Duncan Selwood ROCKS at World Ironman Championships

HOOOOOLY, congratulations to Duncan who absolutely rocked in Hawaii.

Swim time: 1.25.24 - awesome
Bike time: 6.41.53 - awesome
Run time: 5.03- absolutely awesome
Overall time: 13.25 - incredible!!!!

Can't wait to see your finisher picture on this site Dunc!

Duncan Sellwood Ready to Rumble in Hawaii

Duncan Selwood is leaving next week to compete in the World Ironman Championship in Hawaii on October 13th.

Good luck Duncan, we know you will ROCK!! Have fun!!

The Hills were there but it didn't matter

Congratualtions to Gary Daniels, Duncan Selwood, Chris Flint and Barbara Thompson for a fine showing at the Sooke International Half and Sprint Triathlon held on July 22nd. Gary was in fine form as he completed his first triathlon in 18 years(does he look happy?), Chris and Duncan placed second in their respective categories and Barbara rocked it out. Way to go guys!

As always...Saturday morning swim at Thetis lake..everyone is welcome...it's time to start swimming in a group...

Saturday morning swim

Saturday morning swim...all welcome....Thetis Lake ...7:00 am

If your doing IMC this year then you know how important it is to get up to Penticton and do some training on the course!

If you want to go with Team Ens then book the weekend of the 27th of July. I've spoken with the coach and we came up with this weekend as the best time to go. It'll set you up for IMC and allow you the opertunity of riding the bike course and running on the run course.

Please respond ASAP so that I can start planning for camping/hotels. If your "on the fence" about weather you want to go or not...just check with anyone who attended last years Team Ens Train Camp! It was a great time and great to meet all the other IMC racers. Of course you don't have to be entered in this years IMC to come with us...if IMC is in your plans for next year then it's a great oppertunity to see if you really want to do this race.

Ray

Saturday June 9th training

Good Day all,

If you’re looking for some company with your training on Saturday join us in the morning!
There will be a group of people getting together for a swim in Thetis Lake followed by a four hours ride up the Hat. For those of you still keen the ride will be followed by a run on the trails of Thetis Lake.
I’ll be getting my toes wet at 7:00 am for a two loop swim around the islands. Some of the others will be showing up a bit later as they only want to do one loop.
You can join in at any point or meet up with us at T1 or T2 if you just want to go for the bike ride or the run on the trails.

Ray

Debi Wood - Not over the hill yet!

Belated birthday greeting to Debi Wood who turned the big dare I say, oh what the heck, 50 on Sunday, June 2nd.

Hope you had a great day Deb and continue to ROCK ON!

Hi Jennifer, I've cut and pasted your comment below so that more people will see it.

A post displays as it's own entry. A comment is only displayed if someone "clicks" on it and opens it up. (not sure if that make sense or not)



Send me an email to poplarlanefarm@shaw.ca and I'll add you to the list of those authorised to post. That way your future entries will be seen by everyone like this one is....



Jennifer said...
Hi, I'm new to team ens and am thinking about the 2km swim in Kelowna...I was asking Pamela about it and she mentioned that I should post a blog whether anyone out there on Team Ens has a second hand wetsuit for sale. I'm a bit on the shorter side at only 5"1 the wetsuit might be a bit tricky to fit. As well any comments on different stores in Victoria that sell wetsuits. I'm also interested to know if there are people that are part of team ens that like to get together for swim workouts. I"m interested in getting together with some people. Any comments or suggestions would be a great help.thanksJennifer

Fast note....group swim Elk Lake Sat. 8:30 am.

Going to California

A few of us hardy souls from Victoria made the trek to CA to do the Wildflower Half Iron. I travelled with Ann Laidman in her camper van, affectionately named "Jef". He has a certain charm that's impossible not to fall in love with. We were joined by Ray Baker in his 5th wheel, and Brent Blackhall and Don Eby who roughed it in their tents. What an incredible adventure we had. Camping with 7,000 other like minded athletes is not your typical camping style. Imagine tents on any spare bit of ground to be found, wetsuits hanging in trees, bikes on top of cars, and any other sorts of triathlete gear on display.

We spent the next few days doing some light workouts on the course. One day we even drove the bike route, specifically to have a look at Nasty Grade. The hill with the most reputation on this course. We didn't think it looked toooo bad, but of course we were in a car at the time. Ensuring to have plenty of relaxation time as well, we readied ourselves for the big day. Following is my own race report. With any luck you'll hear from the others....

Race morning dawns, sunny and perfect. Perfect racing conditions. We ride our bikes, with all our gear, down the big hill to transition. It's 7:30 a.m. The race starts at 8:00 but my swim heat isn't until 9:25. We find our spots in transition and get all set up and my sunglasses break. Oh no, but then maybe it's just the lens has popped out. Seems to be, so I fit it back in. We head over to the swim start to watch the pros. Watch a few heats take off then move over to transition to watch them do T1. A wind has risen so now the water is choppy. Great! Finally it's our turn and we're standing on the boat ramp. Now we're off! I have difficulty with the choppy water. Can't get into a rhythm and keep getting slammed by waves. Often, when I turn to breath I gulp water. This sucks and I want to just quit. The buoys look far, far away. Keep giving myself "the talk" and keep going. Finally, in the second half of the swim I feel good and everything works...but I've wasted a lot of time. Up the boat ramp and into T1. My glasses break completely in two pieces so now they're toast. I have no glasses for the ride. A minor inconvenience but still. Off we go, and it's not up the hill that we thought was first, but up another one that's even worse. Heart rate is way up right off the bat. It's hot and windy, but I'm on the bike! Yay! Focused on riding steady and consistent. It's a challenging course with many hills but nothing that was impossible. Keep drinking as the wind is just whisking the sweat right off immediately. The only time I actually dripped sweat was on Nasty Grade, which is indeed nasty at 70km. By the time the ride was over I was ready to get off. But now it's run time, always a struggle for me. I'm eating salt pills and gels regularly. It's very hot and windy throughout this as well. There's lots of climbing and I opt to walk the hills. At every aid station I take water to drink and a cup to pour over my head. At a few spots there's people with hoses to spray you if you want. Yes, please! Course is very scenic around the lake and into the woods and around the campsite. Soon I realize that all this water is melting my salt pills that I have in the pocket of my top. This is a reminder to have them wrapped in something for IM. At mile 9 my stomach cramps and I'm stalled for a bit. Finally feel better and off I go only to be met by a giant hill up, then down the backside, then turn around and go back up it again. Dirty dog race organizers! After this I resort to running for 100 paces leading with my R foot then walk for a bit then 100 paces leading with my L foot, then walk again. I repeat this several times until I reach the last mile which is all downhill and if your quads aren't killing you by then you can just cruise on into the glorious finish chute. Sweet feeling.

Saturday Ride

A few of us are meeting at 8:30 Hamsterly Beach for a ride if anyone is interested in joining in. We will do Lands End/West Saanich, anywhere 2-3 hrs.

Good Luck Wildflower Gang

Best of luck to Ray Baker, Ann Laidman, Debi Wood & Brent Blackhall as they head down south to participate in the Wildflower 1/2 Ironman.

Remember to have fun and Git r done!!

Duncan is King of the World!!

Great news for our Duncan Selwood, he won a lottery spot for the 2007 Hawaii Ironman!!!

Congratulations Duncan, you will be as awesome as you were in Ironman Canada 2006.

So I took the plunge last week. No, no I didn’t get married…I took the plunge in Thetis Lake.
You may be saying…as some have already said …

”I dunno Ray...that sounds a little bit crazy to me!”

But really, with a Half Ironman just weeks away, I’m get’n kind of nervous about this swim. I’ve been working pretty hard on my swimming so far this year but the thought of swimming 1.2 miles without the end of a pool to hold on to once in a while scares me enough to endure some cold feet and maybe a bit of shrinkage…after all I’m not threatened and I’m comfortable in my own skin…if you know what I mean.
I talked to my swim coach Danielle about this swim…she’s been great to work with, and has really helped me with my stroke and my over all confidence. Danielle compared me to one of her “other” fanatic friends. I told her I wasn’t a fanatic at all…I’m just scared!

Anyway Friday morning Lee, Grace, and I jumped in the truck and headed out to the lake. Beautiful morning, with the water as smooth as a slate pool table. Tons of people walking there dogs, so this meant Lee had to get Grace under control and out on the walk. Before I new it I was standing alone at the waters edge thinking there’s no way out of this now.
I squeezed into my wet suit and waded out into the water. Not bad I was thinking, as expected my feet were cold, and as expected people on the beach were looking at me as if I was about to commit suicide. I waded out until the water was above my hips. I covered up my head with a squid lid that I bought just for this very moment. With no more time to waste I took the plunge.

The first few minutes I was thinking about my feet and my face…felt pretty darn cold really. That soon faded as my forehead began to tingle. That tingle soon faded…and turned into a full on ice-cream brain freeze. For about the first three or four minutes this brain freeze was the only thing I was thinking about. I had totally forgotten about my feet, face and hands. I was thinking is this what the swim is going to be like…”Oh My God”
Luckily this also faded and I was left with just getting the feeling of the wetsuit and trying to get my swim stroke to feel like it did in the pool.
It really was not bad at all. In fact I was feeling so comfortable at one point in the swim that I was thinking how I could talk Danielle into rowing a boat along side me so she could critique my technique.
I spent about 25 to 30 minutes in the lake. The longer I was in the lake the less I thought about the water temperature. Once out of the water I quickly headed to the change room and got into some warm dry clothes. I did have a good laugh as I noticed my feet looking bright red with a clear line were my wetsuit started.
I repeated this swim again on Tuesday morning. My plan is to swim in the lake at least once a week until we leave for Wildflower.

So if you think you’re ready to take the plunge…give me a call….

Ray

I’m thinking of jumping in the Thetis Lake on Friday morning. Two years ago I managed to be in for a swim on the 1st of April so I feel like I’m a bit behind….anyone interested in joining me for the first dip of the year.
We could all go out for breakfast afterwards.

Team Ens, Wildflower racing

I realise that some of us don’t have races scheduled until later in the year. I just thought you might like to know about the members of Team Ens that are heading down to Wildflower. The Wildflower tri is May 4th, 5th, and 6th in California.
Last weekend the group got together for a little dinner meeting. We traded cell phone numbers, arranged traveling partners and decided who was driving and who will be navigating.
This group has been training hard during the winter months to get ready for what many people believe to be the toughest half iron in North America.
I hope that those of us not racing during that weekend in May will take some time to post some fast/well wishes to our team mates.

Wednesday Night Rides

Hi Team:

For those interested, rain or shine, a few of us will be meeting at the north end of Matticks Farm (by the restaurant)at 5:30 for a nice easy ride over to do repeats on Island View Beach Road.

It's time to get out and get those hills in before those loooong rides!

Don't be intimidated! The pace and # of repeats you do is all your choice!

Hope to see a good crowd on Wed.

This picture is one of the rollers on the IMC course.

Where is everyone ?

Where was everyone?

I headed out last night with my camera in hand. My plan was to get a few photo's of the riders doing a hill workout on Island View rd.

I hung out at the top looking for someone...anyone...but nobody showed up. Instead I drove down to the beach to take Grace for a walk.

So you'll have to put up with yet another picture of Grace!

Maybe we'll see more people out next week. If you think the time is to early let Connie know.

Ray

First say to yourself what you would be;

and then do what you have to do.

Epictetus

Thanks Connie, I think everyone had a good race and the weather was good for running.

Glen...I had no idea you had run the race...I would have looked for you...sorry about that.

You did miss a little known Team Ens member ...Brent Blackhall also ran the race.

I must have been in my own little world cause I never saw some of those people and didn't realise they had run until I was looking at (studying) the race results....

How many of us are in the Sooke Tri this year.....

Ray

Way to Go Team Ens AthELITES

My first posting!!

Congratulations to Team Ens AthELITES - Ray Baker, Glen Fuller & Debi Wood who ran the Comox 1/2 Marathon this past weekend! Great run for all of you especially considering Pamela wouldn't let you taper for it. If I missed anyone, I apologize.

Reminder for those interested, come rain or shine we will meet at Matticks Farm (north end by the restaurant) this Wednesday 5:15 for a hill repeat workout on Island View Beach. I did it last week and it's a great hill to get us started on. We'll do a nice easy 15 - 20 minute warm up before we go at it. Remember, it is at your own pace and the number of repeats you choose to do is up to you.

Hills make us stronger!!!!

LOVE THOSE MAPS

Okay, here's a fun thing to do the next time it's raining to hard to be outside riding...what am I talking about...it's never raining that hard!

http://www.runningmap.com/

This little site will allow you to trace your training route on a map while it adds up your mileage. I just found it today but I thought I'd pass it along to the rest of you.
Try it for yourself and let us know what you think of it.

Enjoy!

Ray

"LOVE THOSE HILLS" HILL WORKOUTS

That's correct people! If you've been worried about your riding up those hills you're not alone.
There will be a group of riders meeting at Mattick's Farm on Wednesday nights. The plan seems to be to meet in the parking lot at 5:15 for a warm up ride over to Island View Beach Rd.
Hill repeats can be done back and forth over this hill.

The only way to get strong on the hills is to ride the hills!

"LOVE THOSE HILLS" HILL WORKOUTS

That's correct people! If you've been worried about your riding up those hills you're not alone.
There will be a group of riders meeting at Mattick's Farm on Wednesday nights. The plan seems to be to meet in the parking lot at 5:15 for a warm up ride over to Island View Beach Rd.
Hill repeats can be done back and forth over this hill.

The only way to get strong on the hills is to ride the hills!

Group Run Updates

**Update #1** NO GROUP RUN this Thursday. I slightly 'tweaked' a knee on my Sunday long run, and it would be stupid to run on it, so I am not going to coach a run this week.

**Update #2** Group runs will resume for the last 3 weeks (March 15, 22, 29) at 6:00 pm at a NEW location - Gordon Head Rec Centre.

From there we will warm-up jog over to Mt. Doug park and do some longer, steeper hills on trails. We'll stick to the wider, smoother trails with less roots/rocks, so if you are not a trail running fan, don't despair! (although it would be good to embrace the trails, cause they really help your running). With the earlier change to daylight savings we can take advantage of the light and get in a good hour-ish workout, at a location even better than the Uplands hills.

Gordon Head Rec Centre is located at 4100 Lambrick Way, off Feltham Road. If you know where Lambrick Park is in Saanich (a big park with soccer/baseball fields, lacrosse box and tennis courts) the rec centre is right there. We'll meet at the front doors to the centre and be on our way at 6:00 pm sharp!

Google map for Gordon Head Rec Centre:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Gordon+Head+Rec+Centre
+Victoria+BC&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=12&ll=48.501365,-123.356552&spn=0.105554,0.2314
&om=1&iwloc=A

Saturdays ride went really well. We had five people out for the ride and it really made the time go by fast.
Thanks Debi, Jess, Jeff, and Duncan It was a lot of fun and the weather was pretty cooperative considering the time of year.
Extra thanks to Duncan for coming with Grace and myself on our 45 minute run after the ride. Grace doesn’t really like road running much as she kind of tagged along behind us. The next day she was full of beans on our two hour hill run. She’s a trail runner at heart.

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson


So the plan is set. 9:00 am Hamsterly beach. Two loops of the Peninsula. Each rider is responsible for his or her own well being.
We will not leave anyone behind, and if you’re the first one back at the parking lot please order lunch!
Let’s have fun!

In order to accommodate as many people as possible...we'll meet at 9:00 at Hamsterly Beach (Elk Lake).

Two loops around the peninsula, rain or shine. Some will be doing both loops for a four hour ride and others will do one loop for a two hour ride. It seems everyone will be riding at an easy pace so although easy for some may not be easy for all, I think with the group we have, no one will be left alone.

Rain gear, food, extra inner tubes, water, are up to the rider to bring.

If your planing a short ride please let Ray know when you're turning off or heading back.

Ride March 3rd 2007

Well we seem to be bringing together a group for Saturday’s bike ride.
It’ll be a four hour ride for some of us this Saturday. If you don’t want to complete all four hours that’s no problem, you can just head back at any time.
We need to set up a route. Here’s a couple of ideas
1) Malahat….yah baby! It’s that time of year again; let’s get a jump on it!
2) East Sooke
3) Two loops around West Saanich and the Peninsula.

Nothing is set in stone so if you have a route idea please let us know about it.

Hi guys!

There's talk of a big four yes 4 hour ride this Saturday!

Consider yourself forewarned......

who's up for it?

This photo was taken in October 2006...

I was cross training in Peru....I couldn't find a pool to swim in so we submitted Mount Piscoe instead. I can tell you...climbing at that altitude is really hard. In order for us to summit at dawn we had to leave our base camp at 11:30 at night. We climbed all through the night and got to the summit at about 7:30 in the morning. You only spend about 20 minutes on the summit then head back down. It's just as hard heading down as it was going up. The reward was cold beer in Peru's highest altitude Pub....

Please enjoy the story below.
I had to cut and paste this story from the Government web site.
It’ s a bit rough looking but the story is very inspiring,
and proves that great athletes live among of us.



Individual Profile: Antje Helmuth, Victoria (Ministry of Health)


Five years ago, Antje Helmuth, a librarian from the Ministry of Health, laced up her runners and ventured onto the sidewalks of Victoria. The gradual increase of birthday candles, family medical conditions and her "waist", were the primary motivators that got her off the couch and onto the pavement. “The older I got, I was increasingly nervous about my risk factors, I wanted to make a healthy life change,” she says. The May 5k Mother’s Day Walk/Run was the goal she set, with five months to prepare.
“My first few runs consisted of two minutes running followed by a long, long, long, walk.” The gap between walking and running slowly closed, and by the time race day came Antje was ready, and able, to complete the run. “I cried and cried, it was one of the biggest goals I have ever accomplished,” she says about that day.
Not willing to let that athletic achievement go to the wayside, she furthered her running by joining a 10K running clinic. From there the race intensity increased from a 10k race to a half marathon, to a full marathon. All that was left to round out her list of running achievements was a triathlon. She tested her endurance with the smaller "Triathlon for Compassion" in the summer of 2004. But her sluggish mountain bike and limited swimming ability slowed her down. She vowed the next triathlon would be better.
She bought a proper road bike, practiced the front crawl stroke, and worked on her transitions between the three disciplines: swimming, biking, and running. In 2004, she completed seven triathlons (Olympic and Sprint distance). A year later, she tackled her first half Ironman Triathlon at Elk Lake (Victoria). All that was left was a full Ironman, the ultimate triathlon that consists of 3.8 km of swimming, a 180-km bike ride, and a full marathon (42.2 km).
In August 2005, she went to Penticton, B.C. to witness one of the most gruelling races in Canada. In keeping with her thirst for more challenge, Antje signed up on the spot for the following year’s Ironman Canada. At the start of training in January 2006, she had a small meltdown, thinking, “What have I gotten myself into.” But that wasn't enough to stop her from joining a tri-training club under the tutelage of a professional triathlon coach. Six days a week she increased her endurance and power. Her longest workout days were 14 hours, and included all three disciplines.
Success was also dependent on the support of the people around her. “You need a plan, a supportive partner, a house cleaning service, and the acknowledgment that the whole year is about you.” Her boss and co-workers were also very encouraging, she says, and allowed her to tailor her work schedule around her training.
“The Ministry allowed me to work extra hours on other days, so I could take Wednesday mornings off as I prepared for both the half and full Ironman,” she adds. “The office support was fabulous.”

On race day, Aug. 27, 2006, she waved goodbye to her partner and to her parents, who flew out from Ontario to watch her tackle the most challenging event in her athletic career. At 7 a.m. she pulled on her swimming cap and lined the lake with the 2,500 other competitors. “My goal was to finish with a smile,” Antje says. The swim and bike ride went well, but as the temperature soared to well above 30 degrees, the run turned into a walk. “I ended up walking 90 per cent of the run, and I tried to keep well supplied with ice cubes under my hat.”
At 8:24 p.m., just as the sun began to set, Antje crossed the Ironman Canada 2006 finish line - with a smile. Her time: 13:24. She said she smiled again when she looked through the list of participants and saw she was the only librarian listed as a competitor. Antje already has sight set on Ironman Idaho this June.
“I’m hooked,” she says. “A lot of people get Ironman tattoos when they’ve done one, but I said to myself, not for one, but if I do three… “
So what does Antje see as the biggest obstacle to get to where she is now? “My first competitive run,” she acknowledges, “ultimately that was the biggest hurdle. Anything beyond this has not had the same effect on me as that 5k.”

Group Run #2

Nice to see some more people out to tonight's run. Good efforts on the introduction of a few running form drills, and on the Lansdowne hill runs, folks!

Next week we'll continue with some longer hills but on a more undulating route as opposed to repeats on the same hill. Variety is the spice of life.

The grade and length of hills in this area are well suited to building leg strength and learning how to run up and over long hills without blowing up from too fast a pace. That's the last thing you want to have happen in any running or triathlon race.

See you next week.

Group Run Update

Hi All,

The first group run workout was kicked off with 4 of us. After some fine tuning, we have decided to move the meeting location to the Henderson Rec Centre on Cedar Hill X Road. Gives us easier access to washrooms and warmth if needed! So starting this Thursday, we will meet at Henderson Rec Centre for the rest of the group runs. I'll be contacting anyone who emailed me separately to remind them as well.

I have developed some workouts with hills/grades averaging 800 m to 1 km in length - some gradual grades, some definitely more challenging. Running long hills at the appropriate pace for you, helps to build leg strength, aerobic endurance and mental tenacity for those challenging run courses!
The workouts are designed for both short and long course triathletes, and runners from 5k to the Marathon - it's a good time of year to focus on longer hills for almost any Team Ens athlete.
If you have a 'key' race in the next 2 months, however, please check with Pamela to ensure this workout is appropriate for your training schedule.

We will also do some running drills as mentioned before to work on efficient running technique.

Come on out and experience the Lansdowne Loop(iness), the Cadboro Bay Challenge, Beach Drive Blast and the Uplands Undulation Tour - to name a few!

Where: Henderson Rec Centre, 2291 Cedar Hill Cross Road
(meet out front of the doors to the rec centre - or inside of it's REALLY cold :) )
When: Thursdays, from February 8 to March 29th
Time: 6:00 pm until ~ 7:15 pm

Hey 'team' -- Coachie here :) -- I have a few things for you!

Firstly, if you haven’t already, DEFINITELY check out the Thursday run workouts - personally, I think they are to be awesome sessions and you're really going to get a lot out of them - if I was back in Victoria, I'd definitely be attending them!

Secondly, if anyone is taking pictures of 'team' events (i.e. workouts, races) or anything else team-related and wouldn't mind sharing those pics, I'd LOVE to have a 'copy'! Any pictures would be for my own personal interest as well as for coaching purposes (including the website possibly!) - just so you know!

And lastly, with once again not wanting to breach athlete-confidentiality, there are a number of you lining up to do the Bazan Bay 5km - how about getting together or at least making yourselves known to each other?! 'team ens' RULES and all you Rockstars should ban together ...or at least I think you should!!

Take care 'team' - you continue to do an awesome job!!

Thanks Duncan,

I’ll be there for sure. I’ve doing a few runs at night and it’s been pretty hilly to start off with but luckily it doesn’t take long to warm up. I did a hill workout with Debbi W. and a group of runners. I know for myself that I would not be working as hard if I tried to do the runs on my own. It really is a big benefit to have a group run along side you!
I don’t know the area to well so that even makes it more fun.

See you tomorrow night!

They're heeeeere.... THURSDAY EVENING RUN WORKOUTS

Details are as follows…

What: Group runs for ‘team ens’ athletes

Description:
These group runs are to be seen as the athlete’s mid-week, strength building run. Starting with 30mins and building to 1hr, this group run will also focus on hills. Pacing will be easy-to-moderate. Speed work may be included, but not until April.

Reflective gear recommended

When: Thursdays, 6pm

start date: Thursday, February 1st

end date: Thursday, March 29th (with hopes to extend this date throughout the Spring and possibly the summer – we’ll keep you posted on this!)

Where: meet at Uvic Stadium parking lot

Time: 6:00 ~ 7:15 pm

Instructor/Coach: Duncan Johnson

Duncan Johnson is a ‘team ens’ athlete, track coach, and Triathlon-Coach-in-training. During each workout, Duncan will provide instruction and practice on running form drills as well as carefully laid-out run workouts which build gradually in strength, endurance and speed. Duncan will also be in constant communication with pamela (Coachie) ensuring the best (and most suitable) workouts are designed for ‘team ens’ members

These run workouts will be a great way to get together with other ’team ens’ athletes as you all work towards your 2007 triathlon (and running!) goals.

It's Saturday...We do long rides on Saturday...

When the alarm goes off in the winter and it's still dark outside, remember - that is when the races are won, so get the hell out of bed you lazy bastard, and TRAIN!



TGIF…people it’s been one of those weeks ….you know the kind when you’re driving home thinking about a nice glass of wine or maybe a nice bottle of tequila….

Anyway sorry about the late post but glad to see Connie and Antje stepped up and made a post. The plan for me is to be at the lake parking lot at 9:00am. Gary Daniels says he’s riding tomorrow so we should have a good group. I’ll tell you what my route is going to look like and if you are willing then please show up and be ready to ride at 9:00.

Roughly ….

Ride to Oldfield, down to West Saanich, over to Wallace turn off and out Point road to the top of the hill, turnaround and back to Wallace. Along Wallace to West Saanich Road. (Downtown Brentwood) Along West Saanich to Mount Newton, up Thomson Place and over to East Saanich (Antje, you may want to head back here since your starting an hour before us). Along East Saanich to Wallingdon then back across to West Saanich…out west Saanich to Lands End and over to the Pat Bay. Strait up the Pat Bay to Elk Lake.

As I say…this is a rough plan…it makes sense when I look at the map…hopefully it will make sense when we ride it.

Ray

Definitely not a Coachie sanctioned training workout

Definitely not a “Coachie” sanctioned training workout, but fun all the same….

Saturday’s group bike ride was kind of thin in numbers….with the weather the way it has been lately those with good common sense chose to train indoors. Those of us with less common sense faced the elements and flirted with death.
It was a morning of two-for’s. Two pairs of socks, two pairs of cycling pants, two shirts and three pairs of gloves. Oh I forgot…two toques under my helmet!

As I headed out the door I thought to myself “I’ll ride for a bit and see just how cold it feels”. Well as it ended up I got the full two and a half hour ride in and it felt great. The snow and ice were not a problem at all, the pot hole were!

I set out to ride West Saanich Road to the ferries then head back on the Pat Bay Highway. I had driven most of the route on Friday and I felt pretty confident that the ice would not be a big problem. I didn’t want to get to much speed so I put it in a very easy gear and chose to work on my peddling with a high cadence.

I’m not sure if cold air has less oxygen in it or not but I can tell you that this ride ended up to be a real good workout for the legs. Perhaps one of our more scientific team mates can answer that one for us? This route would normally have taken me about two hours. It took a bit longer and I finished the ride in two hours and thirty minutes.

I followed this ride up with a forty minute run up Bear Hill trail. This trail is fast becoming one of my favourite hill runs. It’s always different. Last week it was like running up a creek bed with all the rain we had. This weekend it was a snow covered winter wonder land. As I said at the start…it wasn’t a Coachie sanctioned workout but it was a good one all the same.

I think in the next couple of weeks we will be able to start our run workouts on Tuesday night. It looks like we will have two run coaches who will be working closely with Pamela in designing and setting up the workouts. In the meantime if you are planning a swim, bike or run workout, feel free to post it on this site who knows someone may also be looking for a training partner at that time. The reason I opened up the Blog was so that we could all communicate with each other so please feel free to jump in with a idea, a question, or a workout time.

Ray

Well our first bike ride was blest with good weather. The rain held off and we managed a nice two hour ride without getting wet.
I was ready for a down pour. The night before I had all my raingear out and ready to go. I seemed pretty much covered…well except my head. I started to think why had I never, in all these years, bought a rain cover for my helmet?
I started to look around the house to see what I could find. The best I could do was a Zip lock freezer baggie. Laugh if you want but I think it would have worked….or maybe I would have suffocated…I’m not sure which!

There will be a group ride this Saturday as well. I have a 2.5 hour ride with a 40 minute run after. I think I’ll be leaving on the bike from Hamsterly beach parking lot at 9:00 Saturday morning if any of you care to join in for the ride. I’ll be riding around the Peninsula so if you don’t want to do the complete 2.5 it’s easy to ride part of it then cut across the peninsula and head back to the parking lot.

There may be a different group leaving from the Crystal pool at around 8:30. If I get info on that I’ll let you know.
You can always post your own bike/run/swim workout and start your own group as well.
All you have to do is state the type of workout and where and at what time….

Ray

I don’t know about you guys but I need some sun!

I’m not sure who wanted it more…me yelling I quit! Or my boss yelling you’re fired!
Luckily we called it a draw, and I still have to go to work tomorrow. These dark days are hard on us outdoor people. It throw’s me completely out of whack. Not to worry for I have all of you to ride with this weekend. Yep here are the details.

The swim people will be swimming at the Crystal pool before the ride.

The ride will leave the parking lot of the Crystal at 8:30 sharp.

Connie has offered to let us meet at her house after the ride.

Please be on your bike and out front of the Crystal before 8:30 so we can leave on time.
The ride will be a very easy pace with slight hills, but definitely not a hilly or a fast pace workout.
For this first ride we will all stick together in one group. I imagine that smaller (faster) groups will emerge as the weeks go by. The ride will be about two hours in length ending at the Crystal.

Connie H. has agreed to let us meet at her house after the ride. She lives just a short drive from the pool.
If you only want to come to the meeting then please meet us at the Crystal Pool at the end of the ride and we’ll be happy to give you directions.

The purpose of the meeting is to define and shape our team and how we will train as a group.

If you have questions please email me at ….

poplarlanefarm@shaw.ca

Bring on the sun,

Ray Baker