Crusties Fun Meet and Saturday Swim

This past Tuesday the Crusties wrapped up for 2012. As usual we had a fun meet with some silly races, some (sort of) serious races and a ton of laughs. What a group! We followed up with an unreal meal at Allegro. It's been a great early season and I can't wait to get back in the pool with the gang after the holiday.

Saturday morning I swam at the Northside Pool with some Crusty/Barbarians hardcores. 3750 tough meters with lots of fast paced work. We did 16x100m on 1:45. That is fast for me. I got through it for the first time ever at that pace. Stoked!

Monday

5km run.

2750m swim.

Friday and Saturday (And Sunday)

Friday: 30 minute run with the dogs. Probably just over 5km. Fairly easy pace. Gotta run these dogs more often! Duke's going to love the 100 runs.

Saturday: 1.5 hour swim. Not sure of meterage but lots of good solid work. Had to hop out about 30 minutes early to go Christmas tree shopping.

Tomorrow is the Santa Shuffle 5km race downtown. I'm heading in with Jody but not sure I'll run. The sproing in my groing hurts a bit more after running yesterday. I'll play it by ear in the morning. For the sake of keeping track, it's my right groing that is sproinged.

Big suprise, I ran this morning. Pretty darn cold. Wind in the face while heading North. Two loops of the North End start and finish at Bunker's. I ran just under 22:55 for 5km. Not bad. Holding back a bit on the sore leg so I'm happy with that time for sure. Hoping 23:00 is my new 25:00 and I'll keep getting faster. The leg wasn't bad running, a bit sore and pretty sore now but, for now, seems manageable. Not sure how longer runs will feel so I think I'll keep it down to short runs for at least another week.

Just a couple o' (running) buds!

Couple O' Workouts

I suck at blogging!

Saturday was a 4km (+/-) swim at the CGC.It was actually my first swim in about 2 weeks. Great swim. I felt great the whole time.

Tuesday Night. Approximately 2500m swim at the Kiwanis. Another great swim with a timed 800m (14:44 not too quick) and some good speed work. Again, felt great the whole time. Swimming with Vinnie, Bighead, Julie and Corey is a major motivator even if I'm the slowest swimmer in the group. I held my own ok considering the company.

Haven't run since last Wednesday when I got a little groin tweak. It's still sore. I'm hoping to get out for an easy 30 minutes this evening with Jody to see how it feels. Edit: ran 30 minutes through the North End with Jody. Good run. Still a bit sore but manageable for now. I'd better take it easy for the time being. LJJ training and 100 Runs both start soon!

Today is the last day of the 100 push-up challenge! The only thing 100 about it is the percent chance that I will not get through 100 continuous push-ups! The most I've been able to do without stopping is 45, following a set of 42 and a 5 minute rest. Edit: Called it! I did somewhere around 40 and then switched to my knees for 10, back to my toes for a few more and knees to 64. Took a short break and went to failure, repeated that until I hit 100. It was rough. I plan to keep it up as part of my stretching and core routine.

Speaking of 100, I have signed up for a 100 runs in 100 days challenge with a pretty large group of Barbarians and CB Roadrunners. Why? Because it's there? Partly, but mostly because I would really like to improve my running and my endurance this year. I'm hoping this challenge will bring me to a new comfort level with it. Most people seem to be planning to start January 1st. I've never been much for New Year's Resolutions but I am very much motivated by a group so I most likely will do the same. Since I haven't been hung over on New Year's Day for years it should not be a problem!

Whole Food Fueling Article

For later reference:
 Whole food article

Wednesday Run

About 5-6 km from the Kiwanis while the kids were swimming. The North End loop minus Hardwood Hill. Ran in shorts and a light long sleeve shirt. Vawy Scawy. My first run this week. Skipped my second Saturday swim and Tuesday run/swim in a row. Not good but I'm not feeling the greatest. My iron is low again. Goddamnit! And I got a bit dizzy a few times lately. Double Goddamnit! Keeping up with the push-up challenge. Only a week left to go and if I can manage to do 100 in a row I'll eat my damn hat!

The Weekend Grind

Friday - After work run with Jody. 30 minutes on the Baille Ard Trails. Great run. I love the trails. I love Jody. Enough said.

Saturday - Sleepy morning. Skipped swimming. It was a a bit of a down week as I wasn't feeling the greatest. I've heard rest weeks are important. I think this was my body reinforcing that theory. Nevertheless I dragged myself to the 3rd annual James Delorey memorial 5k road race in the Pier. It was cold and windy, but as someone pointed out to me, we have absolutely no reason to complain about the weather. Enough said. I had a great run and a pb by over 2 minutes. Super happy about it.
Time: 22:39. I've been trying to get down around 23 minutes for a while. My best 5k times until now have been around 25. Work works.

Insert Catchy, Creative Title Here

A bit of a tired (maybe even sick?) week. I've been yawning like crazy and can't seem to wake the fuck up. Nevertheless the work goes on.

Saturday morning swim was equal parts good and bad. I was swimming well, having fun and enjoying the workout but I was having some back pain that I eventually gave into and got out early. Swimming actually feels pretty good on a sore back but every turn on the wall was painful. I still managed about 2500m so not too bad.

Saturday afternoon was the CBRR end of the year banquet and chase race. The 8km (ish) race took place on the new Green Link Trails along Rotary Drive and Membertou. They've done a great job on the trails and I'm hoping to do more running on them. I had a great run and really enjoyed the format. My time was 38:41 on loose gravel, hills and turns. Pretty darn happy with that.

Skipped my regular Tuesday workout ritual. Jobs looming overhead in the shop and just not feeling the greatest. Back at 'er next week!

Wednesday I ran home from Sydney River where I got dropped off by a co-worker. Great 7.5 km run in temps hovering around the zero mark with the wind whipping around some small bits of snow. Winter's here. Bring it on.

Long runs really need to start this weekend!

Earth to... whatever.

Lots of work. Not too many posts.

Let us just see:

Last Friday? Another brick session at work. good times. Followed with core work.

Bike and swim Saturday. Took the mountain bike. Good times.

Holiday Monday I swam at the CGC. Not a regular one for me but a good hard workout.

Tuesday was another trip up Hardwood Hill with the pre-swim group. Feeling stronger every week. Followed with a swim. Probably just over 2000m. Elbow is feeling great which makes me happy.

Thursday. Ran 30 minutes easy on the treadmill at work. Followed that with push-ups and core work.

I missed a bunch of stuff I'm sure. Even a dull pencil is sometimes better than a sharp mind.

Tuesday- 11-ish km with the Tuesday night pre-swim group. Chased a couple of faster runners up hardwood hill. Good hard work. A bit sore by the end just like last week. This is a great, tough workout and I'm going to try to do it every Tuesday before the pool. I'll try to remember to time it next week and use it as a bit of a self-test later on.

Swim- 2100m. Great workout but my elbow is still bugging me. More ice tonight. I'm considering dropping out of the push-up challenge but once I start something I like to see it through.

Wednesday- 5km-ish relatively easy run while the kids were at the pool. Cooler and rainy tonight but still a great night for a run downtown. A bit sore after yesterday. Probably take a total off day tomorrow.

Beer Mile/ House Crawl

Let me just start by saying:

Wowsa. 1 beer mile. About 18km of running. 15 flights of stairs. 1 missed step in the graveyard. 1000000 laughs. Lots of drinks. Lots of food. Home by 12. Good times. Can't wait until next time!

The Work Brick

Friday. Had some time this morning at work. I rode the bike-on-trainer for 30 minutes. Similar workout to the other day. Warm up, 1 leg emphasis, stand up intervals, cool down. Only half an hour but a pretty intense workout. Followed it with 25 minutes hard on the treadmill. They say there is value in indoor training sessions. I really prefer the slush and snow and wind to training indoors but, hey, this works too.

Monday, Tuesday Happy Days?

Great run tonight. An unexpected 11-12 km including a long climb up Hardwood Hill. I had planned to to 35-45 minutes but hooked up with a group from the pool and went longer. Felt good. The new shoes are hurting a bit. I'll switch back to the old beaters for a few runs. Funny how old worn out shoes actually feel like they're cushioning my feet while the new ones feel like hardwood.

Swam somewhere around 2000m. Good solid workout with some fun, silly relays at the end. I love The Crusties.

Yesterday I did about 30 minutes on the bike at work. It's a mountain bike on a trainer. Warm up, a few minutes focusing on each leg, 5x1 minute stand up in the hardest gear, cool down. Felt like a pretty solid workout packed into a relatively short period. I'll do that one again for sure. Also did some core work and push-ups. 75 push-ups as part of the challenge I signed up for. They are tough to get through on swim days... speaking of which, I have a set of 80 I'm supposed to do tonight. We'll see...

Let's jump (like a motorcycle over a shark) to Wednesday. I did last night's push-ups this morning along with some core exercises. After work I met Jody and the girls at the pool for the girls Dorados session. Jody and I ran around 7km. It was a good recovery pace for me. I usually run a bit quicker than Jody but I love to get out for a run with her whenever I can.

I'm Arthur Fonzarelli and I approve this message.

Saturday Double.

Managed to bike to the pool again this morning. I left a bit late but decided it was worth it to get a bike in while the weather is warm. Probably about 12 deg on November 3rd. Nutty. Good swim. I lead a lane that I don't usually swim with but since I was late I hopped in to warm up and just stayed there. I'm probably better off chasing faster swimmers around but I still managed to work fairly hard and push the pace a bit. Probably did somewhere around 2600-2800 metres. Elbow is still a bit tweaked. My back feels much better.

Biked to the market for coffee and bread and then home. Probably around 30km on the bike in total. Riding the Giant OCR 2 with a cargo rack and bag.

Capped it all off with a hike in the Baille Ard Trails with dad, the girls and the dogs.

2007 Giant OCR 2 

Thursday Run.

Just over 6 easy km on the way to Mom's for pizza. Felt good. Nice misty night and about 14 degrees. Shorts and a t-shirt on November 1st. For the amount of junk food I've eaten over the last two days I should probably have run a bit longer. I remembered to look both ways before I crossed the street tonight.

Breaking in new sneaks. I just bought two pairs of Kinvara 2s on two different sales. Score. Even though they are the same shoes I've been running in for a while the new ones really feel stiff and harder on the feet. The old crusties are super comfortable. These will get there.

Stylin'

Tuesday Run/Swim

Last track night of the year. It's been a good season and I think the workouts have really improved my running and my strength. Thanks Bighead. Now a group of us switch to Tuesday tempo runs for the winter. I'll try to run as many Tuesday nights as possible all year.

Followed the run with a swim. I swam about 45-50 minutes. Not sure how many metres. I was very sore (blew my back out a bit) and generally feeling crappy. Some days are golden.

The Week in Review.

Bit of a crap week. Sidetracked a bit by a nasty nasty chest cold or something. Two days off work. Skipped a few usual workouts. Life goes on...

Thursday: About 5.5km on the track with the BEC XC runners. Followed that with a really tough swim. 1.5 hours, something around 2000m of mostly IM sets. Brutal.

Saturday: Planned to bike to the pool but I woke up to a howling wind. The lake was choppy and the trees were swaying so I stayed in bed for an extra 20 minutes. Did about 2600m in the pool. Started with warm-up followed by 800m. That's the longest continuous swim I've done since the summer. Felt good. After that the sets were very heavy on kick. Not cool. My kicking truly sucks. On a good note the coaching this year is truly excellent.

I have something going on with my right elbow. Pain when I put any pressure on it. Hurts a bit in the water, especially with the motion of breast stroke. Hmmm. Ice and time I hope.

Sunday: Annual Pumpkin Run. 5km (ish) in Petersfield Park. Last run in the CB Roadrunners points series. This is a tough 5k. The park is beautiful but there are lots of short hills and tight turns that keep the heart rate high and the pace relatively slow. Weather was cool and a bit misty but the rain held off until the race was over. Finished in 27 minutes and change and wasn't feeling the greatest. I was over 30 minutes last year so I'll take it. I dressed up as Captain Awesome. Pretty lame.

Sunday Runday

Ran about 7km on the way to mom's for supper. Was feeling great despite the gross, hacking chest cold I seem to have. I would have liked to run farther but Jody and the girls caught up to me in the car. Should have left earlier I guess. When I got in the car I told Jody that I don't think I have ever run in more perfect running weather. Cool but not cold, overcast and still. Sundays are going to have to turn into long run days. I so prefer a destination to an out an back run. I just seem way more willing to work if I'm going somewhere and know that I have to get there. A to B. Simple. It's so tempting to turn around even a few minutes early if I'm running out and back from home. Discipline!

Almost got smoked by a car crossing the road to get in the car. Seriously, it felt pretty close. Eyes open Morrison! Even when you're tired!

I think it's also time for new sneakers. I love my Kinvara 2s but I may have to break down and buy the 3s. I should try to track the milage on the new ones.

Maybe not so white next time. Mine are looking pretty haggard.

Swim Bike Saturday

Great 3+km swim this morning. In a lane with faster swimmers (what else is new) and trying to keep up and still finish the workout. I think I skipped about 100m all together. I'm finding the workouts getting better, my endurance building back up and I'm feeling fairly strong in the water. The speed is not there for any long distance. Working on it.

After some food and coffee my buddy Todd and I went for about 1.5 hours on the Mountain bikes. We drove up Morley Road to the Kelly Rock gate and found a trail. Nice mix of technical, gravel road, rocks, ATV paths and mud. Happy to say I stayed on my bike and that no boulders were injured in the making of this post.

Good workout day. Feeling a bit tapped by 6 this evening. Still going to the DOA show though!

Monday and Tuesday Run and Swim

Monday: 5.5 km with two of the BEC runners. Regionals on Thursday!

Tuesday: Track workout with Steve coaching. Warm up + plyometric lap + 4,3,2,1 intervals (X3) + cool down = 7.6 km with about half above 5 km race pace. Still feeling great running but I'm starting to notice a bit of tightness in my hips and groin. I'll have to find some stretches and add those to my core strength days. Followed that with about 3000 m in the pool and a serious cramp in the back of my leg. I have to get that worked out. Is it diet? Not enough water? Have to do some research and get that sorted for sure. This was also my first time in the pool since "the boulder incident". No worries.

I also signed up for a 100 push-up challenge last week. Why? Because it's there? I'm skipping tonight's workout though. It's a beer and bed kinda night.

Double Run Day

The last few Tuesdays have become double run days. I coach the BEC XC team and we have ended up running Tuesdays lately. Since I also do speedwork every Tuesday night I've been doing double duty. I'm starting to feel some benefits from this. I'm feeling stronger in my evening workout than I ever have and I'm not noticing any ill effects from running earlier in the day. Today I ran about 5km with the team and between 9 and 10 on the track and I'm still feeling good. Work = payoff. No swimming tonight. Shoulder is still a bit sensitive. May hold off until Saturday.

Boulder: 1, Mike: ...1. Let's call it a tie.

Mountain bike ride Yesterday. Mountain biking is harder and more interesting than road riding. I plan to do as much as possible in my general base work in preparation for Ironman. I spent about an hour in the woods in Howie Centre yesterday. Great trails, high heart-rate, core stability and good general leg work. Lots of mud. Ended the day by bailing off my bike on a slippery downhill and shoulder-checking a decent sized boulder next to the trail. Could have been worse, could have been my head, could have broken a bone. I did see stars. That's normal right? Seems like a pretty serious bruise today. No major colour but a bit of swelling and some moderate pain; especially when I try to lift my arm above my head... or reach too far for something... or lift things the wrong way. No swimming for me tonight. Probably no swimming for me tomorrow night. We'll see. Could have been way worse.

This is what I ride:

2011 Giant Trinity 0

Crowie.

This video about Craig Alexander is just fantastic.
Corey Deveaux said it best: "What a class act!"

Aussies Abroad: Craig Alexander

Saturday Morning Bike/Swim/Bike/Bread/Bike

Up at 6:50. Out the door around 7:25. Bike to the pool (around 15km) in the cool fog. I was a bit slow today. The ride took me a bit longer than usual. I was tired, carrying a pack and cargo bag. Had a cookie and a coffee before leaving.

Swim was fantastic. About 1.5 hours in the pool and somewhere around 2800m. Felt good. Swimming with Vinny, The Pyke and Paul B.; all faster than me. I chased them up and down the pool. This is my reality if I want to get faster. Ate a banana and a home-made energy bar post swim. And half a cookie.

Bike home. Stopped at the market for Bread. Mmmmm bread. Pretty beat for the last 10 km home. About 32 km of biking in total. I needed a rest so I watched a Kona 2011 special on-line. It made me feel weak and lazy!

Now to stay awake and try to be a productive human being for the rest of the day.

Rum Runner's Relay/ Riverport Duathlon

Okay. So I should really be keeping track of training swims/bikes/runs but life gets in the way. Safe to say I had some great and some not so great of each since my last post.

This past weekend I joined a team of Barbarians for two races on the mainland. Rum Runner's Relay happened all day Saturday. I ran leg 3 which was around 11.2km. I covered the rolling course, which included a section of Rails to Trails in Tantallon in just over 56 minutes. I wasn't pushing it in the least since I knew I was racing again the next day and really wanted to beat last year's Riverport time. I felt good. Ran through some rain.

The Cape Breton Barbarians

2012 Rum Runners Relay team

The 2011 Riverport Du happened in what can only be described as biblical rain. It was a bit nutty and scary on the bike. This year the rain held off until the last racer came off the course. Riverport is a 4km run, 28 km bike and another 4km run. I couldn't have been much happier with my performance. A solid middle of the pack placing (what more can a guy ask for?) and the fastest I've ever run 8km even though there was a hilly and challenging bike ride in the middle. I managed to beat last year's time by just over 10 minutes. Stoked.

 Me and P-Mac heading into T-2 at Riverport

Run 1 - 18:46

Bike - 56:29

Run 2 - 20:04

Total - 1:35:18

Place - 36 of 76

Finishing the Riverport Duathlon 2012

Natural Energy

Part of the training plan is to at least try to eat mostly healthy, real food. Although I have no problem with the taste of gels, power bars etc, I'd like to stay away from the preservatives and extra ingredients. I've been experimenting with natural, home-made energy bars, cookies etc. I often just find a recipe on the web and modify it. I made the recipe linked below the other night. I liked the simplicity of the recipe and the fact that it contained a good ratio of chocolate to anything else. Four ingredients and less than half an hour produced enough of these to get me through quite a few workouts... if they last that long. They're friggin' delicious! Mine aren't quite so fancy. This site actually looks like a great resource for lots of recipes; not just endurance foods.

preservative free, natural energy

http://www.foodiewithfamily.com/2011/08/30/homemade-larabars/

Back In The Water

Sept 17:
The Crusties are back in the pool. Swim 1 was a good one. In a lane with three 1st year CGC cadets. Arms were ready to fall off after an hour. Lots of work to do.

Sept 18:
Interval workout with Bighead. Feeling good. Running hard.

This is a test: Millville 10k, September 15

I've been nursing my left calf. I pulled something a few weeks ago during a pretty tough interval session on trails. Took a full week off, had a couple good easy runs and then hurt it again on the track. Rest, ice etc. A few more easy runs and feeling good I decided to do the Millville 10k. The plan was an easy pace, not worrying about my time, just to see if I could do it without re-injuring. I fell into step with a friend on the course and we just paced and chatted for about 8 of the 10k. The last 4k was a pretty steady climb. We didn't chat much for the final 2k. Long story short I had a great run, was distracted so that I wasn't worried about my time and ended up setting a pb for 10k on a pretty tough course. My calf feels great.

Time: 52 minutes and change. I might not be fast but at least I'm slow.

What did I do?

At the end of August I signed up for Ironman Mont-Tremblant 2013. I would never have done so if a stack of folks from The Cape Breton Barbarians had not done the same. I'm nervous, bordering on scared, and also extremely excited.This is post number 1. This is meant to be more a training log than a true blog. I'll post my training schedule, workout reviews, nutrition information and anything else related to my preparation for this event. My general plan right now is to swim and run through the winter with a winter half-marathon as a training goal for the early part of the year. I'll also add more indoor bike training and try to get outside to bike as much as possible all winter. We'll see how that goes. My main priority is to finish the race while maintaining a balance between family, work and training. If you're reading this you are probably me. Hi mike. Get off the computer and go exercise.

Bridgetown Olympic Triathlon 2012