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

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!!!

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

#447!!!

"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

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

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