May 2011 Update

As always, it's been too long since my last update. So here is what's been happening since my last posting.

UBC Triathlon: Both Fay and I raced the UBC Olympic distance triathlon, and were able to podium. I finished 3rd in the M50-54 age group, and Fay finished 2nd in her age group. (A gentleman never says which age group).

Delta Triathlon: Fay and I both had a good race. This time we reversed our placings, with Fay finishing 3rd in her age group and I finished 2nd in mine.

As a tri coach I am also very proud on the results of those I train. In addition to Fay's results, I would also like to congratulate Dan for his recent PB at the 2011 Vancouver Half Marathon.

Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon 2010

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."


The opening lines from 'A Tale of Two Cities' is very appropriate for my running of the Las Vegas R&R Marathon.

This past summer I had thought to run my 10th marathon at the Okanagan Marathon on 10.10.10. But leading up to the event I had been sick and wasn't ready. So instead we decided to try a destination event, and signed up for the R&R series event in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, as happens, I had a knee injury 6 weeks out of Vegas and was unable to properly train. It was only in the week before that was just starting to be able to run pain free. And even then, I was only able to run once or twice a week.

I had hoped to try and qualify for Boston. That's one reason for trying Vegas. It's a fast & flat course. And until I was hurt, my training times and other results were encouraging. But heading into Vegas I considered the options. Do I not start? Worst case. If the knee was hurting I could always just stop at the half way point as it went right past the start finish line. Maybe... Be smart I thought. IMC is the "A" event. No sense doing damage. But realistically, I had let go of the Boston idea. I was so under trained.

The morning weather was perfect. Almost too good. It was sunny, temperature around mid 40's °F, and going into the mid 60's °F, and no wind. Fantastic! I had dressed for a bit of a chill to start, in a vest & long sleeves. Too much. Could have ditched the vest, and wish now I had.

I set out on a pace by feel, and my pace was good. First 10km in just over 50 min. I passed the 3hr40 pace bunny, and happened up next on the 3hr35, which is my qual time. I stuck with them for the entire route. Passing the half mark we were right on time, or maybe a half minute ahead. Wow! Maybe?!? Stuck with this small pack right up until about 32km when they dropped back a bit on a small hill. I thought they'd catch right back up, but they stayed a short bit back.

I had never "hit the wall" before, but now I know what it's like. At about 36km or 37km my legs got so heavy. They were tight, and were screaming "walk". My pace slowed, and I ended up taking 2 short walks. I knew my time was still close, so I tried to push on. I recall once saying to myself "No you will not walk. You have never been this close to Boston. Keep going!" And even as I told myself "No walking" my legs stopped running. It was like I looked at my legs as if they were someone else altogether, and said to them "Why are you walking? I told you not to!" I counted to 15 and started to run. But the pace was slower than the 5:05 needed.

The last 2 km were so hard! I can usually just "gut out" that much. But there was nothing in the legs. They just could not move any faster. I passed the 26 mile marker and the finish line looked so far away. Run damn it! After I saw 1 - 2 minutes left to my max time I didn't want to peek any more at the watch. I crossed the line, stopped the watch. Looked. Re-looked.

Official time: 3:36:31
Boston qualifying time: 3:35:59 (max)
The Best of Times: I had a new Personal Best at the marathon by 9 minutes!
The Worst of Times: I had missed my Boston time by a mere 32 seconds.

Given all the issues leading up to the race, and how I had told myself I'd let go of Boston, I have to be happy with the result! But as anyone who runs and ever thinks of qualifying knows... missing by 32 seconds sucks!

But the event was great. Bret Michaels was the concert headliner. And the weekend was great. I had a new PB. And I now know I can do the qualifying time if I am better trained. So I will keep looking at the Best of Times. And (eventually) the Worst of Times will fade away to nothing more than a good story.

Event horizons

The last 2 weeks have seen a big shift in the events horizon.

After much thought and indecision I have let go of two events, and added others two instead.

After some training setbacks it was best to decide to drop the Whistler GranFondo ride. I was very much looking foreword to this inaugural event. And although I am quite sure I could have completed it, it would have been a struggle, and not as much fun as I wanted it to be. And I did want it to be fun. The second I decided against was the Okanagan Marathon on 10/10/10. It would have been nice, especially being my potential 10th marathon. But again, the training was too far behind.

But for every closed window, there is the opportunity to open another.

The first new event is the Las Vegas Rock & Roll Marathon in December. The course sounds great, and is said to be fast for those wanting a qualifier. Maybe? And when you can get such a great deal on airfare and hotel... Let's Rock & Roll!

Then there is Ironman. Ironman Canada 2011 is now on the event calendar as well. It was with mixed thoughts that I signed up, for what will be my 4th IMC. I look forward to the year ahead and the training with a great mix of veterans and first timers.

So the next few months and year ahead will be very interesting, and challenging.

Coached athletes complete their first Half Irons!

I am very proud to say that two athletes that I coached have completed their very first Half Iron distance triathlons.

Jan F. finished the New Balance Victoria Half in a great time of 6:39:18 which included a very strong 2:06 run. Your smile at the end was amazing Jan!

Michelle H. finished the Vancouver International Half in a blazing 4:58:02 for 3rd place in a very tough age group. Michelle had the 7th fastest overall female swim and the 8th fastest overall female run for an 11th place female overall.

Congratulations to you both. It was a pleasure to coach you.

Victoria Half Iron 2010

Despite a reduced training workload in 2010, I was very happy to complete the New Balance Victoria Half Iron. This was my 3rd time at this event, and I can say it has to be one of the nicest Half distance events.

This year's course threw in a really nasty hill due to a construction detour. I can still hear the "Oh sh*t .. crash!" behind me my last time up it when another rider lost momentum and fell half way up the final part. And more than a few riders became walkers as they decided to take a smarter approach and not risk falling.

In the end I finished the race in about 5hr 37 min, or about 17 minutes behind last year. But everything considered, I'll gladly take that!

Vancouver Marathon 2010

The 2010 BMO marked my 9th full marathon. And as always, I not only learned something about running a marathon, but about myself.

This was the first time I thought the "Boston" word. I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself however. My training paces were going well, but I had missed some of the early training mileage because of my Olympic volunteering. But I was feeling good, so after some consideration I thought I should at least give it a try.

The already cool weather started to turn wet just before the start. Given my previous problems in similar weather, this wasn't welcomed. But you take what is offered. I started out on my target pace and was feeling really good as we completed the initial False Creek loop. On or ahead of my a 3:35 target I headed out into east Vancouver and found myself holding back a bit to not pass the 3:30 pace bunny.

Heading into Stanley Park nearing the half way point I started to feel my legs muscles tighten and the knee pain start. This was not good. At the 2009 Fall Classic the same thing happened and I hobbled the last half of that race. Soon it became very clear that this was not going to be my day. I went from feeling great to terrible in just a few km's. And as I went out towards English Bay I said goodbye to Boston. Maybe a new PB at sub-3:45 was possible? Soon that was clearly "no". Why was I even doing this? I had to stop listening to the voices, dig deep to just keep moving. I must have been quite the sight running with a brace and a big limp. This was the first time I've had medical people ask me if I was OK. But not finishing was not an option. My final times: a 1:44 first half and a 3:56 finish.

I clearly recall the looks on various friends faces as they saw me slowly approaching, limping, or walking. They saw the pain and disappointment on my face, and I saw it on theirs. In hind sight I think I felt worse for them than I did about my knees.

And this is when you can learn something about yourself. I remembered back to 1999 when I first started running. I remember having trouble just walking my dog up this one hill as we went around the block. I felt I needed the dog to help haul me up the last part. This was not right! I used to be fit and healthy. I had wanted to run a marathon since my teens. So I started to train for a 10km Sun Run. I worked hard, and suffered with these sore knees, but I did it. But to do a marathon? Not with my bad knees. Or so I thought.

So here I am in 2010. I was not able to get my Boston time. That's not anything serious. I was fit and healthy enough to finish my 9th marathon. And 3 of those were in an Ironman. Bad knees and all, I was able to do what many others have just dreamed about. And I had friends out there who cared enough about me to feel my pain too. When asked how my race went I'd say "I had a GREAT half marathon. Too bad I was racing the full." Sometimes you just have to find the humour in things.

I learned it's not the clock that you are running for. It's your friends, your family, and your health. It's for these reasons I run. And who knows. Maybe #10 will "B" better.

Delta Tri 2010

It was another less than ideal weather day for the Delta Triathlon. But the race was fun as always and a success for everyone.

I'd like to send out special high fives to Fay, Jan, and Michelle for their races. All had great days on a cool windy day and looked really strong. And big congrats to Michelle for winning her age group. WOW!

My day went fairly well. I felt good about the swim, coming out of the pool about 30 seconds under my predicted time. The T1 transition was normal to a bit slow. The bike out leg was a challenge riding into a really stiff wind, but boy did the back leg fly! I just think the lack of serious time on the bike so far this year showed in a lack of power to overcome that wind. I had a good T2 to set off on the run but the run itself was a bit slow. Thinking back I think part of the issue was there was no one around to either chase or hold off. But I still ran a sub-24 min 5km, so I can't complain too much.

So another good early season triathlon, and now time to get ready for the Vancouver marathon next week and the UBC tri 2 weeks after that.