The Universe sent me a sign today ...

In my head, I'd decided to do the Ottawa Half Ironman this Saturday, and my tri friends had agreed that I should go for the longer distance over the sprint, but then I got sick last week and couldn't train.

I'm feeling better now after this short but intense virus and actually had a good training today (50k cycle). So, missing one intense training weekend out of an available five seriously nicks "cramming" for a Half Iron, so I decided to do the Sprint Tri instead to play it safe, 'cause you and I both know I haven't done the miles for a Half, and I still have a hip injury.

So, I go online and lo and behold, online registration closed before the announced midnight cut-off today. And I'm not willing to pay more money to sign up on-site, especially at 6am on race day (since I'm working Friday and can't do early pick-up, Ottawa is two hours away!)

Guess it's an omen, a sign from the Universe ...

Another online registration opened weeks earlier than was supposed to (it was announced for mid-Sept) and a tri friend tipped me off. My heart jumped when she popped up suddenly in my Facebook chat window with the online registration link and I knew right away what I really wanted.

I signed up, no ifs or buts.

My credit card ain't too happy and I don't have the money to go yet (flight, hotel and shipping my bike, OUCH!) but I believe the money will come ... because my heart is already in this race ... and I'm going to be racing for my mom to raise money for cancer.

Ironman Canada 2010, here I come!

Interesting how I couldn't commit to signing up for the Ottawa triathlon ... I waffled and agonized and couldn't decide ... seemed that training, work, injury and sickness intended to get in the way ... somehow the Universe knew I'd need this race entry money for another bigger, more important race.

I've got a year to train ... a year to become disciplined ... a year to get ready ... and a year to find the money. But I have full trust in the Universe and it will provide :-)

On another positive note, the premiere of the short film "The Cat in the Pan" at the Montreal World Film Festival went well ... Very cool film, very cool cast and crew ;-)

From left to right:

Me (role: Goth Girl)
Bruno Philip, C.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Cindy Landerman (actor, wife to David Schapp and a beautiful mother-to-be!)
David Schapp (role: Monitor)
Anne Kmetyko (Director)

So life is wonderful and I can't wait for more amazing things to happen! Thank you, Universe!

[Edited to add: My friends with whom I was supposed to stay had their baby arrive 5 1/2 weeks early ... it would have been pandemonium at their house!]

Montreal World Film Festival: International premiere of "The Cat in the Pan"

Yesterday, I was still sitting on the fence about which race to do in Ottawa on Sept. 5. Today, I feel like I have fallen off, but not in a good way.

I'm fighting some kind of weird virus that makes it difficult to concentrate and keep my head up because I feel achey and woozy. My head and ears feel warm, my chest is a bit congested and my throat is swollen and I should really be lying in bed right now. But I am obstinate and am trying to be productive, well, at least semi-productive.

And I would love to go out and train but yesterday's short ride and run was difficult. I thought all the sneezing was due to severe allergies but I now realise that this nasty virus that I've caught was also contributing. Anyway, I would probably fall off from being too dizzy ... Sigh, forced rest day for me today.

So, being sick and not being able to train hard this last precious weekend before the race pretty well nullifies any chance of doing the Half Ironman. In addition, I've been called to shoot on a television series one day before the race, meaning that I'll miss the race packet pick-up Friday and would have to do it first thing Saturday morning, as well as familarise myself with the race course ... I could always fall back on racing the Sprint Tri ... hmmm ... but that starts at 8am and Ottawa is a two hour drive from Montreal.

Alright ... let's think about something else, something positive ...


My short film in which I play the Goth Girl, "The Cat in the Pan" directed by Anne Kmetyko, is making its international debut Sunday, August 30 at the Montreal World Film Festival. It'll be opening for another Canadian film called "The Poet".

Here are some pics from the shoot, taken by the set photographer, Aurelien Pallier-Colinot ...

Go big or go home!

August 22 has come and gone and I am not yet registered. In fact, today is the last day I can register online at the regular fee for the triathlon races in Ottawa Sept. 5.

I'm still sitting on the fence and can't figure out for which race to register ... the Sprint or the Half Iron. Frankly, I'm not ready for either.

Today I ran 15k, hip and bunions hurt, but I pushed through and finished strong. I actually visualised running the entire half marathon distance (even though I ran 6k short) and instead of running it at a regular LSD (long slow distance) pace, I picked up the pace and let it hurt more than I wanted, but not enough to cause injury. I needed to test my physical and mental toughness of what it might feel like after swimming 2k, biking 90k then running 21k.

Let's check out the pros and cons of each distance:

SPRINT TRIATHLON

Pros
- Costs less than the Half Ironman.
- Takes less time than the Half Ironman.
- Found out today that the bike is actually 30k and not 20k, which is more common ... so I'm liking the longer distance :-)
- Though my training has been inconsistent, I've for sure done enough mileage.
- This will make me step out of my comfort zone of endurance racing and maybe I'll discover that I'm not as slow as I think.
- The pressure to be speedy freaks me out!
- The pace required is never described by the word "comfy".

Cons
- I have to push myself at my maximum throughout the entire race.
- I haven't done any speedwork. I suck at transitioning and this part is super important in a short race.
- I have to push so hard that I will actually be on the verge of being out of breath all the time and my muscles will BURN BURN BURN. I will HURT HURT HURT!

HALF IRONMAN

Pros
- I'm very comfortable with endurance races, I know I can finish. A lot of the endurance race is in the head.
- I was just as badly prepared for Ironman Louisville last year and I managed to finish without crawling over the finish line.
- The HIM is a less popular distance than a Sprint, so knowing that, I can feed my Endurance Triathlete Ego ;-) Yes, I like owning a HIM finisher's medal more than a Sprint (but best is the IM medal!)
- I like when I can get into a groove and relax into a consistent pace, which is almost zen-like, 'cept when it hurts ... but then it all becomes surreal when it REALLY HURTS, though still painful.
- There is less pressure to be Speedy-Gonzales during transitions. I'll be racing for seven hours so what difference will a few minutes make? I ain't gonna be winning ...

Cons
- More expensive than the Sprint tri.
- I haven't done enough mileage or consistent training to do this distance!
- I'm sure I am underestimating how much I am going to SUFFER! I might be limp-running-walking during the last half of the run leg.
- I haven't done any open water swimming yet this year ... will I remember how?

Oh, oh, oh! Decisions, decisions, decisions ...

But as my friend TP said, "Go big or go home!" I feel like I've been challenged. It's true, I've never been one to do things in a "small way" ... Hmmm ... I'm gonna sit on the fence just a bit longer ... Maybe I'll just have to see how training goes this week and pay the late online fee.

This is a hard choice, I'm an endurance athlete, but maybe just once, I should play it safe?

Training discipline ... what dat?

I've been trying to be better disciplined at training recently but last week threw me for a loop. I've never been one for keeping a routine or a schedule and this was made worse when my work schedule included inconsistent hours, being outside for long periods in the muggy Montreal heat wave, and/or standing around all day being "on" and always ready.

So, frankly, I didn't get in the training I wanted to last week. My feet hurt or I was simply too pooped from the extreme heat. Besides, waking up with swollen feet and legs every morning didn't help!

So my dilemma ... Aug. 22 is fast approaching and I still don't know for which race to register ... Either one will hurt A LOT, just differently. There is so much more pressure with a Sprint Tri than a Half Ironman because of the speed factor but on the other hand, I haven't come close to doing enough miles to cover the HIM distance! Mind you, I hadn't covered enough miles to complete IMKY (Ironman Kentucky) either ... but I did.

OH!

Choices, choices ... I think I could push myself to finish a HIM, but at what cost to my body? Or I could take this almost three weeks left of training to fine tune myself to go just a wee bit faster/harder. Logic says do the Sprint ... my heart says do the Half.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks :-)

I remember when ...

The other day, I ran 7.7 km, the most I've run since resuming my running only a few weeks ago. I'd been off running since late April, almost three months, because of a sore hip. I felt slow and heavy ...

Where did my fitness go?

I've been swimming and cycling and trying to keep some sort of fitness base but I realise that I'm in my best shape, emotionally and physically, when I can RUN! This is likely due to the fact that I don't push myself the same way with swimming or cycling as I do with endurance running, where I don't have a choice. I can't take a little break by gliding or letting the wheels spin ...

I miss my marathoning training days of 5-6 days of running, when I used to be thinner, and when I used to fit all my sexy tailored clothes ... Waah!

Hip was a little sore, more so after the run than during, but what worries me is the *twinge* in my left knee, which hurt during my 30k ride the day afterwards too ... I think I'm compensating for my hip. Sigh.

Half Ironman Triathlon ... we'll see if this race even happens. I'll give myself until August 22 to register ... Otherwise, it'll just be a Sprint.

Ingrid, I love you ...

After 11 months of hanging in my room, I finally took down Ingrid, my Cervelo P2C tri-bike, from my ceiling and prepped her for a ride, in fact, the first one since Ironman Louisville.

So good to be AERO again!

Rode 76 km to Charlemagne in the heat and humidity. I'd hesitated all season to ride her. Since I have a hip injury and can't run much, I haven't committed to any races ... no marathons, no triathlons. And when I'm not committed to a race, I tend to ... um ... be even more undisciplined an athlete than my usual undisciplined athlete self. Why push myself if there is no goal?

But recently, Dirk, my trainer friend from Miami called me up ...

Dirk: You mentioned a race in Ottawa in September, an Ironman?

Bonnie: Yeah, there's one on September 5. It's not a sanctioned IM, but an Irondistance so should cost less.

Dirk: I want to come visit you and do this race.

Bonnie: Well, that's fantastic, but if you're gonna race, I'll have to race too!

So there you have it, hip injury or not, I will sign up for one of the events. I've been off running for almost three months and have recently started running again, just short distances, so if I build carefully, I'll be able to manage something (I hope!)

I've got five weeks to train and two races to choose from ... Sprint or Half Iron ... and I think you know which one I'd like to do! No way I could train for an Irondistance in this short time, but since I know I'm one stubborn lady, I think I'll go for the ... Half Iron! Gotta bump up my training enough to just complete now ...

So, that's why Ingrid came down from my ceiling yesterday ... I've been riding my Guru road bike, Kate, in town since it takes a good 20km of cycling before one can get past the cars and the slower cyclists and I haven't really been doing much distance, usually only short rides of 25-50km. Actually, even beyond 20k, the road just sucks! Montreal is notorious for potholes, cracks and bumps.

But when I finally got onto smoother roads and out far enough to not have to worry so much about traffic lights, too many cars, other cyclists ... down into aero I stayed.

Ingrid, you are such a sweet ride ... There is no sexier feeling than being geared up in spandex, goggles and helmet and riding 30km/hr+ in aero position on an amazingly engineered bike!