Posted by: Karen | July 28, 2009

Social Swim

Last night I swam with Liesbeth and Karin from the 10k running group. Karin got there first and I’d gotten in only a couple of laps when Liesbeth showed up too. We joked that our lane was for Karin/Karen’s only, but the pool was kind of busy, so we let her in our lane anyway.

We enjoyed visiting and joking in between some laps. I enjoyed swimming a little bit harder/faster for some laps to make up for the chats. Liesbeth mentioned that she wasn’t feeling particularly energetic, but Karin and I understood. L had just flown all the way back from the Netherlands, and boy, were her arms tired.

I had some cramping in my right foot around my fourth toe and the ball of my foot. This happens sometimes, but it’s mild and ignorable most of the time. At the end I was going to play a silly prank on Karin by diving under her and making a funny face, but was attacked by a nasty left calf cramp and missed my window of opportunity.

We headed for the hot tub and ended up with a “see you next week”. Don’t you want to come, too?

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Posted by: Karen | July 26, 2009

Another Brick

Bit by bit, I am building myself an olympic distance triathlon. Late this morning I went out for a 40km ride on my own. I will be working some group rides into my training in the near future, but this weekend I didn’t want to commit to showing up with others.

It was kind of warm out, but not the hot hot weather we’ve been enduring lately. The skies were mercifully overcast and there was a stiff, cool breeze – perfect conditions! I packed along a water bottle, two Gus, and some Nuun tablets.

I did a crazy thing before I started; I inspected my bike computer’s wires and sensors. Sure enough, the connectors to the main unit had come undone and the back spoke sensor was not lined up with the receptor. Duh, no wonder it hadn’t been registering mileage. I made a minuscule adjustment and voila, numbers!

I rode out to one of my favourite local subdivisions, this time armed with a map of the area and a determination to ride at least 30k or more. I stopped at 30 minutes for a drink and to refresh my memory with the map. At 70 minutes I remembered I should have a Gu, so downed a Vanilla Orange Octane. It tasted great with the Citrus flavour Nuun-drink.

I was feeling strong out there (likely the effect of the nice cool breeze), so played with my speed on the rolling hills. I went fast in the drops on the descents, and stood up while attacking rises (instead of grinding away in granny gears while seated).

I dropped no bottles and had no flats, but I did fall down once again, at the same intersection as 3 weeks ago, this time on the way home. I was in a different corner of the intersection (on the sidewalk, thankfully), and I did manage to clip out my feet before landing. Still, I landed in a sprawling split atop my bike. I looked about as graceful as a giraffe losing traction while trying to sip from a hole in the ice.

I got home in about 1:55 with 41.74 km showing on the computer. I downed another Gu (mint chocolate, my fave!) before collecting Little Runner and heading out on a 15 minute run. She rode her bike and mercifully waited for me at corners.

We somehow ended up at the 7-11, a km away (we took the long way there) and I negated most of my calories burned that morning with a “recovery fudgesicle”. It was delicious. On the way home we admired a fantastic hopscotch someone had drawn, with 320 steps.

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Posted by: Karen | July 25, 2009

Open Water Swim

Miquelon Lake, once you venture beyond the sandy beach edge of the swimming bay, has plenty of soft, squishy mud on the bottom. It’s somewhat saline and tastes kind of sour. There are no fish, no weeds, and there is nothing to see but icky algae-like floaty-balls and the occasional half-buried beer can.

I suppose that’s better than having jelly fish, sharks, rip tides or sea monsters.

I have borrowed my friend Dianne’s wetsuit for training and racing purposes this summer. It is a very comforting thing to wear out in a lake. If I need to rest, I can float on my back like very playful otter with my toes above the surface, no effort required.

I brought my mom and my daughter out to enjoy the water with me on Friday morning. It was a gorgeous sunny weekday and the beach was not busy when we were out there at around 10 a.m.

Mom watched me like a hawk the whole time. She realized she couldn’t fetch me if I needed help, but she would have raised an alarm and prayed really hard if I had. I don’t know how much Mom remembers about my childhood swimming lessons, but if you had told either one of us 30 years ago I’d be doing this, we would have quietly nodded and made the crazy sign.

I had this thought as I swam towards a corner of the bay, that I when I reached it I would get out and wave back at Mom from the shore. I did reach that corner, but when I attempted to stand up, my leg sank in the mud up to my knee.  Yeah, maybe not. I didn’t drive and swim all that way to have my family watch me get sucked into a mud hole, and hey, it was a borrowed wetsuit.

I’m not sure how far or for how long I swam. I should have worn my watch. I might have swum 20 minutes or half an hour at most. I took a few strokes of breast stroke once in a while, but front crawl felt more natural, on either side. I did some backstroke on the way back for a change.

The little bay where the beach is seems much bigger in person than it does on the map. There is no guide rope to mark deep water, maybe because it doesn’t get very deep?. With no buoys or boats or guiding ropes out there I did figure out a way to keep swimming straight: I used the sun. On the way out I swam away from it, and on the way back swam towards it. I still had to slow down to sight along the shore sometimes, but the sun kept me on track more than land-sighting alone. I expect that on race day there will be more to look at and think about.

4 weeks and 1 sleep to the Alberta Challenge Tri.

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Posted in Canadian Content, Cross Training, Swimming, Triathlon | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Karen | July 25, 2009

Brick (Ride + Run)

Thursday morning I took myself out on the highway for 85 minutes on “Stretch”, my bike. The highway out near New Norway has a nice, wide, clean shoulder and gently rolling hills. It was nice that the construction crews were elsewhere when I was out riding on their fresh new pavement.

I didn’t see much wildlife, but the air smelled of blooming clover, alfalfa and canola. One can nearly go blind by looking directly at a neon yellow canola field, but it sure livens up the landscape. I saw one gopher and a grasshopper. There were lots of semi’s out on highway 21, but the drivers were generous with my space. I’m told truck drivers count as a form of wildlife.

I had no flat tires, and only dropped my water bottle once. I tried out E-Load powder in my water bottle and a very warm Orange Burst Gu at 45 minutes. They worked pretty well.

It was a hot day with a nice breeze. After a quick stop to change shoes and headgear I took a 15 minute jog around a country block, to make the workout classify as a “brick”. The heat and humidity combined left me covered in slimy sweat, but it felt good to have gotten out and done it.

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Posted by: Karen | July 22, 2009

Short One

I’m taking a few days off work, so this morning I slept in a little, tidied up a little, and took a nice 35 minute trail run through the hilly doggy parks in my neighbourhood. The summer wildflowers were many and beautiful. I saw wild roses, brown-eyed susans, daisies of different kinds, and lots of pretty bluebells.

Then I tidied up some more around the house – it’s been in quite a bit of disarray since the Robert Hamilton race two weeks ago and my tri-training since hasn’t left me much energy or time to put away race supplies, training gear and of course laundry.

I know, it doesn’t sound like a very restful day off, but it will all pay off in the long run (ha. pun intended).

I’m heading back up north for a few more days. Hopefully I can get in some more tri-training in between knitting and visiting with family. I might even check out the Alberta Challenge course.

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Posted by: Karen | July 21, 2009

Milk River’s Bonanza Day Road “Race”

I received my annual notice of the Milk River Bonanza Day road “race” today. This is a very fun, friendly, 5k & 10k foot race in a very small town just north of the Montana border. When my family and I camped at Writing on Stone park near there in 2006 I sneaked out of my tent early in the morning to race it, and I’ve enjoyed pleasant memories of it ever since.

Milk River Road Racers 2006

Milk River Road Racers 2006

The run is still on this year, although the 10k route will be altered due to highway construction. I won’t be able to make it back again this summer, but still hope to return to it someday. I’m glad Wendy keeps me on the mailing list. I really like the simplicity and friendliness in how it’s run, and hope the tradition keeps on going for many many more years.

In case you’re interested in going yourself, the 2009 MRBD RR is Saturday, August 1, at 8 a.m.  at the intersection of main street and Highway 501 (marshall in front of tee’s ‘n jeans store) . The $20 fee  includes

“the opportunity to be with friends as you exercise your feet, choose a t-shirt, wear a Bonanza Day button for a pancake breakfast, enjoy our outdoor swimming pool – and all the displays plus the parade at 11 a.m. – and fireworks at night.

Looking forward to seeing you – and all you can bring with you – on Saturday, August 1.”

You likely won’t find a link to this race online anymore, but you could just show up early on race day to sign up (don’t try to pay with VISA).  If you’re thinking of bringing a lot of friends, I’d suggest you give Wendy a little notice by contacting the Town of Milk River and asking for Wendy-the-Bonanza-Day-Race-Director, or write me a comment and I’ll be happy to pass your email on to her.

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Posted by: Karen | July 20, 2009

Count to 30: Ah, Ah Ah!

The Count of Sesame Street

The Count of Sesame Street

Finally, I did a swim workout where I was coherent enough to keep count of the laps. It took me about 45 minutes to do 30 laps in the 25 meter pool. The olympic distance tri I’m signed up for next month begins with 1500m of swimming, and I’d like to complete that in under an hour, so I’m laughin’!

This 45 minutes included infrequent tiny rests at the ends, 3 laps of breast stroke, dodging the occasional child, deciding to move over 3 lanes into an empty one, and still occasionally dodging another child. It also included saying hi to Karen G (a runner from the 10k group) in the middle of lap 24, as she came to join me at the pool.

Now I’m certain my 1 hour swim workouts have likely been much more than 1500m. I felt really comfortable and steady in the water tonight, and I easily did more cool-down laps in between chatting after completing the first 30.

Time to start concentrating more on the bike. And I should run some, too.

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Posted by: Karen | July 19, 2009

New for Me – Group Cycling

I realize that cyclists ride in groups all the time, but up until last week my triathlon training has involved just me and my bike out there on my own. There’s no true need for me to learn to ride with a group, as drafting isn’t allowed during triathlons anyway, but over the years I’ve benefited educationally and motivationally from running with a group; why not try cycling with one?

Tuesday after work I drove my car straight from the train to Bragg Creek, a little town close to the mountains. I met up with two friendly, helpful women from the Cyclo Bellas. They smiled when I introduced myself as “a runner with a bike”, and winced at the marks on my legs from my clipped-in fall the week before.

We rode out to Allen Bill Pond and back, which took us about 90 minutes (~25k) on beautiful rolling hills.

They gave me a basic lesson on drafting and pulling, because really? I had no clue how it worked. I really didn’t think it would make so BIG a difference to draft, but it did! Pulling is harder than I thought, not just physically, but also mentally because the leader has to keep a steady pace and signal to the followers about hazards.

I’m still not sure about pulling/drafting etiquette, like when I should offer to pull and for how long, etc., but I guess I’ll figure that out as I go along. I think I need to update my bike computer, to understand my pace and effort better.

Sometimes as we rode along there was a whole different language out there, as they talked about the TDF and Crits and gear. We didn’t ride really hard, except on the uphills. I didn’t want to go too hard because I wasn’t sure how I’d manage if I got tired, and I didn’t want to get too tired on my first ride with them, since I had the choice. As it turns out, I was tired enough the next day, when my muscles finally remembered to complain about the hills.

Since we were near (in?) a provincial park, we rode over nasty cattle gates. These had skinny strips of metal for bikes to use when crossing, but I had a hard time staying on the stupid little strips. We went over 3 on the way out, which meant 3 more on the way back. I didn’t get all the way across on a strip until the very last one. I just couldn’t stay straight on them, but I was elated the last try, when I DID!

It tried to rain on us, and we did get a little wet, but dried quickly. The cool breeze was nice most of the time. I’m looking forward to more group rides.

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Posted by: Karen | July 19, 2009

A Swim in the Fast Lane

Mondays and swimming don’t seem to go well together for me, lately. Back in June, I missed the first one due to an important scouting parent meeting. Then my usual pool was closed for repair. Then it closed early in the evenings for summer hours.

Last Monday I switched pools (how long did it take me to do that? 3 weeks?) and got in a full hour’s swim. I did take little breaks and it was not easy, but I did it.

I began during the public swim, and half way through my workout it became “lane swim”. Suddenly my lane became the Fast lane, and I felt very underqualified. I asked the lifeguard if I should move lanes, and she said “as long as you keep moving, I won’t move you”. It worked for me 🙂

I was pretty tired by the time I finished. So tired, I left my bathing suit hanging up on a railing in the change room! I didn’t realize it until I got home and went to hang it up. Good thing the pool was open late enough for me to go back for it.

Maybe  should swim tonight (Sunday), instead of waiting until Monday.

Wetsuit!

Later last week  my friend Dianne brought me her wetsuit to borrow. It fits well and I’m excited to try it out, but am not sure where to go. I need to go jump in a lake, and preferably not by myself.

I’ll be up near Miquelon Lake later this week, so might even try the wetsuit out on the actual course, if I can find someone to accompany me in a canoe or something.

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Posted by: Karen | July 16, 2009

Behind the Clock Part II

We had a blast at the Robert Hamilton Memorial Race on July 12. The weather couldn’t have been better. There was a gentle breeze and not a cloud in the sky as Little Runner and I pulled up to the new start area at 6:00 a.m. We greeted Jim-the-Timing-Guru, agreed with his suggestion for where the finish line should be, and started unloading our car. Gabino, Derek and Jason arrived to help Jim set up the clock. I tied the race banner to a park bench near the parking lot entrance.

Dawn, Andra, and others set up tables, hauled more stuff out of our cars, arranged muffins, apples, blueberries in little cups, chips, water, trophies and prizes. Gabino and Jason drove supplies and tables out to the water stations. I handled last minute package pick-ups and checked off course marshals on my list as they called to check in from their posts. The lead and sweep cyclists checked in, ready to roll.

Jason headed out to help the Prince’s Island Park course marshals. Of all the places a racer could get lost, that was the part we were most concerned about. Jim performed those magical tasks that surround clock set-up, and before I knew it, it was nearly start time.

We gathered up the runners at a blue chalk line on the path. I yelled something encouraging, and Jim sent them off with a Ready Set Go!

This is usually the part where all the action begins in my running race reports. The reverse happens as a race director. We enjoy flurries of activity before and after the race, but that moment after all the racers run off on the course is weird. There is a vacuum of noise and activity,  and we’re left with a hope that all the gears of racers and markers and marshals will mesh. That, and another hope, that we’ve provided enough water to match the racers’ thirst.

The set-up and food prep crew switched over to help with timing.  Little Runner and I started pre-drawing names for prizes. Dawn headed out for a short run, and before we knew it she was calling on her cell to tell us the 5 milers were within a kilometer of the finish.

It was fun watching the racers all finish. The first ones were so serious, but after awhile they caught their breath and started chatting as they waited for results to be posted. We had racers from many different places – Africa, Denmark, Colorado, Japan, Thunder Bay, Pennsylvania and lots of Albertans. Dawn took a lot of photos. Check them out on her Flickr site.

We all gave a rousing cheer for the last runner, and started in on announcements and handing out draw prizes. A group of organizers from the Calgary Women’s Run took the floor in promoting their upcoming race. When I read out pre-drawn draw prizes, Dawn had them all numbered and grouped, so she handed them out lickety split. She saw that I got the big prizes (gift cards) when it was time for them.

The results were kind of delayed, with Jim cursing at the computer, but in that time I remembered to say something about Robert Hamilton, the runner for whom the race is named. I managed to say it without crying, but with emotion (he’s a runner who died on a training run 37 years ago). Last year I forgot to speak about that part and I regretted it.

Immediately after I spoke about Robert, Jim brought the 5 mile results. Did I mention he’s good at timing? Little Runner and Jason handed out awards cookies as fast as I could announce winners. Dawn took more photos. It was fun to put faces to the names I was calling out.

Then it was time to pack up. The Women’s Run volunteers, who had manned one of our water stations, were quite happy to take away my reusable water jugs and tables and other extras for their race next month. Jason took down the race banner and made sure I had it before he went to pick up the course markers.

It hadn’t been a perfect day. We discovered a few places where we’ll enhance the signage or adjust marshal placement due to one or two racers overshooting turns. We might give the 5 and 10 milers different coloured or different number sequence bibs to make them easier for marshals and the course cyclists to distinguish them. There are other lessons learned.

I was home and had completely unloaded the car again by noon. I was tired, but this was one of the first races where I’ve volunteered that I haven’t come home totally exhausted. Now my living room is a mess of race stuff, and I have yet to finish the balance sheet, but it feels pretty good to be a part of this year’s RHMR.

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