Rest and Run

Week 22: July 28-August 3

Bike: 39 km
Run: 24 km
Swim: 0 m

When the days are long it's hard not to be out and about enjoying the light. The choice of whether to rest or work is not always yours to decide. This week, my body decided to force me into relaxation by inflicting a horrible cold onto my respiratory system. For five days I slept more hours than I spent awake. This was a nice opportunity to catch up on long forgotten soap operas, whose plot lines stayed eerily the same, and to loiter in my garden. In honor of not moving, I finally put up the hammock that I bought in Belize and read in amongst the fireweed.

After five brutal days, it was the weekend and time for the Yukon Trail Marathon. Right up to Sunday morning, I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to run. The only thing I knew for sure is that we had some left over faerie wings from our 24 Hours of Light extravaganza that were begging to be re-used. Our team included Tracy, Lisa, Jenn and our special mascot Miss Annie.

The Yukon Trail Marathon is a horrendously hilly 42 km course that weaves along the Yukon River and through many of the trails that I frequent near Hidden Lakes. The first leg was run by Tracy, who was brave enough to start running straight out of her car and onto the course due to a slight timing error. Next up was Jenn, who took the run from the Miles Canyon Bridge along the river trail all the way to Chadburn Lake. Note the fairy wings that are helping her navigate the ridge:

Next, Lisa was nice enough to share leg 3 with me. To describe leg 3 as hilly is an understatement, and I was glad to have someone to endure the horror with. Back at the Miles Canyon bridge, Lisa rejoined the team and I continued down the final 14 km back to Rotary Park. I had managed to pre-run leg 4 last Friday, but soon realized that running that marathon course was a bit like childbirth...after you're done, you forget just how horrible it was. This selective memory issue caught up to me as soon as I got off the Schwatka Lake Trail and started into the hills of death. The run culminated with a brutal climb up "Heartbreak Hill", which should be called "Heart Attack Hill". This hill is located 3 scant kilometers from the finish line and involves scrambling up a cliff-like structure. I'd love to watch the front runners tackle this hill, because I can barely walk up the thing, let alone run it. Poor Jen was forced to walk up the entire hill just to capture photos of my triumphant conquest.

After 24 brutal kilometers, I made it over the finish line with a total team time of just over 5 hours and went straight into the river to ice my aching legs. Next up - the Long Lake Triathlon...

Sierra posted this on Aug 06, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

Carb Loading

Warning - nothing that I write in this post was responsible, encouraged, or intelligent. Unfortunately, a significant amount of what I do falls under the categories of stupid, immature and potentially dangerous.

Week 21: July 21-July 27

Bike: 48 km
Run: 25 km
Swim: 750 m

An important part of training is nutrition and for the last couple months, I've been trying to figure out what the perfect nutritional supplement is for long runs and rides. So far I've tried Enduromax (good results - disgusting taste), First Endurance (good results - disgusting taste) and Gatorate (yummilicious, but not good in the long term). This week a group of us decided to investigate the qualities of a variety of carb loaded drinks.

As with any event - Jenn and I could not resist the temptation of dressing up, and dragged our friend Julie into our costume obsessed world. We decided to go as tarnished Beauty Queens and dressed accordingly.

The race course was set up on a flat path up near Grey Mountain. Teams were randomly chosen, although through some odd twist of fate the Beauty Queens ended up together. The goal of the event was to race laps of the course and in between consume carbohydrate loaded beverages. The beverages seemed to assist with the timing of the race, but had some odd side effects. It appeared as thought the beverages led to an skin irritation that caused the sudden removal of clothing. Even Starbuck suffered from this odd side effect when he lost his shirt to Tony.

In the case of the Beauty Queens, somehow we went in the forest wearing one outfit and came out wearing another...odd...clearly this is something that should be considered before using these beverages in a race setting.

The event finished with Ben, Jonah and Stephen destroying everyone while managing to retain all their clothing.

This week was a pretty pathetic training week due to work commitments that meant 12 hour days on Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately it's not nearly as pathetic as next week will be. I've been battling illness since Monday (I write this on Friday) and have been out of commission.

Sierra posted this on Aug 01, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

Ice Bath

Week 20: July 14-July 20

Bike: 129 km (100 on the road, 29 on trail)
Run: 36 km
Swim: 1 hour and 20 minutes in the lake

For many years, I spent my Alberta summers in Lac La Biche at the Maccagno cabin. While there, I was famous for lounging in the warm water for the entire days and spending the entire weekend in my swimsuit. Since moving to the Yukon my lake hours have been tragically limited. For some strange reason, swimming in glacial waters does not appeal to me...it must be something about liking to keep my body at 37 degrees celsius.

The sad fact about a triathlon, is that there is a swimming portion that is usually held in an outdoor lake/ocean/body of water. It is only in places like the Yukon where outdoor swimming could mean mass-hypothermia where a swimming pool is used in the first leg of the race. As I am planning to do some triathlons South of 60, I decided it was time to get in the water. (You'll have to watch the first 45 seconds of the clip to get my fabulous little joke).

Since I don't have Ryan Gosling, or a cute 50's style bathing suit, I needed to get a wetsuit. Thankfully the Polar Swim Shop in Whitehorse carries suits that are made for Yukon summers (or B.C winters). Because Mary-Anne, who owns the shop, regularly swims in the frigidly cold Marsh Lake, I fully trusted her opinion of appropriate outdoor swim gear. The only problem with this, is that Mary-Anne's expertise is widely known, so every other girl in the Yukon is sporting the same outfit - how embarrassing...

Cassandra and I bought identical suits and began meeting for open water swims. Our mutual fear of drowning made us perfect partners for swimming beside the shore in 3 foot deep water. In addition to some regular Thursday night meetings, we decided to take advantage of Mary-Anne's generosity and join her in Marsh Lake.

There is not much I can say about Marsh Lake - partially because I suffered permanent brain damage from immersion in ice water. The amazing thing about it is that between my ankles and neck, I remained relatively comfortable. It is really only those unfortunate areas left uncovered by neoprene that made me empathize with Sam McGee and wish for a furnace to crawl into. Despite the crazy cold, there is no swimming pool in the world with a better view to enjoy and no lifeguard that is as nice as Mary-Anne. PLUS, there were hot smokies and coffee cake when we got out - which was much better than the Cheetohs available in the vending machines at the Canada Games Center.

After the swim, I rode my bike 60 km back to Whitehorse with a super-triathlete. We had a raging tailwind that made the ride fast and fun. it was also an eye-opener to the advantages of training with someone faster, stronger, etc... I had my butt kicked up every hill leading into Whitehorse, and I certainly did my best to keep up - forcing myself to pedal faster than I would if by myself.

The only real tragedy of the day was using my waterproof camera to take some pictures. Turns out that my new Olympus Stylus 770 was waterproof until used in the water. I was excited when buying my Stylus because of its underwater picture abilities, so when I watched it slowly fill with water, it was a bit disappointing. On Monday morning I quickly phoned the Olympus warranty center (because in a great miracle, it had actually broken on day 89 of a 90 day warranty), only to be told that I had to magically transport my camera to Markham Ontario to be evaluated BEFORE the 90 days, or it would not be covered. Shockingly, I think that sounds slightly unfair, since the actual breakage clearly occurred within the covered period. I've sent it to Olympus and am hoping that they will get it fixed. If not, I will unleash great blog rage on Olympus.

Sierra posted this on Jul 28, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

I'm It

Jill from Juneau tagged me with this little meme that was originated by Elden from Fat Cyclist (a much enjoyed blog and excellent source of fashionable jerseys).

If you could have any one — and only one — bike in the world, what would it be?

Princess - the most favored of all the bikes. Princess is my Giant Cruiser and primary mode of transportation to and from work. While all my other bicycles (current and/or future) serve some sort of specific and much appreciated service, Princess meets my most basic needs by getting me to and from downtown. More importantly, you can easily blow bubbles, facebook your friends, or sip a hot latte while cruising down the street.

Do you already have that coveted dream bike? If so, is it everything you hoped it would be? If not, are you working toward getting it? If you’re not working toward getting it, why not? I do not have my coveted Cervelo R3 road bike, but no worries, I'm working towards it. I've officially done a deal with the devil...I mean Mom (who I should clarify is not evil, just really generous and would never ever back out on a promise to her lovely daughter). In exchange for the Cervelo R3, I will produce a grandchild of curly blond locks and piercing blue eyes. It's a great deal, because my womb is vacant and my garage has space available. Once said bike is in the garage, I have 2 years to either attach a Chariot to the back or the bike will be repossessed by the Grandma Brigade. If I knew I could so easily pawn my children, I'd have a house full of bikes and possibly a problem with a small man named Rumpelstiltskin.

If you had to choose one — and only one — bike route to do every day for the rest of your life, what would it be, and why? I'm not sure if it is a blessing, or pathetic that I choose the very path that I do ride everyday - the Whitehorse Millennium trail. There are lots of logical reasons I would choose this path - first of all it is paved with concrete and only 5 km around. This makes it ideal for a geriatric 85 year old woman trying to motor around her bright pink cruiser. See - I'm a forward thinker that knows that the favored 200 km stretch of road today won't be much fun when I'm on a diet of prune juice and mushed carrots. On a more positive note - the millennium trail is a beautiful route along the Yukon River that boasts flowers, wild strawberries and the occasional beaver or eagle.

What kind of sick person would force another person to ride one and only one bike ride to to do for the rest of her / his life? Either some demonic presence - or the same crazy person that pedals their exercise bike through the entire DVD collection of Melrose Place. Wait...was this a rhetorical question? Was I even suppose to answer that?

Do you ride both road and mountain bikes? If both, which do you prefer and why? If only one or the other, why are you so narrowminded? Yes I ride both. At the moment, I prefer my road bike. There is something about the constant pedaling, and straight concrete road that leads you to a place of meditation that $1500 worth of yoga classes never could. Plus - I have to admit, there is something comforting about knowing that the next endo is not just around the corner.

Have you ever ridden a recumbent? If so, why? If not, describe the circumstances under which you would ride a recumbent. I have never ridden a recumbent. In order to get me on a recumbent, you would need the perfect set of conditions - me and a recumbent bike. So far the universe has not aligned, but I have faith that someday it will all come together in perfect harmony.

Have you ever raced a triathlon? If so, have you also ever tried strangling yourself with dental floss? I have raced a couple of triathlons and plan to race a couple more. I have decided that triathlons are perfect for those people who aren't particularly talented at any one sport. Mediocrity at all three can somehow propel you right to the middle of the pack. Right now, I'm planning for 2 half ironmans and a full ironman in 09. Also - I have never tried strangling myself with dental floss, I don't suspect I ever will...I've got a bit of a phobia of the dentist and floss reminds me of my psychotic dental hygienist.

Suppose you were forced to either give up ice cream or bicycles for the rest of your life. Which would you give up, and why? Ice cream because there is still Frozen Yogurt, Gelato and Sorbet to meet my frozen dessert needs. Plus, if I stopped eating ice cream I could save thousands of dollars on trying to reduce my bike weight by 38 grams because I'd be so much svelter.

What is a question you think this questionnaire should have asked, but has not? Also, answer it. If you could destroy anyone in a 24 Hours of Light solo event and make her wish she was never born who would it be? Tough question, but I think I'm going to go with Jill from Juneau.

You’re riding your bike in the wilderness (if you’re a roadie, you’re on a road, but otherwise the surroundings are quite wilderness-like) and you see a bear. The bear sees you. What do you do? If I'm in a group, look around and see if I'm the slowest cyclist. Chances are I will be - and in that case jam a pump in someone's spokes and pedal like hell. I suppose if I was alone I would beg the bear to take me and spare my innocent bike.

Now, tag three biking bloggers. List them below. What do I do when the only biking bloggers I know have already done this. Was this question designed just to make me feel bad about my lack of internet based social skills? I'll have you know I have 138 Facebook friends, so it's not like I'm a total loser...just a biking loser apparently. That's it - I'm going to eat ice cream, it's going to take a whole tub to get over this incident... I will tag the one and only bike blogger that I know and that hasn't been tagged - Mr. Daniel Sessford superbiker of the Yukoner.

Sierra posted this on Jul 24, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

Pinktastic

Week 19: July 7-July 13

Bike: 77 km (32 on the road, 45 on trail)
Run: 26 km
Swim: 1500 m + 40 minutes in Marsh Lake

What do you do when the garage has no room for cars and you are late every morning because you can't decide which bike to get to work with? Simple - you buy a new bike. Believe me, I realize that the last thing I need in this world is another bicycle. In fact, most of the winter/spring was spent pimping out my existing mountain bike into a pink goddess. You might ask - how did I give up Frederika the Wonderbike? Simple - I found a pinker bike. More importantly I found a pinker bike that rides like a La-Z-Boy.

Thankfully, I was able to sell Frederika to someone who I knew would value her looks - fashionista extraordinaire Barb. The best part of this little deal was that now Barb has an awesome bike, so I can force her to ride with me more often. In the end New Pike Bike + Friend With New Bike = Sierra Wins X 2. My new bike is named Shera Princess of Power:

The first few rides on Shera weren't fabulous, but after making some adjustments she has become a wonderful ride and threatens to convert me from a road rider....gasp.

In celebration of the new bike, I have been spending lots of time exploring the trails of the Yukon. Tuesdays, I've been joining the Dirt Girls on all female rides; and Fridays has become a traditional beer and BBQ ride out of our house. This picture is from the aptly named "Broken Truck Trail", about 15 minutes before this picture was taken a log left me with a permanent fear of wood. Riding after rain (and boasting about mad log jumping abilities) led to a slide-out crash that threatens to have me walking over ever twig i ever pass.

One of my favorite trails is R n' D, a loop located behind Copper Ridge and created by a work colleague's husband. This trail has some fun tricks that are easy enough for me (which says something). We tend to ride this trail with many stops to accommodate unexplained bouts of fear, followed by idiotic delusions of grandeur that result in retrying tricks. I am not nearly as brave as Jennifer, who somehow found the guts to ride the teeter-totter, despite what appears to be overwhelming fear.

Speaking of fear... this week also marked the arrival of Tony's friend Tony (it was a confusing week). We dragged Tony on his first couple mountain bike rides and learned that inexperience is not a deterrent. Little Tony was brave enough to try out jumps in the Riverdale jump park, some were awesome...some did not end so well...

The mountain biking week ended with a trip to Haines Junction and the Alsek Trail. I have to be honest, I do not enjoy riding the Alsek trail. In the end, it is about 30 km of riding on rocks that are slow and bumpy (even on a La-Z-Boy). The views are gorgeous, and some might say worth the riding (those some are probably not me). I did enjoy the creek crossings and was thrilled with the good weather.

Unfortunately the weather did not last and our plans to hike on Saturday were ruined by yet another day of rain.

Sierra posted this on Jul 18, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

The South Wind and the Sun

Week 7: April 20-26

Run: 45 km
Bike: 209 km
Swim: 1500 m

Biking in the wind is the most depressing and most exhilarating thing in the world. Since Thursday Whitehorse has been swept up in a raging south wind. On Thursday I took an easy ride into the wind and then rode as hard as I could back into Whitehorse. The slow grind into the wind was well worth spinning at 100 RPM in my highest gear and hitting speeds of 45 km/h on the flats. I fooled myself into thinking that I would have an equally fabulous time doing the same thing on Saturday. This time I took out my new triathlon bike thinking that I'd get even faster speeds. Unfortunately, my poor Contessa von Awesome (my triathlon bike) was getting thrown all over the road and every time I tried to use the tri bars, I was worried I'd get creamed by an oncoming semi truck. I learned a bit of a lesson, and on Sunday Tony and I rode to the Marsh Lake Dam (30 km south), then turned around and rode to Bean North for a coffee (70 km north). I probably compromised the training integrity of the ride, but who cares...riding with a tailwind is awesome.

The camera is en route, so the blog should be slightly more interesting soon.

Sierra posted this on Apr 28, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

My bike lost 5 pounds...why can't I?

Week 6: April 6-12

Bike: 132 km
Run: 17 km
Swim: 2750 m

Week 7: April 13-19

Bike: 75 km
Run: 26 km
Swim: 3000 m

The bike renovations of my mountain bike were completed this week with two new wheels. More important then the improvement in looks, my bicycle also lost 5 pounds. I have to say, this is the easiest 5 pounds I've ever lost - it required no dieting and no exercise. I used to mock the people who paid $500 for carbon fiber cranksets, I used to preach that if I wanted to lose 500 grams off my bike I'd stop eating chocolate truffles everyday. Consider me converted - I am on the bandwagon! Screw dieting (or even eating responsibility), bring on the carbon fiber bottle cages, helmets and bike bells. For approximately $200/pound I can shed weight faster than ever. I figure as long as my loving husband continues to foot the bills, I'll end up with the lightest bikes in the Yukon. Unfortunately, nothing to date suggests that I will be any faster on said bikes, but that's a small detail at this point.

Last week the bike riding was interrupted when Spring was rudely interrupted by a dumping of fresh snow. I was not the only Whitehorse resident that was unimpressed by the return of winter, many other people saw fit to voice their concerns by crashing their vehicles. I just pouted and temporarily retired the road bicycle. The only thing convincing me that Spring was still on its way was the garbage bags full of dog hair that were spontaneously falling from Strabuck's body. Thankfully Starbuck's shedding was right and by Sunday the snow was gone and the highway was ready to ride again.

The blog will be temporarily photo free thanks to an unfortunate incident with a camera and cement floor...damn that gravity.

Sierra posted this on Apr 21, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

Pimp My Ride

Week 5: March 30 - April 5

Run: 12 km
Bike: 32 km on trails and 2 hours on the trainer
Swim: 3800 m

Tallying up the weekly numbers can be depressing, especially when you've only run 6 km (woohoo further investigation shows it was actually 12 km). I suppose I had a bit of bike love, thanks to the arrival of our newest bike addition and the pimping out of my old mountain bike. Thanks to Tony's overactive bike shopping habit, I came back from Denver to a pile of pink bike parts. In one week my bike dropped some serious weight and was blinged out. The seat post and handlebars were swapped out and a new Chris King headset was added in. Extra pink was added with a new chainguard and handlebar holder (which I realize has a more technical name).

While this has made riding the snowy Whitehorse trails a lot easier, it has also meant the end of riding Frederika the Wonderbike to work. The transition has been made easier by the re-introduction of Princess into the regular bike line-up. Princess is my big cruiser and the most fabulous bike in the world to ride around town.

I was going to blog about my little tomato plants that are happily growing in the guest room, but unfortunately the picture of said plants has been lost in memory card land.

Sierra posted this on Apr 07, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

The Exercises of the Rich and Famous

Week 3: March 16-22

Ski: 11 km (plus 2 glasses of wine)
Bike: 3 hours of spinning and no kilometers on the road!
Run: 11 km
Swim: 3000 m

Week 4: March 23-29

Bike: 22 km in the snow and 30 minutes on the spinner
Run: 30 km
Swim: 3250 m

The latter part of March was not as dedicated as the first part. This was in large part due to the fact that I had the pleasure of visiting my Grandma in Colorado. I find in exceedingly difficult to work out while traveling, mainly because I am almost completely unmotivated. This lack of motivation was exacerbated on this trip by the fact that any small athletic endeavor left me completely out of breath and thinking I might just keel over and die. It's also made me seriously consider altitude training before my next big race!

The most fun exercising I did while in Colorado was on my visit with Heidi, my little sister. Heidi decided to take me cross country skiing Aspen style. The day we went was absolutely gorgeous, with the sun so nice and hot that we managed to ski sans shirt for part of the afternoon. This alone would have made the skiing memorable, but the real treat came after the shirt came back on. Apparently when you are in Aspen, home of the millionaire ski bums, cross country skiing actually means skiing 2 km to a beautiful wooden lodge where you are fed 5 star food and drink 15 dollar glasses of white wine. You don't get much better than this:

I felt guilty (and slightly drunk thanks to the increased elevation) after our "pit stop" and we did a few tours before heading back to the car and upscale Aspen life. This may have been the highlight of my Aspen experience, but later that day we sat with Cindy Crawford for dinner. By sat with - I mean that I spotted her at the restaurant and stared at her while she tried to enjoy a quiet meal.

In Denver I had lots of fun opportunities to run around while my Grandpa played Tennis and before the daily crossword regime started in the morning. It was funny to run on bare sidewalks in a city where daffodils and tulips were already poking out off the ground.

My trip back from the States was made slightly more exciting by missed connections and an unexpected overnight in Vancouver, but when I returned it was back to slippery runs and snowy mountain bikes. The next week was slightly more diligent, especially because I had a bike trainer at my disposal. I can't think of anything more boring that biking on an indoor trainer, but I also can't think of any other way to train for road biking when the streets are covered in fresh snow.

I've realized that the best part of my Ironman training is that I get to do all sorts of cool athletic activities with my friends. Whether it is jogging. swimming or biking, I'm pretty effective at recruiting someone to come along. For my friend Princess (aka Alexis), who once told me that she didn't like to sweat, dragging her (kicking and screaming) on my athletic adventure has been particularly satisfying. This weekend she decided to attempt her first ever push-up:

Garden updates will be happening soon, as I am starting to think about seedlings...

Sierra posted this on Mar 31, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

All Om-ed Out

Week 2: March 9-15

Sun salutations: 50 (although it felt more like 2938478329)
Bike: 42 km (on a trainer...so technically 0) and 28 km on the trails
Run: 13 km
Swim: 3250 m

Last September I did Sabu's intensive yoga class for a month at Shanti Yoga. Yoga is not the kind of activity that I would naturally pursue. But, after last year's knee injury, the physiotherapists suggested that I start a daily stretching routine to help ease my stiff joints. At first, yoga was not an activity that I particularly enjoyed; even the small stretches were uncomfortable and there is nothing more painful than trying to relax. But, after almost a year, I can touch my toes and bend my back and contort myself into odd positions - unfortunately, I still can't relax.

Sabu's yoga class means waking up at 6:00 am every morning to bike to the 7:00 am class. Most days, I can't even touch my toes on the first sun salutation on account of being so stiff in the morning. But, by the second or third round, my muscles are awake and I can actually get my hands around my feet. This is much better than last September when it took me 2 or 3 weeks before I could even touch the ground.

My big yoga accomplishment to date is my ability to do a headstand. I'm not sure how this is going to help me in life, but I secretly giggle to myself every time I manage to get upside down.

Aside for morning yoga classes and evening swims, I'm running on the packed snow trails of Whitehorse. It's the perfect time of year for winter running. The trails are packed hard, but not too slippery and it hasn't gotten warm enough to reduce the tracks to slush and mud. Besides my faithful running partner Starbuck, I've been actively pursuing Mingus and Jennifer as training partners. On Saturday, Juneau joined our pack of bikers, runners and canines on a tour of Hillcrest. I couldn't ask for better training companions. Although, I do have to wonder if Mingus' poop-sicle eating is the best nutritional strategy.

Sierra posted this on Mar 16, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link

1.5 Years To Go

Only 18 months until Ironman 2009 and if I have any aspiration to complete Ironman Canada the training will need to start now. As such, my blog will undergo a slight modification, with more about my training and triathlon attempts. I use the term attempt because with a year and a half left to go, there are a million different things that could go wrong. Despite this realization, I figure that advertising my intent to cyberspace may be enough of an incentive to get my butt off the couch and on the trail/road/pool.

Week 1: March 1-8

Ski: 57 km
Bike: 1 hour (inside on the trainer) and 24 km on trails
Run: 14 km
Swim: 3125 m

The big event of this week was the Northwestel loppet. Because it was the 25th anniversary, they decided to do a "special" 35 km course up and down Mt. McIntyre. In a moment of complete stupidity I decided to try this course. Normally, this would not have been such a horrible idea, but for the entire last week I've been resting because of a aching knee. I decided that since I was resting, I might as well do a cleanse. This meant eliminating sugar, flour, dairy and preservatives from my diet. Apparently, doing a cleanse then climbing a mountain is a bad idea. I learned this at kilometer 20 when my calves and thighs started to cramp up. It sucked, but I learned my lesson and won't repeat the error. Thankfully the pain of the loppet was mitigated by the good company of the Mulloy clan and the large flour and sugar filled buffet that followed.

Week one is a success...Ironman here we come!

Sierra posted this on Mar 12, 2008 from the gym | | permanent link