Time to be Jealous JR!!!

Here is the 2009 Griffen, thanks so much for selling me this bike JR!!! I'm extremely happy to have the bike of my dreams and I'm soooo glad my buddy JR decided to become a Cervelo rider and sell me his Griffen at a great price. This is the new racing machine for the 2009 season and with this bike I better be FAST!

This weekend I arrived back in GP Friday night after a boring conference in Canmore for two days. It was so frustrating being in the beautiful mountains for two days and to be stuck in a conference room all day. I was really glad to see Amber again and even though the weather was a slap in the face on Saturday morning, it was snowing again, we made the most of it and suffered in the basement on the trainers for 1hr 38mins.

Today I went out with Harley in another snowstorm and we had an easy run for an hour, completing 15kms fairly easy. He was great to run with in the cold weather and I'm a little worried about running with him in the heat of the summer. I think I'm going to have to take him out early in the morning before it gets very hot. I'm sure he'll be fine I just need to pay attention to how he feels.

I'm only a couple weeks away from the first race of the season and three weeks away from the first tri of the season. I'm really excited to see how things are going to play out this year but I'm not putting any pressure on myself. I'll do my best in every race and whatever happens I'll be happy with. After all the hard training all winter I still have a great appreciation for the journey and the race results will take care of themselves. I'm just glad to have a wonderful family who supports my passion and knows how much triathlon adds to my life.

Running with Harley

Today was a great run with Harley he's such a great training partner, except when we run into another dog! He still freaks out whenever he catches the scent or sight of another dog but it teaches me to be firm and not spoil him too much. When I feel fast, he's up for a fast effort and when I feel slow, he's okay with just trotting along beside me. I felt like stretching my legs out today and seeing what I had in me now that the weather has warmed up a bit. It's so nice to feel fast, when it's cold out I always feel slow even though I'm giving it 100%. The warm weather makes me want to go!!!

Harley was really excited and the first 7.5kms flew by in 28:30. However the fast pace and the warm weather was starting to tire him out and by the time we reached 10kms I was dragging him behind me. I let him rest for a while and get a quick drink and he seemed to be okay. We finished up the 15kms in 58:00! Including a couple traffic lights and a poo break (for Harley not me). He panted for about an hour and is now K.O.'ed on the floor.

BONK!

Just when I was really enjoying cycling and being outside I suffered on the group ride this Saturday. Amber and I met a group of GP Triathletes just on the edge of town to head out for what I hope will be a regular Saturday ride with everyone. It started out great and I felt fantastic, I was cruising with a couple other guys doing about 36-38km/hr on the flats. I didn't even really notice that I was doing most of the pulling all the way out.

We hit the turn around at 50kms and all of the sudden 5kms later my heart rate dropped and all the power in my legs was gone! Oh no. I knew what that meant, I was 45kms from nowhere and I had very little water and only a couple granola bars for energy. I downed the two bars and felt a little better but I was seriously in trouble with no water. I took it easy and just spun and fortunately the other two guys I was riding with turned back and gave me a little water. I managed to get to the bottom of the big climb (about 8kms from the end) and struggled up but at the top I was weaving all over the road and I felt almost drunk!

It was the toughest final 5kms I've rode since completing a brutal Valleyview ride last year in preparation for IM but I should have known that the endurance is not going to be there yet. I'll get there, I just need to be a little more disciplined and controlled and the next thing you know I'll be flying along with little to no effort at all. This winter training has really helped increase the power but now it's time to work on the endurance.

Outside Finally!!!

Wow it's been a long winter! I can't believe the first outdoor ride of the season didn't happen until April 7th. Well this is northern Canada, I'm not sure what I expected but it was soooo nice to finally ride outside. Even if I did have to gear up and it took me nearly an hour to get myself and my bike ready. Another couple invited Amber and I for a 40km TT on the secondary highway just outside our place and I was so anxious to get out there all day! I put the new race wheels on and they looked and felt fantastic! Worth every penny. They sliced through the wind and the profile of my bike is a lot narrower without spokes coming out from the centre hub. Very, very sweet I highly recommend the new HED 3s (pictures to follow).

It's definitely a lot harder to ride outside than I remember. My legs were screaming right from the start, I still have some good power but as expected, I have very little endurance. I need a few more long rides in my legs before I can have a solid ITT. There was very little wind (which is surprising for this part of the country) and there wasn't much between my splits. The way out is a little more uphill but I was more fresh so I finished the first half in about 33:00 and the total ride in 1:05.57. The first running race is a month away and the first tri is only 6 weeks so it's time for me to sharpen up!!

Rubberlegs

It was a great weekend of training even though I took Friday off. I really needed a rest by the end of the week, I was feeling sluggish all week and my body was telling me to take it easy. I'm happy I went into the weekend fairly rested because Saturday I did a 80 minute run with the GP running crew and H-dog. I took it fairly slow, the ground is still really icy and there was no need to push the pace that day. Afterwards we had our usual triathlon coffee discussions, it's always fun to get together with everyone and gab about upcoming races or other things tri related.

That afternoon Amber and I went to a meeting to discuss the GP triathlon and any ideas that we could bring to add to the race. It was interesting to hear everyone's opinion but in the end it's usually the race director that has to do all the work. Fortunately we have a great "tri group" that will help out when needed, pre, during, and post race. The last time I did this race was the last year it was put on (2006) and I finished 2nd! My best result at that time. I love doing an early season sprint race to kick off the season and having it here in our home town is a real bonus! No travel!

Sunday I woke up a little early so I headed to the pool before bike class and pounded out 2500m with some strong 200m and 300m efforts. I need to really work on my speed in the water over the next month to sharpen up and get ready for some short-fast races this year. After that I rushed home and joined the few faithful riders for a tough, tough 80 minute sprint session a la Coach Troy. There were a lot of all-out 10 second sprints followed by 50 seconds rest reps throughout the workout. They really start to hurt by the time you've completed 4 sets of 5 reps. He even threw in a set of plyometric jumps in there just to make us all suffer to the bitter end. Needless to say my legs were rubber for the rest of the day but I'm confident this workout will pay off come outdoor riding season (if it ever comes).

Back Home Already?

I was supposed to be on the road this week but given the unbelievable weather we've been having I decided to cancel the High Level trip for March. I could not imagine that the worst conditions for driving all winter long would occur in late March. Now is the time I was hoping to be riding outside and instead there is 70km/h winds and snow drifts across the highway. Oh well, spring will come soon enough and I'm happy to be able to spend the next few days at home before leaving on my southern loop next Tuesday.

Training was good last week, got in a couple swims and was consistent with the biking and running. I still haven't sold my Zipp wheelset but I did get in my new HED 3's this week. They are HOT!!! I can't wait to try them out on the open road. I've been killing myself in the basement all winter on the trainer and I hope it's paid off. If I show up to a race with these wheels and bike like a jackass, it won't look good. I definitely feel like Coach Troy has made me faster, we'll see.

It's About the Journey Not the Destination

Well Amber and I are back from Jasper for over a week now and unfortunately the weather here is still cold as ever. We're both really tired of winter and feel like we've done our time in the cold, even Harley is looking a little depressed staring out the window at a snow covered street. I know it won't take long for things to change but I'm getting a little anxious to do some outdoor running and cycling. We had a great weekend with the GP crew, Saturday I joined the group for an icy 17km run. I could tell I was still trying to get over something because when Robert picked it up in the last two kms I couldn't stay with him. I normally look forward to the last push to the finish but I've been trying to fight off a cold for two weeks now and I can tell that I don't have the same speed I normally do.

That seems to be one of the reasons I've been a delinquent swimmer. I just can't get my butt to the pool when I wake up with swollen glands and my energy is non-existent. I'm through making excuses for the rest of this week though, I need to hit the pool at least three times before I have to get on the road again next week. I'll get there Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Looking at past years' results of some of the races I have planned I need to improve my swimming and biking if I hope to do well. It's very, very hard to win a short-course race when you lose a lot of time in the swim. However my goal is to do my best and have a lot of fun this year, the results will take care of themselves.

Racing still adds so much to my life and I really enjoy the training, something Amber and I have a shared passion for. Amber is not overly concerned about racing this year, which is just fine, she just wants to have fun and keep in shape. I'm going to follow her lead and just enjoy being an athlete and not focus on the results. If you start thinking you need to win every race you enter you are bound to be disappointed and that is not the type of athlete I want to be. I want to make other GP triathletes stronger by training hard and racing hard with them and celebrate the success of everyone. We all have different goals and plans for our lives and I think sometimes we can let ourselves become overly concerned with the "results" and not see that the "journey" is what is really important. I have had so much fun this year training in a group environment (it's my first year doing that consistently) and when I go to a race this year it's just a culmination of the strength everyone has given me. Thanks to all GP triathletes I hope we all have a fantastic season and encourage each other to push ourselves to reach goals we never thought were possible.