Challenge - Day 26 (Racing Again)

I have been altering my fitness program as I have gotten deeper into this challenge.  Yes, I had a few stumbles because of what my body has thrown at me, but I'm still cruising along really well.

I'm still keeping the weight program at 5 sets consistent across the board.  My hill charges have mostly stuck at 4 reps, but sometimes I do one or two more.  I started out really struggling with push-ups, but now those are feeling pretty good.  Instead of doing a target goal of 42 a day I have pushed that up to 50+, so it's nice to have some more thrown in there.

My bike has climbed up quite a bit.  My original schedule started me off at 7 minutes on my trainer for a few days, and then working my way up to 30 minutes.  I have blown past that by 25% by riding 40 minutes in a gear higher, so it burns some more for longer.

I don't really like riding on my winter trainer.  It doesn't take long for it to start hurting me a lot.  My feet and butt all get so sore and go completely numb.  When I am out on the road I can at least coast and shake off my feet every now and again; and for my ass, I can stand up and pedal.  You can't do that on a winter trainer, so it's pure suffering.

Of course, my quads get chewed up too.  When everything is going numb and unbearably sore, the thing I think about most is Travis.  A lotta local people know who I am talking about, but for those who do not, the easy thing to say is that he is a real good friend of mine.  The place I draw inspiration from him though is the way that fucker charges on a mountain bike.  Two easy examples:  

In 2011 he got sponsored to go down to Costa Rica to do the La Ruta.  It is a 4 day stage race that I believe is the hardest in the world.  Travis made the podium in his age group.

Travis charging in Leaders Jersey - La Ruta  (2011)

Yesterday (July 21, 2018), he just won his category at the Canadian XCO Championships in Canmore, Alberta.  Here is the link to his results:

zone4.ca/race/2018-07-21/2820e144/results/f41eba52/

Travis at the Canadian XCO Championships
(Photos by  John Gibson:  gibsonpictures.com/ )

I know how much time he puts in on his bike...in groups, or on his own.  He does insane shit like it ain't no thing!  In order to do what he does, and as well as he does, you just know he charges straight into the burn head on...looks at adversity straight in the eyes and punches it right in the mouth, and then rides over it.

(He really should be nicknamed, "Podium!")

So, when I am on my winter trainer and everything is feeling shitty and falling apart it is inevitable that I will get flashes of Travis pass through my mind.

I need to get my bike out on the road soon to see how my hernia reacts to riding proper.  I'm hoping that there will be a big difference now that I have put in the time I have into my body through this fitness end of my challenge.  

I wanna feel the roll on the road!  
I wanna stand up and charge!
I wanna dig into some hills!

I've decided to extend my 31 day challenge longer, at least until August 16th; but when the initial 31 days are up I will be pulling my bike off my trainer and getting it out on the road, because I need to put that time in.

I haven't just increased some numbers within the exercises I have been doing, I added a new element too:  Treading water!

The river has finally warmed up enough to properly get into it, so I have gotten straight at treading water.  I'm only in the beginning days of that, but I started with about 12 minutes, then 16, and increasing from there.  The water is still cold enough to leave me feeling it by the time I get out, but it is nice for the hot sun as it really drops my core temperature.

I will start swimming any day now as well.  I am feeling a lotta pressure to get on top of that because I am running out of time to do so.  It is definitely on my mind though, because I have tried a bit, and my right shoulder is really messed up.  I have to figure out how to modify my already limited stroke so I can swim most efficiently for how screwed up I am.  I just need to put the time in and then I will find my way through the pain.  I always do.

The reason for the pressure I have been feeling from swimming, and that firm date of August 16th that I mentioned above is because I have just signed up for a weekend of racing in Penticton from August 17-19.  I will be doing all three days.

The Super League Triathlon in Penticton is a new one since my last days of racing in 2012.  It is on the same weekend of the legendary Kelowna Apple Triathlon...most often our National Championships!

(The Super League event in Pentiction:  superleaguecanada.com/ )

I was looking to do the Apple when I started thinking about racing again not too long ago.  When I went on the Tri-BC website for the first time since 2012 to check it out, I saw this Penticton 3 day event!  Shiiiiiiit!

Even though the Apple is hosting the National Championships again on the same weekend, I wanna charge three days in Penticton.  Why do one day when I can do three?!  I can do the first two in Penticton and then go up to Kelowna for the Apple, but I wanna complete the whole Penticton race.  Besides, even though they are the same distance over all:

Swim 1500m
Ride 40km
Run 10km

I like the format in Penticton of doing back to back Sprint Triathlons:

Swim 750m
Ride 20km
Run 5km

I'm also interested to see what the course is like in Penticton.  When I raced the Peach there, the run had a crazy long uphill after a flat to warm up the legs.  The ride was nice and rolling too.  The Peach was a full Olympic distance though, so not sure if the course will follow the same basic routes for a double Sprint.  I am curious for sure!

There is also a beautiful thing about Penticton with triathlon.  Yes, the National Triathlon Centre is in Victoria as is the home of 3 time Kona (Ironman Hawaii) winner Peter Reid, and Simon Whitfield lives on Saltspring Island and trained out of the pool in Sidney BC (The Commonwealth Pool from the 1994 Victoria games.), but anyone who knows anything knows that the Okanagan is the beating heart of triathlon in Canada.  That was always anchored by the Ironman Canada which was held in Penticton for 27 years until it moved to Whistler in 2013.

Regardless of the move, when you go to Penticton, the thumbprint of Ironman is all over the place, especially at the park where the transition zone is and racing is competed from.  I absolutely loved racing there.  

There's something about those ghosts of years past.  It's a real special feeling racing in Penticton.  I don't even give a shit that I finish last place, all that means is I get to be out on course soaking it up for longer than anyone.  In a strange way I always looked at the winners as the poor bastards who got to have fun for much less time than I did.  I never liked finishing races because it just forced me to stop having fun.  

I left my racing life behind on a sour note, and I am starting to feel that there is no more fitting place to get back out there than this three day event in Penticton.  I have no idea how my body will respond to it, and I know my body will be nowhere near where I would like it to be, but I don't care 'cause I'm goin' for it!  

Rest assured, when the pain sets in, that speedy lil' fucker, Travis will float through my mind.  It will make me smile and dig in even more!

Racing in the Okanagan again will feel like coming home, and just through the process of writing this just now, I have realized how much I can't wait to get back out on the track again!
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Just got back from treading water.  I don't really time myself traditionally.  I count in blocks of 100.  I timed how long it takes me to count to 100 at the general pace I do, and it is just over 2 minutes.

Today I did an 1199 count.  Screw 1200!  I wanted #99 (Wayne Gretzky) and #11 (Mark Messier).  Divide Gretzky by Messier and you get Gordie Howe and The Rocket!  (#9).  So...I'll take Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Elbows and The Rocket over 1200 any day!

Around minutes 15-16 (between the 750-800 count) I really felt my ankles getting very sore, so I had to kick much less.  Shortly after that I felt a slight pull in my right lat muscle...the same one I have been having problems with from push-ups.  I don't really mind those kinds of injuries though.  They feel like home to me, so I just suck it up and go longer.

When I was done I did a bit of floating and splashing around on my back gigglin' in the sunny water.  Then I went for a quick toot around on my paddle board.