T & A Boos

Where did the time go?

2009-09-29T03:50:00.001-07:00

I am writing this at 3:00 am because I can't sleep. The coffee is on and I'm going to get some work done before swim practice starts at 6:00am. We are trying to fit 4 weeks worth of work into 2 weeks and it looks like we might make it but not without a few sleepless nights. These trips always create a little stress before and after them. That's one of the down sides of working for yourself and working alone. The upside is I only have myself to answer to.

Training is sort of hit and miss for both of us. Tammy has been fighting a mild cold and we are both fighting for motivati0n. I realized this weekend that I didn't have a bike travel box to get my bike to Kona because I lent it to a friend that went to the short course world championships in Australia. We were not planning on going to Hawaii. Thankfully I hang out with triathletes and my friend Adam stepped up and lent me his box as well as a skin suit to swim in so I don't have to buy one.
Today our plan is to do our bike workout on our indoor trainer in the room between the clinic and the house. Its super small and we'll set-up a heater and cook the room as hot as possible. We've done these before and it can simulate some of the heat we will experience in Kona.
We leave Wednesday for the mainland and onto a Thursday 6:00am flight out of Vancouver and arrive in Kona at 11:45am on Thursday. Our plan is to run in the energy lab as soon as we get there. Can't wait!!

The O.G. Trail

2009-09-19T20:13:00.000-07:00

In Memory of the O.G.

2009-09-19T09:40:00.000-07:00

Danny was the name given to him when he was picked up as a stray on the streets of Richmond. He was old, tired, weak, skinny, dirty and very weary of people. When he came to us he had already been cleaned up but his Spirit was clearly broken. We were told he had maybe a few weeks to live because he was so fragile. He would shake as he stood and a strong wind would have blown him over. We gave him food, shelter, a warm soft bed, and whatever love he would accept. We nicknamed him The Old Guy or O.G. for short.

O.G. was not the most affectionate dog in the world but eventually his trust of us developed and when his strength and confidence came he would show us appreciation in his own way. When we first got him, he was weary and would run from us but over time he would run to us. We delighted in seeing the first time he would do a play-stance, playfully nip at his leash while getting ready for a walk, greet and lick our hands upon returning home, and hearing his 'woo-woo' when he was happy. He made us laugh when he acted like a 'wild horse' when playing (which led to our other nickname: "Horsey!"). It was evident he had been kept in a small cement pad because his instinct was to relieve himself where he ate, which is not normal for any animal, and he would only relieve himself on the cement pad out back. Slowly this habit changed and so did his Spirit. He became part of our pack. He fit like a square peg in a round hole. He disrupted pretty much everything in pretty much every way, but it made us laugh and stirred up the chemistry in an entertaining way as he wedged his way in. He grew to love us, and we grew to love him. At times, he acted so puppy-like that we were convinced he was not as old as they said and were preparing ourselves to have him with us for over a year. Although his Spirit healed and kept him going for a lot longer than anyone would have guessed...it was 7 months...not enough!

Yesterday Sept 18,2009 the O.G went to sleep forever. It was, and is, harder than we thought it would be because we got to be good pack mates. Near the end, his disabilities progressed quick and he had put his best days behind him. We knew this was coming so he got nothing but spoiled in his last days. We let him eat off the coffee table, which is forbidden, and it drove our other dog crazy. We also fed him prime buffalo steak and hamburger cooked just for him. We took him to his 1 mile trail loop in Royal Roads that he loved to walk off leash, which we named 'The O.G. Trail'. He couldn't make it around but we let him sniff around and spend some time in his FAVORITE place.

He will be missed!!

If it wasn't for Big Heart Rescue, Danny would never have gotten another chance to enjoy life. Most other rescues would have put him down the day they found him because the costs are so high and his chance of coming back would have been slim. Big Hearts put a lot of money into Danny (they paid for all the bills including the numerous vet bills). We did the fostering. They are funded by Donation and with volunteer Fosters. It was because of them that Danny got to spend the rest of his days learning to be part of a family...to love and be loved. He often kicked his back legs in his sleep as though he were running in his dreams. Run free, sweet boy, run free....

Motor pacing

2009-09-18T08:02:00.000-07:00

Steve Lund offered to motor pace Tammy and I on one of our workouts. Steve has a motor bike that he has rigged with cruise control for a steady pace and a roll bar over the back wheel. The roll bar is so if you get too close and hit the back end of the bike it has a roller that spins. I don't think Tammy was in any danger of hitting the roll bar judging by the distance she is from the back of the motor bike. Usually the rider behind the motor bike is almost touching the bar but for Tammy this was probably as close as she was going to get. Although she swears she got closer. Steve was kind enough to motor pace me for the last 1/2 of my negative split ride. It started out controlled but I think the cruise control was broken and it didn't help that we finished up a very hilly section of Metchosin road. The eggs I had for breakfast were on their way up. I managed to keep them down but not before tasting them for a second time. It's like having two breakfasts.mmmmmm.

Tammy holding a steady hard pace.

2009-09-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Double Click image to enlarge

Ironman History.

2009-09-16T08:13:00.000-07:00

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http://humanpoweredracer.blogspot.com/
This is Mike Neill's blog. He is already in Kona preparing for Ironman Kona along with many others. The video in his latest entry is AMAZING. The people who won are amazing and still around coaching and commentating races. But the guys at the end, Rick and Dick Hoyt, are still racing today! They are legends in the Ironman world. Here is a link to there website for a little inspiration. http://www.teamhoyt.com/

Blog entry about Hawaii from two athletes in Kona

2009-09-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

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http://www.fyzz.ca/our-blog
Click on this link and read their blog. These are two very cool triathletes that formerly lived in Victoria. They now live wherever they want in an RV. They are in Hawaii right now so that Heather can prepare for the world championships and her husband Trevor is training with her. I read their blog and instantly got butterflies in my stomach. I am much like Trevor with my fear of the water, as rational or irrational as it is. We are staying in the Captain Cook area that they swam at.
Tammy and I are going to have to keep our expectations realistic considering all these athletes are already in Kona preparing for the race on Oct. 10. We are arriving 9-10 days in advance, and we hope that is enough time to get our bodies somewhat ready for the oven we are going to be racing in.
In a way, I wish we could have prepared for this race as a peak race but on the other hand we also don't have any pressure for any time goals. We have to go with a humble respect for the race and try not to end up in the hospital. Much better athletes than us have been destroyed by this race.

Can't wait!!!!

Aloha

O.G. (Old Guy) on one of his better days

2009-09-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

For those that haven`t met O.G. this is him on his favorite trail in Royal Roads University grounds. It`s the one place he can run free and get a sense of independence. He absolutely loves to run (trot) and if you let him he would be gone without looking back. He has such a strong spirit and we wish we knew him in his prime. He is very strong headed.O .G. is not doing well right now and we are struggling with having to make the decision to let him go. It will likely be this week unless another miracle takes place. He is suffering from a neurological degeneration disease and he can`t use his back legs to get up any more along with many other issues. He`s a good boy.

Tortilla chips and Privates.

2009-09-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

I think this 6 weeks between races is going to be the biggest test of them all. We are finding it hard to keep our diet clean (well, me more than Tammy). We don't want to gain a bunch of unnecessary weight but we are also suffering from post Ironman depression. Usually after a big race we let loose for a few weeks and indulge ourselves resulting in a few extra pounds of baby fat. However, we have another big day coming up so we have to stay on task. The training probably won't be the high volume we usually do so we won't be burning extra calories. We usually snack on 70% chocolate but tonight I found a stash of tortilla chips that where hidden from me. I couldn't help myself so a broke them open and found an avocado and a jar of salsa. I could have done without the tortilla chips but I call that emotional food. When my emotions are drained I need to re-fill the emotional pit with junk food. It was either that or a stiff drink. I ate them in front of Tammy with almost no guilt. Although I did have to dodge a few jabs at my privates.

I just read the blog of Mike Neill who is already in Kona, and he said during his first swim a resident pod of Dolphins showed up and swam with him. I can't wait to get to Kona. For those not familiar with Ironman stuff...Mike has been our top Canadian in the world championships for few years.
Mom Dad, Tina ......are you sure you don't want to come early with us.Unfortunately we won't be able to take in all the sights before the race because we have to save our energy. But we are staying for 1 week after the race.

Aloha

What have we gotten ourselves into??

2009-09-08T20:34:00.001-07:00

Now I wish I owuld have trained harder this year.

Analysis of an analyser. (say that 3x fast)

2009-09-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Something Tammy and I do a lot is over analyse. We laugh that it's the Virgo's in us but really we just like to think we're smart.
We are still trying to figure out why Tammy didn't have the power on the bike she had shown in training and why I felt so fresh.
The hypothesis we came up with was this; Tammy's blood test were bad and Allan's where good. Tammy did more training than Allan and she never recovered properly before the race.

About 2.5 weeks out of the race we both had blood work done by our Naturopath and Tammy's white blood cells and red blood cells where not good. A nutritional marker (Phosphorous) was also low. Indicating over training or chronic infection or serious recovery mode. We get our blood checked fairly often so we have a pretty good baseline of normal, including blood cell health, Iron,electrolytes and other fun things the Dr. wants too check. My blood test showed very good white and red cell health but in addition it showed that my electrolyte levels where topped up and almost too high on a few. For me this is good because usually when I train a lot in the heat I have very low electrolyte levels before the race even starts. Hydration can throw all these numbers off so we make sure we are properly hydrated before these tests. The good thing about a Naturopath is that they look for optimal numbers not numbers that would indicate normal ranges. Optimal is better than normal and optimal is a tighter range.
Of course these are simple explanations to a very complex question. However sometimes things aren't as complicated as we think. We still have so much to learn about ourselves and our limits but one thing we know for sure is that we will analysis things to death. Up next... analysis of why we like Dexter sooooo much!

Cheers

IMC Photos

2009-09-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=45838&BIB=687&S=230&PWD=

http://www.asiorders.com/view_user_event.asp?EVENTID=45838&BIB=2301

These are photos a company takes during the race. You can just have a look and you'll get an idea of what the day looked like.

Ironman Canada race reports

2009-09-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Allan's report

I have to thank everyone for coming out to support us at the race in Penticton. Having people there to cheer you on helps beyond words. One side of me thinks....don't waste your time coming to watch us race, you'll only see us for a couple minutes and what if we have a bad day? bla bla bla. The other side thinks... I better not disappoint, they came all this way. At the end of the day I was glad to share my experience with friends and family. Thanks also to those that watch on-line and sent good vibes. At some point in the day I thought about every friend or family member and it brought me good energy. Thank you for making us feel special. Mike Neill and the Human Powered Racing crew are always so supportive and over the years have helped me on many levels. Their tent is perfectly positioned to give you energy at just the right times and gives you a really good short term goal to focus on. "get to the HPR tent", "get back to the HPR tent" It sounds corny but the energy you get at that point is real!

Thank you Achieve Health Eric Purves (massage), Dr.Richard McIllmoyle (Chiro) and Dr. Jamie De Melo (Naturopath). Those guys put humpty dumpty back together again everytime he falls off the wall. I fall off the wall alot.
Steve Lund has been putting our cycling program together and has been an endless source of knowledge. I trust him more than anyone I've met when it comes to cycling. He sticks to what he knows and is quitley confident.

I won't bore you with all the details of my day but in my world it was a break through race. I had a personal best in all three sports on the day and felt fresh and well prepared. I have been working with an elite triathlon coach, Clint Lien, for awhile out of Victoria and I have to say I am enjoying the process. It must say something about me because he has a degree in Psychology and I am a head case.
I put a lot of mental effort into the swim because the mass start scares the hell out of me. My goal is to be a faster swimmer so I stay out of the washing machine effect that occurs for 1/2 the swim. I think I accomplished my goal... I'm pretty sure I came out around the top 10 in the age group race (the pro's start 15min ahead).

I had fresh legs on the bike and went really easy till the 120km mark and then pushed harder to the finish. I caught a lot of guys that had dropped me at the start of the ride. When I hit the run I knew instantly that I had good legs. I had to tell myself to run my own race and hold back to save something for the return trip. I'm glad I did because I started to have gut issues and looking back now I think I would have gotten my self into trouble a lot sooner if I had pushed too hard. As it was I puked my guts out at the finish line, but I did celebrate coming down main street for 2miles knowing that I was close to my goals of running the entire run.

For me this race was about being recovered before the race, pacing, nutrition/hydration, staying cool and staying positive NO MATTER WHAT. Trust me when I tell you it doesn't matter how fit you are if you mess up those key elements you will not reach your goals and probably suffer unnecessarily. I think I did a really good job of it but still need to tweak things a bit more if I want to hit my goals. My time at the end of the day may sound fast to some and I place 9th overall in the age group race and 35th overall including the pros but I KNOW I can go faster. I am most proud of myself because on the day I didn't get caught up on who was passing me or how hard this was, I kept repeating "trust yourself, and be proud of yourself no matter what." I KNOW in my heart I trained hard all year, persevered through injury and came with a solid plan. I was proud of myself before the race began. (wow that was cheesy)

At the end of the day both Tammy and I qualified for the world championships in Kona Hawaii. Basically that means we've earned the right to pay a ton of money to go race in the toughest conditions known in the triathlon world against the best of the best. This race is the origin of triathlon and athletes attempt to qualify at various races throughout the world. Ironman Canada is pretty much the last race on the circuit to qualify at. Kona is only 6 weeks after the Ironman we just did. These races take so much out of you that doing 2 races this close can be a disaster.
In the weeks to follow we will post some updates as Clint prepares us for Ironman Hawaii so check back every few days!!

Tammy's Report,

Allan already included many things on behalf of both of us. We sure appreciate everyone out there cheering: HPR and family and friends...The energy from everyone really does help!

I have to put out a few special thanks as well. Steve Lund got me to a new level of fitness and is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to cycling. He even spent some time helping me be a better rider technically and gave us a crazy core routine that contributed to less injuries and increased bike stability. Achieve Health (chiropractor Dr. McIllmoyle, massage Eric Purves, and naturopath Dr. Jamie deMelo) are all amazing practitioners. I have struggled with a hip issue for the past few years and after seeing everyone under the sun, Dr. McIllmoyle is the only person who has made a difference. Eric and Dr. deMelo are instrumental in keeping me healthy, so that I can train more :) Although I had been getting coached by Steve and putting together the rest of my program, Clint Lien has always been there for me. I really appreciate getting hooked up with elite swim groups and the coffee talks/being there for advice. He didn't have to do this but I am thankful for it. And last but certainly not least, Peninsula Runners!

My swim went pretty well. Because I have had panicky problems in the past after getting the s**t kicked out of me, I started far right and stayed to the right of the buoys. You get swimming space out there. My starts are not great. I am kind of like a diesel engine in the swim, and seem to only feel better as it goes along. Because of that, slower swimmers generally pound over me and then I have to pass people for the duration of the swim. So staying to the right, I had space, and was able to start the day more relaxed. Until I am speedy like Allan, I think this was the right choice. The walk was quite long where I positioned myself, and it was rocky. But I still took almost 3min off my swim. I struggle with gaining time on this discipline so was pleased with that.

On the bike, I hadn't felt good for the past couple of weeks leading up to the race. During race week, running and swimming were coming around but still felt sluggish on the bike. This wasn't anyone's fault but myself. In the past, when feeling tired leading into an Ironman, I would typically panic and would be really conservative and cautious. If I go out for a ride and feel crappy, I would come home. But this time I pushed a couple of sessions that I shouldn't have. I now realized that I should have listened to my body more. Well, back to the Ironman day itself...I was hoping for that smooth, 'no chain' feeling but instead it felt like my brakes were on all day (they weren't). I was hoping to warm into the ride and feel good by Richter's pass but it wasn't to be. It was the first time I felt like I needed an easier gear up Richter's and my legs felt sluggish and heavy. Although I kept smiling for the cameras, after Richter's to the out and back there was a war going on inside my head. I had put a lot of time and effort into riding faster this year and knew I had made good improvements. Watts are higher at same heart rates, repeat climbs are faster....but I knew it would not show today. I always enjoy the ride the most out of the race, but wasn't having too much fun and thought 'either get your head together and get through this race or quit' Hmmm quitting sounded kind of good, but that would be pretty pathetic - this is an Ironman and we are very fortunate just to make it to the start line! So I switched gears here and worked on staying positive, keeping the nutrition coming and didn't worry too much about that low HR. I reminded myself that being fitter means that even on a not-so-great-day, I could still be faster. At the out and back, the focus really came back after I saw Allan. He looked so good! We have a bit of internal competition whereas I like to be within ~50min of him at the end of the race (an hour at the most) so when I saw him I focused on our game and tried to limit time losses.

The run started out rough also. I was running slower than I do on training runs off the bike. But I told myself "the best thing I can do is run the whole run if it kills me." I knew that even jogging would be so much faster than stopping, and haven't run the whole run before. Doing that would be a break-through. I stayed focused and kept on the nutrition and electrolytes, and cooling myself down. There were some low-energy moments but for the most part the run went pretty well! In the end, I was close to even-splitting the run (only lost a few minutes on the last half), passed almost 400 people (that's for passing me on the bike!), and had a PB by almost 10min (with a 10:51:57 finish). Not the time I was looking for, but I ended the day proud of myself for staying tough and focused. It led to the spot in Kona and now I get a re-do (yeah!) When crossing the finish line, Allan greeted me and the first thing he said? "You were over an hour behind me!" Oh, it is sooo on. I'll see you in Kona, sucka!

taekwondo KO best

2009-07-14T18:30:00.001-07:00

High flying spinnnig kick create a lot of momentum

This Is Taekwondo !

2009-07-14T18:14:00.001-07:00

I do miss this every now and then!

Post from Big Heart Rescue

2009-03-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

"Look at Me Now"
An old soul, a sick soul, a soul devoid of the will to live was spotted by a person involved in animal welfare and she immediately put out a plea for help. This senior was in desperate need of a foster home where he could recover from the neglect of his past and live out his final days in the arms of those that would love him. So began Danny's journey into a new future....

At start of care....

Now !
A new future that would ensure he would never be alone again, that the warmth of his foster families love would keep him safe and secure until it was time for him to leave this earth.
This darling regal senior Malamute came into care weighing only 44 pounds, he was severely anaemic, in terrible pain due to nerve ending damage in his spine and a mouthful of rotting teeth. His fur was matted to the skin, he had little muscle mass on his rear legs, his vision and hearing are impaired and he wobbled terribly when he walked.
Once he arrived to be with his foster family, he soon discovered that living inside a home was filled with blessings! There was a soft bed to sleep on and though he wasn't sure at first what it was, he soon figured it out, there was food that was fresh and provided freely, there was clean water and most important of all, he discovered he was no longer alone for he had friends to call his own, friends who would stay by his side forever and he understood that he would never feel the sting of isolation again.
Danny is now on pain management control, has been bathed and groomed, is up to 48 pounds and has decided that life is very much worth living. His foster family has discovered his playful side and take great glee in hearing his "woo woo" when he is happy. He is enjoying the company of other fur friends and the broken soul of yesterday is now mending.
The entire Big Heart Rescue team wishes to send out a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved in ensuring Danny had the opportunity to live again.

We can't believe its only been 4 weeks for him to look (an act) this different!

The only thing they didn't say is that his new-found rambunctious behaviours have led to some issues, like chasing our cats as if they are stuffies that move! Grrrr! This one is definitely taking some patientce, especially with a partially deaf, untrained dog who can't even sit well. For now, we are keeping him separated from the cats unless in control and on leash and are keeping the lemon-water bottle handy.

O.G. Update (formerly known as 'Danny')

2009-03-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well, not long after we have been looking after 'Danny,' Allan decided his name should be changed to 'O.G.' - according to Allan, O.G. sounds more like a cool, rapper name and stands for 'Old Guy.' As bad a shape as Old Guy is in, we had a feeling that it was more a case of mal-nourishment and not being looked after as opposed to any sort of disease he is dying from. When I took him to the vet, he was concerned and said he was in 'rough' condition. At just over 48 pounds, he is also about 10-15 pounds underweight, which is, yes, a lot!

Of course, after they did blood tests, sure enough we saw that O.G. doesn't really have anything wrong with him. A bit anemic, rotten teeth, skinny, weak back end, but no bad liver or kidney or cancer or anything like that. Mostly easy things to improve, like feeding him 'Raw' (which he loves). The vet is excited to watch his progress with us. We are too!

We take the dogs for walks every couple of days, and the first time we were shocked to see fragile, shaky old guy run! Must be that Malamute in him. Its funny how he can be so unbalanced and weak, then when we go for a walk he gets spunky and energetic. Hmmm, maybe he's just playing possum for all that food and attention :) I wonder if, in time, he will actually be able to sustain running...

Danny!

2009-03-07T08:54:00.000-08:00

We just received our first foster dog yesterday! He will most likely be a 'foster until he passes.' Besides being old, he is in very rough shape. He came into Richmond Animal Control as a stray in such a crappy condition that they were going to charge the owners if they showed up. Danny is matted to the skin (they had to shave a portion), has rotten teeth, has sores, is emaciated (getting to the point of 'starvation'), and very weak (his back legs start to shake after walking around the back yard). Poor guy. Judging by his condition, the best guess is that he lived his life on a chain. AND they forgot to feed him. Why have a dog if you treat it like that?

Danny is very sweet and gentle. So far, he is getting along great with Baby. Even though the cats are in hiding for now, he sniffed Eva and couldn't seem to care less about her. The pound thought he was ~15 years old, but we guess that he is probably younger and just seems older because of his poor condition. Well, he came to the right house! We are good at fattening our animals up, and I have already started him on glucosamine and fish oil for his joints (and fur and skin). We fed him 4 small meals yesterday plus treats and he seemed happy to gobble everything up.

The rescue place is great! Some only help animals who are 'easily adoptable' and care about numbers, but these guys (Big Heart Rescue) are helping animals who are really down-and-out and as such, would need more time before being adoptable. They will pay for all his expenses until Danny passes - mentioned I could take him to a groomer when he feels better, will cover any vet requirements, pet sitting etc. He is getting a complete vet check Tuesday. They just want the animals to be in loving homes until adopted or, in this case, until passing away. They would rather an animal who had a crappy life have a nice ending rather than have it end in a shelter then be euthanized.

Hopefully with some good food and a stable home, he will recover nicely...

Flu season.

2009-02-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

We have been sick! Getting better, but not ready to hit the training again. It's been 7 full days with zero exercise which almost never happens this time of year. I am being extra cautious about being fully recovered before starting again. This was a good bout of the flu that hit the lungs hard and I know exactly where and when I contracted it. I'm kinda pissed but a lot of people got it and really there's not a lot you can do to stop it when your surrounded by it and I know I got it via the air. I sucked that bad boy right in deep. Then I let it multiply and coughed it all over the house for Tammy to get. Through sickness and health!! I didn't want her to feel left out.
With the extra time to think (other than the 2 day fever induced coma) I have put together a worthwhile triathlon goals that I think I can accomplish this year while maintaining our business at a responsible level. For me that means NO Ironman training. I just can't responsibly put that much energy into a race and keep the business at the level it needs to be to pay the bills. I guess I could train for the Ironman but I have goals of 9:00hours, Not 9:20 or 9:30 or 10:00 or 12:00 and for that I think I need to put in too much energy. I will however train for Olympic distance and will make a serious attempt at sub 2hours this year. Shorter/harder training! That's the way I like it. I enjoy it more and when I get my speed up I will look at Ironman again.

My first attempt at sub 35 min 10k was going great until 7km where I got a huge side stitch that forced me to stop and limp and groan like a little girl. I am working on that not happening again. It's still early and I saw some potential so I am more sure that it will happen this year. Soon!

Chow for now.

Happy Birthday Mom!

2009-02-02T15:31:00.000-08:00

I hope you're enjoying you're birthday in Mexico! You guy's deserve a good holiday.

The dog and the elephant: YouTube - The Animal Odd Couple LINK

2009-01-22T15:54:00.002-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBtFTF2ii7U&feature=related

Just goes to show you that love doesn't discriminate...

Present on the door step

2009-01-13T17:18:00.001-08:00

I was sitting in the lab at work/home and I looked out the entrance to the clinic and thought I saw baby sitting on the door mat. Upon a closer look I realized this was not Baby but an impostor. It turns out a dog was camped out on our mat waiting for someone to come say hello. We still haven't figured out if someone dropped her off or if she found her way to our house. Either way, we are looking after her until we find the owner. She seems friendly but does not know any basic commands or at least will not listen to me yet. Of course there are no tags or markings. She is in her senior years by the looks of her and has a slight sag to left side of her face. This may indicate a stroke but there are no other signs so it may just be her natural good looks.

It's weird having another dog in the house that we don't know. She seems nice enough but you never know so we will keep her separated for know. Poor thing!

2008 Done! 2009 here we come!

2009-01-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New year to all our family and friends! New year means new blog page. Check out the slide show on the left and our Christmas vacation at MT. Washington. To get a better view:
1)double click on the pictures and picsaweb will come up.
2)click on slideshow on the left of the screen and it will go through them automatically.
3) you can speed up or slow down using the controls at the bottom of the slideshow.
We had a lot of fun. George made Turkey. Yes George made turkey! At first we were a bit concerned about a bachelor making turkey and stuffing with no meat thermometer but in the end it was outstanding and we all gorged ourselves until we were stuffed. Chad was hurting bad after 2 plates and had to pass it off to Baby. She was very happy about that. We had a lot of fun snow shoeing and cross country skiing. We snow shoed in a back country trail, so it was in deeper snow and therefore harder on the legs. But it took its toll most on Baby. She was so exhausted afterwards, she didn't even eat the treat I gave her! I guess there's a first for everything...

This past year has been an exercise in perseverance. I hope this coming year is less taxing. Even through it all we managed to stabilize ourselves thanks to a good market. Unfortunately right at the end of the year the world market decided to put the brakes on what seemed like an endless growth spurt and our business saw its worst December on record. This leaves us very cautious for 2009 and what it has in store. I think there are a lot of people in the same boat. Tammy and I are both the kind of people that do just enough to get by. If we need $100 a month to get by then we will make $99, never $110. If we do make $110 then the next month we will for sure make $89. We would just rather pursue things other than money. Money is a necessary evil but it doesn't change the fact that it is evil. (in my eyes).
New years resolutions..... I (Allan) would like to get involved more in environmental issues such as habitat preservation and cleaning up our environment. I have a couple of local options to start with. In addition to that I will stop buying nick-knacks and items that are only good for taking up space and can only end up in a land fill. How wasteful are we? I am not a saint but as I become more aware I will at least make an attempt at thinking before I buy. It makes economical sense and environmental sense to NOT purchase items that can only end up in a landfill or on the ocean floor. It's a start for me. There are so many things to feel guilty about. Starbucks for starters......I will start bringing my own cup. Ohhhh I can see this getting out of control :) Good times!!!! I (Tammy) have basically the same New years resolution goals as Allan. Its a good thing my Ukrainian background makes being frugal second-nature! The more we buy, the more we work and I would rather have time to do things important to me. Besides environmental issues, I would like to get involved more with Animal welfare issues. That means keeping in contact with profs etc. from school. I need to keep in-touch if wanting to fulfill the dream of having an animal sanctuary one day...
See ya.

Riding and Perogies

2008-12-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

Well, I completed 3 hours on the indoor trainer today (that was for you, Chad!). The last 1/2 hour was tough, but I wanted to outdo Allan's ride. Riding inside is definitely more quality than outside. You get no downhill breaks, for one! But unlike Allan, I like the indoor trainer and do not find that it makes me go crazy. He calls it mentally irregular. I call it focus.

After the ride, I hooked Allan into helping me make perogies. He did a great job as my 'dough boy!' But it wasn't long after we started that Allan realized these are tedious to make, so he quickly ran to the store and grabbed a bottle of Captain Morgan's spiced rum before settling back to his duties as rolling and cutting the dough. As always, we make a great team. I like perogie filling and pinching, Allan likes the dough rolling. Perfect! I must say that these are the best perogies I have ever made, and we look forward to enjoying them over Christmas! Mount Washington, here we come!!

2008-12-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

There is way too much use of the indoor trainer. I guess this is what we're stuck with for the next while. Normally in Victoria we get a snow fall that melts a couple of hours later and a few days that riding outside is very uncomfortable. This snow storm is here to stay! It is cold and dry, just like what I remember about Edmonton.
No that is not a receding hair line!! That's the way I came out of the womb.
For using the indoor trainer we put our road bikes on a clamp thingy that reads watts and evaluates the efficiency of pedaling so it is time well spent. It has been proven that too much time on the indoor trainer will cause multiple personality disorders, and occasionally fits of crying. I really hope this weather comes around.

We have confirmed our race plan for the year. It goes as follows;
1/2 Ironman in New Orleans called a 70.3. Pronounced, seventy point three. In April 09.
70.3 is the distance in miles of the swim/bike/run. (which is 1/2 the distance of an Ironman)
Another 1/2 Ironman in Oliver in June where we will hopefully qualify for Ironman Canada (IMC) Which takes place in the last week of Aug.
I (Allan) also qualified for the World Championships in Australia for the Age group classification and if all goes well I will be attending that race also. The only problem is that it is two weeks after IMC and usually an Ironman takes a good 2-3 weeks to recover from so I may be a bit flat but if I am super diligent with post race recovery from IMC I should be good to go.

For Christmas this year we have decided to go to mount Washington to try our hand at snow shoeing and x-country skiing. Should be fun. It's kinda weird not going home for the holidays but at some point as an adult we have to start our own traditions. Who knows, maybe getting away will be more relaxing and we can entice some others to come with us next year. I really want to do a Vegas Christmas and new years one year.

Triathletes behaving badly! Good Times!

2008-12-07T11:15:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here feeling guilty about missing my 10:00am run with HPR because I slept till 10:10am. Why would I (we)be sleeping so late you ask? Well, because we were out last night doing beer bongs and keg stands while dressed as Vegas entertainers. What other good reason would there be? Conveniently we forgot our camera at home so we will have to wait till the photos are posted on our teams web site to get a full view of the festivities. Right now I can't quite remember the whole thing and there is comfort in that. I do remember bailing down the hardwood stairs in the hosts foyer with my old boxing boots on. Apparently the soles of the shoes have hardened over the 8 years they have been in storage and mixed with nice shiny hardwood they act like the shoe worn by curlers. To add to the good times I was holding a cup full of coffee that did not survive the flight. Why would I be drinking coffee after doing beer bongs? No really! I am asking you. Why would I be drinking coffee after doing beer bongs? Maybe I was running an experiment on what would happen to your digestive system at night after consuming shooters, beer, cookies, pastries filled with cream, chips, pork balls, cake, tarts, rum and pepsi, cheese, aaaaannnnndddddd COFFEE. Let me tell you. One word. Heartburn. Not regular heartburn but the kind that makes you think you could die because the acid in your stomach is actually digesting your throat and thoracic region.

I guess I should explain what we were doing dressed up and stuff. We are on a triathlon team called Human powered Racing and they have an annual event at Christmas the follows a theme and people show up in costume. This year was Vegas entertainers. As Vegas entertainers I went as a boxer and Tammy went as a female Elvis rock start. Her outfit was nice and tight and if you looked close enough you could see her undergarments. I think the boys liked it. I know I did. I was pretty much naked with my body all oiled up, hands wrapped, and wearing the 'boxing shoes'. It would have made for a great slow motion shot watching me do the dance on the stairs holding a coffee. Our friend Tamara saw the whole thing up close and it seemed my feet were in the air for a long time while everyone was gasping. Honestly, it was the shoes not the alcohol. RRigghhhtt.
I will try and post photos soon.

Just try not to cry!!

2008-12-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

If a tear doesn't well up in your eyes you should check if your heart is still beating.
This lion could rip these guys apart but it remembered they were friends, even after living in the 'wild. '
YouTube - Christian the Lion - the full story (in HQ)

Step 1.

2008-11-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Tammy and I have been very focused on getting ourselves more financially stable for the last 6months. We came up with a 3 step plan and on Friday we got confirmation that step 1 will be complete officially by this time next week. There were several components to the first step each relying on the other. We had set a goal of at least 1 step by November or there would be trouble. To say the least we are very relieved and finally feel like there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. Of course the current world market hasn't helped the situation but after this step we should be able to relax a bit. I hope everyone else is doing OK.

Our friends Tamara and Chad have moved into their new place in 'Oak Bay'. They worked really hard to get the deal and hopefully it all works out. I do not envy the move but for those of you who don't know Victoria, Oak Bay is the desirable place to live. Kinda like UBC area. Way to go guys, can't wait to see it.

Winter training has begun and the weather has been perfect. Mild, but foggy 11 deg C. No wind.
This is not what we have had most Novembers but we will take it.
We should be posting a bit more now that we can stop holding our breath and gritting our teeth waiting for the re financing.

I love the west coast forest and we are surrounded by it here. My rides this weekend went through areas like this and with the added low-level cloud cover, it was out of this world. I was riding alone through this and could have ridden all day.

Clif Bar Triathlon Start Commercial

2008-11-08T08:27:00.001-08:00

Russell Peters Accents Clip

2008-11-08T08:07:00.001-08:00

I think its great that we can make fun of our difference. Thats what make us all Canadians.

Russell Peters - Beating Your Kids

2008-11-08T07:57:00.001-08:00

I figered out how to get videos on our blog.
This title sounds bad but it's super funny!

Beating your kids.

2008-11-06T05:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn5jlrxcpkI
Until I figure out how to get these videos on this page you'll have to click on the link and hit play.

The Economy??!!

2008-10-25T15:03:00.001-07:00

Apparently there is a recession starting. There just seems to be so much doom and gloom. One can't help but want to tighten up the spending. I have to say we have noticed a slow down at work. People holding onto there money and teeth. We are able to pay the bills, (for now) and with refinancing we should be OK unless something major happens. We have a 10 year mortgage at 5.5% pre approved through ING and should start Dec 1, 2008. We need this refinance sooooooo bad and sooooo much is riding on it that I can hardly contain myself. I am on edge and until the cheque is written I don't think I can focus on anything else. 1 more month, just one more month.
Housing is supposed to fall until 2010? Who comes up with this stuff?> Does someone just make a statement and the world just goes along? Dude says "housing is going to drop till 2010" Who the hell is this dude, and what the hell does he know that the rest of us don't? I heard from another dude that housing was going to climb steady because of the Olympics. Which dude is the 'DUDE'. Have these dudes talked to each other. How would that go.....Dude 1"dude you don't know shit" dude 2" No dude, you don't know shit". Is it possible that neither of these economist 'dudes' really knows anything past what is actually happening in front of their eyes.
We're just along for the ride.

Brain Clutter.

2008-10-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently my last post was a bit 'negative'? On a positive note, I got a bunch of stuff done that has been clogging up my brain. I call it brain clutter. You know the stuff that would be nice to have done because you walk by it everyday or use it everyday but it doesn't 'need' to get done.
Organizational crap! Well I got a bunch of it done and I have to say it feels good! There is still a list but it is getting shorter. As a result, there is a small dump being started at the back of our house. All our brain clutter is now organized, waiting for the junk guys to pick it up. (when we can afford $450).

Below: Random shot of Baby getting it on with the grass. Every time she does this she flips up and looks around to see if any one has been watching. We all have our guilty pleasures.

When the cat is away the mouse will(should) play!

2008-10-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's no coincidence that Tammy is the sign of a Tiger and I am the sign of a Rat.
We got some good news today that two of our good friends Tamara and Chad are staying in Victoria after Chad landed a job with the Sooke school district. We are very happy for them!!

Tammy has gone to her Mothers for a visit in Edmonton and will be gone until Sunday evening. What will I do with my time? More alone time in my head. I'm not sure if that's a good thing considering the floundering I've been doing. I guess I'll have to fill my time with useless tasks like more cleaning and organizing. To much fun!!!!!!!!!!!! How pathetic is that, I should have a weekend of adventure and excitement. I am showing my age.
In a couple of weeks I will begin a structure training program and get back into the routine of ; train,eat,work,eat,train,eat,work,eat,tv,sleep; repeat. In a sick way I think I need the structure. The only problem is that this structure is self prescribed which can be un-prescribed by a small lapse in motivation. The joys of being an adult and working for yourself. Motivation is the daily or should I say minute to minute ingredient that keeps everything glued together.
I'm not sure where this is heading so I'll quit now and head out to do some chores.
talk to you soon.

Allan

Time to reflect. Looking for inspiration.

2008-10-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

I've been putting in a lot of time into contemplation. Physical training is almost down to nil while the eating hasn't slowed a bit. For the first time in a long time I've put a little weight on. Less training time means more time to think about the direction my life is going and the events of the past year. I can honestly say I feel burnt out. I have been struggling to find inspiration in anything, but after many disappointments last year I can't find "IT". I may have lost 'IT' . The meaning in what I do and why I do it? So much effort for so little gain. Not just in sport. At this point I have more questions than answers so I continue to mentally live out scenarios for next year in a hope that I will find something that will inspire me into action. Nothing so far!

Until I have that epiphany I am seeking, moving forward is the only logical action. Tammy and I have been organizing our house and shed to get ready for the wet training season coming up. We've been looking at changes to our diet and had blood tests to see where we are lacking in our supplements.
I've had to put a lot of thought into rehabbing my body as a whole after the shoulder injury. It's really amazing how the body compensates for an injury. My body is literally twisted and one shoulder hangs lower than the other when I'm in time trial position on the bike. This twisted position was re-enforced by training while still injured in an attempt to salvage the years fitness I had gained before the injury. This is an uphill battle that I am not looking forward to.

Here are some of the scenarios I have been mulling over:
Training for the Boston Marathon. I qualified last year in the Victoria Marathon. Boston is THE marathon and definitely a lifetime achievement goal. I may not have the opportunity again or at least not when i could run a respectable time. I would like to go under 2hrs:40min. This happens in April and would give me enough time to gain back my cycling and swimming that I would lose.

Another scenario is training for 1/2 Ironmans and figuring out the hydration/nutrition for them and maybe qualifying for Ironman Canada in August and putting down a respectable time.

Another is training for short course (Olympic distance)and trying to go under 2 hours for the Nationals in Kelowna in August. Then challenging the US nationals to see where I fall into the mix down there and going to the World age group championships which may be in Australia.
I qualified this year but I don't feel fit enough or motivated enough to go for it. I would like to win.

Notice there are no work goals here? Work less and make more $. Good luck !

We bought a computrainer which is an indoor machine that hooks upto the bike and adds resistance to the wheel so you can train in the comfort of your dry warm house. More importantly it reads power output in watts and has variable courses that are displayed on a computer screen in video form. VERY useful tool for gaining fitness. Gadgets are good when you need a change.

Until next time,
Allan

2nd Summit in two weeks!!

2008-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

This time Tammy, Baby and I hiked to the summit of Mount Albert Edward by Mount Washington up island. This is also supposed to be a two day hike done by hiking your gear up to a camp sight 2 hours in and tackling the summit on day 2 by starting early. This is not how Tammy and I work. We decided last minute and left Victoria at 6:00am. We arrived at the ski lodge at Mount W. at 9:00am where the hike begins and took almost 40min to find the trail head. It was not a great start; apparently the trail head was supposed to be obvious? We eventually found it and yes it was obvious (thanks to Tammy). We weren't sure if we would make the summit because we left so late and when we came across a couple of serious hikers they looked at us sideways when we told them we were going for the summit and back today. They let us know in a gentle way that we might make it to this lake 3/4 of the way, if we hurried! I don't think they knew who they were talking to. In that same conversation they noticed that Tammy was carrying the pack filled with food, water, clothes, a flashlight and other hiking necessities, where as I was carrying the camera. They were jealous that I had my own Sherpa and it was a hot girl. Tammy always wants to do her part and would not let me brag that I had to carry the pack the whole way so we split the time with the gear, almost. The next section was done by hike/running through stunning alpine meadows where we got hassled by these birds (Gray Jays) that demanded food. They ate right out of our hands. Tammy was in her glory!

We stopped for an 8min lunch. Drinking was done on the fly and by 3/4 of the way Baby was showing signs of fatigue. There was one section that was south facing on the rocks that was blistering hot and Baby does not do well in the heat. Luckily there were little pools of cold water from snow melt that gave her some reprieve. You know your high when your above permanent snow pack.

We got our hopes up when we hit a pseudo peak and thought we had made record time, only to look over and see another peak that seemed higher. It looked unreachable and at least 1.5 hours of hiking one way. Unfortunately it was the peak. We did the math and we would need a speedy descent if we where going to make it. At this point we almost turned back before realizing that we would regret it after coming so far, and after all it was a clear sky with a near full moon and we had flashlights so really there was no reason to not go for it. I think this is what they refer to as summit fever. Only there was a lot less risk involved.

There was a lot of lava rock mixed in with the next section made up of sharp rock and unstable ground. Something I think Baby felt more than us. We found some reprieve along these overhanging snow banks that looked like they could give out at anytime. The rest of the way up was steep and at a brisk walk we had our heart rates through the roof trying to make good time.

We reached the top!! As Donny had said "reaching the summit is optional, getting back to the bottom is mandatory". We had 30min at the summit before having to hurry down. Baby was fried and took a small Nap in the shade of a rock while we admired the view. It was stunning!! I had no idea Vancouver Island was so mountainous. You really have to be there to appreciate the pictures. Obviously we made it down but we had 30min of hiking in the dark through the bushes alone. FREAKY!!!! On another note, Mount Washington is going to be a gold mine for real estate. The prices are still reasonable and there should be some good growth with the Olympics coming.

Chow for now.

Golden Ears.

2008-09-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

My trip to the 'Ears' was absolutely fantastic. This is the time of year when our athletic training becomes unstructured and in some ways more fun. Our training year ends a little earlier than others. We have a few friends doing Ironman Hawaii in Kona that are still training their butts off. I feel like I just did an Ironman, I can hardly walk from the soreness in my legs and shoulders from carrying the 70lb pack filled with camping gear up 1706m. O.k. maybe it wasn't quit 70lbs but we don't have an official weigh-in so I can say what I want. I don't think 1700m is high in the mountaineering world but for a couple of weekend warriors with full packs it was formidable.

Located in Maple Ridge (the town I was born in), the 'Ears' are a set of mountains that are visible from pretty much anywhere in the lower mainland. They have rocky peaks because not much lives up that high. Donny has climbed this thing so many times he can't remember the exact number but it's something like 9 times and he's made it to the summit most times. Apparently the weather can change rapidly and he was telling a story about getting caught in a white out that forced him and a friend to stay in the emergency shelter over night. My Parents house in Surrey has a window in the kitchen that has a perfect view of the Ears and Mom still has vivid memories of that night because she could see the clouds rolling in and knew they where going to get caught in a storm of shit. Donny survived cause he's tough and Mom still worries cause she's Mom.
Our adventure went like clock work. We arrived at the gates to the park at 6:35am, just before they opened and hiked for 5 hours to our camp site close to the top. We set up camp and made it to the summit in the early evening for a total of 7 hours of up hill. Some people do it as a day trip by packing light and leaving early. I must admit I had thoughts of tossing all my gear in the bush and just staying in the emergency shelter due to the pain that was developing in my legs and the fear building in my gut about the descent with all that weight. It turns out once you know how to descend it's not so bad, you just need to take your time and go backwards down the tricky spots.
I had a great time with Donny and next time he's going to come my way to Mount Albert Edward on the island for a very similar hike. I wish I could put more pictures on but this is the extent of my blogging capabilities.
Bye for now.

Midnight Snack?

2008-09-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

This is 'Part II' of the last post (named Bad!!!). We cleaned up the wrappers and all was well. Every time one of us pointed towards the spare room and wrappers, Baby slinkered away. She looks so pathetic when she gets into trouble (which has only happened maybe 3-4 times in the 2 years we have had her), that you feel badly for her. We forgave her and she was in our good books again.

Baby has a pillow inside our bedroom that she likes to sleep on. It is in a convenient location, except it blocks a drawer to my dresser. When going to bed, I had to lift an edge of her pillow up to open the drawer. Lo and behold - one more uneaten, unwrapped energy bar was stashed there! Shocked, I quickly retrieved the bar before Baby could see. I showed Allan the bar and we had a good laugh. I went to bed like nothing happened and out of the corner of my eye, watched our sweet innocent dog. When she approached the pillow, she immediately sniffed the exact location I found the bar. She looked around, then pawed the pillow up and sniffed underneath. This went on for a little bit when finally, confused and disheartened, she sighed and laid down for the night - duped out of her anticipated midnight snack.

Bad!!!!!

2008-09-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

We came home because we forgot something on a short trip to the store and it looks like Baby (our dog) got into the bag of left over food I had taken with me on my hike to Golden ears mountain. My first reaction was "Bad baby!!!" and then I realized that there was a small 70% pure chocolate bar that was, and I do mean 'was' as it did not exist any more, in the bag of goodies. My next reaction was fear because dogs are allergic to chocolate and can die. We frantically searched the internet to find out the toxicity levels and symptoms to watch for. The bar was about 1.5oz and it apparently takes 6oz to be toxic for her weight, so it seems she will be o.k. The weird thing was that she ate all the wrappers!? There were powerbars, granola bars, power gel!, chocolate, fruit bars, and a protein bar. Not a stitch of evidence! Poor thing digesting the wrappers:(

When we gave her shit she peed herself; good thing for hardwood floors for an easy clean-up. She is such a Baby.

We left to go to the store and 1/2 way down the street the light came on. (In our head!)

What do dogs do when they have a nice treat like a bone? They bury it or take it to a quite location for consumption without interference. Where does Baby like to go? The Spare bedroom! Turn the car around again! I could just see her watching us leave and laughing as she headed back to her stash of 1/2 eaten treats. Sure enough....

Let me present the evidence. Take a note of the perfectly opened wrapper down the seam on the protein bar in the bottom photo at the top.

Fatter than Allan

2008-09-04T19:10:00.000-07:00

In Allan's recent post, he keeps my bodyfat % a secret. I don't mind saying it: 17.7%. That's 10% more than the brat, and even though I weight 50lbs less, I have more pounds of fat! No wonder he kicks my butt on the hills! The good news is that I am leaner than this time last year. Women need 12% essential fat (for their female hormones to be working properly). Men, on the other hand, only need 4-5% bodyfat to function properly. So hopefully with weight training and being diligent with a good diet, I will hit my goal of 13% next year. The problem with long distance training, especially for females, is that overtime you can actually gain bodyfat, as the Type II muscle fibres (strength fibres) get smaller and your Type I (endurance fibres) get larger. So weight training is particularly important. Especially for people like me, who are all endurance but no speed.

How fat am I?

2008-09-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Fatter than 10 years ago. When I was 25 I did my body fat % and it was 6% give or take. Today I am 8% fat. I used the same method of pinching fat in all the right places and using a fairly reliable calculation. The scales that tell you your % of body fat are horribly inaccurate. They really depend on your hydration levels and can be off by up to 17%! Pinching fat doesn't lie and the numbers are comparable as long as you pinch in the same spot. Based on my weight of 170lbs I have 13.7lbs of fat. During race season I am usually 167lbs. My goal in April is to be 165lbs at 6% body fat. which is 10lbs of fat. I could get a lower % of body fat but there is an inaccuracy to the calculation so really the % is less important than the actual pinch measurement. Fat is fat, if I can pinch it it's there. A 4mm measurement is considered nothing because the skin has a thickness to it, so my goal is to have a few measurement of 4mm.
Interestingly, I am by far more fit than I was when I was 25. It's a different type of fitness though because I used to do more explosive exercise and now I do more long aerobic work. Endurance sports naturally chew up muscle and if you're not smart about your training you will lose a lot of muscle tone. I won't tell you what Tammy's % is, she can tell you if she wants.
This brings me to THE PROGRAM. I am putting together a weight training program for endurance athletes specifically. I have always known weights were important but never really put a whole lot of thought about how important they are for endurance athletes. We do weights but we can make huge improvements on THE PROGRAM design. Who knows, maybe one day I'll write a book. In the mean time I'm pulling out all my textbooks and enjoying the research. There is a lot of guidelines for people but unless you know how to interpret it, and apply it, there can be a lot of confusion.

Another one down....

2008-08-27T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well I just completed another Ironman. That's #4 for me. The race began with highlights and ended with frustration. At this point, it is easy to finish the race; the tough part is doing it faster.

It was great having Allan look after me and seeing him and Baby (our dog) at multiple areas of the course. I saw her at one point on the run, and she went nuts - jumping and yelping and barking at me! Allan had to use a harness on her so she wouldn't choke herself trying to run after me. After the race, I was (and still am) very sore and Allan does a lot of things for me. Its funny how you just do a marathon, yet you can't fathom walking 2 blocks to pick up your gear. He picked all of my stuff up for me, which was great. I wonder how long I can use the "I just did an Ironman, and I'm sore" excuse?

The swim was the first time I didn't get punched in the face or kicked which was great! I tried a different area and swam inside of the buoys rather than in the middle of the 2000+ field of athletes. The result was getting some open water and being able to swim comfortably and relaxed. Last year I was getting pushed and punched and kicked so much that I was fighting a panic attack. This year I had open water and even got to stop a couple of times to take a look around, all while having a faster split.

I absolutely love the bike portion in Ironman Canada. The climbs (Richter's pass and Yellow Lake) are lined with crazy people who have been enjoying beer all day, yelling and cheering. I felt the strongest I ever have on the bike and was blowing by people on the climbs like they were standing still. After I passed about 50 people on Richter's pass, I looked back and they were gone! I also felt strong at the end of the ride, and after doing 180km I felt like I could have easily done more. All the strength work this year paid off on the bike!

I came into transition for the run in better contention than ever. I had some aggressive goals of being one of the top non-professional athletes in the race. With the run being my strength, I knew that I could seriousy catch and drop the girls ahead of me. There was a problem, however. I took in the same nutrition as I always do, but at the end of the bike I was getting really hungry. It was a bit worrisome because Allan was hungry at his Ironman and it really affected his run which ended up being a walk/run. I ate a gel (100 calories of sugary calories) at the end of the bike but was hungry again right away. Not a good sign! Usually I have to force down the calories on the run, but was taking in fuel before planning on doing so, and was still hungry afterwards. At the same time, I was scared to take in too much fuel, because your body doesn't absorb it as well while running - which could mean getting sick! I didn't feel great and there was a massive headwind, but I kept going because even though I was not running very fast I was still making up a lot of ground and got myself into ~30th non-professional overall. However, by the halfway point on the run I was completely out of fuel. I was weak, hungy, and felt light-headed. The way home turned into a speed-walk/run while consuming in coke and orange slices as every aid station. I couldn't wait to finish the damn thing because I was so hungry. I was bored and my tummy was growling. At the finish, I quickly consumed 2 pieces of pizza and a bag of chips. Then we went out for fries and a burger and milkshake. Then after about 4 hours of sleep, I woke up with a growling stomach and was again very hungry! I have never eaten so much food afterwards!

In the end I ran 30min slower than what I am easily capable of and ended up 60th female overall (out of about 1000) when I was in position to be in the top 20. That was disappointing. This race is so hard to nail (especially the nutrition and hydration part) when it takes about 11 hours to complete. The funny thing was that I gave Allan such a hard time for not eating enough calories, but looks like I did the same! I will have to practice that for next time...

Tammy

This is why!

2008-08-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

This is why judging sports are so frustrating! Ivett Gonda probably sacrificed a lot of things to make it to the Olympics, only to have it taken away from her because of biased judging. Biased judging is the only reason I can come up with as to why she did not score any points. Clearly these judges know how a point is scored, yet they didn't count one of the many points that were obvious. We saw the same thing happen in boxing. Master Lee used to say 'If you knock them out, there is no question if you scored the point.' But unfortunately, you can't always knock someone out.
http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/taekwondo/story/2008/08/19/f-olympics-taekwondo-gonda.html

An Olympians blog

2008-08-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Check out the blog of our Olympic triathlon hopeful. http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/ He won gold in 2000 and is back on form this year. They get in the water after us in Victoria at the same pool. One of the girls that was in the Olympics for triathlon yesterday, Lauren Groves, crashed on the last lap of the bike and broke her wrist. Very unfortunate, and I felt so bad for her it made me sick. We have watched them around Victoria and the pool for the past year in preparing for the Olympics and it must be soooo disappointing for the whole squad. Of course we are proud of them no matter what.

One down.

2008-08-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Kelowna Apple Triathlon is the National Championships and will be for the next few years. The Nationals changes venues on occasion but Kelowna has got it through 2010. I have to say it's not the best run event I've been to and I think I'm being nice in saying it that way. Either way I made it through and finished 6th over all in the Age group race and 2nd for my age group of 35-39. Some guy from Winnipeg beat me, I didn't know there were even triathletes in Winnipeg?

A brief race report:
The swim was no wet suit because the water temp was to high. This favored me because I think I swim just as fast without it. Usually it gives people an advantage, so by not having the wetsuit it puts most people at a disadvantage. I had a good set of feet to draft behind.
The bike-- My legs are still sore from the peach classic a month ago and another race I did in between the peach and now. I really had no sustained power that I had in the peach. I was only 1 minute off the fastest bike split so it couldn't have been that bad. There was a nice little climb that split the field up nicely. 3 loops
The run---- I think the leg fatigue from the previous races filtered into a very poor run. I think the run was longer than 10km. I ran off course and missed a little out and back section. Thank goodness a volunteer let me do it twice on the second lap so I didn't get disqualified.

Link to the results page. http://www.raceheadquarters.com/results/2008/multi/KAT2008Olympic.html
Either way, I am a bit disappointed that I didn't place higher. I know I am capable of faster times. This year has been hard and I didn't really plan to do these short races so as a result I wasn't very well prepared for them. I just went off the fitness I gained for the Ironman which is totally different training. Some people say the Olympic and Ironman triathlons are totally different sports like Tennis and squash. In some ways they are. I'm not sure what to focus on? After the descent results in short course without preparing I kinda want to see how fast I can get for next year. Maybe I can win the National title for Age group. A goal, or maybe more of a dream, has been to go under 2 hours for an Olympic distance race. Ive done 2 in 2:04ish. If I could get my swimming back to before my injury, I'm sure that's almost 2 minutes right there. I have Ironman goals as well and maybe those are a bit harder but possibly more recognized in the Triathlon world. I will ponder these over the next 2 months before training starts in November for the 2009.

Off to the races!!

2008-08-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning we leave for Kelowna.
We'll be up at 4:30am to get things packed up and at the pool for a swim at 6:00 am, back home to pick up the bikes and Baby, tie up some loose ends and then onto the 11:00am Ferry. Into Kelowna around 5:00pm, with a quick bike ride for me to loosen up the legs after driving.

It's been a long time since I've had a week to have fun. I race on Sunday and then I'm on holidays. I will try and hit the links a couple of times and maybe hook up with the team I train with to ride the Ironman course on Saturday. Riding the course is something that a lot of athletes do if they are going up to spectate and support others in their big race on Sunday. It is aways a social ride with some fun racing up the big climbs. Othersise It's all about Tammy on the 24th.

Ironmans are the premier event in triathlon because they are so hard. After the huge disappointment in Couer D' Alene when Tammy got a nasty stomach virus the night before the race and could not start, she has put a lot of her hopes in a good performance in Penticton. I have to say, she is as fit as I've ever seen her and she will be pushing herself to her limits out on the course. I have a route planned out to catch her at all the key points so me and Baby (our dog) can try to make her smile for a second. Should be a blast, I'm looking forward to it.
I will post the links to results when the races are over.

Sleep deprived?

2008-08-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

I wonder how people would function if they got up in the morning without an alarm clock after a good nights sleep. I remember seeing a guy with his coffee mug, baggy eyes, doing a zombie impression at the traffic lights and thinking 'is he happy to be in that state?' I know I'm not!! Tammy on the other hand is a sweetheart, tired or not:) riiiiiight.

We are both very sensitive to fatigue due to our schedule which I will share with you soon. It's retarded sometimes what we can get done in a day. ( or not get done if we're tired) Tammy always thinks she does more things but as I have to point out its quality over quantity that matters.
Anyway, We have decided to try and do something about our sleep because it is seriously hampering our ability to recover from training. It's not that we train as much as the professional athletes but we don't have the time to rebound on a daily basis by resting, stretching and allowing the muscles to reduce tone. We know that deep sleep allows the body to relax and release growth hormones and so on. Last night I got 4 hours , not enough when preparing for a race. Could not go to sleep.
The Plan!!! We bought sleep Cd's from a Dr. Jeffrey Thompson. These are Neuroacoustic Audio Programs. They use brain wave pacing and frequency that simulates certain stages of consciousness. We got 4 different ones. We will use them with our mp3 and ear buds to go to sleep and during naps. The traffic is also keeping us up at night since we moved bedrooms. The ear buds should help that. http://www.neuroacoustic.com/
Next we got melatonin from the health store and we will take 9mg 1 hour before bed. When Tammy has time she will let you know all the benefits. It's crazy how good it is. There are a lot more benefits than just sleep.

If this doesn't work we'll have to resort to a classic sedative......alcohol.
Good times.

70lbs of Blueberries!!??

2008-08-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Yes that is correct. Last year we got 50lbs and we ran out in April. We use them for our power shake. It's supposed to be the magic berry? Tammy has started her Sport Nutrition Advisor certification. She loves this stuff, and she is the most diligent person when it comes to nutrition. If she wasn't around I would be eating crap all the time. As it is I can't help myself when it comes to food. I'm blessed with a crazy metabolism so I can get away with it. Tammy has to be learning something all the time. She may be addicted to schooling? The CSNA (Certified Sports Nutrition Advisor) is a designation obtained from the Corry Holly institute and he is Affiliated with Dr. Colgan.
Dr. Corey Holly is a Naturopathic Dr. and big into boosting sport performance from natural methods, as opposed to testosterone drugs and other cheating methods. Things like boosting testosterone and Human growth hormone using the bodies own processes. Doing it naturally is of course the hard way and takes serious discipline. Discipline is not hard to find in sport, most athletes are doing everything they can to get better and most are honest so they will learn these techniques.

These courses take time and money, two things we seem to always be short on. Speaking of which I better go help bag these blueberries or someones gonna get hurt real bad!!

All-on-4! Teeth in a day

2008-08-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

If you're not familiar with what I do, I fabricate false teeth for people. Traditionally they are removable teeth. (Not bridges or crowns)I just finished a course on the placement of 4 implants and placing permanent teeth in less than 4 hours. Technology is soooo cool there are few things that really interest me in Dentistry but I have to tell you this is exciting stuff. There are a lot of people who struggle with removable dentures and in reality so do all the dental proffesionals who make them. A person can literally have there denture fixed (screwed into place) and non-removable in one day. This used to take a minimum 6months and up to 2 years to make happen with multiple surgeries and bone grafting from the hip.....Fun stuff. Now no grafting and in one day. I think I found my calling. Making removable dentures is tough.....doing All-on-4 would be fun! Marketing starts Today! Anyone interested?

Here it goes!

2008-08-10T17:24:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed this is Olympic time and our PVR is going full time. This has been a tiring week as Tammy and I are recovering from a local race that we trained through in preperation for 2 important races coming up. I am going into the National Age-Group championships in Kelowna which is an Olympic distance on Aug 17, and Tammy is doing an Ironman in Penticton the week after. We will be staying at Tina's place (sister) in Kelowna for the whole week. We are both looking forward to the time away from everyday life.

This is supposed to be the peak of our season and it's been a long season. Right now our priority is to rest and recover. There are no fitness gains to be made this close, just maintaining what we have. We went for a ride today and Tammy did a personal best up this little climb to Durrance lake in Victoria. She wasn't feeling great and was holding back a bit. This is a good sign as she still has 2 weeks till race day and a lot of recovery can happen between now and then. She is going to rock this year.

Some of you may not know that I had a Bike accident in mid March and broke my collar bone. It's added a few complications that I would have prefered to avoid but I did eventually recover. I'm not 100% yet because there are some muscles that are not happy to be working from a different position in the shoulder so they get cranky. The collar bone broke right where some muscles attach, so you can imagine the connection is different. I have great therapists and I just keep moving forward. Not much else you can do.