My "Post Race Report"

Talk about Energy, Friends, and Enthusiasm! That’s the best way to sum up the energy at the Triathlon this year. My breakdown is as follows:

I got there this year by taking the 7am ferry. The squeezed as many of us as they could on and that was alright. It was *so* foggy. You could barely see the ferry as you got on, I don’t know how they drove it in the water! Shocked really! But thankful. When we arrived I was “late” compared to last year so I bike down to the transition area and got moving. I racked my bike and got my race information packet, t-shirt and got a move on. My bib number this year, even with registering as soon as it was open was 258.



I made sure everything was ready in transition and I got a move on. I headed down to the beach before they closed the area. When you got there… WOW! You could barely see the people in front of you. They called for a 15 minute delay to hopefully be able to see. My start time was pushed from 8:14 start time to an 8:34 start time. When they got the blue guys out I went to the water to see how freaking cold it was and guess what… it was INSANE! I was SO cold. I went out to my hips or so and got wet. I wanted to see if the cold factor would go away and guess what, it did, but my legs were numb! What a crazy feeling. I tried to channel all that energy I had as a kid to go swimming in the lake when it was freezing. But somehow it didn’t come. I couldn’t force myself to get totally wet. I gave Arnold my glasses and stood around the starting area. I visited with a few people and splashed myself a few times with the cold water. It’s such a shock to the system. The guy announcing it even said that if you feel like your lungs are going to explode you should roll on your back, do some back stroke and take some deep breaths. If that doesn’t work and you think you are in trouble take your cap off and wave it around. Someone will come and get you right away. He wasn’t kidding. I think more people were pulled out this year than I have ever seen (which doesn’t say much since this was the second year for me). I got ready and moved into position. I didn’t try and get first out of the pack because I wasn’t in that much of a rush. I waited a bit. My parents joked I had a plan, everyone would get in and pee and the water would be warmer before I headed out! Sad but was kind of true!

The Swim:

My time: 13minutes, 51 seconds, 400m swim | 3minutes and 28 seconds per 100m
Overall Rank: 283 out of 450+ racers
No wet suit
Course: triangle like, out around and back
Waves – barely any
Water Temp: 17.5C / 63.5F

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 13 minutes and 51 seconds
2010 time was 15 minutes and 2 seconds
**Faster this year by 1 minute and 11 seconds**

When I finally headed out it was so cold that I just couldn’t make myself put my head under water so all that breaststroke paid off! I did most of it in breast stroke and head up front crawl. What a difference it made. I just about choked a few times but that’s alright. Lake water is NOT meant to be swallowed. I passed 2 blue caps (first wave) and at least 3 yellow caps (second wave) and a few of us pink caps. I did ok. COLD and you couldn’t see in front of you. What a scary thing. For me it was more of a “if I can see the buoys I should be ok, but if I can’t I need to get help. The Lifeguards were great at directing sometimes as well. They just needed to stop a few of us who went off course a bit. I got out, got my glasses and began the part I *HATE*. I hate the sand and the walk way back to the transition area. Not only is it hard to run on sand but the goose poop on the other side is hard not to step on! AHH annoying!



Plans for next time:
I said this last year but I really have to practice running on the beach. It’s my least favourite thing to do but I know it would help me a lot to have that part mastered. I’m seeing some more trips to the beach next time and lots of walking and running on the beach.

I was greeted by my hubby after the swim to get my glasses and then over the wooden walk way to some cheers from my parents, my sister, my boys and my niece. I swear, next time I’m wearing a shirt that says “yes my family is that loud group”! I loved hearing them cheer me on! What a fantastic feeling!

I got into T1, also known as transition area 1. This is where you change from your swim stuff into your bike stuff. To NOT get DQ’ed you have to have your helmet on before even touching your bike. I have learned that’s the thing to do. My shoes are always prepped (very loose laces and socks on top of them) and my helmet is on my bike. I generally take my cap off between the beach and the transition area and the helmet is the first thing on my head before anything else. Then I know I’m covered so helmet on, socks on and shoes on. A bit of balancing issues but that’s alright. Grabbed the bike and off I went. Heck! I even ran a bit of the way from the transition area to the mounting area. Something I never did last year!

T1:

Time: 2:23

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 2 minutes and 23 seconds
2010 time was 2 minutes and 33 seconds
**Faster this year by 10 seconds** - which surprises me since I was further away from the bike exit this year!

Next was my bike ride. I knew I could do this. I’ve been training a lot on my bike. Most have been splits but I knew it was something I could do. Last year I remember not pushing as hard as I could. I was so scared if I did I would be toast for the run so I pushed myself this year. I managed to pass 5 people on the 10km loop. I was passed WAY more than that. But I made a point of encouraging everyone who passed me or who I passed. The smile on people’s faces was so cool! It was a good path out there and back, flat and fast! The biggest problem for me was that the morning when we were leaving I had a flat tire! Arnold fixed it for me before bringing the bike to the ferry and I was SO worried. I hit a bit pot hole as well. I don’t know what happen but I just hit one! I was mad at myself but I did alright. I went right back up the other side and kept biking. It was about ¼ of the way through. I told myself *if* I did have a flat I would just bike it all the way and buy myself a new rim next time! I remembered I had a water bottle just before half and took a drink and got a wonderful surprise! See the night before I prepped my water bottle and put a bit of water in the freezer and then pulled it out this morning and added some more water and I was good to go… well... I forgot that I had added some Kool-Aid mix to the bottom of the frozen water and wow was that a little energy boost! I was watching those riders with food in their hands thinking I should have done that but the Kool-Aid mix was wonderful! And because of it, and the taste, I think I drank too much water!

Biking:

My time: 24 minutes and 4 seconds 10km bike | 24.9km/hour
Overall Rank: 279 out of 450+ racers
Performance: Good, pushed myself harder than I thought I could
Wind: none but MAJOR Fog, to the point that if no one was in front of me I would have had no clue where to go, also had to wipe my glasses a few times on both sides to just see out of them.
Course: Out to the other end of the island then back past transition area, a quick turn and then back to transition to dismount.
Road: a wet feeling, but not wet more fog than anything, some potholes (that I managed to hit on bad)
Turns: average, I did good on the turn at the far side and lost LOTS of time at the one after transition
Race pace: comfortable
Drinks: maybe too much?

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 26 minutes and 21 seconds
2010 time was 24 minutes and 04 seconds
**Faster this year by 2 minute and 17 seconds**



Transition 2 was a bit easier. You bring in your bike, rack it, and run! Pretty much! I did take off my helmet and add my hat this time. It wasn’t too hard to transition this time because where I was racked was SO close to the exit and not too many people were back on my rack yet so we were good. I just did it and ran!

T2:

Time: 1 minute and 10 seconds

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 1 minute and 1o seconds
2010 time was 1 minute and 22 seconds
**Faster this year by 12 seconds**

My last part is always the hardest for me. The run. I am not a runner by any means at all whatsoever. Just lately I’ve been trying to get my running up. While it’s not an instant fix it does help. I do about 60 steps walking and 60 strides running, and so on. I think if I had started that first I would have been ok. I had so much encouragement on the way it was great. My family was cheering for me, and even some fellow competitors. One girl came out of T2 with me at the same time and told me I could just jog. I did for a bit then when I passed her again she told me she was watching me, in a friendly way. It was a nice kick in the bum to keep going. The first time around the “lollypop”, as it was called, is so hard. I feel like I’m going to die but I don’t! Thankfully. The second time around I can convince myself to go faster. This year my mom came out and kicked my ass. The last little bit she made me pick up the pace of speed walking and go go go! Then I met up with a new “friend”. She and I jogged to the end. She pushed me to get under the clock moving to 1 hour and 20 minutes. I did it! Just. And what a help she was. Our times are .2 of a hundredth away from each other! It was so nice. I found her later on the stands getting a photo and I got one with her, only to find out that she went to St. Pats (a high school I did as well) and we were both on the same swim team! How cool! This is always the hardest for me. And always my goal to do better so that’s the plan for next time:

Run:

My time: 24 minutes and 05 seconds
Overall Rank: 375 out of 450+ racers
Performance: less than average. I mean it was much better than last year, I actually ran some, but I was so tired. I really have to work on this part next time.
Course: out and around the transition area, out to the street and 2 “lollypops”. On the way back the second time back to the start.
Keeping Cool: not very
Drinking: could have used 2 cups instead of just 1 each time around. Even if to just pour on my head to cool me down.

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 24 minutes and 05 seconds
2010 time was 25 minutes and 35 seconds
**Faster this year by 1 minute and 30 seconds** - which I owe all to my mom!

Overall feeling – It was fun. I love them every time. Getting there is sometimes hard but what a feeling! I really enjoyed it. Hopefully next time I do it I can knock off some more seconds.

Time: 1 hour 5 minutes and 30.3seconds
Overall Rank: 350 of 450+ racers

*This year’s time compared to last year’s time –
2011 time was 1 hour 5 minutes and 30.3 seconds
2010 time was 1 hour 10 minutes and 50 seconds
**Faster this year by 5 minutes and 20 seconds** - next time, under 1 hour!!

Training 2011 - Feb Review

Do you know what yesterday was? 6 months until the Give-It-A-Tri! I'm so excited. It didn't really click in yesterday but today it did for sure when I looked at my little ticker and it said 5 months and some random days... WOW!

This past month in my training I have:

Cycled 149km's for a total of 5 hours,
Swam 5km's which took me 1 hour and 44 minutes, and
Walked two times, for a total of 8kms and that took about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

My "Core Fitness" I have been talking about was also done this month. I did a grand total of 900 sit ups. As well as my planks. 40 planks for about 10 seconds each. I did a few around 15 seconds but I'm back down to 10 seconds each... I'll explain. I started doing 15 seconds each at the beginning of the month but went back to 10 seconds each at the end because I was doing more sit ups and my stomach muscles hurt too much to hold for 15 seconds. I'm going to make it a goal for March.

With my goal for sit ups this year being 10,000 It means my 900 for the month have helped. I am now at 1,700 of my 10,000 goal!

No real personal bests this month as I've been working with Ben. He is a lifeguard at the pool I go to and has been wonderful! He has helped me with my stroke and gave me some workouts to try. I'll be honest I still haven't completed a full workout of his suggestions but I"m going to get there. I'm just so tired!

I am still working with making my Thursdays my new training days. My workout looks something like this:
Warm up - 100m breast stroke and 200m front crawl
10 x 25ms - there front crawl focusing on what I'm working on that day, back breast stroke (so 500ms)
200m focus on what I"m doing - slowly
10 x 50ms time swims (1 minute 15 seconds) - front crawl (500m)
Cool Down - 200m front crawl 100 m breast stroke
Total distance workout of 1,800m's which would be a PB if I ever complete it!

Fridays, if possible, are swimming days, I just warm up (about 200) then do a 400m swim, then take 5 minutes to 'swim' breaststroke then another 400m swim and again. Then a 200m cool down.

I ran into a "snag" this month with biking. I got my first flat tire and it set me back a few days and made me more upset... which triggered eating like crap. Not cool. By the time we got it fixed I had to get my butt back out there. I've been working out on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Last month (Jan) I was able to get at least 20 minutes 2 times a week. This is about 10kms. I set myself a goal with my last post of having my Feb ending around doing 26ish minutes 2 times a week. Guess what?

I DID IT!!

In fact last week ALL my workouts were 28 minutes long, and today... 30 minutes! My workouts, for Feb, have looked something like this:

Monday - XX time reading!
Wednesdays - 3 minutes warm up then 1 minute hard 2 minutes recovery until X minutes then 2 minutes cool down
Fridays - XX time reading!

By the end of the month I was able to get my Wednesday (hard/recovery day) to 1.5 minutes hard 1.5 minutes recovery.

My new goal for March is to get to 36 minutes for my exercise. That is bumping it up by 2 minutes almost every week!

I can say this month the only thing that has been super sore have been my calves from walking (need to do this more!) and my bum from the bike. It's time to pull out those trusty bike shorts I haven't worn for a while! I'm going to need them for March's goal!

I'm losing weight! Last month I lost 3.6lbs. This month, with having a few days in there of being stupid, I only lost 2lbs. But I"m getting there. For 2011 total now at 5.6lbs! I'm hoping this next month I can get a few more pounds down but who knows. To show you that working out works! I have been taking my photos at the beginning of every month and having Arnold measure me. Poor guy knows if it's a bad measurement it's going to be a rough few days. So from Jan 1st to Feb 5th (when I measured in) I lost 11.5inches! I'm not sure I will lose so much this time around but who knows!

My training is getting harder and yet, I'm enjoying it more. I'm *really* looking forward to summer. Feb's total Km's are 162kms. Last month was 122kms. I hope I can beat both for March

6 more months to go!!

Training 2011

Guess what I have started?

That's right my training!! I even registered for my "Give - It - A - Tri". This one is on the Toronto Islands. Same as last year. It is on August 27th. I am oh-so-very-excited for it. I'm training and working as hard as I can!

This past month in my training I have:

Cycled 114km's for a total of 3 hours and 45-ish minutes,
Swam for about 6.9km's which took me 2 hours and 52 minutes, and
Walked one walk, which was 2.1kms and was a grand total for time of 21 minutes.

I've also been working on my "Core Fitness" so I've done a total of 800 sit ups, 30 planks (holding for at the beginning of the month 10 seconds, I'm now up to 12 seconds each, 10 seconds between) in about 40 minutes or so. It used to take me 5 minutes to do 100 sit ups. But now I can do it around 3 minutes and 30 seconds, or less. I'm getting there!!

My goal for sit ups this year is 10,000. This means my 800 sit ups are doing something!!

One of my favourite things about my sit ups is having Kyler and Quinton watch me. Kyler does some in gymnastics and he knew he needed someone to sit on his feet. It was so cute to have him ask someone for help. For me, I put my legs up on a box and Quinton sits on them. This is an example of the view I have while doing my sit ups:






He even counts them off for me. Sometimes we skip a few numbers, and sometimes we go back to the beginning after getting to 10 or 15 but I know he is doing his best as my "trainer"

I've Personal Best'ed (PB'ed) almost every Thursday swim this year. My last one was 1750m's in the pool. It took me 44 minutes to do that. That is 70 laps of the pool, with an average of each lap taking me 40 seconds per lap. Which, for me, isn't too bad. I'm going to try mixing it up a bit.

I have talked to a few of my favourite lifeguards about this and one said one day do distance distance distance, the next day do sprint sprint sprint. So For now Thursdays are my "Kick my PB in the face" days, which makes Fridays my "time trials" and my sprint, sprint sprint days. Hopefully I can make it work for me and get some better times in the lake.

I've been biking in the garage alot this month. I try to get out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a bit of time. Generally around 15 to 20 minutes has been my goal. My goal by the end of this month (jan) was to be out there at least 20 minutes 2 times a week. This is about 10kms for me. I have done that!! Go me! Next month I plan on getting out there for about 26ish minutes 2 times a week. This means I have to up my game a bit in the next few weeks. I'm getting excited about the challenges.

Along with all the wonderful stuff of working out comes being sore! I can't believe how bad some of my muscles hurt and how long they hurt for. It's crazy. I'm excited for getting some new cycling clothing to get this bum to stop hurting (in the mean time I'm dawning my cycling shorts 3 times a week now to give my tail bone a bit of extra padding).

And to step up my game I'm trying to lose some weight. Last year, by exercising, eating healthy and being careful not to eat *too* much junk I lost 15 pounds. This year I'm aiming to do about 30 pounds, or there about. For the Month of Jan I have lost 3.6lbs. It might not seem like alot but I know it's helping. My shoulders have stopped hurting so much and I'm having to pull up my new pants more.

I won't lie and say it's easy to lost weight. I've had to give up on some cravings; change them; or try something that isn't going to change my weight too much. I'm also noticing that my body will tell me if I had junk, or something it can't handle. For example I had a chocolate bar last week. I was craving chocolate so bad I had a twix bar and some of a toblerone bar. Well, let me tell you, this body did not like the "junk". Rule of thumb, nothing bigger than my thumb when it comes to "junk". And I think my body can handle it. So no huge pieces of chocolate cake, no large chocolate bars, no 2 "fingers" of the twix bar at once. It does mean a change but it works for me!

All in all my training is going well. Jan's total Kms is 122.

Only 7 more months until the Triathlon!

Where I spend about 1 hour a week

I'm training. What! NO! Shock right? Well I started doing my training again this year. I want to be under 1 hour at the tri! I'm so excited for it. For now, Arnold has been wonderful and let me borrow "HIS" trainer.

You attach this trainer to the back of the wheel on your bike and off you go. Well... you stay right there but you can pedal to your hearts content, or until your legs feel like they are falling off.

Since it's been a while since I got back into biking I figured I would start out slow. With using my average speeds and my random bikings I did this summer I realized that saying (since no stopping, slowing down, or pausing at stop signs) every 2 minutes is about 1km. It's not totally right, but pretty darn close, I like to think.

I head out to the garage, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and get in a bike ride. Currently my plan is to get back up to my 20 minutes/10km stance before Feb 1st. My goal is to do big KM's on Monday and Friday, and back off a bit on Wednesdays. For example:

Monday (yesterday) was an 8km bike ride (17 minutes and 31 seconds)
Wednesday (tomorrow) will be an 5/6 km bike ride, unless I feel like I can keep going
Friday will be an 8km or more bike ride.

Once Feb comes around I'm hoping to "up" my km's at least 5km every month. So in Feb I will be doing 20minutes/10km, then by March I want to do 30 minutes/15km, April I would like to be at 40 minutes/20km. And then move out onto the road for my training.

So yesterday while I was outside I thought I would take some photos of my bike. Please excuse the fact that our garage looks insanely full (cause it is) but here's where I spend alot of my time:









Random PS... don't look now, but I think I might be *done* laundry!!!

A post about me

After completing my Tri in August I took some time off training. I enjoyed the craziness of the month and got back into the swing of things in September. My biggest problem. I got sick. REALLY sick. And all that pre-planning for my training went out the window as fast as warm air on a cold day.

It was so upsetting. I worked so hard to get my life in order and I'm pretty sure God was telling me to slow down. So I did. Since then I've rearranged a few things in my life and a few things have been rearranged for me.

Instead of following my super strict plan of getting the P90 workouts done by Dec 20th I've barely even started. Instead of going for a walk every morning I've barely had time. And instead of swimming as much as possible, I *just* got back in the pool this week.

August 30th I started working on my 'big plan'. It's been a few weeks (9 actually) and I've lost some weight. A total of just shy of 10lbs. Not too bad but not where I wanted to be. In fact I wanted to be closer to 15lbs. But I guess about 1lb a week isn't so bad.

I've finally had some time to get myself back into the swing of things. And Arnold has been a big help. I'm trying to keep up with everything but I'm so cold in the morning to go for walks and it's been getting so dark so fast I haven't had time. Here's how my week looks now, after getting my ducks in a row:

Mondays - Walk and bike in the garage
Tuesday - walk and swim
Wednesday - walk and bike in the garage
Thursday - walk and swim
Friday - walk and bike and maybe swim, if possible
Saturdays - off
Sundays - off

Our November is turning into a bit of a crazy time but I'm sure I'll enjoy it anyway. As for now Arnold is gone this weekend to a Sr High retreat, then next weekend is Promise Keepers, the weekend after Arnold AND I are gone (thank you Nana and Papa) on a Jr High retreat with the church and then the weekend after is men's breakfast and I'm finally going to get some time to take a breath, I hope! And maybe finish decorating.

Anyway needless to say we are going to be a bit crazy this month but I plan on sticking to my workout schedual, maybe I'll see more of a weight loss!

Here's hoping!

Give-It-A-Tri Photos

I know I'm behind but I have a few photos to share with you guys from the Tri on the 14th. I'm wearing my shirt from it now, I LOVED it! Still do.

ok photos

First off This was my carb high meal the night before:



This is a photo of where they did the medals and such. I didn't get one, I'm not fast enough yet, but it was cool to watch:



My number (which is sitting beside the frame I want it in):



This is me getting my number on... I forgot how old I was. It was so bad:



This is me coming from the lake after my swim:



Leaving on my bike ride:



Coming back from the ride:



Finishing up the run:



All done!!



The group shot of all the first time'rs:



It was ALOT of fun! I can't wait until next year!

"Give-It-A-Tri" What a ride!

Well I had a BLAST! It was so much fun and I really enjoyed it! I'm totally doing it again next year. And it sounds like I have some 'fans' that might be joining me.... hint hint nudge nudge Mom, Jack, Joanie, Leah!!


I will write more but for now here's the "guts" of the tri:

Toronto Islands Give-It-A-Tri 2010-08-14
Toronto, Ontario Canada
MultiSport Canada
Weather: Sunny

Triathlon - Other
Total Time = 1h 10m 50s
Overall Rank = 326/415
Age Group = GF25-29
Age Group Rank = 36/39


Pre-race routine:

This was my first tri so nothing special

Event warm up:

I didn't do any warm up - aside from walking from the ferry to the transition stations.


Swim
Comments:

For the first thing of the tri this was CRAZY! We were starting around our knees and off we went. The sandbar was so close you could run almost the first section. Then you swam a bit and another sandbar. I would say halfway to the first buoy was running. I swam more breaststroke and back crawl than front. Big mistake later on but for breathing and not freezing my brain it worked well. I started searching for the bottom a bit too early and lost some time there.

What would you do differently?:

I would swim front crawl, maybe count to 15 before rushing out there. I got kicked and almost swam over. I even thought I was following someone good but I got off a bit. I'm sure I could have shortened my time better. I also didn't realize I would have to run from the beach back into the transition time before my swim time was over. That's ok. I'll work on running on the sand before my next tri.

Swimming
00:15:02 | 400 meters | 03m 46s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/39
Overall: 263/415
Performance: Good
Suit: na
Course: It was an out around and back (triangle like)
Start type: Wade
Plus: Waves
Water temp: 0F / 0C
Current: Medium
200M Perf. Below average
Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average
Drafting: Average
Waves: Average
Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good



T1

Comments:

I didn't have a suit so I didn't have to worry about it. However I did fall over trying to put my socks on my wet feet! I did just fine with them in my shoes with the sand on the toes but it was a bit odd. I was so careful to grab my helmet before touching my bike. I would have died to be DQ'ed before I even got on my bike!

What would you do differently?:

Next time I might look at getting different laces, but over all I'm not too upset with the time. I didn't run out of the transition area and I might do that as well. While coming in I had someone I was walking with who was blind without his glasses on and we happen to be on the same stand so I showed him where to go. He had no clue.

T1
Time: 02:33
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good
Helmet on/Suit off: No (no suit)
Wetsuit stuck? No
Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Average


Bike

Comments:

I really enjoyed this course. I had fun biking but I didn't want to push myself too hard. I knew my run would be the worst part and wanted to save my energy.

What would you do differently?:

Push myself a bit harder. I know I could have done it faster. Oh and drink more.

Biking
00:26:21 | 10 kms | 22.77 km/hr
Age Group: 0/39
Overall: 260/415
Performance: Good
Wind: Little
Course: The course was down to the end of the island then back past the transition area and do a little loop (hard quick turn) and back into transition.
Road: Potholes Dry
Cadence:
Turns: Average
Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good
Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable
Drinks: Not enough


T2

Comments:

I didn't have to change anything so I just headed out! I had to rack my bike, helmet off and head out of there.


What would you do differently?:

nothing.

T2
Time: 01:22
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes Average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good


Run

Comments:

I suck! I know I could have run better. Heck I could have run! I ran, I would guess, around .75km. It was tough! I don't think my body, or I, was ready for the run part after everything else. It is totally my weak spot in this area. The course was just fine and easy but the run was hard!

What would you do differently?:

I am going to work on running on the grass. I forgot we would have to do this and my body is feeling it now running on something that is 'uneven'. Also I need to focus my efforts this winter on running. I have to get that time down.

Running
00:25:35 | 02.5 kms | 10m 14s min/km
Age Group: 0/39
Overall: 334/415
Performance: Below average
Course: out and around the lap 2 times. On the second time head into the finish.
Keeping cool: Average
Drinking: Just right


Post race

Warm down:

I had something to drink and walked around a bit then headed to get some food. I was STARVING by then.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

my run. It sucked! Hopefully next time I can push that time down some.

Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok


Event comments:

I really enjoyed this for a first timer. I did find out that some people use this race as a sprint warm up for the next day (talk about freaking myself out!). I do wish there was a way to see on the results page (which was up quickly) who were doing it for the first time ever and who were just doing it again.

I am totally doing this race again next year with my mom who will be a first timer!

Evaluation
Course challenge: Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 4


I'll be back with more information and photos!! For now I have some little boys calling my name.

I'm back.. and I'm tired

I'm back and I'm tired. Really tired.

Yesterday I did my first GT (Give it a Tri). I LOVED it! It was so much fun and we had a blast and just wow....... I'll be back to posting this week as the time comes up. For now the boys and I are looking forward to our first ever time together for a full week. Generally we don't get time together (aka all day) because of my training but without training it's going to be just us!

I'll be back with more photos and a race report :)

Oh yeah... I did it in 1 hour, 10 minutes and 50 seconds! GO ME!

BTW next year will be faster!

Tri Update

I 'friend-ed' the company who is doing the tri on Facebook. Today's status update:

MultiSport Canada Triathlon Series Toronto Island Update - The Triathlon and Duathlon on Sunday August 15 have less than 20 spots in total left. The Give-It-A-Tri has under 75 spots left. If you intend to do one of these races please do not be disappointed and register soon.

OH MY!!! I can't believe it!! There are going to be close to 400people doing the "Give-it-a-Tri". I'm getting nervous. It doesn't help that the pool at the community centre has been closed all week due to 'mechanical malfunction' (in other words they ran out of Chlorine last week and NO ONE has gotten any more). So no pool training.

We head out camping in a few hours (like 3!!) and I'm bringing my bike, helmet, and everything I need to train while I'm there. Hopefully it works out well!

Training!

Do you know what today is? It is 1 month until my "Give-It-A-Tri"!!

I have upped my training this month. I want to really work on my running since it SUCKS! This past month I have been able to do alot of swimming then cycling. I have managed to have a babysitter(s) 4 days a week and gone for a swim (between 400 to 800m swims) and then a cycle right after (between 8km to 13kms). Now I'm working on cycling and running. My running is HORRIBLE right now. I have re-started the Couch to 5km program from Cool Runnings.

I have started running on a trail now. It's really nice, there is alot of shade, so that helps, but it smells. It's a trade-off I guess. I'm getting used to it.

So far my plans this month looks like this:

July 12 to 18:
Monday - 6am Week 1 CT5K 9am swim/cycle DONE!
Tuesday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle did swim/cycle and just under 1km family walk
Wednesday - 6am Week 2 CT5K moved to tonight.
Thursday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle
Friday - 6am Week 2 CT5K 9am swim/cycle
Saturday - family cycle/walk (maybe Toronto Islands)
Sunday - Family walk/cycle

July 19 to 25:
Monday - 6am Week 4 CT5K 9am swim/cycle
Tuesday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle
Wednesday - 6am Week 5a CT5K
Thursday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle
Friday - 6am Week 5b CT5K 9am swim/cycle
Saturday - family cycle/walk in evening do Week 5c CT5K
Sunday - Family walk/cycle

July 26 to August 1:
Monday - 6am Week 6a CT5K 9am swim/cycle
Tuesday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle
Wednesday - 6am Week 6b CT5K
Thursday - 6am OR evening walk 3km 9am swim/cycle ***Leave for camping today**
Friday - CAMPING - sometime during the day get in a cycle run (morning)
Saturday - CAMPING - sometime during the day get in a cycle walk and a family cycle/walk
Sunday - CAMPING - sometime during the day get in a cycle run (morning) and a Family walk/cycle

August 2 to August 8:
Monday - CAMPING - Get in a Week 7 CT5K
Tuesday - no kids - sometime during the day walk 3km 9am swim/cycle
Wednesday - no kids - sometime during the day Week 8 CT5K
Thursday -LEAVE FOR WEDDING - sometime during the day walk 3km if workout room cycle
Friday - REGINA FOR WEDDING - sometime during the day run 3km if workout room cycle
Saturday - REGINA FOR WEDDING - sometime during the day walk 3km if workout room cycle
Sunday - COMING HOME FROM WEDDIG - if time take a walk

August 9 to August 14:
Monday - Driving to parents house - day off
Tuesday - 6am run 9am swim/cycle
Wednesday - 9am cycle/run
Thursday - full tri 9am swim/cycle/run
Friday - OFF eat a HUGE pasta dinner (trying to convince DH to take me to Spaghetti factory!!
Saturday - Give-It-A-Tri!! Be on the boat at 6:30am for my ride over, my parents will come in a bit with the kids and then the race starts at 6am
Sunday - RELAX!!!!


I'm getting worried about how things are going to happen. I've done so much reading and asking questions to those who have done the give-it-a-tri with this company. I'm hoping things go ok and I can handle everything. I'm worried about the wave start. This is where everyone in certain age groups head out at once. This scares me. I hate being in the water with large groups of people. The advice I've been given, chill! When the gun/whistle/starter block goes off then count to 5 and go. It will give you a moment to not be behind those crazy people bolting it out there.

I'm worried about the transitions. I won't have to take off my wetsuit since I won't have one on but I will have to get my numbers on. I have to have that on before doing anything, on my back. I also have to have my helmet on before touching my bike. So my plan is to run to the stop, put my socks/shoes on (might change laces to the pull string ones) and then grab helmet and put it on, (have my numbers sitting inside it so putting those on the same time) then pull bike out and GO!

The next transition is from Cycling to Running. Currently I have HUGE issues getting my bum off the bike! I'm so tired after my bike that I don't think I can get off and keep going! It's horrible. I might get Arnold to down the bike seat a bit and hopefully that will help.

Speaking of seats! I got a new one! We went to a bike shop last week to get me a new bike seat. I didn't bring the bike but once I explained what kind of bike it was and what I was going to do with the seat we picked a new one.

Check it out!


I like it! It's pretty cool. My bum hurts (aka tailbone) but I've been told that with the kind of bike I have this is the problem. The bike is MENT to have you sit up tall so my tailbone would be sitting on the seat anyway. Hopefully it would work ok! I have a 30 day warranty on it. I can bring it back if I don't like it.



I still have pain when riding but aside from that I'm ok. A seat will be something we spend alot of money on I think!

Our biggest issue now.... my front wheel is having problems. I'm really worried. We will have to buy a new one (around $50.00) or *hopefully* fix this one. Arnold has been so busy with church commitments/computer repairs/household jobs that he hasn't had time to look at it and properly check it out (with possible fixing). Today is my 'off day' so we are leaving it. Arnold needs to fix a computer tonight so when I'm on my run I hope the repair will be super easy and nice and easy to fix my bike as well!

I have to try and figure out a way to have water while running. I'm not sure how to do it as I *hate* having bottles or anything in my hands while running. I don't want to get one of those containers that go on my back but I'm not sure what else to do.

Well that's about it for an update! I'm getting there.

Now a few photos for you to enjoy.

This is my first ever swim in the water... and as I've been told, I was CRAZY to swim in Lake Huron... it's COLD!



Kyler and I walking out to the water at the park:


Swimming front crawl (freezing cold for my head):


Swimming breaststroke (warming up my head a bit):


Fresh out of the water:


My time for about 540ms:


Off I go on my bike ride!:



I promise I will share MORE photos in about a month!!

Training for the Tri

Can you believe it? less than 2 months and I'll be doing my tri! I'm super excited.

I have had a few weeks 'recovery' since I got so sick. I'm back at it. But this rain isn't helping too much. I'm being so careful to not get sick again. In fact Q came into bed this morning with a fever and a runny nose and I think I'm almost half way through a bottle of 'waterless-hand wash'. I'm worried about getting sick again!

I did a 'test time' yesterday for my swimming and I completed my swimming, 400m, in 8 minutes and 18 seconds! I'm supper happy with that one! I'm still getting my training on Thursdays and I hope it continues. I have 2 more weeks then we are gone (Canada day) then back at it. I know my coach has other plans for his summer but I'm hoping he will still help out on Thursdays. Who knows.

My biking has been a bit behind. We have been so busy we haven't had time to do our bike rides lately but a few short ones. I'm going to get in a few more rides. This Saturday we are doing our 'test ride' at the island. We hope to go over SUPER early in the morning (there are dragon boat races that day) and get in a 10 km then head back and find a place to chill and have a snack. I'm sure we can do it no problem! I'm excited to try the actual placement for the race!

My running is improving. I always seem to do much better after a break. I'm def not running the day before the race. I'm working on doing some 'cross-training' but I haven't had much luck doing that. I can get in some swimming and then cycling but no cycling then running. Again this is something I'm going to try with the family this weekend. I'm running every morning around 2.7kms every time. I walk the rest and get a total of 3.1kms

I'm very excited. I did a preview of what I was looking at an the woman who won the GIAT Tri for the Binbrook Area did great. She placed 35th over all (a total of 187 finishers). She had a race time of 48:56. And her times were 10:48 (swimming) 21:25 (cycling) and 13:34 (running). I'm not even close to any of her times but I'm sure I'll get there.

Anyway I'm getting closer!! Hopefully this weekend will kick my bum! I'm doing some morning training in the water at my parents house (last week in June to July 4th) and I hope to get some more out of that.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Can you tell we are a cycling family?

May photos - Catch up time :) Post #3

These ones are sort of more "random" than a set order.

First are some photos of the neighbours beautiful flowers by the driveway! I've never seen them like this before this year. EVERYONE around here seems to have different colours and such.











And this is a bit scary but hey! This is my first time out in my 'tri' outfit.





And by out I mean I just ran 3kms at 6:20am so forgive the fact that I look horrible!

These next ones are from when we sent the boys in to get dressed and they came out like this:









This is the pool we have borrowed from the neighbours. We LOVE it!















This is what we have been working on in the backyard. There is one patch that is HORRIBLE so we are hand tilling and removing weeds and then going to lay sod so the kids can play there as well This is what it looks like now:



And This is what K started at school He is reading! We are so proud of him. Here's the books that come home. The small one is for him to read to us, the larger one we read and then in the Red book we check off the days we have read and he draws a photo of his favourite part of the big book.

Tri Update!

Last week was a big week for me. I managed to break my 'record' for the week. I exercised 36kms last week. I broke into the 30km's the week before and this week went higher! I'm so proud of myself and how it's going.

This week is a challenge. I'm having a hard time making myself get out of bed in the morning. I am getting better. Now it only takes me an extra 10 minutes to get out of bed compared to not doing it at all. And this week has been WINDY! Who would have guessed! I'm so tired when I get home as well. It's hard to keep moving when you feel like the wind will blow you over.

Yesterday was our biking day. It's a family event. We go to school in the morning as a family. K rides on Arnold's bike on the trail-a-bike, and Q rides on my bike in the back. We really do enjoy it. This week we got there and Arnold had to head home quickly and get the trail-a-bike off and head out to work. Q and I hung out and waited around for K to go into school. It was so windy! So bad that when the doors were closing with the other JK/SK class the door was blown shut on a little girl! Q and I went out on our bike ride and I wasn't any more than 2kms into it and he started to cry that he was cold and wanted to go home. I finished one loop and came home. I didn't want my sick boy getting any sicker because mommy wanted to go out for a ride.

So in exchange for that I'm going to try and get a ride in today. Today will be the first day I have attempted to do everything in one day. I did my walk this morning, I have stroke training this afternoon and then a cycle at the end of the day! Hopefully I can survive.

I'm getting excited to see how this month will look with all my training. I love training with Q on the back of the bike and I love knowing that Q likes being outside. We also did a walk this week with him in the bike stroller because it was too much to get up and out one morning after a crappy sleep because Q was sick. It's nice to have family support.

This past weekend I told some of my family members with mixed responses. My one aunt is super excited for me and I thought she might want to come out, until I told her went it started, hehe. Another family member didn't seem as excited with a responce of "do you really think you can do it?" YES I DO! And I will do it! Even if it takes me all day!

My new shoes!

I know this is silly but I am super excited for my new shoes.







I do realize they won't make me go faster



Farther



Or even turn me into an athlete



BUT they do look cool!



When Arnold got home last night with the shoes I went into our room and had some 'alone time' with them... and the camera. I know bad thoughts but seriously I took all kinds of photos.



These are my most photographed shoes.



I loves them.

Oh yeah and my training this week... so far (I still have my Sunday to input) I have done 26 kms of training. I'm aiming to get it to 30 kms this week!