prisoners' escape foiled by folly

Thanks for this Colin Ward!

Hurdles

It seems every Ironman build has a small hurdle to overcome. This past week I encountered my first (and hopefully last) glitch in training. A small nagging knee issue came back after a hard ride on Wednesday. It is something that I dealt with before Couer D'Alene last year so I am not overly concerned. However, it has meant that training has been altered and I made the decision to not race the Cobble Hill 10km this weekend. Luckily I have a great massage therapist (Attila Apt) and crew at Synergy Health as well as a great Chiropractor in Michael Buna so after a week of care with these guys I will be back out running in no time. I just have to go through a few painful ART and Graston treatments first.

37

"If you didn't know how old you are, how old would you be?"

Hard to believe that I turned 37 last Saturday. I am probably as close to the best shape I have ever been in my life so 37 is really just a number and not how old I would be if I didn't know I was born in 1972. The only real difference now is my recovery time. I am definitely not quite as spry those first few steps out of bed in the morning after a hard run or a long ride and I definitely have to take advantage of all the little recovery tools now more than ever; massage, chiropractic, ice, compression gear, epsom salts, nutrition. All the little things that you can maybe get away with not doing in your 20's, are simply a MUST now. However, when I am swimming, biking and running these days I feel great. Training is on track, the work is getting done here in Victoria and I look forward to the next 7 weeks of Ironman preparation.

The Rising

Back at It!

Not a lot to report. I am back into full on training mode. Days are full of training, recovering, coaching and more training. As I get older I appreciate more and more how lucky I am to being doing this.
The weather has taken a turn for the better here in Victoria with warmer temperatures and even the prediction of sun in the next few days. I look forward to this because as you can see from my last post, the trainer is becoming old.

Human Power!

I wish I could hook up this kind of technology with the amount I have been on the trainer the past while.

Robbie Madison 2009 New Year's Jump - Las Vegas

This guy is CRAZY!

2009 - Here We Are

Now that the tree is down, most of the chocolate has been eaten and all the beer has been drank (OK there are still a few in the fridge), I figured it is time to give a proper update. I am officially into Ironman prep mode. No more late nights, crap food and beer. I have just under 9 weeks to get ready. When I made the decision to race Ironman New Zealand there was about 2 feet of snow on the ground here so it was a bit of a gamble. Luckily the snow has melted and I can see the road once again. I will get a week in Kona before the race but that comes 2 weeks before the race so most of the long stuff will already be done here in the cold (or on the computrainer).

As for training, even though it was the holiday's I did manage to get in a fair bit of training, most of it swimming. I am really happy with my swimming right now. It is probably as good as it has ever been and that can make a big difference for me. Too often I am a minute or two behind the pace setters out of the water. This leaves me spending a lot of energy playing catch up on the bike and run, or hoping that the guys up front crack. The couple minutes I hope to gain in the water could change a lot come Kona and put my fate more in my hands.

My season is starting to come into focus. As it stands now I will be racing and training these dates;

January - Cobble Hill 10km
February - HPR Kona Camp
March 7 - Ironman New Zealand
March - HPR Tucson Camp
May 10 - Gulf Coast Half Iron
June 7 - Oliver Half
June - HPR Penticton Camp
July 12 - Desert Half
August 5 - Sri Triathlon
September 7 - Vancouver Triathlon
September - Kona Camp
October 10 - Kona

I am really looking forward to the new year. My 37th birthday is just around the corner, but I am feeling as fit and motivated as I ever have and I look forward to another year of testing myself against the best in October.

Slumdog Millionaire

If you get a chance, check it out. A great couple of hours.