Thursday night workouts may not happen

So last night was supposed to be another pool swim with the MTC.  This is the second time in 2 weeks that I haven't made it to the workout, because traffic is just too bad.  If I want to make it on time, I think that it will have to be a perfect storm of leaving on time, no traffic and a bit of a late start to practice.  We'll see how next week (the last Thursday night swim at PJD) goes.  I guess I have to start looking into actually joining the McGill gym for the start of September so I can keep working out with the club.

This weekend, I will be at the cottage starting tonight until Monday.  I will be back to posting next week, Monday or Tuesday.

Speed work for the run

Last night, we had a track run.  After Tuesday night's massacre on Mount "Pleasant", practice was pretty quiet.  I think there were 6 of us plus a coach, 4 of whom were actually at the ride.  The track workout was 2000m warm up, 800m drills, then 3x 2000m @ 10k pace.  Now, I don't really know what my 10k pace is, so at this point I am just sorta running.  Although I know my 5k tri race pace is somewhere in the 5'00"/km range, I am trying to speed that up, so I decided to try to run at 4'30"/km.  I don't know what is wrong with my Nike+, but it doesn't seem to be calibrated correctly.  I think that, over 2km, it registers an extra 50-100m, because although it said I was running around 4'30", I was more in the 4'35"-4'40" range.  Now, I'm not complaining, and I am happy with that pace, but it'd be nice to actually get a proper calibration done.

Tonight's work out is a swim at Parc Jean Drapeau.  It's supposed to be around 3-3.5km of swimming.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Last Night's Workout, Climbing

Jeez, these people are going to kill me.  Last night, I met with the MTC for a bike ride.  The plan was to go for a ride on Mount Pleasant.  Now, I've been here before, so I already know what I am getting in to.  Let's just say that it is much more "Mount" than it is "Pleasant".  It basically looks like this:

New Inspiration

So I have a new inspiration.  Her name is Paula Findlay, and she is a 21 year old triathlete from Edmonton/Victoria who has just won the last 2 ITU races.  She has started to make some serious waves in the ITU circuit, and she will most likely be representing Canada in London 2012.

Photo from Kerstin Joensson/The Associated Press

Why is she my new inspiration?  She didn't get onto a bike until 4 years ago.  Sure, she grew up as a swimmer and a runner, but if she can do it, why can't I?  There is no reason to not be able to push myself to achieve great success.  She is who will inspire me to keep training in order to get continually better.  

To read more about her, see the Globe and Mail article here.

Rest Day

No workout planned today.  Maybe a bit of YogaX, but maybe not.  Nothing on the MTC (McGill Triathlon Club) plan.

First week with McGill Tri Club

So, I found what is going to be taking taking up most of my free time in the near future.  This week, I started working out with the McGill Triathlon Club.  It is a lot of time to put in, but it is going to be awesome, and it is going to help me get a lot better, and force me to stick with my training over the winter.  Here is a breakdown of the week:

Race Report #2

Alright, so, as I did last time, I am posting my race results a week late.  Sorry, like I said, I am going to try to get better at posting sooner.  I am not going to go into all the detail that I did for the last one, but I will still give the rankings and times for each discipline.


Pre-Race


Coming into this race, I felt a LOT less prepared than I did for my last race.  I felt like I hadn't put in the same time/effort that I had.  I wasn't sure if it was because I had built up my base fitness more, so doing the same amount of work felt easier, or if I just didn't put as much in for this one as I did last time.  


As discussed in my previous post, I also had a LOT on my mind for this race, so I was very nervous for the race.

Visit to the Doc

Alright, so I'm terrible at this.  I haven't posted since my last race, and here I am, posting my new race report.  I promise, I will try to get better at this.  I will make 2 posts tonight, and 1 more tomorrow.  It's a start, trying to make up for a month.


Alright, so here is a bit of a back story.  2 weeks ago, the week before my race, I did a mile swim at the Morrison Lake Regatta.  It was a good warm up for my race.  It went well.  I didn't really have a plan, a desired time, etc.  I didn't even know how long the swim actually was.  I decided just to go and swim, finish, and whatever happens happens.  Looking at a map afterwards, I estimate that it was about 1250m.  The swim went well, and I was the 3rd person out of the water, behind a real life swimmer, and someone who, this past weekend, completed a half Ironman.  My time was around 23'45", if I recall correctly.  Pretty uneventful swim.  What happened afterwards, however, caused some concern.

First Triathlon Ever!

So, this weekend was, as everyone knows from my oft-updated blog, my first race, Joe's Team Triathlon in support of the Princess Margret Hospital Foundation.  

First off, I want to thank absolutely everyone who supported me, whether through donations, helping me out, listening to me talk their ear off about triathlons or giving me words of encouragement and advice.  I managed to raise over $2600, surpassing my goal of $2500 and joining "Joe's Dream Team".  So thanks again.

Now, here's the exciting stuff!  My official results were found today (thanks, Brad!), and they are after the jump:

Day 4 - Didn't happen

So yesterday was supposed to be day 4...  But that didn't happen.  I was going to do Insanity Pure Cardio and Insane Abs with a friend last night.  He hadn't gotten back to me, so I decided to take a nap instead, as I was exhausted.  When he said he wasn't going to come, I decided that I wasn't going to do it, as my nap had just made me more tired.  So instead, I took an early night, got an ok sleep, and am now rested for the weekend (which is supposed to be terrible, weather wise).

I'll make up for the missed workouts this weekend, don't you worry.  Maybe I'll throw an extra one in there, just as a punishment.

I know, you can't wait to hear about them.

Your Armchair Ironman

Day 4 - 60 Minute Bike Ride in Zone 1

So today was a pretty good bike ride at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.  The circuit is the race track where the F1 of Montreal, and the Indycar races are held.  It's a 4km loop, including some uphills, downhills, and plenty of straightaways.  The track was pretty busy today, with a lot of people going a lot faster than me, and lots of group rides going on.  It sort of motivated me to join a group.  I may look into the local tri club, Les Chickens.  I will look into them seriously this weekend, but I do know that they are a very francophone group, so we will see how that goes.

Info about the ride after the jump.

Training has officially started & Some news

So this week marks week 1 of my 6 week training plan leading up to my first tri on July 10th.  Here is a quick breakdown of how it's gone so far.

Day 1 - Sunday, May 30, 2010 - Rest Day


Rest day.  I love this plan!  How do you start with a rest day?  Went miniputting up in Laval, and am seriously considering going to SkyVenture, an indoor skydiving simulation.  They are also building an indoor surf wave, which will be awesome when it opens.  All in all, good day.  Went to Bofinger for dinner, so that wasn't the MOST healthy, but it was delicious.

Day 2 after the jump...

Less than 2 Months Left...

And 2 weeks until my official training plan commences.  I am really looking forward to getting into it, and am almost dreading what some of the weeks look like.  There are going to be a LOT of long days to be had over the next couple of months.  I have a lot planned to get ready for this race, and hopefully, it'll lead me in the right direction.  Right now, I think that a realistic time for me to aim for is around 1:45.  Hopefully, over the next 8 weeks, I can aim for a lot lower than that, in the 1:25-1:30 range.  I'll keep updating that as time goes by, so keep checking back for a good idea of how good I'm feeling about my race time.

This weekend was a great weekend, training wise.  I managed to get out for 2 runs (8 and 10k run/walks) on Friday and Saturday nights, and a nice, long, 36km bike ride on Sunday morning.  Turns out I don't know how to find the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which is a race track in Montreal where cyclists can go to train, while avoiding the congestion on the bike paths.  This weekend, I'll make another attempt to find it.  Fingers crossed!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the unfortunate cyclists who fell victim to an accident on a provincial highway here in Quebec.  Please, please please ride safe.  It is not always enough to follow the rules of the road, when others may not be following them.  Always ride defensively!

Your Armchair Ironman

I have to do WHAT?!?!?!

Swim?  Are you kidding me?  When did THAT become part of a triathlon?

Well, if you haven't already guessed, I started swimming today.  For the first time in YEARS, I went lap swimming.  And man, was it more than I remember.  A friend set up a swim training program for me.  Here's how it broke down:

100m warm up (any stroke)
4x50m front crawl, 15 second rests between sets
4x50m flutter kick, 10 second rests
4x50m front crawl, 10 second rests
4x50m arms only, 10 second rests
100m cool down, any stroke

So, if you did the math, that is 1000m of swimming.  After not having swam in a really, really long time.  It hurt, a lot.  Afterwards, taking a shower, I could barely wash my shoulders.  That is how much it hurt.  But it was a really good work out.  Far enough to push me, but not so far that I won't be going again tomorrow.

I have decided that this week, I am focusing on swimming because, from the triathlon that I am doing in July, I won a swim lesson with a former Ironman swim record holder.  And this lesson happens to be next Tuesday. I don't want to embarrass myself, so...  off to the pool I go!  My plan is to swim at least 5 times between now and the lesson.  Here's hoping!

Other than that, training has been going fairly well.  I had a minor (week long) setback with my foot, but I am back now.  I went for a nice 30km bike ride on Saturday, and will likely head out for another one or two this coming weekend, as well as getting back on the running wagon.

There is a little more than 2 months before my race.  It's time to start getting serious.  I'll keep updating this as the days go on.  Come late May, I will be on an actual training plan, so I'll be updating much more frequently.

On to the next swim.  Here's to not being able to lift your arms.

Your Armchair Ironman

Back in the Saddle

Alright, so I've been away from the blog for quite a while now, and I'm sorry for that.  I've been very busy recently, with training, my Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs, visitors, and life in general.  I will be more diligent with this in the future.  Maybe getting my own domain IS what I need to do.

So a few people have been asking me about my current equipment setup.  Today, I will outline my current bike setup, and the run/swim stuff will come.

As I am new to the whole biking/running/swimming/triathlon thing, I decided to buy some equipment used, and managed to get some better items, better equipped, for the same price.  First, let's go with the big ticket.  I bought my bike off of Kijiji.  It's a 2006 Quintana Roo Seduza.  It has a carbon fibre frame, and front and back forks.  The bike is UNBELIEVABLY light (well, for what I was expecting...).  For those of you who are more technically in the know, here are the specifications:  53cm top tube, Vision TT Aero bars with Ulteggra bar-end shifters.  Ulteggra front derailleur, Dura-Ace rear.  Keo Look Red pedals and a San Marco Arrowhead saddle.  All in all, this bike is WAY more than I need right now, but in time, I will grow into it, and hopefully out of it.

Graphic Content! Reader beware

  Alright, so here is the info you've been waiting for...  My devastating injury!

  It all happened on a gorgeous afternoon on December 28, 2007.  After buying a season's pass to Blue Mountain, I was coming down on my 6th run of the season (I remember this because I remember it costing $120/run for my pass...), and I fell.  Nothing spectacular.  I was just doing a triple backflip double twist, while holding a baby that I had rescued from a bear with my own hands.  As I was coming down, I noticed a little bunny directly where I was going to land, and the only way that I could protect the baby AND the bunny was to sacrifice my body.  Hit "read more" to see the results...

First Triathlon

Alright, so here it is, the information regarding my first triathlon.

  Every year, near my cottage, 2 hours north of Toronto, there is a triathlon for charity called Joe's Team Triathlon.  The triathlon is for the Princess Margret Hospital Foundation, which is one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world.  The triathlon takes place on Lake Joseph, along Old Highway 69, and through the town of MacTier.  The swim and transition areas are located on the grounds of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.

  The cause is very near and dear to my heart, as a few years back, I lost my aunt Cathy to cancer.  She was very close to my family and myself, and her passing was very hard.  She will never be forgotten, and with everyone's help, CANcer BE BEATEN.

  My goal for the event is to raise at least $2500 before July 1.  Thus far, I am just over $1000 and counting.  If you want to donate, you can do so at my personal page.  Please tell anyone who you know that has been affected, directly or indirectly, by cancer and who might be willing and able to support me.  All donations, and encouragement, are greatly appreciated.

  Now, on to a bit of information about the actual event.  The event takes place on July 10th.  It is a sprint triathlon, which means that it is a 750m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run.  The hardest part of the race will be the swim, as it is for most people.  I am a fairly strong swimmer, though, so hopefully with a bit of practice and pacing, I will be able to be strong at this.

  As this is going to be my first triathlon, I am not expecting to be competitive, however I would like to finish with a respectable time.  That is the goal.

Of course, if I see someone in front of me, I am going to try to catch them.......

A bit about my training and progress to come tomorrow.

Your Armchair Ironman

Quick 2009 Summary

  Well, I told you I was going to summarize my 2009 for you, so why not over breakfast.  Let's get it over with.

  So, as mentioned, I started 2009 weighing around 230 lbs.  A friend of mine told me about the Men's Health Belly Off! diet.  I had great success with this program.  It was basically a nutrition plan which provided great food, recipes and a shopping list every week.  It involved 3 workouts a week which were very doable and not overly long.  I really enjoyed this program, and followed it to a T for about 3 months, and had amazing results.

  After getting into a little bit better shape, I was told about a DVD home fitness program called P90x.  This program was a MAJOR increase in the intensity and frequency of the program, but I fell in love with it and jumped in head first.  It is a 91 day program during which you workout 6 or 7 days a week for 13 weeks.  This program is incredible, and I still do some of the workouts from time to time.  I found that, though, after a while, I didn't want to put the 1:20+ a day, 6 times a week into the program.  It got to be cumbersome, and it seemed that I was spending all my life outside work at the gym.  I will go back to doing some of the workouts, but I don't know if I will do the program all the way though again, despite having a lot of fun doing it, and amazing results.

  At the end of the summer, I decided to invest in a program, again for Beachbody, called Insanity.  This program lived up to its name.  The workouts are short and sweet (the longest one is MAYBE an hour), but they get the job done.  The programs are body weight and cardio based, which I liked, because it meant that there was no need for weights, bars, bands, or anything.  There were a LOT of push ups, squats, jumps, burpees, etc.  I don't think I have ever sweat as much as I do/did when I do these worktouts.  I plan on interspersing the workouts through my Ironman training.  I may, actually, try to include the workouts in the mornings for the first 2 months of my training (as it is a 60 day program...)

  So that was my 2009.  I managed to drop from a max of 230 lbs down to a minimum of 180 lbs.  After not working out for most of October, November and December, I was back up to 190 lbs, where I am now.  Ideally, for my first triathlon (details to follow), I will be down to a race weight of around 175-180 lbs.

  As I said, more information about my first triathlon to follow...  later today.

First Post: Intro and Background

  Alright, so, here we go. Welcome to my blog, and my first post.

  Here is a bit of background information about me, and a bit of my past. I am currently 25, and have always been somewhat athletic, but never really physically fit. University was not kind to me in terms of my fitness, and I managed to pack on the pounds. Being on my own, cooking for myself and no exercise for the first time didn't add up to a nutrient rich, low fat diet. Coming out of university, I tipped the scales at around 230 lbs. At 5'8" and a bit, that was very unhealthy.

  Living at home again, and having my parents doing the Dr. Bernstein Diet, I decided to join, with their strong urging and support. It worked. It worked incredibly at what it set out to do. In the 8 weeks (I believe, I can't really remember) that I was signed up for it, I dropped down to 190 lbs. The problem with Dr. Bernstein is, as someone once described it to me, that "it is an expensive way of starving yourself." This is very true. It is a great way to get rid of excess weight FAST. However, it is not sustainable. It is not possible to live healthily eating as little as they expect you to eat. It is not a way of life. It is a crash diet.

  This brings us to the winter of 2007. Playing hockey for the first time in a while was going great, and I had just purchased a season pass to the local ski hill. And then the most devastating thing to ever happen to me happened. I broke my leg on the ski hill. Spiral fracture of the tibia. On my 6th run of the season. After talking to the doctors and weighing all options, I decided to have surgery to repair it, and to this day, I have a plate and 9 screws in my leg. I'll upload the x-rays when I get the chance. Well, after surgery, I was absolutely crushed to learn that I was to be non-weight bearing for 2 months. Although I was not in great shape, I was still very active, so this was the worst news I could have received. This was very depressing for me, and so I took solace in my food. I started to put my weight back on, and it snowballed from there.

  Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2008. A friend of mine from high school gets engaged, and he asks me to be on of his groomsmen. Now, knowing who was going to be at the wedding (lots of other people from high school), I decided that I didn't want to be the "fat ass" in the wedding party, so I took it upon myself to begin to shed the fat. Stepping on the scale on January 6th, 2009, I weighed in at 230 lbs again. As I hadn't gotten any taller, you can imagine how bad this felt...

  This set me up for my long, and totally worthwhile year of 2009, in which I put myself through a LOT, mentally and physically, and underwent a huge physical transformations.  More to follow regarding the rigors of 2009.

  Now, for the crux of this blog.  Why am I writing this blog?  What is the purpose of it?

  Well, as you will hear in future posts, I am very proud of my physical accomplishments in the past year.  But there doesn't seem to be an end goal to it.  Enter the triathlon.  In December, I saw a documentary on Ironman triathlons.  I decided that, if I could lose over 50 lbs in 8 months that I could do anything; I could even do something as crazy as an Ironman.  So that became my goal.  As I approached my 25th birthday, I was doing research, and gave myself until my 30th birthday to complete my first Ironman.  Yes, that is a 140.6 mile race.  So I have given myself 5 years.  I am planning on completing at least 2, maybe up to 4 sprint triathlons this summer (explanations of the various distances to come), and many more, and 1/2 and full marathons next summer.  This blog will be used as a way to keep me accountable, to myself and to anyone who cares to regularly check in.  I am not accountable to people the world over (whether anyone reads this or not).

Stay tuned!  I promise that the future blogs will not be as long, drawn out or serious as this was!  Just wanted to get my feet wet, and all these words came out.  Sorry if I bored you!

Your Armchair Ironman