Here are the stats for April’s training:
| Bike: | 9h 30m 35s - 216.02 Km | |
| Run: | 9h 53m 19s - 101.38 Km | |
| Swim: | 3h 55m - 6501.76 m | |
| Strength: | 3h 45m | |
| Stair Running: | 18m (CN Tower climb) | |
| Stairmaster: | 32m | |
I’m happy with those totals and right on par with what I was shooting for. Almost 50% more than March’s totals.
This weeks numbers:
Weight: 191.2 lbs (Down -2.0 lbs from last week)
Body Fat: 19.1% (Down -0.6% from last week)
LBM: 154.7 lbs (Down -0.4 lbs from last week)
Well, after no change last week, this week dropped a whopping 2 lbs. I’m happy with that considering my training has suffered this past week because of time constraints & stress of a major decision. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing as it seems to still be working. The machine is well oiled!
It was amazing to watch the weather website all week. It was calling for awesome weather all week except for Sunday – RAIN & COLD. I’ve seen this in the past, and so far, it usually ended up being pushed back a day and race day was nice. Not this time.
PRE-RACE
5:00 AM – Yes, that’s right…5 AM. Had my usual cereal, milk, protein mix for breakfast, packed up, and headed to the event which was 110 kms (68 miles) away in Oakville.
6:50 AM – Arrived at the race site and park on a nearby street, 5 min walk to the registration area, which was the Appleby College arena. For the 2nd year in a row, the event is organized start & finish from the college property.
7:15 AM – I’ve picked up my Race Kit, bib, and timing chip and proceed to try and find a change room or bathroom. To my disappointment, everything in the arena was locked. It was a good thing I decided to put on my running shorts at home before I left, otherwise some people would have had a nice freak show. 
7:30 AM – For the next hour, I basically walked around, chatted with a couple of fellow runners, and waited for go to the start line. I waited as long as I could to go outside which was cold, damp and raining.
8:20 AM – After standing in one of the little temp tents near the start line for approx. 10 mins, everyone started corralling to the start. They had boards indicating time brackets so I looked for the 50-60 min bracket & lined up in front of that pack.
THE RACE
My strategy for this race was based on my 5k predicted time. I had a goal of 55 mins to finish.
My decision to start at the front of my time bracket worked out perfectly. I didn’t have to deal with too much traffic and fell into my running grove
My race bib number
quickly, and enjoyed the scenery. The first 2-3 kms seemed to go by quickly, I felt good, and my legs were saying “BRING IT”! I started thinking that I might be going to slow as my heart rate was still in the low 140s, but I decided I would stick with my strategy for now as it was still early.
By the half way point, I was a little ahead of schedule for my planned pace, but I felt more comfortable that way in case my legs decided to give me a hard time towards the end. At this point I picked up the pace to my planned 5:23 min/km, but I noticed around the 6-7 km mark I was actually more in the range of 5:15 min/km. but I still felt great, and my legs had plenty left.
At the 7.5k mark, I grabbed a glass of water from one of the great volunteers, even though I didn’t feel thirsty I thought I might as well anyhow just in case.
With approx. 1k to go I looked at my Garmin and it said 48:15. I was in great shape, so I decide to do a final 500m sprint as I could hear the announcer at the finish line calling names out. I passed 6-7 people in that last 500m and crossed the line with a gun time of 54:40, but more importantly, a chip time of 54:02. That’s almost a full minute quicker than my 55 min goal, which I thought was a lofty goal to begin with. Knowing what I know now and how I felt during the race, I have no doubt, that once again, I could have pushed a little harder to whole race and end up in the low 53s.
POST RACE
After crossing the line, I felt in great shape. Legs didn’t feel as bad as I thought they would. I handed over my timing chip to another great volunteer, and another gave my beauty finishers medal. I then slowly walked over to the “food tent”. I grabbed myself a bagel, a banana, and a cup of Gatorade. After a little more walking around as I ate my treats, I headed for the arena to get my bag, and change into some dry clothes.
The Awards Ceremony started at 10:30 AM. Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait till next year to try again for a Mercedes.
Me & my medal!
Here’s all the telemetry from my Garmin 305 for this race:
Results Recap:
Next on the race agenda:Victoria Duathlon – 5k Run, 30k Bike, 5k Run , in Waterloo area, May 24th 2010.
This weeks numbers:
Weight: 193.2 lbs (No change from last week)
Body Fat: 19.7% (Up 0.1% from last week)
LBM: 155.1 lbs (down -0.2 lbs from last week)
Well, it was bound to happen at one point. No change this week. I guess I ate more than I thought over the weekend. But that’s OK.
Not to mention my scale is screwed. This started last week were it doesn’t want to “lock in” a weight…it just keeps bouncing around 1-2 lbs, and sometimes 3-4 consecutive tries yields 3-4 different weights by 2-3 lbs. I ordered a nice OMROM HBF-510W with the full body fat scanning. I should get it by this weekend. Then, at the next official weigh in next week, I’ll weigh on both scales to try and see if I can get some kind of correlation.
