Power training after the G20

Yeah, shameless Googlebait in the heading. I did get the hell out of Dodge for the G20 weekend, and in the nick of time, apparently. My daughter and I spent the weekend at my folks' in the suburbs, occasionally yelling at the TV: "If you wanna break shit, break it in your own neighbourhood, ya punk!"

I didn't have my daughter for the Father's Day weekend, so she was eager to give me my gift. Especially eager since our first stop after I picked her up was Running Free in Ajax. "You have to open it before you get out of the car!" she said. So I did: A running hat and a water bottle that straps to your hand from The Running Room. I was so thrilled -- my daughter, while she may think I'm crazy, supports me in this.

Less supportive she was as I was picking through swim trunks. I'd settled on a thigh length pair of TYRs that are unfortunately tight if the guy who's going to be wearing them happens to be your father. "Can't you find something that goes to your knees?" she asked. When I pointed out the alternative -- something in more of a Speedo cut -- she reluctantly relented.

You think that something like a tighter fitting trunk is going to have a minimal effect. It doesn't. When I first got the chance to wear them in the pool today, my first length, it reduced the number of strokes from 21 to 18. I swam a 400-yard uninterrupted stretch and had plenty left over. Not saying I couldn't have done it with something a little blousier, but still.

The swim was later in the aft. I went for a 90-minute bike ride first, because I'm way behind on my bike training. Didn't do hill repeats because I've been off the bike for two weeks. Dropped it off at Cycle Solutions on Parliament to finally get that flat bar put on. I'd wanted a Specialized Transition Aero bar, but one of the guys talked me out of it -- I'd need new brake levers, new shifters, and, in general, a lot of money. Instead, I settled for an Easton straight bar and dropped off my Profile Design clip-on aeros for them to install, and put a pair of low-profile bar-ends on to give me another hand-position option. Whole schtick costs less than the Specialized bars alone, so that's a good thing.

I'm bikeless till Wednesday, but that should be fine; I'm going for a run in the morning, and I'll probably go for a swim later in the day. I'm on staycation at the moment. This is a build week in my training, so I'm planning on putting as much time in as I can. Put a big vat of chili in the slow cooker, so I don't have to cook for a couple days. Just run, swim and, when I get my bike back, ride.

Got a couple surprises for my body this week. Can't tell ya, cuz I don't want it to find out.