Summer Racing Recap and Next Step

The season of competition came and went. Everything Almost everything went down as planned! I qualified for XTERRA worlds by winning the Victoria event (other than Elite Olympian Brent McMahon finishing ahead). I placed third in the Apple Triathlon in Kelowna, to end up 2nd at BC Provincials and qualify for the 2015 World Olympic triathlon championships in Chicago.

On the other side of things... I missed the start for a big race in Victoria, the same race as the new Victoria 1/2 IRONMAN event. Somehow through the craziness that is pre-race registration, I was distracted enough that I thought I was in the 8am start for the SPRINT triathlon.  I was actually in the OLYMPIC event that started 45 minutes earlier. After much discussion with race organizers to try and convince them to switch my category to the sprint event, I jumped on course and finished the bike and run component. I now consider it a very expensive training session never to be repeated again.

After the BC Olympic Triathlon Provincials in August, I took a much needed two week break from serious training. We got a new puppy, a golden doodle named Penny, and I spent time with family tooling around the amazing location that is the Comox Valley!

This two week break has turned into an enjoyable month and a half of just doing things I feel like. There was a cyclocross race here, an adventure race (MOMAR) there. Now, I think I'm ready to get back to some consistent training with semi-routine. I hope to build a good season of base training with putting in some miles running and cycling with a couple sessions working on overall strength, including Core strength.

I have joined the Comox Valley Rowing Club - another excellent club that rows on the river/estuary of the puntledge and Comox Bay. Also, the CV Cycle Club is a very passionate group of riders that I'm happy to be a part of.  With the changing of the seasons, soon the snow is going to fly in the alpine and the nordic skiing trails will open. I would like to get out a few days a week this year and work on nordic technique!  Now I just need to get the perfect balance of performance and recreation. Maybe this is a new genre of training: Recreational Performance.   I always like a partner in these activities, so please get in touch if you want to join me.

Follow along on Strava:

Call my office Fit Chiropractic and Sport Therapy at 250.871.3674 or email derek@drvinge.com

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.

Marching Forward!

Things have come together for the past few weeks. I have implemented a completely new training regime with the help of my coach/mentor Matt. We re-focused my efforts away from short quick runs for efficiency sake and brought back the long-steady-distance plan. And, you know what, it is working!
 I have been trying to get the most out of my limited schedule for years. As much as I want to, I don't have an unlimited amount of time to dedicate to training and performance. For the past three months I have spent some attention to be able to determine my limiting factors (in performance) and then find ways to fix them.

This is where my time spent with MOXY monitor has come in. It is a new sports-science tool to investigate what is the limiting factor in delivering oxygen to the muscles. It is a technique that has been used for a decade in the hospital but only recently has it been made small enough and mobile application for testing performance.
Through this testing I have found two things (so far) that were very important for improving my baseline. My long steady distance training was not long or steady enough! I needed to slow my pace down to a level where physiologic adaptive changes could be made (increase capillary density in muscle, increase levels of mitochondria, vaso-dilation of peripheral arterioles, etc.). Second of all, I had an oxygen delivery problem. I was not getting enough oxygen to my muscles from a limit in my respiratory system or the cardiovascular system.  Through MOXY testing we determined that I needed to work on my strength and endurance the respiratory system.
I have now been using the SpiroTiger system for six weeks. I have noticed a dramatic change in my daily respiratory rate, not to mention when I'm at red-lining!  The system is fairly straight forward: the diaphragm and accessory breathing muscles can be trained exactly the same way we train the rest of our body for performance. It is like a dumbell for our lungs or maybe more like a treadmill. It uses a computer to monitor and modify breathing frequency and a silicon bag attached to a tubing system that directs CO2 out and O2 in.

It is amazing how hard this workout is. I consider it a workout because within 3-5minutes of using it, I will break out in a heavy sweat and it takes all my focus to keep at full effort. The computer on the SpiroTiger warns if you are hypoventilating and going to pass out and it will also sound an alarm when you are breathing too deep (hyperventilating).

In my experience (along with all the research) I have noticed an ability to hold higher intensities for a longer period of time.  The muscles between my ribs and my diaphragm actually get a bit sore after a hard SprioTiger workout! For someone else to use the same set-up all they need is a user-set of tubes and a silicon balloon, the computer can be shared with a few people.  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

Testing

Time to test my training from the past eight weeks. I have been somewhat scattered in my focus for getting periodized training organized. But, it is what it is and I have to move forward from here.  As I utilize in my clinic, objective data is essential to moving forward.  I have found some new software that is important for monitoring progress, mapmyrun.com.

Using google maps I scoped out a flat-ish road near my house to be able to pace through a 5km time trial. It turned out to be somewhat rolling and an overall downhill drop of 33ft but I'm ok with that! I was aiming to be somewhere between 3:15-3:25/km and I was right near the middle.

View this Course on MapMyRun

This is the first testing situation in over five months. I really wanted to give myself a break this fall and let the years of very hard training on my body recover completely. In hindsight, I think half a year may have been a bit much, included with an indulgent lifestyle while travelling abroad. But, nevertheless, I have been working hard for the past 6-8 weeks on getting fit. I'm not sure when the next race will be, possibly one of the upcoming Island race series.

Dry-land Training

Where is all the snow!? I rode my bike by the Alpine Resort sign today (in shorts) on a beautiful bluebird day. There doesn't seem to be any precipitation not to mention freezing conditions to promote fluffy white stuff falling from the sky.  With these unseasonably dry conditions I have decided to try and make the best of it and get out on my bike, hit the gym, and put in some serious running sessions on the track.

Vanier Track with the Glacier in the background!

Before moving to the Comox Valley, I have somewhat avoided the track.  I spent a few years slogging it out on the track at UBC. Actually, the University didn't even have a real track and we used the one that was in Richmond. The Minoru Athletic Centre catered to us but we had to bus out there every T, TH, and S for the majority of the year. Well, now I have come full circle and once again I see the benefits of calculated pacing. Coincidentally, just this spring, the Vanier track was re-surfaced to become a nice flat and fast rubberized tarmac.  No lines are painted yet but I just stick to the inside lane anyway. Luckily I have a few friends that keep me honest by putting in solid work at the track weekly (sometimes daily).

Vince working on his quad strength

Les showing us how 8x800m should be done (fast)

The Comox Valley!

 We are here! My wife, Amber, and I are starting to feel settled after moving into the Comox Valley. We are very excited to be here and getting to know the layout, the activities, and most importantly the people. We spent many weekends driving up here from our previous home of Victoria and were tired of the long travel days. We both asked ourselves "why not just move there!" So we did.

I have joined the Comox Valley Road Runners Club. A fun run club that organizes and supports many events in the Valley. I'm happy to be part of a run club as it has been a few years since the last running club I have been a part of.  I already have a good group of serious runners that want to go for a run anywhere on a moments notice. This includes beautiful trail jogs or long road slogs or even a rip on the shiny new track.  I will even get some club gear to run the 2014 Island race series and represent.   So far the running training has gone excellently, but I have only been back for a month with semi-consistent training. Hopefully I can keep building the volume with some intensity leading into the spring racing.

I'm very excited to join the local Strathcona Nordic Ski Club. I have never been part of a cross country skiing club but feel that this could be the place for new athletic challenges and experiences. I've been told this is the largest Nordic Club in Canada!  They have the Nordic trails around Raven Lodge at Mt. Washington Ski Resort just 20minutes from downtown Courtenay.

I hope to get out and hit the mountian bike trails in Cumberland along with downhill skiing and Mt. Washington. There are so many outdoor active things to do in the valley. I'm very excited to be a part of!  And, my new chiropractic clinic is in "The Hub" on 4th Street in downtown Courtenay.

I'm BACK!

After a four month holiday with my wonderful wife Amber I'm back to training.
I spent some time travelling to Lithuania with the Jr. National Rowing team as their chiropractor before taking a three month vacation (sabbatical?) to Haida Gwaii, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand. We have many good stories and adventures from our travels but ultimately we are very happy to be back to Canada and to our new home in the Comox Valley!

What sport to do? Running, rowing, or riding my bike. Or is it xc skiing, crossfit, or xterra?
Maybe them all. Send me a message if you want to join!

Summer Success!

The Summer Events have come and gone! What a ride.

I have decided that I really like fierce competition and the whole process of reaching a level of fitness where I am competitive. I enjoy training and pushing myself every day. I like how good I feel after a long workout session. 

This year, after competing in a handful of road-running races, some trail runs, a cross-fit competition, a sprint and olympic distance triathlon, I finally felt I was ready for the Xterra Victoria race on July 14th, 2013. The official Victoria Xterra results are not correct, run times are incomplete. But, here is the important part:

The Xterra World championships are in Hawaii on Oct. 27, 2013.

I need to thank my training partner Clay for all the focus and motivation for the practice sessions, recon missions, and competitions through the spring and summer.  He kept me coming back and helping me regaining focus after I wanted to look into a multitude of other distracting things.  

 

 

I'm going to take a break from fierce competition. I will be travelling to Europe with Rowing Canada to be the team medical therapist for the Junior World Championships from July, 29th - Aug. 12th, 2013. I'm excited for the trip and a break from training and racing!

My wife and I are moving to the Comox Valley. A small paradise on Vancouver Island, close the Huge alpine mountains and glaciers alongside the ocean and wild outdoors. I will be there starting work the first week of November, 2013.  Read more here. 

Summer

I have now come to a point where I need to outline a rough schedule of what I'm doing this summer.  So, this is the hypothetical plan of the bigger races:


May 26 - Shawnigan Lake Triathlon (sprint) results
June 1 - Q's Run Series: 400m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m Centennial Track results
June 2 - Bastion Square Bike Race (crit) (scratch)
June 16 - Elk Lake Victoria Triathlon Subaru (Olympic distance)
June 23 - Whistler 25km Trail race "Comfortably Numb"
July 7 - Gutbuster Ladysmith
July 14 - XTERRA Victoria  Off-road Triathlon! *My Priority - Worlds Qualifier!
Aug. 11 - Gutbuster Mt. Washington!

If you know of any others... I would love to find out. Please message me (derek@drvinge.com)

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Note: If you need any help with injuries please stop by my Sport Med Clinic (www.drvinge.com)

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Tweets by @DaVinge_

Island Race Series: Sooke 10km

The final race in the 2013 Island Race Series is the Sooke 10km. Put on by the S.T.A.R.R. Sooke Trail and Road Runners, and an excellent club.  I spend some evenings training with this club when I worked in Sooke a few years back. I really enjoyed it the time with the close community of runners.
This race starts from the local High School and winds it's way up and around the Sooke River Rd. to close to the Sooke potholes. It is quite hilly and there never seems to be a flat spot on the race. It is a truly beautiful place to run. You can hear the river in stretches while running through large fir trees and ferns that surround the road as it cuts through the temperate rain forest.

  For me, the first 2-3km were fast, I tried to push the pace to see what I had in me. But, in fact, I was flat. I had no spark and I just held on for the rest of the race the level that I could hold steady. Time to re-group and get ready for the rest of the summer.  It was a nice finish to the race series!

Up next; I'm just putting my summer calendar together. More to follow soon.

Big Boy

It is time to let the big bike go. I'm more into cross-country and this bike hasn't been ridden in months.

2008 All-mountain full suspension bike, great for all types of trails. Size Large. 6" front suspension Marzocchi Bombers, 6" rear suspension with handlebar mounted lock-out. Full avid juicy disc breaks. $2799 New! Great shape and ready to rip. 

http://victoria.en.craigslist.ca/bik/3755455242.html

Island Race Series: Merville 15km

The second from last race in the Island Race Series is the Merville 15k. A small hamlet just north of Courtenay is country roads and small rolling hills. It has one general store which is also the gas station post office and grocery store.

I enjoyed this race!  This race is hosted by the "River Runners" from Campbell River, another 20min up the road. Well organized and delicious food at the finish.  The course wraps around a large rectangular piece of forest and ends just past the Start.

Merville 15k Map and Elevation - the pointer is on the highest elevation point

I felt like the pace needed to be pushed in the first few km as nobody was making the leap. It was right after an athlete said "It feels like a training run" that something clicked in my head that I should push the pace. So, I jumped out in front and lead the race for the first 7km.  It was at the start of the big long hill that Nick passed me and it stayed that way until the finish. I felt alright, but probably went out a bit to hard at the beginning trying to crack the psyche of the group.  Mark Cryderman of Campbell River was catching me though the race, but in the last 3km I just put everything into the final push and it payed off. Race results here. 

Next and final race of the Island Race Series: Sooke 10km. 

Trail Running with Injinji toe socks

A very inspiring video by my friend Darcy of Canada's top Ultramarathoner Adam Campbell.  All shot in the trails around Squamish, BC. I use the toe socks and they make me blister free.

Core Strength Class

At the same location as my LifeMark Sport Medicine Clinic - A 30min core strength class on Wednesdays April to June. FREE!

Check www.drvinge.com for more info

Island Race Series: Comox Valley Half Marathon

Yes! A half marathon this early in the season... perfect timing to test out endurance at race-pace over the long distance. The race put on by the legendary Comox Valley Road Runners. They always have a huge collection of athletes and many in the top rankings of the race.  The race went off without a hitch and many volunteers were out at every corner cheering and supporting the runners. I found that there was an exceptional amount of loud shouts at the 15km mark, perfect to get amped for the final push.

Read a good article here about the race. The temperatures were a bit low, in the 5 C range, and made it challenging to warm up before the race. But, with no frost bite or other serious problems everyone had a successful race.
I encountered a serious psychological brick wall about 3km from the finish. I had hammered it and pushed the pace from the 10km mark up until that point and then I slowly fizzled out. I had put in the work to get a finish time I'm happy with, but that leaves more to be desired for the next half-marathon.

Next up, Merville 15km.

Island Race Series: Bazan Bay

A blistering pace with a crowd of nationally ranked athletes, this race turned out to be a drag race! As you can see in the image below it looked exactly like this from the start!

Oh, wait, sorry that is not at all what it looked like. Not sure where that came from...ahem. But, this is image below is from first 100m into the race.

Well, Ok, that is not it either. But, that is what it felt like how fast we were going. It is a bit of a mix between the top and the bottom picture and you get an idea of how the race went.   I was still feeling a bit sore from the low-back injury I sustained two weeks before. But, I wanted to see how fast I could go. While waiting for the starting gun to go off, I was able to see all the top athletes who have located themselves in the Victoria and Vancouver area. The entire National triathlon training centre was participating, along with former national level runners, age group record holders and a few serious off-the-couch competitive athletes.

The course is flat and fast, not really any hills to speak of except a gradual decline-incline at the 2.5km turn around point.  It was lightning fast from the get go and after tale of the tape nine runners finished under 15min! I was in the top 25 and very happy to be there. I had a great race and enjoyed myself immensely! A new PR.  See results from 2013 here.

Next race, Comox Valley Half marathon!

Island Race Series: Hatley Castle 8km

The race is put on by FrontRunners, a local Victoria running store. They have a great system set up and RaceDay Timing Services have organized the chip timing in the race.  The combination of both companies organizing the race keeps the most fluid and efficient coordination. I enjoy when both these companies come together.

The Hatley Castle is a legendary location for a race, not to mention a National historic site and  BC heritage building. The Castle was commissioned by the Dunsmuir family in 1908, James Dunsmuir was one-time BC Premier and also BC lieutenant governor, in addition to being a wealthy coal industrialist. The castle was purchased from the family in 1939 and has been a military college and now, starting in 1995, as Royal Roads University. A truly beautiful campus in a castle, ocean front and surrounded by huge Douglas fir trees and a temperate rainforest.

  The Hatley Castle 8km race has by far the most hills of the Island race series. I don't know the overall elevation change, but as you can see below, it has significant hills (for a road-race) from sea-level to the top of the ridge.  My plan was to pace easy into the first 5km which was well into the top of the biggest hills and then rip the last 3km.  It worked out for the most part, but it is hard to reign it in when runners are passing on the uphill!
If you see in the map below it is somewhat like a large rectangle, but in actual fact it seems nothing like it.  I found the last 2km on the double track trails very relaxing and like a mountain path.  I ended up fighting for 2nd place at the end but first place (Geoff Martinson) was more than 90 seconds out in front. A great race!

The hunt for the Kludahk Trail

Where is it? And why is it so damn hard to find maps for it?

We spent the extra day off this weekend looking for the infamous Kludahk Trail: a 48 km trail that runs along the ridge above Jordan River between Port Renfrew and Sooke. We had little information to go on as the trail that is on public land has no free-access maps online.  So, a little guesswork from the map to the left, and a bit of Google Maps tracking we set out on our way. I'm sure that's what found you here!

I selected an access point just past Jordan River, ~20km from Sooke. I picked up a logging road and headed North into the woods picking spur roads with the freedom of flipping a coin. We ended up climbing into the snow about 4km off the West Coast Rd. We landed on an assess point for a wide trail heading NW and we decided to take a gamble and climb the mountain.

This is the best map I found online. Good luck!

The pictures below summarize the trail: Snow with crossed with downed Alders. Probably an old logging road with a gentle grade but very ingrown with shrubbery. 

The trail that we found is (roughly) shown below. I took the second road just after Jordan River heading up into the hills above the ocean. First there are a few km of clear-cut logging blocks but then the forest creeps back in. It is so thick that it would be very difficult to bush wack your way through. An old logging trail is the perfect access point. After some careful map perusing we realized we were not on the Kludahk trail.  The actual trail is up higher above the ridge near the lake system that is another 10km+ up the road, or starting in Port Renfrew.

 

After a bit more research, it turns out you can buy maps from the Kludahk Trail Outdoors Club.

Lets go explore more! Check out the mid and north-island trails.  Fit Chiropractic and Sport Therapy.

Island Race Series: Cedar 12km

The Cedar Hill 12k Race was put on by the Bastion Running Club out of Nanaimo, BC. It is a great race on straight and flat hilly country roads. On an out-and-back course it rolls along a large farming area just south of Nanaimo.
The race itself was a slog. I was going to try some new-old tactics; not hammering it from the get-go and saving a bit for the finish. I followed this for the first 4km, but then I couldn't let the lead group get away to far and I changed gears. I'm not sure if I was actually faster overall by trying to take it easy at the beginning. But, it was enjoyable passing people in the last 3km.   I ended up 3rd overall.

New shoes this race, instead of the standard AdiZero racing flats that I have used for the past 4 years. I decided to branch out into some new minimalist racing flats.   I train in the 0mm change NB 00 but I don't think my calfs would treat me very nice with a 12km hilly and hard road. My new NB 730 and really light and smoking fast in bright orange. They have a slight wedge heel-forefoot drop helping the lower leg out in those longer road slogs. My legs definitely felt the lower heel during (compared to my old racing flats) the race but I got through without too many problems. The next few days I was hobbling around a bit. Is it time to make the full switch?

New Balance 730!

A novel approach to interval training I have recently stumbled upon is the New Interval Training. No, seriously, it has been coined by Peter Thompson as the NEW Intervals. See here for more information.  The basis is to do the high-intensity intervals bi-weekly like usual but instead of taking a rest period in-between, transition into a fast jog recovery.  For example, instead of 6x800m intervals with 90sec rest, do 600m interval at 10km pace and 200m at Marathon pace.  The theory is that the training effect of intervals is to adapt the body to more efficiently utilize lactic acid as a fuel source.

Dogn' it

I spent the past weekend hanging out with a playful and hard working dog. I really enjoy this chocolate lab because she is so free spirited and happy all the time. She is able to let loose and mock-fight with the big dogs but also be gently enough to play with small children.

Can I admire a dog? Almost like I wish I could be one myself...  able to run endless repeats of chasing the ball or long scrambles through the bushes. Able to nap it out at any time of the day in any location and is ready to go a moments notice. Once food and water is sorted there is nothing else a good dog really needs. Except companionship.  That is what everyone needs. 

And a good dog is what I need.