The Double

First off...spoiler alert. If you've been living in the suburbs of La Crete with no electricity over the last 5 days and have no idea that Ryder Hesjedal won the Maglia Rosa on Sunday, stop reading now. Oh wait, uh, stop reading about 2 sentences ago.

Life the last 3 weeks has consisted of work, tri club, long rides, Giro d'Italia, Tour of California, and NBA playoffs - and not necessarily in that order. (I just found out the NHL finals start this week). So suffice it to say I have been on Ryder's jock since his 17th place finish in the ITT on May 5. But more on that in a minute.

I'll miss Footstock Duathlon and the timing of Sylvan's BBF duathlon was right, so I'd found my annual duathlon (I'll trade you 2 runs for a swim any day)! Waking up at 6am overlooking a sparkling Sylvan Lake on Sunday, I rode my bike around the corner to transition, got set up with a prime spot in about 2 minutes, and headed back for some breakfast and the start of the Giro TT. At 8:15, Dezz and I dragged ourselves away from the TV and headed back for the athletes meeting.

15 minutes after the sprint tri swim started, the first 5km run of the duathlon was underway. On Thursday night's tri club run, Jon had anyone racing on the weekend doing a modified set of 3 minutes at race pace, 2 minutes recovery (x3). Paying attention to form (especially when I passed Jon as he yelled at me to relax my shoulders and drive my knee forward) I was easily running sub-4s. So once the pseudo gun went off (some dude yelling "Go!") my goal was to get out in front and focus on running my race without outside influence. That worked great for the first 2km and then a gradual 1km climb threw off my pace. Never having led a race in my life, it was a unique experience for me. I think I may have forgotten I was actually racing if not for the aid station at the 3km mark. I was disappointed with my first run time, but I did stay relaxed and let the run come to me. Baby steps.

I reached T1 not having any idea how far ahead I was, but my goal on the bike was not to get passed (including by triathlon competitors who were also on the road by this point). Tucked into aero for 90% of the ride and maintaining high cadence on the uphills, I checked another goal off.

Hitting the second run of a duathlon is always a unique experience, but Wednesday night bricks with Grant and Ed have gotten me used to those run-bike-run transitions.  So although a bit fatigued after riding into a stiff head wind for 12km, the legs were turning over pretty well and I again fell into my zone. Then came that silly hill again to zap my pace.  Hitting the 4km mark still in first (I couldn't differentiate duathletes from triathletes on the course, but I hadn't been passed by anyone to this point) I started to really push for the finish line feeling like I may have left a lil' something out on the course.

Yes it was a very small field, but it did feel good crossing the line in first place for the first (and probably only) time in my multisport life. Maybe these new TCTC jerseys have some magic. I enjoyed the experience while eating ice cream with wifey, before starting to analyze where I lost time and how to get faster next time. Dezz is a patient woman. Overall I finished in 21:43-0:59-44:30-0:35-23:02 for a 1:30:51 finishing time. The journey continues.

Oh and about that Hesjedal fellow. As soon as we got home the PVR came on and we gathered around the tv to watch the first Canadian ever win a grand tour. Now that, was a good day. And to top it all off, many of my friends and TCTC team mates ran their way to PBs during the Scotiabank marathon/half-marathon/10km. Awesome job.

Don't Call it a Comeback

It's been a minute since I've shared my thoughts here (lucky you).  But with the return of nice weather, outdoor training, and the Giro d'Italia comes the return of my mind-numbing ramblings.

Over the winter I was content to maintain fitness with a couple nights of tri club, basketball, weekend runs, the odd spin session on the trainer, hot yoga, and Mr. Ndugga kicking my butt for an hour each week. Shy of a few short trips (well ok, a month in South America may not be "short" to some people), I  was staying active 5 or 6 nights a week.

At some point in recent weeks, I started to get more race focused. Well at least I think I did...I'll have to ask my coaches.  I won't bore you with details of my treadmill workouts or how I lost a minute on my latest swim TT; let's just jump ahead to this weekend.

On Saturday, the sun was shining and it was the final weekend of the year to ride Little Elbow before the road opens to cars. So I tuned up the Flying Scotsman and took him out for the first ride of the season. It was great to get back out with my old riding partners Ricky, Carol and Erin. And perhaps even better to hit the road with some new riding partners...guy Shannon and girl Shannon (no relation). We did a total of about 67km at a moderate pace. The legs took a while to loosen up, but once they did they felt good on the climbs. Steep uphills at a high cadence, attack the summit, and build speed on the downhill hitting 83km/h. Yep, felt good to be back in aero position.

After hill repeats with coach Jon on Thursday night and the ride on Saturday, I did wonder how the legs would respond at Sunday morning's Mother's Day 10km race. Building into the race (and slaloming 8 year olds) for the first kilometre, I hit my stride and was averaging 3:55/km until the 6km mark and feeling good. And then I hit the biggest climb. Not particularly steep, but long enough to zap some energy. From that point, it became a mental game to maintain my pace. Due to the heat, I grabbed some water from the aid station for the second time during the race (a rarity for me) and pushed myself downhill to Macleod Trail and the 8km mark. That's when the wheels fell off. My gut felt heavy (it was a small sip of water, I promise), and my legs were ready to stop running and start resting. Unfortunately, they were putting in a good argument with my brain. Normally with 2km to go I start to kick it up a notch. But for whatever reason, today was the exact opposite, with the Garmin Training Centre telling me that my slowest pace was between 8 and 9.5km. Crossing the line in 41:41, I was very disappointed in myself. Not necessarily from the physical perspective, but definitely from the mental side.  But like always, I immediately looked for the silver lining. I found 2.  #1 A comparison of my race log from the St. Paddy's 10km shows my endurance has improved since March. #2 I know what I have to do before my next race.

Following a baptism, a great lunch with family, and a power nap, I headed to Talisman for a swim with girl Shannon. Shannon is training for Ironman with Kevin Masters out of Edmonton. Kevin is a great coach, but unfortunately Shannon works in Northern Alberta which means the majority of her workouts are done solo. So this was an opportunity for me to watch Shannon's swim and pass along a few tips. Fortunately there are a lot of things wrong with my swim which my coaches have graciously pointed out. So although I may not be very good at putting all those changes into practice at the same time, I do have an idea what I'm looking for in other people's stroke (arms crossing over, fingers open in the water, etc). I was happy to be able to help Shannon out and she reports that she already felt more efficient in the water. The best part was, by reviewing some of these items with her it was an opportunity to reflect on my own technique. My swim felt really good tonight. I don't know if its ever happened before that in a single day my run didn't feel great but the swim felt solid.

 I've now started paying more attention to the Giro and less attention to what the heck I'm telling you. I hope that last paragraph makes sense. I'll finish off my drivel with the assurance that I am now excited to immerse myself in triathlon again. No, it's not going to take over my life the way it did for Ironman Canada last year because, after all, I think (hope) my wife wants to spend a little more time with me this summer. But I'm excited to have that excitement back. It's going to be a good season. And I look forward to sharing it with you.