Travel Bombs

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

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

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

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.

On my Definite to do Race list

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

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.