Suffering in real time

Sportstats will be providing live updates for Around the Bay on Sunday, and I've signed up for the hell of it. If you visit my Facebook page on Sunday the 25th you'll be able to see just how long it's taking me (bib # 3342) to make it between checkpoints, and how badly I'll fade in the last 10km of rolling hills. They'll also be posting updates to their own Facebook page with impressive times for the pointy end of the field - I'm told that Dayna Pidhoresky and Reid Coolsaet will both be racing, and it'll be humbling just to be on the same course as such amazing Canadian stars.

Looks good on paper.

Stopped by Runner's Choice in Waterloo last night to pick up a couple of gels, since I've only got 3oz left of EFS Liquid Shot - not enough to get me through what will assuredly be more than 3 hours of hurting. I was hoping for a couple of Chocolate Raspberry Roctane, but they were out so I had to settle for Blueberry Pomegranate (which was coincidentally on sale at half price because they're about to expire; score!). Inauspicious, since the last time I used it was at the Waterloo Marathon last spring; that was a sufferfest, and a combination of under-training, weather (9c, damp and windy with heavy rain from kilometer 26 to 35) and some bizarre circumstance that left my quads feeling like I'd shattered a glass rod in each one after the very first downhill (less than 2km in) left me 8mins over the time for which I'd hoped. In any case, I know the Blueberry-Pom Roctane works for me and I know I can't miss my ATB goal time; I don't have one!

Goal? Don't die.

So I'm currently deep in the throes of my traditional pre-race panic, with vision of both glory and utter defeat running through my head in random oscillations. I've rested a lot this week, but the injury has played up a bit since my poorly planned 18km run last Saturday and for some reason my thoracic spine is really giving me the business - I just hope to finish without hurting myself. The weather is currently projected to be 17c with variable clouds, which is a little warmer than I'd like but much better than the 26c we had yesterday - in any case, I'll be putting on my big girl panties and dealing with it! Depending on how silly I'm feeling on race morning, I may even bring my Blackberry along for the ride and post some updates of my own..

If you're out on the course on Sunday, look for the bint with blonde braids (and most likely my ill advised racing kit) and say hi!

Swimming in soup - a lesson in gratitude

My beloved Johnson Centre pool is closed for maintenance this week, just as I'm tapering for Around the Bay on Sunday! On Tuesday night, Tanker and I went down to the Dolson Centre (the only other recreation centre in town with a pool) for our regular swim.

My usual haunt.

Now, since the massive renovations completed in 2010, the Johnson Centre's geothermal system keeps the pool at a steady 83f. This is my standard swimming temperature, since I'm there 4 days per week. Most swimmers will tell you that's too warm, but it's familiar and I don't mind it.

Renovations in progress. The pool was closed the whole summer!

I've always been annoyed by the Dolson Centre: the pool uses a salt-chlorine mix that tastes terrible when it gets in your mouth, and while it does provide a bit of extra buoyancy that's coupled with increased hydrodynamic drag. They don't have a hot tub, either, and only have the "push the button for 45sec of super high pressure tepid water in some kind of abstract star pattern" showers. I won't comment on the fact it's a 25 metre pool instead of the Johnson Centre's 25 yard pool; I don't mind switching from scy to scm, though I my first couple of lengths are usually spent figuring out whether I take one additional stroke or two. I swim in metres at the YMCA pool, too, and it doesn't bother me at all.

Not pictured: me nearly splitting my head open.

Tuesday night, though, I had an additional complaint - the damned pool was sitting at 88f! Between the salt and the heat, I could swear I was being treated as the ingredient in some kind of horrible, sweaty stew. Nonetheless, I set off for a warmup 100...and nearly died.

As I mentioned in this thread on Slowtwitch, I barely even made it through 100 metres. I tried again, with the same result. I wasn't even trying to swim fast; just a relaxed warmup, and I was struggling! The water felt thick, my arms felt weak, and I just couldn't get a good rhythm going. I asked Tanker how he was doing, and he said the same thing; the heat of the water just sapped all of your energy and left you gasping. To add insult to injury, there was a masters class full of true fish in the other half of the pool, all smokin' along like I had an anchor tied to my ass!

Knowing that I'm trying not to expend too much energy while tapering, I switched to 50's. I did some drills. I took lots of rest. I swam a bit of fly. I just couldn't get going, though. After 34mins I'd flailed through a grand total of 750m, and pulled the plug. Even hitting the sauna afterwards didn't feel as sickly warm as the pool; it was almost like swimming where someone had just peed, all the time.

Unfortunately, it's the only game in town for my swim tonight. I can hope that the water is a more reasonable temperature, but I don't have any options if it's not. My stupid adductor/groin injury has been bothering me a bit this week so a swim is the only workout I plan to do tonight. Looks like it'll be swimmer soup for dinner!

Not your typical fear-inspiring sight.

Fortunately, there is a swim on Saturday morning at the YMCA (and no lane swim Saturday at Dolson), so I only have to put up with stroking through hot brine once more - I'll have to get up on my only sleep-in day of the week to do so, but I'd still rather lose a bit of sleep than be subjected to a stewing. I really never thought I'd see the day when I look forward to swimming at the Y, with its "swirlpool" that smells like childhood incontinence and firehose-with-no-temperature-adjustment showers. I can't wait until Tuesday, when I get to return to the cool embrace of the Johnson Centre's waters!

An unlikely haven.

While I often complain about the hot tub being closed (usually once a week or more), and it sometimes gets crowded or closed due to a fouling, I should be grateful for a pool at a bright, clean and well-maintained facility that doesn't cave to the high-temperature demands of the AquaFit ladies, and that has a schedule with which I can swim four times per week. The Johnson Centre may not be perfect, but it's a damn sight better than the other pools in town, and it's home! 

Winning small battles

I threw my last blog post up on Facebook in the ill advised racing group with the description of "chubby girl vs. unseasonable warmth", and then realised that perhaps that wasn't so accurate.

Just yesterday I tweeted about my trousers falling off me, and those are a pair I only bought a couple of months ago. I have been making an additional effort to lose some extra pounds in the last few weeks, simply because I know that the last 10km of Around the Bay is all hills. Apparently my strategy is working somewhat; my scale weight is only down a couple of pounds, but I'm occupying less space.

One of the things that has helped is my secret weapon: herbal tea. When I'm feeling hungry at the office (to which I bring a homemade, healthy lunch and at which I keep absolutely zero snacks), a cup of mulled apple spice tea fills the gap quite nicely.

Zero calories, but hot and delicious. WIN.

I bring a little less lunch than I used to, have a small snack before I start training in the evening, and seldom use anything but water during my workouts. Unless it was quite long or intense, I just eat dinner afterward rather than bother with post-workout nutrition, and I've been eating a bit less dinner as well. Most of what I eat is vegetables, plus some lean meats, healthy fats from nuts & avocado, fruit and some - but not a huge amount - of rice or rice-based pasta.

As a result, I find myself feeling pretty darn svelte today, and wearing a brand new pair of pants that don't fall off and a golf shirt that was skin tight when I bought it just over a month ago:

Forgive the horrible cellphone-in-the-mirror pic.

No, I'm not some skinny little thing, but I'm heading in the right direction - I don't need to compare myself to anyone else, just where I was and where I'm going. As long as I can keep my appetite under control through tapering next week, I should arrive at the starting line a little leaner yet! It might be a pound, it might only be an ounce or two, but over 30 kilometers every little bit helps. Maybe we can amend that to "slightly less chubby girl".

What's even better is that I've been able to get in some pretty solid training (over 90km of running between last week and the week before), and I'm starting to feel like I might just survive this race!

Fingers firmly crossed..

I'm not one of those tiny little runner chicks that look like they'd blow away in a light breeze, and I suffer in the heat of summer. One of the reasons I figured Around the Bay would be a decent wheeze is that it's at the end of March; weather is usually getting milder, but daily highs are generally still only 10-15c at most.

This year has decided to be different. We only got out cross-country skis 3 times, we went snowshoeing once, missed snowboarding and tobogganing completely, and golfed in February.

Ridiculous.

Now, before Spring has even officially begun, the daytime highs have shot up to nearly 20c - a mark that we're supposed to break tomorrow and every single day next week!

This is March in Canada?

I went out for an easy 5k last night, and I might as well have been wearing a lead suit. I huffed. I puffed. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me until I got home and discovered that even after dark (this was 8-8:30pm) it was still 19c. I hadn't run at anything over 11c since October, and even without the sun beating down on me the warmth was taking it right out of me! This doesn't bode well if it's going to be warm on race day, since it usually takes about two weeks to acclimatize, and the race is only 9 days away!

Fortunately, the long term forecast shows the temperature dipping back down to 12c or so for the 25th. That would be just about ideal for me, so now I just have to hope they're right!

This I could handle.

As small consolation, if they're wrong and it does turn out to bet 20+c on race day, at least I have five full hours to finish..

Sun, wind, hills and homemade gel

While not terribly warm, it was a beautiful day to be alive. I'd picked up a new saddle to try out in the morning, hit up the market for fresh veggies and delicious local meats, had a great brunch, set up and tested the new seat on the trainer for a little over a half hour. Now almost 3pm, I headed out for a little over 10 miles of hills, the first half of which would be climbing into the wind. This was going to be some major hay in the barn for Around the Bay, now just over 2 weeks away (eek!).

Ouch.

Blue skies and sunshine!

Beaver meadow along Roseville Rd.

I needed to be sure that could process nutrition on the run, but I have very little gel left - obvious choice is to make my own and save the good stuff for the upcoming race (though don't technically have enough for the whole thing; best get on that). I literally just ran 3oz of warm water, 1oz of local, raw honey, 1oz of molasses (Christmas gingerbread leftovers) & a dash or two of sea salt into a gel flask and shook it. It foamed quite a bit, and looked somewhat like stout (I shoud've got a photo - next time), but a quick taste confirmed it would probably work. Grabbed my hydration pack as I hadn't drunk enough water through the morning (mmm, coffee) and buggered off.

Langdon Drive

Dork.

It took quite awhile to get into the run, particularly as a gust of wind nearly stopped me dead about 10mins in. The whole front half was tough slogging, even watching over a dozen birds (from finches and sparrows to Canada geese) get tossed around by the capricious wind. I started with the gel about a half hour in, not hugely keen on the strong molasses flavour but tolerating it well throughout. A 1/2oz sip every 10mins or so, chased with water, was just fine. I don't think I'll make it terribly often and I'm not sure how good it would be for long distance, since it doesn't deliver as many calories as regular gel (but I wouldn't be able to stand it any sweeter), but it did the job for today.

Only 3 months until the Tour de Grand!

Fall and brook opposite Langdon Hall

Stone bridge and rapids by Blair Rd traffic circle.

I actually ended up with near perfect conditions; sunshine, wind and hills for training adaptation, plenty of water, no GI issues, not so much as a blister or chafe. It being the longest I'd run since before Christmas and culminating in a category 5 climb I was certainly hurting a bit toward the end, but it was exactly the kind of run you hope to get back to when you're injured. The hills were hard bloody work, but that was the price of admission for this ride.

Ducks and geese on the Grand River

Always seems to be one step ahead..

I made it through without incident, surprised both by the strength I've managed to keep for running hills and by my pace. Not fast, but quicker than I'd expected given the route. Even better, I managed to bang out 10 x 200m at the pool (after a quick stop at home for a snack and my gear) at my best pace yet. To top it all off, my sweetheart took me out for a walk to our local cafe for the best hot chocolate you'll ever have.

Tanker's caramel latte and my cup of heaven.

Wishing you all can have a thoroughly satisfying day of your own - we're looking forward to the springlike weather tomorrow to take my mountain bike out for a ride with its new pedals!

Living right - now!

Our beloved Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has started an initiative to get Canadians active and connected in their communities known as "Live Right Now", and my home town is holding onto a lead as the most active community in the country! We even won 500 spirit points for outstanding participation.

Through the Live Right Now Facebook Application, users join groups, take on challenges and attend events related to living a healthy and active lifestyle. Unfortunately, points are generated through social media activity rather than actual workouts, but Cambridge residents have created events and groups that let us share our daily activity and photos from along the way.

The challenge runs through March 18th, 2012, so consider adding the Facebook app and joining the Cambridge Runners Km's or Cambridge Indoor Cycling events, or even the ill advised racing group! Post your photos from trail runs, bike rides, hikes, games, tournaments and anything else that gets you moving.

Whether you're earning points for Cambridge, Ontario, for your own community, or just doing something active to enjoy being alive and feel great, get out there and live right now! Our country - and your own life - will be better for it.

The best gear lets you forget it exists.

Tuesday was a night of bitterness and hatred - they closed the pool just as I was showering off to jump in, so no Tuesday swim for the second week in a row. Last time it was a fouling, which is unforeseeable, but this time it was due to "dangerously low chlorine levels". Yikes! It was too late for me to move Wednesday's bike workout into that evening, so I just grumbled a lot and went to bed early. Probably for the best with this stupid cold, but there was much gnashing of teeth nonetheless.

After a run, a bike, and a phone call to make sure the pool was actually open I got in the water on Wednesday night and attempted to get some work done. I emerged almost an hour later with my right eye looking like I was trying to do my best Sauron impression - the TYR Nest Pro Nano goggles I was using absolutely refused to hold a seal on one side. Having put a hole in the gasket of the TYR Velocity goggles that had happily seen me through most of the winter right after the indoor tri, I'd returned to the 2-year-old Nest Pros and realised why they'd been relegated to backup wear only. I was hating life through the whole swim, finding it hard to concentrate on my stroke while my right eye was repeatedly swamped no matter how I adjusted the gasket. I've read glowing reviews of these goggles from others, and I'm sure they're great for some people, but not this old pair and not for me!

Now, I race in Sable WaterOptics RS101 goggles from EuroTriShop.com and I do have a pair of Aquasphere Kaiman S goggles from a friend that are so comfy that they're practically the equivalent of swimming in my pyjamas, but I save both of those for special occasions; the former are just for racing, the latter are for those days I really have to convince myself to get in the pool. They're both more expensive than your run-of-the-mill goggles, so I try to leave them alone as much as possible.

This left me utterly bereft of regular ol' workout eyewear, so I popped into my local swim shop - Kazwear Swimwear - to see what Patricia had to offer me. I'd hoped for another pair of the TYR Velocity (and they are an authorized TYR dealer), but she only carried Speedo goggles. I spotted a pair that looked similar, in a women's fit since I have a ridiculously small head and narrow face, and took the plunge on the Women's Vanquisher in blue, with a metallic finish (which I didn't notice until I got them home).

A quick stop at home to change out the nosepiece (seriously tiny face) and get in a quick run, then off to the pool and into the water. First impression is that it takes a pair of new goggles to make you realise how scarred and cataract-ed your old pair were - the optics seemed almost as good as my Sables! The yellow metalized finish made things seem a bit bright and sparkly around the edges of my vision, which was a little narrower than it had been with the Nest Pros, but in the pool who cares?

Into my workout, and the goggles just...disappeared. I completely ceased to notice they existed, and did some of the best swimming (read: fastest times, best form and feel for the water) that I've managed since the indoor tri! I kept it to a shorter workout since my head is still stuffed with goo, but I got far more accomplished than I had the night before while wrestling with uncooperative gasketry.

It's a repeated theme in endurance sports; the best gear is the stuff you simply don't notice. When people find the right saddle for their bike, they'll say "it disappeared under me". When you find the perfect running shoe or shorts, you'll never once think about them during your race. For me, the Speedo Women's Vanquisher is the perfect goggle - the kind you can completely forget about, because it performs its function flawlessly.

When you no longer have to spend time worrying about your gear, you can use that energy for what's really important - pushing harder!