Juan De Fuca Sprint and Victoria Trip

This past weekend I traveled to Victoria. Of course picking the may-long weekend, I realized that the busses, skytrains and ferries would be absolutely chaos- and was I ever right! From leaving my place in Coquitlam carrying a backpack, dufflebag and my bike it took me 6.5hrs to arrive in Victoria. Coach Noa picked me up from the ferry terminal and drove me into Victoria. I think that was the easiest leg of my journey! I am lucky enough to have great connections with people on the island and was able to stay at my mum's partner's brother's house in the Fernwood/OakBay area. I had the whole (amazing) house to myself, as they were in Halifax for the weekend.

On saturday I rode my bike into town, which took only 10min, and headed straight for MEC. I am now the proud owner of a garmin 11o watch. I passed the rest of the day with getting my workouts done- a small brick and recovery swim at crystal pool- the first 50m pool that I have ever been to!

Sunday morning I hitched a ride with Kim C--. an althete also coached by Noa, to the JDF sprint out in Colwood. My heat was scheduled to start at 8am.

Starting off with a pool swim was interesting. With only 3 people to a lane, things weren't crowded, but it felt like the water temp. was HOT with all of those bodies. I nailed everyone of my flip turns- but completely lost count of what lap I was on after about 5 laps. Of course, I swam an extra 50m, making my swim 800m instead of 750m because I didn't see the kickboard signalling my last length- no matter- I am super stoked with my swim time of 12:18. T1 was decent, but I need to learn how to mount my bike with my shoes already attached. The bike was a 2x out and back course. Beautiful yet challenging. The course was hilly, but that's always a nice change from the long flat stuff. Back into T2- if I thought T1 was bad, this topped it by about a million! I couldn't get my flats on properly- my orthodics kept bunching up each time I slid my bare foot in.... I tried 4x and then decided to take out the orthodics and wear the shoes as is. So about 2min wasted dicking around with my shoes... not too happy but I've got to start somewhere. The run was also hilly, but on a cedar chip trail- so soft on the feet. The first km felt good and then things fell apart. I was really lagging for the next 1.5km until the turn around.... my legs just felt dead and my IT band had this nasty knot in it that was making my leg go numb. I picked it up when I realized that the course was an out and back, not 2 loops as said on the website- and finished strong. I am taking this race as another learning experience, afterall it was only my second triathlon and I have A LOT to learn! Racing two weeks apart and with out tapering is not something that I am used to yet, but I know overtime that things will get better.

Later sunday afternoon, Emma and I headed out for a long ride around Victoria. Wow is all I can say! Victoria has such beautiful countryside and roads for riding. Not to mention that I also feel so much safer riding over there than I do in Vancouver.

My cousin Rachel and her husband Stu took me out for breakfast monday a.m. and then drove me to the ferry. Luckily the trip home was only 5.5hrs, and less stressful than the trip over.

After spending a few days in Victoria I have finally made up my mind to transfer over to UVIC and do my BSc. in Kinesiology there. I have been toying with the idea since winter break, as I have just not been happy at SFU. The metropolitan feel of the city just doesn't suit my boots- I am too much of a small town girl for the likes of suburbia and vancouver. I have been missing out on good training sessions with an actual team, and if I want to take my career in triathlon any further, I need to be training with a team. I think that the decision to go to UVIC will be a good one- and is something that I am greatly looking forward to!

I've got about two weeks until my next race at Wasa Lake. In that time I am hoping to de-knot my IT band. I guess that's what I get when I neglect to stretch and massage the area. It's not full ITBS yet- and I am hoping to prevent it from getting that far!

Happy Training and enjoy the summer (or the rain-as that seems to be the current weather all across BC!)

Race Season!

Race season has started! This past weekend I competed in my second duathlon, the Penticton Bare Bones Duathlon (5/32/5). I felt a bit nervous going into the race with no taper/down time before the event, but according to coach Noa it is a good experience to head into a race without the comfort of a taper, and I'll have to agree! It was a good learning experience to race on tired legs and a good indicator to see how my body holds up in a race situation. The first 5km went quite well and I managed to stay in 3rd position, but I didn't quite run the time I wanted. Shooting for 20:xx may have been too ambitious for tired legs. Onto the bike and almost like that I was passed by some super speedy girls! The course was challenging with some good climbs and nasty descents that were made a bit sketchy thanks to major potholes and gravel... I'm a chicken when it comes to descents on the bike! The second run felt nice and strong, only the second lap was a struggle to deal with the headwind and rain. I gained back a few spots on the last 5km and managed to finish 6th overall, and first in my AG, but there was just me :) My dad and I drove back from Penticton after the race and arrived at my new place later that night.

All settled in to the Coquitlam basement suite and slowly finding my way around the area and working the bus schedule. I had my first loading the bike onto the bus experience this week- and I can only hope that it gets easier! The bus driver had to get off and help me! A big shout out to Different Bikes Burnaby for helping me with my bike needs etc. Its great to have their amazing support!

Heineken the cat

maybe powerade should sponsor me? (stashed

under my bed for now)

Race winnings: white vino, hat and socks!

Patience

The spring semester seems to have flown by, yet ironically, this last week of classes feels like it will never end. I have my countdown clock set on my dashboard- at this moment 12 days, 14hr, 04min and 00s until my exams are over! Twelve days, that's it! But twelve days packed with studying and cramming kin, chem, calculus and psych into my brain. Good thing I enjoy studying my kinesiology course. At this point I am ready to go back home and have a nice break from the school scene. I love learning, but after a certain point I get burned out and need some time off to recharge my brain and get it in gear for the next semester. I have registered for 3 summer courses, allowing me time to train, study and work part time.

In other news, spring is just around the corner. Just is the operative word. Once in a while we will get a beautiful day, weather worthy of sports bras and shorts for track practice, and the next day it will snow and stick. I can't get my hopes up for riding outside just yet, as two of my past rides have been crushed by lovely snow/hail storms. Who at SFU keeps praying to Ullr? Come on already, it is time for summer!!

Training has been going well. My foot injury is almost resolved, just a collapsed arch to heal up and I should be good to go! After six months of injury and physio I finally have full range of motion in my big toe, seems silly how something so small can effect my whole xc, indoor and outdoor track seasons, but hey, that's life. I am a bit frustrated not being able to attend the outdoor season and race 5/10kms on the track, but after talking with Brit we decided that it is best to redshirt my whole season. On the bright side, this is a bonus for my triathlon racing. And with that- I am super excited to say that I am now training under the super talented, and wonderful Noa Deutsch (and fellow GF foodie!). I have heard nothing but great praise for her not only as a coach, but as a person. A huge thanks to Noa and the PT team for letting me be a part of the team! My swimming is now actually starting to go somewhere, and my bike workouts continue to get better. Sometimes it feels like a struggle to swim (gasp) four times a week for me, but I am learning to enjoy it and I like the challenge of pushing myself to become a better swimmer.

On a non-sports/academic related note here are some things that I am loving at the moment:

1) Modest Mouse- great band, somewhat like the Talking Heads

2) Pineapple and kiwi (fresh and readily available at the DH, can't beat it!)

3) Tazo Chai tea

4) "The Divine Ryans" by Wayne Johnston

5) Sunshine (need more of this)

6) Adele's album 21

Lastly,

“Patience is waiting. Not passively waiting. That is laziness. But to keep going when the going is hard and slow - that is patience.”

UBC TriDu Race Report

Well this is the fourth time that I have logged onto my blog, opened a blank template to begin my post, and thought about what to write down. This time, I will actually complete something, and "publish" my post. I am nice and sick, and with that comes a foggy head and heaps of procrastination.

Now for my RR of the UBC tridu that was held this weekend at the UBC campus. First off- I'd like to give a huge thanks to all of the volunteers and people who ran/organized the event. There were tons of people there, and with multiple races happening I am amazed that everything ran so smoothly! To start leading up to the race, things didn't go so well. Late wednesday night my foot began to twinge and hurt and on thursday I found myself in physio. Turns out that too much spike use on old sprint spikes without proper support is not a good thing (duh) and my foot still isn't that strong from my previous injury- so I've got a nice little arch strain to deal with. Fast forward to saturday and I wake up sick. At this point I was upset, but still wanted to do the race, after all my dad was travelling down partly to come and watch/support me and I didn't want to let him down. I took the day easy (apart from finding a suite to live in! more on that later!) to tried to rest up. Woke up sunday a.m. feeling even worse, but decided on doing the race anyway. If worse came to worse- as in if I puked or could no longer run on my foot, I would pull out of the race.

The duathlon started at 11am with about 60 people participating. My first kilometre split was 3:33/km, which freaked me out! Went through the second km in 7:30... basically averaging a 4:00/km pace. I felt great, and thanks to adrenaline I wasn't focussing on my foot. Came through around 20:44, and with transitions etc... the time was altered a bit. Hopped on the bike and went to do the 2 loop course on Marine Dr. Great way for me to sight see some of the UBC campus, as I had never been there before. The bike was fast, but cold- with a nasty headwind coming back up Marine Dr. Couple nice climbs in there aswell. Back into T2, I had some technical difficulties in the form of frozen fingers! I couldn't get my hands to work to tie up my shoelaces (I went and bought the quick pull laces after the race). Started the run and by 1km I fell into a good rhythm and cruised to the finish with a second run around 21:07 according to the chip time. Overall it was a great day and I am proud that I finished! Results: 1 AG (the only one), 2nd overall female and 12th overall in the field. My dad and I spent the rest of the day exploring the ubc campus, and gawking at all of the amazing old houses!

Seeing as I am sicker than a dog this week and my foot is still sore, I am going to take some time to heal and hopefully I will be back and healthy by saturday- that's the plan anyways!

Time to crack down on calculus and ace my second midterm tomorrow, and after that, only one more midterm to go! Things are going by so quickly, with just over a month of school left it's hard to believe that my first year at SFU is almost over! I've found living arrangements with a team mate and another grad student on a house in coquitlam, very close to Mundy park (which is perfect for practice!). The landlady's husband is a contractor, so the place has just been redone, furnished with brand new appliances, and it is also furnished with actual furniture, so I wont have to buy a bed, etc. I will be moving in just before school starts, so around the second weekend of may- which will give me a nice break from city life and a chance to unwind back at home for a couple of weeks.

tomorrow is march

where has the time gone? Tomorrow will be march 1st! School seems to be zooming by quickly, and I feel like I am struggling to stay afloat right now (blogging doesn't help things). This coming week and next are my "hell weeks". The onslaught of quizzes and midterms begins tomorrow with a psych quiz, followed by a chem midterm wednesday night (yikes!) and a kin midterm thursday morning and a psych quiz thursday afternoon. Next monday my chem 126 lab midterm (yikes yikes!!), a math II midterm on wednesday, and the following tuesday a psych II midterm. I hope I haven't forgotten any! I've been spending my time in West Mall studying, but I still feel unprepared for chem/kin for this week!

I other news, training has been going great! Logged two hard weeks, and I am cruising into an easy week for my UBC Duathlon this weekend. Knocked 17s off my mile time from two weeks ago, and I am just about sub 6! The feet are finally injury free and I am feeling great!

Here are some pics from my outside ride on wednesday- it was beautiful and sunny but freeezing cold!

IWBMATTKYT

I will beat my ass today to kick yours tomorrow.

Man I love those sufferfest videos! Just the right amount of taunting and ego bashing mixed with a great hard workout- good enough to fog up the windows of my little room! Training seems to be going very well, and I am finally getting happy about where I am in regards to my current fitness level. My track workout on tuesday consisted of: 1xmile, 6x400m, 6x tempo 100m. Brutal. But, I improved upon my mile time by 20s- now that's what I call progress!

My 12k race this past weekend went smoothly. I went into it with the mindset of just running to see what I could do- no goals or expectations (well... I really wanted to break 1hr, but I wasn't going to kill myself to do it) and I came out with a very positive experience. Great, rolling, hilly challenging course- beautiful scenery and great volunteer action! And to top it off I ran a 3min 20s personal best! New 12k time of 56'56. The best part was that my 5k/10k splits were faster than what I have previously raced this past year! I went through 5km in under 23min and my 10k mark was right around 45-46min- if it wasn't for those damn hills my total time probably would have been even faster. Overall, I left the race feeling positive about my abilities and feeling happy that training is finally paying off!

With another race less than a month away I am beginning to gear up for my triathlon season. I have a feeling that this will be a good year. I've been biking on the trainer wednesdays and fridays doing the sufferfest workouts, and swimming wed and friday mornings as well. Today, I added another swim in the morning, as I am hoping to swim 3-4x a week. If I want to get good- I need to put time into the pool! I plan on adding another bike a week to make it 3, but just a spin- not a hard core workout. My running mileage is slowly increasing after having done two long runs of 1hr30min, and two of 1hr15min. Feeling confident about successfully completing a half marathon in may.

Just to put it down on "paper" here is what my weekly workout schedule is going to look like:

Mon- off

Tues- SFU track team workout (intervals, high intensity)

Wed- a.m swim, afternoon cycle

Thurs- SFU track team workout (hills)

Fri- a.m swim, afternoon cycle

Sat- a.m SFU track team workout (intervals), swim in afternoon

Sun- a.m long run (70-120min), evening cycle (easy)

Time to hit the books for one last quiz before reading break! Home in 4 days- yahoo!!

Vacation(ish) Time

I am going to Nanaimo next saturday! It's time for a vacation, and the chance to explore a new place! Heading out on saturday, taking the horseshoe bay ferry to Nanaimo and then seeing Cassidy!!! I've never been to Nanaimo before, and from what I've heard, it's a beautiful place- and a beautiful place to race! On sunday I am going to race/run the Cedar 12km, my first race of 2011. Hopefully this will be a good first race back, given it is a spur of the moment idea (I decided to race it today) I think that I can taper back my intensity this coming week to be prepared to run the race... goal: under 60min. I am really excited to get out of my "rut" and I think that this trip/race will be just the trick! Check out the website here: http://www.bastionrunning.ca/index.php?p=1_2_Cedar-12-k

In other news, home in two weeks! Cascade hwy here I come!

Cheers!