I just wanted to touch on what a fantastic weekend I had. Training was a big part of that, but let me take care of some interesting incidentals.
While my wife took Shark Boy out kayaking, I walked around with the Lightning Kid dipping our feet into the water, when all of a sudden what should I see? This:
 |
| Godzilla? |
The most huge snapping turtle you would dare imagine! It swam away from us and spent the afternoon poking its head out from under the dock. Later that day, I got to do an open water swim, but believe you me, I gave that section of the dock a wide berth when getting into the water (I later read that snapping turtles are generally docile in the water, the snapping occurs when they’re confronted on land. At any rate, he was gone by Sunday).
Here’s the swim (take my word for it, it was all in the water!):
I hadn’t done any training in about a month at least, and my technique was garbage. Yet somehow I managed the second best time I’ve ever done at the distance of 1500m (a pace of around 2:20/100m). How is this possible? The only explanation I can come up with is my new TYR Hurricane Wetsuit that I won last year. Even though I know I’m under-trained for the Muskoka 5150, this gives me a lot of confidence.
For Sunday, I was hoping to get a good training ride in. Rain was threatening the whole day, but when opportunity knocked (a.k.a Shark Boy took a nap), I was out the door. Then I had to come back because I forgot the key to unlock my bike from the bike rack. Oops.
I selected a route that would take me along Highway 35 between Dwight and Dorset. Here I found my fitness and endurance lacking. I couldn’t believe how low my average speed was, but I did note that I got faster after the turn around; I had been climbing overall, and the downhills obviously added to the average speed. In fact, it occured to me at the turn-around that I hadn’t paired my new Garmin with the bike’s cadence and speed sensors. That data was missing but they paired with the watch fairly quickly and seamlessly (more review material coming soon).
Besides just getting out there and riding, it also gave me a chance to scout out and plan new riding routes. The old road (South Portage – which has traditionally been part of the Muskoka triathlon) seems to have a lot of construction and unpaved patches. I know what I’m going to do next time.
I didn’t quite manage a 40km ride like I would have liked, but it was enough to build from. Next time will be better. Also, since the day didn’t quite have enough activity (and because I was jealous of my wife), I took Shark Boy out in the kayak on Sunday.
It was a lot of fun, and I hope to make a tradition of it every time we’re up North. It might even be good training for the Logs, Rocks and Steel if I get to do it.
