IMMT Training Week 6: Achievement Unlocked!

Three swims, three bike workouts and three runs: all done this week!! Man it feels good to have everything done before 11am on a Sunday! I feel like a winner for having managed to give my weekend a sense of normalcy, despite the fact that most of the time I was hungry and wanted to EAT ALL THE FOOD! Rest assured, I didn't. I managed to put on more weight though, go figure. But back to what I can control, let's talk about the time and effort put into my workouts.

Swim

Tuesday at Mayfield Pool. My lane, my pool. I will let the numbers below speak for themselves. On the left, the same workout back on Feb 4. On the right, 20 days later, this Tuesday. It may have been just a great day, or maybe I'm seeing progress. Either way, these results surprised me.

Thursday - I am conflicted about this one. The picture below should, again, speak for itself.

Details below:

Warm up:
100m breathe 3rd and 5th by 25
100m kick on side
100m kick on back
100m single arm drill
4 x 25m fast on 45 sec
Main Set:
2 x [100m ez on 2:45 + 100 m fast on 2:30]
2 x [100m ez on 2:45 + 100 m fast on 2:25]
1 min rest
4 x 25m band only on :50
1 x 100m pull + band on 2:30
6 x 25m band only on :55
1 x 100m pull + band on 2:30
4 x 25m band only on :55 (there were 4 more after this but I ran out of time)

I hate BANDS. That is all.

As to Sunday's swim, I did manage to get to Cassie Campbell at 7am and join the Aquatic Zoo. I learned later in the day that Cobra Swim Club's masters practice got cancelled and half of the squad was in the pool. I went in the fast lane with 2 other folks who kept on lapping me with each length. Beside feeling very inadequate the entire time I was there, I also felt sluggish and could barely move my arms. Not sharing any of those times, nope. They were lame, lame, lame.

Bike

Started the week with Leavitt, chosen especially for me by hubbs. Thanks, hon. It was not pretty. My glutes were so sore from the previous weekend's workouts, I wasn't sure I'd even survive half of it. I chose to lower the intensity to 92%, but even there, I was sweating like crazy and cursing my legs for being heavy and not willing to cooperate.

The second workout is not worth talking about. Put myself on cruise control, watched True Detective again. Two more episodes until the season finale!!!

Saturday's group spin was another sweat fest. I am not sure how much time we were supposed to spend at threshold, but I scored 15 minutes!! Remember, I am not allowed to go hard yet. Overall, I nailed my Z2 average, but it felt really good to push some higher watts for a change.

Run

First two runs were boring as hell, as usual on the treadmill. The last one, a different type of boring.

Since I had paid the $8 for the pool, I decided to take advantage of the track as well. More for the buck, right? 1h10 swim, followed by a 1h10 run?... Hmmm. It seemed like a good idea until I put foot on the track, then fought to put another one in front of the first. And another one, and another one. It took me 10km to find my rhythm. And 7 laps later, 77 in total, I was done, so that was that. I remember feeling very thirsty and glad that I was not the only one to spend 1h running in circles. But you know what? I outran everyone on the treadmill. Definitely in the weights area too. Even on the voleyball court. And on the hockey rink, maybe.

I'm pretty sure I also outran the guy who came to ask me whether I'd run Boston, due to my tshirt, then went on saying that he ran 56 marathons, including Boston multiple times. Ummm. Sure, dude. Sure. Good for you.

Shortly after I finished, I took these pics. I could barely keep my eyes open, but the feeling of accomplishment was pretty strong with this one. This is the image of DONE.

In a nutshell

10h of workouts, finally!! Level 1 Complete. Achievement unlocked!!

Bring it on, Level 2!

IMMT Training Week 5: Double-Double

Oh, look a recap post! Once you read it you'll understand why I waited until Tuesday to write it. It was a week of firsts and I am not sure that I want a repeat of any of these heroic attempts to stay on schedule.

Swim

Tuesday was the day that just didn't want to be. I had planned to go swimming early in the morning, but then I ended dicking around the house too much trying to prepare breakfast and snacks for the kids and lunch for my work and made it to the pool 45min later than I hoped. Zin looked at the schedule and said that I should be ok because the pool was going to be open for another 2.5h. So I got there and started my workout, but to my surprise, 20min later they started removing the lanes. I asked why and they said that the lane swim was over. Whaaaat?! Why?? Because their published schedule was wrong, that's why! And that I should know better because I'd been going there for a long time. Yeah, but never in the morning!! It must be a sign that I should just give up mornings at the pool. Anyway, I had just finished my warm up set, and I was pissed. Took my toys and left, pretty much wanting to strangle someone.

Nice pool, until they kick you out

Went to work, but in the evening I decided to go back to the pool to finish my swim. It was full of fast 50s and fast 25s and I can't say that I enjoyed any of it. My mojo sank like the Titanic, but I managed to get some decent times on those lengths nevertheless.

Thursday I had group swim with the tri club, but I needed a massage really badly and the only appointment I could find was at noon. 1h15 of pure torture and while walking out of there I wondered if I wouldn't drown if I attempted to use my bruised limbs to stay afloat. The decision not to go to masters got cemented after the run workout that I did later in the day (whose idea was that anyway?). My legs were so sore, I chose to soak them in a hot bath with a ton of Epsom salts for a change.

So this leads us into the weekend with one swim scattered over 12h and another one missed. Sunday, as you may know if you followed the Olympics, was the big game for Canada's men hockey team and even though I had ambitious plans to get my long 2900m swim done before 9am, I got the surprise to find the pool closed without notice for a "special event".

Early to rise, for nothing.

Come'on, now!! 

Where is everyone?? Canada is watching hockey, come back later...

I had no choice but to go back home and put my feet up and cheer for our athletes like a good Canadian. But I still had one long swim to do and no pools with more than 1h lane swim openings. Sigh... Went to Mayfield at 1pm, did whatever I could in 1h, then went to another pool in the evening to finish the job. Why can't I swim faster so I can fit it all in? #slowtriathleteproblems. It was BRUTAL. That's why I called this blog post Double-Double. Never again!!!

Bike

At least everything went well in this chapter.
Monday, easy 1h15 ride, I did Collins.

On Wednesday I didn't bother selecting a specific workout, I just went for a free 1h ride while watching True Detective. That did the trick.

But on Saturday, I went to the group spin and allowed myself to have some fun. We did over-unders, but I only pushed hard for small periods of time to keep the sweating to a minimum. It was great to see some watts in the 200s for a change. First time pushing that high this year and not more than 1min at a time. I loved this workout!

Aren't those intervals pretty?

Run

Nothing exciting here. 8K, 6K, 1h on the treadmill. What made those harder though, is that two out of three runs were sandwiched between swims. Believe me, you don't want to do this, especially at the end of the week when you should be lounging on the couch, drinking beer and blogging instead.

In a nutshell

I need to get my shit together. I am improvising too much and playing catch up. I managed to put in 8h45 of solid workouts, but not without serious sacrifices. Call it double dose of dedication if you wish, but I call it double dose of d'uh! I should have known better. The hardest week so far this year, but it's only getting harder from here, so I need to start planning more and playing less with the fire.

One last update for the road - I also did 2 strength workouts. I added in squats, lunges, bicycle crunches and continued the planks, bridges and clam shells. Three days later and my glutes are still crying. There is only one remedy for them: ice baths! Good thing that the polar vortex is back... I could just make snow angels in my backyard. Naked. Totally legit, don't you think?

IMMT Training Week 4: No sweat

After last week's workouts, coach told me to dial down the intensity and stay put. Bike and run without breaking a sweat, but swim hard. And overall I succeeded. The force was with me, especially in the water.

Swim
Tuesday I took the day off from work because I had some medical exams, so I did my workouts in between. I took a look at my schedule and *gasp* I noticed a 2900m swim. Damn, when did it jump up by a full 1000m? Good thing the pool was open for 2h lane swim, so I could fit it all in.

Warm up:
5 x[100m swim + 25 FD, + 25 kick] no rest
Main set:
 2 x 400 m with 20 sri take 1 min after set
4 x 100 m desc 1-4 on 2:30
2 x 300 pull on 7:00
8 x 25 fast on 45 sec.
Cool down:
150 alt stroke

And voila! (Garmin ate a length on the second set)

 Then on Thursday, group swim - "only" 1700m this time, but very intense as well.

I really wouldn't care to share these times in general, but I'll be damned if they aren't getting faster every week! I never thought I'd say this, but they make me happy. Because all those lengths at near-drowning effort seem to be making a difference and I remember not so far ago losing faith in my ability to make any sort of progress. It may not be much, but it counts to keep me going forward. I promise to stop complaining about masters swimming until next year. Only idiots don't change their mind, right? Morale of this story: trust your coach and embrace the suck. It doesn't get easier, you just get faster.

Bike
Thank goodness for Trainer Road and their collection of easy workouts. The first two I did this week almost put me to sleep. *yawn*

Obelisk

The funny thing about this one is that I changed my Garmin transmitter for my heart monitor strap and when I tried pairing it, it picked up my husband's instead. So imagine how I almost got a heart attack when I was easy riding the first long flat interval and I see my heart trace doing all kinds of weird stuff that my doctor warned me about during my physical. I only figured it out 30 min later when I looked over at Zin's monitor and recognized every bump.

Lazy Mountain

Second of the workouts could not have been lazier. Done entirely in Z1, I did not even produce a drop of sweat. I feel ashamed for the person who put the word "mountain" in it.

By now you probably guessed that my weeks are fairly similar. But don't you worry, they'll get exciting soon. I know my coach well. To end the bike recaps, Saturday was group spin and everyone was on the hook to do Max VO2 intervals, but I was asked to sit these out. Well, I wasn't very happy with the premise of riding easy when everyone else was going to be pushing the wall, so I asked permission to sweat, just a little. I ended doing some spin ups and single led drills, followed by 7 or 8 easy intervals in the big chain ring.

Run
Again slow and boring, but I know that these runs are what I need. I only managed to do two out of the three runs, missing my longest one because I planned it poorly. Every Sunday we've been going to the gym to run long on the treadmill then hop in the pool, but when we got there yesterday the gym was closed because of the long weekend. I was pretty bummed to miss my last 2 workouts but there was no way that I was going to run outside at night without proper sidewalks. Oh well, moving on without regret. I'm sure that my body will thank me anyway.

In a nutshell
Slow week. Missed workouts. Ate too much. No pictures (aren't you relieved?).
BUT I crossed off my list another goal! Hubbs and I organized a bRUNch yesterday with a dozen of friends, old and new, and they all came at home and ran together and ate and talked and had a great time. Loved being able to have like minded people around us and spend a few hours talking all things triathlon and running. We definitely need to do this again before the summer! It's a great cure to cabin fever.

40 Steps to 40: Three Months Update

I wanted to do an update after the first month, then the second, but they never happened due to brain failure. I simply forgot and then it was no longer the right time because I'm perfectionist like that. Even now, you have no idea how I am beating myself up for not having published this on February 10. I'm 4 days late, unacceptable!! Oh well, I'll just blame it on my dying neurons.

If you are not familiar with my "40 Steps to 40", take a look on the right... scroll down until you see the list. This is it. It all started with this post because why not? I crossed a few things off the list already and blogged about them. To recap, this is what I've been working on, or at least I think I will, soon:

2. Clean up my diet

Yeah, right. The "no carbs after lunch" regimen lasted for a month. Then I injured my hip (cue in emotional eating), my mom came over for the holidays, we all let loose during the end year celebrations and to make matters worse, we received a huge amount of chocolates as gifts... and we're still trying to finish them as I speak. Rocher anyone?

The best chocolate candy in the world, period.

However, I bought 2 new cooking books: Racing Weight Cookbook and Feed Zone Portables and I am trying to learn new recipes and introduce them into our diet progressively. Everything in moderation is the key. And maybe one day I'll finish those chocolates and declare myself sweets-free for another month or so... I just need to blissfully ignore Valentine's Day and then I should be good until Halloween.

3. Lose weight to reach 125lb
Which weight, this weight?

This is what injured/not training and the Holidays did to me. I own every single bite I put in my mouth and pound on that scale. For reference, my lowest weight - on race day - 131.5. Today 140.5. But I look at that last little hump and tell myself that I'm finally over it. It can only go down from there, literally!! I am closing on week 4 of Ironman training, there are 26 to go. Who knows what will be my weight on race day this year?

9. Swim 1000m with flip turns*
Done with a pull buoy. Will attempt again without a pull buoy when I feel a bit more comfortable with all the tumbling. Will keep working at them even though I still don't believe they are a necessary evil. But I bet my coach will be pleased.

10. Swim 4x50m medley non stop
Not there yet. I threw in a length of fly or backstroke whenever I felt courageous/bored, but I haven't worked on endurance yet. Especially for fly, I can do one length, but I'm not sure I can do two one after another. I already feel like death after the first. Is Zombie level next?

19. Read 5 books
One done, four to go. I started with the easiest one, it had lots of drawings. If you never read Allie Brosh's blog Hyperbole and a Half, you have to. Just trust me. She doesn't write very often these days, but I loved reading her book, which contains most of her blog content and more. Next is An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Cmdr. Chris Hadfield. It promises to be a page turner for sure.

20. Dye my hair at home
Done. I don't need to redo it yet, but I went as far as trying to buy a new box, but it was all sold out. Everyone likes my color!

21. Find 100 new geocaches
I thought about going out many times, but with the cold and so much snow covering the ground, I am not ready to freeze for DNF after DNF (Did Not Find).

22. Make a jar of something
I know what I want to make a jar of! I just need to buy the ingredients and arm myself with enough courage to cook them.

23. Make 12 new dishes
I made 8 new dishes so far! I will reveal the full list once I've made all 12. Almost there. With the new cookbooks, it should be easy.

25. Do something fun on New Year's Eve
Not quite my definition of "fun", but it was "different". We played Guitar Hero and drank champagne. Happy New Year everyone! Too late?

26. Go on a date night x 4
Ummmm.... 0 for 4 so far. Come'on, hubbs, we can do better than this! Biking side by side watching True Detective or the Olympics does NOT count.

27. Make something with my cork collection
I took the corks out of the box, but then I realized that I didn't have enough corks to make what I wanted. I counted 81 wine corks and 17 corks of champagne/bubbly in 13 years of boozing at home. Bottom line, we need to drink more. A lot more. At least I took a photo. It may not count as art, but it's the best I have so far.

29. Use my 10 classes Yoga pass
I went to two classes, I gave it my best, then I busted my hip. Many people believe that it was because of Yoga. I didn't shred the pass to pieces, even though I wanted to. I may use it for more "gentle" yoga classes. Do they have anything for pregnant ladies or seniors who had their hips replaced? Not that I'm pregnant or something... Don't get any ideas. But you get the idea.

32. Express gratitude for at least 40 days
I did it for 10 days, all in my written journal. I could have definitely done more, and I could have finished by now because there is plenty to be grateful for, but I didn't take the time to write. My bad. Maybe I'll get to 20 or 30 by the next update.

33. Host a party/BBQ with friends at home
We are organizing a run-and-brunch at my place this coming Sunday. This counts!! I will make sure to post pictures of the food spread and the courageous folks who will be braving -10C to get their run in and socialize with strangers.

37. Try a new food
Give me ideas!!

That's it, next one in three months. ;-) Or maybe I should aim for next month and the one after.... and forget again.

IMMT Training Week 3: Ramping Up

First week with coach's training plan and it was easier than I feared. There was a big jump in the overall number of hours spent swimming, biking and running, mostly due to a few missed workouts last week, but I didn't feel defeated. I could have slept better, but I promised myself to make it more of a priority from now on, instead of staring at my computer screen clicking at random for hours. But I am not a morning person (yet) and when I do most of my workouts in the evenings, I find it hard to wind down before going to sleep. But let's rewind and see what coach had in store for me.

Swim

On Tuesday I thought I was getting sick again. I had a runny nose and my cough had gone worse, but by the end of the day I was not feeling sick enough to miss my first "swim with instructions". Yep, one of those workouts for which I had to actually print and ziploc bag the details. And not only it had instructions, but it required ALL THE TOOLS! Here are the details with some of my times.

Warmup
[100m swim + 50m finger drag] x 2 (2:19, 1:17, 2:21, 1:12)
3x100m kick with fins 15sri
3x100m pull+paddles 20sri (2:09, 2:11, 2:11)
Main set
400m swim on 9:30 (8:06 for 350m oops!)
50 breast stroke on 1:30 (1:16)
4x100m pull+paddles descending on 2:10 (2:07, 2:13, 2:14, 2:17 - not really on 2:10)
50m breast stroke on 1:30 (1:18)
8x25 [3 fast, 1 easy] on :45 (:30, :32, :30, :34, :30, :31, :30, :34)
Cooldown
100m breast stroke

I did my warmup, then swam the main set like a champ and was quite amazed at my 400m TT time... only that I had lost track of lengths and missed 50m. D'uh, not so fast afterall. Anyway, I was pretty happy with my times, especially after all these intervals with the pull buoy and paddles when I thought that I killed my arms.

On Thursday, at the group swim, we had to do 150s, up 50 from last week if you've followed my previous recaps. But this time it was half pull/paddles, half free. And my times were already faster than Tuesday's. I am not calling it progress yet, could have just been peer pressure from swimming in a group, but I swam a few 50s under a minute and I could barely believe it. I know that we all have good days and bad days, but for a bad day, Thursday is one to be remembered.

Last swim of the week was today right after my hour long run on the treadmill. Since I lost coach's instructions for this workout (don't ask), I decided to do a stroke rate ramp test instead, to see how far I've come since 2 years ago when I did it for the first time. And I was pretty surprised with the results. I started with 60 strokes per minute and increased the rate by 2 strokes each time, and ended with the results below (about 15-20s faster per 50m than the first test):

Stroke Rate   Time (50m)  Nr. strokes  Effort level (1-10)

60                 0:59.8          26              3
62                 1:00.1          27              3
64                 1:01.7          29              4
66                 1:00.8          29              5
68                 1:00.5          30              6
70                 0:59.0          31              7
72                 0:58.4          30              8
74                 0:57.4          30              8
76                 0:56.3          30              9
78                 0:55.8          30              10

Then I set my wetronome on a slightly faster than my normal stroke rate (68) and did a 600m pull, with an average time of 2:12/100m. I'm gonna need a sharper brain to interpret these numbers because right now I feel very confused. It's quite clear that if I move my arms faster I swim faster, but around the sweet spot it's not very clear whether I should make any changes. I may try with a slower than usual rate and see if I manage to glide a bit more and improve my time around those parts because I doubt that I could finish an Ironman swim on an all out effort.

Bike

I started the week with a free 1h ride that included a few single leg drills and a long 20m fast spin on little resistance.

I included screenshots of both my power zones and heart zones (which I haven't changed since my first 20min test last year, but seem to be relevant, still). You can see that they don't really match, so I asked my coach what it means. I suppose that my heart rate is higher than where it should be, but I'm not surprised since I've put on 8lb since last year and the heart knows. My resting HR is up 10bpm since last year too, which shows a dip in fitness. Oh well, you gotta start somewhere.

On Wednesday I did Black on Trainer Road and on Saturday I returned to the group cycling classes. I was a bit apprehensive and afraid that I would not be able to stay put as coach asked. But he was watching my rpms closely. My eyes were on my power and I told him that I wouldn't go above 75-80% FTP. I did good in the end, put in some effort in the climbs, but nowhere close to the threshold like everyone else was supposed to. I spent almost 2h on the bike though, so I chose to go easy in the last 20min and didn't feel too awkward for slacking at the front of the class.

Run

Three runs this week: 5k, 7k, 9k, all pretty easy, but I had to go outside for the 7k since I ran out of time and didn't want to pay 8 bucks just for using the treadmill for 45min (the cost of one gym visit without subscription). It was -15C and I hated every minute of it. Had to run in the middle of the road, dodging cars because there are no sidewalks in Brampton without 2 feet of snow on them.

It also took me a long time until I found the best placement for my buff for it not to slide down. I ended having a bad night with a lot of cough, so I paid the price. Not sure I'll go out again until the temperatures go up by 20 degrees C. Until then, back to the office gym and the treadmill.

In a nutshell

Good week, which I survived unscathed. However, in the strength department I sucked. I only did 3x1min plank on Tuesday and nothing since. No bridges, side stepping or clam shells, thus giving zero attention to my hips. I was also pretty lazy with the foam rolling and stretching, so this is exactly what my main issue is. I don't do these things unless you beat me with a stick. I don't know what to do. With zero accountability, I get zero results. When will I learn?! Ugh!

IMMT Training Week 2: The Calm Before the Storm

The week after a race always feels like a lazy one. You want to recover, to take it easy, to be good to yourself... and since I ended racing Robbie Burns 8k last Sunday, I had to deal with a few aches that showed up afterwards. I had some mild back pain and my calves were super tight, mostly from running in my old KSwiss which I hadn't worn in 2 months. My glutes were also sore, but not in an alarming way, and by the end of the day on Monday almost all pain was gone. I still went to physio and after talking to my therapist about my lack of hip pain in the last 2-3 weeks, we decided that it was finally time to set the therapy aside and see where the workouts take me. However, I am going to continue the strength exercises to try and get me some Glutes of Steel. I am going to miss my therapist and her torturous contraptions.

Pro stretch, vibrating plate, cupping. My therapist is cuter than your therapist.

Swim

I was supposed to swim on Tuesday night, but I had to go to a meeting and it didn't happen. On Thursday I went to the group swim with the tri folks and that turned pretty epic.

Warmup:
200m swim
2x[50m kick + 50m sailboard]
2x100m pull + paddles
Main set:
3x100 descending on 2:10
100m pull easy
3x100 descending on 2:15
100m pull easy
3x100 descending on 2:20
Last 10 min: relays

Basically, you take the fast 50s from the past week and you multiply everything by 2 and remove 5 seconds per 50 in the process. I called this "go faster or drown trying".  During the 2nd (or was it the third?) interval I almost puked in the middle of the pool. I had to stop and walk a few steps because my stomach was rebelling with each breath. I have no idea how I managed to get through the full set.

I didn't swim again until Sunday when I could not get myself to think of anything else but zoning out with a pull buoy, and that's exactly what I did: 2000m pull non stop. Given that I received my first workout schedule from coach, if there was going to be one last time to relax, that was it. And if I sound a bit scared, it's because I am. 

Bike

Pettit on Wednesday

Tried to keep the cadence high enough, but it wasn't too exciting. Enough to get me sweat. Mission accomplished.

Fletcher on Saturday

Take two Pettit, shorten the intervals a little, put them back to back and you get Fletcher. I didn't even choose it on purpose, I asked hubbs to pick it for me. But I didn't complain, it seemed to be the right one for the longest ride so far this year. The instructions said to add a few controlled spins in the middle, which you can guess from those spikes on the graph. I was too lazy, or too scared to do more. They got me coughing quite a lot though, and my puffer lived to tell the tale, covered in sweat just like me.

Run

I went on the treadmill twice this week, once at work for 35 minutes easy and once at the gym near my house, while everyone else was watching the Superbowl. I don't understand the Superbowl, but I was looking forward to the commercials. The only one I remember was the one with David Beckham.

I ran for 45 minutes, then jumped in the pool. Isn't my Superbowl party cool? I had about 100 guests, but they left before the half time, I think they all wanted to watch Bruno Mars and the RHCP with sound. Without me. Oh well.

In a nutshell

I was planning to exercise for at least 7h, but sandwiched between a race and a coach's schedule, I had to adjust my rest days. I ended up with too many of them, but I compensated by being really good about my physio exercises. Did them 3 times and I even added 3 x 1min plank each time. Gotta do what you gotta do... 5.5h is still better than nothing.

Robbie Burns 8K Race Report

First race of the year, and thankfully it was only 8k. It was also my first time that I was running this distance officially, so I was going to get a new PR regardless, wheee!

I went to bed undecided whether I would run it or not. The only piece of clothing that I had taken out from the bottom of a storage box was my plaid skirt that I hadn't worn since I was 20. I knew that everything else was in the drawer with my running clothes because I barely used any of them this winter. Just like my legs. The longest run before this race was a 6k on the treadmill, while listening for warning signs from everything waist down. If I was going to race it, my goal was to "finish in one piece", aka no more injuries.

I did not discuss all these fears with Zin who I also signed up a few months prior, but I know that he read them in my blog. Alarm clock got set up for 6am anyway. Once I woke up, I had to make a decision. Temperatures were going to be around -25C with the windchill. Never in my life I ran outside in these conditions. See, I can put on my YakTrax and run on snow, maybe even on a few ice patches here and there in -10C, but when it's this cold, I start coughing the minute I walk outside. It's been happening every single day just going from my car to the office building and back. This winter has been brutal for my asthma and I could not imagine what the extreme temperatures would do to me. But after 10 minutes of mental wrestling, I decided to HTFU and go for it, as long as I'd be able to wear a balaclava and breathe through it. It was going to be the only way and to hell with the race pictures.

The race was in Burlington, about 40min drive from our house. We planned to leave around 7 and to make it there early enough to pick up our race bibs. We arrived at destination just before 8am and scored a parking spot just outside the school where the race start and finish were going to be. Sweeeeet! The registration and packet pick up went very smoothly and within 5 minutes we were in possession of our bib (which included the timing chip).

This race is very popular for whatever reason, and only 1000 runners get the chance to run it. We were the 999th and the 1000th to sign up by the way. While I was sitting there, waiting for friends to arrive, I kept asking myself if I had made the right decision. I had about 4 layers of clothes top and bottom, wool socks, 2 hats, gloves and mittens and of course, the balaclava to complete the bandit look. Or Scottish Ninja, whatever you wanna call it. Verdict?

Add two more layers for the final look

One hour and a half is a long time when you have self doubts. I was lucky to meet with a few folks and talk about random stuff to keep my mind from wandering towards the North Pole. Pulling faces with my significant other is also a distraction worth mentioning.

In which you get to see how short I really am. Why so serious, honey?

That's more like it!

I wandered around quite a bit looking for Patty and Nic, I went to the washrooms twice and listened to the Halton Police playing the bagpipes in the gymnasium. Hey, do you want to listen too? Here, a little present from me to you. Look at the lady in the middle, she does some neat tricks.

Alright, enough with the entertainment. It's time to run!

The bagpipes accompanied us outside just before 9:30am and when Zin and I went to line up with everyone else, I finally found Patty and Nic. We exchanged hugs and wished each other good luck, then the horn went off and we all started our own race. I never had the intention to put any kind of "hard" effort into it, coach's orders (and a good dose of common sense). So I just ran at a comfortable pace, trying not to freeze in place. However, by km 3, I could no longer feel my bum. Feet, hands, face were doing ok though.

I don't remember much else. It felt like running around the block, but with police at all intersections and a bunch of other people passing me left and right, no offense taken. I was there to have "fun", but in the end it was rather uneventful. One foot in front of the other, keep moving forward, and that was about it. 

Right after km 5, I saw Emma - cowbell in one hand, camera in another. I knew that she wouldn't recognize me, so I yelled her name, and she took this photo in return. Thank you!!

My right calf was getting tighter by the minute and I wanted the race to be over with, I have no shame in admitting it. I was coughing a little and I could feel my heart rate going up. I started the countdown... 3, 2, 1 more kilometer to go. Oh, here's a photographer! And another one! Do I need to smile for the camera? I realized that it was in vain, nobody could see it anyway. At last it seemed to warm me up a little.

If you think that all pictures look the same, you are absolutely right. You must be so bored with my lack of facial expression by now.

Soon afterwards I was on the home stretch. I could see the school in the distance and I assumed that we'd finish where we started. I picked up the pace a little in the last hundred meters and crossed the finish line in 48:52. That was a wrap!! I ran a very comfortable pace, a full minute per km slower than my 5k pace but I could not be bothered. 

After crossing the finish line I was surprised to see that we were given little Robbie Burns medals. I was not expecting one, but from what I've heard, this was a special occasion due to its 35th anniversary. I met with hubbs and my friends, and we all went inside for some grub. I took my phone out of my pocket and I could only snap this shot before it turned off by itself in revolt.

I wanted to see how much ice I had around my face since blinking was making my eyelashes stick. In retrospective I am rather disappointed when I look at this pic (I must be too hot for this sh*t). Anyhoo, as I said, phone shut down instantly; I bet it didn't like the instant freeze. Inside the school, we had a bite with Nic, then we decided to go back home because we were starting to shiver. 

Another 40 min drive and we made it back home where we asked my younger son to take a picture before we took off our clothes.

Speaking of which, I'm glad that they gave us plaid pajama pants instead of thirts. I couldn't wait to get into them and spend the rest of the day in bed... but it didn't happen. We showered, ate lunch, then went swimming. And only then we got to rest a little.

And that's how my day/race/long-ish run went. Not sure that I should call it a race, if it weren't for the medal and the bib. Hubbs ran a speedy 35min, but I felt slow and heavy and ... just blah. Can't wait for this winter to find another place to bring hell to, like Florida. Until next time, but without the snow, the polar vortex and the frost quakes, please. Over and out.

IMMT Training Week 1: This Is The Beginning

I have yet to write a line and I hate these recaps already. Whose idea was it anyway? I have no patience for repetitive stuff and I'm rather lazy when it comes to crunching numbers. So what the hell am I gonna write? If there is something worthy to say, I will, if not... sorry dudes. I can't make shit up. 

Now, if you really, really want to see workout details, I log all my workouts in Runkeeper. No secrets. Knock yourselves out! I am also on Daily Mile, Trainer Road, Garmin Connect, Strava and Training Peaks, so there is more than enough information about my workouts if you're curious.

Also, with regards to publishing, I have time to blog roughly once or twice a week and if I wait for Monday, I may as well forget about it. Some weeks I will post recaps on Saturday, other weeks I will post on Sunday. I may skip some weeks because I don't feel like it. It's my blog and I can do whatever I want with it. Got it? Ok, so where were we? Let's try this.

Swim
Despite the fact that I'm still waiting for the "official" schedule from coach starting on February 1st, I got some feedback about the intensity of my current workouts. I was told that all my swims should be "hard" because I'm taking it easy in the other 2 sports. So on Tuesday I was told to go to the pool for a set of 10x200m pretty much all out (on 4:45). No pull buoy! Say whaaaat?

The graph was so pretty, I had to share. The times are nothing out of extraordinary, I am still a slow poke, but it's funny to see my descent into Hell. By the end of the workout, my arms were feeling like noodles ready to fall off.

To top it off, on Thursday I went to the masters swim (with the tri club) and this is what I had to do:

Warmup:
100m free + 200m drills + 200m pull/paddles
Main set:
2x50m fast on 1:10
100m pull/paddles
4x50m fast on 1:15
100m pull/paddles
6x50m fast on 1:20
100m free
14x25 (1 fast, 1 easy, 2 fast, 1 easy, 3 fast, 1 easy, 4 fast, 1 easy)
Cooldown:
100m any stroke

It was BRUTAL!
I may go for another swim tomorrow, or I may not. My limbs are still deciding.

Bike
The highlight of the week was my return to Trainer Road workouts.

Giraud on Thursday

Nice and easy with a few intervals to get the heart going. I tried to keep a good cadence and not fall asleep.

Mont Gosford on Saturday

This one was a sweatfest. Four long tempo intervals. Thankfully I was watching the movie "This Is The End" and I was going WTF !!!??!?!!?? way too often to notice my own struggle or lack thereof, surprisingly to say the least. I did not change my FTP since last year and it seems that I didn't lose much fitness since, which is rather encouraging. I don't feel that I'm ready to take it to the next level though... I am being careful, especially with the muscle pain that I feel in my glutes right now.

Run
So far this week, only one treadmill run, but longer than last week. I ran for 35min on Tuesday and did a little "ladder" because 5x7min in the spur of the moment seemed the right thing to do. Plus, the guy beside me was running at 5.5mph, so I felt that a little lesson was in order, just in case... you never know when you get to race and beat a VP.

7min @ 5.6mph
7min @ 5.8mph
7min @ 6mph
7min @ 5.8mph
7min @5.6mph
All with 1% incline

I have no idea who he was, by the way. But I kicked his butt.

Tomorrow will be my first race of the year and I'm still on the fence about running it. It's my first time running an 8k distance so it'll be an automatic PR, but given the low temperatures (-24C with the windchill OMG), I may end up being very miserable out there. My asthma has been awful this winter and I already had to use my inhaler 3 times a day just from walking from the house to the car and into the office. My colleagues tell me that I have an old smoker's cough. Yikes! And have I mentioned my Raynaud's? How many layers will I need to wear? I can't let the cold get to me or I'll turn pasty white from inside out. So anyway, I guess I'll swing it. If I run it I'll most likely sport a balaclava over my face to save me from coughing to near death. I can't wait to see the race pictures, haha.

In a nutshell
This week will be almost identical in volume as the last, but I bumped the intensity a notch with longer and harder workouts, and possibly a race. I am being careful about my hips, hamstrings and IT bands. I did my physio strength workouts twice this week (I should have done them every day!) and also started some planks (3x1min on Fri). I tried to roll, stretch, ice as often as I remembered and hopefully it'll be enough to keep me from relapsing into injury. Tomorrow's race, if I decide to participate, will be slow and I don't expect to break any records. Overall, I've been feeling good and I don't want to spoil the progress. I won't call it a comeback yet... but I'm getting darn close.

The countdown has begun

Today is January 18 and in exactly 30 weeks (and a sleepless night) I will be shivering with anxiety at the swim start of Ironman Mont Tremblant. It is time to start the countdown. 30 weeks of training and a life altering experience to complete it. This week I continued the re-building of my fitness and even though my coach and I agreed that I won't get the official IM training plan until I'm able to train 10h/week again, I am slowly but surely ramping up and adding minutes, miles and strokes to each of my workouts.

I also added more flip turns (to my swims, that is)! Which led to this.

On Monday, I decided to run. My first run this year, so I took advantage of my gym membership at work and I hit the treadmill. I also had a physio session in the evening where I had to do countless butt squeezes, bridges and clam shells, and by 9pm I was craving an ice bath. But not that cold because I'm a wimp these days.

When hubbs told me that the pool was colder than usual that day I knew that I had to go. If I kept moving, I was most certainly not going to feel it in my bones. And so I went. I did 2x100m to warm up, then put on the pull buoy and continued bouncing between the walls. I was doing every length with a flip turn and after a while all that tumbling made me forget completely where I was in my set. I had planned to do 500m, but I was feeling "in the zone" and told myself that I should try and see how long I can keep doing the flip turns. My watch counts the laps and eventually, while I was coming out for air after one of the flips, I looked at it. I had swum 800m non stop and I said, why not go for 1000m and strike one more goal off my "40 steps to 40" list? After all, I never mentioned NOT using a pull buoy. When I don't kick when I swim in a wetsuit, it's still called swimming. Everyone does it. So there, this IS legit swimming, dammit. Plus, I go faster without a kick, so most likely I'll be doing the same "in the field".

Here is the data geekery (the last 100m are buggy because Garmin lost me. Time is correct, but not the length). You can clearly see the 1000m block, the warmup and the cooldown. You'll just have to trust me that I did every single length of this workout with a flip turn. Because I did and I am stupid proud of it!! I promise to provide video evidence of my flipping prowess before the judges change their mind.

Since Monday I also did 2 bike workouts and I even threw in some intervals, more and more intense to remind myself that I can sweat. I managed to get to 1h on the bike with 2 blocks of 20 min spinfest at 95rpm. These felt like the kind of workouts I was doing last year, so not all fitness is lost, phew. 

And today I ran again. Two in a week, wheee! I went to the indoor track for the first time ever since I promised Meg Menzies that I'd run for her. She's no longer among us, but all the #megsmiles logged today will remain in many people's memory, including her family's. We just can't help it, we are family too. She was one of us. What else can we do?

I ran with abandon. I got lost in my thoughts, I did not feel pain, but my heart was aching in more than one way. That I gave it all is an understatement. I did not go to the track to race, but somehow I ran faster than I imagined. I didn't feel tired, so I have no idea where this energy came from. Sometimes there are things that you cannot explain. 

About half way I could still not understand if the numbers I was seeing were real. I started hitting the lap button because I wanted to make sense of what was happening, if not during the run, but maybe after. Now that I know the distance of each lap, exactly 120m, I counted that I must have run 49 laps in 30 minutes. Here are the last 28 of them.

What will happen tomorrow, next week... we'll see. I hope my coach won't read this blog post or he'll lock me in my Pain Cave until I can control my enthusiasm. Until then, I'm enjoying the free benefits of my drug of choice: beautiful, blissful endorphins. Oh how I missed you!!

Anyway, Week 30 starts tomorrow!! Oh wait... do I count up or down? What would you do to keep track of this madness?

Training to train

Like all resolutionists, I started the year fast and furious spitting out 3 blog posts in three days, then I left you hanging for 10 days. But I had a good reason. I caught THE flu. I thought I had the flu before, but no, this one was IT. I could barely keep my eyes open and my head up without passing out. Seriously, last Saturday I was two glasses of orange juice away from a ride in an ambulance (thank you Montana's manager for offering those to me when I scared you by turning cadaveric white and lost my feeling in my hands and feet). Yup, I had to lie down in one of their booths at lunch time. Anyway, the next day I ended in the doctor's office and I was put on Tamiflu which did the trick. I could return to the office three days later without the feeling of carrying a ton of bricks inside my head. Seriously, don't get the flu. Wash your hands often and stay away from the crowds. It's not fun.

But I also knew that you needed those 10 days to really appreciate the awesomeness of my recap posts (1, 2 and 3). What, you don't want to read them again? Okay, okay, you're excused if you already read them at least twice.

Now, what happened since? Not much because 1. I was in symbiosis with my couch 2. I was busy watching the first season of Orange is the New Black. Yes, there is lesbian sex in it. Get over it. It's really a good show.

Once I started feeling human again, I went to a new therapist and she got me doing some interesting strength training (I'll sure get buns of steel after this) and stretches that made me curse my body with new and colourful words. I also got my IT bands taped to show them who's the boss.

With renewed hope, I returned slowly to riding my bike and swimming. This week I managed to work out for 3h so far, including one hour at masters swim with my tri club. And you know what? I could keep up! It made me super happy about how little pool fitness I lost over the past 2 months. Alas, I also know that I won't finish the IM with swimming only and I still need to start putting in some serious biking and running workouts. So I did more spinning this week: 30 min, then 10k, then 45min. Next stop, 1h!! This may just end up as a date with hubbs and Trainer Road in our Pain Cave on Monday.

I also plan on running 30min on the treadmill tomorrow morning and see how my IT bands and hip hold up. So far, with the biking and swimming, no real negative impact, but I am still cautious. Not going crazy with enthusiasm or I'll pay the price. Learned that lesson once.

Bottom line, things have started looking up and I try to stay positive and take it one day at a time, celebrating every little ounce of progress. The IM is now 7 months away, exactly 31 weeks from now. Time to start the count down!

In the meantime, I leave you with some hypnotic footage of my swim analysis which I had done along with 3 private lessons with Sean Bechtel back in November.