excuses...race report...race report

So I had nothing really exciting to post about in the month of August... it consisted of a smart decision to take a week off running to avoid a hip injury...which also resulted in a DNF at nationals in Kelowna. And then Worlds were at the beginning of September but facebook, twitter and blogger were all blocked in China so no updates could be done there...and then basically since I've been home I have been in MAJOR catch-up mode with school. So those are my somewhat pathetic excuses for why you haven't heard from me in awhile. I'm sorry. Anyways I will backtrack a little bit and review Kelowna and my prep for worlds...and then of course worlds race report. So Kelowna....this was my first time doing this course and I can see why everyone just loves it. Leading up to the race I was pretty tired. This was my 2nd nationals and it was weird not feeling completely rested for it.
My Kelowna race played out like this:
-had a horrible swim start...my goggles got foggy and for some strange reason I waited for about 150m before pulling them off...the rest of my swim was me playing catch-up to the leaders
-I think I was the 2nd last person to make front pack on the bike that out of the water...out of T1 I caught a couple of people so the chase wasn't too hard
-the bike was amazing! I loved the course with the all the corners. I felt totally in control and so strong
-T2 was alright and exited in about 4th position.
-First loop of the run was terrible and starting the 2nd lap my hip started to get sore...I told Patrick when I ran by and he told me to stop
-Very sad but I thought better to DNF at Canadian Nationals then at World Championships (like I did last year)...even though any DNF sucks!

Now on to prep for Worlds:
-was trying really hard to stay focused and not get to the point of burn out and just wanting the season to be over (like I have the last two years)
-started swimming really really fast...the fastest I've swam all year
-had my best run workout of the year with a Tuesday 1km set
-was super pumped that training was going well and headed to China excited and ready to go!
-it seemed like we were in China a really long time before our race and for some reason I was unaware of the significant hill on the bike course...panicked a little
-went though the ups and downs of tapering by feeling amazing and then feeling crazy tried...but come race morning I knew I was ready

Worlds Race Report:
-it was raining and cold which totally sucked and made me to half of my normal swim warm up
-when we were lining up I just wanted to start! Got a somewhat good spot on the pontoon with Joanna right beside me
-I thought I had a pretty good start but looking at the video footage Im pretty sure I was the last to actually enter the water.
-met up with Christine at the first bouy which was actually really comforting and we exited the water side by side in 7th and 8th position
-the bike was alright...first hill was the worst but the other two times I just spun up with minimal effort
-ALMOST crashed on one corner but somehow stayed up...and at the end of the last lap I dropped my water bottle (yelled and didn't take anyone out! ooops)
-worked the little riser into transition hard and got a little gap heading into T2
-left T2 in first and went out fast
-got passed by a couple of girls but tried to stick with them
-worked the 2nd half and the hills really hard
-gave it my all
-place 8th
-content

Now doing school and a lot of down time...off season is here!

Best Day of Summer

~ali~
Well there has been a lack on updating on my part...sorry anyone who reads this :(. I have been very busy this last month with 3 races and on the only weekend free I was sick. The three races I just did was a big chunk of my season and everything just went so quickly. Things didn't turn out exactly how I wanted but I sure learned a lot and am growing as an athlete. Having some training partners away in France and coming back from basically a month of tapering has made this past week pretty hard mentally and physically. However the main reason for this post is to tell everyone about the best solo ride of my life! Cycling is for sure my weakness of the three sports and I also strong dislike training on my own. However this past Sunday was probably the nicest, warmest and most beautiful day of summer so far (it also happened to be Matt's 20th Birthday).

Anyways, I decided to ride from the pool out to my parents house in Metchosin and would stay the night and have my mom drive me home in the morning. I decided on a loop that would take me about 2 hours. Everything just felt good from the beginning. I actually had energy around 2pm on a Sunday which is unusual and the temperature was a perfect 25 degrees. When I got on my bike my legs just wanted to spin and off I went. There were hardly any cars so it was just me and the road. 120 minutes went by in a flash and I totally would've kept riding if a homemade bbq salmon dinner hadn't been waiting for me :). Perfect training sessions like this make up for unfortunate events that happen in races or sometimes disappointing trainign sessions...and it reminds me that being happy and feeling great is the most important thing :)

Finishing this next block off with my first olympic distance (non-drafting) in Sooke where the ladies get chased down by the men! And then on to Kelowna :)

:)

St. Malo

So like I said in my last post "the season has officially begun"...but off to somewhat of a rough start for me. This past weekend I competed in the first junior series race in St. Malo, Manitoba. While the weather was nice, the course was straight forward and the coach support was great....my body just wasn't 100%. It all started with a little sore throat that I thought was due to sleeping with the AC on in the hotel room. Anyways I was feeling pretty normal leading up to a race with rest (a little sluggish and tired)...I guess I just thought not racing was never an option so when I woke up in sweat and the chills on race morning I just looked past it (my mom tells me after that I probably had a fever- I should know things like that!). I am sure glad I didnt because I think thats what got me through the race. The weirdest part of racing while I was sick was being on the start line and not being nervous. I guess I just wanted to get it over with in a little pain as possible...which im sure is how some people race hahaha but not me! The swim was pretty good. Had the 2nd spot starting position and actually didn't touch one person the whole time! I also didn't exit the water with my teammates who I have been able to draft off of in workout (came out 4th about 20sec behind). Which lead me to be in 2nd pack...which was a first. Working with 2 girls we got caught by another 3 and really worked together and just about caught the two leaders by the time we got to T2. The best part of the race was the bike...I felt strong and in control. My transitions weren't too bad either and I thought my overall tactics for racing went almost perfectly. Then there was the run....I didn't know a 5km could feel sooooo long. I was having a hard time just even staying in the game mentally not to mention my body was failing me (not in the intense way Kyla's body was failing her though!)...so at half way all I was focusing on was my turnover. Finished in 4th position behind some speedy gals. Congrats to future teammate Ellen who won her first series race and Christine for pulling out a strong 2nd place. I am happy to report that there is nothing more I could have done in the race...so no regrets... Except for maybe actually racing because since then I have been in bed all day everyday watching episodes of Desperate Housewives trying to fight whatever virus has taken over my body. I am so sick and tired that I don't even have the energy to think about training, or stressing about upcoming races. I don't get sick often...I think its been about 2 years. But when I get sick... get really sick! So everyone please send healthy thoughts my way and hopefully my next post will be more positive!

Summer

Today is the first day of summer...well not until 1:16pm this afternoon. The longest day and the shortest night. I am happy to report that its been looking and feeling a lot like summer for the past 3 weeks here in Vic. I can't remember when I stopped putting on arm and knee warmers but it was awhile ago. We have also done a couple of lake swims in Thetis (where some of the boys have actually taken their wetsuit off half way through the set!)... and we did mini tri's in Durrance Lake last weekend (which wasn't SO warm).

When I think of summer I think of sunny days filled with hard workouts and frozen treats....however summer also makes me think of racing. Yes the time has come...juniors we are officially in race season! woohoo!! This last block of training has been great but the U23's and Elites have be coming and going and heading off the races...and I have been really jealous. While I love training I was finding it hard to stay motivated and my body just wants a slight taper and a good race as a reward for all the hard work I've put in. Perfect timing I think because the 1st Junior Series race kicks off in St Malo, Manitoba this Sunday. I am excited to just get out there, work hard and have fun....its been a long time since I've been excited about a race!!

Thats if for now....race report in the next post :)

Links that interested me

#1 (Click on country and then notice that TriathlonCode's tallest member is on the start list! First elite race for Matt...Jeff from Victoria is also racing)

#2 I first saw this when it was tweeted by Simon...so I'm giving him the credit. Thought it was pretty cool to see how other athletes train and their perspective on our great sport.

#3 My newest cookbook. I discovered this blog about 2 weeks ago and love her recipes...plus she's from Vancouver :)

#4 Some would say this is the most important or exciting... Game 1 tonight... "bring it home!"

Home Sweet Home

Well I've been home for a week now...time is really starting to go by fast. I did a long ride this afternoon that involved some observatory hill repeats and if I'm remembering correctly the last time I was riding on the observatory was a month ago! A whole month! Basically ever since school stopped time just ticks away without me in realizing. The training camp in Arizona that was 2.5 weeks long and felt so short. Im heading into my first race of the season this weekend in Vancouver. The famous North Shore World Championships. Its in North Vancouver and we swim in a 37meter pool which feels really weird because you think you need to do a flip turn but still have another 8 meters to go...then we ride up one side of the street and back along the other side a couple of times and off on the run. Oh and I forgot to mention that you need to have a flawless T1 because basically at the mount line is a super steep (but short) hill. The run is the best part because its on a chip trail forest thingy and half on cement through residential areas so you feel like your running all over the place and can't see whoever is in front of you. I did this race two years ago and it was my second ever triathlon. It is drafting...however males and females go at the same time so I have a feeling it will just end up being a solo effort. No resting for this race but it will be good to go through the proper motions of transitions and get the feeling of doing all three sports back to back. Again with the time...I can remember doing this race pretty vividly and that was two years ago! Before I know it we'll be in full-on race season and then I will be back at school for the fall! AHHH....gotta make the most of the time you have people.

Happy Training

Life...

Life has been treating me pretty well these last couple of weeks! I wrapped up classes 2 weeks ago and then wrote my last exam on April 7th....So I have been completely done school for almost two weeks now which is really really nice. Just when I thought that I could spend all my time focusing on training random life started to happen. First I made the stupid decision to move into my new apartment over a regeneration block... what I learned from this decision is that regeneration blocks should be strictly focused on regenerating, relaxing and SLEEP! I did the opposite...spent my days rushing around packing and moving and basically stressing! It was all over last weekend and I thought I could settle into a great training-focused routine....little did I know that my horrible job of recovering would come to bite me in the butt Tuesday. I had a pretty good swim in the a.m but it seemed to take a lot more out of me that normal. Went home and probably didn't do proper recovery things. Then on the way to the run in the afternoon a wave of tiredness hit me...I didn't really think much of it until 10min into the warmup when my heart rate was 175 and I was getting dropped!! Followed by a total meltdown (including tears) for no reason besides that fact that I was so unknowingly tired! I decided to do half the workout with some mile repeats around Beacon Hill....heart rate at 180 and way behind the gals that I normally run with...and I was working SO hard! Decided to call it quits for the day/body totally stopped functioning! Just on the safe side I had steak that night to get in a lil extra iron (hahaha). The following two days I had to take it really easy (it was basically the regeneration block that I failed to take last week). Back to hard on Friday morning I did the fast 100m from a push all year (but I guess I was pretty rested)...and managed to get a little out of the track workout in the afternoon. Moral to my story is that regeneration blocks are VERY important and although it seems like a time to catch up on stuff that you can't do during hard training days its more important to get the recovery your body needs...or maybe im weird and my body needs a lot of extra recovery.

Just realized that this post is a lot like Alex and Kylas hahahah...maybe its a blogging theme for April.

P.S I have decided to avoid this every happening to me again I want to try and spend 1hr in bed every day between workouts...doesn't matter what I'm doing as long as im in bed and attempting to relax (I was in bed while writing this blog post).

P.P.S I will try and get pictures of my apartment up in the next post

Happy training...and recovering!