Hello all out there! I figure it’s time to update you on the progress of Team Hyper-Active, as well as my personal training and athletic pursuits for the coming months. WIth the addition of my handy-dandy new Garmin Forerunner 305, I’ve been able to basically track all my workouts, and then review the stats. No, I’m not going to bore you with the reams of data that I’m now collecting 😉 Suffice it to say, it’s an engineering geek turned athlete’s dream come true. Even when spinning indoors, I’ve been at least able to log my heart rate data and time of workouts; and when I trained on my tri bike, I was also able to track virtual distance and cadence data as well. I tells ya, it’s absolutely sweet! Now, when I’m not training, I feel bad, because the calendar has a blank spot. But I digress. Of course I’m not always out training, but I’ve been doing my damndest to get out there as much as possible with everything else. During the week, I try to get out running at lunchtime at least 3 times a week. Then in the evenings, it’s been all about biking, swimming, paddling, and whatever else I can squeeze in. Weekends? Well, they’re all about the long-time endurance stuff. That’s what this is all about. Read on, if you’re curious. If not, sorry for boring you 😉
Now that the better weather is upon us, I try to devote at least 2-3 continuous hours to training on both Saturdays and Sundays. For example, I’ll head out for a 23km run, then follow that up with a nice paddle on the Ottawa river. Or perhaps I’ll go for a nice 2k swim, and follow that up with a spin through the Gats. Of course, since we’re still early in the season, conditions aren’t always perfect. The first road bike trip up to the park involved a bit of snow on the roads up to Champlain Lookout, and one stretch where I even had to get off the bike. Road bikes really aren’t made for going through snowy patches. I nearly wiped out a couple times. Another lovely little training day involved hooking up with my AR team, Hyper-Active! We recently did a Saturday morning where we hit the mine trails through the park, then a couple of us (Steeve and I) jumped on the road bikes for a spin up the hills.
This little trip is the picture that you see with this post. The Garmin unit works great for this sort of training. Even in the trees in the woods, I’ve been able to keep a lock on the satellites. After the run and bike, I was able to look at our exact route through the woods, along with stats on my heart rate, elevation, grade, speed, etc along all points during the run. If I want, I can also export that data from my training software in order to map it onto a Google Earth map, which is the other picture that you see with this post. Cool, isn’t it?
All in all, I’d say that my training is going quite well. In spite of my efforts though, I wish I was doing more. It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can’t do as much as I’d like to. With the upcoming Iron-distance race I’ll be doing in September I have to make sure that I get out for nice long runs, rides and swims all summer. The trouble is, the Adventure Racing also requires a fair bit of concentration on other disciplines, such as Orienteering, Mountain biking, paddling, rope work, etc. I’ve decided not to sweat it too much though. I’ll do as much as I can manage (which is why I’ve opted to not play Ultimate this summer too), accepting the fact that I’ll be a jack of all trades, master of none.
My racing goals will be modest. For regular triathlons, I’ll shoot for top third of my age group this summer. If I get to do any trail races, I’m shooting for top 5 in my group. As far as Adventure Racing goes, I’ll be going flat out, trying to rank as high as possible in all the races. Of course, there’s always more than me in those sorts of races, which means the better goal for AR is to push hard, have lots of fun, and keep the rest of the team motivated and happy too!
That leads to my next little section. What races do I actually plan to race in this summer? Well, I’m glad you asked. Okay, I know you didn’t, but I’ll tell you anyway. There have been a few changes since I started working on the calendar. Due to various other commitments, and early season injuries, I have made some modifications. Here, in no particular order, are the races I’m planning to take part in. Keep in mind I’ve already done two adventure races and 3 snowshoe races ;-).
- Raid Pulse Sping Adventure Race – 8 Hour, 4-person Co-ed
- National Capital Race Weekend – 1/2 Marathon
- Ottawa Riverkeeper – Kayak Triathlon
- Quest for a Cure Adventure Race – 48 Hour, 4-person Co-ed
- Raid the North Adventure Race – 36 Hour, 4-person Co-ed
- National Capital Triathlon – Kayak Triathlon
- The Canadian Triathlon – Iron Distance
- Frontier Adventure Challenge – Canadian Champs, 3-person Co-ed
- 5 Peaks Trail Race – Enduro Category
Well, that’s about it for now. I’d love to write more, but it’s already late tonight, and I’ve gotta get back to my other training… snacking and chilling while watching TV and playing with Joost on the laptop. Take it easy everyone!
