The Day I Played the Crabby One - Graham Beasley Triathlon Olympic Relay

The Stats

Graham Beasley Triathlon
Carleton Place, ON
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Olympic Triathlon Relay
Two Frogs and a Crabby Broad
Bike leg - 40km
Completed in 1:53:39, including transitions
Average speed on the bike: 22.3 kph
Maximum speed on the bike: 41.9 kph (fastest I ever rode at)
Number of litres of fluids drank before, during and right after the race: 3.0
Rank: 5/5 for Olympic Relay Teams

The tweets

6:00... Cr@p, I’m only getting out of bed and my lower back is already hurting.
6:30... Wow, everybody who’s out at this hour on a Sunday morning seems to be going to the same place. This is neat!
7:15... Here’s Jo-Jo! She seems to be in a really good mood which is quite unusual. I wonder why that is.
8:30... I will never have enough water to last the whole morning. We must go get some.
9.00... I really like hanging out with Jo-Jo. She's such a great person!
9:15... Time to go! I can’t believe we almost missed Cynthia. It's a good thing I know what she looks like when she runs with her wetsuit – I’m glad we didn’t lose too much time in transition.
9:25... Wo, it’s pretty lonely here. I usually follow other cyclists, but there’s no one around this morning. I hope I don’t get lost. I wonder if the road is closed.
9:30... Here come the Sprint people! Here they are gone. Geez, I’m slow.
9:35... I'm so glad I went to get water with Jo-Jo. It loosened up my lower back. I hope I ride far before it starts hurting.
9:40... Rolling hills, huh? I’m not sure I will like that, but if it stays that way, I'll be fine.
9:45... Woah! This stretch of road is rough. I really hope it’s not like that the whole time or I’ll never make it!
9:50... Turn-around point for the Sprint Tri. What a stupid idea it was to do the Olympic. Frick, I’m only 25% done and I’m already suffering from the heat. On the positive side, it’s awesome that I now consider a 20K ride short. It used to be a challenge for me. I’ve come a long way this year!
9:55... What a stupid idea to do a race in July. Seriously, it’s always + stupid in July. The odds are that it will be freaking hot.
10:00... FFS – stupid hill. I hate it.
10:01... OK, don’t look up. Look down and take this hill one stroke at a time.
10:02... Holy geez, I really have to train on hillier terrain. I'm not out of breath and my quads are not on fire, but I'm not used to that kind of rythmn.
10:08... NO WAY. Another freaking hill, even bigger than the one before. The race organizers must have had a good time when they decided to put the turnaround point on top of that stupid hill. I bet they thought it would be funny. Stupid hills. Stupid sun. I want some shade, I’m so hot.
10:10... I hope I don’t pass out. Stupid, stupid hill.
10:12... Turnaround! Woohoo, it’s all downhill from here. Thank God for the cheerful volunteers, they are making me a bit less crabby.
10:20... OK, I hadn’t noticed that I got some downhill on the way out. I must climb those stupid hills again on the way back. Sigh.
10:25... Seriously, this is the last race I do in July. It’s way too hot in July. I’m overheating!
10:30... Aaaaaaaaah, the freshness of water poured over one’s head. I don't care if I looked stupid getting the reservoir out of the camelback so that I could pour some water over myself. I don't care anymore. This being said, I need to consider a new hydration method. This is not convenient.
10:40... OK, I have about half an hour to go. I can do this. I hope I'm not making the math wrong.
11:00... Oooh, a downhill. Let’s see if I can beat my fastest speed ever.
11:01... Oh Oh. What’s that crazy noise coming from my bike?
11:05... I really have to get that rear wheel and brakes checked. I think there is a problem remaining from my bike accident - it's like the wheel is crooked. Yikes.
11:06... Bike accident… shudder.
11:07... Speaking of bike accident, I’m hurting everywhere. Who knew you could hurt so much just from exercising? My wrists are hurting, my shoulder and neck are hurting, my lower back is hurting, my hip is hurting, my quads are hurting and even my feet are hurting!
11:10... Is it ever lonely here? Where is everyone? Am I that slow that they’re all done by now? Stupid race, I’m never doing this again.
11:11... 2K left. I hope the course is not long or I’ll be very angry. You know, like when you train with a personal trainer and they tell you to do 10 reps and when you're done, they ask for 2 more? I hate, hate, hate those tactics.
11:20... Back to T-zone. It’s heaven - the faster I run my bike to the rack, the faster I can jump into the river. Wait, the girls aren’t there. Cr@p! Oh, there they are.. hey I’m here, come on, look at me, I’m coming your way and I’m done. A little enthusiasm, please?
11:21... F?%&%& man, that was so hard. Toughest bike ride ever.
11:30... Aaaaah, life is good again. That river is very refreshing. I could stay in here all day.
11:35... The awesome thing about today is that I properly hydrated. Woohoo! Not every race has to end in dehydration. That was a good learning experience today. Still, I really have a problem with exercising in the sun.
12:00... Aaaaah, sitting in the shade after being in the sun for so long. I hope Jo-Jo takes her time to finish. I’m rather comfortable here
12:20... Here she comes! Woohoo, well done Jo-Jo! Oh my God, she’s still smiling. In typical Jo-Jo fashion, she made a friend out on this lonely course.
12:21... Oh my God, she says she had a good time today. I guess this means I was the crabby one today. Too funny! Ah, how I love those girls! What a great team we make.
12:50... Next year? I wonder if I could ride for 90K?


Foot note

Following the redaction of this race report, I had a discussion with a friend about the negativity in what I had written. She told me I would have had a much better experience if I had thought positive thoughts. I told her that I really did not feel like thinking positive thoughts and that if I had done so, it would have made me even crabbier, because I would have known I was in total denial.

Today, I can think about the race and laugh about how negative I felt when I was out on the course. I think the important thing is not to think positive thoughts no matter what, but to accept those negative thoughts when the going gets tough and let them go as soon as things return to normal. This is one of the lessons I learned from this race: it’s OK to think negative thoughts, just don’t hold on to them for too long.

Canada Day Bushtukah 5K Race

I participated in the 5K event at the Canada Day Bushtukah Running Race this morning. It was a really well organized race on a flat course and it was not crowded - those were the perfect conditions for me to establish my post-injuries 5K baseline. Having been surprised to pull a sub-40 at NCM a few weeks ago, I was wondering what I could do when I was not stuck following a big crowd.

Things didn't start up too well. I got a major IBS flare-up last night following the BBQ we had at work. I may have eaten something or simply eaten too much, and this did not go well with the stress of the race. I could not eat a regular breakfast this morning, which I knew was not a good idea. I only had a granola bar and some water and hoped for the best.



I sent JF off on his 10K race and waited for my race to start, 45 minutes later. It was pretty lonely out there - it seems like I was the only person who was hanging out on her own. I'm really not used to that, because there are usually a bunch of Running Maniacs to hang out with at races. Today, it seemed they were all running the 10K! Eventually, my friend Nancy found me. It was awesome to see her there, because I was really nervous. Nancy is the one who ran with me when I achieved my 5K PB so it was good to see her before the race. :-)

When the race started, everyone was passing me even though I was closer to the back of the pack and I told myself that these people were going out way too fast and that I would catch up to them later. I mean, I was running 6:33/K, it's not as if I was going super slow! It turned out I was wrong - I never caught up to most of these people.

My plan was to run 3:1s, considering I'm up to 4:1s in training. I followed my plan for most of the race and I only took a longer walk break close to 4K when I got a very bad side stitch. I was trotting along, doing my thing and at some point, I turned a corner and the finish line was in sight! My Garmin said I was 36 minutes into the race, so I dug deep and kept running towards the finish line. I saw JF 100m before I crossed the finish line and he was encouraging me to do a final push, but I honestly had nothing left in me for that push, so I just kept going. I crossed the finish line in 37:38, which is my third best official 5K time ever.

I usually have emotional races, where I try to run with joy or to think positive thoughts. At some point, though, I usually crash mentally because I can't keep up with the positive thinking. Today, I ran a "rational" race where I was working towards a quantitative goal (get as close to my PB as possible). Although I didn't feel the joy I usually feel during my races, I didn't crash mentally and I concentrated on getting 'er done. As a result, I enjoyed the present moment more than I have ever done in any race. I wouldn't run, or even race, that way all the time, because I really enjoy the emotional experience I get from running, but it was good to experience a different way of racing today.

I now have a baseline, and a new goal: smash that PB!

On a Roll!

Things have been going really well for me in the past month, and even more in the last week. I'm making big progress in the pool and on my bike. I'm becoming more confident about my Sprint Triathlon objective and I'm having a lot more fun training. I think my mental has gotten a lot stronger and this is having an impact on my training as well as on my life in general. :-)

A few days ago, I took the plunge and started shopping for a wetsuit. I'm excited about my first "real" open water swim, where I'll swim in non-shallow waters. This used to scare me, but now it sounds exciting. I ordered my wetsuit online and should receive it sometimes in the next 10 days. I hope it fits well!

Yesterday, I went for a run and it went OK. I was relieved because my last runs have been very tough and it killed my motivation to go running. I was planning on running the 10K at the Montreal Marathon on Labor Day weekend, but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm not sure I want to train for a 10K in the heat of the summer. At the same time, if things go well, then I wouldn't mind increasing my distance. Since the event doesn't sell out, I have a lot of time to make a decision, I guess.

Today, I rode my longest distance ever! I was planning on going out for 35K, but ended up doing 40.8K because I felt fine and I needed the mental boost doing the distance would give me. I'm still super excited about my achievement! I'm tired and I'm hurting a bit, but it was great. I am really enjoying riding my bike. I think it's the only time in my daily life when I am truly in the present. When I'm on my bike, I listen to my thoughts and follow them, but I usually don't worry about the past or the future, which is a nice break. I also started singing to myself while on my bike. When there's no one around, I sing some happy songs in a low voice and it cheers me up instantly! I love how happy I am on my bike these days. :-)

During my ride this morning, I recognized the site where I had my accident almost 2 years ago. I was happy to see that I could notice the site without feeling fear or anxiety about it. I didn't have any flashbacks and didn't really feel uncomfortable on my bike after we passed the site. I guess this means I'm fully healed, even if my ribs sometime tell me differently when the weather changes.

Life is good. :-)

Joy-full at Riverkeeper!

Today, I participated in the Riverkeeper Triathlon, as part of the Sprint Tri Relay. I was the cyclist of the team and it meant I was to ride about 23K today.

When I woke up, it was raining. This made me nerveous, because I'm not used to riding my road bike in the rain. Usually, when it rains, I postpone my rides... The only times I ride in the rain is when it rains on my commute back home! I usually enjoy doing stuff in the rain, and this morning was no different.

The rain started coming down hard when the race started. My friend Cynthia was our swimmer, so i went back to T-Zone to get ready as soon as she started on her swim. By the time she finished her swim, I was already quite wet from standing under the rain. I ran the whole time between the T-zone and the mounting line, which is a first for me. There is usually a time when running with my bike that I need to stop and walk. Not this time!

Cynthia was continuing with the Sprint Tri on her own after her swim (she swam with two chips!), and I didn't want her to pass me too early into the race so I made sure I started off hard from the start. She only passed me a few kilometers from the end of the bike leg, so I am very happy with that. The bike ride went great, despite the rain and my shoes that got full of water 1-2 kilometers into the race: I felt strong, I was not out of breath, I was feeling in control on my bike. At times, I even had bursts of joy when I was thinking how hardcore it was to do a race like that in the rain. ;-)

There was only one time during my race when I didn't feel as good, and it's when I thought about a difficult situation at work. When this thought occured, it was as if I had suddenly gotten very tired, weak and unmotivated. It was really strange: I felt the energy coming out of me! Fortunately, I realized what was happening and put a lot of effort to bring my mental back to happy thoughts of riding in the rain and feeling strong on the bike. I also started singing to myself, happy happy happy songs from Glee. It worked and I was soon back to cruising speed!

I finished strong and my bike computer tells me my average speed was 23.6 kph. This is awesome, considering this includes my run in and out of the bike, at 6-7kph for a few minutes! I'm also glad to have seen the results of all the bike training I've been doing since March (I almost have 500K under the belt already!) - I am becoming a much stronger cyclist. :-)

Next up: a 5K run on Canada Day and the 40K bike leg of the Olympic Tri Relay at the Carleton Place Triathlon in July.

Joy-less at NCM 5K

I ran the 5K at the National Capital Marathon Race Weekend. Coming into the race, I was really nerveous about my hip. Lately, it's been bugging me a lot and I was worried the psoas would tear again, so I haven't been pushing much. The time spent not running was not good for my mental health and I felt aggressive on Saturday all day. I worked very hard on Saturday to get my mental in a much positive state, only to have my hard work smashed by some negative energy dumped on me 2 hours before the race.

I usually get emotional at the Start Line, but this year, I was annoyed. Annoyed at the people with strollers - strollers should not be allowed in such a big race. Annoyed at the man who already stunk as if he'd just run a marathon. Annoyed at the obvious walkers who were standing near me (there was a woman with a peasant skirt and a stray hat standing next to me). Things got worse when the race started - it took me more than 6 minutes to get across the start line, which is to be expected in such a big crowd. However, you usually start running once you approach the start line, but this year, I wasn't able to run until I was at least 100m passed the start line. I could have dealt with that if I hadn't had to run around all those walkers who had put themselves in front of me at the start line. Totally annoying. If you're going to walk, you should be at the back of the group, not in the middle of it.

I was happily surprised to be able to run for 5 minutes staight at the start of the race, and happier when I was able to run for another 5 minutes afterwards. But then, things got ugly. The sun was unbelievable hot, the humidity was high, my mood was very negative and I started to suffer. I made it to Pretoria Bridge because I knew my friends would be there to cheer me on and it was so great to see them. However, after that, I physically and mentally crashed and I had to walk for at least 5 minutes before I was able to cool down.

I eventually made it to the water station, at the 4K mark. By the time I got there, I was overheating and had felt like puking for at least 2 kilometers. I poured some water on my neck/back and drank a glass of water and this gave me some energy. At this point, I was at 31 minutes and I knew sub-40 was totally possible if I could just find some shade to run into. The about-to-puke feeling didn't leave me until long after the race. Had I known, I would have brought water with me.

I made it across the finish line in 39:27, which is my 4th best time ever in the 5K. I was pleased with the result. I was even more pleased that I hadn't torn my psoas. What a relief!

I usually feel joy at some point in my running races, but this year, I didn't feel any. This sucked. I wish I wouldn't get so affected by other people's anger and negativity, but I just do. I wouldn't say those people ruined my race, because I'm responsible for how I respond to other people's actions, but I'm writing this here to recognize that this is something I need to work on so that other future races don't get ruined by whiners.

Now is the time for triathlon season! On the program: a Sprint Tri Relay in 2 weeks, an Olympic Tri Relay in mid-July and my first Sprint Tri in August. This should be a fun summer!

Cycling for Balance?

Someone told me something interesting today. She said she once heard someone explain how cycling was a sport of balance and how it helped people achieve balance in their life. She thought this made a lot of sense and she shared it with me when I told her about my recent thoughts about the place running should have in my life priorities.

I believe this is a great image. When I ride my bike, I think about the difficult things in my life, whether they are problems or negative emotions. Because I need to pay attention to what I'm doing while riding my bike, I never give full attention to my thoughts and I usually achieve a state of mind where I observe my thoughts without judging them - the same thing we're supposed to do while meditating. Sometimes, I feel like the answers to my problems just pop into my head without me working really hard to make them happen. Other times, I feel like I'm leaving the negative emotions behind by making sense of them while I ride.

The interesting part is that I think my life got so out of balance last fall after I stopped riding my bike. I thought the bad stuff just happened, but I now think that maybe riding my bike was helping me process some feelings that I simply could not process after I stopped riding. I then got overwhelmed by my negative feelings and simply could not manage anymore!

I always thought running kept me sane by helping me evacuate the bad stuff before it made me sick (stress, anger, guilt, frustration, etc.) and that swimming kept me running. I don't think I've ever found a purpose for cycling, except going from point A to point B, but I'm now starting to wonder if cycling is the more important sport of the three?

Priorities

I am starting to get into running again. I feel so good after a run and not just because of the crazy endorphins boost I get. I feel better about where I am in life, more content about the positive things that surround me. I also feel so much better in my skin when I am active!

About a year ago, two sedentary people told me that running and triathlon training in general were too big a priority for me and that I should probably seek a better balance between training and doing other things. I heard what these women were saying and I started thinking that maybe running, swimming and biking so much was not such a good thing for me. I decided to do other things as well, and as a result, I ran and swam a lot less. Sure, I enjoyed cooking great meals, seeing my non-running friends and doing scrapbooking, but all those things didn't really make me feel a lot better about myself and more comfortable in my own skin.

I now realize that I don't live the typical life of a 32 year-old and therefore, I shouldn't let the people who live that life (married, full-time job and kids) define what would be a balanced lifestyle for me, in my current situation.

I really lost track of what felt good for me in the past 2 years and I'm only now realizing how important it is for my physical and mental health as well as my overall well-being that I remain active. I can't be a good friend if I don't feel good about myself. I can't be a supportive partner if I hate myself. I can't be a happy employee if I'm always over-stressed because I'm not allowing myself to dig head-on into exercise when I'm under a lot of pressure at work.

For my own sake, running has to come back to the front burner from now on, no matter what others think.

Those d@mn Mexican bugs!

Yesterday, I started round 2 of antibiotics to try and get rid of that tough Mexican bacteria in my stomach. It seems to be working as I am feeling slightly better this morning than I was feeling yesterday.

Last weekend, I attempted to try being active again, considering that 2 weeks off was enough. I ran on Saturday. I was pleased that I was able to do 4 x 4:2s on the treadmill, but I was totally done after I finished. I wasn't sure if I would puke or pass out and I knew I pushed too hard. On Sunday morning, I got on the trainer for about 20 minutes. I didn't push - I just pedalled at a very leisurely pace. Well, even that was tough. Those 2 workouts energized me and I was feeling good on Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday night, I went swimming and it went OK, but I got sick just before I went to bed. I got sicker as the week progressed, up until yesterday when I decided that enough was enough and I went to see a doctor. Hence the 2nd round of antibiotics.

I'm frustrated that I'm still not recovered. I was doing better mentally after those workouts, because I had finally found some motivation. I'm now down 10 lbs since I left for Mexico and it's great, but I'm worried I will gain it back if I'm not careful. Which is why I want to get back to being active as soon as possible. Oh well, I'm not really hungry right now and I'm really not eating as much as I could, so it's not as if I was in any danger of gaining the weight back right now. I'll just rest and concentrate on getting better. This is hard! I just want to do stuff, not just sports, but activities and fun stuff. I'm sick of lying around and taking it easy. Sigh.

I think SAD v.2010 has started to affect my mood, but so far, I'm not too depressed. I hope I can become active again before it hits full on. *knocks on wood*

Mexico 2010!

JF and I went back to the Mayan Riviera (Mexico) this year. This time, we stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach resort, which is located between Cancùn and Playa del Carmen. It is a beautiful resort, with a lot of vegetation and animals. Our room was in the building shown on the picture and it was nicely located near the beach, the pools and within a nice walking distance from the Lobby where the main buffet was.



At this hotel, everything is outside. The only place where you can be inside is in your room or at the Hotel boutiques and à-la-carte restaurants near the Lobby. Of course, many areas have a roof, so you're not stuck outside in the rain if it happens to rain, but you get to enjoy eating outside and just being outside in general.

The place had many non-human residents. Among them were what I called wild turkeys. They were hilarious: they were always walking around as a group and they made this crazy noise as they went. We had fun trying to guess what they were saying to each other. One night, we were hearing them from up in a tree and when we approached the tree, we saw a cat that was near the tree, looking at the birds. We thought the cat chased them into the tree, but it probably wasn't the case because they were up in the tree every night.

There were a number of cats, three parrots, many peacocks who liked to chill on people's balconies in the morning as well as a kind of raccoon, which I think is called a coatis. Those were too cute!

The pools were beautiful. We didn't use them much because we prefer to swim in the ocean, but they were very refreshing after a day at the beach. One thing we liked about the pools was that they varied in depth. There were areas that were more kid-friendly and areas that were for adults only. In the adult-only area, I had water up to my chin when I was standing on my toes!

One morning, JF went to the beach to look at the sun rise. He took many pictures of the quiet beach at this time of the day. He captured the beginning of one of the many warm and sunny days we had during our stay. It rained for a few hours on the Tuesday afternoon, but the rest of the week was beautiful: mostly sunny with a few clouds here and there. The beach was big enough for the number of guests at the hotel and there were enough palapas for everyone. The water was turquoise and although there were areas that had rocks, there were also a lot of areas that were sandy. You could play safely in the water without hurting yourself stepping on a rock. The whole week, the red flag was up, which meant we had to be careful because the waves were strong. I didn't feel like I was in danger, though. The waves were very "friendly" in that it didn't feel like they were trying to push you to the floor of the ocean. They just "played nicely" with us.

On Wednesday, we went to Xel-Ha - a park where you mostly go to snorkel. Xel-Ha used to be a wild area, but the park was created years ago to welcome more tourists and generate revenue, but also to protect the area. The park is beautiful and very well designed. As you walk around, you find many places where you can go into the water.

In the water, you get to see beautiful fishes: they're yellow, blue, white, grey and they don't come too close to humans, so it's perfect for someone who is scared of fishes like I am. We had bought disposable waterproof cameras and we didn't regret the expense. It was great to be able to take some pictures in the water and it turns out that those are our best pictures from our vacation! We had a wonderful time chasing the fishes all day in Xel-Ha. There were other activities, but we spent most of our time snorkeling. JF went deeper in the water and closer to the fishes, whereas I stayed at a safe distance from them. One time, I got bold and went very close to a blue fish I wanted to photograph, but when it looked at me and started coming in my direction, I panicked and turned around.

I started feeling nauseated in the afternoon, and I attributed the feeling to spending so much time in the water, going from an horizontal to a vertical position all the time. The waves were also quite strong in one area of the park, so I thought it was just my usual ear/balance problems when I spend too much time in the water. That night, I didn't eat much and went to bed early, hoping to be a whole new person in the morning! It turned out I was wrong: I woke up with an intense nausea at 5am the next morning and I spent the morning puking.

JF went to the beach, but he came back often to check on me. Sometime after 11am, he was in the room with me when I passed out. We knew something was wrong and we called the hotel doctor, who advised we go to the hospital. We took the taxi-ambulance and went to the Cancùn Hospiten, a very nice hospital where probably only tourists get treated. I was admitted and they put me on an IV while they did some tests to find out what was making me so sick. Turned out I had a bacterial infection in my stomach, that I probably got from swallowing water or drinking water at Xel-Ha. We spent the night in the hospital and they released me the next day before lunch.

Back at the hotel, we had a little over 24 hours left to our trip and I wanted to enjoy that time. We spent the afternoon at the beach and enjoyed a very light dinner instead of the à-la-carte we were supposed to have that night. The next morning, we went to the beach but I had to go back to my room at about 10:30 because the sun and the light were making me feel sick. I went back to my room, only to come out at 2:30, when the sun would not be as strong. Walking to the beach, I heard my name and was totally surprised to see JF's brother and his wife! We knew they were coming to Mexico for their belated honeymoon, but we didn't know they would stay at the same hotel as us! So, we spent a few hours with them before going back to our room to pack our stuff and go home.

Crazy week! I'm not ready to go back yet, but I think this wasn't the last time I visited Mexico. I just love this country.

2010 is here! Where's my mojo?

A new year has started. 2010 is starting on the right foot for me from an athletic point of view: I'm not injured. My body's holding up. I shouldn't be surprised though. I haven't exercised that much in the past couple of months. I could list a number of good excuses and I could even add that even though I didn't exercise much, I haven't been sedentary either. I walked a lot and kept busy this Fall - I didn't just sit on my @ss.

I can't find my motivation! Every Sunday night, I intend on running 3 times in the coming week, and I can't seem to make myself run during the week. Work is crazy busy as I am replacing my manager and I always find a good reason not to run at lunch: I have important work to do, it's too cold, it's raining, etc. Then, I'm too tired to run on the treadmill when I get home, or I'm too hungry. Saturday morning comes, and I go out and do my weekly run. This is my life right now.

I can't make myself get on the dreaded trainer. I find it so boring! Even when watching TV shows or movies while pedaling I get bored. I can't wait for the nice weather to be back so that I can ride outside again!

Swimming... Sigh. Swimming requires me to go out at night or to wait for the bus in the cold when my hair is not completely dry. I know it's a lame excuse, because I like swimming once I get in the pool, but it's the logistics around it that annoy me. I signed up for a PowerSwim course that starts on February 22nd, so that should help with the motivation!

I have to lose some weight. Experience taught me that I can't lose weight by watching what I eat alone. I must exercise and do some strenght training. That's the only way I'll succeed.

I think that maybe I need a vacation, which I'm going to get next week. Then maybe I'll get my mojo back when I'm rested. Let's hope so!

6:1s

I ran 3 x 6:1s this morning. It went well! The first 2 intervals were fine, but when I started running the third one, my body thought I was done because I got hit by a huge endorphin rush. The third interval was hard, because I just felt like stopping. And then, my iPod battery died after about 3 minutes so I had to finish the last 3 minutes with no music!

But I did it. :)

When I was finished I lied on the floor to stretch and I just felt like going to sleep right there! That was quite the workout.

Happy Runs :-)

The pleasure of running is back! :-)

I think I've gotten through the toughest part of getting back to running and it's finally getting easier. I don't have that much merit, though, because I only ran once or twice a week since September, but somehow, this was enough to build back some cardio ability and some confidence.

I'm doing the Learn to Run program *my way*, not the John Stanton way of increasing the running intervals every week. Even when I managed to run three times during a week, I didn't increase the lenght of my intervals if I didn't feel ready to move up. So far, it's working really well for me: both the body and the mind are getting back into it.

Lately, I've been running while listening to songs from the TV show Glee. What wonderful songs to run to! They make me smile. On Sunday, it was so perfect: we went running on the Canal and the snow was falling slowly, I was listening to my tunes and I was enjoying a challenging, but manageable run. I'm doing 5:1s now and will move up to 6:1s next weekend.

All is good at last in my running world... more than 18 months after the train wreck.

5:1s... 30 billion... 2010...

I have been able to run without interruption since early September. *KNOCK ON WOOD* For the past 18 months, there was always something: I would run for 2-3 weeks and then I would either hurt myself or get sick.

I started taking BioK daily after my bronchitis in August and I haven't been sick since then. It seems like they're not making anything up when they say that 70% of our immunity is in our bowels. The minute I read that, I knew I had to try this out because I've been having problems for many years now. I went to Cuba and came back with something that made me really sick, but the doctors never found what it was. I was sick for about 3 months, lost 25lbs and then I kinda got better but I was never back to normal.

Now, more than 3 months of taking 30-40 billion probiotics daily, I feel like my immune system is back to normal (I'm not sick!) and I have a lot less digestive problems. I also stopped eating/drinking any dairy and it is making a huge difference too. I guess I'm doing things right! :-)

So, back to running. I've been able to run without interruption since early September when I started the Learn to Run program again. I haven't been very consistent with my running, but I've managed to get myself back up to running 5:1s. Some runs are great, others not so much, but they're not all terrible like they were back in September. This is good!

My dream at this point is to run 10K in 2010. I don't know if a 10K at NCM in May is even possible at this point, but if not, that's OK.

My 2010 athletic objectives so far look like this:

- run a strong 5K in May
- ride 40K as part of a Relay Sprint Tri in June
- swim 1,000m again (I usually swim about 700-750m right now when I go to the pool)
- do some triathlons next Summer (Super Sprint Tri or even Sprint Tri)
- ride my first 50K ever by the end of the Summer
- run a 10K race next Fall
- ride 1,500km
- stay injury-free
- keep it fun - no pressure!

Another Kind of Race

This month, I participated in a different kind of competition: a novel writing one! As part of National Novel Writing Month, I had to write a 50,000 words novel in 30 days. I spent all of October plotting out my story and when November 1st came, I was ready to go!

Just like any running races I've done before, at first things are good. You warm up and you get into a groove - for nanowrimo, the first dialogues I wrote didn't sound natural, but I eventually warmed up and was able to write them throughout my story. In a running race, after a while, you're having a good time just putting one foot in front of the other, or in Nanowrimo's case, one word after another. You're enjoying a good time with friends doing the exact same thing at the exact same time you're doing it and some friendly competition arises. All is good, until you hit the wall. It usually happens about 2/3rd into the race and it happened 2/3rd into the novel writing. The self-doubts creep in and you wonder how you're going to finish this race on time. At the darkest of times, you even wonder if you're going to finish at all! Fortunately, during those times, you think about your friends who are going through the same struggles and for some reason, knowing you're not alone in your misery brings you a lot of comfort and a new-found level of energy to keep going.

When there's only about 10% of the race left, you feel like this will never end. You feel like being finished right here, at this very moment. You're done, there's nothing left in you. Can we move the finish line please? Why don't running races end at 9K and Nanowrimo end at 45K you ask? These numbers would be just fine, you think. A fine accomplishment, in your books.

But you know it wouldn't feel as good if they moved the finish line and so you dig deep and you find that you had some energy left in the tank after all! Here comes the last stretch of the race and you're so excited about crossing that finish line that you are suddenly inspired. You speed up for one last sprint and you raise your arms as high as you can still manage while you scream "Victory!" when you run across the finish line.

As soon as you're done enjoying the immediate glory of being across the finish line, you run to your keyboard to let your fellow runners/writers know how well you've done. Why? Because only them can understand. They understand the effort you've put into your race and the satisfaction it has just brought you when you dug deep and succeeded!

To all my fellow Nanowrimo winners, Congratulations! Let's do it again next year.

Sick of Riding my Bike (!!!)

On Monday, I rode my bike to work. I didn't feel like it at all. At this time of the year, it is colder in the morning and you need to wear more clothes. The humidity gets at you and you feel cold for a part of the day. At night, it is windy and it is starting to get dark when you leave the office. For all these reasons, I've been feeling more miserable on my bike in the past 2 weeks. I am very surprised to feel that way about my bike when I enjoyed riding it so much this Summer!

I reached 800km riden in 2009 last week. I will have made it to 850 before I store my commuter for the winter. Looking back, I'll say that I had a great time on by bikes once I got past the fear. The highlight of my summer of riding is definitely my participation in The Canadian Triathlon Sprint Tri Relay where I rode for 30km straight for the first time ever. To me, this was a huge accomplishment! :)

So... Dear Stardust and in'fusion, thank you for the good times we shared in 2009. I'll aim for 1,500km next year so you better rest well during the winter months!

The week of 3&1s

It's a miracle: I'm up to running 3&1s and I haven't been sidelined yet! In the past few months, whenever I was ready to increase the lenght of my running intervals, I got injured or sick. *knock on wood* this morning I ran 5 times 3&1s for the first time since... I forget, it's been too long! I mean, I've ran 3 minutes at a time in the past year, but never as part of a structured program like Learn to Run.

This morning's run was brutal. I had doubts that I could do it before I left and I think it weakened my mental strenght before I even got started. My lungs were on fire the whole time and it took almost the whole minute for the pain to go away. The fourth 3-minutes interval was the worst and I had to think about the women around me who are going through much bigger difficulties than this interval was. If it wasn't from those two women, I may have started walking before the 3 minutes were up.

I ran/walked about 2.8km this morning, for my own mini-version of Run for the Cure. This year, I ran for my director who's starting her battle against breast cancer. I prayed for her quick recovery and I also prayed so we are all strong enough to manage with her workload while she's away for surgery and radiation therapy. I suppose my daily work will be my own little contribution to her battle. I feel lucky that I get to be part of such a great team at work: I feel like everyone is ready to step up to keep things going while our fearless leader is away.

So now, I'm still wondering whether I should sign up for the Learn to Run clinic that supposedly starts next Monday (on Thanksgiving Monday, this must be a mistake!). I'll go to the Slater St. Running Room store this week to confirm the dates and to find out a bit more about the clinic. I think it would be a great motivation to take the clinic, but at the same time, I'm worried that the RR program will go too quickly and I'll get injured. I usually work with customized programs where I have frequent cut-back weeks and where I take things slow. Now, I'm worried that increasing the lenght of the intervals each week will be too much for my body. Hence the doubts. I suppose I could always start with the clinic and take things as they come. At the end of the day, pretty much all of the runs in the Learn to Run program are between 2.5 and 3K, it's just the lenght of the interval that changes, but you'll always run between 12 and 20 minutes. Decisions, decisions...

On my to-do list for this week is one more thing: to investigate the rehabilitation programs offered by a local clinic for people recovering from injuries like the ones I had. I think it would be beneficial to work with a professional who could assess the damage and prescribe specific strenght-training exercises to make me stronger. I'm not sure how much this would cost me, though. I guess that's why I need to make a call, right? I'll never know if I don't pick up the phone and ask!

DNS'ing

This morning, I was supposed to do another try-a-tri, but I bailed out because of a number of reasons that I won't go through here. To summarize, I wasn't up to the challenge, physically or mentally, and I don't regret my decision at all.

I started running again and I'm trying to be more disciplined about it. I ran twice last week, each time doing 6 x 2:1s. I also went swimming on Thursday night and I biked a lot. So, I'm keeping active, even if I'm not following any kind of formal training program.

Today, I went to the doctor and got my blood test results: they were awesome! I was a bit worried about my cholesterol level, what with my 10lbs weight gain and relative sedentary lifestyle. I was happily surprised to find out my levels were fine and that my healthy cholesterol was super high! The doctor said it was "unabnormally high" which made me smile from ear to ear. He also told me I don't have celiac disease, meaning no gluten intolerance. Woohoo! The best part was when he said that the results didn't point out to any nutrient malabsorption! It means there are other reasons why I keep getting sick, but at least I'm keeping my nutrients in. :)

Now, if only I could get rid of my extreme allergies (which may well be the cause for my weak immune system). I have an appointment for allergy testing in November and my plan is to try desensitization.

Things are kind of looking up.

Two Turtles and One Crabby Broad at The Canadian

Cynthia, Jo-Jo and myself decided to sign up for the Sprint Tri Relay at The Canadian Triathlon. I was doing the bike leg of the relay, which consisted of a 30K ride. My plan was to train for this because I have never ridden my bike for 30K at a time. Of course, the training didn’t really happen for a number of reasons and when I looked at my old bike logs and saw that I only done 25K twice in my life, I started doubting that I could do it. I decided that I would pace myself and take it a little easier on the first loop and push harder on the second loop if I felt good.

It was my 5th ride on my road bike since my accident in June 2008. I was still a little scared, but having had an almost fear-free ride on my road bike the week before the race gave me confidence that I would be alright. And I was! I’m happy to report that I made peace with my road bike. I had a great time riding it and I only had one moment when I had thoughts of potential bike accidents. Usually, I would have had at least a dozen of those frightened moments.

The first loop was good. I was passed by a lot of people, but that was OK. I was pacing myself!

KMs 15 to 20 were tough: I had crazy wrist and elbow pain on my left side that I just couldn’t shake. It hurt a lot.

At 20K, I decided to play some mental games to take my mind off the pain. My commute into work being 15K, I decided to think about where I usually am 5K into my commute, what the landmarks are, where the intersections are, etc. This definitely helped me pass the time, but this last 10K was the worst 10K ride of my life: it felt like it was taking forever!

But I made it, got off the bike in 1:18:xx, which was right where I thought I would be. I was proud to have done 30K, but that pride was nothing compared to the relief I was feeling at having made peace with my bike. I really enjoy riding this bike – in fact, I went for another 20K today! The ride today was even better because I didn't have any fearful moments. I wouldn't dare saying that I'm out of the woods now, but things are looking up for sure!

I enjoyed doing the Relay with Cynthia and Jo-Jo. It was a lot less stressful than doing the triathlon all on my own. I enjoy the camaraderie I get at races and even more when I'm part of a team. It was great to spend some time with Jo-Jo as we waited for Cynthia and then with Cynthia as we waited for Jo-Jo. It was also awesome to have my medal handed out to me by Jesse, to bump into Kiza on the beach and Nancy outside the T-Zone and to chat with Joe and Jesse before the race. I think it's great that the love of the sport bring so many people together. I really enjoy the atmosphere at triathlons more than I do at running races. In triathlon, I get good comments and cheers from many people and I get to be around the very good athletes. I don't get that with running.

So, anyway, Jo-Jo, Cynthia and I agreed that we would do another Relay next year: this time, the Olympic Tri at Riverkeeper. I'll have to bring my cycling up to 40K by then! That should be a great motivation to get on the dreaded trainer this winter.

Blog Display

If anyone reads my blog, can you let me know if the page setup looks good for you? It looks great on my screen, but on JF's screen, it looks as if a 3-year-old had organized the pictures on the page. Now, I have an old screen and JF has a widescreen one, so I was wondering if my blog looks awful to most of you. Thanks for letting me know!

Vacances estivales 2009

Les vacances sont maintenant terminées, c'est le retour officiel au travail demain.

Nous avons eu de belles vacances, malgré le rhume assez intense que nous avons eu chacun notre tour JF et moi et dont nous ne sommes pas encore complètement rétablis. Pendant ces 2 semaines, nous avons vu très peu de pluie - le dimanche où nous étions sur la route, il a plu toute la journée; puis il a plu un peu en fin de journée aujourd'hui. À part cela, il a fait soleil et très chaud pendant toutes nos vacances! Ça fait changement du début de l'été, où il pleuvait à chaque jour et où il ne faisait pas très chaud!

Nos vacances ont commencé par le National Capital Triathlon, où JF a fait son premier duathlon et où j'ai fais mon retour au triathlon. C'était une excellente façon de commencer nos vacances puisque ça nous a mis dans un bel état d'esprit. Le lendemain, on a fait la route jusqu'à Ogunquit, Maine. Nous avons suivi les conseils du patron de JF et avons évité les autoroutes, soit disant pour nous raccourcir le chemin. C'était une mauvaise idée! Ça nous a stressé plus qu'autre chose. Il fallait constamment changer de petite route et c'était dur de garder le fil. Aussi, on était sur des routes où il est difficile de dépasser, alors c'était parfois un peu pénible quand on suivait une auto qui roulait trop lentement. De plus, il pleuvait sans arrêt, ce qui rendait la visibilité un peu plus difficile.

Arrivés à Ogunquit, nous sommes allé souper et avons inauguré nos vacances en mangeant des fish & chips! Ensuite, nous sommes allés à notre B&B puis à la mer. Ce soir là, il faisait très humide et c'était très brumeux. Mais la mer était belle et elle sentait bon!

Le lendemain matin, JF m'a confirmé qu'il était malade. Il avait un bon rhume et j'espérais ne pas l'attraper. Nous sommes allé à la plage après un copieux déjeuner préparé par notre hôte, Bob. Il a fait très beau et nous nous sommes baignés dans une mer à 61F (16 C). C'était très rafraîchissant et ça semblait aider JF avec ses symptômes du rhume. Le soir, nous avons décidé d'aller jeter un oeil à Perkins Cove, à l'autre bout d'Ogunquit. Nous avons donc pris un trolley bondé et la ballade a été assez pénible puisque le trolley était plein et que la douzaine d'enfants dans le trolley criait et/ou pleurait. On s'est finalement rendu à destination et avons mangé notre souper avec une vue sur la mer. C'était très bien. Nous avons marché le long du Marginal Way pour revenir à notre hôtel. Malheureusement, il faisait noir et on ne voyait pas très bien, mais ce sentier semble offrir un superbe point de vue sur la mer et Perkins Cove.

Notre 2e jour de plage a été semblable au précédent. Ce matin là, je suis allé courir sur la plage avant déjeuner. C'était vraiment agréable, mais très difficile compte tenu de la chaleur et de l'humidité qui étaient déjà fortement présentes. Ce soir là, nous sommes allé manger à un restaurant qu'on avait découvert l'été passé: Frill's. On est ensuite arrêté se chercher une crème glacée au Ben & Jerry's avant de retourner au B&B. Le 3e jour de plage fut semblable aux deux autres: soleil, chaleur, baignade. JF était de plus en plus enrhumé et il ronflait vraiment très fort la nuit, alors on ne dormait pas bien ni l'un ni l'autre.

Le jeudi matin, nous sommes allé dire un dernier au revoir à la mer, avant de déjeuner et de partir du B&B. Nous avons pris la route vers Boston! Ce fut un peu compliqué de se rendre, puisqu'il y avait des bouchons de circulation en raison de construction sur l'autoroute. Puis, on voulait aller à l'équivalent de la MEC, mais c'était un peu compliqué. Le retour vers l'hôtel était aussi compliqué, mais on s'est finalement rendus sains et saufs! Une fois l'auto stationnée (pour la modique somme de 39$ US par jour!!!), nous avons enfin pu relaxer.

Notre premier soir à Boston, nous sommes allés voir le Quincy Market. C'est là que nous avons finalement décidé de souper. Nous avons mangé dans un endroit très sympa, appelé Wagamama, où nous nous sommes régalés de bouffe japonaise. Le lendemain, nous sommes allé visiter le New England Aquarium, où nous avons rencontré "la soeur jumelle séparée à la naissance" de notre chatte Litchie, une belle phoque qui adorait se prélasser au soleil, couchée sur le dos. C'était très drôle de noter les ressemblances dans le comportement entre ce phoque et notre chatte! À l'intérieur de l'Aquarium, nous avons pu observer des pingouins. L'Aquarium compte de nombreux pingouins africains, qui ont été rescapés suite à un déversement pétrolier. C'était très intéressant de lire l'information sur le sauvetage de ces pingouins et de voir le genre de vie qu'ils ont maintenant à l'Aquarium. Nous avons aussi vu des requins et une énorme tortue de mer dans le bassin central de l'Aquarium, qui fait au moins 4 étages! C'est assez impressionnant de voir tous ces poissons cohabiter dans cet énorme bassin et ce l'était encore plus ce matin là, puisqu'il y avait un employé dans le bassin! Il nourrissait les poissons. Ça faisait bizarre de voir un homme dans un bassin où il y avait 3 requins!

Dans l'après-midi, nous avons décidé de marcher la Freedom Trail qui passe à travers les quartiers historiques de Boston. C'est un superbe concept - suivre une ligne rouge qui va de part et d'autres des quartiers centraux historiques - mais il nous a un peu déçu. On s'attendait à ce qu'il y ait des panneaux d'interprétation expliquant les lieux que nous visitions, mais ce n'était pas le cas. On a vu plein de belles choses, mais sans trop en connaître l'histoire. Apparemment que c'est mieux de payer pour être accompagné d'un guide (!!!) si on veut connaître l'histoire de la ville. De plus, une fois rendu au bout de cette trail de 2.5 milles, il fallait revenir sur nos pas pour retourner au centre-ville. On avait chaud et on était tannés de marcher, alors on a pris l'autobus de ville pour retourner au centre. L'autobus coûtait seulement $1.50!! C'est vraiment pas cher.

On est retourné à Quincy Market pour souper. Cette fois-là, nous sommes allés là où on sert la meilleure Clam Chowder en ville: chez la chaîne Houston's. JF a confirmé qu'elle était vraiment excellente.

Le lendemain, après une nuit plutôt blanche, nous avons décidé de rentrer à la maison un jour plus tôt. J'ai commencé à avoir des symptômes de rhume à mon tour dans l'auto et je suis malade depuis. Notre deuxième semaine de vacances a donc été peu mouvementée: on est resté à la maison, on a profité de la piscine, on a regardé beaucoup de films. Ce n'était pas la semaine que j'espérais, mais on n'y peut rien.