A good weekend

Back up to 177. Damn.
Friday night trainer ride. Usually not that comment worthy but it was this week.
I arrived at the Commonwealth Pool to lead the group through their session only to find a circus like atmosphere going on. There was some kind of a Western Canada swim meet going on.
The parking lot was full and the stands were packed. There was loud music and a constant stream of announcing and cheering.
The area where we usually hold our session was filled with a retail outlet for the meet.
I almost turned around and went home, thinking no one would brave this kind of an environment for an hour on the trainer, but just as I was moving for the door I spotted a bike set up on a trainer tucked in the corner. Jim, one of the more dedicated members of the club, was bound and determined to ride, so I agreed to do it with him.
We found a bare spot behind the T-shirt stand and set up. Within a few minutes three other intrepid souls showed up and there were five of us.
We set to spinning and soon the sweat was dripping. The ride ended up being special - almost surreal. While we were in the midst of a tempo section the woman's 200 IM finals were going on. We couldn't see the pool because of the crowds between us and the water but boy could we hear it! It became quickly apparent that the young woman (Morningstar??) was on track for a short course Canadian record that had stood for some 14 years. The announcer and the crowd were going mad. I believe the gal went 2:07 but the record was set. It was exceedingly cool to be riding hard while this was going on around us.
A few moments later, World Jr Champ Kirsten Sweetland came by and said hi to everyone. For some of the new members to the sport it was a nice moment.

Saturday
Great riding weather the last few days. The elusive Victoria sun emerged Saturday morning and even though it was a bit cool it sure felt nice to need the dark glasses!
Ten of us showed up for the Saturday Group ride. The goal for the club this week was 2.5 hours of nice base. We did the Peninsula loop and, except for getting harassed by the police at one point, the ride was spectacular. I got in an extra hour and another run up Mt. Tolmie after the run.

Sunday
Woke up pretty tired this morning. My plan was to coach the Team X group in the morning then get in water with the Victoria Masters, who have the lane after the Xers are gone. I stuck to the plan but was a little shocked when I spotted the main set - 1500 for time. I wasn't quite mentally prepared for that but I pulled on my game face as best I could and set off. There were nine of us in the 50m lane so there were a lot of evasive maneuvers going on. I touched the wall at 24:20. Can't complain about that. I think that's holding 1:37s. Sure would like to find another 5!!
After the swim had a quick lunch, a bit of a nap and headed to the lakes where the idea was to run at least an hour.
My running has not been going all the swell this past year. Last May I injured my Achilles while dodging fecal piles on a beach in India. Before the Achilles it was a nagging hamstring, before that a knee and before that a bad calf. As my old football coach would say - time to buy a new roll of tape.
Right now I'm essentially running pain free but I know in both mind and heart that it is only a matter of time before something else gives out. I believe that the reason I'm getting injured so often is two fold - advancing years and more importantly advancing weight. When I was running my best I kept my weight floating around the 150 mark and I was not a teenager at this time. I was 30 years old. I'm tipping in more than 25 lbs heavier now and the legs just don't want to carry that. For the past few years I've been stubbornly trying to lose the weight by blazing it off - running the way I used to run - like my ass was on fire every time I laced. I never ran easy, not even during warm ups. When Peter was coaching me four years ago he was constantly hammering at me to run in zone two. 90% and more of my running was to be done in this zone but as I pointed out, I can be stubborn. I did as I was told but there's always away to push it. To start with, maybe my max heart rate was calculated a touch high - a beat or two makes a difference - then there's the range between lower zone two and upper zone two. My realistic zone two is between 145-157. Then there's the use of "averages". Pete would call for a 90' run at zone 2. He would add things like "Just enjoy the pace. Look around. If you're with a friend you should easily be able to hold a conversation." Yeah right. I would set my heart rate monitor to AVERAGE and bust out of the gate. I'd make sure that number did not fall below 157. I was doing what I was told but really I was sabatouging the spirit of the workout. I paid the price with injury after injury and no real loss of weight.
So while I may be stubborn, I'm not stupid. I know that if I continue to do the same thing I will just get the same results. I'm making a conscious effort to embrace low heart rate running.
I've been doing it for a month now and the results have been pretty much 100%.
More on this later. Right now it's high noon, the sun is shining and I'm going for a ride.