June 25

GUELPH LAKE OLYMPIC

Great fathers day!!

It was a perfect weather day for a race. I think it ended up in the mid-twenties by the end of the run. Pip and Deb joined me at Guelph. Charlotte didn't particularly want to come so she stayed home ( and prepared an after race picnic in the back yard upon our return. Sandwiches, pasta salad, fruit and a beer!)

Packed for the race the afternoon before because I had two shows on Saturday. Consequently, I forgot my helmet. I was unloading bike etc from the car and panic set in "Deb, I forgot my helmet." Nothing to do but unload and take the credit card. We got to the site later than I like and all the spots on the rack were taken. Had to place my stuff under a tree but my bike had a spot. Too long finding a spot I felt like I was running out of time. I signed in and went looking for a helmet to buy. But there were none. I asked a guy at the expo, none for sale but he would loan me his!! Whew.

Swim: 27:07.Got to the water just in time to swim 100 meters and hop out to get ready to go. It was a mass start with swimmers self seeding according to expected finishing times. Took a green cap 27-29 minutes. Had a great swim. I love the mass start, way better than swimming through other waves. Fifth in my age group out of the water, 51st overall 27:07 including a 100 meter run up the hill to transition.

T1: Pretty good. 1:36 Wetsuit was a bit of a problem but ok.

Bike: 1:12:47 for the 40k. The kph is 35.9! Very pleased with that. The course was rather hilly but not too. There were a few of us that rode the course together, passing and repassing. At one point the course referee was behind us and watched for a while. I was mindful of space between but someone in front got a warning. I kept asking myself if I was giving it all and if I wasn't I'd pick it up or put it in another gear.

T2: 1:25

Run: 46:48 The run was a little harder than I would have liked but I put more into the bike than I usually do. This is where I really felt my lack of training. Very few bricks and very little biking in general except for commuting and that won't do. The last few little hills at the end of this course really took it out of me but I was able to reach the finish line before my goal time of 2:30. Hit the finish at 2:29:41!

June 5

2nd race.

Milton Sprint Triathlon.

Cool morning.  64 degree water.  Bowl of cereal at 6am.  Bagel with cream cheese at 8am.  Race start at 10am.  Got there with plenty of time to spare and get nervous.  I didn't feel as well prepared for this race as the training has been inconsistent and willy-nilly.  (no plan)  I have been getting some biking on hills but most of my riding is my commute and I don't know how helpful that is.  Swimming in the last 2-3 weeks has been twice a week but I feel strong in the water right now, though the race time won't reflect that. The 2 running races have given me alot of confidence on the run and I am most consistent in training for the run with 3-4 runs a week.

SWIM: was not hard but it was bad.  I breathe only on my right which puts me off course according to my brother and I think he is right.  Will bi-lateral breathe at the next one though it makes me dizzy in the open water.  So, off course, and I could not sight the buoys because the sun was directly in my eyes for the longest leg of the swim.

T1:  horrible.  I can't seem to get my wet suit off quickly.  Also had to put arm warmers on as it was very chilly.

BIKE:  I actually felt quite strong on the bike, though last years time was faster.  The wind was murderous.  Cross winds that move my bike make me nervous so I would slow down to avoid being sheered off the road.  The 6th line hill didn't give me too much trouble.  I got boxed in for a bit and I took it relatively slow.  Next year I think I'll hammer it.

RUN:  The run was fun.  There was a guy in my age group that I could see on most of the bike just ahead of me on the run.  I passed him at about 2k and he passed me right back.  I followed him closely until the 4 or 5k mark and then passed him in the woods after the uphill. I saw him after the race and thanked him for the pacing.  It makes the race much more fun.  I'm getting to recognize many of the faces and am getting over my shyness a bit to talk to them.  David had the short grey hair.  Victor very tall.

117 1:48:58 M45-49 13/67 Swim:  12  101   13:41  (1:50/100m)

Bike:     21  159   56:59 (31.6/kph)

Run:     12   128  34:30 (4:36/ km)

T1: 2:39

T2: 1:10

June 5

2 RACES

Sporting life 10k:  sporting Life 10 k is a net downhill course that set up for PBs.  Never having raced a 10k, I was sure to get one of those.  Not in my wildest dreams did I expect a 40 min. 10k.  Let's see.  Race preparation ... trying to remember...  I think I did a little 30 min jog a couple of days out to keep the legs loose.  Bagel with cream cheese in the morning and a cup of coffee.  I rode my bike up to the start line which was a good warmup.329

OLIVER DENNIS TORONTO  1114941:11.240:35.3 4:04 M45-4931/541299/4860

April 5

It's been a while!  This is a race report for Harry's Spring Run Off 8k.

As usual, I had a terrible night's sleep.  I didn't have to leave early in the morning though.  The race was at 10:am.   Left at just after 8.  I was going to ride my bike but the gusts of wind were into the 50k range.  Rained all day Friday before the race and all night.  So the morning was cold and windy.  Most of my worry was getting the wardrobe right.  I didn't want to be too warm during the race or too cold before the race.  Ran in fleece pants, race long john top and long sleeve shirt with hat and gloves which came off at about 5k so I got the wardrobe right.

I haven't been on a plan for this race nor have I been logging my workouts (more later) so for a willy-nilly lead up I was very pleased with the result.  There are 2 bitches of hills on the course and wasn't really sure how to race them.  I've been practicing running downhill and passed lots of people on the big downhills only a few of whom were able to pass me back on the flat(ish) parts.  I was unable to pace with my watch because it ran out of batteries while I was waiting to start.  Curses.  Also my damn HR monitor messed up somehow and couldn't get a real read for a kilometre or 2.  I was trying to get a maximum HR read so that pissed me off.  I had regular looks at the monitor after that and I didn't see it get below 72 so I'm going to call that my max. HR!

I felt pretty strong through out the race.  I decided not to wear iPod.  I'm glad.  You really need to listen to the runners around you and running traffic etc.  The race starts in "corrals" with each corral holding the self seeded runners.  I self seeded at 31-39 minutes and was in the first corral.  Consequently, I didn't have much traffic trouble with other racers.  I was second guessing my finish time at the start because I was unsure of the hills.  I don't have detailed data for the race but:

overall          clock time                pace                real time                #                     men                              age group 

125   35:29.7  4:27   35:18.9  834  108/1043  17/116  Men 45 - 49   

So I hit my target time and felt pretty decent at the end.  The end hill IS a bitch.

Plans for tri season to follow.

September 2

First day of school and the kids are gone for the day.  A pause to think about my goals for the off-season and for racing next year.  I just joined BeginnerTriathlete and they have many training plans for the intermediate triathlete.  My plan is to do a series of 8 week focus plans, starting with a swim focus plan that I will start in London, followed by a run and bike focus.  After that they have a winter maintenance one and one that is a 6 race sprint plan.  My thoughts right now are to buy a season of racing from the Trisport series and race all the sprints with a view to see how I stand at the end of the year.  I'll keep myself posted.

August 12

Bracebridge half iron triathlon race report:

My day started early.  After a terrible nights sleep I had the alarm set for 4:00 am.  I had packed everything in the car the night before, so it was just a matter of getting dressed and getting some breakfast.  The trip up to Bracebridge is about 2 hours up past Barrie and Orillia so time to listen to my regular race day mixed cd.  It started to rain part way up and I started cursing and then I changed my thoughts from resenting the weather to “It is what it is and will be what it will be,” and I will have to race in it regardless so may as well think positively.  This phrase came back innumerable times throughout the bike section- more of that to come.  I got to the race site with plenty of time to spare so lots of time to set up and double check.  There was a mandatory athletes meeting at 7:30 where the race director took us through what to expect on the course and reiterated the pre-race email warning of a challenging and technical bike course.  After reading the email a few days previously I had rethought my 5:30 finishing time and just hoped to get through it.  The meeting took awhile and by the time it was over there was only a few minutes to warm up.

The Swim:  2k  41:35 (2:05/100m) 21st overall.

I thought I had a few minutes to warm up.  We were asked to warm up behind the start line and I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the time.  I took a second to look up from my warm up and saw everybody lining up at the start and the starter asking everyone to come to the start line.  I was about 50 meters away and didn’t make it to the start line before the horn went.  Not only was I 25 meters from the start, I had to find a the path of least resistance through the slower swimmers and had to settle in after a sprint for the start line.  Lesson learned.  One of my warm up activities was to check out the current (we swam in the Muskoka River).  I was floating and the river was taking me downstream.  It seemed essential to get a good draft which I was able to do for about 40% of the time.  It was a two loop swim of 1k each with a 100m run from swim exit to swim start to start the second loop.  I really enjoyed the swim despite the current and felt as I was coming in to transition that I could have gone for quite a while.  I was hoping to do the swim in 35 minutes but perhaps that was not realistic for me over 2k.

T1:  2:25

I decided to put on arm warmers as it was a little cool so that took a bit of time to get over wet arms.  And I put bike shorts over my tri shorts (thanks Syd for that tip, I was very comfortable the whole ride).

The Bike:  90k  2:57:40  (30.4 ave. speed)  65th overall

I loved the bike course.  It might have been a bit over my abilities but I learned a lot on it.  The phrase “It is what it is” that I spoke to myself in the car on the way up kept my head in the game of this course.  There are hills, lots of them.  There was always another one looking at you as you were coming down another.  If I were in a less positive frame of mind I would have been screaming “not another one” but I took it as a school and the hills were my teachers.  Trying to figure out gearing was the main game.  

There was a lot of gear changing.  I made some mistakes and I had some successes but it was all fun.  And the course was beautiful.  Lakes, fern and moss on the side of the road, rock formations, innukshuks, country estates, cottages, horses, just really beautiful countryside.  There were a few sweet locals cheering on the riders. Smiles and waves to all I encountered.   Not much traffic and I found the drivers very courteous and patient with the race.

T2: 1:38

Uneventful

The Run:   21.1k  1:49:25  (5:12/k)  50th overall

Mercifully the run was a very flat 2 loop course with a teeny little hill part way through the loop.  I wasn’t paying any attention to my watch, just trying to keep my HR manageable.  My guess is I was running near a 6:00/k pace for the first few kilometers.  I wanted to be sure I would be able to finish strong.  At about the 11 k marker I realized that if I maintained a 5:00/k pace I would get my goal time.  I felt relatively strong after testing a speed burst so I picked up my pace.  This worked really well as I reeled in a couple of other runners.  Then the wheels came off at about the 17 or 18 k mark.  The IT bands started screaming at me and the last 3k were a real test. Another lesson learned.  I finished in quite a bit of pain and a big grin on my face.  And lightness in my heart.  As I crossed the finish line the race clock said 5:30:17 but was informed by the timing truck that it was a couple of minutes off when I inquired about the discrepancy between the race clock and the times posted.  

Overall :  5:32:41  45th overall  9/17 AG.

I feel very satisfied with my time and my performance. I loved the course and the race was small (191 entrants in the tri) and had a very homey feeling.  I would highly recommend this race to anyone.

Finally I want to send my thanks to Syd for the training plan that got me here, for the website and the advice.  I felt very confident about racing the distance because of the plan.

July 30

Had a triathlon nightmare.  I was on the beginning of the bike leg and there were only a few bikers heading out at the same time.  I think I might have stopped to help someone and then lost the convoy and my way.  I was walking my bike around in quite a crowded city scape.  I was on one ramp and I saw on the next ramp over a group of cyclists going up a hill. I went down my ramp and tried to make it over to the next ramp but the ramp wasn't there.  What seemed like a little further on there was a hill/ramp with 4 or 5 cyclists on it and I make my way toward them only to discover that they are recreational cyclists and not racing.  I'm not sure what happened after that.  I'm used to having actor nightmare wherein I don't remember my lines, or I'm in the wrong play but not a triathlon one.  Just goes to show how much on my mind it is.