This was to be my first attempt (and most likely last) at competing in a solo 24 hr mtb race. Training had been going ok, and I knew that if I paced myself properly I would have a good race. I wasn't expecting any fast performance, but I just wanted to ride the majority of the time.
The forecast had been looking bleak over the previous weeks, and raceday didn't disappoint! We started during a light drissle. A huge pack of over a 1000 riders started off. I positioned myself middle back to allow myself an easy start. It was a slow first lap as the packs thinned out. By the second half we were able to ride without any back-ups. The rain was stopping at this point and the trails were in decent condition.
The second lap was awesome. I was feeling fantastic just cruising around trying to be as smooth as possible. I was working on getting the best lines down as I knew that would help me in the late hours of the race. The conditions were mucky and by the end of the second lap my brake pads were toast. They weren't new. I made a quick stop and changed them out.
The third lap was a different story. The first 2.5km of trails had been chewed to pieces by all the riders. It was virtually impossible to ride that section. The mud was clay and stuck to your bike, eventually keeping your wheels from turning and adding 30pds! However, the 2nd half of the course was in good shape. I took a break for food after this long lap.
The fourth lap was much better. The trail was drying up and by the end I was able to get in a rythym again. The laps had been really slow and dusk was a couple of hrs off so I decided to stop and put on my lights. Good move. Over the last few km of the 4th lap, the rain started again slowly. By the time I got back on my bike it was pouring. This destroyed all of the improvements and took the good parts and turned them bad.
The RD's had taken the first part of the course out because it was unridable. I thought this would solve the problems. Nope! I ended up walking 90% of the 5th lap. Stopping every fee hundred meters to remove pds of mud. It was insane!!! I have never ridden/hiked in anything like it before. The 13km lap took me over 2hrs! I should've been able to ride it in 40min!
At the end of that lap it was nearing 10pm. I decided that I was going to wait a bit to let things dry out again before I went back out, and I had worn through another set of brake pads. I went down to the sporting life booth, and they were sold out of pads. They were waiting on a shippment from their store. I decided to grab some warm food from the chalet. As I was sitting there eating with some friends word came in that they were cancelling the race at midnight. I then debated heading out for another lap, but common sense prevailed. Stories of horrid laps were comming in left, righ, and center. The memory of my last lap was still fresh as well.
So that was that. I went to sleep! It was an interesting experience. I am humming and hawing on whether I want to give it another shot. We'll see. Props to the Chico guys for trying hard to keep the race going, and for having the guts to shut it down when they realized how much damage we were doing to the trails. Great organization, bad weather.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Milton Sprint 2009
FAST!!
All the bike training definetely paid in Milton. I had no real idea of were I stood compared to the rest of my AG, but I knew that I was pretty fit. Been doing a lot of cycling in prep. for the 24hrs solo mtb race I am doing in june, so the bike legs are on right now.
It was COLD in the morning. Spent most of the time in transition wondering why I was going to be jumping in the water when it was 8 degrees out. Not so concerned about the actual water temps, more with the fact that I would have to ride in the cold air wet after. Not too mention the 30kph headwind we would face on the way out!
Got in the water and it was actually ok. Warmer than the air. Did a good warm-up and settled in for my second wave start. There are a few awesome swimmers in my AG(ex nat. team swimmers) so I don't try to hold on to them anymore, but I found a good groove early and held it. In the past I pushed super hard on the swim here and suffered on the run because of it. Because there weren't any swimmers directly in front of me, I eased off a bit more. A little slower, but felt great coming out of the water and at the beginning of the bike. I was able to put the power down from the word go! I didn't just feel good, I felt great!
Now, about half an hour into my drive in the morning I remembered that I didn't swap out my 21 cassette on the disc before the race. This is normally all I need for most races, but there is a little hill in Milton that requires something a little easier. So, I knew the hill would be tough, but I figured I could gut it out.
I was realing in the other people from my wave, and the first wave pretty quickly. Got to the hill, and obviously was pushing a much higher gear than everyone else. I blew by 10 people climbing. By the last steep pitch at the top, I was out of the saddle and grinding to get up over the last few meters, but I did it. Thanks to all of the MTB training, my recovery from these sorts of efforts is pretty good right now. I settled back in and pushed. I was making good time everywhere. Passed everyone who was infront of me out of the water before the decent back down the hill, and managed too gap the second guy in my AG (first place went in the elite wave) by 30 seconds or so. I think he pushed hard to try and stay with my which might have burnt him out a bit.
I managed to hit 83.6kph coming down the hill which is a new record for me! It was a little sketchy, but not too bad.
Came into T2 feeling pretty good about the ride, but a little wary of how the run was going to go, as I haven't been running much to heal my achilles which I strained in a 5km race a month ago.
Out of T2 there is a really steep punchy series of hills. Tough to get a rythym going. I was feeling a little off, and my feet were numb. I kept waiting for someone to catch me, but noone did. By the time we got off of the trails and onto the road I was starting to feel better. The out road section was really windy. I could see the next placed guy about 1min. back so I knew I had to keep pushing. By the time we hit the forest section my legs were truly under me again. I was feeling great. I started to push the pace to see if I could open a gap. It is hard to tell where anyone is in the forest so I just assumed they were gaining on me. Coming out of the forest and onto the road I still didn't know where anyone was. Before we headed back into the last section of trails I noticed a pair behind me about 400m back that were gaining. I thought they were the two others in my AG. So I started to get scared that they might get me. I pushed a little harder.
Coming out of the trail into the parking lot I noticed that one of the runners was really gaining on me, and had the same suit on as the guy I was worried about. It was on. I started to push really hard into the line. Crossed the line about 100m infront of HER! It wasn't him. Turns out I had put a fair amount of time into him on the run. It was the second overall female from the first wave who was gaining. So, I buried myself for nothing, other than to not be passed by a girl!
Didn't know exactly where I stood at this point, but knew I was top 3. Turns out Matt Reid was in the first wave, and blew me out of the water by 6min. Damn he is fast.
Second is good, especially to him. More over, I am very pleased how I felt in the race. Normally I want to vommit during sprints, I just felt strong today.
Now some more cycling then 24hrs of MTB'ing, then peterborough 1/2 the next weekend! Should be interesting!
All the bike training definetely paid in Milton. I had no real idea of were I stood compared to the rest of my AG, but I knew that I was pretty fit. Been doing a lot of cycling in prep. for the 24hrs solo mtb race I am doing in june, so the bike legs are on right now.
It was COLD in the morning. Spent most of the time in transition wondering why I was going to be jumping in the water when it was 8 degrees out. Not so concerned about the actual water temps, more with the fact that I would have to ride in the cold air wet after. Not too mention the 30kph headwind we would face on the way out!
Got in the water and it was actually ok. Warmer than the air. Did a good warm-up and settled in for my second wave start. There are a few awesome swimmers in my AG(ex nat. team swimmers) so I don't try to hold on to them anymore, but I found a good groove early and held it. In the past I pushed super hard on the swim here and suffered on the run because of it. Because there weren't any swimmers directly in front of me, I eased off a bit more. A little slower, but felt great coming out of the water and at the beginning of the bike. I was able to put the power down from the word go! I didn't just feel good, I felt great!
Now, about half an hour into my drive in the morning I remembered that I didn't swap out my 21 cassette on the disc before the race. This is normally all I need for most races, but there is a little hill in Milton that requires something a little easier. So, I knew the hill would be tough, but I figured I could gut it out.
I was realing in the other people from my wave, and the first wave pretty quickly. Got to the hill, and obviously was pushing a much higher gear than everyone else. I blew by 10 people climbing. By the last steep pitch at the top, I was out of the saddle and grinding to get up over the last few meters, but I did it. Thanks to all of the MTB training, my recovery from these sorts of efforts is pretty good right now. I settled back in and pushed. I was making good time everywhere. Passed everyone who was infront of me out of the water before the decent back down the hill, and managed too gap the second guy in my AG (first place went in the elite wave) by 30 seconds or so. I think he pushed hard to try and stay with my which might have burnt him out a bit.
I managed to hit 83.6kph coming down the hill which is a new record for me! It was a little sketchy, but not too bad.
Came into T2 feeling pretty good about the ride, but a little wary of how the run was going to go, as I haven't been running much to heal my achilles which I strained in a 5km race a month ago.
Out of T2 there is a really steep punchy series of hills. Tough to get a rythym going. I was feeling a little off, and my feet were numb. I kept waiting for someone to catch me, but noone did. By the time we got off of the trails and onto the road I was starting to feel better. The out road section was really windy. I could see the next placed guy about 1min. back so I knew I had to keep pushing. By the time we hit the forest section my legs were truly under me again. I was feeling great. I started to push the pace to see if I could open a gap. It is hard to tell where anyone is in the forest so I just assumed they were gaining on me. Coming out of the forest and onto the road I still didn't know where anyone was. Before we headed back into the last section of trails I noticed a pair behind me about 400m back that were gaining. I thought they were the two others in my AG. So I started to get scared that they might get me. I pushed a little harder.
Coming out of the trail into the parking lot I noticed that one of the runners was really gaining on me, and had the same suit on as the guy I was worried about. It was on. I started to push really hard into the line. Crossed the line about 100m infront of HER! It wasn't him. Turns out I had put a fair amount of time into him on the run. It was the second overall female from the first wave who was gaining. So, I buried myself for nothing, other than to not be passed by a girl!
Didn't know exactly where I stood at this point, but knew I was top 3. Turns out Matt Reid was in the first wave, and blew me out of the water by 6min. Damn he is fast.
Second is good, especially to him. More over, I am very pleased how I felt in the race. Normally I want to vommit during sprints, I just felt strong today.
Now some more cycling then 24hrs of MTB'ing, then peterborough 1/2 the next weekend! Should be interesting!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Legacy 5km
A bunch of us decided to drop in on this race to see if we could win the team title. Since RF is a big sponsor and helps put on the race, it only seemed fitting.
I jumped in on a whim. Haven't done a 5km race in . .. . well, I don't remember how long, so I thought it would be fun. It was! Despite the rain.
Met up with the RF guys and we pumped ourselves up for a good performance.
Lined up at the front, and awaited the gun. No gun, just a count down and miss timed horn from a fire truck! Oh well.
Headed off fast, got to 1km about 30sec before I wanted too. Seems to be the habit of late.
Managed to hold a relatively steady pace for the rest of the race despite the body wholey rejecting the effort from about 3km on.
Ran with or just behind two team mates for the majority of the race. I think we finished 4,5,6,10, 21 overall, which solidly put us in the lead in the team race. I somehow managed to win my AG, which was enitrely unexpected, and to run an 18:20. So quite happy with that.
It was a fun race. The timing was a little screwed up, and we haven't got out awards yet, but it was fun!
I jumped in on a whim. Haven't done a 5km race in . .. . well, I don't remember how long, so I thought it would be fun. It was! Despite the rain.
Met up with the RF guys and we pumped ourselves up for a good performance.
Lined up at the front, and awaited the gun. No gun, just a count down and miss timed horn from a fire truck! Oh well.
Headed off fast, got to 1km about 30sec before I wanted too. Seems to be the habit of late.
Managed to hold a relatively steady pace for the rest of the race despite the body wholey rejecting the effort from about 3km on.
Ran with or just behind two team mates for the majority of the race. I think we finished 4,5,6,10, 21 overall, which solidly put us in the lead in the team race. I somehow managed to win my AG, which was enitrely unexpected, and to run an 18:20. So quite happy with that.
It was a fun race. The timing was a little screwed up, and we haven't got out awards yet, but it was fun!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Around The Bay 2009
There is not enough swimming and biking in this road racing game for me.
So, I somewhat randomly picked 2:15 as a good goal for myself. I figured I could come close to that. It wasn't until near the start that I was told that I would get a shiny silver metal if I did it under 2:15. I like silver.
Training up to the race was somewhat sporadic. Got some good long runs in, but nothing at any sort of hard pace. Felt ok coming into the race though.
We caught a ride with the 'running maniacs' from bomanville on their bus which was awesome. They had arranged that we could get our race packages the morning of as a group. That was fantastic. They were a fun bunch to hang out with on the ride down. Got to Copps and checked out the finish line. I did the relay here a few years ago, and ran the finishing leg. I really think it is one of the neatest finishing lines I have ever crossed.
The Start. So, I turned on my GPS and waited for it to aquire a signal. It was taking a while. I didn't realize until the start that it had completely frozen. It wouldn't even let me turn it off and restart.
So as the gun sounded and I tried to start my stopwatch, it wouldn't go. I was running on instinct alone. (apprently my instinct sucks)I got into a comfortable stride which I was hoping was near the 4:30 pace I wanted to start at. As I came accross the 10km mat I was almost 2min. ahead of that. Oops.
Over the next few km my quads started to tighten up due to the cold. Nothing serious at the time, but I knew that I would be hurting by the end. I had caught up with Jon very early on. I knew what his goal was and had thought that I should hang out with him. For some reason I decided to pass him and keep up with my pace. In hindsight I should've stuck with him. My normal conservative start went out the window.
I tried to ease off a bit, but with no reference I was a little in the dark. I asked a few people around me what the splits were at a few points, but it was kind of hard to really get much from that.
Around 16km, my quads really started to hurt. It wasn't affecting my pace or stride too much at that point, but at only the half way point I was hurting too much to be good.
Through 20km I was still ahead of the pace I was hoping for, but at this point, I thought that the buffer was going to be important if I still wanted to get sub 2:15.The rollers came as a bit of relief. I am really good at running down hill, and can usually recover pretty well. So I held my pace comfortably throughout. Even the big hills didn't really bother me.
Jon came flying by at some point in here looking super strong. He had paced himself well. I tried to pick it up to go with him, but it didn't happen.
Around 24km I really was starting to hurt. It was a big mental game from that point on. Cresting the last hill, I was hoping to be able to turn it up a notch on the way back home. It didn't happen. It was more survival. I couldn't lengthen my stride out at all as my quads were on fire. I uped my cadence as much as I could, but I was getting passed a lot!I was just hoping not to see the bunny catch up to me.
If I had had a watch, I would've realized I had enough time but I didn't.At pretty much exactly 1km to go a small group caught me. My heart sunk as I saw rabbit ears. At that point I committed to absolutely burying myself to beat him in. I was this close to that shiny silver medal that I wasn't going to let it slip away. I just pushed with all I had. It was probably the hardest 1km I have done in my life. I put some distance on him and held it. Turns out that he was about 30sec. ahead of 2:15 on the gun. So I had a little leeway.
2:14:29 on the gun and a shiny silver medal. I was toast. After the race my knee locked up as a result of my muscles being so tight in my quads. I ripped the hell out of them in the cold. I am still gimping around today.
So there you have it. It was my first Around the Bay, and the longest running race I have done (outside of Ironman). I honestly am in more pain than after Ironman. If I had paced better I would probably not have hurt myself so bad. I'm not sure if a funcitoning watch would've helped.
I am happy with the time, just not how I got there. Good mental exercise though. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?
Allright, I am going to gimp off to the gym now, and do some stretching and light upper body work. I probably won't be able to run for a few more days yet.
It is now biking season. No more long runs for a while!
S
So, I somewhat randomly picked 2:15 as a good goal for myself. I figured I could come close to that. It wasn't until near the start that I was told that I would get a shiny silver metal if I did it under 2:15. I like silver.
Training up to the race was somewhat sporadic. Got some good long runs in, but nothing at any sort of hard pace. Felt ok coming into the race though.
We caught a ride with the 'running maniacs' from bomanville on their bus which was awesome. They had arranged that we could get our race packages the morning of as a group. That was fantastic. They were a fun bunch to hang out with on the ride down. Got to Copps and checked out the finish line. I did the relay here a few years ago, and ran the finishing leg. I really think it is one of the neatest finishing lines I have ever crossed.
The Start. So, I turned on my GPS and waited for it to aquire a signal. It was taking a while. I didn't realize until the start that it had completely frozen. It wouldn't even let me turn it off and restart.
So as the gun sounded and I tried to start my stopwatch, it wouldn't go. I was running on instinct alone. (apprently my instinct sucks)I got into a comfortable stride which I was hoping was near the 4:30 pace I wanted to start at. As I came accross the 10km mat I was almost 2min. ahead of that. Oops.
Over the next few km my quads started to tighten up due to the cold. Nothing serious at the time, but I knew that I would be hurting by the end. I had caught up with Jon very early on. I knew what his goal was and had thought that I should hang out with him. For some reason I decided to pass him and keep up with my pace. In hindsight I should've stuck with him. My normal conservative start went out the window.
I tried to ease off a bit, but with no reference I was a little in the dark. I asked a few people around me what the splits were at a few points, but it was kind of hard to really get much from that.
Around 16km, my quads really started to hurt. It wasn't affecting my pace or stride too much at that point, but at only the half way point I was hurting too much to be good.
Through 20km I was still ahead of the pace I was hoping for, but at this point, I thought that the buffer was going to be important if I still wanted to get sub 2:15.The rollers came as a bit of relief. I am really good at running down hill, and can usually recover pretty well. So I held my pace comfortably throughout. Even the big hills didn't really bother me.
Jon came flying by at some point in here looking super strong. He had paced himself well. I tried to pick it up to go with him, but it didn't happen.
Around 24km I really was starting to hurt. It was a big mental game from that point on. Cresting the last hill, I was hoping to be able to turn it up a notch on the way back home. It didn't happen. It was more survival. I couldn't lengthen my stride out at all as my quads were on fire. I uped my cadence as much as I could, but I was getting passed a lot!I was just hoping not to see the bunny catch up to me.
If I had had a watch, I would've realized I had enough time but I didn't.At pretty much exactly 1km to go a small group caught me. My heart sunk as I saw rabbit ears. At that point I committed to absolutely burying myself to beat him in. I was this close to that shiny silver medal that I wasn't going to let it slip away. I just pushed with all I had. It was probably the hardest 1km I have done in my life. I put some distance on him and held it. Turns out that he was about 30sec. ahead of 2:15 on the gun. So I had a little leeway.
2:14:29 on the gun and a shiny silver medal. I was toast. After the race my knee locked up as a result of my muscles being so tight in my quads. I ripped the hell out of them in the cold. I am still gimping around today.
So there you have it. It was my first Around the Bay, and the longest running race I have done (outside of Ironman). I honestly am in more pain than after Ironman. If I had paced better I would probably not have hurt myself so bad. I'm not sure if a funcitoning watch would've helped.
I am happy with the time, just not how I got there. Good mental exercise though. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?
Allright, I am going to gimp off to the gym now, and do some stretching and light upper body work. I probably won't be able to run for a few more days yet.
It is now biking season. No more long runs for a while!
S
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
In the Gym
So I have been hitting the gym regularly lately. The benefits of teaching a fitness for life class. I get to workout out with the kids, actually am encouraged to.
So I have structured myself a little triathlon weights program. I have done this in the past, but my laziness and dislike of most gyms has resulted in me not going very often. Since I have to be there now, I might as well workout!
So, What am I doing there?
Monday's: Upper Body
Chin-ups (3 sets of 15) this is fantastic for swimming.
Tri-ceps (free weights)
Abs (decline bench with 20pds 35 reps)
Pull downs (machine)
tricep (machine)
Abs on pilates ball
Push Ups (leaving the ground at the top of push)
Back raises w. 20pd. weight
Seated rows (machine)
Chin ups until failure
Tuesday: Lower Body
Squats
Calf Raises
Leaps over bench
Abs (decline bench)
Leg Press (machine)
Calf press (machine)
4 squares (leaping on toes folling 4 tiles on the floor, this hurts!)
On bike, 6 reps of tension at max that I can turn over for 30 right pedal strokes.
Wednesday: Brick
On spinner
HIT session 10 times max effort for 30sec on 2:30 rest
20 min. run off bike at high tempo building to sprint.
Thursday: Mix of stuff
Chin-ups until failure
Abs Decline bench
Run 20min 5 hard efforts
Squash until tired.
This has been fun. Since I am getting paid to be there!
My general fitness has increased substantially. It will be interesting to see if this transfers to triathlon. I can already feel some improvement in my swimming. I can pull a lot stronger.
That being said, I am exhausted a lot of the time. Trying to maintain my normal training and doing this as well is tough. The body is getting used to it, but it is taking some time.
Next week will be an off week from this training because we will be in FLA. I will be training super hard, but only on normal tri related stuff. Lots of biking running swimming.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Port Perry Multisport Club
We are starting up a Multisport Club in Port Perry, Ontario. We currently have 3 NCCP certified coaches who will be leading training sessions for the group this year.
We will be starting to join members hopefully early in the new year.
I will post the membership fee when we determine one.Included in the fee will be:
-one on one coaching from NCCP certified coaches.
-a PPM multisport tech shirt
-your OAT membership for the year.
-access to a one day training camp in port in the summer.
-TT sessions once a week.
-One coached swim session at Uxpool per week (pool fee not included)
-One coached run and bike session per week.
-A year end celebration!
-Ability to participate in the 2009 club championships
-Access to coaches through the different web interfaces.
Facebook, www.canadiantriathletes.com forum, http://www.portperrymultisport.blogspot.com/
If you have and Q's you can e-mail me (Syd) at canadiantriathletes@hotmail.com
Train hard!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
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