Where Have I Been? - 56 Days Left

As the training picks up, the time for blogging about it goes down. Last week's recovery week was a welcome break, but things have picked up again since this past Wednesday. This week and next week are the toughest of the whole training schedule and given that I've gotten through most of this week, I'm encouraged about the triathlon to come. Yesterday was a 500 m swim and a 30 minute run, just insert an hour plus bike ride in the middle and you've got yourself a triathlon. Today is a rest day which is great because bless his little heart, Brandon has given me his cold. With lots of echinacea, vitamin C, astragalus, colostrum and rest today I'm hoping to be fit to tackle the 500 m swim and 80 minute bike ride tomorrow. I'm getting hungry just thinking of all the calories I'm going to burn.

Recovery Week Here I Come! - 65 Days to go

The last two days have been pretty intense with an 80 minute bike ride at the end of the day yesterday and a 55 minute run this morning. I'm looking forward to the upcoming rest week that starts tomorrow with a day off training. There's been a low grade tightness in my left calf muscle that I'm hoping will go away with the rest day. I just took 500 mg of dimagnesium malate and 1 packet of Magnelevures to see if that helps loosen it up as well.

Triathlon Training Side Effects - 66 days remaining

1. I've lost about 5 pounds in the last month
2. I need to shop for new clothes, all my clothes from last summer are too big and baggy now
3. More energy - believe it or not, I have more energy than ever even with the demands of the workouts
4. I can eat whatever I want and as much as I want - not that I'm going crazy and eating unhealthy foods, but it's nice to be able to eat as often or as much as I would like and not worry about it
5. Nicer skin - all the exercise and sweating is flushing out toxins and bringing more blood flow to my skin, it's got a nice healthy glow

Running Inspires - 67 Days Left

One thing you have to get used to if you are competing in a triathlon is that that you are not allowed to use music during the race. I love to move to music and always found it put a little more bounce in my step when I was running. I've been trying to get used to running without it and I find the lack of distraction leads to inspiration. With no music to otherwise occupy my thoughts the creative juices start to flow and all kinds of ideas pop into my head while I pound out a half hour run.

Life Gets in the Way - 68 Days to Triathlon

I had a run in the afternoon sunshine planned for today that I was so looking forward to, but as it turns out there's been a bit of a family emergency, so no workout today for me. I'll have to try to make up the run tomorrow. Brandon and I did have a lot of fun at the Mooredale Mayfair this morning though. It's an annual spring fair held just east of Summerhill and Yonge with rides and games for the kiddies. Brandon loved the bouncy castles, the train ride, the elephant ride and the fun house.

Just Keep Going - 69 Days and Counting

I had to jockey the training schedule around this week to make it to the pool, so this morning was a 600 meter swim. One of the things I've found with any of the triathlon activities, is that once I get going, it's not that hard to just keep going. The toughest part is usually in the first 5-10 minutes when the body hasn't yet kicked into aerobic mode from anaerobic mode. Once that transition is made, it's just a matter of continuing to put one foot in front of the other, keeping your legs going round or swimming so many more lengths. It becomes quite automatic and in a way like meditation, freeing your mind to think deep thoughts or nothing at all.

Scheduling and Knees - 70 days to go

Today was supposed to be a swim day, but my schedule didn't mesh with the pool schedule, so I ended up switching workouts to a 30 minute bike ride and I'll swim tomorrow instead. One of my weaker areas, second only to my Achilles tendon mentionned earlier, is my knees. Too much running or cycling in the past has lead to Patello Femoral Syndrome (PFS). When it first happened 15 or so years ago I did the round of Sports Medicine doctors and physiotherapists. Physio gave me temporary relief, but it kept re-occuring and the doctors' advice was "well, you'll just have to give up running". I'm sure most avid runners have been given such advice at one time or another and for me, giving it up just wasn't an option. Fast forward to naturopathic college where I started training for triathlons and the trusty knee problems flared up again. I went to the naturopathic clinic and had a series of acupuncture treatments done and - voila! No more knee problems! Acupuncture is perfect for this type of problem, it helps reduce the inflammation, improve circulation to the area and stimulates the immune system to repair whatever damage has been done. I've not had a knee problem since, but if it crops up again I can just stick a few needles in my own knee and keep on running! My daily glucosamine sulfate probably helps too.

Bike, Run, ICK! - 71 days remaining

Today was another BRICK workout, this one 40 minutes biking followed by 20 minutes running. That's as tough as the Brick workouts are going to get - YAY! Today's was a gym workout due to scheduling and the weather. The outdoors workouts seem to fly by as fast as the scenery, while the gym ones are kind of boring in comparison. As I was stretching afterward I recalled some really good advice my favourite yoga instructor, Shehla, gave us over the weekend. She said to make sure the stretching stays inside the muscle belly and not on the attachments of the tendons and ligaments. Once you stretch out tendons and ligaments they don't spring back and you lose support and stability of the affected joint. So when you are stretching, try to keep the sensation in the middle of the muscle you are stretching, not at the nearest joint.

Running Loose - 76 days to race day

Today's workout was a 45 minute run, which I elected to do in Taylor Creek Park with the trees, birds and creek all around me. I find on a longer run like this by the time I'm getting to the end of it, muscles are getting pretty tight, especially in my calves. This is where I have to be cautious because twice in the past I've ruptured my Achilles tendon. So my mantra while I run is to "run loose" - to keep checking in on myself to see where the muscle tension is and let it go. It's a form of biofeedback where you identify areas of tightness and focus on releasing it. You can do the same while working at your desk, lying in bed or during any other type of workout. If you've ever watched the distance runners in the Olympics, they always look like it's effortless for them, that's the beauty of running loose.

25 km and counting - 77 days left

Today was scheduled to be a 70 minute bike ride. The longest ride so far has only been 40 minutes so adding an extra 30 minutes on the bike seemed like quite a jump. It actually flew by as I flew along the road. I've always considered bike riding to be my equivalent to flying. I feel like I'm soaring along with the wind in my hair above the ground. I rode down to Taylor Creek Park which joins up with Sunnybrook park. Towards my turn around point I could hear the horses whinnying in the stables. All in all a lovely day for a ride and a remarkably easy 25 km. That's as far as I'll have to bike in the triathlon, now I just need to add a 750 m swim and a 7 km run to that and I'm all set.

Catch up time - 78 days to triathlon

I've been away from the computer for a couple of days so it's time to get caught up on my training blog. Friday was a 30 minute bike ride that I did indoors at the gym because of the rain. I much prefer cycling outdoors because I enjoy the journey and like to feel like I get somewhere with all that effort. Saturday morning was a 25 minute run and was supposed to include a swim but my schedule didn't work with the pool hours so I've missed out on a 400 m swim this week. The run was lovely, just as I was running back home the rain started. Normally I wouldn't want to be out in the rain, but at the tail end of a run it's really refreshing. Today was a rest day so I took in an Ashtanga yoga class. I think the yoga is really important both for the relaxation benefits, but also to help keep me flexible and prevent injuries. My clothes all feel too loose these days, which is great, but now I need to go shopping - more tomorrow!

BRICK - 81 days left

Today was my first BRICK workout. The acronym stands for Bike, Run, ICK. It refers to the gelatinous feeling in your legs after doing a sustained bike ride then hopping off the bike to do a run. Your legs have been doing a circular motion on the bike and suddenly switching to a running stride takes a little getting used to. Today the bike ride was 40 minutes, then a 15 minute run. Looking ahead on my training schedule the bike/run workouts only get slightly more difficult by extending the run by another 5 minutes, so this is almost as tough as it gets - woohoo!

Let's Get Serious - 82 days left

After such an easy week last week, it was a bit of a rude awakening jumping right into a 500 meter swim yesterday. But I was amazed at how effortless it seemed. It's a testament to the value of taking a rest from time to time in order to regroup and make further gains. I have a tendancy to want to push myself without taking some downtime, so I'm glad to have learned this lesson through my training.