3 months to go....

Today being my birthday, yes I turn 54 today, but it also marks 3 months until my lake Ontario swim! 

That being said, the weather man was right today! it was a perfect spring day with sunny skies light winds except on the way back on my bike ride ;) with the temp around 18-20C

So today I got out on an early start and rode my bike for 2 hrs averaging 28kph then went to the pool for a hour swim and now I am beat! my legs are not used to biking and are feeling the pain. lol

When I got back from the pool I started working on tearing down the dog house in the backyard and rebuilding a bigger house for kaiya, well it's going to be more of a open covered shelter then a house so Kaiya can bed down out of the rain  without being enclosed in a house which becomes to hot for her.

Then my mother and brother with his wife showed up to wish me a happy b-day and when they left my family took me out for dinner at the Mandarin restaurant which is an all you can eat chinese buffet and now I am stuffed and tired.

:)

Big traing block...Pick your poison

So today was suppose to be a nice day and I planned a good training block of Swim 4k bike 90k and maybe put in a short run.....Well? I had a restless night of tossing and turning trying to sleep after work, then when I finally slept I arose a few times in the middle of the night from the sound of rain.  I go back to sleep but all I hear is shhhhhhhhhhh, the sound of rain coming down. 

I was planning to go to Holly pool for the 8am swim to put in a 4k swim before going home and jumping on my bike.....But when it was time to get up at 7am I still hear Shhhhhhhhh sound of the rain coming down and think to myself Damn! I won't be able to ride as I don't ride in the rain unless it's a race, so I figure my bike ride isn't going to happen and I'll just sleep in longer and swim at 12:30pm at the next lane swim time....

Let me back up a bit. First the reason I was planning a big day training was because the weather man on the news said it was going to be a bright sunny warm day, warm by our standards up here in Barrie of 18C, but with the sun out it would be perfect for biking covered up of course!

Anyway as I stated it was raining when I got up! Grrrrrr

So when I finally got up around 9am the rain stopped but was still overcast and cool but after looking at the weather maps it was going to clear and warm up, but to late for me to bike! Soooo I figure i'll swim first then bike after, later in the afternoon.....

Then I remembered there was an Ultra race, Pick your Poison is going on at Horseshoe resort not far from my home maybe 20km away and I had a bunch of friends running in it so I decided I should go up to support and thought I should take Kaiya with me (my daughters dog as she point out after reading this)  then when I get back I could swim then bike....

I'm telling you it was a mistake taking the dog with me, she was just to distracting to everyone including the racers who would stop and say what a beautiful dog she is! lol 

Anyhow, I took a lot of pic's and cheered my friend and the dog enjoyed the attention! When we got home she was exhausted  and slept all afternoon in the backyard!lol

Now it was time for swimming!...Oops, it was to late for swimming when we got back. Oh well i'll just go and bike!...Hum! the weather was nice the sun was shining but I had a chill in me from standing and cheering my friends at the race, but it wasn't really that warm for my liking, about 16C  so I didn't ride! instead I made some nice warm cream of mushroom soup and toast to warm me up then took a nap watching TV. lol

Now I'm watching the leafs vs Montreal game as it's getting dark out.....

Oh well! Tomorrow the weather forecaster say's it's going to be another nice day so I can swim, bike and run tomorrow! ;)

Some pic's from today...

:)

Wednesday's swim was good putting in a solid 1.5hrs swim. I had some surprise swimmers show up near the end of my swim! My good friends Louise McGonigall and Dave Watts ( both AG winners at at Ironman races and Kona Ironman championships ) showed up for a swim! I haven't seen either in at least a year and both are looking great! They both age up this year ( Louise 70years and Dave 75 ) so they are both training for and racing Mont tremblant this summer to take their spots on the podium! ;)  BTW when I say train, I mean train! they both can kick my butt on the bike as good a rider I am, not to mention run! but I suck at running as you know! but I smoke them on the swim! lol   as I chatted with them they offered to keep me company on some open water swims in Orr lake close to their home in Elmvale. So I'm hoping to see more of them!

Another of my long lost friends showed up  at the pool too! Sylvia S .... this swim turned out to be a social event! lol

Today I took my run outside as it was warmish, Oh did I mention we had snow last night?!! Just a dusting but still enough to cover the ground to show how cold it still it at night! Grrrr!  But good news!! starting Saturday we will be back to normal day time highs around 18C and it's supose to stay normal throughout the week, Yay!!

:)

Let the sun....

Let the sun shine! finally some nice sunny weather to get out running and riding....

Yes I know this blog is supposed to be about swimming lake Ontario, but it's also about my journey on how I accomplish the 52k swim come July 28TH,  but like me, I sure as hell you would get bored of the same thing day in and day out, Swim to the wall turn and swim back, I need more! I need to ride! I need to run! I need to just move my body! and having the warmth of the sun shining energizes me to do so!

I know the rules of the game and the game is to swim 52km across lake Ontario and my job is to be a fit as possible to accomplish this goal.  I know I need to swim and swim long and to train my slow twitch swim muscles for the journey, but at the same time I know I need to build my cardio. It's a balancing act which I have to balance life, work and training to succeed.

Most who know me, know I don't play by the rules. Some have gone as far as saying I am a bit ADHD! and others have said I'm a nut! maybe all true, but in the end of the day my techniques work and I get the job done in what ever I do! I'm old school, and old school is about being practical, logical and smart.

Whether it's taking on nutrition by eating stroopwafels or chugging down some Go Jo juice? ( my own concoction energy drink) whether I go dig holes in my backyard or run up stairs with a 50lb bag of garbage over my shoulder at work? Sports fitness is not like brain surgery, it's about getting out and moving, getting the heart pumping while having fun! If it's work then it becomes a problem, specially for me, I'm not a professional looking to win a race, I'm not about winning, I'm about getting it done! And getting it done I do!

So today with the sun shining I went out for a run in my shorts feeling the warmth of the sun on my face putting a fuzzy warm feeling in my heart, not to mention getting the heart rate up as well as getting some hurt in my legs followed by a short but hard TT bike ride to get this old body of mine in the best possible shape while having fun for my journey to swim across lake Ontario.

:)

It doesn't look like a bike day?

So, off to the pool we go! lol


:)

Finally some spring weather

We finally got a break form the cold. The sun was shining today and the air was warming close to 10C or 50F

I had a good solid hour swim this morning, then went for a short run after.

Tomorrow I might get a chance to ride as it's going to be warm, around 20C, but they are calling for thunder storms, so if it's not raining I will try to ride and maybe run to, if not I'll swim and hit the treamil.


:)

Steady 3000m

Today's swim ....Here

Due to some life getting in the way for Christine her Welland swim was canceled, which is fine by me as we had snow this morning (only a dusting) not that it would make a difference as the water temp would still be to cold with a wetsuit even if it was 20C and sunny out.  lol

Taking a rest day today so I ran 1k and did some weights. ;) lol .....

Now I'm cooking up some pasta casserole for dinner, Ok I already made it before blogging this lol and now I will relax with my favorite beverage while watching the Masters golf tournament and what ever else there is on TV tonight, Cheers!....

One on the left is Penne with meat sauce and the one on the right is without meat for the fussy eater Victoria.


:)

Todays swim

I would say a pretty consistent swim today!

On a good day racing a half Ironman 2k race this would put me in the top 10% of my age group actually today's time is better then any swim time I have done in a half Ironman!

Today's swim was 2200m relaxed swim except for a couple of blips on the chart when I had to stop and check my time/distance. lol

You can check out my  stats on my new Garmin link ...Here's todays stats

Now the trick is to maintain this pace for Humm? lets see? another 50K?? lol

My Friend Christine changed her Swim day at Welland from today to tomorrow, so chances are I might show up for the uber cold swim? maybe with some video? ;)


:)

Swim update

Still swimming! lol  Just doing my usual 1- 1 1/2 hours a day

Weather outside is not cooperating, winter is coming back tomorrow with snow in the forecast for the next 3 days, so much for doing the pancake bike ride with the Barrie baydogs tri club Saturday?   Where is spring? :(

Another friend of mine Christine Arsenault Who swam across Lake-O a couple of years ago is planning to do her first open water swim in the Welland Canal Saturday (down near Niagara falls) although it's a tad warmer down there then up here in Barrie the water should still be freezing at around 45-50f  but I'd much rather swim in that cold with a wetsuit then ride my bike in 40-50f  so you never know? I just might show up for the swim? lord knows I won't be able to get into Kempenfelt bay until the ice melts or June, which ever comes first!  ;)


:)

Oldest Female to Swim Lake Ontario

Here is an article of Kim Lumsdon in todays Toronto star, who will be swimming Lake Ontario for her third time on July 26TH, just 2 days before I set off for my first ( and probably only attempt) on July 28TH on the same 52k swim route from Niagara on the lake to Toronto's Marilyn Bell park  Today's Toronto Star article on Kim Lumsdon   Happy training and Good luck Kim! I'll be right behind you!

Although I won't be the oldest male swimmer, I will be the Oldest Canadian male to attempt to swim across Lake Ontario! There were two older males who have successfully crossed lake Ontario, one from USA Bill Sadlo 57 in 1957, Peter Gibbs 56 from Barbados in 2004 and I will be 54 and 3 months old. which will make me the 3rd oldest, but the oldest Canadian.!


:)

Another great Easter

I had a good Easter weekend.  Easter dinner on Sunday was great as usual ( pats self on back) with turkey ham and fixings, but I have to give credit to Melissa for making the potato's Au Gratin!! Good job!!

This weeks swims have been 1hr- 1 1/2hr sets which were hard with my full belly, I'm still eating leftovers! lol 
Yesterday we had 6inches of new snow but with today's higher temps ( slightly over freezing) it was melting rapidly. I was hoping to get out on the bike not to mention I want to do some outdoor running, but it looks like I will have to wait a few more days, maybe Saturday.

I got my copy of my ECG from my Doctor today so I'll be sending that along with my medical forms in to SOLO Swims tomorrow.

Tomorrow, more swimming!

:)