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.