I just completed week two of getting back into training and I am happy to say I am in the training zone! Last week I logged just over 13hrs of swimming, biking (on the trainer), and running (treadmill and outdoors). And to top it off, I ran 17km today in the frigid cold without having a day off of training yet since I started two weeks ago. And I am happy about that! :) Last year at this time I had no motivation to get going. This time I have Ming watching my back and so I am accountable to him and need to get my butt in gear! Which is the reason why I have a coach. I need to be accountable to someone otherwise I would just let my daily life take over and not train as much. I am not doing very long training sessions right now but they are intense. Hopefully this does pay off once the race season starts! I am looking forward to racing again and can't wait!
Also, I have managed to maintain my race weight over the holidays! Yay! Getting sick probably helped though. I usually gain about 5lbs over the winter and lose it once training gets serious. Last year I actually lost about 10lbs by the time I headed into Cozumel. I am still at my pre-Cozumel weight so that is good. And with all this training, I am either going to gain weight in muscles or lose some more. I'll wait and see what happens. I am not consciously trying to lose weight. I eat what my body needs and what my stomach wants and just let the rest happen on its own. I do have to stop eating whole jars of Nutella though, but I can't help it sometimes! Lol!
And my update on Limey: well it turns out that Guru can no longer replace the frame because they do not make a 650c version of the Crono equivalent they have in the market now. So they will now completely rebuild the frame. I have yet to figure out what that exactly means. Anyhow, in return they said I can have whatever paint job I want including the SFX ones (aka fancy paint!). So I went with the SFX vermilion which is an orangy-red colour and orion (silver). Hope it turns out great! It was hard to part with the lime green since I do love it and I would get soooo many compliments on it. However, change is always good and I did ride Limey for three seasons. Hopefully I can get as many compliments on my new machine as I did with Limey! ;)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Year in Review
I just completed my first week back into training and it went fairly well. I am working on quite a bit of intensity stuff in hopes of getting stronger. I did four trainer rides working on cadence and power which left me leaving a puddle of sweat each time. My runs were not as successful as I got caught in a blizzard one night and had to really watch my footing. It sure was beautiful to run on the empty streets in the middle of a mini snow storm but it was a bit surreal too as no one was around. I also now have access to a treadmill now that I am working at the new hospital which is great! I have another option from running in minus something weather with the windchill and ice and snow. Not only are there treadmills at this gym, there are also ellipticals, a universal weight machine, free weights, and exercise balls so I can get a full workout in!
I thought about writing a recap for 2010 and have decided to get around to it now. 2010 was quite the year for me in the triathlon world! I sure made huge gains which I hope I can continue through in 2011. You can check back on my blog for specific race reports if you wish.
I started my race season with the Chilly Half marathon with disappointing results. I knew I wasn't ready to run a good half and I wasn't. I ran about a 2:05 but it was my longest run of the year at this point and so I just took it as a training day. Then I headed down to Florida in April with my friend Terri and we had a great week of riding. I stayed a few more days after Terri left and really had a great time with the masters swim club in Clermont and added in some runs. It was a good training week. Soon enough my triathlon season began with my first tri being the Rev3 half ironman in Knoxville. It was a tough race, tougher than I expected but I put in a solid effort. It was my first tri of the season anyway. A month later I headed off to Hawaii for the 70.3 in June and had a blast! Another tough race but loads of fun...and it was just beautiful there! It was soon after this race that I had to make a quick decision to switch coaches. My previous coach just wasn't cutting it at this point and I needed a change because the Ironman was coming up! I had a couple of options for coaching and opted to go with Ming since he had previously mentioned that he would like to coach me and he lives in TO so I can easily communicate and even train with him. So began our new coaching relationship. During this time I also did the Welland half ironman and the Peterborough half swim/bike on back to back weekends. Welland did not go as planned but I still barely managed to PB! Haha! Peterborough just hurt! I came off a heavy training week as I went to train with Terri leading up to this race. Now the training really started. And at the beginning of August I went to Benton Harbor Michigan to race the Steelhead 70.3 and got a new half IM PB!!! Yay!!! I then put in some good training days up in Parry Sound which really helped me. I even did the Parry Sound sprint tri and won my age group! woohoo! That was a first for me! ;) This all led to my A race - Ironman Canada! And boy, did I ever surpass all of my expectations at that race. I honestly could not have asked for a better race. Everything went well (besides some rain, wind, and hail) and I had the race of my life! (hopefully not the last one too!) And clocked in another new PB!!! It was after IMC I decided to join the Nachos and do Ironman Cozumel in November! So after a little break I started training again and this was when I also started getting sick. I wasn't ever sick enough to stop anything, but it did slow me down and put a little dent in my training. I did the Toronto International half marathon with not so stellar results. Ah well! And then I found myself off to Taiwan after Ming and Leanna convinced me to go at the very last minute and race the 70.3 there. I even got into the race after it was sold out thanks to Ming's mom...hahaha! Taiwan was an awesome experience and it was a tougher race than I expected. But I somehow managed to hold off the women in my age group and placed third!!! Woohoo x 2!!!! My first ironman branded podium finish and at an international event!!! That was sooo cool!!!! And amazing!!!! I will never forget being called to the podium at the awards ceremony: "And from Canada, in third place, Wendy Lopez!" A few weeks later I was in Cozumel for my second Ironman of the season. IMCoz was a battle and no new PB this time but I learned that I can mentally battle through anything! And again, I just had a blast there!!! Soooo much fun!!!!
I was just looking at my training log and this is what I put in from July-December (not including races):
approx 120.8km, 44.6hrs of Swimming
approx 1966.3km, 96.3hrs of Cycling (hrs incl trainer time as well)
approx 540.4km, 60.8hrs of Running (some runs were not measured in distance)
approx 14.8hrs of other stuff (skiing, yoga, core, etc)
For a grand total of about 216.5 hrs of training for the six months, July being the heaviest followed by October. Wow...that's nuts! LOL!
Wonder what I will log for 2011!?
I thought about writing a recap for 2010 and have decided to get around to it now. 2010 was quite the year for me in the triathlon world! I sure made huge gains which I hope I can continue through in 2011. You can check back on my blog for specific race reports if you wish.
I started my race season with the Chilly Half marathon with disappointing results. I knew I wasn't ready to run a good half and I wasn't. I ran about a 2:05 but it was my longest run of the year at this point and so I just took it as a training day. Then I headed down to Florida in April with my friend Terri and we had a great week of riding. I stayed a few more days after Terri left and really had a great time with the masters swim club in Clermont and added in some runs. It was a good training week. Soon enough my triathlon season began with my first tri being the Rev3 half ironman in Knoxville. It was a tough race, tougher than I expected but I put in a solid effort. It was my first tri of the season anyway. A month later I headed off to Hawaii for the 70.3 in June and had a blast! Another tough race but loads of fun...and it was just beautiful there! It was soon after this race that I had to make a quick decision to switch coaches. My previous coach just wasn't cutting it at this point and I needed a change because the Ironman was coming up! I had a couple of options for coaching and opted to go with Ming since he had previously mentioned that he would like to coach me and he lives in TO so I can easily communicate and even train with him. So began our new coaching relationship. During this time I also did the Welland half ironman and the Peterborough half swim/bike on back to back weekends. Welland did not go as planned but I still barely managed to PB! Haha! Peterborough just hurt! I came off a heavy training week as I went to train with Terri leading up to this race. Now the training really started. And at the beginning of August I went to Benton Harbor Michigan to race the Steelhead 70.3 and got a new half IM PB!!! Yay!!! I then put in some good training days up in Parry Sound which really helped me. I even did the Parry Sound sprint tri and won my age group! woohoo! That was a first for me! ;) This all led to my A race - Ironman Canada! And boy, did I ever surpass all of my expectations at that race. I honestly could not have asked for a better race. Everything went well (besides some rain, wind, and hail) and I had the race of my life! (hopefully not the last one too!) And clocked in another new PB!!! It was after IMC I decided to join the Nachos and do Ironman Cozumel in November! So after a little break I started training again and this was when I also started getting sick. I wasn't ever sick enough to stop anything, but it did slow me down and put a little dent in my training. I did the Toronto International half marathon with not so stellar results. Ah well! And then I found myself off to Taiwan after Ming and Leanna convinced me to go at the very last minute and race the 70.3 there. I even got into the race after it was sold out thanks to Ming's mom...hahaha! Taiwan was an awesome experience and it was a tougher race than I expected. But I somehow managed to hold off the women in my age group and placed third!!! Woohoo x 2!!!! My first ironman branded podium finish and at an international event!!! That was sooo cool!!!! And amazing!!!! I will never forget being called to the podium at the awards ceremony: "And from Canada, in third place, Wendy Lopez!" A few weeks later I was in Cozumel for my second Ironman of the season. IMCoz was a battle and no new PB this time but I learned that I can mentally battle through anything! And again, I just had a blast there!!! Soooo much fun!!!!
I was just looking at my training log and this is what I put in from July-December (not including races):
approx 120.8km, 44.6hrs of Swimming
approx 1966.3km, 96.3hrs of Cycling (hrs incl trainer time as well)
approx 540.4km, 60.8hrs of Running (some runs were not measured in distance)
approx 14.8hrs of other stuff (skiing, yoga, core, etc)
For a grand total of about 216.5 hrs of training for the six months, July being the heaviest followed by October. Wow...that's nuts! LOL!
Wonder what I will log for 2011!?
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Let the 2011 season BEGIN!
I did my first real training session last night! Yay! I am so ready to start training again too! Had to wait a bit to get over my last bout of illness and although I am not quite 100% yet I just had to start training again. Hope I don't push myself over the edge and get sick again! I did a trainer session working on my cadence and it went really well. I think I was just eager to get going again and combined with a nice rest gave me last night's result. I did do some workouts while I was "off" just to make sure I kept somewhat in shape. Last week I managed a 45min trainer session, a 20min run, and a masters swim session. Not bad! Later today I am to do a threshold run workout, interesting to see what will happen with that! Lol!
On another note, I have to replace Limey. RIP Limey! :( Limey had two more cracks going into Cozumel and was sent back to Guru after I got back. This was the third time this year Limey had to go back to Guru for crack repairs or lose parts (bottom bracket and a fork recall). Guru has agreed to replace the frame this time which is great. Now I just have to decide on colour. Do I keep the same colour scheme or try something new? I am very indecisive on this right now! I do love the lime green and silver combo but trying something new is always fun! I am deciding between the lime green and purple paired with silver. I am thinking of getting another paint pattern to change it up a bit if I do decide to keep the green. I also really like this bright orange colour they have but it looks like I would have to pay extra for that colour and I won't do that. So it just may be between the green and purple. Hmmmm......don't know what to do?!?!?! Any thoughts???
On another note, I have to replace Limey. RIP Limey! :( Limey had two more cracks going into Cozumel and was sent back to Guru after I got back. This was the third time this year Limey had to go back to Guru for crack repairs or lose parts (bottom bracket and a fork recall). Guru has agreed to replace the frame this time which is great. Now I just have to decide on colour. Do I keep the same colour scheme or try something new? I am very indecisive on this right now! I do love the lime green and silver combo but trying something new is always fun! I am deciding between the lime green and purple paired with silver. I am thinking of getting another paint pattern to change it up a bit if I do decide to keep the green. I also really like this bright orange colour they have but it looks like I would have to pay extra for that colour and I won't do that. So it just may be between the green and purple. Hmmmm......don't know what to do?!?!?! Any thoughts???
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Happy New Year!!!
Welcome 2011!!!!
I am excited for what this year may hold for me! I've got a tentative race plan and hope to make some more gains and break more ground in the getting faster and stronger world!
Unfortunately, my training has once again been sidelined as I once again got sick! :( I barely just got over my last cold and then I get the flu! I have never been hit so strong before by illness in my adult life like I was last week. I went up to Parry Sound and skate skiied for two days, did a 45min run, and then was hit by a Mac truck with the flu. I spent all of Wednesday either in bed or on the couch! I felt so bad that I travelled to visit my second family only to get sick and take over their couch for the day :( Everything ached and I had a fever and the chills and had little to no energy to even sit upright. I was very well taken care of (thank-you!) and was slowly feeling better by night time. Had to go into work by Friday for New Years and survived my three day shifts...barely! But this time I resorted to drugs to get over this last bout as I need to start building up again in my training. Feeling much better now but I do have a pretty wicked cough and still have a head/chest cold. Hopefully I get back to 100% really soon! ;)
I did have a blast skiing and am looking forward to trying it out again really soon!!! And I am told its good cross training so maybe this will help me get stronger as well! We'll see! Hopefully I can get back to Parry Sound before the winter is over and ski some more!
I wish everyone a healthy, safe, and happy new year!!! All the best in 2011!!!
I am excited for what this year may hold for me! I've got a tentative race plan and hope to make some more gains and break more ground in the getting faster and stronger world!
Unfortunately, my training has once again been sidelined as I once again got sick! :( I barely just got over my last cold and then I get the flu! I have never been hit so strong before by illness in my adult life like I was last week. I went up to Parry Sound and skate skiied for two days, did a 45min run, and then was hit by a Mac truck with the flu. I spent all of Wednesday either in bed or on the couch! I felt so bad that I travelled to visit my second family only to get sick and take over their couch for the day :( Everything ached and I had a fever and the chills and had little to no energy to even sit upright. I was very well taken care of (thank-you!) and was slowly feeling better by night time. Had to go into work by Friday for New Years and survived my three day shifts...barely! But this time I resorted to drugs to get over this last bout as I need to start building up again in my training. Feeling much better now but I do have a pretty wicked cough and still have a head/chest cold. Hopefully I get back to 100% really soon! ;)
I did have a blast skiing and am looking forward to trying it out again really soon!!! And I am told its good cross training so maybe this will help me get stronger as well! We'll see! Hopefully I can get back to Parry Sound before the winter is over and ski some more!
I wish everyone a healthy, safe, and happy new year!!! All the best in 2011!!!
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