Last night's swim made me realise, how much I miss my wetsuit. Sure, I can swim fine without a wetsuit, but I miss what it stands for: open water swimming, competition. I miss that special feeling I get when I put it on - "Look at me, I'm a Triathlete!" Snobby... I know.

I miss the comforting tightness of it. I miss the smell of it. I miss that feeling, when finished, where in one smooth motion, you tug the zipper down at the back.... oh well, only seven more months....

Last night's drills went as follows:

400 Warm up
2 x ( 150 pull, 150 kick, 100 drill front, 100 drill back, 100 IM)
100 Easy
6 x 100 (25 x Front, 50 x Breast, 25 x Front -hard)
6 x 100 (25 x Back, 50 x Front, 25 x Back)
200 IM
4 x 100 (25 x Easy, 50 x Med, 25 x Hard)
6 x 50 (Sprints on 1:00)
400 Cool down
-------------------------
4100 yds (3750 meters)

I had my "duathlon buddy" Ilona, in the lane beside me. We're about the same speed - so it helped having her beside me to keep me motivated, and to push myself.

The outdoor cycling season has officially come to an end. I dusted off the mag-trainer last night, and had an easy spin while watching TV. Guylaine ran beside me on the treadmill. I wasn't entirely motivated, and I don't really have my training plan put together, but I wanted to do some exercise - to burn off the extra "snacking calories" I had treated myself to in the afternoon.

45 minutes was about as much as I could handle (for the first session of the year) - not for exhaustion, but for boredom. I do like the mag-trainer, and I had many-a-good session last year, it'll just take me a while to get into it.

I wore my heart rate monitor and averaged a measly 110. Which doesn't even put me into Zone 1 (according to this calculator http://www.fitzones.com/heartratecalc.htm ) Better than nothing though ???

Swimming tonight.

I love running.

10 years ago I would have laughed my ass off if you told me I would ever utter those 3 words together.

My wife loves running.

We don't like running in the dark, the snow, or cold rain.

Our Christmas present to each other last year was a treadmill. Not an el-cheapo $250 Wal-mart special, but a $2000 "commercial grade" bad-boy.

Unlike 99.99% of people that own treadmills - we actually use ours.

But - we have a love-hate relationship with it. We love it when it works. We hate it when it breaks. It's been broken twice so far - first the rear roller-bearings, and then about a month ago, the front roller-bearings.

Last night, as the repairman left, (we've gotten to know him quite well), I said, "No offence, but I hope we never see you again!" To which he replied... "Yeah, you said that the last time."

Of course I had to try it out. Even though I had run the previous 2 evenings. I did a moderate 5 miles (8K) on it. All was well again. Smooth and silent.

The kicker with this model (aside from breaking down) is that the darn thing comes from the US and is in Imperial units. Miles and MPH (there's no magic key sequence to switch it to km/hr). Not to worry, I had my trusty treadmill conversion chart handy.

It was darn cold this morning. Minus 5. The dilema: if I ride fast, the wind chill becomes unbearable, if I ride slow my body temperature drops. My fingers and toes are still frozen.

Last night's swim was good. I can't recall the whole workout set, but there was a lot of kicking and pulling (no sprints last night). Total posted distance was 4,400 - I cut mine short at 4,200Yds (3,800 meters).

I had the great fortune of attending a presentation by Lisa Bentley earlier in the year. She was my Ironman Hawaii race-favourite.

I was suprised to see her as a DNF in the results, after a strong swim, strong bike and a sub 7 minute/mile start to the marathon. I guess a ruptured appendix will do that to you!

http://www.triathletemag.com/story.cfm?story_id=11186&pageID=1705

All the best in your recovery Lisa. You'll get 'em next year.

My parents took the kids for the weekend, after their Saturday morning swimming lessons. This gave Guylaine and I most of the rest of the weekend to catch up on shopping, and some training together.

We had a very windy 90 minute bike-ride on Saturday afternoon, and then on Sunday, we went to a local high-school to run on the track. 25 Laps = 10 km.

I kept track of my laps on my watch (of course): 1:55, 1:59, 1:57, 1:54, 2:00, 1:58, 1:59, 2:00, 2:00, 2:04, 2:03, 2:04, 2:07, 2:19, 2:12, 2:10, 2:10, 2:10, 2:04, 2:16, 2:16, 2:16, 2:16, 2:11, 2:15.

Afterwards, I walked a few laps, to see what my walking pace was. I averaged 4:45/400m (11:52/km, 19:06/mile, 3.1 MPH). Or, 8:20:25 for a marathon.

"Masters" swimming again last night. The session started with 3 of us.... after 40 minutes, I was all alone.

It's always nice to have the whole pool yourself. Absolutely no turbulence, no waves, no other splashing. Quiet and calm. I felt like a rowing skull cutting an early morning lake.

On the other hand, it does get a little boring being by yourself. I also feel I would benefit from some "friendly competition".

I did feel self-conscious, and could feel the eyes of everyone on the mezzanine (all around the pool) watching.

The Workout
400 warm-up
10 x 100 (4 free, 3 pull, 3 choice) on 25 seconds rest (I forgot the rest part)
3 x (100: 25 drill, 25 swim, 25 drill, 25 swim;
100: 50 kick choice, 50 kick free)
8 x 75 (2 Free, 2 Breast, 2 Back, 2 Fly or choice) For the Fly ones, I did 50Fly, 25 free, and then 25 Fly, 25 Free, 25 Back [getting tired]
5 x 100 IM (on 2:00) [managed]
2 x 100 (25 scull, 25 swim...)
4 x 50 Sprints [tired... averaged 42 seconds per]
400 cool-down
Total: 3,900 Yds (3,566 meters)

Nothing too new to report on training.

I did my first, "Drop-and-run" yesterday. I dropped the car off at the dealership for some work, and then ran home. (7.x km) This was the first time I had started at point X and run to point Y (usually, I do loops that start and end at home).

It was an interesting type of run. Not better - just different. It was also the first time, I ran with music. We bought an MP3 player with "Club-Z" points a few weeks ago. Guylaine prefers to run with it - I thought I'd give it a try - again, nothing special - just different.

Running without knowing the mileage always drives me nuts. Guylaine's birthday is on Friday. Last week, I tested the waters...

"Would you be interested, in a device, that attaches to your wrist, and tells your speed, your pace, your location, how far you've gone etc. etc."

She knew right away... "Do you mean, would I be interested.. or would you be interested."

My quest for the Garmin Forerunner 301 had been exposed.

"No, no, no for you..." I reply, "wouldn't it be cool to know all of that stuff, and download it to the computer afterwards?"

"Sure... how much..."

Doh! It was less of a question, and more of a reality-slap.

"Cost aside... wouldn't it be neat?" I attempted feebly...

"Sure, if it cost $20 or less."

OH!!! Why can't she be a real nerd like me!?!?!?

After a 5-month hiatus, I returned to "Masters Swimming". ..kind of Masters, sort of. It's called Masters, but it's unlike any other Masters group I know of: 1) It's affordable ($4 per session), 2) It's totally casual drop-in 3) There's usually less than 6 people - so you almost always get your own lane.

I quite like the set up. I feel it is Ottawa's best kept secret. It helped me a lot last year with my endurance.

Here was the drill:

400 Warm Up
800 Freestyle (200 Swim, 100 Kick, 200 Swim, 100 Drill, 200 Swim)
400 Pull (long smooth arm strokes)
200 Kick (100 w/board, 100 w/o)
100 IM
200 Kick (100 w/board, 100 w/o)
400 Pull (long smooth arm strokes)
800 Freestyle (200 Swim, 100 Kick, 200 Swim, 100 Drill, 200 Swim)
12 x 25 Sprints on 0:45
400 Cool Down
---------------------------
4,000 Yds Total (3,650 m)

The workout looked dissapointing at first: not too much butterfly (even though I hate fly, I like the challenge), no 25-50-25 easy-med-sprint (my faves), and it looked like there wasn't much variety.

However, it was a good workout - lots of leg action. And the 12 x 25 sprints sure got the heart pumping.

Alternate Title: Hello, I'm Dumb-Ass

Background:
When I first got my "clipless pedals", I became a real cyclist. Someone told me there were 2 types of real cyclists:

1) Those who have fallen over.
2) Those who have not fallen over yet.

For nearly 5 months, I've been fall-free.

The Setup:
There's this guy in our office who can track stand for an eternity. A "track stand" is where you balance on your bike, feet on the pedals, without going anywhere. I've been practicing all summer. I'm not bad.

Insert Comedy Routine:
Last night, I hit a red light, and instinctively, I started the track stand dance. 30 seconds... 40 seconds... "Hey look at me! I'm Cool" my ego shouted to the 4 lanes of traffic that were stopped beside me.

50 seconds... I was watching the light for the opposite side of the traffic -- it turned red. I knew I had 2 seconds, and then I'd have green... I forgot that the oncoming traffic had an advanced green. My light stayed red. I began to wobble.

Cue slow-motion sound-effects of guy realizing his world is about to come crashing down in 3...2...1... (boom!)

Labels: crash

I strapped up for my run last night: heart rate monitor strap, Polar A1 receiver strapped on the right wrist, Timex Ironman Sleek 50 strapped on the left wrist, "ID on Me" bracelet also strapped on the left, reflective straps on each ankle... Livestrong bracelet strapped on the right wrist to balance myself out. The only thing missing was the Fuelbelt, but I was only going out for 5K, so the additional strap would have been overkill.

Socks? we don't need no stinking socks. I know a lot of people that run without socks. It would speed up T2 by approximately 20 seconds. I'd run a measly 2K sans-socks and it turned out ok, why not try 5K.

Off I go... not remotely intending to run hard, I took my first split: 4:50 (7:46/mi)... second split.... 4:42 (7:33/mi)... at the 2.5K turnaround point, I knew split 3 was going to be negative too... it was... 4:26 (7:08/mi)... I hadn't intended a fast run, but I just couldn't hold back.

I spied the 4K marker about 50 meters ahead, "This one's for Flatman!" I called out (in my head), and moved my legs faster.... 4:24 (7:04/mi). "Ok, now ease up fella... don't go and hurt yourself" I put it down into jog mode, and hit the driveway at 5:31 (8:52/mi). A decent effort for 5K in 23:55 @ 160 BPM avg.

...but back to the experiment. It was obvious to me at about 3 K that barefoot (not really barefoot: shoes, but no socks) running was not for me. I could feel the blisters forming at my heels and under my arch. Certainly not Marathon Blisters, but the kind that could turn nasty over a longer distance. On top of that, and I've done this to myself before, my reflective strips dug into the flesh above my ankles, leaving nice gouges that made me cry like a baby in the bathtub afterwards.

Actually, I ran another experiment concurrently: running in a cotton T-shirt. Again, not a good idea. I'm not sure who Mr. CoolMax is, but he sure makes nice fabrics.

A great weekend at home. Managed to do lots of fun stuff together. ..and even got some exercise in.

The Bike

Saturday: I attacked Blair Road hill with my bike - something, I'd been wanting to do for a while. I've incorporated this monster hill into one of my running routes, but I had yet to climb it (on the bike) -- not for fear of climbing, but for fear of descending.

I love speed... flat speed... maybe even rolling hill speed... but downhill rocket-ship speed is another beast. It scares me. However, I climbed Blair 3 times, and descended it 3 times. This was a great hill workout.

You know you're having fun, when your heart is about ready to explode, your legs are about to fall off, you're just about to start rolling backwards and when you try to gear down - your shifter laughs, and says "Dude... there ain't no more gears left."

The Run

Sunday: I wanted something longer than my usual 10K, but, I just didn't have enough time for my next route (17K). I compromised at 12 (??) I actually don't know how far it is, because I've never mapped it before (and most of it is under cover of forest - so GMAP's no use).

The first and last kilometer are known, and I ran them in 4:39, and 5:33 - so I figure overall, it was a good medium pace of 5:05.

Ordinarily, not knowing the splits for each kilometer would drive me nuts, but I was just happy to be out running.

Less of a training log and more of a maintenance log...

September Highlights: Finished my Goals for the year, with a sub 53 minute Thursday duathlon.

September Lolights: 4 trips to the pool for a measly sum of 4,000 meters.