Monday May 30, 2016

Today's workout:
Short swim

Swim: 800m (32 laps)

The workout consisted of 5 x 100 m fc, 1 min break, 50 m fc, 30 sec break. Then 50 m br to cool down.

Time: 25:49
Pace: 2:18 min/100m
Strokes: 13 strokes/25m ; 22 strokes/min
SWOLF: 47

Due up tomorrow:
Medium bike, 14.45 km

T

Saturday & Sunday May 28/29, 2016

Had another long and busy weekend, so another combined post!

Saturday May 28, 2016

Today's workouts:

Long run

Run: 4.18 km

Today I did a little longer run. It was the annual Warrior Dash Toronto run. An obstacle course race that tests strength and endurance with numerous different obstacles scattered along the 5.64 km course. I ran the entire course, which is different, I usual,y stay with my team. I had two teammates keep up with me and run the entire course. Some of the obstacles get crowded so our time is not a usual 5 km pace. Our running on e though was slightly faster than my normal running pace, even in the heat!!!

Time: 48:11
Pace: 8:32 min/km
Distance: 5.64 km 

Due up tomorrow:

Long bike, but will skip it as I have the Carstar Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk at the Toronto Zoo.


Sunday May 29, 2016

Today was an amazing day at the Toronto Zoo for the 2016 Carstar Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walk! Even with the heat and humidity, it was enjoyful to walk about the zoo and visit all the pavilions, even though we were there a few weeks ago. At least today was raising awareness and donations to support Cystic Fibrosis. I missed my long training bike, but well worth supporting the cause. 

Due up tomorrow:

Short swim, 800m

T

Friday May 27, 2016

Today's workouts:

Short run and medium swim

Swim: 950m

Swim went well today. I actually got in an open water swim! All the equipment worked flawlessly. I absolutely love the float buoy, for personal safety, as well it carried my phone for recording the swim workout. It measured the laps I completed. The wet suit is great, and I had no problem taking it off as well.

Time: 18:33
Pace: 2:04 min/100m
Distance: 900m

Run: 2.54km

Right after the open water swim I went for a short run. Tried the running shoes with no socks. I definitely need water in transition to rinse my feet. The triathlon shorts and top felt great! Due to Warrior Dash being tomorrow, I only ran 1.4 km.

Time: 8:07
Pace: 6:31 min/km
Distance: 1.38 km
Fastest pace: 3:53 min/km

Due up tomorrow:

Long run, 4.18 km

T

Thursday May 26, 2016

Today's workouts:

Short bike and medium run

Bike: 9.82km

Have not received my road bike back from the shop, hopefully by Sunday for the long ride. Used a normal cardio bike today and did heart rate hill training. Thought I fell short of my distance, and then realized it was in miles. Pleasantly surprised and had a great brick workout.

Time: 30:00
Speed: 26.6 km/hr
Distance: 13.3 km

Run: 3.38

I had to run on the treadmill to make it a brick workout today. I set it at 2.0% incline and was running between 5.8 & 6.2 mph for the duration of the run. I found myself sweating buckets today, maybe due to increase in heat. Did not have too hard of a time converting from cycling to running.

Time: 21:39
Pace: 6:27 /km
Distance 3.36 km

I also managed to get a wetsuit as well as triathlon shorts and top. So open water swimming tomorrow!

Due up tomorrow:
Medium swim, 950m & short run, 2.57 km

T

Wednesday May 25, 2016

Today's workouts:

Medium run and long swim

Swim: 1150m

Swim went well today. Had wished to be out in open water already, but could not get a wet suit yet. Maybe by Friday I'll have a wetsuit and be swimming open water. 

Time: 29:01
Pace: 2:09 min/100m
Strokes: 13 strokes/25m ; 25 strokes/min
SWOLF: 45

I decided because the triathlon is a week and a half away I would save today's run for a brick workout tomorrow.

Due up tomorrow:

Short bike, 9.82km & medium run, 3.38km

T

Tuesday May 24, 2016

Today's workouts:

Medium bike

Bike: 13.1km

My road cycle is in the shop for a quick tune up and new tires and drive train prior the triathlon so I completed this workout on a spin bike at the gym. Just not the same, would've enjoyed being outside. I held a pretty constant pace though. 

Time: 29:01
Speed: 27.1 km/hr
Distance: 13.1 km

I also attended skyrobics tonight to burn 600 additional calories. 

Due up tomorrow:

Medium run, 3.38km & long swim, 1150m

T

Monday May 23, 2016

Today's workout:
Short swim

Swim: 750m (30 laps)

I still have yet to get a wetsuit, maybe this week. It is still too cold to go in without a wetsuit. I think it'll be one cold race come June 5th!

The workout consisted of 2x100m front crawl, 200m drill (8x25m of dolphin kick, breaststroke, back crawl, and flutter kick), 6x50m front crawl, and 50m breaststroke.

Time: 28:50
Pace: 2:13 min/100m
Strokes: 13 strokes/25m ; 22 strokes/min
SWOLF: 45

I attempted to go and play tennis today, but forgot balls at home and no stores were open due to the holiday, but I did get out for a rollerblade across the waterfront. Then settled in for some nachos and wine while watching the Raptors beat the Cavaliers.

Due up tomorrow:

Medium bike, 13.04 km 

T

Saturday & Sunday May 21/22 2016

I did not get time to write this up yesterday, so just combining the two days.

Saturday May 21, 2016

Today's workouts:

Long bike

Bike: 16.25km

I had the route genius create a 16.25km loop and set out in gorgeous weather. It was a beautiful ride, had some hilly terrain and flat terrain which gave me great speed. The route went along the waterfront trails as well, so just a beautiful Saturday ride. I missed one of the turns on the route, so just made a loop of my own to keep distance relatively even.

Time: 41:40
Speed: 24.6 km/hr
Distance: 17.07 km
Fastest Pace: 43.6 km/hr

Now to go relax at a friends BBQ and bonfire!

Beautiful Saturday Ride!

Due up tomorrow:

Long run, 10.0km [change in plan, charity 10km run]



Sunday May 22, 2016

Run: 10.0km [WIN Marathon for Abilities Centre]

Unfortunately things turned out differently last night and I did not make the run this morning. I also will not be able to make up for it today as I work evenings. I went to a friends BBQ and bonfire, which his brother turned into a raging bash and we attempted to keep things from getting broken or destroying property. I then decided to stay the night and was not making it back in town for an 08:00 am start time.

Due up tomorrow: 

Short Swim, 750m

T

Friday May 20, 2016

The start to a long weekend! Except I work :(

Today's workouts:

Short run & medium swim

Run: 1.45km

Once again I used the route genius to create a map around my neighbourhood. Today is really short, I got it done first thing in the morning before hitting legs in the gym. Uneventful run, just around a few blocks in my neighbourhood. Can't wait for the 10km on Sunday!

Time: 8:05
Pace: 5:44 min/km
Distance: 1.41 km
Fastest Pace: 4:02 min/km

Swim: 600m

I know it called for 600 m but I got a new drill workout, focusing on front crawl, and plan to do that for my medium swims. I'll add distance if needed. The workout is 1100m which should be good for most of the training plan. 

Time: 32:57
Pace: 2:05 min/100m
Strokes: 11 strokes/25m ; 21 strokes/min
SWOLF: 42

Due up tomorrow: 

Long bike, 16.25km [change in plan due to 10km run on Sunday]

T

Thursday May 19, 2016

Today's Workouts:
Short bike & Skyrobics

Bike: 5.95 km

I usually just ride to a nearby Provincial park, and then home and change up the distances as needed. Today I felt a little different, I wanted to explore more of the city. I used Map My Ride route genius, typed in 6km, and it created a loop from where I wanted to start.

I used this short ride to test my bike adjust,nets earlier today before the long ride on Saturday. I adjusted the height of the seat, angle of the seat, for/aft of the seat and handlebar alignment. After reading a few articles about proper biking mechanics and knowing a lot about body mechanics, I figured I could adjust my bike quite similar to paying someone $100.00.

The adjustments helped greatly with power and efficiency. Having the ability to perform proper circular pedalling and eased the work on my legs, for endurance. It was a nice quick ride.

Time: 18:07
Speed: 22.2 km/h
Distance: 6.72 km
Fastest speed: 42.5 km/h

Skyrobics:

I have been participating in Skyrobics twice a week for close to 8 weeks now, missing the odd class. Skyrobics is an aerobics class on trampolines. It consists of an hour long class that goes through different cardio exercises, circuit training, strength (arms, legs & abs) training, and then relaxing stretches. All on trampolines which makes everything harder, and improves balance and stability. It's a great, fun way to burn calories. 450 burnt today.


Due up tomorrow:

Short run, 1.45 km, & medium swim, 600m

T

Wednesday May 18 2016

Today's workouts:
Medium run & Long swim

Swim: 750m (30 laps)

I had full intentions to have a wetsuit by now and start open water training for my long swims. This was not the case as I have not been able to purchase or rent a wetsuit yet. With the Triathlon less than 3 weeks away, I want to get into open water as soon as possible.

The workout consisted of alternating between 50m breaststroke and 50m front crawl for 7.5 times continuously. I am in love with my new Garmin Swim watch, and would recommend this to anyone who needs something just for pool swimming.

Time: 17:14
Pace: 2:18 min/100m
Strokes: 14 strokes/25m ; 25 strokes/min
SWOLF: 48

Run: 2.09Km

I laced my new Merrell Bare Access 4's with elastic EZ Laces (http://www.ezlaces.com/) and I absolutely loved the run with them. It allows the shoe to loosen and tighten as required by my running gait and does not cause pain due to restriction like laces.

I decided to complete a fartlek workout within this distance. After a 5 min warm up (about 600m), I alternated 1 min running (~3:30 min/km) and 1 min jogging (~6:30 min/km) 5 times, and then walked a 5 min cool down.

Time: 17:53
Pace: 6:35 min/km
Distance: 2.71 km
Fastest Pace: 3:14 min/km

Due up tomorrow:

Short bike 5.95km. I want to focus on speed and proper pedaling. Also booked for a massage!

T

Breezy Run May 14, 2015

I decided to run with a friend in the evening. I have a 10km run coming up this Sunday, and thought a light run could be beneficial. We decided to go for about a 5-6km run and see how we feel, since the winds were strong and cold. 

The run started out amazing! We ran on the trails through the ravine right down to the lake for the first 3km. Sheltered from the wind, and relatively flat running surface felt great underneath my feet. It's the first longer run in my new Merrell's (besides yesterday's 1.5km), and my legs were not as in pain from the leg or bike workout from Friday. After the first 600m, I found my running legs and we went the distance.

Kept a fairly easy pace of 5:52 min/km and completed the 5.5km in 32:43. It's a slower pace than our usual, but the hill with wind in our face slowed us down 0:30 min/km for the 1.25km hill.

Starting a newer triathlon training program this week to train for a full sprint distance (750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run) for end of July. 

First Steps

Hello All!

So, I decided to sign up for my first Triathlon event ever! I thought I would take a leap and jump into the multisport fun. I enjoy all three sports involved, and decided to add some competitiveness to my weekly training programs. Now there is a goal.

My first triathlon, is on June 5th, at Kelso Conservation Area in Milton, ON. It is part of the Subaru Triathlon Series, and is one of the earliest races of the season. Because this is the first time I will be competing in a triathlon, I decided to enroll into their Try-A-Tri distance. This constitutes a 375m open water swim, 10km bike, and 2.5km run.

I am simultaneously training for a Sprint distance triathlon in Kingston on July 31, 2016. The sprint distance consists of: 750m open water swim, 30km bike, and 7.2km run.

I plan to blog my workouts on the journey to my triathlons on this website. Stay tuned!