More Training....

Well this week has been a really good week for me. After Calgary, I was getting a little nervous that I wasn't progressing as fast as I should be at this time of year. However, since I got home I have had atleast 4 breakthrough sessions this week!!! It must be the nice thick BC air! Tuesday was the usual PIH workout, where we did 1million x 200 repeats in a parloff relay. Gary and I rocked it, coming behind only Shane and his running partner! I really enjoy running with Gary, cause I know he thinks the same way about intervals as I do (ie lets suffer as much as possible to get better).

I felt so strong as a runner that night! It was great to get back into some sort of form! Our swim workout on Weds was a 1500m time trial, but was called something else to not scare us too much this early in the season! I started second in my lane, and after about 8 laps I was getting frustrated with the pace of the guy ahead of me, so I jumped ahead. What I didn't realize however, was that I was just enjoying the draft, and that was the reason I was feeling like I wasn't working as hard. As soon as I pushed ahead, I felt the full weight on the water! The guy I passed obviousely wasn't too impressed, so he stayed on my toes the entire way! I really didn't mind that much though. If it was in a race, I might have kicked a little harder, but I don't mind it when I know the people.

I finished in 23:32, which is about 2:30 to 3:00 faster than my PB last year!!! Good to see such improvements this early in the year. My splits were something like 8:11, 7:54, 7:11, so it was nice to see the negative splits!

Thursday was a "kick the crap out of you" swim, but again, if it makes me better, I'm not complaining! I was put in the fast lane (probably not due to me being fast at all, but so that my usualy lane was not as clogged up with people), and we had to do 20 x 100 repeats on 1:35, which should allow for about 10s rest. Well, I definately cannot hold that pace, so I knew I was in for it!!

For the first 12, I had about 8-10 seconds rest each repeat, but I was barely hanging on by the end, managing to get about 2 breaths by the 16-20 reps. I was proud however, that I did stay on 1:35, even if I almost passed out!! That was the kind of workout wherethat will ensure that I will get faster this year!!!

Today (Sat), we had our usual beaver lake run, where our MS was 4 x 1mile repeats. Sounds easy, but I assure you it was not. I told Dan that I was gonna push us hard today, and I immediately wished I didn't say that! Of course, on the final interval, we had an epic sprint to the line, where I shot off at about 100 yards to go, and then Dan caught up with me when I died with about 50 yards to go, and then I shot off again to take it! I needed about 5 minutes to make sure I wouldn't puke, but all in all it was a great run. Finished off with a 5:18 mile. More updates to come.

Training Update

Here is the massive update on my training.

It has been going so well! I love training with Lifesport. Coach Dan has got a really good program going for me right now. I am swimming sooo much stronger thanks to swimming in the group. I cannot beleive that up to this year I have no swam with a group. It is so much harder and obviousely better for training. I can't wait to do a tri and see how much faster I do the swim. Basically I have been doing the same number of workouts/week as last year, but the intensity is just so much more. Having to explain yourself to a coach changes everything.

I was feeling amazing in the pool until this Wednesday, when I completely blew up. We were doing a main set that consisted of 4 x 50's followed quickly by a 400. After two of them, I completely lost it. I had been feeling sick before the workout, and I knew I was in for it. As I was saying, I felt like a brick in the water. The guy behind me that was not even a factor for the first two and the other workouts we have done was suddenly passing me. Not only passing me, but almost lapping me! I felt so bad, but I had to finish the workout. By that point, you are basically swimming backwards, but it is nice to have the group so that I can suffer through another 3k after that point!

After that workout I hopped on a plane, and am now in Calgary. Training in Calgary has been an experience to say the least. I have done 2 long runs in the snow, and they have been really tiring. I try to keep a high heartrate, but the altitude has taken a lot out of my lungs and I am struggling to get into a low tempo zone for my hr. The first 16k run included a lot of hills (aren't we on the prairies???) My knees were pretty tender after, due to running on the uneven packed snow. The second run included a run in (excuse the pun) with 3 coyotes!!!! I was really frieked out! I started to ponder how I would take down 3 coyotes, but luckily that event never happened!

The swims and bikes have been indoors and extremely boring. I can't wait till I go home and get to ride my own bike! !! It has been my largest training volume week yet, and I am exhausted. The family's patience is starting to wear a little thin with my extreme commitment to training, and I am starting to feel a little rediculous for asking to be taken to the rec centre for a 2 hour bike or swim. That being said, I am planning a 2.5hr bike and swim tomorrow before we fly home ha ha! More updates to come.

Cedar 12k Race Report

The Cedar 12k is a classic race. With a tough uphill finish, this race is a good test of where one's fitness is at. Before the race I saw my coach Dan, who is near the same ability as me. I decided to amend my race goal to beating Gary or Dan, whichever one would make me happy ha! The race started but instead of the usual "kill yourself" 3' k, everyone actually settled into a pretty nice pace right off the bat. I decided to stick with the main pack of runners that included Gary and Dan, and for the next 3 km we just put it into cruise control. I think we started to slow down a bit too much for Gary's liking however, as he moved to the front and started to push the pace a little more. After that, most of the guys kicked it into gear and the pack split apart a bit.

Dan decided to go with the first pack that broke off, and Gary and I stayed back. They seemed to be going just a bit too hard to sustain. Still, it was hard to let Dan go that early in the race. Around 5km Bob Reid yelled out to Gary and I our times for the split, and I remember thinking "crap that is fast", but I wasn't worried because I felt amazing. I concentrated on shortening my stride, since I knew Gary would keep the same pace throughout the race. We hit the 8km marker around 30 minutes, which is not much slower than my pioneer 8k time. I still felt amazing, and I was starting to think I could actually beat Gary for the first time. Around 9km we started to hit the first of the final hills to the finish. I felt bad that I had basically tagged behind Gary for most of the run, so I decided to take the lead on the first hill. At the top of the hill, Gary started to slow, and I just held my pace expecting him to catch up. At that point, Lucy Smith told me that I wasn't that far back from Dan, so I decided to kick it up and try to get him.

It feels so much better chasing someone than being chased. If Dan was not ahead of me, I would have been concentrating on Gary behind me. But trying to chase Dan made me feel so good. I have never felt so strong at the end of a race. With 1k to go, I turned to look for Gary, but I couldn't see him. I couldn't beleive it! I ran through the tape in 45:42, slicing a solid 5 minutes of last year's time.