Highlight of the vacation is having access to a lake and the time for longer swims 🏊♂️
fitness
Huntsville 70.3 Ironman notes 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
After a few weeks of recovery, here are a few notes on the Huntsville 70.3 Ironman. The short version (given there’s lots of details below) is that the course was fantastic, though very hilly, and I managed to shave 15 minutes from my last 70.3. Pre-race No surprises here. There were scheduled times for registration and all we needed was the receipt from our online payment. With that, they handed over a wristband, timing chip, stickers for my bike and helmet, a hot-pink swim cap for my age group, t-shirt, and a morning gear bag for transferring clothing from the swim start to the run finish.Here we go again 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
🏃♂️ Today’s run had no distance or pace goal. A run with no plan is usually a bad idea. This one ended up being longer than it likely should have been
Milton Sprint Triathlon 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Sunday, June 4, 2023
That was fun! Really well organized, friendly racers, and great weather. There were 466 racers, though other than the parking lot, it didn’t seem crowded. Swim Mass start by age group for the swim. Temperature was quite nice. Other than an elbow to the nose coming around the last buoy, a pleasant swim 😀. Bike The course confronts you almost right away with a steep 320m climb up the escarpment that really tests the legs.🥱 This justifies a nap
🏃♂️Nice zone 2 run with some pickups
🏃♂️ Good trail on today’s long run. Fun to slog through mud on occasion
The whimsy of Zwift distracts from the difficulty 🚴♂️
🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️ I’ve cancelled my Strava subscription. This isn’t directly caused by the price increase (though a 100% increase is big!), rather this was a good reason to reconsider the service. Most of the Strava features that I’ve found useful (detailed analytics for the most part) I can also get from the built-in Apple Fitness metrics, augmented by the HealthFit app. So, I’m not seeing the value in keeping the subscription. I’ll keep using the app, though, since I do appreciate the social aspects of the service.
My 2022 focussed on fitness. Strava helpfully summarizes this as over 4,000 km travelled with 1,600 🏃♂️, 2,500 🚴♂️, and 100 🏊♂️. Plus 🏋️♂️ and essential 🧘♂️ sessions. I’ll build on this in 2023 while striving for balance
Wednesday, December 28, 2022 →
🏃♂️ Nice run along the river. I’m glad it has warmed up a bit
🏃♂️ Running in fresh snow can be nice. The ambient noise of the city is muffled and the snow cushions your foot striking the ground ❄️
🏃♂️ I expected the rain on today’s zone 2 trail run. The hail and wind gusts were a surprise. Hard to hold zone 2 while being pummelled by ice! 💨🌧️🥶
🏃♂️An easy, zone 2 run today. Almost dark by 5pm
🏃♂️ I’d planned for an easy zone 2 run this morning. Picked the wrong running group though. Time to update my zones anyway. I likely shouldn’t be able to hold zone 5 for so long
How much does a Triathlon cost? 🏊♂️ 🚴♂️ 🏃♂️💰
Friday, November 18, 2022
Other than knowing if I was physically capable of finishing, the main source of uncertainty when I signed up for my first triathlon was how much it would cost. Starting out, I had one pair of running shoes and some goggles from my kids' swimming lessons. So, I knew I’d need to invest in a lot of gear. Here’s the list of what I ended up buying along with some commentary.I’m enjoying these Yoga for Every Runner sessions in Apple Fitness. I’m certain that mobility is important for staying active 🏃♂️
I’ve registered for the Ironman 70.3 in Muskoka 🏊♂️🚴♂️🏃♂️
Long runs are great in Fall weather 🏃♂️
I’ve enjoyed a couple of Time to Run sessions. The coaches are relatively restrained, while offering useful tips, and the music fits in well. They’ll be good for days when I don’t have anything specific planned and have about 40 minutes to spare 🏃♂️
Wednesday, September 14, 2022 →
The hanger for my rear derailleur broke on my commute this morning. So, a shortened ride, along with a minor crash when the freed derailleur ended up in the spokes of the rear tire and I tumbled over the handlebars 🚴♂️
Saturday, September 10, 2022 →
Fun ride to Unionville today 🚴♂️
An early start for today’s ride to avoid the heat and catch the sunrise 🚴♂️
Found some rapids on today’s run 🏃♂️
Nice run along the James Cooper Lookout Trail, despite some tough terrain 🏃♂️
Different running route today to find some unpaved roads and justify packing my trail shoes on the vacation 🏃♂️
Nice to get out for a long swim 🏊♂️
Misty morning for an easy run 🏃♂️
Such a delight to swim in a nice, deep lake 🏊♂️
