just begun!

Having March come to end tomorrow has made me reflect a bit on the first three months so far, and one thing that stands out is that this will become a lifestyle! At the moment I'm a stronger and faster runner with a couple personal best's recorded, and swimming is progressing nicely and I'm about ten pounds lighter than Dec 31 2009! These three months include the three weeks in Japan with no training at all, except arm wrestling Kirin's. I realize there will be days where the merlot is flowing in place of the gatorade or the plate of strawberry cheesecake is there istead of just strawberries alone but when i see the calendar filled with 20 plus days of training and times scribbled on it each month, it makes me feel like on the right path and this path has just begun!

Whitecaps FC

I picked up my seasons tickets for the Vancouver Whitecaps last night at their 1 year countdown event before they enter the MLS. This will be the last year that games will be held at the 5000 seat Swangard stadium because they'll be moving to BC Place once the roof is taken off and that seats 60,000,so I'm looking forward to soaking up the final year of a small outdoor park atomsphere in Burnaby before it becomes massive again in downtown Vancouver. The first game is April 11th at 4:00 so that means the first tailgate is April 11th around 2:00! Training is still going good and I'm still getting 6 good days in a week with swimming now inserted nicely into the schedule, I've been able to get in a good hour and a half of laps in the pool this week. I'm also waiting patiently for the snow to melt on the local mountains as the Grouse Grind awaits and I'm looking forward to adding that to the weekly plan and also the first long weekend of the year is near and a few us are planning on hiking Mt.Brunswick.

rain

Of course the hardest downpour we had today was the hour and a half while I was running this morning!

First day of spring

Started with a casual 4 mile run this morning and I'm feeling the core workout from yesterday,tomorrow will be the long run of the week and it might be done in the rain but I haven't decided where it's going to be yet,looking out my patio gives me a few ideas but the weather will help me decide in the morning. I was able to get a few things done today which included sending in an application for a volunteer position at the Vancouver Triathlon on July 4th which will help me get a feel of the whole atomsphere that is triathlon, also signed up with a swim coach that will help me find my proper form for open water swimming and lastly, officially registered for the Vancouver Half Marathon on May 2nd, Good weekend so far!

back to the pool

So today was a day off..from running, and so I went to the gym/pool and started with a core workout that focused on my legs,back and shoulders but nothing too heavy just specific bursts to help make me stronger in the three phases of the triathlon. Next I hopped on the stationary bike for 30 minutes and finally finished with a 30 minute swim and the pool is still an ass kicker! but it's one of the reasons i've given myself plenty of time to get ready for the Ironman because as now I'm gassed after 50 metres and the Ironman is around 4000 metres in Okanagan lake! lol crazy. Also I have time to build my savings up for things such as a bike (kind of important to have) wetsuit,entry fees etc. Anyway the days young and it's a sunny Friday better go find something to do with myself.

New PR

This morning I ran around Burnaby Lake in a personal best time and I took about 40 seconds off the previous time. It's a great feeling breaking personal times and I don't how to explain it but today is a good day!

Mid March

Wrapped up five straight days of training with a 1:34.04 run this morning and I'm feeling good so I'll take tomorrrow off and then get back at it Tuesday instead of two straight days off that way if I need a break i can relax Friday or Saturday. Funny how I'm thinking of the next day of training instead of rest day tomorrow but that's where the head's at and I'm focused so it must be a good thing, I'm sure when i wake up tomorrow I'll appreciate the rest.

weather

It's looking like it's going to be a challenging week weather wise with low temperatures and lots of rain forecasted,but that's never stopped me before as it's satisfying when you finish a race in the summer and you recall being cold and wet in the Jan-April runs, now with that being said I had a nice speed workout on the treadmill this morning! but tomorrow's Burnaby lake run should be nice and muddy. With a regular running routine taking shape now, I plan on getting back to the pool next week but not sure when or how often just yet because I like to do the training first then see how my body feels rather than scheduling everthing beforehand.

Friday Run

So each time I leave my door step to go for a run it's going to be a hilly one and that's just because of where i live. So this morning I drove down to Marine Way and Byrne Road and parked behind the Canadian Tire and started running towards foreshore park which is pretty much the Fraser River and there's a trail that runs parallel to the river and it's nice and flat. The good thing about that is, my run is steady and relaxed and my mind can just wonder similar to Burnaby Lake but more open and straight,with my neighbourhood runs there's a lot of mental conversations between me and the hills! Anyway the river run starts at the Burnaby/New Westminster border pretty much and it's also the flight path for planes approaching the airport so with all the planes I've been on in the last 6 months it was easy to lose myself as i saw them fly overhead. One instant that stood out was my trip to Phillipines to visit my friend and his family and there was a bunch of us in his pool with San Miguel beers in one hand and trying keep a volleyball up with the other hand,and when the ball left the pool it pretty much landed in the ocean! yeah a pool beside the ocean,that was a tough today! So snapping back to reality I've run through burnaby and halfway through East Vancouver as I approach Knight street bridge i decide to turn around because the airport is getting a little too close! lol. I show up back at the car about an hour and a half later and that fruit punch gatorade g2 never tated soo good! Another great start to the day.

Burnaby Lake Run

Well finally I've run my favorite trail run the 11k loop around the lake! The last time was Nov.12th at a time of 50:03 and this morning was 52:31 so i'm still in the ball park and it's good to know where i'm at. A few thoughts that i had during the run included such things as..was that a frog? look at all those Canadian geese! okay focus on breathing, wonder how mom's doing? should call her more! wish there was more work at the docks, just breathe and stay relaxed, i really should get my shoulder looked at soon, and that's about it. I'm also leaning towards running the Vancouver Half marathon instead of the full, just because of where I'm at training wise and that way i can start spending more time swimming and less time trying to cram in long miles into 8 weeks(injury magnet) so.. still finding the right balance but it's coming and a September or October full marathon seems more probable. As for the shoulder..well i've had a nagging pain in my upper arm/shoulder that i've been trying to shake off since late November so I finally went to the walk in clinic and was told it was a rotator cuff injury but nothing serious.

picture

So sitting here bored because i'm not training today i thought i'd mention the name of the picture above. Yasaka-No-To Pagoda in Kyoto,Japan. It was last rebuilt in 1440. I was there a couple weeks ago and I can remember when we were walking around the city and we turned down a side street and we could just see the top of this pagoda and you walk up this windy hilly road watching it grow before your eyes until it towers over you,just an awesome peaceful place! A blue sky and those cherry blossoms in bloom would of made that pic even sweeter.