Sylvan Lake Half Ironman Report

I will warn you in advance that this post is going to be quite lengthy so you may as well go grab a coffee or tea and get settled in to read 🙂

PRE RACE

My husband and I drove to Red Deer two days before the race so we could have a day to relax.  We spent time with some friends in the area, did some shopping, spent some time in Sylvan Lake, went to the race package pickup and meeting and relaxed.

At 4:50 am on Sunday my alarm went off and I sprung out of bed.  I usually sleep terribly before a race and I had the best sleep of my life!  Regardless, coffee was needed.  I drank some hotel coffee and ate my breakfast (bagel), started to hydrate and rechecked to ensure I had everything before packing the car.

It was about a 20 min drive to Sylvan Lake and we stopped for more coffee on the way.  I set up in transition.  At this race, the racks are numbered with your race bib to make it “fair” in transition.  My bike was located really fair from the mount/dismount line which made me a little sad because I knew this meant I would be walking/jogging in bike  cleats for a while.  But it was something out of my control, so I let it go.

There was no wind at all and the water looked pretty calm.

SWIM

I jumped in 10 minutes early to do a swim warmup.  The water was warm and clean and clear.  It was quite shallow and I could see the bottom.  I did a few strokes and I felt really good about the race ahead and confident I would have a good swim.  We lined up and I seeded myself near the back.  The gun went off and we started…. to walk.   Everyone around me was wading in the water.  I started to swim but realized that I was going nowhere fast because everyone around me was walking.  I was not happy.  In the water, I couldn’t see anything because the sandy bottom was being kicked around.  The anxiety was creeping up.

Once we got to the first bouy, I put my head down and swam.  It was a triangular course.  Swimming was going ok.  I was behind these three girls and couldn’t seem to get around them to pass them and I was too nervous about getting kicked in the head to be aggressive about it.  I definitely was not swimming in anything resembling a straight line either, even though there was a lane line from the two bouys on the far side of the course.  I didn’t panic, but I sure didn’t push myself.  I did a lot of breastroke.  Once we rounded the next bouy, I seemed to all of a sudden by completely by myself.  The swimming got much smoother than and I did mostly freestyle for a while.  First lap was done and I was relieved!  I knew I was going to finish my swim.  I peeked at the time and it was 27 minutes.  I was going to make the swim cutoff!

Swim Time!

I kept swimming, sighting every sixth to ninth stroke and always having to readjust because apparently I cannot swim a straight line to save my life.  I then swam right into the backs of someone’s legs who were walking….. WTF??  I stood for a minute and walked it off and then got right back to swimming again.  About half way through the last loop I realized there was not another soul swimming around or behing me that I could see.  I asked a kayaker if I was last.  Apparently not.  I asked if she thought I would make the cutoff and she said yes.  I don’t know why I just had to stop and ask that…. I was doing just fine and I knew I had plenty of time.  Still did some breaststroke in the second lap, but a little less so.  I swam right in to the stairway even though I was scooping sand with each stroke.  I was happy to be out of there and ready to start the bike!

I already knew I needed more practice in open water and after seeing some of the photos of me swimming, I think I really need help with my swim mechanics!  Maybe it was just because we were in open water, but I know wrong when I see it and that was most definitely wrong!

51:56 for swim time. (I was expecting between 50-55 minutes, so I was right on track for where I figured I would be)

T1

Climbed the stairs and ran over to the grassy area with the wetsuit strippers.  That was my first experience with wet suit strippers and it was awesome!  Had to run about 200m to get to transition.  Pretty uneventful transition.  Taking out my contacts was probably the worst.  I am not used to wearing those things though and they HAD TO GO!  Otherwise, I took my time and made sure I had everything I needed for the bike and I was off!

I was so happy to be starting the bike! 🙂

5:40 for T1.

BIKE

I did a lot of hilly rides in training and I’m glad I did!  The bike course was rolling hills.  The elevation profile that I found somewhere online actually didn’t look too bad.   But I didn’t want to take my chances.  There was not one hill that was as long/steep as the hills I am used to doing.  However, the hills just didn’t stop.  It was hilly the whole course.  Immediately after getting on the bike, I felt my right leg was so tight.  I was having pain in my right hip and quad.  I couldn’t get aero, it was too uncomfortable.  There were km markers every 10k and the time flew by for the first 30k.  Luckily after 20k my hip and leg were feeling so much better!

I followed my nutrition plan and even took in a little extra because my guts were feeling good and I was feeling hungry.  In total I took in about 1000 calories.  I couldn’t believe it!

The first aid station was at about 35 km.  I stopped completely to fill my water bottle.  I don’t feel like my bike handling skills are good enough yet to grab on the fly.  The second aid station was at 60km.  At that point I was tired.  Even though I stopped at both, I never did actually get off my bike, whereas in my long rides, I often stopped to pee, buy water, etc.

I really tried to dial it down for the first 60 km as they told us in the race meeting that the hills get worse after 60k.  As much as I tried to dial it down, I felt good overall and didn’t feel like I was pushing, so I kept on keeping on.  At about 70k I was suddenly so fatigued and my legs were screaming at me!  At this point we were out on the busier highway and the hills kept coming until about 85k when we finally got a reprieve with a descent towards the finish line.

Even though this course was challenging, it was very scenic and I enjoyed just about every minute on the bike course, even with the aches in the first little bit of it.

3:48:03  All of my 90k training rides were in the 3:50-4:00 time range, so I was really happy to see that I did slightly better than that!  I was expecting around 3:50 so I was happy even though I knew there weren’t very many still on the bike behind me, I didn’t care!

T2

Even though I enjoyed the bike, I was happy to be done!  I racked my bike, changed my shoes and put on a hat.  I quickly used the portapotty and I was off!

Took me 4:20

RUN

My legs were tired when I started the run, so I started out doing run/walk at 2 min/1 min.  I really needed the break.  The race route was a really flat out and back that you repeat four times.  No, that was not a typo.  FOUR TIMES.  So for me, I broke it down into 8 parts.  For the first out I did 2/1, for the second back I did 3/1.  For the second out I started out doing 4/1.  Then it all fell apart.  All of a sudden I was so nauseated that if I ran at all, I started to dry heave.  I started walking.  I was sad about this.  I pretty much walked from 6k to 19k.  Then my nausea lifted and I was able to run for 1 min at a time in the last 2k…. but not very fast!  I know I could have done so much better if it wasn’t for the nausea.  I did get side cramps as well at one point, but I just walked through it.

There was one aid station on the run (but you pass it 8 times).  They had water and gatorade.  I could only drink water.  It was quite hot out there and I haven’t ran much in the heat, so I’m sure that contributed to the nausea.  There were lots of people with their sprinklers on and one lady would hose you down by request.  She was there for the whole time I was out on the run course and I thanked her immensely each time!

Even with the nausea and having to walk the last 15k, I was mentally in such a good state and having, for the most part, a lot of fun.  Except when people asked me if it was my last lap and it was not…. lol

My mantra at this point was “just keep moving!”

The great thing about the 4 time out and back loop is the camraderie with other athletes.  It gives you a chance to encourage other athletes out there and in turn, they encourage you.  You also get to see your supporters 8 times while on course and I think that was part of what kept me so happy knowing that in a few minutes I will see my husband and Crystal and her friends.  Then a few minutes after that I will see the cheering family on the side of the street, then it’s the lady with the music blaring out of her van who was dancing while cheering, etc.  The community really made this race fun for us!

I kept checking my watch but I knew I was going to make the cutoff time, which was my overall goal with it being my first half and also with the injuries that have set me back in my training this year.  I think that also contribute to me being able to smile on the run course while walking.

In the end, I finally finished the half marathon in 2:46:09.  I was hoping to do 2:15-2:30 on the half marathon, but I sure didn’t foresee getting struck by those gut issues…. again!  I’m guessing I took in TOO MUCH on the bike and that is what happened or perhaps it was the combination of what I ate.  Maybe I should not have had a banana at the last aid station. who knows?  I have a year to figure it out.  Anyways, the point is, I am just happy that I was able to get out and do something this amazing and see oridnary people do amazing things!

Finished with a fellow triathlete.

Total Time: 7:36:16  and I couldn’t be happier!

Done my first half ironman and already plotting the next one!

LESSONS LEARNED

I knew prior to this race that I was going in undertrained.  I know for sure I have to work on my swim, both technique and swimming in the open water.  I think I could have done way better on the swim, but I was afraid of getting kicked/punched/swam over, so I passed really wide and just avoided the crowd.  I know that swimming more will help with this, swimming in a group will help and generally just more time in open water will help.  I barely did any swimming in the 3 weeks leading up to the race due to my laceration on my arm and I think that really affected my overall swim confidence.

I felt like I was definitely strongest on the bike.  The hill training really paid off.  Next time, I would like to do some longer rides in the 110-120 km range because I think that will really help my endurance, since I really faded in the last 20 km or so of the bike.  Considering that I was injured in May/June and was being cautious about increasing distances/intensity, I think I did really well on the bike.

I am pretty disappointed that I was so nauseated on the run.  I think I could have done better even though my legs were super tired after the bike, I could have at least kept going with 2/1s for the whole race if it wasn’t for nausea.  Once again, the nutrition beat me.  However, that being said, it was NOT as bad as at my Lake Chapparal Oly tri in August last year when I had excrutiating, stabbing, cramping pain in my guts and could barely walk.  So that is definitely a positive.  Next time, more runs off the bike would definitely help in trying to figure out how to best fuel, especially medium-length runs off of a medium or long bike ride.  I think.

I did a good job in applying sunscreen, however, I missed a few spots.  That spot on your lower back where your jersey can sometimes ride up… ouch.   The back of my neck.  And my lips.  Right now, three days later, my lips are probably the sorest part of all!

THE RACE

I would definitely recommend Sylvan Lake Half Iron to anyone thinking of doing it.  They also have a new short-course this year, a 1k/60k/10k.  The pre-race meeting was super important since they changed the run course on the website two days before the race.  The swim course was changed from what was on the website at the pre-race meeting.  That was annoying for me, just because I like to know what’s coming.  Also, it would have been nice to know what they were having on course for nutrition in advance…. like weeks in advance, not two days before.  At the bike stations they had water, gatorade, bananas and hammergels.  At the pre-race meeting they said at the run station they would have water, gatorade, gels and flat pepsi.  Well all they had was water and gatorade…. which didn’t make a difference to me anyways since I couldn’t take anything but water anyways, but still!  Other than that, it was a top notch event.  The bike course was swept the day before.  There were a few putholes and hazards in the road, but they were all marked with chalk, which was much appreciated.  It was a pretty small event and the shallow swim would make it a good event for anyone doing their first open water swim.  Finally, the volunteers and locals were amazingly enthusiastic and supportive!  The post-race food was decent as well.  I rarely drink soft drinks and when I do I usually choose diet, but the Pepsi I had after this race tasted better than anything else I’ve tasted in my whole life!

Well, that’s a wrap on my half ironman!  In a few days, I will post about what’s next for me!

Any suggestion anyone would have out there for long-course nutrition would be much appreciated!

List and Race Visualization

In the weeks leading up to a race, I like to visualize the race from start to finish.  It really helps me finalize the details and just be more mentally prepared for the race.  Usually I like to do this at night when my mind is whirring.  It’s a way that I can concentrate on one thing and often I will fall asleep and dream about the race and it really helps.  Lately though, I haven’t been able to visualize or dream past the swim.  So this time, I’m going to write it down.  Also, I always do a list before every race of things I absolutely need.  Last time I thought about keeping the list and using it the next time as well…. but, I feel that creating the list every time ensures that I am walking myself through the race and that I’m not forgetting anything.

THINGS I NEED TO BRING

For the swim:
– Tri shorts (wearing them)
– Sports Bra (wearing it)
– Goggles X 2 (extra pair just in case
– Contacts (wearing them)
– Swim cap (in case the water is cold and I decide to wear 2 caps, but I doubt that will be the case)

For T1
– Towel
– Sunscreen
– Extra water bottle (filled with water)
– Nutrition (Bananas, Gels, Honeystinger Waffles, Salt tabs, Nuun)

For the Bike
– Bike
– Tire pump (to pump before the race obviously)
– Repair kit including tire levers, spare tubes and CO2)
– Aero bottle mounting system
– Aero bottle + 2 other water bottles (Aero bottle with water in it, 2 other with Nuun mix)
– Bento box with gels inside
– Honey stinger waflfles, bananas, salt tabs
– Sunglasses (prescription)
– Bike jersey
– Ventolin inhaler (just in case)

For the Run
– Hat
– Running Shoes
– Hydration belt with two bottles (one with water, one with Nuun) and with gels in pocket
– Race belt with race number attached

Did I miss anything?  That seems like way too much stuff…. am I being too crazy?

Ok, now to walk myself through race day.  Transition open at 6:30 am and race start is 8 am.

5:00 am.  Alarm goes off.  Press snooze.

5:06 am  Second alarm goes off.  Press snooze.

5:09 am  Snooze from first alarm goes off, husband pushes me out of bed because he is annoyed.

5:11 am Drink water and prepare breakfast.  Take meds.

5:20 am Eat breakfast (bagel with cream cheese, banana, coffee).  Drink more water

5:35 am.  Get dressed and recheck that I have everything.

5:45 am Wake up husband

6:00 am  Hit the road to Sylvan Lake (it’s about a 20 minute drive).  Pick up coffee on the way.

6:20 am  Second coffee is drank.  Start drinking more water.  Eat a jam sandwich.

6:30 am Grab a transition spot.  Set up transition and get body marked

7:15 am Chat with other athletes including my friend Crystal

7:20 am Take a few minutes of quiet time to visualize my race

7:35 am Wet suit on, goggles on, cap on.

7:45 am  Swim warm up in the crystal clear and warm water of Sylvan Lake.

7:55 am Pre-race announcements.

8:00 am.  Gun goes off and swimmers start.  I take a few seconds to let the fast swimmers go ahead and start near the back of the pack.  Start my garmin.  I plan to swim whatever feels natural.  In the pool I always breathe every 3rd stroke but in open water, I breathe every 2nd; however in my last OWS race, I breathed every 3, so whatever works.  I plan to use the swim as a warmup and find someone’s feet to draft off.  I’ll probably sight every 9th stroke and try to concentrate on swimming a straight line, breathing and form.  I need to remember that I’m more efficient and better at freestyle now so switching to breaststroke or backstroke is only going to tire me out more since I rarely do those strokes anymore.  I am expecting the swim to take me about 55-60 minutes

9:00 Exit the Lake and take my wetsuit off to my waist and then let the strippers do the rest!  Carry my wet suit to transition area while taking off cap and goggles.  There aren’t many bikes around, but I’m too busy to notice.  Dry Feet, put on socks, put on biking shoes, put on jersey.  Apply sunscreen liberally.  Take a salt tab and a drink of water.  Helmet on, contacts out, sunglasses on.  I hope transition is 5 minutes or less, but doing all that stuff…. it may be a little longer.

9:05-9:08 Walk/Job with bike towards mount line.  Mount bike over at the side of the mount line and I’m off!  Drink some water right away.  Within 10 minutes take some nutrition, either banana or honeystinger.  Then alternate water/Nuun every 10 minutes.  Take nutrition every 20 minutes for the first 2 hours on the bike and then every 30 minutes with only gels after the first 2 hours.  If I need to, I will stop at an aid station.  My bike handling skills aren’t the best, so I will probably stop if I need to do that (rookie, I know).  I plan to get into a good cadence without pushing high gears with the plan to use only moderate effort on the hills to conserve my legs for the run and to go really aero down the hills to gain any speed advantage that I can.  I doubt I can pee while actually biking, so if I have to, I will pull over for that as well.  I’m expecting the bike to take me between 3:50 and 4:10.  I’m also expecting to be alone for the majority of the bike ride, which is how I do my long rides anyways, so no big deal.

1:18 Dismount bike at dismount line and jog/walk to my transition spot.  Rack bike, helmet off, biking shoes off.  Apply more sunscreen (I really don’t want to burn).  Take a drink of water.  Running shoes on, hydration belt on, take salt tab and RUN!

1:23 – Leave Transition and run.  For the first 10 minutes I want to run completely by feel, after that, I want to really pace the run out.  My strategy is to run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute for the first 8km, alternating water with nuun at every walk break.  At 8k I’ll gel and then play it by feel after that.  I’d like to continue with 10/1s if I can but if I end up running 1 min, walking 1 min, so be it.  That happened to me at my first oly tri due to cramps… although I think it was more run 30 seconds, walk 2 minutes at that race!  Just goes to show, that race day can bring anything with it!  I also plan to walk through the aid stations and grab water at each aid station.  I plan to run any hills in the first half of the race and after that, if I am really fatigued, I will also walk the hills.  It’s almost a non-strategy, but I am prepared to take whatever the race gives me and just get it done!  I usually can run a half marathon in just under 2 hours, but I’m expecting to run between 2:15 and 2:35 for this one….  Also expecting to be mostly alone, although I should see some finishers running towards the finish, it’s crazy to me that the fastest racers will be finished the whole race before I’m even done the bike ride!

3:58 pm (HOPEFULLY) …. Cross the finish line with a smile and run right into the Lake to cool down!  I am fully prepared, however, to finish at the very last moment after 8 1/2 hours if totally necessary which will bring me in to finish at 4:30 (the cut-off time for this race)….

4:00 pm.  Refuel with some snacks.  Change for post-race banquet, apply compression socks, take advil and drink more water.  Pack stuff away in the car.

4:45 pm.  EAT and have fun.

 Any tips from anyone who has been there and done that???

Week 27 of Half Ironman

HELLO TAPER!

I had a relatively good week. Although I was fatigued and lacking in the sleep department at the same time. I also don’t think my eating was great this week… often I wasn’t eating enough which would result in me eating things that aren’t so conducive to good performance athletically. Ah well.

Swimming. Swam in the lake once and it was a cluster. It was my first swim in 12 days and I suspect that had a lot to do with it. ALso there were lots of boats and that made me nervous. To top it all off, I had an asthma attack which I thought was a panic attack until I got out and it didn’t get any better. I just hope I will be ready for next week. Other than that, I did two pools swims and they both went well, even though I found my arms tired after the first 400m. I know I can finish it if I can keep my shit together.

Biking. Twice on the road bike, twice on the mountain bike. It was great! I did another 90km long, hilly ride and it went well.

Running. Could have been better, could have been worse. I did a long run of 18km, a 1 mile brick run following my 90k ride and 11 km today after my swim. All in all, not bad mileage-wise, but just wasn’t feeling it. Running in the heat has been difficult and I’ve been mostly beating the heat…. it will be interesting to see how I do running a half marathon at 1 pm if it’s a hot day.

The totals

Swim = 3700m
Bike = 169
Run = 30 km

Next week is such a puny work-out week…. 2 runs, 2 bikes and 2 swims. Not one workout over an hour. I’m looking forward to the little bit of extra rest and hoping that I’ve done enough for my race.

Race Preparation

In 10 days, it will be the eve before my first half ironman.  I am finally able to swim again and that is relieving.  I did an easy 1500m last night and I was surprised how easy and natural it felt.  I am hoping this is good news.  Of course it was in the pool, I know open water will be a different story.  However, I am reassured in knowing that the lake will be WARM and, as far as I have heard, CLEAN (not muddy, dirty, sandy, weedy like the one I practice in).

Now it’s all about the last minute preparation.  Eating clean.  Eating enough.  Not eating too much.  Here lately, I seem to be struggling with eating enough.  I don’t know why.  I’m losing my shit, always running to work at the last minute.  I’m basically falling apart.  I need to take a few extra minutes in the evening  to prepare my lunch for work so I don’t starve at work.

Getting enough sleep which hasn’t been easy when my car alarm is going off for no good reason in the middle of the night.  Not sure what is happening with that….

Figuring out what I am going to wear on race day.  Obviously a wetsuit for the swim.  Otherwise, I’m not sure.  There is a change tent.  I would really like to wear roadie shorts for the ride for the extra padding, but I’d rather not wear them under my wetsuit for the swim because the chamois will take forever to dry out.  Then, of course, I don’t want to wear a full chamois on the run, so that would involve changing again.  I will probably end up wearing tri shorts and toughing out the crotch soreness.  I haven’t decided.

On my bike right now I have only 2 water bottle cages, so I usually take about 40 oz of fluids on my rides.  During my rides of 2.5 hours or more, I’ve needed to refill the bottles of course.  So what should I do?  Are there aid stations on the bike?  I’m thinking it would be better if I can carry all the fluids with me.  I won a water bottle holder that goes behind the saddle a few weeks ago at the local tri; however, that’s where I keep my repair kit.  I just know my luck and I am not comfortable riding without it because I will surely get a flat (which I have only gotten two flats in 3 years of riding on the road… luckily lots of practice changing tires from changing from road to trainer tire!).  So then I was thinking of getting one that goes between the aero bars.  Anyone use these?  What do you guys think?

As for my food, I’m planning to stuff all my food in my back jersey pockets since this is what I do when I’m training.  I still haven’t 100% decided what I’m going to eat.  I think honey stinger waffles & bananas earlier on and then gels later on in the bike.  I’m planning to eat about every 20 mins for the first 90 mins and then every 30 mins after that as my gut can tolerate it.  For the run, I’ll take a couple gels and decide as I go.

I usually use a hydration belt for longer runs but I haven’t decided if I will use it during the race or not.

Lots and lots of decisions.

Oh.  And…. I. Am. Scared. Shitless.  LOL.  But I can do this.

I’ve also been obsessively checking the 14 day forecast.  It’s a habit for me before big events.  It’s stupid because it changes a million times, especially this far out.  However, for the past 4 days, it’s been calling for thundershowers…. but that is a parameter out of my control, so may as well forget about it and focus on the things I can control.

Bike, Run, Swim

A fairly good day of training.  It is HOT here!  Today it went up to +30 degrees Celsius!  It was glorious!  But it does make working out a little more challenging. 

I set out on my long bike ride at 8:00 am.  I did 91 km in 3:48.  I biked a hilly route and stopped twice to pee/text location to husband and once to pick up extra water.  Total time including the time I was stopped was 3:58.  I’m happy with this especially because it was a hilly route.  I think I am ready for the bike ride.

After the bike, I decided to run a mile.  Just to make sure I could actually run following a nearly 4 hour bike ride.  It wasn’t pretty.  It was really hot.  But  I did it.  I did need to take walk breaks, which is embarrassing considering it was only a mile.  My legs were very stiff and had some pain in both my knees (which has since subsided).  But I did what I set out to do.  Now I just need to run 13.1 miles following my 90km bike in 2 weeks time.

Tonight, we drove out to the lake so I could swim.  It was not a good swim at all.  I was nervous and at first I thought it was a panic attack; however, it was actually an asthma attack.  Ugh.  My own fault.  I should know by now to just take my asthma meds beforehand.  Also, my lack of swimming for the past 10 days really showed.  Hopefully there is still time to work on this.  I would be very sad if I don’t even finish the swim at my race in 2 weeks time.  But negative thoughts be GONE!  I can do this!

Long run tomorrow.  It’s supposed to go up to 38 C tomorrow, so the plan is to start my run at 8 am.

Week 24 of Half Ironman Training

I can’t believe that I’m only 4 weeks away from my race.  I’m scared!!!

Swimming.  I got to the pool once in addition to my olympic distance race.  As well, I went for my first open water swim of the year.  Last year, I struggled a lot with the open water swim because I get panicky.  10 years ago I was in a boating accident where I was knocked unconscious and nearly drowned and I’ve been anxious around water ever since.  Last year, I struggled with all the practices but did well come race day, so that is what I am hoping here as well.  That being said, the first time I swam in the open water last year was WAY WORSE than today.  So I take that as a win.  I was way more relaxed near the end of my swim.

Biking.  I got out five times this week!  Three times on my road bike (including the race) and twice on my mountain bike.  It was good.  A little hard sometimes to stay aero for long as my hip is still a little tight.

Running.  In addition to my 10k at my race, I did a 6.5km brick run and it went well.  I also did a 13k long run which was only ok.  The first 7km went well, then I had some cramping and the humidity did me in.

Physio.  I went to physio twice and he did the intramuscular stimulation (kind of like acupuncture).  My first treatment was Monday and on Tuesday I felt like a million bucks!  My right trapezius was about half the size that is used to be.  By Friday, I had a few niggles in my hip but the most painful was that damn right trapezius.  He did the needle treatment again.  I talked to him about my collar bone which sometimes dislocates partially on its own, although it’s been good lately and while assessing, he discovered that my third and fourth right ribs were dislocated… presumably due to the extremely tight muscles along the right side of my spinal column.  He pushed it back into place.  It hurt like a bitch.  I went back to work, but I doubt I was very productive.  I was in way too much pain.  Today, I feel a little better.  I got back again on Friday.  Apparently I’m a mess.

By the numbers

SWIM = 3700m
BIKE = 145 km
RUN = 29.5 km

I didn’t stretch enough.  I didn’t make it to yoga because I forgot my gear at home on my Wednesday yoga day.  BOO.   I did 11 hours of tri training in total and I am happy with that.  I took 2 rest days with that too.  Hoping next week I can do 11-13 hours.

Twenty-Nine Randoms

Edit:  This was not suppose to publish until the 18th, so it’s a couple days early, but you get it!

Since today is my birthday, celebrating 29 years of an amazing life, I thought I would share 29 randoms about me! So grab a cup of coffee, kick up your feet and ENJOY!

1) I have an addiction to coffee which started when I was working two jobs, 60+ hours a week. This was between university degrees where I worked part-time at A&W (usually a 6:30-1:30 or 8-1:30 shift) and full-time at a call centre (a 3-11pm shift.

2) That was back in 2005. Back then, my exercise consisted of walking from job 1 to job 2 nearly everyday…. About a 75 minute walk.

3) The call centre job was where I met my husband!

4) My first degree was a Bachelor’s of Science with a major in psychology which I finished in 3.5 years.

5) Eight months later, I started my Bachelor of Nursing. I did a fast-track program that allowed me to complete the normally 4-year program in 2 years. It was hard!

6) #4 & #5 are part of the reason I finished with such a tremendous debt load (59k in student loans) even though I worked part time while going to school.

7) I did both my degrees at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

8) I always worked part time while in university. Some jobs included library assistant, placing fundraising calls for the university alumni association and research assistant. Research assistant was the most fun! I did a lot of work & data analysis with seabird research. One summer I spent analyzing walrus vocalizations with computer software. Another summer, I had the coolest job and got to interview kids with injuries for research related to childhood memories. Lots of great experiences!

9) I do the majority of my blogging from my iPhone.

10) I have been living in northern Alberta for almost 5 years.

11) We bought our house 3 years ago.

12) So far I’ve only traveled a few places…. Las Vegas; Los Cabos, Mexico; Ireland; Northern Ireland… And all the Canadian provinces.

13) I hate watching movies at the movie theatre.

14) I love to read but if the book is really good, I will stay up all night trying to finish it!  For this reason, I rarely read leisurely.

15) I’ve had three dogs in my lifetime. My first dog, Lucky, was a puppy that a neighbour was giving away. We brought him home when he was 5 weeks old. I was 13 and nobody in my family knew anything about training a dog. I think he turned out ok. He lived to be 9.5 years old! Our second family dog was adopted by my Mom…. Lincoln, a 2 year old husky mix who is now 9 and very content and happy! And now, Sidney! My crazy 2 year old terrier!

16) I should post more photos to this blog.

17) If I could turn back time, one thing I would do differently is speak to my grandparents more. I would ask questions and request stories and learn so much from them! I’m sad that I have no grandparents left and I feel that I never took advantage of that opportunity.

18) I did dance lessons from the age of 4 until 7 when my teacher quit. I did ballet, tap and baton. The thing I remember the most clearly besides how devastated I was when the teacher quit…… One of the other student told me I was fat…. I was 5. Kids are mean. That comment has stuck with me for most of the rest of my life.

19) I was very involved with the cadet movement as a kid. I got to go to sailing camp, band camp and I got to do training for medical assistant (advanced first aid). When I was 18, I got the coolest summer job as a Tiffy (sick bay attendant) at a sea cadet camp. To date, it was the best job I have ever had! Also got to meet amazing people and see some cool places through cadets as well.

20) I love beer. My favourite is Guinness but I love to try new flavours!

21) I have had a fear of water ever since a boating accident when I was 19. I don’t let it define me though, I continue to work on it.

22) My Mom is my best friend!

23) I love history and museums! This can be annoying when I travel with people that don’t read every single panel in the museum. I once spent 6.5 hours at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax!

24) I am also addicted to chocolate. My husband is an enabler and constantly brings me chocolate bars.

25) I would love to learn how to play the fiddle/violin! I did lessons for one semester while in university, but couldn’t afford to continue. My fiddle has been collecting dust ever since. If only I could find the time.

26) I took piano lessons as a kid, but quit when I got bored 😦  Sad really.

27) When I was in cadets, I also played in the band…. glockenspiel, snare drum and base drum.

28) My funnest birthday celebration was my 22nd.  I invited everyone I knew to a local pub…. about 60 people showed up!  We had a blast, singing Irish ballads and drinking pints.  Unfortunately, my goal of drinking 11 pints (1/2 pint for every year) backfired on me and I had to go home early.  STILL!  It was memorable and so much fun.  It was great to gather so many people from all different facets of my life (high school friends, university friends, cadet friends, “townie” friends).

29) Some important milestones of my 28th year include a trip to Ireland, finishing my first Olympic distance triathlon, conquering my fear of open water swimming and getting a new job.  It was a great year!  It’s been a great 28 years and I’m looking forward to many more to come!

Week 13 of Half Ironman Training

It was a decent week. I was forced to take it easy after experiencing pain in my right calf. I rested, stretched, foam-rolled and did some easy runs, rather than speed runs. I still feel it, but not as bad as it was. I don’t know what I did with it…. either jarred my whole leg when I nearly tripped on the sidewalk or just pushed it too hard with the run and then suffered the repercussions. At any rate, I continue to listen to my body and try and give it what it needs.

Running went great. I really got my running confidence back after a very strong 12k run at very close to my half marathon pace. I felt great when I finished, although I cannot lie… it was not easy. Then on Tuesday, I ran a speedy 8.5 km. Then of course, my leg went crazy. I did two 6.5 km runs after that at a slow and easy pace and it was good. I felt like I could have kept going.

Biking went ok. I got out after work on Monday evening and was able to bike in shorts! It was awesome! I also did one run in shorts. WHen I compare to last year when my first outdoor ride was April 9th… this year is going amazing. I also went out on the mountain bike with my husband. We just did a very easy ride on flat paved trail. I did a little less than I was hoping for on the bike this week. But that’s ok. It was great to do all 3 rides outside!

Swimming went well. I felt strong for my swims. They are getting longer and longer. This morning I swam in the 50m pool and then jumped in the hot tub. It was glorious. Of course, as it inches towards summer, my mind is definitely on open water swimming and I feel that anxiety coming back. I am able to easily reassure myself though once I think about how well my open water swim at my last tri went.

This week was challenging. I was suffering pretty badly with seasonal allergies and asthma. It’s pretty rough to train efficiently when you can’t breathe. My asthma meds got changed and that seems to have helped. No yoga this week. Also, no strength training either. Meep 😦 Ah well. Next week will be even better!

Swim = 4350
Bike = 66 km
Run = 33

Starting off next week with 14k with the running group and then hopefully a strong, long bike ride!

15.5 Hours

You would think that I would have looked ahead before I committed to training for this half ironman, but I did not.  Tonight, for some crazy reason, I decided to look ahead.  It was fun to see the volume graph going up and up and up…. until I realized that in my peak week… I will be training for 15.5 hours.  15.5 hours.  FIFTEEN AND A HALF HOURS!  That’s 930 minutes.  That is 9% of your week… not counting preperation time for all the workouts or driving time (to the pool or the lake).  I’m very scared right now.  In fact, I think I might just vomit.  Right now, training is going well.  I’m doing weekly total hours less than before Christmas actually.  I was thinking I should get in and do a litlte more on the bike or fit in an extra this or that.  But after seeing that I’m working up to 15.5  hours…. I think I’m fine to just hang out at my 2 hours of biking per week…. seeing as how I will top out doing 180 km in one week.  YIKES!  I’ve done it before…. the weeks I did Ride to Conquer Cancer.  But it was one week.  And that week didn’t include 5 hours of running and 3 hours of swimming!  I predict frequent massages in my future!

I think we all have that moment where we think “Oh my GOD!  What have I done!??!!”  I guess this is that moment for me.  Yet again.  165 days to train.  I’m terrified.

This week is going well.  I got really excited last week when I checked the Alberta Triathlon Association’s Website and discovered that the local triathlon held in early June will have a sprint and olympic component!  I know it will be tricky fitting it in with my training schedule for the week, but I am really pumped to do the olympic!  It will be a crash course for the half ironman and will give me a chance to experiment a little with nutrition.  Also, I do want redemption for my olympic course run last year where I cramped and it took me FOREVER to finish the run.  I think I can shave 10 minutes off my time from last year.

A bit of a rambling post.  It is very icy right now out due to the thaw-freeze cycle we had last week.  I ran with my dog Tuesday night and it was difficult to maneouver.  Also, I really find running on pure ice to be hard on the joints.  Someone recommended glucosamine and I’ve heard great things about it.  Unfortunately, the only one I can find is manufactures from shellfish, to which I am deathly allergic.

I am still sore from my core class Monday night.  Tuesday morning I could barely walk down stairs.  Tuesday afternoon my abs started to hurt and today I could barely swim!  It felt like I had 10 lb weights strapped to my triceps!  But I got it done.  Swim and Run tomorrow and then Friday will be a rest day I think (may do some yoga).  Hope everyone else is having a great week!  I’m just glad mine is half over! (And I’m kind of wishing that I only worked four 8 hour days every week!)

July to December, 2011 – Year in Review

July

We didn’t have great weather this past summer, which really sucked.  But that did not stop me from getting out there to try to enjoy every day possible!  In July, I learned how to swim in open water.  I was terrified at first, but each time I went, it was a little better.  I was very lucky to meet a couple from my city that were more than happy to let me tag along when they went for open water swim sessions to train for their Ironman. 

My husband and I had a fabulous weekend trip in Jasper where we went on the Maligne Cruise (a wedding gift from a friend) and did some hiking and relaxing.  It was fabulous!

Also, and quite unfortunately.  I got sick AGAIN (seeing a trend here).  Well my ears hadn’t quite felt normal since I was sick in April.  Near the end of July I was having a lot of pain and stopped being able to hear completely out of my left ear.  It was really bad!  I’m sure swimming in the lake with no earplugs did not help matters at all.  It was completely blocked off with ear wax.  One night at work, the pain and pressure were too much for me to bear and I headed to the ER.  It seemed silly to go to emergency about ear wax, but I’m telling you right now, the pain was incredible!  Plus I couldn’t hear anything and if there was any chance that I would be able to make it back to work, the next night, I had to get something done.  I’ve never blogged about this and it’s pretty gross!  Anyways, they syringed my ears in emerg and it was really impacted with wax.  It was incredible the pieces that got flushed out of there!  I honestly wish I had taken a photo because it was pretty amazing.  It was also a VERY painful experience.  Afterwards, I was prescribed ear drops with antibiotics and steroids to reduce the inflammation in the ear canal.  Even my coworkers (who I had forced to look into my ears before I went to ER) were amazed at the difference after they were syringed out!).  I thought that would be the end of it. My ears were still hurting the next night and the pain radiated all the way down to my jaw on the one side.  I went to work, but probably should have stayed home.  I couldn’t eat anything and could barely talk.  It was still difficult to hear anything from that ear.  It probably didn’t help that I didn’t start the drops until 18 hours after my ears were cleared (the pharmacy wasn’t open on my way home and I really needed to go to sleep so I picked them up on my way back to work).  The next day, I went to sleep as soon as I got home and woke up crying because the pain was so bad.  I was lucky to get an appointment with my family dr in the afternoon and spent the whole morning dosing with advil and tylenol and curled up in the fetal position crying.  I wish I was exaggerating…. I really do.  My family dr told me I just needed to give the drops more time to work and if it wasn’t better in 72 hours to come back.  The next 2 days were brutal.  I was stuck in bed, could not eat anything except ice cream and puddings and soup and was in so much pain.  Luckily, it slowly started to get better.  All that happened about 10 days before my Olympic triathlon….

August

My older brother came to visit me in August!  I was so excited!  Up until about 2 days before my triathlon, I was sure I was actually going to be able to do it, and that was stressful.  Thomas came and we drove to Calgary together!  I did my first olympic distance triathlon!

I know I’m not looking impressed here, but after 5 minutes, I was more happy! 

After the race, we celebrated in the Rocky Mountains!  We went to Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper before heading back to Grande Prairie!

Also in August, I went to Newfoundland to visit my family!  It was a fantastic trip!  One of the funnest yet!  I went to a friend’s wedding, hiked part of the East Coast Trail and went sea kayaking; and of course, obligatory visit to The Duke of Duckworth to try to steal the iconic lamp!

I didn’t work much in August, which you probably already guessed!  What a great month!  It was going to be a hard one to beat.

September

But September beat it!  We travelled to Ireland where we spent 2 1/2 weeks!  I wrote about my trip in great detail here and here.  We had a blast!  It was our first real vacation together and cannot wait to do something like it again!

October

In October, I was feeling sick for a lot of the month (AGAIN!), this time with bacterial sinusitis.  Luckily, once I finally got antibiotics, about 3 weeks after starting to feel sick, I started to feel better.

In October I was also offered and started a new job!  It has so far been a great change!  It was not easy to leave my old job, as I loved the job itself and all the great people that I worked with; however, the regular hours of this new job have really been life-changing for me and I am so excited that I get this opportunity!

November

A fairly unremarkable month.  We did get snow though so I got to do some cross country skiing!  Then it melted and froze and it has been an icy hazard here ever since.

December

I got to meet with a specialist in December about my allergies and try to get some answers.  As these things go, I seem to now have even more questions than before, but there is a plan in place, it will just take a while before the ball gets rolling.  I’m hoping that with my allergies and asthma better under control, I will be less susceptible to illness.  I’ve been sick a lot this year, and that part hasn’t been enjoyable.

Other than that, December means Christmas and New Year’s and you have all heard about that not so long ago.

All in all, 2011 was a fabulous year!  I am hoping that 2012 can be half as good!