Race number 1 of the redrafted 2012 season started off with a run at Lake Samish in Bellingham Washington. Racing helps to keep me focus on my goals as well as motivated, so Im going to head out to Las Vegas on March 17th to tackle the second race of the season. The Six Tunnels half marathon. A big reason why I choose Vegas is because it will give me a small taste of St George and the chance to experience the desert climate in preparation for May.
::Image taken from Mountain Man events flickr site::
I am really looking forward to seeing the Hoover Dam, the new bridge over the Colorado River and just the Vegas country side. It looks to be a small time run, with a lot to offer. It starts 18 miles from Las Vegas in Boulder City which is about 4 miles north of the Hoover Dam. They have a 5k and also a 2 person relay for people who want to take things a bit easier. All entry fees are below 100 US, with a shirt, mug and medal once your all done. Its a Saturday race and should be a good one to watch since its St. Pattys Day. If your looking for an alternative from the complete madness of the Rock and Roll race which sounded like a bit of a mess, this might be a great race for your next PR.
::screen grab ::
Looking forward to some sun, warmth and maybe a bit of biking on the Ironman St. George route. I’ll be bunked up at the Wyndham Grand Desert, which I have enjoyed staying at before. Pumped to race in Las Vegas again and hope to get under 1:20 this year.
::Shot of the smaller lake...did a little 5km swim around this guy in 2010::
After gliding through October, November,and December with no real direction, I was using the Lake Samish 13.1 in Bellingham as a kick off to 2012 but also to see how things held up. With no serious running through these months and I was hoping that a little of 2011 to get me through. I was also hoping to surprise myself or at lease not disappoint myself. Overall I am sitting right where I thought I would be.
:: I think this is second loop, mile 9 or 10..not really having fun at this point::
As the race went on I felt alright and then after the first 6.5 mile loop I though I could push a little more. At mile 8, I quickly found myself hanging on with the group that was kinda the chase group. Then with about a mile left, after not running anything longer then 22 kms, it quickly showed. My energy was there but my legs weren’t. Of course I was hitting the wrong buttons on my watch throughout the race so I had no idea where I stood. As I came to the finish line, I was a little surprise that I didn’t fall off that much and was still a head of my last years time at this race by about 2 minutes. Can’t complain right?
::Started just before this bridge, and headed South::
As I said last year, this has to be one the the most basic and straight forward runs. It has two distances, the 6.5 and the 13.1 mile and is placed in my regular rotation for a few reasons… 10 dollar price tag is the main one!. Mile markers everywhere, and a great view for a starting line. This year got a bit better then last year with new timing system, and they had an extra van into their shuttle rotation so the race was only 10 minutes late instead of 20 Race site here and results here.
"Yesterdays run, I can't get enough of Fall sunny days!"
I’m always find this time of year the hardest to keep on the up and up but most importantly to keep on top of things. Post summer hang over, a huge racing season feels like it suddenly comes to a sudden halt and in this section of the world, (Vancouver/ Lower mainland, British Columbia) the fall comes in so fast.
The daylight hours get slashed making training before and after work outside very difficult, let alone the rain and wind. Planning for the off season is always a struggle for me. Being self-coached and self motivated has its challenges, but the off-season brings on weird level of training. One thing that I keep reminding myself is that this is the most important part of the year. Planning for the next season happens now. I working full time in the spring and summer, so that means training comes down to the hour, and so planning now is smartest thing I can do.
One of the big factors for being self coached is trying to figure out what to do. A big tool I use is the blogoshpere. A cool thing about this sport is that we are all pro-active people, which also means we all like to share what we do. There is a huge amount of material to read about how people train, how they race and prepare. A guy like Jeff Symonds which had a huge year in the half ironman distance is always a fun read as well as a solid source of what a local guy is doing. For Full iron-distance I like a guys like Dirk Bockel and Andy Potts both both are Olympians (different sports) and top athletes long distance tri. Both have pretty solid blogs which has cool insight on what a pro-ironman life is like.
This season I plan on going after one of my biggest goals yet. Kona, a race that is looked as one of the toughest on the planet. After getting the tri bug in 2010, I’ve been focused on this goal and the 2012 season will be when the two year action plan will be in second phase.
I’ve been Looking at the Endurance Planner software to kinda give me some fresh training after using a tri fuel program for the last year and half. If anyone has some more input on what they use or reviews of different programs I will love to hear about it.
Headed out last Tuesday afternoon to jump on a direct flight to New York for some site seeing, running, and New York Yankee baseball watching. Everything went awesome except my third day of running when I got caught in a rain storm and of course it was the day I was also planning on getting to Coney Island. Other then that some good pictures, a few laps around Central park, 2 long runs up the Hudson River, and a few good stories to tell.
First Day in we didn’t get in til late so just ate and went to bed… so first thing Wednesday morning after some coffee and bagel, I headed to Central Park. Our apartment was only 15 minutes walk to get there so it was perfect. I had an hour to get a run in before our 6 and half hour tour of the city. So I did a quick rip to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and went around once and headed back in just under an hour. It nice to go for a run when your not the only one on a lonely country road putting in the time.
The 6 and a half hour tour was pretty good, but since UN was in session the whole east-side of town was grid lock, so we ended up sitting in traffic for awhile. Got a few boat rides in, saw the 9/11 site and memorial, and all the popular buildings.
Day 3 started out with another run to Central Park, but this time I was going to go all the way around. After doing some shitty research of a back of a running magazine, I though it was going to be a 14 mile run. Well after going around once in 45 minutes, I did it again. Two loops and some pretty fun sites. Bike riders crashing, weirdos running, walkers walking into bikes, and horsees. It was a great first loop, but the humidity was crazy the whole week, so the second loop was in slow motion.
Day 4 was going to be a bit rough, after having no rain the first three days, it rolled right in. I was hoping to hit a few new spots that I missed from the last time I went but it was raining so hard it made it pointless. At around 11 am I had to get out and do something. So I went straight east down w48th street to the Hudson. The last time I went to New York we walked all along the Hudson from about Canal Street and headed into Wall st. So this time I would head in the opposite direction towards the George Washington Bridge.
The first 40 minutes was awesome, a bit of rain to cool me down from the muggy heat, but once I was within a mile of the bridge it started to drop pails of water. Once I got to the bridge I was a running in rivers. Took a few looks around, then turned around and headed back. I was the only one with 6 miles on the way back. Not a single soul out, not even the homeless Mexicans that were drinking on the way out. Of course my legs were starting to feel the 20 plus kms I did yesterday and made it for a not so enjoyable rip home.
After some relaxing and wondering around in the rain, the next day started of great. A walk along the Brooklyn Bridge, then another run along the Hudson but towards Wall Street. Then the day finished off with a trip Down to the Bronx, to watch the Yankees put the boots to the Red Sox.
::the sky at the end of the game was..well pretty amazing. This was shot in 35mm film.::
Great trip with some good solid running and more photos to follow…
The long awaited trip to New York with my Grandfather and Fam has finally come. What was suppose to be a trip to Boston to run the Boston Marathon in April, has turned into another trip to New York. Thanks to an 8 hour sell out of the Boston Marathon, I get to enjoy a trip and don’t have to run a marathon so……… i’m not complaining. (new rules for Boston just came out actually…)
:: Probably one of my favorite shots in Time Square. This is on Artprojectonline ::
I am really looking forward to my week away to see a few more spots then I did when I went a few years back. A friend and I had an amazing time and packed a ridiculous amount of things in just a long weekend. Yankees game in the old Yank stadium, Time Square, Empire State building, Grand Central Station, Wall Street, a Central Park Run, Pretty good hike along the river and Broadway, and of course a few pub stops.
:: This was back in 2008, for sale on artprojectonline ::
One thing we didn’t do was run around the whole Central Park, all 14 miles of it. You know you like to run, when one of your highlights is going to be running around a park. I found a map of park and all the different areas that you can enjoy, as well as a site that has city running tours. Ill just be doing my usual lace up and see how it goes, but we are staying a pretty reasonable distance to the park and will be doing a number of runs there to get me ready for my half marathon coming up in Victoria.
::Victoria last year, be my four time runnin::
Of Course another Yankee game verus Red Sox will be the real reason why I am excited to head back. Hopefully the Red Soxs hang in there for their Saturday game, so all the big boys will be out playing. Be jumping on a plane this afternoon and coming back Sunday night. I’ll be packing my camera as well as shooting some 35m film if I can find it!
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.::
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.
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
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
Here are some shots from last week…running as well as working…easing into my last few weeks of training before the Rock and Roll.
Not the best photo, took it with my phone on my 23 mile run on Saturday. Last big run before the big race on the 13th. (New Orleans) Kinda wish that one building was gone then you could get a great view of the new look BC place.
Been building up a foundation for a pretty large house, took some pics on Wednesday when there wasn’t any rain!
Finally got some sun on the site, took some arty construction photos.
8 foot walls, going to be a pretty big foot print.
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.
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.
