Big Training Day Today

Holy Cow! Today was a big day. And an early day for a Saturday too.

The day started with the alarm going off just before 6:00 AM to get ready for the swim training at 6:30 AM with the Canadian Dolphin Swim Club at the Vancouver Aquatic Centre (VAC). 1.5 hours of what is hard swimming for me today with my favorite (NOT!): a lot of kicking. Ouch!

Then rushing home for a quick shower and breakfast and getting ready for our long ride. We were meeting up at 9:30 AM at The Right Shoe on 4th and Fir. The Right Shoe Tri Club is our triathlon training club but today was not a coached ride.

Even though I still had to put fenders on my road bike and pump the tires, I should have had plenty of time. But I could not for the live of me find my Garmin Heart Rate Strap -- and still can't. This is driving me nuts!! So of course this put me way behind in time and I ended up leaving without. Oh well...

I also had to pack a small back pack with swim gear for another round after the bike. I had a swim lesson with my swim coach Janka scheduled for 2:30 PM at the VAC. So I needed the backpack for the swim stuff and a lock so I'd still have a bike after the swim.

So I just made it in time for 9:30 AM to meet with @lawrencegrigg, @gencauffope, and Lorena. Grant and Jason would meet us later along the way.

We were aiming for about a 3 hour ride and decided to do the Steveston Loop out via Spanish Banks and UBC and back via South West Marine and Camosun. Bang on 3 hours!

Along the way my cadence sensor stopped working. Dang! Something else to fix... And we lost Jason and Lorena. Double Dang!! Especially since they did not know Steveston that well and got a bit lost. In the end they found their way home and had a good and safe ride too.

After the ride I quickly picked up my backpack from The Right Shoe and met up with @lawrencegrigg and @gencauffope at the Bean Around The World on Cornwall for a large Soy Latte and a Blueberry Scone! Yum!! That hit the spot and gave me just enough time to rest before going back to the VAC to meet with Janka.

Sharply at 2:30 PM my lesson started and Janka was kind enough to call it "only a slight regression of my swim technique over the holidays". Thanks Janka! :-)

Today we worked first on the length of my push through and not just with the full extended arm but also with a relaxed shoulder for some extra distance. Then we worked on keeping my elbow higher longer in the recovery phase. And finally we went to work on kick coordination as well. Or as Janka put it: "your arms and your legs are really doing their own thing but not very coordinated". Yea, no shit! She had me do a bit of Dolphin kicks with just kicking at first. Then with single arm and then with both arms. That went really well and made a lot of sense! We she had me then translate it into the 2-beat kick it kinda came apart.

Oh well, lots to work on over the nest 30+ weeks before Ironman Canada! Here is my training plan for the next 2 weeks exported from TrainingPeaks.

After this was all set and done I went home, showered and had a little snack. Then my wonderful (and incredibly patient!) wife Esther and I went for a walk in the rain. Went to H&M and then to Yew for a lovely Champagne Cocktail called Vaastu Shastra and some more snacks (after a training day like today I cannot seem to stop eating!).

Then it was home and making dinner: Spaetzle with cheese and over easy eggs and a side of romaine lettuce and tomatoes with a citrus - yogurt dressing. And some red wine of course.

Now... I am really tired and am ready for bed!
Tomorrow... Run with The Right Shoe Marathon Clinic for 1.5 hours.

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers!