No title..
27 04 06 07:23 | | 
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A bug....
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
This is my week to taper off before my first race on Saturday. As a result I didn't do anything on Monday. Today I was supposed to go to spin class at the "Y". Unfortunately I seem to have caught a stomach bug and decided at the last minute that I didn't have the energy to go. I figured that there was little upside to going to the class and a lot of downside. Its too late for any training I do this week to help me in the race, but I could make myself worse off if I push it when I'm not feeling good. I got some pills from the drug store and hopefully they will help. I would like to do a short treadmill run tomorrow to keep my legs loose.
Yard work...
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Today was the start of my tapering for next weekend's race. I took Egan for a good walk in the park in the morning. I was a little tired from my brick yesterday and neither of us felt like going to Mt Finlayson. I got the front lawn mowed and did a little more weeding. After lunch I headed into town to rent a kayak. I went to the place on the gorge where I usually rent (which seems to be run like the Mickey Mouse Club) and waited around for 20 minutes for someone to help me until I was finally told by one of the dragon boat instructors that you now have to book a kayak in advance (at least until the middle of May). This was despite the fact that the place was wide open and only the office was closed. I didn't feel like checking out any other places so I might try and get out after work some time this week, maybe at Ocean River. I really need to get in a little practise before the Ucluelet race in mid May. The rest of the afternoon I spent mowing the back lawn and putting fertilizer down. After that it was a quiet evening.
A long day....
Saturday, April 22, 2006
This morning Shelley and I spent working in the yard with Egan trying to help us. After I pulled weeds and filled the holes in with dirt, he dug the dirt out again. Just before lunch I took him for a good walk in the park to try and tire him out so he wouldn't bother Shelley in the afternoon.
My plan today was to do a brick about the length and intensity of the race next weekend. It was nice to be able to get out in shorts and a short sleeved jersey for a change. After lunch I headed out on my road bike on the hwy towards Goldstream Park. I then went up Mt Finlayson Road which was a real grind. I did it in my granny gear as I didn't want to have to stand. After reaching Millstream I went up it which is a gradual climb all the way to the end. I then turned around and came back down to Bear Mt and went up it. It was another grind. Eventually I got to the top then came back down for the quick ride home. Total time was 1:44 over 38.5km at close to race pace.
After a quick gel and change of shoes I headed out for a run in Thetis Lake Park. It took my legs a long time to loosen up, but by the end they weren't feeling too bad. Total time was 53 minutes. Overall it was a good workout considering I had just done a brick on Thursday, and should mirror what I have to do next weekend. The difference being I will be on a MTB going only 20 hilly km and wearing a pack during the run. I think I am reasonably well prepared.
When I got home I had a beer while sitting out with Shelley and Egan on our front porch enjoying what has been one of the nicest days this year. After a dinner of leftover chinese, Shelley joined Egan and I for another walk in the park. When we got home both of them headed right for bed. I'm doing a little reading but won't be far behind. Its been a long day.
An easy run...
Friday, April 21, 2006
After a hard ride and run last night, today was just an easy 25 minutes on the treadmill at noon. I also took it easy as I want to do another brick tomorrow, my last hard workout before my first race next weekend. Afterwards I did a short stint on the Windjammer and rowing machines followed by a good stretch.
Egan was throwing up today, probably the result of his rabies shot the other day. Tonight he seems fine and we played for a bit in the yard after work. I'm hoping to take him up Mt Finlayson this weekend to give us both a workout.
Bricking it.....
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Wednesday was a day off. I just ended up taking Egan for a long walk in the park after work.
Tonight was 30 minutes of weights, 75 minute spin class and 25 minutes on the treadmill. There was a fairly small turnout for the spin class at the "Y" but we started out hard and I was into my anaerobic zone almost immediately. We then slowed down a little and I didn't get back to anaerobic until the last drill when we went hard for about 5 minutes with standing hammers. I was sucking wind by the end of that. When I started out on the treadmill my legs were pretty heavy, however I still pushed the speed up every 5 minutes. By the 15 minute mark either the gel I had at the beginning was kicking in or the lactic acid that I had built up at the end of spin class had disappeared. Whatever the case, my legs felt a lot better and I really hammered for the next 5 minutes followed by a 5 minute cool down and then a good stretch. With my first race in a week, I'm starting to feel like I can push it.
I got home in time to watch the end of the Cummings-Bachman special on CBC with Shelley. We might have to go and see them when they come to Victoria
A run at Thetis.......57:37
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Egan had me up at 2AM last night although overall he has been very good lately.
Today was a run at Thetis after work. I felt really good and pushed my pace a little, especially on the hills. I also went a little further than I normally do. Only 11 days left until my first race.
A quick run...
Monday, April 17, 2006
The noon spin class at the "Y" was cancelled today because of the holiday. Instead I did 25 minutes on the treadmill. I did a 9 minute warm up followed by five 3x one minute sets with increased tempo every minute. My legs felt pretty good as I hadn't run in three days. Afterwards I spent some time on the Windjammer machine and then had a good stretch.
I see that the Sea2Summit group has finally got some details on their web site about the North Vancouver and Whistler races. I'm hoping to do both of them.
Heading home.....
Sunday, April 16, 2006
After a quick breakfast, Egan and I headed home about 9AM. It was a quiet trip with Egan sleeping most of the way until just past Duncan when some guy in a big black pickup with a little too much road rage tried to run us off the road. Its amazing that these guys have no problem giving you the finger, but when you give it back to them they get a little excited.
We got home about lunch time and then it was time for a nap. I considered going for a run when I got up but the combination of the late nights, the drive and the alcohol over the weekend nixed that. Instead I took Egan for a long walk in the park. Tonight I watched a little of The Lord of the Rings after Shelley went to bed, and now its my turn.
Wet mountain biking....2:30
Saturday, April 15, 2006
This morning everyone woke up a little groggy but after a big breakfast things started moving. I thought about going for a run but that didn't go far. We took the dogs over to the park again although this time Egan didn't run as much and was content to watch the others wear themselves out. It eventually started to rain and then hail, but that didn't last long. At 11AM the Snow Birds put on a show over the skies of Courtenay, and we watched a little of it from my brother's house.
After lunch we headed out for some different trails on the other side of the lake. These were fast flowing single track with the occassional stunt to navigate. It was completely different from what we had ridden the day before, and one of my favourite rides. The only problem was that it rained the whole time. It didn't bother us for the first hour and a half, but we all started to get cold during the hour it took to get back. When we were about 15 minutes from the car, my older brother's rear rim blew out taking the tube with it. I thought someone took a shot at us it was so loud. Fortunately it wasn't too far a walk for him, but by the time we reached the car, I couldn't feel my hands anymore from the cold and wet. I was also covered in mud so when we got back to the house I just hosed myself off. Tonight was a little more low key than last night and we enjoyed a nice leg of lamb for dinner before everyone started nodding off in the living room.
Mountain biking....2:30
Friday, April 14, 2006
Egan and I left for Courtenay about 9:30AM. I had made a nice bed for him on the passenger seat, but of course he wanted to sit on my lap until just before Duncan when he finally decided to go to sleep. We got up to Courtenay in just over 2 hours. Joining us there were my three brothers, my mother, and various wives/girlfriends. There was also one Doberman, one German Shepherd and one Lab cross, so even Egan was going to have company. After a quick lunch we took the dogs over to the park where we attempted to tire them out throwing a ball for them to chase. Egan made a good try at keeping up with the others even though they are 4-8 times his size. In another 1-2 years he should be able to run with them.
Two of my brothers and I then headed over to the trails of Cumberland which are some of the best on the island, for some mountain biking. We had a great time doing some technical riding for about 2.5 hours. Using some of the skills that I learned last year at a Whistler mountain bike camp, I even managed to ride (twice) a 100 ft long log that is about a foot wide and 4 ft off the ground. It was the first time I had been able to do it (last year I fell off of it in about the middle), and was the only one who did this year. Overall it was a great ride which I followed up with some Red Bull and beer when we got back to the house. It turned out to be a fairly late night with more beer and a little Baja Mocha.
A typical Thursday...
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Tonight was 30 minutes of weights, a 75 minute spin class and 25 minutes on the treadmill. I worked reasonably hard in the spin class although I only got into my anaerobic zone a couple of times. I didn't know how much I would have left for my run, but surprised myself and managed to gradually increase the tempo until I was almost hitting my maximum before the last 5 minutes of cool down. It was a good effort.
I found out today that one of the races that I wanted to do in May has been cancelled. Fortunately its not one of the better ones, but its still one less that I get to do. We are supposed to leave in the morning for Easter at my brother's in Courtenay, however Shelley informed me tonight that she isn't going. She is feeling very tired and needs a few days of rest that she won't get in Courtenay and some time away from the dog. So I guess Egan and I will be heading up my ourselves.
Back to Thetis...
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Today was an easy 53 minute run on the trails at Thetis. My legs were still feeling tired but the soreness had gone. I did a moderate pace and could have gone longer but I didn't want to push it, and even managed a bit of a sprint for the last 2-3 minutes. Afterwards I did some weights at home. Tomorrow is a much needed rest day after eight straight days of workouts.
A nice evening...
Monday, April 10, 2006
I didn’t have a great sleep last night but fortunately Egan didn’t get me up either. My legs were definitely tired today from the weekend workouts and I wasn’t looking forward to the noon spin class. I’m not a Monday person and usually take today off to recover from the weekend, however to fit some more running into my training, I had to change my schedule.
It was a full house at noon and LM even showed up. The people there were a little too enthusiastic for me given it was Monday (some were whooping and hollering), but it did help me put a good effort in. I’m glad the class was only 35 minutes long. It was long enough to loosen my legs up, but not long enough to make them any sorer.
Puppies can drive you crazy some of the time (okay, most of the time), but there are moments that make it worthwhile. Tonight I was sitting out on the deck catching the last few rays of sunshine. Egan came over and lay on my lap and we sat there for half an hour just watching the world go by.
Another wet day....
Sunday, April 9, 2006
I took Egan for a good walk in the park this morning and some ball chasing in the yard. After lunch LM picked me up to do a power hike/run on Gowland-Tod followed by a hike up Mt Finlayson. Of course it started raining almost immediately and I forgot my hat. We did a moderate to hard intensity and I'm learning how to talk while I run. Our time was about 1:34 which is only about 6-7 minutes slower than my fastest time for this route. LM wanted to run down to Mt Finlayson but I talked her into taking the car. The run down wouldn't have been bad (2-3km), but after being out in the rain for over 3 hours the run back (being all uphill) would not have been fun. I pushed reasonably hard up Mt Finlayson given what we had already done and my time on the backside trail was just under 18 minutes from the base (with LM about 45 seconds behind) which is 3 minutes off my best time with fresh legs. Overall it was a successful weekend with a hard ride and a hard hike/run, and not really hurting.
Tonight while Shelley was out I introduced Egan to the joys of heavy metal while listening to KISW out of Seattle. I don't know whether he liked it or not and would probably have eaten the speakers if I hadn't been there. I'm not looking forward to starting my new schedule tomorrow which involves doing a spin class at noon. I've always used Monday as a rest day to recover from the weekend. Fortunately its only a 35 minute class.
A long day....
Saturday, April 8, 2006
Egan had a good night and didn't get me up until 6:30 this morning. I just dozed on the couch with him until about 8:00 when I finally got up. I had a busy morning. After taking him for about a 45 minute walk in the park, I washed both cars, both bikes and cut the front lawn.
After lunch at about 1:45 I headed out for a road ride. For the first time this year it was warm enough to ride in shorts (at least for me). I also wasn't going to wear a jacket, but after riding a block I went back and put it on. There was a bit of a wind chill and they were calling for rain later. As it turned out, it was lucky I did. LM was busy in the early part of the afternoon, so she was going to meet me at the bottom of the Observatory hill at 3:30 to do some hill repeats. I went out my usual route towards Brentwood Bay. It started spitting out almost immediately. I took it easy as my legs didn't feel like they had a lot of jump and I needed to save something for the hills. I got to the bottom of the Observatory hill early at about 3:05 so I kept going down West Saanich Rd. I went a little ways past Royal Oak and then turned around and came back. By that time it was 3:40 and given that the rain was starting to come down harder, I thought LM might bail. I had an energy bar and then started to do the hill. My legs actually felt better and keeping up a steady pace I was getting to the top in about ten minutes. The second time I was coming down I met LM near the bottom. She apologized for being late and we headed up. After another up and down (my third), I was wet, a little cold and ready to go home. LM said she would ride home with me as she needed a longer ride and wanted to do Bear Mtn. After a quick gel, we went back a different route than I normally take, basically the route I came out on Ross-Durance, rather than Munns Rd. It has some good hills on it but is a little shorter which was fine with me. It rained harder for a while and then finally started to taper off. When we finally got to Bear Mtn I decided to do it with LM as my legs still felt okay. It was a bit of a slog with some standing required, but we finally got to the top. I was glad at that point that home was just a 5 minute ride away vs LM's 40+ minute ride.
I got home about an hour later than expected so I'm kinda in the dog house, however it was good to get in a really long ride with a lot of hill work. I'm pretty confident about my riding right now and just need to work on my running some more. After playing with Egan in the yard for a while, we had dinner and then while Shelley went to bed I vegged in front of the TV and read for a while. Its going to be an early night.
Time: 4:02
Distance: 80km
An easy run....
Friday, April 7, 2006
Today was just 25 minutes on the treadmill at noon. My knees were a little sore from my brick last night and I needed an easier day anyway, so I just went at a moderate pace with no intervals to loosen my legs up. I also did some work on the Windjammer and had a good stretch.
Another brick in the wall...
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Today was 30 minutes of weights, a 75 minute spin class and then 25 minutes on the treadmill. There were only 7 of us in spin class today, however the twins kept us entertained. I pushed reasonably hard during the drills, but didn't have enough to get into my anaerobic zone today. I had a quick gel before the run and needed it as my legs were feeling a little heavy. KW was doing the treadmill with me and looked better than he had the last two times which is more than I can say for me.
I got home too late to watch "Survivor" so I was taping it. Shelley was feeling pretty tired with the Mono dragging her down, so she went to bed early and I played with Egan for a while. Tomorrow will be a short run before what should be some good workouts on the weekend if the weather holds.
A training adjustment....
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
I was thinking about my training schedule today with my first race coming up at month end and 4 races in the next 8 weeks following it. I think my riding is going fine but I'm a little worried about not having done enough running. As a result, starting next week I'm going to change one of my spinning classes to a slightly shorter one at noon. This will allow me to switch from just a 25 minute treadmill session to a long trail run on another day.
Today was 25 minutes on the treadmill at noon. I pushed a little more than usual with five sets (vs my normal four) of 3x one minute intervals increasing the pace each minute. My legs felt good throughout it. Afterwards I did two sets of 20 step ups on each leg with 20lb weights, some work on the Windjammer machine and had a good stretch. After work I went to my massage therapist for a leg flush. I asked her to work on one of my achilles which was tight. She asked me if I had a belt to bite on, but it wasn't that bad.
After work with the sun still shining, I took Egan for a nice walk in the park. Later we watched "Bones" and I did some Ab work.
Attitude....
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Egan continues to have a real attitude these days. The people we have talked to say its a combination of teething and the stage of his development where he is trying to be the dominant one. All we can do is keep letting him know who is in charge. Meanwhile, he's driving us crazy. At least today Shelley said that when he got home from puppy daycare at noon he was so tired he slept all afternoon. Shelley found out yesterday why she has been feeling worse than normal, she has Mono. That did not make her day. Hopefully it won't last long and I don't catch it from her or it will ruin my racing season.
Tonight was spin class at the "Y". While it was a good class, I wanted to go hard however the instructor seemed to take long breaks between the drills. I maintained a good aerobic HR, but I didn't get into my anaerobic zone as much as I wanted. I also did about an hour of weights and even did some dead lifts for a change. I got home in time to watch a little TV with Shelley before bed and did some dry land paddling.
Flying...
Monday, April 3, 2006
Today I had to fly to Vancouver (and then back) for a course so I didn't have the time or energy to do much else. I did manage to do some step ups and some dry land paddling after dinner.
Orienteering....1:27
Sunday, April 2, 2006
At noon today I headed over to Royal Roads for an orienteering race. I hadn't done one in two years, however as I am doing a bunch of races this year without my regular partner KF who is also our navigator, I thought I should get out and brush up on my map and compass skills. When I got there, I elected to do course #3 rather than the harder course #4 as I wasn't sure how I was going to do. Basically you are given a map with a certain number of locations on it (in this case eleven) that you have to find in order. There are different roads and trails to take and you have to find the best route. The interesting part is that the flags are never right on the trail but often several hundred yards off it. You then have to use your compass to plot a course to find the flag which could be behind a tree or in a pit. This also involves bushwacking through what could be dense bush. All of this while you are running as fast as you can and trying to read the map at the same time. I had a lot of fun doing it and while I didn't set any records, I confirmed to myself that I can still read a map.
I was planning on hiking Mt Finlayson on the way home, however KF and his wife LF who were also doing the race wanted to see Egan and convinced me to go back to my place for a beer instead. Tonight Egan has been a little monster. He never did settle down before I put him to bed.
Mountain biking....2:17
Saturday, April 1, 2006
Egan had me up at 2AM last night but being a weekend its not that big of a deal. This morning I took him for an hour walk in the park.
After lunch I was trying to summon up enough energy to go for a road ride. I was training alone as LM was off to Vancouver this weekend and as a result I had no one to motivate me. While I thought about it I had a power nap on the couch with Egan. I got up about 2:30 and decided that with my first race of the season in 30 days I had to get out. It was threatening to rain so I decided to mountain bike instead of going for a road ride. I went the same route as last weekend and did it in the same time although I added another hill to it. I also did all the hills in a higher gear this time. My legs felt strong and my balance was also better on the technical sections.
Tonight was a quiet night with chicken on the barbeque and a walk with Egan after dinner. Shelley went to bed early so I watched a little of "The Ring" on TV. It wasn't good enough to hold my attention and with the clocks going ahead an hour tonight, I think I'm going to head to bed early.
Tired legs...
Friday, March 31, 2006
My legs were feeling tired from last night's brick so when I did my 25 minutes on the treadmill at noon today, I took it very easy, just trying to loosen them up. Afterwards I did two sets of 20 step ups with 20 lb weights, a little time on the Windjammer and had a good stretch. The only thing I did tonight besides play with Egan was a little dry land paddling.
