I'm restarting this training blog for the first time in several years. I haven't written about my triathlon training since 2014 when I was blogging for Invent Your Fitness. Since then my focus has mostly been on medical school and the family, but I have continued to train and race, most recently doing the 70.3 Ironman Muskoka in July.
My most recent race has pushed me to reflect back on my last 12 years of competing in triathlons. There have been quite a few ups, downs, and injuries. I'm much smarter with both my training and racing now, but I'm still slower than I was at my peak (roughly 9 years ago). My rational side knows this is simply due to aging, but it's still hard to come to grips with. I also reflected on some my injuries and race performance issues. This prompted me to go back over the years and put together a table of all of my results. This should help with consistency in my preparation, which although I am very analytical, I feel like I have made many of the same mistakes throughout the years. Really thinking about what has worked for me, and what has not, will hopefully lead to better performances.
Here is an extensive list of all of the races I have done or planned to do, and the general outcomes:
2005
First year of racing. I was 22 and motivated. Finished my first marathon, sprint, olympic, and half-iron distance triathlons in Ottawa.
Ottawa Marathon - 3:30
Ottawa Riverkeeper Sprint - 1:20
National Capital Olympic - 2:44
Canadian Half Iron - 5:52
Cookie Run 10K - 39:30
2006
I likely overdid it the year before and hurt my back/hip during a training run in February. I had signed up for the Muskoka Long course triathlon (before it became the 70.3) but I wasn't able to recover. I had to take about 6 months off of running before slowly starting again in August, when I moved to Vancouver. I still signed up for Ironman Canada in 2007 to give myself motivation to recover.
2007
At UBC I joined the Triathlon Club and it really helped out my training significantly. I had my busiest racing season (likely to date) and other than one minor R hip injury (IBTS) I stayed healthy. I set several PBs this year and raced Ironman Canada, which was one of the highlights of my racing career at that point.
UBC Olympic Tri - 2:37 (new PB)
Sun Run (10K) - 37:44 (new PB)
Vancouver Marathon - 3:01 (new PB)
Desert Half Iron - 5:42 (new PB)
Ironman Canada - 11:10
Fall Classic Half Marathon - 1:22 (new PB)
2008
I started the year with the goal of doing Ironman Canada again, and hoping for a Kona spot in the men's 25-29AG. I thought I could get down to the 10hr mark with my Ironman time. I continued to get faster in all three sports and set most of my lifetime bests for the bike and run. Unfortunately I was likely overdoing it and had a season-ending injury (L hip) in August that really set me back. As we will see, I struggled with this same injury on and off for several years thereafter.
UBC Olympic Tri - 2:16 (PB)
Sun Run - 35:36 (PB)
Oliver Half Iron - 4:52 (PB)
Vancouver Sprint - 1:15 (PB, finished 3rd overall)
**season ended by L hip injury, missed IM Canada and Victoria Marathon
2009
I spent the first half of the year recovering. I raced the Sun Run although without much training. In May I started basic training, which actually prolonged my recovery as there was different physical challenges and I was unable to do my own PT most of the time. I did some small races in the summer to keep me occupied but the military training and nagging injury made it difficult to get my running speed back.
Sun Run - 36:53 (2nd fastest)
Esquimalt 8K - 31:06
Navy 10K - 38:54
Gagetown Terry Fox Run (finished 2nd)
2010
I had hoped to run the Fredericton marathon, but my L hip injury would bother me once my distance started to go much beyond 15K. I settled for the 10K in May but had a disappointing race. my tri bike had been in storage so I decided to buy a road bike in town so I could race while I was in Gagetown. I ended up doing 2 triathlons and placed fairly well. My running was starting to get faster, and I was again hoping to do a marathon in the fall. But once I got around 20K, my L hip would tighten up so I stayed at the half-marathon distance. I was posted to Petawawa in August and did some fall races in the area. Ultimately it was my busiest year since 2007.
Fredericton 10K - 39:43
Gagetown Sprint Tri - 1:10:28 (sprint PB)
Fredericton Sprint Tri - 1:12:42
Saint John's Half - 1:25:42
Petawawa Terry Fox - finished 2nd (38-39 10K pace)
Army Run - 1:27:06 (L hip issues)
2011
Coming off the previous year, I got my tri bike back and decided to focus on triathlons again. My goal race was the Canadian half-iron. My L hip was feeling the best it had in a while, although this year my races were mired by GI issues.
Minto Run (10K) - 39:06
Pembroke 5K - 17:36 (PB)
Ottawa (10K) - 37:56 (GI, was aiming for sub 37)
Barry's Bay Tri- 1:45 (course PB)
Military Sprint Tri - 1:12:42 (finished 2nd in my category)
Deep River Tri - 1:36 (course PB)
Ottawa Canadian Half-Iron (DNF - 39 swim and 2:44 bike, dehydration on the run)
Army Run - 1:26:29 (stronger but some GI issues)
2012
I was disappointed by my half iron performance and decided to train for the Petawawa Ironman as my main focus. This race consisted of a 32K ruck, 4K portage and 8K canoe. The ruck training brought back my L hip issues that nagged my entire training year. I had to walk the second half of the Minto half marathon and then had mediocre results the rest of the year. I had 2 strong runs (Terry Fox and 10 miler) but an awful Ironman event in the middle.
Minto Half (walked, L hip injury)
Telus 5K - 18:09 (1st)
Cross Base Challenge - off-road triathlon that I finished 10th in
Gatineau Tri - 1:11:58 (better conditions but finished 5th)
Deep River Tri - 1:40:46 - slower race in all three than year before
Terry Fox Run - 37:03 (2nd, fastest 10K in 3 years)
Petawawa Ironman - 7:55 (L Hip, had to walk last 8K of ruck and 6K)
Army 10 miler - 1:05 (felt strong on the run)
2013
I had mostly recovered from my L hip injury through strong therapy and was feeling strong going into the winter. I thought I had put my hip issues behind me and signed up for the Muskoka 70.3 race with my sister in September of that year. Unfortunately I did something to my hip during a run in early March and ended up having to do several months of physio to rehab. As this was my 3rd season-ending injury I was quite depressed. I decided to re-evaluate my entire approach to training and focus more on strength training. At this point I decided to leave the regular force and get my personal training certification.
2014
I was still recovering and focusing on strength training. By June I felt strong enough to race and did the Petawa 5K FundRun and started back into triathlons. Although I did some small races in 2012 I hadn't really trained on my bike since 2011 so my bike speed dropped off significantly. I had a "light" year and just focused on racing for fun.
Petawawa 5K - 18:19
Petawawa Sprint- 1:09 (sprint PB, 3rd overall)
Deep River Tri- 1:37 (strong swim-bike, but lost speed on the run)
Kitchissippi 10K - 39:04 (1st overall)
2015
I finished the race season feeling strong and decided to ramp up the training to do some longer distances for the first time in several years. I signed up for the Muskoka double and Ottawa Marathon as a prep race. My training was going very well until I somehow injured my L achilles 2 weeks before the Ottawa marathon during a training run. I did some emerg physio and attempted the race but could not finish it. I still managed to recover and complete the Muskoka double, for my first long distance races in year.
Ottawa Marathon (DNF - achilles)
Muskoka 70.3 - 5:47 (GI issues on bike/run, lost 20-30 min)
Ironman Muskoka - 10:57 (some minor GI issues, felt strong overall)
2016
After completing the Ironman my focus shifted to getting ready for med school. I knew to improve my triathlon times I would need to get better on the bike and continue to rehab my run. At this point in my career, my swim had become my strongest leg of my training. I continued to emphasize strength training as once I let it go for even a few weeks I notice my glutes get weak and end up with an injury. So I need to focus on two things: glute strengthening an salt intake during longer races. These two factors have limited me in almost every race I've done. So in 2016 I just did "fun" races to keep me fit while thinking ahead to Around the Bay and Muskoka in 2017.
Women's 10K - Prep for the marathon 39:10 (1st overall)
Ottawa Marathon - 3:53 (horrible GI issues)
Barry's Bay - 1:46 (a tad slower than last time)
Deep River - 1:36 (2nd fastest of 4 attempts, best bike split)
Halloween 7K - (fastest pace for several years)
Road2Hope Half - 1:26:13 (fastest half since 2010, 3rd fastest PB)
2017
With medical school my training volume and plan has been adjusted for extremely low volume. My goal was to see how I could do medium-distance races while keeping the training volume low. I felt like I've developed a strong base in the past 3 years since I changed my training focus. I had a decent race ATB although the foot cramps over the last 3K affected me, and then I had a a R hip twinge right before Guelph that has persisted through to Muskoka.
Around the Bay 30K - 2:12 (foot cramp for last 3K)
Milton Sprint Tri - 1:37 (hilly course)
Guelph Lake Olympic - 2:22 (R hip, heat on the run)
Ironman 70.3 Muskoka - 5:24 (tough swim, strong bike overall, cramping on the run)
My focus for the rest of this year is strengthening my R hip/glute and continuing to work on my bike power. My running was going very well as of mid June of this year, so I'm confident that with time I will get my speed back. There is a little over 6 weeks until Barrelman,which should be enough time to recover and feel strong heading into the race.
Planned: Barrelman (Sept), Road2Hope (Nov), Around the Bay (2018)
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