End of vacation...

Sunday, July 30, 2006

I just finished two weeks of vacation. Shelley wasn't feeling well enough to go away anywhere so we just hung around town. I got lots of rest but also managed to get in some regular workouts. Here is a summary of what I did:

July 15 - hiked Mt Finlayson with Egan and did a hour run in the park

July 16 - 2:18/48km road ride

July 17 - hour run in the park

July 18 - 3 hour+ MTB ride at the dump

July 19 - 2 hour+ MTB ride

July 20 - 1:30 run in the park

July 21 - 1:49/:52 power hikes on Gowland Tod and Mt Finlayson

July 22 - rest day with just some light weights

July 23 - 2:30/60km road ride

July 24 - 1:24 run in the park with a swim in the lake and light weights later

July 25 - 3:40 MTB ride to the dump

July 26 - 1:22 run in the park with a swim in the lake and light weights later

July 27 - rest day with just some ab work and step ups

July 28 - 3:20/74km road ride

July 29 - 1:46 power hike up and down both sides of Mt Finlayson

July 30 - 1:45 MTB ride

Five hours of Touring....

Friday. July 14, 2006

Thursday was brick night at the "Y". As I wasn't doing any weights I did 15 minutes of easy spinning before the 75 minute class started, but even then my legs took half of the class to get loosened up. I don't think my legs like taking three days off. Once they did I was fine and went hard for the last 30 minutes with some good anaerobic work. In the last five minutes before the cool down I pushed extra hard and got my HR up to 96% of my max which I don't do very often. Afterwards I headed up to the treadmills by myself for a 25 minute run as KW was still nursing a sore heal. I was a little worried about my hamstring, but it was fine. I kept to a moderate pace even though in the middle of the run I felt like pushing it. Towards the end my legs felt a little heavy which was probably the result of pushing myself on the bike.

I didn't get home until just after 8PM and then had 5 taped hours of the "Tour" to watch. I fast forwarded as much as I could but it was a pretty exciting stage and was worth watching. As a result I didn't get to bed until after 11:30 PM. I slept in until 7AM this morning although I'm still tired. Today will be some weights at noon and then I start cleaning my desk up to begin two weeks of vacation. We are not going anywhere so I plan on getting in some long rides and runs in preparation for the Sea2Summit race in September. Because my home computer won't interface with this website, this will be my last blog for two weeks.

Resting...

Wednesday, July 13, 2006

Today was a rest day with just a visit to my massage therapist to break up the day. She noticed some tightness in my upper hamstring and said it had probably gone into spasm Sunday night in a delayed reaction to my fall. Whatever. I don't think I have anything to worry about, just ice it more and don't work it too hard for a few days.

Tonight I watched 4 taped hours of the Tour. Even fast forwarding on the commercials and any boring bits it still took about 2.5 hours to watch it. It was the first mountain stage but wasn't as exciting as I had hoped. Tomorrow is supposed to be better when some of the teams are expected to make a move.

A few weights...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

The problem with my leg seemed to recover nicely after icing it last night. Today it almost feels back to normal which is a little strange. I'm still going to take it easy this week and have an appointment booked with my massage therapist for tomorrow.

Today I went to the "Y" at noon and did some weights. I also did a 5 minute warm up on the bike and the treadmill just to see how my leg was. It was fine on the bike although I could feel a slight tightness in my upper hamstring while on the treadmill.

Tonight I did some ab work while watching "Le Tour". Its amazing how the week before vacation seems to go so slowly. Tomorrow will be another rest day and then its back to spin class and possibly a run.

Pain...

Monday, July 10, 2006

I woke up last night with pain in my upper hamstring area. When I got up this morning I could hardly walk and going up/down the stairs was especially difficult. I assume its the result of the fall off my bike yesterday but am not sure if its a pulled muscle or just a bad bruise. Its also surprising that it didn't start hurting until well after the incident. As a result, I skipped my planned weight training at noon and my run after work. When I got home I iced the area which made a lot of difference. I'm hoping that whatever it is will heal up this week if I take it easy. Starting next week I am on vacation for two weeks and was looking forward to some good workouts. I have also booked an appointment with my massage therapist which should help.

Hike a bike...2:51

Sunday, July 9, 2006

After a late night watching a movie I felt like sleeping in and had set the VCR to tape "Le Tour". I woke up at 7AM and had just decided to sleep for another hour or so when I heard Egan whining downstairs to be let out. I got up and let him out, then lay down on the couch. When Shelley showed up I finally got up to start the day. Egan and I went for a walk in the park and got home in time for an early lunch. I had planned on riding to the dump today, but because Egan wouldn't settle down after lunch I hung around until Shelley got up.

At 2:30 I headed out into the park. As it was a little late to go to the dump, I just planned on doing my usual ride in the park. As I neared Stewart Mt I decided that I needed a harder work out and headed up it. The first part was steep gravel road which was rideable, but then it got steeper and became a hike a bike. While pushing your bike up hill is not a lot of fun, it is good training as all the races usually have a section like this. Near the top the road got rideable again, leveled off and went downhill for a bit. There was another uphill which also turned into a hike a bike followed by a steep downhill on loose gravel with me just barely keeping control. It was one of those places where there is a fine line between too little and too much brake. I eventually made it down safely and kept going on my normal route for another 45 minutes. On the way back I did the hike a bike in reverse, by which time my legs were getting a little tired. As I neared home I decided to take the trail which descends by the speedway and is a little technical in places. On one of the easier parts of the trail as I was getting tired and my attention was wondering a bit, I went over a rock, my tire went one way and I went the other. I went over the handle bars and down a bank in some bushes with my bike on top of me. I banged my leg off something but nothing was really hurt other than my ego and the air was blue for a few minutes.

When I got home I iced my leg which was swelling a little, but nothing serious. I got no sympathy from Shelley which is why Kevin and I named our adventure racing team "No Sympathy". After dinner, Shelley went right to bed so when I finished watching today's "Le Tour", Egan and I lay on the lounger out on the deck for a while before also heading to bed early.

A long run...1:34

Saturday, July 8, 2006.

This morning I was wide awake at 5:30AM, which is when I get up on work days, but wish I could sleep in. I decided that I might as well get up and watch "Le Tour". After it was over I took Egan for an hour walk in the park and did some trail maintenance at the same time. After lunch I worked in the garden for an hour and then lay out on the deck until Shelley got up.

The plan today was for a long run if I was feeling good. I headed out into the park at about 3:30 and ran at a moderate pace. I kept going past my usual turn off, did some more hills and ended up having one of my longest runs of the year. I felt good afterwards and got home just in time to get the barbecue going for a pork tenderloin.

Weights....

Friday, July 7, 2006

As I am planning some good workouts for the weekend, all I did today was some weight training at noon at the "Y" including some squats and step ups. Tonight I also did some ab work while watching the tube.

After work I stopped by Riders to pick up my road bike which had been getting a tune up. They said that as long I did not want to wait for an anodized paint job on my new bike (vs the powder coat), it should be ready in 2-4 weeks. Otherwise it was going to be 10-12 weeks. The difference is that the anodized paint is a harder finish and resists scratches better, but doesn't look as good.

Bricking...

Thursday, July 6, 2006

Tonight was brick night at the "Y" with the 75 minute spin class followed by a 25 minute run on the treadmill. It was a relatively small class due to the weather, however KW pushed us hard. I put a moderate effort in, not really maxing out until the last 5 minutes when I did a standing drill for the remainder of the class. I had missed the last two classes and it did seem long tonight. Afterwards I went upstairs and did 25 minutes on the treadmill alone as KW had a sore heel from doing a lot of running lately. I didn't bring a gel to eat and started off a little slow. Tonight's workout was 5 minutes of hills and then five minutes of moderate to fast pace and repeat. Despite a slow start, by the last 5 minutes I was warmed up and pushed it hard to the end. I followed this up with a good stretch.

When I got home I had something to eat while I watched today's taped "Le Tour" segment. Shelley said that Egan had a good day, at least until dinner time when he got crazy for an hour or so. It seems as if the medication he was on after his surgery which was making him hyper has now worn off.

I was mistaken yesterday when I thought I had found a kayak supplier for the Whistler race. They e-mailed me and said the info on their website was two years old. It looks as if we want to do the race we are going to have to rent one here and drag it up to Whistler.

I heard that JL broke here arm/wrist while mountain biking. That's unfortunate as I heard she had been doing well. I'm sure it will make her a little more cautious as she might have been pushing it a little hard. There is a definite learning curve in the sport

A rest day...?

Wednesday, July 5, 2006

Today was my normal rest day however I felt like doing something so I went to the "Y" at noon and did some weight training including some light squats and step ups. Tonight was a quiet night watching "Le Tour" which I had taped and doing some ab work.

After some searching on the Internet I may have found a kayak rental company that will deliver to Whistler for the Sea2Summit. I'm waiting to hear back from them.

A quick spin....

Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Today was just the 30 minute spin class at the "Y" at noon. I didn't go quite as hard as normal as my abs were still sore from cramping on Monday, but still put a reasonable effort in followed by a good stretch.

I found out today that there aren't any boat suppliers for the Sea2Summit. That means if I want to do the race I have to haul one up from Vancouver for the weekend and have at least a support crew of two to look after it, which will be somewhat of a hassle. I will have to discuss it with LM when she gets back from vacation. If I decide it's not worth the effort, an alternative is the XTC off road duathlon in Vancouver that same weekend, although it won't be as much fun or as challenging.

Breaking the budget...

Monday, July 2, 2006.

Today was another early morning watching "Le Tour". I saw the last half and there was a great finish. At 10AM, Shelley and I headed out to Riders to look at bikes. I had done a bunch of research and had three models that I wanted to look at, although there was one I wanted more that the others, as long as the price was right. The price I was using was in $US off the manufacturer's website. When the sales guy looked it up in his catalogue, the price was about $1,300 more than the website had quoted. After a call to the Canadian sales rep they got it straightened out and the price turned out to be only about $300 more than the website said, which I could live with. The only downside is that its going to take 4-6 weeks to get it. That's a long wait but as long as its in before my next big race (Sept 9-10) I can wait.

While I was negotiating for the bike Shelley the brat went and bought me a bunch of bike stuff including the new Discovery team cycling jersey. She didn't show me what she had bought until we got home as she knew I would be mad. She also bought a bike rack for the truck as she is tired of my bike dirtying up the inside. We saw a nice Trek road bike with a sold sign on it for $12,000. You have to be a pretty competitive cyclist to justify paying that much. 

Ater lunch I spent another hot afternoon lounging on the deck with Egan. He was driving me crazy and wouldn't settle down. I had him on a leash tied to a pole and he kept winding himself around it until he couldn't move.

 At about 4Pm when Shelley got up I went for a run. I was hoping it would get rid of a nagging headache that was probably caused by the stress of spending all that money on a bike. The groin strain seemed to have gone away but about half way through the run I started getting stomach cramps (another sign of stress?) which really bugged me as my legs were feeling good. I did the smart thing and cut the run short as I knew what would happen if I kept going and didn't want to experience that again. Total time was only 44 minutes, but at least I loosened my legs up.

Back on the road...

Sunday, July 2, 2006

I went out on a road ride at about 10AM this morning after watching "Le Tour". It was good incentive although its starts a little early. I didn't get up until 7AM so I just saw the last half. During the week I'll be taping it to watch at night.

I took my usual route out towards Brentwood Bay and saw lots of other cyclists. I hadn't been on the road in over a month and really noticed the difference from MTBing. My plan was to get home by 1PM so that I could look after Egan while Shelley had a sleep. On the way back I took Ross Durrance Rd as I didn't have time to go all the way to Munn's Rd. Going up the first hill I saw another cyclist coming up behind me so I went a little harder. Unfortunately it didn't help and he caught me in no time. He seemed to want to chat although I was still trying to be competitive and kept pulling ahead. Finally near the end of the road I gave up and we rode together for a while and chatted. He turned off on Finalyson Arm Rd about half way down Millstream as he was headed to Mill Bay. That's probably why he had no trouble keeping up. The total ride was 55km/2:35 and I could have done better. I need to get back out for some long road rides. I could still feel my groin pull, but it wasn't bothering me.

I spent another afternoon lounging in the sun with Egan. Dinner was takeout pizza from Romeo's.

A warm run...

Saturday, July 1, 2006

I had planned on going to look at bikes today but they were closed for the holiday. Instead I took it easy and lounged on the deck most of the day and tried to keep Egan entertained.

At about 4PM after Shelley got up from a sleep I went for a run in the park. I felt good for the first bit and then started to feel like I had a groin pull. Once I was warmed up a little more it pretty much faded away. I later figured out that it was probably the result of some ab and balance work that I did on the exercise ball the night before. It was a warm run but not excessively so as a lot of the trail is in the trees. I ended up going for about 1:04 and felt good afterwards.

Weighting...

Friday, June 30, 2006

As I am planning some good workouts on the weekend, all I did today was some light weight training at the "Y" at noon plus some step ups and squats.

The next 5-7 days with Egan are going to be tough. He had his surgery yesterday and isn't allowed to go to puppy daycare for the next week, go on walks or be out in the yard while not on the leash to avoid putting stress on his stitches. Unfortunately he seems to have the same amount of energy he always does.