Sunday, August 24, 2008

Ironman Canada 08

Today was my last longer workout 4 hour bike 30 min run...thank goodness as I am racing Ironman Louisville in a week. The ride/run was solid and it was a good way to finish the week off.
I raced home to watch Ironman Canada. Great job to all the posse that competed. Marky V made things exciting on the swim and bike and Tracy really had a great race finishing 7th overall in a tough womens field. Belinda Granger is awesome!
I took it all in knowing that in a week I will have my turn. I leave on Tuesday and have alot to do before then. I look forward to getting on the plane and getting the race week started.
I've had an awful case of swimmers ear with middle ear infection, probably from the gallon of soapy water that poured into my car a few days ago while trying to close my sun roof going through the car wash....lol I've had a few sleepless nights due to the pain so I hope it goes soon. If anyone has a natural remedy for ear pain do let me know....otherwise antibiotics it is!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Timberman 70.3

My blogs have been very few lately as I have been trying to spend as much time with my kids enjoying the summer and also on trying to recover from Lake Placid. It's been hard to get to bed early as the Olympics have been so inspiring and awesome to watch. There was nothing better than watching Phelps swim and the womens marathon going into race day. I was a little concerned about racing Timberman as my legs have been quite fatigued still from Lake Placid. I was totally looking at this race as a good hard workout and a good time to practice nutrition. It also was exciting as the pro field was awesome.
I was a little tired race morning and found myself dozing in the car instead of warming up. Never a good sign. I wished I had not stayed up watching the marathon but it was so exciting! I then headed down to the swim start. I did a nice long warm up as the water is so clear and they had decided it was going to be a wetsuit swim which I was very happy about. I then waited for the start. With 30 pro's starting it was surprisingly a calm start. I swam hard to stay on someones feet and pretty much stayed in a small group until the last turn. I never had to look into the glare of the sun and just could keep my head down and focus on swimming. There was quite a bit of chop and I decided to make the move to go to the front of the pack and swim hard into the finish. It was a good move and I felt great. I ran into T2 with a 29min swim which was a minute and a half faster than 2 years ago when I did this race. I started the bike with Karen Smyers and a few other guys that sped off. I stuck with the plan of a controlled bike not putting too much out on the hills and pushing the downhills hard. My legs felt good on the bike and hills and I love my new bike position. There was a slight wind that I really did not pay too much attention too. I biked within myself and focused on good nutrition. I have been trying to perfect a race nutrition plan as I always seem to have a few problems in that department. I stuck with the plan and enjoyed the bike despite losing my bottle after the last water stop. I hit a pothole on a hill and watched my nutrition and race plan roll down the hill. I decided that I would just have to be thirsty for ten miles although I was tempted to ask someone on the side of the road for a drink. After a big chug of water I left T2 with Karen Smyers and Anne Gervais. It was exciting as we were all together for the first half mile. I settled into a comfortably hard pace running with Anne. This happened to be 6.38's. I then felt like I was working a little too hard and pulled it back a notch. I was happy to have my legs feel pretty good and I ran the first 6 well. I admired Andy potts, Simon Lessing, Michael Lovato and Chrissie of course. I could not believe how well she was racing and how strong she was. It was a fun two loop run and a great crowd. Despite a bathroom stop and a crampy tummy with a few slower miles I ran hard and finished strong. I was happy to go 4 minutes faster than 2 years ago with quite fatigued legs. I ended up finishing 6th in the pro's just out of the money and podium :-(
It was a fun weekend. Great job Joe, Dave, Don, Chris, Sunny, Tim and Brendan.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

New Race Schedule

I have been getting back to my training and feeling pretty good. Every workout I am itching to go faster and I have been enjoying riding with good friends. We really have a great group of triathletes here and its nice to know that most mornings or evenings you can catch a group ride. Its been fun seeing all my friends achieve great results this season.
I, with Paulo's support have decided that I shall race Ironman Louisville in three weeks. This is something that I was already thinking about the day after IMLP and after seeing how my recovery is going I am sure of my decision. I shall race Timberman 70.3 next week as part of a bigger training week. This shall be a really tough race as not only is it a challenging course but the womens pro field is unbelievable. It will be great to race against Chrissie Wellington, Kate Major, Pip Taylor,Dede Griesbauer, Karyn Smyers to mention a few names. These girls are all gearing up for Hawaii and they should be at the top of their game. I shall race my little heart out and it shall be interesting to see what I have in the tank come
race day. I look forward to the next three weeks as I do love to race and I love the Ironman experience.
I shall go up to Timberman with a great group of friends and it shall be a fun weekend. Keith puts on such a great event up there and they really go out of their way to make it one of the best 70.3 races out there.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Quotes that I have been thinking about as I get back to a structured training schedule!

What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists...and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know exactly what you want...and are fully determined not to quit until you get it.
- Alexander Graham Bell

You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.
- Dan Millman

Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget about everything except what you're going to do now - and do it.
- William Durant

Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.
- Og Mandino


To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
- Anatole France