My race season so far...

Year 2016 Recap - Brace Yourself for more Graphs.

Being process driven, I like to marvel the new set of dorky graphs from 2016! Put on your nerdy glasses for another boring post on number crunching data. For the original post from 2015, click here. 

1. Shoes by Year

Last year I wanted to start training with cushion shoes. This method has given me an advantage in getting more softness and protection for my poor aging joints and calves. For racing, I can then use the lightweight racing flats and feel like I'm flying and get those ground contact times down. :)

The Brooks Ghost is a great cushion shoe for 20km-25km LSD runs. Still light enough but cushy enough for protection. 

The asics Cumulus is a slightly greater mid-cushion, perfect for sprinting down hills and is built like a tank. Be careful of its obnoxiously long shoe laces, as I do tuck them in so I don't trip. Its secondary gel cushion technology makes it soft on the heel especially.

The adidas Boston and adios are new editions from 2016 too. Watch for them in 2017, they are dangerously fast, I'm slowly transitioning into racing in them. :D I normally have been racing in New Balance's 1400s.

   

2. Distance and Intensity Flow Diagrams 

Since 2015, I kept track of workout intensities for each day.


Red meant Race Days/Time Trial Efforts,

Orange meant Lactate Threshold,

Yellow meant Intervals,

Limegreen meant Steady State, and

Green meant Easy Only Days.

Usually after a big race in red, you'll see some solid green easy days.

Lots of easy bike workouts here in green, which gives me more base to focus on running.

You might be wondering about the missing data after September. I did take a little break from swimming, that's indeed just me slacking off. :) 

3. Intensity Breakdown



Here's the aggregation by intensity. The run comparison is neat as more percentage is spent in easy and more racing as opposed to 2015. Less volume and less intervals, and yet despite more racing, was the strategy for 2016, which resulted in personal PBs in half and full marathons last year.

4. Bike Terrain

For 2016, I was still training blind without the power meter for the most part, but the volume is up there. 2017 will be fascinating with the new power meter.  :)



5. Lucky Shoes for Long Course Races

A Winston's classic graph. It looks like there might be one more big race for the 1400s before I retire them.

Last Chance to Run on the Floating Bridge! - Amica Seattle Marathon RR

There were a bunch of justifications I made, some of them silly, to do this race.

1. My last race in Victoria was a race in Canada for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, and hence now this brings us to Seattle for the American Thanksgiving.
2. A bunch of friends from Adidas Runners Vancouver and our Cambie Run Club were going down, so it was a bit of a no brainer for Jen and I to tact on this race to end the 2016 season with them. Also a chance to visit my good friends in Seattle, Michael and Daniel.  
3. Also, mostly it was my last chance (eh hem…my first and maybe only chance) to run on the I-90 scenic floating bridge, which was my excuse for choosing the marathon over the half distance. The half marathon version goes near but doesn't actually go over the floating bridge.

Morning Start @ 5th Ave + Harrison St

Bonus: Also I guess there’s some added symmetry to do an east coast US marathon in Boston earlier in the year and now a west coast US marathon in Seattle to end the year.   

YES, I’m a bit of race snob when it comes to these minor details in race destinations planning. I’m all about the patterns.

• Double heartbreak hills for my races in Boston and Zurich for 2012.
• Double canyons from Grand Canyon in Arizona and the Canyon on LaSalle Street in Chicago for 2013.
• Double marathon races in Toronto for 2014.

The Race:

Some great opportunities to pose under the Space needle prior to race start. We were lucky to have perfect conditions - dry not too warm, not too cold. It was raining heavily the day before. It was a casual late start for the marathon peeps at 8:15am. The half was originally scheduled for 7:30am but got changed to 7:45am. I got to watch Jen prep for her half race just a little bit earlier and afterwards, I mimic her exact pre race stretch spots and warm-up drills to get ready.

The anthem got played and we were off. My strategy was to run a little faster on the flats and then coast up the killer hills near the end. This means positive splitting more than what I would normally do. It also didn't help that the timing mat was at 13 miles instead of 13.1 miles.

This was a fun race, a scenic but brutal course. The elevation grade changes are steeper than I had hoped.

The course starts near the Space Needle and heads east towards Lake Washington in a generally giant counter-clockwise loop, with a twist to get on and off the floating bridge. Most of the hills are at the start and near the end.


It's like a scene from King Kong, we ran away along the hilly streets of Seattle towards these highway on-ramps. Seeing the mono-rail cars above was really cool! 


6-7km We run across a large tunnel to escape the downtown traffic


8-12km Flat and floating bridge! We head towards and back from Mercer Island, and a second tunnel. Too cool and fun!


The course settles down and is mostly flat with minor turns, also completing a loop around Seward Park (about half way). To my surprise, I wasn't sure if I was off course as there wasn't a half way timing mat. Of course, I later realized the 'halfway' mat was actually earlier at 13 miles.

Madrona Park view along the route

Now to the business end of the race...


31-35km welcomes the deadly hills. A cheer zone was at the bottom. Lots of people started to pass me! I was running until that point before approaching the big hill on Madison Street. Instead of an acute angle turn, Darn you Galer Street was taken to short-cut onto the big hill, which is steeper than the actual big hill. My jaw dropped. My legs without much hesitation came to a grinding screech. My pace band was thrown out the window. It was just getting to the finish line at this point. Many mountain goats such as Alan from our run club at Cambie were flying up those hills, making me feel like I was moving backwards! Gravity was also no help! Thank you.


The final 7km which is the portion I like to race the race within the race. I had nothing. Unlike Boston where I was charging. I was slowing down. Please end the suffering!


Over positive 5 minutes split, I ran 3:03:47. Not pretty style points, but not bad. I'll take it! The evil pacer for 3:05 marathon did it by half relays, so he was just charging towards the line. Curse his fresh legs! :) There's a race photo of us just before reaching the stadium finish, one of us in clearly more pain than the other.

Here's the nerdy graph of my recent marathon compilations. As you can see the obvious last 7km in general aren't so pretty.

After the race, Jen helped me grab my bags as I couldn't walk.

No passing outs! :) 

She also won some prize money for one of the top ladies to spend at the EXPO, superstar, I know! But the lady at the expo cashier heard about her generosity and wouldn't let her 'just' buy gifts for her friends, instead she ended up getting 8 more free shirts along with the original gifts. I don't think Jen wanted shirts initially, but now ends up getting more than she bargained for. Sharing is caring. :D

Memorial Stadium @ Finish area

Thanks for reading. Until the new year! Happy New Year, sad old year. Merry Christmas too.

 

Chasing an inch, losing a minute - Goodlife Fitness Victoria - Half Marathon RR

One year passed by so fast!

Perfect conditions race morning!

Reading last year’s race report on the 8K sunrise run, I was reminded that I just moved in with roommates Brendan and Jon this time last year. Poor Jen is out for this race too this year, so I had to go at it alone and roadtripped with some friends, Eric and Katrina.

A DJ rocking fat beats at the race expo

Running is a cruel sport. I’m not going lie, this will be a pretty boring update. I held 6^th in age division spot pretty much the entire way. Feet were numb, lungs were going, and steps were shuffling. And I did the half marathon. I forgot how much running really hurts!

Beautiful course with nearly perfect conditions on race day. Considering the Saturday before was pouring rain, I’ll take it!

Honestly, I was chasing the coveted sub 1:21 NYC qualifier, but realistically the body could only handle a little over 1:22 on this day.

Nerdy graph alert!

I faded pretty quick near the end while others were gearing up for a sprint finish. But that didn’t matter much since 1:21 was out of the question already early on. On a positive note, a great result leading up for the Seattle Marathon! Until next time!

Community Festival Fun at Edmonton - Standard Du RR

Edmonton is known for its many summer festivals.


The ITU World Triathlon Edmonton weekend was a festival for not just athletes but for the community as well. Little BMX bike course for kids to kill time, beer garden for adults and of course festivities for the athletes. A distance for everyone, and a fun 5k run goose chase.


I chose the Duathlon standard distance to qualify for next year's event in Penticton. But let's be honest, the sprint and standard Triathlons were the big ticket main events - i.e. if I were to do this again, I'm choosing those ones. Even their finisher's medals were bigger. :P The elites raced the sprint distance.


It was a fun, not-very-competitive event unlike the atmosphere we are normally accustomed to. The TV commercials even promoted that the super humans are coming. You can tell the city gets behind this event with the all road closures.

Scenic morning at William Hawrelak Park

 

 

 

Not much information was given to us before the race other than the distances were 10km-40km-5km run-bike-run. The athletes guide didn't have much to go by other than Pokémon Go was not to be played on course, (probably a joke). :)

For us it was 3.5 out-and-back loops inside the park, we started at the end of the loop along the road. Then 4 laps of a challenging course consists of hills, twists and turns.

Up Emily Murphy hill, down back residential street Saskatchewan Dr, and then follows Groat road over the bridge for a second gradual hill and turn around on 107 Ave NW overpass, back on Groat road and into the park. Amazingly all of the roads were closed for us. We finished it off with a 2 loops inside the park again.

The first run was a touch short (9.1k) and the second run was a touch long (5.1k). The bike was close (38.7k). I was chasing after my friend Irvin, tri-veteran and former run coach of UBCTC, the entire time as he finished 5minutes quicker than me. Candy bars and fresh fruits was served at the finish with a nice heated tent. I was impressed by the huge finishing towels. Since the duathlon was the first to start and transitions wasn't going to be opened for another few hours, we were kind of forced to mingle with the others to share our glory stories. :)

The next day, we were treated with the elites putting on a show! It was fun to witness the action on the big screen in the grand stands and see the battle between series leader first place Mola against second place Johnny Brownlee. The sprint favours Johnny Brownlee, he was giving high fives! I think we might be back next year to do this again. :)

Multisport Fun - Aquathlon Nationals in Penticton Challenge RR

Last month, Jen and I went to participate in the smaller events of the multisport festival weekend. I got the watch her compete in the Duathlon, which was a run, bike, and followed by a shorter run. Basically no swimming involved however you split/spin it. :) 

Rolling into transitions in single-speed style

One of the simplest multisport is the Aquathlon, basically a triathlon minus the bike for cold weather conditions. For warmer conditions it would be run, swim, and followed by a second run. I decided to opt for my first one and hey how often are there going to be aquathlon national championships in your back yard province.

Transitions consisted of a little flag with your number on it.

As breezy and bare bones as I thought the Aquathlon was going to be for transitions set up, of course I would forget my body glide. Lucky for me, a few minutes approaching the transition area, we found out among the whispers that there was going to be a no wetsuit swim! Body glide problem solved for me. For the better or the worst this was happening...

Earlier in the morning, the opposite end of Lake at Gyro Beach Park was super calm in contrast.

Late afternoon start

The Aquathlon:
Swim 1km (one triangle in clockwise, the buoys looked way further than I liked it).
Run 5km (two loops mini 2.5km loops)


The swim was choppy and adventurous. I didn't have the fortunate of the floatation from the wetsuit. I.e. I forgot how much open water swimming sucked compared to being with wraped with the nice feeling of neoprene around your body. I averaged 2:15 per 100m pace, which wasn't pretty but at least I didn't drown.


T1 had this little pool! Jen captured it in style!





During transitions, another mishap worthy of being forgotten, was I dared tried putting on socks with wet feet, especially after tipping them in the little wash pool. Doesn't work! 38 seconds later, I decided it was now go-time with no socks.


Jeff Symonds, aka 'get ugly' superstar of the weekend, was about to lap me as I entered the run course. He had nothing but really nice words for me as he passed me and gracefully made me looked like I was running backwards. Two more guys would lap me eventually, but it was super fun seeing everyone racing from end to end action. 


I was a small handful of athletes that had the distinction of a slower time for the swim compared to the run. Not sure if this was good or bad, but it certainly was a more evenly distribution of the different disciplines unlike triathlon where biking is a heavy component of the event.

Overall, I finished in just under 42 minutes. Despite the simplicity, it was probably one of the most fast and furious pain and suffering I had to endure.

How to finish an IM with grace despite being given an unfair penalty - IM Canada Whistler RR

This was my 8th Ironman in total, 4th one branded as IM Canada, and 2nd one located at Whistler. Having raced the inaugural race in Whistler back in 2013 and volunteered in 2014, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect, atmosphere wise. It was exciting and a huge home field advantage for me unlike any other destination races I've done before. The whole triathlon community was up here it seemed.

I got suckered into signing up with Flo, a newbie to the sport, and I was lucky to experience a good chunk of the race rollercoaster emotions with him along the entire road trip. Eric and Katrina also kindly offered their place for us to stay, so the decision to do this race this year was a no brainer.

This was a truly international field in my age category, only a third (39 of 115) are representing the home country. Because this race attracted a male Pro only race, the race was also a male-dominated field, I finished 74^th overall, and yet surprising 73^rd male. Cracking top 100 was my 'realistic' goal and this was my second time achieving this. My 'dream' goal was to crack sub 10 one day...maybe this day was today?

Two big differences from 2013 and this year was the self-seeded swim roll out start instead of the mass open one in 2013. The exact run route also changed slightly, but the general two loops concept with the final stick leg around town to the finish was the same. In addition, a new 70.3 distance was added to this race this year. This did created a little confusion for placing and who was or wasn't competing against you. In the end, most of the 70.3 athletes did beat me to the massage tent (as they should be). :)  

I hope this doesn't come across as too much sour grapes, but there has been one issue that's leaving a small distaste in what was a very positive experience this race weekend.

Given a penalty for blocking is one item of discussion, but to be told to serve an incorrect penalty and at the wrong location is another. Fortunately, at least I think I tried my best to handle the uncomfortable situation with grace and hope this is a good lesson for all of us, and accept that sometimes mistakes do happen in officiating our sport of triathlon. Many riders also said some encouraging words to me, that that call could have easily been called on any one of them.

The Blocking Call

Between kilometres 100km and 140km known as the Pemberton Meadows is a mainly flat section of the otherwise hilly terrain on the bike route. I was riding without problem until this flat section when riders were catching me only by the masses. I would try to open a gap to avoid drafting when they do catch me and then accelerate to get some "open" breathing room and ride individually again. 

Near the 140km at the end of the meadows, an official shake his head at me and asked me to serve a 5 minute penalty at the next penalty tent. I was a little curious to what had happened and he said I intentionally blocked someone trying to pass my front wheel. The gap I had intentially left opened with the rider ahead of me was an invitation for others to try to pass me. When one rider struggled to pass me, I accelerated again from the group and hence, blocking, was called by the official. There was plenty of road, I think maybe it was seemed as unsportsmanlike trying to prevent someone from passing your own front wheel, but of course you don't need to ease on the gas until the passer do pass your front wheel.

Trying to not argue with the official, I accepted the 5 minute penalty and asked the official where the next penalty tent was. He said the next one was in Whistler back in transition 2. I think this was disheartening knowing your at the time fast bike split was going to be tainted with a penalty. It also throws your game mentally because this was my first penalty at any race. Luckily there was a tent just before the hill back to town, and the 5 minutes was happily served. I had a good laugh with the race official there in the tent which shaded the hot conditions.

Only after the race, I also checked out the official TriBC rules, and it seemed to me that blocking is in fact a smaller penalty a stop-and-go violation. Anyways, I've taken a closer look at the rules with a bit more clarity now and know better for next time. In the end, I got a little break and ended up catching a lot of the riders with my flury of fresh-er legs up the hill back into town.    

By the time I got to the run, friends were cheering and I had forgotten what had happened. I walked most of the aid stations due to the extreme heat. The aid station near the golf course, I got a great boost in energy seeing Rob and Karen giving water and encouraging me. It wasn't a PB result but it was a overall PB for this course on a hot day. I applied sunscreen and yet still managed to miss some spots, which were too painfully made obvious the next day...sigh and ugh and double ugh.

Here's a graph recap to compare my efforts in 2013 and this year: 

   

Thanks for reading and until next time.