made it

August 31, 2010

getting to edinburgh was probably one of the least complicated and painless international flight i've ever made.  i was in the air less than an hour for my connecting flight, had an amazing 4 hour sleep on my second flight, and made it to my accommodations without any complications.  i hooked up with one of the team canada team managers at the airport and the two of us got to hang out while we were waiting to check in.  we did a quick tour of the city, had some lunch and took some pics.  i'm in my room getting settled and am hoping to get a run or ride in tonight before dinner.  and maybe a nap.  that's sounding pretty good right now.

off i go

August 30, 2010

off to the airport, luggage, race gear, bike and bike pump in tow.  of all the things i've had to pack for this trip, this last item somehow seems the most ridiculous.  i never thought i'd lug a bike pump across the atlantic ocean.

all packed up

August 29. 2010

i've never packed up a bike for travel before and have been feeling a little anxious about it over the past couple of weeks because i've been imagining disastrous scenarios in which my bike shows up in scotland damaged and unrideable.  but packing it was surprisingly easy and it feels safe and secure.  i'm just about ready to fly out tomorrow, and all that remains is one last trip to the health food store.  i learned a valuable lesson about packing food when i was in richmond in april of this year and i'm in no hurry to repeat that mistake.  i'll bring what i can but my first priority once i've arrived in edinburgh will be to locate some fresh, healthy food and stock up for the week.  i'm sure it's a wonderful substitute for any meal, but a week's worth of eating haggis already feels old.

worlds bike set up

August 28, 2010

here it is.  my pimped out ride for the worlds.  wheel selection for edinburgh is crucial, and after giving it a lot of thought and weighing out the pros and cons, i've decided to go with front and rear 808s.  i typically ride with a front 808 and a 900 rear disc, but a disc wheel just won't cut it for such a hilly, technical course.  i was thinking or racing with front/rear 404s, which would be great for the hills, but i'm going with the 808s because they're light and stiff enough to deliver power on the climbs, but they're also deep enough to give me an aero advantage on the flats.  the key to edinburgh will be recovering quickly in preparation for the next climb, and i'll take every advantage that the 808s will give me.

starting to feel better

August 27, 2010

yesterday was the first time in a long time that i can remember actually feeling fantastic at the beginning of a run.  i'd sort of assumed that my legs were supposed to feel heavy and slow and had forgotten what it felt like to be light on my feet.  my cold seems to have sorted itself out and with some downtime over the past couple of weeks i'm finally starting to feel better; i'm finally feeling like i'm on track for a great race in edinburgh.  i had some of my best times ever at the track yesterday, and what a relief it was to see improvement.  and to feel it.  to actually feel it.  it seems so counter intuitive but it turns out that what i've been needing more than anything is some rest.

orillia

August 26, 2010

last year when i qualified for the world championships my attention turned immediately to the difficulty of the course in edinburgh, scotland.  i'd read and heard reports about how tough the cycling portion of the race will be, and when i saw the elevation profiles those rumors were confirmed.  that race will be 5 laps around holyrood park, and each of those laps includes two tough ascents and one ridiculously tough ascent up arthur's seat, a mount everest-style hill/mountain/death climb in the middle of the city.  the descent of these climbs are steep and technical, so i've decided to take my road bike because it's much better suited to such a course.  if the course were not so hilly there would be no debate... i'd take my P3 in a heart beat.  so before i head over to scotland i wanted to finish at least one race on my road bike with its race set up, and orillia has some tough hills and technical turns so i figured it would be the ideal candidate.

taking a step back

August 20, 2010

i'm tired. and exhausted. and still sick. with a half marathon august 8th, a 10k august 14th, and the toronto islands duathlon august 15th, i've been pushing myself in the lead up to the worlds. i've been having an awful year that just seems to be getting worse, and i've been racking my brain trying to figure out what's gone wrong. last year was great... each race was better than the last and i improved as the season went on. then a stress fracture put me on the sidelines for three months, and once i'd recovered i was back on my feet. that was the end of last october, and since then i've been training up to 7 days a week every week. this season started off strong and i felt great at the US nationals in april. i thought that was the beginning of what would be a great year, but it's been the complete opposite.

finally something exciting

August 06, 2010

the last two weeks have been hard and tiresome. i'm just getting over a bad cold that's left me on the sidelines and have missed a number of workouts. my struggles with running continue, and having a headache and coughing fits are no motivation to move any faster.