Road to 70.3: Week 6

June 13, 2016June 14, 2016Leave a comment

For the first time in my training this cycle I actually thought to myself “I feel strong”. With my hamstring and lower back/hip injuries, and of course my ankle, it’s been a while that I’ve run or lifted weights and actually felt pain free and powerful. Happily, this happened last week.

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MONDAY: Today continued our 10 week workplace wellness run club out of the Stock Exchange. This is a very fun group with a variety of paces and always lots of laughs. We did 7km of intervals, and as I was supporting all runners my pace varied. I usually follow this workout with our Tribe interval workout, however today Tribe Mentor Allison was going to lead the workout, so I enjoyed an evening of stretching and rolling at home.

TUESDAY: After a long weekend of working out I wanted to bump my cross training/rest day. I also knew I had a Tribe run on Wednesday so I wouldn’t be able to take Wednesday off. Today I went to Studio Lagree in the morning. This is a Pilates studio that uses reformer machines. I always get a great workout here and this was the first time in a while that I actually felt strong and back to myself after my various injuries. I spent the afternoon planning a new YFit class profile and taught later Tuesday evening.

WEDNESDAY: Today’s workout was a 60min tempo run and 30 minutes of either strength or flexibility. With our Tribe run being only 5km I added on to the start of the run and made it back in time only by the skin of my teeth. My legs were feeling heavy, but I am certainly feeling better movement through my hips and spine. We kept the pace steady and even included a small sprint to the finish. Post run eats were had at Tex Mex Radio Bar – it’s always great to spend time not running with our crew.

THURSDAY: Today Kat and I got in a morning brick consisting of a 2km swim and 20km bike ride. My ankle often starts off pretty stiff during my swims but loosens up after about 100m. For the ride we mixed up our route and headed East towards Cherry Beach and the Leslie Spit. East has way to many stop lights and the first and last 2.5km were incredibly slow as we navigated the waterfront trail. I had a noon hour appointment at my chiropractor and was happy to share how good I’ve been feeling during my workouts.

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FRIDAY: This morning Kat and I took off extra early to get in a 95 minute ride. We rode to High Park and did a series of loops – including High Park, but also Ellis Avenue. Ellis is very steep and was a key part of my 2014 70.3 training. It is a challenge and when you get to the top of the hill breathless you feel this amazing sense of accomplishment – we did it twice before riding back. I actually didn’t realize this workout was to be a brick – so after the ride enjoyed a good sit on my couch.

SATURDAY: Today was another brick fail. I did a great run with Tribe getting in 75minutes and followed it up with brunch – it was delicious but not the brick I was to be doing. Later in the evening I stretched but didn’t swim as was scheduled.

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SUNDAY: Nancy was in town today for a Mirvish show so after teaching my final weekend YFit for the summer and watching How To Get Away With Love and Murder we went for a 45 minute swim. Nancy trains with a club in Hamilton and has frequent swimming instruction as part of her training, she shared with me a drill I repeated three times (2 lengths zipper, 2 lengths hands in fists, 2 lengths head up, 4 front crawl). I enjoy swimming with my sister as she’s stronger then me and often challenges me to work harder which I enjoy.

In order to better plan my week I’ve been taking my schedule (as viewed at the top of the post) and integrating it into my daily planner. Clearly by my couple brick mishaps I need a better process, so I feel that this transferring of my training schedule into my work/life schedule will really help me pull everything together. Will it work? Stay tuned.

Time To Try A Tri?

December 8, 2015December 8, 20151 Comment

ttf

I am very excited to share that this upcoming race season I have teamed up with the Toronto Triathlon Festival, an epic race celebration of the ultimate challenge of human endurance and tenacity in downtown Toronto, as their Director of Ambassadors. So not only do I get to share excitement around this awesome race with you, I get to lead their team of inspiring and passionate ambassador athletes who love triathlon and TTF as much as I do!

If you’ve never done triathlon before, but are ready to take the plunge – this is your race! Here’s why:

It’s Downtown: On Sunday, July 10, 2016, athletes will experience a uniquely urban triathlon on the downtown highways of Canada’s largest city. We swim by Ontario Place, ride the gentle rollers of the Gardiner, and run along the Toronto Waterfront Trail, finishing at Coronation Park. If you love Toronto as much as I do, this race is for you!
Distances for Everyone:There are four different ways to take part in this years TTF, and if you aren’t a swimmer, this year, TTF will match you with a teammate to help you rock the relay. Here are the four race options:
1. Olympic Distance (1,500 metre swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run)
2. Sprint Distance (750 metre swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run)
3. Olympic Distance Relay (teams of 2 or 3 compete relay-style, each completing a leg of the triathlon)
4. Sprint Distance Relay (teams of 2 or 3 compete relay-style, each completing a leg of the triathlon)
All That Glitters is TTF Gold: If you register before December 31, you will be‎come a valued TTF Gold Member and receive exclusive benefits. These include: bonus limited edition swag, your favourite Canadian endurance magazine, invitation to an exclusive event with Olympic Champion, Simon Whitfield, random draws for a monthly TTF prizes, Fast Track Race Packet Pickup during the 2016 TTF race weekend, and 10% discount on your 2016 TTF registration entry fee.

The TTF is a celebration of athleticism at its finest bringing together avid triathletes with those just beginning their journey in a supportive environment that celebrates healthy living and active lifestyles. For more information and to register click here.

Toronto Triathlon Festival Race Re-Cap

July 23, 2012December 8, 20153 Comments

After 2 months of training and making my first serious commitment to triathlons I completed my goal race, the sprint distance in the Toronto Triathlon Festival. For those who don’t know, that’s 750m swim, 20km bike, and 5km run – my longest triathlon to date.

I woke up (6:45am) and for the fourth day in a row with a stiff neck -yes, I know it’s likely my pillow. So I stretched and went through my typical race day routine (fueling, praying, stretching), and got on the road with my friend Jenna who was also racing – it’s now 7:45am.

While riding to the transition zone we were able to catch Canadian Olympian and flag bearer for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Simon Whitfield, as well as Paula Findlay finish their races – very motivating and inspiring.

The Toronto Triathlon Festival has been an amazingly well organized race. From the race kick off Fun Run sponsered by Porter Airlines (they gave away 5 flights) and Training Mobs who captured all the fun on camera, to the mandatory race briefings, to all components of race day, all aspects of the race were thoughtfully planned.

When we arrived, the Olympic distance had already begun. We set up our bikes and our gear in our designated spots (so well organized) and listened to the hilarities that were being mc’d by our friend (and race organizer) Travis, and watched for our friend Julien, who was racing the Olympic.

At 9:00am we were in our wetsuits and waiting to race. It was already above 25 degrees, so in neck to ankle wetsuits we were roasting! We cheered on our friend Vince who with his brother Victor started the Sprint at the first wave at 9:30am. Eventually it was our turn and we were treading water during the in water start. The horn blasted and we were off.

This is only my third Tri of the season and the open water swim has been my biggest challenge, not because I don’t know how to swim, but because of the mind games I have been playing. In order to prep for this race, I integrated more open water swims, 3 more than any other race this season, and I feel it worked. The horn went off, I had positioned myself in a great spot to the left of the group and I followed my sisters Iron Man tactic of 20 head up strokes to get acclimatised to the water and the race. I made the first two left turns, and on the long straight away, with lots of open space, gave in to my speedy stroke and rolled over and started swimming back crawl – I laugh as I type this because it is so silly. Now you can swim anyway you want – that’s in the rules, and while back stroke isn’t ideal, it’s my fastest racing stroke, so I felt confident in my space and just took off. I was calm and relaxed and watched all of the other green caps as I raced passed, and 15min later (and in 4^th place) I finished the swim, climbed the stairs out of the channel and started to strip the wetsuit off.

I found my bike – row 2, although I actually ran to row 3 first – and sat down to rip my suit off. This has become my new habit, after struggling my first race to remove the suit, from then on I just sit down and get it done. The bike leg had a huge transition to the mount line. It was up a hill and on a bridge to cross the Gardiner expressway. The bike leg definitely felt like a challenge, it ended up being my slowest leg – again. It was full of slight inclines and declines and a headwind. A couple training rides ago I finally got my bike computer working, so was glad it decided to work today and I could see my pace. I tried to keep it as close to 30kmph, my race results had me at 28.7kmph. I was happy to see my fellow lululemon’s along the way, hearing Sam shout encouragements, as well as seeing fellow Queen St. Ambassador Vince when I had only 5km left. The husband also appeared along the route cheering after walking up the Gardiner off ramp – definitely a surprise to see him standing on the off ramp median cheering. I soon found myself back to the dismount line and with burning legs, had to run down the hill. This part was a challenge as my legs were on fire and were feeling very heavy. My dad and Aunt Care were cheering at the bottom of the hill and it pushed me forward to the final 5km run.

With a quick transition the running shoes were on. I decided to grab my hydration belt because by this time of day it was HOT out. I took a gel, grabbed my Nike+, and hat. With the hat on and gel eaten I was no longer holding my Nike+ (not good as it had my 2010 NYC Marathon band) but I kept running, now no longer knowing my pace (and those who know me, know I’m a gear nut, so this was going to be a challenge). With more mc’d support from Travis I exited the transition zone and started the run. I fueled at most stations, or opted to dump the water into my hat (a trick I learned from my grade 6 male students). Near the 2.5km mark I had a huge energy boost brought on by my Queen St. Lululemon family who were hosting the cheer station. It was great seeing their smiling faces and hearing their encouragements, it made me feel like I was an Olympian ready for London. After the half way turn I was headed home – nearly literally as we were running along the Blue Water Martin Goodman Trail, a trail I run daily and often refer to as “my backyard” – to the point where I even said to myself while running that I wasn’t going to let anyone beat me in my own backyard. So I pushed on, through the fatigue and heavy legs and headed to the finish line. With only 1km left, I started to feel really drained and decided the best thing to do was give thanks. And so I continued to thank every volunteer I passed and began to list in my head my top 10 list of things I am grateful for (family, friends, fitness and couldn’t seem to get over those three items, so kept repeating them in my head). With only 300m I was happy to see Julit cheering me to the finish, friends Tammy and Lisa who came out to help me “bring it home” and my family standing and cheering along the chute.

I got a personal best and am happy to say an 8^th overall finish for my division. It was a great day, a great race, and I am so thankful for the love and support of my family and friends who not only supported me through my months of training but through my race day.