Lately I've been searching for a little extra protein, so I'm working
my way through a cookbook titled, Quinoa 365 by Patricia Green and
Carolyn Hemming. The recipes are awesome! Here are two of this week's
favorites, maybe we should post them for the team?
bocconcini and oregano salad
3/4 c quinoa
1 1/2c water
Bring to boil in med saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10
min. Turn off heat and leave covered for 4 minutes. Remove lid and
fluff. Set aside to completely cool.
Combine:
1c zucchini
1c halved cherry tomatoes
1/2c diced red onion
1/2c green peas
1c diced red pepper
1/2c diced yellow pepper
Whisk:
3tbsp balsamic vinegar
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp Dijon mustard
2tsp dried oregano
1tsp minced fresh garlic
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
Pour dressing over veggies and mix.
Add quinoa and 1 cup of halved boccocini cheese and mix until evenly combined.
Keeps in fridge for up to 3 days.
The Ultimate Granola
Measure and mix well:
2 1/2c large-flake rolled oats
3/4c whole almonds
1/2c pumpkin seeds
1/2c sunflower seeds
1/4c hemp seeds
1/3c uncooked quinoa
1/4c flaked unsweetened coconut
1/4c walnut pieces
Combine separately:
1c maple syrup
1tsp vanilla extract
Add to the oat mixture and stir until evenly distributed.
Sprinkle 2tsp cinnamon and blend well.
Spread evenly on large baking sheet and bake at 225F for 1 hour.
Remove and cool.
Toss in 1/3c cranberries and 1/4c raisins.
Store in a sealed container in pantry for up to 3 weeks.
Lots of other yummy goodness in the book too! These are the easy ones
to take with me in the car all day.
Happy Saturday!
Cindy
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Race Report: Nike Women's Half Marathon, San Francisco, Oct 17, 2010
Thoughts about NWM 2010:
- good crowd
- tough course
- fun times
How did my race go?
First 10k
Wow, almost matched my 10k PB, felt strong, right on target for feeling good, going to have a Running Goddess Day. I was calm, relaxed, executed my plan well, loved this part of the run.
The Hills
Strong enough to run 'em, but gradually increased the pain in my left lateral quad to an intensity that needed some attention. Not a good situation. I needed to make some decisions. Either push thru the pain, risk injury, but attain a PB, OR race happy, enjoy the event, focus on staying healthy for IMC. Remember, NWM is a B race, for fun, not a big pressure situation. Remember, my training has gone so well, I actually ENJOY my running and hills and intervals while training, I should go out there and kill it! It's like a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. And ph yeah,the pain in my leg is rapidly getting worse.
The Decision
Even though a big, big part of me wanted to keep going, I knew that the best long-term choice would be to pull up,focus on my Ironman year, I need to stay healthy.
The Finish Line
Ultimately I finished in 2:15, so I suppose it's nothing to sneeze at! Am I disappointed? Of course. Did I execute my race plan? Most of it. Did I make a good decision? Yeah, I think so.
Follow-up for post NWM:
1) REST AND RECOVER from a long season filled with fun racing, new skills, new opportunities.
2) Re-connect with SP re physic/strengthening etc
3) get back in the water and on my bike to build base for IMC
Photos are coming soon! Watch this space!
- good crowd
- tough course
- fun times
How did my race go?
First 10k
Wow, almost matched my 10k PB, felt strong, right on target for feeling good, going to have a Running Goddess Day. I was calm, relaxed, executed my plan well, loved this part of the run.
The Hills
Strong enough to run 'em, but gradually increased the pain in my left lateral quad to an intensity that needed some attention. Not a good situation. I needed to make some decisions. Either push thru the pain, risk injury, but attain a PB, OR race happy, enjoy the event, focus on staying healthy for IMC. Remember, NWM is a B race, for fun, not a big pressure situation. Remember, my training has gone so well, I actually ENJOY my running and hills and intervals while training, I should go out there and kill it! It's like a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. And ph yeah,the pain in my leg is rapidly getting worse.
The Decision
Even though a big, big part of me wanted to keep going, I knew that the best long-term choice would be to pull up,focus on my Ironman year, I need to stay healthy.
The Finish Line
Ultimately I finished in 2:15, so I suppose it's nothing to sneeze at! Am I disappointed? Of course. Did I execute my race plan? Most of it. Did I make a good decision? Yeah, I think so.
Follow-up for post NWM:
1) REST AND RECOVER from a long season filled with fun racing, new skills, new opportunities.
2) Re-connect with SP re physic/strengthening etc
3) get back in the water and on my bike to build base for IMC
Photos are coming soon! Watch this space!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
XTerra Canadian Championships Race Report
What was I thinking???? At Richelle's urging, I signed up for the XTerra Canadian Championship waaaaaaaaay back in May. My mountain biking skills have dramatically improved this summer, I've grown comfortable with most of the XTerra Canmore course, so Whistler should be the next logical step, right????
Let me interrupt at this point to say that I had an amazing experience at XTerra Whistler!! The race, the venue, the volunteers, all of it was amazing, a big thank-you needs to go out to everyone who helped to make that day happen, it was wonderful!!!
And now back to my saga....
I arrived in Whistler with my one-woman cheering squad, Gillian, on Friday. I bumped into Danelle Kabush, among other pro's in the lobby, I was starting to get excited!!!! Friday was about checking in, scoping out the village, eating food, getting some sleep. The Nita Lake Lodge is simply magic, a beautifully appointed lodge, excellent venue.
Early Sat morning was cloudy and windy, looked like rain. Uh-oh, better get that OW swim done. The lake was very windy, lots of waves, even some white caps in the middle of the lake. I estimate the temp at 17 degrees, so totally bearable. I decided to swim one lap of the course in the same direction as the race. Which meant I was swimming into the waves along the back stretch. It made spotting difficult,as every time I looked up I would get a face full of water, but I managed to get in one lap. It wasn't an easy trial lap in the waves, so I knew that race morning would be doable. Now for the pre-ride of the mountain bike.
My pre-ride went okay, thanks to Krisitie for touring us around the trails. We scoped out the tough spots, made a plan to walk some sections, but estimated that I could ride 75% of the course. I did not investigate the run as I figured that if I still had teeth at this point of the race I could pretty much crawl and get there.
The Q&A with the pro's was cool: Conrad Stoltz, Melanie McQuaid, Danelle Kabush, and Mike Vine shared some sage advice, the pre-race meeting was next and was dominated by crazy questions about parking, then it was off to find food and sleep.
Sunday morning dawned sunny, a fine mist on the lake, perfect for racing! I was excited for the race, lots of positive butterfly energy, and except for a minor freak-out about goggles (what IS it with my goggles acting up this season?!?!?), I was ready to go.
The swim was, in a word, fantastic. Calm lake, courteous swimmers, goggles were functioning, and I was feeling calm and smooth. I peeked at my watch as I headed back into the water for the second lap and saw 14min on my watch, wow! That was fast for me! Mindful of keeping my HR under control, I did a systems check while swimming but I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I remember thinking, wow Richelle had the perfect swim program for me, this feels effortless, I could do this for 4km.... but I'm getting ahead of myself (wink!). As I exited the water, I glanced at my watch and saw 28min!! A PB for me in OW 1500m. And I was feeling great!
T1 was smooth, I even managed to gain time on the racers who were there ahead of me and who were still struggling with their socks as I headed out with my bike. I'm getting better at this!
The bike started well, too. I knew that I had a big climb right away, so I let my legs spin and spin, managed to get up High Voltage and even passed a couple of people pushing their bikes. There was a quick descent onto the paved road, and as I cycled down the road a racer came form behind and pointed out that I had a flat rear tire. Oh no!!!!!!!!!! I flipped my bike over, ripped off my gloves, and got to work, while watching lots and lots and LOTS of racers go by with alternating looks of pity and words of encouragement. An angel named John in a bright orange jacket stopped and asked if he could help, he miraculously got the stiff tire back on the rim, and I was off again! Unfortunately, I must have twisted the tube or pinched it somehow, because 500m later I had another flat. This time an angel named Mike stopped to help with the compressed air tube thingee, and this time was good to go. I estimate a loss of at least 30min in all this tire changing. This meant that I had some catching up to do!
It also meant that the pro and leading age groupers were going to catch me on the first lap. I had hoped to finish one lap so as to stay out of their way and not worry about feeling pressured about them coming up behind me on the fun single track sections. I have mixed reviews at this point: it was inspiring to watch pro Melanie McQuaid glide over the roots, and Conrad Stotlz eat up the trail, it was an honor to be on course with them. The pros were awesome about passing and identifying themselves as they approached so that not only were you aware of their flight trajectory, you could choose to get out of the way if necessary (thanks to Mike Vine and champion Josiah M for being patient and clear about their direction of travel). And some of the more experienced age group leaders were also very patient about slower riders (I'm going to give kudos to Cal Z as an excellent example of this). But I'm disappointed in the lack of sportsmanship and trail etiquette most of the racers had for an intermediate rider. Please don't get frustrated and swear at me. The pressure from the other riders was creating a fog in my head and I started making silly mistakes. This inevitably led to a wicked crash while descending Danimal, right in front of a photographer, naturally. I picked myself up, untangled my bike, tried to settle the adrenalin, and asked myself what the F was I doing in Whistler. At the trail split, a volunteer tried to get me to head to T2 but I pointed out that I had one more lap to go, and at that moment I knew that even though this was a tough course, I am not a quitter, I knew I could and would finish this race. Get it in gear.
The start of lap 2 started out with a laugh. While trundling uphill on my bike, Conrad Stoltz breezed by me running a solid pace. As we came out onto the paved section of the road, he pulled ahead up the hill, and on the downhill, I only caught up enough to hear him breathing hard before I ducked back into the trees. What a machine! Lap 2 of the bike was great, I even caught and passed two other girls, and had a much smoother, fun, awesome ride on some wicked Whistler trails! Lap 2 was a huge success!
T2 was smooth, although once again, I'm disappointed by some fellow racers. These three guys had already finished and had returned to the lake to collect their gear. As I'm in T2 changing into my running shoes, taking off my helmet, the guys were making disparaging comments about people walking the course, being too inexperienced to be allowed entry. I shot a dirty look at one of them and he had the decency to look embarrassed. It was enough to motivate me out of T2 even faster.
The run also had two laps. The beginning of lap one was stunningly beautiful. It looped thru old growth forest on a soft bed of loam and moss, over roots and a big log.... Beautiful. My legs were tired but not heavy, I actually enjoyed running!!! Then the uphill started. Or should I say cliff face?? It was a long, steep climb on loose footing. But once at the top, the downhill was sweet. Repeat. Then came the long 3km on the paved road, uphill for 2.5km, with a sharp descent into Nita Lake Lodge. I passed one more competitor, but honestly, at this point, there wasn't anyone else left out there to pass. Too bad, I was feeling strong enough, although I wasn't very fast at this point.
The Finish Area gave me a couple of cheers as I crossed the line, I accepted my medal and ta-dah, I finished!
Some overall thoughts:
- Whistler was FUN FUN FUN, tough, but FUN!
- there were some excellent examples of good sportsmanship: one competitor helped me with my tires, others displayed good trail etiquette, the volunteers stayed to the very end on the course for the slower athletes, lots of cheering throughout the course and encouragement from the field.
As Rose said to me at the Finish Line: "Everyone was invited, but you showed up, congratulations for finishing and having fun."
Thanks to Richelle for giving me awesome training plans and working me through the planning for this race, it was an experience of a lifetime, and who knows, maybe I'll be back next year to show 'em a little extra toughness?
Here are my official times:
1500m swim: 28:46
20ish km mtn bike: 2:50:13
11km trail run: 1:26:17
Total Time: 4:45:14
Photos are coming too! Stay tuned!
Let me interrupt at this point to say that I had an amazing experience at XTerra Whistler!! The race, the venue, the volunteers, all of it was amazing, a big thank-you needs to go out to everyone who helped to make that day happen, it was wonderful!!!
And now back to my saga....
I arrived in Whistler with my one-woman cheering squad, Gillian, on Friday. I bumped into Danelle Kabush, among other pro's in the lobby, I was starting to get excited!!!! Friday was about checking in, scoping out the village, eating food, getting some sleep. The Nita Lake Lodge is simply magic, a beautifully appointed lodge, excellent venue.
Early Sat morning was cloudy and windy, looked like rain. Uh-oh, better get that OW swim done. The lake was very windy, lots of waves, even some white caps in the middle of the lake. I estimate the temp at 17 degrees, so totally bearable. I decided to swim one lap of the course in the same direction as the race. Which meant I was swimming into the waves along the back stretch. It made spotting difficult,as every time I looked up I would get a face full of water, but I managed to get in one lap. It wasn't an easy trial lap in the waves, so I knew that race morning would be doable. Now for the pre-ride of the mountain bike.
My pre-ride went okay, thanks to Krisitie for touring us around the trails. We scoped out the tough spots, made a plan to walk some sections, but estimated that I could ride 75% of the course. I did not investigate the run as I figured that if I still had teeth at this point of the race I could pretty much crawl and get there.
The Q&A with the pro's was cool: Conrad Stoltz, Melanie McQuaid, Danelle Kabush, and Mike Vine shared some sage advice, the pre-race meeting was next and was dominated by crazy questions about parking, then it was off to find food and sleep.
Sunday morning dawned sunny, a fine mist on the lake, perfect for racing! I was excited for the race, lots of positive butterfly energy, and except for a minor freak-out about goggles (what IS it with my goggles acting up this season?!?!?), I was ready to go.
The swim was, in a word, fantastic. Calm lake, courteous swimmers, goggles were functioning, and I was feeling calm and smooth. I peeked at my watch as I headed back into the water for the second lap and saw 14min on my watch, wow! That was fast for me! Mindful of keeping my HR under control, I did a systems check while swimming but I didn't find anything out of the ordinary. I remember thinking, wow Richelle had the perfect swim program for me, this feels effortless, I could do this for 4km.... but I'm getting ahead of myself (wink!). As I exited the water, I glanced at my watch and saw 28min!! A PB for me in OW 1500m. And I was feeling great!
T1 was smooth, I even managed to gain time on the racers who were there ahead of me and who were still struggling with their socks as I headed out with my bike. I'm getting better at this!
The bike started well, too. I knew that I had a big climb right away, so I let my legs spin and spin, managed to get up High Voltage and even passed a couple of people pushing their bikes. There was a quick descent onto the paved road, and as I cycled down the road a racer came form behind and pointed out that I had a flat rear tire. Oh no!!!!!!!!!! I flipped my bike over, ripped off my gloves, and got to work, while watching lots and lots and LOTS of racers go by with alternating looks of pity and words of encouragement. An angel named John in a bright orange jacket stopped and asked if he could help, he miraculously got the stiff tire back on the rim, and I was off again! Unfortunately, I must have twisted the tube or pinched it somehow, because 500m later I had another flat. This time an angel named Mike stopped to help with the compressed air tube thingee, and this time was good to go. I estimate a loss of at least 30min in all this tire changing. This meant that I had some catching up to do!
It also meant that the pro and leading age groupers were going to catch me on the first lap. I had hoped to finish one lap so as to stay out of their way and not worry about feeling pressured about them coming up behind me on the fun single track sections. I have mixed reviews at this point: it was inspiring to watch pro Melanie McQuaid glide over the roots, and Conrad Stotlz eat up the trail, it was an honor to be on course with them. The pros were awesome about passing and identifying themselves as they approached so that not only were you aware of their flight trajectory, you could choose to get out of the way if necessary (thanks to Mike Vine and champion Josiah M for being patient and clear about their direction of travel). And some of the more experienced age group leaders were also very patient about slower riders (I'm going to give kudos to Cal Z as an excellent example of this). But I'm disappointed in the lack of sportsmanship and trail etiquette most of the racers had for an intermediate rider. Please don't get frustrated and swear at me. The pressure from the other riders was creating a fog in my head and I started making silly mistakes. This inevitably led to a wicked crash while descending Danimal, right in front of a photographer, naturally. I picked myself up, untangled my bike, tried to settle the adrenalin, and asked myself what the F was I doing in Whistler. At the trail split, a volunteer tried to get me to head to T2 but I pointed out that I had one more lap to go, and at that moment I knew that even though this was a tough course, I am not a quitter, I knew I could and would finish this race. Get it in gear.
The start of lap 2 started out with a laugh. While trundling uphill on my bike, Conrad Stoltz breezed by me running a solid pace. As we came out onto the paved section of the road, he pulled ahead up the hill, and on the downhill, I only caught up enough to hear him breathing hard before I ducked back into the trees. What a machine! Lap 2 of the bike was great, I even caught and passed two other girls, and had a much smoother, fun, awesome ride on some wicked Whistler trails! Lap 2 was a huge success!
T2 was smooth, although once again, I'm disappointed by some fellow racers. These three guys had already finished and had returned to the lake to collect their gear. As I'm in T2 changing into my running shoes, taking off my helmet, the guys were making disparaging comments about people walking the course, being too inexperienced to be allowed entry. I shot a dirty look at one of them and he had the decency to look embarrassed. It was enough to motivate me out of T2 even faster.
The run also had two laps. The beginning of lap one was stunningly beautiful. It looped thru old growth forest on a soft bed of loam and moss, over roots and a big log.... Beautiful. My legs were tired but not heavy, I actually enjoyed running!!! Then the uphill started. Or should I say cliff face?? It was a long, steep climb on loose footing. But once at the top, the downhill was sweet. Repeat. Then came the long 3km on the paved road, uphill for 2.5km, with a sharp descent into Nita Lake Lodge. I passed one more competitor, but honestly, at this point, there wasn't anyone else left out there to pass. Too bad, I was feeling strong enough, although I wasn't very fast at this point.
The Finish Area gave me a couple of cheers as I crossed the line, I accepted my medal and ta-dah, I finished!
Some overall thoughts:
- Whistler was FUN FUN FUN, tough, but FUN!
- there were some excellent examples of good sportsmanship: one competitor helped me with my tires, others displayed good trail etiquette, the volunteers stayed to the very end on the course for the slower athletes, lots of cheering throughout the course and encouragement from the field.
As Rose said to me at the Finish Line: "Everyone was invited, but you showed up, congratulations for finishing and having fun."
Thanks to Richelle for giving me awesome training plans and working me through the planning for this race, it was an experience of a lifetime, and who knows, maybe I'll be back next year to show 'em a little extra toughness?
Here are my official times:
1500m swim: 28:46
20ish km mtn bike: 2:50:13
11km trail run: 1:26:17
Total Time: 4:45:14
Photos are coming too! Stay tuned!
Monday, August 30, 2010
I Just Did a Crazy Thing....
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Mountain Pics
Here's a quick link to some of the hiking photos from this summer, both Mt. Assiniboine (hiking) and Lake O'Hara (2010).
c.
http://graphixdiva.smugmug.com/Landscapes
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
XTerra Canmore Photos
Here are the official results:
http://smithevents.ca/Race_Results.html
To summarize my achievement:
34/61 Sprint Athletes (male and female)
12/32 Sprint Females
7/14 Sprint Females 30-39
Swim: 10:31 (24/61) (6/14)
Bike: 54:27 (31/61) (7/14)
Run: 32:18 (42/61) (10/14)
I'm not winning any podium spots, but I'm making progress and having fun in the process!
Cindy
As promised!
http://smithevents.ca/Race_Results.html
To summarize my achievement:
34/61 Sprint Athletes (male and female)
12/32 Sprint Females
7/14 Sprint Females 30-39
Swim: 10:31 (24/61) (6/14)
Bike: 54:27 (31/61) (7/14)
Run: 32:18 (42/61) (10/14)
I'm not winning any podium spots, but I'm making progress and having fun in the process!
Cindy
As promised!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
XTerra Alberta Race Report
Since finishing 70.3, we have hiked into Mt Assiniboine (where we hiked approx a half marathon for four days while carrying 30+lb packs), and I went to Edmonton and back for work. I'm tired! In a good way...so I decided to cut back at this weekend's XTerra Alberta triathlon. I've ridden the full distance course a few times, it's simply wonderful and technical, but I wasn't up to racing it just yet. Instead, after discussing with Richelle, I decided to dial it back to the sprint distance for today, but to keep Whistler at the full. Here's how it went:
My family decided to spend a holiday weekend on Canmore, we arrived on Friday night. The condo that we rented is amazing, it's got lots of room for the five of us plus it is close to downtown for walking and bike riding.
On Sunday morning, we dropped off my bike at T1 by 7am and were waiting around in the lodge talking with other athletes as they arrived. I felt pretty calm, ready for the day. Thanks to Aly for helping me fit into my wetsuiit! And then the sprint women were off! It was one of my best open water swims. Admittedly it was a short swim of 500m, but I had long smooth strokes, and was out of the water in 10:30. Nice!
T1 was okay, then off on my bike. I passed a few girls on the way up to the Nordic Centre, then watched ,y heart rate climb as I went up the big hill. Once at the top, it was a fun descent, a few more climbs, then I hit the pavement at full speed. T2 was very smooth, and I felt strong heading out into the run. Wow, my brick training has paid off this year, I'm much stronger at recovering my legs in the early stages of the run.
The run course was fun, and while I wasn't particularly fast, I enjoyed the trail. Richelle and I had agreed that on hitting the pavement I would give it everything I had and cross the finish line ready to collapse. Well, there were three gals ahead of me that I was watching on the
back half of the run, and I decided to go get them. It was a strong push to the finish and I managed to catch them all! Yay me! Thanks again to Aly for catching me at the line and walking me around. I was spent!
Overall, a.much better race than last year, I had a blast, hung out with some great new friends, what a great day in the mountains. Official results aren't posted yet, but I will add them soon, along with some photos. Promise!
My family decided to spend a holiday weekend on Canmore, we arrived on Friday night. The condo that we rented is amazing, it's got lots of room for the five of us plus it is close to downtown for walking and bike riding.
On Sunday morning, we dropped off my bike at T1 by 7am and were waiting around in the lodge talking with other athletes as they arrived. I felt pretty calm, ready for the day. Thanks to Aly for helping me fit into my wetsuiit! And then the sprint women were off! It was one of my best open water swims. Admittedly it was a short swim of 500m, but I had long smooth strokes, and was out of the water in 10:30. Nice!
T1 was okay, then off on my bike. I passed a few girls on the way up to the Nordic Centre, then watched ,y heart rate climb as I went up the big hill. Once at the top, it was a fun descent, a few more climbs, then I hit the pavement at full speed. T2 was very smooth, and I felt strong heading out into the run. Wow, my brick training has paid off this year, I'm much stronger at recovering my legs in the early stages of the run.
The run course was fun, and while I wasn't particularly fast, I enjoyed the trail. Richelle and I had agreed that on hitting the pavement I would give it everything I had and cross the finish line ready to collapse. Well, there were three gals ahead of me that I was watching on the
back half of the run, and I decided to go get them. It was a strong push to the finish and I managed to catch them all! Yay me! Thanks again to Aly for catching me at the line and walking me around. I was spent!
Overall, a.much better race than last year, I had a blast, hung out with some great new friends, what a great day in the mountains. Official results aren't posted yet, but I will add them soon, along with some photos. Promise!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Ironman Calgary 70.3 - August 1, 2010
All week preceding the race I was calm, ready for this event, actually looking forward to it, time to put it in gear. I didn't have the nervous tummy or the anxious butterflies, just calm, but excited to get it going.
In early July my family took holidays, and I'm proud to report that I did all of the prescribed workouts, even a swim in a rough and choppy lake and a long HOT run with mosquitoes and blackflies nipping at me. Then our family all got sick with the flu and I missed some key workouts, I was a bit upset with missing the workouts, but c'est la vie. My point? I think that I did everything in my power to be ready for this race, both mentally and physically. This was my "A" race for 2010 so I didn't want to jeopardize my performance.
Race day arrived extra early. A thunderstorm woke me up around 2a.m. Ugh. Not only would my bike get wet (my baby!), but there was a good possibility of rain all day. I tried to doze back to sleep, mixed success, until the alarm rang at 3:30a.m. Yes, that number is correct. I needed to make my bagel, get dressed, and Ryan drove me to meet the bus to the Ghost by 4a.m. A sleepy group of athletes boarded the bus, instant friends, bonded by the ridiculous circumstances and a crazy hobby.
The scene upon arrival at the Ghost Lake Reservoir was encouraging. It was dark, but big flood lights illuminated the area. Our bus was early enough to beat the rush and long lines that developed within the hour. I was relieved to see my bike, albeit soaking wet, and gave her a quick check, all was in working order. Whew. I organized and double checked that my bike and nutrition was in place, then headed for the portapotty line. Lucky for me it was only 2 people long - it would later grow to enormous lengths. As I came back to the main area I spotted Tara. She was in great spirits as a volunteer for the aid station on the bike course, she gave me a big smile and a couple of hugs, enough to start my good-nervous feeling and get me pumped up for the day. We hung out with her friend Jacque and Angie Anderson and a motley crew of others who has assembled in the wet and drizzle to prove themselves at an Ironman event. What a cool bunch of people, how special we are to be involved in a sport with so many amazing and inspiring people. Tara helped me onto my wetsuit (she truly is the best wetsuit fitter I have ever met) and waited around for the start. We didn't wait long, and before I could sneeze I was in the water for a quick warmup.
The swim started! My plan was to be smooth, follow some feet, and stick with the middle of the pack. The first 100 m were a bit chaotic, but not intolerable, I hung in well, focused on my strokes being long and relaxed. For some god-forsaken reason, my goggles got water in the left eye. Hmm. It kept getting worse, so I had to adjust them. I was still in the pack, no worries. But the problem persisted. They're newish goggles, never had any problems with them before, I swam with them the day before, what the ????? The problem kept getting worse. I kept losing time and position, and I ended up swimming with gals who were slower than me. The leaky goggles plagued me for the balance of the swim, as every 6 or 8 strokes I had to release the water. By the time I swam around the final buoy I had caught up to some of the men's wave, in blue swimcaps, and some of the men's wave behind me, in yellow caps, had caught up to the women, in red. Result: happy with my ability to swim, very, very frustrated with equipment malfunctions.
T1 was chaotic. Good wetsuit strippers, thanks ladies, off to find my bag, well organized in numerical order. The grass was wet and FULL of mosquitoes, I got eaten alive! Oh well, motivation to push me to go faster. I think the transition went smoothly, that was my goal, although I was in there a lot longer than anticipated. It just took time to get socks on wet feet, get into the bike area, get out of the bike area, and get to the mount line. I didn't fumble anything, it was a smooth T1, just a long process.
The bike was wonderful - I knew it would be. But I had to remember my race plan: keep my HR under control. I set the goal of under 160BPM for the bike, and unless I was going uphill, this was a success! Last year at GWN I let my HR climb into the 170's for a sustained effort and it blew up my run. I was determined not to let that happen again! The first 10k to Ghost Lake were to get some nutrition into me, spin my legs, find my rhythm, and generally settle down. Several ladies passed me, and I let them go; I later blew by them on Grand Valley. I surprised myself on Grand Valley - it's a lot of UP to get to the turn, and I anticipated a struggle with the big hills, despite my training on these roads earlier in the year. I mentally steeled myself for the hills, and guess what? I ended up passing people! Even dudes! One guy berated himself for getting "chicked," and two others complimented my even, smooth pedal strokes! Me! I was pleased, surprised, happy! The hills were okay, then it was onto the rolling descent of Horse Creek. The TTL water station on Horse Creek was a fun spot, lots of volunteers (THANK-YOU SO MUCH!!!!), and lots of cheering, I felt like a superhero! Thank-you!!!!! The ride into Cochrane was awesome, a bit worrisome with the ambulance treating an athlete, but a great ride. The hill out of Cochrane also had me worried, but again, I may not have been fast, but I passed a LOT of people on that hill! Nutrition was going well, tummy was feeling good. The ride into the city was uneventful, people were pretty spaced apart, worrying about drafting was nil at this point. All the volunteers and police at intersections did an amazing job, another big thank-you. Overall: great ride, in spite of the rain and road mud, I loved it. My HR averaged 154. Over a 94km distance v. a 90km distance at GWM, I ended up only 1 minute slower on the bike. I guess all that extra training, the mtn biking, and watching my HR paid off!!!
T2: very smooth, I had a great volunteer who helped me get my shoes on and handed over my visor. I saw Maureen cheering, thanks for that. Interesting that Mirinda Carfrae was opening her winning bottle of champagne as I exited T2 - I heard the announcement at the finish line area. Damn she's fast.
The run: I started out okay. I always have trouble in the first 2km finding my legs, or going out too fast to sustain. Again, the goal was to control my HR, and to run, not walk, the entire race, it didn't matter how slow that run could be, but no walking. Caveat: walking allowed under 3 circumstances: aid station, 1 min every 20 min, or uphill. Over the first 5km I kept getting passed by girls I passed on the bike, which was a bit disheartening, but I kept to my plan, and started passing other girls and some of the guys, too. My Garmin kept beeping every km and I noticed an average pace between 6:40 and 7:00. This would creep up to 7:15 towards the end, but overall, I hovered around 7min/km. My legs were heavy, my butt was starting to hurt, but I kept moving, kept turning over the legs. Two people commented on my soft footfalls, and I took that as a huge compliment, as I've been working on my pelvic tilt and running form all season - I may not be fast, but I've been consciously trying to have better technique. I saw lots of familiar faces, thank-you for the words of encouragement, from both friends and total strangers, you kept me moving forward. The turn-around point seemed a long time coming! The run back seemed faster, although I didn't negative split, it was pretty even. I saw Ryan at the bottom of Weaselhead hill, he walked up with me, then went ahead to give Emma and June notice to cheer for me. Wow, it felt great to see the cheering squad, even better than being a superhero, this was goddess time! Then the long 4km out and back to the finish line - what a crazy idea, to run past the Finish Line at that point in the race, how demoralizing! At this point in the race I was having trouble concentrating, I was exhausted. And, despite following my nutrition plan, my tummy was starting to get cranky. I've been terrorized by GI issues in endurance events since before GWN last year, and have been diligently experimenting to get this under control. Lindy Kennedy of FitNut Consulting and I have discovered that it's a combination of calories in, sugar content, and exhertion. Now, at 17km in the race, I stuck with my race plan and began to accelerate to the finish, I didn't want to leave any extra energy on the course. Consequence: I absolutely had to find some bushes, apparently I was already max'ed out. I picked up the pace again, passed two more people and could hear people cheering for me, but I couldn't concentrate on who they were, so to those of you at the finish line, a big thank-you, I heard you but couldn't acknowledge you at the time. I crossed the line, accepted my belt-buckle (super cool), and got a big hug from Tara and my family.
I can't say it enough: THANK-YOU for all the cheering, the smiles, the volunteers, everything!
Overall: I went out on the course with a specific idea of how I wanted to race: be smart about nutrition, keep HR under control, run a steady race. From where I sit today, I think that those goals were achieved, and I know that I've learned a TONNE from the experience that will serve me for 2011 season. Bring it on!
Thanks to Richelle for her great workout schedules, for accommodating my crazy work schedule and hectic family life, thanks for putting up with my crazy ideas, like mountain biking three days before the race, among others. I'm looking forward to 2011 with you!
Richelle probably won't like it if I post this next bit, but it's the part that everyone outside of triathlon asks: how long does it take?
For the record books, here it goes:
611/805 women.
47/63 women age 35-40
Swim: 46:10
T1: 6.26
Bike: 3:16:55
T2: 2:44
Run: 2:32:32
Overall: 6:44:45
On a longer, more challenging course in crummier weather, I was just over a minute faster than GWN. Now that's progress.
In early July my family took holidays, and I'm proud to report that I did all of the prescribed workouts, even a swim in a rough and choppy lake and a long HOT run with mosquitoes and blackflies nipping at me. Then our family all got sick with the flu and I missed some key workouts, I was a bit upset with missing the workouts, but c'est la vie. My point? I think that I did everything in my power to be ready for this race, both mentally and physically. This was my "A" race for 2010 so I didn't want to jeopardize my performance.
Race day arrived extra early. A thunderstorm woke me up around 2a.m. Ugh. Not only would my bike get wet (my baby!), but there was a good possibility of rain all day. I tried to doze back to sleep, mixed success, until the alarm rang at 3:30a.m. Yes, that number is correct. I needed to make my bagel, get dressed, and Ryan drove me to meet the bus to the Ghost by 4a.m. A sleepy group of athletes boarded the bus, instant friends, bonded by the ridiculous circumstances and a crazy hobby.
The scene upon arrival at the Ghost Lake Reservoir was encouraging. It was dark, but big flood lights illuminated the area. Our bus was early enough to beat the rush and long lines that developed within the hour. I was relieved to see my bike, albeit soaking wet, and gave her a quick check, all was in working order. Whew. I organized and double checked that my bike and nutrition was in place, then headed for the portapotty line. Lucky for me it was only 2 people long - it would later grow to enormous lengths. As I came back to the main area I spotted Tara. She was in great spirits as a volunteer for the aid station on the bike course, she gave me a big smile and a couple of hugs, enough to start my good-nervous feeling and get me pumped up for the day. We hung out with her friend Jacque and Angie Anderson and a motley crew of others who has assembled in the wet and drizzle to prove themselves at an Ironman event. What a cool bunch of people, how special we are to be involved in a sport with so many amazing and inspiring people. Tara helped me onto my wetsuit (she truly is the best wetsuit fitter I have ever met) and waited around for the start. We didn't wait long, and before I could sneeze I was in the water for a quick warmup.
The swim started! My plan was to be smooth, follow some feet, and stick with the middle of the pack. The first 100 m were a bit chaotic, but not intolerable, I hung in well, focused on my strokes being long and relaxed. For some god-forsaken reason, my goggles got water in the left eye. Hmm. It kept getting worse, so I had to adjust them. I was still in the pack, no worries. But the problem persisted. They're newish goggles, never had any problems with them before, I swam with them the day before, what the ????? The problem kept getting worse. I kept losing time and position, and I ended up swimming with gals who were slower than me. The leaky goggles plagued me for the balance of the swim, as every 6 or 8 strokes I had to release the water. By the time I swam around the final buoy I had caught up to some of the men's wave, in blue swimcaps, and some of the men's wave behind me, in yellow caps, had caught up to the women, in red. Result: happy with my ability to swim, very, very frustrated with equipment malfunctions.
T1 was chaotic. Good wetsuit strippers, thanks ladies, off to find my bag, well organized in numerical order. The grass was wet and FULL of mosquitoes, I got eaten alive! Oh well, motivation to push me to go faster. I think the transition went smoothly, that was my goal, although I was in there a lot longer than anticipated. It just took time to get socks on wet feet, get into the bike area, get out of the bike area, and get to the mount line. I didn't fumble anything, it was a smooth T1, just a long process.
The bike was wonderful - I knew it would be. But I had to remember my race plan: keep my HR under control. I set the goal of under 160BPM for the bike, and unless I was going uphill, this was a success! Last year at GWN I let my HR climb into the 170's for a sustained effort and it blew up my run. I was determined not to let that happen again! The first 10k to Ghost Lake were to get some nutrition into me, spin my legs, find my rhythm, and generally settle down. Several ladies passed me, and I let them go; I later blew by them on Grand Valley. I surprised myself on Grand Valley - it's a lot of UP to get to the turn, and I anticipated a struggle with the big hills, despite my training on these roads earlier in the year. I mentally steeled myself for the hills, and guess what? I ended up passing people! Even dudes! One guy berated himself for getting "chicked," and two others complimented my even, smooth pedal strokes! Me! I was pleased, surprised, happy! The hills were okay, then it was onto the rolling descent of Horse Creek. The TTL water station on Horse Creek was a fun spot, lots of volunteers (THANK-YOU SO MUCH!!!!), and lots of cheering, I felt like a superhero! Thank-you!!!!! The ride into Cochrane was awesome, a bit worrisome with the ambulance treating an athlete, but a great ride. The hill out of Cochrane also had me worried, but again, I may not have been fast, but I passed a LOT of people on that hill! Nutrition was going well, tummy was feeling good. The ride into the city was uneventful, people were pretty spaced apart, worrying about drafting was nil at this point. All the volunteers and police at intersections did an amazing job, another big thank-you. Overall: great ride, in spite of the rain and road mud, I loved it. My HR averaged 154. Over a 94km distance v. a 90km distance at GWM, I ended up only 1 minute slower on the bike. I guess all that extra training, the mtn biking, and watching my HR paid off!!!
T2: very smooth, I had a great volunteer who helped me get my shoes on and handed over my visor. I saw Maureen cheering, thanks for that. Interesting that Mirinda Carfrae was opening her winning bottle of champagne as I exited T2 - I heard the announcement at the finish line area. Damn she's fast.
The run: I started out okay. I always have trouble in the first 2km finding my legs, or going out too fast to sustain. Again, the goal was to control my HR, and to run, not walk, the entire race, it didn't matter how slow that run could be, but no walking. Caveat: walking allowed under 3 circumstances: aid station, 1 min every 20 min, or uphill. Over the first 5km I kept getting passed by girls I passed on the bike, which was a bit disheartening, but I kept to my plan, and started passing other girls and some of the guys, too. My Garmin kept beeping every km and I noticed an average pace between 6:40 and 7:00. This would creep up to 7:15 towards the end, but overall, I hovered around 7min/km. My legs were heavy, my butt was starting to hurt, but I kept moving, kept turning over the legs. Two people commented on my soft footfalls, and I took that as a huge compliment, as I've been working on my pelvic tilt and running form all season - I may not be fast, but I've been consciously trying to have better technique. I saw lots of familiar faces, thank-you for the words of encouragement, from both friends and total strangers, you kept me moving forward. The turn-around point seemed a long time coming! The run back seemed faster, although I didn't negative split, it was pretty even. I saw Ryan at the bottom of Weaselhead hill, he walked up with me, then went ahead to give Emma and June notice to cheer for me. Wow, it felt great to see the cheering squad, even better than being a superhero, this was goddess time! Then the long 4km out and back to the finish line - what a crazy idea, to run past the Finish Line at that point in the race, how demoralizing! At this point in the race I was having trouble concentrating, I was exhausted. And, despite following my nutrition plan, my tummy was starting to get cranky. I've been terrorized by GI issues in endurance events since before GWN last year, and have been diligently experimenting to get this under control. Lindy Kennedy of FitNut Consulting and I have discovered that it's a combination of calories in, sugar content, and exhertion. Now, at 17km in the race, I stuck with my race plan and began to accelerate to the finish, I didn't want to leave any extra energy on the course. Consequence: I absolutely had to find some bushes, apparently I was already max'ed out. I picked up the pace again, passed two more people and could hear people cheering for me, but I couldn't concentrate on who they were, so to those of you at the finish line, a big thank-you, I heard you but couldn't acknowledge you at the time. I crossed the line, accepted my belt-buckle (super cool), and got a big hug from Tara and my family.
I can't say it enough: THANK-YOU for all the cheering, the smiles, the volunteers, everything!
Overall: I went out on the course with a specific idea of how I wanted to race: be smart about nutrition, keep HR under control, run a steady race. From where I sit today, I think that those goals were achieved, and I know that I've learned a TONNE from the experience that will serve me for 2011 season. Bring it on!
Thanks to Richelle for her great workout schedules, for accommodating my crazy work schedule and hectic family life, thanks for putting up with my crazy ideas, like mountain biking three days before the race, among others. I'm looking forward to 2011 with you!
Richelle probably won't like it if I post this next bit, but it's the part that everyone outside of triathlon asks: how long does it take?
For the record books, here it goes:
611/805 women.
47/63 women age 35-40
Swim: 46:10
T1: 6.26
Bike: 3:16:55
T2: 2:44
Run: 2:32:32
Overall: 6:44:45
On a longer, more challenging course in crummier weather, I was just over a minute faster than GWN. Now that's progress.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Luna Mtn Bike Camp July 2010
Wow what a great weekend! Met some cool choices, rode some wicked terrain, learned lots of new skills, reinvigorated my training, wow!
Day One:
Back to the basics with body positioning on the bike, work in the terrain park, get used to working the bike.
The afternoon ride was cut short by an injury, but managed to ride things like Ziggy's and The Noodle.
Day Two:
Started the day off with some trail running, working on technique for hill running, both up and down. Did this session on the XTerra trail.
Next we hopped on our bikes for some drills and transition practice, then off to Quarry Lake for a site review. On the way back to the Nordic Centre we sessioned on a steep grassy hill and learned how to so a drop. Wow!! I made it!
For the afternoon we split up and I followed superstar Tony Smith thru one lap of the XTerra full distance course. It's tough, technical, nary stuff, with things like The Laundry Chutes, The Coal Chutes, and The Georgetown Climb. Ne lap took us 90min! I may need to downgrade to the short course, but that decision can be made another time. I loved the route, I can ride most of it, but it will take me some time!
Overall, a good format, great instructors, great time on the trails, very relevant to the rave in August. Bring it on!
Wow what a great weekend! Met some cool choices, rode some wicked terrain, learned lots of new skills, reinvigorated my training, wow!
Day One:
Back to the basics with body positioning on the bike, work in the terrain park, get used to working the bike.
The afternoon ride was cut short by an injury, but managed to ride things like Ziggy's and The Noodle.
Day Two:
Started the day off with some trail running, working on technique for hill running, both up and down. Did this session on the XTerra trail.
Next we hopped on our bikes for some drills and transition practice, then off to Quarry Lake for a site review. On the way back to the Nordic Centre we sessioned on a steep grassy hill and learned how to so a drop. Wow!! I made it!
For the afternoon we split up and I followed superstar Tony Smith thru one lap of the XTerra full distance course. It's tough, technical, nary stuff, with things like The Laundry Chutes, The Coal Chutes, and The Georgetown Climb. Ne lap took us 90min! I may need to downgrade to the short course, but that decision can be made another time. I loved the route, I can ride most of it, but it will take me some time!
Overall, a good format, great instructors, great time on the trails, very relevant to the rave in August. Bring it on!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
XTErra at COP June 2010
I decided to use this race as "practice" for off road triathlon racing, purposely didn't do any of the usual prep work, just went and tried to improve the little things. Oh yeah, and not get creamed or come in last.
As it turns put, I had an amazing day! I practiced consuming Infinit on the bike, kept a smile on my face, and enjoyed the ride. The bike course wasn't too technical, it was two loops thru the east slopes of COP. Lots of rolling and good flow throughout. I'm happy to report that the race leaders did NOT lap me. I even managed to pass people on both the uphill and downhill. The run was straight up the ski slopes alongside the ski jumps. Very, very steep and hot in the sun. We ran thru the upper parking lot, then decended the ski hill underneath the chair lift. It too was steep in some sections so I was trotting more than I was running. High fives to my girls then back on the bike for another two laps. By this point I was comfortable with the trail so could let the bike run a bit more and saved my legs for the bigger hills. My bike splits were equal, a good sign since my legs worked overtime on the run.
Overall a good day for racing.
It was also nice to meet some other racers, hang with Team Tri Life people, see my family on the course, race with a small group in a totally unpressured environment. Great idea!
.... And it's also fun to know that I didn't come in last place!!
As it turns put, I had an amazing day! I practiced consuming Infinit on the bike, kept a smile on my face, and enjoyed the ride. The bike course wasn't too technical, it was two loops thru the east slopes of COP. Lots of rolling and good flow throughout. I'm happy to report that the race leaders did NOT lap me. I even managed to pass people on both the uphill and downhill. The run was straight up the ski slopes alongside the ski jumps. Very, very steep and hot in the sun. We ran thru the upper parking lot, then decended the ski hill underneath the chair lift. It too was steep in some sections so I was trotting more than I was running. High fives to my girls then back on the bike for another two laps. By this point I was comfortable with the trail so could let the bike run a bit more and saved my legs for the bigger hills. My bike splits were equal, a good sign since my legs worked overtime on the run.
Overall a good day for racing.
It was also nice to meet some other racers, hang with Team Tri Life people, see my family on the course, race with a small group in a totally unpressured environment. Great idea!
.... And it's also fun to know that I didn't come in last place!!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
New things in my corner of the world
- I'm loving my new iPad. Yup, probably the coolest device on the planet. I'm sure Apple will come up with fixes for things like iBooks but as an overall tool it's amazing
- cycling this year has moved to a whole new level. Both mtn and road riding have improved: 100k isn't such a long way to go, ESP w some good company and a ride along the 1A from Banff to Lake Louise, and I'm mtn biking stuff that used to seem impossible. Higher level of fitness, certainly higher level of skill!
- loving my family these days. The girls are amazing, I've got a wonderful husband, what more could a girl want?
- since when is 37 years old considered middle aged????
- looking forward to racing XTerra on Sat. Just going for the experience. I'm gonna get creamed!
- cycling this year has moved to a whole new level. Both mtn and road riding have improved: 100k isn't such a long way to go, ESP w some good company and a ride along the 1A from Banff to Lake Louise, and I'm mtn biking stuff that used to seem impossible. Higher level of fitness, certainly higher level of skill!
- loving my family these days. The girls are amazing, I've got a wonderful husband, what more could a girl want?
- since when is 37 years old considered middle aged????
- looking forward to racing XTerra on Sat. Just going for the experience. I'm gonna get creamed!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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