Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Couple of firsts

Since we got a 40inch flat screen last week I get the hand-me-down 27 incher for the basement. Yayyyy I get tv for my riding. Most times I findmusic helps me more to ride, but the tv is nice somtimes too! In fact sometimes I just watch sports on the tv with my ipod blasting some rockin tunes in my ear. That's ultimately the best combo. Saturday we went shopping in the morning/afternoon so I did my long ride in the evening. Anyways I planned togo over 3 hours. The hardest thing I find with long workouts and races is visualizing the finish. It's hard to get on the trainer knowing you'll be on that sucker for 3 hours plus. I have to learn to break it up into shows or somthing. Anyways sat. night is hockey night in Canada, so I put on the hockey game and watched Edmonton loose boooooo (yes I'm a Edmonton/Calgary fan, YES IT IS POSSIBLE!!!) but it helped accomplish the goal. It helped me get through 3:20of riding time, that's a new indoor ride record for me. When I got off I wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be, I could have easily gone to 4hours +. That'sa good sign as I probably will be riding up to 5 hours before spring.


Last night Greg and I met at the pool. I planned on doing another benchmark swim Chuckie style. Yayyyyy Greg agreed to do the same thing. He's just a touchfaster than me so I knew it'd help to push me, also make it hurt more. I hoped I wouldn't go to hard at the start. We did a longer warmup than I'm usedto, he convinced me that I should. I didn't want to loose the form feel, but agreed to do a bit more drill. It really payed off. We started the 400 and I right away dropped a body length behind him, but really fought to stay in contact. First 100, got to the wall 1:32, woahhhh little too quick I'm gonna really pay for that later!! For the next 100s I couldn't get the splits since I had to really push hard off the walls to keep on Greg(I wasn't swimmingin his draft, in the lane next to him) so I managed to keep just a touch behind him. Wow what a difference it makes to have that carrot dangling jussssstbarely out of reach. We finished and I saw 6:26!! The last bench mark 400 had been 6:42. NICCCCCCCCCe HIGH FIVVVVVE(in that Borat voice). I was toast,in the last 100m my arms were starting to get numb from the Oxygen debt, lol. I had kept up with Greg, but I don't think he was going quite as hardas I was. So we did a 100m easy and he wanted to do a 200 and 100 TT as well. So I figured I would go along although I didn't expect too much. The 200mwent ok it hurt a lot and my arms felt like lead so I dropped back 5 secs by the end I think to Greg. My time was 3:11, not bad. Then 100m easy and into the 100m tt. I pushed off the wall and immediately I knew my arms were back. YOu know that feeling where you know it's go time!! I stayed beside Gregthe whole time even moved ahead at times. I felt so strong, weird how in the 200 I was destroyed but somehow felt strong again for the 100. We came into the wall exactly side by side. 1:25!!!! that might not be fast for some, but that's huge huge huge for me. I've never done that fast a 100 and aftertwo tts already!! Wow that felt good.


Today I think I'll be doing another hour FTP test for Chuckie, he wants me to keep a more steady pace through-out. The first time I did it I shifted up 20min in so this time I'll try to keep that upper gear for the whole hour around 250-255W. That's going to hurt, I'llneed the ipod tunes definatly. I'll let you know how it goes. Cheers,

DP

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Another video

Here's another video, bwahahahahahahaha.

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5824441/

Monday, December 14, 2009

The next time someone tells you you can't do somthing...

"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period." Chris Gartner - Pursuit of Happiness

I don't know about you, but most people don't tell me I can't do somthing, the only one that does that occasionally is myself. I think the quote still applies.

Had a good ride yesterday. I got my new trainer, it's a new Kurt Kinetic. It has a power meter on the computer, it's not super accurate and doesn't actually measure power. It calculates it based on my weight, speed, and maybe cadence. It should be close enough for my purposes since there is no grade, or wind in my basement other than the occasional wind comin from the backside of my cycling shorts. Anyways I wasted no time in climbin aboard the pain train. I don't think I've ever hurt so much as I did yesterday. I basically did an hour ALL out. This is done to get a FTP(functional threshold power) number, which ends up being the average power that I can do over the course of an hour. I really didn't know what to expect and had to guess at what gear/effort I should start at. Anyways I think it went well, started out at about 230W and worked it up to nearly a sprint at the end 346W for an average of 251W. I was hoping for around that so I'm really happy. I'm not too sure how accurate this is, but as long as I keep the conditions the same and do the test on the same meter I'll know how I improve over the course of the winter.

DP

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Good laugh!

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5749137/

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/5781753/

Freakin hilarious if you're sick of all the techno talk on slowtwitch. JUST GET OUT AND TRAIN ALREADY!!!

Ups and Downs

On thursday I twisted my ankle/heel on the edge of the pavement. It didn't bother me too much then other than a sharp pain, but I could finish the run, I completely forgot about it. Then that night it flared up so badly it woke me up and I couldn't sleep anymore with the pain. I could barely put any weight on it in the morning, but by evening friday it was almost completely gone. That morning I honestly thought I may have a stress fracture. I took a few days off of running and it's completely gone, big big PHEW!!!

Yesterday I had an awesome run. I did another "benchmark" workout from Chuckie. I've figured out my LTHR in the past and from what I read this number shouldn't really ever change, even as your fitness changes. It's a misconception, one maybe some of you will not believe, but it's true. Once you find your LTHR(Lactate Threshold Heart Rate) and it's accurate(maybe tested a few times) it should never change. As you get more fit you'll be able to go faster but the way I understand it is that your heart still runs out of oxygen and you start storing Lactic Acid at around the same Heart Rate. Anyways my LT is 168 so for the test I'm to run 5 miles sticking at 90% of this which would be 151 bpm for me. Sounds tough but it's not actually too bad. I did the test and could really have kept runnning at the same pace for a while longer. I had wanted to do it on the track at the Talisman, but when I got there I saw the track was reserved. Aughhhh that's frustrating, oh well I'll have to use the tready for it. Not sure if the results would be as accurate, but I got a damn good run out of it. One surprising thing was that my pace basically stayed the same, it's supposed to kind of tail off because of dehydration. The good thing about the treadmill is I could keep within a beat of the 151 target. It might be harder to keep the same pace on the track. Did the 5 miles in 34:46, it's like a comfortable hard, if that makes sense. Here are the mile splits;

1 - 6:44 (had to crank it up to like 9.4mph at first to get the heart rate up quick, then dialed it back to 8.4-8.7 for the rest of the run)
2 - 6:59
3 - 7:01
4 - 6:59
5 - 7:00


In other news I've been able to do a few morning rides this week, I'm really pumped about that. I just need to go to bed earlier and it helps a lot to make sure the house is warm when I wake up, easier to get up. My new trainer should be here soon soon, I'm still riding the borrowed one. I bought a skewer that's round so I can clamp my bike in properly with out it leaning as much. I had no idea they made these things specifically for the trainer, the one I bought is made by tacx(a trainer manufacturer). Cheers,

DP

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

What the heck happened???

Last night I got home, took a short nap and went for my regular run. I dressed up appropriately, checked the weather hmmm -11. Hadn't run in that this year yet, but hey the first digit is a one, how bad can it be??? Well it was cold for me, seriously what happened? I come from manitoba, I'm supposed to be tough!! I worked outside framed houses in -50 weather at times(that includes the windchill) got home and would go for a run. And I did that regularly, some weeks I ran every night after work. It was hard, I remember coming home thinking all I want to do is warm up, yet knowing I'd have to go back outside for a cold.... bitter cold run. I lived in the country too, the roads were pitch black. One particular week I did 10 miles each day and the minimum temp was -25(just temp). There was one day I remember not being able to make it home, I had to call home from a neighbors' for my dad to come pick me up. I usually ran with wind first, but that day I underestimated the wind chill and ran with wind first. I tried to turn back again into the wind, but I just couldn't, my face froze. I also one time got stuck in a huge snow storm. It started out ok, running in the tree'd area, but as soon as I turned and headed out of the tree line the storm started. At one point I couldn't see the road at all, I was basically running on feel. Had to alternate running forward and backwards to give my face a break from the pelting snow. Made it home that time with icycles hanging from my face. But yesterday...... I really realized how much Calgary has wussified me. I need to go find me a framing job again...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Here's the toe nail, enjoy


Lots going on

Hey,

Well a few things have been going on. First off, on friday after the snow fall and ice came I went out for a run in the evening like I usually do. Most times I have no problems with snow and ice even. Nope, not this time. I didn't even get a 1/4 mile from my house and down I go right on the sidewalk. Jammed my wrist slightly and fell pretty much right on my elbow. Well after rolling around on the ground a bit, I got up hopped around for a bit I just assumed my run was over. The adrenaline had come and gone making me feel dizzy/weak. So I walked home, good thing it was close. Anyways at home I got this overwhelming sense of HTFU stubbornness. Just ask Lisa it's not just in running, stubborn like an ass sometimes!!! Oh well I turned around and went for my run, I actually had a really good run. I was much more careful, although I couldn't really do anything about that mishap, there was ice under a bit of snow. Didn't see the ice, if I see it no problems I can run on glare ice, but you know you plant differently when running on ice.

My toe nail decided to come off finally, I'll post a pic of that just so I have a shot at grossest blog of the week(as long as keith doesn't post some more bloody teeth pictures hee hee j/k keith) The toe nail got blue/black from the Calgary 70.3 race. I guess my shoes weren't done up tightly enough so the toes kept getting mashed into the front of the toe box. It was weird cause the nail actually grew for awhile I even had to trim it once, but then all of a sudden it died and a new one started to take it's place.

I've been riding/running alot and on today's ride my trainer decided to break!!! I'm really pissed about that cause the thought of going with out a trainer for a week(that's the time it'll take to order the one I want from the states) really stresses me out. Does anyone in Calgary have an extra trainer I could borrow for a few days??? If not I guess I'll have to run each day to make up for it. The handle on it broke, the part that tightens the roller against the tire. The trainer hasn't been the greatest for awhile, it's really tough to get my bike into it straight. My bike often leans a tiny bit, it really drives me crazy cause I wonder if somtimes it's all just in my head. So I think I'll order the kurt kinetic road trainer, it has a power meter on it so I can start gauging that and getting a little more nerdy in the triathlon world.

On to other news... For IM CDA it looks as though I may be working with a new coach. Chuckie V has agreed to take me on as an athlete. I've had a couple of awesome years with Greg I cannot thank him enough for 2 big PBs, he's taught me so much and for that I'll always be thankful. Well you might ask if somthing isn't broke why fix?? Well I just want to try somthing new and Greg and I will always be friends, who knows we may hook up in the future again. If there's one thing I've learnt with my training, it's to always keep things fresh. I won't get into anymore details other than I am extremely excited to work with Chuckie, scared, but excited. For those that don't know he's a IMC winner and former pro cyclist. WTF have I got myself into?????

EDIT: I almost forgot I wanted to share something else. I went to the pool today, specially after my trainer broke 20min into my ride. I was pretty ticked, so I had to get a solid workout. Chuckie hasn't officially started coaching till Jan, but a couple instructions he's given me was to A) start blogging on www.triblogs.com (btw it's a really cool free website to blog your workouts and for your coach/mentor to checkup on what you're doing)
B) get in the pool to swim more!!!
C) Complete his "benchmark" 400m TT

Got A done immediately, I've been tracking workouts now for 3 weeks. B) weeeeeeelll I'm swimming twice a week, Chuckie wants 2 hard ones, or 3 easy/technique swims. So I'm kinda inbetween. I'm workin on it. Maybe this week I'll get 3 in. Anyways the reason I re-opened this post. I went to the pool today pissed about the trainer, btw I got a buzz cut which is important for this story. I felt pretty good, smooth and cutting through the water, it's amazing what a lil hair loss will do to your stream lining. So I got the warmup done and managed to pull off a pretty good 400 tt. Actually amazing, I nearly held the 1:40 pace, first 100 was 1:38, then 1:41, and 3:22(200), for a total of 6:42. I was just hoping to be under 7 so I'm really pumped about that, maybe I can get close to 1 hour this year???

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Crushed it!!

My workouts today, man did they ever feel good!! Gotta love coming out of a rest day and feeling fit and fast in the workouts for the day. First there was the run after work. Now this is somthing I've always noticed. This may seem kinda mean, but you know how I know I'm running well? fast even? It only works in the dark, it's when you're comin up to over take a dog walker and they whirl around like they're about to be mugged. I know at that point I'm either A) light on my feet so they don't hear me coming till I'm RIGHT THERE! or B) I have such a quick turn over that they think I'm sprinting after them. Sometimes I have some people start running the other direction, of course only till they turn around and see a guy that resembles peter pan running along(in Winnipeg I one time had a female run for nearly a city block before she decided I might not be nabbing her groceries). Anywho the riding is really coming along too, the time is going by faster and I'm getting the strength to start some really hard intervals. I'm way ahead of last years riding that's for sure. I heard a good Acronym on slowtwitch the other day, somthing I've taken to heart as my ticket to a faster bike split. It's TITS!!!!!!! there I said it. Ok it stands for Time In The Saddle.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Dr. Dolittle

I'm totally lovin the nick name. I love the paths near my house with all the wildlife I see. I don't see bears like Cam, he def. has me beat, but I think I probably see more of the other stuff then he does. :P Yesterday running in the dark, I'm running along a gravel path with a chain link fence on one side of me. I don't see that well in the dark although I have really good vision.... for a human that is and I know what to look for in the dark, shadows, movement, etc. Anyways up ahead I see this shadow cross the path towards the fence. I suspected right aways what it was before I even got close. Sure enough I could see this creature about the size of a big beaver had some trouble pulling him/herself up onto the fence. By the time I got there, it had shinnied itself up on top and I saw that it was a porky pine!! These creatures are soo cool!! So I stopped and talked to him/her. It wasn't that worried about me, but I did see it's predicament. I could see it was a bit worried about jumping down and couldn't climb down either since going up was kinda awkward in itself. So it just sat on the top and waited for me to leave. It crawled back and forth a bit on the top, me standing about 10 ft away and talking to Mr. porky. I wondered what it would feel like to pet him and of course get a gift of prickles. No wonder these guys don't stress themselves out much over humans, or any predators!! I doubt many animals will mess with a porky pine, other than a stupid dog!! Anywho he sat there and actually started eating leaves/branches from a near by tree. Then I bid my farewell and ran off into the night. One of my fav. animals. :)

DP

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Dreams


Hey,

So I had a couple more dreams, perhaps Keith can interpet them for me. :) The first is another triathlon one. My buddy Curtis and I were both racing in a IM. I assume it was cda, it didn't look anything like Canada and the bike was heavily tree'd, or at least the second half of the bike was. So the dream starts off on the bike(funny how dreams have their own rules eh, they can start when ever they want, do anything they want). For what ever reason I was riding with this older lady, I had decided not to ride hard. I have no clue why I was riding with her, I assume she was a friend, but not a close friend. I just decided to support her, help push her(I had no ulterier motives strictly platonic). Curtis was up ahead and doing well. Then we hit the tree'd section of the course. This was really thick forest, the trees were almost reaching over the road, well reaching over our heads anyways. Oh I almost forgot at some point I decided to try and catch Curtis so I told my female friend that I'd ride ahead, wished her well and proceeded to hammer ahead. As soon as I hit the tree'd section I see Curtis on the side of the road with a mechanical problem, I think it was a flat(I assume this cause of how many he used to get on our training rides in 2008) but don't know for sure. So I stop to help him and for what ever reason we stepped off the road into the forest to fix it. I think because there wasn't much of a shoulder and the forest came right to the edge of the road. So we work on the bike and get it fixed, come out to where my bike was leaning against a tree on the side of the road and see that my rear rim was trashed. Nearly all the spokes were broken and it was in rough shape. We were at a sharp bend in the road and someone didn't make the corner and smashed into my bike. So I sent Curtis on up ahead and I dropped out of the race. I went to the finish area and walked around talking to different people, telling them about my misfortune. I was disappointed, but only cause I couldn't participate, I obviously was not racing for a kona/PB.

The other dream was really short, or at least the part that I remember. I was being chased by a big bad Grizzly(maybe it was Chad in his next life??) so I ran up to this picnic area where they had some timber framed shelters. I climbed up to sit in the rafters or beams but somehow the bear got up there too. So I had to jump from beam to beam to get away from the bear. There were tons of other people around but the bear was only after me, weird I know!! That's pretty much it, I think someone shot it I'm not sure, I just know he didn't get me, or maybe he lost interest and went away.

DP

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Hello again!

Things are still going well. Lets see what have I done over the last week or two. Oh yeah watching the world champs was awesome wasn't it? I took a page out of Greg's book and planned a pretty epic workout for myself(epic for this time of year). I didn't know how long I could ride for, but I basically planned to ride as long as I could although if I was completely honest I'd say I really wanted to do 3 hours. But I hadn't been on the bike much yet this year so I didn't know. Anywho with the help of one heck of a race! I managed the 3 hours and actually stayed 5 minutes extra to ride CW home. Then went for a 25-30 min run and boyyyy did I ever feel good on the run. Felt smooth and fast. I'm feeling like I'm starting where I left off last year, not having to start over!

So I was running quite a bit till I got a bit of a cold last week. I didn't completely get it, but just enough for me to have to ease off the training a bit. I think I took one day off completely, but that's it. I've been riding a lot like I said I would. Today was a first for me, I rode before work!!!! I can't believe I actually got out of bed at 6:30 to ride. Yeah yeah I know it's not that early for some of you, but I've really been thinking about going to bed earlier and getting some workouts done in the morning. For a night owl this won't be a easy task. You see it's colddddddddd in the morning, especially in the basement. But today it wasn't actually that bad, got to work and I was awake!! Course with the exercise first thing, and just being up earlier made me have to eat that much more for breakfast!!! Yikes my appetite is higher today.

Oh yeah one other thing, last weekend Greg, Chad, and I did the Gorilla run at the zoo. It's for a good cause and Chad was pumped about wanting to win the relay so Greg and I signed up for his team "Grizzled Legend". We got there on time, got the chip and everything. It was chilly in the morning before dawn, but getting to the zones was our downfall. :( Leslie drove us, but it wasn't her fault. I'm not sure who's fault it was but for w/e reason we didn't know exactly where the first transition area was so Chad after running his speedy(he didn't want us to know his leg of the relay was shorter) 5k had to wait for 3 min for us Greg to get there to hand off the chip. Oh well 3 min, it could be worse right? I got to my transition area on time, I even contemplated taking a washroom break, but didn't want a second wait added to our time so I figured I'd hold off the poop fairy(no not the ultra marathoning team from SASK) and run the 5k with no washroom break. Greg came and I sped off for my leg. I have no idea how long it was, all I know is I caught a few more people and we ended up 4th overall 1st all mens team(yes we got chicked). Ran for 24 min flat for what ever it's worth. Over and out,

DP

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Back in the saddle again!


Hey,

Well I'm back training again. Nothing scheduled/coached yet but I'm training. I've ridden a bunch of times already, maybe 4 or 5 times? My running is going good too, I've hardly lost anything and I feel like I'm basically picking up where I left off. It's really a nice feeling not having to start from scratch again. I'm doing all my running outdoors to avoid the spring calf problems that I usually have. Already broken my longest indoor ride this "winter" with a 3:05 ride while watching the IM world champs. I'm dreaming of the day when I'll be riding across the lava fields, hopefully not being blown off the road. My weight has gone up some, but not too bad really maybe 10 pounds? I expected more and my diet is improving again, watching what I eat and not inhaling anything I want. :P

Cam and Trevor good job on your races this weekend. I've checked out your results and look forward to a couple race reports?? Maybe even if they're just short ones? Cam ran in Victoria, and Trevor did the Okanagan(Kelowna) marathon. Cam 3:19 and Trevor 3:31?? Not too bad right boys? Correct me if I'm wrong. Tonight I rode the bike for 90 min, went for a swim then Lisa and I went to watch a movie.

Last year I focussed on the diet, I gotta do that again, but I'm going to also be really making sure I get enough sleep. No more staying up till 2am and needing a nap before my afternoon workouts. I also want to do some morning workouts. Yikes that'll be the hardest thing I've ever had to do while IM training. I am NOT a morning person, but if you think about it getting a workout done in the morning would be sooooo beneficial. You come home after work and you don't have 2-3 workouts to do, only 1-2(most times 1 :P). It'll free more of the evening up and of course more time with the Mrs. I haven't done any yet and as I type this it's past Midnight dont' worry I'm headed to bed after this. Right now it's not important yet, but when things get serious then I'll start getting up earlier to ride the bike. Oh have I mentioned what's on the program for this winter??? MORE RIDING!!! After careful consideration/pondering about my race at Pentiction it's become apparent, ok this didn't take too much thought that the bike is where I need to continue to improve. I really think the intensity of the workouts was great, I can't really put much more effort into workouts. The thing that I can do is ride more, more miles/frequency. So I got to get used to the trainer early. Also trying to keep the long run at 1.5 hours through winter with Curtis. We've had a few good ones already. So here's to a solid winter training season I'm ready to go!!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Tagged it

1. Where is your cell phone? Charging
2. Your hair? Growing
3. Your Mother? Stubborn
4. Your Father? Dead
5. Your Favorite food? BigMac
6. Your dream last night? ?
7. Your favorite drink? Coke
8. Your dream/goal? KONA!!!!
9. What room are you in? Familyroom
10. Your hobby? WOW
11. Your fear? hmmmmm the forgetfulness one, what's that called again???
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? kona
13. Where were you last night? Swimming
14. Somthing you aren't? S M R T
15. Muffins? Where?
16. Wish list item? Zipp
17. Where did you grow up? Farm (that's what all city people think when I say I grew up in the country I may as well go with it. :P)
18. Last thing you did? Kiss
19. What are you wearing? Stuff
20. Your TV? Works
21. Your pets? None
22. Your friends? Quality
23. Your life? MINE
24. Your mood? excited
25. Missing Someone? Yes
26. Vehicle? Honda
27. Somthing you're not wearing? Thinkingcap
28. Your favorite store? ebay
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Same time as #18
31. Last time you cried? IMC? (can't remember if I cried, was def. choked up)
32. Your best friend? Lisa
33. One place that I go over and over? Computer
34. One person that emails you regularly? Lisa
35. Favorite place to eat? Computer

There you have it I was tagged by Julie http://runningwithdoggies.blogspot.com/ (someone tell me how to link with a word). I'm not sure if I'm supposed to pass it on. I'll just leave it open and if people want to they can participate. :)

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Off Season and some thoughts

Hey all,

I haven't been doing much training lately. Mostly running like 3-4 times a week and a few mountain bike rides mostly around the city on bike paths. It's been a good time of recharging. I toyed with the idea of doing a fall marathon since my running legs are still there, but changed my mind. I still don't have the desire to train hard yet. I won't rush things, just take it easy, probably move up to a easy workout a day for Oct. Then hit up the routine for Nov. I haven't taken up the fishing yet. I still could do this provided the weather stays ok, but I have done some gardening. What??? Gardening?? Yes that's right Lisa and I want to plant a few things in our backyard, such as strawberries, maybe some trees and saskatoon bushes. So we made a trip to http://www.saskatoonfarm.com/ a couple weeks ago and got like 3 saskatoon bushes and a japanese lilac tree. If you haven't been to this place yet you should. It's not only a nursury, but they have lots of cool antiques, you can pick saskatoons there(in season of course) and a restaurant with one of the bestest saskatoon pie you will EVER TASTE!! I'm not kidding it was amazing!!

I read this really interesting article on xtri.com here is the main part and the source:

One of the most dangerous things I sometimes see in the athletes I work with or meet is a mismatch between their race performance goals and their willingness to make the sacrifices it takes to reach them. By “sacrifice”, I mean doing something in order to reach your race performance potential when you'd rather be doing something else. Here are some examples:1) Getting your workouts done when you are tired and unmotivated and would rather go out with your friends or watch TV.2) Taking care of your nutrition when everyone around you is eating nachos and ice cream.3) Staying in your specified HR zones when on a group ride where everyone else is hammering.4) Not racing when everyone else is racing in order to meet a longer term goal and foster long term progress.5) Going to bed early when you'd rather watch TV or read at night.6) Going out on a long ride when you'd rather be home with your family.

http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5956&CAT=23&xref=xx

Food for thought uh, it should come with a disclaimer though. Somthing like, "Does not necessarily improve/balance one's life" only looks at improving performance. What are you guys willing to give up for performance? and what are you not?

EDIT: Oh yeah I forgot to add, I got a aero helmet finally. Bought it off ebay for a good price, the brand I wanted to get. It's a Rudy Project, zoom zoom!!

Friday, September 18, 2009

IMC RR #2 (forgotten story)


Hey!

I was just reading Julie's blog and got reminded of somthing that happened to me during the bike section at IMC. I was into the false flat section coming up to Yellow lake during the toughest section for me at least. It's false flat, you're tired, somtimes don't know if I should be aero or sitting up so I do a bit of both mostly aero this year. So at one point I'm aero and looking forward to seeing lisa and my Mom on the climb. Then with out warning or no time to react a wasp flies into my mouth!! You would think I'd have time to close it on time, but I guess 140km on the bike will be the equivalent of a half dozen beers, at least with your reaction timing. It all happened really quick, after it flew in I naturally spit as fast as I could. I'm sure people watching must have had a really awesome show watching this cyclist come by blowing/spitting like that. It flew out instantly, or got tossed out, but on the way out it stung me on the inside of the lip. So here comes the sharp pain that you always get from them. The first thing that comes into my head was oooooohh boy here comes the pain/swelling will I have to drop out??? My race was going well at that point, I had visions of how my run might turn out with mouth pain, I don know what else happens when you get stung inside the mouth??? So yeah my lip swelled up immediately, I went by Lisa/Mom and they yelled for me so there was no way I could tell them anything unless I stop. I wasn't going to stop untill I have to. Drinking was a pain in the ass with the big lip. I even checked the Yellow lake pictures but with out ordering them and checking them you can't tell. So I climbed Yellow lake, rode down into the wind, made my way back into town trying not to drool on myself too much. I started out the run feeling awesome and here's where it gets really bizzare!! I totally forgot about it because the swelling and pain went away!!! I've had stings before and they never do that! I couldn't believe it I thought it was a miracle(ohhhhh yeah I pray in the race ha ha). I guess there was no stinger in my mouth, but I still didn't expect that. Anywho there's my funny story, I'm not trying to top Julie's adventure, I won't ever top one of there posts. hee hee
DP

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Endless Caption possibilities here.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Running down a dream

Hey all,

I have to appoligize for the last post. I believe I said I hadn't done any training. I had already gone mountain biking with some friends last saturday. Also should appoligize to Keith for leaving out the beer drinking. I swear I've been drinking too!! Ask Lisa I polished off a 12 pack/case yesterday that I purchased friday or saturday. So anyways this week I thought I'd keep with the mountain biking theme and I went for a longish ride with "the tank" in fish creek park on wednesday. Man that thing is heavvvvvvvvy, and I have a pretty decent hard tail trek 8000, it doesn't have any rear suspension but it's a good bike. Almost pulled my arm out carrying the tank down stairs after. Yesterday I ran when I came home, just 30 min with a walk in between. I walked along the bow river for a bit, I'm seriously thinking of taking up fly fishing. When I was a kid I fished a ton, wanted to become a guide "when I grow up". I used to subscribe to fishing magazines and would watch the shows, I learnt a ton. Yesterday as I walked along the shoreline I schemed where I would cast if I had my rod with me. Not to brag or anything but I'd usually kick my friends' butts in the fishing, ohhhhh yes fishing is competitive. No rod though not today, maybe I will get some new line for it and try this weekend?? I guess I'd need to get a license. I need another hobby to take up my time while the training is minimal. I'm looking foward to running with Curtis this weekend. Sorry for the random thoughts, I'd name the title that but I think I've worn out that title already. Today's title isn't really related except I really like the song by Tom Petty, and I keep thinking about the ultimate triathlon dream of mine. I will keep running it down(literally and figuratively) till I achieve it. Over and out,

DP

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

R&R, Random thoughts, boys trip??

Hey all,

I still haven't done a thing other than drink pop, eat chips, fast food, deserts, etc. I'm living the good life ahhhhhhhhhh. What?? what is this nawing away at my mind?? More exercise? More goals? Faster times??? Why would I want to do another such race? Weird how when you're approching race day all I want is for the day to be done, and now I'm already looking ahead to the next one. It's important to always have goals though, as soon as you get close to accomplishing one, make the next one. Not to say that I'm not living in the present(see I do learn stuff from my blogger buddies, guess which one I'm referring to now?) I'm really enjoying the down time. I'm renewing my mind, body, and soul. Doing all the things I missed when I was training, most of all spending time with my wife. However I am planning ahead, I'm excited about how things went this year, but I'm also looking ahead, how I can improve, how I can race faster.

Next year I'm doing CDA, it's an earlier race so it'll be more difficult to improve on this year's race for two reasons. The first is that it'll be my 4th IM, they keep getting faster, but the time improvements are going down. I'm getting closer to that perfect race. The second is that there will be less outdoor riding available before race day, cda is a June race.

Last year my focus was the bike, and this year looking at IMC I still need to improve the bike. My swim won't improve much, and my run improves as my bike improves. Ride stronger, get off feeling better which allows for a better marathon. Also run lots during the winter, crank up the riding during the summer when I can and the running fitness holds. This year(for next year's race) I'll again have to focus on the bike. To do this, since cda is so early I'll have to log a lot more trainer time. Learn to lovvvvvvvvvvvvvve the trainer. Those of you that know me know this will be a chore. Last year I rode 4 days a week. This year if I want to improve I'll have to up this to 5-6 days aweek. I also want to add a big block of riding before I even start the big build. There is a good possibilty I'll be doing a bike challenge, min of 20 min a day.

As for the boys epic trip. I just don't know yet, I'm still kinda leaning towards a fall marathon in 2010. Sorry Cam I know you want to do an IM trip, here is why both those ones you mentioned are out for me. St. George, well that's just too damn early, Arizona is also bad timing. I'll already have done an IM in the year(I'll never do more than one a year unless one of them is Kona) and also that time of year is reserved for one IM location only. Speaking of fall, can't really plan too much of anything for fall, what if I qualify for Hawaii? hmmmm I don't know....are there any other ideas?? Curtis you haven't given any ideas yet.

DP

Saturday, September 5, 2009

IMC 2009 RR

Some inspiration for the day.

Swim start and 2600+ of my best friends, at least that's what you tell yourself as they're pummeling you.

Putting on the shoes by my bike. Ready for a good ride!

Riding up Yellow lake, it was soooo nice to see Lisa/Mom there. I think I looked forward to it from the start of the bike.

Going out on the run, feeling good!!

Coming into Ok falls.

Going out for the second half of the run. This is the climb out of OK falls, I hadn't walked yet!

Where's that finish?? I think this is within a mile to go. Just have to do the out and back.

Here's the finish, there's Katie in the background. She had a great race and won her age group!!

No Comment needed here.

Here's me kicking(KISSING) ASS at IMC, well Dutchman Dairy that is.

Hey there,

Here's the race report finally, although not as late as some of them have been. The race went well, another PB. Fairly happy, although of course there's always room to improve and for me again for the third year in a row it'll be the bike that needs more improvement. The conditions were tough this year, but it's the competitors that you race for a kona slot, not the conditions. Either way I need to ride faster. Anywho with out further delay here goes...

Race morning:

I got to the transition really early, 5 am, which is when they said it would open. Still had to wait a bit. Got the special needs bags into their appropriate boxes first, then went into transition and put nutrition onto the bike and pumped up the tires. Then off the washroom all in like 30min, now what do I do with the rest of the 1.5 hours. Oh well I found Trevor/Susan and eventually Cam and we hung out chatting and waiting in line for another go with the poop fairy. I even met Julie and got a good luck hug. So eventually with like 20 min to spare got down to the beach for the start. Sorry Lisa/Mom I didn't get over to the fence to say the last good byes. I wanted to get water in my wetsuit and get ready.

Swim:

I lined up on the far right side, I bit too far right. Last year it seemed to work fine cause everyone goes left and it's actually very un-congested on the right, at least till later when everyone moves over. This year I went too far right and ended up manouvering over a bunch of rocks in knee deep water. Oh well it helped split it up. I had basically no body contact for awhile. Even at the first sail boat corner I had a clear line right on the inside. But people keep thinking it's congested on the inside and go wide k(I like my clear inside line)?? Not sure why the speed boats have to go by so fast, we got huge wakes at times from that. Oh well didn't bother me, I didn't really even try to draft, just swam my pace. I could tell I was in good company as the swimmers around me looked good. My first IM I could tell by the crappy form around me that my time would be slower. The bouys comin back to shore always seem to take long. I guess you're looking forward to the end and the shore already looks pretty close. I'd see 3 more bouys, swim to the next, put my head up and see 3 more bouys, swim to the next, and still 3 more bouys?!?!?! Oh well eventually I did see 2 more, then 1 more, then ground. Got up and looked at the watch, hmmm 1:06 not bad.

Bike:

The transition went by pretty un-eventful except the tent was sooooo full. I opted to run barefoot to my bike and put on the shoes there. Lisa and my Mom were waiting there on the outside of the fence that is. My bike was pretty much the same place as last year. So I got the shoes on and out I go with Cheers from Lisa/Mom. Yayyyyy I made took it easy at first, sat up and enjoyed the ride through town. I like to start out slow, wait till I'm out of town, then slowly start my nutrition. As soon as my stomach felt ok I started sipping infinit. Once out of town down on the aero bars and start pushing a bit. I made sure the pace was easy at least till OK falls. I took in a lot of nutrition on the bike, don't be alarmed it really worked out well. I ended up taking 5 bottles of infinit(160 cal a bottle), 7-8 gels, 2 banana halves, 2 bottles of gaterade, and 2 bottles of water. A pelaton came by just before Richter just like last year. There were like 40 riders with like 2-3 side by side. I would sit up and let them go by, but then there would be more riders coming by. It was really frustrating, but we were close to Osoyoos I figured the climb would break it up and I'd never see these guys again. The pass was uneventful, there's not much to say I just climbed it, pretty easy, felt great. The rollers were tougher this year, I guess that's when the head wind started. Oh btw we didn't actually have a tail wind on the way to osoyoos I looked up at the husky and it was dead calm. At least till we turned around and climbed over Richter, then the wind started on the other side. :P Oh well I don't mind wind and everyone got it. I kept swapping places with the same guys, I didn't really mind it, it's just the way things go. I forced myself to take nutrition even when I didn't feel like it. I took in a lot more than in training. Last year I crashed around the out and back section. This year I got tired but still had lots of calories in me. I had a monster drink at special needs but I didn't end up using much of it. For Yellow lake I was starting to get fatigued, but didn't mind it. We were sheltered in the pass so didn't feel any of the wind till we crested Yellow lake. Comin down I couldn't get enough speed, even the big 360 degree corner I didn't have to brake at all, I pedaled all the way through it. And another hill that I usually hammer over with the down hill momentum I ended up having to shift way down to get up and over. My toes were swelling up and getting numb. I unclipped my shoes on some of the down hills and shook them out, to try and get some blood back down there(to the feet). Back into town and off the bike, I ended up tossing the bike towards a volunteer, they caught it just fine.

Run:
I couldn't pee the whole bike ride, somthin about the heat so by T2 I still hadn't gone. So I took my time and went into a porta-potty to do my thing. Came out, got some quick sunblock on my shoulders and off I go. I felt awesome comin out of T2, the legs felt great. I started out too fast just as last year and had to slowww myself down. I kept having to tell myself to slow down and relax. The first miles were like 7:45, then later it went up to 7:30. I just couldn't run 8s like I had vowed I would for the start of the marathon. I was relaxed so I kept it going. I made sure to put ice in my hat, the heat didn't even feel that bad. I guess I'm a heat runner. I noticed the smoke towards the end of the bike, maybe that was sheltering me now for the run?? I have exercised induced asthma but I never coughed till after the race so I don't know if it ever affected me. So aid stations came every mile I usually took a gaterade and a water at each one. Later on I changed to a coke and a gaterade. Then when the ice had melted in my hat I'd add more water. At times they'd hand me a big ziplock bag full of ice which barely fit under my hat. Last year I started walking a the hills, not this year though. I nearly ran all of it and would have if I hadn't made the mistake of not taking in enough electrolytes for the run. Last year I had infinit in my special needs bag, but it was cooler then I threw it away and this year I didn't even bother. For the hills by OK falls I just remembered all the hills Curtis and I ran, kept it steady, shifted into a low gear so to speak and shortened my stride. I kept repeating to myself short steps, keep the legs moving, you're NOT going to walk. After the turn around in Ok falls you get the special needs, I had a monster energy drink in there but I didn't bother with it. I just took a gel and kept going. I don't even think I stopped to walk while ripping the bag open. All the way out of the rolling hills I kept it going. Greg came by at times, it really helped and motivated me to keep the pace up. At 18 miles my calves and even groin started cramping, aughhhh I could feel them both twinging. I felt good and really thought I could run the whole thing, but now with 8 miles to go it wasn't to be. I decided to walk through aid stations first, trying to get in more coke and gaterade. Although it's not really what I need, I know I was low on sodium/electrolytes. It frustrated me cause I felt ok, I could have run, but my legs would make me stop every mile, then later with 4-5 miles to go I even had to walk at times between aid stations. Oh well I kept it going, ran as much as my body would let me. Eventually I got into town and hit up the finish line. I knew Katie was coming and at the last turn around she was just behind me. I pushed as hard as I could coming in, I wanted to keep ahead of her. She finished just behind me, but I didn't find out till later since I was off to throw up and hit up the med tent. The bag of IV did wonders for recovery, not only that day but the next day I def. wasn't as sore. Cheers,

DP

Thursday, September 3, 2009

IMC results

Hey,

Sorry the RR is late, here are the results from an awesome day. I'll also get some pictures up.

Overall 10:23 - 135th overall - 19/220 (kona slots rolled down to 14th surprisingly, I started getting my hopes up after 13th place was called out with no answer)

Swim 1:07 - 561th overall - 70/220
Bike 5:32 - 332th overall - 49/220
Run 3:36 - 85th overall - 13/220

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Day #3 IMC

Chillen on the beach and eating lunch. mmmm soft tacos, if you're ever in Penticton for the IM they make wicked soft tacos in the expo. It's in a cone shape, with chicken, beef, or jus veggie. Sooooo good.

The merchandise tent. Stay away from this place if you can help it. Very easy to spend a bunch, unless it's your first IM then it's a given you will spend your kids college tuition. :P
Hey there, I'll make this quick as it's 11:21 and I need to hit the sack. I've been busy gettin last minute things ready for the race. Today started fairly relaxed, but by the end I again feel like I'm late getting things ready. Ok we started the day going to the expo one more time. I needed to pick up a few small things that I'd missed, plus exchange my jersey for another size. After that we had lunch(yes we slept in today). No workouts, today was to be a day off of the training. We hung out on the beach for a bit and then went for a drive. I took Lisa and my mom up to Yellow lake, and then back down to OK falls so they know where to go when they are spectating sunday. Stopped for ice cream(none for me though :( ). Then went to the pasta dinner and race meeting. Nothing new there, got to sit with my good buddy Cam and his race buddies from Golden. Good little grp they got, hope everyone's ready to roll sunday.
One problem I have is my number belt. I left the one I normally use at home cause I bought a new one. It looked fine in the package but it's pretty much useless as it won't hold the number properly. I picked up another at bike barn on the way to the pasta dinner, brought it back here and found out there's a defect with this one.... So now I'm a little peeved I really don't think number belt's are that complicated are they??? Anywho too late to do anything about it now, will have to go back tomorrow return this one and try to find one that will work!! See what I mean by last minute prep and then running around town trying to sort it out? I also would like to get a small lil razor blade in case I need to cut the tire off should a flat happen. With tubulars it's often very hard to get the tire off since it's glued so it's often best just to cut the tire off. Oh well these are tiny stresses. I did see a cyclist and car stopped on the main street. The cyclist had a bandage on his arm and the police was writing a ticket out, I assume for the motorist? or maybe the cyclist?? Ok that's enough for today, time to hit the hay. Later all,
DP

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Day #2 IMC

What a beautiful day we had! I don't know the exact high around 30 give or take.
My mom just lovessss plants/flowers. At home she grows all sorts and spends most of her time outdoors.

There's your pose Kelly, not much for arms. lol You can see I also got the playoff beard happening. It got shaved today, don't want it burning on race day with all the salt residue. :P

Last minute instructions before our swim. I think we actually chatted more than swam. Ahhhh I love ironman weekend with friends!

Dinner at Saltys! Here is the gang, well most of us.

Here's Greg, Dusty, hmmm you know I never did get introduced to his gf, I don't even know her name. doh!
Had an awesome day out here. I was having 2 slight things that were worrying me a bit, not much, but a bit. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to think about them. The first, my hamstring was bothering me from a swim a couple weeks ago where my legs cramped up. Also I had some congestion on the way out. Well I'm happy to say the hamstring thing has gone away(wasn't that big a deal really) and the congestion thing is nearly gone with the help of my echinatia. For those of you that don't know it really works for colds you detect are coming. As long as you start taking it early enough with in a couple days it's GONE!
So today started at about 9:30, nice and early for me(not for some of you I know). It was nice out already and I went for a ride to OK falls and back. I needed 50min and that was perfect to get the time I needed. I included some IM paced stuff and added a 10 min run after. Then in a bit after getting Lisa to come pick me up from the hotel we went to the lake, met Cam there, and had a short swim. It was awesome catching up with this dude from Golden BC. I'm gonna tip you all off right here and now, this guy is going to have a good race, I can FEEEL it!! Keep an eye on his results. So after the swim we got registered, picked up a quick lunch there, bought some IM stuff and went home. Later on we met the IG grp at salty's for dinner. That was good, got to meet some old/new friends and chat some more. Saw Belinda Granger on the way back to the hotel, she was chatting it up with a volunteer. Looks like Penticton has become her second home. So we hung out here at the hotel and guess who pulls up in a car. It's JULIE!!! She's stayin in my hotel again, just like last year. I'm excited to see this gal race too, man is she ever gonna rock!!! She is so confident there is absolutely no room for self-doubt or denial. I asked her about the start, I'm debating going out a bit harder to get in with some better swimmers this year. Jeez after talking to her, I got no more doubt. I'm gonna quote her, I hope it's ok Julie(tell me and I'll take it off the blog) something like, "I'm gonna go balls out!!" referring to her swim start. Maybe I need to get on her feet?!?!?! Ok that's enough for today, gotta save some for tomorrow. night all,
DP

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day #1 IMC

Here we are at Lake Louise on our way. This is my mom!


On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again!!! 99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer...


Chad this one's for you.
I Forget the name of this hotel, it's by the ghost town in the shuswab area?
I could totally be a model for Iron Greg uh? LOL

More road pics...

My baby, her and I were separated for a night till Greg brought her by this afternoon
Who's this girl? Gettin ready for a date? We're just going for dinner sheesh! lol
So there you have it Wednesday Day #1 in Pentiction. As you can see we're here in Penticton safe and sound. Had a good trip, even with all the construction delays, but what else is new uh. Soon as we got here I went for a 30 min run with a few strides. The ladies came out with me, walking while I ran back and forth. It was near 30 degrees here already, supposed to be that at least on sunday so it's probably good I aclimatize. After the run we went for dinner, went for a short walk around the beach area, shopped for a few groceries and came back. By the time I got back here I was hungry again so I'm snacking and updating my blog. Man this took long to update pictures. Not sure how much more pictures I'll upload at this rate. I should hit the sack, talk to you tomorrow. Night,
DP







Monday, August 24, 2009

6 more sleeps!

Nothing to say really, just posting cause I said I would. Had a good run/swim yesterday. Today I have a bike ride then I will switch over my cassette to the 404s I borrowed from Trevor Else(thanks Trev). I hope I can adjust the shifting myself, then drop off my bike at Greg's so he can transport it to Penticton. Please be gentle with her Greg, :) Cheers,

DP

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Say Cheese!

Hey all,

Well that was a first. I went for a short ride today. Did some IM paced riding, etc. Nothing too hard, it was really a nice day. Not too hot, bit of wind, but not too much. As I was riding in on Glenmore trail, still outside of the city I had to stop at a light on 84th st. I think? Anyways as we start out again, this half ton pulls up beside me. Someone rolls down the window, I look over to see a young teenager girl with a big bright smile on her face as she pulls out the camera to take a picture of me!!! At first I was confused, what do I do? I could get mad, but then again what would that help and they didn't say a word to me, plus getting upset never really helps. Not like I'd be able to do anything about it anyways. So I do what any ego driven male would do, I get down on the aero bars and pose, strut my stuff!!! Head down, hands out, serious look on my face. So the truck speeds away and I'm left wondering who's myspace or facebook I'll appear on. What would the caption say?? Maybe somthing like, "Look at this dork in the lycra". FWIW I didn't have a race top on, only cycling shorts which were skin tight, but even so to the general public us cyclists don't look normal. My ride went well, with a 16min trans. run after. Felt solid, the weather was awesome too, can't beat it. Cheers,

DP

Friday, August 21, 2009

I love taper time!!!

"Optimism means expecting the best, but confidence means knowing how to handle the worst. Never make a move if you are merely optimistic."

My favorite time of the year.... TAPER TIME!!!! As you train for an event you sorta just get used to being tired and/or sore all the time. Especially with the running, I could probably count on one hand, or two how many times I've run on truely fresh legs. They're always tired from cycling. Why is that anyways?? Running doesn't hurt Cycling! Probably the same reason Cycling holds running fitness, but not the other way around, or at least I think the two questions are related. Anywho I don't think I've ever felt this ready to go. I feel so strong I'm really getting the racing itch. Yesterday Greg, Leslie, Adrian and I headed out for a ride. I was to do 8min, 6, 6, 4, 4 on with plenty of rest between. The pace started off pretty easy, the first 8, 6 I went ahead on my own riding at a comfortable IM pace, maybe a touch faster. Then coming back Greg went ahead giving me a carrot to chase, so the pace/effort went up quite a bit in the second 6 min. Then the last 2 4 min intervals were almost all out. Then in the recovery I did a couple 20sec sprints. Good short, yet still hard. I was a bit sore getting up this morning, but not really tired tired? With all this rest I feel sooooo good, and yet sooooo fit I just love it. Every session feels good, I feel so strong. I'm as fit as I ever have been, the work is done eh. It's reassuring to know that my body knows what to do, I just have to unleash the fury!!!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Blast from the past!


Hey all,

Here's a motivational picture, guess who?!?! Way back in 1995 I'd run a marathon relay where I did 4.5 miles. I saw the full marathoners and at that point decided I wanted to do the full thing 4 months later. There was no doing a 10k or a half marathon first, I knew I wanted to go long. I wanted to truely test myself and here was the perfect distance. My training consisted of reading magazines going out and running till I drop. FWIW I did understand the concept of the long run(although I basically just ran till I couldn't run anymore then walk the rest of the way home). and doing shorter runs between with some faster than others. That's it, I did ok finishing in 3:36 with some walk breaks and I remember hurting so bad at the finish it was unbearable.

DP

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

#447!!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

"I have confidence in confidence alone, besides which you see I have confidence in me!"

Hey all,

Tough weekend as in weather, although I'm not going to complain about it. I think I've complained enough with people around me, as Susan Oseen says gotta focus on the positive things. They are that I've got plenty of good training under my belt, I am fit, I am strong. Sure I don't know what will happen on Aug 30 so I will only think(notice I didn't say worry) about the things I can control. I have to secure a bike rack, get my bike tuned up, figure out when to pick up race wheels. I can't control the weather, or if I'll get a mechanical problem, smoke from forest fires, any past workouts missed. Am I forgetting anything? I will focus on my confidence as that has always been my weakness. I one time asked Greg, "What would you say my one big weakness is?", I don't think he hesitated at all and said somthing like, "The confidence you have in yourself". It surprised me a bit, I was expecting somthing technical or physical ie. cycling strength or somthing like that. Nope my weakness is right between my eyes. I call it being a realist, that's my excuse.

Everyone always has such confidence in me, why is that? Is it cause I am my worst critic? Is it cause "they" don't have anything to loose so they try to boost me up, because it's not them who will "fail" if I don't make X time or w/e? Or is it that they see somthing in me that I refuse to see, or can't see? I met PNF(Paula Newby Fraser) at my first Ironman. As I was walking into transition one day I met her and said good morning. She of course replied back and asked how I was doing, somthing about if I was ready for IM the next day. This being my first IM and the way I am said somthing like, "I don't know, I hope so". She right away scolded me, almost rude telling me, of course you're ready, you've done all the training, you're ready. How did she know what I've done? You can't tell by looking at someone how fit they are. Sure if they're thin, ripped it might give you the impression that they've done some work, but not necessarily. You can get all that with just weights. She's not concerned at all with what I've done, how many hours I've done, or how many miles I've logged. All she was touching on was my confidence. It's too late to go back in time and change anything, so why worry about it? I gotta stay in the now(have to steal that Susi) the past is the past. Sure I have to pace myself according to my training, fuel up like I did in training, race smart, but stop worrying about the shoulda, coulda, woulda. Great lesson to learn.

I've come along way. I know it's my weakness, it'll always be somthing I have to work with. By now people around me know this and constantly remind me. They catch little things in what I say, mainly when I use the word "If". It's frustrating sometimes, not so much that they are reminding me, but that I forget. Part of this confidence thing is a fear that I get. Race mornings I will fear the race so much, I'll get so nervous that I actually dread it. Before Wasa I def. let it control me. I still had a great race, but the morning wasn't pleasant and I never dealt with it properly. For the Calgary 70.3 I took it more seriously and dealt with it on the saturday, the day before. I made a consious decision not to let the fear control me and just made the choice to look forward to the race. Just like that all the fear disappeared. I remember talking to Julie the morning of telling her that I wasn't as nervous this time, this is why. Sure there was still some nervousness, some is good in my opinion. But I didn't dread it, and I think I was actually excited to race?!?!? k, so that's enough beating the dead horse(not literally Susi).

The conclusion, I'm going to Penticton with a renew'd confidence. I'll remember everything I need to remember, but with a calm peace about it. I'll enter lake okanagan knowing I'm ready to give it my all. I have time goals, placing goals, but if the day throws some obstacles my way I'm ready to deal with them. Ironman is all about making decisions on the fly isn't it. Over and out,

DP

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Already a day late

Hey,

Sorry didn't blog yesterday, but oh well we all knew I wouldn't be blogging EVERY day. But hey 2 days since my last post is better than 2 weeks. I've been taking it very easy lately, partly cause my motivation is petering out. I just need to hang on for a couple weeks. This weekend has been cool with more rain. I keep reminding myself that it's ok these workouts are just to maintain, it's ok if I have to ride on the trainer.

Friday:
Rode on the trainer for 1.75 hours. Did some intervals, not really hard intervals basically just shifting up for 5min, 5rest, then 6min/4rest, 7/3rest,8/2rest,9 then cooldown. Went to the pool with Lisa after that, late at night think 10pm I finally started my swim. Did a 1500 tt in 26:45, was pretty happy with that, I think my last one a couple months ago was in the 27s.

Sat:
Today Lisa and I were gonna go to Banff so I had to get my butt going. Still didn't get my run going till 1pm, but only did 90 min. Felt strong though, def went a bit quicker then the 2.5 hour runs in the past. Oh something that made me laugh during my run. I was cruising along one of the paths near fish creek park, not too much residential or streets near by. I could hear a siren in the distance wailing like they normally do, then just across the creek near the path I was running in the bushes a few coyotes started wailing back. It was clear they were trying to match the higher pitched EMS/Police siren. It was hilarious, I'd thought coyotes were smart???

Today I need to ride a lil longer, not sure what I'll do. It's only 15 degrees(I know I'm a wuss) and raining/hailing even. We'll see, might have to ride indoors again, ttyl

DP

Friday, August 14, 2009

Holy Sh@#% is that IMC counter right?

That was my only thought for today. Am I ready for Ironman? I've done all the training, had mostly good races this year. I feel good, lost some poundage. Did I mention I reached my goal race weight? I've lost 30+ pounds since Christmas, yeah I do gain/loose a lot over the year. Oh well I'm going to really try and blog each day, even if it's only a paragraph. I know I know, I've said that before. This time I mean it, honest. Over and out,

DP

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Calgary 70.3 pics


Just sayin hi (short RR that ends up being pretty long)


I haven't blogged for awhile. Some of you probably think I owe you a RR. hmmmmm to write one or not to write one...... Ok I'm gonna give a short one, call it a compromise ok? EDIT: Didn't turn out that short uh!

Race Morning:

Got up wicked early, maybe 3:30? I find it easier to get up if I didn't get much sleep to begin with. Met Greg at the bus shuttle and we rode out to the race site together(thanks for the long sleeve shirt Greg). First things first, got my bottles onto my bike, had to bend one of the cages into place, guess it had blown over in last night's wind. Met some old manitoba friends that I hadn't seen in like forever, found Trevor and Susan Oseen, even got a pic with Trevor, I'll try to nab it off his site. Said hi to other local friends/triathletes. Wished them well. Waited and waited for my heat to start. Got in the water with Mark, Trevor, other Mark, Shannon and waited for the gun to go off.

Swim:

I positioned myself with my buddies on the inside of the dock, but just before the gun I changed my mind and moved to the middle. The horn goes and off we go!! Finally no more nervousness it's go time. The swim had good and bad parts. My finishing time showed me that my swim fitness is there. Considering the problems I had with vision I was thinking I was out of the race half way through. we turned the one corner and my goggles decided to fog up just as we were facing the sun. I tried to follow feet while I hoped that they would clear, but eventually I lost the feet in my blindness. I was so blind I never saw the next bouy till we were 10ft from it. I didn't want to stop to clear the fog, I was hoping it'd clear up on it's own. It didn't.... on the way back I sensed I was by myself so I stopped and cleared them. So then the goggles leaked for the rest of the swim. Oh well at least I could see. Coming in towards shore the waves were big, but I was happy, I don't mind swimming in waves, I mind swimming blind. So I stood up with 35 minutes down in the race. Hmmmm not as bad as I thought, and with the 2-3 stops I wasn't tired and felt great!!!

Bike:

The wetsuit strip went well, grabbed my cycling shoes and ran to my bike at the far far end of the transition. It was in the last row furthest away from the lake. I ran to the bike, put my shoes on there, grabbed my bike and off I go. Long run to the road, but it's the same for everyone, almost at least. I felt good immediately here, must be all those hard swims eh Greg?? Felt great on the bike and since I was in the last wave I got to pass many many slower cyclists. That was kinda bitter sweet. It would be nice to know exactly which are in my age grp. I could kinda tell by how fast they were going, or if I bothered to check their age on their legs, but I didn't bother. I just rode as hard as I could. Greg asked me after about how I pace on the bike, hr, pwer, times, speed? I don't really have anything except the mental picture in my head. I got the fastest speed I can obtain as a 10, then I ride at 9. Complicated eh? About 20k in 2 guys passed me that were def. in my age grp so I kept and eye on them. I stayed well back, even got dropped at first, but managed to stay within site and passed them back a few times. Then on the way back they decided to cheat(draft) so I lost them. Later on Frank(age grp winner) came zipping by. Man can that guy ride, there was nooooo way I could keep up to that pace. Coming through Cochrane it was a bit frustrating, they had a lil no passing zone and I had just come up on 3-4 slower moving cyclists. I wasn't frustrated with them, not their fault they have every right to be there as I did, just frustrated at the timing. So I sat on their wheel, like a lil kid asking, "are we there yet??" There was no sign telling me to pass so as soon as I had room I zoomed by, I made sure they knew I was there. There were long lines of cars from airport road almost all the way back to Cochrane. Yikes I'd hate to be sitting there watching all the bikes go by. Later on I ran out of fluid, I had thought 3 would be enough, but it wasn't. I guess I was drinking more in the heat??? I even thought of asking a cute female competitor if I could borrow some, she had a full bottle on her cage why not? The aid stations were past already so I'm SOL, so I went through each bottle again, you know how there's always a bit more left. It musta looked rediculous trying to nurse some more drops out. Had an awesome dismount as I was telling Julie, hardly any slowing down, had my feet out of the shoes, swung my leg over so they were both on one side and "touched down" so to speak. My bike caught a curb or somthing cause it rocketed like 2 feet in the air banged down, chain flew off and my shoes were spinning madly all while dashing into my spot. I had to look at my wrist band to get my number to call out. I get really brain dead when racing and need to be told 10 times exactly where my spot is. Really quick change(for me anyways) and off I go onto the run. 1:30 trans. 2:31 bike.

Run:

Pumped about my sub 2:40(with transitions) ride I started out hard. It's a gradual downhill. I kinda misread my watch but I think my first 2k were in 8min. Pretty good, if only I could keep that pace through out the half marathon eh? Soon I started to feel the heat, and the hills started after the first 2k. If you look at the course not much of it was flat, I think only the part down in the valley. The rest of it was either up or down, but I like running hills. After the initial 5k push I tried to back it off a bit, I realized that I may have gone out a bit too hard. I still felt strong, one way I know this is every time I managed to slow down, I sped up again. It seems I was on auto pilot. I kept seeing friends on the course which helped sooooo much. Just as I'd go through a rough patch I'd see another buddy, wave, or say somthing and draw energy from it. Especially Julie, this chick really knows how to lift your spirits. Someone even mistook me for Trevor, that made me laugh. Then soon after about the 15k mark I started to feel a bit sick. My calves were also starting to twinge a bit, like they wanted to cramp, they never did but they were threatening to do so. So I took more coke or powerade in at the aid stations and kept pushing. I got to the last hill and tried to run up but twice I stopped to walk a few steps, I hate walking in a race, but I did, just a couple steps, then resumed the run. The last 2k were uphill again, man were they ever tough. I couldn't hear the finish or see it, but I knew after the mile marker it's gotta be close. Why won't it get here already!!! Just hang on, push push push, finally the finish shoot, around the corner and finish. What a relief, racing hurts doesn't it?? I guess it's got to, how else would we know we've done our best. Run was 1:37 finishing in just under 4:50.

Reflect:

Did great, didn't really have a time goal but wanted to be around 4:50. The bike was long, but also fast with the net downhill and tail wind so that probably made up for the extra distance. The run was really tough, but I'm glad I did so well with the hills and heat, good sign going into IMC. Thanks to all who yelled at me during the race, and to Curtis, Leslie, and Lisa for comin out to cheer me on. This race was special since there were so many friends on the course. I enjoyed watching all the heats, cheering on my friends(at least coming out of the water and heading out on the bike) then seeing everyone on the course. Sorry to those that didn't or couldn't cheer back at. I was cheering in my heart. :D I checked the results and was pleasantly surprised, finished 3rd in my age grp. I guess all the super fast guys stayed home??? I stuck around to get my award, but didn't take a clearwater(world champs 70.3) spot as I'm only after one world champs, it starts with a K and rhymes with Rona. Cheers all,

DP

Monday, July 13, 2009

Big volume

Hey all,

I've been slaving away, doing my own version of the July Legend camp..... at home though. I'm really happy I made it through despite all the rain, I think I had 2-3 indoor trainer rides and got dumped on a few times outdoors. I pretty much kept the trainer rides to the easy days. It sure would be nice if we could get some solid warm weather. Today since I have no workouts planned I actually don't mind another day of rain. Here is a summary of my virtual camp;

33 hours, 24 hours in the last 7 days

Saturday July 4
5 hour bike (upper/lower z2 work with the last hour at IM pace that hurt so bad)
30 min transition run (felt really good)

Sun July 5
2:15 long run with Curtis (felt really strong and we picked it up for the last hilly 5k) Ran an average of 7:45 per mile aprox
1:15 swim can't remember what I did

Mon July 6
40 min run at noon aerobic
2 hour aerobic bike in the evening (think it was a trainer ride, crappy weather)

Tues July 7
1 hour Swim morning (forget what the sets were)
2 hour bike after work (str low cadence intervals 6 min efforts)
30 min transition run (felt strong ran pretty hard)

wed July 8
40 min run at noon, 6x2min hard(3 min recovery btw)
90 min ride (think it was another trainer ride with bad weather)
1:15 evening swim

thurs July 9
2 hour ride? (don't know the time), went to Edworthy park since the weather was sketchy 15 Edworthy hills 1 mile in length

Friday July 10
40 min run at noon aerobic
1 hour swim in the evening

Sat July 11
long ride 5:50, 180k(lots of upper z2/IM pace)
40 min trans run after, felt good/strong

Sun July 12
Long run with Curtis(very very hard getting up in the morning was very sore from yesterday's ride), we ran for 2:30 - 29km at a pace just over 8 min per mile(a lot easier effort this week as the legs were hurting more) picked it up at the end though
1 hour swim in the evening

Now time to rest up and prepare for more!!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Size Small?!?!?!!

Heya,

Just a quick update. Things are really starting to go well. I'm in the middle of a hard 9 day stint here. Since I can't make the July Legend Camp Greg has me doing my own volumn period. So far it's timing could not be better. I'm healthy, the weather isn't quite up to par(this weekend was a lil dicey getting the miles in) but I came through somehow with flying colors. A couple workouts I've done this week are thurs hill repeats. Cochrane hill 5 times followed with a 30 min transition run. Long ride yesterday went for just under 5 hours, the weather was really tough, cross wind the entire time, hardly any tail wind as the direction shifted on my way back. Went through rain, but still managed to get the last hour of intensity. Greg has me doing all kinds of hard stuff in my long ride, it's gonna make the IM ride so easy deasy. Oh well that's the point I really want to run fast off the bike. Today was the long run, 2:15 with some intensity at times on the way back. The last bit I really pushed the last rolling hills and the distance came to 28 km. You do the math on the pace it's under 5 min a km and would make me sooooooo happy to run that pace coming into Penticton come Aug. 30.

The training has always been easy, diet not so much. But I'm happy to say that I'm succeeding this year. I've been really really focussing on the fruits/veggies, cuttin out the crap(processed, coke, fast food, etc) and I'm coming out on top. I knew when I did this I would drop a ton of weight I've just never had the will power to do it. Well it hasn't been entirely on my own, Lisa is the mastermind behind this operation, I could never have done it with out her. I just have to eat what she makes or packs for lunch. :) What a jewel of a wife eh?? I have a few other people in my life that have given me heaps of advice. Some other things we've done is sub in brown/whole wheat pasta/rice and more and more veggies for snacks. At work I bring other snacks, granola bars, etc but they get eaten last after everything else is done and only IF I'm still hungry. So I've noticed a huge difference, it's taken a couple months to take the full effect, but I feel better and of course I'm not lugging all the weight around like I was before. At Christmas I was over 190 pounds, now I'm down to nearly 160 pounds, maybe 10 pounds under last years race weight? Don't be alarmed it sounds like a lot but I normally fluctuate quite a bit from the off season to race/training season. Just never this much and I still have almost 2 months to go. I'm fitter, stronger, and now lighter!!! I've noticed the biggest difference with the gravity, on the bike climbing hills is much easier, duhhhhh and of course running. I'm def. getting my running mojo back and the less weight I have to push up and forward the better.

So friday I'm in the Tri-it store and I've been wondering about possibly wearing a one piece. My top was riding up a bit last race, plus I chaf from the number belt, and I burn. Seeems like a logical solution right? Anyways the lady helpin me out eyes me up and gets a medium out. I try it on, usually mediums are hit and miss, somtimes they fit, other times tri gear seems to fit smaller people better and I have to go to a large. As I come out of the change room it seemed to fit just fine, they looked a bit then claim that it's a lil loose around my thighs and around my neck area/back. They don't have a small but they could order me one. Now my hearing isn't that great, but did you say small??? I never use a small in tri gear. What do the 130 pounders wear? Or do they have extra small for those guys. They weren't quite sure but when I mentioned I'm loosing more weight yet it was decided I need a small.

So there you have it I'm a small. Not that I need to loose weight or anything(my co-workers think I'm sickly already) but I do want to go faster, like zoom zoom fast one way to do that is to put solid fuel in me and to cut down the weight. Simple as that, plus it's given me such a good feeling to finally succeed at the one thing I have failed at so many many many times...... my diet

DP

PS: A few thank yous are in order;

Leslie: Thanks for all the advice you gave on the Penticton trip and for answering all my dumb questions. I even texted you a few times with questions. You probably get tired of them, but hey at least you see it's helping uh? Maybe you can use this story with some clients IE: Look if this dummy can get it and has the will power to do it, anyone can!!!

Curtis: You've been giving me advice for years, you only know how stubborn I can be. Sometimes I listen other times I'm like the goat who sees green grass on the other side of the fence. Little do you know I do hear everything you tell me and have learnt tons.

Greg: Thanks buddy for all the late night chats on msn, advice between swim sets, and of course the chats in the hot tub after a swim. Your advice and even the times you give me heck for not carrying water on my long runs or eating anything after a long run are def. needed. :P

Lisa: I couldn't have done it with out my baby. As mentioned she's the one behind this operation. Doesn't the saying go somthing like, "behind every successful man there's a woman" did I get that right? She makes my lunches and makes me super healthy dinners. She's learnt nearly from scratch how to cook and does and amazing job. :) She of course supports me and puts up with my crazy training schedules. I def. owe her big time for this journey to IMC. Maybe I can repay her with a trip to kona??? K, over and out this time,

DP