First thing in the morning was another 90min swim.  I began my day like any other, eat, pack, and commute .  The swim was again at the Commonwealth [...]]]> This was a big day.  Probably the hardest I’ve had since running the half marathon trail race in Sutton, Quebec (if you haven’t done it go try it!).

First thing in the morning was another 90min swim.  I began my day like any other, eat, pack, and commute .  The swim was again at the Commonwealth Center.  I was greeted by our tester, James, who was going to be monitoring us later at the Pacific Institute of Sport Excellence (PISE).  For the sweat test, which I’ll go over later, it required everyone taking part to swallow a thermometer disguised as a purple pill.  You could almost feel it going down as it was quite hard to swallow.  Magali Tisserye joked that it was a tracking beacon so the coaches would always know where we were.

The testing interested me so I started talking to James about what the test required.  He said that we were to sit on our trainers for 3 hours and drink nothing but a liter of gatorade.  He asked if that was reasonable.  I told him that although I know this is a test, I can blow through 2000 calories depending on how hard the workout is.  If were doing anything but soft pedaling I’m going to hit the wall in the third hour.  My suggestion was that if we all were given the same gels, thus keeping the parameters the same, we might all survive.  James and the coaches talked about it and they came to an agreement.  One gel  and 1L of gatorade per hour.  Little victory.

We had to get through the swim first though.  The warm up was a mix of 50s/100s and drills, totaling about 1000ms.  The main set was 3×500, 50 easy and something else which I can’t quite remember.  My lack of memory is probably due to how hard I pushed myself during the workout.  I don’t think I’ve ever pushed so hard in a swim!  At one point I actually couldn’t get my arms to turn over.  The engine that is my body just stopped.  Thankfully it was just for a second.  My lats burned from pushing thorough the water. 

Coach: Don’t glide so much at the front of your stroke.  Me: I can’t move because my lats hurt so much.  Coach: At least you doing it right.  Get going.  Me: Aye aye.

Thats basically my swim summary for the week.  Go like crazy, try not to die, and keep going.

Afterwards I had a nice 90min break which gave me lots of time to get over to PISE.  I took my time communting and when I got there, started cramming in food till the start of the test.  I got to watch the men’s curling match (on TV) between Canada and Norge.  Good game as we won but the Norge players stole the show with their flashy pants.

Test time.  The point of the test was to measure our sodium loss during the workout.  This was gathered by patches taped to our forearms.  We were required to do a pre/post weight for hydration loss.  Pee in a cup prior to the test and measure how much if you peed during the test. Lactate and heart rates were also taken at regular intervals as well.  You remember that pill I had to swallow? Our body temperature was also measured throughout the test.  We were a human science project.

So instead of a leisure ride, Lance Watson (previous coach of Simon Whitfield) had us work the entire workout in Zone 2 to low zone 3.  We did long sets of 20mins in low gears then switch to high cadence then back down.  This would be a semi hard workout on a normal day.  If I could get through the calorie deficit then I knew I’d be ok.  So on we pedaled.

The first hour went by.  I was getting pricked and prodded throughout.  Everyone was amazed at the puddle that started to gather underneath me.  I’m a huge sweater, it’s kind of gross actually.  Almost embarrassing.

What was interesting during the test was my temperature kept dropping.  Not just a bit, but a whole 2 degrees by the time I was done!  Based on the average person, I was on the verge of hypothermia at close to 35 degrees Celsius!  Crazy as we were inside at room temperature.  

So the whole Gatorade/1 gel thing really started to bug everyone in the last hour.  The first mixture tasted like syrup.  I’m sure a lot of you know what I mean when you take a drink of poorly mixed Gatorade and it makes your stomach turn.  Well that’s all we had to sip…

During the test a photographer from Triathlete magazine came in, taking pictures of everyone.  Even me!  I told her to take a shot of my huge puddle.  Hopefully it will make the cover.

Hour 3 ended and we all did our post weight.  I was the “biggest loser”, sweating 4 pounds off.  This while taking in a liter of fluid per hour.  Work that out for an Ironman and I’ll lose over 10% of my body weight! 

So thats it.  We all slowly left the sweat room for our homestays.  What better way to end the day then ride another 30mins home.  

Thanks to everyone who followed along this week.  I got a lot of encouraging emails which is great.  My intention for writing this was more for the athletes who consider stepping up to the the top level; getting an inside perspective of what it’s like to train like a pro.  If you think you have what it takes, try doing a stint out west.

Happy Trainin

Cliff 

I know I haven’t included a lot of pictures but the truth is, I took mostly scenic shots (landscape, not athletes).  But here is a good link which Dan Smith, Lifesport coach, took of the sweat test.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dpsmith63/LifeSportProCampWinter2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCIrCuZmmwq3NzQE#

On this morning the weather was quite cool.  After bundling up I commuted over for the 2 hour scheduled run.  I must have been eager because I got there 20mins early.  I don’t even arrive that early for [...]]]> Hump day.  This was my second last day at the camp and it was a busy one.

On this morning the weather was quite cool.  After bundling up I commuted over for the 2 hour scheduled run.  I must have been eager because I got there 20mins early.  I don’t even arrive that early for work!

Luckily Amanda Stevens arrived shortly after me.  I climbed into her mini van to keep warm till the rest of the athletes got there.  We chatted for awhile about this and that.  One thing that shocked me during our conversation was how many injuries that everyone had or has.  It almost seemed that if you didn’t have a stress fracture you weren’t working hard enough!  For me, I’ve always believed in taking a break before breaking your body.  Guess it doesn’t hold true for everyone…

Dan Smith, one of the top Lifesport coaches, arrived first.  Magali Tisserye, Brent Poulsen and Lisa Mensink all rolled in shortly after.  Lance Watson, senior coach, came in last.  But since he was the only one who knew the route we were happy to see him drive in!

Our run route was one that is highly recommended when visiting Victoria.  We started at Rithet Bog, working our way to Mt.Douglas Park.  We started as a group but Brent, who usually does his base runs at 3:50/K, was getting antsy to go.  Me, seeing this as another opportunity to trash my legs, followed suit and we quickly became lost.

Lost in a good way though.  Brent assured me that he knew the way back. I mean he did this run once before. Two years ago!  So off we ran, me in tow.

I’ve been fortunate to be doing Hammertime with Rick Hellard (heard of him by any chance?) so my legs are now accustomed to 2 hour runs.  The trails in Mt.Douglas offer a variety of different paths.  Most were quite steep and I had a hard time keeping up with Brent.  This was suppose to be easy run, I kept thinking!  On the down hills I quickly caught up; hoping silently he wouldn’t notice I was behind.

We went around for about 90mins talking about his race season.  Last year he started concentrating on Ironman 70.3 distances, his best placing being 5th in Calgary.  He talked about living in Forth Worth, Texas, and although not a triathlon hot bed, it still beats Canada’s winter.  We also talked about how I could get better.  I asked him how long it takes to be a pro?  This question of course is different for everyone.  Brent has been doing tris for the past 10 years.  He use to be out in Victoria’s tri center training full time under the supervision of Lance Watson.  For me to compare my meager 2 years in the sport I felt was an insult to him.  So I decided to turn the conversation back to his training.  Pick up any tips that I could.

On the way back Brent stopped for a nature break and I found the rest of the group running back to the beginning of the trail.  The pace you could tell had picked up because there wasn’t much chatter.  I pulled up along side Magali and we ran off together after Lance told me to go run with her.

Magali personifies what a pro triathlete should be: a hard worker who just loves what she does.  If you don’t know her story, she basically came from out of nowhere last year and made enough money to buy a car (a used one but hey it’s a start).  You may have seen her on the cover of triathlete magazine recently.  She showed herself that with a lot of work, she can be a very successful triathlete.  Now though, she feels she has to live up to a lot of peoples expectations which I think is unfair.  I told her my two cents (an Ager from out east) about how the only thing she has to live up to is her own dreams.  Hopefully she can blow us all away again this year.  Go Canada.

So were coming to the end of the trail and were a tad early; 12mins exactly.  Lance tells us to do another lap (3K).  Yes sir coach.  Out we go for an easy 4min/k jaunt (insert sarcasm).  Upon finishing we did some stretches, had a little talk about what the rest of the day was:  90min swim workout and an ice bath.

Instead of waiting till after the swim, everyone decided to go to the ocean to ice bath.  Cold is usually something I loathe but having a cold shower or bath after a hard workout is something I actually enjoy.  At first I was happy to go along but once I got there time wasn’t on my side.  I had my commute back to Clints, then to the pool.  This left me only about 20mins to get some grub in/put my feet up.

Off I peddaled, ate, peddaled and then swam.  It was another hard workout for me.  Problem is since I wasn’t resting between, I go into the swims tired.  If you think of your strength in triathlon, on a bad day, you can typically “fake” your way through the workout.  However, we all have our weaknesses and when your not on, it can be a real struggle to get through.

But you know what?  It really wasn’t that bad.  Tired or not, you go out try your hardest and hopefully that is enough.  I got some good advice from Magali after.  She said “don’t worry about your times.  Worry about finishing each set.  Your going to get faster if you keep working at it”.  Thanks Mags.  What about all that water I drank, is that going to make me faster?

After swim practice it was just my usual commute home.  Afterwards I was feeling pretty spent.  Looking at tomorrows lineup I thought it was best to get some rest (plus the weather was rainy).  A nap, some supper, some Olympics and I was ready to call it a day.

On tap for Day 5, “The Sweat Test”.

Happy Trainin

Cliff