COUNTDOWN IS ON - 8 weeks to go.

(Summary of June 3 - 8)

Monday - Another run test.
Result: My Zone 1 finally budged! After 7 months it was about f'n time.
Interestingly enough, during my test (with my trainer already privy to early results), she asked if running was feeling easier lately. I said no. But since the test, I have noticed a difference. Real or mental? Not sure.

Thursday - Another bike test
Result: Another 10 Watt improvement in my Zone 1. Booyah!
I love biking. It's my favourite discipline right now. I especially love hills. My quads are pretty strong so I can get up out of my saddle and grind them out but with my new bike and its compact crank I can also stay seated and just spin them out. Love it!

Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday I took off because I was expecting to go to Lake Placid that weekend to take another shot at the bike course (two loops this time). I was really stoked too as I had found some people to bike with as well. Thursday night though I realized I had got my dates mixed up (eeeediot!) and Lake Placid was the following week. Arrrg!

This turned out being a blessing in disguise though because in Ottawa that weekend there were two really great events (1) first Somersault Du/Tri series of the season, (2) the Rideau Lakes Cycling Tour (RLCT). The RLCT is a weekend bike tour from Ottawa to Kingston (Saturday), then Kingston to Ottawa (Sunday). The question was how could I do both ...

Riverkeeper Triathlon : That's the
happy face of a FINISHER!

I really wanted to do one of the Somersault races to get some more experience in open water (Swim was at Britannia Beach) and transitions. I had the choice of doing a Sprint (500m swim, 23.3km bike, 5 km run) or the Olympic (1.5km swim, 40 km bike, 10 km run). I wanted to do the Olympic since it had the longer distances but I had let my swimming go lately and hadn't been in the water for about two weeks so wasn't sure how I'd feel doing 1.5km. Also it would only be my second time in a wetsuit and my first time with A LOT of bodies around me in the water.

RLCT: 40km left and feeling great!

I also really wanted to do the RLCT because (a) it's a super fun time and (b) it would be a great way to get in a 100+ km ride -- so far i'd only done a few 90kms. Thing is, RLCT is two days, 180 km each day (so couldn't really fit in the Somersault event on Saturday). Also, registration was full. Spots sold out a looong time ago.

End result?

I had a pretty stressful Thursday night scouring a local tri-site for RLCT bibs for sale (a number of people usually sell there bib shortly before the event because they either get injured training or haven't trained enough and don't think they can do it.) but I found one (including an overnight stay at Queen's University with dinner and breakfast), and bought it. I decided I would do the Sprint Tri Saturday morning. Then get to Kingston somehow and do the Kingston to Ottawa ride on Sunday.

My hubby : Have I mentioned how
awesome this guy is??? He took four
hours out of his day to get me to Kingston
(two to get me there and then
two driving back, by himself). 

Soooo ... hat was supposed to be a jam-packed training weekend in Lake Placid turned into a jam-packed training weekend in Ottawa. The Saturday morning triathlon was a great, great first time experience and RLCT didn't disappoint. Ended up riding with some speed demons the whole way and we flew! At the end I even felt like I had some still left in the tank. Overall it left me feeling great about the IM 8 weeks down the road.