Category Archives: Ironman Canada 2011

More and more inspiration!

  By Crystal Clarke | January 16, 2013 - 9:06 am | , , , , , ,
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On Monday I went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour viewing of some amazing short films. I try to go every year, but can’t always make it. Whenever I go, I am taken back to my epic bike ride across Canada. The people in these extreme outdoor adventures go through such adversity and push the limits of the body so hard that it can’t help but be inspiring! I have a bit of a flaw these days. My flaw is that I really like to plan my workouts, but have a difficult time finding time to do them. … Keep reading →

Race Report: Ironman Canada 2011

  By Crystal Clarke | September 25, 2011 - 11:33 pm | , , ,
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Ironman Canada 2011: August 28, 2011 Pre-Race: MellowJohnny and I had been planning our Ironman trip for a few months now. He’s not a big planner, but his kids would be with him for the week so we decided to be prepared for it. It made for a different type of pre-race preparation than I have ever been used to. I was definitely less organized than usual and more busy. This made it almost impossible for me to focus on the nervousness that I usually have. Camping in a family setting added more complicated elements. Looking back, I wish that I … Keep reading →

Better to be Under Trained?

  By Crystal Clarke | July 24, 2011 - 11:15 am | , , , ,
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After Google-ing “Under trained Ironman” to see if there were any tips out there in internet-land for people like me who are not as prepared for Ironman as they would like to be, I saw in several websites that it is better to be 10% under-trained than 5% over-trained. I sure hope that is true because I’m at least 10% under-trained. I have done a couple of 100+km rides and will do quite a bit more biking because I’m going on a bike trip to the east coast of Canada. Hopefully I will get in open-water swimming and a bit … Keep reading →

Recovering

  By Crystal Clarke | March 12, 2011 - 12:35 pm | , , , , ,
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This week was one of recovering. I wasn’t just recovering from running the race, but also from being so cold. My core body just doesn’t seem to want to get warm. I don’t think I was hypothermic at the race on Sunday, but I think it has affected my body’s ability to regulate its temperature since then. Since the race I have been re-thinking my goal to do the Saskatchewan Marathon at the end of May. It’s not so much that I don’t think I can train for the race, it’s the recovery time after. This past week has been … Keep reading →

Being a Woman Athlete

  By Crystal Clarke | March 1, 2011 - 9:21 pm | , , , , ,
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Sometimes being a woman athlete isn’t easy. There is usually one day a month that swimming just isn’t an option on that day. One time I raced on that day and it was NOT pretty. Nobody else noticed, but I was completely freaking out the day before (luckily my woman training buddy helped calm me down and was very supportive – remember that Nav?). On the week before a woman’s menstrual cycle begins, she can be a little bit… hmm… hormonally-charged. I don’t like using the word “emotional” because that implies things like crying, over-reacting, etc. I also don’t believe … Keep reading →

Not so bad

  By Crystal Clarke | February 27, 2011 - 6:51 pm | , , , ,
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This past week I felt like I did nothing… like I had been slacking off. It is true that I didn’t work as much as I have or as much as I expected myself to. One reason for this is that I signed up for a 3-evening Buddhist retreat. I have been really getting into Buddhism lately and the “retreat” that was a combination of meditation and a talk by a monk who lives in a monastery in California. It was a great retreat, but it was pretty exhausting. I tried to get in training in the morning, but I … Keep reading →

A Quick Update!

  By Crystal Clarke | February 23, 2011 - 5:38 pm | , , ,
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The past week and a bit have been pretty interesting for me. I am potentially in a bit of a manic state, but I am using meditation to keep me grounded. I have also decided to be more diligent about my diet. I have become a calorie counter! In order to help me do this, I have joined My Fitness Pal, an online community and method of tracking exercise and food. Here is my profile. It is actually pretty awesome. It is way better than FitDay.com because it is super easy to use and because you have the community support. … Keep reading →

An Easy Week

  By Crystal Clarke | February 1, 2011 - 10:10 pm | , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Last week somehow turned into a rest week. I guess it makes sense after the week before’s pummeling of my body. On Sunday after the swim it kind of shut down. I could feel myself lagging in the water. I felt ill. Somehow I made it through the swim and spent the rest of the day on the couch. Actually, I spent Monday there too (other than going to work). I thought I had the flu that was going around, but since it didn’t turn into anything more than an upset stomach and sore muscles I guess it was “just” soreness from … Keep reading →

The Dreaded Trainer: Week 1

  By Crystal Clarke | November 22, 2010 - 4:52 pm | , , , , ,
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Last week was my first week becoming re-acquainted with my dreaded bike wind trainer. I haven’t put my bike on it for about a year and a half, after taking last winter off completely. On Wednesday I had my first indoor bike session of the 17-weeks to Spring coached program that I’m taking and coaching (on Thursdays). In this program we bring our own bikes and wind trainers. The worst part is transporting the bike and the wind trainer from far to building and up a huge flight of stairs. I know that it’ll get easier, but last week was … Keep reading →