Category Archives: training with friends

Training buddies are the shit

  By Crystal Clarke | June 2, 2014 - 10:55 am | , , , ,
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This is Blair. He is proudly almost 70 years old and he kicked my ass on Friday. He told me he'd make me bike faster next time. I'd better get training!

Last year I moved to a small town to be with my partner and his kiddos. It has taken some time to settle in and I’m still not completely there. However, I’m starting to get to know people, and I’m noticing and enjoying the perks of small-town life more than I used to. Training has been a big issue for me since moving for lots of reasons. One of those reasons is lack of training buddies. A few weeks ago I thought that I might be able to start a little running group, or at least a walking group. I … Keep reading →

Team 50km Ultra Marathon Race Review

  By Crystal Clarke | October 23, 2011 - 2:59 pm | , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Yesterday my training buddies, MellowJohnny and SpeedyK, and I ran together in a team effort for Saskatoon’s 50km Ultra Marathon event. It’s a great fall season event and it was really lots of fun! The three of us had had many discussions about who would take which “leg” of the race. We didn’t know the distances when the discussion began, so we tentatively set it at me doing the first, SpeedyK doing the second, and MellowJohnny doing the third. It ended up going exactly like that! This meant that I would take the longest leg at 17.4km, SpeedyK would take … Keep reading →

Pushing the limits

  By Crystal Clarke | August 17, 2010 - 12:13 pm | ,
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Like most things in life, it is nice to be pushed. This morning I went running with a good friend of mine, who I have never run with before. She was worried about running with me and really wanted to go out hard. So I kept up, I can do that. About halfway through the run, I realized that I was running faster that I normally run and that it felt awesome! We laughed at ourselves and kept going with our fast pace (well, fast for me). Now I kind of wish I had my heart rate monitor on to … Keep reading →

Hills shmills, how about this wind?

  By Crystal Clarke | April 18, 2009 - 2:37 pm | , , ,
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I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: hills are a walk in the park compared to the prairie wind! This morning I embarked on my first outdoor ride of the season. That’s right, it’s April 18th and I’m riding outside for the first time this spring. It’s just the way it is all the way up here in Saskatchewan. The snow isn’t even all gone. I met my training buddies and we headed due south, directly into a head-wind. We planned it that way. It’s the best way to plan a ride so that you can have … Keep reading →

A Saturday Morning Simu-Ride

  By Crystal Clarke | March 21, 2009 - 11:56 am | , , ,
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Getting up at 6am on a Saturday is not generally my idea of a good time, but when one is training for Ironman it just has to be done. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one and met 9 other people to get together for a 3-hour ride. One of the guys in the club has the Ironman Coeur d’Alene bike course on his CompuTrainer. So while one person road the course (this morning it was my buddy Peter), the rest of us watched the profile of the course as well as the video of the actual route that was projected … Keep reading →

Time Flies

  By Crystal Clarke | December 8, 2008 - 11:44 am | , , , , , , ,
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I can’t believe it has been a month since I have updated this. In my head, while I’m training, I keep thinking, “*Subject* would be a great thing to write about,” but then it leaves my head as soon as my workout is done. The biggest reason/excuse for not updating this blog is because I have been seriously lacking in time and motivation to blog. In the past month, I have been going through some emotional turmoil about an ended relationship and a friend who decided to take his own life. This has left me reeling a bit and has … Keep reading →

Hitting the Pool

  By Crystal Clarke | September 30, 2008 - 10:19 am | , ,
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My second day of “back to training” week was a success. The biggest part of the success was actually making it to the pool! Over the past 6 weeks or so, I had tried over and over again to get my butt to the pool. However, I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed at 6am “just for fun.” Alas, I didn’t. My training buddies, who are still training for a Half IM in November were rather unsympathetic to my need for more sleep. But they had no choice. So I had a blissful 6 weeks of not getting … Keep reading →

After a long rest, I’m back!

  By Crystal Clarke | July 28, 2008 - 2:15 pm | , , , , ,
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I was just thinking today as I was biking to work that moving has to be the hardest thing on a person who trains for triathlon (and probably everyone else). This morning I went on my first run since moving and the Half Ironman. Discovering a new neighbourhood and establishing new routes is not an easy thing to do, but it sure is fun! I had lived in the same area for years, so my routes never changed. I knew how long they should take me on a good or bad day and I knew exactly how long they were, … Keep reading →

Recovery and Race afterthoughts

  By Crystal Clarke | July 10, 2008 - 11:15 am | , , ,
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Yesterday I went swimming with my training buddies and I realized that I had no muscular pain anywhere. The only problem that I had was my knee… for the whole race. My neck didn’t hurt during the bike, my ankle didn’t hurt during the run, my shoulders didn’t hurt during the swim (maybe it was because the water was so warm), and my lungs were 100%. It is for this reason that I know that I have to fully rehabilitate my knee. That is my number one goal right now. I am only going to focus on the swim and … Keep reading →

Training Buddies

  By Crystal Clarke | June 17, 2008 - 9:00 am | , ,
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This morning my alarm went off at 5:30 and I cringed. “Already?!?” I asked myself. I contemplated not going to the gym and pool, but I knew that my training buddy would be waiting for me. I contemplated calling her, but if I’m going to be awake enough to look for her number, call her, have a conversation about how tired I am, and then lay down again, I might as well go to the gym. Am I ever glad I did! Despite my puffy eyes and tired body, I made it through the weights and then the swim workout. … Keep reading →