::Post Ironman 2011::

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Nathan

My second Ironman finish is in the books, and this one was the toughest race yet. I think every race you learn something new about yourself, and this one was no different. From dealing with the heat, chain drops, and dead legs, this year race was an all out war. My goal time of sub 10 hours quickly changed after the bike ride to, hopefully I finish this race faster then 2010.

Last year the swim felt awesome, little effort, no fighting and smooth water. This year, the total opposite. It was the longest fighting swim yet, the full 3.8km was full of smacks, kicks, and feet grabbin. Almost 3 minutes slower then previous coming out of the water.

:: This is what happens::

Next was on to the bike. After the usual not sure what I am doing transition I got onto my bike. A nice 40km wind push and another 40km of solid riding to Osoyoos. Now it was on to the start of the race…the Ritcher Pass climb. My Legs felt great on the flats but the hills started to take their toll. Each hill with the addition of heat clearly started to suck up my energy. After a few chain drops, one on the top of Yellow Lake and another on the way down I was ready to get off my bike. Of course the last 8kms through town feels like 30kms and the added strong head wind made it really enjoyable.

::probably the only time my dad will run faster then me::

I came in a little slower then I was wanting but was fine with the time. I knew when I got off the bike I would need to do some serious damaged on the run course to even come close to that 10 hour mark. Jumped off my bike around 5:36 and started running. About 5km into the race I was wondering how my legs where going to get me through 42kms. They did but not very fast…and they didn’t work on the hills. Same as on the bike, coming into town felt a lot longer then it should and finished up a few minutes under 4 hours. Which is also slower then last year.

Total time was 10:35, with a stomach that was fine through out the race until I got over the finish line. I counted three times when people beside me just all out puked and keep running. It was one of the craziest experiences I have ever been a part of, and looking forward to 2012. Its looking like next years goal will be sub 10 hours and see if that gets me where I want to be.

I was using powerbar products through out the race and they seemed to work pretty good. No real issue and think I’ll stick with their items

Things I took from this race…

Be right in front for the swim start and maybe a bit to the left for smooth water.

Eat a bit more protein on the bike. I was using powerbar products through out the race and they seemed to work pretty good. No real issue and think I’ll stick with their items for the next races as well.

Push hill training a bit more on the bike as well on the run.

Figure out a balanced sodium plan and electro plan.

I also think I need to change up my gearing on my bike to make it a little more hill ready.

Start my taper a week earier

Speed up transitions

Try and have a bit more energy for the run

::Almost done, I remember this point last year and I can't figure out why I am never happy to see the end::

::Training with Brooks running shoes::

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Nathan

Been grinding it out for the last 3 weeks on getting myself ready for August 28th. The long journey to Ironman Canada started way back around February after I finished up my Marathon in New Orleans. Its amazing how much the body can progress after a year. I used the winter to get my marathon time battered down but also slaved a lot of my winter riding in the basement watching tv. So on the theme of progression, I have also been trying out different types of shoes. Wanting to get a bit more out of my run, and just out of pure boredom of regular running. I thought I would doing a bit of looking around for my feet. Constantly looking for new routes and new areas to run, I thought I would let my feet in on some new things as well.

::Brooks Adrenaline number 9:: I have two pairs of this same shoe...I hate buying the same thing twice...

I’ve been running in a brooks shoe for about three years, and haven’t even considered switching shoes. I’ve primarily been trucking in adrenaline shoe since I believe #7. I bought my second pair of #10′s at Christmas of this year and I think they are on #11 now. This shoe has been my race and training shoe…but not for long!

::Adrenaline number 10:: not worn yet, but do have another dirty pair...once again...

I get a little tired of dealing with traffic, traffic lights, junkies, shit drivers, old people in their scooters, and lazy people in their scooters taking up the walkways soo….I’ve been mixing some trail running. I was using an old pair of Adrenaline number 7′s on the trail but after a few longer runs, I wanted to see how much of a difference a trail shoe would make. Obviously I stuck with the brooks, and heard nothing bad about the Cascadia shoe. Naturally I went out, bought it, and took it out for a 1 hour run along the river. It was like night and day, gripping and more command on the trail was amazing. I did find this shoe a little heavy but something I could deal with. It probably didn’t help that I was running in the Green Silence the day before.

::my Cascadia trail blazer:: Trying to be my favorite...probably will be in winter.

With all this hype of barefoot running and minimal shoe design I decided to give the Green Silence a go. The first run in this shoe was done at the track and man I felt like I was flying. Super light, like I didn’t have a shoe on my foot. With that said, my arch could tell as well. I’ve been having some arch swelling for a few months now and the first run in this shoe made me feel it a little more in the morning.

I have since ran in this shoe 20 plus kms and enjoyed the light design. I am sitting on the face about using this shoe for more then a half marathon race, but thinking about using it for my marathon at IMC. I’ll probably with decide a few days before and see how the arch feels. I have been running in this shoe almost 2-3 times a week, trying to get my feet use to the minimal design. Any questions…ok good.

::These are my favorite, they come stock in Green and Black but you can order a few different colours. Such as this red and royal blue.::

Weekend Training camp :: Kelowna/ Penny

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Nathan

Ventured up to Kelowna for what would be my last race before Ironman Canada. July 16th was the Across the Lake Swim, a 2km race that goes across Okanagan Lake. This year it was sold out, and thanks to the race organizer I was able to race due to “I thought I was signed up” issue. Caps at 500 people with a 8am start from the Indian Reserve on the West side of the lake. I had a small melt down in the morning because I found out in the morning I wasn’t in the race and had to get my butt down to City Park. Got down to a full parking lot and missed my ride on the houseboat that take other side for the start. Lucky we had time to get over to the other side with time a lot of time to spare.

Bag was full of "non race garbage" stuff.

5 wave start with 2 minute gaps between each one, the slot that I got had a 3rd wave start. 5 minutes into the swim I started to reel in the second wave and by about 15-20 minutes, started to get some blue caps that started in the first wave. The race is a straight swim which makes it pretty easy to spot were to go. Was happy with my 25:14 finish, was hoping to get under 25 but still my fastest 2km swim yet. I was first in the 55-65 age group which is also awesome, I think I was second in my actual age group with a 16th overall time, a lot of fast swimmers at this event!

Enjoyed the event, and there is also a pretty huge package with a towel, cap, water bottle and enough food product to get you through the weekend with out having to buy food.

From the Swim start. The old guy on the deck didn't lke me taking pictures. I hope he was in the 55-65 age group.

After a little nap I was hitting the streets for a 160km ride. I decided to stick in Kelowna for weekend, since booking a single night in Penticton is a giant pain in the ass. Bought a map at the Walmart and figured out a large loop from the Westside of OK lake to Vernon, and then followed the Kelowna Grand Fondo route back. (which was earlier that morning.) Didn’t really enjoy much of this ride since the first 60km was on no shoulder road with step climbs and twists. After that was done, some black cloud decided to follow me and shoot some lighting bolts down, followed by buckets of rain. This happened twice on the 5 and a half hour rip, lucky it was warm out.

The main focus of this ride was to try and keep relaxed, and figure out some different fueling strategies. I’ve been using mostly powerbar products mostly because the local grocery stores around here only carry them. Been pretty happy with my energy levels on my big days and think I’ll be using their products on race day. I am also trying out their Engergy Bites which will replace the clif bars that I have been using in the past. I find the energy bites a bit easier on the taste buds and don’t dry up my mouth as much as the clif bar.

View from the back of the creeper at the camp site in Kelowna.We stayed at the former Waterslide Campground, no waterslides anymore so they changed their name...can't remember what it is though.

After my big Saturday, made it over to Penticton for a 25km run on a large section of course. (the tough parts) and then hoped on my bike and rode the same 25km to give the legs one last pounding before the drive home. Feeling good in the weeks ahead with a 360km workout week under my belt, with an eye on 400km this week.

Photo Thursday :: On Thursday

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Nathan

I’m getting into some big weeks leading into peaking out for a few more weeks. I know I have said this before, but new routes and a change in scenery makes things a lot more enjoyable. Saturday started out with a trip down to second beach pool for a quick 2k in their salt water pool. Amazing morning with a few jerk regulars that I had to smoke out. Then went out for a 25km run through False Creek, Olympic village, Granville, kits beach, and Jericho. Then did 3 loops of Stanley park on the bike, and finished on a super busy seawall for a last 10km run to end off the day.

It was a total zoo on the beach Saturday. After 11am people just poured in. I wanted to take more photos but just wanted to get the hell out of there after all the training.

Sunday I headed out a bit later in the day for a trek to Hayward lake for some hills and then headed east to finish my ride at Harrison. Great ride with some good tail wind. Great route that had a mixture of everything, including a ton of motor bikes heading to the show and concert at the Sasquatch Inn.

Some great light on the way home from Harrison

This old lady gave me a good giggle. wasn't fast enough to get the front of her but it was pretty funny seeing her ripping around in that thing.

Heading into Kelowna Friday night for their open water swim Saturday Morning. Looking forward to it! Last race before Ironman.

Duel Race weekend :: Vancouver Half Ironman

Posted on July 6, 2011 by Nathan

I wish I had a bit more time before I had to jump in the ocean.

Pretty busy weekend with Friday morning starting off early with an open water race at one of the main staples for open water swimming in the lower mainland, Sasamat Lake. There has been a long tradition of having this Canada Day swim put on by the Vancouver Open Water Swim Association and this year I finally made it down. It was it’s 20th Anniversary, with 3 distances you can suit up for: 1km, 2km, and the iron distance of 4km. I decided to go after the 2km, racing Sunday made me choose a lesser distance.

The men started first with the ladies coming in after. I think over 300 swimmers come out to jam the parking lot of this roughly 1km square lake. 2km distance was a single loop with the 4km going for a double dip. I ended up coming in 4rd in the men, and 6th overall, with a time of just over 27 minutes. This set me up for a nice little Sunday in Vancouver.

Headed down to Vancouver Saturday afternoon to pick up my race package and drop my bike off for the Subaru Vancouver International Triathlon. I had to be careful on my expectations since I packed a pretty large weekend up in the interior the week before. The main goal was to finish with a strong run and feel good at the finish.

Its a bit of a pain with a 6:30 start in the morning coming from Abbottsford/Langley area but its a lot faster at 5 am on a sunday then on a Monday. Got to the transition just after 5:40 and suited up for the swim after a bathroom search. Took a few quick pictures, jumped into the ocean to take the shock out of the heart stopping start plunge. It was an amazing morning with a light wind and the sun starting to burst through to set everyone off.

On the way back up for another climb

I felt relaxed through out the whole race, so relaxed that I was a little worried. Swim felt good, having just raced in my wetsuit a few days before made it feel a lot easier. Body was use to the motion and restriction of a suit which also took away from the lactic acid build up. Popped out of the swim apparently 5th which it seemed like a was behind a huge group, got to the transition and of course got past by a large group because I fought with getting my wet suit off.

Jumped on to the bike for a 4 loop course that I am not a fan of. 4 climbs made it clear that my 6 hour training ride used up a lot of my legs as well as an area I have been avoiding on training rides. They felt fine but didn’t have the push that they had in Oliver. I still felt relaxed, and it probably worried me the most at this point. I continually got pasted by groups as normal and was really starting to get frustrated with my bike. Just on the last lap I finally had enough as a group of 5 past and thought I better just worry about finishing this off and go after the run. I ended up getting a bit of jump at the end to finish the bike off and was pretty hopeful that my run will be better. I passed a few people that got me up around UBC on the way back to transition and had a really quick transition to the run. After a quick pee I was feeling good. Ready to run, and so happy my bike wasn’t under me and still feeling relaxed.

Up that this point my fueling seemed to be perfect. I took out a lot of the “sports” drink this go around and just used water. I had 5 gels on the ride with one that was caffeinated, and went through one and half bottles of water and half of powerade. I grabbed my powerade off my bike and finished it off on my way out on the run. Then I threw two GU gels blocks in my jersey full of bike shit I forgot to take out that were also caffeinated for fueling on my run. My run felt great, wasn’t tried, wasn’t felting sugar loaded and my legs had bounce. I didn’t take much water or powerade on the run, but did use a lot of water on my head as the sun started to warm up. I kept my pace through out the whole run and felt really good, past a few that got by me on my 4th loop of the bike. About 13kms my hip started to let me know that it was still sore from falling on it to week prior. I kept relaxed and didn’t need to stop, a few tweaks here and there that would give me a bit of a scare, but all in all, fought it off. I had one GU gel on the whole run, half at 30 minutes and the other half at one hour, five.

Was a strong race with alright ride. My swim was the same as last year, bike was 6 minutes faster, and run was 2 minutes faster. turned in a 4:41 which still has a large room for improvement still. Now I be working on the next 8 weeks for getting all three in sink. One more open water race up in Kelowna and then Ironman Canada time.

6:30 am!

Beer at the Jercho sailing center after the race. Tough to beat that padio.

Oliver :: Mini Training Camp

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Nathan

I have always enjoyed the city of Penticton but I’m getting increasingly frustrated with trying to book weekends and events there. Once again I try to come into town and get a good solid weekend in and get let down by not one but all the campsites in the city. I was leaving right after work on Friday and was going to arrive just a touch after 10. I called ahead to see if there were any sites that didn’t have an issue with this, after calling three sites, I got told no. Two close at 10 and another at 8. I got so upset with this that I just blew off Penticton completely and headed to one of my favorite spots in Oliver, where I stayed for my half ironman. Once again Lakeside Resort pulls through for me with no issues at all, and in the end works out to be a great place for a training camp. Maybe that’s why there is a half iron race there…

Oliver is a mere 20 minutes outside of Ok Falls or Osoyoos, depending on which way you go. Both cities have the Ironman Canada bike course going right through and OK falls is were the run turn around is. So I loaded up the creeper and headed to Oliver.

Got in just before ten, had a shower and got ready for my 165km bike starting from Oliver. (shortened the ride, took the rip through Penticton out…) Got up around 8 and finished up my ride around 2, threw on my runners and did one loop of the half iron course to finish my Saturday. Sunday was a quick dip in Tuc-el-Nuit Lake were the swim of the Oliver race took place, with a quick drive to OK Falls for a long run. A reverse route of the Ironman run route. I started at the turn around and then came back once I hit Penticton for a out back of 25kms. Once the run was done, I jumped in the lake to get the salt off and cool the legs down for a 4 hour drive home. All around solid weekend with about 10 hours of training in two days.

After moving my whole training to Oliver, I actually feel that Oliver is probably the best option for a quick training weekend. Laid back, less restrictions on all the bullshit and its tough to beat the setting of the Lakeside resort. 35 bux a night, with nice bathrooms and showers, lake front fire pits, store close by, and a nice quite setting. Here is there facebook page for more info.

Getting ready for two races this weekend quick open water swim on Friday in Port Moody with another half ironman in Vancouver on Sunday…

some shots from the Saturday night after training.

just up from the campsite

...

Lake for the Oilver halfiron, campsite just to the right.

...

Run for Water :: 3

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Nathan

For the third year in a row I headed out my door for a race around my hood. More then 2,500 people took part in the run for water on Sunday with four different races happening. 5km, 10km, half- marathon (which I did) and the newly added full marathon with Boston Credentials.

I was impressed with the turnout as well as the 200,000 plus raised from the event. The course was super flat and a majority of the route went through a lot of my training spots. Km markers every km and gels and water laid out well made this run one of the best smaller events I have participated in. Lucky I looked at the route before the race, there was a few times when I didn’t have anyone to point which way to go. Basically running the whole run alone, with the first place guy way gone in front of me and third place was 1-2 minutes behind, they could have used a lot more volunteers. That was the only real down fall of the whole event.

I ended up coming 2nd overall winning a bit of money. Wasn’t my best time, but for running 3-4 days a week and having a long work week, I was please with the result. I’ll have to same my half marathon goals for the winter time. Its now full on tri time and focus on getting me a spot for Ironman Canada. Racing in Oliver this weekend, trying to qualify to race in August.

little plug for marathonphoto...I'm not paying 50 bucks for one photo, sorry.

Photo Thursday :: On Friday

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Nathan

Headed to one of my favorite spots for a mini training camp and some fun out on the beach. Took the Creeper out to the usual campsite at the Sandlake sand dudes just outside Tillamook and used this as the in and out for my training.

One of the three Capes on the scenic route off the 101.

Road thru Pacific City both on Saturday and Sunday. Just before the road joins back up with the 101 hwy.

We were able to drive onto the beach without any problems about 10 minutes from where we camped.

Just about to head home, all packed up.

Did my long run in Portland and was great run along the banks Columbia River. Could have gone forever, paved trail that goes from Jantzen Beach all along the Columbia and past the airport. Went out for about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Link to the Route.

Did my 100 mile ride on Sunday and couldn’t quite make it to Newport but was a great ride none the less. Apparently I missed a bike race by one day…didn’t know it til I got there. Reach the Beach, Portland to Pacific City. Something I’ll have to keep in mind for next year.

Link to the ride…

BMO half marathon :: wrap up

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Nathan

There are always a few things that goes through my mind Saturday night before I go to bed for a race, mainly why the hell am I getting up at 5am on a Sunday. With a 7 am start for the halfers downtown Vancouver, I would need to be on the road for 5:30. I got into Vancouver about 6:30 and had to scramble a bit to find parking since they had some new road closures. Found parking about a half a km from start, then got to the start with my fellow racer with a few minutes til start.

We didn’t have the “prick” attitude that we probably should have to get us to the front. We opened up the fence and got to 5 or so rows back from the 1:30 pace bunny. I thought that would have been fine but it kinda proved to be too far back.

I started the race off a little pissed off, I was pissed at those people that push to the front and start their race by walking or running at a 2 hour plus pace. Right off the bat I was dodging people, walkers and joggers. Took me til about 5 km to settle in and push away from the groups of people. After getting spoiled in New Orleans with mile markers every mile, even on the full, it also took me til about 5km to figure out actually how fast I was going. I was a little behind on what I was hoping for but figured I could still finish up with a solid race.

Going into the last 1km for both the full and half. These guys are all the full runners going in at about 4 hours.

Water, specials, and gels were littered all over the route which is awesome, but I would have obviously like to see more km or mile markers. I guess I better get a fancy watch with gps. I was able to pull away and ran most of the race chasing after the people that were ahead of me. At about 10km I ended up running with a few people that we switched going back and forward passing each other through out the race. I felt like I was playing catch up the whole race instead of really settling in on my pace and relaxing, but the finish line came fast enough and crossed just above 1:24 chip time. Looking on the week before the race I should be happy with the result but wanted to be faster. My next race will be the run for water in Abbotsford on the 29th, one week before the oliver half iron. I still haven’t decided on what distance, and thinking I am going to go after the half on the 29th, which could back fire on my on the 6th of June.

Overall I thought BMO was a pretty solid event and will always have it in my racing schedule. Lesson learned…get to the front so you have no excuses! New route next year, so I’ll be looking forward to that for 2012.

Girl on the right, really has to go pee.

40th BMO Vancouver Marathon Pre-race :: notes

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Nathan

In 2006 BMO Vancouver Marathon was my first solo running race since high school. I went head first into the full marathon. When I finished I thought I would never want to do it again, just like a bad hangover. This will be my 5th year in a row but 4th actually running it. This has been my favorite race to date, and continues to be a race that sets me up for a solid racing season. It’s been a PR race for me for as many times as I have raced it.

I'm 501, shaved for this years race. My Best Buddy to my left is in the sun visor with the moose knuckle. Super stoked to be racing.

Last years goal was to go after Boston in the full distance, this year I’m going after a New York half time of a 1:23 or less. I hope the half course is as good much as the full course…

I'm the middle...this was when I was starting to really feel it. Thought I would sport the Stash that year.

Winner of the full gets 2,000 —winner of the half gets 1,000. I’m thinking that’s not a huge purse. (photos ripped from the BMO site…actual race photos from years back)

Crazy Races and a bit more…

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Nathan

This week has been a regular week with training and work, but have received some interesting emails for up coming races. I love the creativity that event organizers are using to get more people interested. It seems to become an increasingly competitive business to get people to take part in their event with the sport becoming more mainstream.

The first email was from the Rock and Roll series for their Vegas, December of 2011. I have done this race in 2009, the first year they took to the strip. Was a really interesting race, with a pretty early start but they did have the whole strip closed off for the race. I found it to be expensive then, and 2011 will be no different with early sign up being 120 bucks- ouch! The big twist to the whole thing is that in 2011 it will be at night, cool, maybe better…I think yes. I do a majority of my mid week running in the dark and think it would be something I would love to try. I guess I better work a few more hours this week to pay for the race though.

The Warrior Dash was the second email I received from being signed up with map my run. This race looks more like a round up your buddies and see who can get the most wrecked in both senses of the word. Looks pretty dam awesome though. Its in Whistler on August 6th, for 50 bucks you can race the 3.07 ” hellish ” miles. They claim it will be the craziest frickin day of your life.

Of course a pretty fun one would be the Disney World marathon. I know a few people have done this one, and they have done it more then once. They make this one a full weekend of racing, and if your feeling pretty good, do a few races while your down there. These ones are a few bucks too, with early sign ups at about 125 us. Make sure you get a picture of yourself giving Mickey a smash to the face. The Disneyland/ Disney World parks have multiple events and races going on throughout the year, Here is a link to their calender.

Mardi Gras Marathon wrap-up

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Nathan

Left from Seattle early Thursday morning for New Orleans to get away from the grey skies of BC winter, but mostly for a running race that had been marked on the calender for close to a year. The weather was great and the rest of the trip did not disappoint either, from bourbon street, the quarter, the hotel and most importantly the race.

Great morning for a long run...

I used a 16 week program mashed together with an ironman program that I used last year for the race back in August. At about week 12 of the running program, I figured it was extremely aggressive and extremely unrealistic. This was a pretty good example of finding something on the internet, and figuring out it probably is made by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing. Track workouts seemed good but build up times and half marathon goal times were a little insane. ( 2-3 minutes faster then what I thought was inline with a sub 3 hour training program.)

Started out with a long sleeve running shirt, then layered down. It was getting hot out. Think it might have gotten to 18ish.

After finishing up a half marathon three weeks before with a time 1:24.5, I figured I had more then enough speed to get under that 3 hour mark. (program was look for a 1:22 or better.) The only thing I was really worried about was if the travel would mess me up. A 2 hour time difference didn’t seem to matter and after getting to the hotel, I felt pretty good other then tired of travel. Saturday morning I got up first thing and headed down to the gym for a quick 20 minute run to loosen up the legs, and then a group of us headed down to pick up our running chips for Sunday morning. After walking the mile long convention center, we got our gear and wondered out of the crazy huge Brooks display. All things set and everything was ready to go.

7 am start with the sun beaming out, and thousands of people walking to the start. I think they cap out at 17,000 and about 14,000 raced with 3,200ish doing the full distance. Got there just in time for the start and away we went. First mile was congested but then I was settling in and after 5 miles we separated from the halfers. I thought the course was great, minus the pot holes. You really had to look down a some parts, almost felt like a trail run. As the race went on, I felt pretty good and was getting my target splits. At about mile 20-23, things still felt good, but could tell I forgot about how hard the old mental game comes into play on the last 5-10 kms. Fought through and came in felling pretty relaxed and got the goal time of 2:58. I can tell I still have room for improvement but was happy with the result.

did a 41 minute 10km, and my half split was 1:27, so I think I held on pretty good. Just need to keep getting the speed going.

I’ll add City pictures later on in the week. Great weekend, and thanks Darryl for letting me use your watch, saw mine sitting at the front door when I got home. ba.

New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Nathan

Some pre-race writing for the Feb 13th, a race that I have been eying up a very long time. I’m going after a sub 3 marathon in a place or section of the US I have never been before. After running my first Rock and Roll marathon last year in Las Vegas, I wanted go out to New Orleans and tackle a new one. I’m using this race to get my running up to were I think it should be and use the rest of the spring to really focus on my cycling.

I’ll be staying at the Wyndham La Belle Maison Downtown New Orleans which isn’t too far from the starting line. I am super excited to check out the scenery along the way as well as racing my first marathon for 2011. I haven’t raced the full distance since completing the ironman back in August 2010. I’m hoping to reach my second goal for the season and can push towards my next big race in June at the Oliver half Iron with the goal of grabbing a spot for IMC 2011. I’ll need to be top two in my age group to get me there.

An exciting side note to the race race is Scott Jurek will be running the race for Brooks. He is one of the craziest running people on the planet. He has competed in some of the longest most insane running races in the world, and its cool to be at this event at the same time. He is going to be a pace bunny to those who have the most facebook “likes”. Its looking like he will be running for the 3:30 group, not enough 3:00 people I guess.

Leave Friday with Southwest Airlines from Seattle with one stop in Denver then New Orleans. I’m hoping the travel and time change doesn’t throw me out. Looking forward to a bit of a change, and getting some good photo shootin.

Motivation

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Nathan

Having a full-time job and trying to train for a race is a very though , especially if your looking to complete an Marathon or an Ironman. For myself being in the construction industry, I find it very difficult to stick to a set training schedule. Weird hours, long hours, or no hours. Finding motivation sometimes just as challenging as the run, bike or swim that you need to do.

I’m always on the look out for fresh ideas, and new training spots to keep it interesting. Quick little weekend trips help in the spring and summer to get yourself out of the daily grind and into the elements. Going to new places and trying new things is one of the key factors to keeping me motivated. Sometimes you don’t have the time and have to stick the the usual, and when that happens I often revert to the internet for some help. I generally use twitter for some quick links to different blogs but also have my regular reads. Below I’ll share with you some of my favorite places to go. I haven’t invested in coaching or training groups to keep me on task, but I find part of the fun is trying to figure things out on your own through reading, searching, and watching.

Link for different videos, interviews, and training logs for the Ironman Championships.

Very cool story of a professional tri guy (Jordan Rapp) getting his life back to where it once was.

Last years winner of Kona

Dirk Bockel’s blog that has some great videos and links of what he personally does to keep moving forward.

Video of two of the greatest swimmers. Some very good underwater footage. Two totally different swimming styles going head to head.

This youtube video was pretty much the start of getting me hooked on the sport.

Great Blog with a lot of info to help with many different aspect of Tri.

Running Route Photos in BC

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Nathan

All this crazy weather has thrown a wrench into the training for this week. A lot of speed trainer sessions and speed training on a treadmill, along with a more creative approach to tackle each day.

So I figured since I can’t really enjoy the elements of the outdoors on a bike or ripping a few miles with the shoes on, I thought would use this as a chance to get some photos from of some of my favorite running spots.

One of my favorite shots in awhile. Down along the Fraser River.

Just Caught the birds Flying over

These photos are down at the mission bridge trail head. I’ve used this route for a 28 km route. 7km each direction so you can pick if you want to head east or west. Very scenic and the trail is like road running with wide paths, also a quiet trail, and great route if you have a dog. Map here .

Hayward Lake, this is a trail I haven't done enough. 16km but you fight it like its 20. Up and down.

Here is a pretty good map of the trail that a fishing site had. Map Here.

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Category Archives: Running

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