Banff Sweater Disaster!

So I finally finished the Banff sweater this weekend. I had to go to the yarn store last week and buy a smaller needle to finish the neck but on Sunday I finally finished and all that was left was the binding off. The neck is 2 x 2 ribbing and I knew that I would need to maintain some of the give/elasticity. So I consulted my trusty book of techniques. There was an invisible bind of explained but it was for 1 x 1 ribbing and I couldn't see how I would get it to work with the modified 2 x 2 ribbing that I had. So I decided to go with the bind off I normally do which gives a firm edge, but keeps the selvage from being too tight. I bind off, I weave in the ends, I get excited and pull it over my head. The ONLY part that won't go over my head is the bound off edge! I was so disappointed. So now I have to find a way to pull it out and figure out a different technique.

Training last week went well. I didn't miss any workouts and had some tough ones that I managed to come through with flying colours. Wenesday I had a tough high(er) intensity ride (on the Computrainer) and then Thursday I had a higher intensity run. Saturday I was scheduled for 110km on the bike. It rained. I rode the Computrainer inside for 4 hours and 20 minutes. The first half was OK. I got off after 2:10 and mixed some more bottles to drink. But the second half was torture. I got off again to pee, and then I just started getting off out of boredom. I will be praying hard for good weather this weekend as I have 120km on the schedule. I ran 17.5km on Sunday. It was raining lightly, but I don't mind that so much when I'm running. Had a great run with a tailwind on the way back.

Totals for last week:
Swim: 5400 meters (two sessions)
Bike: 150km (two sessions)
Run: 40km (three sessions)
Total: 12 hours, 27 minutes

The good news coming out of Easter weekend is that the Banff sweater is on the verge of being finished! I was aiming to have all the pieces stitched together by Saturday so that I could take it home to my mom and she could show me how to pick up the stitches around the neck to add the turtleneck collar. Friday afternoon and evening, when we were at the boyfriend’s parent’s house I managed to get the final seams done and weave in the ends that weren’t related to the neckline. So the next day my mom got me started on the neck. It is knit in the round (which I am familiar with) but let me tell you, it is difficult to do when the thing attached to the circular needles is a sweater that feels like it weighs five pounds! I only have 22 more rounds to knit and then it will be finished. Hopefully I can take a picture (but we don’t have the digital camera anymore, since it actually was a Christmas gift for my parents!).

Easter weekend was full of visiting and two fabulous Easter meals. I ate way too much. Friday before we left I did a short 12K run in the rain. I was supposed to ride but I figured 1:15 in the rain running was better than 4+ hours on the bike in the rain. So I swapped the two workouts. Sunday I was up at 5:30 for a quick breakfast and out the door at 6:30 to ride 100K. I was going to try just going north from Mississauga up Mississauga Rd. This was actually pretty great until just north of Streetsville. After that it just gets scary with traffic and lanes exiting to the 401 and the 407. So unless I work at finding an alternate route (maybe going east a bit and then north again on a quieter road) I will have to stick to just going west towards Oakville. But I like the trip north because the terrain is more varied. The west route is just flat flat flat. I need more hill work on my rides. So I finished up with 99.4K. I had an optional swim on the schedule but none of the community pools were open on Easter Sunday.

Tonight is committed to grocery shopping!

Training Week in Review

Swim: one session - 2250 meters
Bike: two sessions - 139.5K
Run: three sessions - 29K
Total hours: 9:39

And for kicks, this time last year: 2900 meters, 75K, 26K

Race Recap

I ran the Bob Harwell Half Marathon on Sunday. I found this great little post race review thing in an article I read a bit ago, so I thought that I would try it out for this race.

• Was this the first time you raced this event? Yes
• What were the course conditions? The weather was perfect. About 2 degrees and sunny at the start. Felt a bit chilled waiting for the start but took no time at all to warm up. Terrain wise this course was tough (for me). It was hilly all the time. Not a flat section in sight. There were equal downs and ups, but the hills were pretty relentless.
• Was this an improvement or PR? I would say that this race was an improvement, but it wasn’t a PR. It was about a minute slower than my 2003 time from Ottawa (different course), but that race was poorly executed (started too fast and took many unscheduled walk breaks trying to recover). So I feel like I improved in the sense that I was able to exercise the discipline required to start slower and build to my pace.
• What was your race time and splits for each leg? Took splits at each 5K marker: 5K - 29:30 (average HR 166), 10K - 26:59 (average HR 172), 15K - 26:54 (average HR 173), 20K - 26:52 (average HR 169 - just after the 15K mark there is a crazy 1.5km-ish downhill, that would explain the lower average HR), final K - 5:43 (average HR 172)
• What were your mile splits for run? See above.
• What was your average speed and cadence on the bike (wattage)? n/a
• Heart rate data. See above.
• Race fueling and hydration. Race time was 9:00 am. At about 6:00 I had a slice of toast with PB. A cup of coffee with cream. At about 8:00 I drank a can of chocolate boost. I mixed up some Sustained Energy for the race and carried two bottle on my Amphipod fuel belt. I mixed it 16 oz of water and 300 calories (total) and divided it among the two bottles. I only drank one of the bottles and had a few sips out of the second. So that means over almost two hours I consumed about 150 calories and only drank 8oz of water. Doesn’t seem like a lot to me.
• What was your pre- and post-race weight? unknown
• Do you feel positively about the race? I do. Now that it is over I can admit that I would have liked to have come in closer to 1:55:00, but knowing what I know now about the terrain I am very pleased with the outcome. I met my goal of a negative split and managed to finally have a positive half marathon experience.

Some interesting things I noticed during the race... As you can see from my recap, my goal was to start slow and build in order to have an even or negative split. So I had to exercise quite a bit of discipline at the beginning of the race as people passed me. But at about the 5K mark I started picking people off. 5K!!!!!!!! That is only a quarter of the way into the race! So these people must have started out WAY too fast. From about 5K through to 15K I just slowly picked my way up the field of racers. After 15K the only people I was passing were the walkers who had an early start. The field was thin and I was pretty much alone most of the time, with other racers in sight ahead and behind. But I was surprised how early I started passing people.

So I'm feeling positive about my upcoming half in Ottawa.

a bit late on the week in review........

But here is what went down last week:

Swim: 1 session - 2000 meters
Bike: 2 sessions - 63K
Run: 4 sessions - 36K
6 hours, 54 minutes

One of the bike sessions and run sessions were combined into a brick workout (where you bike first and run right afterwards). I love brick workouts because I find running of the bike really easy. I love the fact that my legs are already warmed up and ready to go. So the brick workout was a 60 minute ride followed by a 30 minute run.

The pool that I use is still in some kind of perpetual state of closure. I am not exactly sure what is going on, but I am getting impatient. But I did manage to find a pool in the east end that is pretty decent. The water is a reasonable temperature and it wasn't crazy busy. But I will be glad when the other one opens up again.

This week I am racing a half marathon on Sunday. I haven't raced a half marathon since 2003. Last September I was a pace bunny for my beginners group that ran a half marathon, but that isn't the same as racing. My previous half marathon attempt in Ottawa in 2003 was a bit of a disaster. I paniced in the crowd at the start line and went out way too fast trying to get out of the crowd. So I crashed in the final half and was just disappointed that I didn't run a very well executed race. So this weekend I don't really have any time goals. It is just important to me to have a positive experience. Next month I will attempt Ottawa again and will think about setting a time goal for that one.