Believe, do something

Last week was a lot more manageable. Not only I had Monday off and spent a few good hours riding my bike with friends, but it also went pretty well on all fronts (work, family, monster slaying). Thanks to Emma, there is even a new picture of Zin and I worth of a frame now. Aren't we cute?

It's now saved as wallpaper on all my electronic devices. In my happy place with the love of my life, it can't get better than that.
Here are a few more from the day because why not?

We had to wait for a train. Now that was a first.
Then Zin posed with our fearless ride leader Emma, who just as I thought, has grown some nice muscles in those legs of hers over the winter. I can't even. She's now waaaaay stronger. But I love her just the same. She's going to kick some serious ass in her first ever triathlon season.

On Tuesday I took a day off. Alas not from work, but I gave my legs a rest since riding 100km over two days was a bit of a shock to them.

However, I showed up to the track the next day, especially after promising to a young member of our club that I would work out with him. I took him under my wing since he joined and it's amazing to see him taking his first steps into triathlon so to speak. He's determined, and I think that he will do pretty good once he gets a little more confident. For now it's all about enjoying the process of learning new skills and building a good base, one km at a time. I am really happy for the opportunity to be there for him.

So we did the speed workout and overall we ran/walked for 5.6km. My legs felt just fine, but mostly because it was interval work and I gave myself plenty of rest in between the fast laps. It was a short workout, but it made me believe that a comeback may be around the corner. My PT seems to have a plan for me. He keeps telling me that I'm making progress and I have a sneaky suspicion that, not only he wants me to go back to running, but also get faster.

On Thursday I went to the pool and swam 3 x 700m in my ROKA SIM shorts. Despite being a bit lower in the water than the week before, I managed to swim 5sec faster per 100m, mostly due to paying attention to my stroke for as long as I could keep focus. I'll timidly call this progress.

Then on Friday I went to my physio where I worked hard as usual, doing all kinds of running and strength focused exercises. This PT really knows how to tap into your psyche and make you feel good about yourself. Which may have been a little foolish of him, because this happened as soon as I got back to the office:

Yes, you read this right. 5 races (because discounts matter)! All sprints, with the exception of Wasaga Beach Triathlon. For now the Muskoka 70.3 is still on the schedule, but I will most likely drop out after the swim, or the bike or walk the 1/2 marathon, or not do it at all. I will be there because it's my hubbs' A race, but I don't have any expectations for myself. It'll probably be as foolish to even toe the line.

Alright, so now that's done, I'd better get in the groove, right? On Saturday I went back on my bike, this time with the FMCT tri club. It was a very chilly day (only 2C when I woke up!), but Zin and I plus 3 other brave souls showed up and we rode to Erin for a treat at Holtom's Bakery, then came back all schuss on Mississauga Rd, which is always a great adrenalin trip. I didn't even beat my fastest time on this downhill, but of course, I wasn't drafting behind Zin. Here are some pictures from day because they are all awesome memories.

I came back home and relaxed for the rest of the day, then on Sunday I did it again. Well, not quite, but our club organized a "brick day" and this time I showed my young friend how to change gears on his brand new road bike and bomb all downhills because it's always a pity not to! Then we ran for a bit on the Caledon Trailway and called it a successful day.

Needless to say, I feel much better today.

Almost 9h of training this week. Say whaaat?

Maybe everything isn't hopeless bullshit

As I wait for the year to end, with a mix of trepidation and dreariness, I try to gather my thoughts before they blow up like fireworks. It's been a hell of a month, and I chose to stay away from this empty page where words would have collided and bounced between invisible walls, not padded enough to slow them down. There are days that I am so much, even for myself. An ongoing struggle, but still alive. But this too shall pass, and I may be finally ready to put my foot down and say Enough.

However this is a fitness related blog and the musings of my troubled noggin are for my therapist instead. I haven't seen one in 5 years, but I may need to go back for a reboot of sorts. We shall see... for now I am still putting all my hopes into the running therapy that I should be able to start again on January 1st.

Speaking of which, there is a slight chance that does not happen, and I am not trying to be pessimistic for no reason, but my body decided to give me one more challenge just because it can. On Dec 26, also the day of my 17th wedding anniversary, I decided to brave the crowds and go to Yorkdale Mall for a trip to Lululemon to spend a gift card that one of my friends had bought for me earlier this year. The trip was somewhat successful, in the fact that I spent out of my pocket only $75 bucks, between one new Scuba Hoodie and a onesie from Bluenotes. A what? Yes, you heard me right - a onesie. Or a cowsie to be more precise.

I came back home, changed into my new outfit, had lunch and selfied with hubbs for the official anniversary photo. So far so good.

Then I sat down and watched a movie... and out of the blue, an hour or two later, my ankle started hurting like mad. I could not put the foot down, ouch ouch ouch, and I kept limping around for the rest of the day. I can only take a guess about what happened... maybe something in my foot got a cramp from driving around, or maybe I got off the couch on the wrong foot so to speak, or there was an evil intervention, whatever. It just happened. I iced, I elevated, took Ibuprofen... Still limping 3 days later. Of course it didn't help that I walked 5km on it on Saturday, but I had no choice, I had promised to take my family downtown to see the pretty Chrismas lights. Now it seems to be getting better for sure, but it's a slooooooow process. #FML.

Let's see what else happened since the last time I dumped my thoughts on this blog...

-Strength training has been going OK, and I know that I am getting stronger, but my butt cheeks and arms are also getting bigger. I have been having a hard time to find pants and shirts that fit. I try to fit in at least 2 to 3 sessions of 30min strength training a week.

-Weight has also been going steadily up and once I reached 145lb I hit the PANIC button and signed up for nutrition coaching with the lovely Georgie Fear, whose book "The Racing Weight Cookbook" has been an eye opener that you don't need a Whole 30-Paleo-no sugar-high fat-low carb diet to be happy and lose weight. All you need is good, healthy, sustainable habits for the rest of your life. Official program starts on Jan 5, but I have been enjoying a few 1:1 free coaching weeks with Brandice for now. It's been great. I already mastered the habit of having veggies with both lunch and dinner and now I am working on a habit of having at least 20-30g of protein with every breakfast. Go me!!

-Biking has been going well too, with 1-2 sessions of 1.5h a week of pretty hard trainer workouts, either with the triathlon club or with Trainer Road in my Pain Cave. Not much to report, but I feel that I could bump up my FTP again... Will wait until the heart rate goes down again though... still not liking to do my VO2max intervals around 190bpm. If you are curious, check out my TR Career page.

-Swimming... well, it's there, when I find the motivation to go. I've been going religiously every Sunday morning at 7am with the club for 1h, but Tuesday nights have been rather hit and miss. It doesn't help that my new job drains me of every ounce of energy that I have, but that's what I get for being a bigger boss. Not complaining, nope nope nope.

-I also go for walks whenever I can to let my thoughts breathe... Inhale. Exhale. Keep it Zen, shake it out, don't let the screws get too lose. Or something like that. I even meditated once, but thankfully I was in my bed when that happened.

What else??

I finally got to try Osmo Nutrition, after hearing the glowing reviews from all over the Interwebz. Unfortunately I could not use the Acute Recovery formula because it's based on milk protein (damn you dairy allergy!), but the Preload and Active Hydration have been doing the trick! Most surprising has been the Active Hydration mix - I thought that I would hate the Mango taste, but it's actually very light and I even liked it, whereas the Preload has more of an acquired taste even though it was supposed to be more familiar.

We'll see how it goes, but I don't have any concerns for now about the product. Most likely I will write a more detailed review once I finish the containers. ;-)

Another notable bit of news is that I made the Coeur Ambassador Team again this year. My jaw just about dropped when I saw the news. I've always considered myself an underdog, and I probably won't have the answer as to "why me", but it made me very very happy and I could not be more grateful to Kebby and Hailey for trusting me to spread my #heartandcourage around. I am looking forward to sharing the Coeur colors with my friend Carol who also made the team. Two crazy Canucks rocking the #stylishspeed hashtag, watch out world.

With this update, my friends, and to quote the lovely and talented Allie Brosh, maybe everything isn't hopeless bullshit after all.

I have a few challenging races lined up for the 2015 season, rockstar friends who continue to fill my life with sweaty smiles and good cheer, I am working with people who I fully trust to make me stronger, faster, leaner - and have a successful comeback to all things source of endorphins. I have the most amazing husband and kids, a new and challenging career, and enough gear to last me a few good years. It can only go up from here. Yippee ki yay, motherf*ers.

2014 Ironman Mt. Tremblant Race Report - The Swim

30 weeks of Ironman training, 3 years in the making since I saw Chrissie Wellington tearing up Kona with shredded skin on her legs, and read Matt Long's "The Long Run". Three years of watching people of all ages and shapes crossing the finish line. I was told that with hard work and perseverance, anyone can do an Ironman. Okay then, challenge accepted. Now here we are...

I picked up my race stuff...

 

I left my bike in transition...

 

I prepared my race food...

Salty balls, of course! 

I carb loaded in style...

My hubby's pasta is better than Ironman's 

I even took a selfie with Mike Reilly... 

And hoped that it was not going to be bad luck 

After a week of pure cabin fever and enough trips to the Ironman village, I could not wait to get started!! And race day started early for sure... Alarm clock went off at 4am and I literally jumped out of bed. I didn't sleep much that night, despite going to bed at 7pm. I tried to relax for an hour or two, then turned off the lights at 9pm. Around midnight, my brain decided to start singing: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" by Billy Ocean. No, for realz.

How many people get an earworm in the middle of the night before an Ironman? *raises hand* This girl does. I even got a mantra without asking for one. The mind works in miraculous ways ... Alas it did keep me awake for a few hours until 2:30am.

 Anyway, I bet there are worse ways to spend a night than singing to Billy Ocean and planning wardrobe changes. Say what?? Well... Since I could not sleep, and given that it had rained non stop for a week, I had to look at the weather app one more time. The day was going to be cold and overcast in the morning, sunny with scattered showers in the afternoon. Hmmm... Told myself that comfort should make it more tolerable for sure. And so I decided that I would wear my bike jersey and shorts on the bike, then change into my Coeur tri kit afterwards. I made a mental note to add a towel to my bike gear bag as well.

Upon waking up, I had to scramble for a bit to find my new bike clothes and make some last minute changes to my special needs bags (is it just me or everyone does it?), then I prepared my bottles of Endura for the bike and fuel belt. For breakfast I had 2 slices of toast with butter and ham, 2 boiled eggs and some juice, and a banana to go for eating closer to the start.

The plan was for hubbs and mom to come with me in the morning, then go back and pick up the boys from the cottage sometime during the bike leg. So after we finished eating, we all drove to the airfield to catch the bus to the village. Thankfully we didn't have to wait for the bus as I got close to having a nervous breakdown after an irrational scare that race transportation options may have changed from the previous year. I never checked and assumed they were the same, and did not want to believe anything that my husband was telling me that morning. Perfectly normal, right?

Soon enough I was in transition pumping the tires on my bike, just by myself like a grownup. I also attached 4 gels to the bike (or did I do this the day before? Looking at the pictures above, it looks like it) and placed all the bottles in their holders. 2 small bottles at the back + 1 big bottle on the diagonal tube with Endura, water in the aero bottle. I also went inside the tent to update the contents of my bike and run bags thanks to my mid-sleep wardrobe decisions.

Then I proceeded to body marking where I looked for my friend Wendy who I knew was volunteering at the event. Spotted her in seconds, but had to line up to get marked. Her sharpie writing skills were quite popular, it seemed. She gave me a huge hug and I asked her to sprinkle some magic dust above me for good juju. After doing her best fairy impersonation, I felt immediately better, then told her "cya later, alligator", or something silly like that. One thing for sure, I wasn't yet crying.

I still had two missions left: to find the special needs containers and a port-a-potty. Following instructions from other awesome volunteers, I found both in no time, but then proceeded to take my time... if you see what I mean... Things were not moving fast enough when I needed them to. Grrr. I had no time to waste though, so I decided to call it a day in the plumbing department and start walking towards the swim start.

About halfway I ran into Amanda, her dad, Doug (both in our FMCT tri club) and the rest of the family. For the sake of catching up on the latest pre-race gossip with my friends, including state of bowel movements, I stopped there as well and wrestled into my wetsuit as per the usual ROKA dance. While I was contorting myself trying to smooth out all wrinkles along my arms, I see another familiar face just across the path. My Coeur team mate Kelly! What a surprise!!

It was the first time that we were seeing each other outside of our computer screens and I recognized her right away. I offered Kelly a few words of encouragement and we exchanged hugs. I wasn't going to keep all that magic dust just for myself, especially when I knew that others were in need of some too!

Twin smiles!

Her hubby took this picture of us and I like it so much (thank you)! All smiles - that's how it should always be. (You can even see Amanda and Doug in the background). Right at that moment, I knew that the day was going to be a great one. Surrounded by friends and family, doing what I love  - not for the win - but because I can. I could not be more grateful for being there. 

We walked slowly towards the beach, then I realized what mayhem was surrounding us. People walking in all directions, caps of all colors everywhere... I was in the last wave, women 40+ and I had no idea where to line up, but I knew that I wanted to do a short warm-up swim before the start. So my plan was to walk towards the lake and see what happens. I gave Zin a big smooch and just like that we got separated and the anxiety kicked in. 

 Eventually I found myself among many other green caps and they were all lining up behind a volunteer with a sign for our group. Nothing out of the extraordinary, but I had to ask whether we could swim for a bit and I was reassured that we could once we got closer to the lake... ok then... patience... Once the group got moving, I headed for the water. I remember thinking that is was rather cold, but not freezing. I jumped in and swam for about 5 minutes and managed to turn my zen mode on. I watched the wave ahead of us leaving, then rejoined the green caps as they were marching towards the start. I then saw Zin and mom who were also looking for me and ran to them for a last kiss and picture. Emotions were free flowing by then and my eyes got teary, I had to lift my goggles and put them on my head.

Not even a minute later the countdown started. The canon went boom and we all started walking towards the water... I was just about to do a dolphin dive, but at the very last moment brain sent the message "Abort! Abort!" as it realized that my goggles were still on top of my head... It made me laugh out loud. I rushed to put them on, then dove... but I had a sneaky suspicion that I would have to stop and do a better job since they started leaking instantly. I still swam a good 100-200m before I decided to come to a full stop. Someone who must have been following pretty closely started apologizing for bumping into me. It was rather hilarious to see our "sorry -  no it was me, sorry - please go ahead - sorry again" exchange in the middle of the lake. So... Canadian, eh? Who said that Ironman swim starts were all muscle and mean knock outs? Mine could not have gone better... so far.

I put my head down and the copilot on, and swam, smiling with each breath. I could see the sky and the sun breaking through the clouds and I could feel so much happiness, that I almost started crying again. I am glad that I managed to hold back my tears because it would have been rather embarrassing to stop and empty my goggles without a good enough reason. The lake got very choppy about half way towards the turn buoy, but I remained unfazed. I swam in bigger chops before and they always make me think of being a rocking chair... or swinging in the giant arms of the lake... I love open water swimming so. damn. much. You just have to go with the flow, embrace the movement... There is no need to fight it, you'd lose anyway. 

I briefly looked around me and there were caps of all colors everywhere. Green wave, what green wave? We were all like veggies in a giant soup. I kept doing my thing, making my way through the sea of people, clinging on feet here and there... Nothing much to complain about, other than a pair of feet that were hitting the water so hard and creating a loud disturbance, that I had to swim away from them repeatedly. The sound and vibration were penetrating my body and were making me highly uncomfortable, like a jackhammer through my eardrums and chest. I wonder, have you ever experienced something like this? I, for one, I was amazed how this person was still moving forward after 2.5km of super hard kicking. 

I managed to distance myself and continue on my own tranquility path, without percussion sounds in the background. The lake became quieter too in the last quarter of the swim, and I was able to fully relax... I had no idea if I was within my estimated time of 1h20, because it certainly felt laborious for about half of the swim, but I reached the beach with the masses and a huge smile on my face. What else could have I asked for? I was done the first leg of the race and I was about to jump on my bike for a long day on the rolling highways. 

Swim: 1:26:07

I am done the swim, yay!

Once I got inside the tent, I noticed that things had changed from the previous year. Volunteers were no longer giving athletes their bags, we were on our own to find them. Thankfully the water in my ears didn't alter my capacity to read numbers and remember my own, yay! Grabbed the #983 bike bag and went inside the changing area.

Holy cow, that was crowded! There was not a single seat available and I had to look around for a bit until I found a clear spot to empty my bag. In the background, I could hear the volunteers' team captain yelling at them "DO NOT HELP THE ATHLETES!! THEY ARE ON THEIR OWN! DO NOT HELP THEM EMPTY THEIR BAGS OR PUT THEIR ITEMS BACK IN THE BAG". I looked at her with a big W.T.F. on my face. I had been there as a volunteer the year before and there were no such instructions, or rather it was all the opposite. We were supposed to help as much as we could. I told the captain that things had changed since last year and she replied to me that someone must have not done their job then...  Yeah, but it was her who gave us the instructions, not someone else... Oh well. A volunteer who I also recognized from last year was beside me, ready to help, but she was utterly confused about what she was supposed to do there in this case. She just sat there, looking at me while I was changing clothes with a bewildered look on her face. We were both sorry for each other and that was kinda sad.

 I had no clue how long it took me to change all clothes, dry myself with the towel, put on my socks and shoes, helmet, food in my pockets, etc... but I did not rush. It was more important NOT to forget something and avoid an unnecessary panic attack. I'd say that if I hadn't changed clothes I would have certainly saved 7-8 minutes, but since I didn't even know what to expect from the day, being speedy in transitions was not a priority. Keeping my head in the game was.

T1: 12:29

For the bike, go here.

2014 Woodstock Sprint Duathlon Race Report

I've been ruminating on this blog post for too many days already. I think it's time to spit it out, or move it to the next stomach so to speak (to stay within the bovine terminology). Mooooo?

It was a first of all kinds of sorts and I am a little overwhelmed by all the thoughts and feelings that have been inhabiting my brain since. Not sure if I will succeed in putting these thoughts into words, but I'll give it a try. So, where do I start? Maybe with this list. 40 steps to 40. Yes, again, I am reminding the Internet that I changed age groups this year and that a list of milestones should help keep me sane while I train for the biggest challenge of my life, the Ironman.

Age is just a number

Number 7 on this list: Complete a Duathlon. Now, you should know that I take lists seriously. And when I put this one on the list, I meant it. It had to be official, an event that I wanted to sign up for, and thankfully Mother Nature brought us the Polar Vortex this year, which provided a perfect opportunity for a Du since I am not yet ready to give myself a brain freeze in a lake that just thawed 4 weeks ago. Swimming in 15C/61F water? Brrrrrrrr.  I'll skip, thankyouverymuch.

And so I signed up for Woodstock Du and vowed that I would stay away from lakes in May races, at least in Canada. My race bestie, Carol, who was going to be braver than me and do the Sprint Tri, decided to drive up with her mom the day before and sleep at a hotel nearby. Great idea, I thought, and so I asked them to pick me up in the afternoon (after I finished my 5h ride and brick run) and drive me up there too.

After we checked into our hotel room, we went to visit the Pittock Conservation Area to get acquainted with the race venue. Carol tried the water as well, and was not impressed.

The place was absolutely gorgeous though, and it was the perfect summer day, if I dare to say. We walked around for a bit and we could see that slowly but surely, the transition area was coming along.

I found the Du start!!

Must not forget, I am #361.

I hope they don't want us to ride our bikes into the ground

Getting closer... #361, where are you?

Swim exit. Not going in there, nope nope nope.

We went to eat at Kelsey's and I had the yummiest salad - some mix of greens, beets and goat cheese, followed by a refreshing scoop of strawberry sherbet. We returned to the hotel where we prepared our race bags, kits and snacks, then turned off the lights at 10:45pm. I didn't get the best sleep, but who does before a race anyway? I am not expecting to sleep much the night before the Ironman, so it must have been part of the program, at least subliminally.

The next morning we woke up at 6am, a bit foggy eyed, but with the energy levels intact. For breakfast I had a Pretzel-bagel with egg, cheese and bacon from the nearby Tim Hortons and managed to drink half a coffee too. I took a banana and a gel to go, put on my Coeur kit and off we went to Pittock Conservation Area once more, but this time, to race!

I racked my bike and set up my little slice of real estate, then went to body marking and to pick up my bib. We returned to the transition area where Carol and I took our usual selfie and shared with the whole world that we were ready to kick some ass.

My camera

Carol's camera

I thought that it would be fun to share both perspectives. Deal with it. Besides, selfie is now in the dictionary and it's legit.

I also met my coach, who was ready for his own race. Another brave soul to sprint Tri that day, and he had to remind me that I was a whimp for not jumping in the lake with them. Whatever, coach... whatever! Enjoy the shrinkage. :-P

My coach and I. I love this guy!

Soon enough, the transition area was buzzing with activity. I saw a few more familiar faces, but the one I wanted to talk to was Phaedra. I went to give her a hug as I knew how nervous she was about the swim. Brave soul number three in my books! I am surrounded by crazies so much courage! Despite her reticence for getting in the water that day, I had no doubt that she was going to dominate the field. She has this energy around her, she's like the energizer bunny.

I also went to say hi to Jade, who is our club's Duathlon star, and often all around champ. She gave me a few words of encouragement and I told her that most likely I'll see her at the podium.

Can you feel the groove?

And just like that, it was almost show time. While Steve Fleck, the race announcer, was going on and on about how cold the water was and how people could switch to a Du if they wanted, I went to the port-a-potties for the third and last time, then on to warm up the legs, that were feeling rather spectacular even with 5h of biking in them the day before. What about that, huh? This could only mean one thing: it was a good day to RACE!! Boooyah!

I admit to feeling a bit confused by the run-bike-run schedule of events, but I was planning on my mental reflexes to kick in so I can make it in and out of the transition area through the right gates. I arrived to the run start just on time, with maybe 2 minutes to spare before the horn went off. You can see me in the picture below walking in front of the man in black shirt and shorts. I had never seen my Coeur kit from behind, thank you race photographer!

Anyway, it was time to run this 5k. The course was a bit hilly, but I loved the mix of trail and pavement, and the highlight was that I went over a dam, twice (4 times if we count both runs). I rarely run in this setting, actually never. I had no idea what kind of pace I would be able to sustain, but I knew that I was going to keep the foot on the gas pedal and hope for the best. And that's exactly what I did. Although my 10k pace in the last (paved, downhill, city) race was around 4:55min/km, I had only a 5:14min/km in me that day. But given my HR average of 175bpm, I know that I raced the hardest I could and managed not to pass out before the bike.

I had a quick transition and no issues starting the bike fast and furious, putting to test my passing skills. On your left!! I had to say it quite a lot and it gave me confidence that I could drop the hammer on this course and not suffer too much. The guy in front of me in the picture below is already suffering. He got chicked.

It helped tremendously that we drove the course the night before with Carol and her mom and I knew exactly what to expect. A few rollers, but overall, straight forward: turn twice to the right, a u-turn, then twice to the left, and you're done.

Really not that exciting - it went by too fast!! See, that's why I don't do sprint races. the fun doesn't last enough! I don't even remember if I ate something during the bike. I don't think so, but I remember that I drank two or three times. That is always memorable because I'm nervous when I grab the bottle from its holder between my legs and I pray that I don't lose balance and wipe out like a fool.

Last but not least, after another fast transition, I went out to run again, on the same course as the first 5k. But this time, we turned around a bit earlier - and I could not wait to see the end! Funny how it goes from "is that all?" when you finish the bike to "are we there yet?? I am dying out here!" ten minutes later. I ran once more as hard as I could. I also had a gel after 1km and took some water with it. I remember the hurt, and sprinting hard to the finish, leaving it all out there. I saw this guy ahead of me and he looked like a giant. I did not want him to take my spotlight in the finish picture, so I had to pass him.

Here are two pictures showing Mr. Corum getting chicked too. By a 5'3" thing with short legs and a big bottom, but so much heart and courage! Boom!

I finished the race, then immediately had a big asthma attack and walked back to the entrance to the transition where I asked to be let in to get my puffer from my spot, but I was not allowed in and someone had to go find it for me... all this time I was coughing and wheezing and I was very uncomfortable, trying not to panic. Since this operation was taking quite some time, I had to sit down and another volunteer offered me her puffer and someone else a bottle of water...Thankfully my puffer showed up eventually and I could get up and walk over to the finish area to get something to eat.

Then I went to look at the results and my eyes almost popped out of my head. 5th in my age group, the most competitive group of all with 22 women. I also had the third fastest bike. Excuse me??

Time: 1:21:55
Run 1 (5k): 26:02 (average HR 175)
Bike (20k): 40:29 (average HR 170)
Run 2 (2.5k): 13:12 (average HR 175)
T1: 1:14
T2: 1:01

So just like that, I found myself going from the middle of the pack to top 10 female, and so close to the podium!

I was ecstatic. I never thought that I was going to finish in the top 10, but from the moment I placed myself at the starting line, I had this quote from the Coeur blog in mind, and it stayed with me the entire race:

[The Coeur girls] They are some of the friendliest people you’ll know but they do tend to race “lights out” and if you’re in their age group and you slow down in the finishing chute, you’re going to get passed.

I went there to represent a company that gave me a chance to show off their colors wherever I race.
I went there to show my coach that his plan works and that I can make him proud.
I went there to show myself that I am something more than a "middle of the pack with no ambitions" girl.

There are many factors that contributed to me having such an amazing day, but being part of a team with so many fit and fast women, it definitely helped. Most days I don't feel that I belong and seeing the race pictures above makes me cringe to no end. I am not one of them champions, or even girls who can qualify for Kona or go to the worlds. I am not fit and fast, I am a mom of two teenage boys who is still trying to lose the baby fat after all these years. But I am dedicated and work hard to become the best that I can be. This is what drives me, a desire to be better than my yesterday's self. I am realistic with my fitness expectations, but when something like this happens, finishing towards the top rather than the bottom, it messes up with my head. It plants a seed - the seed of "what if".

I am glad that I had a Du on my "fun list" and that I got out of my comfort zone to race it. This was my first ever sprint distance too. I jumped from running a marathon into an Olympic tri, looking for something that hurts more. And until this Du, I did not find the hurt in the Olympic distance, not even the 70.3 But now I know what it feels like and I won't hesitate to push through.

What if...

And speaking of champions, Jade took first overall female and AG win in the Du, Phaedra won her AG and my coach took 2nd in his AG. Carol came in top 10 in her AG. At the end of the day, we all rocked Woodstock.

Carol and I after the race

Last word before I go (I promise) - I wanted to share two photos of a friend that I made during the race. She was also in the Du and wore the same Coeur kit. She noticed my kit first, then we kept encouraging each other during the race. We had to take a few pictures afterwards and I emailed them to her, thus getting the chance to know each other a bit better. We'll meet at other races this year, so look for these two foxy ladies and say Hi if you cross paths with them ;-)

Coeur twinsies!

IMMT Training Week 8 and 9: Work hard, crash harder

So it happened. I skipped a recap week. Training and work and life swallowed me whole and I got nothing left, not even brain power to put down things like 1+1=3. Wait, is that right? Does it mean that I skipped 2 weeks? No, wait. Whatever... That's what you get when you lose all your week's neurons. Which means that I need to go back in time twice as far and put my memory through a lot of effort. To tell you the truth, I don't even know where to start. Training Peaks to the rescue!

Swim

Two weeks ago on Tuesday, I did a 3000m swim which called for 20x100m on 2:30 main set. It hurt so much, I don't even want to talk about it. The hardest swim I've ever done until now, period. I managed to finish it all, but I wasn't quite sure on what planet I was at the end of it. Needless to say, two days later I was so tired that I put on my pull buoy and swam for 45min straight, all with flip turns so I can keep up with the kids in my lane. I was supposed to do this swim on Sunday, but it felt more appropriate for Thursday. On Sunday, I was still feeling pooped, that I decided to swing it and do whatever my body was in mood for. I swam 100m free, then another 100m, then 300m with my pull buoy, and decided to repeat the same pattern until I ran out of time. I managed to fit in 4 repeats for a total of 2000m. Matched my swim quota for the week, so that was success in my books.

This past week, it was a different story. Tuesday's swim didn't happen. But on Thursday I went to masters with the tri group and had a nice 2000m swim with a lot of 50s, 100s and 200s. I didn't think I could pull it off, but stamina showed up and got me through it just fine. I even swam my fastest pull/paddles splits - how?? Must have been the 10h sleep...

I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, but there are enough missed swims to choose from. Anything that fits within 1h will do I suppose.

Bike

I had a few good rides as well, no complaints here. I only missed one workout, last Wednesday, when I pretty much hit the wall. I came back from work and fell asleep on the couch. Decided to call it a night and go to bed at 7:45pm. I needed it really badly and I'm glad that I listened to my body. I could feel that everything was falling apart, starting with my mental. 

Below are the most exciting rides that I've done.

This one was made by hubbs with instructions from coach. I called it One Leg drills and Two Leg Spins (100rpm). Visually, quite exciting. Pure poetry. I managed to keep my calm and pedal on, what a miracle. Last spin looks almost like a scream though.

The only other ride worth sharing was my 2h45 ride today, Conness. Trainer Road didn't crash like the week before, yay! I did it all in my new Coeur Sports kit which I received yesterday. I was really curious about the magic chamois and whether my bottom was going to complain. Another miracle, I swear. Last week I had a lot of pain in my bike shorts with triple diaper-like padding, but this time, nada!! No pain whatsoever, how is it possible? The people at Coeur should better patent this one because they've got a winner!!

The ride was easy peasy. It wasn't too difficult to follow directions since the intervals were quite long, and I killed the boredom watching "Zoolander". Can you believe that I waited 13 years to see it? I still had a megawatt smile at the end of it (the workout, not the movie).

If you are wondering what a gratuitous view of my belly is doing here, this is my own #keepingitreal moment. The kit fits wonderfully, but I still have a muffin top to deal with. Hopefully 5 months from now I won't have to suck it in until I pass out while approaching photographers on the course of Ironman Mt. Tremblant.

Run

So far, I didn't miss any of the runs! They all have been 8km or more, with the long ones at 15km. Still doing them on the treadmill, sorry. But the early ones in the week were "hilly" where I got to play with both speed and incline on the treadmill, while the mid-week ones introduced 1min accelerations to 10km pace or faster. I'm glad they are not boring me to death. Speaking of which, I need another movie to watch during my long run tomorrow. Last week I watched "Food Inc." and it was rather upsetting at times. No, I didn't cry, but it got me mad. I'll never look at a piece of meat the same way again.

Here's another piece of worthy news. I bought new shoes!! I joined Kona winner Frederik Van Lierde, Mary Beth Ellis and Caroline Steffen in wearing On running shoes. I had NO idea they even existed until I walked into the Running Free store and tried them on. And NO, I could not put them down and walk away. Very rarely I find a shoe that marries my foot (both of them actually :-)) so wonderfully and this is one of them. I was looking for a shoe to do my long runs in while I rebuild enough calf strength to go back to my K Swiss K-Onas, since there is a new Ironman branded pair at home waiting for me to run in at #IMMT. I chose the Cloudsurfer model and so far, amazeballs! Not a single blister, no pain, even my knees seem happier lately. I also run a tad faster for the same level of effort. They are definitely springy and they almost feel like propelling me a little quicker.

Or maybe it's all in my head and I already imagine myself winning Kona in them. On folks, call me now!

In a nutshell

I had such a hectic schedule between office work, workouts, basketball games, long drives in the snow, parties, corporate ping pong tournaments (I move onto round two in doubles, yay!), endless meetings, stress to the max, that I ended crashing really hard and had to skip two workouts in a row. Not the end of the world, since I got back my sanity and some extra hours of sleep, but there were times when I questioned my ability to train for this Ironman. I told myself that if I'm crashing with 10h worth of workouts, what will happen when I'll hit 16-18? Thankfully the funk didn't last, but it's a little seed of doubt that I need to watch closely not to sprout.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures, so you can see what I've been talking about.

We drove for hours in this. 

More snow!! MAKE IT STOP!!!

NOT my bike. Phew.

We like basketball. At least the Raptors win every so often.

100 points = free pizza for everyone!

We skipped the pizza this time, but we went to Pizza Hut later in the week. We had the super thin crust pizza with veggies and a greek salad.

In case you were wondering...

The sad face of our sidewalks. Anyone have skates?

You could call this a slip and slide, alright!

You can understand why I keep my runs inside. No sidewalks, no fun! I refuse to dodge cars.

One last sweaty smile for the road, with boob crack as a bonus! See you next week!!