The off-season begins
I hadn’t realized it has been so long since I last updated. Basically, the week after my DNF race was very difficult for me. I did some soul-searching and thinking about my 2008 season and my future in triathlon. It was good and I’m glad that I am still positive about my upcoming 7th season as a triathlete. I love this sport like mad. The only thought that continues to come back into my head is that this was my last race before Ironman next June. I will have to overcome that thought in the upcoming 9 months.
I discovered that my time out of the water at my last race was 26:11 and I was 66th out of 157 participants. This was definitely a personal best for me. It gives me hope for increasing my time for all of the three sports. My ability in the bike portion of this sport definitely has a lot of potential and I plan to work my butt off (literally) this winter to make it happen. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll even become a faster runner at some point. Injuries be-gone!
Lately, I’ve been thinking about getting a tri bike, but don’t think that I can afford it right now. I think that this will be a purchase to make later in life when I have a bit more financial security and I didn’t just buy a house. Being a young person in this sport definitely has its challenges, especially in the gear department. I have so many things that I want to do: travel, have kids, own a house, and have adventures. This is hard to do when you pump all of your disposable income into a sport. So I am going to try to live with my current bike and see if I can get it to fit me a bit better, and maybe get lighter wheels. Over the next few weeks, I want to re-pack my hubs, which should make everything spin better and therefore make me faster. I’m lucky to have such a great bike shop.
So I am officially in my time of not training and just chilling out. It feels so good to go for the odd run, bike ride for fun, and swim without timing myself or counting laps. I have about 4 more weeks of that and in that time I want to re-vamp this website and work on some writing for it. Hopefully I will have some help from a friend of mine. Since I have more time on my hands, I have been doing a little more socializing with my non-triathlon friends and spending some quality time with my puppy and myself. My new house still has some work to do on it and I’m going away for the next two weekends on non-triathlon-related trips! One is to a concert in Calgary and the other is on a solo vacation to do some soul-searching.
I have also been treating myself to wonderfully delicious and terrible foods like french fries and soy ice cream. This weekend I discovered So Good soy ice cream drumsticks! Oh my gosh, I feel like I am a human again. I didn’t even know that I missed them until I had one!
All-in-all, my off-season is going wonderfully. And despite my loving all of my extra time and the beer I get to drink, I am excited to get back to regular training. However, I also look forward to easing back into it. September 29th is when it begins. I can’t wait!
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TNT Fundraising Dinner!
On Friday, January 27 we are holding a fundraising supper. It will be completely vegan (see my post here to understand why).
Where? Masonic Temple 1021 Sask Crescent West, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
When: Friday, January 27, 2012
Cocktails at 5:30pm, Dinner 6:30pm
What: A delicious meal, a silent auction, wonderful musical entertainment, and lots more!
Why? The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada is a voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. LLSC funds lifesaving blood cancer research across Canada and provides free information and support services.
Tickets
are $30 and can be bought at
Turning the Tide bookstore
525 - Broadway Avenue
LLS office
202-402 21st St E, 242-6611
You can also get them from Darcy & Crystal. You can email werunforcancer@gmail.comVT is on Twitter!
- Just posted a 5.36 km run - My personal trainer really worked me hard on this run. It's a good thing ... http://t.co/PflfuxHV #RunKeeper 18 hours ago
- Just posted a 8.29 km run - A nice run with my bff. http://t.co/jh6ToWZN #RunKeeper 18 hours ago
VT has a new look!
Purple has a new meaning in my life as it is the main colour of Team in Training, a group that raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This cause is very near and dear to my heart as my partner and main training buddy had Leukemia & Lymphoma when he was a child. Blood cancer can be very deadly, so I am thankful for the treatment and care that he got.
It is for this reason that we decided to run a marathon together with the Team in Training group in Saskatoon. We have a goal of $13,000!
What is VT?
This website is one that I, Crystal Clarke, started in 2007 with big ideas. It is morphing slowly into a resourceful website for vegans and athletes alike. I put my personal touch on this website in the recipes and the training blog, as I'm a writer & a vegan triathlete. So what is a vegan triathlete? Well...
vegan. n. vee-gahn. - a person who refrains from using any animal product whatever for food, clothing, or any other purpose.
triathlete. n. someone who participates in races consisting of swimming, biking, and running in that order; there are several varying distances with some standard distances:
Sprint: 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run
Olympic: 1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run
Half Ironman: 2km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run
Ironman: 3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km runPlease leave comments! I love reading and replying to comments. Cheers!
Who am I?
My name is Crystal Clarke. I'm a vegan triathlete. I've been vegan since 2002 and a triathlete since 2003. Since then I have completed 1 Ironman, 4 half IMs, several Olympic triathlons, and many other triathlons, duathlons, running races, and biking races. My goal for each race is to finish. I'm pretty slow, but can be a middle-of-the-pack person if I'm not injured and train consistently.
In addition to being a vegan triathlete, I'm a writer, I'm an Agrologist, I'm a soil scientist, I'm a knitter, I'm an anti-consumer, I'm an environmentalist, I'm a budding Buddhist, I'm a yogi, I'm a student of life, and I'm bipolar. I'm a lot of things! I don't fit into any one category - that's what I think sets me apart from other athlete blogs.
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