Friday, December 31, 2010

Preliminary Race Schedule

So here is the race schedule for 2011. This is subject to change.
January and February possibly a couple of the UMS races
February 27 - Really Chilly 5k
March 6th - Western Splash and Dash
April - Queen's Spring Fling
May 15th - Rev3 Knoxville Olympic (a)
June 6th - Woodstock tri
June 19th - Guelph Lake I Olympic (a)
July 16th - Gravenhurst Olympic
End of July - Sarnia Olympic
August 8th - Coburg Olympic (a)
End of August - Chatham Sprint
then starting in September I will hopefully make the University of Western Cross-Country team

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Recovery Week

It worked out nicely that this week ended up being a recovery week so I'm not spending my whole break training and I have some time to relax with the family. I've been doing some easy swims and runs with Colin before he heads back to Kentucky and its nice to have some to do the easy stuff with and make it go by a little faster. I've been emailing my dad's friend who coaches a cross team in Holland and he gave me some great workouts to build my strength on the bike. Christmas was great getting to see all the family and where it used to be all running presents it has been switched to tri stuff so I'm officially a tri geek with the aero helmet all I need are the $2000 wheels and a $2000 powermeter. No New Years plans as of yet, but I have a long run scheduled for Saturday so if nothing happens maybe I'll do a midnight run.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas/happy holidays. The fam is all coming over tonight so its going to be a packed house with grand parents aunts uncles and a couple cousins. Went for a run today with Colin and I am done with the Newtons. Now my Achilles is flaring up and the only thing I can think of is the shoes. I enjoy the shoes because I feel faster but the way you are positioned on the fore foot seems to aggravate my ankles/Achilles. I was a fore foot runner prior to wearing them, but I think the lug system doesn't support my foot enough because now I have had problems with both sides. My right ankle problem I think started with an Achilles strain and now my left one is done. I had been doing most of my running in them since October and it has been one injury after the other off less running than before. I have an old pair of 2130s that can get me through the next couple weeks until I can get a pair of new shoes in my size. No run tomorrow and I'll attempt my long run on Sunday.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The pain is gone

The first pain that is gone is that I am finally done exams after a long two and half weeks. I think they went pretty well but there were a couple tricky ones. I'm glad I can finally relax a bit and not have to worry about much else besides my training. I'm going home on Thursday and can't wait to see everyone and have some home cooked meals.

The second pain is that I did a 12k run today and had no pain in either of my ankles. A couple weeks ago I was doing a fartlek in the ice and the bad footing caused my right ankle to get pretty sore. This is the opposite ankle from the one I hurt during the cross-country season so I was worried I might have to take some more time off running during my base building period. However, I skipped my long run on Sunday with the hope that a little break my due the trick and it seemed to work. Hopefully I can stay injury and pain free for the a while now.

So for now PARTY !!!!!!! I have to be in bed by ten at the latest though.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Terrible TV Shows and training update

So being that it is exam time and I have self-diagnosed add I struggle to study for periods longer than an hour. Luckily this works well with training eating and naps. However during this time I watch a lot of tv online while eating and riding the trainer in the pain cave. I have stayed caught up with all my favourites like How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds, but I only get one of those every week. So I have had to find some new shows to watch and they are just terrible. The last couple I have watched are Chuck and Nikita and both are about spies and the government. They are probably two of the worst series I have watched but hey its better than nothing.

My right ankle has been bothering me a bit running in the snow (opposite one from what I injured in the fall) so the running hasn't been quite what I wanted, but I did a 25 minute tempo yesterday and went like 6.6k on snow covered sidewalks and roads. The cycling I have been feeling like I am crushing some good workouts on Mondays and Wednesdays but no accurate way to measure. The swimming is getting there yesterday I did 15x50 all sub :45 and Thursday I did 10x100 all under 1:40. I'm heading to the pool now though for a solid 4k.

Happy Holidays Everyone

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

I love my bike

My bike doesn’t make me have a garage sale. 
I can ride my bike whenever I want to. 
I don’t have to ride my bike if I don’t want to. 
I don’t have to pretend I enjoy riding my bike. 
If my bike gets too heavy, I can take off some parts. 
I can ride my friend’s bike. 
My bike doesn’t have a mother. Or a sister that doesn’t like me. 
My bike doesn’t care if I have another bike. 
My bike always wants to go where I want to go 
I can get rid of my bike. I can trade my old bike for a newer bike. 
I only have to pay for my bike once. 
My bike doesn’t care if I l leave my bike shoes lying around. 
My bike doesn’t snore. 
I can upgrade my bike. If my bike doesn't look good, I can paint it or get better parts. 
My bike is ready when I am. My bike doesn’t take an hour to get ready to ride. 
Bikes don't get pregnant. Or moody. Or bloated. Or…..
I can ride my bike any time of the month.
My bike doesn't whine unless something is really wrong.
My bike doesn't care how many other bikes I've ridden.
My bike doesn’t compare itself to other bikes.
My bikes doesn't care how many other bikes I have.
My bike doesn't care if I look at other bikes.
My bike doesn’t care if I look at bike magazines.
I’ll never hear, "Surprise, you are going to own a new bike" unless I go out and buy one myself.
If my bike is too loose, I can tighten it.
You don't have to be jealous of the guy who works on your bike.
If you say bad things to your bike, you don't have to apologize before you ride it again.
I can ride my bike as long as I want and it won't get sore.
I can stop riding my bike as soon as I want and it won't get frustrated.
My bike doesn’t get headaches.
Bikes don't insult you if you're a bad rider.
My bike never wants a night out with the other bikes.
My bike doesn’t care if I’m late.
I don't have to take a shower before I ride my bike.
You can ride your bike the first time you meet it, without having to take it to dinner, see a movie, or meet its mother.
When in mixed company, you can brag about what a great ride you had the last time you rode your bike.
 
If you say bad things to your bike, you don't have to apologize before you can ride it again. 
My bike sets quietly in the corner until I’m ready to ride it. 
My bike will never want me to take pottery lessons. Or dance lessons.


I stole this from someone else. Plagiarism is key to success.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Attention all sugar mommas

I'm 5'7" blonde hair blue eyes. I am comfortable in a speedo and feel I could be an excellent pool boy. I'm not exactly tan but I think that is a positive since my whiteness can also be used to light up room. I can do all this and more for someone to pay race entry fees and transportation to races.

Friday, December 10, 2010

A One Sided Relationship

Everyone has been in one. You feel like you are putting more into the relationship trying to make it work while your partner just doesn't seem to care that much or when you see I love you and it is followed by an awkward silence. Well this is how my relationship with triathlon is feeling at this time. I know its the winter and this is probably why I feel this way. I have been putting more and more time into this new relationship trying to give it that spark it needs, but she just is not giving back. I've been in the pool quite a bit working on my stroke technique as well as swimming hard, but I am just not seeing the quick improvements I was hoping for. On the bike I have been feeling stronger, but I don't really have anyway to measure that on my trainer (no rear speedometer or power). Running is well running it seemed like I was starting to come back from the sprained ankle, but with all the snow paces have just dropped. It also doesn't help when you read stuff on the internet saying you are not good enough for her. People saying you need to be tall to be good, or your power is to low for your goals. Oh well, I am not giving up on this relationship and like it or not triathlon is stuck with me for life. Hopefully, this summer she will give back to me for what I have given her this summer because I would love to see some good results and there is no way I will lower my goals no matter what people say.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

SNOWDAY

So school has been cancelled two days in a row now and my car is almost completely buried in the snow today. Planned on going swimming today but since the pool was closed. Hopefully I can get out the door today for a run or else it will be another day on the trainer. However, with all this extra time I have been able to sit on slowtwitch all day. Someone posted this youtube video about training for an Ironman. I can't wait till I set my goals on doing one of these it sounds like so much fun.
You can find the video here: Training For An Ironman

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Snow Snow Go Away

So we got absolutely dumped on today. I think we got around a foot of snow, and I am ready for it all to melt. I have been riding on the trainer now for a couple weeks, and its been hard to stay focused. Morning tv just is not what it used to be. I have watched a couple of decent movies though. First, I watched Breaking Away and then A Sunday In Hell. Breaking Away is a great movie and I have watched it a couple of times before. Its about a kid who wins a bike and falls in love with cycling. A Sunday In Hell is about the 1976 paris-roubaix spring classic (i could be wrong on the date) but features Eddy Merckx. It starts out pretty slow but starts to pick up as it the race starts to pick up. Some other great movies people may want to watch while riding the trainer are Without Limits, Chariots of Fire, The Long Green Line, and Road to Paris. Road to Paris and The Long Green Line are the next two I plan to watch if I can find them somewhere.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Movember comes to an end.

I am currently procrastinating because I don't want to study for my cell bio exam. It is kicking my ass all over the place. The professor gave us the exam ahead of time so we can prepare our answers to the three questions, but the one question is just ridiculous. It involves two signalling pathways for cell proliferation and you have to manipulate these for the use of a drug to fight cancer and enhance chemotherapy. Isn't that what people get paid the big bucks to do, and if you could figure it out you would be a gazillionaire.

Anyways, Movember is over and the mustache beard thingy I had on my face is gone. I was not on a team that was trying to raise money, but doing my part to raise awareness for prostate cancer . . . How many students have money to donate and 90% of my interactions are with other students. I only grew mine for about half the month and I'm glad its gone. My face was getting so itchy especially when wearing a helmet or something over my face to stay warm. I don't think I will ever grow an awesome beard again but for next Halloween I'm thinking of being the great Steve Prefontaine and for this I will rock that 70s stache like its my job. The blonde is tough to see so it was a great surprise when people got close enough but the red on the bottom and sides was pretty nasty.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Weekend at home and cold weather

Went home this weekend since it was the last weekend I could go home before finals start. I also have to come home December 10th to dog sit. It was nice being home to get some good food besides my regular pasta, stir fry, and tacos that I always seem to be eating. Friday night my mom cooked some ribs then Saturday we had steak and sushi. Unfortunately the cold weather also returned home this weekend after a fairly nice spring, summer, and fall.

I went out for rides on Friday and Sunday with a run on Saturday. All three were below 0 with the wind chill. After taking the last couple winters off this cold weather was a bit of a shock to my body but its time to HTFU if I want to achieve my goals this summer. I was supposed to be running cross-country nationals this weekend in Guelph but after taking time off for my sprained ankle about a month ago I didn't feel like I had the speed needed to compete. Congratulation to everyone that raced and battled the snow and wind.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thanks everyone

First I'm going to start off with Simon,
Because of you my page views went from one or two a day to a whopping 27!!!!!
I think deep down you actually love it because you were making fun of my blog the same way you made fun of Justin Bieber and we all no how much you love Bieber.

Vicky and Rachel my only followers so far.

All the other bloggers for showing me what a real blog is supposed to look like, I might get there someday.

And last but not least the guys at Multisport Zone in London, Ontario. I have been in there way to much these last couple weeks correct my swim and bike. The swim is definitely 1000x better than it was and I'm really starting to notice it. Wednesday was my first time on the computrainer and we found a couple flaws in my cycling that I can work on during the winter. Basically it was that I'm a whimp and couldn't push a hard gear if my life depended on it and if i only had a left leg i would be even more screwed since its quite a bit weaker than my right (about a 48 52 split).

While I was there I also did a 10k tt on the computrainer. I only did it in 19 flat which i was a bit disappointed in since that is about a 31kmh average and i have been average that when i go out for 60+ minute rides. I will be back in there to give it another go probably early in the new year or right at the end of december and hopefully all my numbers will improve by then.

Next week I will be doing swim and run time trials sometime during the week just so i can get an idea of where my fitness is before the training really picks up.

This week I did my first run workout with some intensity (8x2min with increasing rest from 30sec) and there was no pain in my ankle. Next week or the week after I will start adding some tempo type stuff since that was definitely my weakness this fall.

Monday, November 22, 2010

The joy of shaving ones legs and reasons why.

So today was round two of shaving my legs and instead of using my normal razor I went and bought a large bag of disposable razors since it would be cheaper. BIG MISTAKE.
The first swipe of the blade probably cut me three time and continued to cut me as I continued shaving. I expected to cut my self a couple times around the knees and ankles, since that was why I started using nair in the first place, but no it would cut me in the most random of places when I wasn't doing anything different. Practice makes perfect so for now I will stick to the razor and keep my roommates' noses happy.
Now for the reason why a male would want to shave his legs since I get asked this every time I shave/nair my legs. I do not do it to swim/bike/run faster but for comfort. I like the way my legs feel gliding through the water or that all these little blonde hairs don't poke through my running tights. For cycling its so if I crash the bandages don't rip all the hair out and the hairs don't get infected.
There now you all know how icy my legs are.

I'm heading to bed though so I can swim in the morning. Good night and stay smooth.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A busy day

I have finally finished mid-terms so its time to really focus on planning my training at least up until January. Planning what workout to do and when to do it is a lot more difficult than I previously thought. I also got to do my first steady run. I did 15 minutes with no pain wooohoooo. I discovered this injury and having to start my mileage build up from zero is a great way to get used to the Newtons I bought since I didn't really get to run in them all that much.

New Kid Cudi cd dropped today and it is so good. Not to many club bangers but some good tracks to just chill to. 

Monday, November 8, 2010

What is this blogging stuff???

So I have finally decided to start a blog since it seems to be the cool thing for athletes to do (next will be a twitter so you can follow my every move). I don't really know what in the world I am supposed to talk about here because I don't know why anyone would want to read about me and my views about things. Anyway, here it is and I will try to update it and make it more appealing as I learn what I am doing.