I spent my weekend outdoors enjoying our November heat wave here in southern Ontario. On Saturday I rode with Mike and our friend Colin (a great espoir cyclist). We rode through the busy Saturday morning streets of Oakville, enjoyed the view of the calm lake and watched as the last of the leaves fell from the trees. Saturday’s high of 14 (57 for my American friends) was a nice November treat before the cold winter air arrives and meant that we could enjoy our post ride coffee outside in the sunshine.

Beautiful colours in Bronte Harbour

Coffee stop with Mike and Colin

Christmas cheer is everywhere! Starbucks is covered in red, white and green and has already come our with their holiday drinks and cups!

The weather on Sunday was even better and I headed up to Caledon to train with my coach, Lisa. With an 8:30 start, the air was still crisp when we hopped on our bikes. Luckily, it warmed up quickly. We had a nice scenic 3.5 hour hilly ride through the Caledon countryside before returning home for a run off the bike. We trotted along a local trail where just two weeks ago the trees were filled with bright yellow leaves. Yesterday, the trees were bare and we got to play in the piles of leaves as we ran through them!

Beautiful fall colours

Today we hit almost 20 degrees which is unheard of for November!

Enjoy the heat wave while it lasts!!

Halloween, a great excuse to dress up in a fun costume and get together with all of your friends! Halloween is a bonus holiday in our house because Mike’s birthday is the day before! Since Mike’s birthday fell on a Friday this year, I thought it would be fun to have a Halloween themed party for him! Neither Mike nor I had dressed up for Halloween in years, so choosing costumes was a difficult but fun task! (see below)  The party was a huge success and most importantly, Mike had an awesome time!

The Bat Family: Batman, Robin and Bat-Dog (aka Mike, Jen & Duncan)

The happy bat-dog!

Yoda grabbed for an empty beer bottle on the floor and I grabbed for my camera!

In the kitchen with Mike the pumpkin

My pumpkin carving creations!

The weather on Halloween day was cold, windy and rainy so I opted for 3 hours indoors instead! I rode with Lisa on a Computrainer and I was totally impressed. This is the second time that I’ve ridden one of these bad boys and they are amazing. I can totally appreciate why so many athletes endorse these. I’ve got to find a way to get my hands on a Computrainer!!

Time to get back to the little angels, fairies, lady bugs, spidermen, cowboys and pirates knocking on the door!

Happy Halloween!!

I am very excited and honoured to announce that I will be supported by Nike in 2010!

Nike’s extensive research, passion and drive for perfection in their running shoes and apparel aligns with my goals for triathlon. I am very excited to be working with such a forward thinking, innovative company and look forward to the many miles that we’ll run together!

Check them out at www.nikerunning.com.

It’s been a couple of weeks since I have posted but when I logged in today I found this post that I had written a couple of weeks ago just after Thanksgiving, so I thought I would share it now. Better late than never…

Mike and I had a very busy Thanksgiving this year! I absolutely love this time of year (as I’m sure I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post). The weather is cooling off but the days are still long and beautiful. The leaves on the trees are changing into their seasonal yellow, orange and reds and falling to the ground. It’s peaceful and it’s a wonderful time of year to spend some time outdoors!

Our good friend Nate was visiting from Sarnia so we did some catching up on Friday night! Mike and Nate golfed on Saturday while I practiced my culinary skills! I baked 4 pies for our Thanksgiving dinners and tried out some new appetizer recipes for us to enjoy on Saturday night (crab cakes and samosas)! We also had Winston, our second son with us for the weekend while his mom and dad were off celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Duncan and Winston...best buddies!

On Thanksgiving Sunday we went to Mike’s aunt and uncle’s home for dinner. We took our mountain bikes with us and went for a little ride before dinner!

Out for a ride in Caledon, pre-Thanksgiving dinner

On Monday we had Thanksgiving dinner again, this time at my parents house! By the end of the weekend we were stuffed with turkey and pumpkin pie and had enough leftovers to feed us for the next week!

This morning was the final Gears Girls ride of the season. We met at Gears for a 9am start and ended up having 12 women come out for the ride, despite the cool weather and threat of rain! The weather was great for the first hour and a half! Unfortunately on our way home the sky opened up and we returned to the shop soaked to the bone!

We finished up a great ride with an end of season celebration breakfast at Cora’s, yum yum!

Gears Girls!

During the ride there was some discussion about cool weather riding and since the days are getting shorter and colder, I thought now is as good a time as any to post my general cold & wet weather riding tips.

One of the best rules for cool weather riding is to always make sure you have layered your clothes. You can always add and remove layers as necessary. If there is rain in the forecast make sure you carry a rain jacket in one of your jersey pockets. If you get caught in a rain storm you’ll be glad you packed it around with you!

I could go on and on about great cycling gear to have but there really are a few pieces of gear that will get you through most conditions:

• Full fingered gloves (Defeet makes great cotton and wool gloves; windproof gloves are great for colder temperatures)
• Cycling cap or bandana (your head is the first place heat escapes)
• Undershirts or long underwear (long and short sleeve) are great for layering
• Knee & leg warmers (I usually wear leg warmers if it is 12 degrees or cooler – you can also wear running tights over your cycling shorts in cold weather)
• Wool socks are great for keeping your toes warm, even in wet conditions (DeFeet makes a couple of great options – the Wool-e-ator and the Woolie Boolie)
• Shoe covers: DeFeet makes a great lightweight shoe cover; windproof or neoprene booties are great for cold days
• Jacket – there are so many types of jackets out there but a nice windproof jacket and layering underneath will get you through lots of conditions

Wow, this sounds a little like a Defeet ad! In all honesty, they do make some fantastic cycling gear: socks, knee and arm warmers, undershirts, gloves, etc. They’re easy to find and well priced which makes them that much more desirable! Happy fall riding! Stay warm!

Team Amaral's first mountain bike ride!

Yesterday Mike, Duncan and I went for our very first mountain bike ride together! I received my Specialized Myka Expert mountain bike from Gears Bike Shop back in the spring, but haven’t had the chance to ride it yet. You see, I’m a bit of a klutz (I am always walking into and tripping over things) and I figured that learning to ride a mountain bike before or during the race season would be a recipe for disaster. So, mountain biking had to wait until the fall, when new adventures are a little less risky!

With a couple hours of riding on my schedule for yesterday, I thought it would be fun to try out my mountain bike. Mike has lots of trail experience and was a very good and very patient teacher! I tend to be a bit of a chicken sometimes, but I think I did a pretty good job yesterday being that it was my first time ever on the trails (notice the running shoes & platforms instead of the cycling shoes & pedals)!

We threw the bikes on the car and headed over to Bronte Park.  I learned how to ride down “steep” hills (steep to me, not to the average mountain biker), practiced riding over logs and rocks and tried to climb up hills with only running shoes and platform pedals (this is really tough if the hill is steep!)

Duncan had a fantastic time chasing after our bikes! At one point we were riding over a little wooden bridge and Duncan decided to jump off, landing in a thick, black swampy bog. His legs, chest and face were covered in thick black muck! Needless to say, this was followed shortly by a swim in the river!

Dirty Dog!

I arrived home tired and sweaty with only one little scratch. Although there were a couple of close calls, no bails on the bike just yet (I’m sure it’s just a matter of time). I had a great first experience on my mountain bike! I am looking forward to using it as a great cross training tool and a fun alternative to trainer riding in the winter!

Thank you again to Gears Bike Shop in Mississauga for all of their help and support. If you’re in the market for a bicycle of any kind (or gear), please check them out by clicking on the link on the right hand side of this page.

Happy riding!

It will only be a couple of weeks until this is a sea of yellow, orange and red!

No, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind…

Neither was this…

But, when I went online a few weeks ago to look up some tips for water running this is what I found!

It all started about a month ago when we decided that I needed to work on strengthening my core and all of the little running muscles in my legs and feet to make them stronger (which will hopefully translate into faster running over the winter and into 2010)!! Lisa suggested that we throw in some water running. At first I was not looking forward to running in the water for 45-60+ minutes at a time, but I have really grown to enjoy the time I spend running in the pool and love how my body feels after a solid water run! Yes, as crazy as it sounds, water running is fun!

On Tuesday morning this week I was doing some intervals in the water and was closing my eyes and visualizing my favourite places to run. I ran in my mind while my body focussed on strength and power and getting in lots of low impact miles! I ran in the Neyagawa trails in Oakville, the Orange Grove in Clermont, Forks of the Credit park in Caledon, even on the Muskoka 70.3 run course. It was so much fun and before I new it, 45 minutes had flown by!

I’m a big research person – I like to do my homework. So, when I started up with the water running a few weeks ago I did some searching online (hence the pictures at the beginning of this post). I was surprised at how little information I was able to find about water running. Between tri and running sites I think I found 1.5 articles that mentioned water running. Wow. Considering this seems to be such a widely used tool for injury prevention and rehab I was taken aback at the lack of information available to athletes.

I hope I can inspire you to add some water running into your routine! Here are a few of my tips (Disclaimer: this is only based on 3 weeks of water running experience, so feel free to leave a comment if you have more tips)

• Water run in the deep end, not the shallow end of the pool
• Cap and goggles are not necessary – they just make you look silly if you’re not actually swimming
• Move as if you were actually running, arms and all!
• Try to mix it up and create a little fartlek for yourself, just like if you were running outside (this helps pass the time)
• Visualize your favourite running spots
• You can run with or without a floaty belt (that’s the technical term); I’ve found that if I’m doing a harder set I can focus more on my technique and “running” hard if I am wearing a belt, running without adds the whole buoyancy challenge

Happy water running!

The summer has flown by and it seems like just now we’re starting to experience some nice summer weather here in Ontario! I haven’t written a proper update in a while, so let me recap the past month.

Back on August 23rd I raced the Orillia Triathlon. Orillia is put on by Mitch and Janet Fraser (www.trisportcanada.com). Mitch, Janet and their team do a spectacular job putting on a race series here in Ontario every year! I hadn’t raced Orillia since my very first triathlon season back in 2004.

The race itself went well. I had a poor swim start and let the two leaders get away from me, which meant I had a lager deficit than I would have liked exiting the water. Onto the bike I used my newly found bike prowess to focus and maintain contact with the fast age group men pushing the pace at the front of the race. I was the first woman off of the bike and onto the run. I ran scared for the first few kilometers before I was caught by the eventual first and second place women (both are excellent runners). I held on for third and was very pleased with my performance for the day!

Orillia podium

Unfortunately, after the race in Orillia, some foot pain that I had been battling for the better part of the season worsened. I booked myself in to see some experts right away and asked for their help in relieving my plantar fascia pain so that I could race the Muskoka 70.3 in three weeks time. I diligently went through physio and ART and completed all of my assigned rehab. This PF pain was not fun! I was in pain walking around the house, sitting at my desk and while watching TV. I was icing, stretching, rolling my foot over rollers and balls and none of if seemed to be helping. I made the tough call the week leading up to Muskoka to not start the race. It was a really difficult decision to make, but based on the level and frequency of pain that I was experiencing, Lisa and I felt it was best to continue with rest and rehab and get healthy so that I can train well in the offseason and come back stronger and faster in 2010.

Because we absolutely love Huntsville, Ontario’s triathlon mecca, Mike and I decided to pack up the car and head north for the weekend to cheer all of our friends on in the Muskoka 70.3. Standing on the sidelines was tough, I just wanted to be racing! I raced vicariously through all of my friends this weekend and found so much motivation from watching them push themselves to the limit and succeed on such a demanding course!

Riding the Muskoka course on Saturday morning with Mike and my friend Lili. Check out the spectacular views!

Admiring the view at Dwight beach in my new Gears Girls kit!

Beautiful Muskoka sunset

Yes, that is what it looks like. That little girl has put her friend into a gigantic traffic pylon in transition!

Swim start

Congratulations to everyone who raced in the Muskoka 70.3 this weekend! I’m looking forward to coming back and racing in 2010!

Hi everyone,

On Saturday morning Mike was out riding in Beamsville, ON (Niagara region) when he broke a spoke on his rear wheel. The wheel was so warped that it was rubbing on the frame so he called me to see if I could come and pick him up. I hopped in the car and drove about 40 minutes to meet him. I arrived in Beamsville to find Mike sitting at the SE corner of Mountain Rd and Philip St waiting for me. I loaded the bike on the roof while Mike changed and then hopped in the car and drove home.

Mike went to ride his bike yesterday morning when he realised his front wheel was missing. We searched high and low and racked our brains to think of where the wheel could be. I had left the wheel leaning up against the back of our car and had driven away from it on Saturday in Beamsville.

Now, as you can imagine, we both felt pretty silly having left it there. We made the decision to delay our Monday ride to drive to Beamsville, hoping that the wheel was still there. Unfortunately, it was not.

The missing wheel is a front 700c Mavic Ksyrium SL.

If you or anyone you know has any information on this wheel we would greatly appreciate you contacting us. You can reach me via email at jen.coombs@gmail.com.

Thanks!

I wish that I could say I was in New Hampshire right now getting ready for Timberman tomorrow but I am not. I am still at home here in Ontario, wishing I was in New Hampshire for Timberman!

I was really looking forward to racing again at the site of my first official 70.3 race where I qualified for Clearwater as an age grouper and finished 13th overall! I really wanted to test myself not only against the world’s greatest (Chrissie Wellington is racing) but against myself and what I had done on that very course 2 years ago!

Unfortunately a couple of things held me back from racing last minute. I have been fighting with some foot pain that has impacted my running. It’s gotten worse over the past couple of weeks (for no apparent reason) and I felt that racing 21K on it this weekend would not be smart in the grand scheme of things. I also faced some challenges getting to New Hampshire, as I was supposed to drive but both my primary and secondary plans fell through and 10.5 hours in the car by myself is probably not the best thing to do 2 days before the race (not to mention trying to get home afterwards!)

I really want to keep the intensity high and race so I’m going to head to a local race, the Northern Tri in Orillia to race in their sprint triathlon. I will race the swim and the bike and see how my foot holds up on the run.

Good luck to all my friends racing all over the world this weekend!