On the box

I came close to the "W" yesterday but settled for 2nd in the Cat. 3 race (aka " 2nd tallest midget in the circus") at the first Ontario Cup road race of the season. First time ever in a bike race on the podium - they made us raise hands like that...weird!

Anyway for those of you dying to find out how it played out...there was a break of 4 dudes 1:45 up the road with one lap to go. In the first few km of the last lap it looked like the break had disintegrated as a couple of guys were coming back - we had heard there was still one guy holding the gap.

In any case, the front of the race was still 1:45 up and no one seemed overly concerned with catching him for the win so I attacked into a stiff headwind with 15km to go and had a couple of guys follow me. I let them take a couple of turns and it became obvious that they weren't going to be able to help my cause a great deal so I punched it again up a sharp little hill and in doing so ended up alone for the chase with a :30-:45 gap on the bunch.

After about 8km of rolling hills I could finally get a good idea of where the lead was and that I was closing on him. With just over 4km to go we made a final right hand turn and I timed the gap at :40. We had a nice tailwind on this last stretch so deep down I knew it would be next to impossible to close the gap - everyone is good in a tailwind! But I put 'er in the "11" anyway, put my head down and suffered to the line...down :21. I ran out of real estate but kudos to the dude who held on after dangling out front for a good while. Despite (or maybe because of) his pink, purple and blue pastel coloured cycling kit - he toughed it out for the top step.

This bike racing is fun, always new lessons to be learned. It's keeping me busy and fit while we wait for the ice to thaw on the lakes and the start of the real season of racing!

I'm a triathlete again!!

Let's keep it that way!

I've run twice since Wednesday without pain or inflammation in my tibialis posterior tendon so I hope that injury is behind me. I'll have to be careful over the next few weeks to ramp up the mileage wisely but I think I should be good to go!

Other good news is the result of a CP20 test that I did last night. A CP20 is basically 20 minutes as hard as you can go. We'll use these numbers to measure improvement in bike fitness throughout the year and make sure we're heading in the right direction...so far, so good, I seem to be on track with the bike anyway.

I guess I should also talk about swimming (gotta keep out front of my boys Mikey and J-Mo for part of the race anyway) It's going well - I'm never going to set any PB's in training or racing considering I did those when I was swimming 9-10 workouts a week, but I feel good in the H2O. I swim, on average 3 times/week and I try to do some quality in every session. I don't need the real easy technique work or the junk miles in the pool...get in, do the work and get out and hopefully we'll see more of the swim primes like the picture above from St. Croix - man I'm gonna miss kicking Chris McCormack and Craig Alexander's ass this year...in the swim ;)

Cheers, Ian

Put on your Game Face!

OK, maybe I need to work on my game face (I'm the dork sitting 3rd wheel, smiling like an idiot as these other dudes look to be digging into their suitcases of courage). This picture was taken a few laps into the Niagara Classic last spring at the top of the infamous Saylor's Hill...a few more times up and I assure you the poop-eating grin was wiped away!

In any case my competitive season for 2008 is under way, so I put this up to remind me how much I love to race!

I'm still not running - hopefully this week - so I'm spending some solid time in the saddle. I'm also doing a bit of bike racing to keep things interesting and get the competitive juices flowing.

It started this past weekend with a cool race called the Tour of Pelham. The course was a good excuse to get the cyclocross bike out for a spin: a mix of paved road, dirt road, single track, un-improved farm paths and rutted-out mud chutes. As Coach KP said "sounds very 'Belgian'!" While it was no Ronde van Vlaanderen at only 35km in length - it did hurt and it was FUN!

A teammate from my new road/CX team got away very early in the race so I covered moves and made sure his solo breakaway was secure. Once the race was established, I took off from our chase group of 6 on a tough stretch of soft cordouroy gravel road and TT'd home for 2nd place.

This weekend I'm back on skinny tires with 2 road races. I'll race Cat. 3 and hope for atleast a hard workout on what are two pretty tough courses. I'm feeling strong on the bike but the funny thing about road racing is that doesn't always mean you'll do well...unless you're REALLY strong...we'll see!

I'll keep you posted after this weekend, in the mean time, wish me luck with my first run in 3.5 weeks on Wednesday!

2 Weeks, no running...

and no end in sight. :(
I've got a nasty case of posterior tib. tendonitis and have really no idea how it got so bad so quickly.
My mileage was reasonable, stride was feeling fluid and light but all of a sudden I can't walk let alone run.
We think it may have been a longish run on a hard surface with bits of ice and snow scattered around that really triggered it (thus the subtle message to winter above).

I tried to manage it and run easy for a couple of days but two weeks ago I had to walk/limp home 5km...I haven't even thought about running a step since then.
It is still pretty inflamed and I often can't walk properly but I'm hoping with another week or two I'll see some progress.
I'll keep you posted (both of you), in the mean time I'll hammer the bike and try to keep some semblance of running form by taking part in possibly the most embarrassing activity for a former swimmer - AQUA JOGGING!!

The Ride to Conquer Cancer...Half Way!

For one weekend in June, I plan to finally ride my bike for someone other than myself. I ride my bike pretty much every day, I always do it for me. Whether it's training, racing or commuting, I ride because I take pleasure in it, I get something positive out of it physically and mentally.

My Dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer this past August.
I found out about the Ride to Conquer Cancer in the Fall and decided to enter and ride for my Dad. 200km of riding in a weekend isn't much for me (actually I'll probably hafta put in some extra miles and a run after Day 1) but by entering I committed to raising at least $2500 for the Princess Margaret Hospital's Cancer Institute, that's my challenge.

In addition to the usual training updates and the odd rant, I'm gonna start to post about my progress in the fundraising department as well. I've been inspired by the donations thus far and I know those who have donated are eager to track my progress.

Thanks to the generous support of friends and family (and friends of friends and family!!) I am more than half way to my goal. It truly shows that reach and impact of this disease - it is personal to so many people.

Until June 21, 2008 I'm going to keep working. Riding will continue to be something I do for me but I constantly keep in mind my Dad's fight. For that reason I'll keep pestering folks in the fundraising department. If you'd like to help, click on the link:
www.conquercancer.ca/goto/ianyoung

50cm!!!

For all you math majors...that's half a meter...I'm not sure how many feet that is in American, likely close to 2. In any case, we're supposed to get hammered once again with a huge snowfall tonight and tomorrow.
So the SCCC group jams that I usually count on for long, hard miles in the saddle are yet again replaced with mind (and taint) numbing sessions on the trainer.

Apart from winter's refusal to make way for spring, the training is going OK. A 20 minute critical power test on the trainer shoes my FTP to be in the neighborhood of 325W. I'm pretty confident that an outdoor test will yield higher numbers but I'm content with where we're starting out the 2008 campaign

Running frequency is up to 6/week and my stride feels like it's coming together. Still most runs are easy-steady around 4:20-4:30 pace but they feel good and they feel easy.

Swimming is still a bit of an issue with some rib problems but I'm getting a few easy swims in every week and getting some feel. The swim fitness will come pretty quick assuming everything else is firing!

Now, it's time to sit back and see what mother nature has in store for us...I swear this better be the last of it. Seriously, how full of shit was Al Gore this global warming thing? :)

Until next time, keep fit and have fun!

Whoa, it's been a while...but it's still winter

And it's still fucking cold and gray and cold.
While it's not a big surprise to still be dressing in countless layers of clothing to go for a ride or run in late February, I always get pretty tired of it this time of year.
It doesn't help to read and hear about friends heading to Tucson or South Carolina for a couple of weeks of great training in nice weather.
And just when I'm on the brink of S.A.D. (look it up) I slip on some ice last Tuesday while running and I've done some damage to my ribs/intercostal muscles. I haven't gone for an X-ray yet, mainly because I don't think there's anything you can do for cracked/broken ribs anyway.
I've still been able to train, the riding feels fine, running hurts (but that didn't stop me from entering a 1/2 marathon on Sunday...bad decision that I'd rather not talk about!) and swimming hurts - just annoying, persistent pain but it effects my stride and stroke if I don't take it easy.

Until next time, I'll be toiling away on the trainer or trudging through slush and snow, longing for the days when I'm suffering like a dog in the heat and humidity that is hopefully around the corner.