This is a video of Mike's swimming technique. Please feel free to critique via the comments feature.

Mark's 1/2 IM Alberta Challenge Race Report - Quest to Not Be Last

Pre-Race: Got up at 5:15 AM to get ready for the race, Diane was coming at 5:50 AM to pick me up so I had to grab all my stuff. Gathered stuff and double checked and finished packing. I'd had a touch of the flu the previous week so hadn't had much excercise the previous 2 weeks: a swim with experienced IM swimmer Mike and a bike ride with Troy and Diane on the day before the race. I think I was a wee touch out of shape because I was sore from the bike ride on Saturday morning even though it was only about an hour or so. I had wanted to load up on food for breakfast but in the end I just vectored up a little bit instead.

We arrived at the race about an hour or so in advance, the race was at Miquelon Lake Provicinal Park about 40 minutes south/west of edmonton. Set up my transition area with the hopes it would be more organized than the 1/2 Moon Lake transition, where my transition time was rather large... Had the pre-race meeting, seemed like some pretty complicated instructions about where to bike/run so I hoped things would be well marked. Went down to the beach after for a brief warm up swim, which was pretty dang cold.

Swim: I started somewhat near the back of the pack, there were only 24 people (maybe 22 by start time) so it was really all the same anyways. Started swimming and was feeling pretty good. I'd taken a gel right before race start and I think that helped. In the pool I always breathe bilaterally but today I went all breath on the right so I could site on almost every stroke, which seemed to turn out well for me. My left arm got pretty sore (must have been working harder?) but I figured it didn't really matter because you don't need your arms for the rest of the day anyways right? I settled in and went around the buoys. As I went past the second buoy and turned towards the third buoy the sun was directly in my eyes and it was pretty much impossible to see the buoy, luckily I was able to follow the guy in front of me and he seemed able to find it pretty well.

Near the end of the second lap some dude swam towards me so I had to smack the water a bunch of times to get his attention. He came up and said "What?" So I said "Are you going the wrong way?" And he said all annoyed like "NO oh... thanks." Then he swam straight back in while I still had to go around the last buoy, bitter?

My goal time for the swim was 48 minutes because I got 1:35 in the 3.8 km pool swim we did and Mike doesn't really buy it, (always rolls his eyes and says sure whatever) when the 1:35 time is mentioned, so I needed the 48 minute official time. As I exited I asked some guy the time and he said 8:49, and Diane later said we started after 8, so maybe goal time achieved? Won't know until the results are posted I guess. (Update: official results list time as 42:50). After I asked the guy the time some girl was holding her hand up so I said "are you a stripper?" she said yes so I was able to get her to pull my wetsuit off, got pretty sandy in the process but that was ok in the end.

T1: I saw Diane in transition which I figured meant I'd had a pretty good swim because Diane is an excellent swimmer (especially by kdmm standards.) I tried to get ready fairly quickly but still took awhile, I had been ahead of 1 guy for sure and I thought at least 2 guys out of the water but one guy sprinted through transition and exited on a run, so I was a little concerned I might be last now. With only 22 people in the race I thought it was quite likely I might get last, so I was a little concerned.

Bike: The guy who passed me in transition was quite aways ahead of me so there was no one in sight, this made it a little tough to decide what pace to go at, no one to measure against and it felt like I was going into the wind so I went in aero. Quite a few people passed me going the other way (after the turnaround) but sprint and olympic were mixed in so it was very difficult to tell how I was doing in my race. At the turn around the volunteer told me to turn around, but I hadn't noticed Diane coming towards me so I thought maybe the turn around was still further ahead, luckily I only argued for a short time before I ceded the point and turned around. Unfortunately I found out I had been going with the wind before, and was alas now going into quite a strong wind. Bitter I hadn't been able to tell? The course was relatively hilly too (in my opinion, most would have likely found it flat) which seemed challenging. I still hadn't passed anyone at this point so I was starting to get a little concerned but luckily I started passing some sprint bikers on mountain bikes, not really a fair competition but I was still a little pleased to be catching some one. I had to be 30 km in before I passed the first non-mountain biker and I was pretty pleased with that. At the turn around I saw Diane and she was only about 1/2 a km in front of me so I was pretty pleased because Diane is a super strong biker. I passed a couple more people and eventually caught up to Diane, but then she told me she was pretty sick (vomitus eruptus) which was why she was going slower. After about half way I settled into a rhythm and kept up a pretty good pace into the wind and then with the wind geared to the hardest gear and felt like I was making some pretty good time. I passed a couple of more people but the ride started to become a little mentally trying, sections of the course that seemed fast the first time through seemed painfully long the next time around, etc. Finally the bike ended and I got to T2 in pretty good time, I think it was 3:45 or so total time elapsed, which I think is as good as I could have hoped for.

T2: Took awhile longer as I was pretty slow, I think I was ahead of 4 people or so, but at least one passed me in transition.

Run: Decided to take my camelbak with me on the run as I was unsure how many water stops there would be, but it was empty. At the first water stop I tried to get it filled but alas they were too low on water so I just had to drink their accelerade and water instead. In the end I wasn't able to fill up the camelbak until the 3rd water stop. The run course was pretty awesome as it was 3 laps through mostly trail running through ponds and forests, etc. The only downside is there were lots of steep (though short) hills, which normally I would like, but not today as I was hurtin' pretty bad... I was in a fair bit of pain on the course and wasn't going fast, had to do a lot of 10-2's and then 10-3's and a couple of 10-5's. I didn't see anyone who was near my speed after I passed some Olympic people on the first lap but I was lapped by several half iron guys who looked super fast and not really hurting at all. At the one water stop the lady kept asking me if I wanted a splash, so after the fourth stop (hit this stop 2wice per loop) I said Yep, Hit Me With the Splash. Then it was a little awkward, as she didn't seem to know what to do (maybe I was the first one to say yes?) and asked me if I wanted it on the back or front. I said just the normal splashing and eventually she poured the water over my head and I put some in my hat too. Unfortunately 2 minutes later a wasp or hornet or something bit me as presumably it was drawn by the water. By my final lap it looked like I was the last person on the course, which made me feel a little bad (for Diane waiting and for the volunteers who hadn't abandoned their posts, by the end that was just the splashing lady at the water stop). Near the end I found out there were 3 people behind me so I guess I dodged the bullet as far as being last, and after a 2:42 1/2 marathon I had a total time of 6:36. I was pretty pumped when I crossed the finish line, was pretty exciting even though most of the crowd had left by then.

Conclusion: Alberta Challenge was pretty fun, volunteers were very good, accelerade tasted funny but it and the sharkies were pretty awesome.

JAWS

I'm back from salt water training in Honolulu for a week. Well actually I never got in the ocean, nor did I put my face in the pool for that matter. I planned on doing some swims while away. But the night we got there we started watching " SHARK WEEK" on the Discovery Channel...need I say more? So I used that excuse for missing swimming.... not sure how to talk my way out of not swimming in the pool.
I did however RUN everyday and biked on the stationary bike 3 times.
This week.. Mike, Diane and I are going to Grande Cache for the DEATH RACE. I have a realtivly easy leg ( leg 1 ). I'm taking my bike and my swimsuit down too! It should be a great time...hopefully no bears :)

KDM2 High Altitude Training Camp - Canmore, AB

We went to the mountains for some biking and running practice. I missed several bikes in the previous week but we were planning on a long ride on the Saturday so I feel that more or less makes up for it. In the end we did a 115 KM ride from Canmore to Johnson Canyon and back on Sat, a 2 hour ride from Canmore to Banff and back on Sunday, and a 1.5 hour run on Monday. And of course, a wee tiny touch of the ole infinity pool.

Temperature/Conditions in Tempe

http://www.tempe.gov/wx/TownLake.aspx

NUTRITION MISSION

I'm back from Canmore. I did a lot of running but no swimming or biking so I have to work on this!

I need to work on my nutrition. I need to eat a balanced menu, I am going to use the principles of Body for Life! This means I will be eating 6 small meals per day and have a protein and a carb at each feeding. It is going to take planning but I am willing to try it!

Tomorrow Mike and I are getting up to do our 40 minute bike with a 10 minute transition before work. Then we have swimming tomorrow night ( yucky ).

I will post my eating tomorrow.
KK

Hilarious:
http://xmb.stuffucanuse.com/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=1359

Cool Video Production. Busy next November?
http://ironmanfl.blogspot.com/

Guy stung by Bee. Tough as Nails!!!
http://ironmanexpedition.blogspot.com/2007/06/ironman-coeur-dalene-2007-race-report.html

Is Diane Doing Her Training Week of July 7-13

Monday- run :40 Completed Tuesday am
bike 1:15 Done

Tuesday- run:20 Done
swim 1:00 Done

Wednesday- bike :55 Did :45 then tragedy struck

Thursday- swim:35
bike 1:10 Done

Friday-

Saturday- swim 1:30
bike 1:30
run :35

Sunday- run 1:10

Is Mark Doing His Training in the Week of July 7-14???

First week of training went pretty well, I did miss the bike ride on Friday when my plan to wake up at 5:00 AM didn't even get close to started. Maybe for the best anyways, next time I think I'll just plan to bike to work. Had a wedding on Saturday and still pulled off the 1:10 run on Sunday, which was pretty solid. I went on a bit of a trail run up wedgewood ravine so that was very pretty solid.

Day of Week	Plan Calls For	Mark Did
Monday	1:15 B 0:40 R	Swapped to Friday
Tuesday	1:30 S 0:20 R	1:30 S 0:40 R
Wednesday	0:55 B	10 hills (run)
Thursday	0:35 S 1:10 B	1:30 S 1:00 B (spin)
Friday	Day Off	0:40 R (from Mon)
Saturday	1:30 S 1:30 B 0:30 R	1:00 S 2:00 B 0:20 R
Sunday	1:10 R	1:10 R

Diane's Adventure

Well, I should have known I shouldn't have gone biking when Beena bailed on me at 5:10 this morning. I figured, what the heck, I'd go out anyways and get in my 55 minutes as per the training bible. Everything was great- the sun was out, there was little to no wind, and I flew up the Henday onto Highway 16. The road was a filled with rocks and crap, but I was still cruising along, approaching the Devon intersection when POP. Of course, it had to be a back tire. I wanted to cry, but I just thought to myself WWLD (What would Lance do). I got out my tools, and to my amazement, I actually managed to get the wheel off (the back wheel is tricky), get the tube out, new tube in, and the tire back on the bike. I was feeling very cocky about my mechanical prowess. I am woman, hear me roar!!!!I pull out the CO2 dispenser, when to my surprise, I notice that my only CO2 cartridge is used. So there I am, on Hwy 16, with no cell phone, all alone.

My saviour arrived on the scene after about 5 minutes- Tom Yellowbird and his pick-up truck. He was very nice, packed my bike in his truck and drove me home. I almost got a date out of the deal, as he asked me out for coffee, but I declined!!!!!!

Note to self- ALWAYS check to make sure I have all the tire repair equipment with me, and start carrying a cell phone, espescially if I'm riding alone.

Having completed my first Ironman, I realized that I made no less than 40 mistakes during the course of event. There were things that I had no idea about that caught me off guard. I will chalk these up to a lack of experience; try to learn from my mistakes and better prepare myself for the Tempe attempt. I will:

1) Train smarter and more efficient.
2) Do more transition integrated workouts.
3) Have a better diet.
4) Put in more time on the bike and run. Quite a bit less on the swim.
5) Enjoy the whole experience with Team KDM2. (Make sure Mark gets to experience that last 800 meters of the race … what a rush!!!!)

I think it is really is more about the journey and less about the final time.

The day the music died!

July 7th....Great White North Half Ironman.... was the day the music died!
I'd done this race twice before and enjoyed it! I'd done pretty well and was expecting to do so again this year. I definatly had not trained as well, but I thought " I can do it". Was I ever wrong!

There were many omens that the day was going to end badly.
1) I'd forgotten to pack a run shirt in my bike to run transition and it was too late to add it!
2) I didn't untie my shoe laces so when I got to transition, I had to undo laces tied 3 times!
3) It started raining during the swim
4) While swimming at what I thought was a decent pace I was pasted by a back stroker
5) While riding along I noticed the guy ahead of me had a camelback ( no offense Mark) and tube socks
6) When I got to bike to run transition Mike ( count chocula ) was not there with my shirt

So the swim was dreadful, even though in my mind it felt like I was going super fast!
The ride was good, I past lots of people and averaged about 30km/hour. Then I started the run, usually my best event, and I ran along and at 8 km I just couldn't go on! MY stomach hurt, my leg hurt and my mind was absolutly dreading the boring run course. Never before have a just quit a race but thats what I did...I ran into the bushes, took off my timing chip and ripped off my race # and started the long hard journey back to the finish line. Of course I didn't want to walk on the run route so I dodged in and out of residential areas until I finally found my friends.
When I quit I felt like all the pressure in the world had been lifted off of me and I felt good! I was sad when I saw my friends because I felt like I had let them down. In hindsight I think I should had tried to finish the race, even if it took be until the cutoff time. But I didn't and it is too late now to change anything.
Its a wake up call to swim harder and do more transition runs!

Mark's Race Schedule

My ultimate goal race, is of course Arizona Ironman.

In addition I was planning on running the ING Edmonton Marathon, however the long runs seem to be slipping away from me and I want to concentrate on completing the IM training program so it looks like I may do the 1/2 marafun instead. You still get to go through the tent with the waterfall so may be all solid anyways.

For preparation tri's before the big one in Arizona I've already done 1/2 Moon Lake which is of course one of the biggest edmonton area tris. I wanted to do an Olympic one as well, but can't seem to find one that fits so I think the final preparation tri will be the Alberta Challenge which is a 1/2 IM at Miquelon Lake Provincial Park. Should be good?

Diane's Thoughts

Well, it's Day 2 of Ironman training, and so far so good. The big challenge is actually making it swimming. I just signed up for Alberta Challenge Half Ironman, so Mark and I will kick some butt (hah- more like try to finish standing up). The only other tri I will do before Arizona is the Leduc Woman's Only (sorry Mark and Mike- unless you grow breasts, you're not allowed).

I have no time goals for Arizona. I just want to finish with a smile. My only real goal is to actually run the run, and not have to float on my back to stop hyperventilating during the swim.

138 days to go until the big day.