I know I've been posting a lot lately. But I could probably never run out of things to talk about and the response has been good so far. Already, February has been the month with the most views. It just surpassed October, when this blog was all new and exciting, not to mention I raced all the time. Back then I thought this little blog would have to just kind of hibernate until the excitements of training camp and racing began again. It's almost like a journal to record my thoughts. But here's the great part: if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. Incredible, isn't it?
Anyways, I wanted to mention my newest strength and stabilization building exercise; handstands. It sounded a little strange at first to me too. But when my athletic therapist decided I should add it in, he did some with me the first time and surprisingly enough we were both able to pull off some pretty good handstands. Against a wall of course, but still. The idea was to try to be able to hold it for 20 seconds, 6 times a day. I figured this shouldn't be too hard. But 20 seconds is actually a really long time, when you are upside down with all your weight on your hands. I guess that's why we generally walk around on our feet. I have been trying to do this every day, sometimes people look at me kind of strangely when I do it outside of my home. Like while coaching kids at the Y (actually they kind of like it!) or at the track (but stranger things have been done there). Oh well, I'm getting better at it and it's actually kind of fun.
This week was also a progressive step; I swam twice. That's right, 2 x 15 minutes of swimming in one week. Junior Series, here I come. But first training camp. I'm going to quickly count the days so I can post it... ok it's 29 days till we leave for Arizona!!
Keep reading, cause I'll keep postin'.
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Friday, 24 February 2012
Go Jets Go!
Yesterday I was lucky enough to go to the Jets game with my dad. It's the second one I've gone to and I still haven't gotten over how awesome the energy in the MTS Centre is, and how much Winnipeggers love their Jets! It was quite the intense game last night. The Jets were up 4-0 by the second period when the Lightening switched their goalie. We were really hoping one more goal would crack him as well and lock up the win. However, halfway through the last period we let one in. Oh well, we still had it. With a minute to go they pulled their goalie, and got another one in. Sucks. Then with about 10 seconds to go they were on a power play and with attacking 6 on 4 they got a third goal. It was crazy; it would have been so upsetting if they had tied it up in the last few seconds! But the Jets still pulled off the win with 4-3. It's getting down to playoffs and being super close, we really needed this win. We also needed Toronto to lose their game last night, which they did! Haha we'll see what happens, it would be great if Winnipeg got into the playoffs in the first year, the whole city would go crazy!
Now, did you know...? This upcoming ITU season the prize money for the 8-race triathlon series including the Grand Final in Auckland, and the year-end bonus pool has increased, to $2.06 million. (of course, there are also smaller races with a bit of prize money, as well as sponsorship to help triathletes succeed but still...) This prize money is split among the top 20 men and women in each race, as well as the top 30 ranked at the end of the season. This information came from a recent article from the International Triathlon Union. This is a great thing for the sport of triathlon; that it is increasing in popularity and sponsorship. Should be a great season and it should only get better from here. But of course I was curious... hockey players obviously make tons more money. Let's face it, hockey is way bigger than triathlon. But just how much more?
Well for their first season back in Winnipeg, the Jets salary cap is $64.3 million. Team captain Andrew Ladd makes $4.4 million per year, while Dustin Byfuglien makes $5.2 million. From what I know some top NHL players make about $9 million (eg. Crosby, Ovechkin). Although I'm no expert on NHL obviously.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, good thing pro triathletes love what they do!
Now, did you know...? This upcoming ITU season the prize money for the 8-race triathlon series including the Grand Final in Auckland, and the year-end bonus pool has increased, to $2.06 million. (of course, there are also smaller races with a bit of prize money, as well as sponsorship to help triathletes succeed but still...) This prize money is split among the top 20 men and women in each race, as well as the top 30 ranked at the end of the season. This information came from a recent article from the International Triathlon Union. This is a great thing for the sport of triathlon; that it is increasing in popularity and sponsorship. Should be a great season and it should only get better from here. But of course I was curious... hockey players obviously make tons more money. Let's face it, hockey is way bigger than triathlon. But just how much more?
Well for their first season back in Winnipeg, the Jets salary cap is $64.3 million. Team captain Andrew Ladd makes $4.4 million per year, while Dustin Byfuglien makes $5.2 million. From what I know some top NHL players make about $9 million (eg. Crosby, Ovechkin). Although I'm no expert on NHL obviously.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, good thing pro triathletes love what they do!
Friday, 17 February 2012
Rest and Recover
This seems like a common theme among triathletes. Rest and recover! Finally it's the end of a what felt like a very long week. Now I'm ready for a weekend, a long weekend in fact, which is awesome. In the meantime I had an evening to myself to relax for once, after some long bus rides home. First step to relaxing: change into PJ's! Second step: compression socks (recovery!) Then find some random leftovers, pour some chocolate milk (more recovery!), and collapse in front of the TV.
Today was another tough run. I was quite sore from yesterday's strength and pretty tired. But I knew that mentally I just had to get through it and do my best. It was 5km continuous alternating 400m at race pace and 200m roll on recovery at slightly slower. The goal was to be within one to two minutes of 5km PB. My PB from last year was 20:33. I finished the set in 21:17, which I was pretty happy with. This should mean I can run quite a bit faster when I am ready to run a 5km time trial/race. Which may be at Boeing, depending whether I do another 3km or start going for that 5km PB. Anyways, another solid workout.
I also got a much need massage today. My shoulders have been pretty bad this past week, and its been too long since I'd seen Byron to get fixed up. Only good news is next week I will be allowed to go swimming twice! Here's the catch: only for 15 minutes at a time. I've learned this is about how long I can go without my shoulders telling me to stop, and can keep up the good technique. So we'll see how this goes and hopefully I will be able to slowly build up my amount of swimming, starting with frequency, then finally duration. Can't wait to get back to the intensity! Race season just continues to sneak up on me and I'm looking forward to a good season.
Anyways, 39 days until Tucson :)
Today was another tough run. I was quite sore from yesterday's strength and pretty tired. But I knew that mentally I just had to get through it and do my best. It was 5km continuous alternating 400m at race pace and 200m roll on recovery at slightly slower. The goal was to be within one to two minutes of 5km PB. My PB from last year was 20:33. I finished the set in 21:17, which I was pretty happy with. This should mean I can run quite a bit faster when I am ready to run a 5km time trial/race. Which may be at Boeing, depending whether I do another 3km or start going for that 5km PB. Anyways, another solid workout.
I also got a much need massage today. My shoulders have been pretty bad this past week, and its been too long since I'd seen Byron to get fixed up. Only good news is next week I will be allowed to go swimming twice! Here's the catch: only for 15 minutes at a time. I've learned this is about how long I can go without my shoulders telling me to stop, and can keep up the good technique. So we'll see how this goes and hopefully I will be able to slowly build up my amount of swimming, starting with frequency, then finally duration. Can't wait to get back to the intensity! Race season just continues to sneak up on me and I'm looking forward to a good season.
Anyways, 39 days until Tucson :)
Monday, 13 February 2012
Random Updates
As I write this I'm not yet sure what the title of this post will be. To be honest, I'm not even quite sure what it's about. So bear with me here. ( I promise I will also talk about triathlon!) I'm trying to do homework for my AP English class; trying to make intelligent sounding connections within a passage from the Brothers Karamazov. In it the character tells a fable about a wicked woman that died and was thrown into the fiery lake of hell and given one last chance to be saved by her gaurdian angel by being pulled out of the lake with an onion. You see, throughtout her wicked life she had once given an onion to a beggar and in return was being offered salvation in the form of an onion. But once the other people in the lake saw she was being pulled out they grabbed on as well. Of course she kicked them off, being the greedy woman that she was; the onion broke and they all fell back down into the fiery lake of hell. Alright, probably no one cares and I doubt many people have read the book... but there you go. Maybe this will help me get some ideas going...
In the meantime of course I was inspired to write on my blog instead of in my notebook. Funny how that often happens. Not that I don't like my English class. It's actually one of my favourite classes this semester, although I am lucky enough to (so far) mostly enjoy my semester two classes. So far I have also been managing to keep up with school even though we're back to some hard training. It's been pretty good. Last week we did some 800m's on the track (well 6 of them on Monday) and then Friday was another tough one. Looking forward to some 1000m intervals tomorrow, in that wierd triathlete sort of way. Last Friday I also got back in the pool, which is always nice. Yup, my 20min easy swim of the week. Felt alright for most of it but the shoulders were hurting afterwards. Unfortunetely my masssage was canceled when I really needed it. Also, no MRI update yet, and not much new progress. Yesterday I was able to meet up with Erin again for our Sunday long run, which is always a good time. I think that's a decent update of my training since I last posted about being at camp and skiing.
My highlight today: I got onto rollers for the first time without help. Yes, I kind of felt like a little kid learning to take off the training wheels and ride that two-wheeler. In case you aren't aware, we sometimes use rollers instead of putting our bikes on trainers. It's more realistic to riding on a road. And you can actually fall off, as several people have done. I have probably only used them about three or four times before today, and never for super long. It requires lots of concentration. But most people find that once you are on it's not so bad. But getting on takes practice. I usually get someone to help hold me up until I get going. Today I decided to go for it and figure out how to get started on my own. Kinda scarey. But Riley was a great help, coaching me through each step (how to step up, get it spinning, move my foot, clip it it, etc). So thanks. It took a few tense minutes but I succeeded! The next couple intervals I had to start all over again but it went more smoothly each time and I felt more confident. Not confident enough to go without hands, or with one leg though... no thanks Riley.
Another recent highlight that has nothing to do with triathlon: I'm re-teaching myself how to play the piano. With some help from youtube of course. After 6 years of not playing, it's actually not going too badly! The reason is because I'm hoping to accompany Mikala at talent show. She will hopefully be singing Love Song by Sara Bareilles. Mikala is awesome and it's our last chance but she will only do it with me. So yeah, maybe it's kinda crazy, but I've been known to do some crazy things.
Last thing, I promise. Sorry that this blog post had almost no point. Back to the English homework soon...
42 days till Arizona!!
In the meantime of course I was inspired to write on my blog instead of in my notebook. Funny how that often happens. Not that I don't like my English class. It's actually one of my favourite classes this semester, although I am lucky enough to (so far) mostly enjoy my semester two classes. So far I have also been managing to keep up with school even though we're back to some hard training. It's been pretty good. Last week we did some 800m's on the track (well 6 of them on Monday) and then Friday was another tough one. Looking forward to some 1000m intervals tomorrow, in that wierd triathlete sort of way. Last Friday I also got back in the pool, which is always nice. Yup, my 20min easy swim of the week. Felt alright for most of it but the shoulders were hurting afterwards. Unfortunetely my masssage was canceled when I really needed it. Also, no MRI update yet, and not much new progress. Yesterday I was able to meet up with Erin again for our Sunday long run, which is always a good time. I think that's a decent update of my training since I last posted about being at camp and skiing.
My highlight today: I got onto rollers for the first time without help. Yes, I kind of felt like a little kid learning to take off the training wheels and ride that two-wheeler. In case you aren't aware, we sometimes use rollers instead of putting our bikes on trainers. It's more realistic to riding on a road. And you can actually fall off, as several people have done. I have probably only used them about three or four times before today, and never for super long. It requires lots of concentration. But most people find that once you are on it's not so bad. But getting on takes practice. I usually get someone to help hold me up until I get going. Today I decided to go for it and figure out how to get started on my own. Kinda scarey. But Riley was a great help, coaching me through each step (how to step up, get it spinning, move my foot, clip it it, etc). So thanks. It took a few tense minutes but I succeeded! The next couple intervals I had to start all over again but it went more smoothly each time and I felt more confident. Not confident enough to go without hands, or with one leg though... no thanks Riley.
Another recent highlight that has nothing to do with triathlon: I'm re-teaching myself how to play the piano. With some help from youtube of course. After 6 years of not playing, it's actually not going too badly! The reason is because I'm hoping to accompany Mikala at talent show. She will hopefully be singing Love Song by Sara Bareilles. Mikala is awesome and it's our last chance but she will only do it with me. So yeah, maybe it's kinda crazy, but I've been known to do some crazy things.
Last thing, I promise. Sorry that this blog post had almost no point. Back to the English homework soon...
42 days till Arizona!!
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
It may be possible to like winter...
In general, I hate winter. What can I say, I'm a triathlete that loves my outdoor training. My bike is stuck on a trainer all winter. Endless laps on a 200m track with gross air. No transition practice or lake swimming. I hate doing my runs when it's super cold outside, and I dread even walking to the car. I love training in heat, I love racing in heat. Pretty much the only thing getting me through winter is the anticipation of training camp in Arizona in March.
Anyways, in the meantime this winter has not actually been that bad to us. And this week I had some awesome experiences that made me think some parts of winter may not be so bad. Crazy, right? Last Thursday I went on a one day ski trip to Holiday Mountain. I only downhill ski once a year, and that is with school. But I for sure have to continue skiing at least once each winter, maybe with some friends in university. I love it. I even got the black colour on my lift ticket which meant I could go on any run. Oh yeah, once a year and I can still ski well! This year was especially awesome because the weather was so amazing. I didn't need a jacket all day. That's right, I skied (wow that's an awkward word) all day in just a hoodie. And I wasn't cold. Awesome. I barely went inside, only a couple times to eat. Other than that I was on the hills all day. I had lots of friends to hang out with and I enjoyed every minute of it.
So after an exhausting day from start to finish I went back to school for one more day before heading out to Camp Koinonia. Our youth group went for a retreat and it was especially important this time because it was our last one and all the girls my age were actually able to make it! (I think I will be more sad to graduate from youth group than high school...) We always have crazy awesome times together. Driving, chatting, singing dancing, no sleep, eating waaaay too much sugar. Good times! It was still super warm out so we spent most of the day outdoors. I went xc skiing for about an hour and a half... in a t-shirt. Yeah, it was that nice out. Followed that up with some broomball, tubing fails, and a night game. I realized I also really love xc skiing. Wow, since when do I actually enjoy winter sports? Anyways, tried to catch up on some sleep Sunday night and am not doing too bad this week at school. Back to another hard training week!
Anyways, in the meantime this winter has not actually been that bad to us. And this week I had some awesome experiences that made me think some parts of winter may not be so bad. Crazy, right? Last Thursday I went on a one day ski trip to Holiday Mountain. I only downhill ski once a year, and that is with school. But I for sure have to continue skiing at least once each winter, maybe with some friends in university. I love it. I even got the black colour on my lift ticket which meant I could go on any run. Oh yeah, once a year and I can still ski well! This year was especially awesome because the weather was so amazing. I didn't need a jacket all day. That's right, I skied (wow that's an awkward word) all day in just a hoodie. And I wasn't cold. Awesome. I barely went inside, only a couple times to eat. Other than that I was on the hills all day. I had lots of friends to hang out with and I enjoyed every minute of it.
So after an exhausting day from start to finish I went back to school for one more day before heading out to Camp Koinonia. Our youth group went for a retreat and it was especially important this time because it was our last one and all the girls my age were actually able to make it! (I think I will be more sad to graduate from youth group than high school...) We always have crazy awesome times together. Driving, chatting, singing dancing, no sleep, eating waaaay too much sugar. Good times! It was still super warm out so we spent most of the day outdoors. I went xc skiing for about an hour and a half... in a t-shirt. Yeah, it was that nice out. Followed that up with some broomball, tubing fails, and a night game. I realized I also really love xc skiing. Wow, since when do I actually enjoy winter sports? Anyways, tried to catch up on some sleep Sunday night and am not doing too bad this week at school. Back to another hard training week!
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