Saturday long ride

Friday night, I installed the XLAB Mini Wing that I got from Triboutique.ca a couple of weeks ago on my Kuota. Having only the capability to carry a single bottle on my bike was a bit of a roadblock on my road to longer ride. I'm not really an heavy drinker when exercising so I can do with 0.8l for a 4hrs ride (unless it's particularly warm) but since I'm hoping to do an unsupported 200km ride before the summer is out, I definitely needs to carry more liquid with me. Also, I probably should get into the habit of drinking more ... which I did the following morning by riding 133km with 2 bottles.

I didn't drink all, but alternated between both bottles at each of my feeding slots (every 30 minutes or so). In one bottle, I had my usual homemade energy drink (minus Maltodextrin since I'm out and need to get more at the store), and in the second one I put a bit of Agave Syrup with one tab of Nuun for electrolytes.

Between the energy bites, the drinks and a couple of dry apricots, I didn't feel low on energy but however, my legs started feeling heaving (and painful) at the 100km mark, so the last 33km were not super enjoyable.

I'm planning to extend the ride this coming Monday (which is an holiday in Canada) to make it over 160km. Assuming the weather collaborate since it's kind of looking wet this week :-(

Twin Peaks

Last Saturday (16th), I joined 4 other cyclists from the greater Vancouver area in a ride that is called among local roadies as the Twin Peaks. The ride is located in North Vancouver and consist of climbing Cypress and Seymour mountains, which are located on both side of the north shore:

As the ride was starting from Stanley Park, I rode from home to it as a way to get warmed-up for the ride, which bring my total odometer for the day to 153km (instead of riding back home, I rode to a Skytrain station to took a train back home). 

The ride is my longest one in time with just above 5 hours on the saddle. It was my first time climbing Seymour and my second time doing Cypress. IMHO, Seymour is a little harder than Cypress (Seymour climb is about 15km for an elevation of 955m, while Cypress is 11.17km long for 694m of elevation).

Thanks to my low weight-race, I was able to finish second on both climbs :) Since I don't do bunch ride much (if ever), I had some trouble staying with the group initially and dropped them a couple of time while riding up-front in aero position (I used my Kuota that day) :D

Nutrition wise, I carried my usual energy bites with 800ml of my energy drink. At the end of the ride all I had left was a single date (carried four for bonking emergency).

Running in Hawai'i!

We were on Oahu two weeks ago for vacation and since I couldn't bike, I decided to run more that I have been lately in order to maintain fitness. As, it get hot pretty quickly over there, I had to get-up and run around 5:30am ... which is early, but not that early for me, although I was on vacation. Oh well, maintaining fitness first, right?

We were staying in the Ko'Olina area (which have a bazillion fancy resort) which, while very nice (and fancy) doesn't really lend too well for running. Sure, there's a nice walk-way right in front of the resorts on which to run, but it's kinda short, so if you want to do anything longer than 5k, you either have to do that run several times or venture out onto the ... highway. I ended-up doing both.

In total, I ran 5 times during the week, finishing on our last day there by an 18km run, which I could have easily push to 21km. I regret not doing that as it will have been my first (unofficial) half-marathon in Hawai'i. Oh well, next time maybe?

Thursday long ride

In the last post, I was complaining about the weather being wet and cold ... but that was nothing in comparison to how wet yesterday ride was. Why ride you may ask? Well, once again I got fooled by the weather forecast which called for mostly sun ... The sun did came out, but too late for an early morning ride. Oh well ... Rule 5 & Rule 9 come to mind 8)

Just like Tuesday, I didn't have my homemade energy ball, so I took some dates and a single fruit&nut bar (Kind brand). I, however, didn't forget to make my energy drink ahead of time.

I wasn't particularly sore after the ride, not the following day. I guess my body is getting used to frequent endurance ride. 

Tuesday long ride

As you may recall, I alternate between Sunday and Monday when it comes to doing longer ride, but since the weather forecast for this past Monday wasn't looking too great, I pushed the ride to Tuesday as the forecast was better ... Except, it wasn't. It was colder and wetter than I had expected, and while there was no hard rain during the +3 hours I spent on my bicycle, it wasn't super fun. Still, managed to beat a few PR and my average speed wasn't too shabby:

For some reason, I was a little off that day and the previous night as well, and on top of not having prepared any energy balls, I totally forgot to prepare my energy drink the night before. As the result, I had to rely on 4 dates and an (store bought) energy bar, which I had half way. I had one date every 30 minutes after the first 45mn of the ride.

Planning on doing the exact same ride tomorrow morning, weather permitting ...

Cylco de Mayo!

Yesterday, I went for my longest ride in a long time, logging above 132km in less than 4.5 hours. I felt pretty good during and after, which, I suppose, means that my body have adjusted for endurance. I even had enough left-over energy to maintain speeds over 35kph in the last 30 minutes of the ride 8) I could have probably continue riding and score a century ride (miles), but it wasn't the plan ...

This was my second ride with my new Giro Air Attack helmet, which I really like. I can't really comment on the aerodynamic advantage compared to my older (and crappier) helmet, but it's definitely a better fit and a lot lighter. Not to mention, it look sleek :P

My feeding plan was the following:

• one home-made power ball every 30mn (starting at 45mn into the ride)
• two sip of my home-made energy drink every 30mn (starting at 45mn into the ride)

Pre-ride, I only had a single energy ball and a small sip of water after waking-up. Since this was going to be over 4 hours long, I wanted to minimize the chance that I would have to stop to urinate; it worked well.

Post-ride, my legs were not as sore as they have been in the past rides. Going up and down stair was a little painful, but they felt okay during this morning (Monday) commute ride to work (on which I got a puncture on my rear tyre). Stamina wise, I didn't feel utterly wasted for the rest of the day. However by the time I hit the sack (at 10PM), I was tired.

Coconut Apricot Energy Ballz!

For my long(er) ride yesterday, I decided to make my own energy bars using a recipe I had stumbled upon a few days ago from Read Food. Real Deals. Aside from the Apricots, we pretty much had everything already and the recipe is pretty easy to do, and vegan 8)

I tweaked a little bit the recipe, though, by reducing the amount of coconut shreds and adding 1/4 cup of chia seeds (which was too much). Also, I used oven-roasted almonds for a better taste.

Since the goal was to eat them while cycling, I used a 15ml measuring spoon to form small balls. It worked well, although maybe the balls ended up being a little too big. I may put some hemp seeds in the ball next time.

Ride wise, I was planning on another 100km ride, but the wind in greater Vancouver was so damn strong (and dangerously strong at time), that I had to settle for only 80km :-(

Vancouver Sun run 2013

So I ran the 2013 edition of the Vancouver Sun run this morning with an official time of 42:43 which turns out to be my best time ... so much for being injured and experiencing cold like symptoms for the past few days ... 8-)

The weather was a little iffy Saturday, so the forecast for the race were not too good, but we got lucky; It was a little windy and chilly, but for the race the sun was out and it wasn't as cold after-all.

The Sun run is a pretty popular race with every year close to 50 thousands runners racing it ... most of which are new runners which makes for a race full of people dodging actions, unless you can be early enough on site to line-up all the way at the front, behind the pros. In any case, it's a nice little run (for a marathon runner, everything is under 21k is little :P) within downtown Vancouver which is rather scenic.

Since I have been experiencing some hip/groin pains lately, I was a little concerned before the race, but it was fine and it's only the muscles above the back of my knees were a little sore by the end of what was, for me, a faster run than usual. Nutrition wise, I elected this time to skip breakfast (it's only a 10k!) and only had a glass of water and 4 dates before leaving the house 80 minutes or so before the race.  

Good case of the Monday

Yesterday, I went off on a long ride before going to work. This is something that I have started doing last year late in the season (I just didn't think of it before!) and which allows me to do one long ride (+80km) every week by alternating Sunday ride and Monday ride. This gives me a bit more flexibility but also, and mainly, gives room for more family time.

Anyway, I was planned a 90km ride, but it ended-up being 95km. Considering the pain I have felt in my hip/groin area (mainly when running, mind you), the ride went pretty well and I didn't feel any particular pain (aside from the usual muscle burns), although my neck was a little sore by the end of it.

Contrary to the tradition, I didn't run with my wife after getting home yesterday afternoon. Which was probably a good move considering I'm still recovering from that possible injury. My legs didn't feel particularly sore (neither did they this morning when I rode into work) but I was kind of tired (and went to bed at 10pm).

Early season injury? #2

So, I ran yesterday late afternoon (with the wife) an easy 8k, my second this week, and unfortunately the hip/groin pain is back ... :( Definitely not as stingy as before the break, but nevertheless there. I suppose I should go see my family doctor to get refereed to a sport physician ... :(

Early season injury?

Few weeks ago, just after I had started to ramp up cycling to work and running, I started getting a new kind of pain in the groin area of my left leg when running :( 

It started as just some minor discomfort but as I didn't really take it easy (my bad), it became painful to run without adjusting my running position. To my defense, it wasn't painful enough to make me stop when running and usually the discomfort will be worst until I got warmed-up enough ... Walking was slightly painful but when cycling, the pain was not there but I could definitely feel a little something in the groin/hip area.

At first, I though it was coming from my adductors but then the pain moved a bit along the thigh and to the hip, glute and Rectus femoris. As the result, I have been taking it easier, especially with the running with last week being totally off.

I resumed running last night (with an easy 8km) and the specific discomfort that I was feeling before when running wasn't there. My legs were pretty sore, however, from Sunday's morning 80km ride, so I'll have to see how that goes during the 2 other planned runs for this week ... However this morning, after my usual 22km ride to work my left hip and glute are slightly painful :-\

The Vegan Zombie's Neatloaf

As a flexitarian, I thrive to keep my diet plant-centric and so when I cook (which is not as often as I should ...) I only do vegan recipes. Over the months, I had some good and bad experiences with the recipes I have found on-line. The only on-line source that have been pretty consistently good, is The Vegan Zombie.

For Easter, I made the Neatloaf (a vegan meatloaf) which they posted this past week and it was pretty darn good. Even meat eaters that had some agreed!

Here's the video of the recipe:

I made a couple of change to the recipe though:

• Replaced the caraway seeds by the same amount of Provence herbs
• Added a teaspoon of Chipolte sauce for 3 tablespoon of Ketchup 

What does Rich Roll eats?

I just listened to an interview of vegan ultra-athlete Rich Roll by DocHeater on blogtalkradio and one of the question was related to what his every-day meals looked like (he appears to be training most days). Here are the notes I took from it (the sound quality was pretty bad so I may have missed or mistaken a few things ...):

• breakfast
• pre-workout
• smoothie (kale, chard, spinach, pineapple, chia seeds, macca powder, beets)
• almond butter toast (if really hungry)
• post-workout
• smoothie (almond milk, banana, macca powder, kale, avocado, walnuts)
• lunch (usually light)
• salad
• veggie burrito or rice&beans or rice with stir-fry vegetables (if really hungry)
• dinner (large)
• sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes
• brown rice
• stir-fry veggies
• kale chips
• pasta dishes
• snack(s)
• almonds
• almond butter sandwich

Spring is here!

Hullo! I'm back ... Okay well, I didn't really left but there wasn't much to report since last November. Here's a brief TL;DR of what happened until today:

• As the weather got crappier I had to wind down my usual cycling commute to work (and week-end rides)
• I increased my running to compensate, running to and from work at least once a week (at one point, my total odometer for the week was 70km, I had run to/from work twice that week)
• Since winter was kind of mild this year, I resumed commuting to work on my bicycle early February (that is a good month earlier than usual)
• In March, I restarted cycling longer distance on the week-end (and/or on the way to work)

During the off-season, my weight went up a little (+1.5kg), but it's back down to my race weight (55kg) since last week :)

This year, I was planning (if you recall) to enter two Duathlon in my area (Vancouver, BC), but I kinda dropped the ball and missed the first one and won't be in town at the time of the second one :( So no racing for me this year ... Which isn't that much of a bummer really, considering both events had ridiculously small distances. I wish Duathlons were as popular as Triathlons and had longer distances ...

My goal for 2013 is to do a couple of century rides (mile ones, so +160km) as well as maybe a half-marathon in the fall and I'm participating to this year Vancouver Sun Run (late April), but it's only a 10k so not much of an endurance challenge ...