Friday, August 17, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Training in the rain
Oh, look! Marathon training is back! With hills and speed sessions and long easy runs... and more rain than we could have ever asked for. We complained about not being able to make a fire while we were camping because of a total fire ban in the region, but with all the water that got dumped on us since we came back, we could have called all our training sessions "aqua-runs" or "aqua-rides", and I'm not even mentioning the leisure "aqua-walks", not even necessary. Bottom line, training in the rain has been the norm lately and we have the pictures to prove it. ;-)
But first, a bit of running updates. As I mentioned earlier, I started training for the upcoming Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, my first attempt at the distance on this course, a do-over from last year's injury/surgery/death in the family all-in-a-month combo. This may as well be my last marathon for a while since I'll be focussing on triathlons in the next two years, so better make it a good one. Hell, I'm even going to call it my "A" race for this year. With two marathons under my belt, I think I know what to do/change/improve although if I want to go for a PB, it's going to be a whole new territory. One thing I am pretty sure I won't change is putting one foot ahead of the other. But this time, they may be landing a bit differently too.
So far, running has been pretty uneventful, but fun, well... sort of. I ran to the movies (yum, I saw Magic Mike), I ran while being sick and coughing my lungs out (yuck), I ran in heat and humidity worse than a steam room (yikes), I ran in the rain (whee!) and after the bike (ouch), I ran suicidal hills (crazy drivers coming at me!) and recently on the balls of my feet (tough, but I finally found my calf muscles). Last but not least, I ran all these with my hubbs, because he's on his journey to becoming Superman and he runs faster than me and he's pushing the pace when I'm not too cranky. I can't wait to see how my body responds to this marathon training after the swim/bike/run regimen I put it through in the past few months.
By the way, bigger and meaner triathlons will be coming right after the marathon, so my coach is still having me doing swims and bike rides twice a week, plus a brick and strength training. This shall be interesting.
Now, for the bike workouts, as I said before, they've been wet for most of the times. Let's start the picture show. Nobody should complain about wet t-shirts, right?
The picture above was taken during our first ride after coming back from vacation. We'd been completely blindsided by Mother Nature as this pretty cloud moved in towards the end of the ride on our way back and we hadn't seen it coming. 30 seconds after I put away my camera, we were soaked. Hail was coming down furiously and when you are riding as fast as you can away from being turned into a crispy meat stick, it HURTS. For about a minute I thought about ringing a door bell on one of the solitary houses along the road, but decided to HTFU and keep on going, our own house was only 10 minutes away. No incident as you guessed, I lived to tell the tale.
This ride may have been a relaxed one, but with hills occupying a good chunk of my new schedule, the following ride was completely opposite, minus the rain that came tospoil drench the party, as usual.
Armed with a new cog (12-27), I promised I'd return to Horseshoe Hill to test my legs. What better way of doing this other than riding the hill not once, but 5 times in a row? No horse flies in sight this time, I bet they don't like to get wet. We drove closer to the hill and parked our bikes near the Caledon Trailway, then went for a 25min warmup before starting our ascent. For the actual hill repeats, we needed a half a mile long hill, so we chose the top. The rest is history tracked in a chart with lumps of all shapes and sizes, enjoy!
As for the rain, it started shyly during our last repeat, then unleashed in full force to the point that it got us wet enough to skip the shower for the day. Here are some pictures taken at the end of the workout, sorry that they are not more revealing.
We really enjoyed the hillfest so we'll be going back for more! Pray for more rain so that the flies stay away.
But first, a bit of running updates. As I mentioned earlier, I started training for the upcoming Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, my first attempt at the distance on this course, a do-over from last year's injury/surgery/death in the family all-in-a-month combo. This may as well be my last marathon for a while since I'll be focussing on triathlons in the next two years, so better make it a good one. Hell, I'm even going to call it my "A" race for this year. With two marathons under my belt, I think I know what to do/change/improve although if I want to go for a PB, it's going to be a whole new territory. One thing I am pretty sure I won't change is putting one foot ahead of the other. But this time, they may be landing a bit differently too.
So far, running has been pretty uneventful, but fun, well... sort of. I ran to the movies (yum, I saw Magic Mike), I ran while being sick and coughing my lungs out (yuck), I ran in heat and humidity worse than a steam room (yikes), I ran in the rain (whee!) and after the bike (ouch), I ran suicidal hills (crazy drivers coming at me!) and recently on the balls of my feet (tough, but I finally found my calf muscles). Last but not least, I ran all these with my hubbs, because he's on his journey to becoming Superman and he runs faster than me and he's pushing the pace when I'm not too cranky. I can't wait to see how my body responds to this marathon training after the swim/bike/run regimen I put it through in the past few months.
By the way, bigger and meaner triathlons will be coming right after the marathon, so my coach is still having me doing swims and bike rides twice a week, plus a brick and strength training. This shall be interesting.
Now, for the bike workouts, as I said before, they've been wet for most of the times. Let's start the picture show. Nobody should complain about wet t-shirts, right?
The picture above was taken during our first ride after coming back from vacation. We'd been completely blindsided by Mother Nature as this pretty cloud moved in towards the end of the ride on our way back and we hadn't seen it coming. 30 seconds after I put away my camera, we were soaked. Hail was coming down furiously and when you are riding as fast as you can away from being turned into a crispy meat stick, it HURTS. For about a minute I thought about ringing a door bell on one of the solitary houses along the road, but decided to HTFU and keep on going, our own house was only 10 minutes away. No incident as you guessed, I lived to tell the tale.
This ride may have been a relaxed one, but with hills occupying a good chunk of my new schedule, the following ride was completely opposite, minus the rain that came to
As for the rain, it started shyly during our last repeat, then unleashed in full force to the point that it got us wet enough to skip the shower for the day. Here are some pictures taken at the end of the workout, sorry that they are not more revealing.
 |
| Not wet enough |
 |
| Is this thing on? |
 |
| Superman! |
Monday, August 6, 2012
Our summer fitness adventures
After the triathlon, we went camping, thus I was disconnected from the interwebs to be able to blog. We only made an hour stop by our home so I can shower and change clothes, then we drove straight up to Algonquin where we made a new attempt at living in the wilderness, that is living in a tent for 10 days. Some people told us that was rather hardcore, but we found that the time passed by rather quickly and the return to work was actually more violent. I won't go into details as how the days went by, but I will try to recap our fitness opportunities since that's the theme around here.
But when you're in vacation, these are a bit more subtle as I am going to explain.
Below are more totals:
Wildlife sightings : moose 2, snake 1, frog 2, turtle 2, bear poo 1
Ice cream: regular scoops 3, soft serve 1
Alcohol consumed: beer 1
Fish caught: 0
Jumps from bridge in water, fully clothed: 2
Hours spent in hospital: 1
Campfires: 0
Marshmallows eaten: 4
Geocaches found: 14
Mosquito bites: 2
This has been by far the best vacation we spent as a family. So much fun, such beautiful scenery that we discovered, breathed, tasted, and touched. The only downside was my illness (which is now officially bronchitis) and the impromptu trip to the hospital that I had to make one night with an UTI. Not sure how we can top it off, we wanted to make another family trip at the end of the year to mark our 15th anniversary but all of a sudden, it feels a bit superfluous.
 |
| Hwy 60 - are we there yet? |
 |
| I'm surprised that we remembered how to set up this tent |
 |
| Bed head, coffee, compression socks and sandals. |
Walking:
When you're in a large campground, your first exercise is walking - everywere, but especially to the washrooms. To sum it up, our tent was located 200m away from the washrooms and we counted an average of 5 bathroom trips a day, that's 2km/day... times 10, you do the math. Hurray for pee pee and poo poo to keep us in shape.
Next, trips to the beach, located at 500m from our tent, it provided us with a nice opportunity to bank a km each time we became beach bums. Over 10 days, I estimate those trips to 8.
Walks to the store - we were lucky to have one about 500m away and because we had regular needs for drinking water, ice, bread and ice cream, those trips became quite usual by the second day. Estimated 8 of them as well.
Total walking distance (just around camp) - 36km, two of them were barefoot, just because.
Hiking:
Hiking was our second source of fitness, combined with geocaching, because you have to put some extra motivation in those hikes, you know, dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, that works pretty well. Suited up with backpack, GPS, a good dose of deet, sandwiches and at times, not enough water, we went into the following adventures:
The Lookout 2.5km
 |
| Sitting on top of the world |
 |
| Jungle gym |
The Spruce Bog Boardwalk 1.5km
Beaver Pond Trail 2.1km
Total hiking distance - 19.1km
Swimming:
Even since I knew we were going to stay at the Lake of Two Rivers Campground, I gave myself the challenge of finding the geocache placed on a little island in the middle of the lake and what best way of getting to it other than commando, aka swimming. Since I am not such a strong swimmer and the great outdoors still overwhelm me, I chose to do the swim in my wetsuit. People looked at me strange every time I put it on, but hey, I rather be comfortable and relax than drown in front of their eyes.
 |
| Commando geocaching |
Finding the cache was no problem, quickly signed the log and put back in place. Happy to see an ammo box as well, that was like the cherry on the cake. Here's me with cache GC82F0. We spent the rest of the day on the island, diving in the lake and fishing, that was an all around awesome day. Since I was still sick though, I decided to go back to the beach in the canoe with hubbs and the boys and postpone the longer swims for later in the week.
Speaking of which, the day before the last, I suited up once again and went for a swim around the island, happy and relaxed. Here is the Runkeeper activity for this epic loop.
Total swim distance: 2.2km
Biking:
We didn't bring our bikes with us, not only because we wanted to rest, but because they are both road bikes and we were mostly interested in doing the Old Railway Bike Trail, which required mountain bikes. So one day we rented mountain bikes for all of us and we went on this adventure without quite knowing what to expect. What we feared the most was BEAR. And we found bear poop right in the middle of the trail, which was as close as we got to meeting a bear. It made the bike ride even more challenging, in which we were all secretly running away from an invisible predator, without saying it out loud for fear of inducing panic in each other. The bike ride was a 12km out and back to the camp along the Lake of Two Rivers and Whitefish Lake. Just at the end of Whitefish Lake there was this bridge from which people were jumping in the lake. We were not prepared for this, but the chance was too good to pass on, so without taking our clothes off, we jumped in as well. Below is a picture of me, soaked wet and proud. The bridge was so hot it was burning my feet, the smile only lasted for a second :-)
 |
| Wet and wild |
Total biking: 24km
Running:
The second day after we arrived, I was still pumped up after the tri and went on a short 30min trail run with hubbs. Alas we didn't repeat the feat as my cough got worse and worse and it was physically impossible to keep a running pace without coughing my lungs out. I even threw up once because of coughing too hard. Not fun at all. That was a reckon mission on the Old Railway Trail, before our bike ride. Looking back, after finding the bear poo, I am glad that we didn't run again on the same trail, yikes!
Total running: 5km
Kayaking:
Before leaving the camp, we had one last mission, that was to rent kayaks for the boys so they can get in some paddling action of their own. That day the current on the lake was a bit too strong though and my youngest son decided that he had enough after crossing to the island. While he spent the rest of the day diving, I took over the kayak and went in a bit of exploring with my older son and later, hubbs.
This is what my first rowing activity on Runkeeper looked like.
Below are more totals:
Wildlife sightings : moose 2, snake 1, frog 2, turtle 2, bear poo 1
Ice cream: regular scoops 3, soft serve 1
Alcohol consumed: beer 1
Fish caught: 0
Jumps from bridge in water, fully clothed: 2
Hours spent in hospital: 1
Campfires: 0
Marshmallows eaten: 4
Geocaches found: 14
Mosquito bites: 2
This has been by far the best vacation we spent as a family. So much fun, such beautiful scenery that we discovered, breathed, tasted, and touched. The only downside was my illness (which is now officially bronchitis) and the impromptu trip to the hospital that I had to make one night with an UTI. Not sure how we can top it off, we wanted to make another family trip at the end of the year to mark our 15th anniversary but all of a sudden, it feels a bit superfluous.
Until then, there will be work, work and work and another marathon for which the training started... oh wait, yesterday!
How was your vacation, if you had any? What are your autumn goals?
How was your vacation, if you had any? What are your autumn goals?
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Toronto Triathlon Festival Race Report
I know that it's been 10 days since the event and I am fashionably late with a race report, but if you just want to know whether I finished or not, I can make it really easy for you : I am now officially a triathlete for having crossed the finish line of the inaugural Toronto Triathlon Festival in 3:12:14. Below are the official results.
Are we good? Okay, I can blog my brain away now, yay! (grab a coffee, this is kinda long)
A year ago, if you asked me what a triathlon was, I would have babbled something about 3 sports, not quite sure which ones and in which order, bet it was a cousin with the pentathlon and the decathlon... that was all I knew about triathlons, until I came across Steve in a Speedo's blog while googling some random running stuff. And then I started reading more and not only I got hooked on reading his hilarious stories and race reports full of TMIs, but also discovered a whole other world out there that looked like a lot of fun, going from water to 2 wheels and then onto your two legs without changing clothes, or very little of them. That looked intriguing and totally in reach, but back then, triathlon still didn't seem like something that I would want to try.
The months went on and I continued training for my first marathon, had my share of ups and downs in the process and in September I started working with coach Dave who felt like a perfect fit for me for being a crazy nut himself, fresh of becoming an Ironman at Coeur d'Alene a few months prior. I told myself, he must understand me, know what it is to train for endurance, so he should definitely be able to help me shed a few pounds and cross that marathon finish line as well. After watching the Ironman championships in Kona a month later though, a seed was being planted in my brain. All those people like you and me who wanted it bad enough, they conquered the hardest of all, the Ironman. So maybe an overweight, slow poke, injury prone, mom of two like me may be able to finish a sprint or an olympic triathlon one day... and why not?
Fast forward a few months, I finish not only one, but two marathons and all of a sudden, EVERYTHING seems possible. Signed up for my first triathlon and here I am now, craving for more. This is just the start, but how well did it go?
I had been counting the days up to this event for sure, but because each individual distance was relatively short compared to how far I went in my training, it didn't feel as scary as the marathon. This was also the reason why I didn't sign up for the sprint distance, it just wasn't challenging enough for me. I don't want to sound pompous or over confident, but to keep moving forward, I need challenges that I know would make me suffer in the process (ok, now I sound totally masochistic, but anyway, what I mean is... gosh, forget it). Training for a sprint would have felt too easy and I was scared that my fitness level would actually decrease and I would have to start all over if I wanted to do another marathon (which I am actually signed up for, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 14). Coach Dave sure knew to keep the bar high for me though and at times it did feel like I was training for an Ironman, so on Sunday morning when my alarm went off, I knew I was ready. But was I going to hurt?
It didn't help that on Friday I got sick with a nasty summer cold that just went downhill from there. I tried to retaliate immediately by doubling my Vitamin C intake and by starting an All-in-One Benylin regimen right away, but on Saturday when I went to pick up my race kit downtown Toronto I was still feeling feverish, nauseous, dizzy and overall pretty weak. My cough was in full crescendo and I knew that I would not be able to participate without a good dose of cough medicine in me.
But there was no way I was going to back up because of this cold. As long as I was able to breathe and stand vertical, I was a go. So I set a few alarm clocks all around 4:30am and after a sleep that felt quite mediocre, I got up, showered, had an oatmeal frittata and banana for breakfast, woke up hubbs at 5:30 and off we went to Ontario Place where the starting line was. Hubbs dropped me off with a tire check and a kiss, then I made my way to transition where I set up my little piece of real estate and racked my bike for the first time ever, just steps away from Canada's Olympians - Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay (man, those people are fit). I couldn't have asked for a better spot, the organizers must have given them by age groups, I swear, the oldest closest to the exit ramp, just in case Alzheimer kicked in.
I was in the last swim wave, all females 35 years old and up, plus the parathlete(s). Waited 18 minutes until the gun went off, but before that we got about 5 minutes in the water for warm up thanks to a moment of confusion during which the organizers contemplated starting the last 2 waves together, then changed their mind. The swim was rather uneventful, not much contact as the wave was thin and there was plenty of space for all of us in the canal, the water was the perfect temperature and I got in the groove rather quickly, my mind being distracted by the vegetation at the bottom of the canal, along with pieces of concrete and a few scared fish. All this resulted in a 35:55 time, the fastest for me so far.
In my first transition ever, I could not find my right biking shoe. It was there though, like THERE, under my eyes, but I just couldn't see it. Brain fart. I started panicking and turning every item on my towel over until it magically appeared to me. Not sure how much time it cost me, but compared to the other women in my AG, it felt like forever. Anyway, I regained my composure and after a T1 of 3:06, I was finally on the bike.
However, the panic never left me. Coach said to start the bike for 10min in Z2, but heart was in the 170bpm, which is Z4 and it never went down as much as I tried to relax. I got passed a few times on the bike, but some of these people were mashing hard while I was doing my spin uphill. I passed a few of them back on my way down, but also fought a headwind for the entire second half, which made me a little cranky. I wasn't sure how fast I was going, I had ran out of water in my aero bottle and I was too focussed on staying upright on the bike and eating my chomps so I don't pass out. Did I mention that it was HOT? Eventually I made it back to transition without incident and zoomed through it in 1:13, leaving with a banana in hand.
The run felt much longer than expected and the damn heart rate was still up in the 170s. It definitely decided that I wouldn't get a break. I kept on drinking every other water station and pouring water on my head, back and chest to keep cool. At the turn around I still had my banana unopened in my hand and one of the volunteers shouted - time to eat the banana! - so I opened it and managed to eat about half of it over the next 2km. Stomach wasn't feeling so great, but I knew that was going to be my only fuel for the run, so I kept on taking little bites until I felt full enough. Because of my heart rate being so high for the entire time, I never tried to pick up the pace, but rather tried to keep a constant forward motion and make sure I don't go into cardiac arrest. I felt like dragging my feet at times, but in the end I was pretty satisfied with the 1:03:13, very close to my goal of 1h.
For the last 2km a cramp also installed itself under my ribcage on the right and it became really hard to breathe. From that moment on I knew I was counting the steps to the finish line. Thankfully I saw hubbs and my boys and put on my best run in the last hundred meters for them.
Overall this has been an amazing experience, I loved being in the race, I loved the challenge and the fact that my training felt worthwhile. I am not sure why I couldn't relax or my heart rate never went down to a manageable zone, it may have been the cough medicine I took or the double dose of Vitamin C - bottom line is that the illness made this race harder than it should have been and I can't wait to sign up for another one where I can enjoy myself more.
Runkeeper Linkage:
Swim
Bike
Run
A year ago, if you asked me what a triathlon was, I would have babbled something about 3 sports, not quite sure which ones and in which order, bet it was a cousin with the pentathlon and the decathlon... that was all I knew about triathlons, until I came across Steve in a Speedo's blog while googling some random running stuff. And then I started reading more and not only I got hooked on reading his hilarious stories and race reports full of TMIs, but also discovered a whole other world out there that looked like a lot of fun, going from water to 2 wheels and then onto your two legs without changing clothes, or very little of them. That looked intriguing and totally in reach, but back then, triathlon still didn't seem like something that I would want to try.
The months went on and I continued training for my first marathon, had my share of ups and downs in the process and in September I started working with coach Dave who felt like a perfect fit for me for being a crazy nut himself, fresh of becoming an Ironman at Coeur d'Alene a few months prior. I told myself, he must understand me, know what it is to train for endurance, so he should definitely be able to help me shed a few pounds and cross that marathon finish line as well. After watching the Ironman championships in Kona a month later though, a seed was being planted in my brain. All those people like you and me who wanted it bad enough, they conquered the hardest of all, the Ironman. So maybe an overweight, slow poke, injury prone, mom of two like me may be able to finish a sprint or an olympic triathlon one day... and why not?
Fast forward a few months, I finish not only one, but two marathons and all of a sudden, EVERYTHING seems possible. Signed up for my first triathlon and here I am now, craving for more. This is just the start, but how well did it go?
I had been counting the days up to this event for sure, but because each individual distance was relatively short compared to how far I went in my training, it didn't feel as scary as the marathon. This was also the reason why I didn't sign up for the sprint distance, it just wasn't challenging enough for me. I don't want to sound pompous or over confident, but to keep moving forward, I need challenges that I know would make me suffer in the process (ok, now I sound totally masochistic, but anyway, what I mean is... gosh, forget it). Training for a sprint would have felt too easy and I was scared that my fitness level would actually decrease and I would have to start all over if I wanted to do another marathon (which I am actually signed up for, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 14). Coach Dave sure knew to keep the bar high for me though and at times it did feel like I was training for an Ironman, so on Sunday morning when my alarm went off, I knew I was ready. But was I going to hurt?
It didn't help that on Friday I got sick with a nasty summer cold that just went downhill from there. I tried to retaliate immediately by doubling my Vitamin C intake and by starting an All-in-One Benylin regimen right away, but on Saturday when I went to pick up my race kit downtown Toronto I was still feeling feverish, nauseous, dizzy and overall pretty weak. My cough was in full crescendo and I knew that I would not be able to participate without a good dose of cough medicine in me.
But there was no way I was going to back up because of this cold. As long as I was able to breathe and stand vertical, I was a go. So I set a few alarm clocks all around 4:30am and after a sleep that felt quite mediocre, I got up, showered, had an oatmeal frittata and banana for breakfast, woke up hubbs at 5:30 and off we went to Ontario Place where the starting line was. Hubbs dropped me off with a tire check and a kiss, then I made my way to transition where I set up my little piece of real estate and racked my bike for the first time ever, just steps away from Canada's Olympians - Simon Whitfield and Paula Findlay (man, those people are fit). I couldn't have asked for a better spot, the organizers must have given them by age groups, I swear, the oldest closest to the exit ramp, just in case Alzheimer kicked in.
I was in the last swim wave, all females 35 years old and up, plus the parathlete(s). Waited 18 minutes until the gun went off, but before that we got about 5 minutes in the water for warm up thanks to a moment of confusion during which the organizers contemplated starting the last 2 waves together, then changed their mind. The swim was rather uneventful, not much contact as the wave was thin and there was plenty of space for all of us in the canal, the water was the perfect temperature and I got in the groove rather quickly, my mind being distracted by the vegetation at the bottom of the canal, along with pieces of concrete and a few scared fish. All this resulted in a 35:55 time, the fastest for me so far.
In my first transition ever, I could not find my right biking shoe. It was there though, like THERE, under my eyes, but I just couldn't see it. Brain fart. I started panicking and turning every item on my towel over until it magically appeared to me. Not sure how much time it cost me, but compared to the other women in my AG, it felt like forever. Anyway, I regained my composure and after a T1 of 3:06, I was finally on the bike.
However, the panic never left me. Coach said to start the bike for 10min in Z2, but heart was in the 170bpm, which is Z4 and it never went down as much as I tried to relax. I got passed a few times on the bike, but some of these people were mashing hard while I was doing my spin uphill. I passed a few of them back on my way down, but also fought a headwind for the entire second half, which made me a little cranky. I wasn't sure how fast I was going, I had ran out of water in my aero bottle and I was too focussed on staying upright on the bike and eating my chomps so I don't pass out. Did I mention that it was HOT? Eventually I made it back to transition without incident and zoomed through it in 1:13, leaving with a banana in hand.
The run felt much longer than expected and the damn heart rate was still up in the 170s. It definitely decided that I wouldn't get a break. I kept on drinking every other water station and pouring water on my head, back and chest to keep cool. At the turn around I still had my banana unopened in my hand and one of the volunteers shouted - time to eat the banana! - so I opened it and managed to eat about half of it over the next 2km. Stomach wasn't feeling so great, but I knew that was going to be my only fuel for the run, so I kept on taking little bites until I felt full enough. Because of my heart rate being so high for the entire time, I never tried to pick up the pace, but rather tried to keep a constant forward motion and make sure I don't go into cardiac arrest. I felt like dragging my feet at times, but in the end I was pretty satisfied with the 1:03:13, very close to my goal of 1h.
For the last 2km a cramp also installed itself under my ribcage on the right and it became really hard to breathe. From that moment on I knew I was counting the steps to the finish line. Thankfully I saw hubbs and my boys and put on my best run in the last hundred meters for them.
Overall this has been an amazing experience, I loved being in the race, I loved the challenge and the fact that my training felt worthwhile. I am not sure why I couldn't relax or my heart rate never went down to a manageable zone, it may have been the cough medicine I took or the double dose of Vitamin C - bottom line is that the illness made this race harder than it should have been and I can't wait to sign up for another one where I can enjoy myself more.
Runkeeper Linkage:
Swim
Bike
Run
Friday, July 20, 2012
Perpetually Moving Target
Where did Riri run to? Well, somewhere in the archives of the intertubes I suppose... it was time to retire this Riri ever since Rihanna took over the nickname and everything that pops out of the archives when it comes to running is her running away from BF Chris Brown, the days when she's not back with him for more anyway.
See, when I decided to return to blogging, the first thing Blogger asked me you to do was to choose a blog name. I was in the middle of a major brain fart and technically I wanted to keep the same blog address I had before so I moved a few things around and simply renamed my old blog "Riri's Brain Dump" into "Run Riri Run". Not very original, I know, but fact is, "Run Lola Run" is one of my most favorite movies ever and after all, this blog was going to be about my running, so what the fart!
But now, since I'm in full triathlon mode and it's no longer just about my or Rihanna's running around, I figured that I needed to upgrade. I thought about making it "Swim Bike Run Riri Swim Bike Run", but that seemed a bit over the top, so I went looking for an answer in my geeky brain instead. My neurons lit up at the idea of "Perpetuum Mobile" thanks to my new life motto - "keep moving", but since Wikipedia puts more emphasis on the musical term than the physical concept, I was left with the disambiguated "Perpetual Motion" translation to work with.
Most of the days, I feel that I am running after a life goal in the hope that it will make me a better person. Something that as soon as I get to touch, becomes something else. A moving target, a game of tag, you're it! And I, too, become a moving target in the process. A perpetually moving target, that is.
QED
See, when I decided to return to blogging, the first thing Blogger asked me you to do was to choose a blog name. I was in the middle of a major brain fart and technically I wanted to keep the same blog address I had before so I moved a few things around and simply renamed my old blog "Riri's Brain Dump" into "Run Riri Run". Not very original, I know, but fact is, "Run Lola Run" is one of my most favorite movies ever and after all, this blog was going to be about my running, so what the fart!
But now, since I'm in full triathlon mode and it's no longer just about my or Rihanna's running around, I figured that I needed to upgrade. I thought about making it "Swim Bike Run Riri Swim Bike Run", but that seemed a bit over the top, so I went looking for an answer in my geeky brain instead. My neurons lit up at the idea of "Perpetuum Mobile" thanks to my new life motto - "keep moving", but since Wikipedia puts more emphasis on the musical term than the physical concept, I was left with the disambiguated "Perpetual Motion" translation to work with.
A perpetual motion machine (PMM) is a device based on mechanical, chemical, electrical or other physical processes which, when started, will remain in operation forever and provide additional work as well. Only the natural wear of the components will eventually stop its operation.A machine made of Iron, maybe?
Most of the days, I feel that I am running after a life goal in the hope that it will make me a better person. Something that as soon as I get to touch, becomes something else. A moving target, a game of tag, you're it! And I, too, become a moving target in the process. A perpetually moving target, that is.
QED
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Return to Horseshoe Hill
I figured that such a trip needed its own blog post, so here we go. Been doing a lot of riding lately and trying to figure out my bike, still. As much as I love Neo, I am in some sort of love/hate relationship with it, especially when I go on hills or try to do high rpms (>90rpm). I only have about 2 speeds that are appropriate for each of the situations above, the rest giving me either too slow rpms or a too high heart rate or just too much burn in my legs, which I'm supposed to avoid at all costs. So, I ordered myself a different cassette (12-27) that should help keeping those rpms high when going uphill. Right now I have a 11-23 cassette with 2 chain rings (39 and 53) and for those who can do the math in their head, it's not the most appropriate for going vertical. Anyway, after bitching to my coach this last week about the lack of power in my legs and laziness in switching gears, I thought I would go back to Horseshoe Hill for a "baseline" climbing and high rpm workout. I gave my legs a full day of rest and Saturday evening I took my water bottles, my gummies and my victim, aka hubbs, up Horseshoe Hill and back with the goal of accumulating data until I make my GPS vomit.
The first 15km are always boring and usually uneventful, unless you get an encounter with drive-by screamers that make your heart go through the roof in the middle of your Z2 ZZzzzzzZZZZ. But I will tell you more about this in a separate post. Next, Horseshoe Hill starts with a few rollers then ends with the dreaded SOB climb. It is 5.25km long in total and it takes us usually 18min to go up, 10min to go down. Below is the data view from Runkeeper
and from Garmin
For some of you it's probably just a pimple on the landscape, but for us noobs, the elevation is quite significant, as hinted by my heart rate in the graph below:
The highest peak in my heart rate is 183bpms, which according to my lactate threshold test, it's almost a near-death experience. But thankfully it only lasted about 2 minutes, time to go over the last hump. And speaking of the last hump, I also had the privilege of being vampirised by a deer fly this whole time. It clang onto my calf, just below the knee and while I was hanging on the handlebars for my dear life, it constantly reminded me through pain that I was still alive. So I managed to HTFU and finish the climb while letting the bloodsucker feed on me, then smacked it on its head and proceeded to calm my shaking self down with a few pictures of the landscape.
Notice the 60km limit sign. Ahem. I think I went faster than that downhill, my Garmin reported 66.4km/h max. I'm glad that we had a quite a head wind, otherwise I would have gotten a ticket. They don't give tickets for 6km over, right?
Aside from the flies, this is a beautiful area though, and I know there are bigger and nastier hills around this one, like Mountpleasant Rd, which we did during the group riding clinic. But those will have to wait until after my taper and olympic triathlon, next Sunday!!! (ohmygosh, it's almost here!). I think I am ready. If I can climb Horseshoe Hill while giving sweat and blood at once, I can certainly climb the DVP, which compared to this, is just a bumpity-bump.
I will most likely go back on Horseshoe Hill for more data porn once I have my new cog installed, as a comparison to this. But next time, there will be DEET. Mwahahahah.
.JPG) |
| Mushroom head |
For some of you it's probably just a pimple on the landscape, but for us noobs, the elevation is quite significant, as hinted by my heart rate in the graph below:
The highest peak in my heart rate is 183bpms, which according to my lactate threshold test, it's almost a near-death experience. But thankfully it only lasted about 2 minutes, time to go over the last hump. And speaking of the last hump, I also had the privilege of being vampirised by a deer fly this whole time. It clang onto my calf, just below the knee and while I was hanging on the handlebars for my dear life, it constantly reminded me through pain that I was still alive. So I managed to HTFU and finish the climb while letting the bloodsucker feed on me, then smacked it on its head and proceeded to calm my shaking self down with a few pictures of the landscape.
.JPG) |
| Glad I'm not allergic to deer/horse flies |
.JPG) |
| View from the top |
Aside from the flies, this is a beautiful area though, and I know there are bigger and nastier hills around this one, like Mountpleasant Rd, which we did during the group riding clinic. But those will have to wait until after my taper and olympic triathlon, next Sunday!!! (ohmygosh, it's almost here!). I think I am ready. If I can climb Horseshoe Hill while giving sweat and blood at once, I can certainly climb the DVP, which compared to this, is just a bumpity-bump.
I will most likely go back on Horseshoe Hill for more data porn once I have my new cog installed, as a comparison to this. But next time, there will be DEET. Mwahahahah.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A week in pictures
Going backwards, here's how it looked:
Monday - REST day, but for whatever reason, I thought that a 1h walk would do me good. I obviously don't know how to rest, but at least I was wearing my compression socks. And tri tan. And True Blood tshirt. Yep, that's me in a nutshell. I may look like a ____ (insert descriptive word here) , but I stopped having any kind of shame since I realized that I have to train myself for peeing on the bike and other stuff like that.
.JPG)
Sunday - Long Z2 run, 1h40 of pavement pounding under the sun. We woke up at 6:30am with a big WTF on our face and managed to get going before we changed our mind. Here I stopped to pee on a real toilet and was sweating cute little droplets.
.JPG)
Saturday - Bike 2h/Run 40min Brick. Woke up early as well, weather was a bit on the scary side. We ended up chasing a storm, riding on its borders with the wind picking up more and more. A few times I imagined being stricken by lighting as I was hearing thunder in the distance and was riding past trees that obviously hadn't been very lucky in that department. We caught up with it and got drenched in a minute, this definitely added to the excitement of the brick as I got to bike in a wet outfit, just like after the swim. The real deal, yo!
.JPG)
This is how I looked just before going into "transition".
Friday - Long bike ride Z2/3. As usual, I am very cranky on Fridays. All the stress from work is piling up and puts me into a murderous mood. Unfortunately for him, hubbs ends up being the victim of greatest convenience, so we eventually stop all conversation and the ride becomes silent, with me staring at the road ahead, and him at my butt. This one was no exception and it went from bad to worse as we decided, in our infinite wisdom, to attack a new area called Horseshoe Hill. And off we went, up and up and up - I had to make a pee stop in the ditch, then up and up and up again. I decided that we'd come back the same way so I can get redemption from those hills. At the top however, we got attacked by flies from all sides - no idea what type, but bloodthirsty for sure. I got bitten a few times and then fell under my bike because my legs were not properly connected to my brain. It hurt. It made my leg bleed. It made me even crankier going downhill.
.JPG)
Above is the view from the top, I could see as far as Buffalo. It was pretty and I would have enjoyed the view a lot more if I wasn't fighting with those bloodsucking horse/deer/black/shit flies. Thinking that I would stay there for a while, I had even stopped my Garmin and guess what? Of course I forgot to restart it - crankiness multiplied by 100, I hit the jackpot!
I even got a temporary tattoo:
.JPG)
And fell two more times before getting back home.
Thursday - Tired. Calves were not happy, so I went to the open water swim, then skipped the run. The swim was amazing, as usual, did 3 glorious loops in Professor's Lake, much straighter lines this time, and I think I managed to find out what was chaffing my neck. I was letting the lanyard from the zipper hang in the back by passing it behind and over the velcro flap. So it was constantly rubbing against the base of my skull - it took me 2 loops to realize this fact, so I still got chaffed. Better luck next time?
Here's how I ended up after the swim, icing my calves:
.JPG)
Wednesday and Tuesday were a blur - I had to do another 2h brick and swim speed intervals and another long bike in Z2, all this after a 2h hillfest on Monday with the local tri club.No pictures, but worth mentioning because this week was the first time ever where I didn't have any rest for 8 days in a row, not my coach's fault, but because I really wanted to attend the group cycling clinic on Monday, which made the whole schedule out of whack. I survived to tell the tale though, even after 14 hours of training for a total of 158 miles of swim/bike/run. Whooo!
Monday - REST day, but for whatever reason, I thought that a 1h walk would do me good. I obviously don't know how to rest, but at least I was wearing my compression socks. And tri tan. And True Blood tshirt. Yep, that's me in a nutshell. I may look like a ____ (insert descriptive word here) , but I stopped having any kind of shame since I realized that I have to train myself for peeing on the bike and other stuff like that.
.JPG)
Sunday - Long Z2 run, 1h40 of pavement pounding under the sun. We woke up at 6:30am with a big WTF on our face and managed to get going before we changed our mind. Here I stopped to pee on a real toilet and was sweating cute little droplets.
.JPG)
Saturday - Bike 2h/Run 40min Brick. Woke up early as well, weather was a bit on the scary side. We ended up chasing a storm, riding on its borders with the wind picking up more and more. A few times I imagined being stricken by lighting as I was hearing thunder in the distance and was riding past trees that obviously hadn't been very lucky in that department. We caught up with it and got drenched in a minute, this definitely added to the excitement of the brick as I got to bike in a wet outfit, just like after the swim. The real deal, yo!
.JPG)
This is how I looked just before going into "transition".
Friday - Long bike ride Z2/3. As usual, I am very cranky on Fridays. All the stress from work is piling up and puts me into a murderous mood. Unfortunately for him, hubbs ends up being the victim of greatest convenience, so we eventually stop all conversation and the ride becomes silent, with me staring at the road ahead, and him at my butt. This one was no exception and it went from bad to worse as we decided, in our infinite wisdom, to attack a new area called Horseshoe Hill. And off we went, up and up and up - I had to make a pee stop in the ditch, then up and up and up again. I decided that we'd come back the same way so I can get redemption from those hills. At the top however, we got attacked by flies from all sides - no idea what type, but bloodthirsty for sure. I got bitten a few times and then fell under my bike because my legs were not properly connected to my brain. It hurt. It made my leg bleed. It made me even crankier going downhill.
.JPG)
Above is the view from the top, I could see as far as Buffalo. It was pretty and I would have enjoyed the view a lot more if I wasn't fighting with those bloodsucking horse/deer/black/shit flies. Thinking that I would stay there for a while, I had even stopped my Garmin and guess what? Of course I forgot to restart it - crankiness multiplied by 100, I hit the jackpot!
I even got a temporary tattoo:
.JPG)
And fell two more times before getting back home.
Thursday - Tired. Calves were not happy, so I went to the open water swim, then skipped the run. The swim was amazing, as usual, did 3 glorious loops in Professor's Lake, much straighter lines this time, and I think I managed to find out what was chaffing my neck. I was letting the lanyard from the zipper hang in the back by passing it behind and over the velcro flap. So it was constantly rubbing against the base of my skull - it took me 2 loops to realize this fact, so I still got chaffed. Better luck next time?
Here's how I ended up after the swim, icing my calves:
.JPG)
Wednesday and Tuesday were a blur - I had to do another 2h brick and swim speed intervals and another long bike in Z2, all this after a 2h hillfest on Monday with the local tri club.No pictures, but worth mentioning because this week was the first time ever where I didn't have any rest for 8 days in a row, not my coach's fault, but because I really wanted to attend the group cycling clinic on Monday, which made the whole schedule out of whack. I survived to tell the tale though, even after 14 hours of training for a total of 158 miles of swim/bike/run. Whooo!
Friday, July 6, 2012
The costs of triathlon training (and counting)
(Hubbs, you should not read this post. Why don't you go look at the nice picture below. Or you can look at these titties, no problem with me).
You know, I have these discussions at home all the time at home: why would I sign up for this and that race when I could just go ahead and run a marathon in my backyard or do a triathlon around my hometown, just by myself. Because it's much easier said than done. Competing against yourself is much harder than one could imagine and not only because it's all mental, but because it's boring and... there is no medal? Jokes aside, races are a lot of fun. And yes, you're supposed to do this for yourself and have fun even when you are alone with Eminem in your earbuds, but... but it's true that race fees are definitely high on the list of costs to consider when you look at the numbers piling up when you decide to embark into triathlon training.
I am going to be honest here, we didn't really have a triathlon budget and when I think about everything I've spent so far for this "hobby", it kinda makes my hair raise on my head and gives me cold sweats. But thankfully, the investment I've made is going to be long lasting and rewarding enough to make it all worthwhile. In the meantime, why don't we go through my expenses, all triathlon related so far, to give an idea of what to expect to those who are thinking about taking on this challenge?
I am known for being quite thrifty, so I try to find used equipment as much as possible and I suggest you do so as well, at least until you are convinced that you want to stick with triathlon training. I have been running for a while so I know that the next step for me it's got to be a triathlon, then a half Ironman, then the Ironman because I need to find that toughness in me to feel complete, at least until the mid-life crisis is over. But not everyone is like me, neither should be. As I mentioned before, it should be all about having fun and not killing yourself with worries that you cannot pay for your bike or your Gu Chomps.
It certainly helps that living a healthy lifestyle imposed by triathlon training comes with the benefit of weight loss and increased confidence, self-esteem and overall superior wellbeing, but you have to find in yourself what really takes you out of your bed at wee hours to do that swim or makes you sweat buckets while completing a 2h brick workout on the hottest day of the year. You need to find the reason to stop counting dollars and rather enjoy being the best you can be, today more than yesterday.
You know, I have these discussions at home all the time at home: why would I sign up for this and that race when I could just go ahead and run a marathon in my backyard or do a triathlon around my hometown, just by myself. Because it's much easier said than done. Competing against yourself is much harder than one could imagine and not only because it's all mental, but because it's boring and... there is no medal? Jokes aside, races are a lot of fun. And yes, you're supposed to do this for yourself and have fun even when you are alone with Eminem in your earbuds, but... but it's true that race fees are definitely high on the list of costs to consider when you look at the numbers piling up when you decide to embark into triathlon training.
I am going to be honest here, we didn't really have a triathlon budget and when I think about everything I've spent so far for this "hobby", it kinda makes my hair raise on my head and gives me cold sweats. But thankfully, the investment I've made is going to be long lasting and rewarding enough to make it all worthwhile. In the meantime, why don't we go through my expenses, all triathlon related so far, to give an idea of what to expect to those who are thinking about taking on this challenge?
- Bike $1000 (used)
- Bike shoes, pedals, fitting $300
- Bike helmet $25
- Bike accessories (pump, tyres, tubes, CO2 cartridges, seat bag, bottles, hydration system) $200
- Wetsuit $210
- Swimsuit $75
- Goggles $25
- Bike shorts, tank top $85
- Running shoes $75
- Nutrition $200
- Pool membership (year) $100
- *Finis Tempo Trainer Pro $50 (swim metronome)
- *Tri club membership (year) $25
- *OAT (Triathlon Ontario) membership (year) $40
- *Coaching (year) $600
- *Race fees $110 (I only signed up for one race so far, olympic distance)
- *12-27 cassette + bike tools to help me climb hills $100
- *GPS watch and accessories $600
TOTAL $2295 (without optional items, $3770 max)
TOTAL/month $191.25 ($314)
*optionalNow, these are just to get you started, but thankfully some of them fees are not carried over past the initial investment, such as bike and accessories, wetsuit etc., but you need to know that eventually these costs are going to come back as race fees (Half-Ironman $150-250, Ironman $350-650) plus transportation, accomodation, memorabilia and stuff that you probably don't need but feel that you must have anyway because it makes you feel good, such as an M-Dot tattoo or some crazy celebratory hairdo.
I am known for being quite thrifty, so I try to find used equipment as much as possible and I suggest you do so as well, at least until you are convinced that you want to stick with triathlon training. I have been running for a while so I know that the next step for me it's got to be a triathlon, then a half Ironman, then the Ironman because I need to find that toughness in me to feel complete, at least until the mid-life crisis is over. But not everyone is like me, neither should be. As I mentioned before, it should be all about having fun and not killing yourself with worries that you cannot pay for your bike or your Gu Chomps.
It certainly helps that living a healthy lifestyle imposed by triathlon training comes with the benefit of weight loss and increased confidence, self-esteem and overall superior wellbeing, but you have to find in yourself what really takes you out of your bed at wee hours to do that swim or makes you sweat buckets while completing a 2h brick workout on the hottest day of the year. You need to find the reason to stop counting dollars and rather enjoy being the best you can be, today more than yesterday.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
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Sunday, July 1, 2012
Putting my fish on: success!
You remember how I said a few weeks ago that I was terrified of open water swimming? It surely still stands true when I imagine myself at a triathlon start and getting thrown inside the "washing machine", but this week has been certainly memorable because I got my first taste of lake swimming and got pretty drunk on it. Lemme explain.
On Monday, I talked my youngest son into going to an open water swimming clinic for kids as a local coach member of my tri club is trying to put together a triathlon club for kids. The swim was at Kelso Lake, about 30min drive from our house and we were told that 4-5 other kids all between 10-13 yr old were going to attend. The day was a bit on the chilly side with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, but it was beautiful outside and a shame not to go for fear of a cold swim. Although I had not planned on swimming, I threw my wetsuit in the trunk, just in case, and off we went.
When we arrived there, I noticed a lot more adults than kids carrying backpacks and didn't quite know what was going on until we arrived on the beach and they all started stripping and putting on their wetsuits. My son got ready to swim with the other kids and jumped in the lake whereas me, I was standing there puzzled, not sure what to do. I realized that the male coach, Dave, was about to give a private lesson to all the adult folks, while Lorene, the female coach, was going to teach the kids. So I asked for permission to put on my wetsuit too. I was in a hurry to join them since they were already in the water going over the basics and the dolphin dives... and pulled too hard on my wetsuit and put a nick in it. Oh well. Shit happens, it wasn't all the way through to the fabric and it was only one inch long. I tried not to freak about it and went in the lake to join the lesson.
It was supposed to be my rest day, but the coach had a plan for this clinic so to hell with my rest day. From then on, we did a lot of back and forths (one length was about 120m) across the lake learning the following:
- 2 lengths sighting
- 2 lengths turning around buoys
- 2 lengths drafting off another person's feet
- 4 lengths with water exit after the first loop, run on the beach and back in the water for the second loop
- 2 lengths with water exit and quick removal of wetsuit
Total 1500m of most valuable experience in a group where I got the right amount of kicking and pulling and being swum over and drinking water and untangling algae from my arms. It was a pretty awesome day and I am extremely glad that I had the intuition of bringing my wetsuit with me, even though I messed it up a bit. It's the life of the neoprene, what can you do. I did, however, learn a great tip for putting it on, which made all the difference on Thursday for the second open water swim of the week, but I'm getting there, hold on.
Before we move on, I guess it's worth mentioning my "wardrobe malfunction" when I removed my wetsuit at the end of the clinic. See, my regular swimsuit exploded the last time I went to the pool, growing 4 sizes bigger by the time I came out of the water. The fabric disintegrated even further when I removed it in the dressing room and I had to throw it directly in the garbage as there was no way to salvage it. When I went to the lake on Monday, I had with me an older swimsuit from the times I was 8 sizes bigger. It was ok while under the wetsuit, but when I peeled the wetsuit off, the swimsuit top (it was one of those tanktops with a separate bottom from a Plus size shop) went down as well as the fabric on the straps gave up under the wetsuit's suction force. Nice!! The guys were having a good chuckle while I was being assisted with the "situation". Anyhow, long story short, after Monday, I had no more swimsuits left, so I had to go shopping.
I had two missions before my Thursday official open water swim: to find neoprene glue and a new swimsuit. The first mission got delayed as I had a lot of work in the office and it just seemed impossible to find any in a physical store around me. Eventually I found someone who suggested to try a scuba shop and BINGO, found one last container of Trident neoprene cement (with more warning labels than rat poison). I was now just hours from the swim, so I drove there at lunch and back to the office and took care of the boo-boo on the spot, hoping that 4h of drying time would be enough.
I also went to a swim shop and found an "aqua suit" (as opposed to a regular swim suit, go figure). It's made by Speedo and it looks just like the one on this skinny woman on the right (that is not me, I don't think her thighs touch like mine).
So... where was I? Missions, right. Two out of two complete!! Thursday night could not come fast enough, so I drove straight to Professor's Lake, our neighbourhood "beach" with all amenities and lots of fun for the entire family.
Again, I felt lost for a few minutes, but decided to go in and ask for the open water swim group. They quickly directed me to the marina where many of the group members had already stored their stuff and were already swimming. Once more, put on my wetsuit, while being very careful not to make another boo-boo, pulling from the inside as I was taught by the tri coach. It worked like a charm and after a quick talk with the swim organizer who showed me the buoys and the direction of the swim, off I went. A loop was 750m, he said most of the people were doing 2 loops. Put my head down and tried to relax, a bit overwhelmed by the experience - that lake looked bigger than ever! - but finished the first loop in 18 minutes and I was no longer scared at all. I could hardly contain my excitement for being there, having the whole lake for myself in one of the most beautiful evenings of this summer.
My coach Dave (are all coaches named Dave? not to be confused with the coach from the beginning of this post) had given me 1h of swim practice for that night, so I managed to fit in 3 loops for a total of 2.35km in just 56 minutes, the fastest and farthest I had ever swum. The whole experience was so surreal, I didn't want to leave the place, so I took this picture right as I was leaving.
Here is the Runkeeper workout, with GPS map and all, thanks to my new Garmin 910 XT watch, w00t w00t!
Needless to say, I came back home ready to eat my young. I settled on a bit of cow instead and one hour later, I went out for a 50min run as well. I never felt so lethargic as during that run, it was still extremely hot and I wished I'd gone aquajogging instead. My arms were also cranky for the rest of the week, reminding me that I had asked them to do over 1500 strokes each to drag me all across Professor's Lake. Last but not least, I also got my first chaffing ordeal because of my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit. Not sure how I could fix it, it's at the base of my neck, due to the overlapping pieces of neoprene making up the zipper protecting flap. I will try some PAM next time, maybe that will do it.
Any other ideas to stay away from chaffing on that particular spot? Thanks, Internets.
On Monday, I talked my youngest son into going to an open water swimming clinic for kids as a local coach member of my tri club is trying to put together a triathlon club for kids. The swim was at Kelso Lake, about 30min drive from our house and we were told that 4-5 other kids all between 10-13 yr old were going to attend. The day was a bit on the chilly side with temperatures in the low 20s Celsius, but it was beautiful outside and a shame not to go for fear of a cold swim. Although I had not planned on swimming, I threw my wetsuit in the trunk, just in case, and off we went.
When we arrived there, I noticed a lot more adults than kids carrying backpacks and didn't quite know what was going on until we arrived on the beach and they all started stripping and putting on their wetsuits. My son got ready to swim with the other kids and jumped in the lake whereas me, I was standing there puzzled, not sure what to do. I realized that the male coach, Dave, was about to give a private lesson to all the adult folks, while Lorene, the female coach, was going to teach the kids. So I asked for permission to put on my wetsuit too. I was in a hurry to join them since they were already in the water going over the basics and the dolphin dives... and pulled too hard on my wetsuit and put a nick in it. Oh well. Shit happens, it wasn't all the way through to the fabric and it was only one inch long. I tried not to freak about it and went in the lake to join the lesson.
.JPG) |
| Kelso Lake |
- 2 lengths sighting
- 2 lengths turning around buoys
- 2 lengths drafting off another person's feet
- 4 lengths with water exit after the first loop, run on the beach and back in the water for the second loop
- 2 lengths with water exit and quick removal of wetsuit
Total 1500m of most valuable experience in a group where I got the right amount of kicking and pulling and being swum over and drinking water and untangling algae from my arms. It was a pretty awesome day and I am extremely glad that I had the intuition of bringing my wetsuit with me, even though I messed it up a bit. It's the life of the neoprene, what can you do. I did, however, learn a great tip for putting it on, which made all the difference on Thursday for the second open water swim of the week, but I'm getting there, hold on.
Before we move on, I guess it's worth mentioning my "wardrobe malfunction" when I removed my wetsuit at the end of the clinic. See, my regular swimsuit exploded the last time I went to the pool, growing 4 sizes bigger by the time I came out of the water. The fabric disintegrated even further when I removed it in the dressing room and I had to throw it directly in the garbage as there was no way to salvage it. When I went to the lake on Monday, I had with me an older swimsuit from the times I was 8 sizes bigger. It was ok while under the wetsuit, but when I peeled the wetsuit off, the swimsuit top (it was one of those tanktops with a separate bottom from a Plus size shop) went down as well as the fabric on the straps gave up under the wetsuit's suction force. Nice!! The guys were having a good chuckle while I was being assisted with the "situation". Anyhow, long story short, after Monday, I had no more swimsuits left, so I had to go shopping.
I had two missions before my Thursday official open water swim: to find neoprene glue and a new swimsuit. The first mission got delayed as I had a lot of work in the office and it just seemed impossible to find any in a physical store around me. Eventually I found someone who suggested to try a scuba shop and BINGO, found one last container of Trident neoprene cement (with more warning labels than rat poison). I was now just hours from the swim, so I drove there at lunch and back to the office and took care of the boo-boo on the spot, hoping that 4h of drying time would be enough.
I also went to a swim shop and found an "aqua suit" (as opposed to a regular swim suit, go figure). It's made by Speedo and it looks just like the one on this skinny woman on the right (that is not me, I don't think her thighs touch like mine).
So... where was I? Missions, right. Two out of two complete!! Thursday night could not come fast enough, so I drove straight to Professor's Lake, our neighbourhood "beach" with all amenities and lots of fun for the entire family.
Again, I felt lost for a few minutes, but decided to go in and ask for the open water swim group. They quickly directed me to the marina where many of the group members had already stored their stuff and were already swimming. Once more, put on my wetsuit, while being very careful not to make another boo-boo, pulling from the inside as I was taught by the tri coach. It worked like a charm and after a quick talk with the swim organizer who showed me the buoys and the direction of the swim, off I went. A loop was 750m, he said most of the people were doing 2 loops. Put my head down and tried to relax, a bit overwhelmed by the experience - that lake looked bigger than ever! - but finished the first loop in 18 minutes and I was no longer scared at all. I could hardly contain my excitement for being there, having the whole lake for myself in one of the most beautiful evenings of this summer.
My coach Dave (are all coaches named Dave? not to be confused with the coach from the beginning of this post) had given me 1h of swim practice for that night, so I managed to fit in 3 loops for a total of 2.35km in just 56 minutes, the fastest and farthest I had ever swum. The whole experience was so surreal, I didn't want to leave the place, so I took this picture right as I was leaving.
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| Professor's Lake at sunset with lonely buoy and lifeguard |
Needless to say, I came back home ready to eat my young. I settled on a bit of cow instead and one hour later, I went out for a 50min run as well. I never felt so lethargic as during that run, it was still extremely hot and I wished I'd gone aquajogging instead. My arms were also cranky for the rest of the week, reminding me that I had asked them to do over 1500 strokes each to drag me all across Professor's Lake. Last but not least, I also got my first chaffing ordeal because of my Xterra Vortex 4 wetsuit. Not sure how I could fix it, it's at the base of my neck, due to the overlapping pieces of neoprene making up the zipper protecting flap. I will try some PAM next time, maybe that will do it.
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| Neck chaffing, 2 days after |
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