Cross on the Rock

Cross on the Rock is the name of the local cyclocross series here on Vancouver Island.  It's put on my two of my best buds (Norm & Wendy), and they have done an amazing job of pretty much personally accounting for the explosion of 'cross here.  They put on the island's first 'cross race in 2004 (I think there were about 15 of us, all friends in a single heat), and since then Wendy has been the women's elite National Champion several times, Norm's been the masters National Champion at least twice, the island now has a whole series, has hosted Provincial and National Championships, and races get hundreds of people out in several different categories, from kids to masters to elites.

Despite all this awesomeness, I hardly ever take part.  It seems I dabble in a race or two every couple of years, and haven't done one since 2011.  Until the other day.  Why I'm not a regular, I'm not sure... maybe because the races are short, fast, and pretty dang technical for 'cross courses - pretty much everything I'm bad at!  But I've decided those are actually all reasons I should get back into it, so signed up for the beginner race last Sunday at Shawnigan Lake.

I definitely had it easy in terms of what the course could have been, yep there were some technical sections that really would have been more fun on my mountain bike, but overall the course was pretty forgiving in that it wasn't that tight and turn-y, the sand section was pretty minuscule, the mud was at a minimum (possibly because of a pretty dry October and November for the PNW, especially this past week), and the climbs were not too intimidating.  So yay for me - not too punishing!

Took my Garmin around for a practice loop. A bit more open
and wide than other courses, around some playing fields
at the island's most prestigious private school.

My biggest problem with cyclocross is I just don't know how to do that high-end, red line kind of effort.  Races are 30-60 minutes depending on your category, and honestly I'd rather ride for 4 hours than for 30 minutes because I know how to pace that!  I'm pretty sure that Sunday I rode my 4 hour pace, despite my race being all of 33 minutes (3 loops of the above course).  I need to learn how to go harder!  

Before the start.

I'm so lucky it had been dry or the grass sections
would have been a mud fest. 

Coming around after the woods
on an open part next to a rugby field.

Post race.  Not too muddy.

I ended up finishing 10th out of 16 women in the beginner category.  Got schooled by a few kids that appeared to be less than 12 years old!  It's so inspiring to see kids taking these races seriously - show up at a Cross on the Rock event and no lie, you will see kids in skinsuits with expensive race bikes and sponsors - how awesome is that!

I had a great time, not only in my race but then watching the other categories for the rest of the afternoon.  I am hooked, and told Jason that next year I am in for more races, and will try to do most of the series.  Maybe even a race or two in Seattle and/or Portland.  Next year it will be some 'cross on and off the rock for me!

Offseason Is Over

Well, it's time.  It's time to "officially in an unofficial way" start training again.  For the last couple of months - pretty much since Leadman 125 - I've just been goofing around, doing what I want, when I want and basically staying active.   But even though the cold, dark winter has arrived, it's time for the off season to be over.

I don't really know what to call this season... if anything.  Maybe I'll call it "winter".  Now that's original!  So my winter training is pretty simple and consistent, and for the next few months will look pretty much like:

• Monday: swim & run
• Tuesday: trainer & weights
• Wednesday: swim & run
• Thursday: trainer & weights
• Friday: yoga
• Saturday: swim & ride & weights
• Sunday: run

Then somewhere around February, it will turn into real training, which I am not sure what exactly that will look like yet.  I've got some time to figure that out!  The best thing I learned over this past year is to be consistent, so for 2014 that will be the plan.  Consistent consistency.

No Knee Surgery For Me!

I have been battling knee problems all year.  Basically, the more I run, the more inflamed and sore my knee gets.  I went for an MRI locally in August, and rather than a visit right away with a local surgeon, I chose to wait for a referral with one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in Victoria - what's a few months and a 40-min drive anyway?

I live in a small city, which is served by a "mobile" MRI unit.
Very cool in that there is virtually no wait once you've
been referred.  Unlike the larger hospitals.

Yesterday I got in to see the surgeon, who incidentally is also a triathlete.  The good news is that I'm not a candidate for knee surgery - which I am happy about as I really didn't want to do that (unless it was guaranteed that I'd never have trouble again, yeah right).  The bad news is that the damage is mostly from injuries I'd sustained in my youth, they're not entirely fixable, and the more running I do, the more I will continue to damage my knee.  Yeesh.

Rather than surgery, he wants to try platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) injections.  They are showing a lot of promise in improving joint degradation, specifically related to arthritis which my knee now has a lot of for someone so young.  Yep, the surgeon said someone so young... yeah!  The bummer is they are not covered by health care and are $450 a pop.  I'll definitely be calling my extended health insurance to see if they cover the injections, although it's unlikely.  We're going to start with one in the spring and see about maybe another if there's any improvement.

Not taken with a filter, it was just that grey
of a day yesterday.  November on the west coast.

However... I did get the green light to keep running.  I am not supposed to run very much - we kind of agreed on around 3x/week, runs less than an hour (I'll probably add 1-2x/week water running once I get closer to race season), but with approval to gut it out if I want to do the occasional longer races on that minimal run training.  So I will continue to be the world's-worst runner in triathlon, but I don't have to give it up all together.  The surgeon said I will know at some point, possibly years down the road or possibly sooner, when it's time for me to stop running all together.  His suggestion (music to my ears as it's what I like anyway) is to maximize my swim and cycling training.  Yeah!

I'll be focusing on reducing impact by doing my runs mainly on trails.  I may even try out a pair of Hokas to see what they're like.  But honestly I don't mind this new plan (that I've basically been doing since the summer anyway) of running shorter... I'm going to work on my form and intensity, but don't need to kill myself on 2+ hour runs.  I will still do the odd half iron distance race (something tells me my run splits won't be any worse for the wear) and I would still like to do one more Ironman at some point.

In the spirit of maximizing my swim and bike, and not to mention my love of California wines and road tripping with friends, this morning I signed up for the Full Vineman Aquabike in July.  Yep, an Ironman distance swim and bike (4km & 180km) with no marathon afterwards!  When I told my friend Candace about that race, she said, "Yeah!  You're still in a good mood after the bike!"

At this point my race plans for next year involve a lot of local sprint races, the Vineman Aquabike, possibly the Bend 125 or 250, and possibly a November half ironman.  We are hoping to get another puppy this spring, so that means a year of lots of puppy training and walks in the woods!

Bikram Yoga

I know Bikram Yoga was the hottest thing around about a million years ago (ha ha, "hottest", that wasn't even an intentional pun!), but I just went for the first time tonight.  Yeah, I'm so cutting edge!  I really like yoga, but I find it doesn't mix well (for me) when I'm doing a lot of training, so I only end up practicing yoga for short bits of time here and there.  I'd always wanted to try Bikram, but for some reason that never happened.  Until tonight.  Here's what I thought.

I love practicing yoga, and am always really appreciative of the (few) times I actually do it.  Especially vinyasa yoga, which Bikram reminded me of in some ways.  I love the challenge of holding the poses, and how your body lets you in a little bit at a time.  So I enjoyed the series of poses that Bikram took me through, although it omitted a few of my favourites (like the sun salutation). 

I really loved the heat. I knew it would be hot (obviously), but it was waayyy hotter than I was expecting.  I loved how much I was sweating... basically at the end of the class I looked like I just got out of the pool (so did everyone else for that matter).  I really like to sweat, and I really like heat.  I enjoyed the feeling of sweat running everywhere.  I don't know why I like sweating so much.  I just do.  Except now I'm still beet red in the face, several hours later. I may look like I have a disease.

I didn't like how the instructor talked for the ENTIRE 90 minutes.  She never stopped talking.  One thing I like about yoga (bear in mind, I mostly do it at home) is the silent, meditative-like state.  Hard to zone out when someone is yammering away the whole time.  And there was no peaceful music in the background.  I love the peaceful new-agey music.  Boo to the non-stop talking and no music.

Because of my knee injury, there were a couple of things I couldn't do.  I didn't like how the instructor said I should do them anyway.  I'm pretty sure she's not qualified to say things like that, especially when I know it's not a "mental limit" like she was saying, it's actually an acute physical injury I'm seeing an orthopaedic surgeon about.

Finally, I don't really like group yoga.  I am not a fan of hearing a bunch of strangers breathing.  That's my own hang up, I guess.  I like practicing yoga at home, even with a small group of friends.  But I've never felt entirely comfortable in a class setting.  It was ok, but I'd rather be on my own.

Overall... I'd go back occasionally, but honestly I'd rather save the $20/session (yeah, expensive), and just crank the heat and do my own hatha routine at home.  I know it's not the same thing, but I don't feel like I need an official "brand" of yoga.  Bikram is also 90 minutes, and then add driving to the studio, showering after (there's no way I could have just pulled on sweats and driven home without showering first, who knew?) and then driving home... and it's well over a 2 hour commitment in an evening.  Hard to work that into a training schedule.

Verdict: liked it.  Not enough to make me a regular.  But it did remind me how much I like practicing yoga, so I plan to do more of that (at home) over the winter.

Wordless Wednesday: It's fall so back on the cx bike! Pictures from yesterday's ride.

Welcome To The Off Season

I achieved a major goal for myself yesterday, one that I'd set quite a while ago.  Have one day where I accomplish absolutely nothing.  Yesterday... check!  Unless lying on the couch and reading a book counts.  Ha ha.  Welcome to the off season!

My off season started once the Bend race was over.  I spent one week with just light training (I don't like to go full-stop), then last week with no training.  This week I return to "training" but not really... just do what I want, when I want, for how long I want until the end of October.  For the winter when I get back into more structured training, I'll add in a few months of weights, yoga, etc - stuff that I don't get around to when I'm doing more race-specific prep.

I'm actually itching to get out on my 'cross bike and rip around, which is the intended effect of a week completely off:  to get me excited for what's coming up next.  It also gives me some time to think about plans for next year, and catch up on stuff on my to-do list.

I also have an announcement that I'm super-psyched about: I'll be part of the 2014 Betty Designs team! Kristin makes the coolest, edgiest stuff and I couldn't be more stoked to be involved in promoting her brand.  More details to come!

What does your off season look like?  

Leadman 125 Race Report

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write this, after all it's been almost two weeks since we raced.  Maybe because I've hit a major inertia slowdown now that I'm in off-season mode.  Anyway, without further adieu, here is my Leadman 125 report.

Jason and I drove up to Bend with the car absolutely loaded (as usual).  The forecast for race day wasn't great, so we were as prepared as possible, bringing pretty much every piece of cold-weather gear we could.  Good decision.  We arrived in Bend, which is a beautiful little town in central Oregon.  Did all the pre-race check in stuff, short ride, quick look at the lake and decided it was too cold to pre-swim (good decision), drove the bike course, etc.  We dropped off our swim-to-bike bags and bikes at T1, then bike-to-run bags at T2, and settled in for the night with an eye on the forecast and incoming storm.

We drove the bike course, and part of it was
through a controlled burn by the Forest Service.
That should make for some fun racing when our lungs
will already be working hard at the altitude!

Race day was an early wake-up, as the lake was way out of town and we had to catch a shuttle before 6 for our 8:30 start.  I was really glad I packed my down jacket, ski pants, toque (that's Canadian for beanie or knitted cap), gloves...  we were pretty bundled up as the temperatures were close to freezing.  But not actually freezing like friends racing IM Lake Tahoe experienced at least!  As the sun came up, it warmed up a bit, which was definitely welcome.  We got our bikes ready and then retreated to a heated tent to pull the wetsuits on.  

We waded into the lake for the short swim over to the start line and gasped - it was sooooo friggin' cold! I kept my hands in the air for as long as I could, and just laughed at how ridiculously frozen they were.  But that was quickly forgotten once the race started, and it was head down and go.  Almost right away I found a set of feet to draft off, and ended up staying on them for the entire swim.  I could feel the altitude right away (the swim was just over 4500' elevation, which is pretty significant for this sea-level girl) and had to switch my breathing to every two strokes instead of every three like I usually do in open water.  But my swim training has been solid this year, and every time the feet I was following pulled away a bit, I'd pick the pace for a few strokes to catch back on.  Major props to Noa for having me do "25 fast" in the middle of distance sets all the time; now I know what that was all about!

The lake was crystal clear, I had a nice draft, and got into a rhythm in the swim fairly quickly.  We hit the turnaround buoy and headed back, and soon enough hit the boat launch and exited the lake.  I looked at my Garmin... 34:05... so the swim was short.  I knew I was having a good swim, but not that good!  It was supposed to be 2.5km, but I'd say based on that time it was more like 2100m-ish.  I was kind of bummed about it, as I'd been working hard on my swim and had a goal time in mind.  It's hard to know if I was close to my goal when I don't really know what the distance was.  It had been pretty windy overnight, so perhaps the buoys blew around.  Or perhaps they measured the course in yards instead of meters, who knows.  But turns out I had the second-fastest swim in my AG (W40-44; the fastest went to a pro, but there wasn't a pro category so she was racing AG), so I'm happy with that.

T1 was a bit of a grind.  We ran up a boat launch, over about 100m to our gear bags, crossed the timing mat (so my official swim time was 34:50) and into a change tent.  I had decided not to change completely, but put on socks, arm warmers, a vest, and gloves.  It felt like it took forever to pull all that stuff on while wet... my T1 time was 6:17 (from my Garmin).  I stuffed my wetsuit into the bag, ran to my bike, and lucky me had the farthest spot from the exit onto the course... but soon enough I was pedalling away.

Bike course map.

Working hard.

The bike course was beautiful, but the day was cloudy and foggy so most of the views were obscured.  The earlier rain kept the smoke from the controlled burn down, which was great as my throat and lungs were already working overtime with the elevation.  I felt fantastic on my bike, knew I was riding well and was cruising along at my goal pace.  I was a little bit cold - could have used a jacket instead of a vest - but that just made me work harder.

It was pretty lonely on the bike course and for most of it I didn't see many athletes go by or get gone by :).  I was settling in, working hard, paying attention to how I was feeling and it was going by quickly.  Then I ground almost to a halt.  The course climbs gradually for the first half, then kicks up sharply at 5500' up to 6500'.  I planned to ride that climb aggressively, but that plan went nowhere.  I tried to push but was pushing a brick wall.  I'm guessing it was the elevation, but I just couldn't get anything extra... between gasping for breath, trying to eat, and trying to ride hard I just didn't have the extra gear I wanted.  So the climb became survival, and it seemed like everyone and their dog passed me before I got to the summit at the Mt. Bachelor ski area.  

Bike course elevation profile.

Nice roads to ride!

I was pretty happy for the descent into town, but honestly it was harder than I expected (which was my general impression of the bike course overall).  It was fast, really fast, which was good, but took a lot of energy to hang on and control the bike... I wasn't coasting but I was working the descent.  There were a few little ups just before the finish, and temperatures had warmed up in town so I felt my fingers and toes starting to thaw.  I came into T2 in fourth place (I was kinda hoping for third) with a bike split of 3:47.  I really wanted to ride under 3:40 for the 107 km, but knew my trouble pushing hard on the climb cost me that time.  

I peeled off my extra clothes and tried to move quickly through T2 (2:22).  Jason was waiting there, as he had just finished.  He was second overall (by 30 seconds to a 25-year old) and absolutely destroyed his age group, taking the win by 49 minutes.  Fun fact... there were a lot of fast girls in this race, but not that many fast guys as my swim/bike would have put me in 6th place in his AG (M40-44).

I knew the run would be difficult, to say the least.  The course was pretty, winding around a new development and golf course, and very hilly.  But the problem was not with the course, it was with me. I had an MRI for a knee injury a few months ago, and have been on a very restricted running plan.  Basically 30 minutes, 3x/week (or close to that).  So I knew the 12km run would not be my best performance.  It was a mixture of running and walking, but the good news is that my knee never really hurt that much.  It hurt to see my brutal run split (1:37, slowest of the day in my AG), and I came across the line in 8th place.  6:07 on the clock.  Would have been great to be under 6 hours, but I never pushed hard on the run - just basically relaxed and enjoyed it.  

Run course.

Finishing chute.

The race itself is an interesting one.  The course is definitely hard - they don't call it the Leadman Epic for nothing.  The organization is really grass roots, and there are some rough edges they could take care of... but overall I'd recommend it and race it again.  I'd like to try my hand at the 250 (5k swim, 223k bike, 24k run), and that's definitely on my list for when I feel like I'm really cycling-fit.  The bike course in the 250 would be off-the-charts hard.  It was our first time to Bend (Jason now wants to move there), and we'll definitely be back someday for more adventures.  Hopefully it will be warmer!