it to the cold. The way back I was pushing as hard as possible I knew I wasn't running so I wanted to power through right to the end. At the final turn right before the finish my front wheel hit a soaking wet crack in the road and went right out from under me. Bam! down on my left side I went and slid for 10-15 feet. Arrgh no, I jumped up and my chain was off on the front and back so I was fiddling with that for 20-30 seconds I was only a couple hundred meters from the finish of the bike so I was just shaking my head at how I could be so stupid. The bike only suffered a little nic on the seat, which can be easily replaced so I obviously took the brunt of the impact. My left knee, thigh, forarm and back have quite a bit of road rash which I can handle just fine but my ribs must have landed on my arm because they are really bruised and moving around is difficult. Oh well, all of it will heal soon enough and I think this is the universe telling me that it's time to call it a year.

I was really hoping to have a great race in Calgary but I've decided to roll it over to next year and fully recover my achillies so I can get back into running shape again. So that is the end of the 2012 season for me, a bit disappointing but not the end. I signed up for IM Coeur D'Alene 2013 so I'll start preparing for that in December/January and get a full, deep recovery going into it. Getting older is tough but listening to my body is key to making sure I can still train and race.

Sometimes Things Work Out Exactly The Way They Are Supposed To

I guess it's no secret that my season hasn't quite worked out the way I've planned but the way I look at it I think this is what was meant to happen. No one wishes to be injured or hurt but I've been having a rough time again this year trying to stay healthy and I think it's just my body's way of telling me, slow down- we did A LOT last year and I need time to fully recover. It's true I probably went a little overboard last year, I started training hard in January for Puerto Rico 70.3 in March then geared up for the season in April, trained and raced hard right through to IMC and then continued until Kona in October. Those last few weeks between the end of IMC and Kona I was completely spent, I couldn't get through a long ride and my longest run was 28k. So I did the smart thing and planned to have a 'down year' only racing 1/2s and focusing more on speed but wouldn't you know it, the first race of the season and I tear my achillies. It's really tough to take mentally when summer comes around and I want to be out there running and riding and I just have to be patient. The type-A triathele in me is not great at waiting to heal but I'm doing the smart thing, listening to Amber and waiting until I'm back completely. It's been 4 weeks and I still can't run, I've been going to acpuncture, taping, cold and hot packs every night but the blood flow to that area is very limited so it's a long slow process.

If this injury is supposed to teach me to be patient then I've learned my lesson, the GP Tri is this weekend and I would love to go out there and kill it but I'm happy to participate as a team and do the swim- yes who would have thought that I would be the 'swimmer' on a team but it's true. Then GWN is two weeks away and I've already decided that I'll do the swim and bike but drop out after that. It sucks to not be able to compete in that race but if I want to have any hope at healing completely this year I can't go out and run a hard 1/2 IM, I'll tear my achillies completely and be out for the rest of this year and possibly next year. So maybe things are working out the way they are supposed to and this is my 'down year' and hopefully I can be ready for Calgary at the end of July and perhaps Vegas in September.

Learning Life's Lessons the Hard Way

It's been a challanging couple weeks, I've never really had to overcome an injury before and having to do it right smack in the middle of prime training season is tough to take. This achillies injury is still preventing me from doing any sort of running but that's how I know it was a bad one. I was concerned before the race about my achillies and I even asked a massage therapist what I could do to insure I wasn't going to be injured- unfortunately I did get injured and now I'm probably not going to be able to run for a full 6 weeks. At least I can be thankful I didn't experience a full tear and have to go through surgery and no running for a year! That would be unbearable. However I'm listening to my voice of reason (Amber) and not rushing my recovery, she knows what I need to do to get back to full health and hopefully I'll be able go full out at the Calgary 70.3. I've already determined that I don't think I can recover in time for Great White North 1/2 but I still want to do the swim-bike and I'll drop out at T2. At least I'll get something for my entry fee and I'll have a good time hanging out, racing part of it and watching part of it. I look at this as a good character builder and hopefully I'll come back from this stronger and be back in action later this summer.

Jasper Training Camp

May long weekend is always a great time- the weather starts to improve, the fitness that I've worked on over the winter finally is put to the test and there are great times spent out riding with friends. Traditionally Amber and I use this weekend to get in some great riding and we enjoy all the incredible scenery that Jasper has to offer. Jasper is such an awe inspiring place that it's impossible not to have a great time on all the amazing roads and trails. This year Amber is taking some time off training so unfortunately I didn't have my favorite training partner but luckily I had some of the Speed Revolution crew join me. I'm still recovering from my Achilles injury so I wasn't able to run but we got in a couple good swims and road rides.

Friday was a travel day, I worked in Edson and Jasper while Amber and Harley hung out and by the time I was done work I didn't have any motivation to do anything. 5 hours of driving and 7 hours of work will do that to you. Amber got us settled in the hotel and we hung out with some friends, we finally had a chance to meet Kevin- a great individual who's new to triathlon but I know is going to do well if he keeps up with all the tremendous training he's been doing. Saturday we all met for a swim and everyone was full of energy and ready to go! Robert and I blasted out a great 2500m felt great and were ready for a ride after an early brunch. The plan was to do Edith Cavell climb, an amazing 14km climb on a closed road with NEW pavement, switchback roads, leg burning gradients, plenty of other riders to catch and the best scenery in the world. Robert and I kept each other honest and the pace high and after 12k of climbing we hit snow, close enough to the top. We made the long and fast decent and waited for Bart and Kevin to join us. After about 15 minutes we new something was wrong and another rider told us that we had to go back up, one of our crew had a flat...ugh, really. The climb was hard the first time but doing it again... ouch. Fortunately after a couple kms of climbing we saw Bart and Kevin coming down so everything was fine and we headed back. Kevin had a sidewall puncture so his day was done but the rest of us wanted to get in our 100k for the day so we headed out towards Athabasca Falls.

The hard lung burning efforts were over after Edith Cavell but the legs were toast at that point so we just kept the pace honest and made it out to the falls. On the way back we decided to push things with the tail wind so we did a little drafting practice making sure that neither of us started to slack off. After 90k that day we were spent and we just cruised into town the last 7k. Showers and dinner at Jasper Park Lodge and everyone was ready for bed by 9pm.

Sunday was a bike-run day and the plan was another 100k up to Maline Lake. I love this climb, it's steady enough so that you're not grinding yourself into the ground but tough enough so that you get all the benefit of 50kms of climbing. Again there were a lot of cyclists on the road so Robert and I had plenty of people to catch but we kept the pace high and managed to finish the 50k up in 1:55, pretty good considering I don't think I've ever done that climb in less than 2 hours before. Lunch at the restaurant up there and a change of clothes from Amber who drove up with the girls to me us and we were set for the chilly decent back into town. Back in Jasper the plan was to do a 5k run but unfortunately my Achilles just wasn't ready for a run yet so I had to sit it out.

Monday we were all feeling really tired, Bart's shoulder was acting up so he sat out the swim but Robert, Kevin and I went to the pool for the final workout of the weekend. Amber designed a good 3x500m, 10x50m program for us and although we were really feeling the fatigue in the 500m sets we blasted out the 50's. The weekend done we all said our goodbyes and headed off in separate directions. It was a fantastic time had by all in the most incredible place in the world to train and I'm looking forward to the next one... perhaps next year?