Nik’s Chicks is a FREE ladies only running/triathlon group. It is only a time and place to meet & a program to follow.  I cannot join you on every run/workout.  If you are new to exercising, it is advisable to have a doctor’s OK prior to beginning. Any information or products represented on this site are for educational purposes only and are not a substitute for any advice given to you by a medical, nutritional or fitness professional. Please sign my waiver (in “About”) and fill out my contact info sheet when you arrive for your first run.  Please park on West Oak Trails Blvd or Nightingale to avoid the locking beeps and car doors closing around my neighbors’ houses – especially on Saturday mornings! We run Monday and Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.  Check out Weekly Workout section for specific times.

Quote of the Week:   

The true measure of a runner isn’t in time, but  rather in the effort it took along the way.

Coach Jenny Hadfield, Ask Coach Jenny blog, Runner’s World.com

Hello ladies, here is the latest news from the “nest”!  

Happy Belated Mother’s Day!  Hope you all enjoyed a little pampering!  

Jo and I were out for a 3 hr 15 min training ride on Friday and I feel compelled to share our adventures with you…should be good for a couple of chuckles.  We decided to start our ride just past the bridge from Burlington to Hamilton.  It was a wet day but we looked forward to the ride being flat for a change.  We cruised along for 28km with only a little rain on us. Then I got my first flat tire!  We started the tire changing process, Jo reading out the instructions (thanks Trevor!) and taking pictures while I got good and dirty.  

Right after I got the rear wheel off, another cyclist stopped to ask if we needed help.  We heartily accepted!  Colin was riding from Oakville to Niagara Falls – making our ride feel really short!  

Tire fixed, we got back on the road, still heading towards Niagara.  Another 12km later I got a second flat!!  

Since I only had 1 tube which we already used, we had to patch up the tube.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a leak.  I re-inflated the tire with my CO2 cartridges, we turned for home, rode into a monsoon rain only to have my tire go flat 2 km later.  We pulled into an industrial glass building to inquire about a bike shop, hoping there would be one nearby.  We spoke to John, a cyclist, who informed us of a little bike shop about 6km away.  We called ahead to see if they had the right sized tube, and they did.  After Jo and I tried to figure out our options, John offered to give us a lift to the shop.  We went out to his car – an impressive Audi sedan – and managed to put both bikes in the rear of his car and we both squeezed into the passenger seat.  6km later we arrived at the Mountainview Bike Shop and profusely thanked John for the ride and wished him good Karma.  

We brought my bike in to the technician to fix the flat.  The repair charge was 25.00 – Jo had 10.00 and I had 5.00!  Luckily I memorized my MC number and they let me punch it into the machine.  We asked for directions to the South Service Rd so we could get back to Oakville.  They gave us directions to the North Service Rd instead and we thought they were whacked!  After we passed a field of llamas and crossed over the QEW, we got onto the…North Service Rd. (They were right and we were geography deficient).

We continued the ride through Grimsby Beach where there were many gingerbread houses.  In Grimsby we got pulled over by the police!  We didn’t know what we did wrong, we signalled our right hand turn and were not riding tandem when we went by him.  Mr. Cranky Pants informed us that we had rolled through a stop sign and he could fine us 110.00 for the infraction!  He decided to let us off with a warning and told us that we were a motor vehicle (yeah, what motor…my legs were tired) and we needed to obey the rules of the road.   He drove off and we just shook our heads.

We kept riding home, 1) raced through a parking lot to avoid being pinned in by fire trucks going to a building, 2) suffered through a long swarm of flies in Stoney Creek, 3) made a quick pee break at Tim Hortons, 4) Jo called her husband to come home early to meet the kids and we finally made it back to our van.  80km and 6 hours later.  It felt like we rode forever!  So much for an easy flat ride…  I guess all future rides will feel a whole lot less crazy from this point going forward:)

New Programs Started:  Welcome to all of the new Chicks who joined us on Saturday.  It was a great turn out and you all seemed to do very well.  If you are still contemplating joining us, it’s still not too late to jump in. Meet on the corner of Redwing and Blackbird Courts at 8:00pm Thurs or 8am Saturday.  The two programs we will be using are 5km run training program 2 and 10 Km program from 5km base.  Print off a copy and post it on your fridge.  Cross off each session you complete to see your progress.  Contact me if you have any questions mclaughlins@cogeco.ca.  If you are new to the group, you will need to complete a waiver before the first run. Nicole McLaughlin Waiver and Release #2 I will also get you to fill out an emergency contact form. Please spread the word to your friends and co-workers.  Open to new and former Chicks!

Tour De Halton: Quick note to remind you that June 16th is the Tour de Halton.  There are 25km (about 1 hr 15 min of riding at a leisurely pace) , 50km and 100km distances to sign up for.  Funds raised go towards purchasing life saving equipment for the new Oakville Hospital.  More information, sign up and donating can be found here:  Tour De Halton  If you sign up for this event please let me know so I can list Nik’s Chicks participant’s names on this site.  

Open Water Swimming:   It is time to jump in the lake!! Swims start this Saturday. There is a group that meets at Kelso on Thursday evenings 6-8pm and Saturday mornings 8:30-10:30am.  They have essentially rented out the boating area and hired lifeguards to patrol the swimmers. It is 90.00 for unlimited swimming and 60.00 for a 10 pack.  You will also need Triathlon Ontario membership to swim – it’s your insurance. To register or for more info, go here Kelso Open Water Swimming.  For more info you can email KelsoOpenWaterSwimming@gmail.com.   Our group will be biking at 6:45 (or distance runners start at 7am), running at 8 and then heading to Kelso.  We will shoot to be in the water around 9am.  Bring 2 swim caps to keep your head a little warmer.  Wetsuits are needed unless you are really tough – wear swimsuit or bra/undies/tri shorts/tanktop underneath!  Beginners can swim across lake to wall (250m) Kelso – trip to wall and back, rest and return to shore.  Repeat as necessary to get your distance.  A trip around the lake will measure approximately 1.5km.  Kelso Open Water Swim  Hope to see all budding triathletes there!   PS You can purchase a membership to Conservation Halton at Conservation Halton  so you don’t have to pay for the park each trip.  I have purchased one and am willing to bring along Chicks with me to carpool!  You will also need to print and sign this waiver: Waiver

Checklist: Triathlon Ontario membership card/number, pay for Kelso Open Water Swimming and print receipt, sign and bring waiver, Conservation Halton receipt, wetsuit, 2 caps, goggles, swim watch if you have one, 2 towels, flip flops, dry clothes.

Goggles:  Just wanted to send out a quick note about goggles.  There are many shapes, colors and brands out there. Over the past 11 years I have been through many!  The ones I have settled on are Aqua Sphere Kayenne.  They have a comfortable suction onto the eyes (no raccoon eyes), adjustable while on your face with 1 hand and they don’t leak….at all!  You will pay a little more for them (35.00), but they will last about 6 months of chlorine swimming.  You can find them locally at Team Aquatics 8-4155 Fairview Street in Burlington.  They come in many different colors and tints (white can yellow with the chlorine).  Go for lenses with brown tint for lake swimming on sunny days (blue tint makes orange buoys look grey in a race and difficult to sight).  There are different sizes avail., I wear a small.

Tips from Runner’s World 2013 Daily Calendar: 1)   Whether you are sore from overworked muscles or an injury, your body needs more energy to put towards repair, lengthening total recovery time.  2)  Introduce young children (6 and younger) to running by playing chase or racing a parent to the mailbox.  Just keep running segments no longer than 10 to 20 seconds and walk one or two minutes between each. 3) Stow water bottles along the route, that way you won’t be tempted to quit early.

This week’s workouts – (Meet at corner of Blackbird and Redwing Court)

Tuesday – May 14 9:00pm

Tri girls –  Swim lesson 10 (Swimming Glen Abbey pool 9pm) 24 min

Wednesday – May 15, LA Fitness 9:00am

Half Ironman – Bike outdoors 1 hr 30 min easy spin, swim 30 min

Thursday –   May 16, 8:00pm (I won’t be there – in a parent/child basketball game!)

Learn to Run 5km – warm up walk for 5 minutes, alternate 60 sec jogging and 90 sec walking for 20 minutes (turn after 10), cool down walk for 5 minutes

Learn to Run 10km – 4km with 30 sec sprints x 5

Holding on 10km – 5km with 30 sec sprints x 5

Tri girls –  Run (38 continuous minutes), Swim lesson 10 (Swimming Glen Abbey pool 9pm) 35 min

Half Ironman – Run 40 minutes

Friday –  May 17 – LA Fitness –  9:00 Spinning and Weights

Half Ironman – Bike 2 hours 30 minutes with hills

Saturday – May 18  8:00am Cyclists meet at 6:45am

NEW Learn to Run 5km –  warm up walk for 5 minutes, alternate 90 sec jogging and 2 min walking for 20 minutes (turn after 10), cool down walk for 5 minutes

NEW Learn to Run 10km – Jog 6km – Westoak, rt on Upper Middle, (go across Third Line) rt on Postmaster, lft on Arborview, rt on Westoak rtn to start. 

Holding on 10km – 10km

Half Ironman – Begin at 7am – Run 1 hours 30 minutes with hills, open water swim 50 min ow intensity

Tri Girls: Bike 70 minutes, Run (40 continuous min) – ride at 6:45am

Monday – May 20 

Half Ironman – Bike 1 hr 30 min  , swim 60 min

Running 8pm:

Learn to Run 5km – warm up walk for 5 minutes, alternate 90 sec jogging and 2 min walking for 20 minutes (turn after 10), cool down walk for 5 minutes

Learn to Run 10km – 5km  – big block

Holding on 10km – 6-7km

Tri Girls: Run Bike 50 min – ride at 7:10pm

Tuesday – May 21

Half Ironman – Run 60 minutes – 3 x 5 min at race pace with 5 min in between

Tri girls –  Swim lesson 11 (Swimming Glen Abbey pool 9pm) 26 min

Have a wonderful week! Niki