Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
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?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Replenish
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Pay it forward
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
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
Our table for Lunch, beautifulThursday, April 01, 2010
Close Call
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.
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.
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