Wowwwwwww! Bucketloads to cover.... It's been an eventful month!
So as one can see by the schedule on the sidebar -->
I've been a busy busy boy. The training camp for Commonwealths ran from June 4-11, the Commonwealths competition went from June 12-14, and the New Balance Half was on June 21.
It's also been really tough for me and Carbear, since we both miss eachother A TON. We got to talk on the phone LOTS while I was in Edmonton (resulting in a $300 phone bill.. damn you skype and lack of internet in Edmonton!). Neither of us love this long distance thing, but damnit we will push onwards!
Let's not forget Montreal the week before the training camp began, and Shawnigan Half Iron the weekend before that. It's really no wonder why I'm sick now! Regardless, here is my sub-par report on the last MONTH!
The Commonwealth Championship Training Camp: June 4-11
June 4th
- Travel Day! I arrived in Edmonton at 9:55 local time and grabbed a shuttle at 10:30 to the University of Alberta residence. A ticket was set aside for me, so I took the 45 min. shuttle at no expense! Yeeehaw!
- A side note, I walked in and woke my new roomie, who was definitely mostly asleep, since he asked if I had brought him a towel! Tee hizzle!
Will's Glorious Moustache
- Day one of training camp! The day consisted of about 9km of swimming over a morning and evening workout! This is what I expected for most of the training camp but it turns out there were other plans!
- We got our sexy uniforms that day as well, and you will see them in peeeectures!
Our incredibly good looking team with Michael Prince of Kent
- So I thought I would compact these days into one section, since it was much of the same. The week before the comp was reserved for mostly technique work, such as: Manikin Carry technique, Manikin clipping for manikin tow, transitions for relays (manikin hand-off, relay takeovers) and time trials to decide who is swimming which events.
- Leading up to the competition, we weren't sure who was doing which events, since Montreal wasn't a great indication of everyone's skill due to the horrible weather conditions ( I was particularly happy about this!).
- My events as decided by Don (our coach) were: Line Throw, Obstacle Relay, 50m Manikin Carry, 100m Tow with fins, Manikin Relay, Medley Relay, and SERC (Simulated Emergency Response)
Could we be any cooler? Really?
Our way of ambushing guests at the Canada reception.. The funnel effect (there were people on the other side in a similar formation)
Commonwealth Lifesaving Championships: June 12-14th
June 12th
Heats:
- Line Throw: 15 Canada - D 'A' 16.78 14.07
1) Westra-Luney, Derek 2) Kendall, IanFinals:- Line Throw: 1 Canada - D 'A' 14.07 12.91 20
1) Westra-Luney, Derek 2) Kendall, Ian- Obstacle Relay: 2 Canada - D 'A' 1:52.79 1:51.72 18
1) Westra-Luney, Derek 2) DiCosmo, Mario 3) Kendall, Ian 4) MacKendrick, Cameron My big medal day! Canadians swept the Line throw in every category and we are the one country that does NOT send people specifically for Line Throw! HIJAAAAAAA!
Being awesome.. No big deal.June 13th - 50m Manikin Carry: 4 Westra-Luney, Derek Canada - D 38.93 38.92 14
- 100m Tow with Fins: 8 Westra-Luney, Derek Canada - D 1:04.29 1:08.35 10
So I had a pretty bad day on Saturday. I was going into finals in the 50m Manikin Carry in 3rd, but ended up coming out 4th. Absolutely not ideal. For the manikin tow I was going in 5th, but came out 8th due to a botched clip (where you clip the rescue tube around the manikin)
I really wasn't happy with how it went, considering I had a very good shot at finals.
June 14th
Relay Day!
- 4x25 Manikin Relay: DQ in finals due to a bad pass off! :( Oh well!
- 4x50 Medley Relay: Splits: 26.10 (Heats), 24.9 (Finals) 3rd.
- SERC: (Simulated Emergency Response Championships): 5th overall.
WIth the disqualification and the suprise 5th in SERC, this wasn't the greatest day. We had a very good chance at winning the Medley relay, and ended up coming in 3rd, which was very disappointing. Oh well, an AMAZING experience.
The Banquet and related activities, i.e. the afterparty, were pretty good, but the bar that was chosen was a big disappointment. This establishment wasn't really meant for dancing and/or MASSIVE amounts of people. So we tried to venture out and look for other places, BUT everyone was SUPER drunk already! I was completely sober since I had the New Balance Half-Iron next weekend, and I'm really glad I was!
Most people went back to the Rez really early and I ended up staying out relatively late with a bunch o' peeps! I only got about 2 hours sleep before my morning flight back to Victoria, so that was a little bit shocking!
As you can see from the pictures, it was an amazing experience and I wouldn't have gone anywhere elseeeee!
Now on to the next week....
The Week leading up to, and including the NEW BALANCE HALF IRONMAN
The week leading up to the race was a pretty huge roller coaster. When I got in from Edmonton I went for a run, with a 4km tempo sesh in it. Right after the run, I started getting congested and started coughing. I guess being roommates with a guy who was sick the whole time we were in Edmonton finally caught up with me. I was coughing out greenies, and snotting out greenies! It was pretty disgusto!
Before the race, I took off the Wednesday and the Friday to try and calm my lungs down, but it was clear that they were not going to.
I still managed to get in some good workouts in spite of the cold.
Race Day......
So Carolyn, Vince, Choppy, Sheldon and I all awoke between 4 and 5 a.m. to eat our respective breakfasts and talk strategyyy. Ok no strategizing, mainly just groaning that it was super early!
I ate my usual PB + J bagel and some juice (and a Boost since I love those things), and felt ready to roar! We headed out from my place at approx. 5!
We got to the race site and it was BUMPIN but we managed to get some sweet parking spots in the grass field just off the main parking lot! Yeeehaw! I was particularly excited especially after the mess at Shawnigan!
I headed over to transition, got set up, talked a whole bunch to Vince, Pat, Choppy, Erich, CarCar etc.! I love knowing tons o' peeps at these races, it kinda takes the nervousness out when you can be social!
Regardless, I headed to the long line at the men's washroom, while Vince was a sweetie and got my timing chip for me!
The Swim.... 22:50 (2nd OA, 1st Individual)
Well I left it a little close going to the washroom since I got out and basically had to head straight to the swim start. It was about a 100m swim over to the start area from Hamsterly beach, which provided me a mini-warmup! Yay!
I got right in the front of the pack, saw and chatted with Pat and Erich and BOOM we were off to the sound of the Howitzer! Didn't shock me as much this time thankfully!
From the very start I saw Scotty Dagnall pull away on the opposite side from me, so much so that I had NO chance of getting on his feet, so I swam my own race. For the first 600m I had a pack drafting off of me (led by my man Pat Waters), until I got fed up and booked it around a buoy, effectively losing them.
I wasn't feeling too badly in the water, but I noticed I had to breathe a LOT more then usual, and that breaths were shallow. But I didn't start the race to not finish it, so eff it. I continued to pull away from the chase pack, and I think I actually managed to make up some time on Scott while I was at it. I guess the training camp for Commonwealths had my swim in top shape, even though we did almost solely anaerobic efforts.
About 200m from the beach I checked my watch and saw 19ish minutes and thought, WHAT THE HELL? This seems a little TOO fast since I didnt feel super dead or anything from the effort, and yet I was going to be in the 22 minute range. Hmmmm.... Methinks the course was a lil' short!
Came out of the water and heard Steve King say I was the first individual, and that I had broken the course record! Cool! I feel like I cheated since the course was short, but I'm still pretty stoked on it!
Everyone had an awesome swim though, especially Vince! Props to you! And to Pat of course for making it through the swim in spite of a NASTY stomach sickness :( And of course to Erich for even having the balls to start :)
T1.... 1:30
Haha Well... My T1s are always SLOWWWWWWW. I need to fix that somehow! And I will... I will... And the world will tremble!
The Bike.... 2:39.01 (70th OA) 32.83 km/h Avg.
So I booked it out of transition, desperately trying to hold on to my first place, but that lasted about 1km, where I was caught by Jasper Blake and co. He actually said "good job" to me as he went by, and I was definitely stoked to hear that from someone of his caliber!
The first 15km were pretty uneventful.. EXCEPT I was DYING on the hills. Seriously couldn't keep my breathing under control whatsoever, and the cardiovascular workload was accelerating my mucous output by about 500%. So with coughing + spitting + wheezing, I was kinda struggling. Vince passed me at about the 25 km mark, and I wasn't doin so hot at that point. He was having a GREAT ride though, in spite of using a bike he had ridden ONCE before (and that was for what.. 40 minutes?). What a monster!
The only word that can describe the bike leg of this race was STRUGGLE. I couldn't believe how weak I felt compared to Shawnigan (34.8km/h avg. vs. 32.8km/h avg). I was being MASSACRED, i.e. passed every minute at least. The first lap was OK, and I managed not to succumb, but on the second lap I was counting EVERY km and just praying for the run to come sooner!
It was at about the 72km mark were I was in the worst shape. My body was ACHING like never before and my lungs were not having it. I honestly thought I was close to over my cold, and that my lungs would be better, but I guess I didn't practice race intensity at all in the week leading up to the race. That was a big mistake.
I finished the bike and promptly had a MASSIVE coughing fit that pretty much lasted for all of T2. It was incredible.
T2.... 1:22
The Mucous coughing fit transition. That was what it was. I pulled my shoes on, threw my hat on and headed out for one of the most painful runs of my entire life.
The Run.... 1:31.28 (54th OA) 4:35 /km Avg.
The start of the run began with Choppy patting me on the back out of transition saying "Take it easy man". Unfortunately, I'm a stubborn bastard, and didn't listen to him at all until the second lap. I dont actually remember alot of the first lap except that I managed to hold a fairly steady pace and NOT walk at all (1st Lap split: 43:15). The real story was in the second loop though.
I began the second loop pretty much hating my life. I was having problems breathing and couldn't take anything close to a deep breath without coughing a lung out. I stopped at the first aid station about 100m into the second lap, and decided then I was going to walk every aid station. The aid stations were about every 2km, so 0.1 km/2.5 km/4.5/6.5/8.5km.
I held true to my goal and walked every aid station. At the 15km mark, my right hamstring and left quad seized up at the same time, leaving me in a half-crumpled standing position. I probably looked like Gollum. I kneaded both the muscles and managed to get on my way again after only a minute! Woooo! At km 17 though, things REALLY fell apart. I walked the aid station at 16.5km and kept walking.. and walking.. and walking, leading to a race worst 6:35km. Woweeee.
Even though I was close to the finish, I still walked the 18.5km aid station and took my time, and managed to pull a 4:08 on my last km! That was kinda sweet! But it may have also greatly contributed to my prolonged medical tent visit!
After the race... Starring: Ventolin, Cookies, and Derbear the Space Cadet
As soon as I crossed the finish line, the first thing anyone said to me was "Are you ok? Can you breathe?". I guess I didn't look so hot. I was escorted to the medical tent, where a very friendly set of Docs looked me over, and told me I was a stubborn idiot for racing. Fair enough, I probably deserved that. I had my first breaths of Ventolin over the 30 min. period where I spent probably 26 minutes staring at the grass, completely zoned out.
It felt as if someone had stabbed me in the chest, piercing both lungs simultaneously. Yuck! I was also wheezing like crazy and could barely talk. Damnit I'm an idiot. In retrospect, the post-race fiasco alone probably signalled I shouldn't have raced.
After some cookies and another "hit" of Ventolin, I ventured out from the death tent and headed home with CarCar.
I just want to say GREAT JOB to everyone who did the Half and Sprint, notably:
Vince: 4:27.22, Awesome race, even though it was on a brand spankin' new, unridden bike!
Erich: A half-iron on 10 days training, and still managed a 5:07.04
Sheldon: 4:35.43, Great job!
Andrew Wight: 4:58.57, First half under 5 hours! SICK!
Choppy: 1:09, rounding out the top 10!
Pat: Great swim! Hope you're feeling better after throwing up your entire digestive system!!
Great job to everyone!!!!!!
So I've spent the last week writing this blog post, and recovering from being sick. I did NOTHING until Friday, where I took my NEW road bike out for a ride to work (44km round trip). I spent the weekend with Dad sailing in Campbell River, which was amazing as usual and now I'm back to the working grind at the pool in Oak Bay! Yeeeeeeeehaw!
Sorry for the low res pic. I assure you it rides well... just like your Mommmmmm! ZING!
Until next time!
Le Derbear
