Thursday, July 3, 2008

Summer's Here!

Well I'm back from Edmonton, home to a pretty hot, muggy (for Kelowna) day. We have to unpack, then go pick up the dogs from the kennel, and get some groceries. There is a thunderstorm warning right now so I won't be able to go down to the lake, but I will for sure tomorrow.

I did a 4.6 km run on Saturday morning before I left Kelowna and went for a couple of good rides in Edmonton, one of which was my first serious brick. The first day I rode with the boys (Erik, Yogi, and his son Paul). Although it's mostly flat around Spruce Grove, Yogi took us on a nice 50 km ride that had a long section of rolling hills. Naturally, I had to work hard to keep up with the men but Yogi was working hard too, mainly because our new carbon bikes are faster. It was fairly humid and I found my breathing was laboured and wished I had brought my puffer. After awhile, I felt better and was able to hammer with the best of them. :) (Here's a picture of Yogi and I riding near Spruce Grove)

The next day we were planning to ride with Yogi and Paul again but it was going to be later in the day so I decided to do a one hour ride followed by a 20-30 minute run early in the day before it got too hot. Erik agreed to come along for the ride and we kept a fairly good pace (about 28kmh) for most of the 30km. I got back, had my runners and hat on in about 30 seconds, and heading out to run. My legs didn't feel as heavy as they have before and I had made sure my heart rate was down by the time I finished the bike so I didn't start with it racing. Overall, I did ok. I managed 4.6 km in 31 minutes which was slower than I'd hoped, but still ok for my first brick. I had some pain in the lower front of my left shin which I tried to walk out a couple of times, but after the first 2.5 km, it stopped hurting and I didn't seen to suffer any pain the next day.

By the time the boys were ready to ride later that day, it was 4:30pm so I let them go be boys and skipped the second ride. Erik and Yogi switched bikes this time (Erik on the Specialized Allez and Yogi on the Madone) and they found out how much faster the Madone is. This time, Yogi was ahead, and Erik had to work his butt off to keep up. Yogi is now convinced he needs a new bike. :)

I've been travelling for the past two days so haven't done any other training, but now that I'm home for 3 weeks straight, I'll be able to get in some really serious work. I'll be camping in Osoyoos during the last week of July and will still be able to swim, bike, and run while I'm there. We will also have to stop in and meet my buddy Peby (Paul) when we're down there, and of course there will be the mandatory trips up to the Anarchist lookout. (See the picture in my banner above.) My best time year was 48:30 from the campsite office to the lookout. I wish I could remember what my time was going from the windmill though. I guess I will have to track that info down somewhere. It'll be interesting to see how well I can do with my new bike, and when I'm not hungover. LOL...

Well, I have to go unpack. More in a few days, or whenever I have a 4 week training plan figured out.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, by all means make sure you drop in to meet with Peby. :)
Might even be able to join you for a ride up to the look out too if time provides.

Kelownagurl said...

We'll have to figure out how to get in touch when the time gets close. We'll be at Shady Lagoon from July 27- Aug 2. Do you hang out at the store in Osoyoos on occasion?