Once I start cooking food that is worth posting about, I'll post it! But that time is not now.

Sick Days!

Having some sort of flu-ey cold since Friday, with lots of fever and throat issues. Missed a long bike ride. Generally up to nothing but sleeping and coughing.

Kyoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu

Blocking and kicking drills, Nidan kata review, knife-on-knife defences, restraints when opponent is trying to get up.

--Duration: 45mins

My training partner is coming back in a month!

Gym Workout

Tested out that strained tendon. Squats and lateral lunges were actually okay.

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(10) Front Squat: 75lbs / 75lbs / 80lbs
(10) DB Rows @ Bench Plank: 20lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
(10/Side) Heel Raises: BW / BW / BW
 ---60secs REST
(10/Side) Cable Triceps Pull-Down: 7.5lbs / 12.5lbs / 12.5lbs
(20/Side) Plank w/ Arm Reach: 20 / 20 / 20
(10) Cable O/H Pulldown: 60lbs / 60lbs / 60lbs
---60secs REST
(10/Side) Cross-Body Chop: 15lbs DB / 15lbs DB / 15lbs DB
(10/Side) Lateral Lunge: 30lbs / 30lbs / 30lbs [can go higher]
(1-2) Jump to Neutral Chin-ups: 2 / 1 / 1 [couldn't use the regular chin-up station with the step, so had to jump up to one]
---60secs REST

--Duration: 47mins

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Late from work, what else is new? Caught one part of the warm-up: 100m kick

15x 100m on 2:15
Should have been 1-4 on 2:15 minus 1-2 secs on each one, then 5-11 at the last steady pace, then 12-15 taking it down another 1-2secs each.

It took me about the first 700m to warm-up, and I finally started swimming strong. So no up-shifting for me on the first 400m. I was last in my lane and usually got about 5secs break, so I was swimming 2:10s. For the last part, I took it down 1sec per 100m. Flips were great for the first 300m, then I lost my breath entirely. Strokes felt good after I warmed-up. I know I'd have done a lot better with a warm-up, so I don't feel too bad about this performance after 2 weeks out of the pool.

400m pull/paddles

100m swim

--Distance: 2,100m
--Duration: 55mins

Chiropractic Treatment

Ankle and foot adjustments (cuboid joint still sore), SI adjustment on the right, sub-tibial adjustment, Thumper on my calves, quads, hamstrings, glutes and ITB. Didn't feel too bad.

I reported the pain in between my left hamstring and glute, so she tested the connecting tendon for tearing by having me press against her arm pushing down on my leg. I could resist very well, so she concluded that it's a minor strain that just needs some rest. Phew.

Bike Maintenance Clinic

Presented by the Toronto Triathlon Club and hosted by Enduro Sport, this was an extremely dense seminar on triathlon bike maintenance. Cervélo man Chris took us through the most commonly known to the most obscure bike parts, with a particular focus on roadside maintenance during a race. I wish I'd had my bike in front of me to follow along. At least I had my bike buddy ML next to me so I could ask stupid questions, such as "what is the crank?"

Here are tips I can actually remember:

• the chain eventually wears out and stretches and should be changed once a year or so, otherwise it will wear out one side of the teeth on the cassette, and then that will also have to be replaced
• keeping your chain lubed will prevent the wear
• use wet lube in slushy winter conditions and dry lube for the summer, but degrease and clean with soap and water once in a while
• use a cotton cloth to clean the outside of the chain after applying lube, and the cloth should be lightly grey in the end, not black
• a chain breaker tool can be used to shorten a broken chain, so that the bike can be ridden home on the smaller gears
• if experiencing problems with shifting in one direction, may need to adjust the <blank>
• use a tire lever to take the tire off the rim, then pull the tube out, but not completely; inflate the tube to find the puncture, then find the same puncture along the tire and remove debris
• inflate the new tube, replace one side of the clincher tire, shove the tube in, then replace the other side of the tire, in order to avoid pinching and puncturing the tube
• when necessary, a tire boot can be fashioned from anything like a gel wrapper or similar item to get you to the end of the ride
• if you break a spoke on a ride, you must release the tension on its partner spoke with a spoke wrench so that the wheel will remain more-or-less true until you get back
• when replacing a spoke, make sure all spokes are de-tensioned and then re-tensioned together
• break pads should be very lightly angled so that they are closer to the tire at the farthest point along the tire's travel through the pads, which prevents catching at the closest point
• if you clean your bike often (soap and water will do), you can catch any defects such as cracks in the frame or parts wear
• brake and shifter cables can wear out by pinching, tearing or rusting at the ends and need to be replaced
• when removing and replacing the seat post or stem, a torque wrench should be used to adjust the bolts to the correct torque in order to prevent crushing the frame

 Okay, there was more, but I probably didn't understand it. Phew!

Foam Rolling

Big session tonight after the long run. I hit everything: calves, shins, hamstrings, quads, glutes, lower back, traps, upper arms, and I even got the pressure balls under my feet as the arches felt a bit strained. Took a whole hour, but will hopefully speed my recovery.

Trail Run

After the Hard Rock race, three of us (me, my teammate CK and another Raid friend JH) decided to extend our mileage. CK and JH had both done Raids in the area and produced two course maps we could use. A flick of a marked O-string, and we had a rough idea of which trails to take to put in about 12K extra. The route would have some wide trails that we had in this race and some single track further out. We took turns following along on the map, just to keep our minds fresh.

As we moved through the Hard Rock part of the map, we compared notes on our route choices; always good to hear other ideas. We were definitely moving at a "mileage-building" pace rather than a racing pace. At one point on a main trail, we ran into a dog-walker, and CK excitedly ran off to play with the puppy. He bounded away at such high speed, all JH and I could do was laugh. Where does he get this energy after so many miles?? JH suggested we implement a bungee tow line during our race to equalize the team. Having been on either end of a tow line in past races, I am completely okay with that. Anything to keep the team moving at an even pace.

I wasn't managing my electrolytes very well that day, so about halfway through our run my calf muscles, particularly my left one, started to cramp. We stopped, and JH kneaded the crap out of my medial gastroc - then he recommended his pair of calf compression sleeves - the SL3S - as he has the same problem. He said he can "feel them working." I went on to buy them first thing Monday morning. :)

I continued with the map going across some woods on single-track. But I got distracted and suddenly realized I didn't know exactly where along the trail we were. We stood there thinking about it for a while, but CK was fairly confident that we were still on the right trail as he'd been running here recently. Lesson learned, though. In the race, keep checking off the features along the way.

The woods were so pretty here. No one out, just the three of us running and chatting. Totally sweet. As we hooked back up towards the day's race map, CK pulled us onto one helluva gnarly single track that he loves. JH and I were just chugging along, but CK darted off, bounding from one root to the next. It really was a joyride, but there was no way we could keep up! That tow line is a good idea.

We finally got back to the original junction coming off towards race HQ, but the boys decided that instead of taking our original trail back, they wanted to explore how the heck an L-shaped trail apparently cuts across a huge area of swamp ... a swamp deemed uncrossable by the meet directors. Would it be a landbridge? A raised bridge-bridge? We had to know!

It turned out to be a single-file swath of soggy dirt surrounded by waist-deep water, and fully over-grown with sumac bushes. We bushwacked for a while and soon reached that point in a ridiculous journey where you have to keep going just to see what happens. We kept looking out for a similar piece of land going across at a 90 degree angle, but there was nothing but water ahead. After an eternity balancing on this narrow strip of land, we suddenly broke through to dry forest - with a path running northbound towards HQ. It seems we'd misinterpreted the colouring and hatching on the map. The long part to of the L is actually vegetation with a bit of water, not water with a bit of vegetation (rolls the eyes). CK exclaimed "that wast the longest 200m of my life!" as we started running north. :) This last part was the prettiest section of our run - all darkened woods and mossy green rocks - well worth the fight.

So another ~13.5K in the bank, which added to the race 11K brings us up to about 24.5K for the day. The best thing was just running and laughing with good friends. As always! :)

Route map to follow, as I didn't have the big race maps to work from.

Hard Rock Enduro

Venue: Rocky Ridge Ranch, Campbellville ON
Terrain: flat and very rocky, woods, marshes/swamps
Weather: just lightly chilly and perfect

This was the test-race for the Giant's Rib Raid in two weeks, and my teammate CK and I decided to run it as a team to get a feel for our navigational styles and communication. The Raids being somewhat like adventure races, you get to look at your map long before the start and pick out your route, and this training race was the same. What a luxury! We sketched out our route choices down to the contour line, but left some wiggle room here and there to switch things up depending on how the terrain would actually look. I didn't think of this, but CK forgot his highlighter, which people can use in such races to mark out their preferred route. It will be in our kit at the Raid.

The course was 15 point-to-point controls with one walk-the-line section of two controls that were not on the map. Our friend JH warned us that the starting section, which was a maze of trails, can be very tricky, so we were especially careful there. We were starting a long time after everyone else, but we caught up to quite a lot of people. We were going to co-navigate, which could be problematic or advantageous, depending on how the communication works out.

Route Link

We got a bit distracted going to control 1, but quickly realized the trail over-shoot and got it. After that, we started to each verbalize the features as we saw them to keep on track in the maze. We flew to controls 2 and 3. Then we had to walk the line, and although one of the controls was visible right away, we thought we'd put in the practise following the features - and you never know if the other control isn't first out there somewhere. We held a great line and found both easily. Then I made a basically inexplicable error in what should have been a short dash to 4, but like a good teammate, CK wasn't flustered - we just moved on.

For 5, we opted to use some marshy and rocky features instead of taking the longer way around on a safe major trail. We must have gotten distracted because we stopped and argued a bit as to where we were. We wasted a bit of time there until CK decided to test his theory, and I decided it's best to do something rather than nothing. CK was right and we got to the right spot, although the control had been stolen, so we wasted a bit more time ascertaining that we'd found it before moving on. The lesson from 5 was that it's better to risk being wrong and just go and test your theory than stand there and think and argue.

After that we had some longer runs and pretty clear navigation. We managed to pass some other people. A couple of other controls were missing, but we didn't waste time at them this time. Later there was one longer run we had to do very close to the edge of the map, and there were very light features to go by before banking right towards a control in the middle of the woods. We had gotten so good and the verbalizing of our surroundings, that we confidently noticed all the minute changes in the trail and very fine contours. We hit control 12 perfectly. Then I took a great bearing for the maze trail system again, and we were fairly good going back through to the finish.

This was a great learning experience for the two of us, as we picked up a lot little points to fix for the Raid, while still doing very well. Preliminary results have us in 6th, with 5 people, not teams, ahead of us. A few competitors didn't bother to download their results, but we feel really good about this accomplishment.

--Distance: 11.1K
--Duration: 1:37:46 (officially tied for 6th, to the second!)

CK & I had a great talk afterwards about all the good points and the areas for improvement, and this is the summary:

Good:
- leaving a route alternative based on the terrain/vegetation that would be encountered
- minimizing climb by paying attention to contours over larger areas
- verbalizing the features as they come up to keep ourselves on-track and to give the other teammate confidence (especially when choosing to go into a control)
- keeping calm after screw-ups, just re-focusing and not being upset with each other
- ascertaining which features alert us to an over-shoot

Improvements:
- not dawdling at a control
- focusing on the correct direction from a control to a trail (highlighted route will help!)
- if we do start arguing, stop and just test a theory, preferably the Captain's
- check the control number and/or description at the previous control or soon after
- nutrition and other necessities kept within hand's reach (needed a pack upgrade)
- (just me) keeping a tight schedule of gel and electrolyte intake, but implementing on longer run sections
- packing highlighters for route marking!
- bungee tow line to equalize the team

Other Strategy:
- walk-the-line: one teammate always walks the actual line, two others flank
- verbally go over the proposed route with details so that minute route choices are more automatic out there
- develop clear exit-strategies for more aggressive route choices if we really get stuck

Gym Workout

Felt weaker tonight than last week - can't take so many days off!

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(10) Incline DB Bench Press: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 [the first 25lbs were questionable - I think mislabeled...]
(10/Side) Heel Raises: BW / BW / BW
(10) B/O DB Scaption: 8lbs x2 / 10lbs x2 / 8lbs x2
 ---60secs REST
(10) Front Squat: 75lbs / 75lbs / 80lbs
(10) Chin-ups: 5-5 / 4-6 / 3-7
(10-15/Side) Cable Hip Abduction: 10 @ 12.5lbs / 15 @ 7.5lbs
---60secs REST
(10) Glute-Ham Raise: 35lbs plate / 40lbs DB / 40lbs DB
(10/Side) Cross-Body Chop: 15lbs DB / 15lbs DB / 15lbs DB
(10) Push Press: 50lbs / 50lbs
---60secs REST

--Duration: 47mins

Kyoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu

Attack combinations, variations on punch defenses, Nidan kata review.

--Duration: 60mins

Triathlon Bike Fitting 2

After my original fitting, I knew that I needed a new saddle, new shoes, and an adjustment of my front end, which that fitter was not comfortable dealing with. After a couple of months of searching for a saddle and shoes, I decided to go to the Cervélo experts at Enduro Sport to just deal with the whole thing from scratch.

Very interestingly, I was much less satisfied with the second fitting process, but much, much more satisfied with the result. I wasn't really measured at all, but the Enduro fitters instead had a kind of intuitive vision for what they wanted to achieve and just used their experience to eyeball everything into place. I just wanted to trust that this is their territory, and they'd do a great job.

We first picked a new saddle by trial-and-error. Essentially all the "traditionally shaped" saddles were very uncomfortable on me, slitted or not. I finally tried the comically-shaped ISM Adamo Racing II, which has two prongs protruding in the front, with quite a gap in between. Sheer comfort for all my parts! It was the only one that didn't have me squirming around to find the right spot. For anyone who knows Polish, I was sorry that the Serfas brand Curva saddle did not fit! I also settled on the Shimano TR52 men's carbon-soled shoes, which are nice and wide in the toe box.

My seat post got raised, my saddle got moved forward. It turns out that from that position, and with my elbows resting directly over the pads, the aero bars are actually perfectly sized for me. This was a point of contention, because the other fitter wanted me to keep my upper forearms on the pads, while the head fitter here, Chris Bastie, insisted that the elbows must be on the pads, so that the weight of the body is transferred down from the shoulders along the skeletal structure, not through the arm musculature, which will reduce fatigue. In the end, the stem did not have to be shortened in order for me to handle the shifters easily.

They did acknowledge that the wedges put into my cleats by the first fitter were good when I told them about my knees that rotate inward. However, it seems they wouldn't have known that otherwise, as they did not measure my foot angles the way he had done. They moved my shoes slightly forward on the pedal, as apparently pushing down with the metatarsal part of the foot can cause numbness, which I certainly was experiencing. They then adjusted the float of my cleats, which I hadn't heard of before and asked about. The floating cleat allows your foot and knee to find a natural position over the pedals, which will reduce the chance of knee injury. There should be an equal amount of float of the heel to either side of the cleat.

The last major adjustment was to lose one of the stem risers and instead make-up the height of the elbow pads with an aero bar riser, so that I would be angled more steeply down towards the shifters. Then they loosened the aero extensions and had me find the right angle so that I could totally relax my arms and hands. The goal with arm position is that one does not have to hang onto the extensions, but can keep the hands loose and relaxed.

All this took a very long time, so in the end, I had to leave the bike at the shop so that the mechanic could make some final adjustment. One was to re-angle the wing base bar to be completely horizontal to reduce drag. The other was to flip the shifters upside-down, which is apparently easier to use.

Haven't been on a real ride on the new set-up yet, but I took it for a spin around the block, and it does seem quite comfortable. Only time will tell if I made the right decision to get this thing re-fitted!

Chiropractic Treatment

Re-assessment day. Ankle and foot joints still need to be mobilized. Tons of tightness in the whole lower chain of muscles. And one more thing! My psoas muscles are incredibly tight, which apparently impacts the usefulness of my glutes. So unless I get that stretched out, it will impede my progress in the glute medius. It is a static stretch involving letting the leg hang off the side of the bed or bench for 15secs, x 4-6.

Other than that, got my feet adjusted and my lower leg soft-tissue work done.

XSNRG Running Club

Rykert Crescent Loops

Made sure to put in a warm-up run to the training area, although it didn't prevent my running cramps. Arrived just as the group was finishing up the intervals, so did my warm-up with their cool-down and got to work by myself. Hard!

Warm-up: 1.4K, ABCs, pick-ups, lunges, leg-swings

Route Link

1 Loop / 2 Loops / 1 Loop / 1 Loop / 2 Loops / 1 Loop - 2mins RI
Each Loop: 550m

2:12 / 4:28 / 2:13 / 2:11 / 4:40 / 2:13

Didn't think I'd get through the second set by myself, but somehow forced it. The second double-loop was very hard mentally, and it showed: the one inconsistent interval. Good attention to new running gait, but feels slow.

--Distance: 7.2K
--Duration: 65mins

Trail Loops

Present were me, my Raid teammate CK and SOF Chase teammate ES. The original plan for this post-Eliminator (and post huge lunch!) training run was going to be much longer and all over the area around southern Guelph. I was a bit over-dressed for the desert weather we were having, and my feet were getting chewed up in a pair of new shoes, so I didn't feel confident going too far from our vehicles. We opted to start on a short 4K woodsy loop on part of a course that served as the kick-off Thomass event in November, so two of us remembered it pretty well.

The trail was actually a lot of fun with lots of ups and downs and roots and mud and things to dodge. The woods were really beautiful. Quite a few people were out enjoying the warm weather. CK and I had our maps to follow the passing features as usual. At some point, CK joked that we should do the loop again to beat our time. Once we got back to our cars, I was so tired from trying to keep up with these two rockets that I said that we really ought to just stay here and run this wonderful loop some more. So we re-hydrated, re-fuelled, and reset the clock.

Route Link

Okay, the second loop was ridiculous. We booked it. I don't know where I found the energy (the Gu Roctane is a good guess) but I hammered up and down those hills. It was fun to keep hurtling past the same bewildered dog-walkers - we would ask, "we're not going in circles, are we??" :) We actually shaved more than 4mins off our time, and each loop is 3.63K. I got back to the parking lot and just collapsed!

At this point, CK still seemed fresh as a daisy, ES wanted to only do one more loop, as she needed to taper for Around the Bay, and I was basically half-dead. My tummy was also not liking the massive lunch we'd enjoyed with the other Thomass die-hards earlier. I consented to one more loop and felt really bad that I'd be slowing the others down and/or keeping the mileage low. But they are so nice about it. That is why they are my teammates. :) I really was slow the third time around, and around 2/3 of the way, I asked them to go all-out to the finish while I walked, clutching my middle. The race-horses took off - I was glad to see them get to run at their true speed. I shuffled back, but managed to nearly finish by the time CK found me on his way back.

--Distance: 10.9K (3.63 x3)
--Duration: 27:10 / 22:31 / 29:56 (25:41 for my teammates)

So, only a combined 18.5K for today, and I was whupped.

Thomass Eliminator

Venue: Morriston Crown Forest
Terrain: flat, forest, over-grown meadow, brambles
Weather: sunny and hot

The final race in the Thomass series, and always my personal favourite. There are 3 consecutive courses, where the first round eliminates all but the top 20 competitors, the second round eliminates another 10, and the final 10 vie for top ranking. Those eliminated still run the other courses but will automatically place in the lower tier based on their time. Trying to initially qualify makes for a mad sprint, and you have to keep your wits about you. I've managed to qualify top-16 twice before.

Before starting, we were advised that there are many controls out there in similar spots, so we have to check the numbers just in case (this came in handy!) We took off fast, and once again I managed to run with the elite men for control 1. By the time I was leaving control 2 and heading into the Thomass box, I must have been running with some guys who were dropping a few controls, and I mistakenly skipped one of the ones I'd planned to do (but didn't realize it). We were all going at break-neck speed, and there were 8 total box controls (6 for me), plus 4 point-to-point, in a very tiny area. It was madness. I saw a few elite guys hesitate here and there, and I think a few people punched controls from another course.

I just hammered through this sprint, and when I got to the finish, I was shocked to be ranked 5th! The elite men hadn't come in yet. That's when I re-checked my map and face-palmed. I'd skipped that first box control but then also skipped the last two that were in my plan. So I was missing one! I fessed up to the race director that he shouldn't count me as 5th, and headed back out to get one more control, plus the other two point-to-point ones again, or otherwise it would have counted as a mis-punch. I was hopping-mad. Add to that my running cramps coming up after the hard sprint, and I hobbled through the forest dejectedly, coming back to the finish in time to see the real top-20 being led off to start their second loop. Grrrrr!

Route Link

But such is the life of an orienteer. You gotta pick yourself up and try to rank as close to 21st as possible from then on. The second loop was in the western part of the map, which was much more over-grown than the map colours would have you believe. I changed my strategy after the first box control after taking one look down a thick marsh. No way; I took a trail instead and hit the box in the opposite direction. The elite guys, now finishing their loop, were running against me, so maybe this wasn't the best idea after all? I did get stuck in one spot as I couldn't figure out the thick brambly area. But I kept calm and re-oriented from a known feature to get back on track. I made good lines towards the rest of the controls and even sprinted against another lady for the finish.

The third loop was back in the east and was much more woodsy again. I managed to pass a few people, but suddenly got turned around leaving the box. Still can't quite explain how I did that, but thankfully my spidey-senses kicked in and I realized my direction was off. I quickly realized I'd hit a trail in the wrong direction and ran back and continued to the finish.

--Distance: 7.6K
--Duration: ?

I know I didn't manage 21st place, but still waiting for the official results to come in. The most important results were the ones that would determine the series winners based on overall points. It was a tight race in the women's category, and was decided by one mere point - a tie-breaking point earned by one of the women after another competitor made the same mistake I did in the last box and lost his ranking! Crazy. Very exciting finish.

Up to this race, I was sitting in a tie for 18th in the series. Since only the top 4 races count, this one would not have given me any points, so I might have dropped lower. We'll see, hopefully soon.

This race was also the second time my buddy ES did an o-event, and once again she did the whole thing by herself! Unfortunately my initial mistake cost her as she was basically following along on the first loop; and while I went out to fix the mistake, she just decided to wave it off and do loop 2. But she did find all the ones she meant to, and we didn't need to go looking for a body. :)

Bike-Run Brick

Went out to Lake Wilcox with my triathlon buddy ML for the first time in what was supposed to be near-summer conditions; turned out it was chilly and extremely foggy. I had a hard time driving in, but even so, it seemed that everybody was there trying to take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. The parking lot was full of muck, and the water hung in the air, but we set off to ride in slowly to our time trial location on Warden Avenue.

I was sporting my new Sugoi bike shorts and flashy yellow Bontrager jacket, and I slipped on my winter booties just in case - all-around comfort. But ML was definitely under-dressed, and did not bring gloves because it was supposed to be plus-a-million! After about 10-15mins, his hands were totally numb, and we had to turn back. He decided to catch a class at his gym instead, and I resigned myself to ... to trying to find something to do myself! I cleaned my bike as best as I could (having of course failed to clip out again and wiped out straight into the parking lot mud!), and I drove off into the fog. I was pretty bummed because I didn't have a replacement workout, I had driven all the way up there, and I really needed the practice time on the bike.

Just as I was about to hit the highway, I saw a herd of cyclists pull out of the fog in my direction. So many people were out there having fun. Goddangit, I had to go back! (: Given that visibility was so poor, and I had no flat-tire accoutrements, I wrote ML a message about my intention to ride alone, packed my phone and took off.

Route Link

The crazy fog actually cleared north of Bloomington, so that put me at ease. At this point, I only encountered 4 other cyclists up there, nice hellos and good mornings all-around. I wanted to see how much faster I would be on my Cervélo than on my regular city bike that I rode here last September ahead of my first Sprint.

Well, I was a few minutes faster on the 10.5K up, but the up-hillier way back was a disaster! I could not find the right gears to shift into, and I could hardly get up the little rollies, while I'd spin out my pedals on the downhills. Awful. I was 2mins slower over 21K than on my heavy-as-bricks commuter.

I got back glad that I'd gotten the ride in, but I was really dejected about the speed. I have to be doing something wrong.

I didn't feel like doing anything more, but heeding my multi-IM-finishing friend CLM's advice to "run every time you get off the bike," I shot a gel and went running. Did the 5K next to the lake in about 23:30, which was also hard to swallow. I think it was my mood...

--Distance: 47.5K
--Duration: ~2hrs

A few days later, my other friend CM put my bike on his trainer to see what the hell is the matter with my riding. Turns out that I was riding on the small front ring and should have stuck to the big ring for faster downhills. However he couldn't figure out why I couldn't get up those rollies - maybe shifting too soon? He knows the course very well and doesn't usually even change gears. He has the same gear ratio and basically the same bike. Shrug! He did give me one useful pointer: to stay away from the two extreme rear rings, as they end up stretching the chain. But also mentioned that some racers will switch out their cassettes for hillier courses. So there's an idea.

Foam Rolling

Did the whole legs tonight; worst areas were glute-meds, lower quads, ITB, upper hamstrings, medial calf.

Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(10) Incline DB Bench Press: 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 25lbs x2
(10/Side) Heel Raises: BW / BW / BW
(10) B/O DB Scaption: 8lbs x2 / 8lbs x2 / 8lbs x2
 ---60secs REST
(5/Side) Push-ups w/ DB Rows: 12lbs / 12lbs / 12lbs
(10/Side) Cable Hip Abduction: 7.5lbs / 12.5lbs / 12.5lbs
(10/Side) Cable Triceps Pull-Down: 7.5lbs / 12.5lbs / 12.5lbs
---60secs REST
(10) Glute-Ham Raise: 30lbs DB / 35lbs plate / 35lbs plate [go up to 40lbs]
(10/Side) Cross-Body Chop: 12lbs Med.Ball / 15lbs DB [that's the stuff]
(10) O/H Cable Pull-Down: 50lbs / 60lbs
---60secs REST

--Duration: 44mins

Gym Workout

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(10) Curtsy Lunge: 30lbs x2 / 30lbs x2 / 35lbs x2
(10) Chin-ups: 4-6 / 4-6 / 4-6 [only the first set had 4 in a row, the others touched down after 3 and 2]
(20) Plank w/ Arm Reach: 20 / 20 / 20
 ---60secs REST
(10) Front Squat: 75lbs / 80lbs / 80lbs
(10) DB Bench Press: 20lbs x2 / 25lbs x2 / 30lbs x2
(10) Knee Abductions w/ Band: 10 / 10 / 10
---60secs REST

--Duration: 36mins

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Can I really remember all that we did tonight?? It was a brutal workout for me, very taxing and relentless.

Warm-up: 200m

400m kicks w/ fins and boards - slow and fast about every other length
6x 25m swim w/ fins, and getting out of the pool after 50
50m easy

Treading water with fins: arms crossed on shoulders, elbows above water, arms crossed, arms overhead

Soldiers of Fitness

After nearly a year away, I came in to play with my friends. The classes only run at 5:30 in the morning nowadays, but I sucked it up. It was a buddy day, so there were several other visitors, of various fitness levels. I even had an orienteering friend come out, as our mutual friends still train at SOF regularly.

The classes start out indoors now, but today was mainly outdoors after a warm-up inside. It's not quite like it used to be, but I was there for the company. I think I represented quite well, and I ran alright even though still feeling tired from the weekend.

Warm-up:
- 20 burpees for 2 absent trainees
- Wall squat holds
- Squat jumps w/ jumping jacks and sprints

850m warm-up jog
3x ~1.5K running in between sets of push-ups, team-push-ups and partner wheelbarrows (we had to eat raw onion after the first run as part of buddy day fun, wow that burns)
400m jog to next training area
5x 100m sprints with 10 jumping jacks in between, and with holding plank while others run
350m run back in

Route Link

--Distance: 6.5K
--Duration: 90mins

XSNRG Running Club

Sunnydene Loops

Did the workout on my own this time. Parked at the approximate distance from the school to the training location to get my proper warm-up in. While warming-up, I really concentrated on my new running gait.

Route Link

Warm-up run: 1.2K

Exercises: ABCs, lunges, leg swings

Each loop: 440m, clockwise, long uphill, short downhill

6x 2 Loops, 2mins Rest, except between 4 and 5 was 3mins

4:21 / 3:45 / 3:42 / 3:44 / 3:45 / 3:47

First set was an extension of my warm-up. I didn't quite get the cramps, but I did get inflammation, so took it easy at the start. Legs were like rocks from the long run, but I got them going and stayed consistent with my usual time for this loop.

A highlight was noticing the Jupiter-Venus conjunction in the western sky after dusk! Two very bright, brilliant points so close together. What a treat.

Run-back: 1.2K

--Distance: 7.7K
--Duration: 60mins

Street Training Run

The Canadian Running Series organized a tune-up run for their Toronto Yonge Street 10K, which I'm racing on April 22nd. They invited some past and future Olympians and their running team to run with us!

The run started at a Running Room in Liberty Village, and there was an 8K and a 13K option - I picked the longer loop and planned to run it again backwards to pick up my miles for the week. The Olympians (Reid Coolsaet, marathon & Taylor Milne, 1500m) were supposed to run with the 8K group, but broke off suddenly to stay with us!

Route Link

Even though I'd picked the fastest wave (expected 10K in <50mins), the RR folks leading the group were going to run us at a 6min pace. I found out later that this is the fastest pace the RR clinics run at, and that participants get in trouble if they dip down to 5:30... Well, we ran about 5:45 for the first 3K, but then Reid and Taylor and some other speedy guys in front picked up the pace as we turned off the streets and onto a rail trail. Someone asked how fast we were going, and the response was "about 4:40" - I was like, "I didn't need to know that! <pant, pant> I realized I was the only woman in this lead group of guys, with the rest of the group breaking off. I thought I'd see how far I could go at this pace.

Many of these guys were just jogging and chatting, while a few of us were full-out running and trying not to croak. It was really awesome, and the Olympians were so nice to just hang back with us like that. By the time we hit the top of the loop and started to go down towards High Park, all I could think was, "gotta stay with the Olympians, gotta stay with the Olympians!" I muscled it up a few hills, I tried staying in their midst so I wouldn't fall back. I must have sounded awful because they started getting concerned about my breathing. But I hung on till the end.

We did a 14K loop in 1:10, 1:17 altogether with stops at lights, etc. That's a 5min pace overall, including the slower start (for which I'm quite grateful now.) Some of the guys congratulated me on a great run because they could see that I barely made it. I felt amazing and was so happy they'd put us through this!

It was hard to get back out on the road to do the loop again. Once I started out along the waterfront, I thought there's no way I can do this again, even if it is backwards for variety. My legs were like lead. I told myself that my hard work is over, and that now all that counts is getting the miles in. I muscled back up Colborne Lodge Hill and through the Park, and continued uphill to the Junction. Felt better across the top, and once I got back on the rail trail, I was running a lot more comfortably.

On the streets, it must have really been downhill, because I started flying! I had all this energy all of a sudden. I finished my second loop surprisingly strong based on how I felt at the start. I didn't experience any foot or knee pain at all. Finished it in 1:34 overall, including stops, for a total running time of 2:51.

--Distance: 29K
--Duration: 2:51

Cycling Time Trial

Organized by the Toronto Triathlon Club at Absolute Endurance, this was to be a team CompuTrainer time trial on a ~20K hilly course, such as the one we did a couple of months ago. Unfortunately most people couldn't make it, so I was allowed to show up by myself later that night. I already don't much like riding a bike, I like it even less so indoors, but by myself was just suck.

I lasted 15K on a mostly downhill section of the "1/2 Ironman UK" course with a couple of other people in the room. It was extremely difficult for me to find the right gears, and my feet and groin were numb in minutes from my ill-fitting shoes and saddle. I know what needs to be taken care of next! But I made the most of it and pedaled as hard as I could. Just don't wanna have to do it by myself again.

--Distance: 15K
--Duration: 35mins??

Oh, and my poor bike got stuck in the trainer and had to spend the night at AE. At least she was surrounded by a whole lot of new bike-friends.

Kyoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu

32 kyushu points (I got up to 38 before I couldn't think of any more), kicks to a bag, strikes to a bag (from strongest to weakest, I did elbow strike, overhead chop, and finally punch), randori

Toronto Triathlon Club Swimming

Tough slog tonight, but really enjoyable!

Warm-up: 100m swim

This was long and nearly-continuous. I was privileged to lead my lane, so I had to figure out the proper pace pretty quickly. I actually kept us somewhere between 1:50 to 1:40 the whole time, but that got harder and harder. My style is to go harder and have a longer break...

Fins:
4x 100m on 2:20
4x 100m on 2:15
4x 100m on 2:10
4x 100m on 2:05
4x 100m on 2:00
4x 100m on 1:55
4x 100m on 1:50

1x 100m extra

Most of the start-to-middle sets were about 1:45, sometimes up to 1:50. Around 2mins, I dropped us to 1:40s, dipping into 1:38 or so. We finally got killed on the 3rd 1:50 set - we finished exactly at 1:50 and took an extra 10secs of breather before finishing the last one in 1:40 again.


I flipped as much as I could, and I was surprised I could keep it up most of the time. I even got a few good ones in, where I went quite deep and didn't surface till the flags. But most were clumsy without much push-off, or with some crashes with my teammates. :)

Coach still says I cross my arms in front, which is crazy! I feel like I'm flying like an airplane! But she says I still have to go wider with my arms; I was trying my best, and she said it was a bit better.

--Distance: 3,000m
--Duration: 70mins

Gym Workout

Jumped in before my swim workout. Focused on: leg strength, glute-med therapy, arm strength, core anti-rotation. Felt really strong.

(reps) 1st set / 2nd set / 3rd set
______________________________
(10/side) Curtsy Lunge: 30lbs x2 / 35lbs x2 / 35lbs x2 [gripped well this time]
(10) Push Press: 50lbs / 60lbs / 60lbs [definitely in this weight range now]
(20) Plank w/ Arm Reach: 20 / 20 / 20
 ---60secs REST
(6) Deadlift: 155lbs / 155lbs

--Duration: 23mins

XSNRG Running Club

Route Link

Drove in again instead of warming up with the club. I used the first long interval as my warm-up instead, although it wasn't really enough to prevent my eventual running cramps.

Short Intervals: 2mins / 1min Rest / 2mins / 1min Rest / 2mins / 1min Rest / 2mins / 1min Rest / 2mins

I managed more-or-less one loop of the course each time, about 540m.

I felt really fast until we slowed down for the last 5min Interval. I had to walk and then back out of the workout altogether. I'd meant to run back in with the group and come back to the car, but I was in no shape for it.

--Distance: 3.8K
--Duration: 20mins 

We set up our club Facebook Page today, and I think it was the reason my friend JL showed up to train, yay! Too bad I was in no shape to jog and chat with her after. Hope to see her again.

Chiropractic Treatment

My legs and butt definitely need some recovery after the 25K of hard terrain/trail running yesterday. Since my right knee had acted up during the run, my intern focused on my right IT band.

The usual adjustments to my dysfunctional foot joints and ankle joints, plus a lot of deep massage on my feet again, which was really painful. Then she used a Thumper on my calf muscles and on my right IT band, and I was nearly in tears.

Finally, I foam rolled my calf muscles and the IT bands. The parts that had been vibrated or massaged were in much better shape. My left IT band was horrendously painful, and I couldn't put my full body weight on it.

Prescription for next weekend: foam roll after the long run, hydrate with electrolytes during the run, goddamnit!

Trail Run

Route Link

:-D

Thomass Stars

Venue: Sudden Tract, Cambridge ON
Terrain: hilly woods, trails, marshy ponds, some ice
Weather: overcast, a bit below zero

A most excellent day in the woods on a course laden with a great many delicious features. Sudden Tract is littered with ponds and marshes linked by little isthmuses (I used that word out loud during the race!), and tons of very quick elevation changes, making for great navigational choices despite the small area.

Today I was joined by my racing buddy and all-around tough girl ES, for whom this would be the very first orienteering race, having received a single beginner's clinic from me in a city park the week before, haha. We had agreed that she would just shadow me and try to follow along on the map, but after an initial sprint, plans quickly changed!

Route Link

Not that Thomass races aren't already terribly unjust, but they decided to really stick it to us "elites" by making anyone with a handicap of 0 to 2 run an extra prologue loop of 680m of trail prior to heading to control 1. Catching up to the earlier starters was very satisfying! Also satisfying was me and ES being the first women runners, and in 20th/21st positions coming back to the start, despite sliding around on the ice while the guys in O-spikes rushed past us.

ES later told me that despite all her trail and hill-running experience, it was kind of unsettling to run with a crowd of people completely off-trail, down muddy leafy hills, with brambles underfoot and branches in the face. Somewhere between Controls 2 and 3, she waved me on to keep going by myself while she hung back. I trusted that she has both brains and brawn and would be okay out there, and pressed on.

I had a very clean run through the first half of the course and through the Thomass box - I'd only remind myself to really pay more attention to contours and avoid any unnecessary climbs - I did much better with that in parts of  the second half of the race. I did make a silly mistake coming back out of the box, as the last and first controls were right next to each other, and I just went and punched number 6 again. I thought I was doomed, but apparently because I then immediately punched 7, all was well. Phew! I did overshoot 8 a bit, but at least I bumped into ES, and she seemed in good spirits, so I was happy to keep going.

The last few controls were straight-forward, but I really paid attention to avoiding climbing - there are so many spurs and saddles in this area, you can basically have your pick of routes. I sprinted back in and waited for ES. After a while, I ran back out along the course and eventually met her again right on track at the bottom of the map. I shadowed her past the last two controls (no helping!), and with one small glitch towards the end, she made it back, all by herself - no small feat for a first-timer in the real woods. And she wasn't last, either! I'm so proud!

--Distance: 7.4K
--Duration: 57:12

p.s. I did get hit with my running cramps again as I started in the Thomass box, and although I was ahead of the lead woman in my age group, I had to slow down and quickly lost her. I'm so sick and tired of this; can't wait for the results of my ultrasound next week.

Toronto Spring Bike Show

I should have another tab on this blog called Shopping, but for now Learning will do.

Today I spent 9 hours, minus lunch, at the Toronto Spring International Bicycle Show, mainly with my buddy ML and his friend T. How could I possibly have filled all those hours in as small a space as the Better Living Centre? I used an endless loop approach to moving around the show.

First, I needed to get the technical items out of the way. We asked one store about saddles, as my bum is quite uncomfortable on what I have now (a Specialized Toupe 143). The proprietor showed me some tri saddles, but said that it might just be the way I'm fitted. We concluded that since I hadn't really ridden the bike after my fitting, I should get some rides in on the new set-up and see how it goes before jumping on a new saddle. Good guy - from Racer Sportif.

We moved on to replacing my tri shoes, which are currently Specialized Women's Trivent size 39, an excellent carbon-sole tri shoe, that is unfortunately too tight through the toes. We spent hours looking around, and I certainly dismissed some brands outright and put a few on a maybe list. There are wider shoes out there, especially from Shimano, but honestly, most of the offerings were plastic-soled and quite squishy. ML advised me to get a stiff shoe for maximum power transfer.

We came back to a Specialized dealer with good selection, Gears, and I tried the men's version. It was definitely wider, and is now at the top of my list. The other option is the Shimano WT-52, also a carbon-soled women's tri shoe. I'll have to find my size, as 39 is too small; but this is comfortable and well-made otherwise.

Other points to consider besides stiffness were the loop at the back of the shoe to make it easy to pull on, the fact that I might have to trim the velcro strap on shoes that close inward, and the fact that I need shoes that fit Look pedals (which most shoes seem to.)

With shoes out of the way, I turned my attention to bike shorts while the boys looked for a few items for T. I found an inexpensive pair of comfy and stylish Sugoi shorts and took 'em. As we were leaving, I facepalmed, as I had forgotten that I'd wanted a bright, reflective biking windbreaker as well. We went for lunch, but I decided to come back to the show for another spin around the room for jackets.

My criteria were: windbreaker, reasonably water-repellent, breathable, lots of vents, easy pockets, well-fitted, bright, and covers the lower back in aero position. I must have gone to nearly every store before getting a nice deal at the Trek stand on a Bontrager jacket that basically satisfied all my needs, and was in my size! I later also found an absolutely gorgeous thin cold-weather jacket from Mavic - the Cascade. It was too expensive at the store, but it was perfectly fitted, waterproof, with extra hand protection at the cuffs, with not just venting under the arms, but at the forearms as well; it had perfect back and front pockets, and covered the entire butt. The colour wasn't right, but I can get it cheaper online in something bright and have a sick jacket for next winter. One of the best-designed garments I've seen in a while.

Having finished with the jackets, I turned around and walked straight into an outdoor outfitter's Camelbak display. I don't know why they brought anything other than the bike packs, but they had a bunch for adventure racing that I'd never seen before. I'd really like to replace my new Salomon XA 20 women's pack, which has all the wrong compartments, side pockets that are too small, and it comes in pink, yuck. Of course as I started trying the packs on, I realized that as with other packs I'd seen in the past, these were made for men - at least for people with longer torsos and broader shoulders. The most perfect design I found was the Octane XCT, and by the lime green colour, I assumed it was branded as a women's model - but still too big in the shoulder straps even with everything else tightened down. It's a model with 100oz / 3L of water, but there is apparently a 70oz/2L version that I will try to hunt down. I went through the show again, this time with an eye out for Camelbaks, but all the other sensible stores only had the small flat ones.

I then noticed the electronics. I realized I need a bike computer with cadence for the new bike, duh! I called ML, now comfortably back at home, and asked for advice on wired/wireless models. He confirmed that wires are clunky and look terrible, especially on my sleek hot wheels. He suggested the pick of the litter: the Garmin Edge 500, which has cadence and a million other features, including a heart rate strap and a GPS for uploading your route. I don't need the HRM or GPS, but I took this under advisement. Much too expensive at the only store that had them. I took yet another trip around the show, and also looked at the Specialized and Cateye wireless cadence computers (Sp. needs a separate wired cadence monitor). They don't have all the bells and whistles, so the Cateye may be the way to go, unless I want to save up for the Garmin, which all the cool kids have.

At this point, they were shutting down the show around me. I had walked away with some nice thick butt padding on my bike shorts and a windbreaker for riding across town in, plus a phone full of info about all the things I now need to find and buy online.

Kitsune Ryu Jiu-Jitsu Clinic

Our Club was invited to a periodic special clinic by the Richmond Hill Budokan, to be taught by their esteemed founder, O-Sensei Reynolds, our founder's teacher. I hadn't been out to one of these in several years, and it was great to see a lot of familiar faces. In the small mirrored dojo, about 15-20 clubs were represented, mainly by high-ranking instructors. It was a who's-who of martial arts, and an absolute treat to participate.

I do come to these clinics when I can, as I love being forced out of my comfort zone and trying different techniques and styles with different people. As the Budokan's chief instructor mentioned, the purpose of these clinics is to come together from across various styles and have a fun time trying something new among friends. We cannot stay narrow-minded about the particular styles we practise; in order to be artists, we must open up to others and have a dialogue. Preferably with wrist locks!

O-Sensei Reynolds spent much of the night taking us through several series of techniques for control of the body, through wrist locks, shoulder locks, and head locks. With so many people in the room, there wasn't much space for take-downs, but we did force each other to our knees a few times. You always have to have your wrists warmed up if you want to dance at the RHB. And you will dance. On your tip-toes. From pain. :)

In the past, there were a few times when I'd felt out of place at these clinics, like I wasn't good enough. But it's all a matter of perspective. I think I ended up training with close to 10 different people, all with various backgrounds, and I was able to teach them and learn from them all. Plus the senior Kitsune Ryu instructors were always on hand to either fix things, or give us a little extra piece of info about the technique (so it would hurt more!) It was a very warm welcome as usual, and I feel like I finally did come in with an open mind about my own skills and experience.

Kyoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu

Agility drills, basic breakfalls, basic kicks and blocks, shodan kata review (Kitsune), come-along techniques (attacking a passive opponent and walking them away), nidan chokes and strangulations.

--Duration: 60mins