The sky is the limit...

At least this is how I feel right now. My tapering is going so (SO) well despite an annoying cold. I run faster, I swim faster (but not that fast) and my cycling is also going very well. I am gaining confidence and I am really looking forwards to that New Balance Half Ironman.

I know that on race day it can be a different story but at least my preparative work is done properly and with high intensity. I wanted to look for explanations regarding the way I feel right now and this is what I found:

"From a neuromuscular perspective, the taper usually results in markedly increased muscular strength and power, often associated with performance gains at the muscular and whole body level. Oxidative enzyme activities can increase, along with positive changes in single muscle fibre size, metabolic properties and contractile properties. Limited research on the influence of the taper on athletes' immune status indicates that small changes in immune cells, immunoglobulins and cytokines are unlikely to compromise overall immunological protection."

WE TRULY ARE BIOLOGICAL MACHINES....

REF: Physiological Changes Associated with the Pre-Event Taper in Athletes.
Sports Medicine. 34(13):891-927, 2004.
Mujika, Inigo; Padilla, Sabino; Pyne, David; Busso, Thierry

Taaper weeks...

More intensity, less distance...this is my goal for the next 2 weeks. Despite a little battle with a virus...nothing serious, I just felt a bit tired, I feel like my fitness level is UP THERE! I felt like I never felt before. I feel strong mentally and physically and I am ready for action. The next 2 weeks are designed to bring me to the next level, to "peak". The week after that, I am going to California for a conference. I plan to swim there at least once but preferably twice. I plan to run on the Golden Gate...just for the fun of it! Then I come back. June 21st it's competition time...I plan to give everything I have. Time is no issue, I want to be proud of myself knowing that the time it takes to do this Half Iron is the absolute minimum for me, at this point. I am ready! SOOOOO READY!!!!

I love my quads....

Hill training tonight! Just for fun! 5 repeats, each repeats is 2.3 km, 137 m elevation. In total that will be:

• 11.5 km uphill (11.5 km downhill...no effort)
  
• 685 m ascent
  

Fight of Flight Reaction: An experiment

This post is, again, about my triathlon training...but with a twist! For starters, I almost got hit by a car today, well....I almost crashed in a car. Not my fault I swear! You see, Victoria is full of very nice people and many of these nice people happen to be elderly. Age and vision (not talking "night vision" here)go in opposed directions...we could say they are negatively correlated.

Anyways...I am coming down beach drive near the Oak Bay Marina, nothing in front of me. I am going at about 35km/h. No rain...just a nice day. So here I come and this boat-of-a-car (a blue Caprice, I think) turns to get in the Oak Bay Marina parking lot. I just tell myself: Wait...I am here dude....he does not see me, and still proceeds to the parking lot...slowly. I hit the breaks hard....he is still moving. "I am going to crash in this stupid car" I tell myself and everything seems to be in slow motion. Finally, when I am 2-3 meters from the car, he suddenly stops, looking at me. I still hit the breaks and my back wheel start skidding on the pavement....nowhere to go but on the sidewalk. So I did...barely! It is quite amazing how we get so lucid in times like these. Everything seems to slow down and small details seem to be so easy to perceive.

After a few bad words I stop on the side of the road, my heart is racing. That was a close call!!!! That would have been a bad, bad crash!

I was wearing my Polar Heart Rate monitor and looked at the time on my watch. I thought that, for sure, the Polar would have picked that up...and it did! On the picture below, the red line is my heart rate, the bottom brown section is altitude. You can see (look at the arrows) that my heart rate adapts to the altitude but there is a point where it shoots up for no apparent reasons except for an adrenalin surge in my veins.

After a 83km ride, I planned a run. A nice, but difficult, run around Cedar Hill golf course. Guess what? I almost got hit by a golf ball....it has to be my lucky day! I plan on checking the lotto 6/49 numbers tonight....a few days ago we bought a ticket!

Getting there...

The New Balance Half Ironman is just weeks away and I am starting to feel confident. I know it will be difficult and long, the longest race ever so far but I am really looking forwards to it. I went for a 104km bike ride yesterday and today I ran 16km....in the sun! My legs were tired from yesterday's ride but not as much as I expected. In fact, I ran a very good 10km (Times Colonist 10k see also this blog post) after a long ride last month. I have a bit of stiffness in my calves and maybe in the quads but rolling on my foam tube should take care of that.

I am in some sort of dilemma right now....I would like to run the Oak Bay Half Marathon next sunday (May 24th) but I am not sure for two reasons:

1. I haven't run more than 16 km in the last few months...and only once (today)
2. I certainly do not want to get injured before my big day on June 21 (Elk Lake half Ironman)

On the other hand, it could be a good training session at tempo pace and I am in very good shape right now...I could get a PR.....humm...what to do?

Lower cadence on bike and running performance

I found this interesting blog post and, after my first triathlon, this makes total sense.

One of the most interesting aspects of the review related to the chosen pedal cadence and how this affected subsequent running performance. It is well documented that lower cadences lead to lower oxygen usage and studies have shown that pedalling at lower cadences in the final stages of a triathlon cycle section can improve subsequent running performances. Vercruyssen et al (2002) showed that running performance was significantly improved by adopting a slower cadence for the final 10 minutes of the cycle leg (74 RPM) compared to a self chosen cadence of 94 RPM and a high cadence of 109 RPM.

Now, what I need to do is find a way to make sure my legs adapt to the swim tto bike part. Someone from Island Triathlon suggested high cadence to pump blood in the legs. That makes sense as well. I found this transition very difficult and, in my race report, I refered to a Jell-O feeling. About five minutes later my legs felt better. I am learning a lot...that's for sure!

A bit of inspiration...

VIA: http://humanpoweredracer.blogspot.com/

TC 10K Baby!!!!

I haven't blogged in a while.....just did not have the time! Here's a good reason to blog again: Sunday it will be the Times Colonist 10km run (TC 10K) - Bib number 368. I am part of a group at work called the Camosun Human Racehorses. Let's see how I will do! I got injured a few weeks ago but I am now back in running full force....I want to do well but I do not expect a PR here...but it could happen! By the way, that PR is 44 minutes 7 seconds (not that great!...my excuse? There was ice on the roads that day)!

Arrrgh ......ITBS!

Once again....I am sidelined by this ANNOYING condition! A hard track workout...always running in the same direction got me! ITBS in my left knee this time! I guess I am not a spring chicken anymore....ah...age!

Why do I run?

Why do I run...that is a good question...In a way, running makes me a better person, or gives me the impression that I am.

I run because I can
I run because I know my time here is temporary
I run to stay healthy
I run to test my limits
I run because I am a fierce competitor...against myself
I run because of the mental thoughness it takes and the one it brings
I run because I like to see how much I can get away with
I run because I have to
I run because I can look at myself in the mirror and know I gave everything I had
I run because I am an experiment
I run because I gather data on my own biology
I run because I get a high from it and because I am truly addicted to it
I run for meditation
I run for healing
I run for happiness
I run to get rid of the daily frustrations
I run to stay sain
I run because my dad did not....he should have
I run because my mother cannot
I run....just because........I run

And I am working so hard!

On October 12th I will be running the half-Marathon in Victoria (Royal Victoria Marathon. I would like to reach a new milestone...a new personal best but I am afraid it will be impossible and it seems my VO2 Max is to blame for this. What is VO2 Max? In a nutshell it is the amount of oxygen my body can use and it is measured in ml/kg/min. Right now, my VO2 max is estimated at 56-58. Not bad at all but not enough....far from enough! I would like to achieve 1h 30 minutes...but my VO2 Max would need to be at least 62....I am almost there!

Last year, during the Island Race Series, I raced every other week. I had a lot of practice, a lot of speed work and also I was 8-10 pounds lighter (I am now 172 pounds). During one of those races, the Comox Half Marathon, I ran 21.1 km in a time of 1h 34 minutes 10 seconds. I tried to do this two weeks ago at the Lands End Half Marathon only to find out that I am not running fast enough, not because I am not trying but because my body cannot. I need more training, more speed work in order to increase that important VO2 Max value!

By the way, a new record was set today for the marathon distance....42.2 km in 2h 03minutes 59 seconds....that's 2minutes 56 seconds per kilometer....for 42.2 km. Haile Gebrselassie is a running machine, a biological machine with a VO2 max of about 82.....but he is way lighter than me (that's my excuse) ;-)