Ski racing and Iron Man (the movie, this time!!!)

OK, slightly off topic of triathlons, training, greyhounds, and work.  I'm off to the pool again tonight but wanted to share this quick story before I head out.

My oldest daughter (7) started a ski racing program this year and had her first race over the weekend.  She has great natural talent and has been skiing with me since she was 2.5.  I taught and coached skiing at a pretty elite level for over 15 years and I guess she's got some half decent genetics to help her out.  She came in third in the girls for the program, which is great.  Needless to say, I'm thrilled for her and think this was a great confidence booster, although when I asked her what she was thinking about while in the starting gate, she said 2 things:  "1) I was nervous, and 2) I didn't want to come in last place!".  OK, so I'll need to work on motivation and positivity with her.  It struck me, however, that without any external influence and no prior experience, she said she was nervous and didn't want to come in last.  How many of us, as adults, feel the same way while waiting for the gun to go off at a tri or other race?  Kinda interesting....this natural feeling.  We're going to have to work on that a bit before the next race, I think!

OK back to regular programming....

I had the BEST Computrainer session last week though I've had no time to write about it.  From my 'been a long time' post, you'd recall I really hadn't done much by way of tri training from November to January.  As I am now following an official training plan through one of Ottawa's best tri coaches, I'm back to the grind, in a good way.  

I thought I would try CT training a little differently last week and put on a movie through my laptop while also running the CT screen at the same time (movie was on LCD TV, CT was on my laptop screen).  This thing was frikken the bomb!  Of course I selected an appropriate title - IRON MAN - but it had the right level of action and shooting stuff relative to what you need when indoor riding.  I rode almost 2 hours and used the profile from Timberman 70.3 to ride to.  There is a tough 15% grade that seems to go on for awhile on that course.  It obviously gets you working pretty hard in the saddle, making you pay your dues for the cheap seats at the movie.

From a training point of view, here was my week, last.

Weight:    167.8.  I'm working on this to get to my ideal race weight of 157.  

Monday:  60 mins tough swimming 

Tuesday: Run Easy 6km / 5:58/km  pace +60 mins tough swimming

Wednesday CT Ride 1h45min of Timberman 70.3

Thursday: Rest 

Friday:  Run 8KM / 5:27 pace

Saturday: 2/3 day alpine skiing and 9.89km in the hills at 5:48 pace

Sunday: 1/2 day skiing

It's been a long time....

Since I've written.  About 2 months to be exact but to save my good name from being tarnished, I thought about the blog practically every day.  But it was difficult to put finger to keypad when I didn't think there was really a whole lot going on that anyone would be interested in.  I lacked motivation and therefore inspiration.  But I figure it's time to provide a quick update and in doing so tonight, I got to thinking how bloody diversified my life is.  And with diversification comes a silly amount of time investment and coordination.  So here's the roll down:

• Got sick in November with some kind of sinus infection so I stopped writing.  I lacked content as I wasn't training or doing much of anything.
• December was nuts as we tried to close some things out at work and get ready for the holidays.  Not much training and I learned that I think I just needed a break.  I said to myself I'd pick it back up again January 1.  Went for a few runs outside and rides on the CT.  Barely even enough to call it 'maintenance'.
• I also planned a full diet regime to ensure I was eating uber healthy again, in support of my next bullet:
• Here's the highlight --> my coached swim program started January 3rd and I love it.  It's a Night Owls program (9:15 - 10:15) which fits my life perfectly.  With dogs, cats, kids and 'too much work', it seems that is a perfect time for me and it's working out great.
• We are now traveling every weekend for alpine skiing as the girls are in programs at Tremblant.  I taught and coached there for 13 years and am pleased to see my girls on track to do the same, haha!  Actually, one just started a racing program and the other will begin next year.  I will say, however, they both ski technically so well and I am really really proud of them.  They're out there in the cold, wind, snow, etc without any problems.  Good on them!

That's about the catchup.  I can't wait to get into some of the swim training stuff we've done, riding the CT, and some good hill running.  Details to follow.....