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.

April 2010

I keep promising myself that I'll update this more often. And I'm trying to do that again, starting now.

Ironman Canada 2009 was a fantastic success! Personally, I knocked 27 minutes off my previous IMC best, coming in at 12h-31m-48s. Best of all was that I took time off all segments, with the exception of the run which was almost exactly the same as 2007. This despite a strained back and never feeling comfortable on the bike.

But the best part of IMC 2009 was being there for Fay's first IMC finish. Watching ones' wife finish, and doing so feeling and looking great, tops just about anything I could have done for myself. Well done Fay! And great dance at the finish!

2010 is another non-Ironman year, however there are always other things to challenge. I had hoped to work on improving my run by focusing on the marathon. The BMO Vancouver marathon is just a few weeks away, and we'll see how it goes. I wasn't able to dedicate the time I'd have liked to it due to my 2010 Olympic volunteering and some illness. But my preparatory halves have shown good times, so who knows what the day will bring.

After taking my NCCP Competative Triathon coaching training, I started coaching and set up my coaching web site. The address is http://www.tri-coach.ca. I'm excited to be coaching two athletes from the Steveston Athletic Association (SAA) as they train for their first Half Iron distance triathlons. I know both Jan and Michelle will do great, and I am proud to be part of their experience.

Update - July 2009

I really should do this more often. So much has happened.

It's less than 60 days until Ironman Canada 2009, and things are pretty much on track. In 2007 the hardest part of the training was finding my motivation. But this year it's been easy, for the most part. Training with and coaching Fay has kept me on track. How can I woos out of a workout yet make her do hers? That's been very important for those damn 6:00am swim workouts. Those are the parts I don't like.

In the last months I've managed to set 2 PB's. First was shaving 5 minutes off my half marathon best at the 'First Half' half marathon for a 1:43:20 finish. The second was to take almost 50 minutes off my previous 2005 finish time at the 2009 Victoria New Balance Half Iron with a finish time of 5:20:45.

I think the improvement is a result in part to following the principle of "make your slow training slower, and your fast training faster". The times seem to be the proof that this works.

Also, in addition to the training, I have taken my NCCP Triathlon coaching certification. Hopefully I can use what I've learned to help others achieve their goals too.

Lastly, the Direct Approach business has finished it's first full year. I'd have to say it's been a success, and I hope to continue to build on that in the future. I just recently returned from a flight validation check of new GNSS approach and departure procedures at Beyla which is in the Republic of Guinea. It was an adventure, to say the least, to travel there for the flight checks.

So now comes the home stretch to IMC 2009. We'll see what this year's race brings. Hopefully a safe and successful finish for all my training friends and partners.