Spring check in 2015

For all those who are still regularly checking in, thanks for doing so.

As I've said before in previous posts, I'll try to regularly blog but all the "extra" time I used to have to produce blogs, now go towards other things like dedicating time more time on the home front, helping my athletes at Ignition Fitness, and of course trying to fit in my own training, amongst a host of other things.

Here are a few things floating around in my mind that I wanted to make note of:

1. Ignition Fitness. We have an exciting year ahead and we have a great group of athletes at a variety of levels. My particular group is kicking tail already and we've still got most of the year to go. If you are interested in training for the Barrelman, we have an affordable program.

2. I am honoured to be back with Team Running Free for my ninth year. Running Free is the place to stock up on your shoes and gear. Owned and staffed by top drawer people too.

3. The Garmin 920xt is a near perfect device..........when it's working properly. I was all set to write a glowing review then after a month, the automatic wifi uploads stopped working (a huge reason why I got it), and with no wifi, you can't update the device. There is no apparent fix. There are a few solutions posted online --- it is a common problem, but none have worked for me. When things take a turn for the better, I'll write something. Aside from that issue though, it has a ton of features I love. Another big one of those is being able to use it every day as a watch and daily activity tracker (steps, sleep). You'd want to spend extra to get the HR monitor strap option. The strap allows you to run indoors without the use of a footpod, it track ground contact, etc. All the features are here.

Thanks to the demand of this new device, you can pick up the 910xt for cheap (as low as $150). Pick up one of those if you can get your hands on one. I had zero issues with that device. I just could not wear it as an everyday watch.

4. Octane Zero Runner. I used it exclusively during the winter and it saved me a ton of impact. It took almost one week to transition to running outside again to get used to all the impact/shock once again. But I noticed immediately that my flexibility improved. My run stride was complete (heels coming up and not just Ironman shuffling around), and my hamstring strength improved. I can definitely conclude that you can't 100% replace real running with the Zero Runner, but you can effectively mix it in with real running to help with recovery, and to get in some extra run movements without all the impact. With it being a new machine, there are a few growing pains. I had to replace the display on the console, there is a noise issue with the dampers (major moveable part of the machine). A full review to come. For now, a fellow Running Free teammate and very fast dude, Mike Bosch provides this demo.



5. Pacing - I just paced the Yonge St 10km and had a lot of fun. The Canada Running Series always puts on top notch events and this was no different. You should not hesitate to do any one of their events. Next up for pacing is the Goodlife Half Marathon.

6. Racing - I'll be very active with MultiSport Canada and Ironman. See you at the races.

7. Twitter. I am a lot more active on Twitter these days. It's a lot quicker and easier for me to share thoughts on there. Check out the banner on the right and follow.

That's all for now. I hope to check in again soon.

Ready for a Ninth Year on Team Running Free

I am thrilled to be back with Team Running Free for a ninth year.

This is the only place to shop for any gear you'll need for running/triathlon, etc. And owned, operated and staffed by top notch people.

When you shop at Running Free, save yourself a few dollars and use code 11296.

2014 Race Reports Posted on Team Running Free

I had a great bounceback season this year. The foot is still far from 100%, but I managed to find a way to maximize my capabilities.

The race reports are located at Team Running Free.

The season opener at Woodstock

Du-ing the Du at Binbrook

No running for me at Rose City

Hoss Five Pack Audio Report

Ironman #22 at Mont-Tremblant

Closing out the season at Toronto Island & Lakeside

Thanks go out to Igntion Fitness, Running Free, Quintana Roo, Honeymaxx, and Clif Bar.

No running for me at Rose City

A total of 40 competitors took part in the Welland Half Swim/Bike on June 15th, and as always is the case with this race, a few Elites and top age groupers show up to get in a good hard workout without beating themselves up with a run – mostly done as a final tune-up for another upcoming race.

Even though my main race is a few months away, I was in the boat too. I logged a fairly heavy run week so I didn’t need to do another 21.1 km. Plus, skipping on that run means I can get right back into training the following week.

Last year I swam a pathetic 50 minutes thanks to zero swim training. I’ve been swimming somewhat regularly during the winter and getting back to my old abilities. However, a pool shutdown due to yearly maintenance and some other things in life have messed with my regular routine since May and I hadn’t swam in three weeks. So a big reason to do this race was to get in an open water swim and see where I was at and how bad I could get after missing three weeks of swimming.

2 km Swim – 43:55 – 2:12/100 m — Worst swimmer in the Welland Canal

I got in the water 5 minutes before the race start and got in a few strokes to warm up. The new wetsuit I was wearing felt more buoyant and flexible in the arms so I had good thoughts of pulling off a good swim……that didn’t happen.

My stroke felt all over the place, and I kept drifting left. Then after about 15 minutes, my left side started getting numb and my left deltoid started to get achy. My navigation issues continued for most of the race, and I tried ramping up the effort during the final stretch because I wanted out of that water. Officially I was out un 43:55. I was not happy with that given what I’ve been doing in training (40 minutes should have been my max swim time), but it also showed me that I need to keep the swimming going if I want to swim to my potential.

Once out, I ran to my Crocs that I set aside so I didn’t have to run in barefeet for that long run to T1. I also took of my wetsuit by seconds after and then ran to T1.

T1 – 1:22 (includes the long run up from the water)

With the wetsuit already off and my Ignition Fitness Tri top and Running Free Bike Shorts on, I quickly put on my socks, helmet, grabbed my arm warmers and ran out with my bike quickly to make up for that horrible swim.

90 km Bike – 2:27:07 – 36.7 km/hr — 5th best bike

I spent the first few minutes getting my feet in the shoes, and mainly in getting my armwarmers on the go. Once I got going I started reeling people in and was not passed by anyone all day – thanks again cruddy swim time.

The first 30 km went ok. For whatever reason I did not feel like riding my bike. My legs felt tired and achy. However, thanks to some tailwind I was able to cover 30 km in just over 48 minutes. That provided some motivation that I needed at that moment. I did the math in my head and realized I had a shot at riding sub 2:30. I really wasn’t riding close to my abilities so surely I could ensure 60 km of harder riding?

I still did not pump out my goal wattages (the changing winds had a lot to do with that), so I ditched looking and riding to wattage and simply just rode hard and tried to pass as many people as possible.

I battled a stiff wind in the final 15 km and but having that carrot of sub 2:30 helped a ton, I let it all go for that stretch. During that time, I almost rear ended a car after a vehicle decided to go a few feet and then suddenly stop after a policeman had waved him through. Why he stopped, I’ll never know, but I am glad the policeman yelled at him to keep coming through. I had my hand on my brakes anyway since I sensed something weird was going to happen, but I was protecting myself from a possible left turn into me.

I got into T2 and crossed the timing mat to end my race.

* I was running low on Honeymaxx so I only had 240 calories split into two bottles. I consumed both of those, plus a bottle of water on course from an aid station, and grabbed a Hammer Gel at the final aid station for the last push home. That extra bit of sugar was a nice little treat.

Some Bike stats:

Time: 2:26:58 / Avg Speed: 36.4 km/h / Avg HR: 159 bpm / Avg Power: 193 W / Max Avg Power (20 min): 203 W

Normalized Power (NP): 195 W

Last year

Time: 2:33:53 / Avg Speed: 35.1 km/hr / Avg HR: 156 bpm / Max HR: 171 bpm / Avg Power: 189 W / Max Avg Power (20 min): 212 W

Normalized Power (NP): 192 W

Total Time – 3:15:31 — 9th overall, 3rd among men 40+

I was fairly happy with my bike ride, knowing that I have it in me to go faster. But the swim definitely bothered me. The good thing is that it will encourage me to not neglect my swimming for the rest of the season. Congrats to fellow Ignition Fitness teammate Shawn Marshall who edged me out by 16 seconds, and to all the Ignition and Team Running Free athletes that competed on the weekend. Once again the MultiSport Canada crew pulled off anther outstanding race.

Equipment: QR Illicito (it felt speedy today), Shimano TR60 shoes (my first ride in them and they felt great), Ignition Fitness Tri top, and Running Free – Bike Shorts, Arm warmers, and Calf sleeves.

Nutrition: Pre-race: 1 bottle of Boost+ in the morning, plus some black coffee on the drive to the race. During the race: Honeymaxx in my Profile Aero HC System. Both available at Running Free. Make sure to use the code 11296 if you are shopping there. It will save you a few dollars.

Post-race: 500mL of Chocolate Milk courtesy of the Recharge With Milk Recovery Zone, and 2 slices of Pizza.

* Thanks to MultiSport Canada and MySportsShooter for all the images – all free this year when you race in the series.

Binbrook Duathlon 2014

The race for me can be summed up as: two solid slightly faster than my goal IM pace runs and a good bike ride.

As with all these races I do this year, I will be going into them with heavy ironman training. I will treat these shorter events as bonus speed work. So some days will go great and some no so much. Race day performance all depends on how the legs will respond to all that training stress built up during the week.

I did some intense run intervals the day before and the week was laden with a lot of big wattage rides. So the legs had some sting in them to begin with but sometimes the legs are fine with this, sometimes not.

First run - 5km (25:37 - 5:08/km officially) -- my Garmin measured 5.24km - 4:53/km pace.
I could feel that my legs were not there today, so during the first run I went into cruise mode and tried not to fall too far behind the leaders (figuring I'd make up time during the bike). At Woodstock all felt easy for the given effort, today I was fighting it a bit. Still, to challenge myself, I made an on the fly goal to maintain a pace just under 5:00/km pace. I did so according to the Garmin. The run at Binbrook is a combo of trail/grass (approximately 1.1 km to start, then out to the road, and 1.1+km back to T1 or the finish line.

T1 - 50 sec

30 km Bike - 49:57 (36 km/hr, 221w avg)
The bike started well. I was maintaining 240w for the first 10 minutes but the effort got disrupted when a pickup truck made a left turn onto the course just in front of me. I was trapped behind the truck for a few minutes and I must give the driver credit because they tried to get out of the way as soon as they could without compromising our safety. Still, it took a while for him to get a clear and down the road. I got back on my way and kept making ground and through the field. As I got to the pointy end of the race. I was finding less riders to pass. The fatigue from the week started taking its toll and pain began to infiltrate my legs. The avg. wattage dropped slowly but I did my best to prevent the decrease as much as I could. I got behind a two cars during the last stretch on the way back into the park that delayed me some 20-30 seconds but I still ended up having the 4th best ride.

T2 - 46 seconds

The final 5 km run (26:32 - 5:19/km) officially. The Garmin measured 5.29km  - 5:01/km pace
The final run went great. The legs felt tired after the ride but they bounced by quickly for the run. I was hoping to catch some folks during the ride but with it being that flat and fast, it is tough to make up huge ground unless I push that first run more. I was running well but I was too far behind to catch those on front (not worth the effort and residual recovery to try and run 4:00 and change to do it), and no one behind was going to catch me so I just cruised in for a solid finish. Added note: I was a hot one out there and I could feel my right hamstring wanting to cramp during that final km.

Total time: 1:43:39 - 12th overall, 5th M40-49

Nutrition:
Pre-race: 1/2 of a Boost+ in the morning, plus some black coffee on the drive to the race.
During the race: Honeymaxx in my Profile Aero HC System. Both available at Running Free. Make sure to use the code 11296 if you are shopping there. It will save you a few dollars.
Post-race: 500mL of Chocolate Milk courtesy of the Recharge With Milk Recovery Zone. No white milk this week

And because I was missing out on a long ride today with my Markham Tri Crew and I had a busy day tomorrow, as soon as I got home after the race and clocked a 1 hr 45 minute ride. That was mentally tough. I actually took in a few doses of plain honey during the ride to get me through since it was a long day and I finished the ride at 7pm. This Ironman racing thing is such a pain :)

The best part of the day for me was witnessing Ignition Fitness athlete Darren Cooney throw down a wicked performance on a day he wasn't even 100%. Darren continues to rise up the ranks and finished third overall. Congrats buddy! This is only the beginning.

All the best in all your racing and training.
RH

The season opener at Woodstock

Woodstock Race Report - Sunday May 25, 2014

I was excited to get the season started especially after such a brutal winter we experienced the past few months. It turned out to be a beautiful opening day (the best we’ve had in Ontario thus far) to the MultiSport Canada Triathlon/Duathlon Series, and I was looking forward to putting my fitness to the test and seeing my “Summer Family” again.

Pre-race: After some chatting with a bunch of folks, I got set up in transition, and got in my pre-race ride warmup. All felt great and the equipment was working well, at least for those 20 minutes - more on that later. The problem with doing a ride warmup is on occasion, late comers see a gap in the bike racks and assume there’s a nice spot waiting for them, despite the fact that I clearly laid out my stuff to indicate that someone was there already. That did not matter, someone jammed their stuff right in there and now there was no more room for me. Instead of making issue out of it, I saw an extra rack that was practically empty and set up there. I keep thinking about making a sign that says “This spot is taken. I am out doing a warmup ride.” to hang up on the rack while I am gone. It may be time to put that in action. So for those of you reading this, when you get to a race and are looking for a spot in transition, be mindful and look for clues that someone might be in a spot already (run and swim gear laid out but no bike stuff) or just ask any athletes set up in that area.

Gear:

Ignition Fitness team kit, Running Free visor, arm warmers, and jacket.

QR Illicito, LG Aero helmet, K-Swiss Blade running shoes.

First run (5 km) - 24:56 (5:00/km)

This run was actually 36 seconds than what was officially stated. Why? I was out doing run warmup and PRP (pre-race pee) and the race started without me. The published start was 9am, but obviously there was a morning change and the start was 8:55am. Anyway, I was making my way back to the start and heard “30 seconds”, I knew what that meant and ran full on to the start and while the race was going one way, I was going in the other. The race photos show this along with John Salt and some of spectators having fun with me. I believe John said, “He just wants to give everyone a head start.” I replied, “At least now I fully know where I started and can make my way through.”

I ran a bit faster than I wanted during the first kilometre to make up that gap, then settled into a comfy pace. The plan was to keep it in that 5:00/km range - which is like speed work for me since my current training is all geared towards Ironman and I am rarely running anywhere near that. But all felt great and the pace felt comfortable and not overreaching so I went with it and given my late start, I was running just under 5:00/km pace. I gladly accepted that and it gave me a good indication that my Ironman run training is coming along nicely. Another indication that you don’t have to run fast or do a bunch of speedwork to go fast.

T1 - 1:01

Nothing spectacular here. It is a long run up the grass to the mount line and that is where most of my time was accumulated. I definitely could have trimmed a few more seconds off.

Bike (20 km) - 37:17 (32.2 km/hr)

I climbed strong out of the park and as soon as I made the right turn and got off my seat to crank up the pace I heard some weird noises and felt some wobbling from my wheels. My immediate thoughts were it must be a brake rub, flat or even worse a busted wheel. I got off the bike, check and discovered that the tire was going flat. However, for some reason it was still holding some air in there (probably 60 psi at that point) so I made the decision to keep riding until I felt the rim. I was extra careful with each corner (the noises and wobble that came when the brake was applied reminded me to do that), and just keep on going. I was definitely fighting the extra resistance from the wheel but keep on plugging away. By the time I hit the 10 km turnaround, I thought I’d have to pack it it because the noise and wobble was at an all-time high. I checked the tire and it was still holding some air so again I set off to continue riding until I felt the rim. I made it back to the park, was extra careful on the downhill, and headed to T2. For those that care, avg power was 211w, and NP 224w - below what I expected due to obvious reasons.

T2 - 0:54

Did a quick change and was out of there.

Second run (2.5 km) - 12:01 (4:49/km)

I love the second runs in duathlon (most of the time ;), I felt super strong today and just went with it. I did not want to go too crazy and have unnecessary extra soreness to affect my training the following week but I wanted to stay away from some faster runners coming from behind. I ran strong and surprised myself with the pace I was able to maintain.

Total time - 1:16:07 - 25th overall out of 106, 7th out of 17 in 40-49 age group

Nutrition intake:

Pre-race: Boost in the morning, plus a giant coffee on the drive to the race.

During the race: Honeymaxx in my Profile Aero HC System. Both available at Running Free. Make sure to use the code 11296 if you are shopping there. It will save you a few dollars.

Post-race: 500mL of 2% White Milk courtesy of the Recharge With Milk Recovery Zone.

Final thoughts:

A decent start to the year. Looking forward to showing what I can do on the bike at the next race.

Kudos to my fellow Ignition Fitness athletes on their podium placings - especially Darren (you are knocking off PB's left and right, awesome!). And of course my fellow Team Running Free members on their races. Catch you at the next one.