Eagle Cam on Hornby Island

Now for something completely different. Check out this webcam on Hornby Island of a pair of eagles and soon to be babies.

Eagle Cam on Hornby Island

Blogging Anniversary - 1 year

On March 28, 2009 I had officially been blogging for 1 year. It has been an amazing year.

More amazing stuff to come!

New Title Photo

I updated the title photo again. Because I couldn't figure out how to change the font colour of the title, I chose a photo that has a darker background. This photo was also taken on Hornby Island at our friend's wedding last year.

Lost Lake Snowshoe March 2009

Lost Lake Snowshoe March 2009 031
Originally uploaded by erinlesleylee

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Whistler. The weather was cool, clear and sunny.

While my family headed up the mountain for skiing and snowboarding, I headed over to Lost Lake for a wonderful day of snowshoeing.

I ended up doing a few loops on the red and orange level trails.

Check out my route below.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2842786

Happy training!

Cold WET Ride

IMG00092.jpg
Originally uploaded by erinlesleylee

Not sure if a photo is worth 1000 words but I think this photo sums up my cold, wet and uncomfortable ride. Physically I felt great and I didn't let it get me down mentally until the last few kms. I was happy to be done.

Still waiting for the feeling to come back in my fingers and toes.

Check out the photo of my bike also. Note: no fenders. This made for an extra special level of wetness on my butt.

Good times!

Happy Training!

Updated Race Plans

Beach where the Vancouver Tri starts

After a few e-mail with my coach yesterday, I will now be adding a second 1/2 IM to my race list for 2009. In addition to the Victoria 1/2 IM on June 21, I will also be doing the Vancouver 1/2 IM on July 12. Two 1/2 IMs in three weeks...maybe the best way to train is to race.

I had also planned a training trip to Penticton on the August 1st long weekend to ride the Ironman Canada course. My coach suggested coming up two weeks before IMC instead to ride the course. Riding the full course two weeks before the race seems a little unorthodox but what do I know?

Family Run

Family Run March 2009 005
Originally uploaded by erinlesleylee

Last night I had the pleasure of running with my husband. This does not happen very often so it was quite a treat. My son was running on the track with his track and field club at the same time.

Good times!

Mt. Seymour Snowshoe with the Family

Seymour Snowshoe March 2009 007
Originally uploaded by erinlesleylee

Over the past few weeks we have been doing some pretty activte things as a family. Here is a great way to spend the morning.

New Blog Look

After fooling around with Blogger last night, I decided on this new layout and photo. I like the calm feeling of the colours with the photo.

The photo was taken on Hornby Island, BC on June 1st, 2008. It was our first visit to the island and we were attending a wedding. I don't recall who took this photo but it is one of our favourites from the trip.

Pump up the Volume

With this week coming to a close, my legs feel like I just ran a fast 1/2 Marathon. I would not say they feel like they ran a Marathon, just a fast 1/2 Marathon. Regardless, my legs have a healthy dose of lactic acid inside with the stiffness and ache to match.

This week my workout schedule changed slightly with a spin on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday plus an outdoor ride on Saturday. This is all in preparation for the Easter Camp that will be mostly riding. Yesterday's ride outside was great. I met the SAA members at 8:30am and we set off on a ride from Steveston into Vancouver. In the end, my route took me on a 65km glorious sunshiny tour of Richmond and Vancouver. It was cold and crisp but no wind. There were many times when I wanted to stop and take photos but I knew that keeping up with the group was important and didn't stop.

Here is the route I took.

Today, the weather is much the same. I headed off on my regular Sunday morning long run around 8:30am. 90 minute run was on the schedule for today. This is not uncommon for my schedule. Usually the Sunday long run is anywhere from 1-2 hours. The big difference, however, is that I haven't had a 65km ride the day before. During my run, my legs and whole body felt heavy. I was wearing a fully loaded 4 bottle Fuel Belt which does add some weight but this was a different feeling than that. My heart rate stayed relatively low but my legs were done. My left quad twinged a few times letting me know that it could cramp at any time. Luckily it did not.

Every week my volume is increasing and my body is continuing to adapt. I am really looking forward to the day when I look back at this post and say "I can't believe I was so tired after only a 65km ride and a 90 minute run". I know this day will come.

Below is a quote from Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running that I think is quite fitting.

Through experience you learn how to compensate for your physical shortcomings. To put it another way, learning from experience is what makes triathlon so much fun.

Of course it was painful, and there were times when, emotionally, I just wanted to chuck it all. But pain seems to be a precondition for this kind of sport. If pain weren't involved, who in the world would ever go to the trouble of taking part in sports like the triathlon or the marathon, which demand such an investment of time and energy? It's precisely because of the pain, precisely because we want to overcome that pain, that we can get the feeling, through this process, of really being alive - or at least a partial sense of it. Your quality of experience is based not on standards such as time or ranking, but on finally awakening to the awareness of the fluidity within action itself.

Happy Training!

Training in Review

March 15th marked the end of my first five weeks with my new coach. We had a good conversation on March 13th and discussed the my upcoming four weeks of training. This next block of training will be four weeks instead of five because Easter Base Camp is at the end of the 4th week.

During our conversation we discussed nutrition on the bike. Given that we will be riding some good distances at camp, I will have a chance to practice my nutrition. My plan is to use a combo of GU20, CarboPro, Shot Bloks, Gatorade, Peanut Butter and Banana sandwiches, Banana Bread and water. Of course this could all change once I get out on the road and test it. For the Lake Stevens 70.3 I did last year, I used GU20, CarboPro and Shot Bloks with no problems. With IMC being 2x the distance and Gatorade provided on the course, I want to use it in my training to avoid any issues on race day.

Easter Camp is three full days of training with an optional fourth day ride. I am excited and nervous about it. I know it is the training I need to succeed at IMC but there is always that unknown that make my stomach churn a little bit. Will I be able to keep up on the bike? Will there be runners and riders around the same ability as me? Have I been training enough to be at the level I should be now? What gear do I bring? What will the weather be like? Will hotel we booked be clean and comfortable? LOL, I could go on but you get the idea. J

My plan is to bring my laptop and update daily from camp photos and all. Stay tuned for that!

During my first five weeks with Kevin, I went from 9 hours of training to 12 hours of training per week.

Here is what last week looked like for me from a training perspective:

Monday
90 minute Core Strength Class for Endurance Athletes

Tuesday
60 minute trainer ride in the morning
45 minute run in the evening

Wednesday
75 minute Masters Swim in the morning
90 minute Spin Class in the evening

Thursday
60 minute run

Friday
75 minute Masters Swim in the morning

Saturday
90 minute trainer ride

Sunday
105 minute run in the morning
50 minute swim on my own in the afternoon

Total
12 hours and 20 minutes for the week

Looking at the next four week, the hours will increase by about 1 or 2 hours. These are mainly due to bigger bike volume planned on Saturdays. Now is when I need to get outside and really build up the kilometres in preparation for camp. I printed off the bike routes in my area and plan to get some of my KMs in by commuting to work at least once a week. More to come on that...

Happy training!

Back on Track

After feeling exhausted on Thursday, I took some time to reflect on the week and how I got to Thursday.

Monday - Rest day and work
Tuesday - Worked and a 60minute trainer ride followed by a 45 minute run in the evening
Wednesday - Swim in the morning, worked from home, spin class in the evening

All of this seems quite normal for me. However, the one thing I haven't mentioned is sleeping and eating. For the most part I sleep very well. Up at 5:30am most days and then in bed by 9pm most nights. This was the case for last week also. No major sleep disruptions.

What WAS different (and lacking) was my food intake. AKA fuel intake. In hindsight, I am quite sure I ran out of gas. The tank was empty and I didn't take the time to refuel properly. Perhaps the 2 cheese burger meal with a large fries on Wednesday afternoon was not the best choice, nor the mac&cheese I then ate for dinner. And skipping my daily protein shake should not have happened.

Moral of this story is that not only do I need to keep track of my workouts, I really need to keep track of what I eat to ensure I am getting enough of the RIGHT food to FUEL my body.

Happy training!

Tonight I Had a Bath

Tonight I had a bath.

That's it.

I didn't run, I just had a bath.

Do I feel guilty for skipping my Thursday night run? Only a little.

Sometimes you just need a bath.

SAA Members run the E-Venti

This is one of my favourite photos of the day for a couple of reasons.

First, just the colours of the SAA uniforms puts a smile on my face, not to mention the great group of people pictured here.

Second, for what you don't see when you look at this photo. Runner #96 - Colin McKay

Runner#63 - Ben Hsu

Sometimes a photo doesn't tell the whole story does it?

E-Venti Marathon - Sea Island Starbucks photos

Did you run the E-Venti Marathon on Sunday March 1st?

Here are the photos from the Sea Island Starbucks water/cofffee/snack stop.

Great day for a Marathon.