Psyched - For many things

The Swim

Anyone who knows my performance last year was always done with a bit of community spirit in the swim as I always held back and made sure 95% of the field was out of the water before exiting myself...I wish!!!!

Anyway my motivation over the past 3 weeks and for the rest of the year is number 92 (That was the number out of 94 I was in the swim at IM Canada). Not much better in any of my other races either. So 15 months after barely being able to swim a length of the UBC pool I now find myself there 2 to 3 times a week with a couple Cameos at other pools working on ym technique and stroke.

So the news is still a long wayt to go but at the moment are swimming faster than I ever had and based on indicators tonight if I go thrown into the water for an Ironman Swim without a wetsuit I would be 15 minutes or so faster than my time last year. Add to that the wetsuit and realistically could swim a 1:15 to 1:20 at the moment.

Lots of work to do but signs are good....being in the pool 14 of the last 18 days has really helped so aim will be for each month up until april to increase my days in the pool for the month each month. Realistically thinking aiming for a sub 1:10 could happen!!!! which would fall into my 10 plan for ironman

1:10 Swim; 5:10 Bike: 3:10 Run 10 Min Tranistion and porta potties; 10 Min contigency adds up to 10 minutes below 10 hours

Ice Breaker 8km

Racing thsi weekend and intend to be semi fresh....treating this as a b race of memory...have hads a rest/light week this week so should be feeling good. Time will tell. Race Plan to be posted tommorow

Stay Classy San Diego

9 Days and will be in San diego....plans for that to be announced but will include riding a stage of the Tour of California...hopefully close to 1000km of riding, 5 days of running and 5 days of swimming

Also just found out there is a half marathon the day after we arrive...US Debut awaits :)

Generally Pscyhed

Loving this right now, just need to focus on my recovery and listen to my body but handling early season volume well.

Shoe Sponsor for 2009

This has been on the cards for about a few weeks but thanks to the awesome guys at Forerunners I now have a shoe sponsor for 2009 in Newton. This is great especially as I switched to Newtons of my own accord in September and have been really happy with them and the technology.

For those that have not heard of newtons they promote mid foot/forefoot running. Having focused on this during 2008 in order to improve my form and reduce my impact and use of quads running of the bike I have found the newtons have really complemented my running style and provided some additional cushioning and spring on my mid foot. This has definitely resulted in my recovery speeding up between runs and contributed to me dropping my 10km time 1min 49 sec's to 34:51 between Oct 08 and Jan 09.

About Forerunners - Forerunners are an awesome store located in Vancouver, BC. They put on running clinics that focus on a variety of different workouts and I have learned a lot about training based on these. They also have a super staff who comprise of 2:10, 2:11 and 2:17 marathoners among others all of which are very knowledgeable about running as a sport and a activity. In addition to this they also support local running in Vancouver and sponsor the Pacific Spirit Tri Club.

So if you are looking at a change of shoe would encourage you to look at Newtons as an option and see if they are an option. For you and for those based in BC drop in or email Forerunners the next time you are looking for anything run related. If you are looking for something different in your workout I would also recommend dropping in for one of their Wednesday night workouts.

Killer day but Rewarding - Marathon Day!!!

So today could be the scene of thursdays to come..aim kick the crap out of me in a responsible way!!!

Morning - 11.6km Run to Work..as always with the commute was carrying wallet blackberry and this time swim gear. Plus about 4 layers based on the sub zero celsius temp. Run to work sucks!!! is a constant up hill but gets it out of the way

Lunch - 30 Min gym workout...11 min running drills and 2o minutes core work

Evening - 18.78km
Meant to leave work at 5..come 5:30pm was in the locker room, super quick transition and on the rode at 5:36.....18.78km to do in 1:24 .... mmmmm not as easy as I would have like for this run...ended up doing it in 1:29 at a respectable pace of 4:46 km's. Given carrying all the extra crap was happy with this.

Swam - 50 minutes..Was shagged but still ddi it, wimped out of turning it into a triple a hitched home with the famous Nick C

Add to this the forernners workout the night before (11.6km of interval work across 48 minutes) and ran a total of 41.98km in 24 hours......damn should have just run around the block once at lunch and would have had the 42.2km. Having said that 10 minutes of running drills at lunch count so awesome....

Wednesday 7pm to Thursday 7pm is now my "Marathon Day" split over 3 runs and with an eye to recovery on the thursday.

FYI my time for the "Marathon" was 3:24:25

Track workout on the agenda tommorow (Friday) with swim in am and maybe a quick spin at night.

Saturday, Swim Bike Run

Sunday.......Swim, Bike, Run

Chilly Chase Race Report - 10km

Time 34:30
Place 3rd Overall and 3rd in Age Group (20-29)

So Second Race in 2 weeks, first time I have done this in my life so was an interesting challenge. This once again was a "c" race but the aim was to break 35 so still looking for an aggressive run. Previous day ran 27km and swam 2km but all in all felt good come race day.

Pre Race

Fog has enveloped Vancovuer at the moment but the race site had clear skies, temperature was around negative 4 degrees Celsius by all reports so race definitely lived up to its name. 9am starts still require an early start and was running a bit late so just grabbed some lara bars for breakfast and headed out to the race with Nick and his folks.

With it being so cold and a long line up for the washroom only did a 15 minute warm up but felt good. Did normal combination of activities and a few more dynamic drills than normal. At start saw a familiar face in drew Nicholson who I finished behind at fall classic and turkey Trot and nick recognized Nathan Killam who has evidently run 34:30 in an olympic tri.

Race

Startto 3km
So race begun, super narrow start chute but not a big deal, started out trying to go easy then dropeed onto Nicks shoulder for the first couple km's. Turned into a group of 4 heading out with a huge gap developing to the next group so looke dlike a race in four. Nathan had an early break of about 20m but everything seemed to be holding steady. Was trying to find a rythm and hands were freezing (need to pick up a few pairs of dispoable gloves for these early season races) and sat in 4th place until about 3km.

Taking the lead

Was feeling good and based on the km splits (Which soon discovered were way out in spots) thought sub 35 was slipping so made a move on the hilly section of the course. Picked up cadence and attacked the hill, kind of caught me by surprise how much ground I picked up on the field as before i knew it had gained the 25m on Nathan and was in the lead, kept on pushing through the hill section.

Lost the lead and had a gap form

At this point I kind of went from time trialing to racing and tried to hold the gap, was caught on the next flat section so just decidied to try and hang on a shoulder for a bit but lost a gap in the retake and dropped down to 4th and off the back of the pack by about 100m. This was at about the 4.5km mark and then started to try and hold the back of the pack to about 75m.

Nick takes the Lead

Pretty much this is where the race stood for the to 9km . Nick took a good lead around 5km or so and built a lead of about 100m from Drew and Nathan. Nathan was looking back at the gap a lot which kept me working but couldn't seem to pick up speed to close the gap from 75m.

Felt good throughout the race and was working hard but not as hard as in last weeks 8km as think I was running a bit more efficiently. Nick kept on building his lead and with 2km to go look like he had it in the bag

Last km

Kept on working to close the gap on Nathan but could only maintain, gained a little but minimal and ended up 8 seconds back of Nathan. Drew was doing the 15km so gained a place by default as he was not in our race. Nick finished in 33:75 which is awesme and took the win by about 300m and 45 seconds. Awesome reuslt for Nick and bodes well for Boston.

I had to keep on working to ensure sub 35 and came in at 34:51 so mission accomplished.

Post Race Thoughts

• Pushed that hill too hard and that led me to losing the pack. Need to be a lttle bit more patient in this respect and keep to the plan.
• Wish races would not put out km markers if they are so far out of true.
  
• Downhill running still needs some work so need to focus on this in training
• Need to work harder to hold the pack as once its gone it is very hard to regain
• Very happy with going sub 35 min, though may be out of reach for today but all turned out, good pacing plan showed it was possible.
• More speed work should bring good results and need to look at my goals for upcoming races and make sure A goal is aggressive enough
• Awesome for Nick to take the win.

Next on the Menu

• Big week of training around non training events I have to attend. Target 70 to 90km of running, 4 days of biking (one big one outside post swim and many days in the pool)
• First Track session for the new year!!!!!
• Icebreaker 8km on Feb 1....this is in richmond and part of timex series. Will ahve a couple day taper for this one and really watch food intake. Aim for this is to go sub 27:30 with a strech goal of sub 27
• San Diego in 3 weeks...1 week of riding
• Sun Run/Times Colonist Goal (Both in April) was originally sub 34..may revise this to 33:30
  

Chilly Chase 10km - The Race Plan

So I am sitting at home eating toast and Vegemite (Thanks Adrienne you legend) and eating coffee and watching the "Obama Express" coverage.

I tell you, if CNN started to cover sport it would be pretty entertaining
- Tiger Woods has just missed a 11 foot put on the practice green at home, does this mean his game is of. To discuss we have brought in two Golf Analysts one from titleist and one from Nike to discuss the impacts of this on the golf economy. But we have the Golf Channel for this so I suppose the market is taken.

Anyway here is the plan for tomorrow, having a reasonably heavy low heart rate training day today but figure should still be fresh tomorrow. Is a 9am start so are planning a 30 minute warm up and some dynamic drills. Are pace setting with Nick so we will likely alternate km's at the front. Based on my ability to go out slow I sense we will have Nick Lead the first km and alternate from there. From a plan perspective I would like to go something like;

1km - 3:20 to 3:25
Km's 2 to 8 - No Higher than 3:30
5km Split - 17:15 to 17:30
Km 9 - 3:25
Km 10 - 3:20

That's the plan, execution is another but if speed in legs is there should hopefully go between 34:30 and 35. Happy to blow out in this one if the risk means potentially going sub 35 so will definitely be "time trialling"

Will see what happens...good day of training thus far, fog is lifting so may ride outdoors today.

This is Sick

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1778399&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

This sport is mad but looks like would be a lot of fun...and by a lot I mean both terrifying and exciting.

Week in Review

Good week of training had thus far, Ran and Swam on Monday, Core Workout and Spin on Tuesday, Speed Work Run at Forerunners and Spin on Wednesday, Swim, Run and SPin on Thursday. Friday was a rest day and just about to do the following today;

Saturday's Plan -
Run to Pool, Swim, Run to Run, Long Run.
Home by 10:30am eat, sleep
Spin

Sunday's Plan
Racing 10km - Will post a race plan of sorts tonight. Trying to run sub 35min with even splits. Hopefully get to pool in afternoon.

Test - Shared Workout Calender

Thank God he's not in my age group

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21498,24915670-5005401,00.html?from=public_rss

How I Became Walter

Pioneer 8km Race Report - Jan 11th 2009 - Saanichton, Vancovuer Island
BC 8km Road Championships

Result 27:52 (34th overall) (10th in Age Group)
(Avg 3:29 min km = 5:37 min miles)

Winners Time (Richard Mosley 23:35)

Last year I didn't do a lot of running races because I didn't trust myself to still give it the day before training. Add to that it was my first year of tri really wanted to focus on the first two ingredients of the omelet.

Anyway this year as you can see by my race calender I have a lot more races, however if they are C's like today was I plan to train straight through.

Day before

So the race report starts with the day before, was updating the club website on Friday Night on an extremely slow internet connection till late then had difficulties with my internet connection so skipped the early morning swim and run that was planned and focused on fixing that. So enough of excuses hopped on he trainer for 2.5 hours and did at 45 minute brick so felt good with the day.

Pre Race Dinner meal - Bacon and Egg Focaccia and hashbrowns

Pre Race

Sunday morning woke up at 5, loaded the car and drove to the 7am ferry. Paid my $10 for parking :( and hopped on the bike with my newtons and 25 layers of clothes and boarded the ferry (Another $10). Pre race breakfast of belgian waffles with frozen berries and some weird cream concoction courtesy of bc ferries (Another $10)

Ferry gets in and then begin my first outdoor ride of 2009. When I left home thought should pump up tires, when I got on ferry thought should pump up tires, when I got of ferry thought should pump up tires. After 10km acttualy pumped up tires. Cruisy 15km ride in 40 minutes and at race venue.

After locking up bike registered and got my geasr in order, changed into race gear and warmup clothes and decided to start to focus on a pre race routine. First real shot at this but went like this;

T - 45 minutes went for 15 minute run
T - 30 minutes popped a GU
T - 25 min last bathroom break
T -20 minutes take of warm up clothes
T - 15 minutes dynamc warmup

Felt good after all this so will use this going forward and adapt over time. If I am driving to the race may extend the warmup run though to 30 min

The Actual Race Report

This was an all star field by BC standards from what I can tell, so unlike some of the races I target were I go out with the lead pack and see what happens this was never part of the plan. Target was 29 min and closer to 28 min if everything went well.

Start was about 150m downhill before a left turn, wasa good pack run down the hill so my larger build held me in good stead against skinnier "runner" types. Race spaced out after about 500m and got into a good rythm,. Knew was going out reasonbly hard but at 800m I decidied I would at least try and sit on the shoulder of people who overtook me.

Start to 1km Split - 3:12
This was a little bit faster than I was aiming for but not to bad.
Start to 1 Mile Split - 5:17
This is fast for me, I haven't really given it in a mile but I have thought breaking 5 would be tough, having siad that felt ok
1km to 2km split - 3:27
A little bit more sanity, had found my spot in the field so wored on maintaing gap with the runner ahead.
2km to 3km Split - 3:35
Think just eased into a bit to much hear, really need to eliminate the 3:30 min km in my races, isn't pysiological but more mentally not focussing on form and cadence.
3km to 4km Split - 3:28
Had got overtaken by a couple guys (More on these guys later - one was named Walter) after my slack 3rd km, worked the hills as is my strength and started to open up a good gap on these guys by the top of the hll in brentwood bay, remember this hill from Victoria Half ron bike course and the hockey goal bottle toss.

So at halfway I was 13:43, not feeling great but not horrible. Still losing a little ground on the downhills and couldn't find the form I had late last year before the snow but hill running was going well. Sub 29 was very acheivable now bar a big blowout.

4km to 5km Split- 3:30
Felt worse than this but must have held it together, was thinking just get to the 6km mark and you can throw up (Was actually thinking that). One of my training goals this year is to work that hard in a track session that I throw up, nearly acheived that in Race 1 :)
5km to 6km Split - 3:37
Garbage, this was just mentally weak. Need to be more cognisant of changing technique to get throw these moments, should have actually tried to surge a bit at this point. Was a false flat uphill hear but really no excuse, 7 seconds thrown away!!!!
6km to 7km Split - 3:34
Brain is a bit fuzzy in this one, was in pain and heart rate was >95% of max pretty consistently at this point. Think I once again didn't run the downhill well, had the guys I had overtaken previously overtake me and tried to hold on to them for a bit but was sliding back a little.
7km to 8km Split - 3:29
Still struggled in the first part of this section but kept on hearing go walter for the guy who was two ahead. I had heard go Walter a lot (Most of the racers were from the island which seems to have an awesome run/tri community) so decided I would be walter for a while. Also the womens leader was not that far back from what I could tell so had a carrot in front and a stick behind.

With about 750m to go checked behind me and had a decent enough gap that I figured that I could try and chase down the two guys in front without losing any spots if I went totally toast, picked up the cadence and knee lift and started working,e specially when people cheered my name (Walter!!!). As with all my races now I had scoped my give it at the finish point and was the 150m uphill to the finish line, knowing I can run hills hard I thought I my have an edge here. Got the guy I had been yo-yo'g with for the last 7km with about 180m to go so the sprint started earlier. I do not like letting people sit on my shoulder in the last 200m so always try to make a gap that they now have to bridge. So now Walter (me) was chasing Walter (The real one). Kept up my give it pace with huge knee lift and running purely on toes and caught him but was living in fear of getting chased down especially when that was the call made by someone in the finishing chute (The first guy I had passed was on my tail). Really started to pump now in pure pain and actually nealry caught another guy on the line, tried to slam my foot on the finishing pad first but missed it by a second.

Walter in foreground, other guy I was sparring with all day and me in the background at about the 4km mark. thinking "I have 4 more km of pain to go!!!!!"





race in review

Exceeded my target time after a month of very little speed work due to the snow so all in all awesome result.

Think I need to work on my race focus so I don't lose 5 seconds here and there, as well as maybe slowing down the first km just a little (would have been happier with a 3:20). Also think I need to get my downhill running mojo back, was losing a little ground in these sections.

Was awesome to race in such a strong field and the local support and volunteers were awesome. Even though I was on my own at the race with no friendly faces by using cheers for other people actually made a difference mentally so was happy overall with how I pushed my self to my limits. Also hill running was strong and that is a good sign for future races.

Post race
Got my ribbon for 10th in my age group and managed to stomach some of the food on offer. Also one an entry to the Victoria 8km race which I may donate to the tri club or something as plan on racing in Kona (fingers crossed) or racing the Victoria Marathon if plan A doesn't go to plan.

Headed out for the rde back to ferry, gave it a little more on this because I could, started to get a slow leak (at least I think) in my front tire near the end but posed no issues. Had my post island race ferry food traditon of a double double combo (Another $10) and caught the ferry home.

Race Economics

So race economics for this one = $23 entry, $22 race day food (the Gu counts) , $30 ferries and parking, and a $5 in gas. Cost = $90 which equals $11.25 a km or $3.23 a min

Next on the Agenda - The search for sub 35

Chilly Chase is on next week and me and nick are taking this on with the aim to go sub 35 for the 10km. Mcmillian calculator say that I should run 35:07 based on today but is a flatter course and we will be pacing each other. If no one else good turns up we could have a chance in this one. Busy week at work for the first half but should hopefully get some good training in with a few recovery runs/doubles and the forerunners workout on Wednesday.

Treadmill and Snowy Pool

So is still snowing in Vancouver....so was on the treadmill for a run today then at the pool for the first PSTC workout of the year;

Pool was surrounded by snow but was 79 degrees so was actually quite pleasant to swim in. Got some good coaching based on a smaller turnout and felt much smoother in the water.

Did about 1600m with some good quality technique and drill work. Two photos below..one of the outdoor pool covered int eh haze of fog and one of my parking effort on the side streets near the office. the city is still a gong show at the moment.




Treadmill run, nothing interesting but wanted to get a run in at something faster than "snow" pace with an 8km race being on my agenda on the weekend. So decided to do a progression run as that adds some variety to the treadmill workout. Struggled a but more than I would like a 6 min mile pace but think this may have just got the cobwebs out. Speed workout on Wednesday at forerunners weather permitting.

Still loving the newtons but looking forward to this damn snow melting, or people shoveling their sidewalks. Thinking hell will freeze over before the latter.

Run with 3% gradient

400m at 6:15min/k; 400m at 6:03min/k; 400m at 5:52min/k; 400m at 5:41min/k; 400m at 5:31min/k; 400m at 5:21min/k; 400m at 5:12min/k; 400m at 5:04min/k; 400m at 4:56min/k; 400m at 4:48min/k; 400m at 4:41min/k; 400m at 4:34min/k; 400m at 4:28min/k; 400m at 4:22min/k; 400m at 4:16min/k; 400m at 4:10min/k; 400m at 4:05min/k; 400m at 3:59min/k;
400m at 3:54min/k; 400m at 3:50min/k; 400m at 3:45min/k

equated to 40:19 of running and 8.4km of distance covered and 874 foot of elevation gained.

Race plan for the weekend to come soon

2009 Race Calender

A Races have full taper based on event distance
B Races will be scheduled after a couple of recovery focused days
C Races will be trained straight through

Goal is to be race hardened and have good running base come July prior to main build for IMC

Date	Race Type	Race	Distance	Location	Race Prioirty
Jan-11	Running	Pioneer 8km (TIMEX Series)	8km	Victoria	C
Jan-19	Running	Chilly Chase 10km	10km	Langley	C
Feb-01	Running	Icebreaker 8km (TIMEX Series)	8km	Richmond	A
Mar-08	Triathlon	UBC Triathlon (TIMEX Series)	Olympic Distance	Vancouver	C
Mar-22	Running	Comox Valley Half Marathon (Timex Series)	21.1km	Comox	B
Mar-28	Running	Spring Classic 5km (TIMEX Series)	5km	Vancouver	C
Apr-19	Running	Vancouver Sun Run (TIMEX Series)	10km	Vancouver	B
Apr-26	Running	Times Colonist 10km (TIMEX Series)	10km	Victoria	C
May-03	Running	Vancouver Half marathon	21.1km	Vancouver	C
May-24	Triathlon	Shawnigan Lake Half Iron Triathlon	Half Iron Distance	Shawnigan Lake	A
May-31	Running	Shaugnessy 8km (TIMEX Series)	8km	Vancouver	C
Jun-12	Running	Longest Day 5km (TIMEX Series)	5km	Vancouver	C
Jun-21	Triathlon	Victoria Half Iron Triathlon	Half Iron Distance	Victoria	B
Jun-28	Running	Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon	21.1km	Vancouver	C
Jul-01	Swimming	Canada Day Open Water Swim	4km	Vancouver	B
Jul-12	Triathlon	Vancouver Half Iron Triathlon	Half Iron Distance	Vancouver	B
Aug-30	Triathlon	Ironman Canada Triathlon	Ironman Distance	Penticton	A
Sep-13	Triathlon	Sooke Half Iron Triathlon	Half Iron Distance	Sooke	C

Shortest Day if Triathlon - Dec 21

So to kick ff the winter campaign in full earnest we got together and decided to exercise from dawn to dusk on the shortest day of the year. This day also happened to bring with it 30cm of snow which I will get to later.

6hours 28 Minutes on the bike and run

bike 1 hr 3 min 48 sec

Trainer Ride - Low Intensity

run 40 min 9 sec, 6.8 km

Snow and Slush

bike 2 hr 18 min 9 sec

Trainer ride

run 2 hr 13 min 28 sec, 18.0 km

Snow and Slush - Some Walking

bike 14 min 32 sec

Trainer Cool Down

Snow and Slush

So biking was ok as was indoors in the spinner, generally pretty much cruising especially knowing what was involved on the run. Running during a snow storm is like one long speed workout even though you are running slower than a recovery run. First run involved some cross trianing with helping push out a Mercedes c230 onto a side road and 1 foot deep hill climbs up QE hill.

Hit the Wall

Second run was the first time I have bonked on a run in a whie, after having slip and slided around for for 90 minutes my body started to shut down on all the icey and snowy bits. Funny thing was everytime we hit a shovelled sidewalk the feeling of speed was fantastic.

To Finish the Day

A beer mile was held, but more on that in the race report. All in all was a pretty good day and one of many 6 to 8 hour training days to come inthe coming months.

Snowed In

Have a heap to post over the next few days as have been busy with the whole Christmas thing and the like. Have just finished the relaunch of the Pacific Spirit Tri Club website so will have some time to get some rhythm back on the blog.

Plan for the weekend is for a 15km run in the morning followed by a swim and potentially a 17km commute run in the afternoon.

Well the aim is this week is to do the following on the blog;

• Post Shortest Day Training Report with a Race Report on the innaugral solsitce beer mile
• Give an update on a training in the snow and ice across winter
• Update the race plan for 2009 on the web