Category Archives: Goals

2010 Recap

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Well, today is the last day of 2010 and it’s time evaluate the year.

The first 3 months of 2010 is when I started my endurance training.  Reading various books & websites on multisport got me pointed in the right direction and helped me stay injury free.  The fat kept melting off, my endurance got better, although I never got the swimming down like I wanted to and wasn’t comfortable enough to do any of the swims for the triathlons.  That’s when I decided to switch to duathlons instead.  Learning & building endurance in 3 different disciplines was simply too much at the time.  So I focused on running & cycling and building on those disciplines.  I did a 3k, 5k, and 10k race in those first 3 months which was enough to get me hooked on physical competition.

For the following months, I continued my weight loss & building my endurance.  My weight loss peaked in mid-May at 189 lbs.  In May & did my first multisport event; a sprint duathlon in Waterloo.  It went way better than I could have imagined, and I was very happy with my performance.  The 2nd multisport event was the Welland duathlon in June.  Again, I was extremely happy with my performance, found some weaknesses to work on.

The following summer months I discovered a new hobby; mountain biking.  Out of the blue, I registered for a 50k mountain bike race (Lake 2 Lake Classic) using a borrowed bike from a friend.  Without any experience, I managed a very respectable finish, and again, I was hooked.  Through the summer I kept mountain biking, trying to build my technical skills, also did the Canal Days Mountain Bike race in August.  For the remainder of the summer I was also training for my upcoming half marathon scheduled for September.  Throughout the summer, my diet was not perfect.  I indulged in the summer festivities and BBQs but I have no regrets as my weight was still “normal”, I was the healthiest and fittest as I ever was in my life, and enjoying life.

September was the last race month.  I did the half marathon, beat my 2 hr finish goal by 6 mins and felt good afterwards.  The following weekend was the final race of the year for me; the Liberty Squeezer 30k mountain bike race.  The race went somewhat well, but it was apparent my cycling fitness had diminished, and also my weight gain over the summer months had taken it’s toll on my performance, and also a flat tire with 5k to go.

The following months up to this point involved simply maintaining my fitness, and trying to lose the weight I had gained in the 2nd half of the year.  I was successful in maintaining the fitness, but having a hard time focusing on the diet & losing the fat.

In December, I started formal training for the 30k Around the Bay road run race, and also restarted my swimming, and so far so good.

With all that said, here are the 2010 training totals;

  • Bike: 85h 48m 53s – 2025.93 kms – 1256 miles
  • Run: 97h 25m 37s – 990.64 kms – 614.2 miles
  • Swim: 19h 47m 15s – 25436.68 Yd – 14.4 miles
  • Strength: 33h 30m
  • Elliptical Training: 5h 57m
  • P90X: 13h 50m 01s
  • Rowing: 52m
  • Stair Running: 4h 10m

For 2011, I have a very busy race schedule and I can’t wait to start crossing the beams.  I will be refocusing my diet & fat loss to meet my racing weight goal of 185 lbs/12% body fat.  The culminating race will be the Muskoka Ironman 70.3 triathlon which I have a goal of finishing under 6 hrs.  Very doable with the scheduled training program I have lined up.

Here’s wishing everyone out there a Happy & Prosperous New Year!  Set your goals & follow through.


Race Recap: Liberty Off-Road Squeezer MTB Race – Sept 26, 2010

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Another race I was under trained for. :roll:    It’s a good thing I did a little 45 min pre-ride the day before to see if I remembered how to ride a mountain bike..LOL

I parked at my buddy Shawn’s place which is only a few KMs from the start of the race.  Unloaded, got prepped and biked to the event.  Good way to warm up the legs at the same time.

When I registered a few weeks back, I signed up in the D1 Wave which is considered the “Moderate Enthusiasts” class, but in hindsight, I should of signed up in the C Wave. Also, after looking over the course map it was evident that there was plenty of road sections, which works to my benefit considering my on-road training.  With that said I decided to start right at the front of the wave to get a clear shot at everything.

Once the horn went off, I was out like a bat out of hell.  The first 1.5kms is on city paved streets so I pushed the speed big time….probably a little too much.

The extra weight I’ve added over the summer, and the lack of riding for the last 3 weeks certainly made things harder.  After the paved section, it went into a gravel road/path.  A handful of us had broken away from the rest, but I could tell I was already pushing too hard too early in the race so I started slowing down a little before hitting the single track.

There were plenty of challenging climbs including going up the Decew Rd. hill…TWICE!  Because I had pushed so hard earlier, and adding those 2 big road climbs, trying to maintain 30 KPH on the road sections was difficult.  My average in those areas probably closer to 27 KPH.  Total climb for the race was close to 1000 ft.

There were a few new single track sections that were really nice & challenging.  Then it was down the Hydro Hill section.  One of the sections of single track had a very rocky portion.  The speed I was carrying down the hill, I hit a few rocks fairly hard.  I was sure to get a flat front tire, but nothing…..until 2-3 mins later crossing a short field section I heard the dreaded…PPSSSSSSSSSSSSSS…down the front tire with only 5 kms to go….AAAHHHHHH.

I lost approx. 7 mins fixing the flat.  This could have been a little better if I had not forgotten to bring a tire wedge.

Once I got going again, I was stuck behind alot of slower people and given the last remaining 5k was mostly single track, I lost more time here also.

Overall though, the race was very well organized, trail well marked, good support, and great volunteers cheering everyone on.  Next year I will be better prepared with some hill training.



Official Results Here

Results Recap:

  • Official Time: 1h 59m 59s
  • Overall: 469 of 769 competitors (61%)
  • Age Group(M30-39):  88 of 115  (77%)

Major Update for the Last 4 Months

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Well, as you might have noticed, I didn’t put up any weigh ins, or updates since last May.  It got so busy with the summer season, also started a new job that has me commuting 10 hrs a week, plus I really had nothing GOOD to report.  Although I tried maintaining a good diet, I only did for 3-4 days of the week.  Then the weekends would come along, and it was major splurges.  I did maintain my fitness & training schedule, but obviously that wasn’t enough to keep some of the weight from coming back.  Like it’s well known, exercise alone is not good enough.  What you eat is 90% of the battle….I lost that battle over the summer a little.

Now that summer & race season is over, it’s time to get back on track.  Starting tomorrow (Sept 27th) I’m going to do a P90X round which is a 90 day/12week training program, something a little different for the off-season, to lose of that summer weight, and also add a little lean muscle mass.  I’m also still going to maintain at least 1 run & bike session every week so I don’t lose that fitness totally.  I’ll also be resuming my weekly weigh ins to keep me humble & accountable.  With that said, here are the starting numbers from this morning (Sept 27);

Weight: 212.4 lbs
Body Fat: 21.7% 
LBM: 166.3 lbs

Yes, that’s over 20 lbs from my lowest weigh in at the end of March. :-(   But that’s the GOAL of this 12 week session, back down to my lowest 190 lbs by December 25th.

For my diet/nutrition, I’ll be giving Tom Venuto’s “Holy Grail Body Transformation Program” a try which is based on calorie cycling; 3 days at a 20% calorie deficit (2300 cals), 1 day at calorie maintenance (2900 cals) or surplus.  I’ll be going with the calorie maintenance as my primary goal is fat lost, with a secondary goal of maintaining lean muscle mass.

With that said, time to get moving.

Happy Health!


Race Recap: Thunder Bay Half-Marathon – Sept 19, 2010

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Got up at 5:30 AM to make sure I could get my breakfast in at least 2.5 hrs before race start.  Sleep was borderline adequate.

Weather: Damn chilly!  At 6 AM it was still 0C with a mild wind.  By 7 AM, it was 2C.  That means I wore long sleeves without a doubt.

We left (brother-in-law, my wife & I) the house at 7:35 AM, got to the race start around 7:50 AM.  We were parked only a few blocks away so I used that as my warm-up to the start line area.


At 12km mark...

There was alot of energy in the air, and a great turnout crowd.  Announcer indicated the start was in 5 mins so I planted myself on the left edge approx. mid pack…..not long after, the horn went off.

My strategy for the race was to finish under 2 hrs which meant a 5:40 min/km average pace.  Since the first 6.5 kms was mostly uphill I was planning to go 5:45 pace

Finish line

for that first section, then catch up on the downhill sections.

After the horn went off, I was just going with the flow for the first 1km until people started sorting themselves out.  I did pass a few people that obviously were pacing way slower than I was.  But, I noticed even going up the hill on Villa St. that I was maintaining a sub 5:40 pace & felt comfortable doing it, and my heart rate was in check, so I just kept it going.  Average HR for the first 5km was 152 BMP which is my Zone 3…right where it’s suppose to be.

After the 6.5 km turnaround, the general profile is suppose to be downhill for the next 10 kms, but there were a few uphills.  In that section my AHR went to 157, but the average pace also went down to 5:25.  I was really getting in the groove in this section, and felt great.

Billie & I, post-race.

The last 6 kms were getting a little hard.  I started getting a hotspot/blister on my left foot in the usually spot around the 17k mark, and in general my legs were getting really ache.  But I kept at it, picked up the pace a little more.  The heart rate jumped up to the low 160s, but my cardio still felt great.

The the final straw…going up the hill on Park Ave..  That was tough, but there was light at the end of the tunnel.  A couple more turns & it’s done.

I turned the corner on Red River Rd…the final 200m length.  I dropped the hammer with whatever I had left.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:54:25 which is a 5:25 min/km average pace.  My goal was under 2 hrs, and I SMASHED IT! :mrgreen:


Here’s a little video montage.  Thanks to my brother-in-law Shawn B. for the clips:


Official Results Here (Male, Half Marathon)

Results Recap:

  • Official Time: 1h 54m 25s (5:25 min/km avg pace)
  • Overall: 156 of 463 competitors (34%)
  • Age Group(M30-39):  20 of 39  (51%)