Mac Grant Training- My Canada Games Journey!

Named to the 2009 Nova Scotia CG Triathlon Team!

2009-07-15T16:49:00.002-03:00

After many months of preparation and focus on the Canada Games selection process I've officially made the team! I'm stoked! June was a crazy month with 3 out of 4 weekends taken up with races! Now that that's done it's time to focus on the next goal of being ready for the August 18th and 21st. I'm feeling very motivated and have been building back into training nicely.
More news coming soon, but I need to get out training now! :)

Training

2009-04-30T23:00:00.003-03:00

Training is going really well. I feel really strong this week and I'm happy to be outside on the bike riding hard. Swimming is going well and really fast! I can't beleive some of the times I've been throwing down in practice! Yesterday we did 10x100 and then 10x50 and I was holding between 1:12's- 1:15 for the 100's and 35-37's for the 50's super awesome! I've had a couple of former CIS swimming medalists in my lane so it's really been pushing me! I feel even with the reduced mileage since the end of swim season that I'm actually swimming faster. :) Biking is going well, hard to judge untill I really get into th outdoor riding. Running is good, been having some amazing fast runs.

Back home now!

2009-04-24T18:11:00.002-03:00

After a really busy week I'm back home in Halifax and adjusting into a new routine. Things are going well and I've been busy unpacking my things and fitting in my workouts. Tomorrow I'm going to a Canada Games session where we're going to be sized for gear and things. So hopefully it will be good motivation to keep training hard!

A training update coming later tonight!

Back to Blogging!

2009-04-15T14:43:00.002-03:00

After a busy week I finally have some time to relax, and just hang out. The last week has been hectic. From Thursday afternoon though to yesterday I spent most of my time studying for exams I had Monday and Tuesday, stats on Monday and Econ on Tuesday morning. I spent hours of everyday doing practice problems, reading and making chapter summary's. Next Tuesday I have two more exams: Human Geography 2-5pm and then Comp Sci. 7-10pm. It's also been busy getting ready to move home and start a new routine with life and training.

Had a good workouts yesterday: run a 4x1000m workout out a road I had measured a week ago when pretty good, run 3:38, 3:33, 3:27 and 3:31. I was happy with this workout and I'm looking forward to building on it and into to more speed stuff in a month or so. Had an easy swim yesterday as well, just lots of drills and stuff.

I'll definitely miss swimming at the Mt. A pool, but it was be a nice change. I also look forward to swimming in outdoor pools and swimming open water. I'm also looking forward to running on a track instead of a dirt road :)

Training shifted a little bit this week to 1 more run, 1 more bike, 1 less swim. should be a good change.

Heading to the pool in a bit cycling and strength work later. Feeling motivated right now!

Update from the last couple of days..

2009-04-08T07:57:00.002-03:00

It's recovery week this week
Training update:
Monday: Swim: MS's: 5x50 fly, 12x100 (6 free on 1:30, 6 stroke on 1:45), 800 pull sprint on whistle
Bike: 3x4minutes at low zone 3, 2 minutes in between. HR monitor was annoying so I took it off :)

Tuesday: Easy run- 30 minutes- just an easy run, try to keep the Technique together. Picked up my cell phone on the run since I had lost it on the bus.
Swim: MS's 4x100 fly on 2:00 with fins, 500, 400, 300, 200 pull with "BIG paddles" on :30 rest :) , 6x50 easy

Life is busy, Up late yesterday in computer lab working on stats for a lab exam which is in 20 minutes. Cool, feeling ready.

Training Update

2009-04-03T14:37:00.002-03:00

Spring has returned, and the grass is starting to show through!
Lots of soild swims this week. Swimming everyday this week mon-fri. Lots of solid sets, feeling very good in the water. We went a 1500m with fins for time yesterday, felt good and relaxed, went 18:15. Coach come up with lots of interesting set this week.
Running and doing an easy swim later.
I'm looking forward to my workouts this weekend, should be good!
Not much of an update, but I'm not really thinking straight right now, very busy week with school. Still not sure how I fit everything in.

Another solid training day, but no longer spring!

2009-03-30T22:53:00.002-03:00

Well it's winter again! We got tons of snow! As in it's been snowing since 7:45am this morning after practice...

Solid training today!
6:10am-swim, wow that's early! swam 3500m with the group,swam solid, MS:5x300 on 4:30

4:45pm- run 35mins, aerobic with 1 minute intervals thrown in as I like! :)

Should be another good day tomorrow, haven't decide what workouts in doing yet. Had another epsom bath tonight, so feeling really relaxed!

Spring!!

2009-03-29T19:20:00.003-03:00

Great day and workouts today! I love the sound of the snow melting into the sewers. I can't wait to run on the trail just behind my place! It's got to be the best running trails ever!
Bike/run workout- 1:23 on the bike zone 2 followed by a 10 minute run, 5 minutes high zone 3 to the small pine tree, 5 minutes cool down. Biked on the trainer since the roads are full of crap, but ran in shorts, t-shirt and sunglasses!!!
Abs and tubing tonight followed by another epsom bath.

Today..

2009-03-29T00:04:00.003-03:00

Today was good! It was the first day of my max strength phase in the weight room, for arms, legs are just on the endurance phase. It was a nice mental break counting to 1o instead of 20! It's also fun lifting the bigger weights! :) Did the weights this morning at 10:00

My afternoon workout was an hour run, it was pretty good, did some drills and accelerations in the middle. It was a great day here and I was able to run in shorts! Awesome! and it seems like lots of the ice melted off the trail from warm weather.

Was rewarded with a nice hot epsom salt bath tonight! Mmm, so relaxing!

The talk and excitement of our swim team this week has been the installation of a new light switch in our team room! We're pretty excited about it, and it works great! (out of all the things they could fix in there, they pick the light switch...interesting)

This picture pretty much sums up my week.

Busy busy!!

2009-03-27T20:39:00.002-03:00

Wow, things are getting extremely busy with school winding down! Lots of papers, quizzes, and work to wrap up before finals start in April. I think the training will be easier to fit in after classes are finished and I can just focus on studying and training with no classes or new material to catch up on.

Training is going well, I'm finding some good consistancy with my workouts and think I'm getting fitter and strong. I think a race in the next few weeks will answer any questions about fitness level. I'm planning to do the 5km race here in Sackville which is sometime in May. Maybe some other running races aswell.

Training update:
Today:
Swim- 3500m - main sets: 3x200m IM on 3:30, 20x50 decending pace times each 10, 5, 5 as :50, :45, :40, 4x100m max on 3:00 (1:11, 1:10, 1:09 & 1:07), and 6x25 fly with 10 situps, 10 push-ups after each.
Improvised strength workout (weight room closed)

Yesterday:
60min bike: did the CTS time trial DVD.
Short swim: just some shorts swims, short because had to go to the athletic banquet

Icing

2009-03-25T11:08:00.002-03:00

I'm sitting on my bed icing my legs right now as I write.
Was feeling a little burnt out sore and tired yesterday so took a day off to recover and feel a little better. It worked as I am feeling better right now. A day off yesterday was much needed, I was very forgetful yesterday and couldn't even remember what floor I live on when I got in the elevator.

Today workouts will be a bike and swim workouts, just separate, not as a brick. Lots of school work to do as well.

Lance A. is hurt crashed 2 days ago and broke his collarbone. He's a professional and he'll be back to contend for the tour in a few months!

Body is feeling tired

2009-03-24T11:07:00.002-03:00

I'm feeling pretty tired and run down from training lately. Yesterday I had my first track workout of the season, which went pretty well. We ran 8x400 on 3:00 at the moncton indoor track. I got back around 7:30pm and all I wanted to do was sleep. I had an easy swim yesterday which didn't feel great, maybe just from doing weights the night before or something. Today might be a day off since it's never good to keep slaving away when you're exhusted. I'll have to see what the rest of the week looks like and figure out where I want to go.
Workouts on the weekend were good, just the normal stuff, run, weights, bike. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks as I get fitter and fitter.

Tired

2009-03-19T20:50:00.002-03:00

Feeling tired today, just a 50 minute aerobic run, some drills at the end. Up late doing school work and a hard day yesterday. 5km swim which no one swam very well, no one made any of the pace times. Then some weights, weights were good, I'm getting stronger.

Today's Workouts

2009-03-16T19:52:00.002-03:00

AM- Bike- 10 mins WU, 10mins (1min standing, 1min easy spin), 10 mins high zone 2, WD to 40 mins. The standing definitely gets the quads burning nicely :)

PM Swim- WU: 400IM drills, 300 free pull, 200 scull, 300, bk/flyx50
MS: 6x50 drill on 1:00,
MS: 30x100 (1-15 on 1:40, 16-20 on 1:35, 21-25 on 1:30, 26-30 on 1:25)
MS: 10 minutes of tubing on deck (free and fly)
CD: 6x50 drill/back
total: 4800m

Who knows what tomorrow will bring! Things are going well and the swim was awesome today!

10 Best Triathlon Tools & Training things (no particular order)

2009-03-14T20:55:00.004-03:00

1.) My bike trainer- I don't think this thing will ever wear out, it must be 6 years old, and has no signs of slowing down, it's still in great shape, and has awesome adjustable resistance. This trainer has also got to be one of the cheapest as well I think it was around $120.

2.) Heart rate monitor- These are awesome, no way of cheating and also a great way to make sure you don't power spike on hills. These are one of the best investments you can make!

3.) Swim snorkel- This is a wicked way to smooth out most flaws in the freestyle stroke. I fell in love with mine the first time I used it!

4.) Tire repair kits- Definitely can be life saving out in the middle of nowhere, where cell phones don't work!

5.) Riding pace line when you're just having a great day! Don't think I need to explain this one!

6.) Swim sets with fins! Everyone knows the sweet feeling of seeing a set with "fins" on the practice board!

7.) Riding the trainer listening to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherman. Something about the way they talk is so motivating, you almost feel like you're riding the race you're watching.

8.) Swimming with band. Great way to catch more water and improve balance in the water! (Note: the first time you do this your feet will be dragging on the bottom.)

9.) Running across the bridges in the waterfowl park. Unfortunately only people who have seen the Waterfowl Park in Sackville, NB will understand this one.

10.) I-pod or music- Great was to find motivation through those tough workouts! Studies show how music helps motivate you and push you harder.

Not feeling well!

2009-03-12T15:25:00.003-03:00

Haven't had an update in a few days since I got sick early in the week. It's always hard as an athlete when you get sick since it makes it hard to train at a high level. Luckly it seemed to be really bad at first but I've quickly been getting better.
Since I felt I was getting sick on Tuesday I made sure I got a solid swim and bike in before I it turned for the worst. The swim was 2500m with a big 200IM set focusing on the last 50m (or the freestyle leg). This went really well, and most of them were around :35's. The bike was good as well, warmed up 15mins in zone 2 with some high cadence to get the heart rate up, then it was 15 minutes tempo done as 5 minutes low zone 3, 5 minutes standing, 5 minutes low zone 3. I will admit to not making it through the 5 minutes of standing, which burned oh! so much and sky rocketed my heart rate no matter what gear I used. I'll be off to a athletic centre in a few minutes to do a swim and possibly a run depending on how my head feels!
Happy Training!

Swim today

2009-03-09T19:33:00.002-03:00

Swim today was fun, I was feeling really strong in the pool today!
WU: 600 free/back x100
300 kick
300 fly drill/back x 50
MS: 10x100 IM on 1:45
12x25 fly on :35
2x400 free on 6:30,
300 stroke
CD: 20x25 on :30 IM order
total- 4100m feeling good!
Swim Pics coming later this week

Training Update

2009-03-07T20:45:00.004-04:00

Training has gone really well since getting sick, and I definitely have 100% of my strength back now. This week has been solid so far with 4 swims tuesday, wendnesday, thursday, friday. The biking and running is coming along as well... I felt really strong on and interval ride I had and a tempo run I also just during the week. My work in the weight room is also paying off and my whole core feels very solid whatever type of workout I'm doing. Today my only workout was and 1:40 minute bike holding my heart rate between 130-140. I felt like I was starting to crack a little bit over the last 15 minutes which makes sense since I'm just starting to ramp up the miles quickly. I just started using the HR monitor build into my bike computer which is proving to be a very valuable tool for training. The nice thing is the the HR strap it comes with also reads on the treadmills down stairs in the fitness room. I'm looking forward to running tomorrow, just 45 minutes steady.
I really want to find 5 km running race to do as something to look forward to and test my fitness. The picture is just the way I store my bike, takes up less space and easy to set up since it's already in the trainer!!

Ice Covered

2009-03-05T16:49:00.002-04:00

This is the view out of my window in my building, it's pretty cool 'cause the trees are almost completely covered in ice from a storm a few days ago. A training update and more pictures are coming tonight, but it's time for and easy swim at the pool.

Back home for some training

2009-02-25T10:13:00.002-04:00

I'm back in NS for my university reading week after a crazy week last week with 3 midterms. I'm getting in lots of workouts this week combined with lots of sleep! I had a great track workout on the weekend. It was fun to do one of those, it had been a while!

Plan for today: 60-70 min bike, with drills, intervals and rollers, Swim with the Dal Masters team, and some tubing after the swim.

This Weekend: There's the seconds Canada Games training camp and saturday morning there's a 3000m time trial. I'm looking forward to it and think that I'll probably run in the 10:10 range, breaking 10 isn't out of the question I just don't want to be to sore!

Training Pictures Later!

Training is rolling along..

2009-02-17T21:00:00.002-04:00

Mondays swim was fun, 4500m, and a 40 minute bike at night with some technique work and some short intervals. I'm looking forward to going home and riding on rollers for lots of my workouts and a fun change.

Todays swim: Lots and lots of Fly! I just do what I'm told to.. Coach John know what's best for us
Wu: 800IM Drills 200 kick
MS: 10x 50 fly kick 1:10, 12x25 fly :35, 5x100 IM on 1:50, 10x25 fly kick under water :30,
6x50 fly on 1:00
CD: 300 EZ

2 midterms tomorrow, back to the books! Pictures coming soon

Back into triathlon mode..

2009-02-13T19:20:00.002-04:00

Now that that the university swim season came to an exciting close it's time to shift focus back to triathlon training. The season ended on a big high so it was really strange to wake up the day after and not have to go to the pool. I'll slowly build back my triathlon fitness over the next few weeks. Shouldn't be to hard since I kept up my weight training and was cycling and running 1-2 times a week. Training this week and next week will be recovery, but then I'll be back to full on training.

This week:
Monday: Swimming, just warmed up, ~1200m
Tuesday: Bike- 60 minutes, drills and an effort set
Wednesday: Run- 30 minutes, easy
Thursday: Swim- ~2500m (main set: 12x100m on descending pace times)
Friday: Swim- 1300mWU, 6x100 on 2:00 alt. band/band with pull buoy, 4x300 kick, 400m playing with my awesome swim snorkel.

For the weekend I think maybe I'll ride the bike 80 mins, run 30 minutes, core, and flexibility work..

Time to study my three midterms next week!
M

Successful Swim Meet!

2009-02-09T15:02:00.002-04:00

I'm back in NB after a swim meet that went totally as planned! In all events I had great improvements, especially in my main events (200m and 400m free). My times were as follows:
100m Free: 59.69
200m Free: 2:11.25
400m Free: 4:40.16
50m Free: 27.92

I was really happy with the improvements I made at the meet, shaving off over 4 seconds, and 6 seconds on my 200 and 400 respectively. I reached all of my goals for this meet except for the 50m free which directly followed the 400 so there was only about 8 minutes between the events. I feel like Coach Peters and I did a great job setting goals and staying focused and confident even on the bad days. I'm looking forward to continuing to swim hard but put more of my focus back onto specific triathlon training!

This university swim season has been extremely successful for me and I'm very happy with my swimming progress thus far!

Feeling Focused

2009-01-31T22:47:00.002-04:00

With the AUS (Atlantic University Sport) Swimming Championships coming up next weekend I'm feeling focused and ready to go. Coach John and I set goals a few week ago which we think are doable. I had a great lead up meet last weekend going some best times in the process.

More to come about the event!

Happy Training!

Back at Blogging!

2009-01-28T14:29:00.002-04:00

So after nearly 2 years without blogging, I'm back! This blog will follow me through my Canada Games Journey. Mainly about training and other things.

Right now I'm in a swim & strength mode for my training. I've been fitting in a few bikes and runs when ever I can throughout the week. Over Christmas our varsity swim team did a swim training camp. We did 60km in 7 days! This a great for me since my biggest swim week before this was around 35km.

More to come!

Starting over!

2007-04-02T09:21:00.000-03:00

I realize my blog's been completely hopeless the last little while (okay maybe long while)! So I'll try to give regular training and racing updates again, on a regular basis!

training been great this march! But I've been suffering with no motivation in the pool this past week though! I was only in once last week! (should have been in 4-5 times) It'll come back though!

I spent a wonderful week in Wilmington, North Carolina over my march break! All we did was train train train, and lie on the beach! What a great place to train, the cars were awesome while biking, and the people were fantastic too! I'd go back in a second!

More to come!
Mac

Wow!

2006-10-09T16:01:00.000-03:00

So the last few days have been sooo sweet! The turkey was good but the training has been even better! Finally starting to get my weight down a little bit as well. 157lbs right now, hopefully I'll be down to about 155 by the next 2 weeks. Then when I start structured training again I'll get down to 150 and be good to go.

Saturday- 100 km ride around Peggys cove Loop! Hadn't ridden 100km in like 3 months so my legs were a little fuzzy the next day

Sunday- 2.8km swim- didn't really feel like swimming once I got on the deck however once I got in I felt like swimming:)

Warm-up: 400 swim, 300 drill, 200 drill, 100 kick

Main Set: 3x(3x1oo on 1:45, 50 drill on 1:00, 50 kick on 1:00, 50 swim on 1:00)

Cool down: 5x50 ascend on 1:00, 200 easy easy

What a great work-out!

Monday morning- ~55km ride around the Sambro loop. The legs were feeling really really good up the hills!

Monday afternoon- core strength stuff!

This week I'll just swim swim swim! a couple mornings and a couple evenings maybe. Might try to bike once on my trainer as well. When the weekend rolls around I'll go for a big bike ride.

I heard a pretty funny joke a night or 2 ago. "Why did the baby cross the road?" "why?" "because it was stapled to the chicken" :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Mac

Training a little doing a lot of school stuff

2006-10-04T23:01:00.000-03:00

School has been really hardly lately! It seems like I have hours of tests to study for, labs to do, or practice questions to do. Missing some school last week didn't help. I'm almost all caught up now! phew!
I wish i had some time to sit down and read a good book once in a while instead of having constant pressure of my classes hanging over me. School is going alright though i'm getting though it :).

I've been doing a little bit of training. Sunday Suzanne, Bob, and I rode Sambro loop. I think it ended up being around 50km. Monday I had a little 2km swim (workout is below). Tuesday I had another little 2.35km swim with Dan and Suzanne, same kind of workout as below. Wendsday I did homework all day urrg! I can't wait for the weekend! I still cannot run, I get 2km from my door and I have to walk back. I'm going to see Dr. Stanish sometime soon! like ASAP! I need to run! I love running!
Cross Country season is looking pretty dim. Provincials are in less than a month and I can't run 2km! let alone run 7km full out. You never no though I'd love to be there!

I went to the Fire Side for dinner on Sunday evening with Cindy! (great place for a date BTW) The food is awesome! you could order anything on the menu and It'll be good!

Tuesdays Swim-

WU- 400swim, 300 pull, 200 drill, 100 kick

MS- 4x150 (100 hard, 50 easy) on 2:30

MS2- 4x50 acend

CD: 200 easy

I was really happy with the swim, I was doing the 100 hard on 1:14-1:15ish

If i swim tommrow I'll post the Workout tommorow night and be keen little blogger!

that's all for now!
Mac

I'm horrible at updating this thing!

2006-09-16T21:50:00.000-03:00

Sooo I've been told I don't blog enough! (thanks Suzanne)
I've been really busy with school lately, getting everything all sorted out and started up. It's finally my last year, and I'm ready to move on to university next year. Definitely taking science, no idea where I'll go though. I'm thinking of Mount A or McGill.
Calculus was really tough this week, ridiculous compared to math A12, hard hard! I'll get through though, everyone was suffering.

I raced in Guysbourgh on the 10th half injured last week and the, race went awesome!, after the race was another story I couldn't really walk my knee was throbbing in pain. I'm getting and appointment asap to see my physio man.

the race went like this.
Swim- 9:38
Bike- 40:21
Run- 19:35
Overall- 1:09:33 (2nd overall)
Jay was absolutely flying in Guysbourgh, and handed it to me on a silver platter right then and there with his 1:07: 37!

Everything went right, an awesome swim, smooth transitions, a consistent run, and a bike split 3 minutes faster than last year! Jason just put together a better race that's all!
Jason caught me at about kilometer 12, I did my best to keep in contact with him, and only lost sight of him near the end of the ride.

Training the week after the race didn't really happen, my knee was killing me. I was only able to get in one 2km swim. Biking and running were simply out of the question with my knee, as well as school. hopefully things can get back to normal so I can at least train to stay a little bit fit. My eating habits this week were worse than ever, and they're normally pretty bad . Jay told me "it's like putting diesel in a Ferrari". I'm going to get back on track this week if anyone out there wants to go for an easy casual ride Saturday or Sunday?!

I'll try and post some pictures soon, as well as more frequent blog entry's!

In a slump!

2006-09-05T23:38:00.000-03:00

Wow! it's been so long since I've posted and I am truely sorry for that! I'll make it one of my triathlon goals to blog more, maybe that will help?
So after Drummondville I seemed to get into a little bit of a training slump, I wasn't getting to the pool very much, or getting out riding, I was getting dizy sometime, and all kinds of crazy stuff. I actully did have lots of solid runs however which was good. Jay draged me out for a workout of 5x1000m, where I went 3:13, 3:14, 3:13, 3:18, 3:18, so that was awesome for me. Other than the running things have been kind of brutal! Dalplex, and Cenntenial were closed for a week!
I think it's crazy they'd close the same week! oh well!
So I don't really have an excuse for the horrible training lately, however I think I got back on track today. Jay picked me up to do a 5km TT on the track, I went 17:36 and Jay opted to stop after 5 laps. He's been fighting knee pain for the past week, and also a cold so I don't blame him. 17:36 is kind of average for me, I really need to start pumping in the miles and speed befor I rollback the 17 and put up a 16. I had a really good quality swim today aswell! It was a short main set of only 1km. I did 10x50 on 1:00 held around :38's, then 5x100 on 1:45 and I was holding 1:18's no problem. The whole swim worked out to 2km.
I think I'm pretty much back on track to good training.

One thing that's really starting to get to me is the new foolish rotary rules. The new ones or the old ones the rotary sucks! espically for people on bikes! they should build a huge archway for people walking, and on bikes! Yeah that will happen! and the war in Iraq will end! yeah right. I think we'll just have to put up with the rotary rules until they come up with somthing more freiendly. I guess besides almost being killed in it on saturday afternoon I had a good ride around the sambro loop going the hard way around past frog pong and such i averaged about 31km/h so that was awesome for me.

So i'm hopefully going to get up to guysbourgh this weekend for my last Triathlon of the season! If my training goes well the next few days i'll be there!

Thanks for reading.
MAC

Oh my goodness! who could I forget! A HUGE congratulations need to go to Gord Roy, and Meagan Timney who represented Canada at the World Triathlon Championships in Lausanne! you guys did Nova Scotia proud:) awesome job guys!

Something went wrong in Drummondville!

2006-08-22T13:08:00.000-03:00

So I finally made it home from Drummondville Quebec! Racing in the elite field was really really hard! But a good experience, I think I get less nervous every time I do it, so when I do my first World Cup race it should be a breeze right? haha probably not!

So here's how the race unfolded
Swim- 10:47
Bike- 34:42
Run- 19:53
Overall- 1:05:21 23rd out of 31 elites
Jay Lawtons Overall- 1:05:22 (hehe sorry Jay)

Sothings w I hard a great swim! Is was awesome ere really rolling! I also had an amazing start position, I was called on to the beach 4th! And standing next to Jamie Stevenson, and David-James Tache that was kind of cool. I swim the first 100 meters really really hard and was out in about 5th or 6th place! My game plan was working to perfection, I was swimming on the feet of my buddy Francois Hogan along the back stretch and keeped his feet for the rest of the swim. I exited the water in 13th place with the lead group. I ran really hard through transition staying with them, and also with Francois who invited me to get on his wheel as we rolled with a group of 15. Things started falling apart 200m later, I had my feet in my shoes but 100 meters later I got dropped :( so I did the next 19.8 km of a 20km course on my own I rode on as hard as I could by my self, I was toally fustrated with my riding after a fantastic swim, I almost wanted to ride of the course and cry on the side of the road, but I knew I had to keep going inside! I never give up, and my dad probably wouldn't talk to me for a while (well he probably would because he's very supportive, but no question he'd be disappointed!) the bike finally finished and I headed out on the run feeling a little better in the 33 degree tempiture! I finished up the first loop in 10 minutes, so I figured what the heck I guess I'll push a little bit more and break 20 minutes today! Which I did eventually do! Oh and congrats to Jacob who killed his race!
I'm not totally disappointed with my race, it was a great swim, and horrid nightmare ride, and an average run.

Well now that drummondville is completed I need to sit down and see what's next and where I am!...Jacob and I are thinking about road tripping to Guysbourgh in 3 weeks so watch out! haha

Thanks so much for everyone's continued support, and thanks for taking the time to read about my race!
P.S. results can be found at www.sportstats.ca

MacGregor Grant

URRRG!! Gord what was THAT!

2006-08-14T16:06:00.000-03:00

Yesterday, I had my last really hard day before I go to Drummondville. It was really really good, a long bike, a good hard swim, and a longish run.

I rode the Sambro Loop solo in the morning, and wow I was really flying, averaged 31km/h (not including my warm-up or cool down) on this insane loop! I don't think I've even done that with a pack! I was "siked" as Emily would have said.

After lunch I headed to the pool to do my favorite workout a week before a race (Broken 600's). WU: 400 swim, 300 pull, 200 drill, 100 kick MS: 2x(200 on 3:15, 2x100 on 1:45, 4x50 on :50, 100 easy) CD: 300 easy Total: 2700m

So the Run is where the title comes from, Gord, and Jay came to my house to do a long easy run. Or Jay and I thought it was going to be an easy 12km and would take about an hour. I guess Gord had other ideas for this run, instead of the planed 5 minute kilometer pace I had in mind. Gord was acting like a little girl on the bus wanting to pull the "next stop" cord, and ended up doing a 4:15 pace for 12km. Jay and I Slaved on behind him. When all was said and done it was a 49 minute 12km run. It wasn't the workout I had in mind but maybe I'll just run alone next time.

Today I had a good swim!
today's Workout : WU: 400 swim, 300 pull, 200 drill, 100 kick MS: 5x100 on 2:00 (went 1:16, 1:15. 1:15, 1:14, and 1:13) 5x50 ascend on 1:00 CD: 250 easy total: 2000m

Might swim again later! But that will be it!

Thanks for reading!
MaC!

Bridgetown Fun

2006-08-08T16:22:00.001-03:00

Yeah yeah i know! it's been a while since i've posted! but hey you get to hear about my win in Bridgetown!

So I was finally back in my home province to do a race for once! wow it's been a while, 2 months or somthing!
Didn't really have any set goal for this race, actually just really wanted to have some fun!
I went into the race a little bit sore though my quads and hip flexors but hey you can't peak for every race!

swim- The swim was amazing! i knew i was absolutly flying i rounded the last buoy and knew i had a good one going, the clock was still in the 9's haha i exited the water and it just clicked over to 10 minutes...and then i ran over the timing mat 20 seconds later..and the transition was great the legs were feeling good as i ran out of the water

Bike- the bike was going really really well besided the fact i was panting like a dog throughout the entire thing! So i definatly miss placed my bike computer befor the race, so that wasn't cool i had no idea how fast i was rolling, then i found it right after the race! ...so back to the race...i hit the turn around, and things got alot easier (was biking into the wind the first half) i saw jacob a minute or so down the road, he was flying along in 2nd on his new carbon "argon 18" which is awesome BTW. Then i say somthing not so cool, a pack of 3 guys drafting, in 3rd, 4th and 5th place. I didn't know bridgetown was having an ITU race? I did some math after the race working out there swim/bike times. Hmm funny they came off the bike 5 seconds apart. My T2 was awesome, and my legs actually felt good coming off the bike!

Run- So i was really somking through town on the run. Then i got lost and took a wrong turn so that cost me a minute or so untill i got turned around and back on track, and i was still feeling good pushing hard . I came to the turnaround which felt like forever getting to! and i contined back. I saw Jacob he was still running well in 2nd place, however "the drafters" were right behind him. Well i finished up the run. And i knew my 19:20 run split streak was over at 3 because i took that wrong turn.

I had the most incredible sleep the night after at the B&B i was staying at, I just slept, and slept, and slept, and got up and had the most amaizing Breakfast! wow i was hungry!

Next up for me will be Drummondville for Canadian Sprint Nationals where i'm racing in an Elite wave! oh what fun!

Oh! Jay L, Gord and myself did a 5km time trail today! i race 17:35, 7 seconds off my PB, but hey i'm sore and just raced! well time to go swimming!

thanks for reading!

Sundays a day of rest?

2006-07-30T23:06:00.000-03:00

naw, i don't think so... sundays are a good day to workout really really hard. So the past couple days have been solid. Saturday is rode 50km as my long ride..haha long ride? averaged almost 34km/h? that's not a long ride, thats more like a hard ride, pull your self together mac!. It felt very in control and i get bored if i don't push, so it's cool. Today was kind of crazy, did 3 very solid workouts listed below

Swim- 400 swim, 300 pull, 200 drill, 100 kick warm up...main set was 4x100 on 1:30, 3x100 on 1:40, 2x100 on 1:50, 1x100 on 2:00..all in a row so i guess it's more like 10x100? the point of the set is to bring the 100 times down as the pace times get easier, I stared off around 1:18's and was doing 1:14ish at the end...the reast of the workout was cool down...200 pull, 100 kick, 200 swim

Run- 2km warm-up with drills and stuff, then 3x(3x400) with 3 mins rest after each set, and 1 minute rest after each 400...god it was hot out... then i did like a 2km cool down hit sub 1:20 for each 400

Bike/Run- "isn't it a brick mac?"..."yup, but i call it bike/run" ...went mins warm-up, then 10 mins of 1 legged drills (45secs one leg, 30 secs rest..repeat) then i hammered 10 mins, jumped off my bike hammered the run for 5mins, then cooled down for 10 mins

yup so solid days..bridgetown here i come

MAC

Pushing Through

2006-07-27T22:14:00.000-03:00

wow last couple of days have been pretty good. Recovery has been amaizing! 10 mins after a workout i'm ready to mash through another one. I feel ready for tommorow tonight. Anyways last few days have been good.

Tuesday

Swim- 1000 swim, 500 pull, 250 kick, 4x100 on 1:45, 200e, 3x100 on 1:45, 200 easy, 150 cooldown

Wendsday

Swim- 500swim, 500 pull, 200 dril, 100 build, 10x50 on :50, 3x150 on 2:30, 250 easy

Swim, bike, run dealy- 1500 swim open water broken into 500 easy, 500 hard, 500 hard, then bike 17km hard, then run 2km easyish

Thurday-

Run- 37 mins easy, ended up around 8km

Bike- with Gerrad who clearly learned how to cycle extemly fast holy **** I was barly hanging on

main thing was over, unders 4 x (10 mins done as 3 just below race pace, 4 above, 3 below) hmm that was fun
Total workout 58km

Easy day tommorow maybe a swim and run, then hit the track on saturday for 3x(3X400s)

8th Junior Elite in Corner Brook

2006-07-25T23:13:00.000-03:00

So the race in Corner Brook went pretty good. WOW that course is hard ass, 1:09:55 for the sprint (swim might have been a bit long) . Came out of the water in 5th, around 30 seconds off the pace, just missed the boat for the lead pack, damn next time maybe. Did the swim in like 10:40, leader was out in like 10:07 blah so close. The Bike was a pain, 3 loops of the ITU world cup course. Oh no don't put the Juniors on the age group course, lets make them work. The bike loop was like a 6 and a bit kilometre loop basically up a 2km hill, down the 2km hill, 1km of flat...turnaround, and repeat 3 times. Wasn't to happy with the bike ride, was droped by my group of 3 when they thought it would be funny if they coordinated an attack on me....I heard them chat up somthing...then the 3 guys stood up at the same time and I was done for Grr. The bike finally ended after 37 minutes of riding. I went out on the run feeling pretty good, Holy crap it was hard though down, up, down, up, down up etc... finished off no one passed me, and i didn't pass anyone 19:18 run. I was overall very happy with the result. I've been very consistant this year which is nice:)
Up next..Break an hour in Drummondville

Thanks for reading,
Mac

Ready for Corner Brook!

2006-07-18T11:06:00.000-03:00

Well the preperation work for Corner Brook is finally done, I spent all weekend in Bridgetown working on climbing hills, and pounding flats on the bike which is what the Corner Brook bike course is. I got in a good open water swim in Bridgetown as well working on breathing pattern, and an easy 30 minute run as well. I feel ready to go!
Thanks for reading,
Mac

Open Water Race

2006-07-13T22:13:00.000-03:00

Today i competed in the annual 2km open water swim NSLS put on every year. I ended up winning the race in a time on 27:02 which works out to around 1:21/100m. I was really happy with the results. After being Injured last season and not being able to swim for 5-6 months, things finally seem to be shapeing up in the water. I think i've finally recovered from racing at nationals on the weekend. Probably do some bike intervals tommorow, maybe a swim in the morning.

thanks for reading,
Mac

Hard Word

2006-07-12T22:02:00.000-03:00

Today I worked pretty hard, and had 2 very solid workouts. This morning i did a swim at the pool main set was : 20x50m on :50 (10 pull, 10 swim) 100 easy, then 5x150m on 2:30. Was able to hold about :38 for the 50's and 1:54 for all the 150's very solid for me. The whole workout was 3.3km
Tonight was a lake swim ~1000m, then a 17.5km bike, followed by a 3km run. The goal of the workout was to really get the heartrate up and push. The workout went pretty good, had a great swim, had a good lead out of the water, and wasn't caught be Gord on the bike! :) had to wait to start my run, because there was no one to watch the bikes, finally i started my run and realized how tired i still was from racing at nationals. I really pushed through and stayed ahead of Gord...barely. I'm racing the 2km open water swim tommorow it should be good expirence, not it's time for bed!
Thanks for reading,
Mac

Just Starting Off

2006-07-12T14:30:00.000-03:00

Today will be my first blog entry , I will mostly use it to update people about my Triathlon training, and to support my future sponsors. I think blogs are pretty cool and i'll try to keep it updated as much as possible.
thanks for reading, and more to come!
Mac