Cold suffering...

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

My cold is still hanging around today, no better but at least no worse. Just a sore throat and a bit of a stuffy head. I didn't feel like going for a run today but didn't feel bad enough not to, if that makes any sense. I headed to the "Y" at noon and did 25 minutes on the treadmill. Once again my legs surprised me. They felt like working despite my head saying it didn't. The first 10 minutes was an easy warm up followed by 15 minutes at my 10k pace. I'm glad that I'm at least keeping my legs moving this week. After work it was Shelley, Egan and I lying on the couch, all tired after a long day.

The good news today was that I picked up my new bike. Its a Santa Cruz Blur XC with full suspension and disc brakes. Without pedals it weighs in at just over 26lbs. It looks so nice that I almost don't want to take it out and get it dirty and scratched. The only bad news is that I don't feel good enough to take it out for a ride. That will have to wait for this weekend.

Still feeling under the weather...

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I'm still battling the sore throat and a little bit of a stuffy head. I went to the 30 minute noon spin class at the "Y" and surprised myself by being able to go fairly hard and even got into my anaerobic zone. It seems the cold is only affecting me from the neck up, although I still don't feel like doing anything. I'm going to pass on the run tonight and try to make up for it tomorrow, even if its just on the treadmill.

On the way home I picked up some Cold Fx, the new wonder product on the market to see if it would help. Given the cost it had better ($25 for 60 pills). The good news is that my new bike will be ready to be picked up tomorrow, although I don't know if I will feel like riding it. At least I have the long weekend to get used to it before my next race. Tonight I'm resting in front of the TV. At least Egan is tired and has settled down. It will be an early night again.

A cold coming?

Monday, August 28, 2006

As is usual on a Monday, I felt like crap this morning which was made even worse by a sore throat. Fortunately it was a rest day for me and I just had to struggle through a weight training session at the "Y" at noon. After work I picked up some echinacea which usually works for me when I feel a cold coming on. After dinner I tried to rest on the couch but was kept awake by a hyper dog and a neighbour cutting his grass. Its going to be an early night.

Power hiking...

Sunday, August 27, 2006

This morning I got both cars and both bikes washed after taking Egan for a 45 minute walk in the park. My legs didn't have any jump in them so after lunch I ended up going for a power hike at Gowland Tod (1:52). I pushed fairly hard and even ran some of the flats and downhill sections. Afterwards I still felt reasonably good and detoured to Mt Finlayson on the way home where I did the back side trail up and down in about :55. When I finished my legs were tired, but felt stronger than I thought they would. 

Tonight was a quiet evening spent watching Pirates of the Caribbean.

My Tri....

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Friday was a rest day with just weights at the "Y" at noon. I also squeezed in some squats. I had a message from the bike shop that the frame for my bike was in and that they expected the build kit by Monday and had scheduled building it Tuesday. Yeah!

Saturday morning I took Egan for a long walk in the park and then did some errands. LM had asked me if I wanted to go riding with her and some friends at Mt Tzou today, but as they were going to be gone most of the day and I needed a hard ride and run I decided not to go. My plan was to do a hard brick so after lunch I went out on a MTB ride. I pushed hard at race pace and did a fast ride with some technical and hills thrown in (1:51). I included the new trail that I had found last weekend which had some short, steep hills with loose gravel, great training. There was only one hill that I didn't make it up and spun out on, but I'll get it eventually. When I got home I changed shoes and had a quick gel before heading out on my run. My legs were a little tired so I just kept a moderate pace. About half way through my run I decided that at the end of it a swim in Thetis Lake would hit the spot. The only trouble was that if I stopped at the beach I wouldn't get a long enough run in. As a result I ended up running half way home then turning around and heading back to the beach. Run time was 1:10. The water felt slightly colder then when I was in in July, but still very nice. I guess you could say I did a triathlon today, if swimming a hundred yards and then floating on my back for a while constitutes the swimming portion. When I was done I walked home (about 15 minutes) as my legs were too tight to do any more running.

I lazed for the next hour on the lounger on our deck sipping a beer and eventually power napping until it was time to start the barbecue. After dinner, I spent the evening reading while Shelley who was having a burst of energy, cleaned out closets upstairs.

A brick and a half....

Thursday, August 24, 2006

I had a free lunch hour today, which was a nice change. I strolled over to Chapters and then down to MEC to look around. One of our benefits at work is that we have a massage therapist come in once every 3 months to give each of us a 20 minute session in the afternoon. Today she was in and must have been in a bad mood as it felt like she was sticking a knife in my back. The downside is we have to go back to work after it and she only does neck, back and arms, not legs which is what I really need.

After work I headed to the "Y for the start of my brick and a half. I started on the treadmill and took it easy doing 25 minutes at just under my 10k pace. Considering I took Wednesday off my legs did not feel that good and I'm starting to think that my body doesn't like days off,  maybe just easier days. After finishing, I changed my shoes and headed to spin class. KW pushed us hard for 70 minutes and while I was a little tired, the run didn't affect my legs too much. When that was done I changed shoes again, had a quick gel and headed back upstairs to the treadmill again. This time I could really feel it in my legs and for the first 15 minutes I couldn't go harder than the pace I did in my first run. The gel finally started working or my legs loosened up and I pushed the speed up to my 10k pace for the last 10 minutes. When I was done I was tired but not beat. Comparing this to my upcoming race, the run was not as hard or as long but the ride was probably close to the effort I will be putting out in the race. I'm not looking forward to that last 10k.

I got home and gulped down some cold pizza that one of Shelley's friends had left. I had a stiff neck from the massage. One of the after affects I often have due to a bad disc in my back. A hard massage often makes me tense up which results in the stiff neck. It does seem a little counter productive. I put a frozen bag of corn on it and it should be fine

Weights...

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Today was a rest day which was just as well as my legs were a little sore from yesterday. I just went to the "Y" at noon and did some weight training. I skipped the squats as I want my legs to be well rested for tomorrow night when I am going to do a duathlon circuit at the "Y". Treadmill/spin class/treadmill.

After dinner while watching the tube I did some ab work. Shelley had a very slow day, still recovering from her wasp sting and the after affects of the injection.

I was looking at some pictures taken during the Transrockies race and the scenery is enough to make you want to do the race, that is until you read the blogs of the people who did it and the suffering they went through. I read one blog by Keith Bontrager (the bike component manufacturer) who is an experienced endurance racer and former finisher in the Transrockies. Because of the heat and cramping problems he had, he didn't make it past day two.

Spinning and a run....

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Today was the 30 spin class at noon at the "Y". It was a small class but I pushed hard and got a good workout in. I saw LM at the "Y" and she is finally getting back into things after her surgery. She should be ready for our race at the end of September.

Shelley phoned me in the morning to say she had been stung by a wasp which she is very allergic to. She gave herself a shot with her anakit and had one of the neighbors come over until she was sure it was working. No ill affects other than some slight swelling fortunately.

After work I went for an hour run in the park. For the first 40 minutes I felt like I was running in a fog. Finally things cleared up and despite my legs being a little heavy from spin class, I managed to put on some speed for the last twenty minutes.

On the treadmill...

Monday, August 21, 2006

Today I just did 30 minutes on the treadmill at noon at the "Y". My legs were a little stiff to start but eventually loosened up. I did some speed work with four sets of 3x one minute, increasing the speed every minute. Overall, I felt pretty good once my legs had loosened up.

After dinner Shelley and I took Egan for a good walk in the park. He seems to finally have settled down from Shelley being away. Once we got back I collapsed on the couch. Monday's are not my favourite day and I had been fighting to stay awake all afternoon.

An easy weekend....

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Friday I had planned to do some weight training at noon, instead I ended up taking one of my analysts out to lunch to celebrate his passing of the exam for a course he has been taking.

On Saturday I spent the morning cutting the lawn and other yard work. In the afternoon I went for a two hour hike around Stewart Mt looking for a trail I had seen on a map of the area. I found it and after doing a little work on it, now have a new, tougher route to take on my usual ride. 

Today I was planning to do a MTB ride followed by a run. Unfortunately this morning I wasn't feeling very well, dizzy and a little nauseous. As a result I just took it easy until the late afternoon, when Shelley and I took Egan for an hour walk in the park. When we got home I was feeling better and also a little guilty for not working out hard this weekend. I did some step ups on the box just to get something in. After dinner Egan was a little crazy due to not enough exercise I think and I ended up having to hold him in a bear (dog?) hug for about twenty minutes until he calmed down.

This week I am going to have to work hard to make up for such a slow weekend.

Mt Finlayson....1:21

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I went to the 30 minute noon spin class at the "Y" today. My legs were still a little sore from my hill work last night and I really noticed it on the standing drills. I still managed to put in a moderate effort. After work I dropped Egan off at home and got him settled, them headed over to the back side of Mt Finlayson. I power hiked most of it but managed to get my tired legs to run the flat spots. I was carrying a full race pack with 2L of water. My first time up I did in just over 17 minutes which not surprisingly was about 2 minutes off my best time with fresh legs. Once I got back down I turned around and headed back up for a second time. I tried to push it but with minimal success. My time on the second ascent was about 30 seconds slower, which was not bad.

Afterwards I headed home and cooked up some dinner while vegging with Egan in front of the TV. Tomorrow will be a rest day and I pick Shelley up at the airport after work.

Hill repeats.....1:30

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

I was busy at noon today getting a haircut so the plan after work was to do some hill work on my road bike. After picking Egan up from daycare and getting him settled on the deck, I tried to think up excuses not to go for a ride. I was tired and felt a headache coming on. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with a good one so I headed out on my bike. I first went up to Mt Finlayson Arm Rd and did the Millstream side twice which was a good warm up. Then I rode back down to Bear Mt and rode it twice. I was hurting on the last third of the climb both times and doing a lot of standing. I was however happy with my fast recovery between climbs. It wasn't a long ride, but the effort was strong.

When I got home, Egan was asleep on the lounger as usual. He woke up long enough to come inside, say hello and then it was back to sleep. He goes so hard at daycare that it really wears him out. While I was cooking up some dinner that Shelley had left me, I phoned her in Kelowna. She was already looking forward to coming home on Friday. After dinner I read for a bit and then went to bed early.

Trail running....1:07

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

My legs were a little sore this morning from last night's MTB ride. Despite that, I went to the "Y's" 30 minute spin class at noon and put in a strong effort. After picking Egan up after work and getting him settled at home, I went for a trail run in the park. I wasn't expecting too much and was not surprised that my legs were heavy and never did get going. I wore my HR monitor for a change but couldn't push myself into my anaerobic zone. I changed my normal route a little which added two ugly hills at the end that I struggled up. Although I didn't set any speed records, I did get the mileage in.

When I got home, Egan was asleep on the lounger on the deck. I put together a quick dinner and then vegged in front of the TV.

Mountain biking...1:50

Monday, August 14, 2006

This morning I dropped Egan off at daycare on the way to work. He sure gets excited about going there. At noon I went to the "Y" and did some weights including some squats. After picking Egan up on the way home from work I went on a MTB ride. I left Egan outside with his blanket, food and water hoping he would be so tired from daycare that he would just go to sleep for the two hours I was gone.

I did a hard ride at race pace and while my technical riding was off, I pushed a bigger gear on most of the hills. When I got home Egan was wandering around the yard but went to sleep as soon as I let him in. After a quick dinner and a little TV while my dinner digested I am off to bed, as I'm beat.

A easy weekend....

Sunday, August 13, 2006

This weekend turned out to be a lot easier than I had originally planned, however I probably needed the rest. On Saturday morning I took Egan for an hour walk in the park. Shelley and I then went out and did some errands. I spent the afternoon lounging about and then both Shelley and I took Egan for another hour walk before dinner. I was feeling a little guilty about not doing a workout so when we got home I did two sets of 30 step ups with each leg on the box, with weights.  

On Sunday morning Egan and I dropped Shelley off at the airport at about 7:15AM as she was heading to Kelowna for the week to visit her family. Egan and I then headed over to Mt Finlayson and power hiked the back side in about 1:10 up and down. We spent the rest of the morning resting. In the middle of the afternoon I took him for an hour hike in the park followed by the same step up workout as I did yesterday. After dinner I did some ab work. My legs should now be well rested and I am planning on working out at noon and after work almost evey day this week.

Transrockies - Day 6 - 64km/1119 metres of elevation gain - average time was about 6 hours - heavy rain

Tranrockies - Final Day - 51km/1650 metres of elevation gain - average time was about 4 hours - rain and hail

End of the week....

Friday, August 11, 2006

Today I just did some weights at the "Y" at noon. No leg work as they needed a rest and I have a tough schedule planned for next week

This afternoon I talked to the bike shop about my bike. They had just talked to the manufacturer who had been waiting for an order of swing arms that they sub out to another manufacturer. The swing arms came in, but unfortunately none of them were any good and had to be sent back. The maufacturer was therefore looking for a new company to make them which meant deliver time for my bike was delayed indefinitely. Fortunately, five minutes later the manufacturer phoned the bike shop back and said there had been one good swing arm in the group and that it had been put on a bike (for me) and had been shipped out. As a result I should get it (after allowing for shipping and assembly time) in 1-2 weeks.

Transrockies Day 5 - 107.5km/1285 metres of climbing - another "moderate" day, but with some significant hike-a-bike sections

Spinning

Thursday, August 10, 2006

After work today I headed to the "Y" for my normal 75 minute Thursday night spin class. There were only four of us besides the instructor but we went hard anyway. I think KF was a little ticked because I jokingly said last week that he couldn't keep up and was pushing me to go harder tonight at every opportunity. I didn't have any trouble doing that but for some reason I couldn't get my HR up. I just barely got into anaerobic territory on two occassions despite working pretty hard. It must be just an off day for it. Afterwards I did 25 minutes on the treadmill. The first 10 minutes were difficult, even at a low speed but once my gel kicked in I felt better and did four 3x 1 minute speed drills, although not quite as fast as last week. When I got home I was beat and after a bite to eat and some TV, I am heading to bed.

Shelley said that after Egan got home from day care at noon he was exhausted. When I got home at about 8PM he was still sleeping and barely lifted his head to acknowledge me. Shelley said she actually felt pretty good today, the first time in probably the last year, possibly because of a new treatment she is trying, but didn't want to say any more for fear of jinxing it.

Running...1:01

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Today was a slow day at work and that together with the warmer temperature meant I couldn’t get through the afternoon without a shot of caffeine. I had a luncheon to go to so the plan was for a run in the park after work. As usual it took me a while to warm up, but once I did the legs felt good and I pushed the pace, especially on the hills. Overall a good effort with enough left for tomorrow's brick.

LM advised me today (as expected) that she won’t be ready to do the Sea2Summit. I don’t want to do it by myself and don’t know anyone else who’s interested. Its disappointing as I was hoping to see how I stood up to two days in a row of hard racing. Instead I’ll probably do the XTC Off Road Duathlon (5km/24km/10km) in Port Moody on the same weekend. It won’t be as much fun, but I need a race to keep me motivated. Over the next month I’m going to have to change my training a little for it. More running and shorter, faster rides.

Day 3 of the Transrockies Challenge is finished (109km/2612 metres elevation gain). It was brutal and the hardest day of the seven day race. Temperatures were high and a lot of teams quit due to heat prostration or just not being able to finish by the cutoff times. The average finishing time for the age group I would be in was 9-10 hours. I have been reading a few daily blogs of people doing the race and am starting to question my sanity in considering doing it next year.

Day 4 was somewhat of a recovery day. The stage was 94.5km with only 1368 metres of elevation gain.

A little rain....

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Forces were conspiring against me today. The noon spin class at the "Y" was cancelled. Instead, I put on my iPod and did my own ride on a bike for 30 minutes. I actually managed to push myself pretty hard and was anaerobic for the last half of it. I was planning on a run after work until it started to rain on my way home. I decided not to go and was in the middle of dinner when it stopped. Instead, later on I did two sets of 30 step ups with each leg.

I have been following the Transrockies Challenge (MTB race) daily as it is a new route this year and I am considering doing it next year. This is what they did the first of seven days:                                                                                     

Day 1 - 61km/1225 metres climbing                                                                                                                                             

Day 2 - 79km/2299 metres climbing

Time off....

Monday, August 7, 2006

After two sub par work outs in a row and a fairly heavy schedule lately, I decided to take another day off today. Egan and I did an hour and a half brisk walk in the park in the morning and I did some weights in the late afternoon followed by some ab work after dinner. Other than that it was a restful day.

Mountain biking....2:40

Sunday, August 6, 2006

This morning Egan and I went out for our usual one hour hike in the park. After lunch I did a mountain bike ride, mostly on double track. I didn't feel as bad as yesterday, but still not where I want to be, especially on the hills.

Today is the first day of the seven day Transrockies race, leaving Fernie. I can feel their pain from here.

A tired run....1:21

Saturday, August 5, 2006

This morning Egan and I power hiked the back side of Mt Finlayson. Then, after a relaxing afternoon I went out for a run in the park. Unfortunately my legs never did feel good. It was one of those days where I could have called it quits about half way through. Instead I thought about it happening in a race and just slogged my way through it. I don't know whether it was the hike in the morning, overtraining or just an off day.

Rest day.....

Friday, August 4, 2006

After a tough brick last night, today was a rest day. At noon I went to the "Y" and just did some weights. I also did some squats but skipped the step ups.

I note that the Cadboro Bay Tri/Duathlon has been cancelled next weekend as the organizer was injured in a cycling accident. That's too bad. I was thinking of doing it as a training exercise.

Brick....

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Tonight was the usual brick at the "Y". I started with the 75 minute spin class where KW pushed us hard with lots of standing drills. I managed to get in some good anaerobic time. He also played some retro 70's music which brought back memories. It was nice except for KF who whined about it. I think it was because he had trouble keeping up with us. Afterwards I had a quick gel and then went upstairs for 25 minutes on the treadmill. I did some speed work which I hadn't done in a while. Four 3 x 1 minute drills at increasing speed. I felt pretty good doing it but was tired afterwards.

Shelley said Egan has a new Lab puppy in his class and they managed to keep each other entertained. This weekend's workouts will depend on what LM's decision is tomorrow about doing the Sea2Summit. If she gives the go ahead I will continue to work on the long endurance stuff, otherwise (and more likely) I will switch to shorter and more intense workouts.

Weights...

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Today I just did some weights at the "Y" at noon. I skipped the squats and step ups as my legs felt like they needed a rest, especially with a brick coming up Thursday.

After dinner I played with Egan in the back yard as he still had lots of energy despite going to puppy daycare in the morning. Shelley was upset with him because he tore down our "beware of dog" sign on our fence (a municipal requirement). I'm not sure how he got it as it was attached to the outside of the fence. He also tore apart a little wind vane we had in the back yard. Just being a dog.

A split brick...

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Today I did the 30 minute noon spin class at the "Y". I worked hard and got into my anaerobic zone on a couple of the drills. After work I went for an hour run in the park. It took me about 20 minutes to get warmed up, but after that I felt pretty good and pushed the pace a little.

I had originally planned to do the Self Transcendence Duathlon this weekend but saner thoughts prevailed as the run would probably kill me. Instead and depending on whether we are doing the Sea2Summit race in September, I might do the Cadboro Bay Duathlon the following weekend. It is a little shorter and will be a good warm up for the XTC Off Road Duathlon the I will likely do if we don't do the Sea2Summit, as it is the same weekend.

An easy day....

July 31, 2006

Today was somewhat of a rest day. All I did was weights at noon with some step ups and squats. After dinner I took Egan for a walk in the park and then did some ab work.

LM is supposed to let me know by the end of this week whether she has recovered enough from her surgery to do the Sea2Summit with me. I figure the odds are about 50/50. I am waiting for the latest news on when my new mountain bike will be in. It should be sometime in the next two weeks.