Alberta Challenge Half IM, Lake Miquelon, near Camrose

Swim 1.9 K, Bike 84 K, Run 20 K. At least that's what they said.
I think swim was closer to 2 K, my bike computer said 84.57 K, and run was closer to 21 K.

Going back to my last run, I think I overdid it just a little. The next day I had sore calves. That worried me a bit. My calves seem to be the weakest part, and are what have given me the most problems and worries. So I took it easy the rest of the week, lots of stretching, and lots of sleeping.

Friday evening I got almost everything all packed into the new Zoot bag. I even discovered another pocket! The wetsuit actually slides into it's bag slick as grass through a goose, with room left over. Made up my energy drink. Reviewed the race materials. Went over my checklist and race plan. Tried not to fret, and and got a reasonable night's sleep.

Sat am I went for a 30 min ride, and short run, with pickups. My legs felt pretty good. We got the last of the stuff into the car and headed out. It's an easy 3 hr drive to Camrose, and we stayed at the Norseman. There's a reason that's funny, and apros, but I'm not sure anyone reading this is in on the joke. You'll have to buy me a beer for the explanation.

After a light meal (BIG plate of lasagna in case you were wondering) we drove up to the park. Checked out the bike route along the way. Some of the road has really new paving. Most of it isn't too bad, except for the damn rumble strips, and the sealant filling up the cracks from side to side. We scoped out the beach, transition, and the route up to the road and out to the run course. Walked a bit of the run course. Back to the hotel, and tried to get to bed early.

We watched a little bit of the Olympics. Sleep was going good till 2:30, when the noisy neighbours came home. Bastards! I'm not sure I got back to sleep after that. We were up at 5:30, and neither of us made any particular attempt to be quiet. I particularly loved it when the bathroom fan swallowed the little metal clip holding the plastic cover on. That made so much noise I hauled it out, and tried it again. You get your jollies where you can.

We had picked up a light breakfast from the night before and nibbled that. Yes Jenna, the poop fairy visited. Headed out in good time. I've never seen so many bird conventions along the way. We were directed us to a different parking lot, and it was a shambles. I must say that when there aren't any lines, triathlon people park horribly. Maybe there should be a parking lot Nazi to go along with the swim lane Nazi. It's nice having all stuff in one bag. Found a space in transition on our rack, mainly by moving someone over. They'd taken 3 spaces. Registration. Cap, nice tech T shirt, number. That's it. Chipped. Body marking. #7. Back in, set up transition, got wetsuit on. Took Jenna's advice and slathered body glide all over my feet to help with wetsuit removal.

Race meeting. Good directions. Remember that. The race director was totally clear about the swim, bike and run routes for the different distances. Very clear. Race started a few minutes late, which is not a surprise. They were a bit short of volunteers. There were a mighty pack of 25 of us doing the half. Yes, twenty five. It made for quite the 'mass' start. The course was sort of diamond shaped for the first lap. New goggles didn't leak a drop.

I settled in to a fairly strong and easy stroke. Breathing to one side, but occasionally every third stroke. I think I paced myself better, and was never really short of breath. It was a bit of an adventure going from the 2nd to 3rd buoy. It was right into the sun, and nobody could see anything. Back to the first buoy, out of the water, and around a shorter triangular course. I was out of the water in 40:18. I thought that was a bit slow, but a couple people said they thought they were slow too, so maybe the distance was a hair further than 1.9 K. Coming out of the water I noticed a crick in my back, sort of low mid back. Usually hanging from a chin up bar and stretching fixes that, but no opportunity. It impacted my breathing a little bit. Niggled me throughout the day.

We had to run over the soft sandy beach for about 100 m. I was a bit worried about getting out of the water since that's often where I've cramped my calves. Thrashed my feet around a little just before getting out of the water, and crouched for a few seconds stretching before I stood up. Supposedly there was wetsuit strippers for the half people, but I didn't see any. Linda said she had been counting yellow caps, and said that only about 10 of them were ahead of me. Certainly there were still lots of bikes on the half rack. Sat near my bike and pulled off my wetsuit myself. The body glide helped. Got it together in a mostly organized way, though I nearly forgot my helmet. Getting sand off wet feet, drying them, and getting socks on isn't much fun. We had to go up a small hill over a rough gravel path. I noticed a few people that had been thinking about clipping their shoes and running in socks changing their minds. Out of T1 in 7:16 (47:34 elapsed).

My goal for the bike was to keep my heart rate mid zone 3 (low 130's) and if possible maintain 28 kph over the fairly flat course. And YAHOO!! That is exactly what I did. I passed two people, and two people passed me. Not sure if they were half people or not, since there were several other races. I was really disappointed on my second lap. I'd been slowly reeling in another rider on the north leg, and nearly had them. But they turned left into the park. I checked the schedule later, and nobody should have been turning in about then, unless they were really, really slow. Like hours slow on the sprint. Linda later mentioned there was talk of people not taking the correct course.

There was hardly anyone near me for most of the ride. I didn't know what that meant, but carried on. Spent part of the time singing to myself. (I ride alone, tadum tadum, and you know when I ride alone, I prefer to be by myelf. No bitch bout drafting, and nobody farting ahead, just me and my buddy Estela, we got everything we need.) (plus lots more.)

I certainly wasn't lapped by the faster riders, that's for sure. I was hoping to be out of T2 before the half was won. I'll have to check the official results, but from something Linda said, I think I did that. I kept the ride smooth and strong, like dark chocolate dripping off the abs of a buff cutie. I got through 2 and 5/6 Cliff's bars during the ride, plus nearly all of two bottles of energy drink. Stopped once on the bike course for urgent fluid management.

Back into T2. Oddly enough, the bike rack was full again. I'm going to have to figure this out sometime. How can there be lots of bikes, half of them at least on the rack when I leave, only get passed twice, and have a full rack when I get back? Chatted with a guy I saw doing photography. He told me he got a great shot of me, so I'm looking forward to it. The water bottle with ice in it was still cold. Slurped back a Gu. Out and up the hill. There were 3 laps for the run. About the first half of it is a trail run. It's mostly well shaded and just as well, it was getting hot. Up and down smallish hills. Well, they seemed small the first lap. They got bigger. Then the course went onto gravel roads winding through the park. I got through the first lap at 4:49, for 55 min. That was a little bit slower than I hoped for, but I ran the whole lap, except for the aid stations. Slurped back another Gu at the beginning of the second lap.

I got part way through the second hilly part, and nearly tripped over a root. I had visions of them trying to get a big guy like me out of there, and resolved to be more careful. I was beginning to feel the heat, and my legs were getting tired. I started walking the hills, and ran most of the rest of the flats and gravel. I had a brief panic attack when I looked down and couldn't see my chip. WTF?? I had brief vision of the entire day being for nothing, with everyone pointing and laughing, to say nothing of the lost chip fee. Then I noticed the bulge in my sock, and was relieved. Nibbled half a banana at the aid station about half way through the run. Typically was drinking a cup of water, some of another, then pouring it on my head and shoulders.

Finshed the second lap, and was beginning to struggle. I think the second lap was about an hour. Walked more of the third, especially the hills. Chatted with a really nice volunteer, and discovered I was last, except for a couple DNF's. Sucked back another Gu there, and the last one at the second aid station. Stopped at a tap part way between the stations to rinse my head, hands and arms. I was so sticky from sunscreen and sweat I couldn't take it any more. Walked a good chunk of the last lap, running flat trail bits. Ran the last K or so on flat roads. I think the last lap was a bit over an hour.

The end was a bit disappointing. They had rolled up and put away the chip mat, but there was a guy there looking at his watch, and told me the time. It agreed pretty close with my stopwatch time. They did announce my name as the last finisher. I got what I think is a set of aero-bars as a prize, and a finisher medallion, though it's not as nice as Chinook or Canmore. My bike was the only one in transition, leaning against the fence, with my wetsuit draped over it.

Linda brought the bag, I stretched a bit. Well, a lot. Tried to click my back and was seeing stars for a second. Humped all the stuff back to the car. Went back to the hose and showerhead they have set up for the beach. Hosed off with ice cold water, and went into the nearby change room to put on shorts and T shirt. No need for a towel to dry off.

Back into Camrose. Dinner. Drove home. Showered!!! Heavenly. Rinsed out wetsuit, which was filthy! Checked Greg. Sub 10!! What a super race. Lets hope that's good for a Kona spot. Checked out a few other people as well. Wrote up own race report.

In spite of finishing totally last, I'm pretty pleased. Darn pleased, in fact. What went well:
Swim was a hair slower than I'd hoped, but in the ballpark. I felt strong and confident. It was more important this time to stay on top of heart rate and breathing, and avoid cramping the calves. There was that long walk across sand to think about. The bike leg was everything I had hoped for. 28 Kph for 3 hours and feeling good! This was a huge improvement from Chinook, which was 25.5 Kph average and felt knackered after. Estela was a champ, nice smooth ride. The nutrition plan appears to have worked. I like the Gu, though I have to remember to time it for coming up to an aid station so I can get some water fairly quickly after. Even though the run was slow, I still ran various portions throughout the race, and finished the last K running. On a tougher course, I got about the same time, with much less effort.


What didn't go so well:
I had been hoping for 2.5 hrs for the run, which was about the pace for Canmore, instead of 3:10. If anything, I was slightly slower than Chinook, assuming the distances are the same, which is a poor bet. This was my first time doing a run on a trail, and with lots of short hills. Mostly my training has been done on asphalt bike paths. I wasn't getting cadance numbers, and I'm not sure why. It seemed to be plugged in, but maybe the magnet moved or something. Doesn't really matter, I've got a pretty good idea what my rpm is and when it's time to shift.

Summary.
I feel much better than I did after Chinook. MUCH better. I'm not going to go up the stairs two at a time, but it doesn't hurt. (Even Monday morning I'm feeling pretty good, tired but not hurting.) Part of the credit goes to this great vibrating chair attachment Linda got for me. The end of the race was a bit of a letdown, with most of the event packed away, and no burgers for me, but I can see they'd want to get packed up. I think it's a good end to my first season of triathlon. Looking forward to working with Greg over the next year to continue the improvement on the bike, and hoping to see some of that same improvement happen to the run.


Time summary
Swim 40:18 avg hr 131 bpm
T1 7:16 (47:34 elapsed)
Bike 3:02:32 (3:50:06 elapsed) Avg hr 132
T2 4:44 (3:54 elapsed)
Run 3:10:12 (7:05:00 elapsed) avg hr 136 bpm

Average heartate overall 134 bpm
peak heart rate 151
Total Cal 7628

Nice evening run

I had itchy feet all day today, even though it's been warm and humid by Calgary standards. Did some stretching, a brisk warm up walk, warmup run, then 5 K at a good upper zone 3 pace, short jog, gentle walk, then more stretching. They say that running in zone 3 is junk miles, but it sure didn't feel that way to me. I mainly was working on pace, trying to be steady and smooth with my feet.

It was a nice night for a run. Still warm, but cooling off, with a nice breeze. The clouds were quite pretty, and beginning to get the weird lighting from a lowering sun.

This is my last real run before the Alberta Challenge, so I wanted to make it a good one to match my good bikes and swims recently. IG wanted a 30 minute continuous run, and I'm sorry Greg, it was actually 31:30. But that got me 5 K. Again, for me this is a really good time. I don't think I could have maintained it for 10 K, but you never know. I was feeling just a bit too full to be running hard, with a bit too much water, and the remains of supper sloshing about.

During the stretching after I thoroughly explored the new tri bag I bought. The wetsuit goes into the pocket for it slick as grass through a goose, and lots of room left for stuff in other pockets. The race stuff is gradually migrating down there, getting ready to be checked off against the master list.

I've been thinking of my many buddies going out to IMC in Pentiction. Hope you all have a great race! Normally I'd be sending energy throughout the day, but sorry, I'll be needing it for my own race. Current weather forecast for Camrose is sunny and 28 C. That will make the run tough for me, but I'll get through. I promise first thing I'll do when I get home is check to see how you're all doing, and some of you had darn well better be done!

Here's the heart rate and splits for the run, so not counting warmup or cooldown.
137 bpm overall average heart rate
149 bpm peak heart rate
121 bpm minimum heartrate
589 calories
1st K 6:38, 131 bpm
2nd K 6:08, 136 bpm
3rd K 6:15, 135 bpm
4th K 6:36, 141 bpm
5th K 5:53, 144 bpm

I still think I need to measure this route just a bit more carefully where the fourth K ends exactly. It seems a little slow, and the last K a little fast.

Slow, but sharkly

I woke up this morning with a really sore left shoulder. It was a bit creaky last night, but really stiff today. Even when I take a deep breath it hurts. So I was a bit dubious about swimming this am.

However, I was feeling a bit guilty about missing yesterday's workout. Normally I'd get it done first thing. Instead I wandered over the the Chaparral Oly to cheer on Lori, Leaha, and Jarrett. I also ran into Alex from spin class earlier this year. Looked like a fun race. I think for sheer guts, the winner in my eyes was the wheelchair gal, as I thought of her. Someone carried her into the water, and she backstroked the entire way. I got told today she flatted out. That's too bad. The plan was to ride in the evening, but a thunderstorm rolled in.

The new goggles are perfect! Love them. Enough of the cheapies. Started the swim, and for the first length was essentially swimming one armed. No pull at all with the left. Oddly enough, it felt smooth. I took it easy, and it gradually warmed up. A couple of the regulars were swimming nearby. I wasn't passing them quite as quick, and in fact, one of them was passing me.

I didn't care. My swim was going really well, actually, although slow. Very smooth and even. Thought about a long steady stroke, and a very easy pace. About the 35 min mark I picked it up for 6 laps, and pushed fairly hard. It just so happens one of the regulars was right there and we swam together. Then I cooled down a little, and stretched.

Linda got me this great seat massager thingie. It runs off house current and car AC. Heat, vibe, thighs, upper and lower back. I've got it humming now. Very nice. I'll take it with me to Camrose.

Fri rest, Sat run

It took me a long time to go to sleep on Thursday night. It was hot, and I was still pumped from my ride. Friday morning I was supposed to swim, but I wanted to sleep in a bit more. Friday night was the end of a long week. I went to bed early.

Sat am I was up really early to run an errand. Had a bit of breakie, then went for the run I was supposed to do on Friday. I did the loop down into Fish Creek. I'ts about 7.8 Km. I was to run 15/1. I even wore my new Legend jersey to see how it felt, and where it rode up to. Did some stretching before, and started easy.

It was warm, and even with an easy start my heart rate went way up. Once I got on the path, it came back down again, but never got below mid-120's; a little higher than I'd like. My goal was to run steady and easy, trying to imagine my feet and legs were like a little tank tread rolling around and around, while my body floated above it.

It got hot on the hill out of Fish Creek, but the run through the trees was very nice. At first the shirt was riding up, but once I got sweaty it mostly stayed fairly close to my shorts. Still a bit of belly showing. Odd feeling to run sleevless.

I made it back to my starting point in less than an hour, which is the first time it's happened on this route. Kept going around behind our house on the beginning of my 5 k loop, but only did the first K to finish my run in 1 hr 4 min. After doing the mapmyrun thing, I figure I ran just over 8 K in the hour. That's not quite as quick as my Canmore pace, but I wasn't trying to go fast. I'm pretty pleased with that, since I could have kept going. Stretched after.

Went shopping for tri-goodies, more food (Cliff's and Gu), new goggles, some body glide, more spray on sunscreen, and a Zoot Tri-bag. The number of pockets in the house just doubled when I brought it home. I'm still not sure I've opened them all. Sure beats a 20 year old beat up hockey bag. Made the hotel reservation for Camrose next weekend. Tried on a pair of the 5 toe shoes, but my 3rd and 4th toes are just about welded together and it didn't work out well. I think it was a size too small, but it was the demo shoe, and they were swamped today. I'll try again another time when they're less busy.

Today's numbers:
131 bpm average heart rate
149 bpm peak (coming out of Fish Creek up the hill.)
1125 calories

I had a super ride tonight!

Wow! What a great ride, and I couldn't ask for a better confidence builder a week from my race. IG wanted an aerobic build workout. I'm still figuring out how to slowly build through the ride, taking into account hills, the wind, how tired I am, and all that stuff. So for tonight, I wanted to start easy, and build into a strong steady pace (sort of between what I used to ride, and what I did during the tempo rides) and see how I could maintain it. My goal was to keep the cadence up, trying for between 90 and 100 rpm, but more importantly, keep the pedals going around smoothly. I haven't thought about that for a while, and realized on my last ride that I'm getting a little jerky.

I took just under 20 minutes warmup to get to 37th and 22x, was at 22 and 22x at the 44 min mark, was at the 549 turn off at the 70 min mark, was at the bottom of the road to Nepal at the 98 min mark, back to 22X at the 140 min mark, and back home just a hair under the 160 min mark. It was the perfect temperature for a ride, with only a bit of wind that gradually died out during the ride.

The ride out 22X and down 22 I felt strong, keeping the average cadence up at 87 rpm or so, and an average speed over 28 Kph. I got down to 549 feeling good. For a while I rode with a guy in a strung out group, but dropped him when they stopped to get together again. At that point we were chatting, and both of us were cruising along at the upper end of aerobic zone. My heart rate was a bit all over the place for the first half of the ride. At one point I thought I was working pretty hard into the wind on a slight downhill, and heart rate was 115 or so.

I had forgotten how rough 549 is. It didn't seem that bad when Lori and I rode it last weekend. Maybe pumping up the tires makes that much of a difference. It was sure nice to get onto Road to Nepal. I had taken it just a little bit easier on 549 stretch, but not much. Then I blasted up the Road. I treated it like a full out race. I rode like IG was behind me with a cattle prod. Pedalled up to about 120 rpm downhill, and pushed really hard uphill. Then from 22X back to the house took it easier, trying to spin and cool down the legs.

Not counting the warm up and cool down, I did a solid 2 hr workout with the average speed 27.5 kph. My legs feel the workout, but I could still run. My lungs feel good, that nice clean feeling when you've been breathing hard. That's a huge improvement from Chinook and other rides earlier this year, where I could barely maintain 22Kph. It gives me confidence to have a strong ride for the race. That course can't be hillier than Nepal, can it? Then do my slow and steady run. I'm really looking forward to the race!

Normally I'd spend IMC day looking you all up and watching for you on the streaming video. But I figure by the time I do my race, the awards, the banquet, the drive home, all of you will be finished, partying, and talking about signing up for next year. I hope all of you have a super race, and I look forward to hearing about it!

Here's the numbers:

70.1 K ride
2:39:40 total time
26.4 Kph average speed overall inc warm up and cooldown.
83 rpm Average cadance overall, just before Nepal it was 87.
78 Kph max speed
1429 calories (so I feel no guilt about the brownies they treated me to at work, and the 3 pieces of pizza for supper after.)
124 bpm overall average heartrate
148 peak heart rate (one of the Nepal hills, I'm sure.)
67 min heart rate

Oh, and last of all, the new Legend shirt is my incentive to work on abs. It looks great, but turns into a belly shirt on me pretty quick. There's still a bit (well, maybe more than a bit) of a roll that must go. I wore it over another shirt so I didn't gross anyone out.

The hopeful shark

Ran this morning. It's dark in the morning now. Not as dark as in the dead of winter, but that's coming soon. I headed out about 4:15 am, with not even the faintest hint of light in the east sky. It was sort of that cool warm, or warm cool of late night. Then the last 15 minutes cooled down to where I could see my breath on the air. I forgot to look at the schedule to remind myself of what to run. When I got back I see the IGP™ was 45-55 12/1. I'd never have remembered that, so it's just as well.

I ran along the 37 st path almost to South Glenmore park. Walked a bit to warm up, then ran easy, then picked it up. Ran 14/1 for 60 minutes, and got back to within a few dozen steps of my starting point on the hour. Walked a bit more to coold down, and stretched. I didn't wear my heart rate, so no numbers. Tried to run at the point where lungs were starting to work. More importantly, I was trying to find a smooth stride. Overall it felt pretty good. I was beginning to get a bit tired and hungry at the 45 min mark, but that isn't a surprise considering I rolled out of bed, dressed, stretched lightly, drank a glass of orange juice, and was gone.

Joined Leaha for a swim at Lake Chaparral. Greg and Darryl showed up a bit later, as we were almost ready to go into the water without them. Nice to actually meet Leaha.

Black wetsuits sure are hot when you're getting into them in the full evening sun. It was still quite warm. There was a group of scuba divers going into the water. I guess it was police, firefighters, or a rescue squad practicing. We didn't have to wait long for Greg and Darryl.

The water was really nice. Not cold. Quite clean. I started off across the lake, nice and easy. Almost at once I fell into a nice strong stroke, still breathing alternate sides. Turned left and swam the length of the lake with Darryl. Still nice easy stroke. My innner shark showed up, gently approving. He liked the roll and the somewhat zigzag course I steer. He says that's an effective way of looking for prey.

Greg swiped a floating hackie sack ball from some kid, and we tossed it around during the swim. He put it back later. I think he was just trying to get a closer look at the hottie working on her tan on that dock. We did a leisurely circuit of the lake, with a few shorter sprints in between. Nothing formal. I took the opportunity to get more wetsuit time, and to think about my stroke, my heart rate, and breathing, while trying to find a nice pace.

My inner shark hung around for about half the swim, then took off. He said something about scoping out the seals in the underwater obstacle course. I told him they wouldn't taste good. Met up with him again for the last push across the lake. Way more fun than a pool. Stretched a little coming out of the water. Both calves were a bit crampish, but not too bad. Overall, a great day!

It's a measure of their fitness that while everybody else is tapering, I'm in the last week of my build, and they're still doing more than me. I taper next week, then on the 24th, I'm in the Alberta Challenge Half, up at Lake Miquelon, just north of Camrose. So far, this has been a well kept secret. When I looked earlier this week, there was only 22 other people signed up for the half. So unless there's a bunch of old guys in it, there's a faint hope I'll get a top 10 finish in my age group. For Chinook my goal was to finish. For this one, I'd like to have another good swim, consistent with what I've been doing, then have a nice strong bike, actually pushing my pace a bit, and then actually run (what passes for me running anyway) the entire course, walking the aid stations of course. Of course, I'll write it up for you guys.

I ate the bugs for Greg

Tonight was another tempo interval night on the bike. A perfect night for riding, by the way. It's a pity that days like this are numbered. I got out in good time, looking to do 10 min hard, 5 min easy.

There was a bit of a wind, but it couldn't decide what direction it was going to blow, so I decided to ignore it, and just pedal on effort. I wanted to keep the cadence up during the tempo portion, and try to actually ride easy in between. That's a bit tough when your easy section is uphill. I went out 22X then down 22 past the Rothny observatory a ways, I don't know exactly how far.

Still, I pushed hard during the 10 min, then sat up to nutriate and hydrate during the rest. I tried Sharkies for the first time. They've been in a couple of my race packages, but I haven't got around to them yet. I'm not really a fan of gummy things, so I wasn't terribly eager. They're ok I guess, but some of the flavours don't go very well with my energy drink. Water after them was fine.

Remember how we don't eat the paste, but do drink the kool-aid? Well, I've never been fond of kool-aid, so I've been trying to think about something else to express the idea of doing what IG has planned, showing our dedication, our focus, and sheer grit. After sailing through the umteenth cloud of bugs doing the ack spit thing, I had a brainwave. It occurred to me that IG wouldn't turn down the protein, he'd just breathe them in and out, or swallow. Spitting takes more effort than swallowing, and removes fluid from your body. Hence the title of this piece. Greg, feel free to put this on the next generation of T shirts.

Heart rate numbers. I didn't really look at this while riding, just tried to pedal strong at a pace where I'd be happy to stop part way through, and have to stay dug in to finish the 10 minutes. So lets see how I did.
125 bpm overall average heart rate, including warm up and cool down
148 bpm overall peak heart rate
56 min heart rate, must be right after getting on the bike. This after hauling her upstairs, and scurrying around getting ready.
1723 total calories
average heart rates during ride
113 bpm 10 min warm up
134 bpm 1st interval, 108 bpm 1st rest
133 bpm 2nd interval, 116 bpm 2nd rest (hill)
137 bpm 3rd interval, 116 bpm 3rd rest
132 bpm 4th interval, 121 bpm 4th rest
132 bpm 5th interval, 117 bpm 5th rest
136 bpm 6th interval, 107 bpm 6th rest
114 bpm cool down (zooming along trying to spin out legs.

1:50 overall ride time

I feel pretty good after. My legs were a bit tired, but I could have gone for a run, or gone for a longer ride. Maybe that means I didn't push hard enough.