Blood on the Tracks

Today we were all about the 15K.  Drank loads of water last night and even though we were tempted to imbibe a bit more than that, we took the high road and resisted all temptations.

Once at the park this morning, there was  quiet confidence exuding from the runners as we all knew what lay ahead.  Lots of long stares down the pavement with runners visualizing the course and the three laps that would make up the 15K.

The start was delayed as one of the runners actually had a seizure.  I felt really bad for this person as they ended up in the cold muddy ditch and they could not move him until it had passed.  Due to this unfortunate incident, the start was delayed by 10 minutes as the medical team sorted everything out.   Tri-Girl and I took advantage of the delay and went for a lap around the formal gardens.

Once we returned, I took time to stretch and to blow my nose.  Without any kleenex, I did what we all affectionately call a "Farmer" and plugged my nostril and blew fairly aggressively, thus clearing the opposite side.  This is something I have don 100's of times while running or biking.  Well, today is caused a nose-bleed.  At first, I was not too concerned, as it did not seem to be much of anything.  Then they announce that there was two minutes to start.  I had not kleenex, so i went over to the First aid guy who was just wrapping up with the seizure and was able to get a bandage to try to stop the flow.  Now there is one minute to start.  I tell tri-girl that I will do my best to catch her and she is to start without me.  The gun goes off and I am left all alone at the start.

I decide that I am going to run this thing, so I walk over the start mat and take a knee in the grass.  I get a Kleenex forma a fantastic volunteer and, for the lack of a better word, fashion it into a tampon and shove it up my nose like I used to do in soccer.  It seemed to do the trick, and I started the race about 2 minutes behind everyone.

I was fine until the last lap.  I mean I was chocking on blood for a bit and spit a ton of it out, but it did settle down by the 5K mark.  But, around the 8K mark, I had felt the blood start to ooze out of the "plug" and wiped my nose to see if I was right.  Well I was not thinking and wiped my hand on my jersey..... my white jersey.   So now I have blood dripping down my face and it is on my shirt, too.

I was feeling okay with this and then I passed tri-girl going the other way and she let out and "ooh" that made me think it was a fair bit worse than I could see.  It was around that point that I started to get light headed.  I ran past a volunteer and asked if they had a radio.  They did and I asked them to radio to the First Aid volunteer to meet me at the finish line in about 8 minutes.

I crossed the line and went right to the First Aid truck.  As I ran, I knew I was elevating my blood pressure and as a result causing the blood to pump a bit more aggressively.  Once my HR had come back down, everything was fine and I was able to get it under control in about 15 minutes or so.

I am grateful for the volunteers for their help, as I would have never been able to get it under control on my own.

The race its self was actually not that bad until I got light headed.  You can actually see  my pace die off at the 1:03 mark.....  then I pushed myself to finish better, which (in hind sight) probably was not very smart.

Pure 10K

Felt like I was never going to stop going to the bathroom last night, but I did drink a lot of water in preparation for today's 10K.  I was bound and determined to keep myself fuelled and hydrated with a goal of feeling on hell of a lot better that last week.

The weather today was simply spectacular and it definitely had a drastic effect on the the way I felt about the race.  It was kind of odd, though that they required you to have a new bib # and a new chip for this race.  In a time where we are all so super conscious about recycling, it just seemed so odd to throw away your old chip and bib and get a new envelope with another map and another list of the race series for the season.

About 10 minutes out, I had still not seen the girl from Woodhaven and tri-girl ad I decided to head for the start line.  We did some basic stretches and chatted with one of the Bison running team members who I would later see out on the course about 4th place in the 5k.

Ran into Woodhaven at the start line and she looked ready to go and without much ceremony we were off.

The course was bare and wet and definitely made you feel like you had a lot more confidence on the route, unlike last week.  I had a GU at about 45 minutes out and then another at the 5K mark, which also made me fel pretty decent.  I think for the 15K I will also do the same.

I felt good throughout, but nothing spectacular and no great surprise, my pace slowed a bit on lap #2. I will have to keep an eye on it for next week.

All in all, I was happy to get out and it is just one step close to being as fit as I can coming into June.

Pagan Rituals

The first truly nice day in months.  The sun was out and it was hot.  I mean +9˚C hot.  Now when you have been languishing in the -5's for what seems like and endless amount of time, the + anything = happiness.  All of Winnipeg comes out and stares at the sun.  Year after year we realize just how rooted we are in the phases of the Earth.  I am not getting all hippie, but I am certain that the whole idea of the solstices and the pagan rituals that went with them were really just a way of blowin' off steam after months of suffering at the hands of "old man winter."

Either way... out into the sun and do a nice and easy 5K just to keep the legs from seizing.

Nothing fast.

No race pace, just there.

Good Friday

Well... I would not go as far as good, but I knew that I had to get out and put in at least 10K before Sunday's race.  And, whether I liked it or not, I would benefit and I knew it.  The distance itself was not an issue, it was just the getting out and getting going.  Tri-girl and I wanted to head out together and she would do 5-6K following a pre-deterined route and i would wind around, actually doing one loop twice, and finding a street or two that would get me the distance I needs.  Sadly, nothing exciting to report, other than Chraleswood is digging its self out after a very long winter.  The typical people washing their cars, changing their winter tires and snow-blowing their front yards where the sun never seems to shine was the call for the day.

The run was not very fast, but I was not racing it, I was just "phoning it in" as they say.

Get 'er done.

BUSY busy b... u...s....y

Sunday was a great testament to my stupidity and also a reality check for me.  The plan for this weekend is to avoid excess and focus on hydration.  Not that I think my time will be stellar - say around 60:00 for the 10K if it is icy and ?  if it is not.  But, I am sure I can control how I feel about it while I am doing it.

Yesterday, after a seemingly endless week of concert performance and prep, I managed to surface and get into the pool for a morning swim with the family.  The swim went off without a hitch and I felt good.  The highlite is always the family race.  Tri-boy starts at GO and then Tri-girl at 6 "Steamboats"  then Tri gal at 7 and me at 9.  We race about 38M with the messed up length on the "Y."  1,2,3 were all very close.  I took 3rd.  Yeah baybeee... on the podium.



Don't cry, Michael.......  I'm at least on the poduim.

Late nights = Shitty 5K's

OMG... Holy shit.  I am absolutely gobsmacked that I raced today.

Last night down the street with the neighbours and got into the rum - the Kracken.  I literally put a beast in my belly.  That combined with an arrival time of 1:00ish, it truly was a miracle that I was even in ay sort of condition to consider participating in a 5K run.  ... Hell I should of considered a 5K rum.  I am not sure what I was thinking, but for some strange reason, I was not thinking about the race or the fact that I might actually have to do some work to get it done.

I know, he says with an impish grin,  I will stay out late drinking with friends.... with this kind of prep, the run will be over in no time.

Well.... I really don't need to tell you the rest, as it has a ver predictable outcome combined with some craptacular weather that had the wind howling out of the North and bringing the windchill down to -15˚C.

This truly is a run for the books with my having to convince my self to get it done, not quite sure if I was going to stop at any moment and let out the Kracken.

Late nights = Bad mornings

Friends from England in last night and I can tell you that when you have to get up early the next day, your swim is going to be something less than epic.....toss in wine and you have a recipe for a migraine.

The kids and I decided to swim today and I did my best to get everyone going, but it was like herding  unicorns.... mythical, elusive and not wherever you look.

We did make it to the "Y" and started later than we would have liked, but in the end it all worked out. The boy and I even got in our customary race.... looks like  steamboats makes for the perfect challenge.

A Swim and a 21/21

Today I ran 21 away.

It was a nice day.

Time to play.

Got to the end and turned around.



Yesterday
Splish, Splash, Splosh
No tri-boy, though
He played on the phone and watched tri-guy as he went
back and forth
chasing tigers.

20/20

I run away for 20 minutes

Then I run back

If I run back faster,

than I ran away,

I get NEGATIVE SPLITS

WOOOO HOOO

I like That!

Elevation gain of 3 ft.  Sigh.... it's not BC, now is it

Last run - Summerland boardwalk

We drove out of the city for this one.  It was completely beautiful and serene.  We managed to keep the usual routing with me out in front and circling back for Tri-Girl as she made her way through the epic scenery.  On the return we followed the boardwalk all the way back to the hotel and ran into a little confusion when the walk changed colour.... but we found her as much as she tried to get lost.

We even saw this guy out on the lake... I thought I was nuts.  

Abandoned KVR Tunnel

Today's ride was a fun one for everyone.  We rode out of Penticton and headed North on the KVR (Kettle Valley Railway) stopping at the old rail tunnel high up the mountains on the way to Chute Lake.  The kids were ferried up to the top by Grandpa and then once at the top Grandma, Grandpa, the kids, Tri-Girl and I headed for the top.   

This grade was not steep at all... maybe 3% but it was up the entire way... check the data for that perfect pyramid.  That said of course it was all downhill into the city.  The kids were in heaven.  They did almost 25K without hardly having to pedal at all.  Not going to find that in Manitoba.

Chute Lake and some messed up data

Today we made our way out past Naramata and on up into the mountains to the road to Chute Lake.

I will let the photos speak for themselves....

Morning Run and Gag

Made the mistake of chasing after Tri-Girl.  She got to tun back early and I was able to take a longer route and then try to chase her down.  Well... that just about killed me.  For the first time in ages, I was doing all I could not to literally cough up all of my breakfast.  To be brutally honest, my lungs are still pounding and sore from the abuse of this day.

She is a load faster than I give her credit for some days and I paid the price by thinking I could easily tag up with her.... still, in all honesty, I am not 100% that she didn't pull a fast one on me as I am fairly gullible that way.