mytrilife

Jason Lapierre Memorial TT

2008-07-14T18:22:00.009-06:00

After my big day at GWN, I took an easy week of training to recover. Probably a little too easy... but GWN took a lot more out of me than I thought. I didn't feel like doing much except relaxing and sleeping. I think I did one workout that involved cycling.. 45min on my cruiser bike.

On Friday night Naomi and I arrived late into Calgary, and didn't actually get to sleep until almost 2am. I set my alarm for 6am, which would give me enough time to grab a quick bite and then drive the 100km or so to the site north of Cochrane. Well.. I slept through my alarm and awoke at 7am. CRAP! I threw all my stuff in the car and raced out the door. A quick stop and Tim's for a coffee and muffin and then was pushing the speed limit on Deerfoot Trail to make up time.

I arrived at the race site at shortly after 8am, with just enough time to tweak my bike, register and get in a warmup and the 5km ride to the first TT start line. The lack of sleep, poor recovery and improper nutrition made the first TT a painful experience. I gave it my best.... but 5th place was all I could do (in the Cat5 race). With some time to recover and eat before the second TT, I packed in a few calories and a couple cups of coffee.

The second TT started late at 1pm. I was 5th starting position because of my result in the first TT. I rode the entire 11km course in warmup, so I had a good idea of how to pace it. I was also feeling MUCH better with the calories and coffee. I felt really good, but ran out of gears on the 1km KILLER KM section (that was worth points for fastest ascent). My effort was enough for second place.

We waited a long time for results, apparently this is common at cycling events, even though the race organizers promised quick turnaround times! That was ok though, the day was nice, I had a few burgers from the BBQ and chatted with everyone in the beautiful lodge and soaked up the sun. I really enjoy the people in the road racing scene... a good bunch. When Cat5 results were ready I was surprised not to make the top 3 and win some of the prize money. However, after the results were corrected the next day, I was actually 2nd in the Cat5... my strong second TT had actually pulled me up. :-)

The spirit of triathlon

2008-07-09T17:44:00.002-06:00

I read this quote from Luke Dragstra today and I liked it... so here it is:

I don't care who likes to sit in the pack, at 7.1 meters.. (or closer.. if EVERYONE ELSE IS TOOO!!) it won't be me!

Sitting in and pacing another (or a friend of similar fitness) in a non-drafting race has no honour. I don't care if it's "good tactics", or "by the rules", it is not in the spirit of triathlon.

Jason Lapierre Memorial Dual-Stage ITT Omnium

2008-07-08T14:02:00.003-06:00

ITT this weekend outside Cochrane.... open to triathletes too.. with a one-day race license. Should be fun:
Details HERE

Bikes must comply with UCI rules though.. seats 5cm behind BB.
EDIT: Unless you are triathlete/Cat5... thanks for the clarification Trev...

Five for Five - Great White North 2008

2008-07-07T23:18:00.006-06:00

Great White North Triathlon. 13th Male. 4:23:00. Solid execution and pacing in all three disciplines. A few GI issues and a minute or two lost on the bike to tweak my back wheel... but I`m happy with the result nonetheless.

Yep, another rainy race.... getting used to it. The deluge stopped about 30km into the bike.. but threatened all day.... and finally down-pouring on the 7-8 hour finishers.

I missed the IMC spot... so I`ll be out there watching, but not racing. Not really that disappointed... I`d rather enjoy the day with Naomi anyways, since our wedding is 4 days beforehand. I`m pondering a late season iron distance... and Silverman might be the ticket.... one of the hardest IM courses in the world... and VEGAS too! Naomi would do the Half-iron distance race. We`ll decide by the end of August.

Now I can focus on my fastest race at Kelowna Apple... see how close I can get to the Canadian AG podium.

4 Day weekend

2008-07-03T20:32:00.004-06:00

Been meaning to get around to posting about my Canada Day weekend. A bit late... but here it is.

Friday night, I stopped down at Element to pick up my final piece of race equipment. I had been bugging Cam to get some Spiuk aero helmets for a while.. and they finally came in. I really like it! Much nicer than the other aero helmets... except for maybe the LAS helmets.... they are bad-ass looking!

On Saturday, I awoke early and off I went to discover some more of the rural highways around Edmonton. After hitting Beaumont, I turned south and took highway 814 to Wetaskiwin. I was a bit unsure of how safe this road would be... but as I progressed south, the pavement became newer and the shoulder a bit wider. Besides a dog with a death wish running down the highway and chasing me and other cars... it was smooth sailing. Well... if you can call grinding away into a 15-20kmh headwind sailing. Traffic was light.... I assume most people were sitting in the shade with a cool drink somewhere... the temps were hovering above 30C.

Ahhh Wetaskiwin... I did the town tour for fun. The smell of fresh livestock feed and fertilizer reminded me of summer days in SK. I noticed a Starbucks in the Safeway store, so pulled up there to get a caffeine fix for the ride home. I asked the clerk at the til where the Tim Hortons was and he gave me an odd look... why was I asking for a Tim's when I was at Starbucks? Well.... after my Starbucks triple-espresso, I rode over to Tim's to fill up my water bottles and of course.. get a maple dip donut for fuel! I must have had some icing on my face or something as the greasy, tattooed, Harley-Davidson worshipping locals were staring at at me the whole time.... ;-)

For a bit of extra mileage, I took highway 2a to Leduc from Wetaskiwin. I won't do that again... heavy traffic, bumpy and not that scenic. As I once again approached Beaumont I ran into a couple of other triathletes out training that day. It's strange.... with so many cyclists in the Edmonton area... I rarely see anyone out on my rides. I chatted with them briefly, but decided to not stop in Beaumont and make time back to the park. OOPS! I ran out of water 10km from home. I was a bit dehydrated, but made it home, refueled, then went out for another 20km to finish off my ride.

Sunday, Naomi and I were off to Hubbles to swim. The water was WARM! Probably the warmest I have ever felt Hubbles. With all this hot weather... it's going to be a tough swim on race day.... I prefer a bit cooler for racing. With our swim done, we headed to my condo in the west end.. I wanted to watch the Euro Cup final.. and Naomi needed a nap. With the weather so nice, we decided to try and find a beach and headed out to Miquelon Lake. Wow, the lake was a marsh.. full of algae and not that pleasant. We opted to not even go past our knees and drove back to the Park disappointed.

Didn't want to go to the office on Monday for only one day.... so instead stayed in the Park and trained with Naomi. :-)

Tuesday was Canada Day! WOO! Happy 141st b-day! Naomi and I hammered out a swim at Millennium, then hopped on our bikes to the Legislature grounds to watch the criterium races. We ran into a bunch of friends, watched some high speed action, and soaked up the sun. A great finish to the weekend.

This weekend is Great White North, my first A race of this season. I've never felt more prepared for a race than I do for a race... looking forward to a great day! And.... I hope I don't jinx it... but the weather looks to be HOT HOT HOT. :-)

Wedding Gifts

2008-07-03T20:01:00.002-06:00

So... my mom asked me last night what Naomi and I wanted for wedding gifts. Well.. if you are one of the friends or family that is also getting us a gift.... we have no idea! We actually have too much already! Naomi has everything as household stuff is concerned... in fact I'll try and help her purge some of the many items she has taking up storage space.

I don't really like to ask for certain gifts either. But people are asking.... so here it is:
- money. Yeah... I know... some people consider it inappropriate, but life is expensive (wedding rings aren't cheap!).
- gift cards to our favorite triathlon shop - Element
- a 42" TV (or gift cards for Best Buy). Naomi's old analog CRT TV just doesn't cut it for watching Tour de France!

If we come up with more ideas... I'll add them to this post later....

TeamTBB partners with ironguides

2008-06-26T16:01:00.004-06:00

LEYSIN 25th June 2008
Professional triathlon team teamTBB announces that after a lengthy review process of the world’s leading coaching services, it has selected online coaching provider ironguides as its exclusive Age Group coaching and training partner. With eleven years of existing, proven coaching experience in the Age Group market, this agreement provides ironguides with direct and exclusive access to all of teamTBB’s coaching practices and athletes.

“Our partnership with ironguides enables teamTBB to focus on our core capabilities: Generating results as a professional triathlon team and sponsor representative”, said teamTBB Manager Alex Bok. “After lengthy review of all major coaching services, we found that ironguides best
matched the coaching and training principles employed at teamTBB. We are looking forward to making teamTBB’s unique and extremely effective training approach available to Age Groupers everywhere through ironguides’ unsurpassed reputation for professional service and athlete
support.”

ironguides Head Coach and founder Marc Becker said “We have long respected the success of teamTBB’s athletes and the thirty-year history of top level results produced by team coaches. This partnership enables ironguides to provide Age Group triathletes everywhere with access to the powerful training philosophies, techniques, sessions and taper and recovery methods used by teamTBB’s professional triathletes.”
teamTBB Pte Ltd, 41a Tras Street, Singapore 078980
(o) 6225 1728 (f) 6225 3979 (e) info@teamtbb.com

The unique training approach used to power teamTBB’s New Generation of Champions including current Hawaii Ironman Champion Chrissie Wellington, three of the top ten women at the 2007 Hawaii Ironman, four 2008 Olympians, and multiple current Ironman and 70.3 title holders form the building blocks for success at all levels of triathlon. The teamTBB and ironguides partnership will provide triathletes from beginners to seasoned veterans with a clear, proven and results-oriented alternative through innovative training and instruction materials for the Age Group triathlon market.

ABOUT teamTBB
teamTBB is a professional organisation for triathlon and bike related sports that nurtures a unique culture by providing hope and opportunity for young athletes. teamTBB is well organized to serve our athletes, coaching staff , sponsors and a wide roster of world class professional triathletes who will race for the team but will also act as a role model and mentor for young talents. teamTBB is committed to building a better world for children and has started various social programs in Asia.
Please visit http://www.teamtbb.com/ for further information.
For Media Contact:
Alex Bok
alexbok@thebikeboutique.com
mobile: +65.9752.8080

ABOUT ironguides™
ironguides is the leading online triathlon coaching service for Age Group triathletes of all abilities.
Our unique and proven training approach called The Method™ provides athletes with an innovative alternative to standard, generic training approaches. ironguides coaches offer cutting edge health and fitness education and information, including coaching services, training plans, Corporate Health presentations and lifestyle advice. At ironguides, your best is our business.™

Please visit http://www.ironguides.net/ for further information.
For Media Contact:
Marc Becker
marc@ironguides.net
mobile: +33.6627.06650

Let me explain....

2008-06-25T22:00:00.005-06:00

So.... what's four for four mean? Four races, four times rain! The weather gods have not been kind to me this season. However, the long term forecast for Great White North hot hot hot! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Can I have just one race in the sun?

This past weekend, I participated in a great little super-sprint distance at Half Moon Lake, only a 15min drive from here in Sherwood Park.

As usual the day before my rainy races this season, the weather was perfect and sunny on the Saturday. I had a long ride on the schedule so I decided to explore the roads south of Edmonton. My initial plan was to ride to Wetaskiwin and back. However, the highway seemed a bit sketchy, with narrow shoulder, and plenty of trucks hauling wide trailers. I'll have to find some back roads to Wetaskiwin or ride earlier in the morning when traffic is light. Instead I turned west and out to the Devon and Calmar area.

At Calmar, I stopped at the world famous Calmar bakery. The roadies in Edmonton say that it is a favorite fuel stop. I chose two maple walnut donuts, 70c each, cheaper than Timmie Ho's! And WOW, they are the best donuts I have ever eaten. Definitely worth the trip! According to Kyle's half-iron nutrition guidelines... I probably had to drink 2L of water for the amount of calories consumed! However, a liter of Evian from the nearest gas station would suffice, and off I went.

After 5.5hrs in the saddle, I was back home and HUNGRY. Nothing like an good ride to bump the metabolism! I consumed an enormous amount of food for the next 48 hours.

Sunday. Woke up and peeked out the window... darkening skies as forecast. The rain started on my drive to the lake, and continued to increase as the morning progressed. Naomi opted to skip this race, and sleep in, even though she was entered. A good choice, as the conditions would turn to DOWNPOUR during the run. Fortunately, the heat from the previous day kept the air temps in the high teens, making it bearable.

I had a good swim again, coming out in 4th, kept it up through the bike, then dropped a place on the run.... my legs didn't seem to want to co-operate until about 6km into the run... and the run was only 7.5km... too late! A good hard effort to start my taper into Great White North. I have to say, I bought a new Desoto T1 wetsuit and it ROCKS! Fast swim, and the fastest wetsuit removal I have ever done. So long to my old Orca suit, maybe I'll give it to a newbie... anyone want it for free?

Four for Four

2008-06-23T12:38:00.005-06:00

Ouch

2008-06-18T19:28:00.000-06:00

Wedding Plans

2008-06-12T22:25:00.005-06:00

FYI... Naomi and I have finalized the date of August 20 in Penticton, BC for our wedding. If you're interested in joining us, send Naomi or me a note.

It's nothing fancy, just a simple ceremony, then we're going to make a reservation at a restaurant for dinner. No invitations, no gift registry, no rented hall, no tuxes, etc...

Congrats to my sister Cheryl, who is also getting married.. next week in Vegas!

Too many bikes...

2008-06-10T11:24:00.005-06:00

Working on a deal on a cyclocross bike... so need to clear out my old P3 asap.

Specs are here.

How's $650 sound? Anyone? The carbon bars (with carbon extension and carbon brakes) are probably worth $450. The frame repainted would look good...

New Home

2008-06-09T23:09:00.004-06:00

I moved in with Naomi this past weekend. It's so great to not have the hassle of travelling/packing from the west side of Edmonton to Sherwood Park all the time! Besides, I kinda like being around Naomi too. ;-) Unfortunately I still have to pay the mortgage on the condo in Callingwood. The property market in Edmonton has tanked a bit... so Jeremy and I would lose a lot of money on the place if we were to sell it. No worries, I have am empty room in the West end when I need it and a place for storage.

Living in the Park is nice. The best riding in Edmonton is east of the Park in Strathcona County. Nice quiet, smooth paved roads for miles and miles. On Saturday I biked out to Tofield, about 55km from here, then a loop near Half Moon Lake, the site of the sprint triathlon in a couple of weeks. When we awoke, it looked to be an ugly and overcast day, but the sky cleared and it turned into a sunny but cool day for riding... almost perfect.

The other advantage of the Park is the beautiful view of the Petro-Canada refinery about 5km away. HA! No seriously, it's a pretty interesting thing to look at, and the air quality is actually very good in the Park, despite the heavy industrial presence.

Will try and find time to catch a bit of the Devon stage race this weekend. The weather looks to be decent... unlike the rain, rain, and more rain we'll be getting during the week. I guess I can't complain... any weekend without rain for my long ride is a good weekend!

Canadian Men's Olympic Triathlon Team Announced.

2008-06-09T12:48:00.001-06:00

Congrats Tich!

http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080609.wsptttria9/GSStory/GlobeSportsOther/home

Oliver 1/2 Ironman 2008

2008-06-03T19:06:00.013-06:00

I was really looking forward to last weekends Oliver 1/2. It was my first big fitness test of the season, and I would be racing in the Okanagan... with hopefully some blazing hot conditions that would suit me.

Marc asked me, when he was in Calgary back in March, which of my 1/2 Iron races I was to peak for. I chose Great White North. With that, I was given a shorter taper for Oliver. I trained full-on until Wednesday... then freshened up Thurs-Sat.

Friday Naomi and I drove about 8 hours to the Winfield Super 8... just outside of Kelowna. I didn't have the energy to go all the way to Osoyoos the first night, so this worked out well.

On Saturday we awoke to a blazing hot and perfect sunny Okanagan day. After a quick breakie we were off to Oliver. I sent Naomi off to bike the Ironman course and I went off to do my final SBR session. The lake was warm, the bike was humming and my run felt ok.

After a quick bite at the Cock & Bull coffee house, I was off to Penticton where Naomi was to finish her ride. She had met up with some cyclists from Vancouver and was a little later than I expected... and a tire blowout on the descent from Kaledan made it even later. The forecast for rain just wasn't going away, so I picked up a cheap tarp at Canadian Tire to cover my bike for the night. We rushed through our meal at the Barley Mill, grabbed some quick groceries and hauled ass to Oliver to just get my bike in by the 7pm deadline.

That night at the Econo Lodge in Osoyoos, I was starving. Luckily Naomi was feeling extra hungry from her ride and had purchased a pizza. I helped her out with half of it. I remember the last time I did this race in 2006, Kyle downed a whole pizza the night before the race and won the next day.. so I figured pizza couldn't hurt me. ;-)

I awoke the next morning at 4am to ugly weather. It was raining steady. I was glad I had covered the bike in the tarp, it was dry when I arrived in transition. However, that didn't matter much, because I had to remove the tarp about an hour before race start, and the rain just seemed to intensify. I decided to ditch my socks, and passed them off to Naomi, but I kept the bike jacket and gloves. After freezing in Lethbridge, I wanted to be warm!

SWIM

My swimming has improved this year, so I seeded a little closer to the front and got off to a good start. I settled in, with the aim of winding it up on the second lap. As I dove in for lap 2, I latched onto a good set of feet and made the call to sit in and save my energy. The gap to the next swimmer seemed too far to bridge. I came out feeling very fresh in 30:39.

T1

Transition felt like forever, but wasn't that bad.

BIKE.

Found my bike legs in about 10mins... passed a few guys, then settled in. Not too many other riders around, it was lonely out there. The backside of the course was treacherous, some fast descents and the rain was coming down hard. The worst was the wooden bridge.. like ice. As I turned north up hwy 97 I saw the ambulance go by with lights on... I hope no-one went down in the race! Nutrition was going good and I was humming along as I turned south again to start the second lap. I heard a guy yell to me "three minutes back!". I thought.. from WHO??!?! Was I that close to the AG leaders? Looking at the swim results... I was less than 2min down from the top guys... so maybe I was holding pace through lap 1 of the bike? I certainly felt good.

Lap 2. As I was ascending the little hill out of Oliver, I could hear an intermittent sound from my rear wheel. I found the rear brake rubbing, and it had given my Zipp a nice mark. Nice. I never heard it before then because my wheel was wet, or I was moving too quickly. I quickly adjusted it and off I went.

At about 60km, my hips started to lock up. I had been having tight hip issues for weeks, and now a hard race had done them in. I was forced to sit up every so often, spin and stretch. I watched helplessly as competitor after competitor passed me on the final lap. After the race I could only surmise that although I kept my saddle height the same as my Cervelo (on my new Felt), I forgot to account for the lower stack of my new Adidas shoes. I'm going to lower my seat about 5mm and see if helps. The drive from Edmonton probably didn't help much either. I have had issues in the past with long drives to races and my hips being tight. Hal Kuntze passed me when I was sitting up about 5km from T2 and asked if I was ok. Thanks Hal! Just dealing with the hip issues.

T2/RUN

Disaster. Couldn't get my shoes on properly with wet feet, wet shoes, and no socks. The insole kept bunching up. My usual fast T2 was turning into an eternity. I said "screw it" (that's the nice version), and ran through the long transition area. Nope, they just didn't feel right. I passed the timing mat and sat down again. I nearly threw away my shoes in disgust. Joe, the RD, was right there and started heckling me for wearing my Grand Columbian hat instead of the awesome hats in our race package! I had a laugh, but got down to business.. fix shoes. I finally was able to get the right one on properly, but the left was bunched under the ball of my foot. I gave up again and started to run. I made it to the first aid station and stopped AGAIN. Damnit! I was going to get the left one on properly. After another minute of futile attempts.... I finally gave up. Next time, in the rain, I'll bring a plastic bag to transition to keep the shoes and socks dry.

Run went ok for the first 10km.. but wasn't really into it. I started to pick it up on the second lap... the blisters were starting to form and I figured it would hurt less if I just finished as fast as possible. I gutted out a strong finish and managed to pull back a place or two.

4:55 total time.

Yep, fast isn't about just being fit. It's about race execution and preparation as well. I'll make the adjustments, learn my lessons, and move on. And as Marc said "There is NOTHING at stake here! No one's dying, no one's leaving forever, there's always another race -- remember, in it to enjoy."

No races between here and GWN. Just tune out the noise, train, eat, sleep, repeat.

Congrats to everyone who raced. I think we all enjoyed such an amazingly well run race despite the conditions. Joe and Sarah have set the bar for race organization... I am putting Outback events at the top of my MUST RACE list of triathlons. If I'm not in Australia next year.... I WILL BE BACK. Maybe do the Desert 1/2 next time....

And of course, thank you Naomi, for being my Sherpa, and for the use of your T1 wetsuit.. it rocked! I'm going down to Element to pick one up this month!

Hosting issues.....

2008-06-03T18:53:00.002-06:00

Due to technical issues with my hosting provider I have not been able to publish to my blog.... I've just resolved things. Stay tuned for regular programming. :-)

May Looooong weekend

2008-05-19T22:57:00.005-06:00

Saturday

Awesome temperature in the Edmonton area... 31C! No wind! Perfect day for a long ride. Left Naomi's and headed south to Beaumont to start. I guessed at the direction and managed to take all the right grid roads, woo! Nice little town... will have to ride there again. Headed back to Naomi's to make a few tweaks and adjustments on the bike, refilled my bottles, and headed out east past Ardrossan for the second half. Legs were feeling good so I wound it up a bit towards the end coming back on Wye Road. Slipped on the running shoes and headed out for the t-run. My foot is feeling great again! My injury seems to have healed, I was a bit worried it was going to take longer.

A quick shower, grabbed some food and headed down to Element to get my race package for the duathlon. Roy the RD had already left, so I just picked up my new race kit for the season instead.. a two piece 2XU race suit. Amazing fit and material... very comfortable... probably the nicest tri gear I have worn! The clothing from Zoot, Craft and Orca was also on the rack for a good comparison of fit and comfort.

Left Element, and down to the pool for my recovery swim. The cold water felt so good after riding in the hot sun all day.. I actually wanted to swim some more!

Sunday

5:50am wakeup.. uggh. My least favorite part of racing.... especially on a long weekend where I want to sleep in. Packed the car with my gear and headed out to Sandy Beach. It was rainy and cool in Sherwood Park... but I was hoping the weather would be better by race time... I wasn't going to race in cold rain again!

Sandy Beach is a tiny little community on a shallow lake... not much going on. Apparently they used to hold triathlons there.. but the lake is dirty and shallow. The roads were nice and quiet as I did my warmup... most of the locals were probably sleeping off the booze from the night before. It seems like they forgot most of their empties at the beach area.

The clouds threatened, and the roads were still wet, but it was nice enough and I had enough clothes so I wouldn't freeze like Lethbridge. Although my bike was going to get covered in road grime again... not happy with that!! Legs were complaining during my warmuup from the previous three days of training, but I was determined to push them as hard as they would go.

A dozen of us headed to the start line and we were off. My legs responded surprisingly well and I was only 20 seconds down after T1. I was able to hold a fairly decent pace on the hilly and windy bike course... but lost almost three minutes to the leader. My legs were just too tired.. I couldn't get that extra gear. Second run was not as hard as they say... but about 2mins slower than the first. A good workout.

Duathlon is a lot of fun! I will definitely be seeking out more duathlons in the future. I hope Roy gets more people out to the September version of this race. They reminded everyone that there is another sprint du at the Sylvan sprint tri in two weeks. If I wasn't doing Oliver, I'd be there.

After some food, a good nap, I went down to the gym and did a shortened brutality session to completely finish off my legs! FUN!

That night Naomi and I went over to her parents for a visit for a couple hours, then home for a much needed sleep.....zzz..

Monday

Got up and took the bike to the car wash... AGAIN. Uggh... am I going to have to wash it weekly?? Naomi and I then rode out to meet her friend Tim. We went for a nice cruisy spin out to near Fort Sask and back. A perfect day for a social ride in the county. Finished it off with a 10min hard t-run for good measure.

Looking forward to racing Oliver in two weeks!

Finally,,, nice weather!

2008-05-14T23:08:00.002-06:00

Took my beautiful Felt out tonight for my first REAL ride with it. Out to Parkland County to scout out the condition of some range roads to do some time trialing on. I'm glad to say they are in better condition than the city roads. When I finalize my loop course, I'll post it to mapmyride.com for anyone to view. The drivers in the county seem to be polite to cyclists... although they all drive way too fast.

I booked my accommodations for Ironman Canada today! Found a beautiful log cabin up near Twin Lakes (technically Kaleden). Secluded and quiet, but close enough to Penticton for all the Ironman festivities. Waiting on confirmation of our wedding venue now. I'm still not sure about this whole Ironman thing. I swore I'd never do another, but Marc has somehow convinced me that it's a good idea!

With the nice weather I've been bike commuting to work every day. Driving just isn't my thing! I love the feel of the cool morning air as I propel my 30lb steel commuter bike towards downtown. The only tough thing is getting the nutrition right in the morning to fuel the commute as well as a 90min swim. I was delirious with hunger at the end of the swim the last time I tried it. Will mix some maltodextrin and fruit juice for tomorrow.... hopefully that keeps the stomach satisfied until breakie.

Still time left to sign up for the Sandy Beach Duathlon... if you're in Edmonton this weekend!

Focusing on the Now

2008-05-13T22:01:00.005-06:00

Well.. the bike is clean again. I took it down to the car wash and used the spot-free rinse mode to get caked on mud off. Worked quite well! I dried everything with my car chamois. Still a few places I'll have to get in with a q-tip.. or take things apart, neither which I have time for. The chain still sounds like the links are full of sand. Uggh. I ran it through my chain cleaner brushes, but didn't seem to help much. The only thing I know that strips a chain clean of gunk is WD40. Might have to pick some up tomorrow. Anyone else have a good chain cleaning tip?

I've been perusing more than a few of my fellow triathlon bloggers lately and keep seeing a too common theme: daily training logs, and weekly total hours. I know, I know.. at one time I did the same thing on this blog. However, I shut that down about two years ago. I couldn't tell you how many hours I trained since, or what workouts I did on any day since then, or at what intensity, or what my weekly hours were. These statistics are meaningless to me.

I've learned the most important thing to my performance as an athlete is what I'm doing RIGHT NOW. Looking over old training logs serves no purpose but to cause me to not pay attention to my current fitness.
"oh look, i missed x hours in February, no wonder I'm not as fit"
"I put in x hours per week average, so I should be this fast/slow"
I only care about how my body feels today, which dictates how fast/slow I should train. If I get TODAY right... I'll be fitter tomorrow... and race faster in the future.

Another way to lose focus on the now is TIME GOALS.
"I want to do a x:xx swim split, a x:xx bike split, and a x:xx run split, for a x:xx total split, adding in transitions"
How fast you want to race in the future does not dictate how you should be training right now. How fit you are right now dictates how fast you train. Any fans of Jack Daniels Running Formula will know his philosophy of race faster to train faster. And when your not racing, you listen to your body to dictate how fast you should train.

Speaking of which, I need to get to bed NOW. Hard bike session tomorrow... hopefully my chain is clean enough to ride.

Splash, Pedal, Shiver

2008-05-11T20:42:00.005-06:00

Just sent this report to the coach:

The weather was cool and rainy.. but was looking to clear by race time. So I made the call on what I was going to wear over my kit on the bike and went in to the pool for race meeting and warmup.
Got a solid warmup, felt REALLY GOOD in the water. Looked at the lane sheet.... I was in the lane with all the fastest swimmers... seeded 10 of 12. The 1500m (LCM) went effortlessly. Exited in 22:49?. I think I could have pushed a bit more... the swim felt just too easy!

Ran out to transition and the dark clouds had returned with some light rain. I left transition with another guy who was going at a good clip, so I settled in behind him and waited for my legs to warm up before I wound it up a bit faster. As I approached the turnaround at 20km I was VERY cold, and getting colder. I was in 9th place. Hard to tell if I was making time on the leaders.. but we we're all bunched within 3min of each other. I hit the turn-around and it was full on into a headwind and driving rain... I went completely numb. I found a car at 25km and pulled the plug. I was hypothermic, and uncontrollably shivering for about 15mins.

I think I was so keen on racing fast... that I forgot to race for the conditions. 40 seconds extra in transition putting on warm clothing would have saved my day. Damnit.

Well, will have to wait til Oliver now to truly test the fitness. Watch out. ;-)

Thanks to Naomi for being my tri sherpa today and fetching my clothes as I sat shivering back at transition.

And a big thanks to the guy who gave me a lift off the course, I think he said he was the president of the local road racing club?

On the plus side... we skipped the awards to make haste back to Edmonton and arrive here at a reasonable hour. We were hoping to get a run in at Red Deer too, but the road fatigue had set in and we just wanted to get home, unpack, and prepare for the work week.

Now to clean the mud off my new bike. Joy.

Ready to race

2008-05-10T16:13:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow is the first real race of the season for me.... the Splash, Pedal, Gasp triathlon in Lethbridge. It's an Olympic distance race with a 50m pool swim, screaming fast and flat out n' back bike, and a run that has a steep descent into the valley, and a climb out of the valley to finish. If I recall... this was the first triathlon I ever did.

Since the Police 1/2 marathon I've been nursing a foot injury, and have had to back off my run sessions a bit. On my short run today, my foot was still a bit sore.. so I'm hoping I don't injure it further on the race tomorrow. Regardless, I'm feeling pretty good, have the new bike setup and ready to go... and am going to give it my all.

At the moment, I'm in Calgary at Tanya and Ryan's place. Naomi and them all rode out to Bragg Creek today... and I wish I could have gone with. The riding in Calgary is so outstanding, I miss it a lot. I drove out to Bragg for fun... since I didn't feel like sitting around all day. Ran into Carson and Mike at the coffee shop out there and sat around for 30mins and chatted.

Well... will post a race report tomorrow if I find the time...

My new ride

2008-05-06T20:16:00.002-06:00

I ended up taking an extra long lunch hour today to head down to Element to pick up my brand new Felt B2! Cam dialed it in almost exactly to the position on my old P3. It's setuup a tiny bit steeper (a tad over 82 degrees), and I'll probably tweak the position just slightly in the next couple of weeks.

I opted to replace the default Vision bars and crappy brake levers, with the Easton Attack TT bars, and the high end Vision brake levers. The only other mod from the original spec was the aero Q-rings. The big ring is in position 5 and the small ring in position 3. Cam had to shave a wee bit off the dérailleur mount to get the ring to fit! Unfortunately, due to the length of the chainstays, I'll also not be able to run my two easiest gears while in the big ring... but that's not necessary for TT'ing anyways.

Caminito del Rey

2008-05-05T20:16:00.002-06:00

A fine weekend

2008-05-04T21:02:00.002-06:00

A great weekend here in Edmonton, some good training and some entertainment watching the Velocity stage cycling race. Congrats to the Speed Theory guys who seemed to be having a good weekend... and to Frank... the TT specialist? I better watch out as he's taken up triathlon this year! You can read the fine details of our weekend on Naomi's blog...

On Friday I dropped in to Element to check out my new bike. I have a bit of mixed emotions.. I can't wait to try out the new machine.. but I've put so many miles on my P3.. I'm going to miss it. I just couldn't find time to get it fitted up and out of the shop this weekend... so hopefully Tuesday I'll pick it up. I should be able to get it all dialed in and ready for the Lethbridge race this weekend. It's hard to believe triathlon season is here already!

Notice the new date for the Sandy Beach Duathlon in myraces. I'll keep that one on the schedule too. Marc advised me to go and complete my 2 hour brutality session later that race day... that will be interesting.... but a good prep for Oliver 1/2 in 4 weeks time.

No news on the wedding yet. We're so busy with a million other things. I don't want to hear any complaining about the Wednesday date! It's the only day that works for Naomi and I so we're not changing it!

QOTD

2008-05-01T13:35:00.001-06:00

From Marc (da coach):

"Keeping it simple means less bullshit. Less bullshit in Triathlon means we've made a difference."

WOO!