Student-Triathlete

My lack of meaningful posts lately doesn't mean that I don't have an interesting life (that's exactly what it means). But I've been working on coming up with something more worthwhile than music to share and training updates. Time for something more philosophical and possibly quite meaningless.

I'll be finishing up undergrad in a few weeks, and looking back it has been an interesting time in my life, unfortunately not the same kind of interesting as most UWO students experience. I started triathlon the summer before my first year, and I've come a long way during my four years at school. Not academically, intellectually, or socially of course. Just the athlete part.

Being a student-athlete is hard enough. I was in competitive track for a while and it was far too easy to let four workouts a week take over all my studying time. But working toward a career in triathlon through university is a whole other story. It is the exact opposite of an ideal training environment - late nights, bad nutrition, ever-changing schedules - and it takes a hell of a lot of dedication and sacrifice to turn up the usual university life (I believe some refer to the term as "fun") and dare to commit to a goal.

When you finish university you realize that the valuable things you take away from school have nothing to do with what you actually studied. All the things that filled your brain and stressed you to no end were just the hoops you jump through.

During the school year I have 15-19 hours/week of training with almost as much time dedicated to proper recovery (stretching, rolling, core, motor control, physio). On top of that I've been coaching twice a week, working a couple shifts and, oh yeah, about 50 thousand pages of reading a week...often done in compression socks. In second year when I was training for AG Worlds I learned how to manage my time, and make every minute of the day count. Not in the pretentious "live your life to the fullest" kind of way, I just mean having a purpose with what I do. There's nothing I hate more than feeling like what I'm doing has no purpose. Even when I stare into space for a few minutes or write a rambling blog post, I'm destressing, refocusing and enjoying a little mental break before getting back at things.

The essence of university life is learning how to deal with stupidity, meaningless bureaucracy and social annoyances. You are purposely given less time for things than you need, and expected to succeed. This has definitely had a positive impact on my attitude toward training as well as school by allowing me to appreciate the bigger picture. It has taught me to set priorities, question what I'm capable of, and gotten me hopelessly addicted to caffeine.

Yes, prioritizing means having to skip the odd workout to finish assignments. Taking a day off training to finish a paper is not a difficult decision, especially considering that the workout probably isn't going to go well. It also means that I've spent my share of Saturday nights on the trainer or treadmill, and been to far too many 6am swims so I can get in my workout before class. Or even something as simple as forcing myself to get on the bike when I can't stand the thought of training because life sucks. There are definitely times that I feel that I've missed out on what university students are supposed to experience, but its a product of figuring out my priorities early. In the end its worth it, and I'm a better person for learning to put up with that stuff. I'll take professional triathlete over mediocre university party animal any day.

I'm the first person to admit I'm not a naturally gifted athlete, but I decided I wanted to see how far I can take this sport and in four years I went from the slowest swimmer in the UWO tri club to a first year pro on the ITU circuit. At times its been tough, but I don't question that it has been worth the effort and sacrifices.

So now I'm just about done school, what now? Well despite what is generally assumed university in no way prepares you for the real world. But I've stuck with my goals in triathlon and have become successful enough to put off getting a real job while I see how far I can take it. My goals are to race on the World Cup circuit, win a 70.3 and one day race in Kona. Lofty goals, sure. But if nothing else university has given me the work ethic and appreciation for what counts.

This Weekend in Training

I had some extra motivation this weekend after finally working the kinks out of the new bike, and falling in love with it soon thereafter. I'll post some more pics/info on it next time.

Friday
Swim: 2500m with 10x100 (still keeping the swim workouts short)
Bike: 60min rolling hills after dialling in the fit
Run: 30 easy off the bike with 30" pickups

Saturday
Bike: 2:00 on computrainer - last 60k of St Croix course with 5x5mins hard (301-338W average on intervals)
Run: 45 off the bike with 10min at race pace
Core/Strength/Stretching

Sunday
Swim: 2k with 9x50 and 6x150pp (holding sub 2:00 per 150/16 strokes or less per 25)
Run: 20k - 4:10k's over 7km of trails then rolling hills...not easy after busting my ass on the bike on Sat.
Core/Strength/Stretching

Nothing epic, but I have officially declared myself fit for racing.

I'm Famous!

Check out London's latest edition of Sports Xpress, a local magazine on amateur sports. I can't find an electronic copy so you'll have to pick it up yourself. There's an article from Multisport Zone and a little bio on yours truly.

Now on to everyone's favourite segment...Awesome Canadian Music for Recovery Purposes! A beautiful song from one of my favourite artists who is releasing his third album this spring. I missed your Ontario tour this year Ian!



Riding will hit the roads full time this week...90k ride Wed with 40min off the bike. I'll be treated to some tough windy rides for the next month, good race prep!

Training Update

Well I've updated just about everything but my actual training lately. I'm in an endurance phase so there haven't been any overly exciting workouts, just consistently long and steady.

I've caught a bit of the injury bug which has kept me out of the pool for a couple weeks. I was starting to see some progress in my swimming before, so I'm hoping it will come back quickly.

Bike training has been going well, aided by all the fancy new toys I've recieved recently. MultiSport Zone just brought in most of the NA Ironman Real Course Vids, including St. Croix to help me on my way. So far I've learned that "the Beast" is actually on the easiest part of the course, with the toughest part being the last 30k.

I'm up to 70-80k rides pretty regularly, with some solid interval rides mixed in there. Still doing most of my riding indoors (boo) but I'm working hard on the bike and feeling pretty strong. My case of New Bike Syndrome is helping the process too. Looking forward to some 100+k rides out on the roads soon.

Running has been going pretty well too. I would consider myself fit, but not fast (same as Kirsten apparently). I've been hitting the trails while there is still some snow to work on leg strength, along with some good tempo sets, and running off the bike twice/week. Nothing crazy yet, just good consistent work. And as a reward I got a present from K-Swiss today!

That should help make me fast! Two more pairs of my favourite shoes, thanks K-Swiss!

I'm happy with my fitness for this time of the year. Deciding to race St. Croix has been great motivation in my training for the past two months. Its by no means a key race for me but I'll have plenty of solid fitness to start building on in prep for my ITU debut later this year. For now I'm focusing on getting healthy and getting some consistency back in the pool, and really upping the mileage in the next 4 weeks.

My 3 hour bricks make me wonder what possessed me to race a 70.3, and makes me realize how ridiculous long course racing is. But its been fun, the race will be a blast and its making me fit. What more can I ask for? I am looking forward to working on getting fast again after the race though.

New Bike

(different components, that was the only pic I could find)

Kuota Kult:
Sram Red drivetrain
Stronglight crankset w/ BB30
Kuota carbon bars and stem
Fulcrum training wheels and Mavic Cosmic Pro race wheels.
I'm pretty sure bikes don't come any more awesome.

And the best part is the reversible seatpost, which has allowed me to set up the bike in a TT position for the hilly and technical St Croix 70.3 course, and will transform into a kickass draft legal bike for ITU. Right now it looks like this...



I'll take prettier pictures when I take the bars off after St. Croix.

As you may be aware, I was planning on racing Scott bikes this season. Unforuntately the combination of some issues with supply, and my tight training schedule and early season racing meant that things didn't work out. I have nothing against Scott bikes, and still have the highest respect for the brand. Their reputation as some of the best bikes in the world is well deserved. But I am now pursuing an exciting new opportunity with Kuota, and look forward to getting on board and showing off these beautiful bikes.

I also want to give a shout out to K-Swiss who are hooking me up for running shoes this season. I've been running in the K-Ona shoe for a couple months now its its my favourite running shoe I've ever had. Thanks K-Swiss and Kuota,

Love Ryan

Interesting...

OTTAWA - With a section of his budget speech titled "Going for Gold," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty could hardly ignore the Olympic athletes whose victories he was invoking.

Canada's elite summer and winter athletes got gold in Thursday's federal budget - an extra $17 million a year for the next two years. That's on top of the $47 million the government already spends each year on their programs.

The Own the Podium organization, which helps fund winter Olympians, will see its core annual federal funding doubled to $22 million.

Road to Excellence, which supports summer athletes, will see another $6 million annually tacked on to its current federal contribution of $36 million, as it prepares for the 2012 Games in London.

The Conservative government also announced it will renew another $10 million over two years for the identification and development of elite amateur athletes. (continued here)

Does this mean I'll finally get paid to be unemployed, sleep 9 hours a day and work out? Only time will tell, but it sure is well deserved.

But in all seriousness, while the lifestyle of an elite athlete may seem easy, it doesn't pay the bills. I'll be done school in a month and I'm already realizing that (among other things, ie. four years of higher education has done NOTHING to prepare me for the real world) cost of living, training and equipment expenses, and travel budgets add up to a hell of a lot more than I can earn in an ideal training environment.

The success of Canada's winter athletes in Vancouver is a testament to how effective a little funding can be, by allowing elite athletes to focus on their goals rather than their Visa bill. Now their performances were more than just inspiring, but have demonstrated what Canadian athletes are capable of when supported.

I'll be expecting my six million-dollar cheque in the next 4-6 weeks.