Ok so I'm not going to update this every single day...but I'm working on it. I'm finding that my time to sit around and do nothing is quite rare these days, and combined with a relative lack of something worth writing/reading about, you get the lack of updates lately.
It has been a pretty challenging start to my training block...what else is new. Really things aren't much different from what I have been doing all winter besides a little more structure to some workouts and a clear week-to-week progression for workout length, time/wattage goals etc. And getting more and more excited to start my race season.
Since I have two weeks to update I will just hit some of the important stuff to keep everyone in the know. I have been very busy with work over the past couple weeks with our bike shop starting to get rolling. I've been back and forth to the Burlington and Toronto stores learning about these weird bikes with nobby tires and shocks and all kinds of weird stuff...and they weigh about a billion pounds. Apparently they are called mountain bikes :)
Anyway so things have been a little hectic but I have managed to get some good running in Hamilton with Amanda over parts of the Around the Bay 30k course. And training hasn't been interupted too much with all the travel. This week we are getting some much needed time off work to head up to Muskoka to play in the snow and hills, and do more rock climbing and snowshoeing than any real training. Maybe a bit of an odd thing to do while most others are heading to a training camp this week, but I'm confident with what I have been doing throught the winter and the break will give me a nice mental reboot.
So with a recovery week coming up it worked out well to impuslively jump in on a swim camp some of Gabbi's athletes are doing over the long weekend. Double swims every day for 4 days! I have been doing a lot of swimming with the Balance Point group and even though I sometimes end up swimming alone its a really fun group and Gabbi is a great swim coach, so I don't mind having the pace clock as my training partner. Hopefully this mini camp will give me a bit of a kick in the ass in the water, as things have been going well but I'm working on committing better to becoming a stronger swimmer. As much as I'd love to be doing more biking and running....
I have been doing a bit of riding, and my bike training will ramp up significantly in a couple weeks. I recently discovered "Metal Man" on my Computrainer and he is quickly becoming a good friend and training partner. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about (or if I have lost you, having admitted that I have imaginary friends) you can program a wattage pacer on a Computrainer to keep you company when you're bored out of your skull on the trainer. But here's the cool part. You can draft off him if you're being lazy, and since he's holding a set wattage you can keep him on your wheel if you ride faster. I know, I sound hopelessly dorky. But it's actually pretty cool. So don't judge.
Other than that, I'm feeling strong for this time of year and...I think...I'm right where I want to be. It has been a successful winter so far in finding a very consistent training schedule, staying healthy and working on the basics. Just a couple more weeks until the specific workouts come to get me strong AND fast for the early season half.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Day 1
I've had this blog thing around for a while...and it all started when I undertook a new and exciting (and slightly nerve wracking) challenge of moving to Guelph to train full-time under the PTC training squad.
Now that I'm taking on a new and equally exciting (and possibly more daunting) challenge of my first build to my first international pro race, on my own training programming...I figure it's a good time to document my journey step by step once again through training and life. Lately I've gotten away from updates on my daily training in favour of (mostly) tastefully opinionated ranting, but for some odd reason I feel compelled to get back to my blogging roots for a while. One day at a time to St. Croix 2012!
So with today being day 1 of my first build cycle leading up to the race, I figured I would share with you the details of my journey so far...
...Ok. So Mondays are my off day, and yes I do in fact have a true off day. Nothing exciting yet...I slept in, ate a yummy lunch and had a lovely chat with Amanda. But DON'T YOU WORRY. This will be a fun and exciting journey.
St. Croix isn't even one of my priotity races for the season. I have some very loose goals for the race but the big thing is putting together a strong consistent early season training block and pushing my limits on race day. Really its just a fun event for some motivation through spring training and a great challenge for myself to overcome a beast of a race along side some of the top athletes in the world. And to see whether or not I have a clue what I'm doing with this training stuff.
For those who are interested I will keep this up to date through my build with my goings on in training and balancing workouts with work and life. Not to show you how epic my workouts are, how hard I'm working, throw out half-truth - or full on-BS - time trial results or any of that crap. If you're looking for that go somewhere else (I can point you in the right direction) because I train honest and smart. This is just to put my thoughts on paper...or at least electronically encoded via my keyboard...and stay accountable to my loyal readers :)
Now that I'm taking on a new and equally exciting (and possibly more daunting) challenge of my first build to my first international pro race, on my own training programming...I figure it's a good time to document my journey step by step once again through training and life. Lately I've gotten away from updates on my daily training in favour of (mostly) tastefully opinionated ranting, but for some odd reason I feel compelled to get back to my blogging roots for a while. One day at a time to St. Croix 2012!
So with today being day 1 of my first build cycle leading up to the race, I figured I would share with you the details of my journey so far...
...Ok. So Mondays are my off day, and yes I do in fact have a true off day. Nothing exciting yet...I slept in, ate a yummy lunch and had a lovely chat with Amanda. But DON'T YOU WORRY. This will be a fun and exciting journey.
St. Croix isn't even one of my priotity races for the season. I have some very loose goals for the race but the big thing is putting together a strong consistent early season training block and pushing my limits on race day. Really its just a fun event for some motivation through spring training and a great challenge for myself to overcome a beast of a race along side some of the top athletes in the world. And to see whether or not I have a clue what I'm doing with this training stuff.
For those who are interested I will keep this up to date through my build with my goings on in training and balancing workouts with work and life. Not to show you how epic my workouts are, how hard I'm working, throw out half-truth - or full on-BS - time trial results or any of that crap. If you're looking for that go somewhere else (I can point you in the right direction) because I train honest and smart. This is just to put my thoughts on paper...or at least electronically encoded via my keyboard...and stay accountable to my loyal readers :)
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
More Sponsor News!
Probably time for another update...and now that race season is slowly creeping around the corner hopefully I can better at the whole updating thing again.
First off I need to make a big shout out to my newest 2012 sponsor, Oxford Dodge Chrysler Jeep in London. Elizabeth and the team there are giving me a ton of support for the upcoming season and I'm looking forward to racing hard and giving back with some wins :)
I'm also lucky enough to have received my new gear from Rudy Project for the season, including my new favourite piece of race gear...the Wingspan aero helmet. Super aero and light and vented enough even for St. Croix!
I also got a pair of the Genetyk Fluo glasses. Definitely the funkiest of all the Rudy shades I have and you probably won't miss them on race day.
As for training, well unfortunately I'm not heading to any warm weather training camps this year (I'm really going to miss the LPC Florida crew in March). But it hasn't stopped me from ticking away here in London. I'm on my first adaptation week of the year and it has been a strong mini block of training to start the year. I have been tweaking my weekly schedule for a couple months and I have finally found something that really works for me around work and life.
Lately it's been a bit of a swim focus and things are slowly but surely feeling a little more natural...all I can ask for in the pool! How much swimming? Well enough that I don't remember the last time my suit was dry. I could tell you about all my (occasionally ridiculous) workouts, weekly mileage, times etc. and try to show off how EPIC my training is (grrr)...but I prefer to be the only one knowing how hard I'm working. :)
My build for St. Croix starts next week and I'm looking forward to putting some serious hours on the Computrainer to get fit for an early start to the year. I'm also looking forward to feeling like a runner again after getting through the inevitably forced base/maintenance/strength "focus" of running in Canadian winter. Besides the odd swim TT and CP test on the bike all I really have to go by is a good feeling that I'm really happy with my fitness for this time of year and am training hard and SMART. With lots more to come.
Anyway, back to recovering for now. I promise I'll be more diligent with updates as training starts to pick up! Thanks for reading...
First off I need to make a big shout out to my newest 2012 sponsor, Oxford Dodge Chrysler Jeep in London. Elizabeth and the team there are giving me a ton of support for the upcoming season and I'm looking forward to racing hard and giving back with some wins :)
I'm also lucky enough to have received my new gear from Rudy Project for the season, including my new favourite piece of race gear...the Wingspan aero helmet. Super aero and light and vented enough even for St. Croix!
I also got a pair of the Genetyk Fluo glasses. Definitely the funkiest of all the Rudy shades I have and you probably won't miss them on race day.
As for training, well unfortunately I'm not heading to any warm weather training camps this year (I'm really going to miss the LPC Florida crew in March). But it hasn't stopped me from ticking away here in London. I'm on my first adaptation week of the year and it has been a strong mini block of training to start the year. I have been tweaking my weekly schedule for a couple months and I have finally found something that really works for me around work and life.
Lately it's been a bit of a swim focus and things are slowly but surely feeling a little more natural...all I can ask for in the pool! How much swimming? Well enough that I don't remember the last time my suit was dry. I could tell you about all my (occasionally ridiculous) workouts, weekly mileage, times etc. and try to show off how EPIC my training is (grrr)...but I prefer to be the only one knowing how hard I'm working. :)
My build for St. Croix starts next week and I'm looking forward to putting some serious hours on the Computrainer to get fit for an early start to the year. I'm also looking forward to feeling like a runner again after getting through the inevitably forced base/maintenance/strength "focus" of running in Canadian winter. Besides the odd swim TT and CP test on the bike all I really have to go by is a good feeling that I'm really happy with my fitness for this time of year and am training hard and SMART. With lots more to come.
Anyway, back to recovering for now. I promise I'll be more diligent with updates as training starts to pick up! Thanks for reading...
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Happy New Year
Greetings fellow triathlon gossip seekers,
Well it's a new year and we all know what that means...ridiculously crowded pools and no lockers to be found for the next two weeks. But don't worry, the resolution crowds will die off soon enough and it will be back to just us resilient triathletes!
I haven't been doing much updating lately, and it's a combination of trying to establish a new routine (having taken charge of my programming and race planning) and simply sticking to it day to day. It has never been part of my training philosophy to come up with arbitrary "epic" workouts or weekends then feel the need to tell everyone about it. So as boring as it may sound...it has been business as usual for me and I'm really happy with my CONSISTENT progress.
The longer I am in the sport and the more I try to show my face in the tri community rather than train in hiding all the time, the more distractions there are all around. People wanting to know what my weekly training is like, wanting to tell me that they're training more or harder. Personally I'm flattered when I hear that young athletes are comparing themselves to me in some way, and I'm always more than happy to help in any way I can...whether it be chatting with someone over facebook or leading by example at a workout. I have humble roots in the sport, having raced as an age grouper for three seasons before my hard work allowed me to gain elite status.
But there seems to be a growing trend of young athletes around me obsessed with the notion of "going pro". I'm all for people setting high goals and working hard to attain them, every day I feed off the doubters who tell me my goals in the sport and too lofty for someone so naturally untalented. But a lot of people tend to forget that it means NOTHING that Triathlon Ontario accepts your application to put "pro" on your calf at a race. You don't become a world champion overnight and you can't overlook the work it takes to get there: not for a single workout.
If someone were to ask me what it means to be a professional triathlete, I would tell them that my training is the antithesis of something boastful or glorious, rather it's dirty, painful and all-consuming. And for those rare instances that I get the chance to assert my fitness in a race, I will have spent 10 times longer driving to a venue every weekend of the summer than I actually spend racing it, for the slight chance to win enough prize money at one in ten races to cover my hotel or gas expenses. But I love it, the daily grind, the hard work that leads to improvement, and the rare but so-worth-it payoff. And I don't need my pro card to have that.
So all I ask of my compatriots is this. Focus on the training, the progression, and kicking your own ass in every workout and race. Forget the titles and the non-existent money, fame and glory. Just have fun, and quietly enjoy getting faster. And I will be more than happy to be beaten by a physically and mentally stronger athlete.
Now I'll compeltely change the subject because I'm too lazy to make two different posts. Well my build for my first event starts in about 4 weeks so until then I'm putting emphasis on efficiency in the water and strength on the bike and run. I'm learning to get comfortable swimming 20k/week...something that terrified me even a year ago. I'm also redefining my personal definition of "easy" and "hard" on my bike, as I do every off-season. 2-3 hour trainer rides aren't such a hardship anymore, and I have never been more excited to be fit for race season.
This past weekend I was lucky enough to join Coach James for one of his LPC Training Days in Windsor. They are always a great time and a solid training day with a fun group. I'm relieved that I'm still accepted as an honorary LPC'er even though I have taken "coaching" into my own hands. Here are a few pics from the day!
I have also enjoyed some fun training in Hamilton with Amanda, and have been getting a chance to be pushed in the swim and ride on the only good hills in Southern Ontario. It has been a great winter so far and I'm ready for spring racing already!
Well it's a new year and we all know what that means...ridiculously crowded pools and no lockers to be found for the next two weeks. But don't worry, the resolution crowds will die off soon enough and it will be back to just us resilient triathletes!
I haven't been doing much updating lately, and it's a combination of trying to establish a new routine (having taken charge of my programming and race planning) and simply sticking to it day to day. It has never been part of my training philosophy to come up with arbitrary "epic" workouts or weekends then feel the need to tell everyone about it. So as boring as it may sound...it has been business as usual for me and I'm really happy with my CONSISTENT progress.
The longer I am in the sport and the more I try to show my face in the tri community rather than train in hiding all the time, the more distractions there are all around. People wanting to know what my weekly training is like, wanting to tell me that they're training more or harder. Personally I'm flattered when I hear that young athletes are comparing themselves to me in some way, and I'm always more than happy to help in any way I can...whether it be chatting with someone over facebook or leading by example at a workout. I have humble roots in the sport, having raced as an age grouper for three seasons before my hard work allowed me to gain elite status.
But there seems to be a growing trend of young athletes around me obsessed with the notion of "going pro". I'm all for people setting high goals and working hard to attain them, every day I feed off the doubters who tell me my goals in the sport and too lofty for someone so naturally untalented. But a lot of people tend to forget that it means NOTHING that Triathlon Ontario accepts your application to put "pro" on your calf at a race. You don't become a world champion overnight and you can't overlook the work it takes to get there: not for a single workout.
If someone were to ask me what it means to be a professional triathlete, I would tell them that my training is the antithesis of something boastful or glorious, rather it's dirty, painful and all-consuming. And for those rare instances that I get the chance to assert my fitness in a race, I will have spent 10 times longer driving to a venue every weekend of the summer than I actually spend racing it, for the slight chance to win enough prize money at one in ten races to cover my hotel or gas expenses. But I love it, the daily grind, the hard work that leads to improvement, and the rare but so-worth-it payoff. And I don't need my pro card to have that.
So all I ask of my compatriots is this. Focus on the training, the progression, and kicking your own ass in every workout and race. Forget the titles and the non-existent money, fame and glory. Just have fun, and quietly enjoy getting faster. And I will be more than happy to be beaten by a physically and mentally stronger athlete.
Now I'll compeltely change the subject because I'm too lazy to make two different posts. Well my build for my first event starts in about 4 weeks so until then I'm putting emphasis on efficiency in the water and strength on the bike and run. I'm learning to get comfortable swimming 20k/week...something that terrified me even a year ago. I'm also redefining my personal definition of "easy" and "hard" on my bike, as I do every off-season. 2-3 hour trainer rides aren't such a hardship anymore, and I have never been more excited to be fit for race season.
This past weekend I was lucky enough to join Coach James for one of his LPC Training Days in Windsor. They are always a great time and a solid training day with a fun group. I'm relieved that I'm still accepted as an honorary LPC'er even though I have taken "coaching" into my own hands. Here are a few pics from the day!
I have also enjoyed some fun training in Hamilton with Amanda, and have been getting a chance to be pushed in the swim and ride on the only good hills in Southern Ontario. It has been a great winter so far and I'm ready for spring racing already!
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