Are those gills?

After missing a few sessions in the pool for various reasons I was apprehensive about trying to get in my long continuous swim yesterday. The plan was to do 2km continuous. Well I am happy to say it went really well.
After I loosened up, the first 1km went really well and I was coming in consistently 5-10s under 2min/100m. I slowed down over the final 1km and finished up coming in on about 2min/100m. I still have a few more 2km swims planned before I start to increase the distance after Christmas so I should be super comfortable at that distance before raising the bar again.
It feels really good to have my swimming under control so early. This is a part of the last Ironman I totally underestimated. I can't wait to exit the water this time feeling ready to rock the rest of the race.

six and a half hours in the rain

I hope my return trip from Windsor yesterday wasn't a sign of things to come. We went down to what some refer to as the "Armpit" of Ontario to visit some close friends. It rained the whole way home which made a long drive even longer. It was worth the trip though. It is always great to spend time with good friends.

Not much to report on the training front. Last week was pretty light with being away. Still got in my long run. Things have stalled a little so over the next couple weeks I am going to just focus on getting in a complete week of training. I want to go into the holidays on a positive note. Then the real fun begins and I will embark on a no excuses phase until race day.

If you saw Talledaga Nights and follow Cyclocross then you should get a kick out of this photo I came across on Pez. Made me laugh.

Click here if you can't read the text.

On a lighter note!

I just came across some very interesting facts today while waisting time on the internet.

Where and when did the beer mile originate and who was the first to complete one?

The truth is no one knows for sure. It's "invention" was not dissimilar to the invention of calculus, where it was rumored that Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz and Sir Isaac Newton developed the notion independent of each other in the late 17th century. Like calculus, the concept was not necessarily an invention, but more of a discovery. It was inevitable that beer miling would surface, and because of that, multiple parties can claim they were the first to dance with the demon known as the "chunder" mile.

The roots of the beer mile family tree can accurately be traced back to parts of Florida and New England college campuses in the U.S., Hash House Harrier events in Indonesia, and to many places (most notably Ontario) in Canada. The earliest documented races (whose records still exist today) occurred in the late 1980's and early 1990's. Legendary stories spread of a mysteriously brutal event, though many details were lost in the telling of the stories. Rules were approximated and a race of more than 5 people at once was a rarity. With the emergence of the internet and instant digital communication, information was shared and rules became more consistent in the early 1990's.

The first known set of rules to be posted in a public place was by a group in Kingston, Ontario where beer-miling had taken place regulary for a few years. Since many beer milers elsewhere were competitive, they took it upon themselves to indoctrinate the Kingston rules into their own festivities. And so, the set known as the "Kingston Rules" was born.

For more info on this wonderful tradition check out.

www.beermile.com

I think I have found my next race after Ironman.

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35 Weeks to go!

I thought we should start with a little reality check this week.

Like I said in my last post I am happy in general with how things are going. I have however let a few crucial components slip over the past few months.

1. Nutrition
2. Stretching
3. Sleep

Without getting these things right my progress is guaranteed to be slowed. So the focus for this week will be to improve in those three areas as well as get my riding a bit more consistent.

The New Year is approaching and I have set some interim goals to reach to start the New Year.

The basic week I am trying to start the New Year with is as follows.

Sun - 90 min Long Run, 60 min Swim
Mon - 150 min Long Ride, 30 min Core
Tues - 60 min Swim, 60 min Weights
Wed - 60 min Ride, 30 min Run
Thurs - 2km Continuous Swim, 30 min Core
Fri - 45 min Easy Run, 60 min Weights
Sat - 90 min Ride

Right now I am on track with the exception of my riding. This is a little strange for me but right now of the three sports the swimming and running are my limiters. I think if in the next two weeks I can get my long ride back up to where I planned I will be right on track.

You win some you lose some

I am staying ahead of the game with my swim mileage which is fantastic. I am to the point where I feel like I can spend a little time on technique now. I have already gotten my long continuous swim up to 1900m. The original plan was to be a 2000m by the New Year which would require me to add 100m a week and be able to get in 4 x 4k before my taper. Now I am going to be able to sit and absorb the 2km distance for a few weeks before adding to it and use one of the other days to focus on technique.

My biking has been lacking lately. Partly because I still haven't been feeling 100%. It is always hard this time of year to get motivated to ride inside. I am still trying to do at least part of my workout.

Running has been neither good or bad. I am getting in the workouts but my legs don't feel great. I am still getting less and less calf soreness with each run. I will be doing 70min Sunday so I am still moving forward. Haven't seen an improvement in pace times lately. Seem to be stuck between 5:30s and 5:45s. Thats fine for now. I still have lots of time and am sure once my calves have fully adjusted I should see a big improvement.

Time to find some external motivation. Doesn't matter what it is just have to keep the train moving toward the station.

Off to a good start this week.

SQW racked up another victory this weekend winning the ITU World Cup in Cancun. Way to go buddy!!! Looking forward to seeing you later this month.

Quick update of my training. I struggled over a few more hurdles last week and ended up logging a couple more zeros. Yesterday I decided enough is enough and forced myself back at it. I think it was a good decision as I put in two excellent workouts. I did a 60min run on the trails at Lemoine's Point and then had a solid swim later in the day. The swim really showed me that I am making some great progress in the pool. I managed to get in 2500m in an hour which equals the most I have ever done in 60min. To make it even better I felt more or less in control the whole time, something I have struggled with when sets include pieces longer than 200 or 300m. I am starting to almost look forward to next years swim. Since my endurance in the water is progressing so fast I think I might even be able to dedicate some time to technique.

This week is off to a good start so lets hope I can keep it rolling. Long ride and core are scheduled for today. Hopefully the ride can be done outside.

Hurdles

Work, sickness, relationships, family. These things all throw hurdles our way while we strive to achieve our goals. Most recently I have been hurdling work and the beginnings of a cold.

I am always amazed at how fast these things can make you question everything you are doing. As my last post suggests things were rolling along smoothly on Monday morning and I was feeling great about how my training was progressing. Then the first hurdle popped up. I have been fighting back a cold for a couple weeks but it just wouldn't seem to go away but wasn't affecting my training either.

Monday was a different story. My energy level just kind of bottomed out. Then the second hurdle, work. As usual I had been putting off getting store paperwork caught up and it ended up catching up with me. Government submissions are not one you want to be late on. Monday turned into a paperwork day with "NO" training. Goodbye long ride and core.

Tuesday still not finished paperwork and energy level still rock bottom. Hmmm! This sucks! The questions begin to role through my mind. How am I going to make up for this? I am now so far behind? Amazing how quickly it happens. Only two days lost and I am already starting to worry. To make this more laughable it was at the beginning of a recovery period. Log a couple zeros and move on I say.

Wednesday I manage to get in an easy spin on the trainer and start to feel a little better. Then this morning I put in a great swim despite waking up tired and not feeling very energetic. I did a 1500m continuos long swim at sub 2min/100m pace. This puts me a fair bit ahead of schedule in the pool. This is where I really start to laugh at myself. Tuesday I am all worried over nothing and Thursday I find myself ahead of schedule and cleanly over the first couple of hurdles thrown my way.

Stick to the plan, don't second guess and don't try and make up for lost workouts.