noattentionspan

I’m a conscientious shopper. Used to drive Sheryl nuts to go grocery shopping with me because I wasn’t prone to buying junk food or fast foods and I wasn’t tied to name brands (apart from Macaroni and Cheese, and toilet paper).

I look at sizes and compare price per 100gram and then do it across the different brands to determine the best value for my money.

Looking at one product today I noticed it on the way into the store but felt that the price was too high. At the back of the store I found smaller containers for much cheaper. The price varied in the different sizes though and as it turned out the medium size was the best price. Not wanting to just jump into things though I compared again against the first item I saw walking in and determined that the price per 100grams was almost 80 cents less.

And THAT is how I wound up buying a 943gram bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs.

Would you be surprised to know that after eating a few I was having a hard time getting my ass out the door and to the pool?

But I did make it, even if it was later than I wanted. I didn’t get in my full swim, but eventually I managed 1.6km and I even started the process of implementing something I’d read about flip turns. More on that once I figure out if I’m going to keep it or what.

Today in the water was about helping other people learn to swim, a funny thing for me since I still don’t think that I know how to swim! Not well at least. The triathlon clinic at the Running Room was having the first swim night though, and even if I don’t like my own form and know it can use work, I was certainly qualified to help out keeping people on track, learning to use kickboards (I hate them) and pull buoys (I love them).

All and all, fun.

Nutrition would have been okay without the Cadbury Mini Eggs. It’s only once a year, and I’m restricting myself to one bag. And I’m counting every bloody one of them. Ug.

Breakfast:
- Granola with yogurt

Snack (0):
- Orange

Lunch:
- Large plate of Sweet & Sour chicken balls on chow mien

Snack (1):
- 2 Large sour suckers
- Orange

Snack (2)
- Large sour sucker

Dinner:
- Bag of BLT Caesar salad
- 50 (yes, fifty, five zero) Cadbury mini eggs.

Snack (3):
- Gel before swimming

Snack (4):
- 30 Cadbury mini eggs

The clocks went forward before bed and 4:30 came rather quickly after my head hit the pillow. By 0515 I was pedaling away from the Running Room store with Jackie, George, Aislynn and Quinton on our way over the Queensborough Bridge.

We were rather slow on the ride again, but after the ride and lactate test yesterday I didn’t mind as much as I would have otherwise. 31.39km of relaxing ride (21km/h avg) and I focused on my form and body position mostly. I’ve decided that I need to move a bike computer and change straw holes on my water bottle. So, all and all, productive if slow.

Back at the store for 0700 to pick up the new triathlon group and head out for a one hour ride, even slower but working with the new riders so mentally engaging. 30 minutes in one of the riders bailed on some railroad tracks and left some blood behind her. The decision was made to call the ambulance and they arrived with the fire fighters to pick her up and bring her to the hospital for stitches on her chin. She is going to be okay and the bike is fine (we checked). Aislynn and I hung out waiting for George and Quinton to get back with the van so that we could pile the bikes in the back for an hour and then I biked back to the store.

Once there, however, I just didn’t feel like running. So George, Quinton and I went to Tim Hortons for a snack and tea. Hey, gotta like it. Clearly I’ll need to make up a run (16km) somewhere this week, but I think I’ll swim today instead.

Well, jump a couple of hours into the future and it turns out that I have already made up that run. I was sitting around feeling guilty for missing the run and tossed on my togs and just went out and ran. 16km flat in a steady run with an average of 5:28/km. I was averaging 5:31/km at 10km, but I was really working at keeping my heart rate down and staying near zone 1 and at an RPE 2 level. 10km in 55:04. After that though I decided to pick it up a bit, not much but a bit. Over the next 6km I took off an average of 8 seconds per km and still kept my heart rate fairly low, never rising above the low 150s.

Even at the end I felt like if I’d pulled back a bit I could have easily run out another 5km. It wasn’t a true brick with that much gap between the bike rides and the run, but my legs were still heavy so I know there was benefit in there somewhere.

Now I have to decide if I still want to swim tonight, I just don’t know yet.

And the answer, after more of the day, is no. I don’t want to swim tonight. Not enough to go and do it after the huge dinner at least. I’m looking forward to getting to sleep and that’s about that for me. I will get a swim in tomorrow though, so all will be good.

When I was at Ikea today I stopped for a salad in their cafe. The truth is I was so hungry by 4:30 that I was woozy. Not so woozy though that I couldn’t be shocked by the knowledge that they now sell beer and wine with dinner in Ikea. What the fuck? I thought that this was just bizarre, I mean, who would be heading to Ikea for dinner and a nice Chardonnay?

Turns out that LOTS of people would be. Looking around at my fellow diners there were many tables of people with these little wine bottles. One table was entirely full of people with various bottles, it looked more like a bar than a cafe in… Ikea? The guy directly in front of me in line was ordering two bottles of white and a roll. Seems he knew that you had to order some food with your booze and he was okay when the cashier told him he had to screw off the tops before he went to his table. Seriously fucking surreal.

Just saying.

Nutrition today was unbalanced, but I was definitely negative calories probably even considering the dinner. I didn’t go to town by the way, I only had 3 appetizers.

Breakfast:
- Power Bar

Snack (0):
- 1/3 bottle of Cytomax during ride
- Gel before second ride

Snack (1):
- Apple Fritter

Snack (2):
- Gel before running
- Gel during running
- 2/3 bottle of Cytomax during run

Snack (3) (a la Ikea cafe):
- Grilled chicken Caesar salad

Dinner (a la Sammy J Peppers):
- BlackJack Chicken strips
- Steak bites
- 7 layer dip

So this morning there is was a message on Facebook from Richele about the rain in Vancouver. I popped open the curtains here in Kelowna and there is nothing but blue sky and high fluffy white clouds. Of course those blue skies don’t take the temperature into consideration as it’s a balmy -3c. Reminds me of the last time I was in Kelowna running the marathon. Of course it was much colder then at -8c to start the race, but I tend to go faster and generate more wind chill on the bike than I do while running.

Turned out that it warmed up pretty quickly and the initial 20km ride was beautiful. We went out through eastern Kelowna and did some climbing (about 150m gain) before dropping back into town and down to one of the main roads I’d run on during the Marathon in October.

Back from the ride I took about 30 minutes mellowing out and getting some water and then set up my trainer for the lactate threshold test.

I fully expected the test to suck and it did, but by no stretch as badly as run test. 30 minutes spent getting my heart rate up to a max sustained rate of 150bpm. I was working super hard to get it there and spinning at just over 42km/h, but I couldn’t push it much harder. I had more legs and could sustain at that pace for a bit, but my heart rate wasn’t going up any more and I couldn’t push faster. Clearly I need more practice. Lactate quantity was 6.8 milimoles. Not as high as the run, but what the hell.

Over the next 30 minutes I brought my HR down to the 120s and then brought it up 5bpm every 5 minutes while the test was repeated. Through 135bpm my lactate quantity was still going down, at that point at 2.1 millimoles. At 140 though, back up to just over 4. Clearly my threshold had been found.

What does this mean? I need to keep my heart rate below 140 on long slow rides to stay aerobic.

After the test I hung out and chatted to Dave for a bit and then hopped on the road home. The road back was very mellow, funny how much nicer it was in the daylight There was some blowing snow on the 97c, but it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I stopped in Chilliwack on the way back to visit with Derek and pick up a run pouch that I’d forgotten at his place ages ago. While there he touched up a bit of red on my tattoo and we went out to dinner. Was good to catch up with each other, but I am reminded that I need to get a life, I don’t have anything to talk about!

Home to a sick Miranda who’s hanging out with me tonight and heading back over to her mom’s at 5am when I head for a ride.

And so ends another Saturday night.

Nutrition today, meh. Not enough calories. But I’m just not hungry right now.

Breakfast:
- Breakfast apple cinnamon danish (in a package at a gas station)

Snack (0):
- Gel before lactate threshold test

Lunch:
- Big Mac, no pickles
- Medium fries
- Sweet & Sour sauce

Snack (1):
- 591 ml gatorade

Dinner:
- Burger with cheese
- Fries

Snack (2);
- Vitamin water

I didn’t really want to hop up on the trainer this morning, but I did nothing yesterday and figured I might as well get a short bit in before doing a bunch of running about. 40 minutes total; 5 warm-up/cool down, 30 rpe3. 20.5km (30.6km/h average).

Now it’s all about the running around.

— pause here while the day progresses, jump 15 hours into the future and 400 or so KM north and east —

Shiny new toy

I bought a new Garmin, the 310XT. I’ve been drooling over these since I first heard of them and promising myself that if I found the extra cash I’d buy myself one before Ironman. Well, amen for bonus money!

I’ll be using it for my first ride tomorrow morning here in Kelowna with Coach David Kirk from Transition Tri. There is an easy group ride of about an hour at 0930 and then I’ll do my lactate threshold test on the bike.

Yes, I hated the test on the treadmill and can only imagine how much it’s going to suck on the bike. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow morning.

I also brought up my swim and run gear because who knows eh?

The drive up was boring as heck, which is good in one way and bad in another. Good that nothing bad happened to keep my heart rate above normal, bad that I was bored. I prefer long trips with someone to chat to and pass the time. Heck, even someone crashed out in the car is better company than no one there. To top it all off, I didn’t have any radio shows on my jump drive, so I only had tunes to listen to. Not as fun by far when doing the mountain passes. Some are copying on right now for the trip back.

The plan is to ride and test in the morning. Chat with Dave for a bit and figure out what I need to focus on and do more/less of (other than train more, eat better, drink no pop), and how to improve things I’m screwing up now. After that I’m figuring I’ll head home with a quick stop in Chilliwack to pick up my run pouch from Derek’s place that I forgot at his old place on Halloween last year.

This plan may change if there is a good brick happening tomorrow or if I can organize some more time doing stuff with Dave. Hey, if he can fix my swim problems, or clean up my run stride, awesome!

We’ll see how it goes though, mostly I just want to get to sleep and then see what the morning brings me.

S

Nutrition today, not so bad considering. I should have grabbed a real meal before heading out on the drive right at dinner time, but that would have required a bit more planning I think.

Breakfast:
- Granola and yogurt

Lunch:
- 2 egg omelette with cheese and spices

Dinner:
- Big Mac no pickles
- Medium fries (not a large)
- Sweet & Sour sauce instead of Ketchup

Snack (0): (when stopped for gas in Merit)
- 591ml Gatorade
- Big Turk Chocolate bar

Would you believe that I’m getting teased about my nutrition? That’s okay, it’s only motivation to fix the obvious problems. I should point out that I’ve been pop free for almost a week now and apart from one cup of black tea at Starbucks on Saturday after riding, caffeine free as well. I was certainly a bit grumpy on Sunday morning, but otherwise no negative effect from discontinuing usage.

Just as my friends tease me about deficiencies in nutrition, mother nature thought she’d take a poke at me regarding deficiencies in intelligence.

I don’t like to carry my wallet in my back pocket. It’s uncomfortable and I get those shooting pains if I’m sitting at work all day. So at the office, I usually put my wallet in the ultra-secure pocket in my jacket and leave it hanging up beside my desk. Yesterday I had a pull-over jacket though and not my regular one and the wallet wasn’t going to fit well, so I put it in my desk. Where I left it. Overnight.

At 5:24 last night I realized that I didn’t have my wallet. Of course I wanted to drop the car off at Canadian Tire by 6pm so it could get some work done. I had the choice of either getting the wallet and not dropping off the car, or dropping off the car and living without the wallet.

I went with dropping off the car. The plan was to ride in the morning so I didn’t need bus fare, and I could live without spending money after the run and until I managed to get to work.

At 4am I let the dog out to go pee and sit outside, she likes doing that. I like sleeping.

At 6am I let the dog in and went back to bed. The dog was wet, must have been raining?

At 7am I let the dog out (I’m going to shoot the dog) and again went back to bed.

At 7:15 I let the dog in and the dog wasn’t wet, she was covered in snow. Time to get up.

Snow? Seriously? And not just flakes falling from the sky in slush, but a few cm of white covering the backyard. Seriously?

I live up on top of the hills. I was NOT going to bike down Royal Oak in the snow. Call me chicken shit all you want, but I’m not risking a stupid wipe out that takes me out of training.

Of course now I have no money, no wallet, and no way to get to work. Thanks Mother Nature, love you too

I managed to scrounge up some change and get on the bus, but I need to find a bank machine before I try going home today, heh.

Well, I did make it down to pick up the car and the bus trip went pretty smoothly. I’ve heard a lot of people complain about the bus system in Vancouver, I’m pretty sure these are people who’ve never lived somewhere that doesn’t have the service we have. It’s not for everyone, and some routes are a bitch, but overall, it’s just not that bad.

The car was expensive. Just under $1200 for the peace of mind that mechanically it’s going to be sound for a couple of more years. I’m considering it an investment though and staying positive.

It also took them a bit longer than expected, so I didn’t get out of there until almost 7pm after standing there for an hour and a half. Ah well, it’s done, I’m happy.

Nutrition

— start of work

Breakfast: (forgot to eat at home because I was rushing)
- Bag of Cheetos
- Can of OJ

Lunch:
- Mango pork and veggies over rice

Snack (0):
- Orange

— end of work

Snack (1):
- handful of jellybeans and peanut M&Ms while waiting for the car to be finished

Dinner:
- Stir-fried chicken with onions and ginger over rice
- Aquafina Vitamin water

So the kitty cat curled up next to my head this morning and purred and purred. He was soft and cuddly and warm.

And THAT’S why I didn’t get up until almost 7!

I did make it to the pool though and even managed to get in 2.5km in a pyramid. I found my flip turns just sucked water this morning (literally) and it took me about 1000m to figure out that it’s because I was coming back to my right and not my left as usual. Typically in lane swimming you swim up the right side of the lane, hit the wall and move to the other side which is again your right side. At Bonsor in the fast lane you go up the left side of the lane, hit and move into the middle of a big lane which is, again, on your left.

My flip turn just couldn’t compensate for this and I found myself floundering until I figured it out.

Free swimming was also crap today, I couldn’t organize my timing between hands and feet. With the pull buoy I was rock solid, without, flailing about.

100m -> 500m -> 100m (alt pull / free)

From the pool to work where I had the pleasure of announcing raises and bonus amounts to my team today. Seriously, it made me happy, I love giving out good news and I have a team of folks who worked hard last year to help us pull through. They deserve every penny.

After work it was home and then down to Canadian Tire where I’m spending my bonus to get the car back into fine working form. It’s running now, and well, but my gas mileage has decreased and I know there are some things that need to be worked on. And I need to add a roof rack for the bike, and yadda yadda. Anyway, the car was dropped off and then it was time for a run.

Conveniently I didn’t have to pay for the repairs today because my wallet is sitting in my drawer at the office. Isn’t that just special?

8.77km of tempo running at a reasonable pace helped me get over the missing wallet problem. We went up Southridge to Kingsway, down to 7th, down to Marine and back via Byrne. After we crossed the road at 20th we averaged 5:03min/km pace. That didn’t totally make up for the climb and waiting at the light though, so the average pace overall was 5:24min/km.

Bit by bit I’m getting closer to Ironman. But bit by bit I’m getting tired too. The reality is that this takes a lot out of you. I have true respect for the folks who do this at much higher intensity than I do. Not faster, per say (although they are), but more. More swims, more bike rides, more runs. It’s a lot of work. Worth it though I’m thinking.

Nutrition today involved a lot of chocolate. Once again I was just famished all day and even though I was otherwise eating healthily I wanted more food. Swimming really gets me hungry and I’m going to have to make sure I have more healthy snacks on days when I swim in the morning. I’m happy about having a bag of oranges on my desk though, that’s having a positive effect for sure.

Breakfast:
- Quaker chocoloate chewy bar (small)
- Gel before swimming

— start of work

Snack (0):
- Orange

Snack (1):
- Crunchie Bar

Lunch:
- Taco Salad in a bag
- Mr. Big chocolate bar

Snack (2):
- Orange
- Crunchie Bar

Snack (3):
- Aero Bar

— end of work

Snack (4):
- Gel before running

Dinner:
- Large bowl of chili with cheese
- 2 slices of bread with margerine
- Aquafina vitamin water

The count down seems to be going a bit quicker lately. Oddly though, this isn’t concerning me overly right now. Next panic attack on schedule for something like 4 weeks from the first race of the season.

That would be the UBC triathlon. I really sucked at this race when I did it the first time. My swim was slower than expected, my bike was ok, my run sucked rocks. Total time: 3:05:40.3. For the breakdown, transition 1 time is included in the swim, transition 2 in the bike.

Swim: 41:34
Bike: 1:23:38
Run: 1:00:29

Well, this year I should see about 6 minutes come off the swim and T1 time. Remembering the way they did the race, the T1 time is a bit longer than it could be just due to the way you leave the pool and where you have to go to get to the bike. I expect to hit the swim in about 32 minutes max and no more than 4 minutes for transition.

The bike + T2 isn’t that bad actually, but I do expect to take a minute or two off. I’m aiming for sub 1:20 on the bike and that second transition should take no more than 90 seconds.

The run I figure I’ll drop 5 minutes on anyway. On Sunday, not in race mode and doing 10:1s I hit a 56:20 10km after a 50km ride (a very slow 50km ride mind you). I know I’m capable of doing better for race day.

So my goal for UBC? 2:55:00 or less. In my quiet space I want 2:50:00 but I know that’s pushing it, I’ll have to be bringing my A game for that.

Leaving the house I knew I’d forgotten something, in the car driving away I realized it was my lunch. Clearly this is a sign that the salad I was bringing wasn’t in the cards. But I pulled over at Safeway, bought a salad, a bag of oranges and a couple of books off the discount rack. How’s that for healthy decision making?

The work Sun Run group was out again today, this time actually covering a bit of ground. Well, not a lot, but over 5.5km so at least we are improving. 9×3:1 with warm-up and cool down. This is the first week with only 1 minute walk breaks but the guys handled it very well.

I ended the night hanging over at Rik’s place shooting the shit with both him and Joel (from the office). Was nice to just hang out with the guys and chat about anything and everything. There was a bunch of math involved too

Nutrition was weird today, I just couldn’t get enough to eat or drink. I ate and ate (as evidenced below), drank tea and a couple of litres of water (no pop ). But every time I turned around I wanted more food. Weird feeling.

Breakfast:
- Quaker breakfast bar

Snack (0):
- Orange

Snack (1):
- 50g container of cinnamon hearts

Lunch:
- BLT Caeser salad in a bag
- Wunderbar Chocolate bar
- Crunchie Chocolate bar

Snack (2):
- Mr. Big Chocolate bar
- 50g container of cinnamon hearts
- Orange

— End of work

Snack (3):
- Small bowl of chili (thanks Sheryl) with cheese

Dinner:
- 6 slices of pizza (4 medium, 2 small)

Snack (4):
- Shared a large bag of chips with 2 other guys.

A sheer act of will was required to get up from a nap after work and head to the pool, but I’m glad I did.

2500m today in a weird set, but it felt right.

4x (100m pull with paddles: 500m pull)
100m free

The 500m sets were at 2:10/100m or faster pace and the 100m pull with paddles sets were all on 1:50+/100m

That last free sucked wind a bit though being a 2:09. I felt like I was flailing my feet and that was making it worse. Oh well.

I did get off my ass and train and that’s what counts. Some girl I was sharing the lane with even commented on my elbow form. A couple of hundred meters later I thought to question if she was flirting, but by the time I was done my set she was heading for the showers. Sometimes I’m dense. But perhaps she was just commenting on my elbows

Nutrition started today with requiring a conscious act of will to eat. I simply didn’t want breakfast. Which, when I think of the rest of the day is amazing. I simply could not stop eating today. The annoying thing is that this is a “recovery” day. Ah well.

Breakfast:
- Yogurt with granola

— Start work

Snack (0):
- Can of OJ
- Large sour candy… didn’t taste good though, don’t mix these with OJ

Snack (1):
- Orange

Snack (2):
- 2 medium slices of leftover pizza

Lunch:
- BLT Caeser salad in a bag

Snack (3):
- 2 medium slices of leftover pizza
- 1 1/2 Large sour candies (better when not mixed with OJ)

Snack (4):
- C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me… C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me… C is for cookie, that’s good enough for me, oh Cookie Cookie Cookie starts with C. Half a dozen or so cookies spread throughout the day.
- Approximately 1.75l of water

Snack (5):
- Leftover lime seasoned tortilla chips

— End work

Dinner:
- 3 medium slices of leftover pizza

Snack (6):
- Gel before swimming

Snack (7):
- A few slices of cheese (garlic Havarti)
- 1 small Quaker chewy granola bar
- 1 small kids pudding

0444 and the watch alarm goes off. — kill it
0450 and the clock alarm goes off. — snooze
0459 and the snooze alarm goes off. — snooze
0508 and the snooze alarm goes off. — look at time and panic!

Thus started my morning. By 0530 I was down at the RunningRoom climbing on my bike and getting ready to go for a projected 59km jaunt out to UBC and back.

We made decent time for the first 25km or so, but once we were across the Skybridge at Cambie and onto 70th we started to slow down as a group. At 49th we made the decision to turn back at 41st in order to get back within a 2.5 hour ride window.

So at 41st, the start of the UBC Endowment Lands, we hung a sharp right off of SW Marine Drive and onto 41st proper and then zig zagged our way back to the store, but our speed bled off drastically. We finished up at 51.6km and 2:19:54. blah. Even with the ride yesterday I could easily have gone much faster and farther and still run.

Back at the store it was time to change shoes, drop a layer and head out on a run. From the start my left shin/calf was bothering me a bit. I loosened up my shoe which often provides relief, but made the decision to turn around and do a 10km instead of the projected 14. It’s only 20 something minutes difference, but I don’t want to hurt myself and I know that cranking it up on that shin will having me sitting on the sidelines faster than anything.

Total run was 10.7km and 1:00:00.

I have no stress whatsoever about the UBC triathlon coming up in May. I know I can do 1500m in the pool without a problem. 40km on the bike is no biggy. And 10km running, no worries at all.

I not even really stressed about the half iron races at Oliver or Osoyoos. 1.9km in the water is fine, I’m actually looking forward to that. 90km on the bike? Tough for me right now, but not crippling and I have a lot more training to do. Half marathon (21.1km) after the bike? Again, no stress. Oh it will be hard, but I’m not worried about doing it or doing it well.

My stress is reserved, today, for Ironman Canada. Why? Before we went out on the run today I was chatting with the marathon group who were heading out for 29km. And that seemed far. The idea of heading out on a 29km run after only 50km on the bike didn’t appeal at all. Just running 29km without biking seemed far. So, it bugged me, whattcha gonna do?

Nutrition was pretty good right up until ordering pizza for dinner. Even then it wasn’t horrible, not really.

Snack (0):
- 1/2 power bar before riding

Snack (1):
- 2 gels while riding
- 1/2 bottle of Cytomax while riding

Snack (2):
- 1 gel while running
- 1/2 bottle of Cytomax while running

Snack (3):
- 1/2 power bar

Lunch:
- 1, 2 egg omelet with cheese
- Orange (the one that I didn’t eat last night)

Dinner:
- 5 medium slices of pizza
- 10 wings (1/2 wings, so really only 5)

Out for a ride with the Tri Cities Triathlon Club this morning. I’ve been a member for the past couple of years, but I rarely go out and ride with them, usually only a few times a year.

Mostly I’m a lazy ass as folks who know me know.

We had a rather relaxing 41km at a mellow pace (@24km/h), a true beginner ride. Given that I’m doing a bike/run brick tomorrow, I’m pretty happy that it was mellow.

Out and about for a while and then off to the pool with Miranda and her friend. Instead of Canada Games we decided to head out to the Coquitlam Aquatic Center (CAC). I had a lane all to myself and the kids played in the wave section and had fun on the overhead pulley.

2km straight apart from a quick drink every 500m. Total time, 43:19. Average, 2:10/100m. Not as fast as I did the other day, but it was steady after the first 500m which was a bit quicker (2:06/100m).

And then, food damn it. Absolutely required. Barring food though, I found an A&W and took the kids in for a bite. Calories were required.

It’s 8:30 at night now and I am going to log off, organize my gear and crash. I’m bagged with no Coke.

Nutrition today could have been better, but it could have been worse. NO POP Consequently, not enough calories for the day. I might suffer for that in the morning.

Breakfast:
- Granola and yogurt

Snack (0):
- 1/2 bottle Cytomax while riding
- 1 gel while riding

Snack (1):
- Large Tea at Starbucks

Snack (2):
- 1/2 bottle Cytomax while swimming

Dinner (at A&W):
- 1 Uncle Burger
- 1 Mozza Burger
- 1 Large Fries

Snack (3):
- Orange