Training for the spring of 2011

I have been doing most of my training for swimming indoors.  We have a local YMCA which has a 20m pool.  It offers a masters swim program that meets every Wednesday and Friday mornings at 6am.  We swim until 7pm.  Most of my training consists of following the workouts our coach provides for this program, however I also try to get out one more time every week to swim for 1600m.  In the third session I focus more on endurance swimming where I do sets of 200m.  Once it gets warm enough to swim I will swim in the bay; our town boarders on one of the great lakes, and people often swim in the bay during the warmer months.  Below is a picture of Georgian bay from one of the town parks.

Georgian bay can be quite choppy, but on the right day it can be a really good swim.  The water is perfectly clear and you can easily see 20ft to the bottom of the lake if you are in a shallow area.  The water can often be cold, so I will sometimes use a wetsuit even in the summer months.  It is worth getting it on to experience swimming in this large fresh water lake.

For biking in the spring, I mostly bike on the Georgian trail if I am not indoors working on the trainer.  The Georgian trail is a 34km long trail that runs along Georgian bay from the town of Collingwood to Meaford Ontario.  It was once a railroad bed but it is now a crushed gravel recreational trail that is used by bikers, runners, walkers and cross country skiers.  The township does not allow any motorized vehicles on the trail, including electric bikes.  I ride on the trail using a comfort bike that I have converted to a longer distance bike by adding aerobars and clipless pedals.  The photo below shows a section of the trail which is between Thornbury and Meaford:

Many parts of the trail are very scenic, for example there is a section of the trail that runs between Collingwood and Thornbury, where you pass by the Georgian Peaks ski club.  Through the trees you get a really nice view of the Niagara Escarpment, as well as the lifts that operate as part of the Georgian Peaks ski club.  Georgian Peaks is one of the 5 private ski clubs that run along the Niagara escarpment, in the Township of the Blue Mountains.

When I bike on the Georgian trail, I usually bike from the beginning of the extended section of the trail in south collingwood up to grey rd. 19 which is the road you take to get to Blue Mountain ski resort.  Blue mountain is not only the largest ski resort on this section of the escarpment but it is also the only public ski resort.  This is about a 20k round trip and it takes me about an hour.  However sometimes for longer rides I will go up just a bit past Thornbury which is a 50k round trip and takes a little under 3 hours.  The trail past Thornbury offers some nice scenery.  For example, the shot below was taken from the Thornbury bridge and shows where the river feeds into the bay.

One of the most spectacular views along the Georgian trail occurs at a section just above Thornbury as you are traveling towards Meaford.  At this point the trail bends and becomes part of the escarpment.  This allows for a very challenging round of golf, as one can see from the view from one tee at the Raven club golf course.

I also do most of my outside running on this trail, although because I don't run as far as I bike, my runs are usually done on the lower section of the trail.  This section also has some nice scenery.  Below is a photo of the lower section of the trail looking down the trail.  In the distance you can see part of the Niagara Escarpment and Osler ski club.

I am looking forward to getting out and swimming in the open bay again.  The water takes awhile to warm up, we need a few weeks of solid, warm weather for that to occur.  One of the nice things about biking and running on this trail is the opportunity for a swim break.  About halfway down my biking route, there is a beach which I can swim at.  Below is a photo of this beach area.

Another great option for swimming is Wasaga Beach.  It is good practise to do your open swims there because the water can often be very rough.  Wasaga beach is also very long (10K), and while there it is nice to run on the beach as well.  This can sometimes be a challenge because of the sand, but it is great for strengthening the muscles in your feet.  I like to get in some training at Wasaga Beach because one of our races takes place at Wasaga Beach.  Sometimes the run into and out of the transition is done in the sand, which can be quite challenging.  As the season progresses, I will add some photos of Wasaga Beach as well.