The Final Countdown

Well today went well. It was much more relaxed then yesterday, I was up early fueled up on coffee and out the door by 9. We got to the race start around 10. After seeing some of the homes on the bike course it is evident that money is not an issue here to some people. There were lots of people decked out in the newest gear, I had to keep reminding myself that its the work that counts and there's a lot of people that can look the part, but that's only part of the battle.

After finishing up dropping off the bags and such, Kelcie and I headed to the zoo. It was pretty cool, I didn't know it was a world class zoo. I saw real hippos, giraffes, and gorillas. I had a special connection with the tiger I pictured it as my power animal for tomorrow. When I am digging for all that power I will think of the tiger.

The evening was capped off with a nice dinner at the old spaghetti factory. I swear that the restaurant was at least 70 percent full with people doing the race. Kelcie noticed I was spaced at dinner, I was just tyring to focus on the race I ran it through my head countless times. I am really confident in this race. Compared to Muskoka the bike course with be a breeze.

I am off to bed now to get a full rest and by early morning tomorrow I will be able to kick back and relax.

Taker easy

Its Time

Well needless to say it has been an adventure. Training at this level has been both physically and mentally taxing. I thought that once I started working I would get into more of a routine with training and writing. I have never been through the MAO training before and overall it was a positive experience, I have actually put on about 5-7 pounds of lean muscle through out the entire cycle. The extra weight has seemed to effect my running speeds slightly, but I have defiantly become a more confident cyclist.

Throughout training there were no real exciting moments, my days have consisted of going to work at 7 -4 quick nap till 4:30 train from 5-9:30 shower and in bed by 10 to get my 8 hours of sleep. I was a machine I should have wrote one blog post and just copy and pasted it. ahahah. Finally yesterday I hit the road for Calgary. Finally a change. The ride was painless Kelcie drove the first half and I was able to grab a couple zzzz's on my regular sleep schedule. We arrived at the hotel unpacked and relaxed. I headed out and completed my training for the day.

In the evening Kelcie and I met up with a family friend that lives in Calgary he took us out for some amazing fish. I love it here, maybe because its not Winnipeg. Winnipeg is a dead end I need to get out of there. One of the things I was concerned about was racing at altitude. Calgary is at a much high elevation then Winnipeg. In my brief training session I didn't notice a differeance. either way that is a variable that is not in my control, so I am going to try and put my focus on the things I can control, like my attitude. All the training is done now I just need to relax and enjoy what the day brings.

Today we are off to check out the expo and drive the course to get a better sense of what to expect.

Happy training

Burnt

Well after burning the candle at both ends for a month something had to give. I dont think racing helped either, because you go about 3x as hard as when your training. This was the final week of exams including my big human anatomy exam. Although training is important, school had to take priority this week. I haven't got any marks back yet but I feel good about the exams I wrote. Between work late night studying and training something had to give.

Sunday was a scheduled long run of an hour and 55 min I made it about 20 min in before turning around. My hr fell way way down I was dizzy it was all not good. It was my body saying stop let me rest for a bit. I was a little discourged but if I look back on it I can see why it happened.

The police service half marathon is on Sunday so my focus now is just on getting rest and performing well in the race.

happy training

The 10k run....s

Well yesterday was the first 10k of the year. The week lead up was better then the 5k I spent less time on my feet and my legs felt rested. The thing about choosing to be an endurance athlete is that you can train all you want but if you dont have it on that specific day you just dont have it. That why you just have to enjoy training and embrace the day of racing theres no such thing as a perfect race.

This race was nice my brother Paul even came out to do it. It was nice to go with all the boys me my dad and Paully. When we arrived I started into my warm up I noticed my hr was a bit higher then normal, and I needed to use the bathroom. I thought well better now then later. Before the start of the race I met Bryan Paynes cousin, he was very nice said he recognized me from Bryans blog. Bryan had sent me an email about him earlier this week, it was nice to follow up. Its a small world or just a small winnipeg I guess.

When it came time for the gun to go off I felt fairly ready. I like 10ks better then 5ks there a little less painful. A more relaxed start. I started out good on pace for what I wanted to run, but I noticed my hr was not corrisonding to my effort. I couldnt quite figure it out. I was fine until around 5k then I realized what was going on. My body was working to digest as well as run. At about 6.5-7 i almost shit myself. at that point I was just tring to finish. I would try to pick up the pace but it was scary. I didnt wanna end up like Julie Moss and shit myself. As soon as I finsihed I headed straight for the restroom. It was far from solid. haha.

I sill managed a 42:xx. Not bad all things considered. But not to be discourged there will be another chance I just have to keep on doing what I am doing and take this as a lesson learned.


Happy training.

The 5 k

Well all things considered this week I still had a good race. I put in 48 hours at work and still managed to put in all my training. I really had no other life outside of that. But this is short term and if I can make it happen now I will be stronger later.

Overall the week was good busy but good. Sunday has been the only day I have had off. I didnt know how the race was going to go my body was exhausted from the week of working and training. I have been very careful to watch my nutrition. I figured that was the least I could to for my body. I woke up today and my legs were tired. That was expected, so I went through a detailed warm up. I tried to mentally just blank my mind. I was doubting myself, then I rememmbered "its only 5k, and its the first race and it really means nothing. Just go run enjoy yourself." So I did I raced comforatblely I was able to average my hr at 171 and 6:03 mile. Final time was 19:14. For the first race I am happy with that, its just a set point for the rest of the year.

Not matter how you look at it racing is hard, it is painful from start to finish. When you finish it feels good cause you know you went all out. But man is it hard. I was exahusted when I got home. I can go for 12 mile runs or 3 hour cycles and not be as tired. I guess its because of the prolonged time of being anarobic your muscles are just tring to catch back up.

This week looks a little better then the last, and I am exctied to start fresh on monday.

Happy training

One part down

Well lectures are finally finished up this week. This is a huge bonus because that means no more new material or projects and there will be less stress. I can now focus on work and training. I love finishing exams, it feels like a weight is physically lifted off my shoulders. I have been so stressed lately I can feel it in my chest. It will be interesting to see what I can do in workouts with out the stresses of school. Other then school I think I have been managing my time well I feel adapted to the program and I have made the adjustments to fit it into my days. There has been a good increase in mileage this month and I cant wait to race the 5 k next weekend.

March totals:
Sport hrs Dist
other 2:15 0 km
bike 18:40 554 km
swim 12:11 36,200 m
run 9:21 120.4 km
Total 42:27 710.6 km

The 1st Weekend

Well the first weekend went well I missed one workout. It was a 2500m swim, I am not to hard pressed about it it was on saturday I got the 2.5hr cycle in which was of high imporatnace and by the time I finished work on sat the pool was closed. Either way after swimming today I am over my previous monthly swim totals and I still have a week and a half left of March. The Sunday run this week was short only 55 mins but I can see they get longer really quickly so I enjoyed it while it was short. I got my run done sunday night at around 9. It was a beautiful night, completly still, and just the right temp. It was a really good way to release all the stress of the week from school, work, and just other life stuff. I feel really refreshed today and ready to tackle another week.

I picked up an Ipod shuffle today. Fpund it on kijiji for 20 bones! Pretty good deal to have tunes anywhere. I have an I pod but this thing is so tiny I can just clip it on anywhere its perfect.

But it is crunch time at school and I have studying to be doing.

Sat:
Sport: Bike
Duration: 2 hr 30 min
Distance: 50.0 mi
Avg. hr: 140
Avg. speed: 20.0 mi/h
Avg. pace: 3:00 / mi
Intensity: 4

Sunday:
Sport: Bike
Duration: 30 min
Distance: 15.0 km
Avg. speed: 30.0 km/h
Avg. pace: 2:00 / km
Intensity: 4

Sport: Run
Duration: 55 min
Distance: 7.4 mi
Avg. hr: 148
Avg. speed: 8.1 mi/h
Avg. pace: 7:26 / mi
Intensity: 4

Monday:
Weights: Adaptation 2 45min

Sport: Swim
Duration: 1 hr 13 min approximate
Distance: 3500.0 m
Avg. hr: 0
Avg. speed: 0.8 m/s
Avg. pace: 2:05 / 100 m
Intensity: 4