Why there aren't any unicorns

Thanks to: http://home.no.net/webfast/Lucifer/unicorns.gif

Down with junk food, bring on the exercise!

This is terrifying: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/fit.nation/obesity.map/

I would love to think that Canada is faring better in the "war against obesity" but sadly, I doubt it.

Is this endemic obesity indicative of a world that is at its tipping point? Are we going to blow ourselves up soon? (Or eat ourselves to death?)

Port Hood RR

July 22, 2007
Port Hood, Cape Breton

Coles Notes:
1500m swim: 24:52
40km bike: 1:18:30
10km run: 48:09

Post-race thoughts: "I'm getting faster"

This was the first time I've driven up to a race by myself, and it was, perhaps not surprisingly, really nice to be completely on my own schedule. I drove up Saturday afternoon to Cape Breton, and from the time I passed the Canso Causway until I got to Port Hood, I had a huge smile on my face as I took in the scenery. Canada is an incredibly picturesque country.

I was in bed early on Saturday evening and up bright and early on Sunday morning. The slow drizzle outside my motel window made me less than pleased, but, this is Cape Breton, and really, I thought, the weather can't be any worse than last year (it hailed on the bike!).

Not another creature was stirring when I awoke, and I thought maybe I had gotten the time wrong for the race, but no, it was just a slow start for everyone else, it seemed. I was at the race course by 7am, and they were still setting up, which meant I had a lot of time to get body-marked, go for a warmup ride/run, and get settled into transition. It was nice to see some people that I've not seen in ages.

We all wandered down to the beach about 15minutes before the race was due to start, and I jumped into the water to warmup. For an ocean swim, the water was beautifully warm (albeit slightly overstocked with jelly fish)! I came out of the water for the pre-race meeting, which didn't start, so I jumped back in and kept swimming. The race didn't start until 45 minutes later than it was supposed to. On the positive side, I got a nice long swim warmup. But I was practically shivering when we were standing their listening to the TD discuss the race course.

Finally we were ushered over to the part of the beach where we were to start, and without further ado, the horn went off and we were racing. I'm not quite fast enough to catch that lead group yet, and ended up doing the two-loop course completely on my own. When we passed the breakwaters, you could feel the swells buffetting and battering, which made for a difficult swim. Still, I was very pleased with my swim.

Transition was quick and I was out on the bike. The course isn't insanely difficult, but there are some long false-flat sections and a couple of good climbs. I wasn't feeling fantastic on the bike, but I didn't feel awful either. It was just a matter of keeping my spin and making it hurt. Allie (the other girl in my AG) passed me about 10km from the finish on the bike, and I kept her in sight for a while, until she disappeared off into the distance. I knew I'd have my work cut-out for me on the run.

My bike-to-run transition was very quick (I'm pleased!). Once I got my legs moving out on the run, I locked into a rhythm and concentrated on my turnover. I could see Allie in the distance, and made it my goal to catch her. I chipped away bit by bit until I was alongside and passed her. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to hold on. About 4km from the finish, Allie caught back up to me and although I really wanted to, I couldn't find another gear to pass her. We were coming into the final kilometre together, and I knew it would be a sprint finish. Little did I know that Emily, a friend of mine and an incredible runner (she posted a 43min run split!), was also chipping away the time between herself and Allie and I. With about 700 metres to go I could hear another set of working lungs as Emily zoomed by Allie and I. I tried to latch on to Em but I just couldn't keep her pace. Allie then tried to do the same and the three of us sprinted down the hill towards the line. The final times, 2:31:22 (Em), 2:31:25 (Allie), 2:31:30 (Me). That's right, 8 seconds. I really wanted that AG win, but I just couldn't seem to find that extra push I needed to catch up. It was a harsh lesson in timing and bodily limits.

And yet, I couldn't come away from this race as anything but pleased. I know that I'm improving (all I have to do is look at the numbers). I'm still learning about this crazy sport every day. I had so much fun at this race, and the post-race meal is the best one around. Now it's only two weeks until Drummondville, where I will absolutely have my work cut out for me.

Thanks for reading! And of course, thanks to all of my sponsors: InfinIT, Aerobics First/New Balance, Part One, Cyclesmith and Orthotics East.

$$

In the spirit of my annual summer "I spend too much on race fees and gas to drive to races" financial crisis, I'm posting a link that might be of interest to other students/people looking to save a little cash.

20 Ways to Save $

It seems like sound advice:
"Cry poverty -- with style. Learn handy phrases like, "Lets eat somewhere cheap." And "Shopping? Blech. Lets go for a bike ride." Its less embarrassing than you'd think, because more people are in your shoes than you think -- and they'll be grateful you spoke up." (and riding is infinitely more fun than shopping..)

And for those of you who are not in dire financial circumstances and don't feel the need to read an article on saving:

Here's a page for you

Training Update:
This has been a pretty intense week. I think Colin is trying to kill me. Last week was brutal, training sucked, and I felt like crap. I feel less like crap this week, but that doesn't mean I didn't get my butt kicked by some seriously tough treadmill works and a bike interval workout that left me stumbling around my apartment like I had imbibed one too many gin & tonics. Racing Port Hood this weekend. Not sure how the legs are going to feel, but, of course, I'll give it my best shot. :)

Burghardt vs. Dog Tour de France 2007 Stage9

Yikes!

Tall Ships 2007

On Thursday evening, the Tall Ships emerged through the Fog to find port in the harbour. They've not been here for many years, as I recall, the last time the fleet was here, I was still an unjaded-idealistic-recent-university-graduate just about to embark on her master's degree. When I moved to Halifax, I had two weeks before classes started to wander and get to know the city. Inevitably almost every trek took me down to the waterfront to smell the ocean (when the wind was blowing the right way), take in the tourists, people-watch, and generally soak up the experience of living in a new city. I missed the tall ships the last time they were here, and so I made sure to take a trip down to the harbourfront first thing Saturday morning. My first impression was that they were big. REALLY big. The masts stood so majestically tall, and along with the the ships themselves, rocked gently against the sway. It was fairly early on Saturday morning, yet there were already hundreds of tourists strolling along the boardwalk, taking pictures, and pointing in awe.

What I found most intriguing was the juxtaposition of the nineteenth-century replica ships against the backdrop of a modern city.

The sight of the ships brought to my mind Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, a book I'd read as a young girl, about a girl my age who defied nineteenth-century gender conventions by working on a tall ship. While my nautical knowledge is limited, at best, I have always been fascinated by the intricacies of ocean travel. I must have walked for over an hour up and down, reading everything I could and gazining at the ships in amazement. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had a chance to see the fleet while they were docked here in Halifax. It makes me realise how fortunate I am to live here.


CBC News Story

Tall Ships 2007 - Pictures

Fredericton RR

Team NS:


Last weekend I headed up to Fredericton with Team Nova Scotia for my second Olympic Distance race of the season: Atlantic Regionals. Coming off a full week of training, I was still tired come Saturday, but I felt surprisingly calm and ready for this race. Mentally, I felt prepared.

We drove up on Saturday and stayed in a (sketchy!) motel. I drove one of the juniors up, and we had lots of time to get to know each other over the 4 1/2 hours to and from Fredericton. I roomed with 3 others on our team. Saturday night I was in bed by 10 and up at 6 on Sunday morning. After a quick shower, breakfast, and loading the car, it was time to head to the race course. I felt tired, but still ready to give it my best effort.

I signed in, got body marked, and did a good warmup. Still felt half tired/half keyed up.

The swim was a mass start for the Olympic distance race, and despite there being less people than at Guelph, it was the most aggressive swim I've ever been in. When I exited the water my hand was bleeding. I got knocked about, kicked, and generally battered. I managed to get into a good position in the lead pack of swimmers until someone literally swam right over top of me to catch the feet of the person in front of me. Off went the goggles and I was stopped dead in my tracks, trying to recover my goggles before they were irretrievably lost in the lake. It took a second or two to get them back on and get going again. By that point I had lost the lead pack and had to be content with the second. I managed to catch some feet, and draft off them for the rest of the swim. Throughout the swim, all I could think about was the fact that I wanted to swim around the feet on which I was drafting, and try to catch the lead pack, but I decided it was better to conserve energy by drafting rather than lead the second pack and gain maybe 10 seconds that wouldn't be worth all of the effort. I was 10th out of the water. Somehow I lost my goggles on the way from the lake to transition. The path up to transition was incredibly stony, and I *still* have a bruised heel from it now, which hurts every time I take a step.

Swim:


Transition was quick, and I was out on my bike. For some reason I just couldn't find my legs. I mean, they were clearly attached to my body, but they had nothing. I felt flat. The course was pretty tough, as it seemed to just keep going up, but I didn't feel strong on it at all. On my third loop I saw one of my teammates (the girl I'd driven up to the race) as she shouted to me that she had crashed. I slowed down to help her out, but she told me I should keep going because she didn't want me to ruin my race on account of her. There was no way I was going to leave a crashed teammate at the side of the road. By the time everything went through my head about what I should do, she was back on her bike. I followed behind her for the rest of the lap to make sure that she got to an official safely. Turns out she had a concussion. Poor girl! The last lap felt better than the first 3, once I got back into my zone and pushed as hard as I could (which, sadly was not very fast).

It had started to rain on the bike course, and as I was coming back into transition I dismounted my bike and it slipped away from under me. I think my pride was bruised more than anything. I just picked up my bike and ran as quickly as I could into transition. Coach Jason gave me some encouraging words from the sidelines, and then I was out onto the run course.

For the first time at a race this season, I felt like I was running. Really running. Turnover felt good, breathing and legs seemed to be moving in unison. The run course was short (hence my surprisingly quick time), but the positive thing about this run was that I felt so good mentally. After a crummy bike and swim, it was nice to feel stronger on the run. I hope all of my runs feel like that for the rest of the season.

On the run in my new Team NS race suit:


This race was generally an "ugh" race, but Coach Colin says that I'm probably just not used to training "through" a race. Which is true. I've never raced tired like that before. I know that it's worth it because it will make me stronger for nationals. But I really never felt "on" at any point on course.

Team Nova Scotia really cleaned up at this race. Maybe it was the new team uniforms, but I think more likely it was the faster legs! Of the four athletes who won the overall Olympic and Sprint races (Male and Female), all of them were Nova Scotia athletes. Go Team NS!

This is me with Mac Grant, the winner of the male Sprint race. Mac's still a junior and is already a superstar! He has a blog, too. (Yes, Mac, this means you need to update more often now!)


All in all this race was a learning experience. Lots of things went wrong. A few things went right. It's all part of the game. The most important thing was that I had fun and that I'm gaining valuable lessons in racing.

Thanks for reading! And of course, thanks to all of my sponsors: InfinIT, Aerobics First/New Balance, Part One, Cyclesmith and Orthotics East.

Dad's Du - In Pictures!

When I raced at Guelph two weeks ago, my dad also raced the Duathlon the day previous. It was his second multi-sport event (ever!) and he placed 2nd in his AG! Way to go Dad!





He's my biggest supporter. My #1 fan! I'm his biggest supporter. His #1 fan!

Fredricton Olympic Distance - Atlantic Regional Championships

Unfortunately I only have time to post the coles notes version tonight. Race report will have to wait until I get back from Montreal on Thursday.

Total: 2:36:53
Swim: 24:26 (1:38/100m)
Bike: 1:25:33 (28.5/km)
Run: 45:36 (5:08/km)

Short version of my report: "Ugh."