And sometimes you just gotta have fun

Friday night I participated in my first ever Beer Mile.  For information on the event check out www.beermile.com.

Basic rules are Chug a beer, run 400m repeat 4X and if you puke you have to do a victory lap.

After the triathlon club ran a fall race series that is taken kinda seriously, they finish it off with a Friday night beer mile.  I was surprised how many people showed up, maybe 30?  I was not surprised that i wasn't the only one secretly training for this event.  I chugged a beer every night for a week as training, a friend of mine attempted chugging two beers and then running for 5km....makes me laugh every time.  Another one of the guys in the triclub organized an interval run for before the beermile, can't take a day off.  Love the commitment of these guys.

Siblings at the Beer Mile

Annnnyways, cutting to the chase, it's the only event I've been able to squeeze out a win (in the female category)!!! :) 9:07 min.  Just under my goal time of sub 10!! Reed was in town, visiting from Calgary and beat me by 10 seconds!  We had a blast.  Sweet race, sweet after-party.  Most fun night I've had since I moved to Vancouver.

Beer Mile Format

STEP 1: CHUG

STEP 2: RUN

STEP 3: DON'T PUKE

Being good enough isn't good enough anymore: Fall Classic 10km race

Got my first race in BC under my belt, and probably my last race of 2012... unless we count the brick this weekend as part of the UBC triathlon clubs fall classic.

Anyways, the fall classic race is held on UBC grounds and features a half or 10km.  Since I"ve never done a legit running race I opted for the 10km.  Was kinda feeling sick the day of the race so it wasn't a great start, it was cold and a bit rainy but the weather wasn't too bad. 

Not much to report for a running race.  I had my heart rate strap on with the timer going so I could ball park my speed.  My goal was to come in under 45 minutes. 

I ran as hard as I could on the way out and at the turn around point I was at 22:12, on pace for the 45.... but the return run was more uphill and I just couldn't quite keep it up.  I was actually disspointed with my official 46:22 finish.... which is kinda crazy now that I think about it, since I never would have imagined finishing this fast. 

I came in 96th overall, 13/127 age and 27/507 women....so I really can't complain.  My running has improved so much and I'm looking forward to my first half marathon this spring in preparation for 70.3.

Direction is more important than speed. We are so busy looking at our speedometers that we forget the milestone

When I started training I was obsessed with speed, tracking my workouts to a T, calculating my average speed........worrying about my average speed.  Recently I've ignored all that and just more enjoyed the process.

That brings me to all my current milestones.

The triathlon team at UBC runs a fall classic race series, including a bunch of swim, bike, run events against other club members.  I had no idea what to expect for my average times in these events but they have led to some new milestones.  My best improvements has been in my run for sure, i've come in at times I never thought would be possible for me, but give me new marks to shoot for in the future.

5km - 21.17 min

1 mile - 6:04 min

10km TT on the FELT - 17.18 min avg 34.5 km/hr

onwards and upwards.  Itching for a race and signed up for the fall classic.  Can't wait to see what my 10km time is.  GOAL: 45 minutes.

My direction is the half ironman distance races this summer, I actually can't wait for these challenges.  I'm actually starting to feel a little bummed I didn't sign up for ironman whistler, but I really want to be ready for that, so i'll have to stick to the halfs for now.  

It's so funny the specific events in my life that brought me to this place.  Things that at the time seemed life-altering and terrible led me to this new love and passion.  If those things had never happened I would have never even come close to reaching my potential in all aspects of my life.  I love this place I'm in, I'm so happy this sport is such a huge part of my life now.  I love the people and the kinds of people its led me to meet.  There really is nothing like pushing your own limits over and over and over again, setting new goals, conquering them and starting over.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

From my job, my personal life and my athletic endeavors, the more things I fail at, the more I push myself to figure it out, to do better.  I think that's why I'm a good scientist, it has nothing to do with god given smarts..... it's good work ethic and a huge fear of failure.  I want to do lots of things, but everything I do I want to do well.  That includes triathlon.  I have my sights set on the Victoria half ironman length race.  

My life journey has brought me to Vancouver, and this is the place to strive for those goals.  I have joined the UBC triathlon clubs, its one of the best university clubs... wait no, THE BEST university club I have ever been apart of.  There are groups runs, swims, bikes and yoga every week, and people go!  They also organize mini-series races to keep the competitive spirit alive.  I am constantly being challenged and I have people to train with.  It's amazing!

This is my vancouver training journey since I don't have any races coming up for the winter.

SWIM

When I arrived I joined the vancouver open water swim society and have been training in open ocean water at kits beach.  It's totally incredible, a lifeguarded 1km course is set up in the ocean twice a week, and for two hours you can swim the loop as many times as you want.  Kits beach also has the most beautiful backdrop so it was amazing until they closed it down for the winter.  Kits pool is also a nice alternative, an outdoor pool of 140m in length.  Now that's its winter I am training in the ubc outdoor pool, participating in one coached swim a week and one endurance swim on my own.  Once my half training kicks in (early January) I hope to up this to twice a week.

Beautiful place to open water swim

BIKE

This place is truly bike heaven.  I have met some great people to take me around biking.  The city is so bike friendly and there are tons of biking options.  Close to me is UBC campus, great for hammerfest.  There is almost no traffic control, lots of great hills, and some fast crit loops to really get the heartrate up.  However I also have met some great friends who have taken me up into the mountains.  I've conquered both cypress and seymour, rated climbs, 12 + km straight up into the sky.  I am determined to bike year round, both commuting (I'm a MEC girl now) and road bike (yes she has fenders) to keep up my edge.  However since I"ve moved to Vancouver I have additionally invested in another little gem.  My dream TT bike, the 2012 FELT DA4W.  Best thing I have ever done.  I rode her down from WA where I bought her.  It's true love.  Still need a new saddle and a bike fit, and aside from races she won't be seeing the rain, so I probably won't get a ton of riding in on that bike... good thing I have two others :) --> never thought Id be that person.  I do love the attitude of fit vancouverites.  F&%K the rain we're doing it anyways.  WHen I'm out there hammering away in the pouring rain I'm never alone, and there is something to be said for that.

Thansgiving!  Day I rode her home. 

a little bike porn

RUN

still don't like it, but it's an inspiring place to run.  I live steps from Pacific Spirit Park.  My runs have upped in distance quite a bit, but I'm not at half marathon length where I want to be.  I run with my boss at lunches which is a nice break, with the triclub once-twice a week (one long run, one interval set) and sometimes on my own.

Pacific Spirit Park - Backdrop of my runs

Overall this is a great place to be for triathlon training, and I look forward to my first race reports stemming from this new training regime.

50 shades of ..... silver... second place agaaaaain. Niagara Triathlon

Well I've come full circle... again.  Last race of this season, one year out and at the same location as my first try-a-tri.... this race was a bit different than that one though!

I won't lie, my goal for this race was to win, although slightly unrealistic, I'm strong enough now that a W is possible depending on the field.  I think the title takes away from the surprise ending though... I came second.

Arrived at the site an hour early, pretty uneventful set up, didn't get the transition spot I would have liked, but not the end of the world. Jumped in the lake for my warm up swim, did my 200m easy and spent some time holding my breath.  Met up with Kyle in warmup so it was nice to have someone to chat with and cut the tension.

I'm practicing my "bolt" a la Usain Bolt

SWIM - I was in wave 1, this start was in water, you could stand near the shore but I chose to tread water and start in deep water next to the buoy to cut out any unnecessary swim distance, however most of the speedy people also chose to do this.  Horn blew and we were off, I was right in the middle of the washing machine and swallowed a bunch of water early, but since this was my last race of the season I didn't pull up, I just went all out.  Andrea and Neil my training buddies have been helping me with my sighting and it's paid off in paramounts.... I swam in a straight line!!! Super close to all the buoys.  It took me a good 200-300 m to get my stride but once I got it I was swimming all out and felt better than ever, which is probably reflected by my best ever swim time!

1:57/100m

T1 - Good transition, no sitting down :)  I was fast out... not so fast clipping into my bike though, took me a few embarrassing tries... goal for next year is to rock the flying start.

BIKE - so on this bike they have "the hill" well I figured I bike in Hamilton, how bad could "the hill be".  Well it took out many riders in front of me, a few crashed because they couldn't make it up and couldn't unclip in time, some people just didn't even try and walked up! Now I wasn't going to do something as embarassing as walk up, and I had no problem conquering the hill.... but it was, as is now the term, demoralizing.  It kicked up pretty steep at the start and was a tough climb, then you hit a flat part and thought "well that sucked but it's over...".  NOPE.  Another huge kick..... get to the top, "thank god it must really be over".... NOPE.  One more huge kick.   I probably would have cried if there was another.  FINALLY at the top, I took a few deep breaths and was able to get my breath back.  Took off and passed almost everyone in my age group.  The rest of the ride was a breeze, except my computer wasn't working.  If there was an award for not checking your equipment before a race I would win it.  The downhill was really fun other than it dropped us off on a main road with too much traffic, it was a bit scary at times as drivers were coming onto the course, and I finished first in the bike yet again!!! into a smooth T2

30.23 km.hr

Finally figuring out this whole "aero" thing

T2 - Had a good transition but my feet were wet and my shoes loose which results in some insane blisters at the end of the race.

RUN - What can I say about the run?  I was dreading it during the bike... 7km.  I hate running still.  All I could think on the bike was "go faster, make more distance cause you know your run sucks".  As uncomfortable as I was on the run, I managed to pull out less than 5min/km.  So that meant that this race I hit all my goals, except for winning.  Lost first place by 1min, to a girl with a much faster swim and a slightly faster run.

4:57min/km

The end of this journey

Very sad this ontario race season is at an end.  The title of this post is an homage to chris and I, whom throughout the past two weeks have produced 3 silver medals between the two of us, just can't get that elusive gold.  It's all up to you Chris!

I never regret it when I do it, I always regret it when I don't - Tour de terra cotta

An unscheduled stop on my atheletic tour this summer brought me to the small town of terra cotta, ontario for a purely cycling race.  I was originally just going as a supporter and possibly a feed zone girl for Chris in his first 100km race, but he convinced me to race in the 26 km beginner race since we were going all the way out there, and so far my greatest success in triathlons has been on the bike, getting the top time in 3 out of my 5 triathlons so far.

Earlier in the year I strongly considered riding sportif in the good friday road race, but essentially chickened out and didn't do it. I regret that one.  But I literally had no group riding experience at that point.  Since then on our rides I try to spend as much time as I can drafting Chris, I've done one long group ride, and ride in a group with my triathlon training group, have had 2 metric centuries under my belt so I felt more prepared for a group ride, so when Chris suggested it I signed up almosssssst right away. 

Of course the day before I got really nervous, I really had no idea what to expect, well over 100 people signed up for the race and I've seen so many road crashes (and been involved in a small one myself at the St.George-Ancaster) so I had a healthy respect for group riding and the peloton.

The weather could not have cooperated more, hot and sunny, no humidity, not too much wind! The course was closed so no worries about the pesky yellow line, a big plus for my first road race.  The roads were nice and smooth, the course was fast with only one hill (although not a devastating one)

Mass start with all the adults and I was somewhere right in the middle.  On this course there was the only hill, and a decent one (I think avg grade of about 4% but up to 20% at some spots).  Here I learned it would have been better to be at the front because this is where the main group broke away, I think if I got in with this group I might have been able to stick with them on the flat, but probably would have been dropped on the hill because I'm not a strong climber.

After this first climb I was on my own for a few minutes, not where I wanted to be, but then one other girl caught my wheel and we were together, we worked together one and off and caught onto a chase pack of about 6-7.  I stayed with this group for the majority of the race.  A few times I tried to break off with people passing, but they all generally lost their speed or the chase group caught back up.  It was a really great experience, the chase group I ended up with was a really supportive and safe group, nobody did anything stupid but they were solid riders.  I even took the front a few times but usually the guys who were much stronger were in the front.  Going down the hill i practiced my aerotuck and was able to pull away from the other girls on every downhill section (they inevitably caught up on the hill climb which they were stronger on).  My main weakness was the corners, I was still nervous about holding my line and not sliding out so I always slowed down too much, sprinted out of the corners but still got dropped almost everytime because everyone else came into the corners with more speed than me.  A few times I felt too tired to catch back on, but all I could remember was chris telling me if I get dropped, especially near the end then the race was all for nothing, so I kept managing to work my butt off and catch back on and was in a really good position coming into the end, which was right after the downhill so you had some time to recover for the sprint.  My group really picked it up in the last 5km which I also wasn't prepared for but held on.  Coming into the end the other two girls in my group had way more experience than me and I had no chance in the sprint finish, and came in 1 and 2 seconds behind them.  Turns out the main peloton had no girls in it and we were the top three, so a little disappointed about that!   Can't complain too much though as I got second in my age group (the winning rider was in my age group) and 3rd for women as there were 3 of us in the chase group.  The next woman rider was almost a full minute behind us.  Average speed of 34km/hr so I'm not upset about that!

Overall a great experience and I'd love to do another road race!  Stayed the rest of the day and watched Chris in the 104km race, hopefully one day I'll be fit enough to ride in one of those!

2/5 for women 20-29
3/31 for women
27/108 of finishers

avg speed 34km/hr over 26 km

results
http://results.sportstats.ca/res2012/tourterracotta_ab.htm

so I made a mistake, try and see it my way. Peterbourough 2012

So today was the Peterbourough triathlon.  I had high hopes for this race, and overall feel accomplished but I feel kinda off about the whole experience for a few reasons... Read on!

The day before I got a horrid sore neck, couldn't even turn my head, I spent most of Saturday trying anything I could to try to regain some motion and was somewhat successul, but still nowhere close to 100% this morning.  But up early and off to the race.

SWIM
Warmup just did a shortish swim, it was way easier to breath to the right with my neck so I was not doing bilateral breathing the whole time.  Swim start was not good for me, I started off a little too hard and in the middle of a big fast pack and I got a bit panicky, so I moved over to the side to get some space and took some extra breaths, going off to the side though meant that I couldn't see anyone in front of me, and in true Lise style, went a good distance off course in the swim.  Came around the last buoy (It was an out and back swim) and i totally got my stride.  The second half of the swim felt way better.

2:08 min/ 100m

focused and ready to swim

T1
As per chris's advice I didn't sit down and had a well setup transition so I cut over a minute off my last T1, that was awesome.

BIKE
Bike felt amazing right from the start, I felt like I was flying, even up the hills I was able to stand and sprint...... I was wearing an aero helmet for the first time and it felt pretty awesome, HOWEVER, the strap on the helmet came undone just over halfway or maybe a bit longer into the bike, so I had to stop and try to fix it, but in my panic I couldn't figure out what happened and thought I lost part of the clip so I tried to tie it on and kept going. The tie came undone and I kept trying to tie it on the fly but it wouldn't stay.  At this point the right thing to do would have been to DQ myself.... but I didn't.  I kept going with only 3-4km left I couldn't do it.  I do feel bad about this because it is pretty unsafe to ride with a faulty helmet.  When i got into transition the marshal noticed it was undone and got mad at me also and said I should have been DQ'd, she didn't do it, but then I felt super bad and a bunch of people passed me in T2 while she was talking to me.  Lesson learned, my fault for not really checking over the equipment before hand, just getting more lazy with my preparation as I'm getting less nervous.... won't happen again or next time I'll DQ myself or really stop and try to fix it.  Doesn't help that I got my personal record and top bike time in my AGE group

 33.1 km/hr

on the bike with the helmet in quesion

T2
Good other than slowed down by being lectured about unsafe helmet

RUN
Best run yet, felt better than ever, had a good pace and kept it.  Not a lot of hills on this course which was a bonus, but I booked my under 5min/km pace that I've been shooting for.  The only falter in this was the poor marking of the course, I thought I was coming into the end and sprint to pass someone, BUT had a km to go.  Killed my legs and then they passed me again... how embarassing, then by the time I realized it was the finish I had less than 100m sprint.

awesome pic, jumping the sign.  Thanks to chris for the pictures and company! :D

4:58 min/km

Over all got 5/24 in AGE, 26/155 in WOMEN and 113/359 OVERALL.  Final Time 1:20:03
Pretty good performance, tainted a bit by my moral dilemma on the bike, but live and learn I suppose! I won't let it happen again, that's for sure!!!!

Oxygen is Over Rated

Last masters swim class last night :(  After less than 1 year of swimming (averaging once a week for a couple months, and now 2-3 times a week for the past few months -- Masters swim class FTW) I have gone from averaging 2:40min/100 in the open water to 2:01/100 m :D  Huge improvements!

last night we did TT's and races and I got all my PR's.  Want to write them down so I can *hopefully* see how much I've improved next year!

All freestyle

50 m PR 0:42 s
100 m PR 1:36 s
200 m PR 3:36 s

Pain is weakness leaving the body. HR and VO2 max testing

chris got me a pretty awesome present..... HR and VO2 max testing with Jeff Kehler from coachchris.com.

I've been using a heart rate monitor, its been interesting... but kinda useless without knowing my zones.

Well now I do!  It was a really fun experience, Jeff was really nice and encouraging and made me feel really comfortable with the process.

ZONE               BIKE            RUN
1                      0-136             0-141
2                    137-148         142-153
3                    149-156         154-161
4                    157-166          162-171
5                    167-176           172-181
6                    178                   183

He said for Tri's I should be training more in zone 3-4 for the bike, recovering in zone 2 and for the run for 5km I can easily do zone 4.  I think based on my average HR I've been doing alright, but i'm looking forward to using this data for my training, learning some new training sessions for both biking and running...

The VO2 max was pretty hard, I was shaking for quite a while after it, but I didn't pass out or puke, so maybe I didnt go hard enough? :P I just literally hit a point where I couldn't keep going.... I wonder if that's what "the wall" feels like once you get to HIM and IM distances... probs not cause no way your HR should be that high

jeff commented that I must be an endurance athlete, because my smile got bigger as the test got harder, but I'm beginning to think my "pain grimace" resembles a twisted smile based on my biking pics

as for my VO2 max.......62.52 mL/kg/min.... which is pretty good for a human being (mph reference..?).  I should note this is an estimate, wasn't done with a cool breathing machine thing....just a computrainer, watts/power/constant cadence, but if I get re-tested in the future in the same scenario I can compare my fitness.

You run? So do I! But only after I swim and bike.... GUELPH LAKE 1 Race Report

Guelph lake one... made the podium :D  Totally didn't expect that.  Had a fantastic race!  The one thing I did NOT like was the 1pm start, I prefer the morning, get up and go, have the whole day to recover and get other stuff done... but oh well!

Was nice to take it easy in the morning, had a good breakfast but it was too early and come three hours before the race I was too nervous to eat and could only choke back half a cliff bar.  Drove to leanne and kyle's and met my mom there, she was my cheering crew today :)

Everything went smooth, got to the site an hour and a half before the race, just how I like it.  I got a sweet spot in the transition area, right near the end of the rack.  Lot's of time to get registered and marked up.  Hung out for a bit and walked down to the lake for my warm up swim.  Did about a 200  m warm up swim and felt amazing, I didn't have any of the OWS panic feeling, it was just .... easy.  So hot out though, did not want to stay in the wetsuit!

This time I was in the second wave which I was nervous about, I like being in the first wave, although then a lot of people pass you.

SWIM
Felt totally relaxed right from the start of the swim.  I was able to grab a couple legs and draft most of it.  This time buoys were to my right so pulling to the right was a good thing :) I was still not swimming straight but they did help me at masters swim and I did better.  I was able to bilateral breath 90% of the race this time, so totally improving.  I even passed some people from wave 1 so my swim has come a loooong way and I timed in at 2:01/100m!  Killed my goal
The run from the lake to transition is looooong in this race and uphill.  Yuck.  But I ran the whole way.

T1
I still suck.  Can't get the wetsuit off, I was an embarassing 2:31 in T1.  Here is somewhere I can improve and was way more important in this race since I only lost by 3 minutes and could have saved a minute here!  Will work on it and invest in some body glide.

BIKE
This was the shittiest part about being in the second wave.  THe start of the bike was brutal.  Totally congested, people everywhere, I was trying to pass them, but hardcore people in their aero gear were trying to pass me (mens 35-40 were right behind me)  I kept yelling on your left, but people were not staying right and it was frustrating.  ABout km 3 I was able to get up to speed.  Said shut up legs and went as hard as I could.  Had a tailwind to start which was nice and kept up well over 36 for a bit.  The course was much hillier than binbrook but I stood and sprinted up the hills trying to keep in my big ring and recover on the downhill.  Passed tons of people.  Still had legs coming home into the headwind so I was able to keep it up and nobody passed me.  Got 1st in my AGE for the bike :D  31.3 km/hr, not bad with the hills and wind!  Met my goal.  Everyone was bitching about the roads... they were totally fine.  Might be a different story for the OLY though.

T2
Slower than it should have been but I did stop for a drink

RUN
This was horrible.  My legs didn't come off the bike well.  I never actually hit my stride on the run which sucked.  I caught up to Kyle at the water table and passed him, although I didn't see him.  He then ran and caught up with me.  I was dying to stop, had a horrible stitch in my side, and the whole course was hills which i was unprepared for.  Kyle and I stayed together for the entire run, it was nice to have someone to talk to and listen to my cursing.  It made me forget about my stitch and it finally went away.  But I literally hate running so much and can't understand why people are solely runners..... a run should only follow a swim and bike IMO. When we got to the last 500 m I thought the end was actually closer so Kyle and I decided to sprint.  Mistake, 500m is a long way to sprint, but now we were at the end and everyone was watching so we kept it up right to the finish and finished at the exact same time.  That was kinda awesome.  I collapsed at the end though, that run literally killed me, I felt like hell.  Didn't meet my goal, 5:10/km boooo... so close.  Either way the performance got me on the podium and the spring might have solidified it because the girl who came in 4th was only 20 s behind me.

Kyle and Lise sprint finish!!!

Really happy with the day and the race.  Was in a huge age group of 43 woman so I can't believe i actually came third.  very excited to keep training now, really going to work on the run..... I've already forgotton the pain and can't wait for the next race!

Final time 1:21:09  So killed my goal time!

The day I don't feel nervous is the day I'll quit

Even though I just had a race last week.... and it went well... I'm feeling nerves for the sprint at guelph lake tomorrow.  But the nerves and excitement is what makes racing kinda awesome... the build up.  At least the nervous-excited balance has tipped a little bit and I'm more excited that nervous/scared, but I'm starting to feel the butterflies.....

my pre-race meal tonight was some pasta, a bunch of wafer cookies..... some cucumber.... a tea and a beer.  hahaha maybe I"ll have to start working on my nutrition.

Anyways I'm keeping my goals for Guelph similar to Binbrook, it's a shorter race and I'm more prepared to go all out, now that I know what I'm going to feel I think I can go harder than Binbrook....

I want to finish in less than 1:30

SWIM - 2:10/100m

BIKE - >30 km/hr

RUN - <5 min/km

Here we go!!!! 

My mom's going to be there,  so I have to make her proud!

Trust your Training!!!! Binbrook Triathlon

Got my first legit triathlon under my belt and it feels fantastic.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't incredibly nervous going into it, although I don't have to lie because everybody knew it.  the try-a-tri's were great, and got me addicted to triathlon, but this length is a whole new ball game, against some hardcore competition.  I don't have any visions of grandeur but I wanted to finish and finish feeling strong.  I just had no idea what to expect, how I'd handle it or how I'd feel.  I wanted to think I'd trained hard to the best of my abilities, but you just don't know the payoff until you do it.... well it paid off, mission accomplished, I finished and I finished with a strong competitive time.

As for the day....

Arrived in good time to get my transition area set up in the rain!  Weather was not ideal, but I'll take the rain over the blistering heat.  It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere, lots of pretty bikes to look at (bad for my addiction), and I stayed pretty calm.  After the pre-race talk got into my wet suit and got in the water.  Did a 100-200m swim warmup, just took it slow and easy, got used to the water and the wet suit and just really tried to calm myself down.

SWIM
Before I really knew it it was time to start and I was in the first wave.  All I focused on for the swim was my breathing and going slow and steady.  Although I didn't have anywhere near the swim training and endurance I do now, in my previous tri's I started off way to strong and panicky, lost my breath early and had to breast stroke to catch my breath.  Not this time, I just fell into a comfortable pace early and kept it.  I tried to keep on some peoples legs and draft but it was tough with all the kicking and splashing.  I had a pretty solid effort for the first 2/3 of the course, but then I looked up and realized I was about 50m wide of the final buoy.  My body keeps pulling right when I swim, very frustrating, at this point I was only bilateral breathing every 4 or 5 times and breathing to the right (my stronger side) the rest of the time.  FINALLY got back on course and out of the water.  I felt good, but really relieved the scariest part was over!  When I hit solid ground my heart rate was at a whopping 188.  I managed to easily get my top half out of the wetsuit and jog to transition.

T1
No question I have to work on getting the wet suit off.  Can't get it off the calf.  Details :P   Aside from that could be a little quicker, but I don't feel like i was taking my time.  Still a little off kilter from the swim and had a bit of trouble clipping in, but got onto the bike in a solid time.

BIKE
The roads on the bike were wet, but it wasn't raining.  The course was overall pretty flat but there was a heck of a wind.  First 10km my legs were screaming and I was peddling my heart out into the head wind with returns of only about 25-27 km/hr which was very disheartening as my goal was overall 30 km/hr.  Then we turned a corner, boom, tail wind.... 45 km/hr..... hit my stride around km 15 and didn't look back!  This was my strongest event and I passed a few people in my age group.  I'm very glad I inherited "Rosa" my TT bike from a friend, but she didn't compare much to the beauties the people riding in front of me had.  My aero position sucks and I probably need a bike fit, but for now and for these distances (and until I can afford this... http://www.feltbicycles.com/USA/2012/TT-TRI/TT-TRI-Series/DA4W.aspx ) it'll do!

T2 - Not much to report, could be quicker.  Forgot to bring a gel on my run so choked back half of one quickly in T2 and had to swig it back with some gatoraide to stop myself from vomiting.  God I hate gels

RUN
Sooooooooo happy I did brick workouts.  My legs felt heavy getting off the bike, but I wasn't discouraged and knew it would pass.  Didn't take long to lose that feeling, but boy oh boy did I not enjoy the first 3km of the run.  This was the only time I thought "WHY AM I DOING THIS" I don't know if my legs hurt, or my lungs hurt or if it's just because I'm poorly trained in and dislike running, but this was the only time I had a bit of a mini-breakdown.  It did pass though and I actually hit my stride in the 4th km.  It started raining again, but it felt good.  This part of the run got fun, the athletes really started cheering each other on as we passed one another, briefly talked to a lady who had the same tri-kit as me, it def got me through the worst part of the run.  Started to rain again but that felt good.  Most of the race was  the road and I just used the "just keep swimming" mantra.  Hit the last 1km which was off road and felt poopy again, but knew the end was near.  All I remember is coming around the corner and seeing the finish line and hearing chris yell "Sprint, you can get one more spot" as there was a girl not too far ahead of me, followed up by another guy yelling "ya easy for him to say".  I just started laughing so I for sure finished with a smile!  Nobody from my age group passed me on the run, so I did hold my position there which I am happy about!


AGE 6/13 splits. 750 m swim (more like 800 in my case) 2.18/100m     Bike 30 km - 31.5 km/hr   Run 8 km - 5.13 km/hr

Overall 1:55 finishing time

Met almost all my goals!! Have a new PR and will re-set my goals for Guelph!

Didn't take me long to recover at the end of race,  Had an amazing time.  Nothing beats the end of race feeling when you know you gave'r.  Now I am not nervous but excited for Guelph lake next week!!!  Thanks to Chris Rowley for standing through the rain, taking the photos and being my support crew.  I did return the favour and get up at 5am to head to the KW classic on Sunday though!  That's what sports are all about and that's what I love about it!

Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines

Here goes.

Setting Goals.  Now they are in writing and not just in my head.

Binbrook Triathlon - its tough to set goals when I have no idea how I'll fair in a race this long..... possibly my longest of the year.

First and foremost - GOAL - FINISH (with a smile?)

But remember ---> finish last >>DNF>>DNS

750 m swim - GOAL --> 2:10/100m 

no idea how i'll do pack swimming, with a wetsuit etc.  this may be a lofty goal based on my previous triathlon time of 2:40/100m, but there it is.

30 km bike - GOAL --> avg 30 km/hr

it's a flat course so if things go in my favour this is possible....

8 km run - GOAL --> avg 5.05/km

If I'm feeling good this is def attainable....

Stay tuned for Race Report.... probably not till Sunday.... or Monday

"If I Collapse, Pause my Garmin"

This is a quote from a triathlon forum I frequent.  Maybe I shouldn't be using it because I don't even own a Garmin (Poor PhD student), but it makes me laugh everytime, because so many triathletes are a little A-type crazy data junkies, and this quote probably isn't even a joke  :)  Plus this is a light-hearted blog just for me to track my own progress, I was going to go with something like "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong, but that seemed a little too hardcore for where I'm at.

However A-type wise, and data wise, I can't say I'm much better than the average triathlete.  For the short time I've been in triathlon (tried my first one a little over a year ago for fun, and got serious about training about 4 months ago)  I have been tracking my own progress relentlessly...... 

Running here
 http://nikeplus.nike.com/plus/running/home/Lise_Nicole#


Cycling here
http://app.strava.com/athletes/333681

Overall training here
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/index-weekly.asp?memberid=303337&year=&month=&day=

Triathlon is a hobby for me, but I've had endless fun in the training and obviously had an intense amount of fun at the races I tried in 2011 or probably wouldn't have continued with it.  I really had no strength in any of the three disciplines when I started.  As of 2011 when I started I had only taken swimming lessons as a child and I lack any technique in my freestyle, wasting tons of energy while I swim.  When I started swimming laps last year I couldn't make it to the end of a 50m pool, after less than a year of average training I can now swim 2km straight averaging about 2:05-2:10/100m.  Biking I took up in around 2009, just recreational MTB, and thought roadies were nuts and looked ridiculous.  Then I sat on a road bike.  It was true love.  I have embraced everything about cycling, the attitude, the community, the fashion....I love everything about it and currently own 3 bikes (mountain, road and TT).  Running was the bane of my existence.  I hated every minute of it and thought people who ran anything over 5 km were completely nuts.  I now routinely run 5 km in the morning and have gone as far as 15 km when I'm feeling good.... I no longer hate it but it is currently my least favourite of the 3 disciplines, but is nice because it is the easiest and most accessible to train.

 Aside from my triathlon hobby I have a science hobby and am completing my PhD in biomedical science at McMaster University in Canada, and further have a sports and fashion hobby that led me to my own little brain-child featured here....

http://www.etsy.com/shop/JerseyMods

That's about it for me, this blog and this journey in particular..... we will see how the race season unfolds and maybe in a few years you'll catch me at an IM?!

 my friend and I after our first Try-a-Tri  :)  The day this journey really began.......