Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Crank it like it hurts.

The Easter weekend come and go.

On Fri, we had a Good Friday Service.

On Sat, I went snowboarding.

On Sun, three of my buddies got Baptize. It was a great day to be in celebration with them.

I have a race coming up this Sun. It is the Around the Bay (30 km run).

There is always a feeling of not ready and not prepared. This season around, I haven't been training as consistently as before. There has a been a few things that is keeping me occupy.

I was suppose to go for a long stead run last Fri. My HR was 10+ higher than normal. I was running in 160s and it felt like 150s. An hour into the run I had stomach cramps. I never had that kind of pain before. I bailed the run and head home.

Yesterday was my last long run before Around the Bay. It was a 2 hr run. 1 hr 20 min steady (Z1-Z2) and the last 40 min or so is to crank it up and let it hover my LT (HR 175 [tested back in '07. I suspected to be higher]). An hour into the run, I feel the same stomach cramps. I stopped to the bathroom. Nothing. I kept running.

As I finish the steady pace and starting to push it, I felt fine. I haven't push hard for a long long time. It felt very very good :). It also hurt quite a bit. This pain is the kind we triathletes love :). I kept repeating the phrase, crank it like it hurts.

The course in Around the Bay is the first 20 km flat and the last 10 km hilly. I haven't seen the hilly part so I don't know what to expect. I am, however, confident of my training. I have been doing a lot of hill repeats (despite the sparse training I had). Long runs, hill repeat. Easy runs, hill repeat.

In Ironman, my HR on the run was around 155. I figure for this run I can hold it at 160s for the first 20 km. Then in the last 10 km, just let it rip (HR 170-180). To be honest, I will be running by feel.

The ever daunting question is what time will I finish. The best time I had of a 1/2 marathon is during a Half Ironman in Ottawa. The course is pancake flat and I ran a 1:49. I figure I will be running Around the Bay in 2:40-2:45. I was hoping I can be closer to 2:30. We shall see :)

....

Earlier in the post, I described that I was pre-occupy. Lately, I have been helping a lot of people at the church. There is a mom that goes to my church has liver cancer. A few weeks ago, she was on the waiting list for an organ transplant and they found a suitable donor for her. However, the surgery was canceled and the liver was passed on to another recipient. At first I thought it was simply the other person was in a more critical stage than her.

On Fri, I found out that the reason why she was pulled off the donor list was because her cancer had spread to the rest of her body. This saddens me as I suffered the same cancer when I was 11. The only difference is that I have a liver transplant and she hasn't. She has three kids.

Next week, I will be visiting her and her family.

I have been thinking a lot about what I do with my life. I see that everyday I live is a extension to my life. My life should be ended in 1991 (when I was diagnosed with cancer). I figure the best bang of the buck is to encourage others and give others hope. The most amazing part being a triathlete is when we are out there training, people think we are nuts but at the same time there is a feeling of inspiration.

This Sun will be my first race of 2008. I am going crank it like it hurts. Very grateful to be alive...let alone tri =D

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More to add

I just want to share that a number of my friends are getting interested into endurance sports. My close friend, Daniel, and another friend is going to do a try-a-tri :). Daniel is not the aerobic type. I never seen him do anything cardio. Out of no where he wants to do a tri. Nuts huh?

And I have two friends who want to run with me in Toronto Marathon. This is their first marathon and I will be 'training' them. Ha, I mean more share what I have mess up :).




2 comments:

cdnhollywood said...

It's great to see that you're able to contribute to other's lives - we need more of that in our society (and I'm just as guilty as the next person).

Regarding your race and training, I dare say we all feel that. But what's key is that no matter what life throws at you, you keep going. We're not fortunate enough to do triathlon as our job, so we fit it where and when we can. And *still* we do some amazing stuff (remember Lake Placid last year?).

You'll do fine. Why? Simply because you toed the line.

Aaron said...

Sometimes people take for granted what they have. Clearly Cliff you're not one of those people.

As for ATB, cranking the last 10km will be challenging. Watch out for the Grim Reaper at the top of the hill. Crank it like it hurts, indeed. Can't wait for the race report.

No more taking it for granted. I'm going to hug my kids now.