California Dreamin'

OK, maybe it's more "Florida Dreamin'", but they're both Sunshine States and only one has a song.

Another round on the trainer tonight, expanding on last week's effort and going to 2x20 minutes at 280w. Under no circumstances is this ever a "fun" workout. It's tough, requires a lot of concentration, and probably more clock-watching than any athletic event should. During the second interval, I could feel the effort increasing and I was starting to stomp the pedals, so I focused on getting a smooth complete stroke going, and my pace picked up with less effort. A good reminder to make sure the form is solid the whole way.

I also figured out why Saturday was so tough. The recalibration was a small part of it, but I must have bumped into the bike at some point because the rear brake had shifted and was rubbing the wheel. I did the entire ride while braking. I'm of two minds on this: 1) I got in a killer workout, and how impressive is it to put up halfway decent numbers with the brake on; 2) I'm an idiot, and I can't compare this workout to anything else since I can't (won't) replicate the conditions, so it's almost a waste.

5.5 weeks. Who's getting excited?

Bike: 65 min, w/2x20 min @ 280w, 5 min recovery
Run: 2 miles @ 7.6 mph + 4 strides

Still swimming

Pre-Clearwater swim #3 complete. That's about all I can really report. The public swims aren't the most conducive to great training, but there weren't as many people there tonight, so it was possible to keep doing the work I wanted to do without too many interruptions.

I did run into one of the others from my club who is also headed for Florida. And by run into, I mean that literally. During my first warm-up lap, she was coming the opposite direction hugging the same lane rope. I guess it was her first time at the swim and wasn't sure how it was organized. We collided, had that stunned "What happened? Was it me?" moment, then got back to the task at hand. I felt pretty good in the water tonight, better than last week. My times were solid, and the form felt right (or as close to right as my form ever feels). Maybe I won't just keep my edge in the next month or two, but if I can shave a few more seconds off, I'll be even happier. Maybe I won't be last out of the water.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free
1x400 pull, HIM effort, 1' (6:55)
2x300 free, 45", as 25 quick/75 ez
3x200 pull, descending, 30" (3:53, 3:40, 3:25)
4x100, 15", odd: sprint (1:35, 1:36), even: ez non-free
Total: 2400m

All the matches were burnt

We've established that yesterday's ride was pretty tough. I spent the rest of the day eating, which is always a good thing, except perhaps for some of my choices. I invented a new treat (chocolate peanut butter Rice Krispie treats), and ate most of the pan. The sugar from that, along with the caffeine from a bottle of Diet Dr. Pepper meant I didn't get much sleep last night. You know when you're so tired you can't keep your eyes open, but behind those closed eyes your brain is going a million miles an hour? Yeah, that.

But I actually felt OK this morning. I got in a decent eight mile run, including some hills. I'm still watch-free, which I'm liking quite a bit. Then I did some yard work, worked on a letter, some plumbing, and had a productive morning/early afternoon. By three o'clock, though, it was over. I crashed hard. I was barely a step above "zombie" for the remainder of the day. I'll need another good night's sleep tonight, and be back at it tomorrow.

But I'll never regret the chocolate PB treats.

Run: 8 miles, hills, + 4 strides

Six weeks to Worlds

Or, Recalibration sucks.

Since my legs still haven't come back in a big way, I had no intention of doing a particularly hard ride this morning. It was going to be a decent workout, but nothing too taxing. I had noticed on Tuesday that there was some slipping on the rear wheel, so I tightened up the contact on the trainer, and after warm-up, went through the recalibration procedure.

Well, that wasn't enough it seems. Just more proof that the i-Magic is really only good as a workout to workout check, as long as things don't get changed too much. My plan had been to do two hours, with 3x20 minutes at 240w, 10 minute recoveries at 180w. That should get my heart rate into the high 140s-low 150s during the hard stuff, and mid-120s during the rest. It definitely didn't work out that way. I ended up doing the intervals between 220-240w, heart rate reaching the low-160s. Rest was about 170w, HR ~145 bpm. By the end of the ride, I was hammered. I haven't felt that crushed in a long time. It took a second to gather myself once I dismounted to make sure I didn't fall down. I've undone a bit of the tension at the back, so hopefully next ride will be reasonably close to what I was doing before.

At the very least, I got a good tough workout in. And it's tough to complain about that.

Bike: 2:15, w/3x20 min @ 220-240w, 10 min recovery

Easy Friday

Run: 4 miles @ 7.5 mph + 4 strides

Cold Sweat

I guess the running legs are the last things to come back after a race. I was feeling OK for tonight's run, but there wasn't a lot of spring in my step. I'll keep things relatively easy for a couple more weeks, and by then I should be ready to roll.

Run: 6 miles @ 7.6 mph + 4 strides

It's not always exciting

I started with an easy run after work. No worries there. Legs are still a bit off, but they'll come around. And then I had another night of public lane swimming. It wasn't as bad as Monday, but it was still at the wrong end of the good-bad continuum. I did as I promised and grabbed two pullbuoys before I started my workout, and it's good I did, since, as predicted, one got boosted midway through. No point in worrying, though. Just get the work done.

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph + 4 strides

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
3x300 free, 30", descending (6:03, 5:52, 5:40)
100 ez non-free, 30"
3x200 pull, 30", descending (3:50, 3:45, 3:30)
c/d - 200 non-free
Total: 2400m

Not quite back yet

Off to the trainer for the first "real" training session leading up to Worlds. Since I know I'm not fully recovered yet from Muskoka, I didn't want to hammer it at pre-race intensities, but I wanted to get in a really good session, so I settled on a 3x12 minute @ 280w workout. The workout was manageable, but felt a little tougher than I would have expected it to. The fatigue was still apparent in my legs. Aerobically I was fine, with my HR barely cracking 160 bpm on the last rep. I'll keep with staying as rested as possible, getting a little work here and there, and should be right in another week or so.

In other good news, swim club will be starting up again November 3. That means I can get two swim sin with them before heading off for Clearwater. Even better, it means that one of my scheduled public swims doesn't have to happen, saving me a certain level of frustration. So I can revise my count from yesterday, and only 11 (or perhaps 10) public swims to go.

Let's be nice and call it "interesting"

Since only four people from my swim club qualified for Worlds (and one for Kona, which really, if you think about it, 5 people out of about 40 is a pretty damn good rate for any club), and most people would be taking a bit of a break, there's no organized swimming until November. That leaves the few like me to our own devices, which translates to "public lane swim". Since my preferred schedule doesn't leave me many options for swim times, I'll be back at my old pool twice a week from 9 -10:15 pm. I've gone through my last few weeks of coaching, and adjusted some of the workouts so I can get ~2400m at a time. That will have to do, I guess.

And now the fun begins at the pool. There are six lanes in the 50m pool, but it's roped to only have three "lanes": slow, medium, and fast. The slow lane is for old people who are walking in the water, and Chinese ladies who are bobbing up and down. The medium lane is full of old Chinese men casually breaststroking the length of the pool. The fast lane, then, is pretty much everything else. At any given moment, there were 8-12 people swimming, with a variety of strokes, speeds, kickboards and other implements. The military has a term for things like this; it starts with "cluster" and ends with "firetruck", minus the "iretr". The only positive is that the lane is so ridiculously wide that passing is easy enough to do, except right by the wall where people will turn in any number of fashions.

The one thing I was pretty confident would happen came to fruition. My pullbuoy was "borrowed". Luckily I didn't need it again during my main sets, as I passed the end of the pool, I noticed it had gone missing. I saw one other swimmer using a pullbuoy, and as I finished up my work, kept an eye on his whereabouts. When he came by as I was about to start my cooldown, I grabbed him and said, "I think you have my pullbuoy." He stared at me blankly. "Where did you get that? From the deck?" He nodded. "That's mine." "No, uh ..." "It has my name written on the side, it's my pullbuoy." And I got it back. Am I the only one left who wouldn't think of taking something that isn't mine? If there's one pullbuoy out, I would think somebody has it for their workout, they may not be using it right now, but will in the future. If I didn't set it out, it would never occur to me to just take it and start doing lengths, potentially screwing up someone else's sets. I think from now on, I'll grab two of the pool's buoys and leave them on the deck, so if somebody takes one, I'll still be good.

Only twelve (or 11 if the pool is closed on Thanksgiving) more sessions like this to go.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
500 free as 75 ez/25 quick, 30"
400 ez pull, 30"
300 free, HIM pace, 30"
200 ez non-free, 30"
100 sprint (1:35), 30"
c/d - 100 pull, 100 back, 100 breast
Total: 2400m

Back on the road, too

On the bike, my legs are fine. I don't think I'm quite fully recovered for running just yet, though. I kept it easy today, about six miles, all flats, not timed, but by the end I could feel it in my feet and calves. I don't have any intensity scheduled for a few weeks, just rebounding on the mileage, so there's lots of time to build up my tolerance again.

Run: 6.4 miles, zone 1-2

Back in the saddle

After five days off, I guess it's time to start back to training. My off-season is delayed by this little trip to Florida, and I don't want to embarrass myself too much. I continued to bike commute all week, so I did burn a calorie or two, and I could start to feel some sensation returning to my legs by Thursday and Friday. This morning I kept it easy, just zone 1-2 work on with the tri-bike on the trainer, while watching The Fausto Coppi Story. Now that man could ride a bike.

Bike: 90 minutes, zone 1-2

How to get faster during taper

Most experts will tell you that you can't get any faster during the last few days of taper before an A race. I'm here to tell you that they're wrong. I have three tips that worked for me in a huge way last week:

1. Coffee - Or more specifically, an absence of coffee. I parted ways with my dark master the Sunday before the race. It was rough for a couple of days, but I managed. When I started using the caffeinated gels on race day, my sensitivity was back and they actually had an effect. This isn't necessary for B races, but I always do this for big events.

2. Shoes - Not running shoes or cycling shoes, you need good shoes for all your pre-race activities. I highly recommend Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Flames. I have the Lo's. The speed and coolness of these shoes will permeate your feet in the preceding days, making you faster than you can imagine.

3. Music - During the last 48 hours, my musical selection was locked in on Lyle Lovett, Hank Williams III, and Five Finger Death Punch. What does western swing, hellbilly and death metal have to do with each other? Just sheer awesomeness. Lyle will help keep your nerves under control, then right before the race, a little 5FDP to fire the engines. (I listened to Way of the Fist three times on the way to race site. Thanks to my wife for being so understanding.) Do this while wearing your hotrod shoes, and you'll race like an antelope on meth that's been hit by a taser.

There you are, now go race better than you ever have. But if you're lining up against me, forget everything I just said.

And in case you're not familiar, here's Way of the Fist:

Customer service

Or, Why Rudy Project rocks!

I mentioned before that a retention strap broke on my Rudy Project helmet over the weekend. Last night, I sent them an email to find out where I could find a replacement part, some kind of kit, similar to what you can get for their sunglasses. Eight minutes (8!) later, I got an email back saying they were sending a replacement free of charge. This is why I have an RP helmet and two pairs of shades.

A post about goals

I guess now is the appropriate time to reflect on the goals I had going into yesterday's race. And I did have a few:

1. Finish - Admittedly, this wasn't the most difficult goal. I'm hard-headed enough that I'll drag my sorry ass to any finish line, no matter the condition (see running a half-marathon on a bad foot two weeks ago). But I can check it off.

2. Finish strong - This is difficult to put into an exact measure, but I wanted a really good run. I would have been disappointed if I was stumbling in with a 2+ hour half-mary. I was thinking around 1:35, but considering my 1:38 was a top 10 time, I think I get another check mark.

3. AG places - With the course (hills, the T1 climb and the extra 4km) and the weather, I abandoned all time goals. Instead, I had a few ideas about places I would have liked to get. Since at The Chase I went 62/21/25 for 26th place, if the field was twice the size, I thought top 100 on the swim, 40 on the bike, and 50 on the run would be great. That would put me top 40, maybe even top 30 at the finish. Well, I went 57/21/10 and took 11th. Huge check mark.

4. The top secret mystery goal that only my wife knew about - Let me digress for a moment ...

I'm the worst natural athlete you know. (I know, anybody around the world could be reading this, and I don't know everyone they know, but trust me.) A quick rundown of my athletic history: I played youth hockey for six years, and scored one (1) goal. I was the last kid chosen in my hometown in citywide tryouts my last year. In my single season of Little League, I reached base six times (2 walks, 3 hit by pitch, and 1 throwing error, which was one of two times I made contact all season). I improved my provincial racquetball ranking by 25 positions by not playing in any tournaments for six months. As much as I love sports, I'm not automatic at any of them.

It may seem that I've picked up triathlon fairly quickly, with this being my first year, but really it's not. I've been running for fifteen years, cycling for ten. Most people, if they logged the miles I have over that time, would be well beyond my abilities. My improvements in swimming this year stem directly from the primary lesson I've gotten from those sports: Just do the work. My swim coach mentioned it after the race, and I like the term; I am "diligent". It's 5 am, 30 below, and you have to go to swim practice? Just do the work. You're tired but you have an hour of threshold intervals scheduled? Just do the work. You want to go to a concert, but that requires moving your evening 5 mile run to right after swim practice in the morning? Just do the work. Eat right? Just do the work. Get enough sleep? Just do the work. It's a very blue-collar, western Manitoba/West Texas farming ethic, but it's what has gotten me my little successes.

And that brings me to yesterday. A year ago I told my wife that I had the slimmest possibility about qualifying for the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida. It was unlikely, but I wanted to take a shot. That required from her the permission to "just do the work", and log some heavy miles in our first year of marriage. She made that sacrifice, and let me disappear in the wee hours of the morning, to the pool or the road. Every step, lap and pedal stroke was with a single-minded goal. I couldn't tell anyone about this, not to jinx it, or have people ask about it if I missed out. But it was there. Yesterday, every kilometre that went by was another kilometer closer to Florida. Every person I passed was another rung up the ladder of qualifying. Waiting for rolldown was one of the most nerve-wracking times of my life.

On November 8, 2008, I'll be in the water in Clearwater.

I paid my entry fee and I'm registered. This is one of the most surreal moments of my life. If you had known me for 99% of my life, and heard I was going to a world championship, you'd assume it was for sports trivia or math. There's no way it involved any actual athleticism. But, it happened. I barely slept last night thinking about it.

I'm a testament to just doing the work. If there's anything you want to accomplish, look to me and see that it can happen. It won't happen overnight, it may take years, but you can get there. Lose weight, finish school, go to Worlds. Every day, you just do the work.

Now for Worlds, I'll need a new goal. The first thing that comes to mind is, don't be last. Let's start from there. I get a few days to rest and recover (my feet are a mess and my calves are screaming), then guess what I'll just be doing?

Wow - The Muskoka Ironman 70.3 Race Report

Um, yeah ... I don't really have an explanation right now. But I'll give it a try.

It's been a long year building up to one day. That's a lot of pressure for one race, to make or break an entire year of training. So let's get to the race and see what happened.

Swim:
I lined up in the second row center, expecting a little bit of jostling, but giving me a good chance to find some quick moving feet to follow. And that's exactly what happened. I took a kick to the jaw and another to the nose, but there wasn't any blood, and I got in a good draft. As I described yesterday, I wanted the swim to be comfortably hard, and in the draft, that translates to speed. I was able to maintain that position for about half the swim, then I lost my leader. I tried to catch a few others, but with a sparse crowd, people had more room to maneuver, and it was easy to lose the feet if you weren't paying attention. But I also noticed the sparse crowd, which meant I was somewhere near the front. The last few hundred meters were through weed-filled waters, which made it like climbing the side of a moss-covered hill. I got to the wooden steps, got a helping hand from a volunteer out of water, and was quickly stripped out of my wetsuit. Toss it over the shoulder, and start trucking up the hill. Some people were walking. My speed would be best described as jogging, but with my elevated heart rate and wobbly legs from swimming, it felt like sprinting. When I hit transition, I noticed that there were still a lot of bikes in the M35-39 racks, so I was in good position.

Bike:
The rain was continuing to hold off, but I was concerned about a chill, so I threw on some arm warmers and took off after the folks in front off me. I ended up pulling those back down to my wrists by the halfway point, but it was worth the time. The course starts and ends with a solid 15km of steep climbs. The section in between is better described as rolling, with a few solid climbs. I tried to keep my heart rate down on the first few climbs, but with it already elevated, there were a few spikes, but by 30 minutes in, I was in the right range. At this point, I was just collecting scalps. I'm a flyweight, so every time the road goes up, I'm at a distinct advantage. I was trading positions with another rider for about 20km, where he'd pass me on the downhills, but I'd take him on the climb, and put more space in on the flats. I kept up with my nutrition, a gel every 45 minutes, gatorade/whey protein at the other 15 minute intervals. I took water hand-ups at the aid stations at 34 and 65 km, and I figure I took in about 1000-1100 calories over 3 hours. Given the terrain, there was little chance for draft packs, although I did get passed by one around 50km in. Surprisingly, their cooperation kind of fell apart, and I ended up passing them again for good by the 70km mark. Some of the big highlights were catching two of the elite women. It's a good day when you're bringing back anybody in an elite wave. I knew I was passing a ton of folks. I'd spot them up the road, and slowly draw them back. I took the last few kilometers fairly easy, since I couldn't spot anyone close behind me, and I wanted to save my legs for the run. I also wasn't passed by anyone in my AG. I was moving up the ladder. Now, the question was, where on the ladder was I?

Run:
After a quick T2, I set out on foot to try to catch a few more people. Just out of transition, I was passed by a fellow from my age group, so the goal was to keep him in sight. The course is all up and down for the first 8 kilometers, so I settled into a "comfortable" rhythm, hooked a few runners up ahead, and reeled them in. Just after 8km, I rolled past another elite woman, so that makes three for the day. From 8 to 14km, the terrain is mostly false flats, so you can just settle in. As I passed one runner who was struggling a bit, he exclaimed, "Geez, I need to work on my running." And I thought, "If you can say that aloud, you need to run harder now." Continuing my good day, I pulled back the athlete who passed me out of transition, and hit the last 5km. This section is on one the Deerhurst Resorts golf courses. If you've never followed the golf cart path of a course, you're in for a surprise. All it did was zigzag back and forth, and each end was a climb or a descent. This was brutal. I was finally starting to fall apart, but I still had a few bodies I needed to catch, so I focused on going "fast enough". It had been raining off and on since the start of the run, so my feet were soaked. This made my feet slide around, especially on the downhills, and on each step I could feel my toes slamming into the front of the shoe. I was looking forward to finally being done. At around the 19km mark, I was passed by one of my competitors. He was flying. During the pass, he gave me a "Good run", and I responded with "Go get 'em". I tried to mark him as best I could, but the difference in speed was tremendous. I got to the last hill, then it was downhill and around the corner to the finish. I shouted my love to my wife, couldn't see anyone behind me, and trotted up to break the tape. I felt like I had a really good day, but I didn't know how good it had been.

How was it? I came out of the water in 57th place. I passed 35 people on the bike to move to 22nd. And on the run, I gained another 11 positions, to finish 11th out of 214 in my age-group. I thought I might get into the top 40, or sneak into the top 30, but the edge of top ten? My reaction was the title of this post. "Wow." Then I think I started giggling. And I'm still a little gobsmacked.

Official results:
Swim: 36:49 (1:51/100m, 57/214 AG)
T1: 4:18
Bike: 2:51:49 (32.8 km/h, 21/214 AG)
T2: 1:45
Run: 1:38:05 (4:39/km, 10/214 AG)
Total: 5:12:43, 76/1299 overall, 11/214 AG

I had a couple of mechanical issues. I discovered during the bike leg that part of the retention strap at the back of the helmet had snapped. I'm not sure what happened, and it was a bit uncomfortable, but since the fit is pretty tight, it wasn't sliding around on my head. I'll have to get in touch with Rudy Project to see about a replacement part. An even bigger issue was my watch breaking. I noticed the day before that part of the strap had snapped, but I had hoped that it would hold during the race. Instead, just after I put on my wetsuit, it flew off my wrist as I was about to put on my swim cap. Good thing it didn't happen in the lake, or I'd never see it again. I was able to put it in the "dry clothes bag check", but I was now racing without timing. I had a clock on the bike, but the run was going to be blind.

There were a few lessons from today. First, I'm pretty sure I'm 100% slowtwitch. The longer the course, the better. Guys who regularly crush me in sprint races, and even at The Chase, were no match today. I may not have natural speed, but I have what I've always referred to as "grip". I don't slow down as much as other people. Second, and similarly, I perform better on more difficult courses. On the bike or run, terrain that slows down everyone, slows me down less. If I ever do an Ironman, maybe I should do IM Lanzarote. It's reportedly the most difficult course on the series. Third, especially on a difficult course, running without a watch works well. You can just focus on a given exertion, and let it fall where it will. There's a certain freedom to that, which is good for long courses. You don't have the pressure of chasing a goal pace, which would be very frustrating with as many ups and downs as we saw today. Fourth, I just love racing. Passing people, and trying to keep up with people who passed me, is a rush like no other.

Coolest part of the day: Coming toward the town of Dwight on the bike course, there were a couple of volunteers on the side of the road, calling race numbers into a walkie-talkie. I didn't think much of it, but as we passed through town and the crowds, they were cheering the competitors by name. The volunteers were relaying the upcoming riders, and an announcer was letting the crowd know the name of the next rider. It was pretty cool to ride through a corridor of "Go Drew!"

Oddest part of the day: I was running through an aid station just past 12km. At the end of the tables, there were a couple of pre-teen girls calling out "Spray! Spray!" I shook my head "no", so as I passed by, one of the girls threw a cup of water in my face. WTF? As I continued on my way, I heard a woman (mother perhaps) tell the girls, "If they say no, don't throw water at them." Was this really a lesson they needed to learn?

All in all, an amazing day. A year ago, I never would have imagined being able to put together a day like this. A few hours later, and I still don't know how to react. I keep checking the results, afraid that I'll see a DQ beside my name because I must have cut the course. There's no way I went that fast. But I guess I did. Maybe I should be disappointed I missed the top ten, but I'm not. I mean, I wasn't supposed to approach the the top 20, and I'm 11th? I'm a bit concerned I'll wake up tomorrow, and it will be today again, and all this was a dream.

A look ahead

With the big race looming on the horizon, today was just about getting some blood flowing and things loose. After waking up, I went to the hotel parking lot and set up my trainer, getting a good 30 minutes in. I changed shoes, and knocked off a quick 15 minute run. The terrain here is constantly up and down, so I got to practice a few hills, and things felt really good. We'll see how they feel after a 3+ hour warm-up. Bikes had to be checked in the day before, so I went to the race site, turned over my ride, and went down to the lake for a quick swim. Ten or twelve minutes in the water, some sighting practice, then I towelled off and got in the car to drive the bike course.

Last night we attended the athlete's welcome banquet. Good food, and we had a few speakers address the crowd. The theme of the evening seemed to be: hills. Apparently, they have lots of them around here. The scouting mission of the course bears this out. As a training ride, this course would be a blast. For a race, this could be a long day. There won't be any records for the 70.3 distance set tomorrow. Speaking of hills, they found a way to add one to the swim. From swim exit to the transition zone is a 300m run straight up a hill. It's not part of the 1.2 miles of the swim, and they don't subtract that from the half-marathon. No, it's just a bonus. Aren't they nice?

I've abandoned any time goals for the day. With the extra 4km on the bike, along with the hills on the bike and run, and a swim exit that could take 2 minutes, there's no real point. Roughly speaking, I want to find a good set of feet on the swim, and swim comfortably hard (instead of hardly comfortable). I'll hit the bike and keep my HR between 135-145 bpm, going up towards 150 on the tougher hills. 150 bpm will act as a hard cap. I had been thinking that I may be taking it too easy, but knowing how much gas I'll need for the run, I'd rather take it a bit too easy than a bit too hard. The run will be when I bring out the "hardly comfortable". The weather is looking pretty miserable, with rain all night, hopefully letting up in the morning for a few hours. It's just going to be a battle out there, so let's suit up and get to it.

For those who are looking to keep track on IronmanLive, I'm #84. That's a low, pseudo-pro number, eh? My rack is right beside the elites. Of course, I won't see any of them, since they'll be long gone by the time I arrive. But at least I'll get to see them on the beach before the start.

See you on the flip side.

Just ride

The last ride at home before the big day. It's just an easy spin on the trainer with a few pickups. Nothing special to report, but the legs feel good.

Nobody can seem to agree on the weather for the weekend (three sources provide three different results), but the mean seems to be overnight low in the mid-teens, high around 20, with a chance of some light showers, and little to moderate wind. The water temperature was recently measured at 68, so it should be a cool but comfortable swim. Tonight I'll do most of my packing, and be on the road tomorrow. The hotel claims to have free wi-fi, so I hope to be able to keep posting, but if you don't hear from me until Monday, that means I was SOL.

If you're really bored on Sunday morning, IronmanLive should have an athlete tracker set up for the Muskoka 70.3. "Watch" my progress through the day. And feel free to send positive thoughts around 8:09 am Eastern.

Bike: 45 minutes zone 1-2, w/4x90s @ 240w, 3 minutes recovery

Just run

Today is a double-duty day, but with the workouts split. I opened with a short run this morning, and I'll be back on the trainer for a quick ride tonight. I was a bit concerned I might have some lingering after-effects from the part of the run last night that may have added to the bruising, but everything was fine. I knocked out my 4 miler with a few pickups, wearing the Katanas, so those will be the race shoes. I've had nothing but good runs in these, so I'm confident the streak will continue.

Back later with round 2.

Run: 4 miles @ 7.5 mph, w/2x90 seconds @ 8.4 mph, 3 minutes recovery

Foot's still holding up

Not to jinx anything, I didn't add my run to my morning post today. It was an easy 3 miles, and I wanted to check how my foot would hold up. I started off in my Zoot race shoes, and I was able to determine what the problem was two weeks ago. Something on the side of the shoe was pressing back into my foot, and by five minutes in, I had to change shoes as I could feel something reforming. I changed to the shoes from yesterday, and cruised through the rest of the run with no issues. I guess that starts to answer the question of which shoes to wear this weekend, at least by eliminating the Zoots. I'll test the Katanas tomorrow and then I can make a decision.

Run: 3 miles @ 7.5 mph

Last swim

Today ended the season for the NYAC swim group. This was also my last swim before the race, unless I decide to splash around a bit on Saturday. We got a good group out, with some of the Mon/Fri crew coming out for one last gasp. Still, the workout was designed for the racers, and it was a nice way to finish off the year.

I talked with the coach briefly after practice. He's also taking part in the Muskoka 70.3, in a different wave than I am, so I asked him to call out from the beach right before my wave goes off, "Finish your stroke, Drew!" I also checked on when registration for next year will open up, because I've got two lanes to go.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
400 pull HIM opener, 1'
100 ez free, 1'
2x300 free HIM mid-race pace, 2'
100 ez non-free, 1'
3x200 HIM finisher, 2' as 2 x pull, 1 x free
c/d - 4x50 non-free, 10", 50 pull, 10"
Total: 2800m

The sound of footsteps

I could write this post a certain way, building up the tension, teasing the readers along, then unleashing the happy news. But I won't. I'll just come right out and say it: I ran two miles tonight pain-free. Details to follow.

The plan was for one last brick tonight, a 60 minute mostly zone 2-3 ride, finishing with 10 minutes of zone 4 (to get some fatigue in the legs), then a quick 2 mile run at race pace. Well, with my foot, I was anticipating much by way of running, so I extended the ride by about 15 minutes. Then I put on my shoes and got on the treadmill. I was expecting to feel something and quit within the first minute, but I was fine at 60 seconds. Well, Sunday I really noticed it at 2 minutes. Again, no worries. I passed the 4:33 mark with no issues, and by the time the first mile was done, I was about ready to burst with tears of joy. I just kept clipping along until 2 miles were complete, then cooled down and stretched. No pain at all in my foot. Not even afterwards while walking around. I'll keep up with the anti-inflammatories, icing and bruise cream, just to make sure, but it's looking like I'll be back to speed by Sunday.

I did the run in the same shoes as the half-marathon, so that's a good sign that I'm better. I'll test-drive my racing shoes and another pair over the next couple of days, just to see what I should maybe be wearing during the HIM. Things are looking up.

Bike: 75 minutes zone 2-3, w/10 minutes @ 270w (zone 4)
Run: 2 miles @ 8.4 mph

The penultimate swim

What am I going to do with myself for a few months while there's no swim group? Who knows, but there's no time to worry about that now, because we've still got some swimming left to do. With really only a bunch of 70.3'ers left, that's the focus on the training. Everyone else has to deal with our prep (like me suffering through the 3.8km tests). Always a nice thing to see on the board: About halfway down, the phrase "70.3 racers get out". It's always right before the sprint sets. :)

A nice race-pace workout this morning. We're really trying to put this in a groove. Since I have no run or bike work scheduled for this afternoon, I passed on the pull buoy and did freestyle the whole way. I was happy I kept a 1:50/100 pace for each of the intervals. Not that I need to start planning on a much faster swim pace all of a sudden, but a little confidence never hurt anyone.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
3x(500 free, HIM pace, 1'
100 non-free, 1')
Total: 2400m

One week to go

This wasn't quite the workout I was planning on today. After a week off the foot, I was fully expecting to get out for a nice medium length, medium intensity run. So at 8 o'clock, that's what I set out to do. By two minutes into the run, the scheduled eight miler was getting cut down to three. By 4 minutes and 33 seconds, the run was over. My foot is still a no-go. I hiked back home rather than risk doing any more damage. I'm not going to make that mistake again this week. I'll give it another couple of days to rest, and try again on Tuesday. If there's no joy then, I guess I'll have to take the rest of the week off, and plan on heading into the unknown next Sunday.

I'm obsessively checking the weather in Huntsville next weekend. I have three different weather websites bookmarked, and check every day to see if anything's different, and what the consensus seems to be. I may have some issues, eh?

In place of the run, I knocked out another moderate effort session on the trainer. One hour, the first thirty minutes at zone 1-2, the next at 200w, a solid zone 2 effort. If I can't run, then I might as well get my bike as sharp as possible.

Run: 4:33
Bike: 60 minutes, zone 1-2, w/30 minutes @ 200w

Inspiration

Since there was still some tenderness in my foot yesterday, the race pace brick for today was cancelled. Instead, I put in a good two hour ride on the trainer. After warm-up, I did four repeats of 20 minutes at 200w, then 10 minutes at 240w. Heart rate was solidly in zones 2-3, getting up to zone 4 at the higher wattages. It wasn't a fight at any point, but I know that if I tried to do a lot more, I wouldn't have any running legs at the end. As it were, I got off the bike and felt like I could keep going for quite some time.

For a little bit of motivation, I fired up my triathlon tape, watching last year's Ironman Canada, as well as the 70.3 World Championships. There's something about watching the best in the world at what they do that can carry you through the toughest workouts.

But the best news of the day is that my foot has felt 100% all day. Absolutely no sensations of discomfort. I'll be able to knock out my first run in a week tomorrow morning. Let's see if I have any legs after the week off.

Bike: 120 minutes, w/4x20 min @ 200w, 10 min @ 240w

Ever closer to the day

Only three swims left in the season, so they better be good ones. Still lots of HIM tempo work. I'm really hoping this grooves a solid effort level, so that I can really hit it on the 14th. I'd love to be able to fall in behind some feet so that I'm doing my HIM effort, but cruising at sprint speed.

There was still some mild tenderness in my foot this morning, so it's looking like Sunday might be the first run in a week. The long run planned for tonight will be subbed for yet another session on the trainer.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
2x500 free, 1', HIM effort (9:10, 9:05)
2x500 pull, 1', HIM effort (8:55, 8:40)
9x100, 15" (alternate back, breast, free)
Total: 3500m

Bike: 60 minutes, zone 2-3

More saddle time

Still some discomfort in the foot, although it is a whole lot better. I was actually able to wear shoes all day in the office. Give it another couple of days, and all will be good. It's more important that I get this healed 100% rather than getting in those last few training runs. I can keep my fitness up on the bike. Speaking of which ...

Bike: 60 minutes, zone 1-2

Still can't run, but I can swim

SCM pools are fast. By being able to push off every 25m, the pace is quicker by a few seconds than in a LCM pool. So my times this morning were definitely aided by this phenomenon. It's hard for me to believe that I could knock out these times otherwise.

We opened with a 5x200 descending, and my starting effort came in at 3:46. I'm used to being around 2:00/100 on this type of effort, so I was feeling pretty spry. I was able to keep descending, with a best of 3:20 (which left me hanging on the deck).

After some easy work, we were back at 5x200 at HIM effort. My pace was still holding at 1:50-1:55/100, so I was feeling pretty good. As my other work slows down for the next couple of weeks, I hope that I'll really start to move.

Swim: w/u - 200m each free, non-free, pull
5x200 free descending, 30" (3:46, 3:35, 3:30, 3:25, 3:20)
200 ez non-free, 1'
200 ez pull, 1'
5x200 free HIM effort, 30" as: 1) race opener, 2) 25 sight/75 free, 3) partner draft, 4) 75 free/25 surge, 5) race closer
c/d - 200 non-free, 200 pull
Total: 3400m

Since I still can't run, tonight's brick is changed. I was supposed to do 30 minutes on the bike, and a 2 mile run, but I'll change it to 45 minutes of riding. Things seem to be healing, so I figure I should be able to get my runs in starting this weekend. Fingers crossed.

Bike: 45 minutes, zone 1-2

Healing

It was a tough weekend of racing, and with the taper on the horizon, today was scheduled as an easy day. Just 30 minutes of cycling. After riding to and from work, I knew that cycling didn't put any pressure on the bruise, so I'd be fine to ride. Just a quick spin, listening to The Hip, nice and relaxed. My wife commented that she liked seeing me on the trainer when I wasn't trying to kill myself. I'll have to do this more often.

Bike: 30 minutes, zone 1-2

Well, there's the problem right there

After a day of sleep, and same with the night, I woke up this morning to a still sore foot. The pain had actually dissipated somewhat over the course of yesterday, so I was surprised with the intensity. Not as bad as yesterday morning, but still not good. And that's when I finally took a good hard look at my foot.

I had figured it was something in a tendon or ligament in my mid-foot that was causing the problem, but no. There's a bruise, about the size of three quarters laid edge to edge, running from my midfoot to under the ankle along the top of my foot. Every time the foot tried to support weight or push off, the muscles of the foot and the metatarsals are pushing on the bruise. It looks like it should just take some time to heal, and all will be right.

I don't know what I did to create this bruise. I may have drilled my foot at some point during the race. Maybe the shoes I was wearing on Sunday need to be retired. At this point, I've got nothing. But a few days of quality rest, and some naturopathic bruise cream, I should be able to finish up my peak/taper and be ready to fly on the 14th.

It's official, I'm an idiot - The Oakville Half-Marathon Race Report

I don't want to turn this into a pity-post, and just a huge line of excuses, so it might seem a little abrupt. It would be too easy for me to ramble on about all of my excuses, and now have a ton of concerns heading into the big race. Nobody needs to hear that, or read it. So this might seem a little bare bones compared to other race reports.

As I went through the morning preparations, I noticed my right foot hurt when I walked. Pain right on the outside, but I ignored it and made my way to the race site. As I walked to the start, the pain was more noticeable, but I figured it might have just been the shoes, and it would disappear once I put on my race shoes.

Which it did.

Until I did a warm-up jog. And it came back full force.

Now, if I wasn't an idiot, I would have bagged it right there. This was a test, and not worth worsening an injury. But I also couldn't handle a DNS. I did that once, and I regret it to this day. And who knows, maybe the pain will go away. (Pride goeth before the fall, as they say.)

When the gun sounded, I took off and fell into a good pace. My goal pace for the day was 4:10-4:12/km, and I was good through 5km. My foot hurt, and it was exacerbated by the crown of the road we ran on, but I managed. Around this time, I felt like I was working much harder than I should have been. Maybe it was because I only had 1.5 feet to work with. The residual fatigue wasn't too bad from Saturday, but I couldn't muster anything special. My pace started dropping to 4:15-4:20/km as the pain intensified, and I ran through 8km at 4:35 for the last K.

And that's where it ended. I had to walk. The pain was too much, and trying to push through was too taxing. From that point, I just tried to keep myself mentally in the game as the race went by. I could only run a couple of kilometres before I had to walk. I tried running slow, it still hurt. I tried running fast, it still hurt. When I could get myself moving, I was hitting an easy 4:30-4:40/km, but most of the time it was 5-6 min because of walk breaks. Finally at 18km, I forced myself to actually pretend I was a runner for a while. "Fake it til you make it." I knocked out a 4:20 and 4:30, then was hobbled for a couple hundred meters. I eased into the finish, restrained myself from giving the finger to the race photographer, and got my medal (which I'll toss in a box since this isn't anything to brag about).

Official results:
13.1 miles: 1:39:14, 121/801 overall, 23/81 AG

What a disgusting display. Not only was 10-12 minutes of my target, I was 2 minutes slower than Disney, where I paced myself to run a marathon the next day. I'm embarrassed to have this on my race ledger, especially after a fine performance on Saturday. What a weekend of ups and downs.

The walk to the car was the worst part of the whole day. I can't remember the last time I hurt that much. Pain, anger, disappointment were swirling around in my head. What a waste of a day. I didn't learn anything, and instead may have screwed things up for the primary race. Idiot. I've since been able to set all that aside, and get regrouped. I need to get my foot in order. Luckily, the plan required a few easy days now to recover from the weekend, that gives me time to make things right.


* And please don't think that I don't appreciate that most people would be ecstatic about finishing in that time, especially on a bum wheel. I know enough to count my blessings, but I feel like an Olympian who spent years training for one event, then had the worst possible race at the worst possible time. But I'll get over it, and get another shot in two weeks.

** And looking at the length of this post, I failed in making it short, and did turn it into a pity-post. I'm sorry.