There’s a 50 day challenge going around in some form or another. Knowing that I would never make the challenge, I’m not even going to go down that route… Instead, it just makes me want to swim more than I usually do, just to not fall behind. I’m seeing a lot of people talk about how great their training is going, and some rediculously fast pace times being hammered away in the pool and on the road. Maybe it’s time I step it up a bit.
More stuff filmed in preparation for the swim clinic.
Some pictures are up.
Results, not so much. I’ll get them up tuesday!
The event went off without any problems and was hugely successful. I’m really proud to have had the support given to the event as well as to me during the process of organizing and running the show.
I’ve learned quite a bit while going through the whole process. There’s a quite a bit of stuff to do from having an idea in your head to having it in reality 2 months later. Of course nothing that happened yesterday could have been possible without the volunteers, the majority of whom I have never met! Also, I would have gone crazy without the support of Andrew and Tom on the days before the event (especially the night before).
Next year I’ll have to find a way start the pool set up processes earlier without having to do my regular duties at work while I’m trying to set up. Friday night was a gong-show with a 3-10 pm shift which turned into a 3pm-2am stint at the pool, which was follwed up with a 430-10am bit on Saturday morning. Thanks again to Andrew and Tom for getting us through as well as our sponsors who kept the athletes well fed and well prized (so many draw prizes and race package goodies).
Port Coquitlam Parks and Recreation
Save-On Foods
Trio Sport Events
Popeyes Suppliments
Europe Bakery and Deli
First Touch Soccer
Team Aquatic Supplies
Dewys Pub & Grill
PoCo Motion
Starbucks Coffee – Port Coquitlam:Prarie
Fraser Valley Building Supplies
Kics Lemonade
I’ll post the results when I’m at work tonight! Here’s some pictures of the set up and event
5k Challenge Welcome!
Lots of prizes!
Tons of Food
Sponsor Boards
My office = Race HQ
Race Day!
Look! We're Winning!
UBC Results are in!
6 out of 24? That’s awesome. We even missed out on over 5 swims because a few swimmers had to leave a bit early! With the missed swims, we still beat our score from last year!
We’ve grown quite a bit as a club, with an uprecidented 12 swimmers (including Andrew and myself)! We even cleared the benches to form 3 teams for the 4×50 FR relay to clinch 2 1st place spots and a 2nd place in separate divisions!
http://www.ubcmasters.com/results/15-Nov-2009-UBCMasters.pdf
As for my own training, lets just say that UBC was an eye opening experience.
Lesson learned = a) Ironman’ing doesn’t mean you can swim fast..
b) Having a second coach on deck makes the swimming/coaching combo WAAAY easier!
All that running around - we deserve the sit down
5K Challenge
The 5k Challenge is ready to go! We’re almost sold out! Race packages are being assembled, event posters are up, and we’re stoked to have so much support from local businesses! Lots of great prizes!
I’m really looking forward to it!
I’ve been sick for the last week with an annoyingly stuffy nose. No coughing or sneezing, just being tired all the time.
Now that I’m better (I think), I decided to hop in the pool to swim with some old swim friends that I hadn’t worked out with in a few months. Lesson learned = out of water for a month translates to slow times.
Now I’m seriously doubting my ability not to embarass myself at UBC this weekend.
400FR, 200FR, 100FR, 100IM…
I’m glad I had didn’t try for my usual 200FL or 200IM as those would have been terrible, terrible mistakes (not that the 400 and 200 FR aren’t).
On the flip side, with the week or so off any form of exercise (no, I’m still sleeping on the floor. I haven’t had the time to fix my bed/buy a new one) I’ve been seriously contemplating my 2010 season. What to focus on, what to race, What goals to shoot for…
There are several thing I’m definatly looking forward to next year… Dave and Steph’s wedding, HK marathon, my dad’s IMC… oh and hopefully graduating before summer! (no more bogging! – see pictures below)
My car vs Lake
Cars and Bogs don't really get along...
How much rain can "waterproof" clothing take?
Yeah! I’m putting together Hyde Creek Masters’ first event since we established ourselves as a team a little over a year ago. To put together an event from scratch is definatly a fun process, and there has been a lot of support from a management standpoint as well as from local business!
I just opened up registration an hour ago on the City server, so we’re official now! Things are underway and I’ve solidified the race souvenir stuff. It’s sweet, but I can’t tell you what it is because it’ll ruin the surprise. I can tell you it’s not a t-shirt because I think everyone and their dog has a race t-shirt. For more info: Hyde Masters 5K Challenge
So spread the word! A fun, cheap event with free food, a race souvenir, and draw prizes! What more could you ask for?
Training is going great! Stepping up running for the last few weeks. This weekend was a nice 32k run @ 5:00 pace. Not too challenging. I’m surpised that my body is holding together so well. Maybe I’m not training half as hard as I shuold be.
Cycling has been getting there as well. Today I did the PoCo-UBC-Horseshoe Bay-Cypress-PoCo loop. Yeah, I was thinking… Osoyoos is comming up, better get a feel for that Richter Pass. Cypress is a mountian, must be pretty similar to Richter. No. Cypress Mtn is not Richter. Stupid me.
A little underestimation
A lot of other stuff’s been happening in the last couple weeks.
1) Masters is now outdoors – super excited for that. Canada Day swim went well for the group. Had 6 people come and race, all did fantastically (not a real word?). My time was a bit slower than I had hoped for. Perhaps due to my lack of swimming. Better get going on that after Osoyoos.
2) I see a lot of people that I know racing, and they’re all posting some VERY impressive results. I can’t wait to race. Waiting until July for my first race is the worst thing I’ve done. Oh the anticipation
3) Oh, and last but not least. I finally got an aero helmet and new racing wheels. Pictures to come soon. Very excited to try these new toys out!
The sun run went super well this year! I finally got a blue bib (something that I’ve wanted for many years!), and got to experience what its like to line up at the front of a gigantic race.
Blue Bib!
Gun goes off, and the leaders take it out fast! I had some trouble going that fast downhill, must be something that I’m not practicing. Got settled in and kept up with a small group. I’ve never seen the roads so clear before. Usually I’m sharing the course with a couple of hundred people packed into a small lane, but the blue group has it pretty good.
The last 500m of the race on Cambie St. bridge saw the lead pack of women pass me like I was standing still. Either I was fading really bad, or they have an amazing kick. I think it was a combination of the two, with a lot more of the first than the second… not discounting their kick, which looked awesome as I was desparatly trying not to get dropped.
Final time was 34:31, which is the fastest I’ve ever ran a 10k before. I even cracked the top 100 this year, which I’m super excited about. I’m starting to like the shorter distances, as I’m sorta getting used to suffering hardcore compared to the long and diciplined races like the half and full marathons. More speedwork is definatly in the works for the next few months. I hope all this transfers into Ironman at the end of the season.
The masters group headed off to provincials as well this weekend and from what I hear, we smoked the competition. I’m still quite disappointed that I could not go with them for the Friday/Saturday like I had planned. When the results are posted I’ll be braging about them more. I’m so proud of how the group as improved, and the results speak for themselves. These guys work hard and I think they have been rewarded!
Finally, I’ve officially registered for the Half in Osoyoss in July. The race is also Long Distance Nationals, which makes everything that much more exciting. Money’s down, now I have to make sure I look good doing it.
Every year, Trio Events puts on the Popeye’s Creek Classic, and every year I help set-up, run the event, and take-down. I always thought of the event as my way of giving back to the sport.
This year, the lifeguards a Hyde Creek didn’t have a team together, so I felt obligated to create one. (The guards have won the relay event ever since the event was run) On top of just throwing one together, we challenged the Coquitlam lifeguards to the race, just to see who’s better. Well, shuold’ve known better, as Coquitlam managed to talk a lot of talk, and didn’t show up on race day (sounds familiar? They chickened out on the Haney to Harrison too)
The race turned out great, Andrew and Clement put in awesome efforts into the swim and bike. I had a good run as well (15:20 for 4.5km was what my watch said).
As with every year though, I pick up odd duties with the race crew (timing, marshaling, filling up cups with water…), but this year I got assigned the mic, after the announcer had to leave part way through the race. I just rambled on about nothing, making various random comments about finishing athletes, and trying to kill time while the race organizers were madly finalizing the results for awards. I can’t wait to do that again next year.
It’s mid-November. I thought Christmas was in December. Are we jumping the gun? I can’t wait for holidays, as
School + Work = Countdown to holidays
13 days till my semester is done
By the way, team shirts have arrived for Masters. They look sooooo good. Now I look 100x more official when I’m coaching. We’ll have them out at practice if you’re interested in getting some.
