Back On Track

I've been staying away from the blog lately. Not that I don't have anything to say, but it's hard for me to find the time to write.

I've been very busy personally, and mostly professionally. I'm currently into a big business project, and starting up demands a lot of time, effort and dedication.

I want to keep up with the training, but the last three weeks I didn't do anything. It has to stay a priority in my life if I want to remain healthy. If I'm not training, I don't feel good, if I don't feel good, I'm not productive in other areas of my life.

So yesterday I did some single leg drills on the trainer. It wasn't too painful, and today I'm fine. Not bad considering I haven't done anything in a couple of weeks. Today, I'm hitting the gym and the pool. I usually hate starting, but once I'm in I don't want to stop!

Hopefully, soon it's going to be more than just maintenance training. In January, I should get a date for the next Forester's Big Swim for Arthritis. I'm doing it of course, and I'm hoping to be faster than last year for the 5000m. Can't wait to have a precise goal!

Without goals, it's hard to keep going!

Keep going

So yesterday was my infusion of biologics at the hospital. It went well, but today I feel very tired, heavy and lifeless. With a headache in bonus. Nothing new. It always does that. The difference is that I'm trying something new. I slept 9 hours instead of 14, like I'd usually do. It was really hard to kick my butt out of bed this morning, but it's a great improvement over my previous "days after infusions".

I don't think sleeping the extra hours helped, because it used to take me about a week to get back to a normal sleeping routine after that. So now I'm trying to continue life as normally as possible and see how it's going to be. I don't feel any different than the other times, I don't feel more tired because I didn't sleep as much. I feel tired as usual.

The cool thing is that I've been following my training plan this week, even though I was not feeling at my best before the infusion. Yesterday, before going to the hospital, I hit the gym and the pool. I think this is a good combination for me, as the stress put on my joints by the weights is relieved once I get in the pool. And it makes me feel sooooo goood!

Today I feel it in my muscles, a sign I did something right. It's not crazy painful, just enough so I know I'm getting something out of it. I'm currently trying to convince myself that the easy 30 min biking on the trainer on Zone 1 is a great idea. It is! Really. As I said before, once I'm moving I feel good....so maybe at least I could accomplish something today.

So I guess, I'm just going to fill my bottle of water, put some gatorade powder in it, and once that is done, might as well setup the bike on the trainer...

Fighting my Demon

Tomorrow I will have my next biologics infusion. It's about time. Fall temperatures in Canada are not very forgiving for people living with Arthritis. Some doctors say that those suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis aren't affected by weather changes, etc... I can tell you it affects me!

This week was not easy. The last week before my infusion I always feel the effects of my medication (Remicade) wear off. This means I wake up in pain in the morning, I have no drive to do anything, even things I know will make me feel better...

Monday was the worst. I just couldn't get up. I had dreams about pain, and woke up in pain. Not a very good night of sleep. It doesn't happen so often, but I have to remember that this is normal for me, during fall. I hate waking up depressed, not wanting to do anything but lie down and hope it'll get better.

Most of the time, I know what to do to feel better: just do, don't think. But it's hard. Getting started is the hardest. It's painful, I feel like I have no energy, no will. Being in pain takes a lot of energy from a person by the way. It is tiring. But once I've started, my focus is on accomplishing something, and my attention goes away from the pain. I have to remember that it is one of the best ways to feel better: Just DO.

I think it applies to most people in a lot of situations, being physical pain or mental demons. Sometimes we don't put our focus in the right place to be able to move forward. We look at our past or current situation, overanalyze, and we are stuck running in circles.

All that is needed to go to the next step, is simply to take that next step! How you do it doesn't really matters, you can always improve along the way. But waiting until the stars are aligned, waiting to feel better mentally, physically, etc. will just prevent you from experiencing, learning and improving.

This applies to my situation. Yes I have arthritis, but I'M NORMAL. I just have "some issue" that prevents me to move forward sometimes, like other people have demons. I have to remember that the best way to get over my demon is to move forward and DO. At least, if I don't feel much better physically, I will have the satisfaction of accomplishing something.

Be Thankful

I’m currently sitting on a comfortable hospital chair, getting an IV to treat a debilitating disease, rheumatoid arthritis. It’s amazing that just 5 days ago I was racing in a triathlon. It’s incredible how I feel right now.

I have to come here at Mount Sinai Hospital every 2 months, sit in a chair for 4 hours to get that life changing infusion. The medication is called Remicade, and I’ve been on it for more than 2 years now. Remicade is a biologic medication that has been working incredibly well for me. I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

I wouldn’t be planning for next year’s racing season. I wouldn’t be able to ride for 2 hours, or even simply enjoy a walk on the beach with my husband and the dog playing around.

I know because I’ve been there. I’ve been stuck to my bed, not able to get up, not because I didn’t want to, but because my joints didn’t want to. I’ve been suffering from walking for only 15 minutes, or even just standing in one of the many line-ups the city life brings us.

I’ve been crying from desperation, wondering why it was happening to me, why no medication worked and doubting it was worth even fighting for. Remicade came at a right time in my life. I was ready for a change, not only on the medication side, but also in the way I took care of myself. I know Remicade is a big part of it, but at the same time I started to trust my capacities, take a better care of myself, by eating better, drinking less and exercising. I also have to give credit to my husband, whose support made a huge difference, and still does.

Yes I still have some bad days, but they are comparable to the good days from 5 years ago! As long as I don’t forget this, I will be happy.

I don’t need to win a triathlon (or relay, or Aquabike), I just need to be there. Body and soul. Being able to be there is the greatest gift I have. And it doesn’t just apply to triathlons. It applies to every single aspect of my life. Everybody should realize that they are lucky to be able to do whatever they’re doing.

Be Thankful.

Race Report - Guelph Lake 2 Triathlon

Saturday September 1st was the Guelph Lake 2 Triathlon.

It took me a while before writing this report, and I still don't know how to start. There are a lot of things to say, I just don't know how to put it in words right now. I suppose I just have to start and hope that the words will come.

Before I go into the details of the race, let's just say that me and my teammate weren't really ready for this one. He had a bad fall and hurt his back the week before. Not so good for running. As for me, I didn't really know what to expect. I knew theoretically, what would be happening during the swim, the transition, and the biking part. But I also knew that theory and reality are two different things, and you can't really know how you will cope with them until you are face to face with the different scenarios.

Something I didn't know was the bike course. The registration said rolling hills, fast course, so I figured it shouldn't be too bad! Fortunately, I went on a car ride on the morning of the race to have a look, so I wouldn't get surprised by hills, or whatever I would consider as a difficulty.

Don't worry, I'm not making any excuses for the race, I'm happy with the results and was not disappointed at all.

So my husband, the dog and I arrived at the race venue around 7:30am. I wanted to make sure I would have time to register, get my transition ready, and relax before the start. The venue was great, well organized. As for the temperature, the air was a cold 12C (54F) at the start of the race, and 18C (65) on the bike. And the water was a nice and warm 72F, so no worries about the swim being canceled this time! I was glad I could finally get my first real "Aquabike" race ever!!!

I got to transition. I setup my bike, got my helmet, bike shoes, socks and sunglasses neatly ready, and by 7:45 I was waiting for my teammate Neal to arrive, to get through registration. He called at 8:00am saying he took a wrong turn and wasn't so sure where to go. I tried not to stress too much about it, and trust his orientation skills. At 8:15am he showed up. Just enough time to get the race kit, get body marked, go one last time to the restrooms, put on the wetsuit, get my good luck kiss from my husband and jump in the water for a warmup as the first waves were starting.

The Swim
As I get into the water, the first thing I think is: I don't think I needed a wetsuit! Oh well, at least it's good practice for the transition! Then, walking to the start (it was a start in the water), I hit my big left toe on a big rock!! ouch! It really hurt, but I tried to ignore it, I had to concentrate on my swim. So here you go, our wave is called, and as I tried to seed myself, and get some space around me for a start, the horn goes off, and everybody throws themselves in the water and try to survive that first 100m. One women in the first row, right in front of me, started the race walking, when there was 4 feet of water! So I had to swim around her, bump into a couple of people and squeeze between two swimmer who weren't swimming straight.

After 200m it started to clear. Just as I was getting into a good tempo, one guy behind me decided it was a good idea to grab my ankle and pull it to help himself move forward. I tried really hard not to get frustrated about it, I knew it could happen, so I just sped up a bit and got out of reach. After that it was uneventful, going around the buoys wasn't so bad, and I think I did a pretty good job of swimming straight. My only issue, was that I didn't really know when to start sprinting to the end, or if I should have been sprinting at all. Oh well...I got out of the water in about 16 minutes (I'm not sure exactly), and started to run (or jog/walk) for the transition.
Distance: 750M Time: 18:10 (includes walk to transition) Rank: 10/17

Transition 1
The run/jog/walk to transition was rather long, at least for me, and it was also uphill. It took me almost 2 minutes to get to the timing mat at the start of the transition. I was also breathing hard and was starting to think that a sprint to the finish of the swim was not a good idea in a triathlon. I've been used to sprints at the finish in swimming competitions (a looooong time ago!). I got there anyway, and had already stripped the wetsuit below my bottom when I got to my bike. I sat on the ground to take it completely off. I figured I would loose too much time trying to keep my balance to take off my wetsuit, put my socks and shoes on, so I just sat. I struggled a bit with the wetsuit at my ankles, but it finally was off. I didn't wipe anything, there was nice grass to wipe the feet on the way up. Got ready, grabbed my bike, and I was ready (or not) for the bike course!
Time: 2:40 Rank: 16/17 (but it was a relay, so most people weren't really transitioning after all)

The Bike
That's the part where I'm a bit confused. I think I lost some focus, I think it kicked my but, and I think I could have pushed more.
There were challenging hills for me, but I climbed them all, and didn't hurt too much. The fact that there wasn't much pain is probably the reason I think I could have pushed some more. Also, I was not gasping for air as much as the last (and first) triathlon I did. My nutrition was good, I didn't feel a low in energy, no cramps, no upset stomach, nothing! Even my joints were in good shape! I guess I was expecting some sort of pain, because the first tri I did was painful, and it was on a flat course!
I passed some people, most people passed me. But I saw a couple of people walking their expensive bikes up some hills, and that made me feel a bit better. Sorry for the walkers, I think it's great that they're in triathlons anyway. :) I used the aero bars for about 90% of the time, and felt very comfortable riding aero. I made some last minute adjustments to my bike the week before, and it paid off. The only problem is that it was so hilly I had to change gears quite often, and had to get out of aero every time. Aero shifters are definitely an upgrade I'll get soon! Nothing special happened on the bike, except that I wasn't fast enough to my liking.
Distance: 30km Time: 1:08:18 Rank: 14/17

My Husband and the dog Cheering for me (or checking how long it took me) :o)

Transition 2
I got to the dismount line, unclipped my bike without a problem, and ran through transition to the bike rack, where somebody racked their bike on my spot! My bag was still there, but I suppose they liked the idea of the closest more convenient spot! I probably lost 10-20 secs there because I fumbled with the bike to get it racked successfully. Then my teammate was gone for his run.
Time: 1:21 Rank: 16/17

The Run
The run went well for my teammate, considering his bad back. He was lucky enough to run at the same pace than a 3 times Ironman finisher, recovering from an injury. That gives some boost! He was able to finish his longest run ever, a 7km, without making his back worse, and enjoying his day!
Distance: 7km Time: 47:37 Rank: 17/17

Overall: 2:18:04 Rank: 16/17

Whoohoo! Not Last!!

All in all, we're pretty happy with the result, and we had an amazingly nice day! Oh and I won a t-shirt. Too big for me of course, they never carry x-small, so it's my husband's now! He's starting a collection. :oP Anyway, I'm starting to think about the possibilities for the next season. Sprint, Olympic for sure, Half Iron as an Aquabike if possible. As for the toe, it was red for two days after that, and it was hurting. At least it didn't turn blue! I was limping quite a lot, but it's back to normal now. I didn't feel it at all during the race.

Getting Ready for the 2nd one

I got good news! My triathlon teammate's back didn't protest too much on his last run, and he thinks he'll be able to do it! I was really glad when he told me, although I hope he's not pushing it, and I've stressed many times that it was ok if he didn't feel up to it.

So tomorrow is the day (arggg)...and I know I'm not ready. I don't feel in great shape right now. I didn't for the entire week. And I didn't train as much as I should have.

I know I'll be able to finish, I can cover these distances without a problem. But it'll be slow. Also, I don't know the bike course. I will find out tomorrow morning. They say fast, rolling...The last (and only) triathlon I rode, it was totally flat. No need to change gears except 2 or 3 spots on the course. The problem is that I can't change gears when I'm in the aero position (that's going to be the next upgrade I get on my bike). I'll see how it goes.

As for the swim, I've had a good swim this week, where I averaged 2:01/100m, and I'm hoping to be around that or better this time. Hopefully I can go under 2:00/100m for long distance, for the first time since the high school swimming club! I'm not so worried about the swim...Last time the swim was canceled due to the water being too cold (56F). This time we should be good.

Here's the forecast: 9:00am 13C (55.5f) sunny, wind 10km/h. I don't know about the water temperature, but I think it's going to be pretty good, we've had a good weather and no rain lately, and other lakes around are good.

I'm not nervous, in fact probably not enough. I'm not ready, but I'll go for it, it's going to be another experience. I think the best thing that's going to come out of it is that I'll get a better idea of how to train and be ready and plan for the next season.

DNF?

I realize I didn't update my blog to let you guys know I'm going to do my second sprint this coming Saturday.

750m Swim (hopefully!)
30km Bike
7km Run

For those of you who know me, you already know that I'm doing it in relay with a teammate, because I can't do the running part. I do the swimming and biking, he runs.

I think I might DNF on my next race this coming Saturday. Unfortunately my partner fell and hurt his back last weekend...The good thing is there's nothing broken, but he has had back problem in the past and this made it just worse. He's not sure if he'll be able to run.

I was not too disappointed. Of course I wanted to do it and finish, but accidents happen, and his back is much more important than a little race. I really hope he gets better soon! He told me he would see how he feels later this week, but so far it doesn't look good.

I can't get a refund, so I'll take it as a good practice and another feel of the triathlon vibe. Just please, please, pretty please, I want my swim this time! Cause if it's turned into a DU, than it's all for nothing, and a $100 down the drain is also pretty annoying...

I'm ok with a DNF, but at least, let me do what I can do!!!

Race Report (my 1st!):Toronto Island Triathlon

My thoughts are all over the place right now. This is why I didn't write earlier.
So here's an account of my first triathlon competition, at the Toronto Island Triathlon on August 18, 2007.

The day started really well. Of course I didn't get enough sleep, but I was up in no time. I didn't feel too tired, but I knew it could have been better.

It was a sunny, crisp morning, or I should say a chilly 10C (50F) at 5:30am. My gear was ready, I packed, reviewed and double-checked all that was needed. If you know about my story, you already know that I can't run. So at least I didn't have to pack the running gear. I have a friend who started running last year, and I asked him if he would do the relay with me. I would do the swimming (750M) and biking (30km), he would do the running (7.5km).
He jumped in, even though at the time we registered, which is about 3 weeks before the race, the furthest he ever ran was 5km. Two total newbies having no clue what they're getting into. Sounds like a fun day! :)

Because we had to take a ferry to the island , we didn't know how long it would take, how the line-up would be, and how quickly they would "process" the athletes. We waited about 45 minutes in the line for the ferry. The ferry ride was about 10 minutes. The walk to the race kit pickup, bib pickup, marking, chip pickup was another 10 minutes, the wait to all of these was close to 30 minutes. All the extra time we thought we had didn't seem much now.

While we were waiting in line, a race volunteer started to tell everybody that the winds turned and the water was really cold (56F). Now that is cold. I swam in the lake before at that temperature in June, and it was far from being comfortable, and after 20-25 minutes I had to get out of the water. But I knew I could do it. The race officials strongly suggested all triathletes should change their registration to Duathlon. The juniors were racing earlier today, and 2 of the athletes had to be pulled off the water. I still wanted to swim.

Further in the line, an announcement comes up: the swim is cancelled!! ARGGGG! At that point I was really disappointed. My mind was set on experiencing the transition between the swim and bike, and I also wanted that swim badly, probably more than the biking part. But the worst part is that my partner would have to do most of the work now! And he was not prepared for it, in his mind it was one run and done.

I have to give him tons of credits, he didn't seem to hesitate and decided to go for it! Two 5km in the same day would be an awesome accomplishment! There was no time for disappointments anymore. Just get ready, setup my bike in transition, wait in line (another one) for the portapotties.

Our start was at 9:30, and I was able to look at my teammate go and come back from the turn around. After that it was my turn to get ready. I went to transition and put my gear on. And started to stress a little bit. I realized that if he did a smokin' time I wouldn't have much time to be ready. My heart rate was at 134 already, and I was just waiting!! I took a power gel (now I know it's too sweet for me), some water, and was ready to go.

I decided to use my camelbak for water, as I don't feel comfortable reaching for bottles just yet. I didn't fill it too much, to make sure it wouldn't weight too much on my back. It ended being good for me, I couldn't even feel it during the ride.

So, having all my gear on, I waited about 2 minutes for my partner to arrive in transition. He did great, but I didn't really have time to find out how he felt, as I grabbed the chip, put it around my ankle and ran out of transition.

Running in the grass with a bike and biking shoes was something new for me. I think I did ok. At least I didn't trip, fall or both. I've seen a couple of people having difficulties at the mount/dismount lines, and I was a bit scared of that part, especially because I'm still not used to the clipless! I ended up doing just fine, and from that moment, I kept smiling and enjoying the day!

The first loop, for me was really to get used to people all over, passing (many, many of them passing), and me passing 1 or 2 bikers (on MTB) I averaged 28km/h, and I was a bit disappointed, as I was expecting 30km/h. There was some wind, but I don't think it affected me that much. I just didn't seem to have much fuel.

I also tested the aero bars for the first time! I hear you, it's kinda weird, to try aero bars for the first time ever in a race environment...For my defense, I didn't ride my bike a lot (not enough) before, and it was a course without cars, so I went for it. I saw the difference in speed. I was now around or above 30km/h.

The second loop was about adaptation and pain. At that point I realized that you have to get used to the aero position. My back was really fine, it seems my core is strong enough for the position. Fortunately, the adjustments I did to my bike earlier last week seem to have solved a nerve problem I had in my right hand. I didn't feel any tingling, or numbness.
The problem was my private parts! It was really painful. I think I will have to bring my seat back a bit downwards, to alleviate the pressure. Every bump was torture. So I started getting out of aero every 5 minutes to get out of the saddle for temporary relief.

By that time, I was also starting to breathe hard, and felt like I needed more energy. So I had another power gel, about 45 minutes after the 1st one. Immediately I started burping and didn't feel quite good for about 5 minutes. It seemed to settle down as I started my third-and last-loop.

My last lap was definitely the best. I felt (and was) fast, strong and powerful. Still nothing compared to all the people passing my at 34km/h or more, but I passed maybe 10 bikers on that lap. Of course they were most likely doing the duathlon on their own, but for me it's still a victory. :oP

I arrived at the dismount line, unclipped one foot, stopped (I can't do the bike still rolling thing), and dismounted. The guy next to me was not so successful and crashed. I ran through transition with very wobbly legs, it was the first time I experienced that, not running, I don't do bricks! I gave the chip to my teammate, and off he went.

He did great and finished on his two feet! :o) Congrats to him!

We knew we were far from being competitive, we both just started to exercise seriously last year, and weren't necessarily consistent throughout the year. Nonetheless, we are not last in our group! 7/9, which was enough to make both of us really happy! All the credit goes to my partner, as he charged into the challenge and did something he wouldn't have imagined doing the day just before.

The good news is, I think he's hooked. And that's from one of the first who told me I was crazy to get into the world of triathlons :oD As for me, well, I asked him if he would do another one before the end of the season, so I can put my swimming and biking together :o) It might be on September 1st, I'll get the confirmation later on this week.

I have to say that even though we're at the back of the pack, I feel like I won a million. Only a couple of years ago, I would never have imagined even doing a 30km ride without crying from pain in my joints. Just the waiting in line before the event would have killed me! Now, two full days after the race is over, I can tell that my joints have decided to collaborate with me, and that I'm in much more control of my body than ever before. I take this as a very important victory, and I'm determined to keep it that way!

I suppose you want to know how long it took us. Here it is, but let me warn you, if you are anything above the back of the pack, it will look awfully slow! But I don't mind, it's just going to be a definite PR next year! :oP

Run1: 30:01
T1: 0:48
Bike: 1:00:35
T2: 0:53
Run2: 32:58 (includes a stop at portapotties, and stretching)

Here is what I learned:
-Powergel is not good for me. Find another one that is less sweet
-The aero position should be practiced.
-I still have some adjustments to do on the bike
-I need to do speed work. My legs are fine, but my lungs and heart were out of sync (avg HR 164, for an avg speed of 29.7 didn't seem very good).
-Keep smiling! (which I did!)

In conclusion, I had a blast, and even though it wasn't as it was supposed to be, I want to do it again, and I want to plan for next year!!

Here are a couple of pics:
The team

Getting my first body marking

The Start

Getting ready in transition

Out of T1

Smiling after my successful mounting


Last Lap!

The finish

Registration Scare

OK, Maybe I'm paranoid because it's my first race ever. Or maybe I didn't trust the organization 100% because they charged me the registration fee twice, and then refunded me one when I asked to, but didn't receive any confirmation from them afterwards.

When I checked the website this morning, this very scary message was posted:

*THE TORONTO ISLAND RACES - VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION
If any spots become availalble, we will contact people on the waiting list. We are no longer taking new names for the waiting list. Below are the participants lists. If you are NOT ON THESE LISTS then YOU ARE NOT REGISTERED.*

And they posted 4 lists:

• Junior Championship
• Try-a-Tri
• Duathlon
• Triathlon

So I check the triathlon list: I'm not there. "If you are not on these lists then you are not registered." What? Wait. There's nothing about Relays. It might be a different category. Don't panic. So I call. No answer, so I leave a voicemail. 3 hours later they call me to let me know that they haven't put the information on Relays online just yet. How many people did they scare with the "If you are not on these lists then you are not registered"?

Maybe I expected everything to be clearer, especially because it's my first one and I need some direction. Also, they didn't know exactly in which of the waves the relay would be when I talked to them this morning...
Maybe it's just that I'm a paranoid newbie! :oP

Icy Water

What is the lowest temperature in which you can swim? Personally, I don't know yet, but it's definitely above 46F!!!

Last night I had a group open water swim in Lake Ontario. I really wanted that last swim in before the race on Saturday, and by the number of people who showed up, I was not alone!

We've had a very nice weather in the last month, always close to 30C (around 86F), but I suppose it doesn't affect the water temperature that much. Maybe there was a storm on the lake the day before...or currents or winds...

A week ago, the temperature readings were around 70F. It was perfect. Not too cold for the extremities, not too warm for wearing a wetsuit.

Yesterday, the readings were at 45.9F. I should have checked before going (I'm not sure I would have believed it). But hey, water was perfect just a couple of days before! Apparently nobody checked, and we were all expecting a nice pleasant swim.

We arrived at the beach, about 20 ppl in their wetsuits, ready to plunge.
-20 people touch the water with their toes
-General reaction: Arggg! It's wayyy too cold!
-6 people get water up to their waist (including me)
-2 people turn back (including me), 4 try to start swimming (the tough ones)
-4 people try to jump in again (Including me...hey I really wanted to swim!)
-They all turn back
-And the 4 trying to swim come back after 2 minutes (the tough ones)

How does 45.9F water feels? It was definitely much colder than in June. I'm not sure if the reading was good, but was certainly not far from that. I've bailed out at 55 degrees, but it was more because of comfort rather than capacity. Yesterday, I knew I would not be able to swim at all in that water.
After 30 seconds with my feet in the water, I couldn't feel them anymore. After 1 minute, they were burning. When I tried to put my hands in the water, it hurt. I had to shake my hands out of the water to get them back to normal.

So bye bye the last open water swim before the race. Oh well, it's not like I've never done it...Now I just have to cross my fingers for a good enough water temp on race day! Please cross some fingers for me too! :)

5 Days Until my first race

I'm not really nervous, I would say I'm more excited. It's probably because I know I'm not going to be competitive, so there's no pressure.

The Toronto Islands Triathlon sold out earlier last week. That means 400 athletes for the main event, the triathlon (750m swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run). I'm doing the swim and bike in relay with a friend, who will do the running. It's going to be great to finally have an idea of what happens during this event. The only competitions I've been participating to before, were swimming (pool only), so it's going to be quite different!

Yesterday, we went to the islands to have a look at the course. Flat and Fast! I was able to average 30km per hour on my tri bike (when I didn't have to slow down for people walking around), which is pretty good for me, considering I haven't trained as much as I should have.

Also, it was raining and windy. It was my first training ride in the rain! I know, I'm a chicken, and I prefer to be comfortable! But at least I'll know how it is if we don't have a nice day on the 18th. I had a look at the beach where the swimming will be. Because of the wind, it was really choppy. Kinda ocean-like, with waves crashing noisily on the beach. Oh well, if it's like that, it's going to be like that for everybody else! :)

So far the forecast for next weekend is good, but we can't rely on that too much...

The islands are a huge park, where there are no cars, except for the maintenance crew. I suppose that there will be race officials clearing the path from people on race day. In that case I'm pretty sure I will have a good avg speed.

I'm a bit nervous about the drafting rules, but I think I'll be fine. Also, I'm more comfortable with the clipless pedals, I don't think it's going to be an issue. I might just look a bit weird mounting my bike after T1, because I still have difficulty to clip-in quickly, but at least I've got platforms to be able to pedal even if I'm not clipped in yet. :)

As for the position on the bike, I've done many adjustments to bring my weight back to center. It was too much forward and most of my weight was resting on my hands. That caused some trouble in my right index...you can read about it here. So I raised my handlebars, tilted my seat upwards a bit, and there's a huge difference. I still feel that my finger is not totally happy with that though (really not bad compared to the last time), so I think I'm going to tilt the handlebars to bring them horizontal (right now they're pointing slightly downwards).

Yesterday ended up being my first ride where I really enjoyed the tri bike. I still have to get into aero position, but I think I'll be confident enough to use them during the race. I was almost there, having my left arm resting on the aero bars, but I was a bit uncertain because of the people walking/biking around. I don't have brakes on aero position, so I'm being extra careful. It's something I might want to upgrade on my bike in the future.

Today is rest day. I did yoga, and the rest of the day is work, work work! tomorrow I have a swim planned, but I might cancel it to get to an open water swim on Wednesday. So maybe it's going to be bike tomorrow. I'll see.

I can't wait for next Saturday, it's going to be awesome! I will probably update my blog again before the race.

A race around the corner

I signed up for my first triathlon! Because I can't run (you can read here for more information about that), and there are no aquabiking competitions in my area, the plan was to get into a relay with my husband. Unfortunately, he was just starting to run, and didn't feel ready for it. I can't blame him, we've had an hectic month of July, and we both didn't have much time for training. I would have loved for my hubby to do it, but I'm sure he'll go for it next year. For now, he'll be part of the cheering squad! :)

It turns out I have a friend who's into running, and he accepted to do the running portion of the relay, so I could do the swim and bike without a DNF. The nice thing is that my friend doing the relay with me is also totally new in the triathlon world!

So we registered for the Toronto Island Triathlon relay, on August 18th. 750m Swim, 30km bike, 7.5km run. I know I can cover the distances. I just don't know how fast. I'm very excited and a bit nervous, but with less than two weeks from the event, there's not much more I can do to get ready. I practice open water swimming every week (I finally got my practice with waves and I loved it), I bike regularly, but I don't feel I've been training seriously enough with my tri bike. I've been doing more mountain biking this summer. However, I've had a good base training in the winter and spring, and the mountain biking was keeping me in higher HR zones, so I think it shouldn't be that bad.

I've been averaging about 27km/h on the trainer in HR Zone 2, so it might be around that speed on the actual course, considering that I'm going to push harder, but taking wind resistance into account. It's a flat course. I'm going to test it next weekend, and will have a better idea of what to expect.

I think I'm more worried about the transition. I really don't have any clue how it's going to be. I've read a lot about it in books, in forums, but I've never been a spectator to a triathlon, so it's all in my head right now...Oh well, I guess I'll find out, and learn!

My goal is really to just finish, have fun, and get to learn some more, so I can get ready for the next one. But, I think it's also good to set some time goals, because I'm the kind who needs numbers to keep moving.
So, here is what I would be happy with during the race. I think I'm being very conservative, but it all depends on the conditions (weather, other people around, and how my body feels) and I'm not attached to these numbers. They will change if I realize it doesn't make sense.

Swim: 750m 0:17:00
T1 : 0:05:00 (I just have to take off my wetsuit, to put my socks (no I can't bike
without socks), shoes, helmet on and I'm good to go, I have a tri suit)
Bike: 30km 1:10:00 (This is if I'm using the tri bike. I will ride the MTB if it's raining,
because I'm not confident enough with the tri bike)
Passing of
Timing Chip: 0:01:00 (I really have no clue...)
Run: 7.5km dunno (Not my call, and I don't want to put any pressure on my partner.
Even though I'm setting goals for myself, I'm not competing against
anybody, and a non painful finish is all I'm wishing for)

Total time: We'll find out!

A reminder from my body

A lot happened since the last time I wrote!
We took possession of our condo early in July, and were working on patching, sanding, priming and painting the entire place. Then we cleaned, and we moved.
It was just my husband and me to load the truck. Fortunately, my brother-in-law came after his work to help unload at the new place. After that, we had to finish up at the other place, clean-up and make it ready for the transfer. Oh well, it is done now. The good thing is, I got some brutal strength and endurance training in! hehe

The past week was hard for me. My body reminded me that I'm not 100% healthy, that I have to stop at some point. I tried to ignore it, but my joints just decided it was enough...At some point I couldn't get up in the morning. I slept 12 hours per night for 3 days, and I'm still sleeping more than usual. My feet, hands and knees were pretty bad. It's almost back to normal now. It's all the walking and carrying heavy stuff, and also holding the paintbrushes that didn't help. So I've been taking my anti-inflammatory, plus Tylenol Arthritis twice daily since we started all of this. Usually, I don't need them...But it had to be done, and we're almost all setup at the new place, so we're good for another year or two! :P

Last week-end was the first week-end without doing anything related to fixing up, cleaning or moving stuff. So I got an open water swim on Saturday, and a very nice Mountain bike ride on Sunday. Except for a couple of easy bike rides between the two condos (about 15 minutes ride), and an easy 1000m in the condo pool to relax, I haven't done anything since July 2!

So on Saturday morning, I had my first swim in a long time. It was awesome! Plus it was my birthday! :) There's no better way to start a day like that! The Ontario lake temperature was much better than the last couple of times I went. No ice cream headaches this time. It was cool and refreshing, and no waves. Although I wish I could practice with some waves, it didn't happen yet.

Sunday we went to Albion Hills, my favorite mtb place in the area. It was hot, but under the trees it was perfect. We went for a couple of singletracks, and I felt much more confident than the last time we went. I had to put the foot down a couple of times, but it wasn't bad at all. And I felt powerful in the hills. I know I'm not back 100%, and I may have lost a small amount of endurance from doing nothing in the past month, but I'm sure it will be back by the end of this week.

So now I'm back into serious training, and regular updates!

Fun at the beach

Was I sunbathing? No! Playing volleyball, playing fetch with the dog, having a picnic? No!

I was with the other 10 people crazy enough to get an open water swim in a 60 degrees (or less?) water, and 64 degrees air near the waterfront, at 10 am on a Saturday morning.

And I had fun :) The water was so clear that I could see the bottom almost everywhere we swam. Not that it's so cute down there...Lake water...you know...Clear usually also mean cold, and it was! Yet another ice cream headache for the first two minutes of swimming. After the first minutes, I could enjoy how good it feels to be out there.

I was not really fast today. It must be because I haven't been doing a lot of stuff this week...Just a swim and two sessions of Yoga. It's recovery week, and I think it was welcome. I felt like I had no gas left. But I might have slacked a bit too much, because restarting the engine was kinda hard today.

But the motivation is there, and I can't wait for the long bike ride tomorrow or on Monday. We usually do it on Sundays, but it's a long week end. Hurray for Canada Day! So it pretty much depends on my husband.

By the way, he is doing very good in his training, I'm so proud! He's been improving his swimming a lot, and we're getting closer to the same speed in our HR zones, so soon we might be able to ride together. It always improves faster when you're just starting. We'll see if he can catch me :) (I'm sure he will)

I'll blame it on caffeine...

Caffeine Crash!?!
I didn't swim yesterday. Didn't do yoga, and I still have to kick my behind to at least get my ride in today.
My body is out of sync. My joints are great, even my fingers feel normal lately! But my energy level is down. I'm blaming caffeine.

About two weeks ago, I decided I wanted to get rid of my caffeine addiction. I used to have a big cup (more like 2 cups) of coffee every single day. I know it's not that bad, but as soon as I would spend a day not having coffee, I'd get a crazy strong, handicapping headache, that would go away if I would drink coffee. So I decided I didn't want to depend on my daily coffee to function normally. I tried a couple of days without coffee. Ouch! It really hurts and doesn't stop. I guess I wasn't patient enough with it...

So I decided I would try to drink green tea. It has much less caffeine, compared to coffee (15mg compared to 135mg), but that's depending on how strong you make your tea/coffee. So I suppose I've been making it too strong, because after 1 week of green tea, I still have a headache if I don't drink green tea. Yesterday, I had no caffeine intake. And I was not functional.

I've been doing research and found that bit of information, according to Wiki:
"Withdrawal symptoms—possibly including headache, irritability, an inability to concentrate, and stomach aches—may appear within 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation of caffeine intake, peak at roughly 48 hours, and usually last from one to five days...may cause feelings of fatigue and drowsiness... A reduction in serotonin levels when caffeine use is stopped can cause anxiety, irritability, inability to concentrate and diminished motivation to initiate or to complete daily tasks..."

Yep, except for the anxiety and stomach aches, it sounds like me right now :(

I just have to be patient and wait until the effects go away. It shouldn't take too long. Wiki also confirms that a small dose of caffeine should ease the withdrawal, so I'm going to reduce dramatically the strength of my green tea!

I was able to quit smoking, cold turkey, 6 years ago, so I'm sure I can get rid of my caffeine addiction as well! I love coffee, but at least I'm going to be able to enjoy it on my own terms, instead of needing it!

First Open Water Swim

I did it. Lake Ontario, 60 degrees. It IS cold! Even with a wetsuit. Especially the first couple of minutes in the water. Filling the wetsuit with water was a shocking experience.

After waiting for the water to warm up in my wetsuit, I started to get used to the cold on my hands and feet. Then another shock. My face! Arg. For two minutes I get an ice cream headache. Probably my brain trying to tell me this is not such a good idea. But I ignored it and pushed to get to that first buoy.

Once I started swimming, I forgot about the cold. All that was in my mind is the openness, the fresh air, the smell of the water. Anything else than chlorine is good! And my goal, different from usual, getting to a buoy, swimming straight. How wonderful it is not to look at a line at the bottom of a pool, feeling the waves and trying to be in sync with nature. This is how swimming was meant to be.

It might sound weird, but my first experience with open water swimming was far from being scary. Just a bit cold. So I did only about 1100m, which I think is acceptable for a first time, and in 60 degrees water. I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to the next group swims, I'm actually thinking about going twice a week, when my initial plan was once a week in the lake and twice in the pool.

I have to say this boosts my swimming motivation, which was extremely down lately...

My First Clipless Ride

I said I would come back to that short and not so sweet ride. So here it is.

It was about a month ago, when I decided that it was about time to take my tri bike out for a first ride. Let's see. First ride on something that is not a mtb, first ride with clipless pedals. Mmmm calls for some scratches and a bit of pain.

So, that day, I figured, because it was an easy ride in Zone 1 that it was the perfect time for a non-stressful ride. HeHe (sarcastic)


I thought that slow was equal to low heart rate. Errr no. Stress = high heart rate. So my low intensity training was gone. Oh well, at least I'm learning to use the clipless pedals! Everything was perfectly fine, I was able to unclip/clip properly, until I arrived at a cul-de-sac.

I stop and put one foot on the ground by unclipping successfully. Hurray!
I start to pedal again, with one pedal clipped in, only to realize that I forgot to set my bike to a lower gear. Oh No!
My leg cannot rotate with enough strength, I need my other leg. Quickly. Arggg!
I cannot clip my second leg. Cr*p!
I have to stop and put my unclipped foot on the ground. I said my unclipped foot!
I'm leaning on the wrong side! Nooooo!
I wipe out at 1 km/h. Even if I had one foot unclipped. Great! First reaction: Get back up as quickly as possible, and make sure nobody saw me. Second reaction: Go back home as quickly as possible, before it happens again, avoiding humiliation in front of high school students heading out home.

Oh well, I bet I'll be careful about leaning on the right side the next time! I hope at least you've had a good laugh on that one! :) I am still laughing about it myself!

Lazy Swim

Yesterday I had a 2500m swimming workout scheduled. Usually, I would go in the morning, right after yoga. But I had a tight schedule and I decided to wait for my husband, who had a scheduled 1 hour swimming when he comes back from work.

We hit the pool around 7:00 pm. I knew before touching the water that it would be hard. Not hard physically, but mentally. I just couldn't push myself to go harder. And I couldn't keep a proper form. It's the first time I felt so lazy in the water. I had to call it a day, and jump back in the whirlpool...It would have been useless to just continue swimming lazily without an acceptable stroke form. So, that was it.

A 300m warmup, 200m fist drill, 200m look forward drill, 300m straight. A loooong 29 minutes 15 seconds 1000m, for a terrible pace of 2:55/100m. Ok, it was mostly drills and warmup, but still, it doesn't look good!

Oh well, at least I did my modified (to give my finger a break) strength training, including legs and core, and also yoga.

Today I have a short bike ride schedule, I should go very soon. I promised I wouldn't go outside with my bike until Sunday, to make sure my right index finger is not too stressed by impacts. So it's indoor training for now.

Talking about my finger...it's a bit better, but it starts to feel like an inflamed tendon, a problem I've had before and where I had to have a cortisone injection right in there (ouch). This is arthritis related, and I guess it's part of the stuff I have to expect from time to time...

At least my morale is good, and we are planning a mtb ride to Albion hills on Sunday (pray for a nice weather!!), where I will be able to try my wetsuit in the lake! Can't wait!

Rest Day

Last week was great! I followed most of my training schedule, except for my 2nd strength training session. Not that I didn't want to, but that nerve in my hand was pretty bad after my bike ride on Friday so I decided to let it recover.

For the first time since a couple of months I did all my planned swimming workouts! After my 5000m charity swim, I lost some interest in the pool (by lack of goals, or by boredom...probably a bit of both). But since I got my wet suit, it gave me some sort of boost to be consistent with the swimming part of my training. Being consistent with biking is not so hard, as I'm really enjoying it (especially outside!). New straight-swimming pace: 2:03/100m for a 2500m swim. I can't wait to go under 2:00/100m.

Yesterday was the long bike ride, and it was the nicest long ride ever for me. The Becel Ride for Heart is a charity bike ride (my husband and myself chose the 50km route). They close down the highway in Toronto, and it's all bikes! Great landscape, no cars around, lots of people (around 10,000 every year) and an acceptable weather!

It was also my first time doing a mass start on the bike. It wasn't so bad, surely because people were rather relax...it's a ride, not a race! There were just a couple of road racers who were cutting in way too close, flying at high speed through the mob within 1 foot or so from other bikers. This was not really nice and rather frustrating...

Anyway, including yoga, bike, strength and swimming, it's a total of 8 hours and 40 minutes of training for the past week. And that was a recovery week.

Next week: 9 hours and 45 minutes planned. But, I don't think I'll do strength training, as my nerve in my right hand isn't back to normal. I'm starting to think I might need to have it checked...It's not numb anymore, but when I move in certain ways or apply pressure on certain spots, I can feel jolts of electricity in my index finger. It's not painful, but really annoying.

At least riding my mountain bike doesn't affect it, so that's my mountain bike I took for the ride yesterday. Even with my hand being OK, I don't think I would have taken my tri bike. I'm certainly not ready for a mob ride with clipless pedals! He He

Numb, Numb and Still Numb

I've had my bike for over 6 months now, but I haven't ridden it much outside yet. There was winter, and I did a lot of indoor training, but come spring, I took my mtb out for rides instead of my tri bike, the main reason is that my seat was very uncomfortable. So now I got a new saddle (Fizik) which I love very much, and there's no more reason not to go out with that bike.

I guess I'm a chicken , I just started using the clipless pedals and that was very scary for me at first. It took me a lot of kicks in the butt to get out there with my tri bike. I love biking, but I'm far from being comfortable, compared to my mtb.

In fact, today was my second time only. Clipless was fine, didn't have a problem and I can really appreciate how useful they are. I didn't talk about my first ride with clipless yet, but that story will be coming soon.

Of course I'm not very confident, and I suppose it's going to take a while. But the main problem is that after only a couple of minutes, my right index finger became numb, especially the tip, and it made me even less confident about controlling my bike. I suppose aero position would be more comfortable, but don't get me started on this one, I'm far from that point right now! So after a 25 minutes ride only, I came back home.

My finger is still a bit numb now, 2 hours after my ride, and I was wondering what might cause that. If it was my bike fit (and I got a bike fit at my LBS), than I thought I would have felt something in both hands if my weight was too much forward (which I found out is wrong)...I also wear biking gloves with a very good padding.

So I discussed on the Trifuel forum about my problems, and here's the feedback I got.

Problem #1: There might be too much weight on my hands, caused by either my seat angle pointing downwards, or by my handlebars being too low. This could be compressing some nerve.

Problem #2: My grip is too tight. But without confidence, I don't see very much how I can loosen up a bit. Hey, I'm just holding on for dear life here! :p No but seriously, I think I'm a bit too stressed, but you can't blame me, it's a lot of new things at the same time for me!

So, I'll have to experiment a bit I suppose, but I also don't want to damage any nerve. I'm hoping that numbness goes away quickly! I think it's getting better...or am I just getting used to it?

The Wetsuit Challenge

Last weekend I got my first wetsuit!

I should be excited about it, but in reality I'm not that thrilled. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to swim in the lake, to feel the openness and the waves. As opposed to most people, open water swimming is very attracting to me. It's a synonym of liberty and fighting the elements.

Much more appealing than the line at the bottom of the pool, which I've gotten really bored of lately.

I hear you: What's the problem?

Short explanation: Arthritis

Longer explanation:
I've had a really hard time to try on the different wetsuits. In fact, I couldn't put them on, I had to ask my husband to pull them up. My fingers wouldn't cooperate.
These dawn fingers!! This is the one thing that has been annoying me the most lately. I suppose I shouldn't complain, because I used to be much worse than that, and now in comparison, I'm doing so good! But the reality is that once you get better, it's not enough. You want more, you want it to be perfect. At least that's how I feel.

See, the thing is, with bad knees, or ankles, it's possible to compensate by improving the muscles around and make these muscles bear the weight and absorb the impact to lower the stress on the joints. How do you do that for fingers?? I have yet to find a method/exercise/stretching that will help to improve these. So that means my fingers aren't in sync with the rest of my body. They're weak, and painful.

I'm trying to be positive and remind myself that I was sweating a lot, and that it just got stuck on my body, that most people probably have as much difficulty to put them on at first, that I will get used to it and will find effective and painless methods. But part of me believes that I will always need my husband to help me put it on! Not that I don't like my husband's presence and help, but I like not to depend on anybody.

I'm hoping that the first open water swim will just erase that negative part of the wetsuit. I will find out soon, as the group open water swimming in Ontario lake starts on June 13. Hopefully, I will have a chance to try it before that, it would be a shame to just let it sit in the closet for another 2 weeks! :)

Elliptical Tentative

As I said in my previous post, my husband started triathlon training about 3 weeks ago. Because he was running on the treadmill at the gym, and I was feeling particularly great and wanted to spend more time with him, I decided to follow him in his debut of running, by using the elliptical machine.

I figured that the reason I can't run is because of the impact it has on my joints (ankles and knees), therefore the elliptical should be good for me! The first couple of shots were great, as I was going for about 15-20 minutes at a generally slow pace. I felt the new range of muscles working, and of course I liked it!

Then the first disappointment came.

When I started to go over 30 minutes, the ball of my foot was starting to be painful, and if I continued, it would evolve in a throbbing pain where my toes would become numb. So I did some research to find out what I could do about it. I got inserts for my shoes and tried them the next day. I saw the difference in my left foot. But for my right foot, nothing improved. The pain disappears after the workouts, but on the mornings, I generally felt like I had been hit by a car during the night. This is typical of arthritis flares, and is something I didn't experience so much lately, due to a very good medication and a good level of fitness. That told me it was enough.

There are a couple of problems I see, some I could do something about it others I can't do anything.

First, my shoes are totally inappropriate for running, which I just found out. I know elliptical is not exactly like running, but the movement is very similar, and with my sensitive foot, I need a rocking shoe.

Second, my feet are so different, that insoles are no good to solve the problem on both feet at the same time, I would need orthotics (read more $$$). If you want an idea about how different they are, my left foot is about 3/4 inch shorter, and with a pronounced arch, and claw toes, thanks to arthritis! My right foot looks totally normal, with a normal to low arch.

Third, one of the first joints that got diagnosed with arthritis when I was 5 years old, were the metatarsal joints (ball of the foot joints). There's nothing I can do about that one. There might be permanent damage in these.

For these reasons, I decided to give up the elliptical until I can talk about it to my Rhumatologist (arthritis specialist) in July.

The good news is that I was able to continue with my training, and I started to do yoga regularly again, as it helps a lot with my joints.

Oh well, another learning experience! I'm getting to know my body's limits better!

Hubby is in!

I have been working out more regularly in the past 6 weeks. I decided to incorporate a strength training program in my routine, following Crucible Fitness's Triathlon strength training plan.

I've been doing just fine, even enjoying the strength training. The only problem I have with strength training, is that my arthritic fingers don't enjoy it so much. I found out it is worse with free weights, so I'm trying to keep the exercises to the machines as much as possible. It seems to help tremendously.

Then, 3 weeks ago, my husband decided that he started triathlon training! Wow! I was so glad, plus, I didn't even try to get him to do it!

He said that the main reason he started is because he wants me to be able to participate in local triathlon and not get a DNF. How sweet!!! There are no Aquabiking competitions in the Greater Toronto Area. The closest is about 400 km away from here. For me, that means traveling for each competition, or register for a full triathlon here and DNF.

My husband's solution: Relay! I do the swimming and biking portion and he does the running. Wait a minute, why is he training for the whole thing? Well, hopefully the triathlon series here will include Aquabike to their competition sometime soon, and I'll be able to compete by myself. At that point, my husband might be interested in doing the whole thing, or not. We'll find out. But he seems to really enjoy it, which is great because I can talk about my biking and swimming stories and worry less about annoying him.

So it looks like we might register for a sprint this summer, for the Toronto Islands Triathlon. We'll see, I don't want to push him too much, he's just starting running, and I want him to feel comfortable. And to say that last year he was a smoker!!! I'm so proud of him!

In fact, he's the reason why we started biking last year, and that escalated into Aquabiking for me. He decided to buy bikes after he quit smoking, as a reward for his decision (yes, I got rewarded even though all I had to do was endure his bad temper for a couple of weeks. My husband is spoiling me a lot. No complains here!) After that I started swimming again, and heard about aquabike competitions. Since then, there has been ups and down, but my motivation is still there, and I'm really hoping for a first competition this summer.

I think the biggest problem is money! God it's expensive! There's always something missing, or nice to have. And now we're two. But hey, there are other hobbies that are expensive too, and it occupies most of our time, it's a healthy lifestyle, and it's very satisfying. So why not?

Swimming Form

I forgot to mention that my husband filmed a small part of my performance during the 5000m charity swim on Sunday. So now I know a couple of things that need to be improved!

1-My hands seem to cross over the half of my body. This certainly slows me down.

2-Every 6 kicks or so, I give a bigger kick. I don't know why, and I don't know if it's always the same leg. I'll need a bit more filming to find out more.

The good news is that I can keep the pace throughout the entire swim, and my arms move in a regular motion, both arms are synchronized, and my gliding seems pretty good. My breathing is also good, and I don't precipitate the recovery, meaning that the amount of time that my arms are in the air when I breathe is the same than the other strokes.

I'm pretty happy overall, especially since I haven't had swimming lessons in over 10 years and was afraid I would just be reinforcing bad habits. I will have to ask my husband to film me from time to time to make sure I'm improving!

I did it!

Yesterday was my charity swim for Arthritis. 5000 meters straight swim. It took me 1h45 to complete it. Not bad, considering I haven't had time to train as seriously as I would have loved to. It was the first time I swam that far. Now I know I can do it!

The best thing about it, is that I was able to keep my pace the entire time. Some people passed me, and I ended up passing them towards the end. I suppose that my time is not really amazing, but it confirms that I have the endurance. I think I would have been able to continue for a longer time. The hardest part was not physical. It was challenging mentally.

In practice, the furthest I swam was 3500m, and I always had energy left after these. During my swim yesterday, past 3500m, it's not so much the lack of energy but rather the motivation that I had to fight for. The last 1000m was especially hard. I knew I would be able to complete it, but at the same time, I started to be more aware of what could go wrong. I was used to have cramps to the toes, or side stiches during training, and to get some arthritic pain in the finger (from keeping the hand in the same position for a long time) and in the ankles (from pushing the wall repeatedly). So I was expecting some or all of these during my long swim, but fortunately none of them happened!

Of course last night I had to take some antiinflamatories to make sure I wouldn't suffer too much today, but it's surprisingly good! I have some stiffness in the shoulders, but nothing joint related, it's muscular. I also have some finger pain, but nothing really out of the ordinary.

So yes, I'm going to do it again next year. Oh! and I was able to raise over $600 for the Arthritis Society. It was really worth it! For now, my next objective is to do open water swimming. As I didn't do any yet, I don't really know what to expect. But I would like to complete at least a 2000m open water swim before the end of the summer. I will continue swimming in the pool, and also biking outdoor! Spring is here now, and I'll be able to get out there more often! (even being busy shouldn't be an excuse, but sometimes reality and desires are two different things!)

Feeling Alive Again!

Yesterday, I went for a long bike ride. Outdoor!!! It was my third bike ride not in front of the T.V. since the start of 2007. 10 perfect degrees (50 f). Lots of wind (40km/h, 50km/h gusts) that seemed to change direction to face me all the time. No sun. Just spring shades of grey and brown.

2 hours and half of pure pleasure. I was far from being fast, averaging 16km/h. I didn't put a lot of miles in (38km, or 23.6 mi). But feeling the wind on my face, getting to see different landscapes, moving and getting somewhere made it the best ride I've had since last summer. I find it's much easier to give a physical effort when you're distracted by other things around you. Don't get me wrong, I pay attention to the road, obstacles, my heart rate, the time and distance. But it's so much easier to push yourself outdoor. Indoor, my demons are catching up too easily with me: "Arg I can't hold that for too long!" Outside, they can't catch me. They vanish in the air. Maybe the wind helped to hold them back yesterday :)


Unfortunately, the next couple of days will not be as nice. Rain and/or snow. So I'll go back to my TV. Oh well, at least I have something to look forward to!

Swimming technique

My throat and ear were almost back to normal on Tuesday. I didn't swim on Wednesday (worked for about 12 hours and was exhausted when I arrived home at night), but the rest of my week went normally. biked Tuesday and yesterday, and swam today.

For my swim, I concentrated on my technique and decided to make it very short. I stopped swimming when I realised I was not able to think about what I was doing anymore. It ended up being a very relaxed workout, 1000m instead of my usual 2500m, but one of my fastest 100m swims all the same. Which tells me I'm doing things wrong when I'm not concentrating on my stroke. I usually swim around 1:54/100m, going the fastest I can. I don't go under 1:50/100m. Today, I swam a 1:44/100m, without pushing. All my 100m were below 1:50/100m.

I have to start realising what I'm doing, instead of just doing it. This will make a huge difference in the long term. I still want to train on endurance, especially with my 5000m swim coming in April, but I will have to make sure I break these bad forms habits. At least it's encouraging: I seem to know a couple of things I'm doing wrong when I'm not thinking, so I'm hoping that with a lot of practice I'll get the right movements in my muscle memory!

I'm also thinking about changing my training schedule. Currently my long ride is on Saturday and my straight swim is on Sunday. My rest day is on Monday. I find that Saturdays seem to be bad for my long rides. I always have stuff to do and I'm pretty busy with work as well. I'm thinking of taking Saturdays off and do my long ride on Sundays (especially convenient for long group rides) or Monday, and Swim most likely on Monday if my long ride was on Sunday. I don't really know yet, and it seems a bit brutal to do my long ride right after a rest, instead of building my workout week up to the long ride. I suppose I will have to experiment...

I am considering joining the triathlon club very soon, as I need some advices and also I need a place where I can have group rides and be allowed to use my aero bars! Joining the triathlon club is probably the best thing I should do, as I feel right now I'm just picking information on the internet and try to put it together. I just don't want to spend any money on coaching at this point.

Oh well, I'm learning, and the most important is that I'm enjoying it!

Bike Show and Sore Throat

I've had a very nice week-end, including relaxing with my husband, going to the spring bike show and working of course! The bike show was great, and it didn't cost more than $300! My husband bought bike shoes and pedals, and I couldn't resist a bike tank top and a pair of good gloves. We've been really reasonable. Here's my wish list for Easter, or whatever Holiday that would be a good reason to give a gift! (not intended for my husbands, he knows I'm just dreaming a bit here)

-A good saddle
-A wetsuit
-Prescription swimming goggles
-Prescription bike sunglasses
-An aero hydration system
-A tri suit
-A new hrm (mine isn't beeping anymore when I get out of my target zone, I have to borrow my husband's oversized watch)
-I could find more stuff I want easily, but these would probably be my priorities (in order)

Yes, I want all this stuff and yet I didn't train this weekend. At All. Well a 10 minutes fitness evaluation on Saturday if that counts... I've had a sore throat since Friday night. A bad one, on one side only, and the pain is going up to my ear on the same side. I think it's getting better. I tried to get more rest. Anyway, if it's still there tomorrow, I'm going to see the Doc.

I know most people say that if the area affected is over the shoulders you can still train, but I'm not sure if it applies to everybody. My medication lowers my immune system. So I gotta give it all the chances to recover when I'm hit with something. Amazingly, this year is the best year I've ever had. Maybe if you read my previous posts it doesn't sound that great, but believe me, I'm in the best shape I've ever been, and I love it!

Toronto Bike Show this week-end

I forgot to mention that it's the week-end for the Toronto Bike show, and I'm going tomorrow! It started today, and ends on Sunday. I went at the last Fall blowout sale, and it was quite expensive for me (bikes, trainer, etc), but they were all good deals. The interesting thing about the spring show is that it's not only deals, it's also indoor dirt course competitions, for mountain bikers, BMX and freestyle.

There are also displays for different bike clubs, and also registration for events occurring throughout the year.

I don't want to spend any money during this show, except maybe for a pair of new gloves and biking shoes for my hubby, but it's really worth going! :)

Oh Summer, where are thou?

I don't train outdoors during winter. Maybe I'm a chicken, or maybe I have good reasons, like my joints don't like cold and humid weather and usually won't cooperate. I have to say Toronto is not so bad during winter, it could be worse. But it could be better.

I also don't have equipment to ride during cold weather. So I've been biking on my fluid trainer since November! At least it's still training with my bike, but I really miss the wind, the trees, the sun on my (protected) sooo white skin. At this time of the year, because of the lack of sun, my skin is usually so white it's almost blueish. This year doesn't seem to be as bad, maybe it's because I'm more healthy that I used to be. I miss the sun still. And no, I can't get canned sun, my medication doesn't allow for it.

But the thing I miss the most, is warmth. I love warmth. When it's 35 degrees and everybody is searching for shade and AC, I really enjoy it. Actually, the perfect weather I found so far (I haven't visited so many places in my life), was in Palm Springs, CA. 45 degrees during the day! Loved it! Except for the weird sensation of the skin in your face wanting to crack open when you smile! he he, but I could get used to that! My joints could get used to that too, I felt 100% for the time I was there! I suppose that's why this place is so popular for older people...The warmth and the hot springs.

Oh well, at least I feel good right now, and my joints are ok with all my training so far! :) I'm just hoping that this snow will melt (got some more yesterday) very soon, and that I'll be able to hit the trails! Can't wait for that!

The Groundhog was sooooo wrong! :(

Stiff fingers and headaches

As I was saying in my previous post, I'm used to pain. I just have to adjust to different types of pain.

When I started training, I knew my biggest challenge would be my fingers and wrists. That might sound weird, but hey, I have big joints problems. Knees, elbows, ankles, I can deal with. As long as I can reinforce the muscles around my joints it is not a big deal. My knees are doing great, because my leg muscles are supporting them, so that the pressure doesn't go directly to the joint. The wrists are not so bad, because the exercises I'm doing don't require too much movement from these joints. But how do I reinforce muscles in my hands? HeHe

For strength training, I have to be careful. I still have to find a way to incorporate weights in a way that won't hurt my wrists and fingers. I was thinking of buying wrists/ankles weight straps to perform the same exercises as with weights, or the wrist wraps with hooks in the palm to help hold the weights... I believe this would be the best way to avoid pain. The fingers would be spared as well: the painful part of weight lifting for me is not muscle pain, but finger pain from holding the weights. Or when I try push ups, I can't go over 20. My wrists usually hurt too bad for me to continue for more than that, but my arms are just fine! Very annoying, cause I know I could do much better, it's just my joints aren't cooperating.

Also, when I swim for more than 2000M, my fingers get stiff. I know it's because of the way I'm forcing my fingers to stay together, but I can't do otherwise, or else I'll loose a lot of speed. I'm hoping it will get better with time. Is it a normal thing? I'm not sure this would be due to arthritis...

Another thing...I am getting a couple of bad headaches lately. I don't think it's anything serious, but I'll have to be careful and monitor how long they last, and if they occur only after hard workouts...Yesterday my head was pounding so hard, I cancelled my 2500M straight swim. Just the idea of having goggles around my head sounded horribly painful! Oh well, this is an extra rest day for me. Today is my actual scheduled rest day.

Even though all this stuff doesn't sound very promising, I'm doing great, and I really enjoy it! I actually can't wait to jump on my bike tomorrow. I suppose I just have to be extra careful about what my body tells me. And I am more attentive than I used to be, so I think I'm going in the right direction! Oh, and I try to get more sleep as well. This helps tremendously! As stated on a Trifuel post, sleep is NOT overrated!!

Toe Cramps Anybody?

My workouts have been great this week! I've followed my plan, except for two skipped Yoga sessions. I'm feeling great, in control, nothing can stop me....except these toe cramps in the water!!
OK I have arthritis, and I'm used to have pain. But that is killing me.

When I started to swim seriously again a couple of months ago, it was actually worse than it is now. So I'm hoping it will continue to get better. I've tried a couple of things already.

When it happens in the water, I used to stop right away, and tried massages. Ouch! It's like torture. And the minute you think it's gone, it comes back! I've had a couple lasting about 10 minutes. Getting out of the water and into the whirlpool doesn't seem to help either. I also tried ignoring it and continue swimming. Easy to say! It passed eventually, and faster than the massage actually, but still a painful couple of lengths! I figured the best way to stop them is to do nothing and relax my feet. That works better. It lasts only a couple of minutes.

I have to find a way to prevent these cramps. What is causing them? Maybe arthritis has a role to play in it...Maybe I'm pointing my feet too much. But I really don't think so. Anyway, I'm trying to relax a bit more my feet and I didn't get any in the last two swimming sessions.

I also read that a lack of calcium can cause these cramps, so I will be more careful about my dairies intake.

Click on the link for an interesting site I found about cramps in general. Do you get any of these? Let me know if you have any tricks of your own to help!

Anyway, that's it for my toes story, next time I'll talk about my fingers! (no joke)

I'm back

It's been two months since I've checked anything not work related on the internet, which is quite unusual. I used to go nuts if I didn't read my usual blogs and news sites daily!
Ok, when I started this blog, I thought I could be consistent, and write regularly... It lasted one month. For my defense, I have to say that a lot happened lately and writing about it didn't seem to be a priority.
I still get trifuel newsletters, and started catching up today.
Now that things are (kind of) back to normal, I want to take more time to write about it. I'm not promising I will write every day, but it won't be months between posts anymore.

At the start of the year, my best friend from childhood (also my cousin's high school sweetheart), got into a snowmobile accident in Quebec. She had a broken scapula and a headache. The hospital sent her home...Two nights after that, her parents found her having convulsions in her bed, she was transferred to a trauma centre. Her brain had swelled and there was excess liquid. She got brain surgery, and they plunged her in an induced coma. We had no idea if she would survive. If she was to survive, the possibilities of long term disabilities were there. There were a lot of complications, we didn't really know what to expect.
After a week, she finally woke up, and, although very confused at the beginning, she came back all herself! Some physiotherapy to do, but the doctors are saying that there will be no permanent damage! What a scare! I have to say it changes perspectives...

I was also extremely busy at work, the real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area is really picking up!

Now for the training. Well, I've had ups and downs. It has been hard to incorporate regular training in my schedule. Not that I don't have time, I know I can find time for it. I've made plans, but I believe I've left too much room for unexpected stuff. I am better when I force myself to stick to something. It's a good thing I just bike and swim!

There's also the health part, I've had a couple of bad joints days, a result from the stress, and a delay of a couple of days for getting my medication. When that happens, it takes me a while to move again. I know it will be better as soon as I start moving, but at the same time the kick needed to get up and do it is huge!

So I've been doing maybe 3 workouts on average per week, which is far from being enough. Swimming here and there, biking sometimes, cardio-muscular workouts and some yoga. I've signed up for a 5000M charity swim for April. So I have to get serious. I know I can do that. I won't be so fast (I expect 1:30 to 1:40), but I'll do it. This is the Foresters' Swim for Arthritis, if you are interested in sponsoring me.

So, here's my plan for the next 2 months (reduce by 60% every 4 weeks for rest):
Monday Rest
Tuesday 6:30am Swim Drills + speed 2000m
Wednesday 6:30am cardio (warmup) strenght workout + short bike (40-60 minutes)
Thursday 6:30am Swim Drills + speed 2000m
Friday 6:30am cardio (warmup) strenght workout + short bike (40-60 minutes)
Saturday 9:00am cardio (warmup) strenght workout + long bike (1:30-3:00)
Sunday 9:00am Swim 2000m straight

Add yoga every night at 10:00 before bed.
I know this is not much compared to some of you hardcore guys, but this is hardcore for me! :o)
I'll let you know how it goes.