Mothers Day 2011

My new chainring arrived. Replacing the 46t on the cross bike with a 50t so I can hopefully hold pace with group road rides which I have yet to do. At least now I am ready! I can't wait!!




Mothers day was a beautiful spring trail jog in Dundas Valley. Surprisingly there were not many people on the trail as I had expected! I had a great run which included a ton of steep hills. We finished the run off with a coffee at Domestique Cafe which is becoming a regular stop for us!

After a brief tanning session in the backyard by the closed pool, I finally got around to installing the new HID kit that arrived last week.

The old bulbs are still good, but one of the transformers was flaking out. I'll keep them and put them to good use somewhere. I'm just not too sure where yet.

I was a bit sore from the previous day's 180Km bike ride so sitting on the concrete and rolling around on the ground working in tight spaces was just what I needed. Not.





Someone had the bright idea to go get ice cream in the evening. The line-up was huge and the sun went down long before we got serverd. We all huddled around a table outdoors shivering as we inhaled our cold treats. We would have ate them in the car but things are a bit ummm squishy. When we bought the car we needed something sporty but with a 'backseat' just in case. The backseat in this thing can barely fit a childseat but its extremely rare it gets used so I don't care. I had to test out the new lights so we crammed 5 adults into this thing lol!

... Into THIS.

Fit these....

The kids made breakfast and chored around the house so for there rewards we crushed them into the backseat and went for 'healthy' icecream.

Mothers Day.
Child Labour Approved.

Modeling FAIL.
U'd think after watching so much
America's Next Top Model she
would have learned something by now?

I approve of Candid Modeling.

TRAINING

Bike - 180Km

Hilly Trail Run - 14Km

Week 29 Review

It could be worse...
OK, maybe not.

Is that ALL you got?!

Pssshhhh, I thought this JPO Training Program was going to be hard or something? The biggest week to date and I'm cruisin' along with a smile.

This was the first week of half-decent weather. That made it a bit easier to get the workouts in, with a little extra to take advantage of the good weather incase it disappeared the next day. This left me with alot more extra by the time the week finished. I tacked on an additional 2hrs that were not supposed to be there. I'm not complaining, yet. The next week calls for some big numbers and by going too hard this week, I may pay my disobedience the following week. Just making the best of some nice weather in the short term incase the weather goes bad again.

I love that there is enough sunlight in the evening to put together a couple hours of solid riding. This helps make it easier to hit those training goals. The part that nags me in the back of my mind is that I haven't been getting any mountain biking in. MTB helps me build strength and just the same I dont want my l33t technical skills to go rusty. There's already a bit of cobwebs on them judging by my last ride from the previous week. I'm not sure where I am going to find the time or energy. I can make the time, even with a 17hr training week, but the hard part is the energy. I can't just make energy as this training program leaves me with little extra in reserve.

With only one week of hard training left before a recovery week - I am going to promise myself some serious off-road fun on my recovery week. In the meantime I need to stick to the plan and finish this set strong. I was absolutely exhausted after my long ride on Saturday, to the point where I felt ill. I've been pushing hard on my workouts when in some cases I should be pacing myself - I think if I incorporate some group rides with 'better paced' riders, it might just do me some good. It can't be hammer time all the time.

Oh and I got one Brick workout in which is m first of the year. What a joke, no problem whatsoever. It only took 10 minutes to bring the HR down but only because I forced myself too. I felt like a rocket blasted off after transition and bolted out too fast. It felt good, but probably not the smartest thing to do during a race. Regardless, I need to practice more.

TRAINING: (Set 8, Week 2 - Performance Phase)

Swim - 1:50hrs
Bike - 10:45hrs (302Km incl/ 43Km Cyclocross Trail)
Run - 4:00hrs (41Km incl/ 14km Hill Trail Run)

TOTAL - 16:30hrs (350Km)

TI Swim

I had a good time at the pool knowing that the next day was a rest day. The workout started out a bit slow but then a new face showed up in the lane beside me and then it was game on! It was clear to me that he has some T.I. swim technique going on, very smooth, very efficient and very fast! We were matched for speed, except he did flip turns so I had to push a little harder between laps. Our pool doesn't have many fast swimmers so it was refreshing to have some fun competition for a change! An added bonus was that he didn't stop every couple laps, he held his speed continuous like I do. I had to commend him on his awesome swimming ability, I was impressed! I'm not the greatest swimmer, but I don't suck at it either. I was humbled by the experience, even though I still out swam him by a mere 2 seconds per lap :) It took me awhile, but eventually I lapped him. What a crazy workout!


The scary part was, I told my wife I think he is an older version of me. His swim stroke looked exactly the same as mine which if you seen it - is unique. He even wore the same dorky tinted swim mask as me! What are the odds? There was a bit of ummm 'thinning out' of the hair on top his head, so I was pretty sure I was swimming beside the futuristic me that came back in time to tell me something important. Like tomorrow's lottery number or something. I sparked up some conversation after the swim to acknowledge the fun in the pool, but he didn't have lottery numbers or betting advice. He said he wasn't a triathlete and he was just trying to self-teach himself T.I. swimming. Damn. He sucks at lieing too, now I am CERTAIN that was an older version of me.

Earlier in the evening was our standard run with the Road Rebel running group. This running group thing is working out well! I've found a few runners who are just outside my comfort-zone pace and are leading me to the next level of running. My goal was just to maintain my run, so I'm still keeping it slow on the longer runs. I dont want to risk injury, I'm still feeling a bit of shin splin returning last night. Just tenderness for now, nothing critical.

TRAINING:

Run - 1:00hrs
Swim - 1:00hrs

Long Days

The days are clearly getting longer. I had just enough time to slip a 2.5hr bike ride in after a day at the office! Followed by my first Brick run this year. I keep meaning to get them in but I keep forgetting. All I can think of is a hot shower and meal after my rides, running completely escaped me.

For you Morons that complain that others
shouldn't bitch if they did NOT vote:
NOT VOTING *IS* VOTING.
Not all parties have reps in all regions. Get over yourselves.

So the bike ride itself was intense. I kept a moderate pace with a decent headwind and threw in some climbing to make sure my legs were spent by the time I got home. I was quick in transition, I didn't even bother taking my bike clothes off, I ran with my cycling bib short which looked quite dorky. Even the wife warned me to be careful since I might get beat up for looking so dorky. Luckily, I can hopefully outrun any bullies that cross my path :)

Anyhow, immediately off the start I felt great! I held a 4:45min/km and it felt natural. My HR was high, obviously because of my quicker pace but also from the excitement of a quick transition. I wanted to slow down to get my HR lower but that fast pace just felt great, so I gave it a few minutes before slowing down. This gave my legs a chance to stretch out after a 'long' bike. In the end my speed never slowed down much, I held a pace that would not be sustainable for any more than an hour but my legs just would not listen. I just went by feeling and checedk my Garmin from time to time. This is the first Brick afterall so I wanted to do what felt good, not what was 'right'. After about 10 minutes I could see my HR starting to come down and I had more control over my legs, I still didn't slow down though since the road was a slight downhill, but regardless I figure a few more of these are needed to dial-in my perceived efforts.

Honestly I don't see what all the fust is about. Brick runs dont bother me much, but thats easy to say after a 80km ride. I'll try again after a century ride and see what happens. Last year I didn't do any Brick runs leading up to Ironman Muskoka and I had no problems with the transition - but that is not a fair example since I was borderline Hypothermic coming off the bike, and my run resembled more of a shuffle than anything back then.

TRAINING:

Bike - 2:30hrs (80km)
Run - 0:15hrs (First Brick)

Bright Moves

DELIVERY!

Its getting even more real!

Last week was booking the hotel for Ironman Lake Placid. Today I registered the wife to join me for the Athlete Banquet Dinner on the Friday night! I guess I could take her with me... :)

The SECRET to weight loss

I'm hoping my new all-time low number is an indication of my training plan being on track - I weighed in at 169.6lbs today. Yay me! I think I'm starting to look skinny too. None of my clothes fit me anymore, my pants wont stay up and I just notched down to the last hole on the new belt I bought in the winter when I ran out of holes on the last one I had! Things are looking good!

Its all coming together for Mrs. LoTC too. Her first Half-Ironman is a couple weeks before my race! We got accomodations finalized thanks to some awesome friends that will have us up for the weekend at their cottage, just down the road from the race! With her race approaching fast - She's scared straight now and putting in some serious training. Her training consists mostly of Making my breakfasts & lunches & dinners, doing my laundry, especially the endless pile of workout clothes, and taking care of the kids and a full-time career. Sometimes she manages to slip a swim/bike/run inbetween that hectic training schedule.

4300K to replace 5000K

The wife put in a 35km ride in last night while I put in a 1.5hrs cyclocross ride on the railtrails. I really like the resistance from the trail, my heartrate stays low but my legs are pushing hard. Good strength building I think! Mrs. LoTC beat me home so she had dinner ready for me by the time I got back. I am the luckiest PFG EVAR! She's an IRONbabe for sure!

Last friday a new toy showed up in the mail. I haven't had time to install it yet. I'm hoping for some warmer weather. Regardless I'm replacing our current HID lights with new ones. Our car was limping along on one light for awhile now, one of the transformers is flakey and it comes and goes. Lately its done more 'going' than 'coming'. So far, we haven't been pulled over - luckily.

TRAINING

Bike - 1:30hrs

Weekend Training
Bike - 4:30hrs
Run - 2:10hrs

April 2011 Totals

April 2011 Monthly Totals
Swim: 5:40hrs
Bike: 36:00hrs (864Km incl. 12hrs Trail Cross/MTB) 
Run: 12:11hrs (133Km)

Total: 54:00hrs

~1014Km 31Activities

Week 28 Review

I'm glad to be back at a full week of training! The week started out with thunderstorms and heavy rain but that did not deter me from getting it done. I had a soggy couple of days, I am so glad I got that Cyclocross bike because now I have no excuse to miss a ride due to weather. I can leave the clean tri bike at home and go beat up the cross bike on wet roads or muddy trails instead, this works out great!

The weather co-operated nicely by mid week and I hit some perfect workouts, including an extended ride on the trails during the best weather this year to date! I cut the first run of the week short to give me a chance to adequately guage the status of my shin splint. By the end of the week I was back running like normal. Small bit of tenderness present but no noticable pain. I'll just keep icing it and doing my alpha-foots (Thanks Anne-Marie!)

My long bike on the weekend was a tad bit weaker than I had in mind. I rode with some local triathletes for the first time and the pace was much slower than what I am used to. I am not complaining though, it was great having company and getting to know fellow tri-dorks. If anything this was a good lesson in how to pace myself properly, which is something I still struggle to learn. I followed the ride up with some bad eating and a late night watching UFC. I paid for it the next day and had a hard time getting out the door. I missed the nice weather in the morning and had to run through the rain in the afternoon as punishment so hopefully that will motivate me for next time I waver from getting up to do workout.

Looking forwad I see a desperate need to get Brick runs done. I still haven't done any, I've been lazy. I still haven't figured a routine to incorporate strength training either. One thing at a time though, those bricks need my full attention first!

TRAINING: (Set 8, Week 1 - Performance Phase)

Swim - 2:00hrs
Bike - 9:00hrs (226Km incl/ 105Km Cyclocross Trail)
Run - 4:00hrs  (40Km)

TOTAL - 15:00hrs (272Km)