A triple

Well I did all three sports this morning. I biked to the pool to warm up, swam 1km, did a 10km ride home and then the whole family went out for a jog (well Darcy took it easy and sat in her stroller).

It felt good. Going from the swim to bike was a good learning experience. I certainly didn't feel fresh on the bike, but was able to keep my speed around 30km/hr into a headwind the whole way. The run was at Sue's pace, which with her shorter legs was slower than mine. But that was also a good thing. My blister didn't flare up and my legs felt strong the whole time, not like the usual bricks. Now I'm thinking about taking the first km of the run portion really slow to get my legs to feel better. Hmm, something to think about for sure.

My blister was covered with a Bandaid Blister bandaid, then moleskin, then a sock. There is more moleskin inside my shoe. Hopefully things don't get bad again.

I also tried my nutrition strategy for race day. Regular breakfast and drink, then after the swim I had a "24 Carrot Energizer" drink that I use while on the master cleanser. This got me through the bike fine and then I'll just take water throughout the bike and run.

Two weeks tomorrow.

Hot new wheels

It's been suggested that I purchase some of these for my bike.

It would certainly turn some heads.

Yea or nea?

The Life of Sue

Hey, I've been meaning to post this link for a while. Check out Sue's space. More Darcy stories. Good times and good pctures.

A Flipping BLISTER!

During last Tuesday nights run (a PB 5km in 22:15), I developed one heel blister on each foot. The right foot was pretty minor, the left foot was a good blister.

I taped up the inside of my shoes and feet for my other runs and didn't have any further problems. Good.

It rained today, so I couldn't bike to work. After Darcy was in bed I went out for a brick. A 10km ride and a 5 km run. Well, 3.3km into the run I had to stop. I had torn the blister off my left foot. I decided that if it was bleeding then I would stop. If it wasn't bleeding I should probably still stop. It was bleeding and I was about a mile from home. So I took my shoe off and walked.

Fortunately a friend of ours lives right along the route I was going and he was out cutting his lawn. We chatted a bit and then he gave me a ride home, that was a good thing.

So I'm two and a half weeks out and I have an injury. That bites. "Bandaid" is supposed to have some good blister bandaids. Look for a review shortly.

The Puker

Last year, about a month after Darcy was born, my older siblings came to meet her and visit us. Of course, one the honours of meeting a baby for the first time is getting to hold them. I asked who wanted to hold her and Eric volunteered. Darcy graciously greeted Eric by puking all over him. Down his shirt, onto his pants, onto the couch. At the time, that put the amount of puke that had hit him ahead of me. In the year since then, I have been lit up several times.

With good reason, Eric calls Darcy 'Pukey'. Although it is rare that she vomits anymore, it's a good name for her to have. Especially this weekend.

Sue got called by the babysitter Friday afternoon. Darcy had a fever of 102 F, so she went to pick her and went to a walk in clinic. The doc diagnosed an ear infection and prescribed some antibiotic. She came home and gave Darcy a dose of Advil, and then the antibiotics. Darcy puked all over. Poor little girl. Fairly messy, but not too bad because she hadn't eaten in a while. She didn't eat much for supper and was pretty miserable all evening. We tried to give her some cereal before bed and she actually ate some of it. Then we tried the antibiotic again she gagged on the first taste and did a mini-puke, and then she blew up. Apparently she ate a lot more cereal than I gave her credit for. She was sitting on my lap at the time and it went everywhere. I ran and put her in the kitchen sink. This girl was in rough shape. Her whole body was quivering, she didn't even have the strength to stand up.

We made through the night, only having to get up once. Sue gave her a cup of water and she drank the whole thing really quickly. We both thought that might be enough to set her off again, but things went well. She got up at 7am, her normal time, and had sucked back 2 cups of milk by 9am. She then took a two hour nap. Good for her! Or so we thought...

We went back to the clinic and got a new antibiotic. One that won't make her puke.

She didn't eat much for lunch, but that didn't really surprise us. No big deal, she was still drinking well, so she wasn't getting dehydrated. Sue had to go get the new prescription and by 1pm, Darcy was ready for another nap. I meant to give her some Tylenol before the nap but forgot. She had only slept for 40 minutes when I heard her crying. She was burning up, so I gave her some Tylenol. Again she gagged and I knew that she was going to blow. I saw lunch again, then all of the milk she drank this morning. Huge chunks of cottage cheese like white barf. All down her, all down me. On the carpet, on the change table. I ran her to the bathtub this time and sprayed her off with the shower. But then she was in a remarkably good mood, laughing and talking to me as I tried to get milk barf down the shower drain. What a good helper.

Darcy is on the mend now. She didn't vomit new antibiotic and we've given her Tylenol suppositories to lessen the fever. Better her than me!

So, all this to say that 'Pukey' is certainly an apt name for her. The difference between one month old baby puke and thirteen month old baby puke is the smell. When babies start to eat grown up food, everything that comes out of them smells like it could have come out of me.

Can I do it all in one day?

This has been a question that I've been answering a lot lately. Sure, I can swim and bike and run, but what happens when I try to do them all one after the other? My guess is that it will hurt.

One of my favorite sites is Beginnertriathlete.com. A number of other beginner triathletes and some pros break down what has worked for them in training and how they get ready for a race. Basically, I take what I like and try that. The key with all endurance sports is building up your mileage in training to a heavy load, then cutting back and rebuilding. Each of the four weeks before my vacation was heavier than the last. I peaked at 116km (111km bike, 15km run), then I cut back while on vacation. So now I rebuild.

Including this week, I have four weeks before the race. This week I will go a medium distance, between 85-100km. The next two weeks will be heavier and then I will taper the mileage down on race week, to avoid fatigue.

The key to combining the events is the brick workout. Going from bike to run is brutal. But the more you do it, the more your body gets used to it. All of the training plans preach the importance of doing bricks. They are all right. I have done a few days with 20km bike rides and 5 km runs and felt okay in the end, that's practically my race mileage. Knowing how I'm going to feel coming off the bike and heading into the run gets me over a huge mental hurdle.

So can I do it?

Well I've paid the entry fee, so I don't have a choice now!

Her new trick

When it's hot, or not even that hot, Darcy is a sweaty little beast. She looks like an Olympic athlete after the race of her life. It just drips off of her.

Anyway, while we were in Montreal she was going down for a nap and I wasn't sure if leaving her shorts on over her diaper would make her too hot. So I opted to just put her down in her diaper. After a decent nap she woke up crying, which is fairly odd. When I went to get her I noticed there was an overwhelming scent of pee in the room. As I took the two steps from the doorway to the playpen I thought to myself, "Man, she must have really peed a lot ... why is my foot wet?"

My little genius daughter had opened up half of her diaper and peed all over. There was pee in the playpen and somehow she had peed up and out of the playpen on to the floor (until last June I thought that aiming your pee was strictly a male thing). Now you may be thinking that the pee had just soaked through the bottom and dripped out. No. There was a book right under where she had peed inside the playpen and it was completely dry. About six inches away from the playpen there was a puddle, that's what my foot was in.

I'm reminded of this story because this morning Darcy woke up just after 6am, about an hour early. After some fussing she calmed down, but I heard the distinct "RIIIIP" of the velcro tab being pulled off her diaper. I decided not to do anything about it and everyone stayed in bed. When I did get up and get her she was standing in her crib with her diaper again half pulled off. Fortunately her t-shirt was still on and that was holding everything in place. I'm pretty sure the reason she tried to pull her diaper off this morning is because she had done a nice big poop.

Post Vacation Blues

We've been on vacation in Montreal for the last week. That was great, but now I'm suffering from post vacation blues. And I'm realizing how exhausting it is to travel with a one year old.

Darcy was a big hit with her aunt, uncles, grandparents and great-grandparents. She also made a number of good friends at the Biodome. I think she may have had her picture taken with one girl and I know she got into someone's video. No, she doesn't take after her parents at all.

The last display at the Biodome is the Antarctic. It features penguins. For us grown adults it's fun to watch them swim around jumping in and out. For kids it's a crazy good time. When we got there all the penguins were starring at the back wall. Some of them were swimming right up to the glass and 'playing' with the kids there. All of a sudden the penguins made a rush for the back wall, then the feeder man came out. We were there about 15 minutes and he hadn't fed all of them yet. Darcy seemed to love it.

On Wednesday night, after Darcy went to bed, Sue and I went to the fireworks. It is very different from the blast fest that happens every year on the Detroit river. What we saw was very artistic, what happens here on the river is more HOW LOUD AND BIG CAN WE MAKE THESE? USA USA USA!!! I don't know how many people come out to see them, but I'm pretty sure three of the stupidest ones were standing right behind us.

Here's some of what we over heard.

Daughter - I thought we were just going to see regular fireworks.

Daughter - These fireworks are getting old.
Father - There only getting old because you don't have a chair.

The teenage daughter was at one point lamenting the fact the we were far away. Her mother responded with "Well, I think it's better than being close. This way we can see underneath them."

As a small plane flies over.
Mother - I bet they have a great view.
The genius daughter was dead serious when she asked, "Really? Do you think they can see them from up there?"

26 minutes into the 30 minute show.
Father - I think they'll go about four more minutes.
I bit my tongue and did not say "Really Sherlock?"

It was the first time we had both been out past 10pm since June 5th, 2004. So we figured we'd take our time going back to my parents. We strolled through Old Montreal, saw some street performers near city hall, stopped for some over priced ice cream, $8 for two small cups. We had a good time.

When we got off the Metro there were a few rain drops. By the time we got to the end of the first block it was raining hard, but the trees were keeping us mostly dry. Then the skies opened up, the rain was torrential. There was another couple across the street, we just laughed at each other. There is a special bond between strangers when you're caught in the rain. We laughed at them because it sucked to be them. They laughed at us because it sucked to be us. We had another block and a half to go, so we went for it and got drenched. We were dripping. About halfway there Sue was laughing so hard she practically hyper-ventilated. My shirt was still wet the next morning.

Darcy made a few big discoveries this week. Like Grandma's hard floors, nasty chair legs and her innate Swiss ability to climb. We weren't there more than ten minutes and Darcy took a header onto the floor. A big lump came up almost right away. A day later she slipped pulling herself up on a chair leg and cut her chin in the groove in the wood. Then she found the stairs. A nicely carpeted set that has one turn, leading to the top floor. She'd do these at least five time a day, more if we hadn't put up a gate. She's still trying to walk, but won't go on her own yet. That's was fine, because Grandma and Grandpa were happy to be dragged around the house, but now were stuck with a girl who expects her parents to do that! Good luck honey.

It was a great trip. I did manage to get some swimming, biking and running in. Not much, but it still counts. Less than a month to go!

Good Long Weekend

This was the weekend that I really wanted to see how I was doing. Judging from how things went, I think I'm on the right track.

My goal for the swim is 18-20 minutes for 800m. Saturday morning I swam 600m in about 12 minutes.

My goal for the bike is 60 minutes for 30km (+ or - 5 minutes for wind). Today I biked 30km in 59:22, an average speed of 30.3 km/hr. That included one wreck. Note: Wait to take a drink until AFTER you've turned the corner!

My goal for the run is less than 30 minutes for 6km. Friday night I ran 5 km in 22:48.

This week I will up the bike daily bike mileage. Next week we're on vacation, so I need to get the most out of what I have.

ps: See my Montreal family soon!