Now We're Rolling

This weekend is always one of the highlights of the year for me, May long-weekend training camp in Jasper. It was an incredible time with some great friends and wonderful family time. I know that Amber has really taken on a lot by herself with Ryder and I appreciate everything she's done to make my Ironman dream possible this year I can't thank her enough. I want to throw everything I have into this race and have a great result and then take a few years off, spend time with family and just enjoy being healthy and active with both of them. I never thought of Ironman as a sacrifice before, sure the training was hard but it's just what Amber and I did with our weekends in the summer. Now I know what a huge sacrifice it is for athletes with families, no resting on the couch when you get back from a long ride- the baby has been screaming all day and you need to bounce him. Amber has done an incredible job with Ryder during this challenging stage of his life and I'm going to be her support crew next year or whenever she wants to take on a 'big goal' again.

This weekend was full of tremendous training, we arrived on Thursday afternoon and Ryder survived his first big car trip, a few more pit stops than usual but he did great. I woke up Friday morning to get in a good swim and had the rest of the day with A & R to check out Jasper, we drove up to Maline Lake only to find the resturant wasn't open until the next day. Both starving we drove back down the mountain to have an excellent lunch at Jasper Park Lodge. We went back to our cabin and everyone else started to trickle in, we let them get settled and had an 'easy' run with Steve, Robert, and Richard. I say 'easy' because Jasper 'easy' is nothing like Grande Prairie 'easy' running in the mountains is so much fun and I love to hammer the climbs and Steve was right there with me so we had a blast pushing each other for 10k through the trails.

Saturday was a short swim (2500m) followed by a long bike (170k), the ride started off well enough we rode out to the BC border; fairly flat terrain but Richard wanted to start off fast and I should have known better, he never does as long of a ride as we do. We rode back to town and out towards Marmot Basin and once we hit the climbs that's when the suffering really started, two 1500m climbs later I was spent but I really wanted to get out to Athabasca Falls so Robert went back to the cabins and Steve and I did the other 55k to the falls and back, it was tough. I took care of my nutrition and had a drop box at Edith Cavell so I ended the day fairly strong.

Sunday was another fairly long ride (105k) to Maline Lake and it is 50k uphill and 50k downhill, so much fun. There were a TON of cyclists on the road and it was a blast flying past them, I have to admit I loved that part. The descent was very cold at the beginning but once you came down about 10-15k it was fine. We got back to the cabins in good time and I attempted a T-run but again the hills sapped my legs and it turned into a run-walk. I learned to stay positive on the times I did have to walk and that's really going to help for IM. All in all a fantasitic weekend with friends and family and I can't wait until next year! Ryder loved it too.

In The Bank

Well if April's training was a disaster and I really needed to have a solid May then I'm off to a good start. I don't want to jinx things but so far I've been healthy and my body seems to be reacting to the training well. That's not to say I'm not tired or sore, there is plenty of that, but it's nice not to feel sick all the time. Saturday was only my 2nd ride outside for the year and it was a BIG one, we planned on doing the Rycroft-Wanham-Bezanson-GP loop which is about 174k. I think at the beginning we were all planning on doing another 6k around the lake but by the time we got back home we were all so wasted- there was no more riding or running, no way. We also planned on a 5k run but the first long ride of the year and you have to expect that it's going to take a lot more out of you than usual.

Things started out rough, 5k in and I got a flat, another 5k later Geoff got a flat but fortunately that was it for the day. We took it easy out to Rycroft, it's a nice somewhat downhill ride for about 67k and we were all using each other well drafting in the crosswinds. A quick refuel of the water bottles and we were off again, another 23k with a massive tailwind was a lot of fun but I kept thinking how much I was going to pay for it later in the ride. The road out of Wanham is very isolated and we didn't see much traffic which we were thankful for because with the crosswind coming from the west we were lined up diagonally across the road to stay in the draft. At about 100k we hit the hills and the day started to heat up, we started off with arm and leg warmers but by this point it was getting hot out.

As soon as we started climbing it was obvious I didn't have the climbing legs I normally have and I guess that was to be expected, I've done very little climbing in the past few months just focusing on endurance building. I was hanging on at the back of the group and started to go cross-eyed, I had my front wheel straddling Robert's back wheel and the next thing I know I'm rubbing against his wheel. Ooops, I rode into the ditch and managed to stay upright but Robert looked back fearing the worst. I was okay just a little embarrassed- I pulled myself out of the ditch and latched on to the group again and managed to get through the hills with a little energy left. A Roctane gel help revive me and I was feeling okay once again for the next 40k until we hit Bezanson. I think everyone was secretly dreading the tough slough back from Bezanson because we all knew it was a 25km stretch that was going to take an hour in the wind.

We started off okay, each one of us was taking turns pulling at the front for a couple minutes and with 4 of us it was nice to have a break. However in the heat it became apparent that everyone was hurting badly, at one point I was leading with about 13k to go and I looked back and the other guys were gone. I said to myself that I could soft pedal until they caught up but Robert told me earlier to go ahead that he was cramping badly and was just going to soft pedal slowly into town. So with only a short ride left I gathered all the energy I could to finish things off in a terrible headwind and managed to get in 175k in 5:22, I'll take it for the first long ride of the year. It's obvious I need to concentrate on my climbing in the coming weeks but I have time to improve on that. Put that ride in the bank and I'll be looking forward to a couple more big deposits in the next few weeks.

Tough Times

Every month I track my training pretty closely, sometimes it's motivating other times, it's not. April was one of those months where it didn't seem to matter what I did- I was going no where fast. I think every athlete at some point has certain times in their lives where they feel like they are trying to do everything they can to make forward progress but nothing seems to be working. After having a really good solid month of training in March, being injury free and feeling good, April set me back big time. I was sick for a total of 10 of the 30 days and the remaining time I was just trying to get in training here and there whenever I could. Not a great confidence builder as I prepare for IM CdA but I'm still trying to be positive, realizing that I have a great base built as I move into May. The weather is finally looking like it will be great, I didn't have one outdoor ride in April because of weather or sickness.

I'm also getting a broader perspective of what it means to be able to do Ironman, it is a tremendous sacrifice for a new father to leave the family and train for hours on end. I'm not sure how a lot of families manage because when I'm not training, I'm helping Amber with laundry, meals, cleaning, or just holding Ryder. I love to do those things but it's quite a change from both of us finishing a 6hr ride and crashing on the couch for the next 8hrs. I'm sure it gets a lot easier as Ryder becomes older but after this race I need to take some time off for a couple years, do some fun family things and perhaps when he's older look at a destination race again- with the family. Don't get me wrong I'm really happy I can do Ironman in June but this year more than ever I'm going to enjoy a break from the long training and focus more on fun activities. Based on how my body is reacting to the training load in April, I think it will enjoy the break too.

Pointless

I know everyone has been hearing news of the Boston Marathon bombing and the reactions range from shock, awe, anger, frustration, and sadness. It's hard to imagine the point the person or persons were trying to make when they bombed an iconic event like this. One of the greatest attributes of an endurance athlete is their ability to endure in the face of incredible obstacles. For someone to think that they are going to strike fear in the hearts of marathoners, has no idea what it means to be a marathoner. When you train for an event like the Boston Marathon you complete against some of the best in the world and the fact that you need to qualify to get there shows the level of commitment and dedication that these athletes have. For someone to think that bombing a marathon will make these people afraid and keep everyone locked up in their homes, they are dead wrong! Us as endurance athletes will rise up in the face of these cowards and come back to compete in MORE events and become even MORE dedicated to doing the things we love.

Running is the purest form of endurance activity and something that everyone can do, the meditative state you achieve in endurance running calms the soul and makes you see things differently. If the reaction during the terrorist bombing of 2001 was to go out and kill those responsible, the reaction to this bombing should be- lets go for a run...

Getting There Slowly

Training this year has been educational to say the least, coming back from an injury I was hesitant to do anything too hard or fast in order to avoid a repeat of last year. Then of course the biggest change in any one's life, having a child can add to the overall workload at home and sleep deprivation. Thankfully Amber has been incredible looking after Ryder and those two are so cute together, it is true what everyone says- having a child changes your life so dramatically that your priorities shift. However I don't feel like a different person, I still want to train and race I just see Ryder as another member of our small family that will one day be able to join in our fun. I have found finding the time to train has been harder but I still look forward to getting on the bike, going for a run or swim as much as ever. I do realize that training for an Ironman once Ryder gets a little older is not possible, right now it's okay but I think I'm going to take a few years off Ironman training after this year. I can still see myself training for 1/2 IMs or marathons but the workload involved with IM is simply not possible.

This weekend I started to come out of the latest flu I've been fighting and had some great training even though it was all indoors. Yes it's April but there was a massive dump of snow this weekend and the temperatures plummeted. So after a tough 100k ride last weekend I got back on the trainer and did 100k followed by a 10k run on Saturday and a 36k ride followed by a 24k run on Sunday. It was tough and I'm still recovering but it's nice to see that some of my endurance is coming back and all the hard work in March is starting to pay off. There are only 10 more weeks of training for IMCdA so I better get in some more distance soon, otherwise it's going to be ugly.

FTP Test #2

There is a lot of research around lactate threshold, functional threshold power, and W/kg numbers and this year I decided to add a little science to my training. The one thing I'm realizing is that if you are an athlete who is motivated by the numbers and that motivates you to train harder (or better) it can be a very useful tool but if you are an athlete who is motivated by the training itself and seeing fundamental changes in your athleticism then it's probably a waste of time. I would say that I'm probably somewhere in the middle, I'm not completely motivated by analyzing the raw data and understanding what it means from a training perspective but it is useful to know that the work I'm putting on a day-to-day basis is producing changes in my fitness over the long-term. That's really where the 'art' comes into it, how do you balance the necessary improvements in your fitness by breaking down your muscles with the necessary recovery needed for those muscles to adapt and improve. It's a very tough thing to do but my body seems to tell me, I'll have a couple weeks of really great training and then I'll need a week of light to no training at all. A 2 week build 1 week recovery cycle is not a bad long term plan to follow but it does make it difficult when you start to feel really good and you know you need to hold back so you can fully recover.

In January I had an idea to start testing everyone's W/kg to make sure that the training we were doing is providing tangible results and to give us a benchmark to start from. It was a pretty sorry sight back then how out of shape we all felt and a 30k TT was so painful that everyone was knackered for quite a while afterwards. Well this week a few of us that are doing IM CDA tested our W/kg again and although the TT was no less painful it did show that we are all headed in the right direction. Somehow Robert managed to gain 0.5kg from January to March but given his reduced muscle mass over the previous

6 months it's probably not a surprise. The results from this weeks test are; Robert +13.8% improvement, Steve +17.1% improvement, and me +8.8% improvement. I'm still trying to keep most of my training in the zone 2-3 range and it's starting to pay off, I've dropped 2.5kgs and I feel fitter as I move into the critical months, April and May. These two months are going to determine how I'm going to do in Coeur d'Alene; if I can focus on the proper training 'cycle' then the results will come, I'm doing the right thing I just have to make sure I focus on my own training and I don't get caught up in what others are doing- tough when you train with other people but I've typically just done my own thing anyway. One more big weekend in March, I'm looking forward to a wonderful Easter with Amber and Ryder and then the outdoor training begins!!

Now I Understand...

It's always been a bit curious to me why I would see some phenomenal triathletes fall off the training and racing map as soon as they have kids but now I completely understand why. It's an amazing life change to have this little person consume your entire life but it's also really hard to prepare for an Ironman during this time. My advice to anyone who is about to have a kid is don't plan on racing for a while after they are born. It's not that I can't train, Amber has been amazing at taking care of Ryder- realizing that I need to train for the next few months and she has taken tremendous care of him but the motivation to train hard just isn't there like it used to be. Fortunately Ironman is hard and scary enough that I've been getting off my ass to get in the pool, on the bike and on the treadmill but this weekend I've been sick and it's been pretty nice to just spend some down time with Ryder and Amber.

I'm not worried that I won't be ready for CDA in June, I know there is still sufficient time to prepare and I'm happy to be doing an early season race to have all summer to do family things. My training has been progressing since January but it's been progressing on my usual pace, preparing for a 1/2 in June/July- I'm going to have to step things up very quickly and being sick this week doesn't help. I am starting to feel a little better this weekend and I know I'll be back to 3hr rides in the basement soon but those 3hrs will have to turn into 4hrs and then 5hrs if I'm going to be race ready. For now I'll take a 'sick week' and just enjoy time with family for a while. How can you leave this beautiful little face to turn pedals in the basement for hours at a time.