Surviving Winter Riding

Here on Vancouver Island we have a couple of options for riding in the winter.  Yesterday Jason and I each chose a different one, and here I explain the equipment necessary for each type.


Option A


- helmet
- toque
- glasses
- rain jacket
- wool jersey
- polypro base layer
- three-layer gloves
- thermal bib tights
- bib shorts
- hot chili socks
- neoprene shoe covers
- winter fleece-lined cycling shoes
- small pack with back-up clothing
- cyclocross bike with tractor tires








Option B


- tank top
- cycling shorts
- tri shoes
- trainer
- book of trainer workouts
- tv & remote






No matter which option you choose, the important thing is you're riding.  Happy pedaling, indoors or out!

Reset Button

For the last few months I've just been farting around, training wise.  Doing something almost every day, but not a lot of anything.  Funny how that proverbial change of the calendar year causes a change, and now I'm pushing the reset button and getting on with things.

Doing a mid-November Ironman means I have a looooong time until race day.  Too long to start "Ironman training" now, but as far as I'm concerned training for the season is now underway.  It's a challenge to make sure I'm doing enough to improve my fitness, but not too much to burn out before the next ten and a half months go by.

Figuring out what to do is of course partly designated to my coach, but I feel like I need to take some personal responsibility as well.  My goals are all mine, and thinking back to IMAZ 2010, it was pretty easy to come up with some.  Maintain swim.  Improve bike a bit - although I was pretty happy with my time that day, especially given the windy conditions.  Improve run A LOT.

I am pretty disappointed that I didn't improve my run that much over the past year.  I don't really feel like I'm running much faster, but I feel like there's improvement bubbling just under the surface.  Hopefully it will well upwards by spring - especially since I've signed up for the Oak Bay half marathon in May.

A portion of the Ironman marathon I was actually running ok.
Working towards more of that for 2012.

Given that, my training for the next little while will focus on the run.  I need to tell myself - and you have to picture this in Dory's voice from Finding Nemo: "Just keep running, just keep running...".  If I keep running, I know improvement will come.

For the next six weeks, I have a general training framework that I hope will reset me from the goofing-around stage to base-building.  It involves running 4x/week up to 90 mins for my "long" run, power walking 1x/week on the treadmill - coach Kiki wants me to get my walking speed up for those inevitable walk breaks during the IM marathon (hopefully fewer this time), plus riding, swimming, and weights/core only twice a week right now.  I am reminding myself that there's lots of time to build for the bike, and while it's rain rain rain outside is not the time.

Tonight's agenda has a conversation with coach Kiki... I know she'll have some ideas to challenge me, and others to reassure me.  That's basically what she does in a nutshell.

For now - just keep running, just keep running...

Friends, Holidays, Parties, and "The Snow"

This past week has been a blur, highlighted by a visit with long-time BFF (we've known each other since we were 12 years old) Shireen who was visiting with her husband Brett from Australia. Seeing as they live about as far away on this planet as you can get, it's always a super-special treat to get to see them.

Getting dressed up for Diana's 40th -

"Glitz and Glam" theme. I felt like

a human disco ball all night!

Brett really wanted to see "the snow", and of course we had to explain that here in Canada we just say snow, there's no "the" first. I guess when something's as common as snow in this country, there's no need for an article. However, snow isn't actually that common here on the island, so we had to drive over 2 hours to a ski resort in the mountains.

The day started with a frantic search around the house to make sure the four of us had enough warm clothes to wear. Jason and I put our winter boots away for safe-keeping a year or two ago (that should tell you how much snow we get), and of course we couldn't find them anywhere. Nice to know they're safe though.

Sandwiched into the car with all our gear, we headed up-island. Brett kept a close eye on the car's outside temperature gauge as made the turn up the mountain, and pretty much gasped when it went below freezing. But it didn't go much farther, and it was a nice sunny day so conditions for our chosen activity, snow tubing, were perfect.

After a yummy lunch in the nordic lodge (they tend to have healthier fare than the alpine lodge), we headed to the alpine area and trudged across the runs to the tubing zone. Being that it was a holiday week, it was pretty busy and there was a wait for the "lift" to get up to the top.

Riding the tubing lift.

All bundled up but enjoying the sun.

After a couple of hours, the track started to get really fast as the sun set and the temperature dropped a few more degrees. After a particularly speedy trip down, we were all sufficiently frozen (especially the Aussies) and decided to call it a day. One quick stop at Brett's favourite Canadian treat - Beaver Tails, and we headed for home. It was a fast trip back down the island as we all (except Jason who was driving) slept almost the whole way home.

Me with S&B - I guess it's our turn to visit next

as I think they've been here 3 times since we

were last in Oz. We have to figure out how we

can do Ironman Western Australia!

Holiday Projects

Given that we have two weeks off work for the holidays, the time was ripe for some house projects. The one on the list was resealing the stone floor in the entrance. The actual job only took an hour, but the sealer needed 24 hours of no walking on it, so we vacated and headed for a couple of days in Seattle.

Arriving home to a pristine floor.

Still with a week and a half of holidays, we needed another project. Jason and I seem to have this disease that prevents us from being idle. Even when on vacation, we usually come home from holidays exhausted. Anyway... we found some glass tile we thought would look good in our bathroom, and decided to cover one of the walls with it. This would be a several day job, so fit the bill nicely.

Jason grouting.

One surprise for any future owners of our house, we left the area behind the mirror untiled. We figured it would be a waste of tile and money... so "surprise!" for anyone who may want a different mirror someday.

We're quite pleased with the finished look, and it keeps with the bathroom's spa theme.

There remains over half a week of holidays left, plenty of time for a new project. Luckily some out-of-town friends are coming to visit, which saves us from ourselves before we start re-siding the house or something like that.

One Year Later

We did the same route this year as last for our annual Christmas day hike, and what a difference a year can make! Last year (when I was training for IMAZ) it was a super wet fall, with a ridonculous amount of rain. It showed in the rivers and creeks around. This year, of course not training for anything so no long, 5+ hour rides on the weekend, and it's been a pretty dry year.

I guess I should add to make up for that, Mother Nature decided it would start raining just as we left for our hike yesterday, but be warm (seriously, Jason ran in shorts yesterday afternoon) and sunny, not a cloud in the sky by the time we got home. I guess she wanted to make sure we remembered what the PNW is all about.

We did the Holt Creek loop, but the short version this year because of the rain. Check out the comparison:

This year on Dec. 25, regular Holt Creek.

Last year on Dec. 25, raging Holt Creek.

This year on Dec. 25, where Holt Creek

meets the Cowichan River.

Last year on Dec. 25, where Holt Creek

meets the Cowichan River.

In the summer, of course the creek is a tiny trickle and the river has some great swimming holes for relief from the heat. Despite yesterday's sogginess, it was great to be outside and enjoying everything the Cowichan Valley has to offer. Is there a prettier place this time of year?

We were also very lucky to get a sighting of the elusive rainforest zebra it's in natural habitat.

Rainforest Zebra.

Dogzilla - attack!

This fall I'll be training Ironman Arizona again... I wonder what Holt Creek will look like on Dec. 25, 2012?

Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays... whatever they mean to you, I hope this year is the best ever. We're pretty low-key around here, however do love decorating the tree and putting up lights. We're not big on presents at our house, but have two weeks off work together to spend playing, visiting friends, and working on house projects.

Of course, if presents were bikes then it

would be an entirely different matter!

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! ~Hamilton Wright Mabie

Santa Run

This morning was the first annual Run for a Claus here in town, put on by the United Way. First 250 people got a Santa suit to run in, so of course Jason and I signed up. Problem was... this weekend I came down with a brutal sinus cold, and barely dragged myself out of bed this morning. I really wasn't sure how I could do a 5k run, so Jason said I should just run/walk and have fun wearing the suit with a couple hundred others.

It was fun milling around the start line with all the Santas, and there were lots of dogs. We didn't know dogs were allowed or Humu definitely would be here - she even has her own Santa suit! Next year.

Jason ran with me, taking pictures - but as you can see most pictures involved capturing suit adjustments. The suits weren't the best quality... and I will definitely use my own belt next year as the one that came with the suit was a bit flimsy. There were lots of examples of "wardrobe malfunctions" along the way, and that just added to the humour. Plus lots of honking and waving from cars and passerbys, I'm sure they were wondering why hundreds of Santas were running down the road!

Despite being sick, I ran the whole way but a little slower than usual. We got to the finish line and my garmin read just over 3k - there were rumours that the course was short, but that is way short! I know, what kind of Santa wears a garmin? I just got one for running and wanted to try it out. My cold caught up with me at the end and I was pretty much ready to get back to my juice-chugging regimen and a nap.

Ho ho ho - see you next year, running Santas!