As of yesterday, I have officially swapped out “Tempo Tuesday” for “Time Trial Tuesday”. After much deliberation, I decided to join the Newmarket Eagles Cycling Club to participate in their weekly time trial events. I was hesitate to join because I wouldn’t know anyone and I was worried that I would stick out like a sore thumb among a group of serious [fast!] cyclists.

Some friends encouraged me to go for it, and I knew it would be a great way to get stronger and more comfortable on the bike in a simulated race environment each week. Yesterday was my first time and I was extremely nervous! As I parked and started getting my bike ready, it was hard not to be intimidated by all the guys rolling around in fancy matching race kits, full disc wheels and teardrop helmets.

I checked in, got ready and went for a warm-up ride, wondering what the heck I had gotten myself into. In the mean time, I managed to spot a couple of familiar faces from swimming and it was nice to chat away the nerves a bit. I made a couple new friends as well. I felt better once I knew there were plenty of more casual cyclists in the group as well, and everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

Next thing I knew it was time to line up. We were assigned a starting order number (slowest to fastest) and each rider goes off 30 seconds apart. You call out your number to the marshall at the turn-around and again at the finish in order to get a recorded time.

I started in 10th spot and waited eagerly for my turn. I had one shoe clipped in and fired up my bike computer as they counted me down: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

It took me several tries to get my other foot clipped in – it’s a lot more challenging when trying to do so quickly! That’s something to work on and will be great practice for tris. Once I was clipped in, I settled into aero right away and just hammered it. I really had no idea how to pace myself, but I compared it in my head to a 5K (running) race effort, which translates to GO HARD AND FAST.

The course was mostly flat with some slight inclines/declines and gentle rollers, with just one bigger hill (still minor) near the turn-around. The 30 second separation in start times was great and gave me tons of space. It was nice to just get in the zone and not worry about anybody else around me. That being said, I had my eye on cyclists way up ahead and hoped I could gradually reel them in.

As I approached the turn, the marshall has his flag raised which meant that a car was coming up behind me. D’oh! He drove through extremely slowly, which in any normal situation would have been appreciated but in this case I was wishing he would just hurry up! I had to unclip and come almost to a complete stop before I could finally make the turn. Luckily, the marshall keeps track of lost time to be removed from the finish time, but it killed my momentum.

Turning into a killer headwind certainly didn’t help either! It was insane. Speed dropped a ton but I just focused on pushing as hard as I could. On the way back, I managed to catch and pass 3 riders (nobody passed me) and finished strong. I was definitely ready to be done in the last 5K and it took every ounce of will to keep going. I even puked a bit in my mouth at one point! (sorry for the TMI) I was also dying of thirst and dry-mouth but no way was I going to reach for my water bottle! I’ll have to bring my aero bottle next time (attached between aero bars so I just lean down to sip).

I crossed the line, called out my number and glanced down to see 24:XX on my computer. WHAT?! Shocked to say the least. I had no idea what speed that translated to, but I knew it was much faster than I expected to be.

I cooled down a bit, chugged water, watched the others finishing and then loaded up the bike to wait for official results.

15.0 KM (9.3 mi)
24:04
37.4 KPH (23.2 mph)

I’m so glad I went and look forward to challenging myself at future Time Trials. The course changes each week with different routes and distances so it will be hard to compare progress until we’re back to this one in a few weeks, but I know it will make me stronger and faster. I certainly wouldn’t push myself that hard out on a ride by myself.

Another thing I noticed is that my fears on my bike vanish in a “race” environment. I’m still pretty nervous on the tri bike, especially if it’s windy, going downhill and/or going fast. But yesterday I felt relaxed, confident and comfortable. I figure that the more experience I can get in this environment, the better prepared I’m going to be for my tri events. 

So, Time Trial Tuesdays are definitely going to be a regular thing around here. I’ve also managed to convince a couple of friends to join as well.

Sorry, I was too nervous for pictures! Next time.

 Have you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone lately?

I’m still juggling things around trying to settle in to a routine, but changing on the fly to accommodate “life” stuff. It’s been a bit of a challenge fitting (almost) everything in, but so far so good!

Monday – tempo run + swim

I moved “Tempo Tuesday” to Monday this week since I had taken a rest day in Sunday, in order to free up my schedule later in the week. I packed a bag and tackled the run over lunch. I decided to stick with 2000m tempo intervals again with a short 200m recovery job in between. I think the overall quality of the workout is nearly equal, but it’s so much more easy to handle mentally! It felt a bit better than last week, but still tough finding my tempo groove.

10.0 KM (6.2 mi) – 51:31 – 5:09/KM (8:17/mi)
3 x 2000 @ (4:52, 4:52) – (4:51, 4:51) – (4:52, 4:50)

That evening it was off to the pool for Masters where we did timed 100s for the entire hour. We were instructed to keep our pace as consistent as possible from the beginning of the set til the end. I actually loved this workout!

2000m – 1:00:00
20 x 100  

Tuesday – bike + brick run

I dragged myself up early for a ride on the trainer (more blahs – I really hate it right now) then headed right out for a brick run in the rain.

bike 18.5 KM (11.5 mi) – 45:00 – 24.7 kph (15.3 mph)
run 5.0 KM (3.1 mi) – 27:00 – 5:24/KM (8:41/mi)

Wednesday – bike + swim

I bike-muted Wednesday morning and had a great ride to work…. only to discover later in the day that I must have had a slow leak because my tire was flat! I had a spare tube, but no tools on me (#FAIL) but I was able to snag a ride home with a co-worker. Two flats on two different bikes in 5 days?! Enough already!

It was back to Masters Swim that evening, where it turned out to be a very relaxed session. It seemed like everyone was yapping away more than swimming. We had fun but I felt like a slacker by the end of the night!

29.2 KM (18.1 mi) – 59:39 – 29.4 kph (18.3 mph)

1600m – 1:20:00
4 x 400 free, 16 x 25 kick, 150-100-50-150-100-50 pull

Thursday - run

I met up with the marathon clinic peeps for a casual evening run. It was fun to chat with everyone a little more about their races last Sunday. Our session is officially over now (I survived!) but many of us will still be meeting casually before the next round starts (hint: I will not be coaching).

8.5 KM (5.3 mi) - 47:09 – 5:32/KM (8:54/mi)

Friday – long ride + brick run

I wanted to get my long run done on Friday ahead of a pretty busy weekend. I headed out after work solo and it was a challenging ride, with lots of wind, hills and rush hour traffic. I was white knuckling through most of it and I’d call this one a character builder! Also another “longest ride ever” milestone!

75.2 KM (46.7 mi) – 2:34:02 – 29.3 kph (18.2 mph)

I hopped off the bike, changed shorts and headed out immediately on wobbly legs for a brick run. Definitely felt strange at first and I was undoubtedly tired, byt my legs hung in there and I ended up maintaining a quick and consistent pace for 5K.

5.0 KM (3.1 mi) – 25:34 – 5:06/KM (8:12/mi)

I crashed hard after that and snuggled with a sleeping puppy for a bit before getting to bed early. Nothing like a 3 hour workout to start the weekend!

I don't know which one of us looks more exhausted!

Saturday – REST!

It was nice having most of the day at home with hubby & puppy on Saturday, which was most of the reason I did my long ride Friday night knowing that I would be gone most of the day Sunday. We had a nice quiet day before I headed out to a team dinner with Nolan’s Dream Chasers.

Sunday – long run

Sporting Life 10K

I parked my car at the north end subway and ran down to the start to meet the gang. With the race being point-to-point, this would allow me to hop on the subway from the finish area back to the car and also gave me a chance to get my “long” run in the the extended warm-up before the race.

Nothing like running down Yonge Street in a cheetah skirt, rainbow leg warmers and day-glo orange shirt at 6:30AM…

7.3 KM (4.5 mi) – 40:08 – 5:32/KM (8:54/mi)
10.2 KM (6.3 mi) – 1:16:56 - 7:32/KM (12:07/mi)

Week 2 Totals

Swim Distance: 4600m
Swim Time: 2:20:00

Bike Distance: 122.9 KM (76.4 mi)
Bike Time: 4:18:41
Bike Average: 28.5 kph (17.7 mph)

Run Distance: 46.0 KM (28.6 mi)
Run Time: 4:28:18
Run Average: 5:50/KM (9:23/mi)

Overall Time: 11:06:59

Yesterday Nolan’s Dream Chasers took to the streets of Toronto for Sporting Life 10K to celebrate Nolan’s victory lap. NO MORE CANCER! Treatment officially finished literally the night before the race. It was an emotionally loaded day and a ton of fun. I am so thrilled and honoured that I got to be a part of it.

The best news of the morning was the fact that we had raised a total of over $31,000 and achieved our goal of being the top fundraising team! Thank you so much to all of you who helped make that happen. (And Erin was the top individual by a long shot!)

Nolan even made the front page of the Toronto Star on Saturday!

“Today, six-year-old Nolan Hathway finishes with 1,199 days of hospital visits, pills and pain. His treatment for blood cancer is done. Tomorrow, on his first day as a cancer survivor, he runs.”

I met up with the team in the starting area on Monday morning. It was sprinkling rain so we stayed bundled in our ever-so-fashionable throw-aways.

After chatting away excitedly for a while and wishing everybody good luck (we even had some first-timers!), it was time to line up with the masses. I commented that I had never started so far back at this race. Despite having nearly 20000 runners, the corral system seemed to work pretty well and we never felt over-crowded.

if you look closely, you can see the start line waaaay up ahead

A bunch of us started together, and I was determined to stick with Nolan’s Mom Erin, Meg and T. We had a couple of goals: (1) be as loud as possible, and (2) get our picture taken as much as possible. We had cowbells attached to ourselves and fluorescent orange shirts, so we were definitely up for the challenge.

True words:

It was a ton of fun clanging along the course attracting as much attention as possible, soaking up all the cheers and comments from spectators and other runners. We stuck together, laughed a lot, rang our bells like crazy, posed for cameras and counted down the kilometres to one big finish. It was amazing to watch the sea of runners snaking along Yonge Street ahead of us (the course is a straight line until 7K).

I don’t think we stopped smiling the entire time. So many things to be happy about and what a perfect way to celebrate. How appropriate that it was also Mother’s Day too! I loved sharing this day with the strongest and most incredible Mom I know. No kid should have to go through what Nolan has, but he was lucky to have a Mom and family who could handle it. They fought relentlessly for every one of those 1,199 days and this family didn’t just survive – they have thrived.

Soon the much anticipated finish line was in sight and we spotted Nolan waiting with his Dad on the sidelines, ready to hop in for his shining moment.

Does that smile just melt your heart, or what?

The crowd erupted around us as Nolan ran along side his Mom all the way in to the finish.

After crossing the finish line, we easily spotted all of our fellow orange shirts and rallied up for lots of hugs and high fives. It may have been my slowest 10K time, but it was by far the most worthwhile and rewarding.

Later at the awards ceremony, Nolan got to go up on stage with some other kids while Camp Ooch accepted the cheque for over $1.9 Million. Several counsellors and reps from Camp Ooch were there and they took the time to congratulate Nolan and thank the team personally. It really felt good to give back as much as we could to such a wonderful organization that truly makes a difference. 

Thank you again to everyone who has supported us this year. I don’t think any of us will ever forget the impact of this day.

***

The winner of my fundraiser giveaway, selected by random draw, is:

Erin R.!

Miles has been home for 9 days now and he definitely seems to be enjoying his new lifestyle. He has his favourite spots, his favourite toys, his favourite treats. He is very sucky and loves to cuddle when he’s not in “puppy spazz mode.”

Training is coming along, not without its challenges of course. We love figuring out how he thinks and watching him improve every day. Thankfully, he is almost completely house-broken and usually lets us know when he needs to go outside.

Night time is hit and miss – he sleeps pretty well but wakes up whining a few times most nights. (He is in a crate in our room, for those who asked.) He is also getting much better with being left in his crate during the day for periods of time.

For now Hubs is home full time and enjoying his “pupternity leave” as we like to call it. It’s so hard leaving for work every day when all I want to do is stay home with my guys. It also makes afternoons drag even longer when I’m anxious to get home for puppy time!

He still loves his naps… and so do we.

We have introduced him to a couple of new people (and my sister even puppy-sat for a few hours last weekend) and he was apprehensive at first, but warmed up quickly. Miles says, “It helps when they bring gifts!”

All in all, things are good and our little family is very happy. Never a dull moment with a puppy in the house!

Have a great weekend and thank you again for all of the support for Nolan’s Dream Chasers!

Sporting Life 10K is this weekend and Nolan is FINISHING TREATMENT. They even threw a little party for him at the hospital:

Nolan’s Dream Chasers are ready to take Toronto by storm. Nolan has even been selected to go up on stage after the race and receive the ceremonial giant cheque for Camp Oochigeas! Please help us make that cheque as big as possible, and keep NDC in the top spot for fundraising teams.

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. I am still $360 shy of my personal fundraising target and I would love it if you could help get me a little bit closer before Sunday. Every dollar counts.

Don’t forget my big fundraiser giveaway: $5 donation = 1 entry. Winner will be announced next week. (Odds of winning may seem slim but there are a couple of $250 donations that will not be counted in the raffle, as well as several people who have asked not to be entered.)

Here’s another look at all the goodies up for grabs:

Vega Sport 540g Pre-Workout Energizer in Acai Berry + shake mixer bottle + 12 Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars

Large selection of Snickers Marathon Energy Bars

Three non-slip headbands from Chickbands

Large selection of Rub-A535 muscle and joint creams

IFitness Ultimate Race Belt I

Autographed copy of Second Wind by Cami Ostman

Custom pace bands or race bib from Races2Remember (selected by winner)

Sof Sole socks and inserts (in winner’s size)

You can donate here.

You can help make a difference in the life of a child affected by childhood cancer. SL10K hopes to raise $1.5 million for Camp Oochigeas and send more kids to camp than ever before!