Summer Cap

Summer is here! The days are long and hot. Dust is rising from the trails and there isn't much water in the rivers. I was able to hit a few local races this early summer with some success.

The training this spring and early summer hasn't had the quantity or quality. My recovery from these short, sporatic training sessions is almost non existence. And I'm okay with this... My wife and I had a new baby born mid June! Super happy baby boy with a big appetite.
This creates a huge change in time spent with focussed training but I'm happy with how everything has been so far.

The little Lion man 

Because the baby was a week late being born I was able to sneak in an active weekend winning both the 12hrs of Cumberland Mtb race with a 4 person team and the Country Roads 1/2 Marathon the following day. It was an extra bonus because I really felt I would be in Dad-mode that early June weekend.

Descending in the 12hrs of Cumberland 

The "A" Race of the summer was definately the Victoria Xterra on July 5th. It is a regional qualifier for Xterra World Championships in Hawaii in November. I really wanted to win my category to get the ticket for Worlds. My wife gave me the thumbs up that we could go (if I qualified).b

A few unknown athletes were in the starting gates setting up their bike when I arrived (late). As with any race, I want to size up the competition and see what my they look like. Are they fit, what gear are they using, what does there facial expression say... Everything adds to the picture and motivates me to convince myself I can match them, if not beat them!

The swim was not wet-suit legal, meaning the water temperature was above 22 C and we couldn't wear our efficient wetsuits. I felt that I had practised enough without a wetsuit for it to not bother me - but it did. I was  3.5 minutes slower than last year and it felt sloppy and ugly out there. I now needed to make up some time on the bike and run. I tuned my bike with lighter gear for efficiency but it is hard to make up 4 minutes in a race.

In the end, after the dusty technical ride and run, I ended up third overall. But, the first two athletes were considered "Elites" and I was given the first spot. I barely pulled it off because I was having leg cramping for the last climb on the bike and most of the run. It was a "damage control" type of finish.  I think it was due to the heat and humidity but it also could be that I pushed it too hard at the beginning of the bike to catch-up.

I'm happy to say that I was able to give it my all. But, I have lots of work to do if I want to be competitive in extra hot Maui for the Xterra World Championships in November.

The next race in the calendar is possibly the Campbell River 50k Challenge - 25km of Mountain Biking and 25km of Running (or any combo of that solo or with a relay team). Would it be better to bike 25km first or run? Hard to say.

After that, the classic Cumberland MOMAR Adventure Race is happening on Sept. 26th this year. I'm on a two person team and ready to hammer it.

Follow along on Strava:

Lets get out for a run or a bike together! Get in touch  Fit Chiropractic and Sport Therapy.

Turning the Page

The training that was completed over the winter is now paying off. I finally was able to break through some of my previous barriers that I had set over the past year. I came off four months of virtually no training when I travelled around Australia and NZ last fall to building up volume & intensities through the winter. I used some new testing protocols to guide my training bimonthly with MOXY Oxygen Monitors. This testing both helped me take the proper recovery but also implemented more specific intensities to perform with peak running efficiency.

New Science of Running

An new book was delivered this week hot of the press this month. Steve Magness brings together a pile of current research (that rocks the old theory on performance testing) in a readable format. It has two parts; the first is the science behind the radical new training programs and secondly it puts forth a suggested plan for your specific event.
I like that the book because it teaches us to get away from relying on lactate threshold levels and VO2Max testing to design a training program. For years I completed lactate testing throughout the training macro-cycle with little actual correlation to my current training and athletes that did exactly the same training would have different levels. It turns out that lactate is used as a fuel source at higher intensities. Why would we want to limit the production of this essential energy molecule? I now do workouts to train my body to efficiently transport lactate into and out of the cell, so it can be effectively used to produce energy.
The biggest part of my training this spring has been to really emphasise proper recovery sessions. I have always liked to do multi-sport days back to back with no recovery. During the winter building phase of training I think this is fine and keeps my mind motivated but as I hone into peak performance for task-specific training I need to prevent the overtraining effect it has on my body. It is actually very odd for me to take a day or two off training... at least doing something!  But, I feel much stronger because of it.

Next up is the Shawnigan Lake Sprint Triathlon May, 25th - a qualifier for the 2015 World Sprint Championships in Chicago. After that is an Olympic Distance triathlon in Victoria on June 15th, and the Xterra Off-road triathlon in Victoria on July 6th.

Fit Chiropractic.