Sunday 31 May 2015

Ride for Heart 2015


My major charitable fundraiser for the year is the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s annual Ride for Heart. This year it was held on Sunday, May 31, 2015.  The aspect of this event that I like the most is that its a rare opportunity for cyclists to take over the extremely busy downtown expressways - the Gardiner and DVP. (The only other event that opens those expressways to cyclists is the Toronto Triathlon Festival later that summer, so this is also a great chance for a pre-TTF training ride).  Riders can choose to ride 25km, 50km or 75km on the closed course.   



I signed up to ride the 75km route again this year, and due to my success with fundraising last year, I was asked to register as a VIP rider.  I did so, and set a fundraising goal of $1000, which I am happy to say I actually surpassed, due to the generous support of my friends, family, clients and teammates. Thanks to your donations, I’m currently at $1,025!! If you haven't done so yet, its not too late to contribute to the cause, donations are being accepted up to June 4th, through this link to my riders page:  

The weather was not as cooperative this year, however, the ride goes on rain or shine.  While the cool temps (9C), gusty NE 30kph winds and rain showers made riding a little tedious at times, all the riders were in great spirits for such a charitable event.  People of all ages and abilities were riding, in all types of bikes.  I saw everything from sweet triathlon racing bikes, to commuter bikes, tandem bikes, hand-cycles, recumbent bikes and even a unicycle. 

There were pit stops along the route at the DVP/York Mills exit, and the DVP/Bayview-Bloor exit where riders could stop to use port-a-potties, fix any tire issues, grab a snack and chat with other riders.  Overall, it took me about 3.5hrs to ride the 75km this year.  A little longer than I thought, but the winds were really gusty at several points and I did actually stop to talk to more riders along the route pit stops this year, and took a couple pics, which was nice to be a little more social, particularly at this type of charity ride. The cookies and becel-buttered corn we enjoyed at the finish line was also a nice touch.  


Needless to say I’m sure I’ll be riding for heart again in 2016, but hoping the weather will be a little warmer and drier.
And now its time to rest.  

Sunday 24 May 2015

Bike Month


May 25-June 25 is bike month here in the GTA, and its a great time to get outside and go for a ride (http://bikemonth.ca/about).  Wether you’re a commuter, leisure rider or triathlete, cycling is a great way to get outside for some fun and exercise.  



While living in a city can make it more challenging to find safe routes from automobile traffic, I’ve found a few trails that are bike friendly:  

1. The Martin Goodman Trail (MGT) - is a multi-use recreation trail that stretches along the entire Lakeshore - from Oakville, Mississauga and into downtown Toronto.  Its open to pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, etc, and closed to cars.  While it gets crowded on holidays and weekends, if you can sneak in a weekday ride you’ll have more room. But beware of children running around when parents fail to keep a close eye on them - I’ve had a few close calls. 

2. Tommy Thompson Park (TTP) - Located downtown, also accessed from the MGT, is TTP, a public park that is open on only on weekends and holidays.  If offers mostly unpaved trails but is closed to traffic and has some great birdwatching and cool lake breezes in the summer.  The potholes can be bad here, so be wary.   

3. Toronto Islands - From the Jack Layton ferry terminal (accessed directly from the Martin Goodman Trail) you can take your bike on the ferry to the Toronto Islands and bike almost anywhere you like on the islands.  The islands are free of cars, making it a safe, scenic, leisurely place to ride.   

4. Don River Trail (DRT) - A pedestrian and cyclist trail that stretches from the lakeshore (connecting with the MGT at Cherry Street) all the way up to Sunnybrook Park and Taylor Creek Park, ~10km. The trail stretches along the Don River and Don Valley Parkway.  

5. Sunnybrook Park - while open to some automobile traffic, its still a much safer option then city streets. There are lots of winding paths and trails that cyclist can ride on.  Riding the loop from the playing fields at the top of Sunnybrook Park down to E.T. Seton Park return is ~10km.  There are several parking lots so if you wanted to drive there with your bike on a rack its an option. 

I’ve incorporated all these cycling trails in my training, and when you’re stuck living in the city and tired of the long winter spent inside on your bike trainer and going to spin class, these trails offer a decent option to get outside for a ride. 



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Of course, it wouldn’t be bike month in Toronto without the annual Ride for Heart, a campaign for the Heart and Stroke Foundation taking place on Sunday, May 31 along the Gardiner Expressway and DVP.  I’m participating again this year, but this time I’m now a VIP rider and promised to fundraise at least $1000 for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  I’m quite close to reaching my goal (94% there) but I still need a little help. If you’d like to donate here’s the link to my fundraising page:  

Any amount helps, and it all goes to the Heart & Stroke Foundation.  I promise to ride all 75km again this year, and to report on the event in my blog, of course. 

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No matter what skill level of cyclist you are, make sure you get outside for some fun rides this month.  I always have a smile on my face after getting outside for an awesome spring ride and I bet you will too. 



Tuesday 5 May 2015

Goodlife Fitness Toronto Half-Marathon


My running has been progressing quite nicely over the last year, so I felt ready to try a new challenge - the half-marathon.  At a distance of 21.1km, this running event is more than double the usual 10km distance I’ve been competing at the last couple years, but I do like to constantly improve and challenge myself, so I decided to see how I would do at the Goodlife Fitness Toronto half-marathon (http://www.torontomarathon.com/races/half-marathon.html), held on Sunday, May 3rd, 2015. 



The half-marathon started at Mel Lastman Square (in the North York region of the city), continued south down Yonge St, turning slightly southeast down Rosedale Valley Rd and onto Bayview Ave, before turning west running through the downtown core along Front St, with the finish line at Ontario Place on the Lakeshore Blvd.  

The weather was ideal for running - around 13C and mostly sunny in the morning, and 18C at the end of the race. No sleeves or jackets required, but still not too sweaty nor humid for endurance running. 



I set myself off at a slower race pace (5:00min/km) for the half-marathon and I was pleased that I was able to maintain it as planned for the majority of the race (with the exception of the Yonge/York Mills hill at the 4km mark where I slowed down to 5:15/km).  Looking back, I think I could have challenged myself to keep a faster pace (maybe 4:45/km) as I was able to pick up my pace quite well for the last 3km (4:20/km) for a strong finish, indicating that I wasn’t as spent as I could’ve been. I will definitely run harder during my next half-marathon this autumn.  Looking back, I think I may have paced too conservatively as I had never raced this distance before, and I think I played it too safe. Next half-marathon race I will run more aggressively now that I have the experience and confidence under my belt. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this distance and race.  I found the first 7km or so were a little difficult, partly due to the hill at the start, and settling into a pace I was comfortable with, but after the 7km point I fell into a nice rhythm and felt like I was cruising along.  The scenic and gentle slope down Rosedale Valley Rd was an especially nice stretch to run. 

I was fortunate to have a friend waiting for me near the 9km point (just north of St. Clair/Yonge) and captured this video clip of me, which was nice as I hardly ever see what I actually look like running (look for me in blue #4880 during the last 10 sec of the video). 



As with many road races, many of the spectators offer their own style of inspiration, encouragement and support for the runners, and I find myself scanning the sidewalks,  looking to them for both entertainment and encouragement.  I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people holding boxes of kleenex for the runners so that they could clean their runny and snotty noses. (BTW I’ve developed a decent farmer style nose-blow from all my long runs). These are things other runners understand and appreciate! 

There were some pretty good signs along this race route as well.  Besides the usual personal signs posted from family members, I drew encouragement from the “Kill the Hill” sign at the 3.5km point, as well as the “Free Bananas in 13km” sign at the 7.1km point, but my favourite sign, by far, was the bright yellow bristol board with “Never trust a fart after 20km” in bold black lettering warning the runners at ~17km.  That was a good one!  A little comedic relief to help you through the last stretch. It really does help.  So kudos to them and all the race volunteers. 
  
The last few km of the race went really well. I was stronger running across that Bathurst street bridge than I ever had been before, but I was momentarily discouraged when I realized the finish line wasn’t at Fort York (where I was used to it being for the Yonge St 10km races in the past) and I still had another 1.5km to run to get to the actual finish line further along at Ontario Place!  Geez!  But I kept pushing hard and I was able to finish with a strong kick across the finish line in a time of 1:45:52.  I was hoping for a finishing time of 1:45:00, but that was honestly just a best guess since I had never ran this distance before.  I’m happy to say that I’m pleased with my race results and will definitely be doing more half-marathons in the future.  

My race stats: (via Sports Stats: http://www.sportstats.ca/ 
Official time - 1:45:52
Overall place - 501/3890 (12.8%)
Gender place - 109/2034 (5.4%)
Age category place - 19/264 (7.2%)