Usually when it's -18 outside I like to stay indoors, close to heat registers and warm blankets. I drink tea and I'll eat whatever is left in the fridge regardless of how many days past it's due date it is to avoid going into the icy cold void that lies between me and the grocery store. Well last weekend me a a couple of Balance Point Racing pals Andrew Sellars and Kevin ventured up North for the annual Prince George Iceman.
For those of you unfamiliar, the Iceman is a multi sport race beginning with an 8km xc ski, then a 10 km run into town to the rink where you skate 5km on speed skates, take em off and run 5km to the pool to complete the race with an 800 meter swim. If it sounds crazy, that's because it is. Crazy is often fun, however, and Andrew and I had a blast doing this race. http://www.mag-net.com/iceman/index.html
The part of the race that was the most fun was the speed skate. I learned how to speed skate on the Tuesday before the race on a pair of skates that were clearly older than I was. I ripped my shoes off, got my skates on and slowly wound it up on the 400m oval. One of the volunteers counted my laps for me, and on the 3rd lap she yelled out "third lap!". Well, I guess it kind of distracted me and as I looked over her way, I went onto the wrong edge of my skate and was suddenly traveling towards her at a very fast rate! Thanks to 7 years of hockey as a kid, I was able to pull it together and not bail at high speed (I guess this is why they made us wear helmets this year!) Thanks to Joanne from the Salmon Arm Speed Skating Club for coming to Vernon to give me a lesson, teach me how to sharpen the skates and lend me a pair of them.
The strangest transition in the race was going from the 2nd run to the pool. You run into the pool, strip down all your layers of clothes until you're just in your speedo and jump in the pool. It felt like jumping into a hot tub after running around like a fool for the past 2 hours in -18. I was a little dissapointed that the water melted the great ice mane that I had developed from having sweat down the back of my head for so long outside. Congrats to Andrew for coming 5th overall in the solo category! I was next in after him so having 2 BPR members in the top 6 isn't bad... but next year watch out you Prince George boys!
Now it's time to prepare for the next non-triathlon multisport event: the Ski 2 Sea in Kelowna: www.ski2sea.ca. I did it solo for the first time last year and it was such a great experience that I'm planning on doing it again... The BPR team will be putting in more than one team as well, so if you're interested, contact Andrew or myself as we have a list going of current team members to put on teams.
Thanks for reading, I plan on writing again this weekend when I go for the first OUTSIDE ride of the year!
Mike
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
2008
Well, as always, there is change. Change in the form of a great Half Iron in Cranbrook, BC the Prestige Half, being postponed to 2009. I've competed in this race for the last 2 years now and it really is one of the best run races out there. I'm really dissapointed to see it not go in 2008.
So, in the Prestige's stead, I'm entering the Desert Half in Osoyoos on July 6th, a tough and hot race with a ride that goes up Richter pass. For the 2nd year in a row, it's been name the 2008 Canadian long course championships, and despite this it still gets a lot less attention than it's popular brother, the Oliver Half Iron. My CSR teamate Luke Way came 2nd there last year and I'm hoping he'll be too preoccupied with training for IM CDA to do it this year ;)
As for my first love, XTERRA, I'm a little discouraged right now because I've been denied the opportunity to race in the pro field in 2008 despite results that should warrant my inclusion in that group. I'll be pursuing an elite card with Triathlon Canada to try to gain "status" that way, but I'm not holding my breath. If I can't race in the pro category, I'll scale back my XTERRA involvement from the whole 5 race US Series to 2: XTERRA West Championships and XTERRA Mountain Championships.
Training has been going really well despite a difficult transition from eggnog chugging couch potatoe back into triathlon training machine. A huge aid has been the use of Branch Chain Amino Acids or BCAA's. I don't really understand the science behind them, but I supplement with L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine after particularly heavy training days and WOW! The next day I feel WAY less fatigued than I would have otherwise. I use one called "Amino-Mix" by New Roots but I'm switching to a product called "Recover Amino Power" by Sportsquest: http://www.nvo.com/sportquestdir/.
Alright, I'm going to go try riding my powercranks on my rollers... my next post may be from a hospital room ;) Thanks for reading!
Mike
So, in the Prestige's stead, I'm entering the Desert Half in Osoyoos on July 6th, a tough and hot race with a ride that goes up Richter pass. For the 2nd year in a row, it's been name the 2008 Canadian long course championships, and despite this it still gets a lot less attention than it's popular brother, the Oliver Half Iron. My CSR teamate Luke Way came 2nd there last year and I'm hoping he'll be too preoccupied with training for IM CDA to do it this year ;)
As for my first love, XTERRA, I'm a little discouraged right now because I've been denied the opportunity to race in the pro field in 2008 despite results that should warrant my inclusion in that group. I'll be pursuing an elite card with Triathlon Canada to try to gain "status" that way, but I'm not holding my breath. If I can't race in the pro category, I'll scale back my XTERRA involvement from the whole 5 race US Series to 2: XTERRA West Championships and XTERRA Mountain Championships.
Training has been going really well despite a difficult transition from eggnog chugging couch potatoe back into triathlon training machine. A huge aid has been the use of Branch Chain Amino Acids or BCAA's. I don't really understand the science behind them, but I supplement with L-Leucine, L-Isoleucine and L-Valine after particularly heavy training days and WOW! The next day I feel WAY less fatigued than I would have otherwise. I use one called "Amino-Mix" by New Roots but I'm switching to a product called "Recover Amino Power" by Sportsquest: http://www.nvo.com/sportquestdir/.
Alright, I'm going to go try riding my powercranks on my rollers... my next post may be from a hospital room ;) Thanks for reading!
Mike
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