Week 8 Q2

Workout overview and totals. Forgot the HR strap again.

Covering Ground

Good week training wise. 52 miles vs. weekly goal of 54, 8:36 average pace. Right on target. Week 7 of the program, 18 weeks to go until race day. First week running quality sessions since before Vegas last December. All told felt pretty good. Funny how after a long stretch of base training all you want to do is run faster until a few sessions show up in the training calendar and then all of a sudden maybe easy running doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Just nerves though and legs felt good. Session
Following Daniels elite marathon plan with a few adjustments. Daniels recommends that only elite athletes use the mileages listed and that everyone else adjust the plan and run for time rather than distance with one mile being 'worth' a certain amount of time depending on the intensity: 1 mile easy equals 6 minutes running, 1 mile at threshold = 5 minutes, etc.
When I calculated total mileage using this formula I wasn't going to put in enough miles on my long runs to prep me for Boston. So, I have kept the easy miles as actual miles and substituted time goals for milage run at other intensities: M pace, T pace, etc. That way days that are just long easy runs I'll still get the mileage but when quality is added to a day I won't run over suggested mileage caps for intensity and will hopefully keep myself from injury and over-training.
First quality session of the week was before I figured out how I was going to adapt the program: 12 minutes Easy
30 minutes Marathon pace
4:45 minutes Threshold pace
25 minutes M pace
4:45 T pace
12 minutes Easy
I'm going to try and remember to wear my HR strap on the quality days just for curiosity sake.

Second quality session was more straightforward:
12 minutes Easy
6 miles Tempo
12 minutes Easy
Felt good. Workout called for 8 miles and I could have ran a couple more but wanted to keep the total tempo mileage under/close to 10% of weekly miles. At 6 miles I was already a little over.

More fun this week including some interval work tomorrow AM.

On the music front, I've been hearing a ton of covers popping up lately. I'm on the hunt for a good quality version of a Death Cab cover I've been hearing a lot lately and if I find it I'll post it. Until then, here are two very different takes on the same song. Bonus points if you know which is the original.
Merry Christmas.

Mo-vember/Training update

A couple of pics of my costume from the Mo-vember wrap up party. Our team ended up raising about $1000 for prostate cancer research. Thanks to everyone for their support.
The wrap up party was at a club in Chinatown called Fortune Sound Club. I walked into the line and the girl in front of me turned and said" When you were coming up the street all I could think was 'Oh, I hope that mullet isn't real'". Best compliment ever. It's a bit disturbing how real it looks and how much I enjoy wearing it...




And beneath the Canadian tuxedo, my new favorite shirt.


Training is going well. I'll end the week close to 50 miles and begin adding faster
efforts next Wednesday.
Weekly schedule will look like this initially:

M-Easy
T- Off
W- Key workout 1
Th- Easy
F-Easy
Sa-Easy
S-Long/Key workout 2

Hopefully, the rest day wont leave me feeling dead legged for the week's second key workout. The way my week sets up with work and family doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room to change things around.
Monday is 18 weeks until Boston. We've rented a room in a B&B across the water in Cambridge for our accommodations. We've got a room on the third (top) floor seperated from the rest of the units. Pretty pumped that we'll have the ability to do our own cooking and won't be held hostage by the hotels and their overpriced menus.
The suite is about 1M from the finish/shuttle areas and very close to the subway line. Local transit passes are $16 per week and include unlimited subway travel and access to the innrer harbour ferry. We're there for a week and I can't wait to check out the city. This time, unlike Vegas last year, we're flying in just before the race and staying for a few days after. Super pumped. Maybe check out a Bruins game, who knows. Never been to the Eastern seaboard. I'll probably swim in the Atlantic just in case I never get back there.

This one's for Gunner

Crazy hipsters

What is going on in Europe?!?!?!?!

I expect crazy things from Europe, with its 28% beers and its cigarette smoking infants, but this is off the chain redonk. North American Hipsters: you've been put on notice by unitard wearing German teen girls. And you thought a track stand was cool....

My Co-workers are Sweet

That dude, Derek, works with me here at the CU. He's actually the guy who replaced me in my last role after I got promoted. He's a funny kid and is helping raise awareness and funds for Mo-vember. Here's a photo: Derek and I in our Halloween costumes at work on Saturday. Yeah, his costume is what you think it is. I was flattered. I'm either the best assistant manager or a total tool.

Man in Mo-tion

Super pumped to have things back up and running here at our place. Literally and figuratively. Internet connection is fixed, the blog is back from the dead and with 23 weeks today until Boston training is ramping up. The next three weeks will be daily easy runs bringing the mileage up to about 50 miles per week and where I go from there will depend on how things feel over the next few weeks. If legs feel good then we'll throw some long runs in the mix for the next few weeks before starting some faster efforts.
I had a good chat with Jamie yesterday about training and how I can structure my days/weeks/plan so that the demands on family time don't get out of hand. It's great that she's behind me and committed to helping make this work. Thanks Jamie! Do you think the Boston vacation has something to do with it? I wonder how supportive she would be if I planned a destination marathon to Alaska...
Halloween was a good time. One of my colleagues at work dressed up as 'Ward'. It was a pretty great costume and I was flattered. I'll post a pic this week.
The girls gathered up a pile of loot from the neighbours. Surprisingly, Violet has sort of forgotten aboutthe big bag of candy. Jamie on the other hand.....


Other than serious training, something else started this weekend: Movember. For those of you who aren't in the know, Movember is the month formerly known as November where men and women join forces to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research. The campaign tag line is 'Changing the face of Men's health' and with a name like Mo-vember, I'll bet you can guess how awareness is raised: That's right, folks, mustaches. Lot's of mustaches. So, over the next several weeks please be warned that it's not going to be pretty around here. Those of you expecting a Lucho-esque flourish of facial hair will be sorely disappointed. Undeterred by my woeful inability to grow hair (or keep the hair I do manage to grow, for that matter) I will be sporting a stashe for the next four weeks. If you want to join the cause, you can swing by http://ca.movember.com/get-involved/ and get going by joining a team, starting a team or signing up as an individual. Ladies, if you love a bro with a mo, you can get involved too in the same way. If you want to join my team, out team name is 'Mo-ving Forward Together' and I'd love to have you.
If you cant join a team but would like to support the cause swing by, donate at the link below and become a Citizen of Movember.



https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/your-details/team_id/46757/


Here's the last time for the next 30 days I won't look like someone who might be married to his cousin. November 1, clean shaven:

Lastly, a few weeks back, Beth from Cali called out for workout songs and this is one that I've been rolling a little the last month or so. Apologies that I've posted three Elliott Brood songs in the last few posts. If you didn't like the last ones, I don't think this one will change your mind. If you did, then you're in for a treat, Either way, listen to the first few bars and tell me that this song isn't the one they use in all those Workopolis commercials.

Inter-noooooooooooo!

I've been without internet access at home basically since my last post. I'm actually adding this from work (shhhh!) just so anyone out there who might actually still be reading this used-to-be-a-training-blog-but-now-is-mostly-a-music-blog-because-the-writer-is-lazy doesn't think that I've torpedoed my training entirely.
Back soon with real posts. The memory card slot in our camera is having problems. If we cant get it warrantied we'll be stuck with just the internal memory. This means 2 things:
1) We'll be shopping for a new camera and
2) I just scored myself a running camera.
Stay tuned.

Realizations

i had a big post that didn't save so now this is all i'm adding. pots title doesn't really make sense now but whatever. more tomorrow.

this song isnt for everyone but i dig the fuzzy synth baseline and subtle textures. listen for the tip of the hat to Queen about 15 seconds from the end

Adjustments

Having a newborn baby sleeping in your room can throw a wrench into your schedule! It's always been about balancing training with family and the way I managed to make it all work was to get up before Jamie and Violet and get the work done before they were even awake. Evenings were family time but if got up early that time was all mine. No one complained if I wanted to get up at 4:45 to work a run in. Well, no one complained except me. It was a good system and it worked.
Lucy's arrival has required we revisit the plan.
She's a great kid with a sweet disposition. She eats well and she doesn't cry all that much. But she snorts. She snorts like a pig hunting for truffles. And once I'm awake, her tiny little baby snorting keeps me up and listening. And it's been awesome except when the alarm goes off to prompt me out of bed only an hour or two after I've finally gone to sleep.
Training has been spotty the last few weeks. Every couple days, 8 or so miles at a time give or take. At least the legs always feel fresh!
Boston registration is done, we might have found accommodations, now I just need to get out there and do work.
Parents of infants: send me your advice. I'd love it.
Also, for anyone who is reading this in the lower mainland and is interested: Elliott Brood is playing the Biltmore on October 7th. Tix are $17 and I'm going. If you'll be there let me know and I'll buy you a beer!

One more thing

This track from the Elliott Brood album, Mountain Meadows, is pretty sweet too.

Five things

1) This blog is still alive
2) I registered for Boston today.
3) Two kids is TWICE AS MANY not 'just one more'.
4) Lucho is amazing. I don't understand how he did what he did when his second son was a newborn. Incredible.
5) This song is pretty cool.

Violet's little sister

Training took a backseat this week when we were called in to the hospital a couple weeks early for our C-section.
Lucy Rene joined the family at about 2:40 on Tuesday afternoon. 8lb 3oz at 37 weeks. We're all home now and mom and baby are both doing great.
Violet is super stoked to be a big sister.



Thanks to Grandma for taking care of Violet while we were in the hospital and thanks to everyone who came to visit with burgers and coffee. And a special thanks to Jamie for letting me eat it in front of her while she was waiting for the nausea from the anesthetic to wear off.

More Music

Training is going well. Lots of comfortably hard efforts, working up the mileage, stressing form and core strength, all the important boring things that happen while building base and prepping for training later in the season.

Couple interesting tracks: Phoenix is a buzz band from France whose horribly titled album, 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' is a pretty good listen.

Metric is another Canadian band whose 2009 album 'Fantasies' was also shortlisted for the Polaris prize. Interestingly, the beat to this song is a perfect 90 cadence. Solid.

My Pick for the Polaris Prize

First two tracks from Hey Rosetta!'s Polaris prize nominated album 'Into Your Lungs'. It's my pick to win it this year. I put the first two tracks up so you can get a feel for the whole album.

Updates and Excuses

What I have been doing lately is hard to call 'training'. Lots of easy efforts, 140ish HR, one hour in duration or so, 4-5 days as week. I'm getting leaner and maybe a little faster. Averaging about 30 miles per week without a long run. Trying to work a long run in but finding it tough to get my ass out of bed on Sunday morning when I dont have a race day deadline staring me down. The goal is to get frquency and duration up to 6-7 days/50+ miles averages going in to Fall.
Gunner is off the DL and we've managed to get several runs in together. Running with him really helps to keep the efforts down!
Work and home life has been nuts and have kept me away from the posts a little. Jamie and I are meeting with a designer next week to talk about some renos on the place so I'll be able to post about that at least.
Polaris Music Prize has announced theior short list and an album from 'Hey Rosetta' made the cut. It's been a huge fav of mine this summer and I'll throw a track of theirs up here tomorrow when I'm not posting from work!

Another road trip, another mountain, another post

This weekend made a mad dash to Vernon to see my mom and Keith for the weekend. Jammed straight from work on Saturday and got there about 8:30. Put Violet to bed and was crushed from a long day of work and driving.
It wasn't until Sunday that I realized I had totally forgotten to do my push ups on Saturday. Some background: I stated doing push ups every day in January of 2009. I started with 10 a day and have added one to the number I do each week. I'm up to 41 push ups a day and Saturday was only the third day all year that I haven't done them and the first two were because I was literally too sick to get out of bed. So, needless to say I was pretty bummed. I swear that my pecs looked smaller.

Sunday we had all day so after breakfast we headed up to Silver Star mountain just outside of town before heading over to meet my mom for lunch.
Here's Violet crushing a bowl of berries.




Once again I found myself at the top of a lift line wishing I had my bike. It was crazy. We got there just before the lift opened and the mountain and village plaza were empty. Took a quick stroll out onto the mountain to check it out.

Beautiful views of the valley below:





Violet and I hopped up onto a trail that wasn't for hikers to check out a sick MTB bridge built over the path. The end of the bridge we are walking away from is a sick 25 foot 45 degree ladder with a super sharp banked turn at the bottom. It gave me butterflies to think about riding it.




The mountain was awesome and the views were incredible. I just don't know why I keep torturing myself by going to mountains without my bike. It's a sickness.


By the time we walked back to the village the lifts were almost open and the place was packed with tons of super sweet rigs including a girl rocking full armour and riding a bright pink dually that reminded me of a 'roided out version of this girl's ride.

The Vernon area is semi arid climate and all sorts of crazy wildlife lives in the area. Keith took us up to a nature conservatory that's funded entirely by donation so we could check out some of the exhibits and support the local conservation movement. It was rad! We were the only people there when we arrived and the two girls who were working were all over Violet!
The even busted out a gopher snake that was as long as Violet is tall and my little girl was brave enough to let it crawl on her hand. I was pretty impressed.





Met up with mom for lunch and pretty much relaxed in the heat for the rest of the trip. Lounged, ate, slept, repeat.
A highlight of the trip was hearing that my mom is planning to start riding her bike to work! I'm so pumped to hear it. We went to a local shop and picked out a super cool Trek 7 speed cruiser. It's 7km from her house to work and this bike should totally do the trick. I'll throw up a pic if she buys it. So pumped. Go Mom!


***UPDATE***
I just finished cleaning my bathroom and I don't care if they discover that five penguins die for every can they make: I will never stop buying Comet.

Whistler 2010, Summer Style

Hit up Whistler for the July 1st holiday with Jamie and Violet. We were hosted by the Visschers' who put us up in their sweet family pad. Yeah, that's a totem pole in the living room.


Here's the view from the top of the stairs. Totally roughing it.


There were three couples who went up with their kids and each of us was responsible for one meal over the three evenings. Trev and Jen were cooking up some beer butt chickens for dinner the first night we arrived. Meat cooked with beer? What's not to like?

One for me:


And a couple for the chickens:



Trev looking proud and protective of his delicious birds.

Hit it up with a little Slipstream ale and some corn and black bean salad. Good stuff.

The next day I was up early to get a little run in. The weather was really warm and I wanted to get going before it got too hot. The scenery was unreal and I wished I had brought my camera. I had meant to take it pretty easy but kinda clipped along instead. The first section of the run was downhill and the legs just kept going after that. Fitness isn't really there but it's coming along. I got lost following a trail map that I picked up at a take out BBQ place the day before and pushed it a little for the last couple miles.




After breakfast, decided to hit up the village and check out the parade. Olympic reps were there and I got a chance to hold an actual Olympic torch. I applied to be a runner but never heard back. This is as close as I'm going to get. Apparently, the torch runners have the option to buy the torch they run with and there are 14,000 Olympic torches made like this. Pretty sweet!



The kids were super pumped about the chance to see the Olympic mascots Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi who were rumored to be in the parade but they were late to show up and nap time forced us home before the kids all imploded. Violet and Theo (Trev and Jen's son) were pretty stoked to see some giant stuffed versions instead.



Whistler is known for the mountain but there are tons of gorgeous lakes up there as well. Owen (our host) busted out the Kayaks and took us all don to the lake for a paddle. Here he is with Violet after a spin around Alta Lake.




What a view. Hard to believe that we're only two hours from home. Life is good.



Violet was a little played out from all the sun so I went up to the alpine meadow with the rest of the crew to take a ride on the Peak to Peak gondola. It is the world's longest unsupported span of gondola in the world. The cable runs from Whistler to Blackcomb, 4.4 km over a valley between the two mountains. The unsupported length across the middle (distance between the two towers furthest apart) is 1.88 MILES. Yup, big ole gondola, two miles between towers, valley floor 200 feet below and 360 degree views. $40 to ride but it was worth it.


A pic from the gondola on the way up to the Peak to Peak. The lake in the back of the pic is where we were staying. You can see the village at the bottom. It's kinda tough to see but if you follow the gondola lines down you can see a building. That's the midpoint station and you can see some of the mountain bike trails shooting off from there and heading down to the village. Yes, from the midpoint to the village is all rolling down hill all-mountain goodness. And if you're feeling it, you can off load at the top and ride all the way down. Next time I'm bringing the dually.



And a crazy shot of the Whistler glacier from the Peak to Peak gondola. I stopped taking pictures after the first one when I realized that there was no way the camera could capture how majestic it all was.




Four days and it felt like two weeks. Thanks Visschers for a rad stay. Can't wait to do it again.

And for all y'all down south reading this: C'mon up and join us for a couple weeks this February and see for yourself! We're very friendly and your dollar goes a long way!

"Race Report"

OK, so who am I kidding. There's no race report coming. I had every intention of writing one but time got away. I've attached the chart from my Garmin. It was hilly singletrack. It was lots of fun. I'm going back next year. Nuff said.


Training is going well. Running every day with pretty easy efforts. Running on PE about an hour a day and trying to get long runs in on the weekend. Keeping it nice and easy and just trying to build up that aerobic base so I'm ready for when the real push comes leading up to Boston.
Did my first run over 10 miles for some time yesterday ( I did say trying to get the long runs in). Beautiful day here at the coast. Slapped on some sunscreen and headed out for 2 hours easy. Ended with 14.6 miles, 8:12 pace average against HR average of 153. HR started rising a little towards the end of the run due to fatigue, heat and lack of fuel (IE hungry!)
Those of you who've seen me know that I've got a pretty sickly cave tan going most of the year. Sunscreen is a must. SPF 50 is a minimum. And yet, for some reason I didnt think to do my legs yesterday. Moving too fast for the suns rays to catch them. Yeah, not quite.




That white dot is my normal pigment. Check out the sweet sock line. Looks great with the flip flops. Endurance athletes are sexy!

Tomorrow is Canada Day and Jamie, Violet and I are heading up to Whistler to chill until Saturday. I'm looking forward to some epic scenery and promise lots of pics when I get back.

North Face Endurance Challenge 10K

Just a shorty race report with the real one coming. Didn't take the 'advice' of some and run the 50 miler. 10K time of 54 minutes, good enough for 10th overall and 3rd in the AG.
Set a few small goals for myself going in to the race and was happy to have achieved them. Course was tough with a lot of climbing. Lost three spots in the last mile that I could have held if I could descend singletrack faster in worn out road shoes. Next time.
Pics and a bit more detail to follow.

Feedback

Training is going well. The issues with the lower leg from the form work are resolved and I did some barefoot strides the other day with no discomfort. Sweet!
I'm looking for some feedback around how to fill my days between now and when Boston training begins for real.
Originally, I was going to train for 5-10K using Daniels' plan. Then, I thought that rather than train for a specific distance, I'd work from one of Daniels' 'general' fitness plans included in the second edition of 'The Running Formula'. Now, having re read some stuff that suggests staying in 'base mode' as long as possible, Im debating sticking to relatively easy mileage with one threshold run and one set of strides per week until about 20 weeks out from Boston.
I know that as long as I'm running regularly and staying healthy, I'll be in a great spot to launch into a 20 week plan leading up to Boston.
I guess I'm looking for opinions from you guys out there.

Yarrrr...

Last post got flagged for copyright infringement and the song file was removed from my online file sharing provider. Piracy: It's not just for Somalia anymore.
The only song I've posted that's been used by Apple in an ad campaign is the only song that's ever been pulled. Coincidence?
Training is going OK, got over a little set back with my ankle that kept me sidelined for about 5 days. Feeling good and looking forward to building the mileage now that the weather is better, the days are longer and Brian is back running again.
Thinking of heading down to Bellingham to run the North Face Endurance Challenge race in June. The 10K looks good andfor those who are up to it they are offering distances up to 50 miles. It's $50 to enter and includes some decent swag including a shirt and some socks. It's Jamie's birthday that weekend and we're going to send Violet for some bonding with her grandparents for a couple days and make little vacation of it. Might book accomadations here.

Slack Post

Been doggin it a bit on the posting lately. Back training on a schedule again for the first time since early December and Vegas. A little bit of track work and getting the miles up. Found a great grass field near my house and have been running barefoot strides there to work on my form. I've overdone the form work on the track and have beat up my lower legs a little. My ankle is pretty sore so I'm going to take the hint and ease up a bit.

It's been a WHILE since I've put any music up here. Mostly because when I'm not doing long runs I'm not listening to new music.

The girl in the header photo is my 2 year old daughter Violet. This song is not a new one, but it's currently our favorite dance song. She calls it party song and can sing all the words to the chorus. Sweet.

Sun Run Update

OK, so right off the bat: no front line pic. I'm about 7 rows back and you can see me in the aerial start shot but not the ground level one. And to tell it's me, you'll kinda have to have a circle around me. And and arrow to the circle. And squint. And put your face really close to the monitor. And have a good imagination. Whatever. It's still cool...




I'm in this one too. I'm the guy on the right in the long white nighty, er, T-shirt and blue gloves clapping at the wheelchair race. No wonder they asked to see my bib about 50 times as I was warming up.




Race results were decidedly non elite: 44:25. I had no juice and was struggling right from the get go. That afternoon and night I was super bummed about the result and couldn't believe I was suffering so bad after I race I ran so slowly. Then Monday night and a fever so bad I sweated through the mattress and left a puddle on the floor. Next night, slept with three towels: one under me, on on top of me and one at bedside so I could towel off what the other two didn't absorb.
Turns out I have strep throat and likely have for a while. Now the race makes a little more sense.

Ummmm....yeah.

Each year, the company I work for sponsors a corporate team in the 'SunRun', a 56,000 person 10K run through downtown Vancouver. I believe it is the second largest road race in North America. Long time readers might remember that last year Gunner and I ran to the start line. Along the way, Gunn was so afraid of what he thought was a porcupine, which turned out to be a basketball, that he crossed the street to get away. In fairness, i thought it might be a porcupine too. What can I say? It was early...
Good times.
I signed up again this year and the race goes on Sunday. Because there are so many people, they have wave starts and unless you get a decent spot near the front you cannot run. And, like many things, lots of people over estimate their ability and you end up with a number of people in your wave that should not be there. This year, I am 'that guy'
The race organizers ask for a recent race time in order to assign waves. I gave them my 3:15 time from Vegas marathon. They gave me my bib. It's blue and the number was surprisingly low.


Below is the back of the race big which assigns your starting corral according to the color of the bib. For context, the red numbers run from 55,000-80,000.


Never been in the first corral before. Pretty sure I'll be the only guy in there not wearing race flats. This race is sponsored by a large local newspaper and a big, colour picture of the front row at the start always ends up in the paper. My new race goal: get in that picture!

Newness

I've been doing most of my running at night now that I am getting Violet ready for daycare in the mornings. About one mile from my house is a public golf course. Two 18 hole courses at one venue. The security guy there sees me but doesn't seem to mind that I run there after dark. 9 holes plus the distance to and from is about 5 miles. Quiet, peaceful, smooth, rolling terrain all to myself. It's awesome. Last night I wished I had my camera. I'll bring it along next time. I'm also thinking of buying some cross country spikes so I can run on the fairways instead of the cart paths!
Speaking of spikes:
I've been watching a lot of track and field videos on Flotrack. I don't know how it happened but I became a running fan. I know names, schools, I can tell you what DMR stands for! Weird. NHL playoffs are starting and I couldn't tell you who made the cut. But, I do know that Austin Abbott from UW is confirmed in the 1500 at Mt SAC. I kinda want to kick my own ass...
So, like I've done my whole life, I see something and think "I can do that. Maybe I should train to try and run the Women's Olympic 'B' standard for the 5K." Seriously, I literally watch elite athletes and then think, Hmmm, why not?
I remember watching a BMX video when I was a kid and then buying a Haro Master so I could become a freestyle BMX rider. Now I work in a Credit Union. hahaha.
So anyways, I watch these videos of these elite runners and I notice something: fast runners spend a lot of time running up on their toes. And those 1500 guys, their heels never touch the track. And I've heard the same thing about Haile. Below is a picture of some cross country spikes. Notice where the 'spikes' are.

So, with this in mind, and because watching elite video automatically qualifies me to train like them, the next time I go running I make an effort to get forward on my foot strike. It feels awkward, like I'm way up on my toes but the road is meeting me right on the balls of my feet. It's quick and quiet and faster.
It's also prevented me from walking right for the last two days. My calves are trashed! When Daniels talks about base training being time for skeletal and muscular adaptations, I'm guessing this is what he means.

Lazy Squared

Training has been spotty. It's base building and there's sorta only one way to run from my house. Which means that every run is almost the same. Same distance, same pace, same route. Mentally, it's a challenge. Funny how routine becomes boring only in regards to some things. I could sit on the couch and eat the same flavor of ice cream, in the same bowl, in the same portion every night and be perfectly happy.
And when I don't run, I don't post. It's pretty much that simple.
Today I have a question and a comment:
1) The Credit Union I work for has an annual awards party which is coming up next Wednesday. It's pretty relaxed and is a chance for everyone to celebrate the year passed, have a few cocktails and let down their hair. Every year there is a theme and almost everyone dresses up including all the executives. Last year the theme was '80's Prom' and the CEO, CFO, COO and some of the VPs dressed up as KISS and did a kick ass air band. It's that kind of party.
This year the theme is 'Olympics', as Vancouver is hosting 2010, and I'm having trouble thinking up a costume that won't get me fired. Any ideas?
Now, the comment. Totally unrelated. And it's actually another question:
Why is it the man's responsibility to ensure that the toilet seat is put down? Both men and women have different seat needs and I don't understand why this is not a cooperative effort. Ladies, show your men some love and lift that seat.

UBC Sprint Tri Race Report

Kept this kind of under the radar. Hadn't really been training much for tri's since Gunner broke his collar bone. I was having trouble sleeping and my new morning schedule at home was making it tough for me to get to the pool in the AM. So, after Brian got busted up, I really started to question how committed I was to training for triathlon and the longer I thought about it, the more it looked like this would be my first and last tri race of the year.
Aside from the Oly distance race I did about 4 years ago on almost no training, this was my first tri race, period.
Not much to report, really. Raced without a watch, just wanted to sustain a good effort without paying too much attention to where I was time wise. I was pretty much counting on coasting off my residual fitness from Vegas!
750M swim, 20KM bike, 5 KM run, finished in 1:23, 61/360-ish. 5th in my AG.
Bike rank, 30th overall, run rank 45th overall, swim rank 175th! Looks like I did all that shaving for nothing! JK.
Gunner took some pics. Best shot is me having a mid race chat on the wall in the pool with another swimmer. Classic Canadian conversation:
"Sorry, you go ahead"
"Oh no, I insist, you first."
"No no, you go. Please."
"OK, sorry, you sure?"
"Sorry, yes, I'm sure. OK, sorry, go ahead"
"Sorry, OK, thanks. Thanks again, sorry about that."

I'm switching back to running for the rest of the year in a long multi stage build up towards Boston in April 2010. The plan at this point is to train short and fast (5K and 10K) through the summer, some cross country maybe in the Fall, a little rest then back to marathon mileage (hopefully with some new speed) through the winter and spring. If I feel like I've found my limits at that point, I'll come back to triathlon. If not, I'm going to keep running until I have.
And of course, chin ups, push ups and no candy until at least the end of bathing suit season. I might not be a triathlete, but that won't stop me from wearing the Speedo!

For the haters

Cribs

Here's a couple of shots of a room where I spend loads of time: the bathroom!
I thought it would be a good time to offer up a progress report on 'Operation 2009: Be less of a P*ssy'.
So far, I'm hanging in there with the daily push ups and core exercise. To round out the strength training I added this little beauty: chin up bar!



I don't know if you can tell from the pic but it's wider than the door frame so you can do wide grip pull ups as well as underhand grip chin ups. According to the packaging, you can do about 176 different exercises but to be honest there are grips in spots I can't imagine using.
As of this week, I'm doing 21 push ups, 16 v-sit ups, 6 wide grip pull ups and 6 underhand grip chin ups every day adding one to each every week. I'm the guy who started lifting the calf until he could pick up the bull!

This shot is for any spouses of endurance athletes who might be reading the blog. Yeah, it's not just their bathroom that has smelly ass clothes hanging in there all the time.


I got this idea from a friend of mine who used to write herself notes on the inside of her car window with a white board dry erase marker. I started doing the same thing on my bathroom mirror. I put in on the bathroom mirror so it's the first thing that I see in the morning and the last thing I see at night.
'No chain' is a phrase that I read in Lance Armstrong's book that he used to describe how he felt on great days on the bike. He felt like there was 'no chain' on the bike, it felt that easy. For me, the best way to feel good on the bike is to stay on the couch!



I'm also keeping track of the days that I have managed to get my push ups, sit ups and chin ups in. That's 55 hash marks. Every day in 2009. It's also the number of days since the last time I ate a piece of candy.

This last one is a reminder that I sign up for this crazy business of my own demented free will. No whining!

I'm adding inspirational/motivational/insightful quotes to the mirror as the year goes along. Any ideas?