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Showing posts from October 20, 2019

Keeping perspective on the off-season

For every sport, the season has a start and an end.  Over the past two weeks, there has been a dramatic shift in my life from setting an early morning alarm, training regularly and living a life of structure and planning to a lifestyle of flexibility and freedom. From a performance standpoint, the off-season is the foundation of athletic growth and development. To reduce the risk of injury, burn-out or a fitness plateau, the best approach to the off-season is somewhere between a time of leisure and relaxation and staying healthy and active. A good perspective on the off-season is to think of it as active rest while maintaining health-promoting lifestyle habits.  As you enjoy some well-deserved physical and mental rest from sport specific structured training, seek out new or different exercises or activities for your body and mind. As a tip, look for exercises and activities that have little to do with your sport you train for you and certainly keep it light and enjo...

IM Kona '19 RR: 26.2 mile run

Photo: Bree Wee When I participated in IM Canada back in July, I had three weeks of no running going into the race due to sudden hip/glute/back injury. This is nothing new for me as my body tends to get "twisted". Thankfully, I've been able to manage it well over the years but this season gave me a hard knock in the back - literally. Luckily, I went into IM Canada with great run fitness but unfortunately, I wasn't able to show it as I had to manage the run with a lot of walking, stopping and shuffling. It was actually a big unknown if I was going to be able to complete the marathon portion of the Ironman in Canada as I was not able to make a step forward without pain in my groin/hip. Somehow my body allowed me to run for 26.2 miles - very uncomfortable but not painful. I share this picture above from the exit of the energy lab at the 2019 Ironman World Championship. I don't think the smile left my face for all 26.2 miles. Despite another "slow" Ir...

IM Kona '19 RR: 112 mile bike

Photo: Justin Luau After my "moment" with the wind on the Thursday before race week, I convinced myself that I would be just fine in windy conditions on race day. To be honest, I actually wanted heat and wind on race day for a more difficult race experience. After giving the weather forecast a quick look on race day morning, it looked like we would all be getting the true IM Kona experience. Although the weather can quickly change in Kona, it was looking to be a tough day of racing. Although my cycling skills and fitness has drastically improved over the past few years, I felt my biggest strength on race day was experience. Not only did I know what to expect in certain areas of the course but I also know how low the lows can be on certain areas of the course. I went into the 112 mile bike with confidence and trust in my cycling abilities. I also had great trust in my nutrition as I practiced and fine-tuned it throughout the entire summer. I actually prepared my ra...

IM Kona '19 RR: 2.4 mile swim

                                                                    Picture source Marni Gear Amp PR lotion Squirrels Nut butter anti-chafe cream Roka Viper X swimskin (sleeveless) TYR 2.0 Special ops tinted goggles Castelli San Remo tri one piece kit (pulled down to waste) Oakley Crisscross power sports bra Karel Gear Amp PR lotion Pjuractive 2skin Roka Viper X sleeve swimskin MP Xceed tinted goggles Castelli San Remo tri one piece kit (pulled down to waste) Garmin 735 XT When we heard about the new  wave start  protocol for the 2019 Ironman World Championship, Karel and I were both happy about this change. We have always had our fastest swims with either a wave start or rolling start. I had the "pleasure" of racing Kona in 2007 when it was a mass start and it was pure chaos - super s...