251 days until my next Ironman race

I sure am enjoying the off season.  There is 251 days until my next Ironman race and it is time for me to get back to a regular training schedule.  I have been on the bike on the weekend and doing a few runs but that is about it.

I was on a vacation to Maui and I managed to do a couple of short runs in the heat.  Because I was only going for a short run, I didn't think I would be necessary to take water, boy was I wrong.  Even with water I am not used to running in 82 degree heat.

The holiday season is here and I will need to kick it up a notch or two.  I think I need a mid season motivator race. stay tuned.

This is the team doing an indoor spin.

This time it was much different.

After Deb's race started I went back to the hotel to change and get a bit of breakfast before the start of my race.  I ate a small bowl of Kashi Go Lean with skim milk, then readied my water belt with two bottles of orange Gatorade and three gel packs.

I wore a light long sleeve shirt and running shorts with an old cotton shirt on top for an extra layer due to the cooler morning air this time of year.  Three Ks into the run I had warmed up and tossed the top layer.

I moved along pretty good and started knocking off the miles. It is such a pretty course, it starts up through downtown Victoria and weaves along the ocean, up into Oak Bay then back along the ocean.
I hit the halfway point with a 2:02 split.  Everything was feeling right, the legs, the lungs, the heart, I was at running at about 156 bpm and keeping pace with the people I started with. The race starts now I thought.

This was a different race for me than the one I ran here three years ago.  Back then I did not have enough mileage on my legs so they were not up to the punishment that the marathon distance throws at them.  Last time I had shooting pains in my shins that stopped me from running the whole distance. I managed to finish the race, but it was long and painful. This time it was much different.

I smiled the whole way around the 42 kilometer course. I talk to people, I thank volunteers and I totally enjoyed the run.

The last seven kilometers were tough, but I knew I was going to finish. I picked up speed and felt strong.  As I ran across the finish line I raised my arms for the victory photo, shook hands with the race director and bowed my head to have a beautiful metal placed around my neck.

 I crossed the finish line at 4:08:54.  A personal best.

I could feel the energy

The post Ironman recovery went pretty well.  I seemed to get through the race without any injury or health issues. In the weeks following I didn't do much for workouts, a few easy rides and the team had a wrap up ride and tail gate party to kick start the new season.

Five weeks later on the thanksgiving weekend I ran a Marathon.  A marathon in Victoria B.C.

Deb and I arrived on Friday to sunshine and 12 degree weather, perfect for running.  I did not really do much running in the last month as I was recovering form the Ironman race.  Work was pretty busy so I never did get a chance to do any long distance runs.  I was not sure how this marathon was going to go.

I awoke early as Deb had an early start for the half that she was going to run. The energy I could feel as we walked towards the starting area. 8000 people making their way a starting line is a pretty inspiring thing. Each and every person has a story to tell about their journey and how they got there. Deb has a story and I am so proud of her.


We met Kathrine Switzer , she was the first woman to run in the Boston marathon and was attacked by the race director for being a woman, running in a "mens only event".  He tried to tackle her and get her out of the race.  Thanks to some bystanders he failed. Now 61% of the athletes in this weekend's events are women.

I am looking forward to the race.

IMC 2011

The last month leading up to the 2011 Ironman Canada race has been very busy with work. I chose to work 23 days in August before the August 24th start of my travel on the Road to Penticton. So I had plenty of time to taper before the big race. I tried to keep my conditioning going by biking to work and running home. I even worked all day at the Edmonton Derby then ran a PB in a 10K after work. I felt ready to go, yet a bit under trained for the day.

We got into town on Friday and I went straight to the registration tent. It was a quick process and I was out and signed up for next year in less than an hour.

The sun was shining and race morning was beautiful. It is 18c at 6AM as I head in through the check in gate, I kiss my wife good-bye for the day. Body marking and bag check goes fast and and I get ready for the swim. It was so great to see a lot of people from my team who are not racing this year but are volunteering.

The temperature for the day is forecast to be hot, 32c hot. I started out on the swim andI was feeling great. I swam and swam, counted the buoys until I reached the first corner. As I past over the diver below I felt like I was making pretty good progress. The lake was choppy and I am not sure, but I think I was zig zagging more than I should have been. It turns out that I was going a bit slower than last year and when I finally reached shore I was close the the 2 hour mark. This was a half hour slower than last year. The shot at a PB was pretty much gone for this race.

I got changed and ready to head out on the bike. The temperature soared as I climbed up McLean Creek Road, I noticed that there were several people that had stopped to fix flat tires. A volunteer told me to stay away from the edge of the road because of tacks. It seems that one of the locals of this beautiful place is not happy about sharing the road with the cyclists so they threw out some tacks on the road in a futile and inhospitable attempt to discourage us from completing our journey. The support from the Bike Barn and other bike repair teams was fantastic and they seemed to help out all the cyclists that ran into trouble.

When I reached Osoyoos and started to climb Richters pass I felt tired and was thinking that this is crazy. I was pushing hard and it was so hot. To think I am doing this only because I want to and that I don't really have to do this. This could be my last attempt at the Ironman and I don't need to do this ever again. I kept pushing, standing on the pedals at times, sitting and pushing that bike up the hill. I finally reached the top and went on to climb up to Yellow lake and then the long downhill into town.

As I pass the Best Western I was greeted by a mass of happy people who had been sitting in the sun waiting for hours for me to pass by. Deb, Karen, Garnet, Rob and some other team members who were staying at the same hotel. On the ride through town I was passed by a wheelchair athlete. He is making his way on a trike that he cranks with his arms. Pretty amazing, pretty inspiring.

I reached transition and ran into the change tent. Wow! Was it full! I had managed to catch up to a whole bunch of people. I changed and readied for the run. A quick stop at the sun lotion station and I was on my way. Only a marathon left to go.

It was 4:30 and the hottest part of the day. Running was not easy, I was battling some serious heat and I wanted to stop. I made a deal with myself to run to the next aid station. So I did, then the next, then the next, then the next. I made a deal with myself to keep running and only walk at steep hills and the aid stations. My stomach was not too bad and even though my legs were tired they seemed to be working fine. My heart rate was good and I thought I can keep going.

As the sun set on Lake Skaha, I reached the city limits. I rounded the turn onto lakeshore drive and I can see the finish line. I saw lots of friends and teammates as I pushed through the final kilometers of the race.

It was a very tough day. I have many thoughts and ideas about this effort, I will share with you from time to time about this day and how the lessons earned are very valuable. I wear the finisher shirt very proudly and I now have the title of two time Ironman finisher. I have registered for the 2012 Ironman Canada Race and I am sure that the lessons learned from this experience will serve me well next year. Stay tuned!

The best place in the world.

Cypress Hills and it is hot! Very, very hot. Above 30 degrees hot. Today is my run day and I felt that I was ready to go for a longer run so I tried to get out before the heat of the day kicks in. I am on vacation for a week and I hope to get in some quality training while I am here. My mission was to run 25k more or less. I was dealing with some variables such as terrain and temperature. The Cypress Hills are (surprise surprise) quite hilly. This week they are also very hot. The run started from the cabin, around Loch Leven, onto the Trans Canada trail system through a forest of the very majestic lodgepole pine that are impressively abundant in this area.

This trail climbs up to the plateau of the Cypress Hills. I head west towards Lookout point and push on to Bald Butte.
Bald Butte is a big hill that perches on the north side of the Cypress conglomeration. On a clear day, one can seen incredible view of the Saskatchewan prairie. I pass the sign that indicates that I have made it to Bald Butte. The sun is out and I am feeling the heat of the warm prairie air. I continue without stopping and when I get to the end of the pavement the road turns to gravel so I turn around to start my journey home.

A few kilometres later Deb shows up with some more water and Gatoraide to top up my supplies for the run back. This is not a fast run, I am feeling the heat and the altitude. I finished off the run with a loop arrow the lake and after in 2 hours and 20 minutes and I was bagged.
It seemed to be a greater perceived effort than I expected I am not sure why, but even though it was a tough run I throughly enjoyed it. Even with all the challenges, this is possibly the best place in the world to go for a run.

Even with a broken foot.

I recovered pretty nicely from the Great White North half iron distance triathlon and I have had a bit more than a week to get back at the workouts.
Last weekend I was working the Edmonton ITU and was able to see the men's and the women's race from the back of a Suzuki. Hometown hero Paula Findlay had to pull out to rest a strained hip. Still very fun to watch some speedy pros going all out.

This week I am going on vacation, so I was able to join the team for a nice Saturday bike ride. The plan was a 9AM start for a 4(ish) hour ride from Ardrossan, East to Lindbrook and South towards Camrose.

It was a warm summer morning and a pretty good size group (9) showed up and we were on our way. The canola fields are in full bloom and everything else is very green and fresh.

I grabbed on to Mike Cooper's draft as we cranked along some fresh black top. Mike just raced last weekend in the Edmonton ITU and place second in his age group (even with a broken foot).

We put on 101 km in a 3 and 1/2 hours and faced a pretty good headwind on the way back in. This was my longest ride since Ironman Canada last August, so it felt good to be getting a chance for bigger mileage ride.

I am spending this week at the cabin and I plan to get in some swims, runs and I have my bike with me ,so I am hoping to add another big mileage ride to the training schedule.

Great White North 2011.

Great White North 2011.
I get dropped off at the entrance to Hubbles Lake at 7AM for the 8AM race start. It was a beautiful morning and the excitement in the transition area was building. I racked my bike and gave my T2 bag to the truck that will take my runners (I remembered them this year) to the the bike to run transition area. The line ups to the port-a-potty were very long so I opted to start the race without a pit stop. I felt good on the swim and the water was pretty clear. I could even see the bottom for most of the swim.
My transition to the bike went very well and I flew out and onto Highway 16. I was on my way on the 90K bike course.
The wind was not too bad and I pushed it pretty good for the first half of the ride and had a bit of a tailwind on the ride back. The last 10km into town ended up being straight into a strong headwind so I pushed even more and I could feel some of my leg muscles complaining that I was asking a bit much of them.
I hit T2 and slipped into my socks and runners and was on my way. My legs were tired and I wondered if I went too hard early and used up all my energy already. Some of my teammates were on the course to encourage me along so I kept going at what seemed to be a slightly faster than comfortable pace. This was going to be a long tough run.
5 hours into the race and 10K into the run I decided I need to stop at a port-a-potty and take that break I missed earlier.
I ran the rest of the run without trouble, seeing a lot of my friends along the way.
I finished the race in 5hours and 55 minutes.
The difference in my time from last year… about the length of a pit stop in a port-a-potty.


The Stats: (boring for some but I like them).

I finished in 372 in 45/67 place for my age group of 50-59
2010 I finished 390 in 44/82.
My times were:
After the swim I was in 585th place for a swim time of 49:43 and a 2:30/ 100 meter pace.
After the Bike I was in 362th place for a bike time of 3:00:02 and a 30 kph pace.
I was in 314th place for a run time of 2:05:55 and a 5:55 pace.

Total time 5:55:39
2010 time 5:54:10

44/82
562 49:18 2:28
397 3:03:48 29.4
301 2:01:06 5:45
5:54:10

A great weekend.

It has been a great weekend. Even thought the weather was iffy on Saturday, I got out for a quick 60 km ride with Rob and a few other teammates.  We went out from Ardrossan to the Josephburg fire hall and back in two hours.

Sunday was a wash out (literally) with a rained out golf game, but Monday, I had time to get in a 21.1km run in the heat of the day.  I ran to the Ft. Edmonton loop, and when I got to the part near the river, the trail was closed. The river was a bit high so the city closed the trail dur to the high water levels.  I had to back track to get around and up Keillor road, thru the University farm and around to the Power line trail.
The run was good and I feel ready for the Great White North race next weekend. http://www.gwntriathlon.com

Today I was up early and went to the pool but it was shut down due to some kind of "electrial problems".  I checked later and was able to swim 2000 meters non-stop,  just swimming, a straight up front crawl, a bit slow,but no problem...

This is the time to step up the training. The next month is will be the most important month of the year so I can train and have time to taper a few weeks before Ironman Canada.

If I put together more weekends like this I should be ready.

Its was pouring, again!

Ok, So there is a difference between rain and showers.  Saturday morning was supposed to be a big 3 hour ride rain or shine. Its was pouring, again!   I spoke to some of my teammates and I was invited over to Greg and Heidi's house for a comfortable ride inside while watching Ironman videos form previous years television coverage.  It helped the time go by quickly and even helped with the motivation knowing that in a few months, I will once again be faced with the challenge of competing in an Ironman race. Who thought I would be still spinning indoors in June?   

Sunday afternoon I was able to get in a nice swim.  2200 meters at the Rec. center.   The swimming is feeling good, just two weeks the the Great White North race!
The forecast is for nicer weather coming up, so I am looking forward to some nice long runs and rides outside!

I may just have to get wet.

The next race day is getting close and the workouts have been pretty good. We have had avery unsettled weather this spring with lots of rain. That is my excuse for not being on the bike very much.   When it is cold and wet outside I head indoors to the pool.
Yesterday I had a great 1500 meter swim at the Rec. center.  The forecast is for thunderstorms later on today and I really feel the need for a run.   I started off from the house and the rain started, After a couple of kms. the rain stopped and the sun came out.  It turned out to be a so nice and fragrant with the lilacs in bloom and I had really enjoyed a great 10k run.

It seems that I can't wait for the sunny days to fit in my workouts and I may just have to get wet.  Tomorrow I am planning a 3 hour bike ride... rain or shine.

Lookout Point

A weekend at the cabin and I had the chance for a run out to Lookout point.  The run starts off up hill until you reach the meadows on top of the Cypress Hills.  It is a 15km run, there and back. The trail is a winding road through giant pine trees, past the trail ride stables, tennis courts.  I run past an observatory that is being built,  this is a dark sky preserve and the stargazing at night is spectacular.  The whole time I am aware that there is now a pretty big cougar population in the these hills, so I tend to run making as much noise as possible.  My heavy breathing is helping, I am making a lot of noise as I run up the 1275 meters above sea level to the incredible view at Lookout Point.

Whitemud Creek 17K

June is here and there are just 4 weeks to go before the Great White North Triathlon.  It is a half Iron distance race in Stony Plain, Alberta that is my mid season "B" race. Last year I was able to do it in just under 6 hours, I hope to do the same this year.
Waking up Saturday morning and the temperature was at 5C and not going to be improving much as the day wore on.  I was planning on going for a long ride with the team but the idea of three hours on a bike on a cold morning just didn't seem like the way I wanted to spend my morning.

I opted to go for a run instead and I thought I would try a new route.  I ran a 17K loop around Fort Edmonton Park and up through the Whitemud creek ravine. most of the run was through a beautiful natural area. When I started training I couldn't run around the block. This felt great and I loved the new route. I wore a chest harness and carried the gopro camera. It was set to record one frame every second.
Here is the result.
Whitemud Creek 17K from Rick Bremness on Vimeo.

May long weekend

Minute ride from Rick Bremness on Vimeo.

May long weekend and I opted to stay home for the weekend and do some training here rather that drive out to Penticton.  This is a timelapse of my the first half of my 90k bike. I had a big ride yesterday and today is Super Sunday.

 The day starts 9AM at the Bonnie Doon pool. It was a clear and sunny morning, no wind and 18 degrees.  I got to the pool a bit early and sat outside on a bench, in the sun and enjoyed a morning coffee before the swim. I was there to do a one hour swim training session that I was long overdue for. I had been doing a lot of swim training on my own, this was the first session back swimming with the team since the Ironman race last August.

After a tough hour of 300m warm up /400m kick /800m swim /400m drills. I was pooped and now a 2 hour run. There was a pretty big group, out for the run but as the day wore on people would slowly drop off. After a an hour I turned back and started my way back to the pool. It was a tough grind but it sure feels good to stop.

90 km ride

Recently I have been doing a lot of running and swimming and not much else.  I have had to miss a few of the weekend rides lately so I was not sure how good or bad I was going to feel.

It was the usual Saturday group ride from Ardrossan Hall. There was seven members of the Cops for Cancer Ironteam that showed up for a 9AM departure.  The conditions were perfect for a ride, little wind and 16C.  Most of the people on the ride a getting ready for Ironman Austria at the beginning of July so they were out and going hard.

We headed South and East towards Tofield. After an hour and a half and a good 45 kms a few of us turned around and headed home.




Today ended up being a 90 km ride over a 3 hour period.  It seems that when I am riding with the team I tend to push way harder than I would if I went out on my own.

It felt good to be back it the saddle and it was a great ride today.

A new trail and some "Great training"

Henday Bridge

Went for a nice run today.  I ran a little more than 13K, my first run on this trail across the Henday Bridge to Cameron Heights. This is a picture I took last year when I first rode my bike across it. It is a tough run because of the climb out of the river valley. I seems no matter where I run I end up facing a big hill. No matter it is "good training".
Last week I went for a run the other direction and ran across a new trail a bridge by Ft. Edmonton.

New foot bridge near Ft. Edmonton

I left home with the plan of an easy mid week run and as I can across this wonderful new trail I saw a set of stairs the head up the north side of the river.  I thought it would be fun and "great training" to run up the stairs.  So I do, and in a big hurray, I reach my max. heart rate of 172 bpm. Now once I have hit my max. I cannot stay at a reasonable HR for the rest of the run.  I follow the trail to the south and find a path that goes up river bank to the Wolf Willow area. Nice, but now I am tired,  my heart rate is not coming down,  I still need to get back across the river and up the other side. I was so sore all week after that, it felt great today to get out for a more reasonable run. Lesson learned!

A new camera

Deb came back from a convention in Las Vegas with a new camera.  It is a HD mini camera called the Hero. It comes with a variety of bike & helmet mounts and a waterproof housing.  It is great for mounting on the bike and getting incredible P.O.V. shots (point of view). I plan on getting a bit more creative with it. Here is a sample from the hill climb from earlier this week.  It gives you a chance to see the speed of the downhill ride on a racing bike.  The purpose of this drill is the to train and practice the climbs similar to the racing and to build strength for climbing. With only weeks to go and such a late spring it is crucial to get in the hill training. Here is a short video clip of the fun of the big payoff... the downhill speed reaching speeds of (in this clip) 60 k/h.

First ride of the year

This was the first group ride of the year. a bunch of the Ironteam members met up at Addrossan hall at 10am on Saturday and hit the road for a very crisp and fresh first ride of a very late spring. After being inside on a roller all winter this felt great! I thought we were going for a couple of hour but because it is so late in the year we kept going and going. 65Km through the country side around the east side of Sherwood park. There was a bit of a wind so some of it was into the wind and other parts of it going with the wind were absolutely wonderful. Cruising along at speeds around 45km as effortless as Lance Armstrong.

Heart rate zones and testing for Lactate Threshold.

Ok Here is some information that I am dealing with. When performing endurance sport activities, such marathons and Ironman triathlon, it is very helpful to know what heart rate you can maintain for an extended period of time.  Your heart rate is like a gas gage that lets you keep moving at a pace in a certain heart rate zone.  The zones are from 1 to 5 and a zone of 1 is low and 5 is max.  There is a point of effort that your body can sustain a heart rate and metabolize the energy and nutrients in your body for an extended period of time.  That point is your aerobic threshold.

Rob is getting a blood lactate test done by David which involves taking a blood samples at a progression of heart rates to determine your lactate threshold. Knowing which HR zone can be maintained for extended periods of time and which zone you need to be in for shorter but harder efforts, helps in training and recovery.

Spring is here!

It has warmed up enough to get out and hit the trails. I headed out to the power line trail and had a great ‎10K run. The melting snow made for plenty of puddles so I ended up with wet socks. Not to complain because it felt great to be running outside again, the gravel left on the paths would work its way into my shoes so I would have to stop to pull the pebbles out.  It really is great to be able to run outdoors again. Spring is here!

A very very late spring.

This has been a great couple of weeks. I have been able to get in some runs (still inside) and to the pool on a regular basis. I have even managed to get in some good quality spins in the past few weeks. Lots of running swimming an biking I can't wait for the weather to let up. This has been a very very late spring.
I managed to get in some stair running at Rexall Place during my lunch breaks with my friend Doug Hallett.

The pool is great! It is a 53meter pool at the Terwilligar Rec. center.  I am able to go here anytime I have a spare hour and get in some good quality swim practice. Swim Swim Swim!

I love the blue water.

The first day of spring and I have triathlon fever!  It is still cold and lots of snow in Edmonton. I went away for a quick trip to the Caribbean and managed to do a couple of nice runs in Miami and some swimming in warm water, in Cozumel Mexico.  Wait a minute, they have an Ironman in Cozumel. I love the blue water.

 Today I went to the new Terwilligar rec. center and got in the pool for the first time.  It is a great big  53 meter pool and it is fantastic. I am going to own this pool. We bought into the upgraded locker room package and since we use it so much, it is so nice. I plan on being there almost every day. It is so fun now I can go for a swim and enjoy swimming lengths. The first day of spring means the training is now full on.

Winter in Edmonton can be tough to get out for a run so I am back to running inside at Rexall place.

I have been doing the stairs and running for half an hour during my lunch break when I am there working on the Oiler games.  I start off with running a stair circuit around the upper bowl and then run laps on the upper concourse.  I feels pretty good on the thighs and it is nice to squeeze in the work out.

              I am looking forward to get in some longer runs very soon.

A mid-week sweatfest!

Lots of work this month so I have had to miss a few of the group spins. I finally made it out to the Thursday spin and my training partner Rob T. walked in with a brand new Cervelo P3.  It is a good sign that he is fairly committed to training and there is nothing better than a brand new, shiny clean bike to spin on.
The spin session lasted for about an hour and 20 minutes. It was a nice mid-week sweatfest.

An iquana, a blue heron and some turtles?

Running in Mazatlan

During my winter vacation to Mexico I had time to go for a few runs.  The weather at home has turned nasty so outdoor running is out of the question for me.  Here it is between 18c and 27c everyday.  One of the highlights was a run from our townhouse to the beach and back. I woke up all fired up for a run. I headed West past the El Cid golf course. I ran past an iquana, a blue heron and some turtles. Then to the beach where it was low tide.  There is a very gentle slope during low tide so the run on the sand was very level and packed enough right at the waters edge.  I ran as far as I could, South along the beach and the Sea of Cortez. Lots of people were already out and enjoying the pleasant weather. Pelicans were diving and a few other people ran by. Now I have the rest of the day to relax and enjoy a book by the pool.