I Couldn't Go Too Long Without a "Big Goal"

I did the best I could to take as much down-time as possible, but it wasn't going to last too long. This year was frustrating with some of the health issues I've had (overtraining leading to burnout) but I'm feeling a lot better. Although I feel ready to start full-on training again I know the "smart" athlete will take this time to fully regenerate and get back to feeling 100% and then rest more and feel 110% for the spring season. I've decided that the winter Coach Troy workouts are not the best way for me to spend my training time and I'm going to focus more on strength and core development. I'm noticing (especially this year) that it's taking me a lot longer to recover from workouts and I need to pay very close attention to my diet and recovery to keep my body going. I've started supplementing my diet with vitamins (B complex, magnesium, and immunity supplement) and I've noticed I'm feeling so much better when I wake up and that I have more energy throughout the day. I've always thought that I could get enough vitamins and minerals through my food but obviously I'm missing something because the vitamin regimen seems to be working.

I think it's also helped that I've scaled back the training intensity 100%, only doing steady state or low intensity workouts. I'm about 10lbs heavier than my race weight but that's okay, this is the time of year to gain a little weight and I know that my body cannot be 164lbs all year round without sacrificing some muscle mass. Part of being a healthy athlete is knowing how to utilize my body's ability to gain weight (muscle & fat) in the off-season and work towards a peak for 1 or 2 races. Being afraid of gaining weight is the mindset of the "obsessed athlete" not the "healthy athlete." I think I spent too much time in the obsessed athlete's frame of reference and now my body is telling me if I want to continue I need to change. So I'm learning little by little and I have to credit my friends and family for giving me the well-rounded perspective I need to bounce back. Amber always gives me a friendly reminder when see thinks I'm pushing a little too hard on the bike or in the pool and I appreciate it. Also Robert brings me back to earth with his off-season attitude and keeps me focused on not trying to peak in January.

So I needed a "Big Goal" to keep me training and fit throughout the winter and Amber and I have decided on IM 70.3 San Juan, Puerto Rico!! It's a beautiful location for a 1/2 IM and it'll be a fantastic way to say good bye to winter and see an incredible island. It's March 19th and we are sending out an invite to everyone to join us, come spend a week or two on a wonderful tropical island. If you don't feel like doing the race don't worry about it just come for the get away. Hope to see you there, Amber and I are sooooo excited last year we didn't get away at all so we need this trip this year.



http://www.ironmansanjuan.com/

Happy Anniversary Babe

Images from our second year of marriage

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. I feel very fortunate to be healthy, happy and have an incredible family.

IM Kona

Yesterday was a perfect day I had a great time watching the start of the IM World Championships the only thing that was missing was Amber. She and I always enjoy watching the pros race and determining who is going to have the best day. This year however she was in Victoria with her 1/2 marathon training group and I was left to watch the action with Harley. He didn't seem as excited about the action as I was but I'm sure he was questioning what I was so excited about when I saw the end of the race. What an incredible finish, I've never really been a big fan of Chis McCormack (he's always seemed a bit too cocky for me) but when he hung with Andreas Realert in the final three miles of the run and then started to pull away from him in the final mile, wow I was impressed. You can't imagine how aweful you feel at the end of an Ironman race (especially in 40'c) but to put together an 8:10 Ironman is absolutely incredible. I have to give credit to Macca, he is a true IM champion. I saw Andreas run with Craig Alexander last year stride for stride and I immediately thought he was going to win this race one day but Macca proved that it takes a lot more than just a great run. Great action and I was just sorry that most of my friends were in Victoria or Kelowna running in their own races.


I was inspired by the racers and decided to go out for a little ride, just 90k out to the Smoky River and back. It was a fantastic ride, I cruised through the first 45kms in 1:07 and was feeling pretty good about myself but when I turned around reality started to set in. I struggled up the back half of the hill and never really had the same legs after that. It didn't seem like there was much of a wind but I was definitely moving a lot slower than I was on the way out. I ran out of water in the final 15kms but hobbled back into town in 2:32. Fat and out of shape and I can still pull off a 2:32, 90k ride in October. I know I still need to rest a while but I'm looking forward to meeting Lance again, this time in Kona (he was watching the action yesterday too). I had the upper hand in the 2008 Boston Marathon but I think I have my work cut out for me if I want to beat him in Kona next year. We'll see how the year develops, I'm looking forward to our next meeting see you in Kona Lance.

2010 GP Fall Classic 10k

I decided the New York Marathon is not really feasible with all the things happening with Amber's business so we'll save that for another year, but the GP Fall Classic 10k was a great way to finish off the racing season. This is a fantastic race put on by two really great people, Robert Carroll and Lorna McNeil. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate having Robert and Lorna in our community, Robert is in charge of keeping the GP streets and pathways maintained and I love the fact that he makes the pathways a priority in the winter. It helps that he's a runner and he knows that while most people are staying indoors in -20'c others out there are battling the elements and running on the pathways. Thanks so much for having your guys keep those pathways clear and keeping us crazy runners fit during those cold winter days. Lorna is a fantastic race director and official and she knows all of the ins and outs of triathlon and race organization. It's so nice to have someone like her who is an Ironman veteran organizing our local races, thanks you both. This year I was a little concerned how I would perform, I have been having health issues all year and running 6 days a week over the last three weeks has not helped. Last year I set a PR in the 10k in this race, 34:24; I wasn't expecting to get anywhere close to that result this year but I surprised myself and only ran 18 seconds slower, 34:42. I tried to start off conservatively I knew the climb out of the park would kill you if you started off too fast but my competitive nature took over and I was red-lined from the first km. The first lap (5kms) I was hurting but I kept a good pace and got to the turn around in 17 minutes, really, really fast considering I hadn't trained for a 10k leading up to this event. The second half I knew I was not going to be able to hold the same pace and when I reached the turn on to the pathway and into a strong headwind, I knew I was going to REALLY suffer. I remember thinking "it's only 3kms you can't stop and walk now!" but that was all I wanted to do. Just stop and walk, just for a few seconds.

Thanks to Ross for being the lead biker because if he wasn't there I would have stopped. I was incredibly inspired by Ross during one of the last long rides he did with Robert S. and myself. He was struggling to stay on our wheel for hours but he was so tough, he told us to just go our own pace and he would catch up with us at the turn around. True to his word when we saw him at the turn around, he had a big smile on his face and was happy as hell to be out there riding his bike with us. We were happy to have him out there with us and when I heard that he had a fantastic time at IMC I was inspired to keep pushing as hard as I possibly could. This wasn't nearly as difficult as IMC and if he could get through that, I could get through the next 5kms.

The final 4kms I knew I was slowing down but I was absolutely giving everything I had in me to keep my legs turning over at a resonable pace. I hit the final stretch and I remember Duncan (another fantastic GP athlete) telling me that I had a great pace and I just gave it everything I had down the final stretch back into the park. I looked like I was going to collapse at the finish line and the picture Amber took is very indicative of how I felt, I actually had my arms raised but she caught them on the way down and that is probably a more true picture of how I felt. A big thanks to my biggest fan Amber, I love you more than you'll ever know. This win and every win is for you and H-dog thanks for being there.

One Last Hurrah

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that this year didn't quite exactly turn out how I planned. I was so excited to have a wonderful racing season and I worked my butt off all winter to be ready for that first outdoor ride. However my body had a different agenda and decided that I've been pushing it too hard for too long and didn't co-operate with my heavy schedule of racing. I had a great race in Grimshaw to start the year off and had an opportunity to see the Shaftesbury trail, an historic sight that I've been meaning to see but never seemed to have the time to. This was even better I could run along the trail, little did I know that the race proceeds up Bricks Hill which is a 5km climb out of the river valley- that hurt. But both Amber and I won the race and set new course records so I was off to a great start.

The rest of the year looked like this;
Grande Prairie Brian Harms Memorial 10 Mile- 1st
Blackfoot Ultra- DNS
Hinton Olympic Triathlon- 1st
Grande Prairie Triathlon- DNS
Great White North 1/2 IM- DNS
Penticton Peach Classic Olympic Triathlon- 20th
Ironman Canada- DNS
Peace River Sprint Triathlon- 1st
Banff Triathlon- DNS
Don't Get Lost in the Woods 21k- DNS
New York Marathon- DNS

7 races that I was planning on doing I did not start, that's a tough year and for an athlete like me who loves to race, devistating. I'll be a little smarter next year when planning my schedule but I have one more race this weekend to hopefully finish off with a bang. The GP Fall Classic road race, it's only 10k but if I'm going to be racing less next year I want to make every effort count.

Thinking of NYC

I think after finishing 10 marathons I would feel like running a marathon is no big deal but there is something about that distance that still scares me. It's not as daunting to imagine running that long any more but there is still the thought of all the training and preparation that is required to feel like you are ready to race 42.2kms. The last three marathons my preparation has been right on, I set a PR in Kelowna running 2:48 in 2008, another PR in Boston running 2:46 in 2009, and another PR in Vegas running 2:36 last year. All of them were break through years and I set myself up very well to have great running and tri seasons following them (with the run being my strong point of course). This year I'm not sure I have another PR in me, training has been tough and running 6:30/miles has been difficult. It's still early in the training schedule and I'm not resigning myself to going slow but after 3 amazing years of marathon running I'm not sure my body can continually improve year after year.

I'm going to have fun over the next couple months, I'll be running 6 days a week and it's an activity I can do with Amber and Harley so I'll be able to do something I love with my family as fall turns into winter. I do really enjoy running in the fall and it's great to be able to watch the vibrant colors change on the trails, I'm just not going to go into the NY marathon with an expectation that I'm going to set a new PR. It's supposed to be an incredible race and I'm going to go there and enjoy every minute of it. I'll run to the best of my ability and whatever the day brings will be just fine with me. Happy training everyone.