I've had some time to think about all the times this year has brought in terms of triathlon for myself.
It began early last fall focusing on bike mileage and bringing my cycling up to where it needed to be. This was a lot of wet solo rides that gave A LOT of time to think about the upcoming year and what i wanted out of it.
By January my goals were set and it was time to prepare for the new season.
My introduction to cyclo-cross was something i am thankfull for. Many rides with stevo and brent stick with me as where I laid the foundation to my base fitness.
The first taste of racing come quickly with a 5km run and my first nordic loppett. Nordic racing is something that I really enjoyed and will revisit this year winter in more depth.
Then came Tucson which was the best month of training I have ever had in terms of quality, variety, weather, and friends. The lemon house is waiting for us to return for another spring training camp, heck we could probably buy the house straight up for a couple bikes with the market the way it is now.
From April to September I raced predominately draft-legal ITU in Mexico, Europe, and Kanada. Racing in Europe was where I gained a lot of race experience, ate too much, and got to see a lot of family.
Here are a list of some memorable times from this year:
Swim:
Pool - Fort Lowell, AZ - After eating a lot of junk food at the diamond backs/giants spring training game we had Bouy swim with 30+ people. Followed by the gauntlet. No upchucks, I was surprised.
Open Water - Thetis lake - On the 3rd of 4 efforts from the shore to small island i be a jerk and try to come around Scotty right at the end. MISTAKE, right before starting the last one scotty mentions this act of selfishness and say's "don't worry i've got a surprise for you on this one" and leaves me choking on his wake.
Bike:
Indoor - Roller heat session in pool office and being told to turn the music down.
Outdoor - First assault of Mt. Lemmon. See here for more details.
Run:
Shirts off Run in Mazatlan. Not a good first Impression.
Track:
3x1k all out at UofA track
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Revelstoke
Canada has many beautiful spots each with it's own character and presence. Winter is approaching and when the snow flies, Revelstoke is one place that becomes a winter wonderland. Check out this video that the resort did for the community. Opening day November 21!!
New World Championship Series
The ITU has unveiled a new format to racing next year. The Super Series will consist of Six Super Races in Iconic cities drawing the cream of the crop in short course racing. The idea is similar to Mens pro tennis (ATP) in that they have grand slam events which highlight the season numerous times, not just once at the year end.
This is a great new approach i think to the sport. The races will guarantee live tv coverage and with the racing taking place in large metropolitan cores the races will be well spectated.
Although the races have not been announced I couldn't resist trying to predict where they will be. These are my picksin the order they will happen:
Sydney, Australia
Seoul, Korea
Lisbon, Portugal
Des Moines, USA
Hamburg, Germany
London, UK
The series will also support a 'Golden Group' of athletes to ensure that these events in fact do attract the best pros. The golden groups consist of 10 men and 10 women. I chose these based on 2008 World Cup and the Olympic performances. Whether the group is subject to change throughout the year or not I am not sure but here is who i would start off with in no particular order:
Men
Rana
Whitfield
Gomez
Docherty
Kahledeldt
Henning
Unger
Frodeno
Kemper
Don
Women
Warriner
Densham
Fernandes
Snowsill
Moffatt
Norden
Ide
Bennett
Spirig
Tucker
UK finale
After the race in Vienna I came back to meet my aunt in England where I was planning to train for one more week before finishing my season at the Lorient World Cup.
No such luck. Upon returning i got an infection and a bad flu that left me no choice but to end the season early. Although i was a little disappointed I knew it was my body saying no and shutting down for some hibernation.
Good things can come of a situation like this though. I was able to be with family as my sister and Tim had come over to meet and greet everyone who couldn't make it to their wedding last year. A sort of reunion like atmosphere was felt when relatives from all over the isle came together for a memorable dew hosted by my aunt daphne.
With the season ending I had some time left in the UK that i hadn't anticipated. I made the most of it by renting a small small car and exploring the entire isle whilst figuring out how to drive on the wrong side of the road. Bigger than i thought I drove from London up the entire isle to durness, scotland visiting family and friends along the way. Some highlights from the trip included being blown sideways on a yorkshire moor, swimming in Loch Ness, revisiting my birthplace, hiking the most northern scottish munroe, and gorging in english/scottish food and drink.
If you have not visited scotland, I would advise doing so. The bad rap it gets with being wet and cold is not true. I had a week of sunshine in october that illuminated the highlands beauty and character. The beaches of the north coast are absolutely stunning with not a soul on them.
When flying home this week I was asked by my british seat neighbour what i was looking forward to the most upon landing on Canadian soil. Maple Syrup i told him, a good swig of real maple syrup is the best way to feel your in Canada. That and a good sniff of rocky mountain air.
Top of Ben Hope
Mmmmmm True Black Angus
Balnakiel Bay
Russell's and Steel's
No such luck. Upon returning i got an infection and a bad flu that left me no choice but to end the season early. Although i was a little disappointed I knew it was my body saying no and shutting down for some hibernation.
Good things can come of a situation like this though. I was able to be with family as my sister and Tim had come over to meet and greet everyone who couldn't make it to their wedding last year. A sort of reunion like atmosphere was felt when relatives from all over the isle came together for a memorable dew hosted by my aunt daphne.
With the season ending I had some time left in the UK that i hadn't anticipated. I made the most of it by renting a small small car and exploring the entire isle whilst figuring out how to drive on the wrong side of the road. Bigger than i thought I drove from London up the entire isle to durness, scotland visiting family and friends along the way. Some highlights from the trip included being blown sideways on a yorkshire moor, swimming in Loch Ness, revisiting my birthplace, hiking the most northern scottish munroe, and gorging in english/scottish food and drink.
If you have not visited scotland, I would advise doing so. The bad rap it gets with being wet and cold is not true. I had a week of sunshine in october that illuminated the highlands beauty and character. The beaches of the north coast are absolutely stunning with not a soul on them.
When flying home this week I was asked by my british seat neighbour what i was looking forward to the most upon landing on Canadian soil. Maple Syrup i told him, a good swig of real maple syrup is the best way to feel your in Canada. That and a good sniff of rocky mountain air.
Top of Ben Hope
Mmmmmm True Black Angus
Balnakiel Bay
Russell's and Steel's
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Wien Report and He who holds the Ladle...
Yesterday i raced in the Vienna European Cup which takes place on the isle of Danube. This is a manmade island that divides the danube between new and old vienna. My first impressions of the island when i went to check out the race site on friday were not great. It was really dirty, and basically felt like a carnival...no offense if your a carny worker.
The feeling i got from the island and the race meeting, was .....hmmm i can see this is going to be a little different than last weekend. Last weekend in Poland the race was very well organized a part from the dogs, but here in Vienna not so much. You would think perhaps the opposite but this Triathlon was not only poor organized it was also freakin out of control....
Race day came and i felt good as i rode the U-bahn subway to the race site. Start time wasnt until 4pm, so i had a good bike warm up planned. The water was just over 20 so no wetsuit, but the air temp was 17 and windy. I made the mistake of warming up sans wetsuit and then becoming extremely cold before the start. This was not good...
The starting mechanism for this race was similar to diving off the rail at thetis lake. Good thing i do a few of those per year to prepare me for this. Basically you climbed over the railing on the pedestrian bridge and stood precariously on a float hanging on until the start, then dove in.
I had a good start, right on to sysoev in the first 100 but then i felt my shoulders become really tight from being cold and from then on it was a flail fest. I came out about 1min down from the lead group. not what i was anticipating.
On to the bike a good size group of 25 or so formed and worked really well. Almost too well. I was suffering out there, my legs wouldnt warm up and I was convinced my brakes were rubbing, they werent. I dont think ive ever rode that fast in a triathlon, maybe even in a crit. It was good though, because we caught the lead group with 5km to go, and then the paced eased.
The bike course was so dangerous and unbeliveable i cant begin to justify its silliness. Imagine having 50 guys racing along the galloping goose, or those revelstokians the greenbelt, that is how wide the bike course was. On one side you have about 1m of rocks that descend into the river and the other a stone wall! Because the path was so narrow, when the groups came together it was impossible to move anywhere. The course also had too many pot holes to remember and no one controling pedestrian traffic....smack smack smack, i wanted the ride over as soon as it started. No broken bones..i am OK!
THe run was the best part of the race for me this time around. 5laps of 2km, 1km out and back. First 2km went well, 2-5km i got another stomach cramp, go figure, then 5-10km i had the best running of this season. I really started to fly on the last lap and pulled back a number of guys who went by me earlier.
Finished up in 22nd. Im happy with it, but not overzealous.
After the race, i decided to ride the bike course once more just to take a look at this devilish deed. On the way back though i got very cold once again, and shivered my way back to the hostel. I suffered a bad fever last night, i think from the tough race and getting so cold. Laying in bed at 11pm my heart rate was 80, thats double what it usually is. THe body was definitley fighting something along with trying to recover. Well it did its job as today the heart rate was down and im feeling much better.
I went for an easy swim this morining and afterwards went down to the saunas. Much different experience in the sauna than in North America. Everyone in there is naked, except for me and it is hotter. There seems to be a "leader" of the sauna here. He is the one who holds the pail and ladle and pours water on the rocks. Along with the water, they also pour on some sort of herbal concoction which makes the room fill up with beautifully delicious scents, much like a ricola cough drop. The "leader" also does most of the talking why he holds the ladle, not that i could understand but it sounds like some jokes and chit chat that the others smile and nod at. That will be my last sauna experience whoever, because near the end of the session the "leader" noticed my wristband colour and kicked me out, "verbotten" i understand as forbidden now. I mistakenly thought that the pool and sauna were the same price, but it is not that way.
So the next part of the trip resumes on Tuesday when i fly back to the UK for 2 weeks before racing in my last race in Lorient september 27th.
All for now.
The feeling i got from the island and the race meeting, was .....hmmm i can see this is going to be a little different than last weekend. Last weekend in Poland the race was very well organized a part from the dogs, but here in Vienna not so much. You would think perhaps the opposite but this Triathlon was not only poor organized it was also freakin out of control....
Race day came and i felt good as i rode the U-bahn subway to the race site. Start time wasnt until 4pm, so i had a good bike warm up planned. The water was just over 20 so no wetsuit, but the air temp was 17 and windy. I made the mistake of warming up sans wetsuit and then becoming extremely cold before the start. This was not good...
The starting mechanism for this race was similar to diving off the rail at thetis lake. Good thing i do a few of those per year to prepare me for this. Basically you climbed over the railing on the pedestrian bridge and stood precariously on a float hanging on until the start, then dove in.
I had a good start, right on to sysoev in the first 100 but then i felt my shoulders become really tight from being cold and from then on it was a flail fest. I came out about 1min down from the lead group. not what i was anticipating.
On to the bike a good size group of 25 or so formed and worked really well. Almost too well. I was suffering out there, my legs wouldnt warm up and I was convinced my brakes were rubbing, they werent. I dont think ive ever rode that fast in a triathlon, maybe even in a crit. It was good though, because we caught the lead group with 5km to go, and then the paced eased.
The bike course was so dangerous and unbeliveable i cant begin to justify its silliness. Imagine having 50 guys racing along the galloping goose, or those revelstokians the greenbelt, that is how wide the bike course was. On one side you have about 1m of rocks that descend into the river and the other a stone wall! Because the path was so narrow, when the groups came together it was impossible to move anywhere. The course also had too many pot holes to remember and no one controling pedestrian traffic....smack smack smack, i wanted the ride over as soon as it started. No broken bones..i am OK!
THe run was the best part of the race for me this time around. 5laps of 2km, 1km out and back. First 2km went well, 2-5km i got another stomach cramp, go figure, then 5-10km i had the best running of this season. I really started to fly on the last lap and pulled back a number of guys who went by me earlier.
Finished up in 22nd. Im happy with it, but not overzealous.
After the race, i decided to ride the bike course once more just to take a look at this devilish deed. On the way back though i got very cold once again, and shivered my way back to the hostel. I suffered a bad fever last night, i think from the tough race and getting so cold. Laying in bed at 11pm my heart rate was 80, thats double what it usually is. THe body was definitley fighting something along with trying to recover. Well it did its job as today the heart rate was down and im feeling much better.
I went for an easy swim this morining and afterwards went down to the saunas. Much different experience in the sauna than in North America. Everyone in there is naked, except for me and it is hotter. There seems to be a "leader" of the sauna here. He is the one who holds the pail and ladle and pours water on the rocks. Along with the water, they also pour on some sort of herbal concoction which makes the room fill up with beautifully delicious scents, much like a ricola cough drop. The "leader" also does most of the talking why he holds the ladle, not that i could understand but it sounds like some jokes and chit chat that the others smile and nod at. That will be my last sauna experience whoever, because near the end of the session the "leader" noticed my wristband colour and kicked me out, "verbotten" i understand as forbidden now. I mistakenly thought that the pool and sauna were the same price, but it is not that way.
So the next part of the trip resumes on Tuesday when i fly back to the UK for 2 weeks before racing in my last race in Lorient september 27th.
All for now.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Vienna Man
Have arrived in vienna and had some nice training yesterday and today.
A great 50m pool is not a far walk from my hostel. The pool is unlike any other i've swam in. It is made from Stainless Steel! As a result the pool is very very clean, no algae gonna grow on stainless. It is all welded as well , neat to look at while swimming.
I had a classic ride for me yesterday. I pulled out the biggest map i could of the city and planned a route to get me out of it as fast as possible and then explore. I dunno why i do this but every time i get somewhere big i want to see all of it and more of it as fast as possible. The urban riding here is very technical. Cobblestones, tram tracks , and lots of traffic. dip, dive, duck dodge and dip my way to the mountains, which turned out to be a 8km climb on cobblestones. This turned into an epic bumpy ride down the other side.
Vienna is a very beautifull city. The race is taking place on what i think is a man made island in the Donau river. The course is pancake flat. With me already having maxed out my point results i need better than a 12th here to gain anything. That being said the field is good here and i would be hard pressed to get a result like that i think. Therefore i am going to go for it on the bike. Try and get in a break and work it like no tomorrow and no run to follow.
auf weidersen.
A great 50m pool is not a far walk from my hostel. The pool is unlike any other i've swam in. It is made from Stainless Steel! As a result the pool is very very clean, no algae gonna grow on stainless. It is all welded as well , neat to look at while swimming.
I had a classic ride for me yesterday. I pulled out the biggest map i could of the city and planned a route to get me out of it as fast as possible and then explore. I dunno why i do this but every time i get somewhere big i want to see all of it and more of it as fast as possible. The urban riding here is very technical. Cobblestones, tram tracks , and lots of traffic. dip, dive, duck dodge and dip my way to the mountains, which turned out to be a 8km climb on cobblestones. This turned into an epic bumpy ride down the other side.
Vienna is a very beautifull city. The race is taking place on what i think is a man made island in the Donau river. The course is pancake flat. With me already having maxed out my point results i need better than a 12th here to gain anything. That being said the field is good here and i would be hard pressed to get a result like that i think. Therefore i am going to go for it on the bike. Try and get in a break and work it like no tomorrow and no run to follow.
auf weidersen.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
KK Race Report
Just back from the race which took place about 8km from my hotel in the village of Kozle. The 8km was a good distance to ride out and warmup on the way over. Wetsuit on and a good warmup to get the shoulders ready.
On the pontoon i started near the right side. Usually i am able to get a good start in continental cup racing but with these euro cups the field is stronger and deeper and I noticed this right off the start. There were some really good swimmers (little vasilev and a slovak named richard varga, both last year juniours!) and they took off in a big way. I managed to maintain a spot in the big pack that swam quick but not insane. There were some surges that i was able to take and without getting beaten up to bad i exited in a good spot right behind Kazak Olympian Sapunov.
Onto the bike it was pretty good pacelining for the first 3 laps trying to reel in the lead group of 3 which had about 30s out of the water. By lap 4 the group had got them and it settled in a bit with the odd attack here and there. Little Vasilev though takes right after his big brother, in that he wouldn't let us catch em easily. There was one crash on the cobblestone corner, but the main danger were the dogs. I have noticed the dogs are pretty territorial here and anyways, on lap 5 or 6 3 dogs, yes 3 dogs side by side were on the course up ahead and were coming towards us barking! This was very scary, i thought i was going down big time at 40k/hr. Somehow they were avoided, but i will always remember the moment when i saw the terror in the dogs eyes as i brushed by him and likewise he with me.
Coming into T2 i was at the back of the pack but avoided most contact and got out onto the run. The run went well for me with one minor glitch were i couldn't hang on to a group of 4 on the first lap and spent the rest of the run trying to reel them back. With the run being 10.5k my split was about a 34:10 10k which is where i've been at most of this year.
One interesting thing was racing two twins from Israel, the Alterman Brothers. On the run i went by one, but then a few minutes later i saw the same name up ahead. What! i just past this guy, did he shortcut somewhere? I couldn't get him in the end and considered protesting, but after the finish i learned that they were twins. Now i know what it feels like to play against the Sedin Brothers or race the Coates Girls, its like the old double mint gum commercials!
Finishing up in 12th spot was a decent result, just out of the money though which could have helped.
Tomorrow I will do doing some light training here, and having a look around before heading by train to Vienna on Tuesday to race another euro cup on the 13th.
cześć
On the pontoon i started near the right side. Usually i am able to get a good start in continental cup racing but with these euro cups the field is stronger and deeper and I noticed this right off the start. There were some really good swimmers (little vasilev and a slovak named richard varga, both last year juniours!) and they took off in a big way. I managed to maintain a spot in the big pack that swam quick but not insane. There were some surges that i was able to take and without getting beaten up to bad i exited in a good spot right behind Kazak Olympian Sapunov.
Onto the bike it was pretty good pacelining for the first 3 laps trying to reel in the lead group of 3 which had about 30s out of the water. By lap 4 the group had got them and it settled in a bit with the odd attack here and there. Little Vasilev though takes right after his big brother, in that he wouldn't let us catch em easily. There was one crash on the cobblestone corner, but the main danger were the dogs. I have noticed the dogs are pretty territorial here and anyways, on lap 5 or 6 3 dogs, yes 3 dogs side by side were on the course up ahead and were coming towards us barking! This was very scary, i thought i was going down big time at 40k/hr. Somehow they were avoided, but i will always remember the moment when i saw the terror in the dogs eyes as i brushed by him and likewise he with me.
Coming into T2 i was at the back of the pack but avoided most contact and got out onto the run. The run went well for me with one minor glitch were i couldn't hang on to a group of 4 on the first lap and spent the rest of the run trying to reel them back. With the run being 10.5k my split was about a 34:10 10k which is where i've been at most of this year.
One interesting thing was racing two twins from Israel, the Alterman Brothers. On the run i went by one, but then a few minutes later i saw the same name up ahead. What! i just past this guy, did he shortcut somewhere? I couldn't get him in the end and considered protesting, but after the finish i learned that they were twins. Now i know what it feels like to play against the Sedin Brothers or race the Coates Girls, its like the old double mint gum commercials!
Finishing up in 12th spot was a decent result, just out of the money though which could have helped.
Tomorrow I will do doing some light training here, and having a look around before heading by train to Vienna on Tuesday to race another euro cup on the 13th.
cześć
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