Going To The Big City -- Log

Ahoj! Yes, i'm still alive! Been even more busy than usual.. Moved into a new house (Vegan House II!!), still unpacking some, and have had a bit more work than usual..plus training and other responsibilities.

As the heading suggests, i'll be ferrrying over to BC's capital city Vancouver (huh huh, am i funny?) for their first of three Burnaby Velodrome events. You can see the event schedule here, i've signed up for pretty much everything but the sprints...eeep! Also signed-up as an A, but we'll have to see what the competition is like. If a bunch of super-fast guys are there, and i'm gonna get my ass completely kicked and lapped and eliminated from each race, i'll drop down to B...hard to say what'll happen until i get there. Another consideration is that i haven't raced at Burnaby before....

It's a very different track from what i'm used to.. Much shorter (200m vs 333m) and *much* steeper (47 degree banking vs ~33 degrees i believe.) You have to maintain a speed of 30kph, or you'll slide down...pretty wild..!!

I'll try posting something each day, tho i can't promise.. Will be having fun in Vancouver as well, i'll be staying with my friend Brandy while there, and she's invited other friends from Van over for dinner tonite, and we'll be (ahem) experimenting with candy, making various caramelly/chocolatey treats (think we can pull off a vegan 'Mars Bar'??) I'm making the excuse i'll need the sugar for the next day's racing..hehehe

I've also been using Vega powder (thanks Brendan!) much more regularly, and i'm pretty sure it's having a positive impact..check out the brochure on the website. It's got some great, alkalizing protein from four sources (hemp, brown rice, pea and flax), macca and chlorella, a few other herbally ingredients, plus a full compliment of vitamins and minerals. The 'natural' flavor is actually really nice too, a hint of vanilla, it mixes nicely with fruit juice. Yummy stuff!

Wish me luck in Burnaby, should be a total blast!! Here's what the history machine has to say:

Sat (Oct 29th) - 2.5hr EM w/60m RS, felt really good! Got some strong pulls in, had a nice little break-away, bridged some gaps, and managed a decent sprint at the Airport. On a side note, the battery in the strap of my HR finally gave-out! I've used this thing nearly daily since last December, that's pretty good!

Sun - 2hr EM w/Kevin, nice ride! Haven't seen my friends as much since i've been on this more specific program..

Mon - Rest!!

Tue - 2hr EM w/6x3m PI's, very gross, wet day..was supposed to do 7 PI (power intervals) but i ran out of time and had to head back into town (need a stretch that allows me to give 'er for 3min straight...) Also went to the gym in the evening. Now going to the Oak Bay Rec Centre, as it's only a few blocks from me, pretty nice! Lots of good equipment, tho it's also a lot more busy..

Wed - 50min EM on rollers - was supposed to do 1hr, but ran out of time again..i was riding in the evening..bleh..made for a very rough workout the next morning, the recovery time is important..! Also, maintained a nice, high cadence on the rollers, ~120rpm.

Thu - 2hr EM w/ 7x10s HSS, another *gross* day, this time with 45kph winds..!! Which made the High Speed Sprints a real trick. You're supposed to get yourself up to ~50kph, then sprint from there...but even going down a steep hill, i was barely hitting that in the sprint itself..!!

No gym in the evening, felt i needed a rest..was drained this week with all the moving, work, four new housemates, and all the other stresses of life..

Fri - sweet rest day..!!

Sat (Nov 5th) - 2.5hr EM w/75min RS, felt really good at the start, windy and cold again, but at the Airport sprint i jumped quickly before anyone else, which got me some good ground and secured the 'win' - yay me! Maintained a strong ride for my 75min, then was wiped after that.

Sun - 2.75 EM, rode with Kevin again, we watched the SNL with Lance on Fri nite, it was pretty funny...hehe..

Mon - rest day, but i didn't need it! ;)

Tue - 2hr EM, was supposed to do DI's, but dropped it as i have races on the weekend. Also put my full fenders on my bike, it's about time!

Hit the gym in the evening as well, other than slightly weary legs, i'm recovering from this much more quickly again!

Wed - 2hr EM w/75/60/45/30 DI's x 2, i actually like Descending Intervals! The very first one felt awful, but i think it cleared my legs out, and i felt great for the rest. Gonna have to do a hard effort, like a Kilo, before events to kick-start my cardio and clear out my legs...

Also beat the weather...1hr15mins in, just after i finished my second set, it started to sprinkle.. Luckily, i was a few mins from home, and did the rest of the ride on rollers - ha ha!

Thu - 1.5hr EM, did this on the rollers as well. Kinda nice being in the garage and looking out at the rain..hehe.. Borrowed my roomies laptop, and set it up in front of me and watched a couple episodes of 'Bones', a new show with the dude who played Angel.

Got some mean skills on the rollers now...can get up to a high RPM (upwards of 180rpm), and can also ride sitting up with no hands on the bars, mad skillz or what?? Getting started is still a little akward, and i don't know if i can start without a wall or something to lean against..heh..

Shaved my scraggley legs as well..about time!

No gym to, too close to event.

Fri - Rest day and travelling to Vancouver

Phew - i really gotta update this more frequently...i'm mostly unpacked now, so should have more time.

Of course, here's what's rockin' the MuVo:

Got a nice mix of newer, boppin' and rockin' tunes: * Beck - Guero (Deluxe) - 05 * Blur - Think Tank - 03 * Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better - 05 * Ladytron - Witching Hour - 05 * Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy - 04 * Spoon - Gimme Fiction - 05 * The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I - 99 (These are the albums currently in my Creative MuVo, 512mb MP3 player. I just set it to 'random' and soak up the tunes on my rides.. The MuVo isthebest flash-based MP3 player on the planet, btw! Click here for my top riding/training albums.)