pretty fountain
The port at night
Some boats waiting to go out
A marketplace along the water in Veracruz
Monday, September 17, 2007
Some Veracruz Photos
pretty fountain
The port at night
Some boats waiting to go out
A marketplace along the water in Veracruz
2 for 1
Today i've got a deal for race reports.. 2 for 1.
I made my way over to vancouver labour day weekend to race in the vancouver triathlon in stanley park. This has been one of my favourite races mostly due to the killer bike course the event has. At what other time would you get to race around stanley park in practically your underwear?
Nolan P was grascious to have myself and felipe vande wyngard stay with him. Felipe had just finished training over here in victoria and was headed to veracruz to race the following weekend. I had this race and then would race in veracruz as well.
The tide was right out for the swim start and i made a very bad mistake of trying to be sneaky which cost me alot in terms of having a good start. My swim was not what it needed to be to have a shot at the winning the race so i was constantly playing catch up until it was too late. My bike felt strong as a positive and well the run was a gong show as the volunteers were not yet out on the course. This got people placed 2nd to about 10th i'd say lost on the run, but that is part of racing i guess. I felt bad for paul krochak who was in 2nd when things went wrong. The results are not an indication of the proper placement of the athletes. I ended up 2nd and felt it was a great prep for veracruz in 5 days.
Veracruz,
I flew down to veracruz which is located in the southern part of the gulf of mexico. One of mexico's largest ports, it escaped the hurricanes relatively unscathed. I arrived late wednesday night and quickly realized that I was more in mexico than i had ever been. The previous race i had in mexico was in a resort town, this was 'real' mexico and at night there i was honestly a little spooked.
When morning came the ghosts had disappeared and got to see some of the historical city. I got in the water as well which was very very warm (28). I enjoyed the cuisine with no glitches and come race day i was feeling recovered and ready to race.
The swim went well and i came out just off the front group. I put my head down and went ALL OUT on the first kilometers of the bike and managed to catch the lead group. The group was 4 mexicans, 1 can, 1 costa rican, 1 argentian. The mexicans would not work and were actually trying to slow the group down so that there compadres would catch up. The other three of us did all the work and actually gained time on the first two laps before losing time on the last two. We came into T2 with just over a minute on the chase pack. THe run was a brute struggle where i was so close to stopping. The heat and humidity were really getting to me. When i crossed the line i was so proud of myself for hanging in there and getting a quality result. I finished 8th scoring some valuable points.
After the race I caught a case of the taco bug and battled flu like symptoms for 5 days upon getting back to victoria. The rest of the week I have felt tired and the motivation to train is dwindling...one more race ...one more race.
I made my way over to vancouver labour day weekend to race in the vancouver triathlon in stanley park. This has been one of my favourite races mostly due to the killer bike course the event has. At what other time would you get to race around stanley park in practically your underwear?
Nolan P was grascious to have myself and felipe vande wyngard stay with him. Felipe had just finished training over here in victoria and was headed to veracruz to race the following weekend. I had this race and then would race in veracruz as well.
The tide was right out for the swim start and i made a very bad mistake of trying to be sneaky which cost me alot in terms of having a good start. My swim was not what it needed to be to have a shot at the winning the race so i was constantly playing catch up until it was too late. My bike felt strong as a positive and well the run was a gong show as the volunteers were not yet out on the course. This got people placed 2nd to about 10th i'd say lost on the run, but that is part of racing i guess. I felt bad for paul krochak who was in 2nd when things went wrong. The results are not an indication of the proper placement of the athletes. I ended up 2nd and felt it was a great prep for veracruz in 5 days.
Veracruz,
I flew down to veracruz which is located in the southern part of the gulf of mexico. One of mexico's largest ports, it escaped the hurricanes relatively unscathed. I arrived late wednesday night and quickly realized that I was more in mexico than i had ever been. The previous race i had in mexico was in a resort town, this was 'real' mexico and at night there i was honestly a little spooked.
When morning came the ghosts had disappeared and got to see some of the historical city. I got in the water as well which was very very warm (28). I enjoyed the cuisine with no glitches and come race day i was feeling recovered and ready to race.
The swim went well and i came out just off the front group. I put my head down and went ALL OUT on the first kilometers of the bike and managed to catch the lead group. The group was 4 mexicans, 1 can, 1 costa rican, 1 argentian. The mexicans would not work and were actually trying to slow the group down so that there compadres would catch up. The other three of us did all the work and actually gained time on the first two laps before losing time on the last two. We came into T2 with just over a minute on the chase pack. THe run was a brute struggle where i was so close to stopping. The heat and humidity were really getting to me. When i crossed the line i was so proud of myself for hanging in there and getting a quality result. I finished 8th scoring some valuable points.
After the race I caught a case of the taco bug and battled flu like symptoms for 5 days upon getting back to victoria. The rest of the week I have felt tired and the motivation to train is dwindling...one more race ...one more race.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Big Block
Recently I've been training pretty hard. Begining thursday last week I started with some long base rides and runs with some intensity and then this week added some more intensity.
On the weekend an hour run turned into two hours by getting lost at stewart mtn near Thetis lake. This morning was an ow swim in thetis. 1 big island loop warmup and then one loop TT effort (17:10 non wetsuit). In the afternoon I had my first track workout of the year and perhaps the last with the season almost over. Andrew McCartney took me on a WU around UVic and at the end of it i realized I had lost my car keys! There is a hole in my pocket! Oh no....well total fluke, cause I retraced my steps of a 5km loop for only about 30s when i found them laying right in the middle of the trail...geeesh.
On to the track I did a set as follows:
2X(4X400) on 2mins (Consistent with 1:09's)
3x1.2k on 6mins, 3:48's
4 strides
2k WD.
This weekend in vancouver should be an interesting and competitive race. Then I am on to veracruz for a race which should be hot hot.
I've also finalized my trip to HONG KONG for an asian cup! that's gonna be weird, but in a good way.
On the weekend an hour run turned into two hours by getting lost at stewart mtn near Thetis lake. This morning was an ow swim in thetis. 1 big island loop warmup and then one loop TT effort (17:10 non wetsuit). In the afternoon I had my first track workout of the year and perhaps the last with the season almost over. Andrew McCartney took me on a WU around UVic and at the end of it i realized I had lost my car keys! There is a hole in my pocket! Oh no....well total fluke, cause I retraced my steps of a 5km loop for only about 30s when i found them laying right in the middle of the trail...geeesh.
On to the track I did a set as follows:
2X(4X400) on 2mins (Consistent with 1:09's)
3x1.2k on 6mins, 3:48's
4 strides
2k WD.
This weekend in vancouver should be an interesting and competitive race. Then I am on to veracruz for a race which should be hot hot.
I've also finalized my trip to HONG KONG for an asian cup! that's gonna be weird, but in a good way.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
tasty apples
The Kelowna Apple triathlon rounded off 3 races for Steve and I in three weeks. Arriving in Kelowna was a great feeling and seeing how prepared the race crew looked was very reassuring that this race would go well, unlike others...ahem...Longmont.
Friday and Saturday were race prep workouts in the Lake and on the bike loop before our meeting saturday afternoon. The Juniours raced saturday as well. An NTC sweep was in order with Jeff 1st, Aaron 2nd, and Matt 3rd. Nice job boys!
Race day was raining and probably only about 18 degrees or so. Warmed up on the bike and then a swim warmup with the wetsuit on. This was a good decision as the water was around 20-21 degrees. I kept the suit on until seconds before the start to keep warm. Great start! One of the best all year..Tichelaar was on my hip for a while..thats right my hip. I could see Dano and A-Mac cruising over from the left so i hopped onto dano's feet and rode that train around the first bouy and then fell off the pace. I hung into the main group though and exited in good shape. Heading to T1 was interesting, 2 americans bailed HARD on the wet wood going into the fence. Got on my bike feeling good, then it was a hammer sesh along the first flats to the hill where my race blew apart. I still do not have the leg strength to hang in on hill accelerations. Tom Evans attacked on the hill and i was sput out the back....just like edmonton i watched the main pack creep away in desperation. I TT'd for about half a lap when 3 others caught me. The rest of the bike i felt strong, but our pack was caught by a group behind on the last lap which i didn't like.
Onto the run I had the fastest T2 of the race and quickly settled into a good rhythm. Serrano, McKenzie and Burwash, all from the group that caught up on the last lap were running strong. I dug deep i was able to finish 13th with a PB on the run (33:09).
After seeing the results it was frustrating and actually i could barely sleep sunday night knowing what could have been. If i could have hung onto the main group on the first lap I would have been battling for a podium spot! Just makes the wolf hungrier...
Next up Vancouver Tri Labour day Monday and then hopefully Veracruz on the 8th. Hurricane Dean may have caused this race to be cancelled though so we'll see.
Friday and Saturday were race prep workouts in the Lake and on the bike loop before our meeting saturday afternoon. The Juniours raced saturday as well. An NTC sweep was in order with Jeff 1st, Aaron 2nd, and Matt 3rd. Nice job boys!
Race day was raining and probably only about 18 degrees or so. Warmed up on the bike and then a swim warmup with the wetsuit on. This was a good decision as the water was around 20-21 degrees. I kept the suit on until seconds before the start to keep warm. Great start! One of the best all year..Tichelaar was on my hip for a while..thats right my hip. I could see Dano and A-Mac cruising over from the left so i hopped onto dano's feet and rode that train around the first bouy and then fell off the pace. I hung into the main group though and exited in good shape. Heading to T1 was interesting, 2 americans bailed HARD on the wet wood going into the fence. Got on my bike feeling good, then it was a hammer sesh along the first flats to the hill where my race blew apart. I still do not have the leg strength to hang in on hill accelerations. Tom Evans attacked on the hill and i was sput out the back....just like edmonton i watched the main pack creep away in desperation. I TT'd for about half a lap when 3 others caught me. The rest of the bike i felt strong, but our pack was caught by a group behind on the last lap which i didn't like.
Onto the run I had the fastest T2 of the race and quickly settled into a good rhythm. Serrano, McKenzie and Burwash, all from the group that caught up on the last lap were running strong. I dug deep i was able to finish 13th with a PB on the run (33:09).
After seeing the results it was frustrating and actually i could barely sleep sunday night knowing what could have been. If i could have hung onto the main group on the first lap I would have been battling for a podium spot! Just makes the wolf hungrier...
Next up Vancouver Tri Labour day Monday and then hopefully Veracruz on the 8th. Hurricane Dean may have caused this race to be cancelled though so we'll see.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Kelowna or Bust
Back from Quebec and Colorado, but only for a few days. tomorrow i head off for Kelowna to finish this set of races.
Quebec went very well, Colorado not so much. I had a decent swim/bike but onto the run i could feel the heat getting to me so i pulled the plug about a mile in. I am pumped up for this kelowna race, probably the most ever. Hopefully i'll have some adoring fans there to get me thru the tough spots. I hear there is a beer garden afterwards....what better way to finish off 3 races in 3 weeks.
Quebec went very well, Colorado not so much. I had a decent swim/bike but onto the run i could feel the heat getting to me so i pulled the plug about a mile in. I am pumped up for this kelowna race, probably the most ever. Hopefully i'll have some adoring fans there to get me thru the tough spots. I hear there is a beer garden afterwards....what better way to finish off 3 races in 3 weeks.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Longmont
Longmont is just north of Denver and that is pretty much all i can say. We (steve, grant and I) are staying at a hole in the ground just off the I-25, basically a truck stop. Feeling sluggish today, not sure if it is the altitude or the heat.
Have seen the swim/bike/ and run courses. Nothing special, the run is on dirt which i like though.
Just back from the meeting and the race director is a clone of Jon Gruden, aka Chucky, who coaches the Tampa Bay Bucs FOotball team. About the same tenacity levels too.
This race is not well organized, it will be interesting to see how things go off tomorrow.....
Have seen the swim/bike/ and run courses. Nothing special, the run is on dirt which i like though.
Just back from the meeting and the race director is a clone of Jon Gruden, aka Chucky, who coaches the Tampa Bay Bucs FOotball team. About the same tenacity levels too.
This race is not well organized, it will be interesting to see how things go off tomorrow.....
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Round 1 A...Now Round 2
Sitting here to report on this last week in beautiful quebec eh. Steve and i arrived last thursday with no worries and were set up with a great homestay that spoke english so we were in the clear. As i say great homestay with the lapointes they had a 6-star hotel going on and mccartney missed out!
The race in Drummondville almost as well as i could have wanted. Great swim coming out in the main bunch with ticchelaar,bryden,plata and AP. Hung in on the first furious kms of the bike and then actually made a litte noise on the 3rd lap with an attack (didnt amount to anything), but it brought a smile to mccartney face when i was swallowed back up. The run in some heat went well but it would have been great and earned an A+ if i could have stuck with bechtel and tache on lap3 and had a shot at the canadian podium. I placed 8th in the race and was the 5th Canuck.
After the race we came down to montreal to stay with some of steves family in Lachine. We have done some training highlighted today with a swim in the 2005 FINA pool, outdoors 10lane 50m, nothing better.
Now the bags and box are packed and we off to colorado for some high altitude madness. The race looks uber competitive with big names all over the start list, its gonna be tough!
The race in Drummondville almost as well as i could have wanted. Great swim coming out in the main bunch with ticchelaar,bryden,plata and AP. Hung in on the first furious kms of the bike and then actually made a litte noise on the 3rd lap with an attack (didnt amount to anything), but it brought a smile to mccartney face when i was swallowed back up. The run in some heat went well but it would have been great and earned an A+ if i could have stuck with bechtel and tache on lap3 and had a shot at the canadian podium. I placed 8th in the race and was the 5th Canuck.
After the race we came down to montreal to stay with some of steves family in Lachine. We have done some training highlighted today with a swim in the 2005 FINA pool, outdoors 10lane 50m, nothing better.
Now the bags and box are packed and we off to colorado for some high altitude madness. The race looks uber competitive with big names all over the start list, its gonna be tough!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)