Life lessons - highs and lows

Well it has been a while since I wrote anything here, I know I should try and be more committed =0). The past few weeks have seen many changes. I started working with a new swim coach in April and can now officially say I can swim without a nose clip. I have been working really hard in the pool and on the bike with the occasional run. I made it out for the morning of Jack's bike training camp a few weeks ago and learned a great deal about bike maintance and how to actually ride outside, apparently you cannot use training wheels when you go outside. I can now officially change a tire and have had some practice in the past week. I discovered that I need to build up a whole lot of confidence on turning corners and going down hill but I can make up a lot of lost time on my up hill climbs (of course science would say it is better to save the energy and just use the momentum from the downhill instead). Hopefully a few more outdoor rides (assuming the weather cooperates) will allow me to build my skills and stay in control as I gain speed.

My first race of the season was the Police half marathon at the end of April, thankfully I met the goals that I had set despite my lack of running and entered into my summer racing season on a high note after being awarded the prize for the fastest police service female. Thanks Kirsty for keeping me focused =0). After completing this I figured I should probably enter some triathlons in order to help prepare myself for the half Ironman in August. I chose to enter the Try this triathlon which was held at foothills pool this past weekend.

So how did the race go? Yesterday I was feeling great! I finished my first triathlon!! and I did not drown or even stop swimming for the full 500 meters (which is a whole lot more than I could say 4 weeks ago), and I even managed to stay on my bike for the whole ride (sorry Liz!), despite falling off twice on my training ride on Friday. Today I looked at the results and although I am happy with my bike and run I can't help but feel upset with my results in the swim. After several weeks of hard work I did successfully finish my swim, but did so coming in dead last (It is a good thing I was able to make up time in the other areas so my overall results do not look so bad). As they say life goes on and hopefully we can learn from our experiences. I can certainly say that after having gone from being first in one event to last in the next that just finishing requires a significant amount of recognition! It requires at least as much effort, if not more so, to finish last as it does to lead the pack.

My next challenge is to complete the Chinook triathlon at Lake Midnapore on June 20. I will need to improve my distance (as I am required to swim 1500 meters) and time (for obvious reasons) while at the same time face my fear of deep water head on as this will be an open water swim. I cannot say I am not nervous (or even terrified) but I am trying to stay focused on the bigger picture overall and hopefully this will help in pushing me to weather the road bumps ahead.

So as I look ahead I have to say a quick thanks to Laurel, Amanda, Liz and everyone else who has offered their support (especially my hubby), it does make a difference, especially on those days when it all seems impossible! I can now say that I have accomplished one of my life goals which was to finish a triathlon, which would have been impossible for me to consider just a few months ago. So here is to a few more bumps and bruises...nothing a wet suit won't cover!

May Long in Kelowna

With only one weekend of short-wearing had thus far in Calgary, we opted to head west to Kelowna for the long weekend. Having been pumelled by head winds on most rides to date this year and too many indoor rides for this time of year, I was anticipating three days of hard core mountain biking with my boyfriend Dave and close friend Dion. The Myra-Bellevue Canyon in Kelowna has some of the "awesomest" mountain biking I have come across. Whether it is climbing up the relentless Swamp Thing, or challenging the nerves while descending Vapor, I always come home with a smile on my face. Dave and Dion always challenge me to ride what I would otherwise walk.... it is amazing what some peer pressure can achieve!

All in all a really great three days on the bike (even the lost chain ring bolts and two broken crank arms didn't dampen our spirits!). Next up on the plate is the Calgary Half Marathon on May 31st. I am really looking forward to seeing how my running has come along. My long runs have been feeling great and my weekly 6x1000m and 2X3000m are geting consistently faster (sometimes aided by running away from the geese that have once again taken over pathways!). The following three weekends are action packed as Wasa is just around the corner, followed by the Chinook Half...... Looking forward to it all :-)

So on that note, I will sign off. As I look at Ari's picture I get the shivers just thinking about 70.3 - at one point it was a dream, at another a distant goal, but the reality of 12 weeks to go is finally sinking in. YAY!

70.3 Duathlon on the Horizon and an Update.

Ari Sarantis took this picture out at Ghost Lake on Saturday May 9th 2009. This means that in roughly 12 weeks we will be all standing around in the Ghost Lake parking lot with wet suits on only to hear the race organizers delaying the start of the race by 1 to 1.5 hours, then opt out of offering a triathlon and then stating that we will all be doing a duathlon due to frigid water temperatures. We will be further delayed by 1 to 1.5 hours as they plan a suitable running route to start the event. I say do a mass start bike race and allow everyone to race as if it was a bicycle road race where pacelines and echelons will form and allow riders to make up for lost time due to standing around in the transition area earlier. Okay, a bit far fetched and perhaps in poor taste but how can we argue with the picture Ari took??

It would seem the Driven 5 and coaching staff have been too busy lately to post so I figured I should get back on to this. Over the past month or so training has ramped up for myself and Amy Woodward. As it stands now, Amy can out swim me - not that I am a fast swimmer by any means but it is great to see Amy progress so quickly. Laurel has done a great job developing the noon hour swim sets for us in the 50m pool and it has given Amy and I the ability to begin drafting or at the very least swim in the bubbles of the feet in front. To even the widening playing field between Amy and I, I will swim with fins so she can "keep up" to myself. The intent is similar to motor pacing in cycling whereby you ride behind a motorcycle which helps cut the wind in front, simulates raceday speeds and greater, get accustomed to many micro-accelerations to keep pace, enhances concentration etc. In the pool, I can drag Amy along at a faster pace than she is accustomed to and she doesn't have to work quite as hard as when she is swimming by herself. The net effect thus far me losing between 4-5seconds per 100m to her. So quite a bit of time.

On May 2nd and 3rd we finally had some beautiful riding weather in Calgary and we were able to run our Triathlon Club's Bike Camp weekend. Day 1 was in the NW and started with a mechanics session at SpeedTheory and then some technical riding and then training! I was pleased to see how enthusiastic everyone was despite later hearing about some of the terror people had about riding outside for the first time. I have to say that I was impressed with Heather McInnis's positive attitude after her near wipe-out at the bottom of the long downhill. As we all slowed to make the turn there was some gravel on the road which made things more challenging. Heather started to slide but was able to remain upright and keep on going - with a big smile on her face!

On Sunday we rode out on the famous route known as the Road to Nepal - in short a nice hilly 18km road. As is typical with hills, they seperate and divide cyclists into smaller groups or force everyone to ride in isolation. I came out of the parking lot as last person and I saw as Amy and the fast guys took off over the early hills and dropped the majority of the group right away. We all regrouped at the end of the route and then proceeded towards Millarville where we found you can buy wine and beer at the General store. No wonder this is a popular spot to ride out to.

As we began heading back to our start point, several of us rode out another 8km pushing each other on the final climb along that stretch of road. Then on the return to Millarville I set up a sprint finish location to make things interesting. The pace was ramping up as we approached Millarville and the roadies out numbered the triathletes 3 to 2 although technically Amy and I can be considered triathletes at the moment. Our instincts were primal and focused on the one thing that mattered most - cross the finish line first. Kevin McMahon jumped early and Amy instinctively bridged up to him while Nicholas Burford verbally provoked me. In the end I took the sprint finish breaking away from a tired duo - it was a cheap victory for me as Kevin and Amy sprinted for the wrong line. Kevin learned a good lesson that day - always know where the finish line is.

We continued on as a group working well in a paceline together to try and catch back those who had ventured home earlier. I still think we would have caught the group however Alan Larter had an unfortunate accident in which he touched wheels with the rider in front of him and went down hard. In short Alan broke his collarbone that day, will require new bar tape for his bike and a new helmet. In all seriousness, Alan's helmet served it's dutiful purpose to protect his head and hence why everyone should wear a helmet whenever they throw a leg over a bike.

Since that sunny weekend, the weather has been quite a mixed bag around Calgary. I have been rained on, hailed on, blown by gusting winds, pumelled by constant head and crosswinds and enjoyed the odd sunny day. Safe to say the upcoming long weekend is looking great to get outside and play on the bike and trails.

JVD