Monthly Archives: November 2011

Hello Trainer! How can we get along this winter?!

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On the first super cold, not really worth going outside day in Calgary the other day, I hopped on my trainer for my first ride heading into winter training. With no real

A garage ride my first year on the LUNA team, Photo by Mike Flynn

structured training plan in place yet, I had enough motivation to ride for about 45 minutes. Enough time to think about the fact it was only the beginning of the 4-5 month indoor riding season, sigh! For those of us triathletes and cyclists who live in the more northern latitudes and parts of the world where sub-zero temperatures, ice and snow are the norm for the winter months, riding with a trainer, rollers, or on a spin bike are usually the only options to giving cycling specific muscles a workout. Ever since I have called myself a cyclist or triathlete I have lived in the land of snow and ice, far from balmy Vancouver Island where I grew up and one can ride outdoors year round!

Over the last ten years, I have also experimented through trial and error as to how much and what kind of indoor riding works best in order to make it to spring still physically fresh and not mentally burned out! Here are a few things I’ve learned to do in order to keep pedaling nowhere as exciting as possible…

1. Learn and respect your indoor riding threshold! During my first winter training for mountain bike racing I was living in Ottawa and rode my rollers in the dingy basement of a rental house I was sharing with other students. Midway through the winter I found myself burnt out of indoor riding and had to take a little time off to refresh my physical and mental motivation to ride inside again. Although I’ve known a few mentally tough (or crazy?! :)) athletes over the years who seem to actually enjoy and/or can tolerate many hours per week of indoor riding, it’s best to respect how many hours per week you can personally handle mentally in order to optimize your time on the trainer and pace yourself until the snow finally melts!

2. Use every motivational tool you can. If you’ll be riding the trainer for several weeks or months at a time, it can be worth getting a lactate test done with a coach to find out your training zones with heart rate and watts. That way you can gauge your efforts, and monitor whether you’re overdoing it as well. While riding nowhere, rides that focus on your heart rate, cadence, and wattage can be welcome “distractions” to pass the time productively. Add in your favourite motivational music mixes and you’re ready to go!

3. Have a detailed ride plan. When I ride at home solo, a 90 minute plus trainer ride takes a lot less mental energy when I have a detailed down to the minute plan to follow. I’ll use one of my workouts after teaching spin classes for many years, or get one from my coach. With a variety of efforts (heart rate or watts), cadence, standing, sitting, and one-legged exercises to all taped to the wall beside me, the time goes by much faster with a quality, focused plan to follow.

4. Choose TV/movie watching or radio listening wisely. Some rides are meant to be just steady aerobic rides, and these ones can be the best ones to choose to watch a movie or TV or listen to the radio instead of rocking out to motivational tunes. I also like to spend time on my rollers instead of the trainer for these types of rides which also helps improve balance and pedalling coordination, as well as being closer to simulating outdoor riding. However, I usually don’t choose to watch TV during intervals since I associate it with relaxing and chilling out and I think my legs subconsciously start to pedal slower when I watch it – one exception would be watching Tour de France type footage where you can focus on matching the pedaling cadence. When first learning French I also learned that listening to French radio while riding to work on my comprehension skills only made me fatigue even faster while indoor riding because of the brain power depletion it took to focus!

5. Train with a group as often as possible. There is always more energy and motivation in numbers! If you can join or even teach a spin class for a ride or two a week, it keeps you accountable to keep riding and is a good change of scenery from riding at home. Group movie rides in a friend’s garage or basement are great. In Calgary, our Critical Speed triathlon training group does famous bimonthly 3-5 hour indoor brick sessions (a mix of riding, track running, stairs, and core conditioning) during the winter, which I could NEVER do on my own!

6. Cross-train! As related to point number one, when your indoor riding threshold is maxed out, cross-country skate skiing is my favourite method of cross-training. Even one day per week, things like snowshoeing, stair running, or even stairmaster and uphill treadmill running if you’re still stuck inside can be a nice change to the trainer while also still working on cycling specific muscles and strength.

A gorgeous, mostly vertical, snowshoe day up Sunshine in Banff

Skiing in Canmore with Zoe when she was 16 months old

7. Remind yourself of the few reasons indoor riding can be superior to outdoor riding. You can always periodically pump yourself up to ride the trainer with fun facts like it beats riding outside in 5 degree rain, its more bang for your time bucks, you can often push yourself harder than you might be able to outside by locking in the watts for intervals, and one-legged work, high cadence riding, and roller riding can improve your pedalling efficiency for when you hit the road again. It’s also not a bad time to remember the long-term perspective as to why you’re doing it in the first place, hopefully to prepare for a big event or some big races you have planned for next season! And of course it is our northerners secret to building mental toughness in the off-season!

8. Plan one (or two!) midwinter escapes to a warmer climate to train.  If you are able to, planning a welcome break to a warmer destination mid to late winter is always a great way to break up the indoor monotony and have a shorter term goal to work towards and look forward to enjoying the fruits of your indoor work. When I lived back east, a big group of us from Ontario would pile in our cars every year at the end of March, and drive down to South Carolina for a week of riding in Table Rock State Park. It was beautiful riding and great motivation to keep the winter riding up in order to be fit enough to handle the miles ridden that week. Now I enjoy occasional winter escapes with my kids to my hometown on Vancouver Island. And if you can’t escape winter, even a midwinter excursion to back country or xc ski for a few days can be just as refreshing!

9. If all else fails, ride outside anyway! If you’re lucky enough to have an old mountain bike that can potentially get covered in snow, slush, and salt, throw on some studded tires with extra low pressure, and on those slightly warmer winter days – called Chinooks in Calgary – take a spin on the bike paths on lightly covered single track trails and have fun practicing your balance. If you can ride where there is not too much ice, blasting down a snow-covered hill and trying to stay upright is a blast when falling into the snow won’t hurt one bit either!

Athlete-Mom Interview: Carrie Atwood

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Carrie and I met through the LUNA team. As well as the Pro team, there are 26 Local Luna teams (run, cycling, mountain bike or triathlon focused) all over the United States (and yes, I’m hoping we can get some in Canada soon). You can read more about each local team on the Luna Chix website. Carrie is a member of the Team LUNA Chix Triathlon team in Seattle (which you can read more about below). She lives just outside of Seattle in Sammamish with her husband Eric, her 7 year old daughter Seamus, and 6 year old son, Sirus. I think I’ll need to go visit this area as it sounds like an Xterra triathlete’s dream training place – Carrie can run to work, there are 4 lakes within a few minutes drive, and 5hrs of mountain biking right out their doorstep, which are well maintained trails that have had over 100hrs of volunteer work done on them each year! Read on to hear about how Carrie’s modern family balances work, family, and play…

Carrie and son, Sirus

1. Can you tell me a little about your athletic/competitive background before becoming a mom?
I did my first road century when I was 15 but never raced or road bikes competitively. I was on the crew team my freshman year in college but was always sick and full of injuries, so I didn’t continue. After that I didn’t do much except the occasional rec league softball or soccer team. After some encouragement from an old boss, I decided to try mountain bike racing and was hooked. It’s how I met my husband! I raced a few years at the sport level, but when work became unbearable and racing was no longer fun, I stopped. It wasn’t until after I had my kids that I switched to triathlons and got my athletic groove back!

2. What has motivated you to keep setting athletic and/or competitive goals since becoming a mother? Is it different than pre-kids?
Pre-kids it was about trying to get in shape, having fun, hanging out with friends and meeting new people. I didn’t care about goals or winning or any of that. It really was just a way to pass the time and stay out of trouble. Since having kids, I am actually competitive for the first time in my life! I set goals and I want to exceed those goals. I am more focused all around and while I still do it to stay in shape, I hope I am also setting good examples for my kids.

Out for a beautiful NW training ride!

3. How do you balance training and/or racing with your family?
I try to get my workouts done in the morning so that when I come home in the evening I can concentrate on my family. If I do my work out in the evening, I spend that morning time with them, eating breakfast together and planning for the day. I also try to make sure I spend some one-on-one time with each of them every day, even if it is only a few minutes at bed time. There have been times when I have left the house before the kids wake up and gotten home after they are asleep. Sometimes I feel sad about not seeing them, and wonder if I am being selfish, especially when they hang on me asking me to please not go out for another bike ride. But I know I am a better mom because of my training and racing. I’m calmer, more patient and more confident. If the sadness gets too bad, which sometimes it does, I’ll skip a workout and spend extra time with them. I am also very lucky because I have a great husband who is also athletic so he understands. As a bonus, he is a stay at home dad and manages everything at home. It really allows me to spend my at home time with the family.

Racing as a LUNA Chix

4. Can you tell me more about how you made the decision to have Eric stay home and how that has worked for your family?
We joke that being a stay at home dad was one of the negotiating tactics I used in order to have a baby- I told him he’d have all kinds of time to train, etc. Ha! He was his fastest the year Seamus was born, but only this year with Seamus in 2nd grade and Sirus in Kindergarten does he consistently have a regular schedule. I want him to stay home at least another year, so Sirus will be in full day 1st grade, but really, I wouldn’t mind him staying home for much much longer. I like things the way they are. One of the other girls on our Seattle team has a stay at home dad, too. I swim with one and work with one, too. I don’t think it is for everyone, but it works for us. It was hard at first, I really had to let go, but he does a great job. Since the kids started going to school, I have learned to not mess with the morning routine at all, and its a bit weird at school functions because all the moms crowd around Eric and hardly acknowledge me, but whatever! He has also said it has been hard to crack the mom cliques too. Sometimes it’s sad because when the kids are sick or hurt, they tend to go to him first, and I get called Daddy a lot, but I think what they get from him is way worth it.

Eric and Seamus

5. Did you train during pregnancy?No. What was your approach? Lots of rest. 🙂 My first pregnancy I tried to stay sort of active but by the 5th month all I wanted to do was lay around and get huge. The 2nd pregnancy I didn’t even try to do anything because I got huge almost instantly.

6. Any advice you would give to other moms trying to stay active (or even competitive) while balancing kids?
For new moms, I’d suggest putting that baby in a BabyBjorn or some sort of carrier and walk all over the place. Hills and more hills! There is nothing wrong with sweating a little even, just don’t run. Babies love being in those carriers, they are content and will nap, and you’ll be able to ease into getting back in shape. We have a Chariot so to make family runs or bike rides more fun for the kids, we would stop at a park or two along the way. Now that my kids are older, I can go out to the garage on the weekends and spend a few hours on the trainer while they play in the house. And again I am lucky because I actually like the trainer and treadmill, so my advice would be to learn to love them. My husband and I have gym dates, where we swim or lift weights together while the kids are in the gym’s kids club (which luckily they love!), and most of my social activities with my friends are spent running or biking. This serves double duty: I’m getting in my girl time, I am getting in a workout, and an added bonus of that I’m not out spending my kid’s future college tuition on drinks or restaurant food. There is of course a time and a place for all of that, but if I can kill a few of those birds with one workout, then that leaves more time to be with my kids.

7. And of course can you tell me about the local Luna Triathlon team you’re are a member of? What are you favourite group workouts to do in and around Seattle? 
I am headed into my 5th season with Team LUNA Chix in Seattle and for 2012, I am going to be one of the team co-leaders! I love being part of Team LUNA Chix and meeting women who are interested in triathlon. One of my favorite things is hearing the stories from the newer ladies who are just beginning to realize what they can actually accomplish. Some of our most inspiring workouts are the mini-tris that we have a few times each summer. It gives the ladies a chance to swim, bike and run, practice transition and test their race strategy in a super short distance, low key, low pressure environment before their big day! I love the LUNA Chix and encourage all women interested in triathlons to check us out at our website and come to one of our workouts.

Team Luna Chix Tri Team in Seattle

Post-season blues or bliss?

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Whether you’ve finished the one main event you’ve been training for, or several races as part of a season, it is completely normal to come down with a case of the post-race or post-season blues. If your “A” race is done, or the main event is over, no matter how well you did, there is a period of letdown. The event is finished, the race stories for the day are written, everyone has gone home and the party is over. You may feel as a child does, or you still do  :), after all the presents have been opened on Christmas morning. With the feelings of excitement, anticipation, planning and preparation for the big day suddenly dissipated, it is easy to feel temporarily lost.

Crossing the finish line for the last time in 2011

With my last race of season complete last weekend, I got thinking about what are the best ways to handle any feelings of post-race blues and make the beginning of the “off-season” as blissful as possible. Expecting and preparing for a bit of letdown time is half of the battle. Here is what has helped me enjoy and get the most out of this short period of re-balancing, renewing, and refocusing on what’s next….

1. I take some real time off training. I give myself permission to do absolutely NOTHING physical for at least a week to 10 days other than walks to the park with my kids and stretching. Usually, I get physical withdrawal symptoms earlier than that and feel like doing something. But I just wait until my body says, “I can’t stand this any longer, take me out the door for a little run at least!”

2. I indulge a little in all the forbidden foods I usually cut way down on when in serious training and racing mode. After a maximum of a few days of eating too much chocolate, chips, donuts etc the yuckiness I feel is enough to remind me why “everything in moderation” is the way to go and return to asap!

3. Before the off-season officially begins, I have a list of things I’m looking forward to doing, any projects I’ve had on the backburner all season. All those, “if I wasn’t training/racing so much, I’d take more time to….” Things like projects around the house that have been pushed down the priority list for several months as well as spending extra time with friends and family.

4. After some real time off, I start a fun “active rest” phase for about a month. When my body is itching to start moving agian, I do what feels good. I enjoy some “training” that might not be a regular part of my structured training routine, things like yoga, pilates, hiking, or fun social runs with no pacing/distance agenda. And I do enough so that the transition back to full on training again isn’t too painful.

5. Of course, part of the post-season blues are related to a sudden lack of goal focus. So it can be a fun time to take some time to plan out any events I’m going to compete in next season. I reflect on any races I’d love to do again, new ones to try, or ones I swear I won’t do again!

6. Once I’ve had a good body and mind break from sructured training and am feeling recharged, renewed and fully motivated to get back to work, it is time to sit down with my coach and get into the serious details of week by week training plans again. Of couse, I like to make sure this is well underway before the holiday season, so I can afford my beloved eggnog lattes and other occoasional goodies (in moderation of course) around Christmas!

ITU Long Course Worlds Race Report

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I finished my triathlon season where I began it 7 months ago in April at the Xterra West Championship. With some good recovery and a minimal amount of training since Xterra Worlds two weeks ago I arrived at Lake Las Vegas feeling good, and miraculously having avoided the terrible colds that my kids had all week. Team Canada had organized a group swim in the lake on Thursday, and although the water was cool to get in, it felt fine once we got swimming.

However, on Friday, the afternoon before the race the temperature dropped and the skies opened up with heavy rain for several hours. The next morning I arrived in the twilight at transition about 45 minutes before the scheduled 7:00am race start time to learn that the 4km swim had been cancelled!! The reason was due to the combination of cool air temperature and cool water being deemed unsafe to race. While this was definitely in my favour against my strong competitors in the elite category, most of them top swimmers, I have to admit I still feel a little jipped that I did not get to experience a 4km swim as part of a race. That said I’m definitely not complaining that we were saved from starting the bike wet and possibly hypothermic! My body also feels beat up enough after racing 120km on the bike followed by a 30km run, definitely my biggest race/endurance challenge to date! I hope be able to walk again normally in a few more days, ha!

The swim start that was not to be!

With the swim cancelled (the lake and arches we would have started under pictured above), it was a time trial start with racers starting at 5 second intervals. With no swim, I was able to dress perfectly for the weather, and at least it was sunny with the eventual high around 16 degrees. I felt good on the bike right from the start. I had not ridden my Orbea Ordu time trial bike since the end of July at the Calgary 70.3 so I was glad the position felt so comfortable as soon as I got on it again just the day before the race.

The bike course consisted of two out and back loops on either side of Lake Mead (created by the famous Hoover Dam), a National Recreation Area. The winds weren’t too bad, the weather was clear, the pavement was generally super smooth, the desert and lake views were pretty scenic, and it was fun going fast! It was also neat to see approximately where I was behind the front cyclists at each turn around. I was going back and forth with Amanda Lovato, an American for much of the bike, and we entered T2 together in Henderson. The bike  consisted of non-stop climbing or descending, and by about the 100km mark my legs were feeling pretty punched on some steep bike path climbs. I was feeling ready to be done riding – I was also thinking about the fact that if I was doing an Ironman, I’d still have 60km to go – yikes!

Mom, the photographer catches my front end coming into T2, ha!

Entering T2 was awesome because we just dismounted and volunteers took our bikes. They also helped us grab our run gear back and get changed in the changing tent. Then it was off to do four laps of 7.5km run course.  I started the run in about 13th position. I felt great from the start and got into a pretty good rythmn, and tried to find a pace that felt fast but not too hard in order to pace myself. Not unlike the bike, the run had a few short sections that you might call “flat” but otherwise, it was a loop that was all uphill and then all the way back down. By the halfway mark in the run I’d moved into 10th position but by mile 13-14ish I started to wonder if I could get through it! I was well-hydrated so was mainly taking coke and gatorade from all the aid stations. With a few miles to go though I was actually feeling hungry and instinctively grabbed a cookie from a tray at the aid station dangling in front of me, maybe a bit of a risky move to eat while running! Although I found a second wind in the last few miles, a Polish girl recaught me, and I crossed the line in 11th, after getting through the 30km run in 2h15 minutes, and my total time for the day being 6h09!

My dad giving me some splits on the run

Rachel Joyce and Leanda Cave of Great Britain came 1st and 2nd, and Meredith Kessler from the USA was third to complete the podium. As far as the other Canadian women in the Elite race, Tenille Hoogland had a great day, finishing 7th, and Margaret Bailey was 15th. As a result, we came second as a nation, (a team category I didn’t know about until they announced it at the post-race dinner) behind the U.S.

Running for Canada!

Although I was a little nervous about following all the ITU rules I had learned about at the elite race meeting, on race day the organization was super impressive. It was fun to represent Canada for the first time in a race as well. I was told there were about 150 Canadians and I could see them everywhere on the course and there were tons of spectators cheering for Canada too – maybe our red and white race kits stood out more as well!

Enjoying post-race buffet of Krispy Kreme donuts, chips, and pop with the kids

Thanks to my parents, who were able to join me and the kiddies for another “race-cation” with JF unavailable to come. We are spending a few days checking out the Vegas area and avoiding the Canadian winter just a little longer before heading home. Then I will finally enjoy the start of the off-season. My “active rest” will consist of packing up the house to move on December 1st! (We are moving into a rental house for about 8 months while we renovate a bungalow we bought in the Calgary community of Montgomery – should be a busy winter!)

Thanks to everyone who has supported me for a very fun, and productive 2011 season of racing. I especially could not do it without the support of the LUNA Pro Team, my husband, my parents, and my Coach, Cal!!