Racing

Whew! Well, that was a fun time! First off, sorry that the site was done for a while there. It turns out that someone hacked Kev’s server while it was on vacation at our place. They were trying to hijack it to use to send spam. Luckily, Kev didn’t have a mail server configured on it, so instead, they just deleted a few files so that the thing would not boot properly. That’s all been cleaned up now, and Kev and Dave put on a new Linux OS which should improve a few things.

Anyway, on to the story of the day. That would be my painful 21.2km run from Kev’s new house in Stittsville to our house. Strictly speaking, 21.2km isn’t really all that bad, the problem was more a result of alcohol consumption the night before. Kev invited the boys out for the first Poker tourney at his new place, and it ended up being a sleep-over party too, so that we could properly enjoy the night. Well, yours truly made sure to partake, and that resulted in some rather not nice feelings in the morning.

Well, the Winterlude Duathlon (ne Triathlon) has come and gone, and I guess I might as well tell you all a little about my race. As the title suggests I had a great run, but my skiing (as predicted) was somewhat slower. I’ll say this however, I’m plenty pleased with how it ended for me, I did better than I expected. Also, off the top, I’d like to say thanks to Jody for yet again being my number one supporter / paparazzi for this event. Have a look at all the pretty pictures she took. It’s nice to have someone there for you, and take photographic evidence (good and bad – stupid balding spot!!). As mentioned previously, they had to make significant changes to the course, as a result of recent warm temperatures. In the end, we ran 8km, all along the Queen Elizabeth Parkway (which was nice), then skied 5km windng through the arboretum. The run was flat and fast, with only water, no ice to contend with. When the smoke cleared from my shoes, I had ran the 8k in just over 35 min. Great! At that pace, I’d theoretically finish the marathon in 3hr. 8min. 30sec. Hmmm, that would qualify me for the Boston Marathon! Yeah, right, I won’t hold my breath. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t keep that up for another 34km! Regardless, it was my fastest 8k ever.

Oh humble reader, feast your eyes on the figure to the right. If you have any experience in classic technique of XC skiing, you’ll note that my technique is horrible, perhaps you may even say absent! That didn’t stop me from pushing for 1hr 40mins in the cold yesterday in preparation for the Winterlude Triathlon this weekend. Yup, I had those skis for 2 weeks now, and that was the first time I took them out. The reason why it took a while was that I had to take a ski waxing course, and buy all the supplies to get them tuned up for the snow. To do that, I took a clinic (free) at Fresh Air Experience where they took us through all the steps in waxing the glide and kick zones of skis for classic style. Looks like I’m in over my head again in a new hobby, although I’ll just call it an addition to my existing hobbies. I spent Saturday afternoon hot waxing my skis, and selecting the right grip wax for the skis. It was kind of fun, but also rather time-consuming. Oh well. I’ve also decided that I’ll have to be okay with coming in last place at the triathlon this weekend. If any of you are interested in witnessing this spectacle, drop by Dow’s Lake Pavillion Saturday around 9am. That’s the start time of the race, which will consist of about 5km of skating, then 5km of skiing, and finished off with 5km of running. Not what I’d call an epic course, but it should be fun. Most participants will likely be much faster than me, but I’ve never tried anything like it. Even the skating has got me down a bit. All I’ve got are some pretty old Bauer Charger skates, which are apparently not the right thing to use. As such, I’ve got my eyes on renting a pair of Nordic Skates to try out. These babies use the same boots as my skis (same binding system), and have really long, narrow blades that easily glide over all the imperfections of ice like the canal. They were designed in the Scandinavian countries, where people do lots of skating on frozen rivers and lakes. They look pretty cool, and would solve my dilemma about uncomfortable skates on the canal as well. Here’s hoping!

Britney Spears said it best I think, with that catchy little tune. Why is it that every time I have any money in my pocket, it seems to burn a hole? Case in point: the skis you see in the picture on the right here. Not just any skis. Fischer Superlight Wax Cross-Country skis. Yup. I bought ’em. Mind you, I got them used, but they still put me out over $300 when all was said and done! And that doesn’t include buying waxing and maintenance equipement for them and learning how to do that properly! Why, you ask, did I buy skis? Well, I’ll be participating in the Winterlude Triathlon this year, and also plan on racing in a winter adventure race with Raid Pulse. Both of these events required the use of cross-country skis. I could have just as easily rented skis for those two events, but predictable me, I went the extreme consumerism route and decided I might as well have my own. On the plus side, these are gorgeous skis, and really light (they have an ‘air core’). Also, new, these babies would have been over $350, bindings $80, boots $180, for a combined total of over $600+tax! So, bargain hunter Steve couldn’t turn up the chance to buy these lightly used skis for a third the price. The great part is, now I have skis, and I can go whenever I want. That leaves me with about 1 week to learn how to ski before the race! Ha. That should be worth a chuckle.

Well, here we go. Yesterday was officially Day 1 of my 2006 Marathon Training program. Luckily, it was a ‘cross-training’ day, and as such, I decided that by going to vote, and then watching people swim for a bit at the Pinecrest Pool, that counted! Ha ha. Well, not really, but I’m still recovering from a cold, and just decided to rest up. Today however is a new day. No more messing around. Training starts in earnest. Mind you, I’ve been keeping active anyway, but now I’ll start monitoring it. As such, I’m just back from my first official 5k run. Great weather for it. 0-1 degrees. I’m once again choosing to use Hal Higdon’s training guides, and have decided to follow the Intermediate II program, which ups my total mileage again over last year. I’ve been a follower of his programs for several years now, and he’s never steered me wrong. Tonight I’ve also got a spinning class for an hour at Cyclelogik, which is next to MEC. Overall, I’ve decided to train more seriously again this year leading up to the summer season. Read on.