Sometimes I just don't see how I could one day achieve a good work-life balance. It's actually more than just work-life balance, if it was only 2-dimensional, it would be easier.
At work, I feel I could use another 2-3 full days at the end of the week, or another 6-8 hours at the end of each day, to achieve all the projects I'd like to complete or participate in. There's the day to day tasks, some longer term projects, and then a lot of other projects and initiatives that I'd like to be a part of, that have to be outside of my day job. What if my day job is already taking more than 40 hours a week? Work more? How much more can I work if I want to stand a chance at some sort of work-life balance?
In the life part of "work-life balance", there's actually a lot of things that can be included. For me, there's family (direct, extended and I don't even have kids yet!), sports (running, skiing, biking, swimming, triathlons, etc.), hobbies (learn german, play the trumpet), arts (listen to classical music, go to the Opera, the local Symphony orchestra), and then entertainment, because sometimes I feel like watching a movie or even just watch TV, although it really at the bottom of my list of priorities.
And between work and life, I should also be taking time to develop myself at work, aka I should study for my CCIE, read TCP/IP books, watch hours of VoDs, mainly on already very busy personal time.
The result of constant time crunch is a feeling that I'm always behind at work, always catching up. It's also a sense of non-achievement in personal life, like not spending enough time with family, not pursuing my full potential in triathlons and having to decide that certain things will just stay on the back burner until days start having 30 hours and weeks become 10 days long! For example, my trumpet along with my passion for classical music and live performance has been on a back burner pretty much since I started working.
I guess I just can't get them all, but I'll keep on dreaming to do all these things, because these dreams are what's keeping me motivated to do it all.
I'll keep on dreaming to run a sub-3 hours marathon,
I'll keep on dreaming to one day qualify for Kona,
I'll keep on dreaming to one day play the trumpet in a professional orchestra,
I'll keep on dreaming to one day have my own business,
I'll keep on dreaming to retire at 40 years old,
I'll keep on dreaming to travel the world,
...
In the mean time, it's almost 10pm, and I'm dreaming about eating dinner!
mercredi 15 février 2012
lundi 24 octobre 2011
Hello 2011: Ski, Run, Swim... bike?
Before 2011 is over and before it's over a year since my last post, I feel I owe my blog a quick update on... the past year!
Lets pick up where we left: After Ironman Arizona (last november), we treated ourselves with a fabulous honeymoon in Fiji. Snorkelling was amazing and we had a great time relaxing on the beach and in our own beach bure.
Once back in Canada, winter was already on and we started cross country skiing quickly. I should say early in the season, because at first, quickly didn't apply to both of us! Jennifer had a steep learning curve to overcome: growing up on a nice Florida beach doesn't give someone much natural talent for any sport taking place on cold white stuff called "snow"! Despite an allergy to hills (up and mostly down), Jennifer did her first cross country skiing race at the Gatineau Loppett in February of her very first season. My brother Louis and I were able to race faster and we're happy to have been able to beat her at least once. I'm still confident I can ski faster than her again this year, but I think Louis is a little bit worried about the little Florida girl's capacity to improve! See all about it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7E2kWwRTu0
Going Up!
New skis!
During the Gatineau Loppet
After a great first winter in Toronto, the spring made me run, literally! We were running with the winter/spring marathon clinic and since most people in the clinic were running the Toronto Goodlife Marathon, I decided to be a pacer for that race, although it was only 2 weeks before my goal race: the Ottawa Marathon. I ended up pacing the 3h30 group, which was a great experience and also did great in Ottawa, qualifying for the Boston marathon with a Personal Best of 3h08m24s, improving by 9 minutes my previous PB of 3h17 at the Scotia Waterfront Marathon in Toronto. While the time was good for a "BQ" (Boston Qualify), it was by less than 5 minutes for my age group, and I was not sure to be able to register for the Boston Marathon. I decided to keep on running through the summer and try to qualify by over 5 minutes at the Québec City Marathon (Marathon des deux rives SSQ de Québec) at the end of August. It was great to visit Québec since this was Jennifer's first time out there. Staying at the Château Frontenac made it even more special. Unfortunately, hurricane Irene decided to show up to the race and the organizers cancelled the full marathon. I ran a PB at the half (1h28) and decided that I would try to register for Boston with my 3h08 and that if I wouldn't get in, then I wasn't meant to run Boston in 2012.
All this running made me skip a very important part of our 2011 summer, which between the Ottawa marathon and the Québec City marathon, brought us to Greece for amazing adventure called a SwimTrek! (www.swimtrek.com) We swam for a week, often twice a day, swimming from an island to another. Not only the adventure by itself is amazing, but we had great company with my brother Marc and his wife Marie-Ève, as well as 3 of Jennifer's good friends, Carla, Jill and Michelle. Our group took over the majority of the entire group, and definitely set the bar for the fast group. At least they did, I tried to hang on for dear life with the fast pace group, but a "B" group was created to allow me and Will to enjoy the swimming without being completely out of breath all the time!
Most recently, we just came back from Hawaii, where Jennifer competed in the Ironman World Championship. I can't say how proud I am of her being there and what she accomplished to finish this very difficult race. Wonder what I'm talking about? Read her blog: http://jenvaillancourt.blogspot.com/2011/10/kona.html
And for some picture from Hawaii, here's a link to my Facebook album.
We're now back to work with about 2 months before we're on Christmas holiday! October is almost over and my next post might be about... Movember! I've been preparing since our return from Hawaii and my Mo should be a good one this year!
The title did mention bike, and yes, we did bike a couple times, but it wasn't a big focus for me this year. I better bike more next year if I want to do good at Ironman Mont-Tremblant in August 2012!
mardi 23 novembre 2010
Movember over, Ironman done and Beverley Hills celebrity chasing
Movember is over until 2011, as Jennifer made me shave my Movember after arriving in Arizona. She also argued that the facial hair would slow me down during the Ironman, so I gave up and shaved this beautiful mustache. :(
Iroman Arizona is done. It was a tough race, strong wind on the bike (cross or head, almost never at your back) but especially tough when all my hopes of catching up to Jennifer went away with a flat during the 3rd loop on the bike. With no hopes of catching up to her and knowing I'd get chicked by my wife left me with very little motivation to push hard, so I walked most of the 2nd run loop while eating way to much at each aid station. I finished strong on the 3rd loop just wanting to be done with the race. Anyways, why push hard knowing you won't qualify for Kona or do a PB on the race, when you can let your wife do all the hard work and get a spot for Kona!!
Yes, Jennifer finished 2nd in her age group and qualified for the 2011 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii! This means I'll be her personal support crew next October in Kona, and I'll have to push her to train harder until then, but I won't have to do all the workouts, just motivate her! :)
We're now sitting in Beverley Hills in a little café waiting for some Hollywood stars to show up and sharing quickly Ironman adventures before we head out for our honeymoon in Fiji. Jennifer is now an Ironman (Ironwoman) and actually beat me while doing so. I might have to stay quiet until the next revenge event: Gatineau Loppett, Montréal Half-Marathon, Ottawa Marathon, Muskoka 70.3, etc. I'll have many occasions to beat her again, but I have to admit that it's going to take another full Ironman to really take this one back. Since I won't be racing in Kona 2011, I'll have to convince Jennifer to HTFU and register with me for Ironman Canada in 2012. She's already trying to bail out of it or make excuses. She's afraid of the hills, afraid of this or that, but she's mostly afraid that I'll beat her this time around!
Okay, apart from wanting to beat my beloved wife, I'm really excited to have another 10 days of vacation and sit on a beach for a full week.
We'll be back online in December with a tan!
Tschussy!
Iroman Arizona is done. It was a tough race, strong wind on the bike (cross or head, almost never at your back) but especially tough when all my hopes of catching up to Jennifer went away with a flat during the 3rd loop on the bike. With no hopes of catching up to her and knowing I'd get chicked by my wife left me with very little motivation to push hard, so I walked most of the 2nd run loop while eating way to much at each aid station. I finished strong on the 3rd loop just wanting to be done with the race. Anyways, why push hard knowing you won't qualify for Kona or do a PB on the race, when you can let your wife do all the hard work and get a spot for Kona!!
Jennifer holding her confirmation spot for Kona!
Yes, Jennifer finished 2nd in her age group and qualified for the 2011 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii! This means I'll be her personal support crew next October in Kona, and I'll have to push her to train harder until then, but I won't have to do all the workouts, just motivate her! :)
We're now sitting in Beverley Hills in a little café waiting for some Hollywood stars to show up and sharing quickly Ironman adventures before we head out for our honeymoon in Fiji. Jennifer is now an Ironman (Ironwoman) and actually beat me while doing so. I might have to stay quiet until the next revenge event: Gatineau Loppett, Montréal Half-Marathon, Ottawa Marathon, Muskoka 70.3, etc. I'll have many occasions to beat her again, but I have to admit that it's going to take another full Ironman to really take this one back. Since I won't be racing in Kona 2011, I'll have to convince Jennifer to HTFU and register with me for Ironman Canada in 2012. She's already trying to bail out of it or make excuses. She's afraid of the hills, afraid of this or that, but she's mostly afraid that I'll beat her this time around!
Okay, apart from wanting to beat my beloved wife, I'm really excited to have another 10 days of vacation and sit on a beach for a full week.
We'll be back online in December with a tan!
Tschussy!
lundi 13 septembre 2010
Enfin une mise à jour!
Depuis le dernier message, il s'est passé beaucoup de choses, ce qui explique le manque de temps pour écrire sur mon blog. Me voici donc de retour en ligne, en direct de Toronto, pour une revue sur l'été 2010.
Jennifer a déménagé à Toronto le 1er mai après avoir conduit un U-Haul de 17' avec son père à travers les États-Unis depuis Jacksonville en Floride. Nous avons donc passé la majorité de l'été entre Ottawa et Toronto avec quelques escapades à Montréal pour planifier le mariage. Cette distance a rendu les entraînements un peu plus difficile à faire, mais on s'est tout de même maintenu en forme en préparation de nos courses de fin de saison. J'ai rejoins Jennifer à Toronto le 1er août après un déménagement assez facile et j'ai commencé un nouveau rôle chez Cisco au bureau de Toronto. Je reste Systems Engineer, alors pas de grand bouleversements, mais je m'occupe maintenant exclusivement de partenaires au lieu d'un mix de clients et partenaires comme je faisais à Ottawa.
Ensuite, on s'est marié! Tout s'est très bien passé et plusieurs photos sont déjà disponibles sur Facebook via le profil de Jennifer ou le mien. En fait tout a été comme sur des roulettes, à part une invitée de Jennifer qui s'est foulée la cheville sur le mauvais pavé du vieux port de Montréal. Même les caprices de Lola qui ne voulais pas démarrer à la sortie de l'église ont créer juste assez d'action pour rendre le tout encore plus intéressant. En fait si Lola avait démarré du premier coup ça aurait plutôt été hors de l'ordinaire.
Donc depuis le mois d'août, Jennifer et moi vivons une vie heureuse de jeune couple marié dans un condo du centre-ville de Toronto! Nous sommes tous les deux bien occupés par le travail, mais on prend le temps de s’entraîner un peu pour préparer Ironman Arizona qui arrive à grand pas. On a été faire le demi Ironman Muskoka 70.3 à 2-3h au nord de Toronto. Ça faisait du bien de ne pas avoir à faire plus de route que ça pour aller faire une course. Jennifer a très bien fait malgré l'air frais et les côtes sur le parcours de vélo et la course. Elle s'est mérité un podium avec une troisième place dans son groupe d'âge! Je suis aussi content de ma course puisque j'ai amélioré mon temps de l'année passée sur le même parcours par environ 7 minutes, mais surtout parce que j'ai battu Jennifer :). Vous pouvez consulter les résultats ici.
La semaine suivante, nous avons enchaîné avec le Waterfront Marathon de Toronto. Cette fois, le départ de la course était à environ 1km de notre condo et le parcours passait directement devant chez nous! Jennifer était un peu stressé à l'idée de compléter son premier marathon, mais non seulement elle l'a terminé, elle s'est aussi qualifié pour le marathon de Boston avec un temps de 3h28min! (3h40 était nécessaire pour qu'elle se qualifie) De mon côté, j'essayais aussi de me qualifier pour Boston, mais je n'ai pas réussis à passer sous la barre de 3h10min. J'ai tout de même fait mon meilleur temps avec 3h17min (6minutes plus rapide que mon 3h23 de Niagara ou 3h24 d'Ottawa). Encore une fois, j'ai battu Jennifer et ça m'apporte une certaine satisfaction! Voir les résultats ici.
Depuis, nous sommes de retour à l'entrainement en préparation d'Ironman Arizona. Plus que trois semaines avant le point culminant de notre saison 2010! L'événement marquera aussi le début de notre lune de miel, on a donc très hâte!
Ensuite, on espère trouver de la neige à Toronto pour commencer la saison de ski de fond. Je suis conscient par contre que je ne pourrai pas profiter de mes skis autant que l'année passé alors que j'étais à 15minutes du Parc de la Gatineau!
Sur ce, bonne fin de semaine et à la prochaine!
Jennifer a déménagé à Toronto le 1er mai après avoir conduit un U-Haul de 17' avec son père à travers les États-Unis depuis Jacksonville en Floride. Nous avons donc passé la majorité de l'été entre Ottawa et Toronto avec quelques escapades à Montréal pour planifier le mariage. Cette distance a rendu les entraînements un peu plus difficile à faire, mais on s'est tout de même maintenu en forme en préparation de nos courses de fin de saison. J'ai rejoins Jennifer à Toronto le 1er août après un déménagement assez facile et j'ai commencé un nouveau rôle chez Cisco au bureau de Toronto. Je reste Systems Engineer, alors pas de grand bouleversements, mais je m'occupe maintenant exclusivement de partenaires au lieu d'un mix de clients et partenaires comme je faisais à Ottawa.
Ensuite, on s'est marié! Tout s'est très bien passé et plusieurs photos sont déjà disponibles sur Facebook via le profil de Jennifer ou le mien. En fait tout a été comme sur des roulettes, à part une invitée de Jennifer qui s'est foulée la cheville sur le mauvais pavé du vieux port de Montréal. Même les caprices de Lola qui ne voulais pas démarrer à la sortie de l'église ont créer juste assez d'action pour rendre le tout encore plus intéressant. En fait si Lola avait démarré du premier coup ça aurait plutôt été hors de l'ordinaire.
Donc depuis le mois d'août, Jennifer et moi vivons une vie heureuse de jeune couple marié dans un condo du centre-ville de Toronto! Nous sommes tous les deux bien occupés par le travail, mais on prend le temps de s’entraîner un peu pour préparer Ironman Arizona qui arrive à grand pas. On a été faire le demi Ironman Muskoka 70.3 à 2-3h au nord de Toronto. Ça faisait du bien de ne pas avoir à faire plus de route que ça pour aller faire une course. Jennifer a très bien fait malgré l'air frais et les côtes sur le parcours de vélo et la course. Elle s'est mérité un podium avec une troisième place dans son groupe d'âge! Je suis aussi content de ma course puisque j'ai amélioré mon temps de l'année passée sur le même parcours par environ 7 minutes, mais surtout parce que j'ai battu Jennifer :). Vous pouvez consulter les résultats ici.
La semaine suivante, nous avons enchaîné avec le Waterfront Marathon de Toronto. Cette fois, le départ de la course était à environ 1km de notre condo et le parcours passait directement devant chez nous! Jennifer était un peu stressé à l'idée de compléter son premier marathon, mais non seulement elle l'a terminé, elle s'est aussi qualifié pour le marathon de Boston avec un temps de 3h28min! (3h40 était nécessaire pour qu'elle se qualifie) De mon côté, j'essayais aussi de me qualifier pour Boston, mais je n'ai pas réussis à passer sous la barre de 3h10min. J'ai tout de même fait mon meilleur temps avec 3h17min (6minutes plus rapide que mon 3h23 de Niagara ou 3h24 d'Ottawa). Encore une fois, j'ai battu Jennifer et ça m'apporte une certaine satisfaction! Voir les résultats ici.
Depuis, nous sommes de retour à l'entrainement en préparation d'Ironman Arizona. Plus que trois semaines avant le point culminant de notre saison 2010! L'événement marquera aussi le début de notre lune de miel, on a donc très hâte!
Ensuite, on espère trouver de la neige à Toronto pour commencer la saison de ski de fond. Je suis conscient par contre que je ne pourrai pas profiter de mes skis autant que l'année passé alors que j'étais à 15minutes du Parc de la Gatineau!
Sur ce, bonne fin de semaine et à la prochaine!
mercredi 28 avril 2010
Mise à jour sur l'année 2010
Bonjour,
Petite mise à jour à la veille du mois de mai. Jennifer déménage au Canada! Elle a obtenu un poste à Toronto avec sa compagnie et peut donc garder son emploi. Elle emménage donc dans un condo qu'on va louer au centre-ville de Toronto.
Voici quelques photos : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=408334&id=623425696&l=f4f601bd45
De mon côté, je vais être transféré à Toronto pour le 1er août et emménager avec elle de façon permanente à ce moment là.
Du côté des sports, j'ai renoué avec le ski de fonds cette année et après un début de saison à la toute fin du mois de janvier, j'ai toute même réussi à faire 16 sorties à l'intérieur de 6 semaines jusqu'à ce que le beau temps vienne faire fondre mon nouveau terrain de jeu préféré : Les pistes de ski de fonds (skate) du parc de la Gatineau. Comme première saison j'aurai tout de même participé à la Gatineau Loppet (course) de 27km, fait jusqu'à 37km en une seule matinée, et parcouru un total de 320km entre le 31 janvier et le 13 mars.
J'ai aussi couru autant que possible entre mes sorties de ski de fonds, ce qui m'a permis de faire une performance assez intéressante au demi marathon de Montréal : nouvelle marque personnelle de 1h29min.
Le marathon d'Ottawa approche à grand pas (30 mai), mais l'entrainement doit faire place à l'organisation d'un déménagement (1er mai) et la préparation d'un mariage (7 août) qui commence à approcher drôlement vite! Il faut tout de même garder la forme puisqu'après le mariage, le dernier droit vers Ironman Arizona (21 novembre) sera vite écoulé.
Sinon, une autre petite nouvelle est que j'ai passé mon cours d'allemand de l'automne passé. J'ai finalement été voir mon résultat sur le site Web de l'Université d'Ottawa alors que je cherchais mon reçu d'impôt pour frais de scolarité! Les prochains cours de langues seront pour Jennifer alors qu'elle va s'inscrire à un cours de français à l'automne prochain à Toronto!
Après un cours séjour au Grand Cayman dans les caraïbes au début du mois de mars avec Jennifer et une petite visite d'adieux à Jacksonville la fin de semaine passée, le reste de la saison devrait rester entre Toronto, Ottawa et Montréal.
Sur ce, à la prochaine!
Petite mise à jour à la veille du mois de mai. Jennifer déménage au Canada! Elle a obtenu un poste à Toronto avec sa compagnie et peut donc garder son emploi. Elle emménage donc dans un condo qu'on va louer au centre-ville de Toronto.
Voici quelques photos : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=408334&id=623425696&l=f4f601bd45
De mon côté, je vais être transféré à Toronto pour le 1er août et emménager avec elle de façon permanente à ce moment là.
Du côté des sports, j'ai renoué avec le ski de fonds cette année et après un début de saison à la toute fin du mois de janvier, j'ai toute même réussi à faire 16 sorties à l'intérieur de 6 semaines jusqu'à ce que le beau temps vienne faire fondre mon nouveau terrain de jeu préféré : Les pistes de ski de fonds (skate) du parc de la Gatineau. Comme première saison j'aurai tout de même participé à la Gatineau Loppet (course) de 27km, fait jusqu'à 37km en une seule matinée, et parcouru un total de 320km entre le 31 janvier et le 13 mars.
J'ai aussi couru autant que possible entre mes sorties de ski de fonds, ce qui m'a permis de faire une performance assez intéressante au demi marathon de Montréal : nouvelle marque personnelle de 1h29min.
Le marathon d'Ottawa approche à grand pas (30 mai), mais l'entrainement doit faire place à l'organisation d'un déménagement (1er mai) et la préparation d'un mariage (7 août) qui commence à approcher drôlement vite! Il faut tout de même garder la forme puisqu'après le mariage, le dernier droit vers Ironman Arizona (21 novembre) sera vite écoulé.
Sinon, une autre petite nouvelle est que j'ai passé mon cours d'allemand de l'automne passé. J'ai finalement été voir mon résultat sur le site Web de l'Université d'Ottawa alors que je cherchais mon reçu d'impôt pour frais de scolarité! Les prochains cours de langues seront pour Jennifer alors qu'elle va s'inscrire à un cours de français à l'automne prochain à Toronto!
Après un cours séjour au Grand Cayman dans les caraïbes au début du mois de mars avec Jennifer et une petite visite d'adieux à Jacksonville la fin de semaine passée, le reste de la saison devrait rester entre Toronto, Ottawa et Montréal.
Sur ce, à la prochaine!
dimanche 10 janvier 2010
Revue de 2009 et plans pour 2010
Parfois j'ai de l'inspiration à écrire parce qu'il se passe des choses intéressantes dans ma vie, parfois c'est parce qu'il ne se passe rien d'intéressant, alors je m'occupe à raconter les parties qui étaient intéressante, et parfois, c'est un peu pour faire comme les autres.
Aujourd'hui, je fais comme Jennifer et je fais une petite revue de l'année 2009.
L'année a commencé et fini exactement au même endroit (Bain Mathieu, zone VIP du party Kiss'n'Fly), mais ô combien de choses de sont passées entre ces deux party. Tout d'abord, j'ai commencer à fréquenter Jennifer au mois d'avril après une petite visite à Jacksonville pour Pâques. J'ai ensuite eu la chance de la revoir régulièrement alors que j'habitais encore à Raleigh, en Caroline du Nord. Que ça soit pour aller faire du vélo en Caroline du Sud, faire un demi ironman à Orlando ou passer une fin de semaine à la plage à Wilmington, NC, on a trouvé plein d'occasions de se voir.
L'été a été marqué par mon retour au Canada et le début de mon exil Ontarien pour mon poste comme Systems Engineer chez Cisco. J'ai effectivement déménagé à Ottawa avant d'aller faire un petit saut en Europe (France et Espagne) avec Jennifer. Fait saillant : course avec les taureaux à Pamplona! Après avoir considéré courir en 2006, j'avais mis de côté l'idée, sans toutefois l'abandonnée, alors quand Jennifer m'a parlé de son projet d'aller faire ça en Espagne, j'ai tout de suite sauté sur l'occasion de me reprendre et courir dans l'encierro de Pamplona.
L'automne m'a permis de continuer à faire quelques course, incluant mon meilleur demi marathon à ce jour (1h32), mon premier marathon à Niagara Falls (3h23) et mon 2e Ironman à Cozumel (11h14). Le tout a été suivi par un mois de décembre au repos, mais marqué d'un autre événement important : nos fiançailles! J'ai demandé Jennifer en mariage dans sa ville natale de Pensacola en Floride, à l'occasion du temps des fêtes passé dans sa famille.
L'année s'est terminée par un retour à Montréal, accompagné de ma fiancé, pour célébrer la nouvelle année en famille (diner) et en grand (party Kiss and Fly). Je me suis donc retrouvé au même endroit que l'année passée pour la nouvelle année, mais dans une situation bien différente, et ce pour le mieux.
2010 sera donc marquée par un mariage, l'importation de ma fiancé au Canada, et un autre Ironman en Arizona au mois de novembre. Cette fois Jennifer m'accompagnera dans chaque événement!
Rester à l'affût pour les développements!
Aujourd'hui, je fais comme Jennifer et je fais une petite revue de l'année 2009.
L'année a commencé et fini exactement au même endroit (Bain Mathieu, zone VIP du party Kiss'n'Fly), mais ô combien de choses de sont passées entre ces deux party. Tout d'abord, j'ai commencer à fréquenter Jennifer au mois d'avril après une petite visite à Jacksonville pour Pâques. J'ai ensuite eu la chance de la revoir régulièrement alors que j'habitais encore à Raleigh, en Caroline du Nord. Que ça soit pour aller faire du vélo en Caroline du Sud, faire un demi ironman à Orlando ou passer une fin de semaine à la plage à Wilmington, NC, on a trouvé plein d'occasions de se voir.
L'été a été marqué par mon retour au Canada et le début de mon exil Ontarien pour mon poste comme Systems Engineer chez Cisco. J'ai effectivement déménagé à Ottawa avant d'aller faire un petit saut en Europe (France et Espagne) avec Jennifer. Fait saillant : course avec les taureaux à Pamplona! Après avoir considéré courir en 2006, j'avais mis de côté l'idée, sans toutefois l'abandonnée, alors quand Jennifer m'a parlé de son projet d'aller faire ça en Espagne, j'ai tout de suite sauté sur l'occasion de me reprendre et courir dans l'encierro de Pamplona.
L'automne m'a permis de continuer à faire quelques course, incluant mon meilleur demi marathon à ce jour (1h32), mon premier marathon à Niagara Falls (3h23) et mon 2e Ironman à Cozumel (11h14). Le tout a été suivi par un mois de décembre au repos, mais marqué d'un autre événement important : nos fiançailles! J'ai demandé Jennifer en mariage dans sa ville natale de Pensacola en Floride, à l'occasion du temps des fêtes passé dans sa famille.
L'année s'est terminée par un retour à Montréal, accompagné de ma fiancé, pour célébrer la nouvelle année en famille (diner) et en grand (party Kiss and Fly). Je me suis donc retrouvé au même endroit que l'année passée pour la nouvelle année, mais dans une situation bien différente, et ce pour le mieux.
2010 sera donc marquée par un mariage, l'importation de ma fiancé au Canada, et un autre Ironman en Arizona au mois de novembre. Cette fois Jennifer m'accompagnera dans chaque événement!
Rester à l'affût pour les développements!
lundi 7 décembre 2009
Ironman Cozumel Race Report
As I took quite a bit of time to prepare for this race, I in turn will take quite a bit of time to tell about it:
Why this race? Why another Ironman?
First off, I want to explain why I decided to do this race. For those of you who don’t know yet, I did my first Ironman in Montréal in 2005 during my very first season. I finished, but it was a very lucky ending. I was not properly prepared for such a race, with my longest run of 18km before attempting 42.2km… after a 180 km bike! So I felt I had to earn this achievement by preparing decently for it, and there was the attraction of doing an official race of the Ironman or M.dot circuit . There is also the possibility that by doing an official race, I could qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
In 2007, I did my first “official” Ironman 70.3 in Cancún. I really enjoyed the event, for many reasons: the great trip I had getting there; driving from Puebla to Cancún, the beautiful weather of the Mexican Riviera, the well organized race and nicer race gear were definitely part of the good experience. Did I also mentioned I met someone very special at that race?
So about a year after Cancún, when the new Ironman Cozumel was announced. I was really tempted to register, so I forwarded the announcement to my Montréal triathlon team: Les Antilopes. I had many reasons to register: I wanted to go back to México, after living there for a semester during college, I wanted to complete an “official” M.dot race (and earn my IM status and right to wear the associated gear), and I wanted to have the good experience of participating in a well organized race (not to bash Montréal’s Esprit, triathlon, but it was cold and miserable, almost no crowd at the end, ugly finisher gear, etc.). So when some Antilopes decided to register, that was the last push I needed to say, “Me too, I'm in”!
Preparation
Since running was my weakest event, I decided to do an early season half marathon at the end of March in Raleigh to kick off my season, and loose my late fall and holiday weight (I started 2009 at over 205lbs!). After an acceptable 1h39, I focused more on the bike for half ironman Florida in May, which was also an excuse to visit Jennifer and go to Orlando for the first time.
The summer was occupied by travel, moving, relocating, and as a consequence I was not very intense on working out. I picked it up once installed in Ottawa, with 70.3 Muskoka in September. After a relatively deceiving 5h24, (I had finished Cancún 70.3 in 5h00) I realized this was a very different course, and that I had no reference as the conditions were just so different from one race to another. Next, I decided to do the Army Run half marathon just a week after Muskoka, to check up on my running capabilities. Result : personal best in 1h32! This gave me motivation to prepare for the next step: Niagara Falls Marathon at the end of October. This would be the last step/milestone to complete my preparation for Cozumel.
Niagara Falls marathon went well, and even though I was not supposed to push too much 5 weeks before an Ironman, I still pushed it a little at the end to complete the run with almost even splits of 1h41/1h42. I was now confident that I could complete IM Cozumel without any problems as I had now addressed the lack of running experience I had in 2005.
With all my running focus came a down side: with a full time job, a new position in a new city, a new lifestyle, German class at night twice a week, something had to suffer: BIKING! The last time I had biked 180km was in April with Jennifer in South Carolina! As the fall arrived very early in Ottawa, I bought a trainer for my personal peace of mind, but to be honest, I almost didn’t use it! I still never managed to stay on this thing for more than an hour!
As for the swim preparation, there wasn’t much swim prep needed. I was a bad swimmer in college, which makes me a good swimmer in triathlon world, so maintaining a decent swimming shape was achieved by swimming once or twice a week.
So slightly one year after registering, I found myself on my way back to mi México querido only 18 months after leaving it in 2008.
I was ready to run. I was not prepared enough for the bike, but I was ready to do my best with what my legs would have to give, and I was also ready to swim/snorkel in the beautiful crystal clear waters of the Caribbean.
The Race
I decided to fly to Cozumel on the Friday before the race. I wanted to enjoy a vacation after the race, rather than spend the typical ‘week before’ preparing. I arrived on the afternoon of the 27th, which was also the last time window to do athlete registration. As usual, I was last minute. I did my registration before checking in at the hotel at the Cozumel Convention Center, after a long exhausting day of travel. The alarm had gone off at 4am, and it was past 6pm when I finally checked in! To add to my long day, they actually made a mistake and made me change rooms about 30 minutes after settling in. The sunny side of this : they upgraded me to a nicer room, which had room service and free wireless internet included!
When I finally went to bed, I slept like a rock for 9 hours straight before waking up, and deciding to stay in bed for one more hour.
I was feeling much better than the night before, so now my actual preparation for the race could begin. I got the gear and special foods bags together; went for a quick bike spin, jog, and swim before I went to transition with other Antilopes to do the bike check-in. At this point, there was not much more to do but eat well and go to bed early, and hope to get some sleep!
Race Day:
I woke up at 4:30 am after a pretty bad night of sleep, as expected. I ate at the special breakfast buffet setup for the athletes and by 5:15 am, I was on the shuttle to transition, and although there was not much more to prepare on race morning. I barely made it to the swim start to see the Pros start at 6:45. I found a bunch of Antilopes and familiar faces on my way to the in-water start, and I had time to find myself a nice spot in the water to start the swim.
I started strong on the swim, focusing on good technique. I found a strong kicker that ended up being my ride for the first stretch against the current up to the turn around. I took it a little bit easier along the long stretch with the current, and I was surprised to turn again at only 35min into the swim. I was also surprised to be able to read my watch while swimming, but the water is that clear! It was a really really nice swim. The last straight of the swim was not that straight for me, as the sun was blinding us. I had a hard time figuring out where to go, but once on track, I realized I was probably going to do a sub-1 hour swim. Swim time: 56min11sec! Thank you current!! However, let’s be realistic, this would have been maybe 10 minutes slower without that current!
I’m running out of the water and I’m feeling great. Shower for 5sec, grab my bike gear bag, no stop in the changing tent, put on my helmet while running to my bike, finish putting on gear, hop on my bike and was out of transition before the clock showed 1 hour! Did I mentioned sunscreen? -No. I didn't apply sunscreen between the swim and the bike! Whoops.
The bike started with a strong tail wind, which helped me go really fast without pushing it. I also saw Tom, an Antilope friend, who hopped on the bike at the same time as I did, and who gave me company for most of the race. As expected, the wind changed as we approached the “Punta Sur” of the island, slowing down the pace, and making me gradually pick up the intensity. As I made the turn to the far side of the island, the hard stretch of the bike started… for the first time. It was about 20km of riding directly along the deserted coast, with strong and consistent cross winds that felt like a head wind. The turn to come back towards town was very welcoming, but the thought of having to do that stretch two more times was not so nice. By the second loop, I wanted to be off my bike. I felt tired, exhausted, and I was already hurting pretty much everywhere. The lack of bike training was obviously catching up to me, and reminding me that you can’t just hop on a bike, do 180km, and seriously hope that it’s going to feel like a walk in the park. It’s going to hurt... seriously!
I ate a couple of power bars when I started to feel hungry, and I kept eating to make sure I was fueled up for the upcoming marathon. I kept my average over 30km/h, but missed biking faster than the Montréal 2005 Ironman by 9 minutes. I was happy with the 5h53 bike although I was hoping to go faster than my 5h44 from my first Ironman.
I slowed down at the end of the bike and made sure I stretched as much as I could in the last kilometers in preparation to start the run strong. In T2 I took time to put on socks and calf sleeves, while also making sure to apply the sunscreen I managed to forget during T1.
I started out running strong. Actually, with the crowd and the great feeling of being off the bike, I was running way to fast! I looked at my pace once the biggest part of the crowd was past, and I realized I should go slower than 4min/km! I paced myself to something more conservative around 5:30 per km, but I got tired quickly and slowed down to over 6min/km by the time I got to the turn-around point at 7km. I finished the first loop in pain, and I noticed I was having a hard time staying below 6min/km pace. I completed the first loop within 1h20min, which was a good pace to do a 4 hours marathon, but I couldn’t keep it up in the second and third loop. I walked at some fuel stations, as it was really hard to keep on pumping over 140-150 bpm. Although it was tough, I kept on running, not allowing myself to walk more than a couple minutes. I was expecting to get my heart rate easily around 150-160, as I usually average a half marathon at close to 170 bpm, but that was not happening. I knew at that point that I would not do under 11 hours as initially planned, and that I would not be able to run my marathon in less than 4 hours. I was so confident I would be able to do so, but I underestimated how much the bike would take out of me. I wanted to take it easy, but I kept on pushing as hard as I could for two reasons: First, I knew that Jennifer was monitoring me, and I knew that she wouldn’t give up that easily, so thinking about her made me want to do the best I could, just as I know she would do. I also had to beat a good friends IM time that he had done in Montréal in 2007 of 11h26, which would not happen if I started slacking off on the run. So I kept on running, with some short walks, and finally opened up the machine for the last 7km back towards the finish. I did go a little faster; it was very hard and very painful, but I had to give it all I had left. I also ran into my friend Tom right at the turn around, and I was sure he would chase after me, so in the spirit of healthy competition, I wanted to try to keep a few steps ahead of him!
I averaged a good speed in the last stretch, and did a crescendo in intensity up until the end, keeping just enough to sprint across the finish, running at about 22km/h (under 3min/km) and passing 2 people in the last 100m straight towards the finish line.
It was finally done, 11 hours and 14 minutes later! My whole body was hurting so much and pushing so hard I didn’t even hear the famous “You are an Ironman”. I picked put my finisher medal and t-shirt, and after eating a bite, received a massage at the massage tent before laying down on the grass. I laid on the grass for a while! I finally found the motivation to make my way slowly back to my hotel in a taxi, after picking up all my gear bags and bike. I wanted to get back to my room and get on Skype to share my finisher moment with Jennifer, who had followed me all day on athlete tracker.
Why this race? Why another Ironman?
First off, I want to explain why I decided to do this race. For those of you who don’t know yet, I did my first Ironman in Montréal in 2005 during my very first season. I finished, but it was a very lucky ending. I was not properly prepared for such a race, with my longest run of 18km before attempting 42.2km… after a 180 km bike! So I felt I had to earn this achievement by preparing decently for it, and there was the attraction of doing an official race of the Ironman or M.dot circuit . There is also the possibility that by doing an official race, I could qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
In 2007, I did my first “official” Ironman 70.3 in Cancún. I really enjoyed the event, for many reasons: the great trip I had getting there; driving from Puebla to Cancún, the beautiful weather of the Mexican Riviera, the well organized race and nicer race gear were definitely part of the good experience. Did I also mentioned I met someone very special at that race?
So about a year after Cancún, when the new Ironman Cozumel was announced. I was really tempted to register, so I forwarded the announcement to my Montréal triathlon team: Les Antilopes. I had many reasons to register: I wanted to go back to México, after living there for a semester during college, I wanted to complete an “official” M.dot race (and earn my IM status and right to wear the associated gear), and I wanted to have the good experience of participating in a well organized race (not to bash Montréal’s Esprit, triathlon, but it was cold and miserable, almost no crowd at the end, ugly finisher gear, etc.). So when some Antilopes decided to register, that was the last push I needed to say, “Me too, I'm in”!
Preparation
Since running was my weakest event, I decided to do an early season half marathon at the end of March in Raleigh to kick off my season, and loose my late fall and holiday weight (I started 2009 at over 205lbs!). After an acceptable 1h39, I focused more on the bike for half ironman Florida in May, which was also an excuse to visit Jennifer and go to Orlando for the first time.
The summer was occupied by travel, moving, relocating, and as a consequence I was not very intense on working out. I picked it up once installed in Ottawa, with 70.3 Muskoka in September. After a relatively deceiving 5h24, (I had finished Cancún 70.3 in 5h00) I realized this was a very different course, and that I had no reference as the conditions were just so different from one race to another. Next, I decided to do the Army Run half marathon just a week after Muskoka, to check up on my running capabilities. Result : personal best in 1h32! This gave me motivation to prepare for the next step: Niagara Falls Marathon at the end of October. This would be the last step/milestone to complete my preparation for Cozumel.
Niagara Falls marathon went well, and even though I was not supposed to push too much 5 weeks before an Ironman, I still pushed it a little at the end to complete the run with almost even splits of 1h41/1h42. I was now confident that I could complete IM Cozumel without any problems as I had now addressed the lack of running experience I had in 2005.
With all my running focus came a down side: with a full time job, a new position in a new city, a new lifestyle, German class at night twice a week, something had to suffer: BIKING! The last time I had biked 180km was in April with Jennifer in South Carolina! As the fall arrived very early in Ottawa, I bought a trainer for my personal peace of mind, but to be honest, I almost didn’t use it! I still never managed to stay on this thing for more than an hour!
As for the swim preparation, there wasn’t much swim prep needed. I was a bad swimmer in college, which makes me a good swimmer in triathlon world, so maintaining a decent swimming shape was achieved by swimming once or twice a week.
So slightly one year after registering, I found myself on my way back to mi México querido only 18 months after leaving it in 2008.
I was ready to run. I was not prepared enough for the bike, but I was ready to do my best with what my legs would have to give, and I was also ready to swim/snorkel in the beautiful crystal clear waters of the Caribbean.
The Race
I decided to fly to Cozumel on the Friday before the race. I wanted to enjoy a vacation after the race, rather than spend the typical ‘week before’ preparing. I arrived on the afternoon of the 27th, which was also the last time window to do athlete registration. As usual, I was last minute. I did my registration before checking in at the hotel at the Cozumel Convention Center, after a long exhausting day of travel. The alarm had gone off at 4am, and it was past 6pm when I finally checked in! To add to my long day, they actually made a mistake and made me change rooms about 30 minutes after settling in. The sunny side of this : they upgraded me to a nicer room, which had room service and free wireless internet included!
When I finally went to bed, I slept like a rock for 9 hours straight before waking up, and deciding to stay in bed for one more hour.
I was feeling much better than the night before, so now my actual preparation for the race could begin. I got the gear and special foods bags together; went for a quick bike spin, jog, and swim before I went to transition with other Antilopes to do the bike check-in. At this point, there was not much more to do but eat well and go to bed early, and hope to get some sleep!
Race Day:
I woke up at 4:30 am after a pretty bad night of sleep, as expected. I ate at the special breakfast buffet setup for the athletes and by 5:15 am, I was on the shuttle to transition, and although there was not much more to prepare on race morning. I barely made it to the swim start to see the Pros start at 6:45. I found a bunch of Antilopes and familiar faces on my way to the in-water start, and I had time to find myself a nice spot in the water to start the swim.
I started strong on the swim, focusing on good technique. I found a strong kicker that ended up being my ride for the first stretch against the current up to the turn around. I took it a little bit easier along the long stretch with the current, and I was surprised to turn again at only 35min into the swim. I was also surprised to be able to read my watch while swimming, but the water is that clear! It was a really really nice swim. The last straight of the swim was not that straight for me, as the sun was blinding us. I had a hard time figuring out where to go, but once on track, I realized I was probably going to do a sub-1 hour swim. Swim time: 56min11sec! Thank you current!! However, let’s be realistic, this would have been maybe 10 minutes slower without that current!
I’m running out of the water and I’m feeling great. Shower for 5sec, grab my bike gear bag, no stop in the changing tent, put on my helmet while running to my bike, finish putting on gear, hop on my bike and was out of transition before the clock showed 1 hour! Did I mentioned sunscreen? -No. I didn't apply sunscreen between the swim and the bike! Whoops.
The bike started with a strong tail wind, which helped me go really fast without pushing it. I also saw Tom, an Antilope friend, who hopped on the bike at the same time as I did, and who gave me company for most of the race. As expected, the wind changed as we approached the “Punta Sur” of the island, slowing down the pace, and making me gradually pick up the intensity. As I made the turn to the far side of the island, the hard stretch of the bike started… for the first time. It was about 20km of riding directly along the deserted coast, with strong and consistent cross winds that felt like a head wind. The turn to come back towards town was very welcoming, but the thought of having to do that stretch two more times was not so nice. By the second loop, I wanted to be off my bike. I felt tired, exhausted, and I was already hurting pretty much everywhere. The lack of bike training was obviously catching up to me, and reminding me that you can’t just hop on a bike, do 180km, and seriously hope that it’s going to feel like a walk in the park. It’s going to hurt... seriously!
I ate a couple of power bars when I started to feel hungry, and I kept eating to make sure I was fueled up for the upcoming marathon. I kept my average over 30km/h, but missed biking faster than the Montréal 2005 Ironman by 9 minutes. I was happy with the 5h53 bike although I was hoping to go faster than my 5h44 from my first Ironman.
I slowed down at the end of the bike and made sure I stretched as much as I could in the last kilometers in preparation to start the run strong. In T2 I took time to put on socks and calf sleeves, while also making sure to apply the sunscreen I managed to forget during T1.
I started out running strong. Actually, with the crowd and the great feeling of being off the bike, I was running way to fast! I looked at my pace once the biggest part of the crowd was past, and I realized I should go slower than 4min/km! I paced myself to something more conservative around 5:30 per km, but I got tired quickly and slowed down to over 6min/km by the time I got to the turn-around point at 7km. I finished the first loop in pain, and I noticed I was having a hard time staying below 6min/km pace. I completed the first loop within 1h20min, which was a good pace to do a 4 hours marathon, but I couldn’t keep it up in the second and third loop. I walked at some fuel stations, as it was really hard to keep on pumping over 140-150 bpm. Although it was tough, I kept on running, not allowing myself to walk more than a couple minutes. I was expecting to get my heart rate easily around 150-160, as I usually average a half marathon at close to 170 bpm, but that was not happening. I knew at that point that I would not do under 11 hours as initially planned, and that I would not be able to run my marathon in less than 4 hours. I was so confident I would be able to do so, but I underestimated how much the bike would take out of me. I wanted to take it easy, but I kept on pushing as hard as I could for two reasons: First, I knew that Jennifer was monitoring me, and I knew that she wouldn’t give up that easily, so thinking about her made me want to do the best I could, just as I know she would do. I also had to beat a good friends IM time that he had done in Montréal in 2007 of 11h26, which would not happen if I started slacking off on the run. So I kept on running, with some short walks, and finally opened up the machine for the last 7km back towards the finish. I did go a little faster; it was very hard and very painful, but I had to give it all I had left. I also ran into my friend Tom right at the turn around, and I was sure he would chase after me, so in the spirit of healthy competition, I wanted to try to keep a few steps ahead of him!
I averaged a good speed in the last stretch, and did a crescendo in intensity up until the end, keeping just enough to sprint across the finish, running at about 22km/h (under 3min/km) and passing 2 people in the last 100m straight towards the finish line.
It was finally done, 11 hours and 14 minutes later! My whole body was hurting so much and pushing so hard I didn’t even hear the famous “You are an Ironman”. I picked put my finisher medal and t-shirt, and after eating a bite, received a massage at the massage tent before laying down on the grass. I laid on the grass for a while! I finally found the motivation to make my way slowly back to my hotel in a taxi, after picking up all my gear bags and bike. I wanted to get back to my room and get on Skype to share my finisher moment with Jennifer, who had followed me all day on athlete tracker.
Overall, I’m very happy with my result. I finished well in my age group (12th), and it was a very nice experience to be back in México racing again in the Caribbean. Although I was confident that I could complete the race, I had forgotten after 4 years, how hard it actually is to do such a race. I think this will motivate me to train harder for next year, as I’m registered for IM Arizona on November 21st 2010. This time, I will be joined by Jennifer, who finally decided to make the step into full distance, so this will make training more fun as we’ll be preparing for the same goal race.
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