Andrew Russell

Tough As

2012-01-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

Kiwi's are tough.

Not that we are soft, just softer. Like a pear to an apple.

Tough as:

- Setting up base at top of 13k suspenion blowing dirt rd w snow in summer

- 300k ride

- Squeezing in another run at 20:30

- Iguana Wrestling

- Challenge Wanaka

- Having 16 year olds toe up with Vidal, Gemmell, Sissons..

- Those same 16 year olds not getting lapped out on a 8 x 2.5k bike loop.

- Win Road Nationals, then 160k ride , then heart surgery, 2days later back at it

- Boxing out

- Inventing Zorbing

- Rugby

- Disregarding any earthquake below 5.0

- HP Director in the Kayak with 4ft surf

- HP Director w a sub 9 Kona clocking

- Snorkel being standard for all 4X4

- Crown Range in a 12-23 after 3.5hrs

- Back flip off Albert Town Bridge

- Raising $10,000 for sprint race, putting it all on line for first, and donating it all to charity if you win.

Take away message: Sunny day over the Vic Waterfront today but rode towards the black clouds over Metchosin.

"Nothing came easy growing up on the dairy farm." - K.Gemmell

So many Sheep

2012-01-18T01:20:00.000-08:00

time for an update.

After a great Christmas visit (thank you Mhairi and Tim for a great week) with family and some time to relax with festive foods I found myself on a plane New Years eve headed to New Zealand.

An experience I have been looking forward to ever since it was mentioned has lived up to the expectation and more.

When you fly into Queenstown, it is a landing you'll never forget. The landing pattern takes place between two mountains that two planes would have trouble squeezing through. Upon arrival Marilyn Adams, team physio extrodinaire, picked Simon, Matt Sharpe, and I up. Climbing the 13k dirt road up to Snow Farm I think we were all thought, "where are we headed here???"

Snowfarm, @ 1600m, is a nordic centre / winter car testing site by winter and an NZ altitude centre / lord of rings / 10,000 BC movie site by summer. Welcomed by some of the NZ crew here we settled into training and the culture quite quickly. Ginger brews and driving on the left went down smoother than pepto.

On the first ride i took down 4 to 5 flies as the jaw hung in awe. The riding is brilliant, amongst others we've climbed the highest sealed road in NZ up Coronet Peak, a 4.5hr Crown Range Loop each sunday, and a windy windy out and back towards the wild west coast.

Running up at the farm is ideal. The surface is soft dirt with almost a 'tar sand' feel (possible exploration?? patent pending). Loops within loops within loops that can be done. You could literally choose loops from 15' to 2h30. Down from the farm the running is unreal. Whether along lake wanaka or lake Wakatipu in Queenstown you have hundreds of km of trails to run on. Today we ran West Wakatipu which included flat shoreline, single track pine forest, rolling gravel golf course, and rugged bluffs.

Swims have been at the Wanaka pool and wetsuit in the lake. The lake has given us varied conditions from glassy to ridiculous chop. Having to change your stroke over these varied conditions has been great practice. We did have one swim that took place at a Hippie Commune which i might take back. Many had quite the battle with that pool, including scars to show from the cheese grating lane ropes. For me it got personal with the pool quite quickly. I began to personify the ropes, the walls, the bottom which had no black line, as they were all 'out to get me'. With 7k on the board the pool had plenty of time to get under my skin and have me tap out. By 4k i had experienced all that it could throw at me. Over the last K it was quite rewarding to rub it in the pools face I must say.

Perhaps the best part of this camp has been the ability to see how these kiwi's and dutch train. A common difference to N.American programs is that the training is done without compromise. The hours in the day are there to simply get the work done.
The volume here is higher. Weekly totals I thought were unreachable are routine to them. There is no fear in 'overtraining'. I could write on and on about the differences i've seen, but the last thing i'll mention is the approach. With the amount of hours done here, the only way I see the athlete accomplishing the training and hungry for more is by it being enjoyable. With ever-present banter amongst the group, the miles click by. It is a job and they enjoy it.
When within a 20m radius of Kris Gemmell, you've got a comedy club, gossip girl, and trivia pursuit 24/7.

It's no secret that companies research how to improve their employees job satisfication. The more you enjoy your job, the more productive you become.

This Friday we will all be racing the Tri NZ Wanaka Contact Sprint Cup. Nicknamed 'The Doddsy International' from local NZ international Tony Dodds, the race will take place at 8pm in front of Friday night pubs along the lakefront. Cannot wait for this one!

In the lake post run

In Queenstown do Fergburger.

5 Rings

2011-11-25T14:17:00.001-08:00

Inside The Olympic Dream from cameron sylvester on Vimeo.

The Rowers seem to always have the best videos.

The Silver Fern

2011-11-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

Never been to New Zealand. Want to go. People speak very highly of the country, its people and landscape.

Watching the Auckland World Cup over the weekend, on the great live feed from Nz Tv, reinforced my desire to visit. I was taken away by the crowds on hand for it. The numbers looked to be similar to Hamburg, people lining the streets over the entire bike!

Some might feel 'home field advantage' doesn't play a factor in triathlon. I think this weekends results beg to differ. From Hewitt's and Gemmell's victories to Davisons and Adams hard nosed efforts, the Kiwi's dictated and dominated the event. Hard work and talent were obviously key to the outcomes, but that extra % was pumped through their veins from the '6th man' so to speak. The desire to give back to the crowd could not be matched by others just racing for points.

As Bevan is quoted post race: "It was a great race for New Zealand"

The media's attention to the event was even more impressive. Interviews and press galore surrounded the race weeks leading out to front page papers the day after.

It's no surprise that NZ rates as one of the top medal/capita countries each Olympiad. The people love sport and love to embrace it. All sports too, for a rugby crazed nation they remain open minded to endurance feats just the same.

What sociological factors make Kiwis this way?

One guess comes from a story a friend who backpacked there once told me. Traveling the south island, he would often work under the table at sheep farms to fund his trip and lengthen it out. Essentially living there for 6 months he began to see their values in life. He felt Kiwis tended not to place emphasis on personal prizes such as fancy cars or high salary jobs. They drove a car that got them from point A to B, serving purpose. Value was placed on health and family. With health and family they had love and happiness, and that's all that life needed. He saw sport to them was an outlet to join health and family together, whether it was touch 7's or a hike together in the mountains.

Having such simple values in life perhaps prepares kiwi athletes to perform to their best. They don't get sidetracked by sponsors, and they don't compete for themselves, they compete for a cause and are driven by it.

Bravo to Gemmell for his cause for cancer. It helped him get to that finish line first.

Not Just Good Looks

2011-11-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

Triathletes often get the rap of being endurance junkies with relapsed mental skills to that of a 4th grader. Viewed as inept with the literary world, outside of Physiology Journals, we are snickered at for diverting too much blood and oxygen away from our brains. We can be regarded as reclusive, with dormant social skills, coining the phrase Tri-geek.

I invite you to change your minds. Attend a World Cup after-party, reclusive-No, cheap drunks-Yes. If a World Cup after party is not in your vicinity then I would invite you to have a peak at Words with Wilson by Aussie Dan Wilson. Look at him as our mindful posterboy, reminding you that "Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident."

Sundays

2011-11-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

Some people go to chruch, others run.

Sunday is the day of the week which seems to differ quite substantially from all the others. It is a day of rest for some, and day a prayer for others. It's a day where we get to do what we love or have passion for. Whether its 1hr away from the kids to read your book, gardening, or meeting up with friends Sunday is a day to do things close to heart.

To me, Sundays started off at a young age as a day of strapping on the boots and skis and heading up to slopes for Nancy Greene. Meeting my friends and bombing up and down the t-bar through the trails, bush, and gates. This was followed by fries most often dipped in hot chocolate. The smells and sights associated with those times come back to me now and then on a Sunday.

At this point in time Sundays are a day to get out early and run. There is something very therapeutic and releasing about going for a long run early on a Sunday. It's a time of the a week to unwind and think over your thoughts. On a long run you can reel through everything on your mind and more so. My best ideas have come to me while running. It has been proven that exercise is the best for not only your physical well being but also mental, no surprise really.

A long run done first thing Sunday morning can set up the day well. Getting out into some fresh air, blood flowing, wakes you up and gives you a jumpstart to a productive day. Whether that day involves watching football, baking, kids, or what have you, the morning run can perk you up and get you going.

One of the first runs i did with coach Jon I asked him if he ever ran with an i-pod. "Run with what!?" He told him he had done it once and never again. Felt it interupted with his running and his ability to feel pace and form. Up until that point I would often run with one, I took his advice and now I can't imagine myself running with one again. Listening to your body (breath, foot patterns) and mind while running is whats important, I run to leave behind lifes distractions. I was running late summer at Elk lake and heard an Owl hooting, there it was just off the trail on a branch. Big hooter as well, fascinating, something I would have missed with an i-pod.

I-pod digression aside, Sundays have a different meaning and value to everyone. Whatever your Sunday encompasses, enjoy it and take the day to reflect and look ahead to the upcoming week.

Photo Courtesy: Andrew McCartney

Momentum

2011-11-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

"A body in motion will tend to stay in motion..."

Someone famous said that, Fig Newton, was that his name?

Momentum is key in a lot of daily activities. For instance, to save gas i'll pop it into neutral well before a red light and use my momentum, i've gotten quite skilled at it, sometimes i'll get it just right at finlayson/Quadra southbound where i'll combine my momentum with cresting the hill to come to a stop just feet behind the car in front of me without using gas or brake.

This principle also works well for pack riding, you want to keep your momentum with as little effort as required. Running, perhaps the most elusive sport to keep momentum, has the potential for huge gains if momentum can be conserved.

Other little momentum savers in life: popping the toast right out of the toaster onto your plate / timing a revolving doorway just right / swings / and roundabouts.

One thing i'm horrible at with momentum is swimming flip turns, maybe that's why i have dreams where all our roads are canals and a 5k swim workout is swimming down MacKenzie to UVic and back home on cedar hill X.

Anyways, theme of this post is about keeping momentum, or as we often term it, 'rolling'. In years past I've struggled near the end of season to stay fit, I gradually lose my momentum and finish with disappointing results and feelings. I'll take a break and lose the rest of any remaining momentum and then spend most of the winter gaining it back before building from it. This year has been different. Gradually gaining momentum from May through October I felt strong to finish the season and ended on a high. We took a short/effective break and kept the ball rolling. Resuming to some structured training this week, the pre-break fitness has held a lot of the momentum and now we can build upon it.

How does that other one go....oh ya 'A rolling stone gathers no moss....'

Thank you to my Family for another year filled of encouragement and support; My coaches, teammates and therapy crew for a program and environment inducing high performance, comradery, and health and to my sponsors and supporters for their loyalty and belief.

2012 has begun!

New Breed(s)?

2011-10-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Longcourse or Shortcourse? Up until recent times their has been 2 pathways for a triathlete to take. Race for your federation and Olympic Dreams with the ITU or go for Ironman Glory.

This season however, the introduction of the 5150 Non-Draft Olympic Series and next season with ITU adding 3 to 4 sprint distance events, things are changing.

In years previous you would see ITU athletes crossing over to Life Time Fitness ND Olympic races and doing well. The TOP ones can still do this, however the middle ones not so much. That's because their are now ND Olympic 'specialists'. Perhaps fed up with their federations or the style of ITU racing, these athletes train and target ND Olympic: Cameron Dye and Nikki Butterfield are such examples.

The days where an ITU athlete could swap over to a TT bike days before a ND race and expect to be in the mix have past. David Dellows win this weekend in Noosa speaks to this. He out rode most of the ITU boys by 3-4 minutes over 40k. Time on a TT bike and more specific training paid off. Even Macca, who switched back from TT events just less than a year ago, appeared to have lost a bit of his TT legs in comparison. This 1-2% loss wasn't noticeable in years past, but with the level of competition rising and more prize $ available in these type of events, that couple percent is what's needed for the ND Olympic Specialist to hold off the 'wet runners' over the 10k. Greg Bennett's win at Hy-Vee was won on the bike over Hunter Kemper. The blatant contrast of Greg riding TT to Hunter riding ITU setup clearly showed that conditioning the body on a TT rig pays the bills.

This being said, the TOP ITU athletes still seem to cross over fine. Take Javier Gomez's display in Dallas and Lisa Norden's domination in Hy-Vee,LA,Dallas. The Top ITU atheltes have so much natural talent that they can do this. Some of the TOP 70.3 athletes seem to fair ok as well. Paul Matthews and Melissa Rollinson both showed us that in Noosa. If Andy Potts focused his season on ND Olympic, I think he would be the man to beat. Rasmus Henning as well, 5th in Des Moines for an Ironman is not too shabby.

The ideal ND Olympic athlete will be one who has the fine balance of ITU speed with ND strength. Strong all rounder who can also tolerate a more aggressive/aero bike position.

So how about the ITU Sprints? That is really yet to be determined. I think we have seen a preview of it with Jonny Brownlee winning Lausanne two years running and winning just about every French GP there is with his brother, but will we see athletes begin to specialise in the distance if approved for Rio 2016? Maybe we see young talent moving up from Junior compete at the distance a few more years, just with added competition, before doubling the distance. Either way, I think we see different faces winning ITU Olympic races than sprints. I feel the sprint distance will form yet another discipline in Triathlon where pure dedication is needed for ultimate success.

It is great to see the sport of triathlon changing like this and forming new niches for athletes. Lets just not let it get to the point of Olympic swimming where one athlete can win perhaps 8 gold medals...that would be just silly:)

Galveston 5150

2011-10-23T19:19:00.000-07:00

Up and at them this morning just after 5. Been a while since I raced with the sun rising, when the race was done there was still a whole day to be had!

With quite a small field for this race, 15'ish pro men, the swim was fairly quiet. Three guys got a 30s gap on the matty reed train pack that I was in to T1.
Off on the bike the first few k felt just like an ITU, i was pushing a good gear and making up ground. However after that initial buzz I found myself struggling into the headwind on my ownsome with wooden legs. Interesting how specific triathlon has come in each discipline. 40k is 40k right? Different game there on a TT bike, and I couldn't match the guys today on the ride coming out of T2 in 8th.

Was able to salvage a decent run with the 3rd fastest split to come home in 6th. Not what I had wanted and expected from myself but more time on a TT bike and I feel I can compete at these 5150 races.

Impressive race by Matt Reed, coming off kona just two weeks ago.

Change of Pace

2011-10-22T17:52:00.000-07:00

Normally I would never watch College football. However, when in Texas, where fooseball reigns supreme I actually find it quite comforting.

Arrived down here in Galveston(an island just south of Houston) for the 5150 late Thursday night. Bit strange here, very deserted and odd tourist attractions. Nice temperature with a steady breeze off the Gulf. Mosquitos though are worst i've experienced in some time. Big bruts that are beyond aggressive, they go for your eyes!

Training leading into this bout has gone well. Adjustment to the TT bike was seamless with the Noa re-fit and legs have felt good on it and running off. Swimming has been consistent and with a non-wetsuit swim tomorrow it will be worth all the meters done this year.

While here I have felt quite lethargic and have had a coma-nap each day ranging from 2-3hrs!? As I experienced the few days leading up to Edmonton though, lethargic can be a good thing (body subconscious taper?).

This race no doubt will be won/lost on the bike I feel. The course reminds me a bit of Wasa Lake, big out and back. I've never raced a USAT non-draft event before, so I was the goof asking endless questions at the briefing tonight. I hope to make it off the bike without infringing somehow on the 'stagger' rule.

Thanks to Brent and Simon for setting me up 'Aero-style'

Will update how she goes.

H&H

2011-10-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

"Huatulco: A race that everyone should experience in their lifetime"

After crossing the finish in Huatulco I felt two things: relief and accomplishment. It is a freaking hard course and with temps near the 40's it stings that much more.

GOing up the 20% climb the 8th and final time I told myself, "this is the last time you have to grind up this bloody thing for 12 months", well I was wrong, looks like 7months with the release of the WC 2012 schedule.

In what was a good result for me, 16th has never hurt so much.

It was a great time leading up and after the race staying with Brent, Chantell and her husband Jim. Good eats, good company and beautiful coastline to take in.

Coach Jon and I were going to look at how things went in Huatulco before planning the remaining fall schedule. Still feeling strong this late in the year, I am feeling motivated to train/race.

I'm getting a kick out of the simplest of workouts. Yesterday's swim had a 10x150 moderate set where swimming stroke for stroke 3 abreast I got into such a great rhythm. A 90' spin on the TT rig, I took it out on the highway and was reminded of a long ride with Jon Bird earlier in the summer. We were headed back into town from East Sooke and took the Highway back in from Colwood. Bird had been crushing the last section on the sooke hwy, but once we hit the trans canada he started pushing an even bigger gear. I found myself praying for a red light, and just held his wheel to McKenzie. As we parted ways I remember him saying "sometimes I get so amped while riding on the hwy with the cars.."

So, next weekend I will take these Wet-running legs down to Houston and race the 5150 in Galveston. Noa has fit me up very nicely on my now outdated TT bike. Being 2 years since I last rode it, the first ride felt quite strange but todays brick session began to feel more relaxed and powerful.

Non-drafting racing, it has been awhile....

Timing

2011-09-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

I think of a lot of things while swim/bike/running, a lot of it is fluff or filler but sometimes I get on a good thread....like the one i've recently been brewing.

Timing.

Timing has to be the single most important thing in Triathlon at any level. From the moment you wake up till you hit the sheets, timing plays a significant role in the day/week/month/years of a triathlete. Workout spacing, workout type and pace, nutrition, recovery, therapy, away time, misc., are all aspects of an athletes program that need proper alignment to be timed well. Some of us have battled it, some have got a knack for it.

Particulary i've been thinking about the timing of an ITU race season, although there are so many other topics, this one intrigues me most. The WCS season is a long one (April-October), and the moment they made it a 'series', timing became that much more important.

The length of the year and heightened level of competition has made it very tough to race consistently well. The southern hemisphere athletes are often fitter than northern in the spring, but the tables can swap come August/September. How do you time the season so that you have at least 4 strong WCS results + a solid Grand Finale?

I think we could agree that we saw a lot of athletes do quite well in April to June and then entered a rough patch through the heart of summer. Others progressively got stronger as the year went on, and others seemed to maintain a consistently average level throughout. Clearly some different timing involved here?

Timing will be even more important come the Olympic year in 2012. A lot of athletes will still be chasing points to qualify yet need to have a full tank for August. It would be very interesting to see how the year is laid out for the qualified vs. chasing qualification athletes and their respective performances come the big dance in Hyde Park.

Time will tell...

Yokohama WCS

2011-09-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of ITU

Japan. What a country. First impressions were impressed by landscape, people, culture, and Food!

I met up with the Beijing squad at one of the National Japan Training Centres to acclimitize and prep for Yokohama. The training Centre was great. Quiet, good training facilities and well fed with a buffett 3x a day. Can't believe I went 4 days there and didn't snap a single pic.

The bus ride into Yokohama was an eye opener. Colossal port, makes Vancouver look like a bath tub. Jason Wilson and I roomed throughout the trip. Our room in Yokohama was roughly 80 square feet. Cozy.

The race was held right in the heart of the city. Great crowds were on hand to support all the athletes racing in the first international sporting event since the devastating tsunami this spring. The appreciation the people of Yokohama had for the event and its athletes was very moving.

Swimming in salt water once again was great. The bouyancy and added density of it made me feel like i had a pull bouy and paddles on. With warm water for the swim leg I adopted a different strategy. A rope-a-dope strategy if you will, and it worked getting me out in great position to start the bike.

Having frozen bottles of E-load sure helped keep me cool and hydrated over the first 30k of the technical ride. By the last 2 laps however the bottles had warmed to ambient temp and I was starting to heat up. Poor position into T2, it will come.

The first lap of the run was hot. When we hit the first aid station, i'm sure the same thought was going through everyone's head upon dumping or drinking it. "Did I just heat myself up even more from that?" All the bottled water was also ambient....one of those races eh. However, I found there was still a benefit of pouring it on yourself with the breeze coming off the ocean.

After the first lap I became more comfortable and starting working with a group, pacing eachother. By 5k the group had dwindled to myself and Svarc from Czech. We worked very well together over the back 5k encouraging each other and sharing the lead to reel in I think 6 or 7 guys.

I finished up 28th, best WCS finish of the year and hopefully a spot on the pontoon for Sydney next spring.

Next up, Huatulco. Same conditions, with a tougher course....should be just as fun!

Lausanne Sprints

2011-08-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Five years ago this summer I met a guy named Craig Taylor in Lausanne while racing 2006 FISU games. Five years later and we were rolling into Lausanne again with CT on the #25 to Bois du Vaux.

Lausanne doubled as a WCS and the Sprint Championships. Had been a while since the legs had done a sprint and I was excited for the final stage on a Euro summer of racing.

Positioned right in the middle of the pontoon for the start I found Prochnow's (GER) feet off the start and experienced quite a smooth swim. Gaining experience in this bigger races, I have started to figure out the dynamics a bit in the swim, allowing for less contact and a more efficient ride.

Exiting the 800m swim I was right where I wanted to be; 15s down on the brownlee group and in the chase with Prochnow,Don, Silva etc.

T1 was blistering, everything went seamless yet i still found myself as the last wheel in the group heading out onto the 20k bike. I clung to the back as we screamed into the U-turn and then was gapped on the acceleration out. Here, i made a tactical error that i'll never do again. Often when we race there is the mentality 'all or nothing'. In this case I reasoned that if I did not connect back with my group, the race was going to be over. I redlined for about 800m and re-connected about 100m from the base of the first climb. Just as I reconnected another group from behind led by Ruedi Wild came up and the pace lifted up the climb. That moment was the my race, I was ridden thru and spit out. No response, no making it to the front of the race.

50s down off the bike I looked for my run legs out of T2 but found them spinning. It became a battle to see that finish line. Accross in 51st I was disappointed. Great race by Yorkie to nab 21st, well executed.

The following day were the team relays. Three weeks prior Craig and I had discussed the relay event and I made the decision to give my spot to speedy Marc-Antoine Christian. He along with Andrew Yorke, Manon and Chantell raced the 4xSuper Sprint relay with great fire. Really impressive racing hanging with Russia #1.

A long trip back yesterday and I am now settled back into Victoria. Something I sure have missed over the last 7 weeks. Long time away from such a beautiful city and country. A big thank you to Triathlon Canada and all of its staff for such a great stint in Europe.

Plans for the fall are still being considered. For now a bit of R&R.

Tiszaujvaros

2011-08-15T00:29:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, coffee in hand, time to relive yesterday's madness.

Coming down from altitude 12 days prior I had felt really on and really off leading through the week of this one. Coma naps some days and then breathing every 9 on others.

On to the pontoon we had great sunny weather for the 15th rendition of Tizzy. The bouy position was a fair one and so no distinct pattern formed on spot selection. Discussing with Craig pre-start the stats pointed to the left side so I went with it. Pretty clean start and onto a Hungarian hip then feet to the first can. Felt strong and controled out at 750 and back on the second loop. Followed Jimmy Seear in the last 200m and out into T2.

On to the bikes I thought I was at the front of the race. However, when i did not see my teammate Brent McMahon I knew there must be others up the road. CT was on the highway as I rolled out yelling 35s to the russians!

This race has two seperate trannies, so we ride about 5k from the lake to town where we start the loops. I knew from racing here previously and from looking at other years that it was very important to try and real in the front group of 7 before we hit town, otherwise the gap could stick.

A half dozen of us were really working hard to pull the gap back. Jens Toft, the danish destroyer was pumping out some mad watts along with Noble and Rana as we chased. We hit town and got the update that the gap was 25s. The group was in sight on the long straights for the first lap or two. However, a bigger group from behind caught us on the 2nd loop and then another on the 3rd swelling us to 50 or so. Games ensued and the gap grew to 50s or so. Then on the last two laps that gap doubled.

Coming into this race, aspects I wanted to nail well were transitions and the first lap of the run. Into T2 I found much better position than in previous races at this level this year and got out in the train of runners set to scorch this fast but technical 10k.

I ran the first lap essentially as hard as i could. I wanted to really committ myself so that I had the opportunity run with the main group. One great aspect of ITU racing is that you hardly ever are in control of your pacing, it's always a game. After one lap the pace settled and my breathing changed from pig squealing to fire bellows pumping. I began to pick guys off and found myself running next to Irishman Noble through 5k.

In a previous post from Hamburg WCS i commented on the outstanding crowd presence and cheering. Well, Tizzy may not have quite the numbers but through transition I dont think any race compares. Along this 400m section you have fans 4 or 5 deep on both sides (2000 i would ballpark), a dancing Lizard lap counter, an announcer that cannot be rivaled for pizaz (Guy danced all day, then an hour on stage at awards, then bartended at after party), and techo beats that would jump start a 90yr olds heart on the OP table. Coming through on lap 3 there was this crazy crescendoing beat being laid down and I found the most euphoric state of running i've ever experienced. I would pass 5 high calibre guys on the last lap with one portugese coming back on me in a sprint to the line for 22nd. The goal for this race was a top 20 result so no cigar, but i'll take the 19th fastest 10k:)

Once into the recovery area i hit the cold tub and ate watermelon. While grabbing some water I saw Brent and headed over to see how he did (no idea he had just WON!). There was a drug tester with him so came up behind and said "well this must be a good sign if you've got a buddy."

He replied: "ya, and this is even better" (showing his winner accreditation).

I was over the moon. In fact I welled up and thought i was about to cry. What a comeback, a lesson for all: When others think your finished, written off, believe in yourself and your ability and prove them wrong.

'Prove Something' was my motto for this race, Brent must of seen this taped to my handle bars....

Photos courtesy of Triathlon.org

Video from last years race:

14. TVK ITU Triatlon Világkupa from TriathlonNagyhét2010 on Vimeo.

Camp Jon

2011-07-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the table from a great Kim Ward massage I'm sinking into this plastic chair outside the Coq D'or Hotel wifieving (wi-fi stealing) some online business.

After racing Hamburg WCS I had another quick exit, this time 3:30am with the Portugese team to the aiport. Met Jon#1 and Kyle in Barcelona and then we made our way up to camp to meet Simon and Jon#2. Jon#3 arrived yesterday completing the Camp Jon trifecta.

This week has been a great. Some recovery and aclimation early week followed by some quality as the weekend rolled around.

In total there are 9 canuck athletes here in the Pyrenees Orientales getting our groove on. I have been rooming with Kyle Jones and the Big Man Matty Sharpe. Combo working well, who said a love triangle never works?

This morning I had my first real chance to explore some running trails. Brilliant network of routes here, endless.

This afternoon will watch the final tour stage, should be an exciting finish!

Here are a few pictures from the first week:

The Dream of Living above a Bakery is alive and well.....

View from the appartment balcony looking down to the lake

The Doctor in his scrubs pre-swim

Lane 1

Hamburg

2011-07-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

Within ninety minutes after crossing the finish line in Edmonton, I was checking in at the airport ready to travel to Germany for the my first WCS debut. For me, my world ranking is at the level where my entry into WCS events is possible but not certain. It was 10 days before the race that I found out I had rolled off the waitlist and onto the startlist, I was excited for the opportunity to race the best in the world.

So, arriving in Hamburg late Monday night the key to the week was to fully recover and keep the body moving. It drizzled throughout the week as we did our swims at the Alsterschimmhalle and ran and rode throughout the city and its beautiful parks. Saturday morning came and the skies were clear. A beautiful day ensued for racing.

I look at this event as the pinnacle of our sport in terms of organization, course layout, crowd presence, and overall atmosphere. Transition is within the city hall square and tens of thousands line the streets to cheer.
On the pontoon I set up shop right in the middle. I had a good start and avoided most contact with good water until the first right hander. Things started to pile up here quite a bit there as we made the turn. The swim didn’t seem any harder than WC level, or even a swimmers CC. It was however much more tactical and strategic, constant awareness of placement in the pack was always the task at hand. In this swim we went through a tunnel about 50m long three times. Having a pack of 65 men swim through a 10m wide tunnel is like floating down a river, the current was amazing! I exited the water in about the middle of the pack. I thought I had had a good transition however once onto the bike there was already a split in the group with the leaders of about 20, 15seconds up the road. Macca joined our small chase bunch mid-way through the first lap, a surprise but a pleasant one. The gap to the leaders stayed about the same for three laps and then suddenly it was closed very quickly. Once all together the pace did not slow. The bike was definitely another league in terms of pace, placement and handling. I struggled a bit here and could never work my way forward. More work to be done in this regard. With the addition of the Specialized Prime every lap and perhaps Macca this bike was a full minute quicker than the fastest bike split here in years past. It was on, and unfortunately my power meter was not working.

Into T2 I was in the back third of the group. I had a quick transition and got out at the back of the long chain of runners that snaked through the city streets. On the run you fully got an appreciation of the crowd intensity. I don’t think there was a section of 5m where there was a break in spectators. The bike had taken more out of me than I would have liked but I found my rhythm and focused on holding form and picking off guys ahead. On the last lap the crowd took me home, simply outstanding to have that type support inches from your skin.

Crossing in 37th was not great but I had weathered my first WCS storm and had come out on top of some established athletes and many others that simply didn’t survive the swim/bike.

I am now waiting to meet up with Kyle and Coach Jon here in Barcelona before we travel up to meet the rest of the Canadian crew in France.

Stay tuned….

Edmonton WC

2011-07-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

After 4 years hiatus the world cup weekend in Edmonton is back. Despite some pretty ridiculous weather patterns rolling through every couple hours the weekend was a success for all. Kids of Steel saturday, and Juniour elites/agegroup/elite all on Sunday.

Chantell arranged a great homestay for me for the weekend with Byron Unger (triathlete, ex Canadian Swimmer, and Anesthesiologist extradornaire) and his girlfriend Mel at UofA. Can't thank them enough for taking me in on such short notice and providing the hospitality that they did. Great folks.

We arrived on Friday, keeping the time in Victoria to a maximum and getting in our key pre-race sessions with the comforts of home. Once in Edmonton using the pools at the Kinsmen centre was a great strategy. Especially Sunday morning, made it feel like just another day of training with a hard brick in the afternoon.

Saturday night I went for a short run after a ferocious hail storm had passed. I felt very off on this run, wobbly and uncomfortable. Not sure what the story was but I was also very tired that day, having a 2hr nap and a solid 9 hr sleep. Sunday morning the ship had righted and I felt fine. I think sometimes the body, when ready to race, sends signals to not overdue things and really focus more on rest. Often i'll feel sluggish before a great performance.

Jon planned this race out well for me. We kept the head down after Monroe and put in a focused 10 days with a sharp taper near the end of race week. With this being an 'A' race on my schedule we payed particular attention to getting some more leg speed with two key speed sessions for the run.

Starting to get used to these late starts. 4pm allows you to have a relaxed morning and leave everything to the last minute because even when you think you should get going down to the race site you still have a couple hours to delay.

It had rained from Friday to Sunday afternoon. Things brightened up for our race however, roads were dry and perfect temps for fast racing. With the cold, wet conditions leading up to racing everyone, including myself, was rolling into check-in overdressed. I would give the award for most bundled to Austrian Franz Hofer who exhibited full winter cycling kit, toque, and ski gloves on a mid July Sunday, only in Canada!

The water temp in the duck pond had plummeted with the hail storm 24hrs prior from 22C to 18C. This meant perhaps the first wetsuit swim in the history of the race for elites (someone might want to check into that). If Edmonton is to try and get this event to the WCS level then the swim needs to be adjusted somehow. Lining up I gave myself a two spot buffer from one particular brazilian that i've had some blows from in races past, however it didn't help as within the first 100m I had both goggs knocked to my cheeks. There was no fixing them, not with guys behind you ready to pounce. I essentially became blind and swam by feel. Surprisingly this worked ok, you can go along way by the feel of bubbles on your face to navigating a swim properly. I tried to maintain as best position i could and once out for the 750m beach run i readjusted the goggles and had eyes again. I saw i was in company with Jimmy Seear and Hunter Kemper, not a bad spot. The second lap I weaved my way up a few spots so i was in the mix of the pack for T1.

My helix came off smoothly and I mounted my new Cannondale Super Six ready to address the 6 lap bike course. Up the first climb I had a flashback to 2007 where i thought i was going to explode. This time around i felt strong and confident in my legs to bridge me up 5-10s into the chase group that had formed led by Kemper,Seear and Leckie about 10s down from the leaders. On the groat road downhill our packs merged and the lead bunch had formed with about 25-30 riders.

On the second lap I heard someone (i think simon) yell that the chase of about 15 guys was making up time. I felt good and rolled to the front for a pull as we made our way back to the park. Once there i realised that this was the prime lap. I kept it controlled by strong for 10-20s and then had a couple of brazilians come by as we turned into the park. I sat 3rd wheel as we turned left into the tranny section. Perfect position i thought as the lead out brazilian peeled off for his teammate. After the last corner to the line I swung wide and started my sprint. The brazilian however had taken a wide line as well and in the process had boxed me in with an overlap. There was no way of slowing and getting around him to the line so i tried to squeeze past but there wasn't the room to do so. Edged by a half wheel. The opportunity was there.

In this race I found myself much more aware, alert and focused on the task at hand. I had a mental note of where the strong riders where at all times and knew exactly how far into the bike we were for nutrition timing.

The climbs were strong but not crazy. With them coning off the centre line it actually made the climb the most technical part of the ride i thought.

As the pace accelerated into T2 i heard Simon give me a heads up for his wheel as he passed. I jumped on and we dismounted in the middle of the group. A hungarian guy however slipped right in front of Simon, bringing him to the floor as well. I had to leap over simon's rear wheel with bike in hand to avoid the same fate.

Out of T2 i found my legs were responding well. I had the leg speed to hit out the first mile in a large group. After we re-entered the park for the first time things began to disperse. I found myself running with teammate Brent McMahon who was tapping out a steady pace. He was slowly picking off athletes as they fatigued over the second 5k and I made sure to follow his lead. As we neared the final climb/descent on the run I made a pass on brent and on the downhill used my long legs to open up a gap with another long legger Latin from Estonia. Latin took the lead thru the transition area and then I surged by him on the out and back to the far park turn-around. As I neared the far turning cone I felt someone coming up inside. It was Brent. He made a great tactical move by coming up inside on the gap i had left and taking the inside on the turn. He then really put in a strong surge out of it leaving me on the brink of his tail. Back to the finish was a slight head/cross wind. I gave everything to get close to him and gain the slight advantage. As we neared the chicane to the finish line he put another surge in to try and reel in Noble from Ireland who was starting to tie up and that was the dagger.

Crossed the line in 17th with a great all round performance. Lots of fun, something i'll remember for a while.

As we hit the recovery area I came up to brent who was hunched over and put my pinky in his ear. 'Just checking for blood' i told him with a smile.

Next up Hamburg WCS

Photos courtesy of Byron Unger, thanks.

Monroe

2011-06-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

Having the luxury to drive to an ITU race is always a plus. Just a ferry buffet and a 2hr drive away made Monroe (scottish for Hard Hike) an anticipated race on the calendar.

Arriving Thursday night I was welcomed by homestay Jose and his family. Their home was just off the race course in the small town of Monroe, about 1hrs drive from Seattle, Washington. Jose and Margaret made me right at home and I thank them for the great weekend. The kids kept me occupied and relaxed as I prepped for the race Saturday afternoon.

The man-made lakes temperature fluctuated quite a bit with its shallow waters and rainfall. In typical fashion of the precision of TD Ulf Schuetze, 1hr before the start the temp was measured to 4 sig figs at 19.77C (wetsuit legal).

My race plan was quite simple. Do as Kemper does for as long as possible.

Ranked #2 i had second choice behind Hunter on the startline. Looking at the start area the day before I was convinced the left side was shorter to the first turn bouy so when Kemper choose the right side I was a bit muddled. I went with my gut and went left....well there goes the race plan i guess. There were quite a few strong swimmers in this field and they all proceeded to go right, i was starting to get a bit nervous I would be seperated from the pack until Fishies Andrew McCartney and Kalen Darling joined me on the left side.

Out to a great start I swam in clear water for 150m before slowly merging with the pack. Very little contact in this swim, was a nice change. With wetsuit swims you do not have as clear a picture of who you are swimming beside or behind. Prior to the start I made a mental note of a few of the stronger swimmers wetsuit and goggle type to recognize them in the water. The pace was fairly solid for the first 1000m, then a slight lull for 300 before picking up for the exit. I found myself right where I wanted to be, in the mix of the front group.

On the bike a group of 10 formed quickly. Teammate Jon Bird and Dustin McClarty had about a 20s gap that we managed to close within about 2k. There were a few notable absentees from our group that I think most of us noticed. This motivated the group to work together and have the gap grow. As Simon calls it 'Playin the Game' on the bike was my focus and I did everything I could to ride as smart as possible while contributing to the group.

The run turned into quite a tactical affair. Hunter was long gone from the first 100m. Then was Ben Collins and then was a group of 6 of us. A decent cross wind was coming off the field adjacent to course. I in essence 'drafted' off others in the group to conserve the first 5k. I wanted to negative split the run, at least effort wise to finish strong. At about 6k I was on my own in 3rd with Ben, the carrot, hanging in front of me by 15s. I just could not close the gap, it seemed like whenever i surged he instinctively did the same, maybe he could smell me? No oldspice next time.

Crossing in 3rd I was stoked for my first ITU podium. It was quite an honour to stand up there with Ben and Hunter.

Congradulations to Chantell Widney who won the womens race the same day. I feel she could have a great race in just under 2 weeks in her hometown of Edmonton.

That being said, Edmonton is fast approaching and I am eagerly looking forward to this one. Marked as my first 'A' race, the challenging course and field will be a great test. Edmonton was my World Cup debut in 2007, where I was rocked beyond this galaxy from the horn. I value that experience very much though as it gives me confidence in knowing the course and what/where to expect the surprises.

Will keep you posted

Johnny

2011-06-13T14:53:00.000-07:00

Ruin the Bruin.....Tonight!!!

29'er

2011-06-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

Today was my 29th birthday and this is how it went down in true tri-geek fashion:

Breakfast of Oats and Coffee to a beautiful sunny morning

Ride up to Commonwealth pool to meet Jon, Andrew and Coach Houshang for a long ride. It was one of those rides, lets call it a 'kitchen sink' ride, where it seems Housh throws everything at us; Observatory, Willis Pt., The Darkside, Moto-pacing it was all there and I was quite spent by the end.

Get home and roll the legs out. Next, devour some deluxe Waffles (recipe upon request) and scrambled eggs. Some online result creeping, there were I count 8 elite level races this weekend so it was easy to waste an hour doing this.

Then it was coma-nap time. Coma-nap is anything over an hour. This one turned into a solid 2hrs complete with ridiculous dreams. No troll on chest though, whole post on its own, so that was good.

Roll out of bed and have a powerbar, cereal and coffee. Procrastinate a good while and then prepare a stew, throw it in the oven and head out for a long run.

Dinner, get an ever so cute happy birthday chat from niece Stella, watch Dirk et al. win a well deserved title, write this, roll legs, bed.

Great day for a newly 29'er.

Finishing up a good training week with my fav, some post run leg swings

It is Caterpillar season, they are EVERYWHERE!

Any Questions? Any Answers?

2011-06-09T18:03:00.000-07:00

Neil Harvey is back on deck for our group once again. Its been a two year gap between visits but it sure is nice to have the motivating figure and expertise he stands for watching over our strokes.

Today we had an introduction to a Harvey set that i thought i'd share. Thursday swims are a quality one for us and this set was quite that:

5x (2x50 hard / 100 'efficiency' / 100 hard / 100 ez float )

At first glance the key components of each round were the hard pieces. But once into the set I quickly found that the 100 'efficiency' was equally as important. After one round I found that the pace fluctuations really allowed efficiency to be found in the 100 that called for it. The contrast from hard to efficient gave a heightened sense of feel and smooooothness in my stroke. I was surprised at how easy the 'free speed' came in the efficient 100.

Looking forward to more of these sets as we roll along through the summer.

First Dip

2011-06-07T11:12:00.000-07:00

Just over 4k done in Thetis Lake this morning as our first open water swim for 2011. About a month late due to a ridiculous cold spring and racing the temp was quite nice. No rattling bones.

It was essentially a hot tub for Jon (swam in a Calgary skating rink this weekend) and Andrew Mc fresh back from his solid race in the frigid Bay waters of Escape from Alcatraz.

Great to have Neil back out there on the kayak. Open water master.

Redondo

2011-06-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Too long for me without an update....very Dano Wells of me.

Two races came up in May that both took place in the adventure that is Mexico.

After a great altitude camp in Flagstaff, special thanks to Paul Brinkman for hosting me, I headed down to Monterrey for race #1. Great TriCan support for this race made everyone feel at ease. It truly gives you the best possible preparation when you have staff looking out for you.

Having done the race last year I knew exactly what to expect off the pontoon. However, I found myself being very complacent in the race and never really feeling that desperation and drive. I accepted where i was in the swim and bike and didn't really do anything to change it. It was clear when off the bike that I just wasn't in the shape needed yet to run to a top 20 WC result, placing 41st.

Here a few pictures from Monty:

Brent at the bow

Finishing up with the fans

Tri-Boat headed to dinner and some unexpected sprinklers!

Back to Victoria and we rolled right back into some decent training. Two routine weeks with some speed intro had me excited to do it all over again in Mexico, this time in Ixtapa. AP hooked up a great condo in Bay View Grand that was ideal for race prep.

On race day I felt much more 'spunk', as Barrie Shepley would say, and got after it right from the gun. The swim was just a lot of fun. I really like ocean swims with some rolling waves to them. Being a horrible kicker i find the salt water lets me get away with a 2-beat kick and not lose body position.

Out of the water near the front we had a 800m run over sand, wood and asphalt to the bikes. Normally i suffer with T1 runs but this one felt healthy good.

On the bike i fumbled a bit with my mount and found myself chasing for a bit. Once I was able to get on the wheel of my training mate, Jon Bird, we rolled up to the lead 5 where Brent McMahon was tapping out a strong pace. I helped with what i could, but our group of 10 became 25 after 10ish k. The remaining ride was so diverse. You had everything from significant coasting to spinning to steady to attacks. Just what you would expect for a pan-am cup in Mexico.

T2 was a bit tricky with the larger than normal ixtapa pack barreling over the grass/tree boulevard. On to the run I built the first mile and settled into a rhythm and feel that i felt i could sustain and build upon on the last lap. I did just that and ended up placing 5th. Its a good progression from Monterrey and gave a good indicator of where my fitness is at. Great races by Kyle and Brent to start their 3-week point chase trip.

I've just had a somewhat chill week dialing the intensity back and visiting my family. The newest family member, Adel May Bollans, was met this week. Another niece that I will marvel at as she grows.

The next two and a bit weeks look to be a heavy plate of meat and potatoes. If i'm lucky i'll get some gravy with a good result in Monroe (Seattle) June 26th.

More frequent posts to come.

Marveling at how much sand is already in my suit at the start

coming in for T2

ARZ

2011-04-28T08:27:00.000-07:00

We have just finished up a 3 week stint in Arizona building fitness and having fun. The opportunity to train day in day out with all my teammates has made for another great learning and growing experience.

Coach Brown has done a great job of keeping things rolling smoothly; Along with the monitoring from Ben and body awareness/adjustments from our new addition Marilyn everyone has come out of the time here wiser and hungry for the season.

Coming up next weekend is Monterrey WC. I will remain in Arizona prepping for the race to minimize travel. A small womens squad has arrived with Kyla Coates, who will be my travel buddy to Monterrey.

Thanks to Triathlon Canada for the support of this training block. Not a camp, but training block...As Dr.Jones would say, every week should be your 'training camp'.

Green Men

2011-04-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Espn to showcase full interview today. Mind games!

Valparaiso

2011-03-31T18:56:00.000-07:00

Recovering from Santiago and getting in a few key sessions thru the week had me ready to race again in Chile. This time about 80k NW of Santiago in the port City of Valparaiso.

Arriving on Friday I had two good looks at the beautiful race site for this one. Choppy, technical swim followed by a well paved 8 lap bike with a 1k gradual 3% climb, finished with a hilly 3 lap run.

The swim started well with a good start position on the far right. The loop had 2 bouys and a natural bouy as a set of rocks on the return leg to the beach. This was a very fun swim as the chop really seperated everyone and required good sighting skills. I found i was quite slow on the exit/re-entry and then the run out to transition, losing a few positions each time. On the first lap exit there were two street dogs on the beach waiting to get in on the action. When a few of us re-entered the ocean they came along with us! Salty dogs....

With a decent swim I exited about 20s down of Vasilev and 4 others in a group of 6 including eventual race winner Marek Jaskolka for Poland. This time around on the bike I felt much better. Power was there from the get go and stayed up near the front for the 40k. On lap 3 our group caught the leaders, due in large part to Will Huffman and Quinchara, a rising Columbian commodity, but a few laps later a large chase bridged creating a group of 25 or so coming off at T2. This race had a bunch of fun technical bits, including T2. The last section of the bike included climbing the 1k hill to the turn-around and then bombing back down into T2 (which itself was on a slight downhill). T2 dismount was the fastest i'd ever done and I was very close to not having the leg speed to match the pavement.

Out onto the run i had better speed. At about 1 mile seperation began into a head wind. Although this run went better than Santiago I was stlil a bit unsatisfied with the overall result of 13th.

My stay in Valparaiso was short but I saw quite a bit of the area on my bike. Very pretty, rugged, coastal landscape. Many of the different communities nest on top of small mountains (100-200m vertical). I was staying on top of one these in a B&B. At first I was a little concerned with the brutal climb up to home each time I ventured outside but then I found out they had 'ascendors' for each mtn. Essentially a train car that ascends the slope, I found these very cool and well worth the 75cent fee.

This trip to Chile was a great racing and cultural experience that I would recommend to all. The more and more I travel to races, especially unique ones such as this I find myself realizing how fortunate I am to be doing what i'm doing. A moment during the Valparaiso race I found myself saying 'you are the only Canadian to ever have done this...take it all in.'

Can't thank Felipe and Pam for their gracious hospitality and comfort during my stay, you guys were great.

Travel home was a bit of an adventure. After jetting from the race shortly after I got to the airport Sunday evening in good time. However the flight was delayed delayed delayed and then canceled. Everyone was put up in hotels for the night and would fly out the next morning. At about 3am that night I woke up with that feeling you know where you don't quite know where you are? Pffffew your in the hotel....then things went all wonky and it felt like I was surfing on jell-o.....earthquake! Thank god it was not significant. What is the world coming to?

Piedra Roja

2011-03-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

Picture of the Race

ITU Piedra Roja or Red Rock

What a great start to the season. Although my result of 16th is not what I wanted, it is a start to build upon and positives and negatives to take away into this weekend in Valparaiso. The race essentially went like this:

- great swim start
- then vasilev & Farias let loose opening a gap with a few others
- exit in main chase
- hurt like a mofo on the bike hanging 30m off the back until 4k
- finally got feet into shoes after first lap
- found bike surges tough
- mid pack T2 transition
- no speed out of T2
- chugged along run stuck in what seemed like 4th gear

The race was held very well for a first time event. The course is smooth and fast with a challenging run. Great venue, i hope to return.

A lot of the athletes are staying in Santiago to train this week which is great for meeting others and getting in some training together.

The Chilean Federation has opened their training centre, pictures to come, to all. A beautiful 50m outdoor pool in the hills with a great bike studio and a dirt 400m track.

Being hosted by Felipe and Pam has been awesome. They have shown me the best routes to train on and the given me great insight into Santiago and its brilliant culture. Chilean people are most friendly and the cuisine is delicious.

Chile

2011-03-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

In 2007 a Chilean athlete named Felipe Van de Wyngard visited Victoria and trained at the NTC for a spell. A very classy and friendly guy, he was immediatley liked by all. Keeping in touch with Felipe ever since and meeting up at races I've had the invitation numerous times to visit him and and his land.

So I have finally made true on that offer and am flying out tomorrow for 10 days in Chile racing two ITU Pan-Am Cups, Santiago March 20 and Valparaiso March 27.

The preperation although not ideal for these bouts has been coming along. I don't necessarily feel speedy but i do feel strong. I look forward to a great visit and some hard racing.

CT tweeted about this being the proposed Valparaiso bike course....8 laps i presume.

Now to make some travel bombs!

Sunday Paper

2011-03-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

Front Page

The devastation in Japan, surreal events that have shaken all of us. The feeling I get most of by hearing and seeing the carnage that has happened is helplessness and guilt. I feel like I should be over there trying to help out where ever possible. Not endulging in myself day in day out with training....The videos are out there of the destruction, water has never seemed more powerful.

Sports

Ran the Bazan Bay 5k last weekend here in Victoria. Always fun and fast, especially with the Saucony TypeA4.

BB5k just after 1k

Been playing around with my Garmin 310XT and Garmin Connect, useful and fun. Todays tempo run of 2x(10/2'r/5'/2'r) at beacon is here. In the woods however this watch is not great, pace fluctuates a lot.

Announcements

This year I am really fortunate to be a part of the Saucony Hurricane Program once again. Last year I quickly became familar and comfortable in the line of shoes Saucony has from trainer to racers.

The Kinvara was a big introduction last year that I certainly was quick to try. Great shoe for tempo running, however for a bigger guy like me I was searching for a bit more structure laterally and in the heel cup. They must of read my mind because this years addition of the Mirage is exactly that. Very impressed with the Mirage, great shoe essentially for anything and everything.

The new adjustment to the fastwitch line has made the FT5 my shoe of choice for mid-range intervals (5-10'), the shaved heel (now 4mm heel to toe drop) has made the shoe feel quicker off the ground. Completing the shoe arsenal is the TypeA4 flat which remains the same this year; light, responsive and with sole drainage for hot/wet races.

MILOS!!!!!

2011-02-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

Just finsihed watching the first ATP tour win for a Canadian Mens Singles player in 16 years. Milos Raonic did it with nerves of steel winning in two tiebreakers over Verdasco, ranked 9th in the World.

Not only that, but he is 20....big career ahead of him.

Great for Tennis in Canada

Congradulations MILOS!

Sorry but cannot pass up this opportunity for a very fitting Seinfeld reference.

Operation Booty

2011-02-13T13:04:00.001-08:00

Last year at this time I didn't have an ass. I was shedding the winter weight but losing it in some of the wrong areas. My pants were falling off, i thought i was slimming my waist, nope just losing anything and everything that resembled my white boy booty.

This year the plan is to build a booty. Operation Booty. With the help of my coach Jon Brown, strength coach Cam Birtwell, and all round guru Kevin Jardine. We plan to build the booty up to the point where i can shake it with the best of them.

Here are a few of my favourite tunes to listen to while executing Operation Booty.

jonah

2011-02-11T12:44:00.000-08:00

Legend. 1:40 I burst out laughing.

The size of an NFL linebacker with the speed of a running back, this guy makes any NFL'er look like chump change.

The Story so Far

2011-01-18T20:54:00.001-08:00

This time around in Maui, things have been a little different. I'm struggling with a glute injury that has squashed my running miles and had a crash on the bike last friday that left its mark. Still having fun though and accepting things will follow their due course.

Last night I met up with Mhairi, Tim and Stella. Good times ensued. It is great to spend time with them on this beautiful island in the pacific.

Stella wondering just how to get that Cafe Des Amis Gecko!

Today was the first day back to some motions post crash. AMac and I did a good little ride which finished off with some rural motor pacing up Baldwin Ave. I reckon if Simon had this pacer for the climb he might.....might be able to break Ryder's claim to fame on the volcano:)

Lightweight

2010-12-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

90' cadence ride the schedule said.

Can't sit on the trainer on a dry day like this. Roll out and head for the hills. O'Natural cadence ride, big gear the hills, spin the flats.

Before heading out i came across this video on Ronnie Coleman, good entertainment, the catch line served as a good theme to the ride.

Some of the steep buggers on Munns/Ross Durrance were quite the test seated. When the cadence dropped real low i reassured myself it was "lightweight baby", all the while listening to this and imaging Brukhankov wrestling a bear on his way home through the snow after power swimming.

Good ride.

Abandon Ship

2010-12-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

A lot of rain in Victoria eh. The garage was flooded this morning. Noa's work electronics ok though.

Something like this can be really stressful and annoying, but if you look on the grand scheme of things it is not that bad.

Not that bad like what happened in Minneapolis this morning. Poor Vikes. Just imagine if it happend when the game was on....A vertical avalanche coming down on Fav-ra after getting sacked. Adding insult to insult.

Train of Thought

2010-12-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

A Sequence of thoughts, each leading and spurring on the next. Ultimately the thoughts result in a question that may end the train or take it on another totally different track.

I'm amused by some of the ridiculous trains of thoughts I have on a daily basis. The mind can really reach it's potential for obscurness when doing a repetitive activity such as swimming, cycling, or running...it may or may not make sense.

Here is a random train of thought I had while riding today with Tyler.

"My low back hurts"

"This saddle blows"

"Your rides are numbered saddle, the replacement will soon make you hang up your rails"

"I'm gonna burn you, saddle"

"A Fizik Fire!"

"Gas"

"Propane"

"Nick got free propane the other day"

"Free fuel for cooking his meat"

"screw BC Hydro"

"mmm hungry"

"I wonder how much money you'd save per year from electricity/fuel if you ate a raw food diet?"

Retro is Cool

2010-12-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

Have been watching a bunch of the old grand prix videos recently. This particular race is quite good. Format was run/bike/swim!

They started with a 2k run that had a lead group a 6 form including stewart, welch, macca, bevan. On to the bike, Macca gets a flat tire and 2 guys are dropped, including Brad Bevan.......but then the 4th element comes into play, well i won't ruin it. Enjoy!

No driving and No coaching make Noa something something..

2010-11-25T12:14:00.000-08:00

Perhaps a little bit like what all Victoria peoples are feeling like at the moment:

Ulla

2010-11-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my beautiful better half celebrated her birthday. It snowed lots which she enjoyed very much:)

We went for dinner to a new restaurant with great reviews down at the bottom of china town on fisgard. Ulla

Would recommend it for special occasions. Very tasty food, nice service and presence. Definitley quality over quantity though, which is fine, it just means eating before you go and after your home as well:)

Noa, just about to begin her Short rib main

Ling Cod for Me

Riding Nowhere

2010-11-16T17:47:00.000-08:00

The trainer. Sometimes it can be bliss, sometimes it can torture.

Its gotta be done though over the winter in the GWN. This clip of CT's Crew is a good one to get 'the ride to no where' rolling

Melt some rubber.

Puerto

2010-10-26T15:08:00.000-07:00

WOw, what a difference. Huatulco you have quiet streets, deserted beaches, great food.....Puerto you have pollution, killer buses, and anyone and everyone trying to sell you something.

I really enjoyed my days after racing in Huatulco with Chantel. We found a great spot to eat, trained smoothly and got to see Matt Chrabot transform from zero to hero yet again, my man crush!

Arriving on thursday to Puerto the team met up at the Palmer suites. Friday we had a look at the facilities....wait, what facilities? Saturday was time for the meeting, which reminded me of those story books as a kid where "if you want to ride through snake riddled pits and fire breathing iguanas turn to pg. 43" or " if you want to run alongside rabid dogs and hassling salesmen turn to pg. 12". Left the meeting more confused and dying for a coke.

Race Time!

Deep water start for 70 guys actually went off pretty smooth. There were quite a few different groups forming and I seemed to be in the middle. By the first turn bouy I got into decent position. Not good enough position however because after 750 a break formed that would gain 30s coming out into T1.

On to the bike I had great legs for the first lap. Chrabot and Co. were just in sight, however the group of 8 seemed to be all about blowing the legs off and then freewheeling repeat. After lap 1 my legs seemed to build lactate. I went to the back and tried to spin it out, but to no avail. I struggled with the remainder of the bike, not able to really help the group. Coming into T2 we had grown to 20 or so and 30s had swelled to 2minutes to the lead group of 4.

Running was not pretty for 5k. I then started to find a bit of stride and held almost even to the leaders over the last lap. Mixed feeling about the race, but have put it behind me and moved on.

Had a nice few days after the race to spend with JP and Kirsten at an all-inclusive before heading back home to Victoria to enjoy the rest of my break with Noa.

2010 is a wrap, am looking forward to much better things in 2011.

Huatulco Race recap

2010-10-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

Huatulco once again served up a great, tough race for us all yesterday.

First up for Canada was Chantel Widney. Entering her first WC, she was as composed and collected as a wiley veteran leading up to the start. Her bike arrived with 12 hrs to go time and she remained unphased throughout. Hats off to her 10th place finish. One to look out for in the coming times as her swim improves with each race. Was great to cheer her on as she blew through girls on the run.

AP and I headed down to the race site about an hour before gun time. With the hot temps i find only a swim WU is needed to get ready. The waters were marvelous, 23C and calm. The swim however was the opposite. When the packs merged at 200m i found myself playing leap frog with the mass of bodies. I was using a lot of energy in this process, so i made the decision to relax and reposition myself as best as possible for the first upcoming turn bouy. This worked as i took the inside line and then hammered along the outside. Still after the first lap i found myself back further than i´d liked. The second lap i felt great and continually moved up to come out in the bunch.

On to the bike there was a small group with the big players like gomez and charbot ahead that took almost two laps to reel in. Once it all came together the pace really eased up. A very strategical bike unrolled with brazilian team tactics playing out in the ultimate break that took a minute on the pack into T2

Out of T2 the foot race began quite quick and i found myself not able to match the early turnover. I settled in and focused on keeping rhythm and momentum as much as possible. Staying cool was also a big priority. After 5k a lot of guys began to crack in the heat and i made up some places. In the closing stages i had a portuguese just ahead of me and a mexican closing in, the last k was 100% mental. Crossed in 28th, good, but needs to be better.

Cold towel, banana, e-load recovery, massage...feels good.

Nice race dinner on the beach ended a great day.

Chantel, Chrabot and I will stay in Huatulco with some light training and recovery before carrying on to Puerto Vallarta on Thursday. Will keep you posted.

Aside: Water consumption during run.

4laps X 6 aid stns per lap X 1 500 ml bottle (poured on head, body, mouth) = 12L!!!!

Multiply that by 120 elites and you´ve got a lot of water used for a 30-40 minute run!!

Huatulco

2010-10-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Huatulco yesterday for the WC this weekend in the quiet town of many bays. Really beautifull here, a constant reminder of why i love to race here.

The course has been changed. it appears the mex federation has taken out the monster hill and replaced it with a flat boring ride. Many reasons are floating around as to why but it is what it is and we will race Sunday 1045 local time.

AP and I are loving our hotel right now. Along with swiss ruedi wild we are pratically the only ones here getting personable, A+ service.

The field here looks substantial, the race will be very tough and a great opportunity to express performance from both of us.

all for now,

Aruss

Tuscaloosa ITU

2010-10-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

Alabama is certainly one that I will remember. The race, the state, and the characters had a definiant engraining nature to them that stick into the old grey matter.

Arriving on Wednesday I spent the days leading up to the bang with Ben Collins in the luxurious La Quinta Inn next to I-25. Short workouts in the heat with lots of feet up time had me excited to race in the USofA champsionships as the lone Canadian.

Into the water/river we go for a straight shot of 800m to the first turn can. I struggled in this swim and found myself dangerously close to being popped a couple of times. I did manage though to exit the water at the back, have a good T1 and opening 2k on the bike, putting into the bunch.

The bike was perhaps the most interesting ride i've raced in. With Shoemaker in the group, it seemed like everyone took a turn on him each lap. He rode very well though and it wasn't until Matty Reeds spark on the final hill that some seperation occured. I felt strong on the ride and got myself into this break going into T2 for a clear change over.

Onto the run a number of guys flew by me. I seemed to get the legs turning over just after 5k and ran up a few spots to finish 9th.

Points, cash, and most importantly good Huatulco race prep = Mission Accomplished.

I'd like to thank Paulo for making the drive down from Nashville. Having the orange shirt on course was very uplifting. As well, Craig Taylor did a great job managing all Canadian affairs down there, making the time very enjoyable.

Committed

2010-09-02T11:51:00.003-07:00

To perform well in endurance sport you need a number of things. Too many to list here, but an area that I've really noticed the last while is committment. It sounds simple, but it's not.

It is not easy because to be committed you need to be darn right selfish at times. Turning down friends offers to ski, fish, etc. is hard to do.

There are many aspects to commitment that add to it's complexity as well. Commitment to your teammates, to your coach, to your country, and to yourself.

It's the last one that is truly the hardest. You are your toughest critic. There is no hiding from yourself.

If committment to yourself can be reached then your at the starting line. Then it will just take years of that commitment day in day out.

My season is running into October this year as I look to make up for some missed racing in June/July/August. With few training partners at the moment, commitment can't be stressed enough.

To finish here, I'd like to look at a case of commitment that has blossomed into something quite impressive this year. Although I'm sure for Matt Chrabot the commitment started well before Huatulco 2009, it was at this race that he showcased it to the ITU world.
On a course such as Huatulco, many thought Matt was committing suicide on the bike as he pulled away. To Matt though he was committing to himself and to winning. Every race since he has committed to the same plan; Sydney, Madrid, Kitzbuhel and most recently Budapest there is never any fear in commitment.

This picture has become a staple beside me on the trainer and treadmill these days to remind me of what can be accomplished with the right commitment....

Into the Wild

2010-09-02T11:51:00.002-07:00

On Monday Noa and I returned from a great 'time away' from all things Victoria. We headed up to the interior to visit some family and friends. Salmon Arm and Revelstoke were both in shoulder season, not quite Fall but Chilly summer for sure.

Mhairi and Tim made us feel more than welcome as we enjoyed our time fully with them and the ever inquisitive Stella-Bean. Wednesday we had Stella all to ourselves and she did not disappoint with some knee slapping moments.

Off to Revelstoke for the weekend and a good visit with Dad. That town sure is changing, i must say though that I like it! Many neat coffee shops/bakeries opening up along with perhaps the best oil/vinegar/spice specialty shop ever called Crescendo, mmmm truffle oil. Sunday was the Mt. Revelstoke Steamer but alas I did not partake in the festivities, i was too scared that Catherine Pendrel, fresh off claiming the Overall WC Title, would beat me!

Saturday though I did have a great long ride. Here is my route. It is a beautiful ride. I recommend it to anyone visiting the area. It takes you from downtown Revy out along hwy 23 South to the Shelter Bay Ferry. If your really up for a good one, get on the ferry and then ride off it to Nakusp where there is a stellar hotsprings to realx in afterwards. You would need a lift back though, that wouldn't be happening after soft legs in the springs.

I had some intervals to do on the ride. Steady aerobic work and long. There is hardly any traffic or other riders on this stretch of Hwy. It was cold, damp and I was alone. I really began to take in my surroundings, feeling truly Canadian. For the last interval I had WLM (shivers, I know) on repeat while I looped the following images through my head.

Lumber Jack
Back Bacon
Maple Syrup
Maple Syrup drizzling over Back Bacon
Snow
Ice
Stick and Puck
Grizzly
Moose
Wolves
Lone Wolf
Beavers
Beaver Dam
Leaves
JM Stomping the Podium
Beards
Lumber Jack....

To be honest, in that interval I have never felt more Canadian. I suddenly became overwhelmed at how lucky we all are as Canadians to take in this beautiful country each and every day, 100%.

Little over a week till Tuscaloosa. Keeping the head down and chopping.

Arriving Back Home

Removing the Crutch

2010-09-02T11:51:00.001-07:00

As Tuscaloosa fast approaches I find myself realizing how fast the swim is going to be. This has the potential to be the fastest/toughest swim i've ever done in a race period. There are faster swimmers here (McLarty, Dye, Collins, Fleischmann, the list goes on) than the worlds cups i've done in a smaller/diverse field making it harder to hide in the pack. Looks like one loop from what I can gather with a straight shot 600m to the first bouy. All these aspects are gonna make it strung out and ON!

That being said, each swim workout leading up to this race takes on added importance to be done correctly and made the most of. At the beginning of this week I noticed one set in partiuclar on the program that caught my attention as the key to the key sessions, 8x300m Z4 (1500m TT pace). Mon-Wed held some key workouts as well, all making this set seem that much more important to be done with some fatigue.

Yesterday I found myself saying to myself...'8x300m its not that bad, if you get tired you can always use the crutch and pull a couple' Letting this thought enter my mind was one flaw, but actually believing it was worse. Later that night I went back on myself and stated 'What are you thinking? No, no pulling, even if you've sunk to the bottom your swimming that set througout. And dammit your gonna swim it well!'. The crutch had been removed. No crutches.

So, this morning after a good warmup, the ever positive DWL and I hit the set with a focused mindset to GET THE WORK DONE AND DO IT WELL! Although we did not have the ideal set up of swimming side by side there was a definite connection during the set that fueled both of us. Even though I saw Derek only at turns and for 20s at the wall each rep I knew as I swam that there was a guy 10m ahead in the same situation doing the same work.

It was no surprise that throughout the set this connection grew. When all was said and done we had completed perhaps the most consistent endurance set for both of us this year.

Money in the bank and laughing all the way there....

Cabbage Rolls and Borsch

2010-08-31T11:42:00.000-07:00

This is a bit of a random post but in last few days different events have linked together around 'The Ukraine' so it's worth sharing.

I suppose i'll start by mentioning how impressed I am with the development of triathlon this past year in 'The Ukraine'. For some time their lone soldier and flagship athlete was Volodymyr Polikarpenko. Simon shared a story of Volodymyr just yesterday about how he grew up in a factory tower room as a kid. This season however I've noticed several Ukraine athletes having respectable finishes on not just the ITU circuit but also 70.3 and Ironman. To name just a few you have: Danylo Sapunov, Yuliya Sapunova, Maxim Kriat, Andriy Glushchenko, Rostyslav Pevtsov, Oleksiy Syutkin, and most recent IMC winner Viktor Zyemtsev.

If I watch some of these athletes swim strokes and running forms I find it hard to fathom how they can swim/run so fast. This is not a jab by any means, rather a compliment. You see I believe the way they do it is through pure grit and suffering. They have grown up and matured with less offerings than the Western world, or even their neighbour Russia, and hence have mastered the art of 'getting the work done' at any cause. This is all just a theory, it could very well be the result of their delicious native cuisine.....mmmmm cabbage rolls.

They did have 3 men at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 which you may not have been aware of although I think they only qualified 2 and were given another invitation slot. Nontheless, in 2 years time they most certainly will be another country on the growing list of nations fighting for 3 spots without a doubt.

So Ukraine, I salute you.

Now the real reason for this post, an excuse to play yet again my favourite Seinfield moment...Kramer had many ingenious ideas, some which I have modeled my life after, however on this one he was wrong, in both a Risk and Triathlon sense.

Aside: Some of Kramers Best Business Ideas

- A pizza place where you make your own pie. "We give you the dough, you smash it, you pound it, you fling it up in the air, and then you get to put your sauce, and you get to sprinkle your cheese and then you slide it into the oven

- A roll-out tie dispenser. "You're in a restaurant. You got a very big meeting coming up. Oh man! You got mustard on your tie! You just tear it off and you got a new one right here. Then, you're gone

- A cologne that smells like the beach.

- A coffee table book. About coffee tables, with little legs and a built-in coaster on the cover.

- A brassiere for men. Inspired by Frank's man-breasts. Named "The Bro" by Kramer but "The Manssier" by Frank. "Bro's no good, too ethnic."(Frank)

- A restaurant named "PB&J's". Serving only peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

- A car with a periscope installed. To help urban drivers with navigation.

- A bladder system. "It's not for people, it's for oil tankers!"(

- A bottle containing both mustard and ketchup.

Good Apple Video

2010-08-24T22:05:00.001-07:00

How bout them Apples?

2010-08-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

"When the time comes, you'll be able to run" N. Deutsch

The timing for me and this race could not have worked better. A week earlier and I might not have started, and a week later would have just been too long to wait.

The last while has been a time where i've discovered more about myself in this sport than in all years past. Having to give up an opportunity to race in Europe was very tough and felt like I was missing out on a huge development step. But staying at home and applying myself to the task at hand has opened up a path to race into the later half of this season.

Paulo did a great job of instilling confidence in me for this race and I feel the run progression we made together was coordinated to a T. I was more nervous for the Tuesday leading up to the race than on raceday. Tuesday had a motorpacing workout which went into a 2k run build. This would be the first pace effort for me in over two months. Relieved that i ran pain free, things began to fall into place throughout the rest of the week.

Perhaps 2 sports to focus on this last while has been a blessing. I've felt i've made large technical gains in my pedal and swim stroke with the help of Rick and Houshang. This has helped to create a more efficient one two platform.

On to the race...

What a great time. Full startlist was bound to happen at the Apple sometime. The organization and execution is World Cup calibre.

70 guys on tugboat beach. Starting on the right side i knew three key packs would emerge, one lead by Simon to the right, two lead by Bird/Darling to the left. That is exactly what happened with a merge happening just before the first can 250m out. The pace lifted after the run out and this managed to created a gap for about 12 of us at the exit.

On to the bike Darling and Fernandes had a small gap that was reeled in at the bottom of knox lead by Whitfield and Bird. At the top of the climb the group had emerged as Whitfield,Jones,Bird,Fernandes,Sexton,Bechtel,Bredschneider,Darling and myself.

Very impressed by Bredschneider. First year out of juniour and he stuck up that first climb well. A small error of closing a gap before the second climb was his undoing. You don't need to close that next time. Leave it for Mr. W :)

After the first lap I began to feel amazing in saddle. Relaxed, fluid and strong. The group worked well for the remainder, well everyone from above the equator that is. I felt we could have cut the group to an all Canadian affair perhaps if some more effort had been laid down on the later climbs but the consensus seemed to be keep it steady.

We came into T2 with about a 2 minute gap on the chase, which was a nice reward for our coordinated efforts.

First out of transition I quickly assessed how things felt in my knee. A niggle was there but certainly nothing hindersome. The first two laps went by quickly as Jon Bird and I ran together about 45s back of the front 4 of whitfield,jones,fernandes and darling. Sexton had come by us as well and was inbetween. At 6k I bluffed and put in a surge on Jon. I didn't know what would happen, but i knew i would not be able to stay even paced on the back half of the run. The final two laps i began to fade as expected. I was just able to hang on to 6th/3rd CAN as AP (nice run) and Jon closed in on me over the final K.

Surprised with what water running and low effort grass running had produced I am happy with this race and ready now to begin building my run fitness back up.

The fall will hopefully have three races in store:

Sept 25th Tuscaloosa ITU
Oct. 10th Huatulco WC (pending standards and qualification)
Oct. 17th Puerto vallarta Pan-American Champs

Thank you to Michele Rule for hosting Noa and I again this year in beautiful K-town. Thank you to all those who braved the wet weather to cheer us all on and a big thanks to Blair and the Muldoons for their encouraging presence and motivation.

This week will be Simon and Kyles last time here before heading over to prep and acclimate for the GF. I'll do my best to push them.

ITU Bike Course Improvements

2010-07-30T13:59:00.001-07:00

Yesterday after one of Paulos "leg growing" rides, Austin and I had a good talk about ITU WCS Cycling and the courses. We came to a few conclusions and possible recommendations that might help improve this section of the sport for fans, tv and the general viewing public:

CONCLUSIONS:

- Current WCS courses are not challenging enough to seperate the men from the goats with exception to Madrid.

- Bike Handling skills not showcased

- Bike segments are becoming too predictable (lead group out of water tries to hold off chase mob to no avail by 2nd or 3rd lap).

- The growing packs (50-60 riders) in combination with frustrated riders are increasing the chances of crashes and dangerous behaviour.

- Courses not challenging enough to put fatigue even into weaker cyclist legs for run

RECOMMENDATIONS:

- Hilly Courses

- Hilly courses may not be readily available in most large cities such as seoul, london etc. so in exchange courses need to be made MUCH MORE technical.

- By MUCH MORE we mean MUCH MUCH MORE. ie. make the loop 2k or less, so 20x2k loop with chicanes, 180's, 90's, cobbles, you name it. Essentially make it a criterium course, which WILL seperate the groups and eliminate a lot of the other associated issues.

- No segment of course may have a straight away greater than 250m in length

- Some might say 2k is too short for the lap-out rule.....you should not be racing WCS if the thought of being lapped even crosses your mind.

RESULT:

- More dynamic and engaging cycle portion of race

- Run times more accurately reflecting bike strength in athlete

- Athletes will be forced to become better bike handlers, resulting in fewer accidents/injuries.

- Perhaps the most entertaining endurance event on the planet

What do you think?

Crystal Pool

2010-07-21T11:01:00.000-07:00

When you spend a lot of time submerged in water most mornings you tend to pick up on a lot of things that the general public perhaps would overlook at Pools and aquatic complexes.

It might be sad to say, but when i travel somewhere I will tend to associate the benefit of the trip or overall feeling from it on terms of how nice the pool was. I'll remember fine details from the pool along with the obvious like it feels like my skin is burning chlorine levels.

Perhaps my greatest pool experience would have been at the '92 Olympic Pool (outdoor 50m) in Barcelona. Perched on top of a park that overlooks the city, it was a scorching day. After walking around the city sweating through my shorts I could not wait to dive in. The pool had this amazing feel of bubbliness and an airy/light water texture. Absolutley beautiful.

92 Games Pool

Another one that ranks right up there is the Parc Jean-Drapeau pool in Monteral. Stevo and I swam here in 2007 after Drummondville. The pool (outdoor 50m) is set within the confines of a castle looking building. We had a mission to get to this pool and although it took 2hrs travel one-way from Stevo's relatives it was well worth it.

I cannot talk about pools without mentioning the pool I grew up swimming in. The Queen Elizabeth Pool was concrete with gutters that could suck a 3 year old away. The beauty of the pool was its aspect. It gave you full view of the Begbie glacier while doing backstroke; never my favourite stroke, but it seemed to be when i swam there.

This subject of Pools came to mind after todays swim at Crystal with Austin and Brent. Previously when I swam periodically at Crystal I never took a liking to it. However as i began to swim more regulary at it, I found myself more and more becoming accustomed to its odd/irregularities that make it unlike any other.

- For 20 meters the pool is quite shallow (2-3 feet), it is just deep enough for your hand not to touch except perhaps if your Rick Say with big paddles on. This shallowness is helpfull for dolphin diving practice and if your just to lazy to kick that last 10m. As well during a hard set I find it comforting to be able to stand (or hunch over) gasping instead of tensley holding onto the wall waiting.

- The Pool has no flags, so you have to develop a sense of where you are on Backstroke upon landmarks on the roof....ok there is that glass dome beginning to end it should be time to flip over....uh waaaaaay too early.

- At the deep end wall there are underwater viewing windows that look in from a sunken carbio room. Often this spring I'd be about to flip turn and see Phil, hands cupped up to the glass peering in to look at technique. With my ghostly white winter complexion it made me feel like a beluga whale at the aquarium.

- The temperature of the pool is warm. I used to find it hot but have since acclimitized. The pools boiler dates back to the early 1900's when crystal pool used to be located at what is now Crystal gardens. Old boy is still pumping out at a good tick.

- Washrooms not so fond of. Keep telling myself to get sandles or I'll pick up a case of foot and mouth disease. They do have good hot showers though i'll give them that.

- Perhaps the most note worthy topic of the pool is the dedicated aquafitters. Our pool time is from 7:30-9:00. At 9:00 Aqua fit starts, which means the process of moving lanes from 50m to 25m happens between 8:50-9:00. Usually we aren't in the water till 7:35ish and this sometimes cuts things close with 5k on the board. You can usually still swim from 8:55-9 but you have to have your head up. We are talking Scott Stevens head up as aquafitter and random floaters will undoubtedly be crossing your path. This morning at 8:45 we had 1100 to go. 5x200 Pull on 3' and 100ez.

"3' eh rick, we wont make it"

"ok, make er 2:45"

Off we go, things look good. The ropes are coming out, but slowly, we should make it. We start the last 200 and time it perfectly as during the last 50 the usual guy is starting to bring across the get the #*@# out rope. As I touch I look up at the digi clock to see 8:59:57...awesome. I look back 2 seconds later to see brent T-Bone with a random backstroker crossing paths 2meters from the wall. Ironically this collision took place at exactly 9:00:00!!! Brent had paddles on though so it was the other guy i'd be more concerned over.

With these characteristics I do enjoy swimming at Crystal Pool and actually after being away from Victoria for even a couple days I anticipate a swim there. It is calming, soothing and sure to be eventful!

The Pool is however on its last hinges and I hear it will be replaced by a new facility within the next 5 years. You will be missed Crystal.

Our Winter LumberJacks at Work

2010-07-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

Mens Alpine Ski Team getting fit.

Euro Ode

2010-07-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

Euro Champs went today, always a good race to see how the european juniors look and see some team racing unfold. It looked as if that may have happened today in the Mens Elite race, is GBR planning something for 2012?????

Here are two more euro things:

First, Bryan Keane raising the respect for triathletes in the cycling world. On the course he also adds to this with some impressive power. Many athletes owe him a guinness or two for pulling them up to the front pack.

Euro Song i've been jamming to lately.

1988

2010-06-29T18:19:00.001-07:00

back in '88 things were simple....speedo simple.....road bike simple.....no shirt run simple.

Now things are complex......speed suit complex......electric shifting complex.....newton complex (had to Noa).

The way we look at ourselves in the sport has also become too complex. Too many ?-marks to address when perhaps we need to let the ?'s unfold and learn from them.

The question back in '88 was simple as I rode beside my dad training the run for Canada....."Is this apple juice gonna be enough for the both of us till home?"

The Weekend Message

2010-06-28T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sometimes its not until you turn off the engine that you hear and learn how she sails...

No Man's Land

2010-06-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

Things are on hold here at the moment. My body came to a hault last week. I had it coming, all signs were pointing to it yet I stubbornly trudged on. All the little things have caught up to me it seems and I'll need a bit of time to get these things back in order.

Taking a few steps back to take another leap forward.

Congradulations to everyone in CDL!

Mayune

2010-06-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back with a post well overdue. The month of May was quite a journey for me so I'll get you up to date.

I'll start with Glasgow. I was so excited and ready for this race that when things went wrong on race day I got very low on myself. I was confused and puzzled with my performance. Swim ok, but once onto the bike I felt like a boy amongst men. Not my day and it was a long way to realize it.

Arriving home to victoria I struggled to find motivation for some time. Then came an injury which made things worse (injury to blog post theory looks validated)

That same week I said goodbye to a good friend in Phil who I will undoubtedly miss. Merci Beaucoup.

With support from a number of people I began to make the most of each day. A new attitude was stressed by coach Paulo, which I understood as some wise advice.

Jump to June and Hy-Vee was fast approaching. My running was limited but I put the blinders on and just rolled with it. Upon arrival to Des Moines Rob Hasagawa and Kim Ward worked wonders to get me ready for Sunday, I truly see how world class they both are.

Race day came and I felt very relaxed. Kurt, Pat and Paulo had made the week roll along with a hitch and on race day a team could not have had better support.

As I stood on the pontoon I found myself smiling while listening to the heartbeat. I had a rough first lap on the swim getting a goggle knocked off but on the long re-entry run I was able to get it back on and moved up on the second.

Onto the bike I felt fine. No relapses of Glasgow, into the pack quickly. The bike was fairly frustrating, but am happy I rode within the rules.

Hit the run feeling good. 4-5k went by well on pace. Then the wheels started to wobble. I went for it without reservation but in the end the lack of any race pace running over 4 weeks sure enough began to surface.

Take the positives out of this race and move forward. The season is still very young.

Be with the moment cause that is all that exists.

Travel Bombs

2010-05-17T12:26:00.001-07:00

First introduced to this recipe by my Sister, as she is always looking out for my calorie intake, I have begun to consistently travel to races with 'Travel Bombs'

I'll often find myself in a jam on the plane these days as free food is non-existent and sometimes the 1hr drive from the airport to the hotel can be agony. This is where having a couple of these in my carry-on can be the difference between feeling good and having my stomach digest itself.

I just made a batch of these 10mins ago. The recipe is from the White Water Cooks - at home Book with an adjusted title.

1 C Sunflower seeds
1C Sesame seeds
1C Rolled Oats
1C Choc Chips
1C Raisins
1C Dried Cranberries
1/2C Cocoa
1/4C Cinnamon
2C Peanut Butter
1/2C Honey
1C Coconut toasted

Makes 26 golf ball size

Simply put everything in a big bowl, mix, roll into small bombs and roll in coconut.

I was interested to see how many calories get packed into one of these guys, so I went onto FitDay.

Per Ball:

300 Cals as: Fat (51%) Carbs (40%) Protein (9%) % by calories

18g Fat, 33g Carbo, 8g Protein

At a avg. Volume of 4.19 cubic inches these boys pack 72 cals per cubic inch.

Bomb Silo

When baggage security asks you what the hell is that? Tell em they're the BOMB!

Tartan Tripping

2010-05-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I'll hop aboard an Air Transat flight from Vancouver and, permitted we can find some holes in the Icelandic VOG, travel over to Glasgow, Scotland to race in the Strathclyde ITU European Cup May 23rd.

Long way to go for race you say, so why would I? Something new, something exciting, challenging course, challenging field, cheaper than Ixtapa (believe it or not), and an overall good excuse to visit my land of birth.

The winter in Scotland has been harsh. As a result the water temperatures are quite frigid and the swim may be shortened to accommodate, we will see. Yesterday a few of us hoped into Thetis lake with Phil and Jasper following in the kayak, warmer than usual for this time of year.

Our training has been ticking along with a good four week block that Phil has challenged us with. The progression seen in similar workouts, has been encouraging.

After the race i'll have two days to do some lighter training all the while checking out Glasgow and the Ayrshire Coast.

I haven't been as excited for a race like this in a while. Off WE GO!!

Studying up on my Glaswegian (have to watch it on youtube)

Song to travel with

The Generations

2010-05-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats trying out a new pair of shoes for the first time. And when those first steps in the shoes are at 3'/k pace it feels even better....

At todays brick I got to have a rip in some fresh Saucony Type A4's. This is the new race flat for 2010 from Saucony. I have raced in three generations of their Flat (A2,A3,A4) and have seen the shoe progress to what it is now.

The A4 has some improvements that i found add to its overall performance. The heel cup has two added pads that fit nicely on either side of the achilles making for a great fit. The heel cushioning is thinner, this i like as I feel it promotes a better mid-strike. The grip on the shoe is the best array i've seen on a flat on the mid to fore foot. Add a bunch of drainage holes (so important for hot and sock-less triathlon) throughout the sole and you have a nice all round package for a flat.

GET SOME!

Been a believer for 3 generations A2,A4,A3

Public Swimming

2010-05-06T10:22:00.000-07:00

Spurred on by past experiences and a recent post by Andrew Hall i thought i'd write a little bit about public swimming.

Swimming with an organized group with swimmers your level, with a coach on deck is the perfect world. Everything flows well, no hold ups and we can get through a workout quite efficiency. However some may feel this is perhaps a little too much like a laboratory setting. World Champ Alistair Brownlee swims a lot of time in public lanes, sighting it is more 'real world' like. I believe he has a point to some extent.

Organized lane space undoubtedly has its purpose and without it you just simply cannot do the key tough sessions effectively. However, when you have that rolling/recovery swim on your schedule perhaps it is better to go during public times. Choose the time when most people will be out too, like lunch hour. This is perfect as everyone is in to get a workout in 30-45mins.

Here are some advantages i've found with public swimming:

- Develops sighting skills

- Acquire coping strategies to contact

- Forced rhythm changes/surges when passing

- Decision making skills enhanced

Swimming rage however can sometimes enter the picture in public lanes. According to this article it is a growing concern. I really like the identification of the different water species, pretty accurate! As bystanders it must really give lifeguards some amusement and material for conversation pieces.

Good Song but not one we want to hear.

2010-04-29T17:02:00.001-07:00

On my Definite to do Race list

2010-04-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

Mazda London Triathlon 2009 - when else do you get to race around big ben and the london bridge in basically your underwear?

Monterrey World Cup

2010-04-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

Monterrey marked the first race of the year. After a consistent winter of being pushed to another level of training I was foaming at the mouth to hear the horn.

I've learned a lot in the last 3 months. More than I thought I could. So when it came time to devise a race plan with Phil, I sat down and made it clear to myself what I needed to do to race well.

24hrs out of the race I began to execute this plan and stuck to it. Here is how it went.

For Mexican standards this race was cold. Water at 22c, air 20-25c with a cool wind made it important to stay warm at the start. I warmed up with a borrowed wetsuit, thx McCharles, and kept it on right up until they began calling us onto the pontoon.

The swim for this race was the area I had concern over. I had not been hitting the usual paces I tap out for 10days leading into this race.
All that changed though when I dove in and found myself on the hip of the leader. I then had a section where I struggled a bit and the mob was soon all over me. From there on I just had to focus on limiting the blows and contact in an effort to conserve yet still maintain contact with the group.

Have a look these swim videos to get the picture 1 and 2

Out of the water in usual fine fashion, AMac had seriously stung things out on the back half of the swim. A lead group of 8 or so joined andrew at the front. I found myself settled into the main pack of 25 I'd say. It included some heavy hitters on the bike(graves ,colucci, chrabot, butterfield) which had the pace cranked for 10k. I felt strong but still never got near the front until things settled a bit. The gap between the two groups shrunk to 30-40s and then stayed there throughout the 40k.

One engrained memory I have of the race was anticipating 4 or 5 water bottles to pop out as we rode over a large speed bump. I smiled as my $3 MEC holders did their job.

An error I made was coming into t2. I was too content and entered in near the back. This may have cost me up to 3 positions as I now look at the results.

In previous races I would sometimes dread the run. On this day though I looked at the run as my time to showcase the hard work put in and all the advice and support on running I received in the last while from all sources.

Focusing on maintaining contact with the group we set out for a fast first k. From 2-6k I felt very fluid and strong working my way up to 8th. The last lap I faded and couldn't match butterfield and a few others who came by.

Crossing for 11th I was elated and proud to have been able to express how if you stick to a process your goals can come to fruition.

Thank you Phil, my teammates, Noa, Jairus, Gibson, Dr. Guan, and my friends and family.

Next up: More hard work and the Vancouver Sun Run for a real good rip at 10k.

Replenish

2010-04-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

Heat training has been the addition to the later half of this week as we hit more and more specific prep for next weekend.

Riding 90minutes in simulated Monterrey Heat/Humidity with the goal of decreasing the sweat response time. You lose a lot of fluid though in these sessions 2-3kg so it is very important to replenish not only the water lost but also electrolytes.

The easiest way i find to top the stores back up is through liquids. E-load only has a certain desire for me of 2 bottles before i need something else. So Friday I threw together a healthy soup that I thought would do the trick:

Here is the recipe (click on veggies for nutrient/vitamin profiles)

1 Onion
1/2 Garlic Head
1.5L of Chicken Stock
8 large Potatoes
3 or 4 bunches of Broccoli
1 bunch of Swiss Chard
0.5L Milk
Pepper

Get the onion and garlic going then add the stock and potatoes to simmer 20'.

Add broccoli, simmer 10'

Add Swiss Chard, simmer 5'

Add Milk and pepper, simmer 5'

Liquefy with immersion blender

total time: 50-1hr

Soup makes it easier to digest and this one packs a lot of electrolytes from the stock and veggies.

Pay it forward

2010-04-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

Beacon Hill is quickly becoming my favourite spot to run here in Victoria. I do like to get lost in some of the more wild trails but BH has a quaint city park feel that makes you feel good when running there.

Today Austin, Andrew McCartney, and I ran some intervals there this afternoon in nice conditions. We warmed up along the waterfront with no wind (nice change), did some activation, and hit up the main set. While pulling back some air just after finishing the first rep I heard a conversation that struck me with great reward for what I do.

A couple were taking a horse buggy tour (similar to this but minus the beef-a-reeno) through the park. They came passing by just after we finished and this is what i remember hearing:

Guy "Do you run?"

Girl "I used to, but I'm lazy"

Guy "We should train for a 10k or something, those boys look like they're having fun"

Girl "You know i've never done a race before, that would be a good goal!"

Guy "Alright, its settled, we start tomorrow"

When i heard this my day was made. For our hard work to be noticed like that and to rub off on someone(s) was gold. It gave another jolt of motivation to know that maybe we can help influence healthy lifestyles and exercise.

The rest of the set went along very well. We hit the paces like clockwork and shared a good laugh when finishing our last rep we encountered a strange but very coincidently situation....lets just say enough to make AMac run in the opposite direction hahaha.

The Monterrey World Cup is fast approaching. This time next week I will have almost arrived to the Northern capital of Mexico and will be getting ready to start what I hope to be my best season to date!

Make sure to tune into the first WCS race this weekend to cheer on our Canadians (Simon,Kyle and Kathy) in Sydney, 2pm PST on here

Easter Monday Break

2010-04-06T11:43:00.001-07:00

A few pictures from a nice day off on Salt Spring with Noa

Our table for Lunch, beautiful

Close Call

2010-04-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today I was reminded of precious life is. I made a very irresponsible decision and assumption during our ride today that could have taken away my life or worse, one of my teammates.

I sometimes find I get too into training while on the bike and disregard safety while on the roads. I feel I own the road i'm riding and the drivers should accommodate to me. It could be the lack of blood flow to the brain or just plain stupidity but I often catch myself making split decisions that benefit the ride and not my safety.

I reckon I was about half a second away from being killed today. I made a left hand turn while not stopping at a stop sign and was 10 feet away from being T-Boned by a Garbage Truck traveling about 70kph. Worse yet, i had a teammate behind me who could very easily have followed my lead and been the victim. After narrowly avoiding the collision I immediately thought Austin could be dead. Luckily he was a bit further behind and was able to see things unfold and made the safe decision.

I am still shaken up about it, especially with what has happened in the last week with triathletes and road accidents. Today will no doubt change my ways in regards to safety on the roads, its a shame it took this near death experience to make me come to my senses.

Lucky to live another day.

Ride Safe.

Fenel Bulbs

2010-03-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last night Noa cooked up quite a treat for her club foot boyfriend. Roasted, stuffed Fenel Bulbs accompanied with a great salad. I don't know the details of the meal, I just ate it, so she will go into the specifics of the prep and method on her blog.

However I do have the evidence of the meal which I can take credit for:

Looking to go faster this year? Get a nutrition plan worked out with her, very good investment!

Words from Triple T

2010-03-19T15:28:00.001-07:00

Just when things were going really well and I had made the goal of contributing consistent training something flares up.

Tuesday morning during swimming i noticed a little cut on the left sole. By that night it was infected. The infection lingered and I decided to keep training wednesday. Things got worse, much worse, after a run Wednesday. The infection had spread and was creeping up my ankle...

To the doctor first thing Thursday and right on to anti-biotics. It is controlled now and slowly regressing but has me sidelined a part from swimming lightly.

I found myself saying this phrase from TTT this morning while limping around.....(starts at 2:20 in)

The Bandwagon

2010-03-15T18:42:00.000-07:00

My friend Blair and I would always scramble eachother over 'jumping on the bandwagon' when playoffs or large sporting events came about. Your team/player got knocked out, you had to cheer for someone else and doing that was jotbw.

Recently the hoop-la surrounding barefoot running has made me jotbw yet again. When my family lived in Yellowknife, NWT I was too young to remember much. However, stories of Yellowknifer and such were passed on and when visiting my Dad in February I came across something that brought back a memory and allowed me to jotbw of barefoot running.

Sometimes my Dad would treat in very remote communities in the Arctic. Often families didn't have the funds available to pay for Dentistry so they would offer exchanges. Local art, and clothing are some examples. One family made a matching set of four parkas for us to shield the Arctic cold. These Parkas were the warmest jackets you could find. However the item that I will refer to in this post is a set of Mukluks . Truly Canadian footwear, Mukluks are worn by the inuit to provide warmth as well as excellent grip on snow and ice. A set was made for my family in exchange for some tooth fixing.

So, last week when it snowed slightly here I was secretly hoping it would dump and stay to try these babies out. However the snow didn't materialize, so no dice.

Maybe I can persuade the guys to do a high altitude running camp at Mt. Washington?

AMac has his five toe vibrams but lets be honest here......no comparison!

Past and Present - Mukluks and Saucony Sinisters Both are beauts!

The Tempo run I spoke of in my previous post went well yesterday. 30 minutes building with AP to a good clip near the end. Nothing beats the staple tempo run.

Email from Phil last night quoted MAJOR fatigue to be felt over these next couple of weeks. Consistent training throughout is the goal; focusing on contributing as much as I can to benefit both my teammates and I hit our first races of the season in full stride.

Running Affair

2010-03-08T20:46:00.001-08:00

This year i've come to love running. I look forward to each week anticipating the runs we'll do and the company and coach I am fortunate to do them with. The runners high is truly rewarding after a good hard session.

This weekend most of the Centre athletes raced in the Bazan Bay 5k out of Sidney. Great conditions welcomed 800 runners to a flat/fast course. Great results and PB's all round made it a great benchmark for everyone to build from. Fast running by all the Centre athletes has me very intrigued to see the results unfold throughout this year. Results

Steve Osadiuk has been a runner i've always admired while running the local running series on the island. He recently raced a big marathon in Japan (Lake Biwa), placing 16th. Here are a few videos of some of his training runs. Watching them really makes me want to run that tempo run tomorrow instead of waiting until Sunday!

SUNDAY 20 MILER from Steve Osaduik on Vimeo.

Lake Biwa Marathon 10 Mile Simulation Run from Steve Osaduik on Vimeo.

NBC Comes to Victoria

2010-03-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

My roommate and very good friend Marty had the amazing opportunity to work for NBC during the Olympic Games in Vancouver. Not only did he get to show NBC guest like Vince Vaughn and Jerry Jones (Dallas Cowboys Owner) around to events but he got tickets to all of Canada's Hockey games, Snowboarding, ski jumping you name it. Very jealous...

Here is a little clip he showed me when some of the NBC hosts came to Vic for a day visit. Seems like all they did here though was eat! They visited one of my favourites, red fish blue fish. A must do if visiting Victoria.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Stella's Chicken

2010-02-21T18:37:00.000-08:00

Inspiration to cook can come from many sources. From friends to the Food Network ( eg. Robert Rainford...beauty), to getting a cookbook for christmas. Today i smelt breaded fish in the hall and bingo bango i'm gonna some cod cakes sometime this week.

The other night i was thinking of something to make. As usual my mind wandered and I thought of my funny niece Stella....which lead to...

Stella's Chicken

- Brown 6 cloves of garlic and 2 big leeks in a large pot over Mid-High Heat

- Dredge 8 Chicken thighs/drum sticks with flour and Brown

- Add 2 bottles of Stella Artois

- Add 1 cup of water

- Add a bunch of turmeric, curry powder, s&p

- Add 3 Tbsp of Mustard (grainy is best)

- Bring to Boil and then reduce to simmer for 15'

- Add 4 large cubed potatoes and couple handfuls of raisins

- Simmer for 20'

- Stir in chopped Swiss Chard or Kale

- Turn off heat and let sit for 5'

Enjoy with 4 friends.

A great week came to a close today with a long tempo run at the lakes with Simon, Kyle and AMc. I've been feeling not so great in the workouts recently. Swimming especially i feel tired. With the new program this year i've become even more acute to importance of recovery.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olympic fever full on right now. I can't remember the last time i watched something on tv for longer than 1 minute besides it. My favourite thus far has been Jon Montogmery

To me he truly embodies the Canadian Winter Athlete. Grizzly, pale, strong, confident, comedic, and gives er all for the maple leaf. When I toe the line this year, his reaction when he won the gold is exactly what will be running through my head.

There is fit and then there is CROSS FIT (Retro-Active)

2010-02-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

I did this post up back in December and kept trying to add the video i took. Finally i got the video to load so here it is.

On Wednesday I did my first strength session for the season with the group, lead by CSCP strength coach Cam Birtwell. Near the end of the session he got talking about a event he was doing on Saturday; A cross-fit event in Esquilmalt. I have seen cross-fit on youtube but I thought i would check it out in person.

So after swimming today I headed over to have a peek. I wasn't sure of the exact location but as I turned on to the street it was on I could already here something in the distance... The noises got louder and louder as I followed my ear to the door. I rolled my bike in the door to a boisterous crowd with Rob Zombie being pumped to the max. It had a fight club atmosphere that was filled with testosterone and estrogen, making the air thick and heavy. What I saw before me where people being pushed beyond their limits in a profound entertaining way. As I watched the competitors I had constant waves of goosebumps and shivers hit me. This stuff was CRAZY!!!!!!

Relating on a multi-sport level I found it very entertaining. To watch them scream, collapse, and get back up and do it again brought an uncontrollable smile to my face. These people were just as crazy as I as a triathlete, and that made me happy.

The final stage was a 3X circuit where the advanced men did a 275lb deadlift followed by a complete rings pull up to extension 12 reps each then 9 then 6. I tried one of these ring pull ups in the gym the next session and I couldn't do ONE! The women did a 135 lb deadlift? then chinups then ring tricep extension x12,x9,x6.

There was no weight class. The exercises are designed for a mix of weight bearing and non weight bearing to give no real advantage to a particular weight.

It certainly made our triathlete strength session look like a 2k ez swim.

Have a look:

Running for Economy

2010-02-09T20:16:00.000-08:00

After a good start to 2010 with a solid 3 week camp I took last week as a recovery for the first half and then built in to the weekend. Now we are starting another good 3-week block that should build on the fitness attained in Maui.

It was great to see everyone again at swimming. A lot of fast swimming done today during the 12x100's. In the afternoon Phil set up a measured mile loop at beacon hill where we ran a threshold set in the sun.

Yesterday i did my second attempt at an Economy test on the treadmill at PISE. Designed to determine your energy zones, this test went a lot better than the first time i ran it before christmas. 3x5' pace descending with 1' recovery. I ran the test in my Saucony Type A3's which just seem to float me along. The woodway treadmills at PISE are to die for, as in good but the price tag would kill you.

Am really enjoying Coach Phil and the training with the group. Good start to a great year for all!

Photo Credit: A.McCartney

Yo Yo Blueberry Pancakes

2010-02-08T12:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Mhairi for sending this priceless picture of Stella representing the Westside after scarfing down some Blueberry Pancakes in style.

Seeing someone that small grow and develop is quite the experience. Next time I bet she talks!

Finish on a High

2010-02-01T13:14:00.000-08:00

The Maui camp is in the books. It was nothing short of greatness. Good coaches, good support, good athletes, great setting.
The opportunity to accompany the National Team here has been an invaluable experience. The details i've picked up from watching them train, recover and live has been very rewarding.

The final week of the camp was tough. The workouts were now accompanied by accumulating fatigue and I found myself struggling mid week. Come the weekend though i began to recover and had some of my best days near the end. Yesterday was our final big workout with a long run with 50' Tempo. 14.5k in 50' was by far my best run of the camp.

If i find a saying from this camp it would be this: "Training is simply gaining fitness by getting rid of unfitness"

Today i've packed up and done a run/swim with Ben Collins who joined us mid way thru. Good to have you hear man.

3pm departure back to the GWN. Time flies when your training hard.

Yesterday afternoon Brent took us on a great little hike through a bamboo forest that lead to some potholes were we went for a dip. Here are some pictures:

Kirsten climbing up the scramble

Simon being the man

beautiful bamboo

Miss Quebec

Where I am

2010-01-23T21:23:00.000-08:00

Today we did the beach to beach swim for the second time. Polo beach by the fairmount in Khei to big beach which is famous for its sand run section at Xterra Worlds. The 5k swim, google earthed by brent, is perhaps the most beautiful thing I can imagine. The pace has been a good strong effort both times, and both times I still find myself hoping it wont end. That we will just keep swimming with no worries no ties, just go.

to be swimming with some of the worlds greatest athletes a kilometer offshore in the deep blue chasing those bubbles....not even two feet of fresh powder could lure me away from this.

Whales were spotted during the swim as well as a zebra manta ray....just drifting along....

Yesterday was another moment i can't get out of my mind. We rode the west maui loop and I am sad that we wont be able to ride it again. breathtaking....absolutely breathtaking. Kahakuloa bay is stunning. Probably a village of about 100 people, you descend into it to find golf carts whizzing around the streets and then climb up out with its beautiful beach over your shoulder.

No poi yet Jeff, its hard to find an authentic hawaiian restaurant.

on climb out of Kahakuloa Bay

Kahakuloa Bay, Maui

Austin introduced me to a great band tonight, bon iver.

enjoy

Just open the door

2010-01-18T23:19:00.000-08:00

pictures and a few words

2010-01-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

Coach Phil doing a great Job

Sam and Kyle climbing up the Start of W.Maui Loop

Austin doing a drive by

Paia Cementary - making death look beautiful

Andrew Kyle and Austin rolling well

The camp here in Maui is going very well. Everyone is focused and getting the work done. It is so motivating to be around a group of athletes such as this with incredible support from Phil and Patrick. I go to bed looking forward to each day and what is in store.

More later...

Shaggy Comparison

2010-01-16T19:49:00.001-08:00

Maui Camp - hookipa lookout

2010-01-16T19:10:00.000-08:00

Workouts that stuck

2010-01-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here are ten workouts that come to mind as 2009 has come and gone. These are the type that you know you'll remember as that moment unfolds.

Ready for Lemmon

10. Lemon TT

In 2008 we rode the 12mile Bear Canyon TT up Mt. Lemmon for time at a staggered start. In 2009 we were about to tackle it yet again and compare. However a last minute change to workout had us roll off in mass start...for some reason. I was too set on riding it for comparison so I rode hard from the get go to get clear road. With an all ACDC playlist I really worked the first 5 miles. At the ranger station I was caught by Kyle and Simon. I had a choice to make. Continue riding on my own or try to ride with them. I caved and went with him, hanging by thread at the back for the remainder. I remember nearing the top and having Simon continually looking back to see if I was gone, but that elastic didn't snap.

9. WWS Attacks

Preparing for Kelowna AP, Austin, AMac and I rode the Wallace/W. Saanich loop a lot. But one instance I remember is where we each had 2 attacks to play during the loop. We had all saved up our attacks so that nearing the end of the loop we were attacking and countering all over the road. Traffic behind us had horns blaring but at the time there was no concern for cars and their horns. They seemed like whispers as we were so oblivious to everything else.

8. Bogging

As the NT prepared for the Gold Coast in August we rode the hilly bog loop each week. All these workouts were great, some of the hardest riding i've done in the centre. In a workout like that you really notice yours and eachothers strengths/weaknesses and tendencies.

7. 100x100m

This was technically at the end of 2008 but i'll include it because it was for 2009 preparation. My first 10k swim but more importantly it was our last workout together with Neil Harvey. I miss that guy and his piercing whistle.

6. Thetis Lk 800's

In August there is nothing i enjoy more than swimming in thetis without a wetsuit. One morning we did a big set of I think 5x800 as 200 build, 400 Mid Race, 200 ez. It was 400m to shore, run out and re entry for 200 more before the 200 ez. The build didn't exist, it was hard right off the bat. Everyone was in great swim form and we gave the thetis lake monster a great show.

5. Gary's Roll

As the juniours prepared for Canada games, Gary Pallet brought his Manitoba squad to join PK for some training. At thetis one morning Gary got in the kayak to get a better look at his athletes swimming. Well, Gary didn't last too long before he rolled into the lake clothes and all near the small island. His athletes didn't let him hear the end of it.

4. 2:1

Perhaps the most vivid run workout has to be the 800's and 200's on Lochside trail. Some of the fastest running i think we all did that year and how couldn't you run fast with 3 coaches and the High Performance director all following on bikes encouraging you to giver.

3. Sabino Canyon

Just after turning around on an out and back Sabino run in Tucson Scotty twisted his ankle quite bad. We were quite far from help. Austin carried Scotty in a fireman hold for what seemed like a good mile. The others had run back to get a Warden who arrived after Austin's man handling feat and we are rode on the tail gate home.

2. Golden Gate Run

After flatting in the race the day before I decided to get a good run in before my flight home from San Francisco. I set off into Golden Gate Park and ran for 90' but was forced to walk the last 30' as my knee was just too sore. This would be the beginning of a 4 week rehab dealing with my first major injury.

1. AP Battle

A brick workout had to be in there somewhere and this one sticks quite well. After a couple loops of the waddling dog PK had set out a 2k out and back run on Lochside. Getting off onto the run first, AP quickly caught me in the first 200m. We ran side by side for about 1.6k surging on each other multiple times before getting to the last 200m. PK rode up beside us and called for a sprint! Needless to say AP left me by the wayside.

AMac teasing Austin and AP

0. KOM

A 3hr hilly base ride that turned into a slug fest. Every noticeable hill was an excuse to sprint/attack. One particular part that I still find myself laughing about was while along Ocean boulevard by the lagoon. Austin and I decided to attack the yellow jersey (AMac) who was drinking some Dr. Pepper as we had just stopped at the Lagoon market. We caught him off guard and had a gap. Our plan was to get enough of a gap so that we could hold on up the climb from the lagoon to fort rodd hill. Turns out McCartney tossed the Dr.P, caught us solo just before the climb and then proceeded to crush our dreams on the ascent.

Monkeys are Smart

2009-12-30T17:33:00.000-08:00

When I took up tennis as a passe temp with friends in high school we had no real lessons or coaching. We watched Pat Rafter win the US Open and then would go out mimicking the serve and volley style, or we'd focus in a Greg Reusedski, aka scud, and learn how to serve.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

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Sunday marked the beginning of a solid week here in Victoria. A lot of swimming to get done paired with some efforts in both running and cycling.

For the first swim on Sunday I arrived a little early which is unusual for me. The Commonwealth pool breathes High performance and Sunday was no different. As I started to get some blood flowing the Swim Academy, coached by Randy Bennett, was in the midst of their first post-christmas session. Up until Christmas swimming for me was feeling laboured and forced. No real rhythm was happening and I was lagging behind.

Warming up my shoulders that morning I found myself really paying attention to the academy swimmers. Right in front of me was high performance swimming, what better way to find a rhythm.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

The rhythm is returning and I feel I owe it to that morning of being a Monkey for 15 minutes.

All of the centre athletes are so privileged to be on deck as the academy finishes their main set and cools down. Ryan Cochrane is the best distance freestyler in the western Hemisphere and he swims 5 feet in front of you....going back and forth.

Privileges are to be respected and then made the most out of.

10k swim on the horizon...

Can't Beat the Babka

2009-12-23T20:29:00.001-08:00

This just came out of the oven.

My first chocolate babka. I made it in the shape of an 8 for the 8 days of Hanukkah. Will this rival Noa's Grandma's recipe??? Time will tell, only problem is we have to wait until we reach the family tomorrow to sample it......

For the Rest of Us!

2009-12-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

Need for Speed

2009-12-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

Whoa!

Happy Holidays!

Did he just say what he said?

2009-12-19T21:00:00.001-08:00

Macca suggests that Lance will get chicked at KONA.

Pool Progression

2009-12-19T18:07:00.000-08:00

Swimming is one aspect of triathlon that stands alone as the black sheep.

It is it's own water world that poses as many questions as answers.

After taking a break from the pool I found myself floundering about, trying to remember what swimming felt like. If you take 2 days out of the water there is some loss in feel let alone 2-3 weeks. Humans were not born to swim, we were born to walk on dry land, unless of course your name is Andrew McCartney.

However that is not to say swimming is lost after time out of the pool. It is frustrating but over some time your body remembers. The specifics to swimming are what has to be remembered to swim well. The specific shoulder and back muscles need to remember how to work efficiently. Wrist and elbow angles need to be re-established.

After 2 weeks of swimming with training wheels, this week I noticed some progression back to normal self.

With similar 100's sets throughout the week I saw my pace drop from 1:15 to 1:11 to 1:06. This spurs on thoughts about the adaptation my body is going through right now. It is quick and with significant gains, kinda like going through puberty all over again.

A whole bunch of other related questions pop into my head while wandering off on a 600 fins.

- should i be eating more and/or more of something specific during this period?
- am i creating new neural pathways or just blowing the dust off of old ones?
- do i need more rest during this time?

...Thanks for the ginger cake Kirsten, hit the spot.

Victoria World Cup 201?

2009-12-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

In the summer I thought a lot about this topic - If there were ever to be a World Cup in Victoria where would I hold it?

Downtown was the first plan, but as I looked into I think it would be too difficult. The harbour is labeled an international airport (floatplanes) and there would be far too many hurdles there.

The next thought was either Thetis or Elk Lake. These would be great spots but you would not have the same public draw to come watch the event as you would near the city.

It was then that I felt the best place would be on Dallas Road just past Clover Point. Within 2k of downtown Victoria and not forcing road closures in the downtown core would make this an ideal site for a beautiful west coast feel race. With Google Maps I began nerdishly plotting a course.

SWIM

The swim would be pretty basic. A beach (rock beach) start into the frigid ocean waters. The race would have to be held in late July or early August to avoid too many hypothermia casualties. Wetsuit 1500m swim of two loops with a re-entry off the concrete pier that juts out from the beach (would need to be low tide).

TRANSITION

The swim exit would have athletes run a short 50m or so up onto Dallas rd where both transitions would occur. Exit Transition to the Left and Re-enter from Right.

BIKE

For the bike I thought of going up King George hill but decided against it in favor of beacon hill being more spectator friendly. The 8 lap 40k bike course would head West on Dallas rd to make a CW loop of Beacon Hill Park to rejoin Dallas rd with a hard 120 degree turn to now head East. Left on Cooke street, right on May, right on Memorial Crescent to pass the cemetary before going right on Dallas to pass through transition. The bike is fairly flat but high winds off the water could make it interesting.

RUN

For the run athletes head out of transition and straight onto a water level seawall to run up to and loop around Clover Point. Coming out of Clover Pt. take a left on Dallas rd. and run to the turn around just past Linden Street. Run straight back along Dallas rd. to transition to repeat 4 times of 2.5k.

Anyone wanna front half a mill to get this on the ITU Race calendar?

Mmm Juice Box

2009-12-06T15:26:00.001-08:00

Tough Guy

2009-12-05T10:26:00.000-08:00

The name of it says enough

Making a new Move

2009-12-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Seems like I left off a while back days before racing the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater. I won't go into details of the race as you can view it on the Checkmate Triathlon Team site which I am very excited about and will elaborate more on later. I would like to thank everyone who has helped make 2009 another great year for me in this crazy sport. Special thanks to my Dad and Sister for their unwilling support, Patrick Kelly for developing me through another successful year, Champion Systems, Sequel Naturals, and aquaman for their aid in my endeavors. Another big thanks to Hyack Air and the Allards for taking me in and putting a roof over my head, and Noa for taking a chance on a goofy guy like me.

I've just finished up my season break, quite short, with a few days of skiing with my good friend Marty. Wow, my legs have really forgotten what that burn feels like, but unfortunately my back hasn't. I had some time back in Revelstoke and Salmon Arm as well getting in a good visit with family. My 7-month niece, Stella, is always entertaining to see but on this visit it was amazing to see how much of a little person she is now, no longer a baby! We had a day together by ourselves, mommy and daddy may not let that happen again though after a little piggy backing mishap.

I've been trying to hide her from the internet because it is a dangerous dangerous place but without further adiou....STELLA!!

She was angry because there was no Simon Whitfield on the box

It was Noa's birthday last week so we decided to check out the butterfly gardens in Victoria. Worth while visit with a lot of bizarre looking butterflies and other creatures there. Noa is on a big tear as of late pumping out new nutritious recipes all the time so I treated her to some of my cooking that night with a recipe from my sisters whitewater cookbook.

Flamingos

They will land right on your fingertips if you cover them in Honey

Today was my first day back with some training. A 3k swim at Commonwealth where I hung out at the back trying to keep my heart-rate in check started things off and a run at one of my favourites, cedar hill, will cap it for today.

Getting back to Checkmate. This team of 6 athletes has been created just recently in the States with the idea of team racing. The concept of team racing has been around for some time with Countries going for a team approach at major games races. However a mixed nation team of athletes has not been common place. Checkmate has high aspirations for 2010, the team will race at Continental Cups, Pan-american Champs and a few World Cups together to give ITU racing a new look. I am excited for this opportunity to put nationalities aside and rediscover team sports once again.

your hot then your cold...

2009-11-12T13:32:00.000-08:00

Huatulco recap

swim was great, perhaps my best swim for the effort i had to put out of the year. Not a good start as i dove under Serrano, but didn't panic and just found my rhythm when clear water came. 15th or so around the first bouy and then basically just kept out of trouble and made sure to breath to both sides.

good exit and T1, straight into the pack and felt great up the climb on the first lap near the front. The first 2 laps i found a distinct pattern to how the lap was played out. On the 3rd lap on the descent a gap formed right about in the middle of the group. I wasn't really concerned, as were the other guys in the split. but then things didn't lull up as they did on the previous laps where it had. So ben collins and an estonian athlete were cranked it up to close the gap. The three of us along with kevin collington caught back up at the base of the climb. For me however the chase was too much and I couldn't hang on, on that climb. Frustrating as a rode the remainder with 4 others but a lesson learned. I didn't have the respect for those athletes and course that I should have. I was too passive. I look back on my coaches comments for the bike before the race and can only look back in regret that i didn't follow them better.

by the run i was cooked, well done in fact. All my focus was now on crossing that finish line. And i did. 23 men finished the race, 26 men dnf'd. Some coming to an actual standstill on the climb...it was that steep.

This was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life, both physically and mentally, and i am very proud to have finished.

That evening the race had quite a nice wrap up dinner where a lot of the athletes were ready to let loose as it was the end of their season.

The next day I traveled to Tampa Bay, home of the lightning for my final race of the year. 70.3 World champs.

I met Brent and Carolyn in the airport that night and we drove over to clearwater beach where we are staying in a condo about 1k from the race transition.

The ocean here is quite choppy and there are constant strong winds. Come saturday it may clear up a bit but if not, it will be challenging day. It is pretty cold here though compared to mexico and there has been a fair amount of rain.

Today brent did an interview with tsn. following up after him was big matty reed. I sat and eavesdropped for brent while matty was interviewed to get his strategy for sunday.

some photos are the travels thus far:

Me on the memorial cause way bridge

View from another bridge...many bridges here.

Brent...your my boy blue!

Matt may have destroyed everyone in the race but he got destroyed in the cake eating contest!

Huatulco transition set up

Hurricane Ida

2009-11-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

Huatulco report to come, but for now a classic seinfield quote that made me smile while it ran over and over in my head today as brent and I swam in hurricane inflicted waters here in Clearwater.

"the sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to return soup at a deli!" George Castanza

Huatulco WC

2009-11-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

I´ve arrived in Huatulco for the last World Cup of 2009. First impressions of the area are great. It is the nicest spot in Mexico I have been able to visit. The blend of small resort with a spectactular coastline have me enjoying the trip already.

Everything is within walking distance from the hotel. Have just gotten back from a swim at the venue, which is at the bay of Santa Cruz. Warmish water which is very salty. Coming back into shore there are consistent slow rolling waves that you can hold onto at race pace. The feeling is like having fins and paddles on, unreal.

Hot/humid conditions will make for an interesting race on sunday (830am pst). The demanding course as well is sure to take its toll.

I am coming in with no major expectations other than to be as competitive as I can be on the day. I love this sport, and to be able to race in a place like this makes everything that much more rewarding.

View of the swim start, Santa Cruz

The Torch is on its way, but these Boys have already been Light Up

2009-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00