Setbacks for the race car...

It turns out the transmission on the race car needed more work than we thought. As a result, my car will not be ready before the weekend and I won't be bringing it to Calabogie. This is not as bad as it sounds, as there was not that much track time available to instructors and it looks like it's going to rain (or maybe even snow). Because we lost our basketball game last week, I have one more game to play tomorrow night and I won't be able to leave until Saturday morning (at around 4:30 am!). The weekend will be pretty hectic, as I also have to squeeze in a 29 km run, the longest of the training plan. Fortunately, Alex is willing to join me on her bike (which, conveniently, will fit in the hatch of the street Civic!).

The Ottawa marathon is in only 3 weeks. It's now sold out: there will be 4500 marathoners! I'm a bit nervous, but I'm still following my training plan (I will be heading out for an 18 km run tonight), which gives me confidence. On Tuesday, I had trouble keeping up with the program, which called for 3:50 km's with a 2-minute break between each. Still, it's going well over all. I just feel like I don't have much free time, with the race schools, basketball, Monday night lapping, getting the race car ready, and training 4 times per week.

Monday night lapping at St-Eustache has begun. I headed over there with my friend Ray in his new BMW Z4. Modern BMW's are really nice cars. The folding hardtop is brilliant. I instructed one of our regulars in his mid-90's BMW 328. It was a pleasant car to drive. I had a student with a near-300 hp Chevy Cobalt SS Turbo. The car is quite impressive and does not feel out of place on the track. I had a student with a Civic hatch like mine, but with a Type R engine... nice. My last student had an E46 M3 convertible. Even in convertible form, the car is a pleasure to drive. I hope to have my race car by next Monday, but it's not a sure thing.

Cool cars spotted:
AMG E63
AMG CLS63
AMG C63
AMG G55
Mercedes CL600
Audi S4
Ferrari F430
Ferrari 412(!)
Corvette Z06
BMW M3
Porsche 996 turbo
Porsche 998
Maserati GT
Maserati Quattroporte
SaabViggen
Saab SPG
Lotus Elise
Ford GT
Dodge Viper SRT10
Cadillac CTS-V

They can't all be wins...

Just got back from my basketball game. We lost by 20. The series is now tied at 1-1 and next week's game will decide the championship. I can't say we did anything specifically wrong. Our top scorer scored a bit less than usual, our second scorer barely scored, our 3-point specialist did not hit any, as far as I know. Our two fast break specialists performed normally. I did not score, which didn't help. The other team's outside shooting was really hot. We could not keep up. I would have liked to see some offensive fouls called on the other team, but I can't say I played a brilliant game defensively either. The other team really "brought it". We will have to get it together if we want to take them next week. The other down side is that now I will have to leave for Calabogie at 5:30 in the morning next Saturday instead of leaving with the gang on Friday. Bummer.

Tomorrow morning is Perry Auto's open house for racers, I will try to take some pictures. I might also "visit" my race car at Pascal's. If so, I will again try to remember to take pictures.

News of Alex:

Alex is working really long hours this week, often late into the night. I don't know if I could be that productive if I had to! She found out this week that she will be getting a job interview for a professor position she had almost given up on. I have a good feeling about this one!

Cool cars spotted:

Ferrari F430

Porsche 998

Bentley Continental Flying Spur

Maserati Spyder

Saab 900 SPG

Saab Viggen

Time to get to work on the car...

I can't believe it snowed all day on Tuesday. It was not just a few flakes either... I went for a 12 km run in snow and slush and it was extremely unpleasant. I wasn't able to do my 30-second intervals as there was simply not enough traction. I never expected to have to break out my winter running gear again! At least I was glad that I wasn't feeling any after-effects of my half-marathon training run on Sunday. Does this mean that I am fit and don't feel the effects of a hard run, or that I could have gone even faster? I don't know... This week is a low-mileage week, and I am enjoying the rest (of running 44 km instead of 75!).

Alex is still very busy with many work projects. This means that I can catch up on several car-related activities this weekend while she is working. These activities include:

- going to the open house at Carl's store, Perry Auto Laval

- picking up some used race tires from my friend Nigel

- helping Pascal mount the doors and bumper on the race car

- getting some race and street tires mounted on various wheels

- visiting my engine guy to pay him for some work

- going to a Federation meeting as a representative of my club, AISA

Monday-night lapping will begin on Monday, but my transmission won't be in the car yet. I will only get it back from the transmission guy on Monday, at which point Pascal will install it. I guess my first use of the car will be to head to Calabogie the following weekend. Hopefully, all the necessary tasks will be completed before then. I have the student list for the school and 3/4 of the students are advanced (usually it would be closer to 1/2)... should be fun! Then, I will have only 2 weeks to organize our participation in the Mosport Sundown GP 3-hour enduro. This should be relatively straightforward, as we have not done anything to the car that would affect its reliability. Stay tuned...

Cool cars spotted:

Porsche 998

Maserati GT

Audi RS4

AMG C63

Aston-Martin DB7

GMC Safari Condo off-roader (!)

Nissan Figaro

Acura NSX

Breakdown of yesterday's run.

I analyzed the data from my half-marathon training run yesterday. I'm happy to see that my pace  of 4:09 per kilometer was generally consistent. This was something I had not managed in the Hypothermic half-marathon in February. This time, I managed to not go too much faster than the pace in the first half of the run. I was fortunate to have Alex with me on her bike. She carried my water and gel packs and stuff, and generally encouraged me, saying stuff like "OK, only 12 minutes until the turnaround point" or "only 25 minutes and you're done!". When I needed a drink, she would pedal ahead and station herself on the side of the trail to hand me a bottle. Pretty sweet.

One problem with the data is that I ran pretty much a straight line out and back, and when I turned back, there was a slight wind against me, which means I had a tail wind in the first half. So I don't really know if the fact that I slowed a bit in the second half (and my heart rate climbed) is due to fatigue or the wind or both. One thing I do know: I was nowhere near as dead as I had been after the February race (remember those photos of me after the race?). I felt pretty good. I feel pretty good today as well, no soreness anywhere. I really have Christian Brouard to thank for the awesome training plan. Whereas in February, I had hoped to do a time of close to 1:30, I really had no basis to expect a strong performance. Now, I am following a detailed training plan with specific instructions for each run. The instruction for yesterday was simple: run a half-marathon at a pace of 4:10 per kilometer. The fact that Christian expected that I could do it at this point made it seem possible and it turned out it was possible. If my marathon goes as well as yesterday's training run, I will be very happy.

1:27:40

21.1 km in 1:27:40. Personal best. Very happy. Not easy...

Racing season is underway!

It's again been a pretty busy week. Last weekend, we held our first AISA auto racing school of the year at St-Eustache. I think we can call the event an unqualified success. There were over 60 students and 30 instructors. The atmosphere was great, the weather was all over the place and people seemed to learn a lot and have fun. There were some crazy cars this year... there were two 600 hp rear-wheel-drive Porsche 996 turbos in my group. There were multiple other Porsches, V8's, and all-wheel-drive turbo cars. I rented out my blue Civic to a student from Ontario, and he seemed to enjoy himself, despite less than stellar handling due to a worn bushing in the front suspension. Usually, I try to get in a few laps in the race car at this school, but the transmission rebuild has not yet been completed. I think I only actually drove three laps all weekend (in a 2007 Golf GTi, fun car, but more for the street than the track, in my opinion). The next event is the first Monday of lapping on May 3rd. We are also hosting a second school at Calabogie on May 8th and 9th. Alex will be joining me for the Calabogie school, and it should be a fun event.

News of Alex:
Alex has been quite busy with work since her return from Chicago. She has many work projects going at the same time. However, given that she is not someone who gets stressed out by large amounts of work, she is still able to enjoy the lovely spring weather and hit the gym several times a week. She has also managed to find time to join me on some of my runs, keeping me company on her bike. Alex is also trying to figure out where and when we will take our summer vacation. It's looking like a European destination, possibly with some town-to-town hiking.

Speaking of running, I am still following Christian's plan and it's going well. I finally signed up for the marathon online this morning... someone had told me there was no rush as the event doesn't sell out, but the website said it was 98% sold out, so I went for it. I don't know why I was procrastinating. Today's workout is probably the toughest challenge yet: I am supposed to run a half-marathon in 1:28, which is 5 minutes faster than the time I set in February. I will give it a shot later today on the Lachine canal. I imagine it will be extremely tough to hit that time, but we will see. Alex will be there on the bike to encourage me and carry my water and stuff. I will post how it went.

My men's basketball team won our first game of the finals in convincing fashion by 20 points on Friday. I think I only scored 4 points, but I think I made a significant contribution on defense. It was quite a physical game and I took a lot of contact, although I think I ended up with only 2 fouls. There were many "no call" situations. I would love it if we could wrap up the series in only one more game, so that I will be able to head to Calabogie on Friday night instead of Saturday morning in 2 weeks.

So basically, there is still lots going on. Soon basketball will be over and the marathon training will end with the marathon May 30th. Hopefully by then, I will have more time and energy for car stuff and planning some sort of summer vacation!

Cool cars spotted:
AISA school:
Shelby GT500
Porsche 996 turbo
Porsche 911 RS America
Porsche 997 GT3R
Toyota Celica GT4 Carlos Sainz
Subaru Impreza STi
BMW M3

Elsewhere:
Nissan GTR
Nissan Skyline R32 GTR
Nissan Pulsar GTi-R
Acura NSX
Toyota Supra twin turbo
Lexus IS-F
Ferrari 328 GTS
Ferrari California
Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
Lamborghini Gallardo Spider
Maserati GT
Bentley Continental
Bentley Arnage
Audi R8
Auti RS4
BMW M3
MGB (chrome)
Volvo P1800
AMG C63
Mercedes 230 GE
Fiat Tipo

Busy week

It's been a busy week, trying to get all the final preparations taken care of for the race school this weekend. There will be 60 students and about 30 instructors. Pretty good ratio! I will be renting out my street car to a student who needed a last minute ride. This led me to try to change the front brake pads. I was unsuccessful, as one of the calipers was jammed and I couldn't fit it over the new pads! I will try again with the help of Lee W. this evening (and with a brand new caliper). I drove the car with the summer tires for the first time yesterday... what a difference! 175-70-13's vs. 205-50-15's... night and day! Still, I look forward to changing cars at some point in the next few months. I love Civic's, but I'm getting old and snobby. I want leather seats, cruise control and a car with no rust!

My transmission parts are finally in and hopefully the race car will be ready in a few days. I hope I finally have all I need to assemble a functional transmission with limited slip differential and 4.785 final drive.

I attempted to hold the last basketball practice of the year yesterday, but there were only two girls there. The moral: it is pointless to try to continue to hold weekly practices after the final game of the year. I must remember this next year! It is better to set a definite end date for the season, then stick with it, so I can focus on other projects. My men's team has the week off before starting the best-of-3 finals next Friday.

I've continued with the running plan. Yesterday, I had to do three sets of 2 km at 4:10 per km as part of a 16 km run. Not that easy to find 2 km stretches with no hills and traffic lights in the real world! I'm glad I have a fixed plan, because if I only went running when I felt like it, I would not go very often... especially with the cold and windy weather we've been getting. I'm supposed to run 18 km tomorrow and 26 km on Sunday, which will be tough with the race school taking all day both days. I will probably end up going out tonight to have a day off running tomorrow. It's getting to the point that I look forward to the "days off", although I end up filling those evenings with other stuff. Maybe I should try running in the morning once in a while.

News of Alex:

Alex is still in Chicago. We have been communicating by Skype and email. She has managed to have many restaurant meals with family and colleagues, and also work and go to the theater. I think she will call it a good trip all in all. She will be back in town tomorrow evening.

Cool cars spotted:

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Bentley Continental

Bentley Arnage

Audi S6 V10

Audi R8

Alfa Romeo Spyder Graduate

BMW M5

Saleen S281

Brabus Mercedes G-Wagen

Maserati GT

Toyota Land Cruiser 2-door

Toyota Supra twin-turbo

Nissan 370Z