Steady as she goes

Lots of things going on lately where to begin?


Time Trial

Well this is a good place to start. Last week marked my second attempt at the 20km Time Trial with the Method Club. Naomi had just had her surgery that day so we really didn't expect to see her and Greg out there. My friend Sarah and I shared a ride out to the Strathcona Olympiette Centre and laughed at the prospect of not having to tell ANYONE our time since we were the only ones there. Off Sarah went flying down the road and I followed her all twitchy to race two minutes later.

Going hard and watching Sarah in the distance was fun, tough, fun and tough. I finally caught up to her and no sooner had I passed than a car pulled up beside me. It was Greg and Naomi! Haha... ok now I really have to go. I'm breathing from the bottom of my lungs trying to feed my muscles oxygen. Ok turnaround now (slowed down way too much because I'm afraid of gravel)... hammer home!

The motto was "Under 30kph is unacceptable". Coming back is a slight (very slight) up hill and a bit more of a wind so I was ready to really suffer. The kph starts dropping and I start to yell out loud to myself "NOT ACCEPTABLE!" haha.... just as my yelling picks up I get passed by a roadie. Hm. Another "not acceptable" so I notice he slows on the hill and I attack back and pass him. We do this several times before I get to the finish (infront of him) in a new PB of 35 min: 40 sec. The whole time we had said nothing to each other but as he passed me after the finish he acknowledges me with a "good ride" :) That was so wonderful.

We stood around and chatted with Naomi and Greg after Sarah came in with a faster time too! It was a beautiful night and Sarah and I checked out:


Swim

the dreaded Half Moon Lake:



Actually it wasn't that bad. It wasn't all that GOOD either but Sarah got her face wet and I got to recall what it feels like to swim open water.

Finding places to swim in central Alberta is not easy. Clean, large, PUBLIC and temperate lakes are simply not available. So you take what you can get and when. Hopefully tonight I'll be swimming at Summerside - a private lake that is supposed to be quite nice. With only a few weeks left to my first 'big' race of the season I would really like to have one 'longer' open water swim under my wetsuit.

Which brings me to:

New Shoes

I bought a pair of Newtons:


And so far so good! I'm really enjoying the feel of these shoes and hope to race in them (not sure yet - have to try them out on a long run). They are meant to get you striking midfoot and though I'm naturally a heel striker (almost a braking like action). I have been working on fast(er) turnover/leg speed thus getting to a more midfoot strike naturally. What I find with the shoes is an urge to push off once striking that forces the leg speed. I love it, but often my lungs cannot keep up!

And finally (for now):

The MS Tour

What a great time!

Day 1 I cycled with Steve and Shawn. We headed out last as Steve seems to like passing and worked together to keep the pace strong. The plan was for no stopping. Sure enough as we cruised past the lunch stop in Wetaskiwin I was told by the boys that there was no turning back now. If I wanted to come on the Challenge Loop (an extra 44kms to our 90 some KM ride) I had to keep up/No stopping!/No support! I gave it two seconds thought and then said ok... I'm in :)

I always feel best when I get past the 100km mark. Saturday was no different. At that point I had a little in me so we did about a 10km sprint when the road smoothed out and the wind died down a bit. Steve claims we were pushing 45kph for 10km's I dunno about that! but it was great to feel the pick up in my legs.



The day was hot and I was a bit dehydrated. I also fell back on my promise not to drink that evening and had a few beers before bedtime. That being said the ride home was nice and gentle and I got to share it with John (except when his derailleur seized up near the end). The burger in Nisku after was delish too!


Well that's it for now, though I have a lot more to report on... I'm just looking forward to enjoying all the training and keeping focused. As the fatigue gets higher it's important to stay focused, to remember why I'm doing this, to remember it's fun and some days it's just freakin hard (that's ok!) and to just keep plugging away at my own pace.

Happy training!