My very own Christmas break mini training camp

What do triathletes do when they have extra time on their hands.......you guessed it, train harder! My parents didn't end up making it for Christmas so I had some extra time on my hands. I decided to take advantage of it and do some extra training. Please note though, I do not advocate up-ing your mileage too much, or bike 5 days in a row like I did. In fact I usually stress the importance of rest to my athletes. The past week I worked hard and will take today off completely to allow my body to catch up on some much needed rest. Here is a rundown of what I did last week:

Dec 23 - 1 hour run and a 1 hour bike
Dec 24 - 45 minute run on the track with an easy 1 hour spin
Dec 25 - 50 minute bike with hard intervals
Dec 26 - 3 hour brick (2 hours hard on the bike followed by a 1 hour easy run)
Dec 27 - 1:45 bike with Sara Gross and Chris Brown
Dec 28 - swim camp; 5000m
Dec 29 - swim camp; 4800m

My parents did finally make it on the 27th and we had a wonderful visit. They even put up with me after I came back from 2 hours of swimming on Sunday and Monday and was tired and cranky (gosh, my parents are patient and understanding people). When we visited my Grandma on Monday I sat on the couch and fell asleep! Mom didn't get mad she just said "let's get you home". I love that I have such supportive parents. They know my goals and are so encouraging and supportive of them. Although mom and dad would still be happy if I were to decide not to do Ironman. They came to World's in Vancouver this year and stood in the rain and nearly freezing temperatures to cheer me on but, think Ironman is a big feat for their "little girl". I have assured them that many other "little girls" have done this race and been just fine.

In other news, we finally got our new Team Trilife clothing! It looks fantastic and we will surely be seen at all the races this year. It is also really comfortable - very important!

Lastly, as of today it is just 8 months until Ironman Canada! If you are not racing it is a blast to come out and watch. Last year I watched and volunteered too for a couple of hours, and it truly was a rewarding experience.

You are never gonna believe what I did!

Ha! Ha! The past few days have been a joke for training! I have been so busy trying to get ready for Christmas. been a little sick, enjoying being with friends and I guess just needed a little break from training hard. Let's see.... Friday I woke up and the cold I had been ignoring all week had finally hit me. I usually do speedwork on the track Friday mornings and I love the sessions. I had promised an athlete I would go and do a gait analysis on him, so I dragged myself to the track. I managed to do a bit of work and run a few laps and had to call it a day. Which also meant I was missing my swim. Saturday was not much better. I woke up still not feeling well and decided to miss my Saturday AM swim. By Saturday night I was feeling better and headed to the annual Cochrane Ironman party. A few drinks later, and it felt like I didn't have a cold at all. We watched the yearly video which Ken did a great job of and danced the night away. When it was finally time to go Susi and I ran to her car and then it happened. Bam! I went down on the ice. It didn't hurt at the time but, I sure can feel it now! The next day we suffered through a swim. Talk about punishment! We then went to spin and I had a flat. I decided it was a sign and went home to rest. Today I had a swim and run. Ang and Ken met me at the track to run and then we headed to the pool. Ken got in and Ang and I sat on the side for a few minutes. Until......we finally decided to hit the hot tub! I know! We did! We laughed and giggled as we could not believe we were skipping a workout. We usually swim in the mornings and now I know why. Well, I will take it easy for the next few days as my parents will be in town and enjoy the down time from training and hope to come back stronger after a break.

I need to figure out how to skip sleeping.......

I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost 10 days. I would be giving all my blog friends heck if they went that long. The truth is I haven't enough hours in the day lately. Training is going great which is part of it. I am hitting all of my workouts (except when the Cochrane pool closed last Friday morning, so I missed one swim) and feeling great. My workouts are going so good. I am stronger on the bike than i have ever been, and faster in the water and on the track than ever before! I just hope this trend continues.

I have not gotten much Christmas shopping in however, and I am thankful malls are open late. I think I will have to go tonight after I teach cycling. I also have to do a bunch of grocery shopping, baking, and cleaning; as my folks are coming next Tuesday. I suppose I could miss a few workouts to get this all done but, I really don't like missing workouts. If I could just figure out how to add more hours into my day by avoiding sleeping, my problems would be solved! However, we endurance athletes need our sleep!

I also wanted to share what happened at cycling last night. I rushed from work to Bow Cycle for the TTL spin. I got there with only a few minutes to spare so I rushed as I threw my bike on the trainer, got dressed and went to get on my bike. Before I did though I realized I hadn't really eaten dinner and was hungry. There was no way I could make it through the workout without food. I usually have bars, gels, and other random food in my bag. I say usually because except for tonight, I do! I searched my bag several times for an energy bar or even a gel. Nothing! I did have M & M's but, I knew they wouldn't do the trick. But, that is all I had, so I grabbed a handful and headed to my bike. A few people asked what I was doing with a big handful of M &M's. "Dinner" (with a sigh) I said. At that moment, without hesitation, Frank quickly pulled out a bar from his Bento box. "Here you go, Richelle. I also have gels if you are still hungry after the bar". WOW! I was overwhelmed that he didn't even think about it. He just handed it over the second he heard I needed something. Thank-you Frank! I really would not have gotten through that workout on an empty stomach. It would have been my own fault but it is so nice to have great friends to bail you out when you need it. And for the record, his wife is just as nice and last night we made plans to trail run this summer!

And for the record, I do plan on putting on 2 - 3 pounds in the next week! Bring on the yummy Christmas-time food! Ha!

Training update

I thought I better put in an update on my training for the past week. I did 4 bike workouts in a row! NOTE: THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED!

Monday - Ang and I ran for 1 hour and I taught Jill's evening cycling class at Tri It
Tuesday - I did a 45 minute speed work session on the treadmill and did the Bow Cycle cycling class
Wednesday - I swam in the morning and taught my usual Wednesday night cycling class at Tri It (which is starting to fill up for January session)
Thursday - Greg's cycling class; this was the first time I took Greg's class and I really liked it despite the few profanities muttered under my breath that Leslie heard. My legs were really tired and I really had to mentally push to keep up. But, I loved it! And, I also picked up a few drills I am going to incorporate into my classes. Thank-you Greg!
Friday - off (had a long day at work)
Saturday - off. I am a SLACKER! OK, we all have missed days and I usually don't miss workouts.
Sunday - 1.5 hour run on the treadmill (I wanted to get this run done outside but the snow was just too deep).

And I am feeling great! Despite that I am upset about the missed training day.

Hey Jason.....better train hard so I don't cross that finish line before you.

Team TriLife news

So many exciting things are going on with Team TriLife these days; I will give you some of the highlights.

- we are hosting an Aquathon (500m swim followed by a 5km run) in Cochrane, AB. We are currently working on securing it as the 2009 Provincial Championships! Registration will be available soon on the ATA (Alberta Triathlon Association) website.
- May Long Weekend Tri Camp in Radium. Angie and I wanted to host a camp that will accommodate not only Ironman athletes, but Half Ironman Athletes, and Olympic Distance athletes too. It is sure to be a great camp.
- Ironman Camp for 2009 has been moved to July 24 - 27. The switch is to accommodate those athletes wishing to do Ironman 70.3 Calgary on August 2nd.
- Nicole ran a great 10km last weekend at the Jingle Bell Run. Nicole is new to TTL and has some great running goals for 2009. During the run she met some other TTL athletes (thanks to our great clothing, and a very social Leslie).
- 2 more weeks of Bow Cycle spin classes. Although Angie is away this weekend, I will be leading this week. Remember on the 17th we will be heading out for a post-session celebration. We hope everyone can join us.
- We have a number of new athletes to TTL starting in January! Look forward to seeing some new faces and training partners for the new year.

That's all for now.

Train smart!

The new currency in Speed!

Media Release – December 1, 2008

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The Zoonie is a limited edition runner with a distinctively Canadian look. Tri It is the only store in Canada offering the Zoonie . Pre-orders for this shoe will be accepted beginning December 1 at Tri It and on its online store. The Zoonie will arrive on May 1, 2008.

Visit Tri It Multisport (2640 Parkdale Blvd. NW or www.tri-it.ca) to check out the Zoonie and many of our other fine products for the triathlete and the runner.

Tri It was recently voted the best store to shop in for triathlon apparel by the readers of Get Out There magazine.