Last work out of 2008 & Looking forward to 2009...

It has been an interesting month, December always is. Training inside on the bike and running outside in the cold and snow is always a challenge, especially when I go back to Winnipeg for a week. I was going to swim today, but when I showed up at the YMCA they were closing in 20 minutes. So I decided just to do my tempo run, after all this is the off season and my coach said not to worry about missing workouts and I didn't mind missing a swim, which I find least enjoyable. When I got home I did my tempo run. It had snowed last night and the side walks were very slippery and it was very windy at 44 kph, gusting to 57 kph. About half a dozen times I had some major slippage and had to run gingerly. I was to do a tempo run and keep the heart rate under 140 bpm, but I couldn't, I decided to turn it into a speed run, after all it was my last run of the year. Near the end my heart rate got up to 166 bpm and I was feeling the lactic acid building in my quads, which I can't remember having happened during my racing season. Although I'm still in great shape, I look forward to next year when I'm in racing shape and I don't ever get sore anywhere, no matter how much mileage I put in. Essentially I'm looking forward to getting in that World Class shape mode. 

Now that I'm done training and updating my blog and training log, I'm going to have a shower, open the beer John gave me and start New Year's Early. Happy New Year to all!!!

Tempo Run - 45:09 / 6.21 miles / 7:16 pace

24b

December Totals

Swim - 3.58 miles

Bike - 275.19 miles

Run - 92.53 miles

Weights -8 Sessions

Totals - 371.30 miles / 29,207 calories

5.422

Jan 1st - December 31st Totals (2008)

Swim -196.15 miles

Bike - 5173.65 miles

Run - 1223.13 miles

Weights - 68 sessions

Total -  6592.93 miles / 10633.38 kilometers

Back to the routine...

Ten hours is what I slept last night. I made sure I got to bed early, I needed the sleep badly. After work I got training early. I was out the door by 6:00 pm to do a moderate run under 130 bpm. Near the end of the run my left hip was bothering me a little, I chalked it up to needing new shoes. My existing shoes have close to 500 miles on them. By the time I got back, I ate dinner and drove to the YMCA to do some weights. On the drive to and from the YMCA I was close to falling asleep. When I got back I got on the bike and did a moderate bike ride downstairs. The time went by relatively quickly because I read virtually every article in two sections of the Toronto Star. After I did my stretching, I was finished by 11 pm. It felt good to get in 3 hours of training because I'm sure I will eat and drink those calories tomorrow on New Years Eve. The best thing today was looking at the Winnipeg weather and seeing that it was -38 C with windchill and that I wasn't there. My - 1 C didn't feel that bad.

Moderate Run - 1 hour /7.06 miles / 8:31 pace

Weights - 30 minutes

Moderate Bike - 90 minutes / 25.2 miles

Coming home to rest...

I didn't get to bed last night until 3:30 am. It was the first night I wasn't partying, but updating my parents computers, setting up iTunes, back up systems, networks and syncing computers to each other and an iPhone. I was up early to get to the airport and catch our 9:15 am flight. It was nice to get home and relax. All of us are partied out and need to burn off those extra pounds. I was surprised that both Alyssa and Alice gained a few pounds. I don't know how much I gained because I refuse to get on the scale for a least a week. I don't want to get depressed. 

After I parked the car in the garage and went to open the house door, I was surprised to see a case of Amstel Light Beer in front of the door with a Christmas Card. I didn't know where it came from or how it got in the garage, but then I remembered I gave John Barclay, my Iron buddy, the code. It was a really nice touch for him to provide me with my FAVORITE sports drink. I plan on drinking it on New Year Eve and toasting John.

I was scheduled to train, but was so tired I decided to shuffle my weekly training schedule and add Monday's workout to Tuesday and Wednesday's. I was actually a little brain dead from setting up our electronic picture frame we got for Christmas and choosing over 600 pictures, which easily took over 3 hours. But it was worth it. 

Training Rest Day

I'm leaving just in time...

Another late night last night and more Winnipeg traditional food. This time it was nips, which are hamburgers from Salisbury House. I'm sick of food and drink. Now I need a week just to get the Christmas paunch off. Today, Alice and I did the traditional drive around Winnipeg to see important places to us, like our old homes, parents homes, schools, etc. Afterwards I dropped Alice off at my parents and went to the YMCA for my long bike ride. It was a good ride and I think I'd feel like much more of a whale if I didn't go. I'm really glad we are heading home, I can't keep up the pace, plus I hear it is going to start getting REAL cold tomorrow with temperatures around - 34 C. 

Long Bike - 2 hours / 35 miles

These holidays are killing me...

I actually had a good sleep even though I got to bed around 4 am. It would have been later if I didn't talk Alice into going to bed, she was still going strong from her night off yesterday. Today was my long run. I got up around noon and took some time to loosen up before I went for a run. It was cold outside, - 26 C with wind chill. I was scheduled to do an 75 minute run but miscalculated the route distance and ended up doing 90 minutes. I was pleased with my 8:05 pace. For the last 6 miles my average speed stayed exactly at 8:05. If I could run and Ironman Marathon at that pace I'd be really happy. My legs started to get very mild cramping because I didn't drink enough water before I left and all the beer drinking has made me dyhdrated. A few times on the ride I had to move over to the extreme side of the road when some trucks drove by me. I find it interesting that cars seem to move over but not many pick up trucks. It seems the bigger the truck, the bigger the asshole. They have no respect for runners. The worst was a tow truck driver who went by me. When I got home I had a good stretching session and then went to the YMCA for a weight training session. By the time I was finished, I was in a sleepy trance like state. We were planning on going out to Alice's sisters house but couldn't make it. We did take all the kids and went to Gondola Pizza for their awesome pizza, it's a Winnipeg tradition. Tonight was another late night, we went to my brothers for some cocktails and ended up sleeping over.

Run - 90 min / 11.40 miles / 8:05 mile

Weights - 25 min

21b

Training never felt better...

Another late night and way to much fun. Alice didn't join me at the Sohor's, she came down with something and went to bed early. Since yesterday I've been so looking forward to training today. I ended up going to the YMCA and did an hour on the bike. I did my workout on a spin bike, I've never used one before and I actually like it better than a Life Cycle. The mat under me was completely soaked from my sweat. Cindy Klassen, the Olympic speed skater was riding beside me. It didn't even look like she broke a sweat. After the bike I did a tempo swim. It was open swim and not lane swim, so there were toys and kids in the way. It was quite the obstacle course. Tonight was another Christmas dinner with Alice's brothers and sisters and another late night. We didn't get home until around 4 am again. I created a custom Whiskey label for my brother and sister in-law and it was a big hit.

Bike - 1 hour / 17.5 miles

Swim - 30 min / 1375 meters

19b

Merry Christmas, I feel like I'm growing...

I had a bike and weights on the schedule for today, but being Christmas everywhere was closed. I decided to make it an off day and do today's workout tomorrow. Waking up today was REALLY tough. Reid had us up at 6:35 am to open his presents. I was there watching from the couch but I was not there. I fell asleep until noon and when I got up I felt much better. For Christmas Alice got me a Ironman iControl watch for my iPod. It allows me to skip songs and to adjust volume from my watch.

The rest of the day was eat, eat, eat and drink, drink, drink. I felt like a whale. My pants were getting tight, but the food was great. I was so looking forward to tomorrows workouts to burn some calories. I was also looking forward to getting to bed early but when the Sohor's called I knew it was going to be another late night, which it was. I think I got to bed at 4:00 am. 

Rest Day

20b