how wrinkley can your skin get?

tomorrow, a select group of my (craziest) friends and i are attempting the epic and infamous "100 x 100".
the 10 km swim workout done by swim teams across the world on jan. 1st.
a couple of us attempted this workout last year, but called it quits at 6000m (or was it 7000?). why did we stop? yes our shoulders were on fire, our bathing suits disintegrating and our skin was so wrinkled we instantly aged 60 years, but i think we could have done it.... i think we got bored. after all, 4 hours is a long time to do anything, let alone swim.

i'm really psyched for this attempt. we have a great group of people and i feel that i am stronger in the pool when compared to last year at this time.. but who knows. when it comes down to the wire, will we be able to do it?
which bodily system will fail me?

only one thing is for certain. i will be joining my friends at a local bar for drinks and food when it's all said and done.

wednesday at the races

decided that in order to work off the two days of bingeing, i would enter the boxing day 10 miler in hamilton.
standing at the start line, i had no idea how this would go..... haven't done a staight up running race in about a year and a half and that was only a five km!
i was a little worried. coach said to use it as an extra speed workout (16k??).

kinda' forgot how you're supposed to do these things. how does it feel to just start running.... fast? no warmup swim/bike first? was my pre race jog long enough? (only 2 miles)

needless to say, i think we took it out too fast.... 6:31 first mile, and it was up hill. should slow it down a little, no way i can hold that pace the whole race.... second mile, 6:32 - that's better.

okay, really now, slow down, relax.. next mile 6:46 -- now that i can hold.
i was running next to a guy with a GPS who said that our 5km time was 20:07 or so.. not too bad. only 20 seconds off my PB!

i hit the half mark (8km) in 33:21, pretty close to my pb for that distance too (can't remember it exactly but it's somewhere in the 33 min. area).

same GPS guy said we hit 10km at 41:15 -- yikes, that is my 10 k pb. could be a long 4 miles.

slowest mile was #8, insert mountain and ungroomed trail here. 7:41, that really hurt the finish time, but it didn't take as much out of me as i thought it would (biking?).

tried to turn it on for the last couple of miles as there was this girl that i had been eyeing for the last half of the race, and i wanted to catch her.

6:33,
and the last mile (which ended in me and the other girl all out sprinting to the line!) in 6:15.

overall, tied (no really!) for 5th (i actually had a faster chip time though),
1st in AG.

really liked this race, and if i'm in the country, i'll do it again- maybe i'd try and eat less the couple of days before.

when you're riding in your chevy and your pants are feeling heavy....

yep, been battling a bout of scootitis the last few days.
this am i spent due time in the ladies room before my run to ensure that there would be no emergencies as i was sure there were no decent places to stop if i needed to.

made it close to half way, started to feel uncomfortable, and crampy... thought i would need to pull into a snow covered farmer's field when suddenly, like rudolph's nose, a tim hortons sign.

a new timmy's on the corner of sunningdale and adelaide. when did that get there?
however greatful i was for the use of their toilet, i'm a little perturbed by how fast our city is growing and encroaching on the environment that surrounds us..

not 1 month ago, i saw a huge buck in that same spot. where is he now?
hopefully, he like donuts and coffee.

did it!

got my training plan for the next 4 weeks.... getting a little tougher. should have never complained about the shorter workouts.

today's swim workout = 50 x 50 @ :50...... (+ warmup & 1k paddles)
wasn't as tough as i thought it would be.
probably took it a little too easy for the first half. was worried i wouldn't get through it.
actually felt pretty good.
no tingles in the legs/feet, no burping up dinner, no headaches/dizziness, no cramping.
success!

i've also got a new favorite snack (addiction), crispers all dressed...mmmmmm

know how he feels

love this pic....

can definately relate.

i want to be here...

nice day for a jog!

splish wanted some photos of me in their suit...

thought we'd get creative.

wasn't as cold as i thought it would be.

weird looks from the neighbours though.

bummer

drove to oshawa yesterday with ambitions of competing in a 10km race in mississauga this morning....
woke up to a blizzard.
i protested, but my parents wouldn't let my sister and i make the trek down the 401 to the race site.
so i returned to bed (still in my race gear) and slept in til' 10:30.
winter blows.

airbrush anyone?

splish wants a picture of me in my suit to put up on their website... yikes.

nastiness.

how do you get motivated to train when the weather is sooo nasty?
windy gusts over 40 km... freezing cold, grey. yuck.
was wearing sub zero tights, two fleece long sleeves (one was a turtle neck, the other had a hood), and a touque and was still cold!
hard to stay positive and motivated when all i want to do is eat and curl up under my down comforter.

painful!!

first 'long' ride of the new program. 3 hours on the trainer.....
watched "Mr. Brooks", pretty good movie.

used the old cervelo (and the old seat). my front bum is very unhappy about that decision.
adamo seat is being added to the list of my favorite things.

new racing suit?

pretty intimidating... and horrifying.

not sure how it would look on a girl though.

bambi

during my long run this sunday, i was touched by mother nature. i was running on a sidewalk on the brink of civilization, when a buck (probably a 6 or 7 point) walked right out in front of me.

i stopped dead in my tracks.

not because i was scared of the deer, but because i could see he was considering a sprint across a busy two lane road... i didn't want him to hastily make the wrong decision because he was feeling pressured by my presence.

we made eye contact. shared a brief moment in time. and then he turned back to the 'woods' and was gone.

it literally made my run... he was gorgeous.

ready, steady go!

one day left before my 'off season' is over... kinda' scared, kinda' excited.
have no idea how i'm gonna' train for an IM through the winter (and still race at peak condition!).
hopefully, we'll get it together and be in tucson for the new year - that would help.
spent 2 hours on the WT yesterday and it almost killed me.

testing, testing...

on the advise and perserverance of a friend, i got my HR zones and vo2 max tested this week.
happy with my baseline, knowing that just losing the 5 lbs i've put on will increase my #'s sufficiently. when combined with a kick ass training program, i should be good to go for next season.
not sure how accurrate the test is without the finger prick, but it's something tangible for me to work on.

feeling a little better in the pool. doing more short, speedy stuff.
last night: 3050 m with masters
1:15 on the trainer..... good workout, now that i'm watching the HR!

holy F, it's cold.

winter's here.
froze my butt off during my pm run..... and it's not even '0' yet. thought i had frost bite on my hands (i was wearing gloves).
9 miles of awfulness.
arizona, here i come.

AM swim = TMF (not hard to do these days)
3400m

400s
8 x 50 (25 d/25 s)
4 x 100 (k/s/bk/p)
4 x 50 @ :50
3 x 100 @ 1:45
2 x 150, 10 sec rest
1 x 200, 10 sec rest
2 x 150, 10 sec rest
3 x 100 @ 1:140
4 x 50 @ :50
100 bk
8 x 50 p
200 cd

wow....

congrats to all my friends that did so amazing in fla...
great times.

today's trainer workout was just 2 hours... this conference is taking up too much training time!

going to try and wake up early tomorrow to get in a run... otherwise i don't have time for a workout. we'll see.

another exciting friday.

spent the day learning about wounds (conference), then hopped in the pool:
wu - 500 s, 100k, 500p, 100k
main - 10 x 50 @ :60
10 x 50 @ :55
30 x 50 @ :50 (toe cramp at #42)
cd - 100 bk

total: 3800m
--the goal is to eventually do all 50's on :50.

trainer ride: 1hr.
24 min. gradually increasing resistence
3 x 5min. hard, 3rd min. stand with 3 min spin rest interval.
cd
- just putting in time.

new training plan starts next week. looking forward to it....

thursday weigh in.

thursday weigh in on my peritoneal dialysis patient's scale;
121.5 lbs.... i think it's broken. i haven't lost 2lbs in a week... but i'll take it.
would like to get down to 118 by december.

TM workout:

20 min. wu. with gradual increase in speed.
20 min. @ 6:30 mile pace (9.4)
5 min @ 8:30 pace
10 min. @ 6:15 - 6:00 mile pace (9.9)
5 min. ez.

1:00

swim --
500s
100k
500p
100k
500p/p
100k
cut short, cause the under water hockey team took over the pool.

bike comparison

today, while i was being reminded what it feels like to be back on your bike after 4 weeks off, i realized that there are some key differencing between my two bikes. the bike i have been riding religiously for the last year, is a carbon 'tri' bike (orbea, ordu), with dura ace components, 700c wheels and an adamo seat. the other bike, is a cervelo p2sl, with a road set-up (handle bars), ultegra components, 650c wheels and a stock cervelo seat.
today, i understood why carbon is ''better'. i felt every crack in the road.
which brings me to the different seats. stock seat = sore front bum, adamo = happy front bum.
in terms of wheel size (an ongoing internal conflict of mine). i actually enjoyed being closer to the ground, i felt more compact, but i felt like i had to work really hard to move fast.
the tri set up gives you an opportunity to relax in the aerobars..... found the road bars hard on my wrists.
the difference between ultegra and dura ace was huge! dura ace shifting is 'like butta', the ultegra is choppy and i kept thinking that my chain fell off!

verdict..... i love my orbea, but the cervelo is great for a change.

todays damage:

bike (cervelo) 2 hours, outside.... 16 degrees, i was cold by the time i was done.
5 m on TM ez
light upper body wts.

ST swim challenge: day 1 (total: 4100m)

painful workout from a gal on ST....
she called it, TMF. total muscle failure.

almost happened.
it went down like this:

500 swim
250 kick
25-50-75-100
10 x 50 (25 stroke, 25 fc) on 60 sec.
50 ez
8 x 50 neg. split on :55
50ez
500 pull
6 x 100 neg. split 5 sec. rest
50 ez
4 x 150 mid. 50 bk, neg split 10 sec. rest
50 ez
300 pull paddles (ouch)
50 cd.

4100 m
painful but satisfying.