Spartan Sprint

Day two of Spartan racing, and we were all hungry to take on the course again. ES and MK were going to start in the elite wave at 9am, which is the only competitive wave. I did a bit of jogging and ABCs at our campsite, but thought that although the Super hadn't done any extra damage to my hip, I'm still not actually healed, so I'd better start at 9:30 and take my sweet time again.

Looking around at the race crowd, we almost didn't see any chewed-up or bruised-up legs, only the clean baby-soft skin of those who hadn't raced the Super the day before. Would this be an advantage or a disadvantage? As I was cheering my buddies off at their elite start, I noticed the pro racers sponsored by Kronobar toeing the line. There's supposed to be some extra prize if anyone beats them... we shall see...

I threw a bottle of Gatorade into my Camelbak this time and took a gel before the start. Did a lot of dynamic leg warm ups. My wave took off again around the lake, and knowing what I know about Mont Onontio, I started off in the same easy jog while all the suckers sprinted past me. Soon enough, a long line of trudging Spartans had formed on the upward trail, while I deftly hopped past them on the side all the way to the top. I even got asked if I was from the next wave, LOL.

The race proceeded similarly to the Super, except after the downhill, the course was obviously much shorter. Still, I seemed to remember all the deep mud, each log, each slippery rock - and continued slowly jogging my way through the field of competition. I even let myself get slowed down by them a few times to get my heart rate down, but then overtook a lot of people on the treacherous downhill.

The long wire crawl was still there, but I realized that because my legs were essentially one big bruise, I had a hard time being as fast and aggressive as the day before. I think one or two guys passed me. And one dude kicked me in the mouth (before I passed him!), which was hilarious because although we were almost completely covered in mud at that point, I guess no one else had a boot print right on their face.

At the end of the wire course, I decided to apply a triathlon swim-to-bike transition technique: don't run right after going from horizontal to vertical. I walked up to the two-by-sixes, calming my heart rate and breathing well. It would be 30 burpees today for falling off the planks, and I couldn't afford that. I got through the planks really slowly, stopping at each corner to regroup. Made it!

I was now at the site of my horrific crampy crash the day before. I'd taken a second gel at 30mins, and dutifully sucked back that Gatorade constantly. 45mins in, and no problems yet. I swam the river again and continued to the rope climbs. This time, it was "là pour les femmes," as the volunteer pointed to the rope ladder - the rope itself was reserved pour les hommes. Sweet! I'd promised ES and MK that I'd get to the top of that damn ladder this time. I tried a sideways technique to stabilize it, one foot on each side; I breathed through it and hit the top! Jumped up and over a small cargo net, and on to the main open field for the rest of the obstacles.

Nearly got the spear to stick this time, but finally took my first and last set of burpees. Ripped up the rock climb, grimaced with disappointment that the second wire crawl was blocked off on this course, and ran out onto the field to hear my friends running alongside me and cheering me on. I had a huge smile on my face this time, so they cheered even louder and took me through the course with commentary, LOL: "out of the way - badass coming through!"

I got to the wall climb, but they'd taken down one set of the girlie steps, and a long line had formed for the remaining set - the girl ahead of me decided to use the supports to pull herself up, so I did the same and flew over the wall. Had to make it look good for my friends! Ripped through all the tunnel crawls, over the cargo net, and got so excited about the rowing machine, that I fell off the seat after 5 reps, haha.

Still with my buds running along the course and ES screaming to keep my ass low to the ground on the last wire crawl, I found one narrow gap without people jammed up in it, and tore right through it in two seconds. I ran up the first small incline, and ES yelled, "you know what's next Goss!!" - I gave a theatrical yell at the top as I jumped off, took the next one, and then hit the top of the last big incline, tumbling over on the other side. I ran at the jousting guys laughing, having finished the perfect course in the best way I possibly could have.

--Distance: ~6-7km
--Duration: 1:20 (unofficial)

Best part? ES still beat MK on this course, although apparently by like 4 seconds, rolling down the last pyramid, come what may. And she earned 3rd place!

Team Trifecta - one more medal and we'll earn the name

All three of us got out our blue medals from the day before to add to our red ones and realized there were only a handful of other people who could do the same. We spent the rest of the morning dancing, grinding, and lasciviously feeding each other grapes in the middle of the field while waiting for the elite medal ceremony. (That really is why we will drive out many hours and/or to other countries to race together!) Turned out that the Kronobar nearly dominated the podium again, but ES was the only non-pro to break through! Wooooooo!

---------------

All along our way to and from camping to the race site or to eat in the town, there were m-dot logos on the sides of the road, and tons of triathletes testing out the Ironman race route. So exciting! The route is so breathtakingly beautiful, makes me wanna shoot for next year's 70.3...

Fun game I played on a restaurant patio: spot the Spartan, spot the Ironman. A bit of a different crowd. LOL

Super Spartan

I took a lot of effort for a reunited Team Trifecta to get to this Spartan weekend in Mont Tremblant - ES and I got short on gas in the middle of the Laurentians and slept in the car at a closed gas station until it reopened at 6:30am, while MK did not sleep at all, as he was at work all night preventing a nuclear meltdown and drove straight in from Syracuse in the morning. The day was turning into a scorcher, but we finally managed to start in the 12:00 wave. I let my buddies get to the front so they could battle it out yet again, while I hung back, anticipating a long walk through the course, depending on how I felt.

After all the usual Spartan start-line grand-standing, the wave got under way, and I shuffled onto the trail around beautiful Lac Raynaud. I let every last person pass me, briskly walking the course and getting a feel for my hip. I finally got caught up by the medical volunteer on her bike, and I think she mistook me for someone without the stamina required to complete a ~12km run, haha. So to give her some confidence, I started shuffling a bit faster, and eventually got into a comfortable light jog. I started passing some walkers pretty soon. Once around the lake, we got sent straight up a wonderful single-track snowshoe trail on Mont Onontio. Suddenly everyone was walking except me. I just hopped at the same easy pace all the way to the top. The elevation change is somewhere between 120m and 160m depending on which topo map you ask.

A quick run around the top of this absolutely gorgeous little mountain, and we found ourselves plummeting back down another single-track trail, this time very muddy and rocky and highly technical. Another huge advantage for a fleet-footed trail runner like me, and I skillfully worked my way among the hazards and past a great many more cautious racers. Still not racing anyone, but taking the opportunity to observe their skill and confidence level, and taking very specific opportunities to pass safely but aggressively - I might as well keep my trail racing skills up while I have the chance!

Back at the bottom, we got taken on a series of very long and tiring mud runs. As with the rocky downhills, you had to be fast and precise in your decisions about where to put your feet, this time not to get stuck and lose a shoe - and there certainly were a few victims along the way. I was nearly flawless here too, but got stuck once along the course up to my knees, haha. There were a few weenie obstacles thrown in out here, but nothing of great concern: pressing a light wood log, carrying a cinder block a short way up a hill, running a maze with a sandbag, jumping a low wooden wall, hopping a few tires. But the mud runs seemed endless - I think because I was "just having fun" it didn't get to me as much as to the others.

I had taken one gel at 45mins, and intended to wash another one down with the water in my Camelbak at 1:30, but I finally saw a real obstacle down trail and decided against it - mistake!

Ahead was at least 100m of muddy, rocky barbed wire crawl. This is my favourite obstacle, but it's usually clogged up with cautious, inexperienced racers, too afraid of getting bruised knees or losing their shorts on the wire. I decided to just go in at full speed and slither my way in between everyone else, refusing to get slowed down by them. I must have passed about 50 people here, and no one passed me.

After my great success on the mountain and under the wire, I was feeling amazing. Still refusing to race, just going at my own manageable speed - which just happened to be faster than the entire rear-guard of this wave. I got right into the next challenge, which was walking on top of some two-by-sixes standing on edge - ahead of crossing a small river on some soft barrels. I was dizzy now, and fell off the planks a couple of times. Punishment burpees for me. I got through about 10 and started to feel a cramp above my ankle, I got up to 15 and had to quit. The pain was unbearable, and I ended up sitting there for 20 minutes, massaging, stretching, and watching aaaaaaall those people go past me again. Who's pathetic and inexperienced now? haha.

Once I'd satisfied the lifeguard there that the cramp was gone, and having downed that forgotten electrolyte-laden gel, I swam the river and kept going; it was 2:05 into the race. A few short minutes later, the other ankle muscle went! Another 5 minutes to try to get rid of it. But we were now well on our way to the actual obstacle course near the finish area, so I knew I could finish, I just had to be extra cautious about my ankles, not just my butt, which was performing admirably, LOL.

Obstacle Course section:

• Sandbag on a pulley: fine
• Rope ladder: my fear of heights and my anxiety about the cramps kicking in at the top both got the better of me, and I quit about halfway up - burpees for me.
• Rope climb: my one automatic nemesis - more burpees.
• Cargo net: fine, but my foot got a crampy twinge in the arch as I stepped on the netting! Good call on the rope ladder.
• Spear throw into hay bale: I'd managed this last year, but no luck today - more burpees. At least I got to keep practising my French with the volunteers. "Combien de foix???" "Vingt." "Trente." "Kazilliente..."
• Run up a 12-15ft rock with a rope: no problem
• Another barbed-wire crawl (short): this had a huuuuge line-up just to start. Once I got my chance, I crawled between and over anyone I could to get through fast.
• Hay tunnel crawl: fast
• Wheelbarrow pull: fine. But the cramps returned after this, so I stopped under a tree and massaged some more.
• Wall climb: about 7ft, but girls got these two thin blocks to use on the way up, so no problem for me, and I love jumping off the top!
• Plastic tube crawl: pulled myself on my side with one arm so that my slimy body would just slide through.
• Cargo net: no problem up, but the foot cramp came back on the other side. Now I could hear ES and MK yelling my name from below, so I stretched out my foot and kept going down.
• Rowing machines: quinze foix pour les femmes, no problem
• Another super-short wire crawl: awesome
• Run up two inclines: totally cool, until you realize it's a sheer drop-off on the other side! Apparently the look on my face was priceless, haha.
• Run up one huge slippery incline with a rope: got a bit stuck at the top, and my foot was totally cramped again, but this was the last thing before the:
• Guys with the jousting sticks giving you a beating before the finish line!

I crossed the line straight into the crushing hug of my buddy MK, and a huge smile from ES. Of course while they were concerned about my condition out on the course, I was most interested in whether MK had managed to beat ES this time - no chance, she's still faster than him, yay!

--Distance: ~14km
--Duration: ~2:45 (unofficial)

This was a very unexpected course: essentially a long-ass trail run ahead of the obstacle course at the very end. ES was really disappointed, even though she's a talented trail runner and medallist. But she had come out for obstacles. For me, the course worked to my advantage because even though I took it easy, I did much better on the trail than the others in my wave who are mostly gym-rats and not experienced runners. Mostly though, as I was hopping along on that breath-taking mountain trail, I realized how much I'd missed being able to do trail runs. It was pure bliss for me. I could have stayed out there all day.

Next up was the Sprint course, and with the "light warm-up" we got on what was actually a 14km Super course, we were much better prepared to tackle the Sprint like pros.

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Warm-up: 600m swim / pull

I tried kicking normally during the regular swim lengths, but I found that in order to avoid pain, I was just using my ankles. A friend suggested I just stick to pulling, which is what he does when he's got leg issues. I was really bad at pulling drills because I always felt like I was fishtailing after each pull, so I dreaded having to do the whole workout like that. But I am always up for a challenge!

All pull buoy:
4x 100m, 4th gets faster
7x 100m, hold the pace
4x 100m, even faster pace

Coach was away, so the instructions were a bit slim, and no rest breaks were indicated. I decided to pick a swimming time and a constant rest time between each set: 30secs.

First 3x 100m were on a leisurely 2:30, and I needed that because I had to get used to proper strokes with the pull buoy. For the 4th, I dropped to 2:20, still with the 30secs break.

For the long middle set, I tried holding the 2:20, but I guess I got better at pulling straight and strong, and I kept finishing 2:10-2:15, even with trying to slow myself down. So with the last two to go, I just decided to officially drop down to 2:10. That's when I could feel myself working.

That meant that the last 4 would be on 2:00, and that was perfectly intense. I really pulled my little heart out. But nailed all sets, and even came in slightly under time.

4x 50m on 100m pace (assigned was 10x)
Held the 1:00 50s, with 15secs break

50m easy pull

At the end, the silver lining of my achy hip was that I really brought up my pull buoy technique and had a strong upper-body workout instead.

--Distance: 2,350m
--Duration: 75mins

Achy Light Jog

Was supposed to do an easy shake-out ride, but the GTA got hit with thunder and lightning, so I waited it out, drove down to the pool, and decided to test out my new Zoot tri shoes on a very light jog. My hip had started hurting earlier in the day, and by the time I started jogging, it was actually quite bad. I couldn't use proper strides, and after just going around the block, I was totally done.

I tried testing different mobilities by trying ABCs. Normally (term used loosely here), I would feel pain on the Bs done on the injured side. But this time, I couldn't do As on the good side because I couldn't actually support myself on the bad leg! All the actual motions were fine, but I couldn't put weight on my left. This is a new development unfortunately.

Biking the Hospital Hills

Bum is achy today, so no running for me. My assigned workout instead was hill repeats in Sunnybrook Park. Bonus was that I'd get to see my XSNRG friends, as they were doing the same repeats on foot.

Warm-up: easy spin through the park, then chatting forever with friends, and waiting for the cars to go up the long hill so I wouldn't get run over.

5x long gradual hill, 5x short steep hill, alternating with recovery down and across.
Distances: ~600m and ~300m + ~950m in between
Elevations: I don't trust the Garmin readout. Inconsistent/faulty.

Uphill splits:

1:57 - 1:15

1:46 - 1:12

1:52 - 1:12

1:46 - 1:17

1:47 - 1:17

The recovery rides in between were ~3:15 on average.

I hit my max speed on the second steep uphill (30.1kph) and all the highest speeds were set on the uphills, not the recoveries. Who knew? Probably because of the short running starts I'd get. Very short, though.

I sometimes couldn't hit the lap button in time as I passed my landmarks going into the hills, so some of the laps may be showing short, but overall they were very consistent. This is surprising because I was already leg-tired after the first 2 sets, and after 4, I didn't think I'd finish the 5. But pulled it off somehow.

Cool-down: a breezy aero ride through the park, ~4km.

--Distance: 18.2km
--Duration: 1:07 (excluding 19mins of sitting around after the warm-up)

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Warm-up: 100m swim / 100m kick / 50m pull [we abandoned this cause we were all late starting]

50 x 50m w/ fins on 1:00

That's right, 50 sprints in a row. There were three of us valiant souls in my lane, and we totally kicked ass.

Started around 0:42, but soon dropped to 0:43. It took me until at least the mid-teens to settle my breathing down; before that, I sounded like I'd just been pulled from the bottom of the pool.

Fell back to 0:44 here and there, but generally, lap after lap, we held the 0:43. To maintain sanity, I kept cycling through my body parts to make sure they were working correctly: entry, catch, pull, push, roll, reach, fire the hips, and most importantly: breathe out steadily and calm the fk down.

After about 20-25, I was well settled in, and just kept hammering, still on the same pace. Somewhere around then I started to get closer to our fearless leader, and I think I benefited from a bit of a draft. Poor guy always has to work harder up there in the front!

Around 35 or so, I believe I actually lost my marbles, and began to believe that going back and forth was all I had ever done my whole life, and like a hamster on a wheel, am destined to continue going back and forth in the pool for the remainder of my life as well.

Normally people just sprint on the very last one, but to us, the last 5 were already the last ones on this time scale. We were so excited, we started dropping back to 0:42. The penultimate lap for me was 0:41. I think I growled my way into the start of number 50, and pulled off a crushing 0:40 - actually my fastest lap of the whole set.

Cool-down: No. Did not bother. We just sat there and talked for the last few minutes.

This was as much a test of mental endurance as physical stamina. I think we did very well! I think without our Coach present, we had to band together in each lane and get the job done. Awesome.

More awesome was that the one we call Speedy over in the shark-tank lane did the whole workout with his feet tied up with a band, and still rolled everyone else up and smoked us. :)

--Distance: 2,750m
--Duration: 60mins

Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(15) Box Jumps: 15 / 15 / 15 [best I could do for a box was an aerobics step thingy with two risers, so kind of light here]
(10) Push-ups: 10 / 10 / 10
(10) BB Squats: 70lbs / 70lbs / 70lbs [Noticed after it should have been 15, oops! Flawless form, but really tough for some reason.]
(10) DB Curls: 15lbs x2 / 15lbs x2 / 15lbs x2
---60secs REST
(12) Straight-Arm Cable Pull-downs: setting 3 / setting 4 / setting 3
(12) Cable Lat Pull-downs: setting 9 / setting 10 / setting 11
(10) Leg Press: 200lbs / 220lbs / 240lbs
(4) Pull-ups: 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 / 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 / 1 + 1 + 1 + 3/4
 ---30secs REST
(30secs) Front Plank: reg. / reg. / w/ arm reach
(30secs/side) Side Plank: reg. / reg. / w/ leg raises
(10) Supermans: 10 / 10 / 10
---30secs REST

--Duration: 45mins

Ride for Heart

This event had been on my radar for two years, as some friends regularly attend for a fun ride on two of the city's major highways! I didn't consider doing it until this year, now that I have a bike that can take me a long way, and I can finally take it up a hill or two! I'd been practising a lot these past few months, and I can honestly say that I had honed all the skills I'd need to have a great Ride. I was really excited for weeks leading up to it - that's what confidence brings!

Technically, the max route available is 75km - start at the Exhibition, across the Gardiner, up the DVP to York Mills, down to the Bayview extension, back up to York Mills, back down and over to the Ex, then an extra jump west to Humber and finally back. My friend CM managed to do 100km last year by adding an extra loop up to YM. Well if he could do it, so would I! Same goes for our other friend ML - we were all in for a 100km time trial on our aero bikes. My other perennial Rider friends EW and JD were gonna go for the 75, one on a city road bike, the other on his heavier commuter. I would not have the courage. I still don't really enjoy cycling, so I wanted this to be over in as little time as possible. Plus I just wanted to fly!

Route Link

Since this is largely a family event and fundraiser, anyone expecting to speed through this needs to start as early as possible to avoid the crowds of pleasure-riders. I put myself on the start line at 6:05am, but looks like I could have started even before 6. A short ride through the Ex, and I found myself getting marshalled onto a Gardiner on-ramp! I was giddy as I slipped onto the empty highway. What a feeling.

I started passing any riders in front of me, and I didn't get caught by a roadie until after going through downtown. Before I knew it, I was gliding down the ramp onto the DVP, and this is where I recorded my top speed for the Ride, 50.8kph. This was also where I rode past some baby geese - waddling in the left lane! Very cute, but I hope they got outta there fast.

I finally got passed by a small group of roadies somewhere in Riverdale.

--Distance: 100km
--Duration: 3:27:00

Open Water Swim

First training open water swim! I like to train after I race for maximum effect.

Drove up with a club buddy to Lake Wilcox for a chilly and drizzly 8am only because someone had a club trisuit for me to try (a bit too big after all). Some keeners were already swimming at 7am, but for me even 8am was brutal. I waved them off on their bikes and started pulling on the wetsuit. This wasn't too bad, and I used Body Glide on shins, forearms, knees, elbows. Double swim cap. New goggles.

At the shore, I met an orienteering friend who is doing triathlons these days too. He was just out of the water, and without a wetsuit, so I figured I'd be fine. The water was quite warm and comfortable. AB's two friends were just finishing up their swim, but another person was going in with me. Unfortunately he turned around at the second buoy; I decided to keep going. And going, and going, and going.

Route Link

Once I got out to the middle of the 1km lake, I thought I should just go to the other side. It's kind of a stupid thing to do by yourself, but I kept calming myself down because I regularly cover this distance in the pool, albeit via intervals. The water was a bit choppy, and I took in some serious water a couple of times, but had to calm myself again. The wetsuit is such a great security blanket.

I got to the other side, and approached the shore, which was a private beach. I was feeling sluggish. But as soon as my foot grazed some invisible slimy weed, I literally corkscrewed a 180 and thrashed my way back out into the deep. Gross! The way back seemed easier physically, even though my goggles were completely foggy (probably due to the temperature) and I kept having to stop and re-sight. My watch ran out of battery, so don't know quite how long this took me.

Taking off the wetsuit was a nightmare and a half. Even before I got it stuck on El Satellite Dish, it was already hard to get over my elbows, greasy as they were. The legs weren't as bad, but still pretty slow. Not race-ready at all. By the time I got back to the lot, my carpool buddy was already back from her ride. Just how long was I in that water?!?

--Distance: 2,000m
--Duration: 1:15 ??

On the way back, we stopped at Running Free, and I got some tri-shoes: Zoot Ultra TT 2.0 (older model, but best one they had). Very thin and light, and a breeze to put on. They make me run on the balls of my feet too. Got an extra-extra discount for the size being mismatched - I didn't even notice when running in them! 8.0 Left, 8.5 Right. Hope it's okay IRL. They match my current Zoot trisuit, but won't match the club gear I'll be racing in. Oh, the fashion!!

Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set / 4th set
______________________________
(20) Burpees: 20 / 20 / 20 / 20
(10/side) DB Bench Rows: 30lbs / 25lbs / 25lbs / 25lbs
(10) DB Squats*: 30lbs x2 / 35lbs x2 / 40lbs x2 / 40lbs x2
(10) Various SB exercises: Sit-ups w/ rotation / back extension / roll-outs / roll-outs
---60secs REST
(10) Glute-Ham Raise: 35lbs plate / 40lbs DB
(10) Pull-ups: 1 + 1 + 3/4 / 1 + 1 + 1/2
(10/side) Triceps DB Kickbacks: 15lbs
 ---60secs REST

 --Duration: 42mins

*hands down at sides, much easier