Month: August 2014

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Creating A Solo Triathlon

Having a cottage makes me one of the lucky ones, I’m well aware.  For a few years, I’ve had this idea to really take advantage of the location: rather than just do open water swimming, or a long hard/hilly bike ride or run or even a brick, what if I could do all three sequentially, like a real tri?  This Sunday I made it happen.


Not only would it be good training in all three disciplines, it would be a good practice of transition between them, plus it would be fun!  There’s a public dock for people to put their boats in the water across the bay; it’s accessed by a paved road (unlike the one behind the cottage) so it’s great for the bike, and of course the water is right there. I’m registered for the Lakeside Sprint Tri  I decided doing a sprint distance (more or LESS) would be appropriate – I would squeeze it in during the kids’ nap.  I’ve done something like this indoors (using the gym pool, a spinning class and a treadmill) but outdoors is obviously a better simulation of the real thing.

As I said, I’m lucky to be able to pull this sort of thing off, but if anyone reading has a similar opportunity, hopefully you can pick up a few tips from my experience. To maximize training time, I tried to have the car loaded up while being dressed to go during the kids lunch.  My choices were to skip lunch so that I wouldn’t have a full stomach weighing me down, or eat with everyone… and burgers were on the menu with me manning the grill.  I love burgers, I love eating with my family, and the truth is I simply get hungry by noon.  I ate a single burger rather than my usual two, and was hoping to have the second one after I was done; bet you didn’t know the “Iron” in “Iron Rogue” refers to my stomach…

I parked in the public dock’s parking lot, and locked my bike to some community mailboxes.  Dealing with locking/unlocking the bike falls outside of the usual flow of triathlon transition, but I figured the art of transition is part following a prescribed recipe, part keeping an organized mind that is flexible according to different circumstances.  Besides, T1 (from swim to bike) is the longer transition usually, and I’d still be practising taking off the wet-suit (probably the longest part of transition that isn’t related to the distance between swim exit and bike exit).  I sorted out the rest of the stuff for transition in my trunk (should have taken a picture!) and hid my car keys, then headed out to the dock.

The old swim cap I used to keep in my gym bag had long since melted and I haven’t remembered to grab a replacement, so I would be swimming with hair in my face.  I pulled on my wet-suit and hopped into the water.  I stuck to my usual open water swimming safety rule of following the shoreline; it’s easier to get out in case of emergency (weather, cramps, etc.), boats tend to go slower near the shore and they are watching more closely (important here, since there would be extra traffic near a public dock), and since I wasn’t familiar with this side of the lake navigating was easier too.

My goal was to simply swim 400 m out and turn around again for a total of 750-800 m.  I passed by a number of people’s boathouses and it looked friendly enough for swimmers.  It felt like my kicking was very lazy, I regret how much of a crutch my wet-suit can be, but the swim went well enough, and doesn’t seem to be too crooked.  I guess my sighting is alright.  I figured out that climbing back onto the dock would be tough so I ended up exiting the water in a grassy/marshy corner close to where I had parked.


I out of the water with my wet-suit half off, and grabbed my car key.  Taking the wet-suit off could still be better, especially with having to contend with the Garmin wristband.  Besides dealing with keys and locks, the other thing these transitions had that race ones don’t is the taking of selfies!



Once I got on the bike, I hammered it pretty hard, and realized it wouldn’t be a sustainable pace, but it got me over the first hill OK.  I’ve used the route for both runs and biking, so it was familiar ground for the most part.  I noticed I’m not naturally comfortable in aero position, and I found myself coming out of it often, sometimes to drink water, sometimes because my concentration would wander.  That wandering mental focus became a theme throughout the ride, as I noticed my pace/effort lagging on some of the long climbs.  I almost wonder if it’s something I really need to change in the short term, since my conditioning isn’t going to change vastly between now and race day, and settling into a more ‘natural’ pace for me is what has let me survive previous triathlons and run strong after the bike.  I’d hoped the out and back would add up to 10 km that I could do twice, but it was more like 8 (for a total of almost 16 km).





In T2 I neglected to lock the bike to anything (except itself – wheel to frame), but that ended up being OK – no-one touched it.  I switched to my Zoot shoes which are great for racing but I generally don’t use otherwise.  This always makes me nervous, as you don’t want surprises on race day – so this solo triathlon just gave me an added benefit.  I should be fine on them for 5 km, but for 10 or more, I’m going to want socks and more cushioning.

The heavy legs were there post-bike, but I’ve been doing this long enough not to get freaked out by the feeling, and while the heat was getting to me, I was able to focus on pace better than the bike.  That’s probably why I like the run so much – I’m not really saving my effort anymore, just trying to finish.  Between the heat and bike fatigue I expected to be slow, but I’m actually pretty happy with my pace of below 6 min/km on average.



DONE!



I finished with a smile on my face, and though my recovery plan was to have the second burger, I took the boys off my wife’s hands and down to the lake in order to make this happen…
Kings of the Lake



I should take a very close look at the Lakeside race course, but if it’s not too hilly, I may be on track for a 90 minute finish.  Fitting swim, bike and run into a single workout has been a goal of mine for years (not really big enough to be called ‘Bucket List’ but still important).  One day I hope to do it on a bigger scale by swimming across the lake (with a chaperone in a canoe or kayak – Google Earth says it’s about 1.1km), followed by a longer ride (perhaps clear around Lake of Bays? it’s about 76km), and of course, a run (maybe 15km to Huntsville for a beer…?)
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How Much Does a Vasectomy Hurt?


I’m a little ambivalent about writing about this, as it is a quite private matter, but if my tale helps quell the nerves of someone who is considering it, then it will be worth the effort.

I had a vasectomy.  Don’t worry, this post won’t have any pictures – and if you feel like skipping out on reading the rest, I totally understand, but please come back next time!  My wife and I have the family we want; we’re not looking to add anymore Scoundrels of Steel.  Vasectomy was the best way for us to implement this decision.

Before I describe the experience, I need to hop on the soapbox for a bit.  While I do have several friends who have gotten “the snip”, some of the background feedback I was picking up was that the procedure is emasculating.  When doing the referral, my family doctor couldn’t stop congratulating me; you see, in the area around her practice, the trend seemed to be that husbands were pressuring their wives to get their “tubes tied” (tubal ligation).  If you ask me, (and yes this is based in some out-dated conceptions of masculinity), there’s nothing less manly than putting your woman in a greater danger than you’re willing to face yourself.  Tubal ligation is an invasive surgical procedure; vasectomy is not.  I’d hate to see what these guys if they ever ran into a bear or something, they’d probably feed their wives to it while running away screaming.  While there may be reasons to want to be fertile down the road, none of them apply to me, and like David Eddie says, a vasectomy is “a terrific gesture of monogamy”.

Dismount from soapbox.

I had heard about ‘Gentle Vasectomy’ being done in Peterborough, unfortunately, the doctor who performed them retired without finding anyone to take over his practice.  I did find So Simple Vasectomy in Oakville, which was closer anyway.  The procedure has an extra cost not covered by the health care system, but I figured the lessened pain and shortened recovery time was worth a few bucks.

I’m a little ambivalent about writing about this, as it is a quite private matter, but if my tale helps quell the nerves of someone who is considering it, then it will be worth the effort.
I had a vasectomy.  Don’t worry, this post won’t have any pictures – and if you feel like skipping out on reading the rest, I totally understand, but please come back next time!  My wife and I have the family we want; we’re not looking to add anymore Scoundrels of Steel.  Vasectomy was the best way for us to implement this decision.
Before I describe the experience, I need to hop on the soapbox for a bit.  While I do have several friends who have gotten “the snip”, some of the background feedback I was picking up was that the procedure is emasculating.  When doing the referral, my family doctor couldn’t stop congratulating me; you see, in the area around her practice, the trend seemed to be that husbands were pressuring their wives to get their “tubes tied” (tubal ligation).  If you ask me, (and yes this is based in some out-dated conceptions of masculinity), there’s nothing less manly than putting your woman in a greater danger than you’re willing to face yourself.  Tubal ligation is an invasive surgical procedure; vasectomy is not.  I’d hate to see what these guys if they ever ran into a bear or something, they’d probably feed their wives to it while running away screaming.  While there may be reasons to want to be fertile down the road, none of them apply to me, and like David Eddie says, a vasectomy is “a terrific gesture of monogamy”.
Dismount from soapbox.
I had heard about ‘Gentle Vasectomy’ being done in Peterborough, unfortunately, the doctor who performed them retired without finding anyone to take over his practice.  I did find So Simple Vasectomy in Oakville, which was closer anyway.  The procedure has an extra cost not covered by the health care system, but I figured the lessened pain and shortened recovery time was worth a few bucks.


The appointment was booked for a few days after getting back from Germany (I called sometime the previous November).  Leading up to the big day I hadn’t done much reading; I think I use denial way too much – as I write this, I’m acting like the first days of school won’t have any significant impact on our family life.  I’m a little unsure about going into too much detail, but the instructions were to… *ahem* shave myself, “as [I] would shave [my] face”.  I guess they didn’t know how sloppy I am with getting every single face whisker.  The good news is that was probably the scariest part of the whole procedure.

On the day of the appointment, I was given a valium (by my choice) for my nerves, and I nodded off in the waiting room.  The doctor explained that at times I would experience pain like being kicked in the junk (he compared it to when my kids jump in my lap too aggressively), but it was closer to being pressed… we used to call it the ‘gas pedal’ when I was a kid (if you didn’t know, boyhood is basically the life of a gladiator).  I went home basically pain-free.

I had to refrain from exercise or even lifting the kids for the next week, which sucked.  I did have days where I felt ‘tender’ – as if having experienced a kick earlier that day.  I think I used a painkiller (ibuprofen) once, and ice 2-3 times.  Using ice down there is no fun, so I never lasted too long with it.  I missed Band On The Run, which I had been signed up for, but I started exercising the week after no problem

Best of all, I was riding a bike, which was what I was most nervous about.  In a couple of weeks, I have a date with a plastic cup to confirm that the procedure worked.  I hope this has been informative to some of you, if there’s anything you felt I didn’t cover, you could email me (link is on the page), or look at the link for So Simple Vasectomy as they have a FAQ page.  I’ll be back soon with more endurance sport, I promise.
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Race Recap: 5 Peaks Albion Hills

So, the Friday before last, I did one of my morning runs with the Lightning Kid.  During my lunchtime spin class, I could feel both a tug in my hamstring and my Achilles acting up.  That didn’t seem good, but I took it easy that weekend at the cottage, except for an open water swim, so I figured I’d be fine.

The same thing flared up in a Boot Camp class on Tuesday, and I began to think I was in trouble, since I had signed up for 5 Peaks Albion Hills that very morning.  I had to take an Ibuprofen just to get through my Wednesday and by Thursday night I was soaking in a cold water bath (no ice, though, I just can’t do that to myself).  The latter seemed to help and I was willing to brave it by Saturday morning.

Albion Hills is a great park that we visit often for cross-country skiing.  I wish I could say that the skiing made the trails familiar to me, but everything looks different in snow, but at least I’d done this race 2 years ago… but more on my race later.

As always at the 5 Peaks series, it starts with the Kids Challenge; all participants get a bib with the number 1 on it, because they’re all winners.  We were rushing up to get the kids’ bibs and safety pins when I ran into Robyn Baldwin (whose blog I’m sure you read, right), and though we didn’t have time to greet her as well as we should have, did us a solid of capturing great race photos of the kids, so big thanks to her.

The Lightning Kid gives Robyn a High Five

Shark Boy in action – Courtesy of Robyn Baldwin
Lightning Kid waves to the fans – Courtesy of Robyn Baldwin

At previous races, I’ve run with Shark Boy while my wife has run with the Lightning Kid.  Last year, he needed to be carried a lot, but he did almost all of the Heart Lake 1 km Kids Challenge this year unassisted, so I was game to switch kids with her this time.  Uh-oh, not only did she struggle to match Shark Boy’s pace, but the Lightning Kid must have been a little thrown by the switch because he hesitated and paused as the pack pulled away from us, and when they began to disappear from sight, he threw a mini-tantrum or two.  Luckily, he’s still motivated from those morning runs and understands the concept of “Go, go, go!” so I got him through the course with a fair amount of carrying.  What he lacks in speed he makes up for in charm and charisma because he put on a grand show of waving at almost everyone he could.


They stuck around after their race just long enough to see me off on mine, then it was off to the on-site splash pad and pool.  It’s really great that 5 Peaks is using these awesome venues of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority – they make for great scenery and family fun.


Wanting to play it safe and conservative with my right leg, I decided to seed myself in Wave 4, which ended up being the last wave, but also the best behaved, because according to the Race Director’s announcement, we get to hear our instructions 4 times. Heh.


The race course was described as a roller-coaster with lots of single-track, and the latter fact made for some line-ups in the early going, even for last wavers.  Still, I enjoyed taking it easy and knowing that simply finishing would be a fun day and mean my leg hadn’t stopped me.  In fact, I jumped a foot off the trail to take a picture of a unique looking stand of trees:


The roller-coaster description held true, and the kilometer markers seemed to tick off fairly quickly – time flies when you’re having fun.  I managed to pass a lot of people more through technique on the hills (especially downhills) than conditioning.  Some of the sights I saw included a girl who stubbed her toe while wearing those Vibram Five Fingers Barefoot shoes (ouch) and a guy who looked like he belonged on a tennis court.  Tennis shoes, polo shirt… look, I get it, not everybody needs to be hard-core dedicated to the sport, in fact, I love the idea of people trying things out for the first time, without necessarily having spent money on all the best gear.  It’s just that this guy had all grey hairs, so I’m thinking he’s not some 21-year old who is going to bounce back from the kind of injury that improper footwear is going to cause.  he Sport course ended up being 5.7 km by their reckoning or 5.3 by me & Endomondo’s.

I’m really happy that I crossed the finish line strong, and I did comparatively better in my age group than at Heart Lake (13/20 is better than 24/28). Once I had retreated to the shade and gotten my water and banana, I had a chance to talk with Robyn and Jessica from Laces and Lattes (who, again, supplied me with a discount code for the race entry as well as kicked butt in the Enduro category).  We talked blogging, heart rates, upcoming races and adventures – it was a great way to highlight what an inspiring, fun community that I can connect with through active life blogging. 

After the great time we had as a family that day, the Kortright Centre race is basically a done deal…