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 :).