I went for a run this morning, my first in 3 days, and it actually felt pretty good. However, unfortunately I appear to have injured my ankle. Sunday evening I was picking up a friend and while walking through the grass towards her driveway, I stepped into a groundhog hole and went over really hard on my right ankle. It's been nagging me ever since. I've been icing and stretching, and I hope that it eases off soon. After having run today, my bad mood has seemingly evaporated. Amazing what a workout can do :)

I leave for Halifax in 7 days. A week today. The location will change drastically, but will my life? I'll still be doing what I love: school and training. I can't wait.

Due to unforseen social circumstances, I didn't have time to run this morning. I'm so mad at myself! My planned 16-miler is but a thought now. I don't have time to fit it in later because I'm at work, and I can't do it tomorrow because I have to pack everything for Halifax. This is the second long run I've missed in two weeks. I know that I shouldn't beat myself up over it, but I know that I really do need to get these runs in. I want to be able to go to Halifax in top shape and right now I feel like I'm throwing that out the window. Gah! I guess I could try to fit in an early run tomorrow but we'll see what happens. I'll also be without a bike for a week and a bit while I move...I have to figure out how to stay in shape!! Lots of training between now and then...

Swam today at 7am

300m warmup
5x100m, 2x200m, 5x100m, 5x50m
200m cooldown

Total 2150 meters

This was my first real swim workout since Collingwood. I've taken a hit on my speed in the pool because I've been slacking on workouts. By the end of today I was back on track, but it took almost a thousand meters to just warmup. I really enjoy swim workouts - when I move to Halifax I have no excuse not to keep up with training since I live so close to the pool.

I bought the new Vertical Horizon CD "GO" yesterday - it's fantastic.

So, today is the day that I have been dreading for weeks...but, thankfully I feel ok about everything, keeping my head high, trying not to think about it too much. Saying goodbye is a hard thing to do.

After my self-imposed five days off, I feel so much better. Went for a 25k bike through the trails today and there isn't a trace of tiredness left in my legs, and my cardio felt so strong. I feel like a new athlete. Amazing what a little R&R can do for training. A year ago I wouldn't have given myself the rest I needed. Now I can come back stronger and in a much better mindframe. Thank goodness. I'm also starting to feel super comfortable on my bike. I am falling in love with cycling. I can't wait to do long rides in Halifax; ostensibly one of the prettiest places in Canada.

Now that I'm back on the bandwagon, I am completely content. Mark, thanks for the kind words of encouragement. They mean a lot.

So, given that Tuesday morning I woke up with a heart rate of 70, throbbing legs and shoulders and sharp pains shooting through my joints, I decided to take the rest of the week off. It's Friday now, and I'm still achy. Taking proper rest days is so difficult for me because I feel like I should just train, train, train. The motivation is higher than what my body is capable of doing right now. *sigh* It's very frustrating. I want to get back on the road running, and in the pool, but I know that if I don't rest, I'll run myself into the ground. I can't wait to get out to Halifax and start training properly again. Right now I feel like I'm in limbo because I've done 5 races this summer and don't have anything set in stone for the rest of my season. If I decide to do cross country, then I will have a definite plan, otherwise I think I'll still race the Shubie Park Olympic Tri on September 19th. Right now, I just have to keep trying to rest and recuperate as much as possible. Brutal.

Invictus

OUT of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

-- William Ernest Henley. 1849–1903

So I woke up this morning in a really crappy mood and didn't feel like training at all. I thought maybe I would just go put in a hard swim workout, but Cory's words rang through my head ("Work on your weaknesses, maintain your strengths") so I knew that swimming would be a cop-out. I really do need to start putting in more consistent and longer rides. After I had made my tea and some breakfast, I logged on to my triathlon board and read some of the posts there. That helped with motivation and I was able to kick myself out the door by 9am. Really glad I did. I ended up doing a 31km loop that took me right into the town I grew up in - what a great feeling to be able to go places under your own power. Makes you feel invincible. I kept the pace up not too badly, about a 29km/hr avg. I am really glad that I could mentally push through the part of myself that didn't want to train today. I feel better for it. I sure hope that I find some nice new biking routes when I move to Halifax. There will be a lot of gorgeous places to run, and I will definitely be swimming at the Dalplex all the time. I am still considering trying out for the cross-country team, but I really don't know if I'm fast enough. This month I plan to focus on biking and running, getting my leg strength up so that I can really push at tryouts. We'll see. I think I'll go for an easy swim this afternoon to loosen up the muscles.

Collingwood Sprint Triathlon Race Report
750m/28k/8k

Though this race certainly won't be chalked up as my "best", it was an _incredible_ confidence booster.

On Friday evening, a few of my teammates and I headed up to Collingwood, which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive. The original plan was to camp in the park where the event was taking place, but given the rain and the fact that a night's sleep on the hard ground wouldn't be good for racing, we stayed at one of my teammate's friend's house (THANKS NIRU!). Friday evening we went to the Blue Mountain Village for dinner and wandered around a bit (it's gorgeous), but we were all really tired so we were in bed by about 10.

Saturday morning:

6:30am - Get up and look out the window - it's about as dark as night and absolutely POURING rain. Ugh. Not a fun way to start race day. We weren't too impressed. However, we were here to race and we hadn't driven all that way to give up just because of a little water. Thankfully we'd packed the SUV the night before so we just had to throw our bags in the back with the bikes.

The transitions for the race were a little confusing - T2 was where we registered and set out our run gear, then we had to walk a kilometer to t1, where we racked our bikes, and then took a 5 min shuttle to the swim start. I was very confused as to how it would all work, but we managed just fine. We were given a bag to throw our swim gear in and the volunteers brought it back to the main site. It worked very smoothly. The race didn't start until 9:15am, so we had a tonne of time to get all organized.

Swim 750m - 14:10 (1:54/100m) :
The rain had stopped by this point and it was just grey and humid. The men's wave was set to go at 9:15am, and the women at 9:18am. It was a small field of athletes, only 102 in total. The swim was a deep water start, requiring us to swim about 150m out to the first buoy, and then tread water for a while until the start. It was pretty chilly - I was , once again, one of the few athletes without a wetsuit. Thankfully all the girls were very nice and we were laughing and having a great chat while bobbing up and down in the water trying to stay warm. Finally it was time and off we went. I'd positioned myself close to the front of the pack in the water, and was glad for it. Settled into a nice pace and just glided. The swim felt awesome. The water was pretty gross smelling in places, not very pleasant, but that's ok. I managed to pass a few of the slower men in the water, which was very exciting. I am very happy with my swim at this race. A huge confidence booster, as my times have been slowly coming down at every race.

T1 + Bike 28k + T2 - 1:06:32 (25.3km/hr)
It was a long run from the water to T1, probably about 600m. Once I arrived, I threw my swim gear into the bag provided (which would be transported back to the race start), downed a gel and some gatorade, threw on my helmet and shoes, and was off. The pace was slow, I only avg'd 25km/hr, but talking to people after the race, it seemed like everyone thought their bikes were about 4km/hr slower than usual (as was the case with myself). The bike started off flat, and then came the HILLS. Collingwood is on the Niagara Escarpment - to say this course was "rolling" is an understatment. And, to make matters even more difficult, about 8k into the bike, the rain started. This wasn't just any rain, but rather a torrential downpour. Never ceasing, never letting up. The roads became treacherous. We climbed up and up, and, at about 15k coming out of a right turn, we were faced with a hill that was about a kilometer straight up. Two people in front of me saw the hill and got off their bikes to walk. I just changed into my lowest gear and spun up as easily as I could. I refused to stand on these hills. Once at the top, it was right back down the other side, and the turnaround was located at the bottom of the hill. I kept on the brakes as best I could, trying not to slide. Slowed right down, turned back and headed right back up that hill. Thankfully this side wasn't as steep. So, now it was time to descend on the other side - I clocked myself rocketing down the hill at 61km/hr, on a road covered with an inch of water and the hairpin left turn at the bottom. Coming around that corner, I knew that if I touched my brakes I was done for - wet roads + brakes + 61km/hr downhill = death or certainly broken bones. Wooohoooo - crazy adrenaline rush. Absolutely terrifying, and so much fun! The rest of the bike back was uneventful - i just made sure to take it really slowly on the corners.

Run 8k - 41:27 (5:11 per km)
I didn't hit my run goal, I think due to two reasons. The first was that my legs were shot from the hills, and secondly, at 4km, my quads seized. It was like running with bricks inside of vastus mediala. Probably due to the lack of water I took in on the bike. It was a horrible feeling. I made sure to get eload at every water station, and by about 6.5k I was starting to get my legs back. Still, I was considerably slower than usual. The run was 2 loops of a 4k course - nothing untoward, no hills, painful. Fun though.

Coming into the finish my total time was 2:02:07 . I'm pretty happy with this - the race was my longest distance yet. And I did get 3rd in my age group. More than anything else, though, this race taught me that I can bike in _anything_. After that rain, those treacherous roads, I feel much more confident. And I've come away with another fabulous experience. I love this sport so much.

Saturday afternoon we volunteered at the Kids of Steel race. It was insane. They are so young and yet so competitive. It was like watching a gymnastics competition. Crazy. The Long Course was on Sunday (2k/65k/15k), which we also volunteered at. I was on the bike course, and had a chance to see all of the racers after they had faced the dreaded "Eliminator" (a hill that is 10k, yes, 10KM straight up). The athletes were amazing, simply amazing. I was so impressed.

It was a great weekend, and I had an awesome time. There is so much I know I need to work on for my own race, but I'm pleased with the result. My quad was still a little sore yesterday, though thankfully I had a massage therapist look at it and now it's starting to ease off. I'm going to take it easy this week before I start a slow build to my first Olympic Distance race in September.