Monday, August 31, 2009

Skipping a semi long run?

The plan for today was to go run at semi long run, 18km was my long run for this week. This is a rest week so the long run is not as long, or longer, as last week. I got up at 5AM ready to go out and run just to realize that my left foot hurt. I guess that I hurt myself running bare foot yesterday in or out of the transition zone.

This is weird, it's like I have a bruise under my heel, not pain other than that. But believe me running on a bruise is probably not fun, so I decided to skip it ... for now.

Now I am wondering, the rest of my week is already full of running, should I run this longish run and skip a shorter one. Or should I just go as if I did it and forget about it.

Or maybe I could change my entire running technique and start that forefoot landing that everyone talks about ;)

Seriously I will see how it goes, if I feel better tonight I will go run it, if not I guess I will just forget about it. Which I really don't want to do though.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Triathlon de Quebec - Race report

I woke up early and had breakfast with a cup of coffee, after that I headed to the race site to help finish the setup for the competition. Since it was my club's triathlon I was volunteering yesterday, this morning and this afternoon.

As far as warm up goes I went for a ride, but there was a lot of water in the street and I changed my mind, rode maybe 2km just to make sure everything was working as intended. After that I went for a quick 1km run, my legs felt fresh. I guess that almost no running for the last 6 days really helped.



As usual my swim is what killed my race, I was faster with the wetsuit but still lost a lot of times there versus everyone else. At first I tried to get into a nice groove and give what I had in me. After 250 meters or so someone passed me and I jumped behind him and drafted from there until the end of the swim. One or two times I almost lost him but I knew that if I wanted to have an ok swim I had to stay with him so I pushed a little bit harder.


I dropped my cap and goggle while running into the transition zone, I had to come back to get them which cost me some precious times. Then I ran as fast as I could to my transition spot. Looked around and saw those two guys sitting on the ground. I removed my wetsuit, grabbed my stuff and went, they were still sitting on the ground ;)

I knew I was in the back after my swim and that I had to mash the pedals as much as I could to get some time back. At the start it took me probably 3-4 km before my legs felt good, I always have a hard time to warm up on race and it cost me times at the beginning of the bike section. After that I pushed as hard as I possibly could. One girl from the club fell on the ride, looks like she is ok finally!

No one pass me on the bike, which probably means that I should swim faster I guess :p

As far as transition two goes I went in, got my shoes, went off!

I hadn't run much in the last 5-6 days besides my brick practice on Wednesday night. I had some pain in my legs and wanted to give them a break before going hard on the last marathon training part and I decided to do it the week before this triathlon to give them some kind of tapper.



So going into the run I had in mind to run it hard, as hard as my body would let me run it. When I got out of the transition zone there was some people from the club there with me and I know that they do run some nice split usually, but I didn't want to stay around and chat so I just start running hard from the start. I passed them and never saw them again. Actually no one ever passed me on the run again. I am really happy with my time today, 4:11/km is really good and probably my best split in a triathlon.

Every time I saw someone on the path in front of me I just ran hard to get back to him/her and then I was looking for another person to pass. On the last stretch I did a sprint and pass a guy, this was a good decision since he was in my age group. If I didn't do that sprint I would have lost one place in my AG and OA ;)



Since this race was organised by my triathlon club I had volunteer to help before and after. That made the entire experience way different. Sadly the triathlon and the marathon were both on the same day today and a lot of people had to choose one or the other.

I hope it will get fix for next year.


Friday, August 28, 2009

Triathlon de Québec

Sunday August 30th will be held the fourth edition of the triathlon de Québec. If you pass by feel free to stop by and have some fun with us ;)

Here's the link of the web site Triathlon de Québec

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Longest run ever

I am still working on my training for the New York city marathon, today was my longest run ever. I had a 24km planned and I didn't feel like doing it, which is a bad thing when you have to get out for 2+ hours.

I woke up, drank a couple of coffee and off I went, before the heat kicks in. I wanted the run to be as smooth as possible so I made the decision to go by feel and not look at my Garmin, too often ;) I can't say if this is the reason why it went so well finally, but I ran my 24km without any problem and I actually enjoyed it ... As much as you can enjoy running for 2h22

I kept it simple today, went for 12km then turn around and came back, all of that on the bike path. It was nice with a lot of runners and riders out to take advantage of that nice Sunday morning that we had over here.

At kilometer 20 or so a guy passed me with a stroller, I was probably running at something like 5:45 or so and he just flew by me like I was sitting on a bench. Damn he made me feel slow :p

On those long run we always have a lots of times to think about everything and I started to wonder why this week run of 24km was easier than last week run of 22.5km. Yesterday I didn't take it easy per say. Started the day with a 1.75km swim and a 60km bike ride and in the afternoon I ran 11.5km, all that training should have made today's run harder but it felt good. Last week I had a triathlon on Saturday, 750 meters swim 20km bike ride and a 5km run to top it off. The distance were way shorter, but it seems like the fact that I went all out last week compared to this week made it easier this week.

I also realized that I ran 35.5km in two days this week end, I didn't even reached 42.2km and I can tell you that my legs are toasted. I can't even imagine how it will be on marathon day.

In two months from now I will know the feeling ;)

Running
Distance - 24km
Time - 2:22:28

Do you like GU?

If you are a fan of GU, or if you want to test it out stop by Chasing The Kenyans blog. She's giving away free GU to celebrate her first blog birthday.

Here's the link http://www.chasingthekenyans.com/

Enjoy! :)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Triathlon Drummondville - Race report

I woke up not so early, had a hard time sleeping with the heat but we can't complain when the weather is that nice ;) The race site is at 1h30 from my place and my race was starting at 12h50 so we didn't have to worry too much. We left home around 8h00 since some of my friends from the club where doing the Oly and I wanted to be there to cheer them up a little bit.

Once we got there I grabed everything in the car and brought it all the way to the transition zone just to have them tell me that the transition zone wouldn't be accessible until one hour before my race. That meant I would have to carry everything with me or go back to the car. I finally just kept my stuff with me and cheered the people from the tri club. Finally I entered the transition zone and prepared my spot. After everything was ready for the race I went for a quick warm up on the run, I ran about 1.5 km (about a mile) just to get the legs moving. After that I grabbed the bike and rode 6.5km (4 miles), my legs felt tired from a really huge training week.

The weather temperature was 76, so no wetsuit once again today. I jumped in the water and swam a little bit just to get used to the water. That would be my first river swim and I was not too sure about the current, but it didn't seem that bad when I got in for my warm up swim.

Everyone got ready and we all lined up on the beach for our start and bang, there we go for another triathlon :) I tried to swim as good as I could, which was not that good, while trying to always have the buoys in sight so I wouldn't swim too much for nothing. Sadly after maybe 200 meters my goggle started to fog and I could barely see anything. At least I could see the big buoy but that was about it. I kept going, at some point I had the feeling that I was not moving that fast, which to be honest is normal for me in the water though, and I figured that it was probably because of the current. I had to find a reason other than thinking that my swim suck ;) I am wondering if it's the fact that the last two races were not wetsuit legal that my swim times were that much slower or the fact that the coach made me change my strokes completly. I guess that it will takes time to get use to the new stroke, and that eventually my swim will be faster that what they used to be :)


I finally got to the exit of the water, with once again not too many people around me. I really have to work harder on my swim because I hate being one of the last guy to get out of the water, even if this gives me more people to pass on the bike ;)


Transition 1 went ok, I was a bit thirsty and I drank a little bit from my aero bottle before I took off. But overall a good transition. I jumped on the bike and had a hard time to put my feet on my shoes though, I can't explain why but it took me a couple of seconds to get them for good which pissed me off a bit. As soon as I could finally put them on I started mashing the pedals as hard as I could.





The bike leg went really well, no one passed me and I passed a ton of people. I got out of the water in 102th position and I had the 14th fastest bike split out there. The course was two loop of ten kilometers each, mostly flat so I could ride as hard as possible without having to worry about the next hill ;)


Transition two went ok, if you don't take into the fact that I went to the wrong rack with my bick. I counted the rack from the end and I knew I was on the second one, but when coming in from the bike split I couldn't see the last one so I counted two and entered on the third one. Good job Robert ... This probably cost me like 30 seconds and 2-3 place on the OA.


The run portion was two loop of two kilometers and a half each. By the time that we started the run it was really hot. The fact that the start of my race was at 12h50pm was cool because I could sleep in, but it meant that we would run under a hot sun and humidity. The weather was probably over 95F I would say. When I looked in the car at 10AM it was 34C (93F)

For the second time I decided not to run with my Garmin. I am trying to race without it whenever I can, so I can push myself as much as possible without checking my HR or my speed. At the first turn around, 1.25km in, my time was ok but I knew I wouldn't break any record in that heat. So I just pushed as hard as I could without going out too much. It went relativly well, I got passed by maybe three persons and I was happy with that.

By the time I was at 750 meters or so from the finish line I started puhing really hard, I still had good legs at that time and I knew I could sprint good to finish the race, so I did. There was a lot of spectators which was cool because it meant more people cheering on us, which is always cool when you finish a race.


Swim 750 meters in 20:15 for 2:42 / 100 meters
Transition 1 in 1:31
Bike 20 km (12.43 miles) in 33:02 for 36.33 km/h (22.57 mph)
Transition 2 in 1:34
Run 5km (3 miles) in 23:21 for 4:40/km (7:30/mile)

Finished in 1:19:43
7/10 AG
46/120 OA

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Performance

Funny video for bike geeks ;)

Am I worthy for a sponsor?

Today I applied for the first time since I started doing triathlon for a sponsorship. Kestrel bike opened their sponsorship program and I decided to go for it.

I thought about it for a while, I know I am not a podium finisher on every race that I do, but I sure give everything that I have at every race though. But I wondered, is this enough for a company like Kestrel, or any other for that matter to invest into me, an age grouper of 41 who is just starting in the sport. I know that I am still far from placing in every race that I do, this year I got one podium in all the races that I did so far.

But still after thinking about it I figured that I could be a good representative for a company. I spent over ten years of my career as a sales representative for different compagnies, I know a lot of people and I take part into as many races as I possibly can every year. I have also been known to talk about my bikes all the time, with everyone ;) Most of the people that I know are now riding on a bike that has been bought at my local bike store, because I told them how good they are and how great their bikes and their service are.

I guess it will really depends what they are looking for, if they want people who place on podium race after race then I have no chance at all for sure. But on the other hand if they are looking for different kind of athletes who race hard, then maybe I will have a chance. Maybe that the fact that the bike leg is always my stronger leg will help me in the process too.

Don't you think I'd be really fast on this bike? I have the confidence that I will be riding on a Kestrel bike next year :)

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Mountain bike rides

Last week I was visiting my parents during my vacation. They live in Sept-Iles and we went by plane since no one was feeling like a 8 hours drive. The bad side of going by plane though was that I couldn't bring my bike since I don't own a bike case. But I had a plan, I know someone in Sept-Iles who is the owner of a bike shop so I figured that he would let me use a used bike for the week. So I brought my pedals and my shoes with all my cycling gear and I was ready.

Once we got there I drove to the bike shop only to have Bruno tell me that he doesn't have any used bike as of now. Dang that meant no bike for me for the next four days. I know that four days is not that long, but it's still long when you can't ride.

At night I was complaining that I should have brought my bike instead of thinking that Bruno would let me use a bike from his shop and my sister told me. "You can take my bike if you want"

She's really nice, but I mean she owns a mountain bike, I don't ride mountain bike I ride road bike. I decided to take it anyway and figured that riding that heavy monster around would be a hell of a workout.

On Thursday I went for a ride, I decided to ride to place where I used to go when I was young just to see how it changed over the past 23 years, since I moved out of Sept-Iles. After not too long I decided that since I had a mountain bike maybe I could just go ride mountain bike trail.

At first I rode up the mountain behind the city and took some pictures of the sea, the islands and the city.





After that I decided that I wanted to find a trail that were heading to a lake where I used to go fishing when I was young. Here are some pictures of it.





Finally I never reached the lake, but I was really close according to my GPS. I headed back home after one of the best bike ride I had lately. Even if I had a small crash and I was all wet and full of mud I was still having a blast.

Since I had so much fun, I decided to go back the day after, but took another road. I rode for a while on a bike path until I saw a small trail going up a hill, I decided to go for it ;)



I reached place where I never went before where I saw such a nice view of the river.





Every turn I was doing had another awesome shot of the river.







Then I got back another trail trying to reach another lake.



I even found an old stair going up I don't know where ...



And I finally found the lake, at that point I felt like jumping in and go for a swim but I didn't have anything with me and who knows, if I reached it someone else could ;)



I had a blast those two days and I regrets that I didn't go before Thursday finally. Now that I am back home I know I made a mistake out there, I had such a blast on that mountain bike that I think I might have a buy one so I can go out on the trail when I feel like it and have fun again :)

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Totals for July

July has been a good month overall, with two races and a lot of training :)

Swim : 22850 meters for 12:21:00
Bike : 664km for 24:19:00
Run : 161km for 15:15:00

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Don't say she lost

For those of you who already follow Fatty's blog you know that Susan died yesterday, for the others here's the link http://www.fatcyclist.com/2009/08/05/dont-say-she-lost/

Rest in peace Susan, you have been and always will be an inspiration.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Triathlon Charlevoix - Race report

Yesterday was the triathlon de Charlevoix, a really nice place to do a Triathlon. Nice lake, hilly ride and a not so easy run. everything to make it a fun day. And to make it more enjoyable it was a really nice day to race since the rain waited till we were all done before it started.

I woke up early since I had to drive to the race site, which is 1h30 from my place. Had breakfast at home and brought stuff to eat in the car as well, you never know when you will be hungry ;)

Grabbed a coffee and there we went for Charlevoix.

Once we got there I registered since they didn't offer the registration online and I didn't feel like sending everything by mail. After that I walked around with my wife and watch the lake and the site then chatted a bit with people from the club that were doing the tri also. The bike course was two 10 km loop, we went to ride the loop one time relax to warm up, after that I went for a run by myself and prepared for the start.


The swim was not wetsuit legal, here in Quebec to be wetsuit legal the water has to be colder than 72. At the beginning of the swim they offered that we could wear a wetsuit but we would be DQ automatically. So I decided to go without my wet.

The swim was as good as I can swim, I know I am slow but no where close to 2:49/100 meter. The swim had to be way longer than 750 meter, I just can't believe this. I talked with everyone from the club and for everyone it was there slowest swim for a 750 meters too, so the overall guess is that the swim was way longer than 750 meters.


The transition was looooonnnnnggggg, I would say from the exit of the lake to the start of the ride at least 3-400 meters. And to make sure we would start the bike portion tired we had to run up a small hill with the bike ;) Here's a picture of a part of the transition, the lake was behind and we had to run up that hill that you see with the bike.


I jumped on the bike and started pedaling just to realize that my legs were a bit toasted. I can't say exactly why but it was painful at first. While going up the hills I got passed by 2 person and I tried to remember their jersey to make sure I would pass them back on later on.


I would say it took me around 5km before I could really push hard on the bike. At that point I was at the turnaround and it was mostly downhill back to the transition zone so I pushed as hard as I could and kept passing people. I passed at least one of the two guys who got me on the hill and kept pushing hard to get as much advance on the bike as I could.

Same for the second loop, I got passed on the hill by a couple of people and I made sure I could get back to them later on. I also got passed by the winner of the Oly distance, whom I never saw again during the race ;)


Transition two was a really good transition, but another long one.


Solid run for me, the course was not easy with a couple of hills and it was hot out there for the race. Not that hot but compared to the weather that we got this summer it was still hot. The sun has been nice enough to show his face during the run too.

For the first time since I do triathlon I never got passed on the run, I passed a lot of people on the run though and I was really happy about this.

At some point I was running and I saw a guy in front of me with a MDot tattoo on his right calf so I slowed a bit to talked with him. "Nice tattoo" I said, He replied "Thanks, I got it for LP 2007". We chatted for a couple of seconds and I went to finish the race. I talked with him about it later after the race.

For the last 2km or so I was about 150 feet behind a guy who I wanted to pass before the finish line. But I was never able to reach him, it seems like every time I tried he knew it and it would go faster.

Finally I passed a girl up the last hill and sprinted to the finish line. Later on she told me that she was not that happy to see me pass her, she said it is usually the other way around.


I placed in my AG for the first time ever, which made me happy :) Here is a picture of my price which I filled up as soon as I got home ;)



Seven people from the tri club were there, we all got hardware :)


Swim - 21:05 / 750 meters
2:49 / 100 meters

T1 - 2:11

Bike - 35:42 / 20km (12.2 miles)
33.6 km/h (20.9 MPH)

T2 - 1:32

Run - 22:52 / 5km (3 miles)
4:34 / km (7:00 / mile)

Total - 1:23:22
16/42 OA and 2/3 AG