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.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
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....
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
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.”
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.”
Thursday, February 8, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
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
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
Friday, February 2, 2007
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!!
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!!
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